23/11/2017 Look North (Yorkshire)

Here on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening and welcome

to the late Look North.

Tonight, anger over the veto

of Leeds' bid to be

European Capital of Culture.

Brussels says Brexit

means we can't compete.

And a snub for the South Yorkshire

police officer who wants his legal

costs over Hillsborough to be paid.

And for many of us overnight we will

be seeing clear skies overhead which

means the temperatures are going

right down. I have the full forecast

live, shortly.

Tonight, Anger as Leeds is told

it CAN'T compete for the title

of European Capital of Culture,

because of Brexit.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds

of both private and public money

have been spent on the bid,

which was only submitted

a few weeks ago.

The city's MP said the move

was a bitter blow.

Ian White has the story.

Leeds knows you must

have an orchestra in order

to create a symphony.

There had been a real buzz

about the Leeds bid -

a slick campaign, support from big

business, and a pledge to spend

£62 million transforming the city.

Five UK cities had been

in the running to become

European Capital of Culture 2023,

that was until today.

Today the European

Commission said...

A decision that's caused uproar.

We had no idea, it's come

as a complete surprise to us today.

We didn't have an idea,

neither did the other four bidding

cities cos we've spoken to them

today, and neither, apparently,

did the UK government.

You look back in the past

and countries that are not members

of the European Union have had

capitals of culture.

Bergen in Norway and

Istanbul in Turkey.

But the second thing

that is really extraordinary,

they knew the result

of the referendum in June 2016.

Why did they wait till

all the bids have been put in,

all of the work done,

to then turn round and

say, you can't enter?

It's unacceptable.

So, what is Leeds going

to be missing out on?

Hull is currently the UK city

of culture, where being under

the spotlight has been a massive

boost for the economy.

Certainly over the last three years

since it was announced

we'd got that title,

£3.3 billion has been

invested in the city.

Never before in my living memory

have we had that sort

of investment in the city.

Those backing the Leeds bid had

hoped for similar riches,

but with almost half a million

pounds of public money now

seemingly down the drain,

serious questions are being asked.

They're consistently making

bad and poor decisions

with our money as taxpayers,

and, as I say, I do think it's now

incumbent upon the leader

of the council to explain herself,

and I'd go further,

I think her position is becoming

increasingly untenable.

Leeds council leader Judith Blake

was unavailable for interview this

evening but she did release a brief

statement in which she said

that she was shocked and hugely

frustrated by the decision.

She went on to say she remains fully

committed to the work that's already

been carried out to promote Leeds

as a centre for cultural

excellence and diversity.

It's estimated the whole

exercise has cost taxpayers

in Leeds 30p per person.

The council says it isn't wasted

money as culture in the city

isn't going to go away.

Meanwhile, talks with

the European Commission are set

to continue to try to find a way

to carry the bid forward.

Well, a former Leeds councillor

is actually on the European

Parliament's culture committee.

I asked the MEP John Procter

when he first heard the news.

I thought that Leeds was OK

to put in their bid,

as with all of the other UK cities

that had showed an interest

to central government.

That was one of the indications,

that was also the indication that

I'd got here from...

From the commission in Brussels.

I sit on the culture committee,

as it happens, of the parliament,

and I thought that everything was OK

for Leeds to push ahead

and all of the UK cities to move

forward with their respective bids.

If you sit on the board for culture

and you didn't know about it,

how on earth were Leeds opposed

to know about it before they spend

hundreds of thousands

of pounds on the bid?

Exactly so, exactly so.

We've had the culture committee this

week, in actual fact.

It's committee week

here in Brussels.

We regularly get updates and reports

on the capital of culture and how

matters are progressing.

So this has come as a complete

shock to me today.

And I'm pretty outraged, actually.

A spokeswoman from the European

commission said that the decision

to nominate the UK as host was taken

in 2014, before we decided

to leave the EU.

So, isn't it fair enough if we want

out we shouldn't get any

of the perks that go

with being in Europe?

The referendum, in terms of the UK

leaving the European Union,

was held some time ago.

Everybody in the commission

has known this.

Why on earth has it taken a year

for them to come forward

and let us know this?

Do you have any powers,

anything you can do?

Well, I'm certainly getting in touch

with the Commissioner who's

responsible to say what on earth

is going on?

Why did the UK not know

about this sooner?

It seems a little curious to me

that, in these crucial times

of Brexit negotiations this comes

about as a major, major issue.

It could have been

notified previously.

And I think it clearly

should have been.

The commission have got a lot

of questions that they need

to answer in this regard.

South Yorkshire's Police

and Crime Commissioner has refused

to pay the legal costs of former

South Yorkshire police officer,

David Duckenfield, who faces charges

over the Hillsborough disaster.

Mr Duckenfield has already received

over £7 million in public money

to pay his legal fees

and Dr Alan Billings says it

would be inappropriate

to fund his latest request.

David Rhodes has this

exclusive story.

So, what exactly has David

Duckenfield asked for?

The Crown

Prosecution Service want to charge

David Duckenfield with manslaughter

of 95 people due to gross

negligence. The first part of this

process is what the CPS need to do

is get a stay of prosecution against

David Duckenfield lifted at the High

Court. That is ongoing. The second

part of the process would be to hold

a criminal trial in relation to

these allegations the CPS have

brought against David Duckenfield.

David Duckenfield simply wants the

South Yorkshire Police and Crime

Commissioner to pay all of his legal

fees in relation to those two legal

processes. Dr Alan Billings has

looked at the budget of South

Yorkshire police and said we are

under a lot of pressure financially,

David Duckenfield has received over

£7 million already for his legal

defence relating to Hillsborough,

and the Police and Crime

Commissioner simply said I am not

willing to pay this to him.

He said

no. Does that decision impact on

policing today?

This decision has

been described to me as unusual. The

police superintendents association

says this sends a message to it

every police officer that they may

not be supported in the future. I

understand Dr Alan Billings has

other applications from other police

officers relating to criminal

charges brought against them

relating to Hillsborough. More on

that as soon as we get it.

Thank

you.

The widower of murdered Leeds

teacher, Ann Maguire,

says the inquest into his wife's

death has failed to

answer his questions.

A coroner concluded yesterday

that the 61-year-old teacher

at Corpus Christi school was killed

unlawfully in 2014.

15-year-old Will Cornick is serving

a life sentence for it.

But Mr Maguire says all the evidence

still hasn't been heard.

Well, the questions asked all

the same questions we set off with.

Exactly what were the true and false

circumstances in existence

at the time Ann was murdered?

The Chancellor and the Prime Minster

have been in Leeds promoting

yesterday's budget.

They visited Leeds College

of Building to see how

their apprentices are being trained.

Philip Hammond and Theresa May

are promising to build more houses

to help people get on the ladder

but also boost the economy.

They had a look round

the College with its students.

We need to build more homes,

that's why we're putting

financing into the housing,

more financing support

into the housing market,

why we're going to ensure councils

can build council homes,

why we will ensure there

is land supply available

to build those homes.

And that we have the bricklayers,

the electricians, the roofers

that we have for the future.

That's why it's so good to see

at Leeds College of Building those

skills being taught to a generation

so they can go out there

and build the homes we need.

The presenters who will host next

week's MOBOs in Leeds

have been announced.

The Music of Black Origin awards

is returning to the city

for the first time since 2015.

4music presenter Maya Jama

will be the youngest person

ever to host the MOBOs,

when she takes to the stage

alongside former JLS

member Marvin Humes.

And I will be there on the red

carpet. How is the weather?

The weather is turning colder. You

can feel it already. Chuck and an

extra layer tomorrow and maybe even

scrape the windscreen because her

many of us we will see scenes like

this. It is going to be a cold day

but busy dry and actually that is

the forecast for this evening as

well. We have seen a few showers and

if we look at the winds, if we

chased them up, they seem like they

are westerly but they are coming

from the north. Yes, the cold air

will be flooding down over us

especially tomorrow and Saturday so

that is why temperatures are going

down. Looking at the map for today,

it is looking largely dry with a few

showers creeping into Pennine areas.

For most, it'll be dry. Temperatures

outside of town especially in North

Yorkshire down to minus two, minus

three, maybe even minus four.

Certainly cold as we look towards

tomorrow morning. Where we have seen

these scattered showers we might see

some icy patches, first thing,

especially the Pennines, North York

Moors but it is looking all right

with plenty of spells tomorrow,

clouding over at times with just the

odd shower here or there.

Temperatures a notch down compared

to today with highs of 6-7 at best

tomorrow across Yorkshire and North

Derbyshire. So, we are certainly

feeling colder over the next few

days and temperature wise we will

not get better than five or six

ulcers over the weekend. You can see

the weather icons behind us. There

is some blue skies so there will be

a lot of dry weather around but

certainly feeling cold. That is your

lot