18/04/2017 Spotlight

The Lib Dem leader has been in Cornwall today telling voters

that the snap general election in June will be their opportunity to

Tim Farron is hoping his party will make a come-back in the county,

after being wiped off the political map by the Conservatives

He was flying into Newquay when the snap election was called

and, for Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, along with all the other

politicians, it has certainly thrown things up in the air.

In Truro to promote his party's local election campaign,

the message very quickly took on a national tone.

We say, "Bring it on," because this is the opportunity for Britain

to change its direction, for us to say, "The government

is taking us in a direction that we as a country

There is a possible hitch to Mr Farron's positioning

as the pro-EU choice in a place like Cornwall, where the majority

And his party lost all its MPs across its traditional south-west

heartland back in 2015, so have the wounds caused

by the Coalition had long enough to heal?

The reality is that there desperately needs to be a strong,

It will begin here in the West Country.

This is the opportunity for the people of the West Country

to say to the rest of the country, a good democracy is

How excited the voters might be by the proposition

of another trip to the polls, though, could be

Difficult to know who to vote for, to be honest with you.

I found Brexit so disheartening and the whole process

so disheartening and, yeah, anything that would reverse

that, from my point of view, would be really good but I can't see

that the general election will do that.

But with MPs set to approve the election tomorrow,

Well, our political editor Martyn Oates has spent

The south-west played a pivotal role in the last

general election in 2015, with the Conservatives' annihilation

of their former Coalition partners the Lib Dems helping to push them

across the finishing line to their unexpected overall majority

Just two years on, the Coalition seems a distant memory,

subsumed in all the political drama that has happened since.

Above all, of course, the EU referendum and Brexit,

the reason the Prime Minister is now asking the Commons to approve

The Lib Dems are now branding themselves as an explicitly

anti-Brexit party, which might seem to be an arguable strategy

in a region like ours where the majority voted to leave the EU.

That leaves a substantial minority who voted Remain and,

in the past at least, successive polls have shown

that the EU is pretty far down the list of priorities when people

decide how to vote in a general election.

One thing that has become clear from all of the dramatic political

events both here and abroad over the last couple of years is that

the voters have an enormous capacity to surprise the politicians.

In other news, HMS Enterprise sailed back home into Devonport today

During the time away, the crew rescued more

than 9,000 migrants, and even helped to

Our defence reporter Scott Bingham has been onboard.

Arriving back in Plymouth Sound, the final leg of the journey

which has seen her sail a distance almost seven times around the world.

HMS Enterprise left Plymouth on the 4th of June 2014.

That means she has been on deployment nearly three years.

During her deployment, she rescued over 9,000 migrants

in the Mediterranean, more than any other

I have seen my sailors reach over and pull a man from the sea

who was going down for the last time, just his hand above the water.

Professionalism, bravery, cool nerve.

Absolutely humbling to watch them do it.

My ship's company have been absolutely magnificent.

Whilst the ship may have been away three years, Enterprise's crew,

including the captain, works on a rotation with 15 weeks

It means you can plan ahead and you're not away at sea

You can come back, see your family, and then go back out again.

These twins have been waiting since January to see Daddy again.

Enterprise will now undergo a period of maintenance and sea trials

before heading back out on deployment in July.

The Sunday Independent newspaper has been saved.

It stopped publication two weeks ago after its owner died.

The 200-year-old paper has been bought by Peter Masters,

a businessman who co-owns Truro City Football Club.

It safeguards 17 jobs at the paper's headquarters in Liskeard,

and the next edition will be back on sale on Sunday.

Traditional holiday businesses say they're being affected by the growth

of online sites such as Airbnb which allow people to let rooms

Tourism leaders say although the good weather over

Easter attracted plenty of visitors, there's concern there's now

A good deal of sunshine and very little rain meant it was very

pleasant for these visitors to Fistral Beach in Newquay.

But even so, there's a feeling it hasn't been

as busy as expected, or as usual.

The feedback from the industry, certainly from hotels and holiday

parks, it has been a good Easter, but I think there are some B

and some other people who actually haven't seen the same level

of business, so overall we are happy but we are not delighted.

And he partly blames the online rental room service Airbnb.

Airbnb have actually brought in a lot of new hosts in Cornwall.

That is a lot of extra accommodation and I think in a way

they are in danger of swamping the market for that type of product.

So, we have tea and coffee making facilities.

This guesthouse has done well but its owner says it's not

Like many in the industry, he's concerned that some people

doing Airbnb may not be aware of the rules and regulations.

I mean, there is no doubt that Airbnb have got

people talking about how the tourism industry works.

But I think the tourist associations do need to play their part in making

sure people are kept safe whilst they are enjoying their holidays

because that is the biggest fear that we have, that standards

are going to drop if organisations like Airbnb are going to be allowed

to operate in the way they are operating at the moment.

Cornwall's tourism organisation, Visit Cornwall, contacted Airbnb

to suggest training for people wanting to rent out their rooms.

In a statement, Airbnb says they are keen to work

with Visit Cornwall to promote responsible home sharing and that

Airbnb allows local families to share their homes and welcome

Across the Tamar in Devon, we spoke with several

Many have said that thanks to the school holidays

being staggered this year they have been busier for a longer period

We have had a really, really busy Easter.

With the staggered school holidays, we have seen literally tens

of thousands of people in the county, and at Crealy

we have seen more families than ever before and we have

It is always difficult when you have Easter so close to the bank

holidays but we are very positive about bookings.

I think people are looking longer-term and, of course,

all the uncertainty in Europe, people are staying in the UK

so that is great for us and we are very positive

And tourism leaders across the region are hopeful that

a bumper summer season is on the cards for the south-west.

Well, let's see if the sunshine's likely to continue.

Boss this time last year most of our reservoirs were close to 100% full

but there are around 80-85% at the moment. There is not a great deal of

rain in the forecast. More scenes like this, a picture taken by one of

Isles of Scilly. Also in the North Isles of Scilly. Also in the North

Cornwall coast into North Devon it has been a lovely day. The sun has

set and the skies are continuing to be clear and cold air has moved over

us tonight so it is cold enough for some frost. A cold start tomorrow,

Perhaps a change overnight into Perhaps a change overnight into

Thursday because a weather front is coming from the North producing a

bit more cloud but still effectively bit more cloud but still effectively

a dry story. Clear skies have caused the temperatures to drop and we

could see the figures down as low as -1, -2 in a few places. We could see

a sharp frost in some places tomorrow morning. Once it warms up

tomorrow, temperatures will get back into double figures. A bit more

cloud from the North later in the day into the evening and that will

be across us on Thursday so it is not quite so fine, not as much

sunshine, but still dry with temperatures between 12 and 14.

Plenty of warmth across parts of Spain and Portugal. Fine weather

through central Europe but the cold air is still across the north of

Europe and some of that will gradually get dragged down across us

as this area of high pressure stays to the west of Britain. This is as

because into the weekend. Northerly winds mean relatively cool area.

Despite being fine and dry, it could be a little bit warmer.

That's all the news and weather from us tonight on this

From all of us on the late team, goodnight.