29/03/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Hello and welcome to Wednesday's Look North.

In a series of special reports, we gauge opinion around the region

I think we won't be as badly off outside of Europe

It has kind of all sunk in now so it feels a bit more real and it's

actually going to happen so it makes me worry a bit

A verdict on the care home where a 90-year-old woman killed

News of a recovery at North Cumbria's hospitals.

And new hope for the young woman with a rare condition,

In sport, what does an injured footballer do to fill in the time?

Well, if you're Sunderland's Irish midfielder Paddy McNair,

Nine months ago, it was Sunderland which sent the first real signal

that Britain was about to vote to leave the European Union.

Today the Prime Minister followed up on that referendum decision

by triggering Article 50, setting the UK on course

But what will it mean for us, a region that voted for Brexit,

but with strong economic ties to Europe?

We'll be hearing from across the region.

But first our political editor Richard Moss is in Westminster,

where Theresa May started what she admits will

we have come a long way since the vote in Sunderland, a huge day in

Parliament, the world's media gathered in Westminster to mark

article 50. We are with two MPs on different sides of the debate. You

were on the Leave said. I'm sure you see huge opportunities but there is

a huge threat to the north-east economy. 60% of our exports go to

Europe. I recognise it as an opportunity. It is a process, we are

giving expression to the will of the people. 60% of people in the North

voted to leave the EU. In time we will have control over our laws,

courts, immigration. But that will mean nothing if people are losing

jobs. You mentioned trade, it is a huge opportunity and one of the

reasons I supported the campaign. Our future lies elsewhere. The EU is

important but its importance is diminishing every year and the rest

of the world is fast-growing. Historically Europe has not been

good at tapping us into the global economy. Nothing to fear, plenty to

capitalise on? People will be pleased if they can control

immigration from this country but we are the biggest exporting region

outside London and we export ten times as much to Europe as to the

whole Commonwealth so it is really vital that the Prime Minister

prioritises tariff free, barrier free trade to Europe. This was a

vote that people in your constituency supported and that the

North East could benefit from traders liberalised across the

world? Seeing is believing on the trade front. People voted for Brexit

because they wanted to control immigration. They like the common

market and they did not vote to be poorer and I think in our region,

manufacturers and farmers, she did not mention farmers today, they face

a problem with tariffs. Or farmers going to be safe? I am confident we

will put in place a package for the countryside to open it up to

exporting around the world and free them up from needless red tape from

the EU. Article 50 is triggered and the process begins in earnest.

But what does it mean for EU migrants living and working

There's still no decision on whether they'll be allowed

to stay or if they'll have to apply for the right to work here.

Jonathan Swingler's been to a County Durham car wash,

which employs a number of workers from EU countries,

to ask how they felt about the triggering of Article 50.

We're just outside the centre of Durham and business is going well.

There is a steady flow of cars coming through but,

as this country gets closer to leaving the EU, there is keen

All of the workers here are from abroad, so I'm going to ask

His colleague from the Czech Republic is unnerved by Brexit.

I'm just thinking about, don't take me home, please.

The employees say you're guaranteed to leave here with a clean car,

but how do the British customers passing through feel

What do you think of lots of foreign workers being here?

Oh, fair enough, as long as they're paying their dues and that.

You know, cos I worked since I was 15 until I was 65.

I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth.

I think it's a good thing, getting out of Europe.

Earlier this month, the Commons rejected a Lords amendment

which would guarantee the rights of EU nationals living

I want England to stay in Europe because England out

The government has repeatedly stated that it would like to guarantee

the rights of EU citizens currently residing in the UK to remain here,

as long as there will be a reciprocal deal for Brits living

One thing that's become clear since we voted to Leave is that

Brexit means different things to different people.

So now the process is under way for real, we've been gauging

These pro-EU protestors in the region today

But what Brexit should actually mean is still a matter of opinion.

On the streets, Brexit is as contentious as ever.

I think we should have left it the way things were.

Much simpler the way things have been.

I don't agree with paying ?50 billion to exit,

so that needs negotiating out of that.

We want to be out, no question about it, get on,

and get a good deal and be finished with it.

Here in Sunderland, they hope that by the time Brexit is confirmed,

It is a city that has overhwhelmingly voted for Leave.

Those behind the bid think it's to time to talk

The debate around Sunderland nationally has been very monopolised

by Brexit and I think that has been very difficult for the city.

It has told one story and I think there are lots of other stories

about the city that we want to tell, stories about investment, culture,

you know, there are some big challenges we are facing,

there are some big opportunities we are facing, and we want to get

on and tell that story and not be monopolised by the Brexit debate.

As the Brexit process begins, our random and unscientific survey

found the young fearing they have most to lose.

I think the EU has offered a lot of benefits to us over the years,

particularly in the north, which I think a lot

of people didn't realise, and I think it is going to be

I don't think it was fair that 16 and 17-year-olds weren't allowed

It's going to affect us the longest and we haven't had a say

Well, one of the big uncertainties of Brexit is the future

On the day that the process of leaving the European Union has

been triggered, a Teesdale charity that helps farmers negotiate EU

paperwork has said the industry is facing massive uncertainty

Farmers have been promised by the government that their system

of subsidies, currently paid by the EU, will remain until 2020.

But after that farming faces massive but unknown reform.

John and his family farm sheep and cows in Teesdale.

A life that alternates between idyllic and incredibly tough.

It is though helped by cash support from the EU,

On average, 60% of farming comes from income in

Little wonder then that John worries about the impact of Brexit.

We get quite a lot of support because it is obviously

in the various schemes with it being so high up and it contributes

The government has promised to match subsidies up

until 2020, but after that it has promised nothing.

If we get the support from the government then

But if we don't get the support from the government, we'll,

you know, we won't be able to be a farm, our business won't stack up

and John will have to go back to work elsewhere.

Right, John, when we are filling in your basic payment scheme,

we have to make sure that we map all the ineligible

This Teesdale charity helps farmers like John navigate their way around

the paperwork that needs to be filled in before subsidies are paid.

We are all heading towards leaving Europe with apps will be no

-- We are all heading towards leaving Europe with no

certainty of what is going to happen, what is going to replace

the relationship that we've had with Europe in the past

and for farmers who rely on payments from the Common Agricultural Policy

it's going to be very difficult to get through that

and the disruption that such an alteration in our relationship

with Europe is going to cause to a community like this.

You wouldn't know it in the peace of Teesdale but a process that

could change farming for ever started today.

The momentous journey of leaving the EU, and where farming finds

itself in that post-Brexit world could dictate if John and his family

A hospital trust in Cumbria has been taken out of special measures

after the Care Quality Commission said it had made big

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust serves 320,000 patients

across a large remote area, and was put into special

Damian O'Neil reports from the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.

11 Trusts around the country were put into special measures

in 2013 as part of a review into high mortality rates,

and North Cumbria is the last of them to be returned

The trust now has an overall rating of "requires improvement".

But for the staff, today is a very good day.

I think we have a huge amount of pride in the staff and the staff are

very pleased and feel that after a lot of hard work their efforts have

been recognised. Throughout this period of time when the trust has

been challenged, the ratings up was been good for our staff, caring

staff and start showing compassion. A longstanding recruitment problem

at the trust is often linked with it being in special measures,

although not everyone was put off I worked as a registrar about five

years ago and joined as a consultant. As the hospital went

into special measures. It was a challenging time and I think we have

seen huge improvements in the three years since I've been here. I am

proud and satisfied we have got out of special measures.

who's led a campaign to protect hospital services says there

I have mixed feelings about it. The most important aspect of coming out

of special measures, but there are other things like cancelled

operations, cancelled outpatient clinic, hardship to patients needing

to travel to Carlisle, which is over 40 miles from Whitehaven. The trust

has rarely been out of the news for very long but for all the wrong

reasons. Although there are still things to be done, the decision to

take the trust out of special measures is a big one and hopefully

gives them a platform to move forward to the future were negative

headlines are a thing of the past. The owner of a care home

where an elderly resident died after jumping from an upstairs

window has been found guilty of failing to assess

the risks she faced. 90-year-old Dora Strickland

committed suicide The Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust,

who owned and managed the home, will be sentenced

at York Crown Court tomorrow. Dora Strickland committed suicide

at Red Lodge in 2011, Weeks before, she told staff

at the care home in York that she was depressed and wanted

to kill herself. At York Crown Court today,

the owners of the care home, the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust,

were found not guilty of failing to protect

the safety of Mrs Strickland, but guilty of failing to assess

the risks that she faced. We are just quite delighted, really,

at least it has shown them It could have been prevented,

we know that, and now What lessons do you hope might

be learnt from this? Well, they've learnt a lesson,

haven't they, already? Straightaway, they've

put the windows right, they've altered the format

for paperwork, things are followed up, and we know that it wasn't

followed up the first time so hopefully this

won't happen again now. A lesson has been

learnt by everybody. During the trial, Gemma Casling,

the home's general manager, had said Mrs Strickland had lived

in what is described as independent living and that the home

didn't cater for residents Today's verdict, though,

indicates that care homes do have responsibility for all residents

who live there. It may also have implications

for how elderly people are cared for in the future and how long

they can stay in so-called Controversial plans

to build 350 homes on land at Durham Tees Airport have been

given the go-ahead this afternoon. Campaigners say it's a "death knell"

for the terminal which has seen passenger numbers collapse by more

than 80% in a decade. But the owners say

the estate's needed to secure From runway to driveway, the estate

home to more than 1000 residents will be built just a few hundred

meters from the terminal building. There will be a health centre,

dentists, nursery, maybe even a gym. The question is who would want to

buy a house so close to an International Airport lots of

people. Just look around the country where there are houses much closer

than we are considering today. At John Lennon Airport in Liverpool,

houses are much closer. It has reignited concern about the future

of flight here. Passenger numbers have been in sharp decline. In 2006,

900,000 passed through the terminal and ten years on and they had

followed the McFarlane 85% to around 130,000. Today just seven flights to

two destinations. Will the estate threaten the future of airport or

provide a lifeline? They voted to approve outline plans to opposition

from those who say they fear for their airport's very future. I think

it has sounded the death knell for their airport. No doubt there will

be any more flights to any more destinations and yet it is clear

that people want from their local airport, flights to popular

destinations at reasonable prices, and you don't get any of that at the

moment. A representative from the owners said airport is losing ?2.5

million per year and said there are no guarantees about its future

beyond 2021. Now to the story of a young

Northumberland woman who has a rare degenerative condition that

could paralyse or kill Melanie Hartshorn suffers

from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which The 27-year-old has been offered

the chance of life-saving surgery in Spain, but she needs to raise

?80,000 to pay for it. It's a horizontal life, in constant

pain for Melanie Hartshorn. She was born with Ehlers-Danlos

syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder which causes her

joints to dislocate. My skull slips out of joint

and compresses my brainstem and it affects the artery that takes

the blood to your brain and I have these seizures and constant pain

and I'm on fentanyl and under palliative care for the pain

relief and things. For the last five years,

she's been a prisoner in her bed but she was able to graduate

from Newcastle University last What's it like living

with this condition? I was always happy and smiling

and laughing, and then just now The only hope for Melanie

is specialist neurosurgery abroad. She's fundraising to pay

for the treatment and so far she's managed ?43,000

without leaving her room. The target was over 150,000

for going to America to see one of the world's specialists

in the condition. But now there's a guy in Spain,

a renowned neurosurgeon, For half the price,

for 80,000, yeah. What would it mean to you to get

the funds and to get the surgery? Well, it's life-saving surgery

and it would change my life Should mindfulness and meditation be

part of the curriculum Well, one North Yorkshire company

believes it should and says it's seeing big benefits after starting

an after school club in Ripon. Mindfulness for children has become

popular down south but it's claimed that in the North we've been slower

to take it up. It makes Nick Cullen and when I feel

upset or angry it calms me down. Breathe in ever three and breathe

out for five. That is our special breathing. Breathing out as a bit

tricky for me because it is fair six seconds. I can't breathe out for six

seconds. Why not? I have short breathing. These children have

joined a mindfulness and meditation after-school club in Ripon.

Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment, being aware

of your feelings, behaviour and thoughts. We are going to do some

mindfulness jars. Gail runs the club. She says it has taken off down

south but we appear to have been slower to take it up in Yorkshire.

She believes there are huge benefits for young children. There are more

pressure on children these days so we try to incorporate meditation

into school because it allows children to feel comfortable with

who they are, take time and space away from sensory overload. We had

some local teachers trying to incorporate it into schools but it

is not in the curriculum as such. We get told a story about releasing all

the struggles and things we have, and stress. I decided to release any

stress or worry about tests we are doing because I know if I try my

best, that is all I can really do. If I make fun of others I should say

sorry. There has been debate about making mindfulness part of schools'

daily routines. The question is whether it will help these children

as they face a future tests, exams and the often tricky teenage years.

Great idea. I am all for an afternoon nap.

I know UR! We don't go in for that.

With just ten games to save their Premier League place,

Sunderland are hoping to welcome back a couple of key players

Former skipper Lee Cattermole and striker Victor Anichebe

And Irishman Paddy McNair, who suffered a serious

knee injury in November, is back in light training.

This week, while his fellow-countrymen have been

on international duty, our reporter Thomas Niblock followed

Paddy back to Northern Ireland and to the McNair family

If it wasn't for the bright white, spanking clean footwear

of Paddy McNair, he would just be like any other farmer's

son, checking cattle before milking starts.

The reality is, however, Paddy didn't have a typical upbringing.

At 12 years old he was signed by Manchester United and is now

But the farm, in some ways, was beneficial.

I used to take the ball round the farm and try and hit

I wouldn't change it for the world, growing up on the farm.

It definitely helped me be where I am today.

Recently, however, McNair's signed for Sunderland,

leaving Manchester United and their manager Jose Mourinho.

Man United were blocking the move at the time.

They still wanted me to go out on loan.

I went in and seen Jose and I said, "Look, if you don't let me

go permanent, I'm just going to stay here."

I said to him, "Look, I've been here since I was years old.

-- I said to him, "Look, I've been here since I was 12 years old.

The club could at least just let me do what I want to do."

And I just wanted a new challenge and off I went.

McNair will miss the rest of the season because of injury

but has one big aim in the green shirt.

I've said to a few people, that's my dream, get 100

You know, from obviously being a kid watching

in the stands to, you know, 20, 30 years down the line,

being able to say I was out there and put on the green top 100

A great win for York City last night, in what was a dress rehearsal

They won 3-1 at Macclesfield, the team they'll meet at Wembley

A terrific strike from skipper Simon Heslop, which gave

York are still in the National League relegation zone,

but they've closed the gap on Torquay, who are in

the all-important 20th place, to four points, and City

Now, the weather. Grey and damp today, will it get better?

I think it will improve. A spring lamb to start us off. Tomorrow there

will be some sunshine but limited to eastern areas. West and north will

see rain at times but it stays pretty mild over the next few days.

A lot of cloud tonight, outbreaks of rain here and there, heavy bursts in

the West, but through tonight most of the rain will start to Peter out

and most places will end the night on a drier note, although it will

stay fairly cloudy. Very mild. Temperatures only a couple of

degrees colder than the daytime thanks to the cloud. Tomorrow, a

cloudy start, some rain around and western parts will see the bulk of

that rain, that is where the heaviest and most persistent rain

will be, and along the Scottish Borders. Further east and south, you

will see some drier, brighter spells, and the highest afternoon

temperatures, maybe 17 and parts of north Yorkshire, because of the mild

self south-westerly wind. Which will be quite risk times. Still that

misty weather front weather chart over the next few days, low pressure

is dominating. As the front goes through on Friday, it brings us some

fresher clearer whether from time into the weekend. High pressure

starts to build which should settle things down. Some rain tomorrow

night, maybe first thing on Friday, but it should clear to lead a drier

brighter picture for the tail end of the day. Still breezy. Saturday is a

day of sunshine and showers, most places will see some blue sky, you

might catch a few showers, some heavy perhaps thundery, but will

always be some sunshine in between and the wind will be a bit lighter.

As high pressure builds, Sunday looks generally drier, bit brighter,

but a little bit more fresh, temperatures in the low teens.

Well that is better. That is it from us, our late news is a little bit

later at roughly 10:45pm. I expect you'll want to become

a schoolmaster? That's what most of the gentlemen

does that get sent down for indecent behaviour.

Evelyn Waugh's classic novel. Have you ever been in love,

Mr Pennyfeather? No, not yet. The fire escape is very dangerous

and never to be used, MasterChef is back, to find the

country's best home chef. The MasterChef kitchen is alive once

more. Come on, let's go! That's one of the hardest things

I've ever had to do in my life.