:00:00. > 3:59:59Gove and Labour's Brexit Secretary Kier Starmer as well. Join me now on
:00:00. > :00:00.BBC Two. That's Newsnight Hello and welcome to
:00:00. > :00:00.South Today, I'm Jo Kent. Standing down to take
:00:07. > :00:12.a stand over budget cuts - an authority loses leading
:00:13. > :00:14.councillors who say austerity And the hospital struggling to cope,
:00:15. > :00:21.as hundreds of operations are cancelled because its beds
:00:22. > :00:26.are already full. And this week, mid-week
:00:27. > :00:28.we will have a frost but towards the end of the week
:00:29. > :00:31.it turns cloudier. It's a dramatic gesture intended
:00:32. > :00:45.to draw attention to what they say The leader, deputy leader
:00:46. > :00:50.and another senior member of the Isle of Wight Council have
:00:51. > :00:53.stepped down from their posts They say party politics and ego
:00:54. > :00:58.are being put ahead of the best But the move could have wider
:00:59. > :01:05.repercussions and may sink plans for a devolved "super authority"
:01:06. > :01:08.in charge of the island as well as These resignation have sent shock
:01:09. > :01:18.waves well beyond the Isle of Wight. Jonathan Bacon, leader
:01:19. > :01:21.of the Isle of Wight Council, They're part of the independent
:01:22. > :01:25.group that swept to power four years ago, promising
:01:26. > :01:28."people before politics". But they've struggled,
:01:29. > :01:30.particularly in the face Jonathan Bacon was blunt
:01:31. > :01:36.in his resignation statement. He said that it seems the Government
:01:37. > :01:39.has no wish or intent to help this island,
:01:40. > :01:42.despite the council's asking And he's bitter about the way fellow
:01:43. > :01:47.councillors have behaved, saying party politics and ego
:01:48. > :01:50.are being put before the concerns Today his deputy, Steve Stubbings,
:01:51. > :01:57.told us austerity cuts were causing It would only be someone that's
:01:58. > :02:04.wedded to the Government's austerity agenda that could,
:02:05. > :02:07.I presume, with any real dignity or honesty carry
:02:08. > :02:11.through these policies, I don't believe in them and I think
:02:12. > :02:17.people are being really damaged by what's going on,
:02:18. > :02:20.and a lot of those people are people Today's resignations
:02:21. > :02:23.mean plans to create the Solent Super Authority,
:02:24. > :02:26.where the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton come
:02:27. > :02:29.together under one elected mayor, Though the island was an important
:02:30. > :02:35.part, Portsmouth's leader, Donna Jones, says the two cities
:02:36. > :02:40.could continue on their own. I do believe the Government still
:02:41. > :02:43.want to continue with devolution. They're still focused on elected
:02:44. > :02:47.mayors and I think the two cities here on the south coast absolutely
:02:48. > :02:50.have a right to go and talk to the Government about the ?1
:02:51. > :02:55.billion of investment that we need. The Isle of Wight Council meets
:02:56. > :02:58.on Wednesday to select a new leader. There's a strong chance they won't
:02:59. > :03:01.support a Super Authority. But whoever it is, they can
:03:02. > :03:04.expect an early visit from the council leaders
:03:05. > :03:09.in Southampton and Portsmouth. Meanwhile, hospital care on the Isle
:03:10. > :03:12.of Wight is in chaos. Virtually all planned surgery has
:03:13. > :03:16.been cancelled in recent weeks because all the beds are being used
:03:17. > :03:20.to deal with emergency patients. 267 routine operations have been
:03:21. > :03:25.postponed since before Christmas, and there's little sign
:03:26. > :03:27.of the pressure easing. Here's our health
:03:28. > :03:31.correspondent, David Fenton. Every one of its 252 beds is taken
:03:32. > :03:37.and there are 31 emergency From Christmas Day onwards,
:03:38. > :03:44.it's been busier than I think Over time we've got better
:03:45. > :03:50.at dealing with surges in capacity and turning our patients round,
:03:51. > :03:53.and in spite of that we've had very large numbers of patients
:03:54. > :03:56.into the hospital and we've really Many patients, of
:03:57. > :04:02.course, are elderly. Craig has a heart condition
:04:03. > :04:08.and lives on his own but he'd The charity Age UK found him at home
:04:09. > :04:16.without heat or light, with no food in the house
:04:17. > :04:18.and no money. We're also seeing a lot
:04:19. > :04:23.of homelessness, particularly We work with people aged 50
:04:24. > :04:26.and over and that's becoming So where previously we would have
:04:27. > :04:30.done more low-level support - shopping and befriending -
:04:31. > :04:33.we really are now going out and keeping people fed and warm
:04:34. > :04:37.and making sure that they can get The older we get,
:04:38. > :04:42.the more we cost the NHS. The average 20-year-old
:04:43. > :04:46.costs the health service For someone in their mid-50s, that's
:04:47. > :04:52.doubled to more than ?2,000 a year. And by the time we reach 85,
:04:53. > :04:59.it's risen to nearly ?8,000 a year. It all adds up to a financial
:05:00. > :05:03.time bomb for the NHS, that now needs to save ?2.2 billion
:05:04. > :05:12.in the South. Sean Stacey is Chief Operations
:05:13. > :05:16.Officer at St Mary's Hospital, the man charged with keeping
:05:17. > :05:18.the plates spinning. A short time ago, he told me one
:05:19. > :05:21.reason for the current problems is the number of holiday-makers
:05:22. > :05:36.who've been taken ill. We've opened additional capacity,
:05:37. > :05:40.we've created more beds for patients, in areas that would not
:05:41. > :05:47.normally be used as a ward area, such as Aaron Teys surgical unit,
:05:48. > :05:51.and also a discharge lounge. -- our day surgical unit. That means we've
:05:52. > :05:54.had to cancel planned procedures for here -- for people here on the
:05:55. > :05:58.island and I'm sorry we've had to make that decision but clearly where
:05:59. > :06:02.would be unsafe to bring somebody in would be unsafe to bring somebody in
:06:03. > :06:07.for a planned procedure when the hospital is full of people who are
:06:08. > :06:17.acutely very unwell. The fact that the situation has arisen, could it
:06:18. > :06:19.be put down to a lack of money or management? I don't think it is
:06:20. > :06:22.purely a lack of money. I do think there is a need for us to look at
:06:23. > :06:27.how we invest funds in the future. We certainly need to strengthen
:06:28. > :06:31.resources out in our communities. We particularly need to help and work
:06:32. > :06:34.very closely with our colleagues in adult social care so they have the
:06:35. > :06:39.funds and resources to help to look after and care for people when they
:06:40. > :06:47.are feeling a bit under the weather. That will help, I think. That will
:06:48. > :06:52.require some investment. That investment is going to be a pressure
:06:53. > :06:57.for all of us. But I do believe that would make a difference to the
:06:58. > :07:00.hospital services and the demands that are currently being seen to be
:07:01. > :07:03.made on those. Thank you very much. Relatives of a man killed by a van
:07:04. > :07:06.driver who was texting at the wheel say they're outraged he's been
:07:07. > :07:09.allowed to appeal against his Grandfather Lee Martin
:07:10. > :07:12.died when he was struck The driver, Christopher Gard,
:07:13. > :07:17.had a string of previous convictions He'd had several chances
:07:18. > :07:26.to change his ways, but Christopher Gard was again
:07:27. > :07:30.using his phone when he ploughed into cyclist
:07:31. > :07:33.Lee Martin and killed him. Just weeks before, he was in court
:07:34. > :07:37.pleading that he needed to keep his In all, he'd been caught
:07:38. > :07:41.using his phone at the wheel eight The family of Lee Martin say it's
:07:42. > :07:45.time to end the sympathy. You had eight chances beforehand
:07:46. > :07:49.to stop your behaviour, It's playing Russian roulette
:07:50. > :07:53.with the whole population, really. What was going to stop him apart
:07:54. > :07:57.from killing someone? He'd taken up cycling
:07:58. > :08:00.to improve his health. He was on the A31 near Alton one
:08:01. > :08:04.August morning in 2015 when Gard Police say Gard was so busy
:08:05. > :08:08.sending a text message, he hadn't looked at the carriageway
:08:09. > :08:13.for a full nine seconds. He only changed his plea to guilty
:08:14. > :08:18.just before the trial started. He dragged a whole family
:08:19. > :08:21.through the process of thinking we had to sit through a court case
:08:22. > :08:25.and, you know, he's taken someone's life, he's taken my brother's life,
:08:26. > :08:28.and this bloke is now trying to wheedle his way out of it,
:08:29. > :08:31.and I want there to be justice for my brother and also,
:08:32. > :08:33.you know, what kind of signal does it send out
:08:34. > :08:38.if the sentence is reduced? The Martin family are now calling
:08:39. > :08:41.for an immediate ban for anyone Christopher Gard's case
:08:42. > :08:46.will be heard at the Court That's all from the South Today
:08:47. > :08:54.news team this evening. We're back tomorrow with bulletins
:08:55. > :09:12.in BBC Breakfast and there's more Through the course of this week we
:09:13. > :09:15.are going to see a frost. A chilly start the week, turning slightly
:09:16. > :09:19.milder from Thursday onwards and through until the weekend. High
:09:20. > :09:23.pressure dominating through much of the week. It should be mainly dry
:09:24. > :09:27.and there will be a frost tonight and also tomorrow morning. Through
:09:28. > :09:31.the course of tonight, we're expecting more cloud. The further
:09:32. > :09:37.west you are, the clearer the sky is towards the south-east, and we may
:09:38. > :09:40.have a frosty there first thing. Quite a cloudy start for western
:09:41. > :09:43.parts with the cloud gradually moving westwards to allow for some
:09:44. > :09:49.lovely sunny conditions for western parts. Oxfordshire hanging on to the
:09:50. > :09:53.cloud through the afternoon but in the sunshine temperatures will
:09:54. > :10:00.struggle to rise, with highs of just three degrees. Along the coast,
:10:01. > :10:04.highs of 6-7. A widespread, sharp, hard frost developing in the early
:10:05. > :10:10.hours of Wednesday courtesy of the light wind and clear skies. In the
:10:11. > :10:17.countryside, we could see those of -1 or minus two. High-pressure still
:10:18. > :10:21.dominating Wednesday into Thursday with sunny spells and a bit more
:10:22. > :10:26.cloud for northern areas, which could sink southwards through the
:10:27. > :10:30.afternoon. High-pressure still in charge on Thursday with a fair
:10:31. > :10:34.amount of cloud and weather front moving southwards. With that, we
:10:35. > :10:38.could have the odd spot of rain but most places staying dry with high
:10:39. > :10:44.pressure in charge. Through Friday, we hold onto the high pressure as
:10:45. > :10:51.well. A similar data Thursday. Milder than recent days, with highs
:10:52. > :10:57.of 5-8. -- a similar day is on Thursday. Over the weekend, looking
:10:58. > :11:02.ahead, mainly dry, quite cloudy with brighter spells here and there. The
:11:03. > :11:05.risk of the odd spot of light rain and drizzle
:11:06. > :11:09.perhaps a little milder. If you like the mild weather, you'll have to
:11:10. > :11:13.head elsewhere in the country. Find out more in the national weather
:11:14. > :11:17.forecast. Our weather is going against normal expectations this
:11:18. > :11:21.week. In Highland Scotland some snow to be seen on the hills.
:11:22. > :11:26.Temperatures as high as 12 Celsius today. Over the next few days the
:11:27. > :11:30.coldest air is in the far south-east of England where there is sunshine
:11:31. > :11:35.to be had. Four or five Celsius in Kent. Differences remain over the
:11:36. > :11:40.next few days and here is why. I pressure in control of the weather.
:11:41. > :11:47.Some clear a continental air, but coming into Scotland from the
:11:48. > :11:50.Atlantic plenty of clouds around. Outbreaks of rain through Scotland
:11:51. > :11:57.and Northern Ireland overnight, patchy drizzle into parts of England
:11:58. > :11:58.and Wales, but where you've got cloud the temperatures are holding