15/05/2014 North West Tonight

missing. That's all from the BBC News at Six - so it's goodbye from

Welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Tiffin...

The Cyril Smith abuse scandal widens as more alleged

Police say they've identified a total of 21 suspects

New claims doctors' dodgy handwriting is putting patients

How a row could change the face of this land forever.

Life through a lens ` the people coming face to face with

And I have been talking to the second fastest man in the world, he

has been causing quite a stir at the school in Manchester. `` this

school. Greater Manchester Police have

confirmed seven alleged victims of the former Rochdale MP Cyril Smith

have now come forward saying they they were abused at the Knowl View

residential school in the town. Detectives say they're investigating

a total of 21 suspects, including Cyril Smith, and they

expect to make arrests soon. Ten men have come forward, three of

these are new victims. Seven of them say that they were allegedly abused

by Cyril Smith back in the 1970s and 1980s. This was an all boys school

and it was run by Rochdale council but it closed in the late 90s.

Officers say they now have 21 suspects, 14 of which they have

identified and one of them is Cyril Smith. They also say that some of

the suspects actually worked at the school and were members of staff

there. Cyril Smith was a governor at the school and he was the Liberal MP

for Rochdale back in the 1970s up until 1992. He died in 2010 and his

family have always said that he categorically denied these

allegations of abuse. What are the police saying? The police have

reopened the investigation, that was 18 months ago. Since then Rochdale

Council have also opened an inquiry to find out whether or not this was

a massive cover`up. What was coming on `` going on and he knew what was

happening? The police tell me this happening? The police tell me this

is a complex investigation and they are expecting to make arrest is

imminently over the next few months. We're joined now by Peter Garsden,

who is representing one of the victims. What is your reaction to

the news that 21 potential suspects have now been identified? My firm

has dealt with child abuse cases in children's homes over the years, it

does not surprise me that there are more than one abuser. Talk a bit

about the breadth of your experience, we will come to that in

minutes, but you will know from that that it is difficult to prove in

things like this, historical abuse, time and lack of evidence,

everything else. How confident are you that justice, we need to be

done, can be done? There are new wave of prosecutions, a new attitude

by the police. They will build their case, and hopefully, the victims, he

had been waiting for many years, will get some justice, but we will

have to wait and see how the investigation develops. What was the

police's attitude for? There was an attitude that you've looked at one

victim and did not look any further. But the new guidelines, they are

looking at other cases and they are trying to build an investigation

with more victims, which is a much better attitude. Just quickly, do

you think now that there is a need for a public inquiry? Are we to find

out what went on but also fight was not uncovered before. There was an

investigation in the past which obviously was not affected. Needs to

be an overarching umbrella inquiry with the power to command documents

to find out why this investigation previously not successful. You have

alluded to your breadth of experience. We're looking at

Rochdale, a couple of homes. But is this something that happened in

Greater Manchester and across the country that we still have to get to

the bottom of? In the 1990s 41 out of 43 major police forces had a

major child abuse investigation on your patch. Thank you very much

indeed. A man has described how he had the

body of his wife button eyes murdering her.

This is a murder trial without a body. Her body has never been found.

Andrew Fletcher is at Manchester Crown Court for us. The accused told

the court wife but was responding to voices in

his head. He said that he saw his wife having foreheads, heads very

long to the ground, very big meals and sharp teeth. She was extending

her hands around my neck, I could not breathe,

A man's body has been found in an estuary in Cumbria.

The discovery was made after 76`year`old John Allen from Preston

went missing two weeks ago while walking his dog at Ravenglass.

Doctors' handwriting is a long`standing joke,

inspection at Manchester Royal Infirmary found that some medical

that some medical notes were so hard to read that patients were at risk.

Inspectors found that many medical and nursing records were illegible.

The Infirmary is now introducing a new system of recording notes

electronically to make sure patients get the right treatment.

A sample of doctors' handwriting from an American nurse's blog.

Decipher it incorrectly and the patient could end up with

An inspection at the Manchester Royal Infirmary and

Royal Manchester Children's Hospital found similar examples.

The inspectors from the Care Quality Commission found that many entries

and medical records were illegible and that staff had to get together

to work out what doctors had intended to write. They concluded

that the impact was likely to be miner but evidence of poor

record`keeping was found on all but one of the words that they visited.

?It can be a nightmare to read the doctors' notes.?

In the report, they were of the view that it would have a miner impact on

patient care. But they do say that patients were at risk? I would

stress that it was an issue we were already aware of and were taking

stretched to `` taking steps to try to address.

How good Doctor Martyn Russel's handwriting is no longer matters.

He's in the vanguard of a new way of keeping notes and medical records

His notes and prescriptions used to be handwritten and stored

Now they go directly onto a computer.

Have you had particular problems in the past? Yes, lots of Rob Holmes.

How did you cope with that? You used to have to find the person and then

ask. `` yes, lots of problems. The new system will eventually be

introduced in all areas of the Record`keeping in the NHS is

finally entering the 12st century. Stuart Flinders,

BBC North West Tonight, Manchester. One week today you will have the

chance to vote in the European elections. Last night we reported on

Labour, UKIP and the Conservatives. But which other parties are in

contention? Well, five years ago the BNP stole the headlines after Nick

Griffin became one of the North West's eight Euro MPs. We'll be

talking to him shortly. our political editor Arif Ansari has

been out on the campaign trail with The Liberal Democrats

might be struggling. But veteran Euro MP Chris Davies is

relying on his personal record My name is Chris Davies. No, I am

sorry. That was you. How can I win a vote with you here?

Well, it's certainly going to be tighter than five years ago.

While Mr Davies is certain he'll beat the British National Party,

The buttons that the BNP presses, which are to exploit the differences

between people, to create skier stories about immigrants and the

like maltose buttons are being pressed by UKIP. TUC them as one and

the same `` do you see them as one in the same? They're not the same,

but you will find every racist in the country voting for UKIP.

Back in 2009 Nick Griffin was a winner.

The other parties walked off stage in disgust.

Since then Mr Griffin's audience appears to have deserted him

But back in Congleton ` support for another challenger.

The Green Party seems more interested in the environment than

anybody else. But when it comes to the proper elections. For me next

week is a proper election! The mac it is only a waste of time for

money, isn't it? He's just the kind

of protest voter the Greens want. Most people are fed up with the

large parties at the moment, quite understandably so, because there are

no real differences between policies.

The Greens and the Lib Dems are in direct competition.

But, positive or not, it's UKIP setting the agenda.

I am going to leave you to it, but thank you very much. Very true, but

at least the campaigning only has one week to go.

There are total of 11 parties standing in the elections in the

North West. For more information, have a look at the website at the

bottom of the screen. It is a week today. The 22nd of May.

One of the candidates is Nick Griffin, the BNP leader and North

West European MP. He came on earlier and I asked him, with his party

facing the prospect of heavy defeat this time round, why should people

vote for him? This election is about immigration. Some people think that

voting for UKIP is an anti`immigration vote. It is not,

their policy would mean keeping out Polish people but allowing in

Africans and Asians. People can vote for that if they want. We do not

care if they are quite or black or brown or green, Britain is full, we

should shut the door. You cannot deny that UKIP will steal some of

the voters that perhaps would have voted for you in 2009, disaffected,

quite, working class people, but perhaps they do not know like the

extremism of the BNP. UKIP will not steal votes. But the BBC has helped

him. They have had Nigel Farage on question Time virtually every other

week. It has created the impression that UKIP are something special, but

they are not, they are BBC puppet. Happens but in your party, your

other MEP has left. You have lost your councillors in Burnley, you

only have one left in Pendle. That cannot be down to the BBC. Town,

parish and community councillors are working hard for the local

communities. It is not just the BBC. The British government uses the

equality commission with 70 tax funded lawyers taking us to court.

They try to bankrupt us. When a party is subjected to this kind of

pressure... It is all conspiracy against the BNP, you have not

brought any of it against yourselves? Because they go against

all of the big vested interests. Why has the BNP used the murder of Lee

Rigby to promote itself? The BBC would never dare ask the question of

someone... Why would you use Lee Rigby's name in a campaign when his

family do not want that? When the families and these are routinely

bullied by the mass media, the court system, the police, by going away

quietly, it means that people like ourselves who are here to stand up

for white people, victims of white racism, are not allowed to do it

because it is racist. It is an outrageous thing, we have to talk

about the appalling case of Lee Rigby, because that the government

and British political elite do not get to grips with it then he will

not be the last. Tomorrow we will be talking to the

Green Party. A dispute over a patch of land

in the Lake District could change the way farming has been carried out

for centuries, according to some The land is common land

but the owners say they want some Peter farms land on common land your

Grasmere. He has a government grant, it needs renewing and Peter needs

the landowner to sign the form. In this case it is a trust, but they

have refused. Peter says that that is putting his livelihood at risk.

If the money is not there then we will not know the impact until it is

too late and it is not in our bank account and we are thinking, well

how are we going to pay this bill and that bill? To farmers use this

common land, the grant would give them extra land. It helps them to

maintain things like dry stone walls and natural habitats. One third of

farmland in the Lake District is common land. Farmers produce a huge

range of benefits for society, some of those we pay for, such as lamb

when we go to the supermarket, the other is landscape. The Lake

District is the most visited area after London. People do not have to

pay an entrance fee to come here. Instead the farmers are awarded

three schemes. The landowners say that they want some control over how

the area is maintained and believe that the farmers could apply for a

different grants which would mean that they are not out of pocket. We

have taken a management over of the Commons back from the National Trust

because the landowner effectively once an active management role in

the Commons. The Trust owns for other areas of common land in the

Lake District, all sides hope that they can come to an agreement soon.

Preston North End hope to book their place at Wembley tonight when they

visit Rotherham United in their League One playoff second leg.

Simon Grayson's side were held to a 1`1 draw in the home leg

at Deepdale last Saturday and are looking to break

their record of eight consecutive unsuccessful playoff campaigns.

There's full match commentary on BBC Radio Lancashire from 7.45pm.

He's the second fastest man in the world behind the legendary

Usain Bolt, but today he was giving some North West youngsters

Yohan Blake is the star turn at this weekend's

BT Great City Games in Manchester where he'll run the 150m sprint.

Today though, the man they call The Beast was passing

on some tips to the next generation, and to our man Richard Askam.

He is the youngest ever 100 metre world champion. At that distance,

and a 200 metres, only Usain Bolt has run faster. Yohan Blake has his

own distinctive celebration. Wouldn't that celebration come from?

I was watching a Michael Jackson video. Thriller. I said that I had

to do the Thriller. At the Rhino scowls, just smiles, when he made

his surprise appearance at the school in Manchester. Yohan Blake

treated the youngsters to some special training, a question and

answer session. The mac what is like to be one of the fastest evil in the

world? And for one pupil, a very special gift. His treasured cap. It

was very exciting, I was happy to meet him. What will you do with that

hat? Keep it for ever. This school is renamed for athletics, this

14`year`old is a national champion. He has been a good inspiration. Now

I know how he felt at this age. We have both gone through the same

thing and I hope that I can turn into him, or even better. I am

feeling good, I cannot wait for Saturday. The injury is pained me. I

am just looking forward to the future. Hopefully everything will go

to plan `` the injury is the hind me.

The line`up for this year?s Liverpool International Music

Festival has been announced. Stars from Boy George to Kid Creole and

Ian Broudie from the Lightening Seeds will be taking part. There

will be around 180 acts performing at venues across the city in August,

with more big names to be announced. These are striking photographs. But

Rankin's new exhibition has just opened in Lancashire.

First of all, I thought, I want to die. Three years ago Leslie was

diagnosed with breast cancer. Once the chemotherapy started to affect

her appearance the mother of two from Bolton was determined to leave

a lasting and beautiful image for her kids to remember her by. And so

she was overjoyed when Rankin asked to foot graph. It has made me feel

beautiful. So many people, when they get cancer and they lose their here,

they think they look terrible. But it can be a good time, you can try

things out. Her photograph is just one of 20 four trips up on shore.

Paper trade me as me at my best, but that is how I have got through it.

Even when my hand has been shaking because I have been in so much pain,

I have still tried to get my eyeliner on, because I have thought,

I am not walking out there like a victim. The exhibition follows

people living with terminal illness. When you work in a hospice like I do

every day, you see people who are facing the end of their life with

character and fortitude and strength. Rankin has captured the

essence of what I see every day in the hospice with his foot graphs.

The exhibition is on until Saturday Peter

. The power is in me. They are such striking images.

Very nice exhibition. I spent most of the day learning how to put on

false eyelashes. Good evening.

It has been a decent day today, highs of 18 Celsius, but I can go

higher. The temperatures tomorrow should be something to write home

about. They should be in excess of 20 Celsius, but by the seaside day

she'd be a touch cooler. The UV levels tomorrow should be quite

high, so take care if you're outdoors. Some very light winds

around. As we head into the overnight period the clouds will

continue to clear away in places. Some mist and fog patches forming.

Temperatures still in double figures, but for tomorrow, just in

case we mist it, there should be a lot of clear skies. It is going to

be very warm from the word go. It will be a warm day with a lot of

sunshine. Very light winds indeed. Highs of 20 or 21 Celsius in the

South. Maybe not quite as warm as you can see across parts of Cumbria.

Just 15 or 16 Celsius, but it will be a nice day with glorious

sunshine, hopefully wall`to`wall sunshine by the afternoon. These are

the temperatures expected for Saturday. In Greater Manchester we

should see highs of 22 Celsius. It will be a touch cooler elsewhere.

Just 14 or 14 Celsius on the Isle of Man, but I still think it should be

a lovely weekend. Rhododendrons are beautiful at this

time of year. Not quite as colourful as your dress.

See you tomorrow. Goodbye. at the European elections

on May the 22nd. even though that would wreck

the recovery and destroy jobs.