:00:00. > :00:00.Hello and welcome to Look East. so it's goodbye from me.
:00:00. > :00:00.In the programme tonight: Free-range egg farmers hit out
:00:00. > :00:08.at government plans to combat the bird flu outbreak.
:00:09. > :00:11.They say classifying some areas as "safe" will put their flocks
:00:12. > :00:27.They are just a bunch of idiots. It makes no sense whatsoever.
:00:28. > :00:30.Reaction in the constituency after the Labour MP Clive Lewis
:00:31. > :00:33.Exclusive access to the hospital teams who have to deal
:00:34. > :00:53.And I am inside shed one looking at the future of the airship industry.
:00:54. > :00:57.First tonight, a warning that free-range egg producers will go out
:00:58. > :01:01.of business because of bird flu, despite the lifting of restrictions
:01:02. > :01:05.which have kept their hens indoors since December.
:01:06. > :01:09.Today, the government said hens in the white areas on this map can
:01:10. > :01:12.be moved back outside when the current ban runs out
:01:13. > :01:17.They would then become free-range again.
:01:18. > :01:21.In the red areas, they will still be kept under cover to protect them
:01:22. > :01:24.from wild birds carrying the flu virus.
:01:25. > :01:28.But today, farmers told Look East that no area is completely safe.
:01:29. > :01:32.They claim there is no science behind the advice they are given
:01:33. > :01:51.Here is the high risk zone. Daniel is a free range egg producer in
:01:52. > :01:57.Suffolk. He is one of the lucky ones because his farm is outside the high
:01:58. > :02:02.risk areas designated by DEFRA. On March one, his birds will be allowed
:02:03. > :02:07.out again. But Daniel is still worried that those inside the high
:02:08. > :02:12.risk areas will suffer. How have DEFRA come up with these zones?
:02:13. > :02:18.Throwing paint at a map by the looks of it. It is a very random
:02:19. > :02:23.assortment of blue blobs on a map, mainly coastal areas but there are
:02:24. > :02:26.large gaps around the coast that are not covered. They say it is a
:02:27. > :02:32.risk-based response but they have not said what the risk is. Dave
:02:33. > :02:38.White is another free range producer. His farm is just a the
:02:39. > :02:43.fields away but is within a high risk area. His birds will have to
:02:44. > :02:50.stay in their sheds and he is furious. Just a bunch of idiots.
:02:51. > :02:57.They have taken a compass, put it on a map and done circles. It makes no
:02:58. > :03:01.sense whatsoever. There is no bird flu at the present moment in East
:03:02. > :03:09.Anglia, so why are we being punished. In those areas where they
:03:10. > :03:14.still have to house they will not be able to label their eggs as free
:03:15. > :03:19.range. I am hopeful people will recognise these are free range
:03:20. > :03:23.flocks, they are being housed for a good reason. On Monday we met
:03:24. > :03:28.Alistair Brice. He is a free range producer and Packer supplying three
:03:29. > :03:33.quarters of a million free range eggs to supermarkets across East
:03:34. > :03:38.Anglia. He says the DEFRA plans will put some producers out of business
:03:39. > :03:40.and may even extend the life of the bird flu virus.
:03:41. > :03:42.We saw Alaistaire Brice in that report and he's
:03:43. > :03:57.You have some farms inside the red zone and some which are not. Yes, we
:03:58. > :04:02.have three inside the zones and 13 outside. The government will be
:04:03. > :04:07.dammed if it did and damp if it doesn't say what is wrong with what
:04:08. > :04:12.they are doing? It is splitting the whole industry in half and it is
:04:13. > :04:17.making those almost a postcode lottery where if they fall inside
:04:18. > :04:21.the zones you will lose money and if you fall outside, you might make a
:04:22. > :04:26.living. There is no thought gone into this. What would you like them
:04:27. > :04:33.to do? I would like to continue the housing band and maintain the free
:04:34. > :04:38.range eggs if we could. If we cannot do that, downgrade the whole
:04:39. > :04:42.industry to Ban and we have a level playing field and we can move
:04:43. > :04:49.forward with a disease control management plan to try to eradicate
:04:50. > :04:55.this. You do think there is a threat to all of the birds? Unless those
:04:56. > :05:00.birds can read that map I think there is a severe risk to us all and
:05:01. > :05:05.I have two farms which are not in the zones but that does not mean I
:05:06. > :05:08.will be happy to let them out. I will think about the risk that
:05:09. > :05:15.associates my business and neighbours. What sort of difference
:05:16. > :05:20.does it make to the price you can charge for ex-? The difference is
:05:21. > :05:27.about 30p a dozen. It might not sound a lot but 30p over a palette
:05:28. > :05:31.of eggs is ?210. Many of these farms are small family farms and you will
:05:32. > :05:38.decimate their ability to make a livelihood. You think someone go out
:05:39. > :05:43.of business? No doubt about it because we have been given the
:05:44. > :05:47.zones, there is no timescale on them and if we have open areas where
:05:48. > :05:52.birds are free to roam and the birds that are migrating back from the
:05:53. > :05:57.West to the east back to their breeding grounds, they will stop off
:05:58. > :05:58.in places and I do think Mr Gibbins appreciates that they do not follow
:05:59. > :06:00.maps. The Labour MP Clive Lewis has
:06:01. > :06:03.kept a low profile today following his decision to stand down
:06:04. > :06:05.from the shadow cabinet. He resigned as shadow business
:06:06. > :06:08.secretary last night after deciding to vote in parliament
:06:09. > :06:11.against Article 50. Friends of the MP have
:06:12. > :06:15.praised him for speaking up but among voters the verdict
:06:16. > :06:28.has been more mixed. Across the whole of Norfolk, Suffolk
:06:29. > :06:33.and Essex just one place voted to remain in the European Union and it
:06:34. > :06:37.was he in Norwich South. That is why Clive Lewis decided to go against
:06:38. > :06:42.his party leader last night to vote against the Brexit bill and give up
:06:43. > :06:46.his job in the Shadow Cabinet. He went with his conscience and that is
:06:47. > :06:50.fair enough. It was the right thing to do because people in Norwich did
:06:51. > :06:56.not vote Brexit. He is sticking up for the people. Plenty of support
:06:57. > :07:02.for the MP today, but not from everyone. I sympathise to a degree
:07:03. > :07:10.but the majority of the country wanted to leave, so perhaps he
:07:11. > :07:17.should have done that. Sometimes you have to lump it, you cannot always
:07:18. > :07:22.have it your way. Mr Lewis has said nothing publicly today. His decision
:07:23. > :07:27.to stand down was revealed as MPs started to vote for Article 50 last
:07:28. > :07:32.night. He said he had made what he called the tough decision because, I
:07:33. > :07:39.cannot vote for something I believe ultimately harm the city.
:07:40. > :07:46.As a Labour MP, I will never apologise for my socialism. And MP
:07:47. > :07:51.for less than two years, Clive Lewis has found himself at the heart of
:07:52. > :07:56.Labour politics. He was one of those who persuaded Jeremy Corbyn to run
:07:57. > :08:01.for leader. He was briefly Shadow Defence Secretary which got him into
:08:02. > :08:05.a row over Trident before getting the business brief. He has had a
:08:06. > :08:10.roller-coaster time since he was elected and in lots of ways, the
:08:11. > :08:16.period of time which was to be about getting your feet under the table,
:08:17. > :08:21.doing the work as a constituency MP, starting to build up experience, he
:08:22. > :08:27.was catapulted into two big positions. He has negotiated and
:08:28. > :08:32.done well in those rows. I do not think it will be too long before he
:08:33. > :08:38.is back on the front bench. But it is the backbench which now beckons
:08:39. > :08:45.and a promising career has now stalled. How long will he be on the
:08:46. > :08:49.backbenches for? This is Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party and what is
:08:50. > :08:55.interesting is how nice everyone is being about him today. John McDonald
:08:56. > :09:00.says he has a major contribution to make and hopes he will be back in
:09:01. > :09:05.due course. The talk at Westminster last night was that all those who
:09:06. > :09:09.reside will be back by the end of the year. It is interesting that
:09:10. > :09:15.Clive Lewis is not giving interviews. He is hoping the story
:09:16. > :09:19.will go away and if he does not give interviews, people will forget about
:09:20. > :09:25.Labour's divisions. Will he go for the leadership? It is inevitable
:09:26. > :09:32.that you will be seen as a future leader. The odds have been cut, he
:09:33. > :09:37.is now 5-1 favourite. It will not happen in the foreseeable future.
:09:38. > :09:42.Both are France, I cannot see Mr Lewis running against him. If Jeremy
:09:43. > :09:43.Corbyn stands down, that might be different but it will not happen
:09:44. > :09:45.soon. Council tax in Suffolk
:09:46. > :09:47.is going up by 3% and the budget for services will be
:09:48. > :09:50.cut by more than ?30 million. The budget for the coming year
:09:51. > :09:53.was signed off at a full council Let's go live to the political
:09:54. > :10:05.reporter for BBC Radio Suffolk, It is a chilly evening here at
:10:06. > :10:12.Suffolk County Council, but earlier this afternoon, the debate got
:10:13. > :10:17.heated. It centred around the ?30 million worth of budget cuts they
:10:18. > :10:22.have to find. One area where the grants to charities. Age UK suffix
:10:23. > :10:27.say their grant is a third less than it was three years ago. Earlier
:10:28. > :10:29.today I met up with Gillian Ellis from Lowestoft who told me about the
:10:30. > :10:33.impact these cuts were having. Shopping has to be ordered over
:10:34. > :10:38.the phone and delivered. The 79-year-old former secretary has
:10:39. > :10:44.carers coming in four times a day. Every Friday, Mary an Age UK Suffolk
:10:45. > :10:48.befriender came to see Gillian to cheer her up,
:10:49. > :10:51.but now there is no more money to support the service,
:10:52. > :10:55.so the visits have stopped. She popped in, brought the post,
:10:56. > :11:01.opened it up, that's rubbish, that's rubbish, that's rubbish,
:11:02. > :11:07.handed me what I wanted. It was nothing really,
:11:08. > :11:12.but important at the time. Age UK Suffolk had been running
:11:13. > :11:16.the befriending service, but they have had their budgets
:11:17. > :11:22.reduced from over ?800,000 in 2014 Just before Christmas we had to shut
:11:23. > :11:31.a couple of day services that we ran in Bury St Edmunds
:11:32. > :11:35.and we are at the moment in the process of reducing
:11:36. > :11:39.and combining the benefits service and the advice service
:11:40. > :11:43.so that it continues, but it will be smaller,
:11:44. > :11:46.have less capacity For Gillian, the loss of funds
:11:47. > :11:52.is a loss of friendship, which had helped her
:11:53. > :11:57.through a very difficult time. I just hope, if she is watching
:11:58. > :12:00.this, thank you, Mary, because from the bottom of my heart,
:12:01. > :12:17.she helped a lot. The labour opposition here at
:12:18. > :12:21.Suffolk County Council wanted to see the Conservatives dig deeper into
:12:22. > :12:27.the reserves, but they said that this would be financially dangerous.
:12:28. > :12:31.The big test will come in May, this is a county council election year
:12:32. > :12:34.and the measure will be did people like the budget, or did they not, or
:12:35. > :12:37.is it time for a change? Part of the A12 in Essex
:12:38. > :12:39.is still closed after a lorry The driver died in the
:12:40. > :12:43.accident near Witham. The lorry was carrying 26
:12:44. > :12:47.tonnes of batteries. The southbound carriageway is closed
:12:48. > :12:52.between junctions 25 and 20B. Specialist equipment is being used
:12:53. > :12:56.and fire crews are having to hose the wreckage to keep
:12:57. > :13:07.the batteries cool. Still to come tonight: More
:13:08. > :13:10.wintry weather on the way. And fighting the fines
:13:11. > :13:15.for taking children out We meet the couple who refused
:13:16. > :13:25.to pay and ended up in court. As new figures reveal that
:13:26. > :13:28.so-called bed blocking is the highest on record,
:13:29. > :13:32.we've been given exclusive access to one of the region's
:13:33. > :13:34.hospitals to see how The head of the NHS said today that
:13:35. > :13:40.delays in getting people out of hospital and into social care
:13:41. > :13:44.or back home have gone up by 90% Simon Dedman has been
:13:45. > :13:49.to Basildon Hospital to see how a team there is dealing
:13:50. > :13:55.with the problem. We have had a very
:13:56. > :13:57.challenging night. We are still on black
:13:58. > :13:59.alert currently. It is the first meeting
:14:00. > :14:03.at Basildon Hospital to work out I've got three potential
:14:04. > :14:08.discharges for today. We are in a position where we have
:14:09. > :14:13.no more beds in the hospital, so we have 28 patients placed
:14:14. > :14:17.in A, so at the moment, if we have any more ambulances arrive,
:14:18. > :14:19.we only have one trolley If you have more than one patient,
:14:20. > :14:29.what are you going to do? Then we will have
:14:30. > :14:30.ambulances queueing. We admitted more people than we were
:14:31. > :14:33.able to discharge yesterday. Basildon's managing director takes
:14:34. > :14:37.me through the latest situation. What we're hoping to do is move
:14:38. > :14:41.patients into our elective orthopaedic ward, which means
:14:42. > :14:45.we are not able to do joint surgery, Just coming round to see if there
:14:46. > :14:52.are any patients for hospital home? After the morning meeting,
:14:53. > :14:55.nurse Natalie Cook goes ward to ward to find patients who could be
:14:56. > :14:57.discharged from hospital and get their treatment
:14:58. > :15:00.from Basildon hospital nurses The consultant saw you yesterday and
:15:01. > :15:06.is happy for us to take you home. She has found one who will hopefully
:15:07. > :15:09.be discharged today. She heads now to find four other
:15:10. > :15:15.patients who can get But the real problem
:15:16. > :15:22.is being dealt with here. Sick elderly people
:15:23. > :15:25.who get stuck in hospital. This ward aims to treat
:15:26. > :15:28.the frail quickly and get That is what this team works
:15:29. > :15:33.on every day at nine. Some patients have been
:15:34. > :15:37.here for ten days though. But after two days on this
:15:38. > :15:40.ward, Eileen is looking I am on some tablets, I don't know
:15:41. > :15:53.exactly what they are for, other than having those
:15:54. > :15:59.in the mornings and apart from that, it's just being here
:16:00. > :16:02.and getting looked after. Some patients here are waiting
:16:03. > :16:06.for social care to kick in. The majority of the patients
:16:07. > :16:12.who come over here we treat The longer they stay,
:16:13. > :16:18.more complex problems arise, so having access to community
:16:19. > :16:23.services and talking to leads in community,
:16:24. > :16:26.we are able to get them out quicker. Every bed in Basildon Hospital
:16:27. > :16:33.is taken and it has pretty much been that way since the beginning
:16:34. > :16:36.of the year. So much so that if you needed
:16:37. > :16:38.something like a hip replacement, they would pay to send you private,
:16:39. > :16:41.none have taken place Basildon Hospital is trying
:16:42. > :16:47.but getting slack in the health This time of year, lots of families
:16:48. > :16:59.will be spending hours trying to find a decent summer holiday
:17:00. > :17:02.at a decent price. So do you take the children out
:17:03. > :17:05.of school during term time when everything is much cheaper,
:17:06. > :17:08.or do you wait for the school The government says children need
:17:09. > :17:14.to be in school and unauthorised absences attract a fine
:17:15. > :17:18.of ?60 per child. But when Matt and Kerry Thomas
:17:19. > :17:22.from Norwich were fined ?120 following a trip to Majorca,
:17:23. > :17:37.they decided to fight Wearing her uniform today but last
:17:38. > :17:41.summer, faith and her brother took a week out of school with their
:17:42. > :17:48.parents. They headed for the Spanish sun. It cost ?1800. In the summer
:17:49. > :17:54.holidays it would have cost 3000. I learned how to exchange the money
:17:55. > :18:01.and the exchange rate and I learned how big the world was. Their schools
:18:02. > :18:08.took a DM view. The local council took action. Matt and Ceri Thomas
:18:09. > :18:13.refused to pay the ?120 fine so it was doubled. They still refuse to
:18:14. > :18:18.pay and so today both sides faced each other in court. I know what is
:18:19. > :18:23.best for my children not someone sitting in a courthouse or behind a
:18:24. > :18:29.desk. I know what is best and the best thing for them was to have the
:18:30. > :18:33.experience of a foreign holiday. Matt is pinning his hopes on the
:18:34. > :18:38.case of another father who won his case at the High Court. He took his
:18:39. > :18:43.daughter to Florida and faced a fine. His local authority appealed
:18:44. > :18:47.and now Supreme Court judges will decide if he has to pay. I don't
:18:48. > :18:52.think there is an issue, as long as they catch up with their work and
:18:53. > :18:57.make sure that is not affected. Maybe when they were younger, maybe
:18:58. > :19:03.not so much when they are older because of exams. I don't agree with
:19:04. > :19:08.it. They are therefore education. The county council told us it is
:19:09. > :19:14.Headteachers themselves who decide whether or not to take action...
:19:15. > :19:20.Aside from the lower cost of holidays during term time, there are
:19:21. > :19:24.those like this family who thought their rights as parents are being
:19:25. > :19:29.undermined, but the government is clear, even a few days away from
:19:30. > :19:34.school can affect exam results and have a detrimental effect on a
:19:35. > :19:41.child's's education. That is the only holiday we have ever been on as
:19:42. > :19:49.a holiday. But we took it on term time which is against the law. The
:19:50. > :19:51.family will be back here for a full trial next month.
:19:52. > :19:54.I'm sure most of us remember the case of the wheelchair user
:19:55. > :19:57.who took his local bus company to the supreme court,
:19:58. > :20:00.after a dispute with a woman with a child in a buggy over
:20:01. > :20:06.He won the case, but now something similar has happened in Essex.
:20:07. > :20:09.Nicki Price has cerebral palsy and was waiting
:20:10. > :20:15.She says there were two pushchairs taking up the space for a wheelchair
:20:16. > :20:17.and the mothers refused to move them.
:20:18. > :20:33.Nicky Price on her way to the bus stop. She says using a bus must be a
:20:34. > :20:38.basic right. Unfortunately they are not very reliable. They are always
:20:39. > :20:43.missing buses out which makes the enough is bus overcrowded. And when
:20:44. > :20:48.Nicky try to get on a first bus recently, there were two pushchairs
:20:49. > :20:52.in the space for the wheelchair. The drivers ask the mother to fall they
:20:53. > :20:59.pushed us up, they both said no and Nicky could not get on. I was
:21:00. > :21:05.devastated. I was upset, angry. I was worried about my child which was
:21:06. > :21:11.my main thought at the time, which was I must get to my child, to pick
:21:12. > :21:18.her up. But I felt like a second class citizen. And it came despite
:21:19. > :21:23.Doug Pauley's recent victory in the Supreme Court. He could not get onto
:21:24. > :21:28.a bus when a mother with a pushchair refused to move. The judges ruled
:21:29. > :21:34.they should do more to accommodate wheelchair users. Nicky Price says
:21:35. > :21:40.the ruling has not made any difference. She dreads being left
:21:41. > :21:48.stranded at a bus stop. I am vulnerable, left out in the cold,
:21:49. > :21:52.alone. Where does it... What if something happens? I feel scared to
:21:53. > :22:03.use the buses. In a statement, first said:
:22:04. > :22:13.Nicky Price see the fore says she has received overwhelming support
:22:14. > :22:15.over what she feels is a continuing injustice against wheelchair users.
:22:16. > :22:18.You may well know that hidden away in a giant hangar in Bedfordshire
:22:19. > :22:21.is the longest aircraft in the world.
:22:22. > :22:24.It's called the Airlander and it's a cross between an airship
:22:25. > :22:26.and a conventional plane. Last summer, everybody got
:22:27. > :22:29.very excited when it made its maiden flight.
:22:30. > :22:31.Then, a few days later, there was a crash landing.
:22:32. > :22:36.Now after months of repair work, it could be back in the air very soon.
:22:37. > :22:53.Airlander in the skies above Cardington. One of many maiden
:22:54. > :22:57.flights. Its second test flight ended in this, and undignified
:22:58. > :23:03.nosedive on landing. The state of the cockpit shown it could have been
:23:04. > :23:08.worse. I have been given special access inside shed one. To find out
:23:09. > :23:11.how the air lender is recovering. The cockpit now being rebuilt, those
:23:12. > :23:17.at the controls that they are unharmed. There was a loud noise
:23:18. > :23:22.when we hit the ground. Pretty soon we realise that most of the damage
:23:23. > :23:26.was superficial. We were fine and a chilly got top and walked off the
:23:27. > :23:32.flight deck. Are you looking forward to going back up? We are all
:23:33. > :23:37.excited. There was frustration we had to stop flying to repair the
:23:38. > :23:42.aircraft, but we know we have made loads of changes to our training and
:23:43. > :23:48.we will come back much stronger. This shed is 100 years old, built
:23:49. > :23:52.for the original airships with its own climate, far colder than
:23:53. > :23:57.outside. A century ago, nearby shorts town was built to house the
:23:58. > :24:01.workers and now the apprentices once again being recruited from the same
:24:02. > :24:09.area. It is amazing to follow in their footsteps and a revolutionary
:24:10. > :24:12.aircraft like this is amazing. It's a great feeling, a great atmosphere,
:24:13. > :24:19.everyone grew up around here so knows the history. If it hadn't been
:24:20. > :24:25.for a heavy landing, the Airlander would have had extra flying time but
:24:26. > :24:28.backers remain optimistic. Details confidential but they include a high
:24:29. > :24:34.profile investor from the middle east and it is hoped Airlander will
:24:35. > :24:38.return to the skies very soon. Come March time, we should leave the hang
:24:39. > :24:47.out again for our 2017 flight test programme. Then we will work with
:24:48. > :24:52.customers, working up to some longer trips into Asia, North America. This
:24:53. > :24:53.is the latest chapter in airship history as the industry celebrates
:24:54. > :25:07.its 100th year here. Handsome. Very impressive. Now the
:25:08. > :25:13.weather. Colder firmly establish across the British Isles. Bitterly
:25:14. > :25:20.cold for at least 48 hours and there have been some snow flurries. These
:25:21. > :25:29.photographs define some. Evidence of snow on the windscreen. You can see
:25:30. > :25:35.a little bit of snow there on what looks like a table. Most of us saw
:25:36. > :25:39.leaden skies today and with the temperature and the bitterly cold
:25:40. > :25:46.wind, it has not felt pleasant. There will be the risk of further
:25:47. > :25:51.snow showers over the next 24 hours. High-pressure, huge area of high
:25:52. > :25:56.pressure across Scandinavia and that is blocking these Atlantic weather
:25:57. > :26:03.systems coming in. Colder air across us over the last 24 hours. These
:26:04. > :26:07.showers will continue this evening. Mainly for coastal parts, but as
:26:08. > :26:13.that north-easterly wind freshens, they could move further inland, so
:26:14. > :26:18.the chance you may wake up to a dusting of snow tomorrow morning,
:26:19. > :26:25.particularly if you live in eastern counties. A few degrees below
:26:26. > :26:31.freezing. Tomorrow's weather, not a lot changing but we have this
:26:32. > :26:36.feature coming in from the north sea and there will be more depth to the
:26:37. > :26:41.cloud tomorrow, so any showers will be heavier. The risk of those
:26:42. > :26:46.showers through the day, a lot of dry weather but no evidence of
:26:47. > :26:51.sunshine. Temperatures once more similar to today, two or three
:26:52. > :26:56.degrees. Factor in that north-easterly wind, it will be
:26:57. > :27:01.bitterly cold. Snow showers could move further west so as we go into
:27:02. > :27:05.Friday evening, a greater risk of getting a dusting of snow and
:27:06. > :27:11.further across western counties as well. Certainly looking very wintry
:27:12. > :27:17.over the next few days. There are changes into next week. Low pressure
:27:18. > :27:22.moving up from the south and that will change things. Slightly less
:27:23. > :27:26.cold air for the weekend, but we still have the north-easterly wind
:27:27. > :27:32.so it will feel the same temperature wise. But by mid week, more of a
:27:33. > :27:38.springlike feel as temperatures cover perhaps into the mid teens.
:27:39. > :27:52.Fantastic! That is all from us. Goodbye.
:27:53. > :27:59.OK, everyone, have you got your bamboo sticks?
:28:00. > :28:01.If you just paint what you want to paint,
:28:02. > :28:07.I've turned around, my painting washes away.
:28:08. > :28:12...and take on The Big Painting Challenge.
:28:13. > :28:43.Remember, you're not painting a pond.
:28:44. > :28:46.Before I met you, I was a civilised woman.