:00:00. > :00:00.Political shock waves as the US President fires the director of the
:00:00. > :00:00.FBI. Donald Trump said James Comey was not doing a good job.
:00:00. > :00:08.That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me -
:00:09. > :00:17.and on BBC one we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.
:00:18. > :00:21.The sussex gallery facing catastrophic cuts that will see it
:00:22. > :00:27.Supporters say losing the Towner would be a disaster for Eastbourne.
:00:28. > :00:29.We'll be there live with the details.
:00:30. > :00:32.South Thanet candidate Craig Mackinlay waits to find out
:00:33. > :00:36.if he'll face charges over election expenses as police announce
:00:37. > :00:40.none will be brought against other Conservatives.
:00:41. > :00:42.Also in tonight's programme: One in a million.
:00:43. > :00:46.The boy who must live in the dark raises money to help others
:00:47. > :00:53.The 102-year-old veteran from Shoreham publishing
:00:54. > :00:59.And Ruby Wax talks comedy and mental health as she prepares to go
:01:00. > :01:16.Losing the Towner Gallery would be a disaster for Eastbourne say
:01:17. > :01:20.campaigners, as the council announces it s going to halve
:01:21. > :01:27.It will leave the gallery with a ?300,000 hole in its budget.
:01:28. > :01:30.Gallery bosses say that is "catastrophic" for them,
:01:31. > :01:36.The council says it is having to deal with "brutal" funding
:01:37. > :01:38.cuts from government, and is having to find
:01:39. > :01:57.As Eastbourne 's gallery faces cuts campaigners are calling for a
:01:58. > :02:01.rethink saying making savings of ?300,000 a year have crippling
:02:02. > :02:06.impact on arts and culture. They're going to have to cut their
:02:07. > :02:11.exhibitions severely and cut about half the staff. If you think you're
:02:12. > :02:15.going to see a lot of lovely exhibitions you will see them
:02:16. > :02:18.because they will be able to afford them. As its budget has been
:02:19. > :02:24.squeezed Eastbourne Council says it has to cut costs. This is one of the
:02:25. > :02:30.most exciting exhibitions the towns had. David Dimbleby is the chair of
:02:31. > :02:35.the Towner and his son has joined the campaign to save future funding.
:02:36. > :02:46.It is a front-line service in my mind. It brings in tourists and
:02:47. > :02:51.tourists go to shops and cafes and spend money. Galleries rely on
:02:52. > :02:59.different funding streams but the Towner relies on cash from the
:03:00. > :03:02.borough council 's. Between 2015 and 2018 Turner contemporary and Margate
:03:03. > :03:09.will receive 1.7 million from the arts Council. The Delaware division
:03:10. > :03:12.will get 1.5 million in the same period yet Towner will receive just
:03:13. > :03:24.over ?1 million from the arts Council. That would disappoint quite
:03:25. > :03:30.a few people if it was cut to the. I agree with that up to a point. I can
:03:31. > :03:33.see why they are doing it. They have to draw people in and that is the
:03:34. > :03:37.only way they can do it. But Eastbourne Borough Council has
:03:38. > :03:40.confirmed as yet no final decision on funding has been made.
:03:41. > :03:46.Peter, so although these plans aren't final, the council says it
:03:47. > :03:57.The council has been looking at various ways it can try and make
:03:58. > :04:00.some money, trying to sell off some farmland but that was rejected so
:04:01. > :04:05.the latest proposal is to cut the ground here at the Towner. It has
:04:06. > :04:10.hit back tonight saying for every pound invested it brings to pounds
:04:11. > :04:15.ten back to the local economy. They attract 145,000 people every year so
:04:16. > :04:19.cutting their grant would be completely counter-productive.
:04:20. > :04:21.Prosecutors say the case against the South Thanet Conservative
:04:22. > :04:23.candidate Craig Mackinlay remains open, while their investigation into
:04:24. > :04:27.The Crown Prosecution Service said no criminal charges are to be
:04:28. > :04:29.brought against Conservative MPs elsewhere in the country
:04:30. > :04:31.but a decision on whether to prosecute Craig Mackinlay
:04:32. > :04:45.Our Political Editor Helen Catt has the details.
:04:46. > :04:50.Craig McKinley is tonight the only Conservative candidate who still
:04:51. > :04:54.doesn't know if he will face criminal charges over spending at
:04:55. > :04:58.the last general election. Earlier prosecutors said they would not take
:04:59. > :05:02.action against a number of MPs who were visited by the Conservative
:05:03. > :05:07.battle bus. It's in the lap of the gods now. It's in the hands of the
:05:08. > :05:15.CPS. I am told from a legal point of view it all hinges on the word
:05:16. > :05:28.knowingly. The MPs did not knowingly realise the battle bus was coming
:05:29. > :05:33.and it wasn't part of the expenses. In 2015 the spending limit was just
:05:34. > :05:37.over ?15,000. Mr McKinlay declared expenses of just under that. That
:05:38. > :05:42.queries were raised over a 15 under half thousand pound hotel bill paid
:05:43. > :05:47.by the National party at the Royal Harbour Hotel in Ramsgate. An
:05:48. > :05:51.investigation found some of those who stayed they had helped Mr
:05:52. > :05:56.McKinlay's campaign. The investigation has two prove intent
:05:57. > :06:02.and prove to an extent wilful intent whereas the Electoral Commission,
:06:03. > :06:07.all they do is have to show that things have been misfiled. Kent
:06:08. > :06:12.Police investigation has only recently been passed to the CPS. It
:06:13. > :06:15.is for that reason the CBS says the case remains under consideration.
:06:16. > :06:17.And Helen is in Broadstairs for us now.
:06:18. > :06:26.Has Mr Mackinlay said anything about this yet?
:06:27. > :06:31.He has not commented on any of today's developments but has
:06:32. > :06:35.previously said he has done nothing wrong. He does also have the backing
:06:36. > :06:39.of his local Conservative Association and he is intending to
:06:40. > :06:43.go forward with the standing as the candidate so we're not expecting any
:06:44. > :06:51.change before close of nominations tomorrow. The CPS has also been
:06:52. > :06:57.saying today that no influence should be taken from the fact they
:06:58. > :07:01.have not made a decision. Newson from Ukip that the chairman the Kent
:07:02. > :07:09.branch has resigned after resigning and unreasoning on Monday. It was
:07:10. > :07:15.all a bit will he wanted but he has resigned as the chair. Richard
:07:16. > :07:20.Palmer. Not over the comments he made about Paul Nuttall. He says he
:07:21. > :07:23.just needs a rest. He will not be standing as the party candidate in
:07:24. > :07:30.Sittingbourne and Shetty because they are not going to stand any
:07:31. > :07:33.they're. They don't want to split the Brexit vote. What will be
:07:34. > :07:34.interesting tomorrow when those nominations come out is whether it's
:07:35. > :07:40.happening anywhere else. In a moment: The boy who must
:07:41. > :07:43.live in the dark helping others to see the light,
:07:44. > :07:45.raising money for fellow sufferers A murder investigation has been
:07:46. > :07:56.launched after the death of a man Razvan Sirbu's body was discovered
:07:57. > :08:01.in the Looze Valley Conservation A post mortem's concluded he died
:08:02. > :08:07.from blunt force trauma The 21-year-old had been
:08:08. > :08:13.living in a tent nearby. We would like to appeal for any
:08:14. > :08:15.witnesses to come forward in the location of Chisbrook Meadow
:08:16. > :08:18.between 4pm on Saturday afternoon And also for anybody else who has
:08:19. > :08:27.any information whatsoever about this vicious murder to come
:08:28. > :08:31.forward and speak to us. Piers, what else have
:08:32. > :08:47.the police had to say? They have told us that Razvan Sirbu
:08:48. > :08:53.was a Czech national who came to the UK last October. During that time he
:08:54. > :08:58.had been sleeping rough and he had only come here last Friday so less
:08:59. > :09:02.than 24 hours before his murder. It's understood he had been sleeping
:09:03. > :09:08.living in a tent in the woodland that you can see their behind me.
:09:09. > :09:11.This is the second murder of a homeless person in Kent in the last
:09:12. > :09:16.human sand earlier today I spoke to the Chief Executive of the homeless
:09:17. > :09:20.charity torchlight and said that homelessness was on the increase and
:09:21. > :09:27.that attacks on homeless people were commonplace. People who sleep rough
:09:28. > :09:30.report violence on a daily basis. The vulnerability comes from
:09:31. > :09:36.somebody who has not got anywhere to live, probably haven't got any
:09:37. > :09:40.support next works and is exacerbated by mental health issues.
:09:41. > :09:46.You have somebody who is incredibly vulnerable who attracts the worse in
:09:47. > :09:50.our society. Flowers and other tributes have been left here at the
:09:51. > :09:54.murder scene. One read this, so sorry this community let you down
:09:55. > :10:02.but we didn't stop to ask if you needed help.
:10:03. > :10:04.Eddison Miller from Kingsnorth is a normal, boisterous 6-year-old
:10:05. > :10:08.He has a very rare genetic condition that means he can never
:10:09. > :10:10.go outside in daylight without extreme UV protection.
:10:11. > :10:13.Known as XP, it means his skin can't cope with ultra violet light at all,
:10:14. > :10:16.even some light bulbs can cause a reaction.
:10:17. > :10:19.Only one in a million people have XP, and there is no known cure.
:10:20. > :10:22.Exposure to the sun causes painful blistering burns on the skin
:10:23. > :10:27.Eddison's parents are fundraising to help other families cope
:10:28. > :10:29.with the difficulties, but say with the right
:10:30. > :10:33.support, people with XP can live a normal life.
:10:34. > :10:42.Edison is a bubbly six-year-old who like most boys his age
:10:43. > :10:47.But to go outside during the day he has to be protected
:10:48. > :10:52.He sometimes gets teased by other children and the mask makes it
:10:53. > :10:55.difficult for others to hear him properly.
:10:56. > :10:59.They have to keep making me repeat it.
:11:00. > :11:05.When Edison was diagnosed at 13 months his parents were devastated,
:11:06. > :11:08.but quickly resolved to make his life as normal
:11:09. > :11:16.We flip our time over so in the summer we let them sleep
:11:17. > :11:19.long periods during the day so we can be out until two or three
:11:20. > :11:22.in the morning in the park and at the beach and playing.
:11:23. > :11:25.During term time when he's got to be bright eyed and bushy tailed
:11:26. > :11:27.for school obviously he can't do that.
:11:28. > :11:32.The local community helped the family build an indoor garden
:11:33. > :11:34.or play area for Edison so that he could do indoors
:11:35. > :11:40.I've got a climbing frame, a sandpit.
:11:41. > :11:48.I've got a slide and a treadmill which I sometimes go on.
:11:49. > :11:51.We have special film on all of our windows and that
:11:52. > :11:55.filters UVA and UVB from coming into the house so it means we can
:11:56. > :12:03.His school has had to have the same film applied so he can move freely
:12:04. > :12:07.Edison's mum has formed a charity, the Teddington Trust,
:12:08. > :12:10.that helps children with XP around the world learn about
:12:11. > :12:14.the condition and helps improve their quality of life.
:12:15. > :12:17.Edison hopes to be a scientist when he is an adult or maybe even
:12:18. > :12:21.a scuba diver where the sun's rays can't affect him.
:12:22. > :12:25.His parents are protecting him from all exposure to ultraviolet
:12:26. > :12:37.light now to increase his chances of a long and fulfilling life.
:12:38. > :12:40.With just under a month to go until we're being asked to cast our
:12:41. > :12:42.votes in the General Election, the parties are keen
:12:43. > :12:45.to show what they would do were they to be in power.
:12:46. > :12:47.But what would you do if you were in power?
:12:48. > :12:50.Well, we asked a group of teenagers in Heathfield
:12:51. > :13:09.What changes would they make if they were PM for the day?
:13:10. > :13:16.Let's sort out the vote and give it to 16 and 17-year-olds. I would
:13:17. > :13:24.scale back the nuclear programme and spend it on the NHS. Schools need
:13:25. > :13:32.more funding. Some schools have had to trot seven A-level subjects which
:13:33. > :13:36.limits choices. From the issues which affect them now to decisions
:13:37. > :13:41.they weren't able to vote on. If we want to start the next generation
:13:42. > :13:48.from making the same mistakes 16-year-olds should be allowed to
:13:49. > :13:54.vote. People have been voting blindly under the influence of fake
:13:55. > :14:01.news. We can't let people fled in because it's not going to work. But
:14:02. > :14:08.we should help the sole we should let thousands in. But wrecks it is
:14:09. > :14:14.happening. The deal is being hammered out so it's back to the
:14:15. > :14:19.priorities at home. I would increase funding for the NHS because I
:14:20. > :14:23.believe it is something we rely on day by day but we neglected. I would
:14:24. > :14:31.work on issues regarding the environment to help secure our
:14:32. > :14:33.future for our future children. The potential future Cabinet members and
:14:34. > :14:40.perhaps Prime Minister have spoken. You can see more in our PM
:14:41. > :14:43.for the day series on our Facebook page and ahead of next month's
:14:44. > :14:46.General Election we're hosting a special Question Time style
:14:47. > :14:48.debate in St Leonards, near Hastings, on Bank Holiday
:14:49. > :14:50.Monday, May the 29th. If you live or work
:14:51. > :14:53.in the South East, and you'd like to be in the audience,
:14:54. > :14:55.send an email to SE Vote at bbc.co.uk with your name,
:14:56. > :14:58.address and daytime phone number and you could be part
:14:59. > :15:11.of our election debate. Our top story today. The Towner
:15:12. > :15:15.Gallery in East one could have its budget have as of the council tries
:15:16. > :15:17.to save money. The gallery says it will struggle to keep going.
:15:18. > :15:19.Also in tonight's programme: Sailing therapy.
:15:20. > :15:21.The seaman taking MS sufferers out on his boat to help
:15:22. > :15:32.It has been a glorious afternoon with temperatures in the top teams.
:15:33. > :15:35.Heavy showers for tomorrow but it's James McGee. I will have the details
:15:36. > :15:41.in the forecast. When it comes to World War Two
:15:42. > :15:44.heroes, we think of leaders But what about those
:15:45. > :15:47.who risked their lives running into no-man s land evacuating
:15:48. > :15:50.the wounded from the front line? In 1940 William Earl
:15:51. > :15:52.from Shoreham in Sussex joined On Friday he'll be celebrating his
:15:53. > :16:17.102nd birthday, Oh darling I am getting so tired of
:16:18. > :16:26.it all. Yet I do carry on somehow. Knowing that the day will come when
:16:27. > :16:31.I shall return home to you. In 1940 William Earl had to leave the love
:16:32. > :16:35.of his life Mary to join the field and villains in the medical corps.
:16:36. > :16:41.Today reading the letters he sent home makes the memories of the
:16:42. > :16:55.brutality of war come flooding back. I suppose the most horrible part of
:16:56. > :17:01.any battle. Allied forces advanced rapidly following the landings in
:17:02. > :17:06.Italy in 1944. But soon the Germans had back, there are forces greatly
:17:07. > :17:12.outnumbered the Allied defenders and there were considerable losses of
:17:13. > :17:20.life. You could be talking to your colleague next you and the next
:17:21. > :17:39.minute you would be wrapping his body in a blanket. You lived second
:17:40. > :17:46.by second. People were being killed, shells bursting, rifle fire. You
:17:47. > :17:51.cannot explain it to any B. Over the past seven years his friend has
:17:52. > :17:55.become his biographer. Using the National Archives to researches
:17:56. > :17:58.stories. Then from the Italian campaign of often been pushed to one
:17:59. > :18:03.side because it became a backwater after the D-Day landings. I feel
:18:04. > :18:07.that the cabbage and bravery and commitment they showed needs to be
:18:08. > :18:12.brought to the fore and this story needs to be told. The love letters
:18:13. > :18:16.may tatty but Williams loves Mary still strong. She and his comrades
:18:17. > :18:27.are immortalised in his memoirs. A sailor from Brighton is launching
:18:28. > :18:30.a challenge to take sixty five adults with Multiple Sclerosis
:18:31. > :18:32.on a week long sailing mission. Robert Munns believes that sailing
:18:33. > :18:35.can help people with MS The condition affects around one
:18:36. > :18:39.hundred thousand people in the UK, including the organiser who says
:18:40. > :18:42.he was inspired by his own experiences of sailing
:18:43. > :18:43.with the condition. Our Health Correspondent Mark
:18:44. > :19:06.Norman has this report. A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
:19:07. > :19:11.presents challenges. Sailing a 45 foot yacht presents challenges. But
:19:12. > :19:16.the two together and rather than challenge it can be life changing.
:19:17. > :19:23.MS impacts on life. But you have got to do things. You have to keep
:19:24. > :19:26.getting out there. This is one way you can demonstrate you can do
:19:27. > :19:32.something new. It doesn't hold you back. This was the video of this
:19:33. > :19:37.first sailing trip last summer. In a few days' time 65 people will sail
:19:38. > :19:41.along the Croatian coast. The man organising the trip as MS and he
:19:42. > :19:48.wants others to have the same experience heeded when he first got
:19:49. > :19:54.Aqua about after his diagnosis. People arrive scared and they are
:19:55. > :20:00.inflexible physically and in their mindset and you see that blooming
:20:01. > :20:05.and easy confidence blooming and you see a sense of pride and
:20:06. > :20:11.achievement. Before you know it you've got sailors. Walking up and
:20:12. > :20:17.down the boat itself on moving water is a marvellous exercise for people
:20:18. > :20:23.with MS because we will have balance issues. It gave me hope and it gave
:20:24. > :20:28.me confidence. Yes I can still do things and challenge myself. I can
:20:29. > :20:31.still have an advantage -- adventure. 100,000 people in the UK
:20:32. > :20:36.have MS, it damages the central nervous system and symptoms usually
:20:37. > :20:42.start when people are in their 20s or 30s. They are hoping to change
:20:43. > :20:44.the perception of the illness and are looking for more people to take
:20:45. > :20:50.part in future challenges. A young mental health patient has
:20:51. > :20:53.today agreed to meet the chief executive of the mental health trust
:20:54. > :20:56.in Kent to try and help Earlier this week we turned
:20:57. > :20:59.Sophie Goldsmith's story into a special animation to coincide
:21:00. > :21:01.with Mental Health Awareness Week. Sophie, who's 23 and from
:21:02. > :21:04.Whitstable, has been struggling to get the help she needs
:21:05. > :21:07.after several attempts It was seen by the head
:21:08. > :21:12.of the mental health trust who sent a letter to Sophie admitting
:21:13. > :21:24.she knows changes are needed. I think it's really good that they
:21:25. > :21:25.watched it and got in touch and decided action needs to be taken.
:21:26. > :21:33.But actions speak louder than words. Well, one of the country's
:21:34. > :21:35.best known mental health ambassador is Roby Wax,
:21:36. > :21:37.who's bringing her Frazzled Mindfulness evening
:21:38. > :21:40.to Tunbridge Wells tonight. We'll be speaking to her in just
:21:41. > :21:43.a minute, but first, At night I can't sleep
:21:44. > :22:04.but at the wheel of a spinning car, I just want to stuff
:22:05. > :22:26.her until she's fat. You thought you had to go
:22:27. > :22:29.to a nut house about this. You are betting how dumb or smart
:22:30. > :22:32.you think your partner is. Well our reporter Claudia
:22:33. > :22:40.is at the Assembly Theatre in Tunbridge Wells where Ruby Wax
:22:41. > :22:42.is appearing tonight and Claudia, Ruby certainly isn't shy
:22:43. > :22:58.about putting mental Ruby wax is about to go on stage and
:22:59. > :23:03.her show is not really a traditional stand-up. There is a lot of
:23:04. > :23:06.discussion with the audience and it's going to start in half an hour
:23:07. > :23:14.so thank you very much for speaking to us. How would you describe your
:23:15. > :23:22.show? I love Bill Bryson and he takes a subject that is riveting and
:23:23. > :23:29.spins it with comedy. So I take the idea of how your mind works and why
:23:30. > :23:34.we get these critical thoughts and why in evolution something went very
:23:35. > :23:42.wrong and it's not our fault that we live in the 21st-century and we
:23:43. > :23:48.can't take it all in. So it's comedy but underneath I think people are
:23:49. > :23:51.laughing and then you can push information down their throats.
:23:52. > :24:02.There has been a lot of discussion about mental health recently. What
:24:03. > :24:10.do you think could be done more to help people who are struggling?
:24:11. > :24:15.We're talking about is if it's another planet, it's like saying
:24:16. > :24:23.either teeth clean? Everybody is struggling at this moment. There is
:24:24. > :24:29.no actually normality. We shouldn't stand. Fix yourself before you save
:24:30. > :24:36.the planet. We need to understand how a mind works. Little kids should
:24:37. > :24:40.understand when they don't do well in the exam but because there brains
:24:41. > :24:56.can take that much pressure. They have to know where you're tipping
:24:57. > :24:57.point is. Thank you so much. You are on at 7:30pm tonight and there are
:24:58. > :25:06.still a few tickets left. Rachel, is the weather going to
:25:07. > :25:21.continue in this lovely vain? A glorious afternoon and highs of
:25:22. > :25:24.18. The clear skies we saw earlier stay with us as we go through
:25:25. > :25:31.tonight. Temperatures falling away in moral spots. Early tomorrow
:25:32. > :25:39.morning we will see a pushing up from the south and temperatures will
:25:40. > :25:43.pick up. As we had through the morning we will see some scattered
:25:44. > :25:49.showers and potentially some thunder and maybe even some hail. By the
:25:50. > :25:56.tail end of the afternoon temperatures reach highs of 19 or 20
:25:57. > :26:00.degrees. Quite a different feel to today. A bit more cloud but also
:26:01. > :26:07.some sunshine. From Thursday into Friday we're going to see cloud and
:26:08. > :26:13.heavy rain. Overnight temperatures of just 11 or 12 degrees. So heavy
:26:14. > :26:19.rain on Friday and that will clear. Temperatures once again reaching
:26:20. > :26:21.highs of around 18 or 19 degrees. Try for a time on Saturday but
:26:22. > :26:33.turning wet by Sunday. That is it for us for the moment. I
:26:34. > :26:38.will be back with the late news. Goodbye.