29/03/2017

Download Subtitles

Transcript

:00:00. > :00:00.Good evening and welcome to the late Look North.

:00:00. > :00:07.Tonight - what will Brexit mean for Yorkshire?

:00:08. > :00:09.We'll ask how businesses in our region will be

:00:10. > :00:14.And protests outside a power station over fears that foreign workers

:00:15. > :00:20.A lot of cloud over the next 24 hours, but it will be exceptionally

:00:21. > :00:34.Nine months ago, 58% of people in Yorkshire voted

:00:35. > :00:37.Today, the two-year countdown to Britain leaving

:00:38. > :00:42.Our social affairs correspondent Spencer Stokes has been to one

:00:43. > :00:45.company in North Yorkshire with a workforce heavily

:00:46. > :00:49.reliant on EU migrants, who don't yet know whether they'll

:00:50. > :00:57.I am from Lithuania and came to England six years ago.

:00:58. > :01:12.Some of the migrants caught in a Brexit no-man's land.

:01:13. > :01:16.Care home workers waiting to find out if they will be able to stay

:01:17. > :01:19.in the UK once Britain has left the EU.

:01:20. > :01:23.At Anley Hall Nursing Home in Settle, 21 of the 60

:01:24. > :01:29.All of them unsure about their future.

:01:30. > :01:33.I like this job, I like the residents, I like the people.

:01:34. > :01:42.I love to stay here and the Brexit break my heart.

:01:43. > :01:45.Ellie was one of the first to arrive here with her husband

:01:46. > :01:53.She's considering paying to become a British citizen,

:01:54. > :01:57.If we have to go for the naturalisation, it's

:01:58. > :02:01.Obviously, we haven't got this money in the pocket,

:02:02. > :02:05.but if hard Brexit will come, I have to take a loan and doing

:02:06. > :02:10.naturalisation for my family, to make it easier for us to work

:02:11. > :02:15.The Government's position on whether EU workers can stay

:02:16. > :02:21.But the Brexit Secretary David Davis says it will be a priority,

:02:22. > :02:26.If Ellie and her colleagues were to return to eastern Europe,

:02:27. > :02:29.then who would fill the vacant posts?

:02:30. > :02:33.There certainly isn't an abundance of labour here in Settle.

:02:34. > :02:36.The jobless rate is currently around 3%.

:02:37. > :02:39.And, according to the Government, that means this area

:02:40. > :02:45.The prospect of EU workers losing their right to remain

:02:46. > :02:47.is a worry for the manager at Anley Hall.

:02:48. > :02:51.She wants to keep her current migrant workforce and recruit

:02:52. > :02:55.We don't know what's going to happen.

:02:56. > :02:59.We're in a very rural location here and it's

:03:00. > :03:01.been historically very, very difficult to recruit.

:03:02. > :03:05.And without the staff from eastern Europe,

:03:06. > :03:08.we would not be able to function as a business.

:03:09. > :03:11.The British people have spoken and the answer is, we're out.

:03:12. > :03:13.It all seemed very clear on the morning

:03:14. > :03:24.And the talks that will determine their future are just beginning.

:03:25. > :03:26.Virtually every business in Yorkshire is affected

:03:27. > :03:29.in some way or other by EU rules and regulations.

:03:30. > :03:32.So how will things change once we leave?

:03:33. > :03:35.Our business correspondent Danni Hewson has been to two

:03:36. > :03:38.North Yorkshire food producers to see how they think they'll

:03:39. > :03:49.Even a Great British staple like bangers and mash

:03:50. > :03:55.Like many other sectors, this potato business relies heavily

:03:56. > :04:01.In the packhouse 60% of employees come from EU countries

:04:02. > :04:07.The percentage in the business as a whole is much lower.

:04:08. > :04:10.Without these workers, the business would struggle to find staff,

:04:11. > :04:14.despite paying all employees the living wage.

:04:15. > :04:17.But unlike most employers, the boss here is confident a deal will be

:04:18. > :04:31.They want to be here for lots of reasons.

:04:32. > :04:34.We want them to be here. They do an excellent job here.

:04:35. > :04:37.I think it would be crazy if they had to go back.

:04:38. > :04:39.I'm pretty confident that sanity will prevail.

:04:40. > :04:41.Martin's always been confident that leaving the EU would provide

:04:42. > :04:44.the best outcome for his business and nothing that's happened

:04:45. > :04:46.since last year's vote has dissuaded him of that.

:04:47. > :04:48.There's been a positive impact, but you could argue that's

:04:49. > :04:51.fortuitous and it's just short-lived.

:04:52. > :04:54.I don't think it is, really, because what we've found

:04:55. > :04:57.is that commodity prices, wheat, barley, all the combinable

:04:58. > :05:06.Here, they have felt a negative impact.

:05:07. > :05:10.The devaluation of the pound has meant more pork is being exported

:05:11. > :05:13.which has driven up the price of one of their key ingredients.

:05:14. > :05:18.The big concern is whether the kind of grants that typically come

:05:19. > :05:21.from the EU and have helped them expand, will continue after Brexit.

:05:22. > :05:25.The stuff we have here costs a couple of hundred thousand pounds.

:05:26. > :05:30.We need that grant fund money to help us expand so we don't know

:05:31. > :05:33.if the pot will be shrunk when we leave the EU.

:05:34. > :05:36.The money might be spent in other sectors.

:05:37. > :05:41.It's a big waiting game to see what happens.

:05:42. > :05:48.Everything is to play for once we figure out the game.

:05:49. > :05:51.In large parts of South Yorkshire, more than two thirds of people voted

:05:52. > :05:54.in favour of leaving the EU in last year's referendum.

:05:55. > :05:59.Here's what some people in Rotherham made of today's Brexit developments.

:06:00. > :06:07.Because Europe is going, European Union is going into a bad

:06:08. > :06:11.direction, in my opinion, from Polish view.

:06:12. > :06:16.It's time it made us own laws and us own rules,

:06:17. > :06:19.not have everybody that doesn't belong to us telling us

:06:20. > :06:27.I'm really hoping that Britain will do well and we'll get some good

:06:28. > :06:36.Because I don't think we're going to get what we expect to get

:06:37. > :06:41.I think we'll get as good a deal as we had before.

:06:42. > :06:44.I think it's in everybody's interests to do that.

:06:45. > :06:47.Next, tonight - there have been protests outside Ferrybridge power

:06:48. > :06:49.station in West Yorkshire about foreign workers

:06:50. > :06:53.Around 150 construction workers, many of them unemployed,

:06:54. > :06:56.gathered at the gates, blaming employers -

:06:57. > :06:59.not Brexit - for shipping in cheaper foreign employees.

:07:00. > :07:05.Construction workers from across the north of England

:07:06. > :07:11.The police were present but this was a peaceful protest.

:07:12. > :07:14.They came here to join with local unemployed workers who claim they're

:07:15. > :07:18.being overlooked with the use of cheap labour from abroad.

:07:19. > :07:24.Let's look after UK workers first and foremost and not exclude

:07:25. > :07:28.foreign workers but we, the UK workers, are being treated

:07:29. > :07:33.as a top-up of labour to a foreign workforce.

:07:34. > :07:37.Ferrybridge Power Station closed last year after 50 years of service.

:07:38. > :07:40.It was a blow to the community, but there were assurances

:07:41. > :07:45.Its owners, SSE, said it was committed to the site,

:07:46. > :07:48.with the construction of a ?300 million multi-fuel

:07:49. > :07:53.waste energy plant, which would create local jobs.

:07:54. > :07:56.But Keith Gibson, who's been out of work now for eight weeks,

:07:57. > :07:59.says there's a severe lack of opportunities.

:08:00. > :08:02.We've got companies what we call is a race to the bottom.

:08:03. > :08:05.They want you to work as many hours a week

:08:06. > :08:10.We're not happy with European employers using European

:08:11. > :08:14.labour to undercut our terms and conditions.

:08:15. > :08:18.The contract firm HZI is leading this project.

:08:19. > :08:20.They're actually based in Switzerland.

:08:21. > :08:23.But, in a statement, they told us that around two thirds

:08:24. > :08:28.They also said they're working with local businesses and the local

:08:29. > :08:31.job centre to make sure that the local community

:08:32. > :08:38.But protestors say the industry is in crisis and guidelines

:08:39. > :08:41.about using local labour in construction and engineering

:08:42. > :08:47.They're calling on European employers to give people

:08:48. > :08:50.in the community first refusal on work and say they'll

:08:51. > :08:57.continue to protest until their voices are heard.

:08:58. > :09:00.The Duke of York returned today to Tadcaster, which was cut in half

:09:01. > :09:04.when the Christmas floods of 2015 destroyed its historic bridge.

:09:05. > :09:08.In a whistlestop tour this afternoon, he saw a town back

:09:09. > :09:11.on its feet after 15 months of desperation.

:09:12. > :09:15.The Duke visited local businesses and went to see Tadcaster's

:09:16. > :09:26.18th-century bridge, which reopened only a few weeks ago.

:09:27. > :09:41.Some spots might get 18 degrees tomorrow. The headline for the next

:09:42. > :09:46.24 hours is very mild. Some cloud and the risk of patchy bays but

:09:47. > :09:51.brighter skies later in the day heading from the south. As for the

:09:52. > :09:55.Saturday means that April will begin Saturday means that April will begin

:09:56. > :10:00.with April showers but then there is a ridge of high pressure for Sunday

:10:01. > :10:05.and that looks to be the best day of the weekend. Dry, with plenty of

:10:06. > :10:11.sunshine. Temperatures in double figures at the moment. It is quite

:10:12. > :10:17.loudly and there will be patchy rain but elsewhere it looks -- in the

:10:18. > :10:22.West, but elsewhere, it looks fine. Thursday, quite a cloudy day,

:10:23. > :10:26.particularly in the morning. There is always the risk of a little

:10:27. > :10:30.patchy rain drifting up from the south. But certainly through the

:10:31. > :10:35.afternoon, an improvement coming into the North Midlands and then

:10:36. > :10:39.South Yorkshire. Brighter skies and patchy rain for north and West

:10:40. > :10:47.Yorkshire for a time. Look at those top temperatures. The sunshine as a

:10:48. > :10:53.late feature for West Yorkshire but it comes out in the end. More rain

:10:54. > :10:58.to come in the West on Friday but that drifts away and Friday looks a

:10:59. > :11:03.nice day, dry and mild with sunshine. April showers on Saturday

:11:04. > :11:06.and Sunday looks fine with sunny spells. That's it

:11:07. > :11:09.far. The outlook for the next few days, temperatures coming down a bit

:11:10. > :11:11.but staying decent for this time of year. Here is Darren Bett with the

:11:12. > :11:21.national weather. The warm air coming up on a

:11:22. > :11:22.southerly breeze all the way from Iberia and across France into

:11:23. > :11:23.England