:00:00. > :00:11.Hello, I'm Tom Williams. pro-Brexit MPs in the election.
:00:12. > :00:13.Here in the East, he came, he saw,
:00:14. > :00:15.Why this millionaire has pulled
:00:16. > :00:17.out of the election race for Clacton.
:00:18. > :00:19.And 60 years after his first Guineas win, a legend
:00:20. > :00:26.of horse racing returns to Newmarket.
:00:27. > :00:33.And it may be late April, but winter is not done with as yet. I will have
:00:34. > :00:35.the weather forecast at the end of the programme.
:00:36. > :00:38.It's been a day of twists and turns in the
:00:39. > :00:40.general election, with one of Britain's biggest party donors
:00:41. > :00:42.changing his mind over standing as an MP.
:00:43. > :00:46.On a visit to Clacton today, Arron Banks had hoped to persuade
:00:47. > :00:50.Ukip supporters to choose him as their candidate for June eighth.
:00:51. > :00:53.But the multimillionaire has withdrawn from the race.
:00:54. > :00:56.It seems the combination of wealth and influence failed to win
:00:57. > :01:00.Mr Banks said tonight, "I have no intention
:01:01. > :01:11."hard-working activists who are the soul of the party".
:01:12. > :01:13.This afternoon, Arron Banks was a picture of confidence, posing for
:01:14. > :01:17.the photographers, meeting voters, and appealing to be looking forward
:01:18. > :01:20.the photographers, meeting voters, and appearing to be looking forward
:01:21. > :01:24.Everyone has got a sense of humour, which they are
:01:25. > :01:26.clearly going to need if I am standing here.
:01:27. > :01:29.In political circles, he is well-known
:01:30. > :01:32.as the man who bankrolled Ukip, a close friend of Nigel Farage.
:01:33. > :01:33.The media were very excited about him
:01:34. > :01:35.standing here, but there was an obvious problem.
:01:36. > :01:46.His day began meeting party members over sandwiches and
:01:47. > :01:49.He told them he wanted Ukip to win here
:01:50. > :01:51.again, and he wanted to be the candidate,
:01:52. > :01:54.but they told him they already had a local person in the frame,
:01:55. > :01:57.and afterwards when we spoke, this was clearly playing on
:01:58. > :02:01.There is a very good local candidate.
:02:02. > :02:04.I am not just going to rush in here and take over from him,
:02:05. > :02:09.And if there is a local candidate, you will still support him?
:02:10. > :02:12.What I said in the meeting was, that Clacton is Ukip's
:02:13. > :02:15.number one seat, and I will be financially supporting them come
:02:16. > :02:21.Obviously, there are unquestionable benefits to
:02:22. > :02:24.someone like Mr Banks coming to Clacton and being the candidate.
:02:25. > :02:28.It would be among them, certainly, but
:02:29. > :02:31.you cannot ignore his media expedience, that is important.
:02:32. > :02:34.But I think also what came out there was
:02:35. > :02:37.the need perhaps for a local element.
:02:38. > :02:42.Tonight, Mr Banks issued a statement, saying it would be
:02:43. > :02:44.wrong to stand in the way of a good local candidate,
:02:45. > :02:46.and he promised the local party his full support.
:02:47. > :02:48.The question now is, can Ukip win again
:02:49. > :02:54.After the last one, when everyone, I was quite
:02:55. > :02:59.leaflets and things out in their garden, "Vote Ukip".
:03:00. > :03:01.I think that Douglas Carswell won because he was
:03:02. > :03:05.a good local MP, I don't think it was the Ukip factor,
:03:06. > :03:09.so I think it is quite false to say that this is a Ukip area.
:03:10. > :03:12.For Mr Banks, it has all been a bit embarrassing today, but
:03:13. > :03:16.at least he got an ice cream out of it.
:03:17. > :03:18.Earlier, I asked our political correspondent, Andrew Sinclair,
:03:19. > :03:22.how much of a blow this turn of events was for Ukip.
:03:23. > :03:25.Looking at the amount of media attention there was for Arron Banks
:03:26. > :03:29.today, it was very clear that if he had become Ukip's candidate,
:03:30. > :03:31.Clacton and Ukip would have got a lot of
:03:32. > :03:35.attention in the forthcoming election, and that probably won't
:03:36. > :03:38.happen as much now, but Ukip have done OK out of this, because
:03:39. > :03:40.for a start, they have got Arron Banks' money.
:03:41. > :03:43.He has promised to give them financial support in this
:03:44. > :03:48.He has also promised to go down and campaign for them on
:03:49. > :03:51.several occasions, along with Nigel Farage, so that is a big
:03:52. > :03:55.On top of that, he has also promised his support for
:03:56. > :03:58.Ukip, and that will go down very well with the Ukip hierarchy,
:03:59. > :04:01.because a couple of months ago, he was talking about going off and
:04:02. > :04:04.forming his own political party, because he had fallen out with Ukip.
:04:05. > :04:07.Now he is back on board again, and in the Ukip hierarchy tonight,
:04:08. > :04:10.a lot of people will be breathing a sigh of relief.
:04:11. > :04:12.And all this confusion, is this basically because the
:04:13. > :04:14.general election caught everyone by surprise?
:04:15. > :04:17.Yes, particularly those in Labour, Liberal Democrat and Ukip,
:04:18. > :04:21.even though their party leaders had put them last September on an early
:04:22. > :04:24.election footing, this has caught many people short, and so all over
:04:25. > :04:27.the region at the moment, there are a lot of hurried
:04:28. > :04:30.meetings going on, about, "Where do we find a candidate from?"
:04:31. > :04:32."Do we have the right sort of candidate?"
:04:33. > :04:34."Can they take time off work to fight an election?"
:04:35. > :04:37.Those meetings are going to continue for the next week or so, because
:04:38. > :04:39.everyone, as you said, has been caught by surprise.
:04:40. > :04:44.Meanwhile, in Colchester, the former Liberal Democrat MP
:04:45. > :04:48.confirmed he would be trying to win his old seat back.
:04:49. > :04:52.Sir Bob, who's now 71, lost in 2015 to Will Quince.
:04:53. > :04:59.He'll have to overturn a 5,500 Conservative majority.
:05:00. > :05:01.Farmers in the region say rain is desperately needed,
:05:02. > :05:04.after the UK's driest six months in 20 years.
:05:05. > :05:08.In places, there's been no significant rainfall since February.
:05:09. > :05:13.Irrigation has begun months ahead of schedule to save some crops.
:05:14. > :05:16.You can see over this site, that we have irrigated
:05:17. > :05:23.ready for planting. Yet, over here, where it has not had
:05:24. > :05:25.any irrigation, you can see that it is very sandy.
:05:26. > :05:29.There is nothing at all in the soil here.
:05:30. > :05:32.And this is a direct result of months and months of no rain.
:05:33. > :05:34.Every year, they grow thousands of bedding plants, shrubs,
:05:35. > :05:36.and trees at Swans Nursery near Woodbridge.
:05:37. > :05:38.The start of this growing season has been far from
:05:39. > :05:39.normal. Months earlier than usual,
:05:40. > :05:42.they have had no choice but to irrigate.
:05:43. > :05:45.We would lose our stock, we would lose our plants, there would
:05:46. > :05:48.not be anything here for us to go on with.
:05:49. > :05:50.We have overhead irrigation and trickle irrigation here.
:05:51. > :05:54.Trickle irrigation on most of the containers that you can see
:05:55. > :05:56.behind me here, it just uses less water.
:05:57. > :06:01.At this farm, they have been irrigating
:06:02. > :06:03.autumn and spring cereal crops, something they would not normally do
:06:04. > :06:09.Met Office data shows that between October last year and
:06:10. > :06:13.March this year was the driest in the UK for 20 years,
:06:14. > :06:19.During that period, the region had just over 251
:06:20. > :06:26.That makes it the 19th driest spell since 1910.
:06:27. > :06:27.Getting this sugar beet crop to germinate
:06:28. > :06:33.now it is at risk of damage from sand, stirred up by a biting wind.
:06:34. > :06:38.We have had a below average rainfall since the end of last year, and no
:06:39. > :06:42.significant rain, certainly in this part of Norfolk, for the past six or
:06:43. > :06:47.Growers are well used to the vagaries of our weather, but
:06:48. > :06:56.all say just some rain soon, even if it is short lived,
:06:57. > :07:03.Now, would you believe this fresh faced chap is a 12-year-old
:07:04. > :07:05.Lester Piggott, who'd just won his first race?
:07:06. > :07:07.70 years on, he's guest of honour tonight
:07:08. > :07:14.celebrating the life of the greatest jockey of all.
:07:15. > :07:16.With the first Classics of the season,
:07:17. > :07:18.The Guineas, less than two weeks away,
:07:19. > :07:23.He is a racing great, a sporting icon, and tonight, once again,
:07:24. > :07:27.Lester Piggott is the toast of Newmarket.
:07:28. > :07:30.Now 81, Lester is a special guest at the launch of the
:07:31. > :07:33.British Champions Series, with a new exhibition
:07:34. > :07:36.on show at the National Heritage Centre, 60
:07:37. > :07:39.years after his first Guineas triumph,
:07:40. > :07:44.And Lester Piggott is drawing ahead yard by yard,
:07:45. > :07:52.He was the big favourite in the race,
:07:53. > :07:58.and he was always going to win quite easily.
:07:59. > :08:06.Last year, it was Hugo Palmer that struck gold in
:08:07. > :08:11.the 2000 Guineas with Galileo Gold, handing the local trainer has first
:08:12. > :08:17.What it has meant is that we have got more clients and
:08:18. > :08:21.more horses this year, which is very exciting,
:08:22. > :08:26.entirely a numbers game, racing, having 40 or 50 more horses, there
:08:27. > :08:30.is a chance that within those 40 or 50, there is going to be another
:08:31. > :08:36.This year, all eyes are on another racing legend, Frankel.
:08:37. > :08:41.In fact, it is the stallion's babies that are the centre of attention.
:08:42. > :08:44.His foals are now three, all grown up, and part of the Classic
:08:45. > :08:50.Being the first British Classics of the year,
:08:51. > :08:52.they're the type of races that everybody wants to win,
:08:53. > :08:55.and I think the added excitement of this year is the fact
:08:56. > :08:57.that Frankel's children, both girls and boys,
:08:58. > :09:00.will be competing in the 1000 and the 2000 Guineas.
:09:01. > :09:03.Back in the yard, Hugo has 12 days to decide whether
:09:04. > :09:10.Either way, he has memories to last a lifetime.
:09:11. > :09:18.After all, he is flat racing's greatest ever jockey.
:09:19. > :09:21.That's all from me and the late team.
:09:22. > :09:29.I'll leave you with the weather from Dan Holley.
:09:30. > :09:36.It is going to be cold over the next few days, watching a cold front
:09:37. > :09:42.moving its way southwards over today, bits and pieces of rain
:09:43. > :09:45.earlier which has cleared now. A run of northerly winds behind, bringing
:09:46. > :09:50.some Arctic are southwards. It is clear out there from any of us
:09:51. > :09:53.tonight, but also quite cold, a futures of the north-east of
:09:54. > :09:59.Norfolk, which could be wintry. It is good to be a chilly night with
:10:00. > :10:05.widespread frost and temperatures below zero. A bright start tomorrow,
:10:06. > :10:11.though, and as we go through the day, the cloud will bubble up, some
:10:12. > :10:15.showers could be heavy with sleet and thunder. Some sunshine in
:10:16. > :10:20.between, ten of 11 Celsis, but it will feel quite chilly through the
:10:21. > :10:24.day tomorrow. On Wednesday, another day of sunshine and April showers,
:10:25. > :10:28.could be some hail mixed in as well. Temperatures will be subdued as a
:10:29. > :10:33.result. We have this warm weather from swapping its way southwards on
:10:34. > :10:36.Thursday, a dry start and a frosty start with some sunshine, but we
:10:37. > :10:41.will eventually get some showery rain working its way southwards, but
:10:42. > :10:45.also with some less cold here. Temperatures as high as 13 on
:10:46. > :10:49.Friday. One or two isolated showers on Friday, which could be heavy and
:10:50. > :10:54.slow moving, but very few of those to dark about. As we head into the
:10:55. > :10:58.bank or the weekend, Saturday mainly dry, temperatures back up into the
:10:59. > :11:00.mid teens. Sunday, some rain moving in from the west which could linger
:11:01. > :11:03.into Monday. course, there'll be the threat of
:11:04. > :11:06.some rain. More with the national forecast now.
:11:07. > :11:12.Good evening. It's been turning colder from the north so far today.
:11:13. > :11:15.It's been cold enough for significant snow in northern
:11:16. > :11:19.Scotland. This was mid afternoon. More recently it's been blowing
:11:20. > :11:24.around over the tops of the mountains. Snow in April not
:11:25. > :11:29.necessarily unusual but it's usually unwelcome. The colder air coming in
:11:30. > :11:31.behind the front which clears towards the near continent, opening
:11:32. > :11:37.the floodgates to this Coldstream of air all the way from the Arctic.
:11:38. > :11:40.That cold air increasingly cold air will spread its way across all parts
:11:41. > :11:45.tonight and will be with us tomorrow and Wednesday as well. A cold night
:11:46. > :11:48.ahead of us. A widespread frost developing and further wintry
:11:49. > :11:52.showers. Most in Scotland and the north-east of England too. Cold
:11:53. > :11:56.winds as well. Maybe a few wintry showers in Northern Ireland and
:11:57. > :11:58.Wales, maybe the odd few into the Midlands. Clear skies, windy and
:11:59. > :11:59.cold. Major