11/01/2017 South East Today

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith.

A pedestrian dies after being hit by a car pursued

by police through Brighton - tonight two men hand themselves in.

Southern take fresh legal action to stop further rail strikes,

but the Aslef Union say they won't back down.

Calls to change the law to ban lorries from parking in lay-bys -

and create a series of truck stops to end noise and litter

30 years ago it started to snow, and didn't stop for four days -

we remember the great winter storm of 1987.

It's all right, I'll get another one in London.

Remembering the real Pocahontas - 400 years after her

Two men have handed themselves in after a pedestrian was hit

and killed in Brighton city centre by a car being pursued by police.

The 78-year-old man died last night, after he was hit

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now

Friends of the victim say they're "shocked and numb"

A police chase turned into a tragedy. The victim, a 78-year-old

man named locally as John. Originally from Hungary, he used to

regularly meet his friends in the area to go batting. Koloamatangi it

is very sad that it has happened to him. I've only heard this morning

that it happened and I still can't believe it. I was only chatting to

him yesterday afternoon. He was a very nice man, very quiet. Very

friendly sort of bloke. Never seems to trouble anybody. At around 10pm

last night, a Vauxhall Astra failed to stop for police in the Bear Road

area of Brighton. The pie was then chased by police officers into the

city centre, where it hit the man on the pedestrian crossing on the

junction with Saint James Street. But the car didn't stop there. It

was found abandoned just a short distance away on Madeira Drive.

Officers had seen a Vauxhall Astra shortly before this incident and it

attempted to stop it but it failed to stop. The officers continued

after the vehicle but lost sight of it. The IPC see is dealing with that

aspect of the investigation and I cannot comment further. Blue lights

were flashing. We look across and it was clear there was no arguments

there. There was one police car, I think, and a body. People were

crouched around looking at this person in the road. This morning,

33-year-old man handed himself in to police. This afternoon, 35-year-old

man did the same. Both from Brighton. They have both been

arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving,

drink-driving, failing to stop for police and failing to report an

accident. Leanne Rinne reporting,

and she's in Brighton for us. Leanne, what more do we know

about the hit-and-run victim? Police tonight still haven't

confirmed his name, but having spoken to people in the area, it

doesn't seem like John had any family here. We believe he could

have been homeless, regularly using one of the drop-in centres nearby.

Within the last hour, the Independent Police Complaints

Commission have told us and confirmed that they are launching

their own investigation. They have already spoken to the police

officers involved in that pursuit and they have given them their

initial accounts, their initial version of events of what happened.

Thank you. Southern Rail are taking fresh

legal action tonight, Virtually all Southern trains have

been brought to a standstill for the second day running

by a drivers' strike - over whether it's safe or not

for drivers rather than guards Four further strikes

are planned this month - but Southern managers believe

the industrial action Let's cross live to our political

editor Helen Catt in Westminster. Helen, they've already tried

and failed to stop these Yes, absolutely. Late last year, at

macro Southern took Aslef to the High Court to try to stop strikes of

the European law. That failed, and appeal failed and now they're

escalating it the Supreme Court. Despite all of this action, it

implies that Southern doesn't expect a resolution any time soon. Earlier

I spoke to the general secretary of Aslef and tried to find out his red

lines. I asked if he would be happy for drivers to close the doors on a

train if there was an else on the train to a standard he agreed with.

No, because the bulk of the dispute, the issue is around having a second

present evacuates the train that can actually go on the track, deal with

a train fire, deal with incidents of violence or illness or actually

assist the disabled. It is a second part of why we are. If they could do

all of those things but not close the doors, would that be acceptable?

No, because the platform train interface is the concern. A train

runs in and somebody shouts out, there is another one in two minutes,

and nobody steps back and somebody then makes a valid judgments,

whether a train manager operated, platform dispatch, where trains

leave the platform and those who are clamouring to get on don't step back

a safe distance and that second pair of eyes allows us to do this. What

indemnifies the driver to do the job they are meant to do, looking

forwards, not looking backwards is the person on the platform that says

it is safe to go. We hear a lot about this being a bit of a proxy

war between the unions facing off against a Tory government and vice

versa. Is it? Yet if it were a Labour government, we would be doing

the same. We would hope they listen to our voice, but in the same

situation it would apply. I was asked if Sadiq Khan took over the

running of the trains, would we have the same problems? If he was putting

the same process in place, we would have the same problem. As technical

solution can be found, this isn't a political dispute. If you can find a

technical solution between the two sides, this could be over. This is

industrial trade dispute about having DOI forced upon us in

circumstances we don't agree with and its inherently safe. -- or any

other lines of communication open? Quite often online as well as

online. We never close those doors, we keep them open. We you are

talking? We haven't this week. They want to talk to us in a week of

action. If they had come to us for talks, I would be willing -- or

would be willing to talk, we would have. We have never refused a

meeting and will not be doing so in the future. How far are your members

willing to go? Are we looking at strikes the months, years? That

depends. The members themselves have a real concern. They did not choose

this battle or the battle ground. I make that clear. We have not been

involved in the last nine months. We have only just come to this. Those

members will tell us when they've had enough. It is those numbers who

are telling us this is what we want, this is where we need to be. We will

listen to our members. The Conservative MP Tim Lawton has

told us the backs taking further action. There are three more strike

dates after this Friday. No more scheduled after that, but we

understand that the executive committee of Aslef meets next week.

We will hear them if any further action is plan. Thank you.

Later in the programme we'll hear from Sussex business leaders who say

the ongoing rail dispute is having a devastating impact on trade.

In a moment: Fighting for funding - hundreds of Sussex headteachers

write to MPs, claiming their schools need more cash.

A change in the law is needed to make it illegal for lorries

to park on residential roads and in lay-bys - that's the call

from Kent County Councillors as they try to tackle the littering

and noise making people's lives a misery.

More than two million lorries came into Kent through Dover

While plans being drawn up for a series of lorry parks

are being put out for consultation, it's not clear who would

actually pay for them, or where they would go.

Sandra Mallory and Janet Watton, who live near the port of Dover,

say up to 30 lorries park up their street each night, keeping

Urine in bottles - when it's in a bottle -

You can't walk up there with your children or your animals

This police patrol off the A2 found lorry after lorry

A bit further on, one has even decided to stop

Lorry drivers parked up legally here today say it can be difficult

Seven o'clock at night, you will not get in here.

That's when you see them parked on slip roads.

They need a lorry park and they need lots of them.

It will upset locals, but they've got to go somewhere.

In England, it is difficult, parking.

I am driving very long time here, I know where you are parking,

where is the possible bays, where is the toilet, shower.

In 2015, two million HGVs entered through the Port of Dover

and Eurotunnel from Europe, with over 10,000 lorries

The number of freight vehicles using the Dartford Crossing

A big lorry park is already planned at Stanford to counter Operation

Stack, but Kent County Council is proposing up to five new lorry

parks, potentially near Sheerness, Dartford, Maidstone and Tonbridge,

though it wouldn't identify precise locations.

It believes a change in the law would necessary.

I've asked the minister and his offices to look

at the concept of a law which says that you cannot park a lorry

for longer than perhaps three quarters of an hour -

which is the time that you have to rest up every so often -

unless you are parked in an authorised place.

But the big question - you would pay to build the parks?

Simon Jones joins us live from Dover.

Simon, how likely are these proposed lorry parks to become a reality?

It's going to be tricky. To show you why residents say action is needed

now, take a look at the hedgerow that. It is strewn with litter that

people say, from lorry drivers. Some brands there are clearly from abroad

and down the road we've seen a number of lorry drivers parking up

for the night. The big challenge is, even if land is found for new lorry

parks, it has to go through the planning process. That is likely to

be controversial and there is the cash needed. Kent County Council

says it won't pay, it would need the private sector. That will only

happen if they get the change in the law. Thank you.

A Kent pub has been destroyed by fire.

Fire crews rescued a man from a flat above the Victoria Cross

pub in Chatham in the early hours of this morning.

Local people were asked to keep their doors and windows

closed because of the risk of breathing in toxic smoke.

Hundreds of headteachers in West Sussex have written to MPs

warning that the government's latest funding settlement has failed

to tackle "extremely bleak" budget shortfalls.

Their letter asks politicians to decide how they should cut

spending - whether to lay off teaching staff, reduce

school opening hours, or axe services for pupils.

The Government launched a new schools funding

formula last month - but campaigners in West Sussex say

they're still getting a raw deal, as our Education Correspondent

If you think about that one, you have just told me that from your own

knowledge. Rated outstanding by Ofsted this week, Downs community

School is one of many in West Sussex to be high performing. Last month,

it was announced West Sussex schools would get more money, but they say

they are still the bottom of the pile. Generally in West Sussex,

heads and those involved in schools really think we are approaching a

tipping point and that is, will we be able to continue to provide the

quality education that we've been able to provide up to now? And so

the tipping point means that we are really looking at class sizes, what

can we do to survive in this funding situation? The head teacher here was

one of 300 in the county to write to MPs will stop in the letter, they

say proposals under the new funding formula do not provide meaningful

remedy. No matter how clearly we state our position, Newell

improvements are made. They accuse... All of West Sussex MPs

have joined together to make the case for interim school funding and

supported the teachers campaign which has already seen them handed a

petition to Downing Street. So far, there has been no resolution.

Parents here are concerned. If the funding isn't improved, obviously we

cannot be sure that the same amount of classes will be available. If

class sizes go up, children get less attention in classes. There is such

a range of things on offer here, if that was reduced, that would really

concern me. The Department for Education says overall funding for

West Sussex schools will go up by 3.5% under the new proposals and

that it will work according to peoples' needs rather than their

postcode. This is our top story tonight:

Two men have handed themselves in after a pedestrian was killed

in Brighton city centre - hit The 78-year-old man died last

night, after he was hit The Independent Police Complaints

Commission is investigating. There is so much we can teach you.

We've improved the lives of savages all over the world. Savages? Not

that you are savages. Just my people!

Remembering the real Pocahontas - who died 400 years ago in Kent.

With no end in sight to the bitter industrial dispute that's brought

the Southern Rail network to a halt again today, local

businesses say it's having a devastating impact on trade.

It's estimated that the strikes will have cost the UK economy almost

?400 million pounds by the end of this month.

And house prices across the Southern network area

have grown by just 1.4% over the past six months -

compared to a 3% average elsewhere in the UK.

And some small businesses in Sussex say their takings have

Our reporter Ellie Crisell is in Eastbourne -

how are people coping there after another

It's very difficult here. It's been extremely quiet. It is the 32nd day

of strike action since last April and businesses in places like here

in Eastbourne are starting to feel the bite. Some small business owners

told me today that things are reaching crisis point.

Empty trains, an empty station and an empty shop. A lack of football at

Eastbourne station means a sharp downturn in business for this copy

shop owner. It is heartbreaking because we feel we are held ransom

because we really do not know what we can do about things getting

better. We are relying on commuters, we are losing that business because

people are losing confidence. Half of the staff have been laid off here

within the last year and owner Bella is worried that instead of

celebrating the cafe's third anniversary in May, she will be

closing the doors forever. Other independent retailers are also

suffering. I used to coming early to get the commuters going to work and

stay open late. This morning, I was in at 7:30am. I had my first cousin

at 9am. It is not just a lack of commuters impacting on trade. I was

told by a local business consultant about the unreliable transport is

preventing company growth. I'm cancelling opponents, --

appointments, postponing them. It is an awful image for a professional

company. The CEO Eastbourne's chamber of commerce met with the

rail minister yesterday. We were concerned that it was all about

commuters. It is important, don't get me wrong, but they also need to

be aware of the impact it is having on the economy. We were disappointed

that they actually said they are not prepared to meet with the RMT or

Aslef until they suspend the strike. The stark warning here is that if

the rail dispute isn't resolved soon, it will be the end of the line

for many small businesses in Eastbourne.

One business owner Tommy today that the impact of these rail strikes is

becoming as negative on her business as the recession was and what most

people seem to be saying is, they want the government to step in and

sort this out before, for some businesses, it's too late. Thank

you. She's probably best known

to lots of people today But the reality of life

for the legendary 17th century Native American Pocahontas was far

removed from a children's movie. After marrying a tobacco

planter in the early 1600s, she travelled to the Kent

town of Gravesend. And, as Ian Palmer reports,

special commemorations have been taking place there today to mark

the 400th anniversary of her death. Let go! No, I'm not letting you

leave. The story of Pocahontas told by Disney is a love narrative. But

the tale of this remarkable woman is much more than that. She is with you

to some extent because she is buried here. Here at Saint John's catholic

school in Gravesend, pupils learn about the life of a woman that tried

to bring Britain and the US together. She was a peace

ambassador. She was able to create peace among her people and the

English. Partly by that marriage. You could look at her as a diplomat,

an ambassador or perhaps an intriguer, someone working between

the cultures. Pocahontas was a member of a tribe. In 1616, she

travelled to England with her husband John. On her way home, she

became ill and died in Gravesend. We commissioned a piece of art from

Ethan Brown, young artist in her tribe, and this is his art. He has

depicted Pocahontas in the afterlife, according to traditional

beliefs. To mark the 400th anniversary of her

death, the US ambassador to the UK attended a special ceremony. Here,

he's seen talking with the direct descendant of Pocahontas. Travel is

fatal to prejudice. So good! I try to get writers to try to sit inside

another so that they can do the bridge building you talk about. I

loved your talk. The legacy of Pocahontas 's unity and bridge

building. Some would say those two virtues are needed now more than

ever. The Met Office is predicting

that we could see significant snowfall this week -

but fortunately it's not predicted to be quite as bad as 30 years ago,

when it started snowing on the 11th of January, and didn't

stop for four days. As Peter Whittlesea reports,

entire communities were cut off, hundreds of schools closed,

and supermarkets started running out of food,

as the transport network was brought to a halt in the great

winter storm of 1987. Several tonnes of food were moving

out of Maidstone as more supplies When an arctic blast hit Kent 30

years ago, it was so cold, the army had to be drafted in,

taking urgent supplies through the snow drifts

to cut-off communities. For the intractable

corners, the last resort 33 Engineer Bomb Disposal Commando

Unit, which is used to this sort of stuff in Norway,

loaded up with baby food. Babies' milk, coal, mainly

bread and cheese, pies. And the temperature still hadn't

climbed above freezing. The fact the BBC called upon war

correspondent Kate Adie to do a weather story highlighted

the extreme conditions In the Medway towns,

Kent, it was -13, and the thermometer in the Weald

only rose to -9 - 15.8 during the day,

which made it actually the coldest The North Downs didn't escape

the cold snap, either. Back then, it was more

like the tundra. Emergency vehicles were unable

to reach the village. A middle-aged man had

had a heart attack. Neighbours administered first

aid for several hours Give an injection to kill the pain

and hope he'll see his way How long will it be before

the ambulance gets here? No idea, they've got a long

way to come and it's In 1987, it was the weather that

ground the rail network to a halt. British rail have been

working to clear the lines, but traditional methods have failed,

so they've imported the snow No Scottish snowblowers

are on stand-by at the moment, so perhaps those record low

temperatures of 30 years ago It makes you cold just looking at

it! Rachel - we know that there could be

some snow on the way - but is there any danger it could be

as heavy as that? Nothing that bad. We're expecting

perhaps three or four centimetres. 30 years ago, the reason that we saw

that bitterly cold weather and all that snow was actually an area of

high pressure over its Siberia. It gave us bitterly cold easterly winds

and this very cold air from Russia meant we saw so which snow. 30 years

ago, we sold nearly 40 centimetres of snow. Further snow fell into the

13th, giving us half a metre of snow. With strong winds, we saw

drifts over six metres. Nothing like that in the forecast, but we have

got warnings out about snow. They will be valid for tomorrow and

particularly during the tail end of Thursday, into Friday. That is when

we expect to see the snowball. There is also going to be lots of rain

around. Some sleet mixed in with that and as we see temperatures

freeze tomorrow night, potentially some problems on the roads and

indeed on the railways. Through tonight, we are going to be staying

dry and quite mild. Temperatures drop to around two or three degrees.

If you are up early, it will be dry first thing, but very quickly we

will see this band of rain. That moves up from the South West into

this bitterly cold air. As it meets it, it's going to be turning into

sleaze, potentially some snow mixed in with that, and particularly

during the tail end of the afternoon, we expect to see some

snow. During the morning, it is falling mostly as rain first thing,

but as we head through the afternoon, those heavy bursts within

that. Temperatures will reach highs of seven or 8 degrees. It will feel

more like two or three. As we go from Thursday over into Friday, lots

of white on the map. Expecting perhaps three or four centimetres of

snow fall widely and lower ground. The bitterly cold start to the day

on Friday with a hard frost. Take care on the roads. Essentially

problem is with black eyes on the roads. Friday, potentially more

snow. Lots to look forward to that. Thank

you. I will be back at 8pm and 10:30pm.

Hope you can join me then. I will see you tomorrow.

Have a good evening. Goodbye. Stay warm.

I think my political beliefs are really quite straightforward.

I believe that our country needs to work for everyone.

Not just for the rich, not just for the privileged,

not just for those who know the right people or who've got

the loudest voices, but a country that really works for everyone,

has the opportunity to be who they want to be.

In order to make sure that the country works for everyone,

Standing up for the vulnerable, for the voiceless,

against those who feel that they're strong and powerful.

If you're doing the right thing, then you must do that however

difficult it is, even if there seems to be an easier path to take.