29/03/2017 Points West

The end of an historic day We ask what Brexit means to us.

In Bridgwater they voted overwhelmingly to leave,

And tomorrow could be the warmest day of 2017 so far, someone in the

UK. I'll tell you what will happen in this region later in the

Nine months on from that crucial vote, we are officially

Here in the West 13 of our 19 council

areas, shown here in blue, voted out.

But dereference in our region was actually much closer than that

suggests, with 49.3% of people wanting to stay in the EU.

Nowhere was that clearer than some parts of Bristol and

Across the city of Bristol, fewer than 40% of people

In the Sedgemoor area of Somerset, that figure was more

Our political editor begins his report in Bridgwater.

All day the news has focused on one big

Here in Bridgwater in this pub, and out on the streets,

Last June more than 60% of people here voted to

In contrast to other parts of the West.

Brexit day in Bridgwater, where only one flag mattered.

The wind of change was blowing through the Somerset town.

In Bridgwater only one flag mattered.

Wind of change was blowing through the Somerset town.

Its population is a little older than average and

A partnership that works the best interests of the United Kingdom...

Nine months later the official start to Brexit filled

I didn't meet anybody who wanted to remain in

Theresa May is announcing Article 50.

I am looking forward to seeing what actually happens and how

I don't think it will make a great deal of difference, especially to

Time will tell of course who was right or

wrong but it is a big day in our history, yes.

Official predictions that it will cost Britain billions

This pub chain actually backed Brexit.

The announcement in Parliament put wary smiles and

to the faces of locals who campaigned for Leave.

I do think we finally there until it is

It will be a long time because I don't think anybody

realised how much we were entangled in the EU.

By contrast, many in Bristol believe we heading into

The city is home to two universities and people have

On a harbour ferry we met one the city's defiant remainders.

The argument coming from the Leavers is

They accuse us the Reamainers, of Project Fear, when they are peddling

fear about immigration and the idea that other people are controlling

It is nonsense, and that is putting it politely.

It is a fait accompli, we have to get on with it

Now the city of Bristol and the country must chart a

Well some EU citizens living here in the West have told us

Nothing will change immediately, but they still say they're

concerned about their rights and whether they will

Laura Jones has been finding out more.

Hometime - and a chance to relax and unwind together

For six-year-old twins Russell and Rex and little

another Wednesday afternoon, but for mum Phaeny, this historic

Phaeny is Greek, her husband is British

and they met whilst working in Germany.

Her three children were born in the UK, but as of today,

A lot of people think that if you are married to a British

national you are safe, and you are not.

When you sit down to apply for permanent

residence it is you and the Home Office.

This family exists like many others because of free movement and

it is not just a paragraph in a treaty, it is actually a real thing

that changes people's lives, and it is a good thing

and a progressive thing and it is where progressive

Phaeny isn't the only one who's scared.

Across the UK there are more than three million other EU nationals

who've made their lives in this country - and who never really

There are more than a million British people living in Europe.

Many have been here for decades, their lives completely

intertwined with life here - and the thought of that

Amongst them, John Shaw from north Somerset,

who has been campaigning hard for a fair deal for expats.

My concerns have always been about our loss of rights.

We have transferred pension rights from the UK.

Also health care, we live in France, Spain and Germany as we have health

care provided by the country in which we live.

Back here, other groups are working hard too.

This woman from Germany is one of the founders of the Bristol-based

People will be left hanging, they haven't

got the right documentation to prove that they are able to remain in the

They will not be able to rent flats or start jobs.

It is a puzzling time for this family.

Earlier I spoke to the Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton Brown who voted

to leave the EU and asked him if he was happy this day had come.

Now that we've triggered Article 50, there is,

as Theresa May said, no

We need to do the best possible negotiations we can for the

We don't have all the details yet, far from it, in fact.

What would you say to people who feel that we are taking a leap into

It is true that these negotiations are dependent on

I remain optimistic that, actually, it's very much in both sides'

interest that we come out of this process with a

After all, they sell more to us than we sell to

Therefore, a a lot of jobs, and a lot of businesses are

dependent on the trade they do with this country.

Pragmatically, it's in both side' interest, and I'm

confident we'll come out at the end of the day with a satisfactory

And Britain will then be open to the rest of the world,

seizing those opportunities in high-growth economies like Southeast

We have heard tonight from the Europeans

are living here in the

West Country, they are, understandably, a little bit

concerned about their future is here.

What assurances would you give them to make?

Well, as I said the other day, I think it's

inconceivable that those Europeans who are lawfully living here, who

are benefiting the country, after all, should not be allowed to

In order to check them out, we would have to have

I just do not think that would go through our

I think people living here lawfully can be reassured that

they will be allowed to continue living here,

it's just a question of

making sure our citizens in European countries

have the same rights as

Geoffrey Clifton Brown, thank you very much.

The wife of a former Somerset Royal Marine convicted

of shooting dead a wounded Taliban fighter has told us he has always

Alexander Blackman had his murder conviction reduced

to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility .

Today his wife told us it had been a long and difficult journey.

Blackman is expected to be freed from prison

The whole journey has been a bit of a roller-coaster. We've had some

winds along the way. We've had a lot more let downs and disappointments.

Those were the days when we wondered if we would get here.

The size and shape of the planned new Bristol arena could be scaled

back if the cost of building the venue ends up more than planned.

The City Council will decide next week whether to order a review

The authority is also looking to appoint a new contractor.

It could be the warmest day of 2017 so far tomorrow.

Perhaps not in our region, but well in the high teens.

Make the most of the mild weather, it will be cooler

This afternoon, into this evening we saw a frontal system trying

We've had bits and pieces, but if you head towards tomorrow

morning it's starting to push away again.

As we head towards breakfast we see she was becoming more confined

towards North and west of the region.

As we goes on the day it looks like we'll see cloud breaking,

Good spells of sunshine in the afternoon.

In the best of it ties of 17, possibly 18 Celsius.

Make the most of it it will be cooler on Friday with sunshine,

Here is Darren with your national forecast.

far. The outlook for the next few days, temperatures coming down a bit

but staying decent for this time of year. Here is Darren Bett with the

national weather. The warm air coming up on a

southerly breeze all the way from Iberia and across France into

England and Wales. To achieve the high temperatures we need to get

into some of this dryer air and sunshine. Even with the cloud today,

17 degrees. Not just about the temperatures, let's not forget there

is some rain around as