16/03/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the South East:

Ukip call on the Conservative MP for South Thanet to stand down

We're live tonight in Craig Mackinlay's constituency.

The cancer consultant who harmed 27 patients -

now it's revealed he carried out experimental procedures.

And it was another sunny, mild day, but misty along the coast.

All change though as we look towards the weekend.

Ukip has renewed its calls for the Conservative MP

for South Thanet to resign over his election spending.

Craig Mackinlay narrowly beat Ukip's Nigel Farage to win

The Conservative Party has been fined ?70,000

for "significant failures" in its national expenses return.

In South Thanet, the Electoral Commission found the party ran up

a bill at one Ramsgate hotel of over ?15,000, which was declared

in national party expenses, but some of it should have been

listed in Craig Mackinlay's candidate expenses.

There was also a Margate hotel bill of almost ?4,000

that was completely omitted from all Conservative declarations.

The report points out that Mr Mackinlay's candidate expenses

came in at less than ?200 below the amount he was allowed to spend.

As our political editor Helen Catt reports, the leader

of Thanet District Council says there should now be a by-election.

After more than a year of investigating Craig Mackinlay's

campaign, a conclusion from the elections watchdog.

The Conservatives, it appears, did understate how much they spent.

I think now perhaps the world is going to realise what we've been

We were stood at times absolutely aghast on street corners,

looking at what was happening around us, at people being bussed in,

full-time workers being placed here over long periods of time,

and wondering how it is that we had come out squeaky clean in the end.

In the end of the course, it hasn't done, and at least

The Tories spent more than ?15,000 putting up senior figures at this

hotel on Ramsgate harbour - a crack team designed

But, with then Ukip leader Nigel Farage as a South Thanet

candidate too, some helped fight him, and that,

the Electoral Commission says, means some of that cost should have

been put down to Mr McKinley's campaign.

Parties get advantage by spending money and also by having volunteers,

so that's why we have local election expense limits.

If parties break those, then they are potentially gaining

an advantage at local elections, and that's obviously serious.

These people were unsure how much spending could affect any outcome.

I always felt that the very different parties

Maybe it would have made a difference to Nigel Farage,

I do remember quite a big presence compared to the other

But I wouldn't have thought anything about spending or capital

But for Ukip's Chris Wells, it's clear-cut.

I've been saying that Craig Mackinlay should resign off

He didn't take a lot of notice, but now maybe he'll have to.

Our reporter Simon Jones has been following this story.

Well, initially, the Conservatives will have to play that fine of

?70,000. That isn't going to break the bank but perhaps more

importantly is the ongoing investigation by Kent Police, and

now another national investigation by the Metropolitan Police. They

will have to decide whether to bring charges against anyone. If that were

to happen, ultimately, we could see by-elections in the affected seats,

but that is a long way off. Last year, nationally, both Labour and

the Lib Dems were also fined for not declaring all their election

expenses. What this does for people in this area, it doesn't increase

the esteem of politicians. A man who died after falling

from a block of flats in St Leonards 93-year-old Sven Legnelius

was pronounced dead at the scene. A 54-year-old man who was known

to him was arrested on suspicion of murder and has been bailed

until the 10th of May. The RMT union has attacked a fresh

agreement between Southern Rail management and the train drivers'

union Aslef, calling it The deal will be put to Aslef

members in a referendum, in the hope it will end

the long-running industrial dispute But the RMT, which represents

guards, says it's unacceptable because it does not guarantee

a second safety-critical It's emerged that a doctor who was

sacked from the East Surrey Hospital in 2014 for carrying out treatments

which harmed 27 patients may have also benefited financially

from leasing a piece of equipment to the hospital which he then used

when he was treating people. Paul Miller was sacked in 2014

after it was found that he used a new procedure without following

proper clinical controls. Charlie Rose has our

exclusive report. Consultant Paul Miller was sacked

by East Surrey Hospital over concerns about his treatment

of cancer patients. Now, in a new report,

more issues have emerged surrounding his work

at the hospital, particularly over the use of a laser leased

from a company he was connected to. If the allegations that have been

raised are found to be true in the inquest in May,

then it is deeply concerning that this was allowed to take place

over such a long period The governance report raised

the fact that numerous people were told about what was going on,

or at least they should have had enough information

to investigate further, The document reveals

Mr Miller leased a laser to the hospital from a company

at which he was a director It says experts viewed

the treatment - called high-intensity focused ultrasound,

or Hifu - as experimental, but there were concerns

about the promotion of Hifu, with Mr Miller apparently

manipulating patient The hospital commissioned

the independent report to look into the way it responded to issues

raised about Mr Miller's work. Patients and their families I spoke

to didn't want to appear on camera, but one prostate cancer patient

who was treated by Mr Miller in 2007 He told me he received no

warnings about the possible He said he wasn't aware Mr Miller

was concerned with the company that leased the machines and he said

he wonders if he was Speaking in 2014, Judith Wright's

father was among those John Beaumont had prostate cancer

and died at the hospital in 2008, but his daughter said she had

nothing but praise for Dr Miller. Always had time for

you, always polite. I said to my dad every time we came

out, what a lovely man. In a statement, Paul Miller said any

allegations contained in the new report had

not been substantiated. I'm joined now by our

reporter, Leanne Rinne. Leanne, Paul Miller

has spoken today. Yes, he sent us a false statement.

He says, this confidential report was prepared to look at the trust's

said the draft report was prepared said the draft report was prepared

without his input and he was given limited opportunity to comment

before it was finalised. He goes on to say, the allegations in the

report had not been substantiated. He says, I believe the treatment I

recommended were in the patient is' best interests, but naturally I am

very sorry if any patients were unhappy with the treatment. He says

he can't comment any more at this point. What about the trust he used

to work for? Have they said anything? They have told me tonight

they apologised and they say that poor practice ultimately made that

patients didn't get the best possible care. They say they have

made improvements and they apologised to any patients affected

by this. Plans to restore the old railway

line between Robertsbridge and Bodiam have received

planning permission. Two miles of the original

track will be restored, which will allow the entire line

from Tenterden to be connected The railway as it exists, from

Bodiam to Tenterden, is a lovely It runs steam trains but it

doesn't go anywhere. We think that we need to make

it a proper railway, connect it to a junction,

like all lines were. It does mean that we can do a lot

more interesting things. We can bring trains off the mainline

and get passengers from London. But the new track will

go across the A21, which means a new level crossing

needs to be installed. Local businesses have reacted

angrily to the news, saying it makes no sense to slow

traffic down on the main road The railway goes across the main,

the only artery into this area. I run two businesses in this area

and without the A21 I'm stuffed. It was a warm, sunny

day in Robertsbridge, but very cool in the sea

mist along the coast. Today was due to fall when we saw

the clear, blue skies, but along the coast, we saw seed missed and

temperatures didn't get much above ten or 11 degrees. Over the next

couple of days, the windss pick up, there will be rain at times and it

will be feeling cooler as well. Heading through tonight, initially

dry, then we have got a cold front, bringing a good deal of cloud and at

times patchy drizzle. The main effect will be the cooler air behind

it, so a fresher feel to start Friday. For most of us, Friday

should stay dry. The windss from a westerly direction will be picking

up, around 15 to 20 mph. Temperatures will be down on today,

but around average for the time of year, ten or 11 degrees. Further

outbreaks of rain going through Friday and into Saturday. It's

feeling cooler. It was the outlook. He

there will be rain around, most occurring overnight.

Good evening, quite a range of whether an offer earlier today in

the north and north-west of the UK quite a lot of showers around,

lively ones, little bit of sunshine in between. The best of the sunshine

to be found at the other end of the country towards the south-east in

Kent, lovely picture here from one of our weather watchers. A range of

temperatures, too. 17 degrees for a few, on the other side of the

weather front, only seven or 8 degrees. Showers in the north and

west. The fresh air will win out over tonight coming in behind the

cold front, which isn't bringing much rain but it will bring some,

clearing away towards the continent, cold air following behind, as do the