03/01/2014 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Roger Johnson and

Annabel Tiffin. Our top story: High winds and heavy

seas. But the region breathes a sigh of relief ` as storm damage is less

than feared. I am on Walney Island, where

residents have been campaigning for flood defences for the last eight

years. We'll have the latest on how the

weather has hit the region, and what more is to come.

Also tonight: The BNP leader Nick Griffin vows being declared bankrupt

won't make him default on his political ambitions.

The long walk to the big screen. political ambitions.

The long walk to the big screen We The long walk to the big screen. We

hear from the local director who made the blockbuster movie on

Mandela. Mandela is so inspiring on all sorts

of levels, but just meeting him in person was a day that I will never,

ever forget. And the ultimate make over. How your

generosity helped a disabled boy after thieves set fire to his

sensory room. We will bring you a round`up of the

weather problems shortly. But first, the North West MEP and leader of the

British National Party, Nick Griffin, has been declared bankrupt.

But he insists he won't stand down and he says he will run for

re`election in May. But another North West MEP has urged him to go.

Mark Edwardson has more. Nick Griffin has been one of the

region's eight MEPs since 2009. His bankruptcy order is to do with

unpaid solicitors' costs and fees of about ?120,000. It was imposed

during a hearing at Welshpool County Court yesterday, the one nearest to

his home. It doesn't necessarily bar a person from seeking political

office or serving as an elected representative. Mr Griffin tweeted

about it today, saying, "Being bankrupt does not prevent me being

or standing as an MEP. It does free me from financial worries. A good

day!" Another North West MEP is Chris Davies, who was puzzled Mr

Griffin ever found himself bankrupt. He was elected as one of two British

National Party MEPs but they are now split into two different parties. He

was elected on an anti`immigration platform at that has been taken over

wholesale by UKIP. What has he achieved? Come on, neck, the party

is over. We did ask Nick Griffin for an

interview. He declined saying he intends to stand for re`election in

May. But he couldn't speak to us because he had a "prearranged

election campaign meeting" and said he could "see no reason to change my

plans to help the institutionally anti`white BBC produce a piece of

news." And what of the party? Well, again on Twitter, Nick Griffin has

sought to reassure supporters that while his own personal finances may

be in disarray, everything is rosy for the BNP. He said,"Party funds

are not affected in any way. Our campaign in May will be our most

professional yet and I will be lead candidate in the North West." Mr

Griffin also says he is turning the experience of bankruptcy to the

benefit of what he describes as hard`up constituents. He's producing

a booklet on dealing with debt. Three years after the murder of a

In other news, Leighton Hospital in Crewe has had an outbreak of the

winter vomiting bug, norovirus. Visiting restrictions have been put

in place on two wards. Visitors are being asked to consider postponing

their visit. Three years after the murder of a

man from Liverpool, detectives are appealing for fresh information

20`year`old Eddie Pybis was shot while in the passenger seat of a

silver Volvo that was travelling along Utting Avenue in Anfield.

Eight men were arrested but no`one has been charged.

They may be protecting somebody that they no longer hold allegiances to.

I appeal to those people to come forward and provide that information

and then we can bring the right people to justice and provide

closure for the family. Manchester has shown far stronger

house`price growth than anywhere else in the country, according to

the Nationwide. The cost of a home in the city rose by 21% last year.

That's compared to an average increase of around 8.5%.

Strong winds and high tides combined today to overwhelm stretches of the

North West coastline. Homes and businesses were flooded on the Isle

of Man. Elsewhere roads were closed and rail services cancelled.

There are still flood warnings in force, particularly along the

Lancashire coast, but the damage has not been as bad as many had feared.

One of the worst affected areas was Walney Island in Cumbria.

Residents at this caravan park are braced themselves for the strong

winds. But they were worried that the only thing separating their

homes from the sea was this garden wall. I have not seen it come over

the wall before, this is requited difficult day for us. `` really

quite a difficult day. You can see how high the water is that moment

and the wind is really picking up. But look how close it as two

people's homes. It is not quite high tide yet, but you can see it coming.

This road was intact before we arrived, an hour later it had

crumbled. The coastline here has been retreating at a rate of 0.4

metres per year. Residents to have been campaigning for sea defences

for eight years. They will finally get them next month but today they

will just have to cross their fingers. I am terrified, I am really

frightened, because the sea is a strong thing and if the wall goes

then it will be up. All we have got left is the wall. The fire brigade

was called to pump water out and then the police arrived. They are

offering people the option to move and they have a minibus offering to

transport people who do not have transport. But most stayed put as

they have done over the last eight years. Within not to be here talking

to you if we thought that the coastal defences would get finished.

We would have gone away a long time ago. Residents hope that that is the

last of the bad weather for at least a few more weeks.

Our chief reporter will be rounding up more news from around the region

later. There is more to come though. There is definitely more to come.

High tides were exceptionally higher than we thought today. The winds

were not quite as strong so we went to 32 flood warnings at lunchtime.

We are now down to eight flood warnings but we're not quite out of

the woods yet. We are expecting snow tomorrow and rain on Sunday. I will

bring you a full forecast at the end of the programme.

Cumbria was not the only place affected.

We will be rounding that up with Dave Guest. Quite badly affected on

the Isle of Man today as well. We will hear from him later. But still

to come: They may be the the only... Lowest ranked `` the lowest

ranked team left in the cup, but find out how Macclesfield think they

will fear. Film director Justin Chadwick has

met Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, both of whom he describes as

"'inspirational". But he reserves special praise for a

group of people in Bolton, whose names you've probably never heard

of. Justin is the man behind Mandela:

Long Walk to Freedom, which opens in cinemas today. But he made his first

faltering steps into drama as an amateur at the Bolton Little

Theatre. Stuart Flinders reports.

I have beautiful children and a beautiful wife. It is likely to be

one of the films of the year. The story of Mandela's Long Walk to

Freedom as told by a man, whose own journey began here in the North

West. The man Justin Chadwick says inspired him to see his future in

drama, a retired fireman, who ran an amateur youth drama group in Bolton.

I remember this small boy who turned up with fire in his eyes and

passion. He did have a presence. He passion. He did have a presence He

made his presence felt, certainly in the play Kes. He made a deep

impression. I knew end of the videos knew that there was a future for

this man. In On Golden Pond, Justin Chadwick appeared opposite one of

the Little Theatre's old hands and stole the scene. Stuart

unfortunately he had several slips and just got him out of the mire on

many occasions. He was just very quietly confident. A natural. You

will go and see the film, of course. Will you be able to resist turning

to the person next to you and saying, I was there at the

beginning? You'll mark I will quietly sit there and revel in his

production, knowing full well that may be a little piece of it could be

attributed to me. It is wonderful what he has done, I think.

Earlier I spoke to Justin and asked him what it had been like to meet

Nelson Mandela. I met him right before his 90 first birthday. ``

91st birthday. What an inspiring man. To have that compassion and

forgiveness. He is so inspiring on so many levels, but just meeting him

personally, it is a David Howell never forget. `` a day that I will

never forget. Sadly he did not live to actually see the film itself. And

to actually see the film itself And he was not well enough to see a

screening that I know that he should over there. Do you think that he

would have felt that you did him proud? Winnie Mandela and his

daughters all talk about the authenticity of the film and her

traitors to his legacy and how important the film as to his legacy.

On the day after he passed away I'd met with the daughters and they said

that the film is very important to their father and very true to their

father. That means everything to me as a film`maker. UI Nelson Mandela.

We have to talk a little bit about your roots. You are from Salford.

You started at the Bolton Little Theatre. A teacher had said to me,

you have to channel your energy and go and join a youth group. So I went

down to the theatre, which was behind the bus station. And was this

man there, Tom Campbell, who was a fireman, and he basically, with all

of these other kids that came from all over the North West, was so

inspiring. It was not a stage school, it was about telling

stories, about not acting, about being real, being true, and that led

to my career and I owe a lot to Tom and Little Theatre. We know that

they are very proud of yourself. Thank you very much for speaking to

us today. A really nice guy. What an amazing

journey to have taken. All the way from Bolton to meeting

Nelson Mandela. It must be odds`on that it will get Oscar nominations

by the score, given the timing. I really want to see it.

Let us return to what would have been our top story, the weather

problems. Cumbria and the West Coast took a

battering. Roads were closed and real services were disrupted.

They were cleaning up in Ramsey on the Isle of Man this afternoon after

strong winds and high tides combined to swamp seaside properties. We

removed all the stock and kept sleeping. We managed to contain it

`` kept sweeping. One minute we were thinking, it might happen, it may

not. Then we looked round the corner and we could see the water coming

in. Firefighters on the island said that they had helped with 20 calls

from people who's properties had been affected. Elsewhere they had

been prepared from early on for the storm. This is Lancaster, these

barriers are designed to prevent water seeping into quayside

properties. The wall of the West Coast is on alert for...

Several years ago it was commonplace for seafront properties to flood.

Today though that has not happened. It has been breached in some places,

a lot of debris has come over, but it has held the seat back pretty

well. We have been fortunate, there have been a lot of high tides, but

we have not had the high winds that were predicted. That has made the

situation much better than we thought. Perhaps not as bad as they

fought but still bad enough to cause some disruption. At this railway

station the track was completely submerged. And the Road linking

Barrow to Walney Island did not fare much better. In Chester the River

Dee overflowed its banks, swamping this playground. Thankfully

riverside properties were speared. `` spared. Elsewhere across the

region, our viewers captured the impact of the high tides and strong

winds on various parts of the North West Coast. Fortunately though it

seems that our region escaped relatively lately during the first

storm of 2014. Fantastic victories. Thank you to

everybody who sent them on. Thank you very much. Eno will be here to

let us know, we believe there are more storms coming on Sunday.

Sport now, and Stuart's here. It's FA Cup third`round weekend,

traditionally a highlight of the football calender but some are now

saying the competition has lost some sparkle Well, I don't think fans of

Cup`holders Wigan Athletic would agree with that, but, yes, Paul

Lambert, the Aston Villa manager, believes some Premier League teams

can do without the competition and that it's actually a hindrance. That

certainly isn't the case for Macclesfield Town, the lowest ranked

team left in the Cup. They need it more than probably anyone else as

they battle to stay in business with debts of half a million pounds.

Tomorrow a sold`out Moss Rose will welcome Sheffield Wednesday and club

bosses say victory could save the club. There are those who think the

sun has set on the FA Cup's glory years...but here they're grateful

for the grand old competition. The FA Cup is keeping this club alive.

They maybe have ?1 million in debt, that is not an insignificant amount

of money, but we still have creditors to pay from last season.

Is the FA Cup keeping you going as a club? It is, yes. Macclesfield's run

to the fourth round last year earned them around ?300,000. This year

they've already netted up to ?100,000. The dream would be to beat

Sheffield Wednesday and draw a Premier League giant which could

bring in as much as ?1 million. It has been so important, we just hope

that tomorrow we can get a result because, again, it means being able

to survive for the rest of. That survival fight has been helped by

nurse Zoe. The fan and fundraiser has been doing her bit to keep her

club alive. I shaved my head a couple of years ago, as well as

being a season ticket holder and having shares in the club. What else

could I do? I have written a book on district nursing, every copy of that

I sell, ?2 go to the fund. Being an FA Cup at the moment is the only

thing that is saving us. And it's thing that is saving us. And it's

the goals from Scott Boden that have saved Macclesfield so far in this

Cup run. The Sheffield United fan's scored in every round. Three goals,

yes. It should be tasty. Macclesfield already have a taste

for FA Cup glory another victory could move them closer to the

ultimate goal ` saving this club. And it's not just in Macclesfield

where they're hoping for an FA Cup upset. Spotland will host its

biggest crowd of the season when Rochdale welcome Leeds United. There

are 44 places between League Two Dale and their Championship

opponents, but don't discount the underdogs' chances. It is going to

be a difficult task but it is in no way impossible. We will probably be

at her very, very best. `` our very best. We are capable of doing it, we

have played some marvellous football this season and I do not think we

need to go into the aim with fear. Rochdale's neighbours Oldham renew

old rivalries on Sunday when they travel to Anfield to take on

Liverpool for the third successive season. So are the Latics defenders

having sleepless nights over facing super`striker Luis Suarez? It is

brilliant for these lads, they are young enough and why should they not

go to the premiership one day? At the moment Luis Suarez is on fire.

Meanwhile Suarez's boss Brendan Rodgers is in hot water ahead of

Sunday's game. An hour ago he was charged by the FA over comments he

made about referee Lee Mason after the defeat at Manchester City on

Boxing Day. In total, there are 13 North West clubs in Cup action this

weekend, keep up across all of it on both Saturday and Sunday on your BBC

local radio station. Manchester United manager David Moyes has other

things to worry about as well as the FA Cup. He's embroiled in the debate

over diving. Yes, along with players from a number of clubs, United's

Ashley Young and Adnan Januzaj have been accused of that dreaded word

"simulation" this season and the manager has reiterated his solution

today. 24 hours after one of the club's fanzines, Red Issue, cold on

the manager to sort the problem he's put forward the idea of using

video evidence against perpetrators. I do not think that we will go down

the route of video technology. I have always thought that simulations

it certainly the one that they should be allowed to view, but I

would not want videos, really, to come into the game.

Diving is also on the mind of Everton's Roberto Martinez. It's an

issue which is one of the game's big talking points this season and the

Goodison Park manager think it's a by`product of bringing so many

players from overseas into the Premier League. I'll was felt

extremely proud of the British game compared to other leagues around

Europe that we do not have that in our culture, of trying to buy the

seasons. Unfortunately it has been happening and we have been a mixture

of cultures and asked who seasons and we are going to `` we're going

to be saying that. On Christmas Day a family from

Manchester were hoping to give their severely disabled son a very special

present. But it wasn't to be. Fiona and Wesley Ratcliffe had

converted a shed into a special sensory room. But on Christmas

morning thieves broke in, stealing equipment and setting it alight.

Well, many of you got in touch with us to see how you could help to give

Harvey a belated Christmas present. Elaine Dunkley reports.

Christmas Day was ruined for Harvey and his family. This is what was

left of his special sensory shed. The only comfort was Harvey's two

guinea pigs survived. Everyone was expecting the moment and they just

never got it. It would be spoilt Christmas day. But all was not lost.

So it's new`found friends to the rescue. Local neighbours and

businesses decided to help out. Shelley put that year in the corner?

Myth that one up a bit. Whilst Harvey and his family have been away

on holiday, everyone here has been busy. Even the guinea pigs have a

new home. I thought, they have had their Christmas ruined now and let a

surprise them. This will be a massive surprise. We love Christmas,

really. Everyone has helped out, massive surprise. We love Christmas,

really. Everyone has helped out we really. Everyone has helped out, we

used our resources and tried to dismantle back on their face. We

battled the weather, got wet most days. It was one of those situations

where it tugged at our heartstrings straightway. We have five more

minutes. Three, for... And with just minutes to spare, the surprise

everyone has been waiting for. Harvey has Phelan`McDermid Syndrome,

which means he's aware of little around him but loves light colour

and sound. Finally he'll be able to enjoy the perfect Christmas present.

He loves it. He absolutely loves it. Just his reaction, he is wandering

about, he is making his noises. I cannot thank everybody enough for

what they have done for my son. Elaine Dunkley, BBC North West

Tonight. That is such a lovely end to what

was on. Ray. Well done to everybody who helped

out, it is such a heart`warming story.

It was brilliant. Time for the weather. More about

stuff installer. `` in the store.

We saw tides over ten metres today which is exceptionally high. That

could be record high tides for 2014. which is exceptionally high. That

could be record high tides for 014. could be record high tides for 2014.

Unfortunately we sought in the week of 2014. But the winds were not as

high as predicted. 63 mph on the Isle of Man. Having said that we

still have the yellow weather warning in force from the Met

Office, which is valid until mid`eyed. It is still blowing a gale

in Cumbria `` until midnight. We could see some clear spells, perhaps

a touch of frost and maybe some foggy patches as well. Temperatures

will fall to three or four Celsius. A different type of weather warning

tomorrow, this is for snow. But we are only talking about snow on high

ground. We start off on a cloudy note tomorrow. We will see the rain

beginning to edging. It is less windy as well. The rain and sleet

could be following Arsenal as you can see on high ground over the tops

of the Pennines. `` falling as snow. It could be less windy but it will

not be particularly warm, perhaps high temperatures of 67 Celsius. ``

high temperatures of 67 Celsius `` six or seven Celsius. Wet and windy

conditions, some more rain to come on Sunday. We could see some more

flooding because we already had this saturated ground. At lunchtime we

had 32 flood warnings, we are now down to eight. You might want to

keep the number handy. BBC Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire

and Cumbria will keep you updated about your local area.

Take here if you're out and about in the bad weather at the weekend.

It could be nastier again. Have a great weekend though, if you can.

Thank you for watching. Goodbye