18/04/2017 Look East

Hello and welcome to Look East as we look ahead

32 seats are up for grabs here. We hear what voters think in Clacton.

This town voted overwhelmingly for Brexit and only until recently at

the UK's only Ukip MP. We'll be finding out their reaction. We get

reaction to the announcement in Norwich South, Labour's only seat in

the east. Hello and welcome to

Look East as we look ahead On June the eighth, the UK

will have a national poll We had the general election in 2015,

and the EU referendum in 2016. So what will 2017

bring for this region? Let's start with a look

at the political map for Essex, This was the result two years

ago: A sea of blue - 29 Conservative MPs,

one Ukip MP in Clacton, one Labour MP in Norwich South,

and one Liberal Democrat in North And this was the breakdown

of the votes cast: 49% Conservative, 21% Labour, 18% Ukip,

7% Liberal Democrat and 4% Green. Stay with us for our focus

on the seats to watch and reaction Let's start with our political

correspondent Andrew Sinclair. They're already calling

this the Brexit election because even though there will be

other important issues at stake. It's really going to come down

to how voters feel about us Now last year in Norfolk,

Suffolk and Essex 60% of people backed Brexit -

way above the national average. With the Conservatives holding

nearly all these seats and supporting Brexit the assumption

must be that there'll But there will be some

interesting battles. Top of the list, Norwich South -

the only place in our The present MP is Labour's Clive

Lewis and even though he was part of the Remain campaign

and resigned over Article 50, Labour policy is seemingly

to support Brexit. And then there's North Norfolk -

Norman Lamb was one of the few Lib Dems to survive the 2015

election, but he's a Remainer. And 59% of his constituents

voted to leave. Every MP in Suffolk backed

the Remain campaign. They of course now back

Brexit and they'll have to justify their change

of heart to voters. Their MP Douglas Carswell

defected to Ukip, a move What's going to happen

there this time? Well, let's find out what they make

of the news in Clacton. It's been a busy day here in

Clacton. Plenty of talk about the Prime Minister's announcement, most

of which was around the fact this will be needed to secure Brexit. The

majority of people here voted to Remain. It will be vote for next and

will be welcome another general election? Channels

has been making sandwiches and coffee in Clacton for six months now

but has been a conservative all his life. It's been quite interesting

watching it all down here, watching the reactions of some of the people

and listening to some of the customers. It would be interesting

to see what Douglas Carswell wants to do, if he goes back to the Tory

party. He has a lot of decisions to make very quickly now. That my

currently represents Clacton in the House of Commons. He is making it

rather confusing for voters to decide who to vote for. In 2014 he

defected from the Conservatives and became Ukip's first elected MP. Only

a couple of weeks ago, he resigned from the party to become an

independent. With the general independent. With the general

election being served up in June, will it change people's thoughts? I

don't think so. I think it'll stay the same as it always has. I

it may change a few things but I it may change a few things but I

don't think it will change much locally. I think Clacton is quite a

Ukip area. Do you think it is a good move? It's a gamble. I would want to

put my mortgage on it! And when it comes to gambling, Ukip is good or

anything to go by. Now that the anything to go by. Now that the

for all -- once and for all, other for all -- once and for all, other

Conservatives worried their votes will be handed over, too? I think

will be a blip, it's a big jump, will be a blip, it's a big jump,

lots of things have happened in the last few weeks and people will be

looking around to see what to do next. Including Alan Banks, a major

Ukip donor. He confronts today he will stand in Clacton but hasn't

decided whether he will represent Ukip or stand as an independent. So

a lot of change and a lot of a lot of change and a lot of

decisions to be made in the next several weeks for this small seaside

town. As you can imagine, all eyes will be

on Douglas Carswell over the next couple of weeks. Will he continue to

stand as an independent or will he go back to the Conservatives? Thank

you very much. Let's get some reaction now

from the region's MPs. Norman Lamb is the Lib Dem MP

for North Norfolk and Brandon Lewis is the Conservative MP for Great

Yarmouth. I asked Mr Lewis if

he had been expecting I've already had quite

a few bits of contacts, e-mails and messages on Twitter

from lots of constituents. They think it is a good thing

and are keen to get a chance to vote for Theresa May

because they like what she's doing - delivering Brexit in a really solid,

strong, simple approach for the benefit of this country

and that's people who have traditionally voted either Labour

or for other parties Norman Lamb, they are calling this

the Brexit election, the Liberal Democrats

are very anti-Brexit. Your constituency was

59% voted for Brexit. Does that put you in

a difficult position? Time will tell how people vote

and I respect absolutely the outcome of elections,

but it does give the country the opportunity to now

debate our future as a country, to accept the outcome and to seek

to debate what sort of deal we do. It is also really important in any

democracy and I suspect even Brandon would accept this,

that you have to have a viable and decent and effective alternative

to a Government to ensure that you hold that Government to account

and that will be particularly important as we go through these

complex and difficult negotiations Brandon Lewis, back to that point

Norman Lamb was making about a strong opposition,

one of the recent Theresa May gave for calling the election

is that the opposition There's a big difference, as Norman,

says between an opposition holding people to account instead of trying

to override Parliament and an opposition in as much

disarray at the Labour I think that has been

Theresa May is clear, and all of these issues,

a strong, stable Government with a clear mandate

and clear majority to deliver on all of the issues

across Government that we have to do We've seen crime fall

by 30% since 2010. There are a whole range of things

we will be setting out But it is completely critical

that we negotiate a deal that ensures that our exporters can trade

across the European Union single This abandonment of our attempted

in a single market and to stay in the customs union and indeed also

to very significantly reduce the numbers of people who have come

into this country to work could do enormous damage to our economy

and to our region as well so the importance of holding

the Government to account through this period cannot be

overstated and that's why you need a really effective

opposition to do that. For the many people who didn't want

Brexit and are very worried about the Government's position,

which way should they vote in June? I think they should be voting

Conservative because what we've got is Theresa May who wants to get

the best deal for the country so we would become a global,

outward-looking country that deals with countries across the world

in a strong trading economy. But the opposition might feel

they are representing people who no There's a big difference

between representing and making a case and trying to frustrate

a process the British people Theresa May will be looking

for a mandate to get on with the wider domestic agenda

to make sure this country works for everybody while getting the best

deal for Great Britain. Norman Lamb, only 7% of people

voted Liberal Democrat How much do you think that has

changed in two years? All I can say is what has happened

on the ground on my own area, every by-election we have fought,

we've won with significant majorities, we've gained

seats across the region I think what we will see now

is a resurgence of the Lib Dems, particularly because the Labour

Party is in such How can Labour MPs who last year

voted in a vote of no-confidence against their leader go out

to the country now and country to vote for Jeremy Corbyn as Prime

Minister? I suspect actually this

general election could lead to the realignment of British

politics, because I suspect the Labour Party now faces

an existential challenge. Let's look at another

of those seats to watch. Norwich South is the region's

only Labour seat. Can the local MP Clive

Lewis hang on to it? This is from our chief

reporter Kim Riley. Lynne Crookes took over

the Muddy Cup cafe off Norwich's Dereham Road

18 months ago. Her customers range

from students to the elderly. Lynn is the archetype

floating voter. In the referendum, she voted Remain,

fearful of the impact a Brexit vote might have

on her children and grandchildren. She doesn't blame Theresa May

for calling an election, but simply doesn't trust any

of the runners and riders. That's my biggest problem,

I have no confidence in any of them. They change their minds too much

and tell you what you want to hear and then they say, we're not

going to do that now. # Everything is going

to be all right... A large pro-Europe demonstration

in Norwich in the wake In Norfolk, Sussex and Essex,

the only area where the Remainers A dilemma for the only Labour MP

in the region Clive Lewis, A close ally of Jeremy Corbyn,

he was briefly Shadow Defence Secretary before getting the front

bench business brief. But then it was back

on the backbenches - he stepped down after defying

the party line by voting against In the streets of his constituency

today, some support for I think if she's going to start

the process, we need to get on with it and need to know

where we stand as see what's I'm very against Brexit so maybe

we will be able to put a hold on that as well so far me it's

a good thing. I used to vote Labour,

but Corbyn is just a waste of space. Would you vote for the local

Conservative now? Do you think she's right

to call an election now? Clive Lewis, a leading member

of Labour's In campaign, will now fight to hold onto the seat

in June's election. The local Green Party says

the timing suggests it's more about Tory advantage

than democratic accountability. So, what does Clive Lewis have

to say about today's news? I spoke to him a short

while ago and put it to him, this was an election his

party doesn't want. It's not election I expected, so it

certainly unexpected. I think the reason it's unexpected is because

Theresa May has misled us, Parliament and the British public.

She said only a couple of months ago she would not call a snap election

and the example she gave quite frankly were ludicrous, blaming the

Lib Dems and others for trying to stop the Brexit from taking place.

This is rubbish and ultimately she started this general election

think that ultimately is what I and think that ultimately is what I and

many others will take from this. You're taking... Accusing her of

political opportunism but surely she is just making the most of the

situation your party is in. There's a lot of people, us included that

would love nothing more than to make would love nothing more than to make

this election about the Labour Party. I'm going to give warning

here that this is not about the Labour Party, this is about the

future of our country, our place in the world, our relationship with

Europe, about the fate of Europe in fact. This is possibly the most

important general election in living memory. But it is also about Jeremy

Corbyn and Labour Party because Jeremy Corbyn is being put out there

as a potential Prime Minister and people are being made to decide

whether they want to be the Prime Minister. And in that sense, we will

be campaigning is Jeremy Corbyn as a reader campaigning to become Prime

Minister but the issues will not be internal issues of the Labour Party,

they will be the external issues facing this country, that's what is

critical and what is important and that's what we will be holding in

people's mines for most. This has been called the Brexit election. And

voted to remain and yet you voted to remain and yet you

represent a party that didn't show strong leadership on either side of

the debate. I think it did show strong leadership. I think the

Labour Party is in fact the only party, mainstream party, in this

country that is trying to hold both sides of the country, the 48 and the

52, together. We are trying to make sure we have an outcome which

protects workers' rights and the environment and make sure we have a

national health care system free of the point of entry and a properly

funded education system. But in 2015 do with the only Labour MP elected

in this region. According to the polls the challenge of facing at the

party is much harder this time. Does not two ways about it, this will be

very difficult election for us but I think given the scale and the scope

and the impact that of the selection -- this election, possibly one of

the most important elections in living memory, I think people will

be thinking very hard and carefully about how they vote.

Two people have been arrested following a shooting at a travellers

site in Essex in which a man was killed and his sister

A postmortem examination showed Hugh Doherty, who was 45,

died as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest.

The attack happened at Wickford on Sunday.

A woman whose bulldog attacked and killed a three-year-old boy

Three people were arrested at the weekend during an unofficial

The bikers defied warnings not to attend the annual event

The Borough Council is coming under more pressure to control

Films posted on social media showing bikers heading down the A13

towards Southend for the annual Easter Monday shakedown.

This year, the event was not organised, but bikers used

the Internet to make their own arrangements to meet up and ride

Southend Council had concerns that the event had no plans

We always want to welcome people to Southend, it's

a lovely, friendly place, but we were concerned that,

with the big event not being organised, we were concerned

Southend has a history for car and bike meets.

Following filming of this event in 2015, the council secured

an injunction against unauthorised car cruises in the borough,

but just last month, over 3,000 cars and bikes attended

Yesterday's meet resulted in three people being arrested and 12 more

currently being investigated by Essex Police

Today, there has been criticism of the way

Local businesses say that by creating parking for the bikes,

Normally we'd have all the families coming and parking cars and coming

out for the day into the businesses and all the motorbikes,

for the last three or four years, have parked up on the pavement area

on Marine Parade and that seems to suit everyone.

Southend Council hope that they will find a way to work

with cruise events and local traders so they can keep people

safe and keep events like this coming to the town.

Let's return to our main story - the snap general election called

Of course, we've got the county council elections on May four.

They will continue as planned. It seems the timetable that has been

proposed, that the Prime Minister doesn't want important local

elections to be squashed by the general election so what will happen

is Parliament will be adjourned permanently on May three, local

elections on May the 4th and then a week after that the general election

campaign will begin in earnest. And there will only be one

main issue, won't there? I think there will be. I've had MPs

on Twitter saying there... Might be looking forward to fighting for

housing or a new road or rail scheme in the constituency but this will

come down to how people feel about Brexit. We said in the pack that

fishing, they are the main ways fishing, they are the main ways

Brexit will affect our region. No parties can lay out for us what they

think the future will be in those important areas. Thank you very

much. Let's get the thoughts now

of Professor Paul Whiteley, the polling expert from Essex

University. People have been saying this is

course it's opportunistic. In fact, course it's opportunistic. In fact,

any politician in her position would try to take advantage of the

weakness of the main opposition party, Labour, in order to increase

her majority. In some ways, this election looks like a rerun of the

1983 election, which some of your viewers will remember. That was

Margaret Thatcher versus Michael foot. Labour was divided and the end

result was a big victory for Margaret Thatcher and a large

majority but there may be one difference of significance in this

context and that is the point about it being focusing on Brexit and a

rerun of the referendum. In our region, as you were saying earlier,

this is a very sceptical region and voted to leave but if you look at

the voting throughout the whole country, remember that 52% voted to

leave and 48% voted to remain and if it's going to be about Brexit all

over again, there might be quite a few people who consider themselves

conservative and in the past have supported the party who don't like

the hard Brexit that appears to be emerging in the negotiations and may

switch parties, so that's a danger for Theresa May. It's a risk she is

taking, which is a danger. the polls are looking quite clear cut at this

stage, but we have learned to distrust pulls quite a bit -- polls.

That's true, if the polls were 50-50, it would be hard to call it,

but they are not 50-50. The most recent poll by YouGov put the

Conservatives at 45% and Labour at 25%, that's a big lead and is

unlikely to be overturned by the polls. They're not perfect but he

can't see them being that wrong. Are you expecting any major changes in

our region? I think there is one implication arising from this. If

Labour loses, as we expect, then they will need a new leader and

Clive Lewis, who you've just interviewed, will be a leading

candidate. Professor Paul Whiteley, thank you very much. Time for the

weather. Hello. It's going to be a fairly

settled week of weather this week. We will see some lovely sunshine

like today, but this lovely picture in Cambridgeshire. As we go through

the week, we will see some sunshine and each day will get slightly

warmer but there will be some frosty nights starting with tonight. Is it

starts with tonight. At the moment, there have been some areas of cloud

but as we go through the evening, any cloud expected to melt away so

temperatures quite widely close to freezing if not below, a very chilly

start to the day tomorrow. High pressure is still keeping things

relatively settled so after be chilly start, some good spells of

sunshine through the morning. There will be variable amounts of cloud

through the day and still a little bit of a cool northerly wind at

times so temperatures likely to get to around ten or 11 Celsius and a

little bit cooler on the coast itself but it stays dry through the

day although it will tend to cloud over a little bit at times. As we go

through the week, this weather front comes down on Friday. That will

introduce cooler here once more so although temperatures will rise

gradually through the week, by the weekend, temperatures are dropping

once more as the cooler heads are away. The weather front looks as

though it is not going to have much though it is not going to have much

rain on it if anything so the next few days look strike

temperatures of 1314 Celsius by temperatures of 1314 Celsius by

Friday then the cooler air of returns and we will see sunshine on

Saturday. It will be a bit chilly. Tonight, and a few nights here,

temperatures close to freezing in towns and cities.

That offer now that we'll have more coverage in our late bulletin after

the ten news tonight. Had a very good evening. Goodbye. -- that's all

for now.