:00:00. > :00:08.Tonight, Berlin's Brandenberg Gate is illuminated with the colours
:00:09. > :00:15.On the programme tonight, calculating the continuing cost of
:00:16. > :00:21.strike action on Southern Rail. 27 days in, it is already hundreds of
:00:22. > :00:27.billions of pounds in lost business. And a candlelit vigil in Portsmouth
:00:28. > :00:28.tonight, as donations pouring as the city centre hope and support to
:00:29. > :00:35.refugees fleeing conflict in Syria. Today's the 27th day of industrial
:00:36. > :00:39.action on the Southern Rail network. Strikes have already forced
:00:40. > :00:41.some commuters to change jobs or even move house,
:00:42. > :00:44.as they struggle to Beyond the impact on peoples'
:00:45. > :00:48.lives, though, what's A new study puts the loss
:00:49. > :00:58.at around ?11 million a day. The University of Chichester has
:00:59. > :01:00.based its calculation on the thousands of passengers
:01:01. > :01:03.who are late, have missed work, or had to work from home
:01:04. > :01:05.on strike days. It estimates the industrial
:01:06. > :01:07.action has already cost And with nine more strike days
:01:08. > :01:11.scheduled, the total is likely to reach 400 million
:01:12. > :01:13.by the end of next month. This from our Business
:01:14. > :01:17.Correspondent Alastair Fee. Ladies and gentlemen,
:01:18. > :01:20.we do apologise for That is due to too many people
:01:21. > :01:28.being on this train. At a Sussex comedy night,
:01:29. > :01:31.there is only one joke in town - but it is becoming harder
:01:32. > :01:33.to laugh at. Quite honestly, it is not a joke
:01:34. > :01:36.any more, it isn't a joke. We can laugh so much,
:01:37. > :01:39.but when it comes to affecting people's lives and livelihoods,
:01:40. > :01:42.then that is not a joke. At the University of Chichester
:01:43. > :01:46.they have been looking at the impact of the strikes in terms of lost GDP,
:01:47. > :01:50.the value of goods and services produced
:01:51. > :01:53.as a measure of the economy. The total impact per strike day
:01:54. > :01:59.is probably 9.5 million at a conservative level,
:02:00. > :02:03.and perhaps as high as 11 million if we look
:02:04. > :02:07.at a broader level of impact. In a nearby warehouse,
:02:08. > :02:11.they have been losing as much as This company is among the largest
:02:12. > :02:17.manufacturers and distributors When we've got
:02:18. > :02:21.limited staff here, obviously, that productivity is reduced,
:02:22. > :02:25.so we're trying to do the same amount of volume
:02:26. > :02:28.of work with less people, One of the biggest concerns is
:02:29. > :02:33.that it reduces the attractiveness of this region as a place to do
:02:34. > :02:36.business, so the risk is that investment is discouraged
:02:37. > :02:40.and ultimately goes elsewhere. With the rail going out,
:02:41. > :02:44.that knocks out connection, puts pressure on to the road
:02:45. > :02:47.network, and the road network is failing as well,
:02:48. > :02:50.and so that is saying to people, there is not enough
:02:51. > :02:53.resilience, we should not be They say laughter is the best
:02:54. > :03:00.medicine, but the jokes are getting This study into lost productivity
:03:01. > :03:06.suggests it has cost the economy It is likely to be much higher,
:03:07. > :03:12.and doesn't account for the loss of sales or the impact on
:03:13. > :03:16.personal finances for people # Every day's an endless
:03:17. > :03:20.stream of cancelled trains A candlelit vigil was held
:03:21. > :03:26.in Portsmouth this evening as people gathered to show solidarity
:03:27. > :03:29.with refugees who've left the war-ravaged
:03:30. > :03:32.Syrian city of Aleppo. Hundreds of people came together
:03:33. > :03:35.at Guildhall square - to donate aid to be sent to those
:03:36. > :03:38.whose lives have been Hundreds of people have gathered
:03:39. > :03:45.here in Portsmouth to show solidarity with people
:03:46. > :03:50.across in Syria. At 7pm, there was
:03:51. > :03:53.a minute's silence. People have also been
:03:54. > :04:05.showing their generosity, donating hundreds of bags full
:04:06. > :04:08.of relief supplies. Things like clothes,
:04:09. > :04:12.bedding and food, and also It's amazing, it's amazing, it gives
:04:13. > :04:17.you faith in humanity, doesn't it? It shows Portsmouth is an awesome
:04:18. > :04:24.place, it's full of great people, It shows that people are prepared
:04:25. > :04:31.to get together and help people in a terrible situation,
:04:32. > :04:35.and to me that's really heartening. I've seen things that
:04:36. > :04:36.have obviously... People have obviously gone out
:04:37. > :04:39.and bought a whole lot of stuff It's not just people discarding
:04:40. > :04:45.things that they don't want to know, it's people really thinking,
:04:46. > :04:47.what can I do to help? It's really important
:04:48. > :04:52.to think about, locally, in our country, what's going on,
:04:53. > :04:55.but at the same time The charity, Don't Hate, Donate
:04:56. > :04:59.has already delivered 150 tonnes of
:05:00. > :05:03.relief supplies to Syria. They say it will take two or three
:05:04. > :05:06.weeks to get these supplies Next tonight, closing the BBC
:05:07. > :05:16.Monitoring Centre at Caversham and places the operation
:05:17. > :05:20.in jeopardy. That's according to
:05:21. > :05:22.an influential group of MPs. The Defence Select Committee says
:05:23. > :05:26.moving the work from Reading to London risks losing specialist
:05:27. > :05:29.staff, undermining national security, and should be of great
:05:30. > :05:33.concern to the Government. Our reporter, Joe Campbell,
:05:34. > :05:39.is at Caversham tonight. Joe, what goes on there,
:05:40. > :05:49.and why is its future a worry Caversham Park was set up as a
:05:50. > :05:54.sister station to Bletchley Park, and the job of people there was to
:05:55. > :05:57.crack codes, but the job of people at Caversham Park was to read
:05:58. > :06:02.between the lines of what was said publicly. A radio station is run
:06:03. > :06:08.publicly by an ally of the country's president. What you are hearing is
:06:09. > :06:12.the President's view of the world. All very useful for negotiating a
:06:13. > :06:14.trade deal with them, more concerned when he sends tanks across the
:06:15. > :06:20.border. This was traditionally paid border. This was traditionally paid
:06:21. > :06:24.for by us all as part of more general taxes. In 2010, the
:06:25. > :06:30.government got the BBC to pay for it. That is where the problem lies,
:06:31. > :06:31.according to the select committee. If the government had not
:06:32. > :06:33.stopped the funding, then I don't think this crisis
:06:34. > :06:36.would have arisen, and that's why we recommend that the government
:06:37. > :06:47.needs to restore the funding. The local MP, who is also a
:06:48. > :06:51.government minister, brought the select amity to look at the site. He
:06:52. > :06:56.agrees with their concerns about national security, and pours scorn
:06:57. > :06:58.on the BBC's idea that this is the best way it can save ?4 million per
:06:59. > :06:58.year. The BBC clearly has enough funds
:06:59. > :07:01.to cover the small amount of money I would say the best place for BBC
:07:02. > :07:06.Monitoring is within the BBC family. However, it needs to be funded
:07:07. > :07:10.properly, and with ?5.5 billion, that is possible to do if the BBC
:07:11. > :07:22.has the will to do it. Of course, the BBC might have been
:07:23. > :07:27.hoping for more than ?4 million in savings, this is prime real estate
:07:28. > :07:32.overlooking the Thames. But the select committee has poured scorn on
:07:33. > :07:36.that idea, saying that the site was effectively bought with tax payers'
:07:37. > :07:41.money, so if there's going to be sold, it should be the taxpayer who
:07:42. > :07:42.benefits. It should not be used to plug gaps in the licence fee.
:07:43. > :07:44.Thank you. It's been free to park in some
:07:45. > :07:46.market towns in West Sussex the district council says it can no
:07:47. > :07:52.longer subsidise rural town As Matt Treacy reports,
:07:53. > :07:57.some residents in Steyning are so worried about the potential
:07:58. > :08:00.impact of parking fees, they're calling for their
:08:01. > :08:06.taxes to go up instead. These Dickensian
:08:07. > :08:08.demonstrators are angry. A great big bag of
:08:09. > :08:13.car parking charges! They want to keep their car park
:08:14. > :08:16.free, and they are willing to pay Allow us to put a little bit
:08:17. > :08:22.on the precept to keep car You don't often get many
:08:23. > :08:28.stories about people wanting to pay more tax,
:08:29. > :08:30.but people want to keep this high-street, and they know that car
:08:31. > :08:33.parking charges will have a serious detrimental effect, not
:08:34. > :08:35.just on the businesses, but also in the parking
:08:36. > :08:37.restrictions as well. At the moment it's free
:08:38. > :08:40.to stay in Steyning - just pop to a local shop,
:08:41. > :08:43.get a free cardboard clock, Horsham District Council has
:08:44. > :08:50.a ?4 million black hole in its budget and says it cannot
:08:51. > :08:55.keep spending over ?300,000 running car parks in towns
:08:56. > :08:59.like this for free. From April, it will cost 75p
:09:00. > :09:02.per hour, and locals can buy a ?12 pass that lets them park
:09:03. > :09:06.all year round. Parking charges will not
:09:07. > :09:08.kill the high-street, but they will kill three or four
:09:09. > :09:11.businesses, and those three or four go, and then
:09:12. > :09:13.you lose another couple, Coming from Worthing,
:09:14. > :09:16.where it's more expensive, I'd say that's fairly cheap,
:09:17. > :09:18.but it has the perks of having free parking,
:09:19. > :09:21.it was one of the reasons Well, if we had to, I suppose
:09:22. > :09:25.we would, but we'd rather not. Horsham District Council says
:09:26. > :09:27.it does not want to make this town an exception
:09:28. > :09:29.to their new parking charges. People here say they
:09:30. > :09:38.are just being Scrooge. That's it from the news team
:09:39. > :09:41.for this evening. We're back during
:09:42. > :09:43.BBC Breakfast tomorrow. Meanwhile Alexis Green is here
:09:44. > :09:54.with the regional weather forecast. Thank you, a dry day for some today,
:09:55. > :09:57.with some sunny spells, but MacLeod is increasing, and overnight tonight
:09:58. > :10:05.we're expecting light rain and patchy drizzle -- the cloud. By
:10:06. > :10:08.dawn, it will affect many places. Temperatures tonight falling to
:10:09. > :10:13.round 2-3 C in the countryside. Chilly start tomorrow, wet start
:10:14. > :10:17.with this band of rain moving eastwards. Once it clears, we're
:10:18. > :10:21.looking a dry interlude before rain arrives during the afternoon. Some
:10:22. > :10:24.brighter spells to be had, but heavier rain through the afternoon
:10:25. > :10:29.and into the evening, with temperatures into double figures
:10:30. > :10:32.with a high of 9-12 C, and a south-westerly breeze. The rain will
:10:33. > :10:38.eventually clear tomorrow night, and the skies will clear with light
:10:39. > :10:41.winds, a touch of frost possible first thing on Thursday morning, as
:10:42. > :10:48.well as mist and fog patches. High pressure starts to build it on
:10:49. > :10:51.Thursday, the outside chance of a shower, high cloud will start to
:10:52. > :10:54.feed in over the course of the day, and that will turn the sunshine
:10:55. > :10:57.hazy. But a deep area of low pressure is heading towards us
:10:58. > :11:02.through the latter part of Friday, into Saturday. As a result, that
:11:03. > :11:03.means we're going to see some very strong winds.
:11:04. > :11:11.country it's worth knowing the national forecast. Over now to
:11:12. > :11:15.Tomasz. So, the weather's going to blow a
:11:16. > :11:20.few cobwebs away in the coming days and maybe a few other things, as
:11:21. > :11:24.well. How stormy is it going to get? For most of us probably not too
:11:25. > :11:31.terrible. It is, however, going to be very nasty across parts of
:11:32. > :11:37.Scotland on Friday. The clouds are racing across the Atlantic and we
:11:38. > :11:39.will see a storm by the time we get to around about Friday and then
:11:40. > :11:42.Friday night. At the moment we have a weather
:11:43. > :11:45.front crossing the country, we have had dreadful weather in the
:11:46. > :11:47.north-west, it was cold and raining in Northern Ireland