18/04/2017 South Today - Oxford

Hello, welcome to South Today. Coming up:

Could Theresa May's decision change the political map

Also, the charity that needs to raise ?15,000 to pay

And there will be a good deal of dry weather

I'll have the weather for the week ahead shortly.

Less than a year since the EU referendum, voters will be

going back to the polling stations in June for a general election.

The Prime Minister announced plans to call the election this morning.

It's a chance for people to vote again on the issue of Brexit,

which split the South, as it split the country.

Our political editor Peter Henley has spent the day in Theresa May's

The news that the PM has gone to the country -

despite fixed term Parliaments, we'll be voting on June the 8th,

And in the Prime Minister's constituency,

I do, I think after the Brexit type thing, and she went

straight into power, I think the people didn't

I heard it on the news, I was absolutely staggered.

She's called one, and I can't really see the reason why.

I mean, I know there's a lot going on and there's

The chair of the local Conservatives here says the decision

will give her a much stronger position to negotiate from

in Europe, but confessed he'd had no warning.

And I just thought, well, it's got to be serious,

because Prime Ministers don't make announcements from the steps

of Number Ten unless it's serious, and of course, obviously it was.

Maidenhead is a safe Conservative seat, but other Berkshire MPs said

it was worth going to the country to strengthen

It's very important to have that strong backing in Parliament to make

sure that deals can't be turned down at the last minute, and to make sure

the Prime Minister's hand isn't forced at any stage

She has to be in a strong position to make sure we get

With "Brexit means Brexit", is their fate sealed,

If they don't, which party will they switch to?

So many questions to be answered over the next seven weeks.

What we probably will see is a bit more clarity as the parties

publish their manifestos on what they think is the way

forward over the big political issue of Europe.

Earlier I spoke to our political reporter, Bethan Phillips,

who told me what politicans had been saying to her.

I think people are surprised, despite all the rumours.

The Conservative MP for Banbury, Victoria Prentis, spoke to me

earlier and she seemed genuinely taken aback.

She has released a statement saying Theresa May

One local Ukip politician told me he would do the same

And it's clear already, many people are thinking about campaigning.

My Twitter feed is full of tweets asking people to register to vote,

to sign up for different political parties

I think Witney will be interesting, actually,

the Conservative MP, Robert Courts, has only been

He took over after David Cameron, of course.

It's a very pro-Remain area, and the Lib Dems will be running

on a pro-Remain ticket, and the Conservatives lost a lot

of ground to the Lib Dems in that by-election,

so it will be interesting to see how that affects the results there.

Oxford West and Abingdon, in the run-up to the general

election in 2015, was one of the most marginal seats

It has traditionally been a swing seat between

Nicola Blackwood, who is the Conservative MP,

did consolidate her majority in 2015, but post-referendum,

who knows if she can keep that support?

Then Oxford East, that's a thoroughly Labour constituency,

of course, Andrew Smith has been the MP there for nearly 30 years.

But I think we'll be voting not only for our local MPs,

but also giving their verdict on party leaders, so the question

is, will Oxford Labour voters give their support to Jeremy Corbyn?

a teenager from Oxfordshire who was over the drink-drive limit

when he caused the death of a motorcyclist has been

18-year-old Daniel Beaumont was driving on the A4074 at Ipsden

near Wallingford when he caused a crash between

Michael Dix, who was riding the motorbike, died at the scene.

Work on the next phase of Oxford's Access to Headington

transport improvement scheme is due to start this week.

The work will focus on The Slade, between Old Road and the

mini roundabout at the junction of Hollow Way and Horspath Driftway.

It'll take about 26 weeks to complete.

A Sikh group in Swindon is marking its first anniversary

The Sikh Seva Society has been providing hot meals once a week

in the town centre, making around 30 each time.

The service was set up after a man who was sleeping rough was found

dead in a car park in Swindon last February.

Today, it's's Sunny and Navdeep's turn to cook.

They are part of a group who donate their time and food

to make meals for those that need it.

Some weeks, we have traditional food, like samosas, some other

weeks it will be pasta, sometimes we'll order pizza.

Latest figures show there are nearly five times more people

sleeping rough in Swindon than there were six years ago.

The Sikh Seva Society decided it was time to help.

We were obviously made aware last February of a gentleman that passed

away due to the cold weather within the Swindon area.

That sort of motivated us a bit more to sort of get involved,

so we've taken, obviously, the principles of Sikhism on board

as well and just got together and obviously come up

The group gives out food and drink at this spot every Wednesday.

When I was underneath the Wyvern, they used to come down there,

and that's the first time I met them, like.

Then all of a sudden, they've come round here,

so I've been sort of coming every Wednesday.

So, it's making a huge difference to you?

Some people need counselling, some people just need someone to talk to.

And we try and provide that here as well.

So it's not just about food, it's about building

friendships and relationships with everyone here.

The Sikh Seva Society says their group will have a presence

The charity the Blue Cross in Burford says it's taken in

so many more animals than expected that it needs

to raise ?15,000 to pay for their care.

Staff say if they can't find the money, they may struggle

to take in more unwanted animals over the coming months.

Among the rescue animals so far this year - 20 horses,

Easter may be over, but these bunnies aren't

Their mum gave birth to them just a week after being taken

And although they're cute, they're not cheap to look after.

It costs us quite a lot of money to house these babies before

they go off to re-homing, because a lot of them will have

to stay with us for a period of time before they are old enough

Also, there's the cost that they would need neutering,

vaccinations, microchipping, and all of that care level

The charity's also inherited 20 mares in the past few months -

Now they're asking the public for help.

It sounds like a lot when we say a number.

But actually, when you go and break the costs down,

a little colt like Nicky here will cost us around ?1,600

to care for him from the point of him being born to getting a home

Tatty here was rescued from behind the wall

Selina Bennett worries they might not be able to help

animals like her if they can't find the extra funds.

Obviously, at this time of year, we need a bit more money,

because there's more animals in our care, and that

will have an impact on us for the rest of the year.

If we don't get this money at this time of year,

we'll go a bit short later on and it does mean that we won't be able

Last year, the Blue Cross helped more than 1,700 animals in Burford

This year, it expects to help even more.

Alexis has the weather forecast for the rest of the week.

We are back tomorrow morning from BBC Breakfast.

April so far has been pretty dry and it will be another dry week to come.

We will see the odd light shower but not a huge amount of rain. Some

bright and sunny spells and a lot of dry weather. Tonight, we could see a

widespread frost, particularly in widespread frost, particularly in

the countryside, with temperatures there falling to around minus four.

It will be a very chilly hand frosty It will be a very chilly hand frosty

have some mist and fog patches. They have some mist and fog patches. They

will clear swiftly. Lots of sunshine initially but through the day, high

cloud will fill in and the sunshine will turn hazy in places.

Temperatures tomorrow afternoon reaching highs of 11 to 12, and the

winds will be fairly light. It will feel pleasant in any sunny spells.

Tomorrow night, we expect more cloud than tonight, so temperatures will

not drop as low. In the countryside, possibly down to around four or

five. These are the values in towns and cities. Quite a cloudy day on

Thursday. Through the course of the day we may see the odd light shower

but there will be a good deal of dry weather, some brighter spells Iran

there and highs of around 13 to 14 sources. -- sources. It is a dry and

warm start to the day on Friday. Through the afternoon and evening,

this cold front will move South and the air behind that is coming from

the North, drawing some cooler air as we head towards the weekend. But

Friday will be mainly dry and warm. It is through the latter part of the

day that the cold front will move southwards. Looking ahead to the

weekend, it will be fairly fresh at times with a North to north-westerly

wind. Some sunny spells, possible frost, and the chance of the odd

shower. So the week in general will be very dry, the odd scattered

shower, there will be some sunny spells, and also some patchy cloud.