:00:00. > :00:00.Hello and welcome to Look East as we look ahead
:00:00. > :00:19.32 seats are up for grabs here. We hear what voters think in Clacton.
:00:20. > :00:25.This town voted overwhelmingly for Brexit and only until recently at
:00:26. > :00:31.the UK's only Ukip MP. We'll be finding out their reaction. We get
:00:32. > :00:33.reaction to the announcement in Norwich South, Labour's only seat in
:00:34. > :00:43.the east. Hello and welcome to
:00:44. > :00:46.Look East as we look ahead On June the eighth, the UK
:00:47. > :00:49.will have a national poll We had the general election in 2015,
:00:50. > :00:56.and the EU referendum in 2016. So what will 2017
:00:57. > :00:58.bring for this region? Let's start with a look
:00:59. > :01:01.at the political map for Essex, This was the result two years
:01:02. > :01:05.ago: A sea of blue - 29 Conservative MPs,
:01:06. > :01:08.one Ukip MP in Clacton, one Labour MP in Norwich South,
:01:09. > :01:11.and one Liberal Democrat in North And this was the breakdown
:01:12. > :01:20.of the votes cast: 49% Conservative, 21% Labour, 18% Ukip,
:01:21. > :01:28.7% Liberal Democrat and 4% Green. Stay with us for our focus
:01:29. > :01:31.on the seats to watch and reaction Let's start with our political
:01:32. > :01:36.correspondent Andrew Sinclair. They're already calling
:01:37. > :01:40.this the Brexit election because even though there will be
:01:41. > :01:43.other important issues at stake. It's really going to come down
:01:44. > :01:46.to how voters feel about us Now last year in Norfolk,
:01:47. > :01:49.Suffolk and Essex 60% of people backed Brexit -
:01:50. > :01:57.way above the national average. With the Conservatives holding
:01:58. > :01:59.nearly all these seats and supporting Brexit the assumption
:02:00. > :02:02.must be that there'll But there will be some
:02:03. > :02:07.interesting battles. Top of the list, Norwich South -
:02:08. > :02:10.the only place in our The present MP is Labour's Clive
:02:11. > :02:24.Lewis and even though he was part of the Remain campaign
:02:25. > :02:28.and resigned over Article 50, Labour policy is seemingly
:02:29. > :02:30.to support Brexit. And then there's North Norfolk -
:02:31. > :02:34.Norman Lamb was one of the few Lib Dems to survive the 2015
:02:35. > :02:37.election, but he's a Remainer. And 59% of his constituents
:02:38. > :02:38.voted to leave. Every MP in Suffolk backed
:02:39. > :02:42.the Remain campaign. They of course now back
:02:43. > :02:44.Brexit and they'll have to justify their change
:02:45. > :02:46.of heart to voters. Their MP Douglas Carswell
:02:47. > :02:51.defected to Ukip, a move What's going to happen
:02:52. > :03:02.there this time? Well, let's find out what they make
:03:03. > :03:13.of the news in Clacton. It's been a busy day here in
:03:14. > :03:19.Clacton. Plenty of talk about the Prime Minister's announcement, most
:03:20. > :03:22.of which was around the fact this will be needed to secure Brexit. The
:03:23. > :03:25.majority of people here voted to Remain. It will be vote for next and
:03:26. > :03:30.will be welcome another general election? Channels
:03:31. > :03:34.has been making sandwiches and coffee in Clacton for six months now
:03:35. > :03:41.but has been a conservative all his life. It's been quite interesting
:03:42. > :03:44.watching it all down here, watching the reactions of some of the people
:03:45. > :03:48.and listening to some of the customers. It would be interesting
:03:49. > :03:54.to see what Douglas Carswell wants to do, if he goes back to the Tory
:03:55. > :03:57.party. He has a lot of decisions to make very quickly now. That my
:03:58. > :04:01.currently represents Clacton in the House of Commons. He is making it
:04:02. > :04:06.rather confusing for voters to decide who to vote for. In 2014 he
:04:07. > :04:10.defected from the Conservatives and became Ukip's first elected MP. Only
:04:11. > :04:13.a couple of weeks ago, he resigned from the party to become an
:04:14. > :04:17.independent. With the general independent. With the general
:04:18. > :04:22.election being served up in June, will it change people's thoughts? I
:04:23. > :04:26.don't think so. I think it'll stay the same as it always has. I
:04:27. > :04:28.it may change a few things but I it may change a few things but I
:04:29. > :04:35.don't think it will change much locally. I think Clacton is quite a
:04:36. > :04:42.Ukip area. Do you think it is a good move? It's a gamble. I would want to
:04:43. > :04:47.put my mortgage on it! And when it comes to gambling, Ukip is good or
:04:48. > :04:52.anything to go by. Now that the anything to go by. Now that the
:04:53. > :04:55.for all -- once and for all, other for all -- once and for all, other
:04:56. > :05:01.Conservatives worried their votes will be handed over, too? I think
:05:02. > :05:04.will be a blip, it's a big jump, will be a blip, it's a big jump,
:05:05. > :05:08.lots of things have happened in the last few weeks and people will be
:05:09. > :05:12.looking around to see what to do next. Including Alan Banks, a major
:05:13. > :05:15.Ukip donor. He confronts today he will stand in Clacton but hasn't
:05:16. > :05:19.decided whether he will represent Ukip or stand as an independent. So
:05:20. > :05:22.a lot of change and a lot of a lot of change and a lot of
:05:23. > :05:23.decisions to be made in the next several weeks for this small seaside
:05:24. > :05:30.town. As you can imagine, all eyes will be
:05:31. > :05:33.on Douglas Carswell over the next couple of weeks. Will he continue to
:05:34. > :05:36.stand as an independent or will he go back to the Conservatives? Thank
:05:37. > :05:38.you very much. Let's get some reaction now
:05:39. > :05:40.from the region's MPs. Norman Lamb is the Lib Dem MP
:05:41. > :05:43.for North Norfolk and Brandon Lewis is the Conservative MP for Great
:05:44. > :05:47.Yarmouth. I asked Mr Lewis if
:05:48. > :05:53.he had been expecting I've already had quite
:05:54. > :05:59.a few bits of contacts, e-mails and messages on Twitter
:06:00. > :06:01.from lots of constituents. They think it is a good thing
:06:02. > :06:05.and are keen to get a chance to vote for Theresa May
:06:06. > :06:08.because they like what she's doing - delivering Brexit in a really solid,
:06:09. > :06:10.strong, simple approach for the benefit of this country
:06:11. > :06:13.and that's people who have traditionally voted either Labour
:06:14. > :06:15.or for other parties Norman Lamb, they are calling this
:06:16. > :06:19.the Brexit election, the Liberal Democrats
:06:20. > :06:25.are very anti-Brexit. Your constituency was
:06:26. > :06:27.59% voted for Brexit. Does that put you in
:06:28. > :06:32.a difficult position? Time will tell how people vote
:06:33. > :06:36.and I respect absolutely the outcome of elections,
:06:37. > :06:39.but it does give the country the opportunity to now
:06:40. > :06:46.debate our future as a country, to accept the outcome and to seek
:06:47. > :06:51.to debate what sort of deal we do. It is also really important in any
:06:52. > :06:54.democracy and I suspect even Brandon would accept this,
:06:55. > :07:02.that you have to have a viable and decent and effective alternative
:07:03. > :07:05.to a Government to ensure that you hold that Government to account
:07:06. > :07:08.and that will be particularly important as we go through these
:07:09. > :07:13.complex and difficult negotiations Brandon Lewis, back to that point
:07:14. > :07:16.Norman Lamb was making about a strong opposition,
:07:17. > :07:19.one of the recent Theresa May gave for calling the election
:07:20. > :07:21.is that the opposition There's a big difference, as Norman,
:07:22. > :07:29.says between an opposition holding people to account instead of trying
:07:30. > :07:34.to override Parliament and an opposition in as much
:07:35. > :07:36.disarray at the Labour I think that has been
:07:37. > :07:40.Theresa May is clear, and all of these issues,
:07:41. > :07:42.a strong, stable Government with a clear mandate
:07:43. > :07:44.and clear majority to deliver on all of the issues
:07:45. > :07:47.across Government that we have to do We've seen crime fall
:07:48. > :07:50.by 30% since 2010. There are a whole range of things
:07:51. > :07:57.we will be setting out But it is completely critical
:07:58. > :08:03.that we negotiate a deal that ensures that our exporters can trade
:08:04. > :08:06.across the European Union single This abandonment of our attempted
:08:07. > :08:13.in a single market and to stay in the customs union and indeed also
:08:14. > :08:16.to very significantly reduce the numbers of people who have come
:08:17. > :08:20.into this country to work could do enormous damage to our economy
:08:21. > :08:24.and to our region as well so the importance of holding
:08:25. > :08:26.the Government to account through this period cannot be
:08:27. > :08:29.overstated and that's why you need a really effective
:08:30. > :08:36.opposition to do that. For the many people who didn't want
:08:37. > :08:39.Brexit and are very worried about the Government's position,
:08:40. > :08:42.which way should they vote in June? I think they should be voting
:08:43. > :08:47.Conservative because what we've got is Theresa May who wants to get
:08:48. > :08:52.the best deal for the country so we would become a global,
:08:53. > :08:55.outward-looking country that deals with countries across the world
:08:56. > :08:57.in a strong trading economy. But the opposition might feel
:08:58. > :09:00.they are representing people who no There's a big difference
:09:01. > :09:09.between representing and making a case and trying to frustrate
:09:10. > :09:11.a process the British people Theresa May will be looking
:09:12. > :09:15.for a mandate to get on with the wider domestic agenda
:09:16. > :09:18.to make sure this country works for everybody while getting the best
:09:19. > :09:20.deal for Great Britain. Norman Lamb, only 7% of people
:09:21. > :09:22.voted Liberal Democrat How much do you think that has
:09:23. > :09:26.changed in two years? All I can say is what has happened
:09:27. > :09:30.on the ground on my own area, every by-election we have fought,
:09:31. > :09:32.we've won with significant majorities, we've gained
:09:33. > :09:34.seats across the region I think what we will see now
:09:35. > :09:42.is a resurgence of the Lib Dems, particularly because the Labour
:09:43. > :09:44.Party is in such How can Labour MPs who last year
:09:45. > :09:54.voted in a vote of no-confidence against their leader go out
:09:55. > :09:56.to the country now and country to vote for Jeremy Corbyn as Prime
:09:57. > :09:59.Minister? I suspect actually this
:10:00. > :10:02.general election could lead to the realignment of British
:10:03. > :10:04.politics, because I suspect the Labour Party now faces
:10:05. > :10:12.an existential challenge. Let's look at another
:10:13. > :10:16.of those seats to watch. Norwich South is the region's
:10:17. > :10:18.only Labour seat. Can the local MP Clive
:10:19. > :10:21.Lewis hang on to it? This is from our chief
:10:22. > :10:25.reporter Kim Riley. Lynne Crookes took over
:10:26. > :10:27.the Muddy Cup cafe off Norwich's Dereham Road
:10:28. > :10:30.18 months ago. Her customers range
:10:31. > :10:34.from students to the elderly. Lynn is the archetype
:10:35. > :10:36.floating voter. In the referendum, she voted Remain,
:10:37. > :10:39.fearful of the impact a Brexit vote might have
:10:40. > :10:42.on her children and grandchildren. She doesn't blame Theresa May
:10:43. > :10:46.for calling an election, but simply doesn't trust any
:10:47. > :10:47.of the runners and riders. That's my biggest problem,
:10:48. > :10:52.I have no confidence in any of them. They change their minds too much
:10:53. > :10:55.and tell you what you want to hear and then they say, we're not
:10:56. > :10:58.going to do that now. # Everything is going
:10:59. > :11:05.to be all right... A large pro-Europe demonstration
:11:06. > :11:07.in Norwich in the wake In Norfolk, Sussex and Essex,
:11:08. > :11:12.the only area where the Remainers A dilemma for the only Labour MP
:11:13. > :11:16.in the region Clive Lewis, A close ally of Jeremy Corbyn,
:11:17. > :11:21.he was briefly Shadow Defence Secretary before getting the front
:11:22. > :11:25.bench business brief. But then it was back
:11:26. > :11:27.on the backbenches - he stepped down after defying
:11:28. > :11:30.the party line by voting against In the streets of his constituency
:11:31. > :11:34.today, some support for I think if she's going to start
:11:35. > :11:39.the process, we need to get on with it and need to know
:11:40. > :11:42.where we stand as see what's I'm very against Brexit so maybe
:11:43. > :11:50.we will be able to put a hold on that as well so far me it's
:11:51. > :11:56.a good thing. I used to vote Labour,
:11:57. > :11:59.but Corbyn is just a waste of space. Would you vote for the local
:12:00. > :12:01.Conservative now? Do you think she's right
:12:02. > :12:04.to call an election now? Clive Lewis, a leading member
:12:05. > :12:11.of Labour's In campaign, will now fight to hold onto the seat
:12:12. > :12:13.in June's election. The local Green Party says
:12:14. > :12:16.the timing suggests it's more about Tory advantage
:12:17. > :12:21.than democratic accountability. So, what does Clive Lewis have
:12:22. > :12:24.to say about today's news? I spoke to him a short
:12:25. > :12:27.while ago and put it to him, this was an election his
:12:28. > :12:39.party doesn't want. It's not election I expected, so it
:12:40. > :12:45.certainly unexpected. I think the reason it's unexpected is because
:12:46. > :12:48.Theresa May has misled us, Parliament and the British public.
:12:49. > :12:52.She said only a couple of months ago she would not call a snap election
:12:53. > :12:58.and the example she gave quite frankly were ludicrous, blaming the
:12:59. > :13:04.Lib Dems and others for trying to stop the Brexit from taking place.
:13:05. > :13:08.This is rubbish and ultimately she started this general election
:13:09. > :13:11.think that ultimately is what I and think that ultimately is what I and
:13:12. > :13:15.many others will take from this. You're taking... Accusing her of
:13:16. > :13:19.political opportunism but surely she is just making the most of the
:13:20. > :13:22.situation your party is in. There's a lot of people, us included that
:13:23. > :13:27.would love nothing more than to make would love nothing more than to make
:13:28. > :13:31.this election about the Labour Party. I'm going to give warning
:13:32. > :13:35.here that this is not about the Labour Party, this is about the
:13:36. > :13:38.future of our country, our place in the world, our relationship with
:13:39. > :13:43.Europe, about the fate of Europe in fact. This is possibly the most
:13:44. > :13:48.important general election in living memory. But it is also about Jeremy
:13:49. > :13:52.Corbyn and Labour Party because Jeremy Corbyn is being put out there
:13:53. > :13:57.as a potential Prime Minister and people are being made to decide
:13:58. > :14:02.whether they want to be the Prime Minister. And in that sense, we will
:14:03. > :14:05.be campaigning is Jeremy Corbyn as a reader campaigning to become Prime
:14:06. > :14:08.Minister but the issues will not be internal issues of the Labour Party,
:14:09. > :14:11.they will be the external issues facing this country, that's what is
:14:12. > :14:15.critical and what is important and that's what we will be holding in
:14:16. > :14:21.people's mines for most. This has been called the Brexit election. And
:14:22. > :14:24.voted to remain and yet you voted to remain and yet you
:14:25. > :14:28.represent a party that didn't show strong leadership on either side of
:14:29. > :14:33.the debate. I think it did show strong leadership. I think the
:14:34. > :14:36.Labour Party is in fact the only party, mainstream party, in this
:14:37. > :14:42.country that is trying to hold both sides of the country, the 48 and the
:14:43. > :14:44.52, together. We are trying to make sure we have an outcome which
:14:45. > :14:51.protects workers' rights and the environment and make sure we have a
:14:52. > :14:55.national health care system free of the point of entry and a properly
:14:56. > :14:59.funded education system. But in 2015 do with the only Labour MP elected
:15:00. > :15:03.in this region. According to the polls the challenge of facing at the
:15:04. > :15:07.party is much harder this time. Does not two ways about it, this will be
:15:08. > :15:14.very difficult election for us but I think given the scale and the scope
:15:15. > :15:17.and the impact that of the selection -- this election, possibly one of
:15:18. > :15:20.the most important elections in living memory, I think people will
:15:21. > :15:30.be thinking very hard and carefully about how they vote.
:15:31. > :15:32.Two people have been arrested following a shooting at a travellers
:15:33. > :15:35.site in Essex in which a man was killed and his sister
:15:36. > :15:38.A postmortem examination showed Hugh Doherty, who was 45,
:15:39. > :15:41.died as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest.
:15:42. > :15:47.The attack happened at Wickford on Sunday.
:15:48. > :15:50.A woman whose bulldog attacked and killed a three-year-old boy
:15:51. > :15:53.Three people were arrested at the weekend during an unofficial
:15:54. > :15:57.The bikers defied warnings not to attend the annual event
:15:58. > :15:59.The Borough Council is coming under more pressure to control
:16:00. > :16:06.Films posted on social media showing bikers heading down the A13
:16:07. > :16:16.towards Southend for the annual Easter Monday shakedown.
:16:17. > :16:19.This year, the event was not organised, but bikers used
:16:20. > :16:22.the Internet to make their own arrangements to meet up and ride
:16:23. > :16:36.Southend Council had concerns that the event had no plans
:16:37. > :16:38.We always want to welcome people to Southend, it's
:16:39. > :16:40.a lovely, friendly place, but we were concerned that,
:16:41. > :16:43.with the big event not being organised, we were concerned
:16:44. > :16:46.Southend has a history for car and bike meets.
:16:47. > :16:48.Following filming of this event in 2015, the council secured
:16:49. > :16:51.an injunction against unauthorised car cruises in the borough,
:16:52. > :16:53.but just last month, over 3,000 cars and bikes attended
:16:54. > :17:06.Yesterday's meet resulted in three people being arrested and 12 more
:17:07. > :17:07.currently being investigated by Essex Police
:17:08. > :17:11.Today, there has been criticism of the way
:17:12. > :17:20.Local businesses say that by creating parking for the bikes,
:17:21. > :17:30.Normally we'd have all the families coming and parking cars and coming
:17:31. > :17:32.out for the day into the businesses and all the motorbikes,
:17:33. > :17:36.for the last three or four years, have parked up on the pavement area
:17:37. > :17:38.on Marine Parade and that seems to suit everyone.
:17:39. > :17:40.Southend Council hope that they will find a way to work
:17:41. > :17:43.with cruise events and local traders so they can keep people
:17:44. > :17:51.safe and keep events like this coming to the town.
:17:52. > :17:54.Let's return to our main story - the snap general election called
:17:55. > :17:59.Of course, we've got the county council elections on May four.
:18:00. > :18:10.They will continue as planned. It seems the timetable that has been
:18:11. > :18:13.proposed, that the Prime Minister doesn't want important local
:18:14. > :18:16.elections to be squashed by the general election so what will happen
:18:17. > :18:22.is Parliament will be adjourned permanently on May three, local
:18:23. > :18:23.elections on May the 4th and then a week after that the general election
:18:24. > :18:24.campaign will begin in earnest. And there will only be one
:18:25. > :18:33.main issue, won't there? I think there will be. I've had MPs
:18:34. > :18:36.on Twitter saying there... Might be looking forward to fighting for
:18:37. > :18:40.housing or a new road or rail scheme in the constituency but this will
:18:41. > :18:45.come down to how people feel about Brexit. We said in the pack that
:18:46. > :18:48.fishing, they are the main ways fishing, they are the main ways
:18:49. > :18:52.Brexit will affect our region. No parties can lay out for us what they
:18:53. > :18:53.think the future will be in those important areas. Thank you very
:18:54. > :18:54.much. Let's get the thoughts now
:18:55. > :18:56.of Professor Paul Whiteley, the polling expert from Essex
:18:57. > :19:05.University. People have been saying this is
:19:06. > :19:11.course it's opportunistic. In fact, course it's opportunistic. In fact,
:19:12. > :19:15.any politician in her position would try to take advantage of the
:19:16. > :19:19.weakness of the main opposition party, Labour, in order to increase
:19:20. > :19:24.her majority. In some ways, this election looks like a rerun of the
:19:25. > :19:28.1983 election, which some of your viewers will remember. That was
:19:29. > :19:34.Margaret Thatcher versus Michael foot. Labour was divided and the end
:19:35. > :19:38.result was a big victory for Margaret Thatcher and a large
:19:39. > :19:43.majority but there may be one difference of significance in this
:19:44. > :19:50.context and that is the point about it being focusing on Brexit and a
:19:51. > :19:54.rerun of the referendum. In our region, as you were saying earlier,
:19:55. > :19:58.this is a very sceptical region and voted to leave but if you look at
:19:59. > :20:05.the voting throughout the whole country, remember that 52% voted to
:20:06. > :20:09.leave and 48% voted to remain and if it's going to be about Brexit all
:20:10. > :20:13.over again, there might be quite a few people who consider themselves
:20:14. > :20:17.conservative and in the past have supported the party who don't like
:20:18. > :20:23.the hard Brexit that appears to be emerging in the negotiations and may
:20:24. > :20:30.switch parties, so that's a danger for Theresa May. It's a risk she is
:20:31. > :20:33.taking, which is a danger. the polls are looking quite clear cut at this
:20:34. > :20:41.stage, but we have learned to distrust pulls quite a bit -- polls.
:20:42. > :20:46.That's true, if the polls were 50-50, it would be hard to call it,
:20:47. > :20:57.but they are not 50-50. The most recent poll by YouGov put the
:20:58. > :21:00.Conservatives at 45% and Labour at 25%, that's a big lead and is
:21:01. > :21:06.unlikely to be overturned by the polls. They're not perfect but he
:21:07. > :21:13.can't see them being that wrong. Are you expecting any major changes in
:21:14. > :21:16.our region? I think there is one implication arising from this. If
:21:17. > :21:22.Labour loses, as we expect, then they will need a new leader and
:21:23. > :21:27.Clive Lewis, who you've just interviewed, will be a leading
:21:28. > :21:28.candidate. Professor Paul Whiteley, thank you very much. Time for the
:21:29. > :21:37.weather. Hello. It's going to be a fairly
:21:38. > :21:44.settled week of weather this week. We will see some lovely sunshine
:21:45. > :21:48.like today, but this lovely picture in Cambridgeshire. As we go through
:21:49. > :21:51.the week, we will see some sunshine and each day will get slightly
:21:52. > :21:56.warmer but there will be some frosty nights starting with tonight. Is it
:21:57. > :21:59.starts with tonight. At the moment, there have been some areas of cloud
:22:00. > :22:03.but as we go through the evening, any cloud expected to melt away so
:22:04. > :22:10.temperatures quite widely close to freezing if not below, a very chilly
:22:11. > :22:15.start to the day tomorrow. High pressure is still keeping things
:22:16. > :22:17.relatively settled so after be chilly start, some good spells of
:22:18. > :22:21.sunshine through the morning. There will be variable amounts of cloud
:22:22. > :22:24.through the day and still a little bit of a cool northerly wind at
:22:25. > :22:28.times so temperatures likely to get to around ten or 11 Celsius and a
:22:29. > :22:32.little bit cooler on the coast itself but it stays dry through the
:22:33. > :22:36.day although it will tend to cloud over a little bit at times. As we go
:22:37. > :22:40.through the week, this weather front comes down on Friday. That will
:22:41. > :22:44.introduce cooler here once more so although temperatures will rise
:22:45. > :22:48.gradually through the week, by the weekend, temperatures are dropping
:22:49. > :22:49.once more as the cooler heads are away. The weather front looks as
:22:50. > :22:53.though it is not going to have much though it is not going to have much
:22:54. > :22:56.rain on it if anything so the next few days look strike
:22:57. > :22:58.temperatures of 1314 Celsius by temperatures of 1314 Celsius by
:22:59. > :23:04.Friday then the cooler air of returns and we will see sunshine on
:23:05. > :23:07.Saturday. It will be a bit chilly. Tonight, and a few nights here,
:23:08. > :23:14.temperatures close to freezing in towns and cities.
:23:15. > :23:21.That offer now that we'll have more coverage in our late bulletin after
:23:22. > :23:24.the ten news tonight. Had a very good evening. Goodbye. -- that's all
:23:25. > :23:29.for now.