Anglia Late Edition - February 2022

  • Watch the latest Anglia Late Edition - the regional politics programme covering issues affecting the East of England presented by Political Correspondent Emma HutchinsonThis programme was transmitted in the ITV Anglia region on Thursday 24 February 2022

Anglia Late Edition reports on the wider implications of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its impact back home and in the East of England.

The Foreign Secretary and SW Norfolk MP Liz Truss said Russia’s assault on Ukraine is “barbaric, unjustified and shows a callous disregard for human life”.

The war in Eastern Europe overshadowed the coronavirus pandemic as England lifted all legal Covid restrictions on Thursday after nearly two years. While strong government guidance remains in place for people with coronavirus to self-isolate at home for five days, it is no longer a legal requirement.

While self-testing for Covid-19 remains free at the moment, the government plans to end that at the start of April and people will have to but their own coronavirus tests.

Emma Hutchinson was joined on Anglia Late Edition by Cllr Stephen Robinson (Lib Dem), Rachel Hopkins MP (Lab) and Duncan Baker MP (Con) Credit: ITV Anglia

ITV News Anglia's Political Correspondent Emma Hutchinson was joined on the programme by three politicians to debate the issues affecting the East of England:

  • Duncan Baker MP has been the Conservative MP for North Norfolk since 2019 following on from the long-serving Liberal Democrat Sir Norman Lamb who retired from Westminster

  • Rachel Hopkins MP has been the Labour MP for Luton South since 2019 and also serves on the opposition frontbench as a Shadow Cabinet Office minister

  • Cllr Stephen Robinson is a Liberal Democrat has been the leader of Chelmsford City Council after his party swept to power there in 2019 after years of Conservative control

Anglia Late Edition also reported on Uttlesford Council in the Stansted airport area of Essex which has been stripped of some on its planning powers to decide on whether to give the green light to projects in its area.

Uttlesford is one of the few councils in the UK which is not run by a traditional political party like the Conservative, Labour or the Liberal Democrats. In the 2019 council elections, a local party called Residents for Uttlesford won a majority of the seats on the council after campaigning for more control on local developments.

That council has now has some of it planning powers taken away after a large number of the developments it rejected were overturned on appeal. It has raised questions over local decision-making and the balance of power between local and national priorities.