:00:16. > :00:18.The Great Grimsby Labour MP Austin Mitchell has refused to apologise
:00:19. > :00:21.following a tweet in which he likened an American drugs
:00:22. > :00:27.Conservative Mps have called for him to be suspended,
:00:28. > :00:30.but Mr Mitchell says they're trying to distract from the controversial
:00:31. > :00:35.This is the tweet that caused the row.
:00:36. > :00:40.The language used in the complaint about the takeover of AstraZeneca
:00:41. > :00:46.has angered his political opponents. This is an offensive tweet.
:00:47. > :00:48.The bid is a serious issue but to use the word rapist is
:00:49. > :00:53.completely unacceptable. Ed Milliband has to take control
:00:54. > :00:57.and make Austin Mitchell apologise. One of the definitions of rape in
:00:58. > :01:01.the Oxford dictionary is to plunder. I think that will
:01:02. > :01:04.happen to AstraZeneca. People talk about the rape
:01:05. > :01:08.of the countryside and the rape of the rainforest
:01:09. > :01:17.but it doesn't attack this term of abuse that's landed on my head.
:01:18. > :01:19.The Labour Party tried to defuse the row saying:
:01:20. > :01:27.This evening the 79`year`old made it clear he was
:01:28. > :01:30.standing by his comments. I don't apologise now.
:01:31. > :01:34.I do apologise for inconveniencing Ed Milliband
:01:35. > :01:42.and our Chief Whip because of the reaction it has caused but what
:01:43. > :01:45.I said was essentially the truth. Some Conservative MPs want
:01:46. > :01:46.Ed Milliband to suspend the backbencher who will stand
:01:47. > :01:52.down at the next election. Austin Mitchell has refused to
:01:53. > :01:56.apologise for his comments. Is he likely to face
:01:57. > :02:05.any further action? It would appear unlikely that
:02:06. > :02:06.the Labour Party will take this any further.
:02:07. > :02:11.Austin Mitchell is of the belief that the criticism has
:02:12. > :02:14.come from political opponents looking to make capital ahead
:02:15. > :02:17.of next week's European and Council elections and wanting to distract
:02:18. > :02:20.from the row over the takeover of Astra Zeneca by Fizer.
:02:21. > :02:23.Downing Street has described the comments as just wrong,
:02:24. > :02:26.but the Great Grimsby MP retires in just over 12 months time so it's
:02:27. > :02:29.difficult to see what pressure could be brought to bear on him if he's
:02:30. > :02:31.determined to stand by his comments. There's been a fall in the number of
:02:32. > :02:35.people out of work in our region. Unemployment in Yorkshire
:02:36. > :02:38.and the Humber is at 230,000, that's down by 8,000 compared to
:02:39. > :02:40.the previous quarter. In the East Midlands, which covers
:02:41. > :02:43.Lincolnshire, the jobless total is A man who deliberately drove
:02:44. > :02:54.a horse and trap into the sea at Bridlington, causing the horse to
:02:55. > :02:57.drown, has been jailed for 16 weeks. The incident happened in front
:02:58. > :03:01.of holidaymakers last July. In addition to being jailed, David
:03:02. > :03:05.Sean Clancy from Bradford, was The RSPCA has welcomed the prison
:03:06. > :03:10.sentence saying Mr. Clancy subjected Campaigners say speed limits
:03:11. > :03:17.for lorries need to be increased on a major route through Lincolnshire
:03:18. > :03:20.to improve road safety. They want lorries
:03:21. > :03:23.on the A15 to drive at 50 miles a hour rather than 40, claiming it
:03:24. > :03:26.will stop reckless overtaking. But some have argued that the change
:03:27. > :03:39.would make the roads more dangerous. Slow lorries causing long
:03:40. > :03:43.tailbacks on rural roads. It is a daily frustration on the A15
:03:44. > :03:48.in Lincolnshire for car and lorry drivers.
:03:49. > :03:52.There is a car now overtaking on a blind corner.
:03:53. > :03:55.Richard says if lorries were allowed to go faster on some stretches,
:03:56. > :03:59.it would stop dangerous overtaking by impatient motorists.
:04:00. > :04:04.On the long straights where visibility is low, they put it up to
:04:05. > :04:10.50, the cars behind are not frustrated and everything will move.
:04:11. > :04:15.The speed limit for heavy goods vehicles over 7.5 tonne of single
:04:16. > :04:18.carriageways is 40 miles an hour. The government is carrying out
:04:19. > :04:22.a consultation on raising it to 45 or 50 miles an hour.
:04:23. > :04:28.The change would affect 280,000 vehicles.
:04:29. > :04:33.Overtaking me and lorries and they do it on bends.
:04:34. > :04:39.Lorries are lorries. They can only go certain speeds.
:04:40. > :04:43.Lorry drivers using A9 in Scotland will soon be able to travel at 50
:04:44. > :04:49.as part of a trial, something Alan wants to be tested only A15 after he
:04:50. > :04:52.was caught speeding in his lorry. I have measured on the stretch
:04:53. > :04:56.which is 20 miles on the A15, you will get 12 overtakes
:04:57. > :05:03.in that time from cars, one of which will be over double white lines.
:05:04. > :05:09.It is very dangerous. I thought I would test out how long
:05:10. > :05:12.it takes to get from Lincoln along A15 to Scunthorpe
:05:13. > :05:14.and how much of that journey is spent stuck behind a lorry.
:05:15. > :05:58.It wasn't long before I
:05:59. > :06:01.More than 100 personnel from RAF Coningsby have been deployed to
:06:02. > :06:04.help patrol the skies above the Baltic States.
:06:05. > :06:21.It may well be that there is an month and will spend 16 weeks
:06:22. > :06:26.It may well be that there is an aircraft in distress or an air craft
:06:27. > :06:32.that hasn't followed the air plan or military aircraft that needs to be
:06:33. > :06:38.identified. Are you pleased to be here? We have been made to feel very
:06:39. > :06:45.welcome in Lithuania. Now for a look at the weather.
:06:46. > :06:54.It has been a glorious day today. We have some cloud filtering down from
:06:55. > :07:03.the North West. The lowest temperatures down to five Celsius.
:07:04. > :07:08.Tomorrow, generally a dry day with variable amounts of cloud but there
:07:09. > :07:13.will be some decent sunny spells coming through, particularly in the
:07:14. > :07:22.afternoon. A small chance of getting a light shower. Top temperature 18
:07:23. > :07:24.Celsius. Friday and Saturday is fine and warm. That is all from us for
:07:25. > :07:33.now. Good night. see 21 or so. We keep that going
:07:34. > :07:42.right until the weekend. Here's the outlook. Good evening. Mother nature
:07:43. > :07:45.was kind to us today, sunny skies, the birds and bees were out but not
:07:46. > :07:49.everywhere because one or two places where a little on the cloudy side.
:07:50. > :07:54.For example, here on a satellite picture, Northern Ireland and
:07:55. > :07:58.Scotland, increasing cloud. To the south, you can see the vast majority
:07:59. > :08:05.of the country, Wales and England, scattered cloud, so lots of find
:08:06. > :08:08.weather. We will turn the heat up in the next few days but in terms of
:08:09. > :08:13.the sunshine tomorrow, you might be surprised that it's more cloudy
:08:14. > :08:18.compared to what we had today. Let's look at the details. Tonight, from
:08:19. > :08:24.Wales, the Midlands, and Lincolnshire, they will get quite
:08:25. > :08:28.chilly tonight, maybe three degrees in the countryside. In the city
:08:29. > :08:35.centre is it always a bit warmer. In Scotland, it will stay fairly damp
:08:36. > :08:39.tonight with mist and murky weather. Misty in one or two other places but
:08:40. > :08:40.starting sunny in the south and then, through the morning and
:08:41. > :08:42.afternoon, it