Hemsby: Work to demolish at-risk cliff-top homes starts - BBC

Martin Barber/BBC

By Kate Scotter, Jon Ironmonger, Martin Barber & Andrew Turner

BBC News, East

Work to demolish three homes close to the cliff edge in Norfolk has started after high tides cut into sandy cliffs.

Residents have left their wooden properties in The Marrams in Hemsby, some of which are within 1m (3.2ft) of the edge and at risk of collapse.

Several outbuildings were lost to the sea as high tide hit at about 21:00 GMT on Friday.

Sue, whose property was the first being taken down, said she did not expect to lose her home "so quick".

Jon Ironmonger/BBC

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Along with her neighbours, she spent the morning hurriedly packing up her belongings before the demolition teams moved in.

Sue, who did not want to give her surname, said she wished more could have been done to save her home of three years.

This time last week there was up to 20ft between her property and the cliff edge, and now there was just 3ft.

She was told she would have to get planning permission for her home to be moved back from the cliff edge but there was not enough time.

"It's really annoying, it's all your hopes and dreams collapsed into nothingness," she said.

Martin Barber/BBC

Jon Ironmonger/BBC

Mary Withey, whose home is also being demolished, said she and her partner "had got what we can".

"I'm not OK with it, it's been my home, I don't want to move... it's very sad," said Ms Withey, who has lived in her house for four years,

"When I first heard I was in shock and today I've just been tearful, it's horrible."

Jon Ironmonger/BBC

Jane Beck, head of property and asset management at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said they planned to demolish all three properties within the day, before the next high tide at 21:38.

"It's extremely sad for those people and we're trying to do everything we possibly can to help them through that process," she said.

The beach and surrounding area at Hemsby should be avoided, she added, and she urged people to stay away for their own safety.

Martin Barber/BBC

The only access road to properties on the Marrams has also been cordoned off and is expected to collapse.

Fire crews knocked on doors on Friday and urged anybody still in the affected properties to leave their homes.

During the evening, a shed and a playhouse toppled over the cliff but Hemsby Independent Lifeboat crew managed to rescue two chickens from the shed which they said "put a smile on everyone's face".

Jon Ironmonger/BBC

Daniel Hurd, coxswain with the lifeboat crew, said it had been a "long old night".

The Highways Agency blocked off the road on Friday evening and BT responded to a telegraph pole that was tilting on the edge.

"Luckily we managed to get that on to the beach and not risk public safety by it falling on top of them," he said.

Martin Barber/BBC

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"My concern now is that if [the erosion] gets to the car parks, we possibly may have to shut the doors on the lifeboat station and then you won't have sea cover off Hemsby at all... and that is serious," he added.

Martin Barber/BBC

Great Yarmouth Borough Council's chief executive, Sheila Oxtoby, said the authority was looking to bring some rock on to the beach to protect the road access to a number of other properties as a "temporary solution".

It is understood 1,900 tonnes of granite are due to arrive on Wednesday.

Ms Oxtoby said: "At the same time as dealing with the immediate issue, we're also looking at how we can use our emergency powers to provide a temporary rock berm solution to give us more time for the main scheme."

Jon Ironmonger/BBC

Mr Hurd, however, said the current situation was "heart-breaking" and could have been resolved earlier.

He said: "I just think it's absolutely ridiculous, this has been an emergency for years and it's taken this weekend for them to see it's an emergency to then get a rock berm put on the beach."

Borough councillor, James Bensley, said he could understand people were frustrated but there had been "so much bureaucracy".

"It's a real minefield of making sure that what local government and the authorities do is the correct line of procedure and I can totally understand people's frustrations," he said.

Martin Barber/BBC

"We [also] have to make sure it works, we have to make sure it's cost affordable and doesn't affect further south down the coast.

"I know the process and the time that has been taken is exhausting and I can fully appreciate and understand that but we have to do it correctly and with the tools that we have got and through the right channels."

Hemsby, near Great Yarmouth, is home to about 3,000 people and was once home to a Pontins holiday camp.

Seven bungalows along The Marrams had to be demolished when sandy cliffs washed away in March 2018 and, in December 2013, "the worst storm surge in 60 years", destroyed seven homes.

Last year, a 1.3km (0.8 mile) rock berm at the base of the cliff was approved in principle, but the council funding for the £15m scheme was challenging to obtain, with just £2.5m available from the government.

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Related Topics

• Coastal erosion
• Hemsby

Related Internet Links

• Great Yarmouth Borough Council

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2023-03-11 12:58:52Z
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SNP Westminster leader backs Humza Yousaf as next Scottish first minister - The Guardian

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, has given his backing to Humza Yousaf to be Scotland’s next first minister, saying the Scottish health secretary can take the party to “new heights”.

There are three candidates battling to be the next SNP leader and Scottish first minister.

Yousaf is up against the finance secretary, Kate Forbes, and the former community safety minister Ash Regan.

Speaking before voting opens on Monday, Flynn, who was recently installed as the SNP’s leader at Westminster, announced he would be backing Yousaf.

Flynn said: “The public are crying out for hope right now – the knock-on impact of Brexit, the Tories crashing the economy and the cost of living crisis is hitting household budgets hard and putting huge pressure on both the public and private sector.

“I’ve therefore listened closely to all three candidates and their plans to tackle the economic challenges facing us and I believe Humza is best placed to offer that hope.”

He praised Yousaf for plans to “fast-track the expansion of childcare to one and two-year-olds, and support parents with upfront childcare costs”, saying these could be a “real gamechanger for both working families and the wider economy”.

The MP continued: “Coupled with his belief in the necessity for both energy security and an energy transition that protects the climate and people’s jobs, it’s clear that Humza is focused on delivering for our economy both now, and into the future.

“The next leader of the SNP must be in a position to unite our party and our movement, be focused on the immediate challenges facing the public, and be able to grow a sustained and undeniable majority in favour of independence.

“At this important juncture in our party’s history, we need a leader who recognises and celebrates our record to date and who is focused on taking us to new heights.

“On Monday, I’ll be voting for Humza to become the SNP leader and Scotland’s next first minister.”

SNP Westminster deputy leader, Mhairi Black, has already announced her support for Yosuaf, criticising Forbes, who has said she would not have voted for same-sex marriage if she had been at Holyrood when the legislation was passed.

Bruce Crawford, a former parliamentary business secretary in the Scottish government, also endorsed Yousaf.

The former MSP tweeted: “I have thought long and hard about who should be the next leader of the SNP. I believe that ⁦Humza Yousaf⁩ is the candidate who has best demonstrated the qualities and attributes to be that leader.”

Veteran SNP MSP Christine Grahame is among those to have announced she will be voting for Forbes.

High-profile MP Joanna Cherry has given her support to Regan.

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2023-03-11 10:31:00Z
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Gary Lineker: BBC Football Focus and Final Score presenters pull out as fallout from suspension deepens – live reaction - The Guardian

From 1h ago

BBC football presenter and former England player Alex Scott has said she will not be presenting Football Focus on Saturday, amid reports the BBC has pulled the show.

In a tweet, she said:

I made a decision last night that even though I love my show and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA for football focus that it doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today.. Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week.

Kelly Somers also said she would not be hosting Football Focus.

She tweeted: “Just to confirm I won’t be on BBC television today.”

The move comes after after Gary Lineker was suspended on Friday from the BBC for breaching impartiality guidelines after criticising the government’s asylum policies.

Match of the Day, meanwhile, will be broadcast without presenters, pundits or its usual commentators this weekend.

In a dramatic and unexpected escalation of a crisis that has been brewing all week, the corporation took the decision to remove its highest-paid presenter from its flagship football show after he was criticised by Tory MPs and the rightwing media.

His suspension immediately led to displays of solidarity from Lineker’s co-hosts Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, who publicly announced that they would not be turning up to present Saturday’s show.

We’ll bring you the latest reaction and developments on the ongoing fallout from Lineker’s suspension.

Lineker did not answer questions from reporters when he left his home in Barnes, south-west London, this morning.

He was asked “how do you think this has been handled?”, “is this the end of your BBC career?”, “have you had any discussions with the BBC overnight?” and “do you expect to resign?”, but did not respond.

For anyone who missed it yesterday, Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol had this to say on why many feel aggrieved over Lineker’s suspension:

The BBC appears to have pulled Football Focus from its schedule, with Bargain Hunt showing in its place.

It comes after Alex Scott confirmed she would not be presenting the football preview show at noon, saying “it doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today”.

As you can see from this blog, she is one of a number of presenters and pundits to pull out of BBC shows after Gary Lineker was told to step back from hosting Match of the Day in a row over impartiality.

The Daily Mail’s Mike Keegan has tweeted to suggest that the BBC’s 5 Live sports coverage is also now in peril.

This comes at the same time as the BBC announced that Colin Murray’s Fighting Talk comedy sports show has been pulled from 5 Live today.

Guests were due to be Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Gail Emms, Reece Parkinson and Bob Mills.

The show has been replaced by a Chris Kamara podcast episode.

This is a fast-developing situation for the BBC.

Freelance reporter and presenter Flo Lloyd-Hughes suggests tomorrow’s WSL coverage of Chelsea vs Manchester United could also soon be affected.

Former England footballer Ian Wright has said on his podcast that he is “out” and “gone” if the BBC “get rid” of Gary Lineker.

In an episode of Wrighty’s House, aired on Friday before Lineker was told to step back from presenting Match of the Day, Wright called the tweet row “the perfect distraction” for the government.

He added:

I’ll tell you something. If they do – the BBC get rid of Gary Lineker – I’m out, I’m gone. I’m not staying there. On his own platform he should be able to say what he wants to say.

Explaining the row, Wright said:

He wrote a tweet criticising the government about everything that’s happening, the human rights issues and everything here and it’s the perfect distraction for this government, man.

Gary’s tweet was the headline news, bro.

They need Gary Lineker to distract everybody because for me it is a human issue, it’s not political.

They’ve got no empathy. The most vulnerable ones are always the ones that suffer, they’re the ones that suffer and it starts with words.

It’s not just presenters, pundits and players showing their solidarity with Lineker, either.

Bristol Rovers is – it seems – the first professional football club to say none of its staff will speak to the BBC today.

For those looking to take a step back from today’s non-stop announcements and withdrawals, my colleague Barney Ronay has written about the wider implications of Lineker’s suspension.

Pundit Glenn Murray also said he had pulled out of appearing on Football Focus and Final Score on Saturday.

This is getting worse for the BBC very quickly. Jason Mohammad, presenter of Final Score, has announced he has pulled out of today’s show.

There has been plenty of speculation about how Lineker’s suspension has been received by other BBC employees, particularly those who might fall into the presenter category.

John Wilson, presenter of Front Row (and son of Arsenal goalkeeping legend Bob Wilson), tweeted a section from the corporation’s editorial guidelines that Lineker was, in his words, “deemed to have breached”.

He then retweeted this suggestion that the reference to sports presenters was “confusing and unhelpful”.

Richard Ayre, former controller of editorial policy at the BBC, has said the broadcaster’s reputation is “bigger and more important” than any individual, including Gary Lineker.

He told BBC Breakfast on Saturday that there will be “real street-to-street fighting” between political parties in the lead-up to the general election.

The BBC, in this time of all times, has to tread as straight a line as it can between the parties and avoid taking sides in its own output, and the BBC believes it also has to ensure that those key people who are identified as the BBC in the public mind also walk a straight line in what they say on their private social network.

On Lineker’s suspension from presenting Match of the Day, he added

It’s a sad occasion for viewers, for anybody who’s interested in football, it will be very sad if they can’t reconcile with Gary.

He is superlative, he is absolutely extraordinarily good, not just as a football pundit, of course, but I think, in my 50 or so years of association with the BBC, I’ve never come across such a naturally gifted television presenter.

He’s terrific and it will be very sad if he goes, but frankly the BBC and its reputation is bigger and more important than any individual, even Gary.

The BBC has undermined its own credibility with its decision to stand Gary Lineker down from hosting Match of the Day because it will be viewed as having bowed to government pressure, its former director general Greg Dyke has said.

Dyke told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that is that if you’re an entertainment presenter or you’re a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same rules.

The real problem of today is that the BBC has undermined its own credibility by doing this because it looks like – the perception out there – that the BBC has bowed to government pressure.

And once the BBC does that, then you’re in real problems. The perception out there is going to be that Gary Lineker, a much-loved television presenter, was taken off air after government pressure on a particular issue.

Asked whether Lineker’s tweet was acceptable, he said:

We live in a world of freedom of speech and therefore, yes. He didn’t broadcast it on the BBC, it was a tweet he did privately.

I think what the BBC did yesterday was mistaken. And over the years since I left the BBC I have never gone public criticising the leadership of the BBC and the decisions they take, because I know what a difficult job it is, and difficult decisions have to be taken.

A spokesman for the Professional Footballers’ Association, the footballers’ union, has announced players will not be asked to take part in BBC interviews for Match of the Day tonight.

We have been informed that players involved in today’s games will not be asked to participate in interviews with Match of the Day.

The PFA have been speaking to members who wanted to take a collective position and to be able to show their support for those who have chosen not to be part of tonight’s programme.

During those conversations we made clear that, as their union, we would support all members who might face consequences for choosing not to complete their broadcast commitments.

This is a common sense decision that ensures players won’t now be put in that position.

BBC football presenter and former England player Alex Scott has said she will not be presenting Football Focus on Saturday, amid reports the BBC has pulled the show.

In a tweet, she said:

I made a decision last night that even though I love my show and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA for football focus that it doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today.. Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week.

Kelly Somers also said she would not be hosting Football Focus.

She tweeted: “Just to confirm I won’t be on BBC television today.”

The move comes after after Gary Lineker was suspended on Friday from the BBC for breaching impartiality guidelines after criticising the government’s asylum policies.

Match of the Day, meanwhile, will be broadcast without presenters, pundits or its usual commentators this weekend.

In a dramatic and unexpected escalation of a crisis that has been brewing all week, the corporation took the decision to remove its highest-paid presenter from its flagship football show after he was criticised by Tory MPs and the rightwing media.

His suspension immediately led to displays of solidarity from Lineker’s co-hosts Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, who publicly announced that they would not be turning up to present Saturday’s show.

We’ll bring you the latest reaction and developments on the ongoing fallout from Lineker’s suspension.

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2023-03-11 10:20:00Z
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Junior doctors’ strike will have unprecedented impact on NHS, says top medic - The Guardian

Next week’s strike by junior doctors will lead to unprecedented “major disruption” of the NHS and affect thousands of patients’ care, the service’s top doctor warned on Saturday.

Many hospitals in England have already postponed outpatient appointments or non-urgent operations ahead of the stoppage on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The walkout by 61,000 junior doctors will have a bigger impact than any of the strikes held since December by nurses, ambulance staff and physiotherapists, NHS England said.

“The action is expected to see some of the most severe strike disruption of NHS services to date and have a huge impact on the drive to reduce waiting lists for elective care,” it said.

The British Medical Association (BMA), the doctors’ union, has designed this first of a threatened series of strikes by junior doctors over pay to be as impactful as possible, as a warning shot to ministers.

It is seeking “full pay restoration” of the 26.2% fall in the real-terms value of trainee doctors’ pay it calculates they have experienced since 2008/09.

Newly qualified doctors start their careers in the NHS earning just £14 an hour, the co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors committee told Rishi Sunak in a letter last Wednesday. Campaigning junior doctors have been highlighting on social media that some baristas earn the same or more.

On Friday night Steve Barclay said he has written to junior doctors in the BMA inviting them to enter into pay talks after negotiations with other health unions.

The health secretary tweeted that he had contacted the trade union asking it to enter into “formal” discussions about pay, urging it to call off planned strikes. “I’ve written to @BMA_JuniorDocs inviting them for formal pay talks on the same basis other health unions accepted, including calling off next week’s strike,” he said. “Let’s have a constructive dialogue to make the NHS a better place to work and ensure we deliver the care patients need.”

The union responded that Barclay had not attended pay talks on Friday.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said the service had been working very hard to try to mitigate the impact of the 72-hour walkout.

But, he added: “While we are doing what we can to avoid having to reschedule appointments, there’s no doubt that disruption will be much more severe than before and patients who have been waiting for some time will face postponements across many treatment areas.”

During the strike, hospitals will use consultants to ensure that they continue to provide services involving potentially life-or-death care – such as A&E, critical care, maternity services and long waits for operations, including cancer surgery – as close to normally as possible.

Meanwhile, NHS bosses have warned Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, that it will remain “stuck in perpetual crisis management” unless he agrees to fund a massive expansion of homegrown doctors and nurses.

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The NHS Confederation, which represents health service trusts, has written to Hunt asking him to rebut reports this week that the Treasury is seeking to water down targets in the forthcoming and long-awaited NHS workforce strategy.

The plan had aimed to train much larger numbers of health professionals to tackle the massive staff shortage facing the service, which has 124,000 vacancies.

As the chair of the Commons health select committee last year, Hunt – who was health secretary for six years – argued strongly for the Treasury to commit to publishing regular independent assessments of the number of staff the NHS needs and to expand training places to provide more recruits.

One senior NHS source said that, now he is chancellor, Hunt is arguing that the government should not agree to such commitments, which would cost billions of pounds a year to fulfil.

“He seems to think that any financial headroom he has should be used to pave the way for the Conservatives to offer tax cuts before the next election, and not to train more doctors, nurses and other NHS staff, which is different to what he said before,” said the official.

The confederation warns Hunt in its letter, which it has shared with the Guardian, that a failure to agree to binding targets for increased numbers of health professionals “will see the NHS continue to be understaffed, with all of the implications that brings for patient care, waiting times, the efficiency of services and for staff morale”.

Hunt is due to unveil his spring budget on 15 March.

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2023-03-11 06:02:00Z
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UK weather: motorists warned of ice hazards with conditions 'worse rather than better' - The Telegraph

A new snow and ice warning has been made for northern England on Saturday and another covering parts of Scotland and the north of England on Sunday.

Ice could cause hazards for motorists and pedestrians in parts of the UK where heavy snow brought treacherous conditions on Friday as temperatures reached freezing levels on Friday night in some areas.

The Met Office issued yellow warnings after Storm Larisa battered parts of the UK with gales and blizzards.

Drivers were urged to get behind the wheel only if necessary, with some motorists left stranded due to heavy snowfall. Heavy snowfall left drivers stranded for more than seven hours on the M62 in Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.

Andrew Page-Dove, of National Highways, said: "We've got some very cold weather overnight. We've got the risk of potentially freezing rain and then more snow tomorrow [Saturday]. So the conditions are actually going to get worse rather than better. But we will be continuously out there treating the roads and our intention is to keep the M62 open. It is purely the combination of volume of traffic and (drivers) maybe not being as well prepared for the conditions."

Take extra care on the roads during icy weather. Check our tips for driving in snow and ice.#WeatherAware @RAC @NationalHways pic.twitter.com/UR4tOYa4Cs

— Met Office (@metoffice) March 11, 2023

Temperatures in rural areas across the UK were forecast to drop into minus territory overnight across the UK, with more snow expected on higher ground across Saturday and Sunday.

Met Office meteorologist Matthew Box said rain, sleet and snow would push north-eastwards across the country over the weekend, likely falling on the hills and mountains of the Pennines, the Cumbrian vales and some parts of Scotland.

But he said the snowfall would be "nothing to the same extent as what we saw on Thursday", the Press Association reported.

There was a 20 degree difference in minimum temperatures across the UK last night; a harsh frost in the north and milder conditions in the south pic.twitter.com/bmZDkIiZb5

— Met Office (@metoffice) March 11, 2023

In parts of south-west England and Wales, the cold weather would likely give way to sunnier conditions later on Sunday, Mr Box said.

Emergency services have also rescued eight people who were trapped in heavy snowfall for more than 12 hours in Staffordshire.

Staffordshire Police said "arctic conditions" since Thursday night caused a number of vehicles to get stuck –- particularly on the A53 and the A523 near the town of Leek. It said some people have been stranded inside their vehicles in sub-zero temperatures for more than 12 hours.

Snow cleared in front of a house in Sheffield Credit: Social media/Reuters

Public transport has also been affected, with Network Rail saying multiple fallen trees had blocked lines between Manchester and Sheffield, meaning no trains could run.

Train operators TransPennine Express and Northern cancelled many services and Merseyrail, which runs services in Merseyside and surrounding areas, delayed the start of its operations on Friday.

The majority of flights departing Liverpool John Lennon Airport were delayed on Friday morning, East Midlands Airport was closed for around three hours and flights were suspended at Birmingham Airport for around an hour to clear snow from the runway, and there were also delays to flights at Bristol Airport.

1103 Weather

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2023-03-11 03:56:00Z
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Gary Lineker: Players and managers won't be asked to do interviews for Match of the Day - BBC

The Premier League has informed the 12 teams playing on Saturday that players and managers will not be asked to do interviews for Match of the Day.

It comes after the BBC told host Gary Lineker to step back following his criticism of government asylum policy.

The show will air on Saturday night without a studio presenter, pundits or its regular commentators.

A number of players from various clubs had suggested they wanted to boycott post-match interviews with the show.

They had contacted the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) to say they may want to show solidarity with Lineker and the MOTD pundits.

Now the Premier League has told the PFA, League Managers Association (LMA) and the clubs not to expect requests to conduct post-match interviews for the programme.

In a statement, the PFA said members had told them they wanted to take a "collective position" and "to be able to show their support".

"During those conversations we made clear that, as their union, we would support all members who might face consequences for choosing not to complete their broadcast commitments," the statement said.

"This is a common sense decision that ensures players won't now be put in that position."

On Twitter, former England striker Lineker compared the language used by the government to unveil its new plans as "not dissimilar to" 1930s Germany.

The BBC said it it had asked Lineker to step back from presenting after "extensive discussions" with him.

The corporation said it considered his "recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines", adding it had been "decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we've got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media".

Lineker has presented the show since 1999.

After it was announced he was stepping back, pundits Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Jermaine Jenas all said they would not appear on the show, while Alex Scott hinted the same.

In a later statement, a spokesperson said: "Some of our pundits have said that they don't wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary.

"We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry."

Later, MOTD commentators Steve Wilson, Conor McNamara, Robyn Cowen and Steven Wyeth shared a joint statement online saying they "do not feel it would be appropriate to take part in the programme" on Saturday.

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2023-03-11 10:00:44Z
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UK to help fund detention centre in France to stop Channel crossings, Sunak and Macron announce - Sky News

Britain will payout £480m over the next three years in a deal struck between Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron to tackle small boat Channel crossings, including helping fund a detention centre in France.

The fresh package agreed between the prime minister and the French president will also see the deployment of hundreds more French personnel patrolling the beaches.

PM suggests European countries will copy UK's tough migration approach - politics latest

Other measures include:

• Additional drones, aircraft and surveillance technologies
• A new 24/7 coordination centre with permanent UK liaison officers
• Increased cooperation between the National Crime Agency and its French counterpart

Mr Sunak said: "I have made it one of my five priorities to stop the boats.

"We are delivering on that priority to stop people coming to the UK illegally.

"Last year I agreed the largest ever small boats deal with France to increase UK-funded patrols by 40%.

"This week I announced measures to ensure nobody who enters the UK illegally can remain here.

"We don't need to manage this problem, we need to break it.

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"And today, we have gone further than ever before to put an end to this disgusting trade in human life. Working together, the UK and France will ensure that nobody can exploit our systems with impunity."

Mr Sunak has held talks in Paris with his French counterpart aimed at bolstering efforts to tackle the migration crisis.

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More than 3,000 people have already made the perilous sea journey this year, with almost 46,000 arriving by unofficial routes in 2022.

Earlier in the week, the Tory government unveiled controversial plans to curb Channel crossings would see refugees arriving by boats detained, removed and banned for life from claiming asylum in the UK.

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2023-03-10 14:48:45Z
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