"What do most of us want from life?" "How about someone to love?" "Somewhere to live?" "Somewhere to work?" "And something to hope for." "Love, home, work, hope - ambitious maybe, but those four expectations define a good life and have done for generations." "Now there is an election coming, and Panorama has been finding out if politics and politicians can really deliver what Britain wants." "Here is some hope, a chance to get on and make something of your life..." "We are going to fight this fight in the right way, we will offer hope, not false oaths." "Britain has changed, the old certainties have faded away, communities with a sense of pride in their past face an uncertain future." "Politicians promise a better tomorrow, but it never seems to come." "We are the party that most represents the hopes and aspirations for the future..." "What they want is hope!" "So hope is the basic currency of politics, but this film is not about politics." "It is about a town whose people you might think have plenty of pretty good reasons for having given up." "Our country faces the most unpredictable election in our lifetime." "Hopes wrestle fears - in this town as in every other." "Morning!" "Fine, thanks, how are you?" "Oh, it is lovely and warm in here!" "Welcome to Lowestoft." "This Suffolk town is the biggest in the constituency of Waverley, and for 30 years it has swung with the mood of the nation from Conservative to" "Labour and back again." "Now there is a new kid on the block, from Clacton to Cleethorpes, the seaside towns of the East Coast seem to be looking for a new saviour, and Ukip is here." "The political landscape is changing, but what people want remains the same." "It is up to the politicians, the Government, to sort England out." "They are not really listening to you?" "They are not really listening to the public, no." "They listen to them when they want to be elected, and when they are elected, they don't do nothing." "To understand why people here are disillusioned, you have to understand the town's past." "That past was fishing." "Once, it's defined the town, but no longer." "Now these weather-beaten wooden frames reminds Lowestoft of what used to be." "Not so long ago, fishermen hung their huge driftnets from them to dry." "Today it is where people come to walk their dogs." "The old frames seem to whisper to you - what was is no more." "This is East Anglia's equivalent of an abandoned gold mine in the Rhondda Valley or a derelict steelworks in the north-east or a shipbuilding yard on the Clyde that has long since stopped making ships." "It is tempting to recall the politician who was doing one of those bogus groups that politicians so love, and he was trying to get the people to tell him what they liked about the country as it is today. -- focus." "He was getting nowhere, nobody had anything to say, until one man ventured, rather timidly, the past," "I liked the past." "For many people, the present is clouded with disappointment." "It is hard whether for politics. -- weather." "This is written large in the language of Lowestoft, day in and day out, these men of our fishing fleets braved the roughest of weather to gather the harvest of the sea..." "A group of amateur film-makers, the Lowestoft Movie Makers, build this cinema, and they love a bit of nostalgia." "Ivan is the town archivist, there is not much he does not know about Lowestoft." "Now our turn comes, the nets are thrown over to gather the silver all." "This is a town that has lost its way, like the mining towns and villages, the steel towns and villages, the fishing industry was the cultural glue that gave the town its identity, so the town is now looking desperately for another identity." "My generation, we are a little bit responsible for holding the town back, too busy being nostalgic and looking backwards." "By doing that, we are stopping the town being forward-looking?" "I have got a little badge here that says, history matters." "Which is true!" "But you have just been telling me that you cannot live in the past." "But the future is more important." "The few fishermen who remain fished the way that men have built for millennia, lines slung over the sides of the boat with baited hooks." "It is a hard way to make a living." "Morning, Steve!" "Only ten boats remain." "They are small inshore vessels, no more than ten metres long, like this one, Georgi Girl." "Meet the skipper, Steve, one of Lowestoft's last." "We always hope for a good catch, there is not many of us left now." "Our family has been fishing this coastline for generations now." "We are struggling to keep it going." "How is it that you can manage to make a reasonable living, then?" "It is because we are small and we are a family, and we keep the expenses down." "Steve did not catch any fish on this trip, a vicious zero easterly wind made BC to rough, but the weather is not his real enemy. -- northeasterly made the sea." "The herrings now come to the attention of an army offshore workers." "If you want to get some idea about how much things have changed, then come to the fish market on Lowestoft. " " Lowestoft quay." "In the past, they would be shifting 30 or 40 tonnes, today they will be reread that the two ships two." "Ten, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60!" "This place was once the town's beating heart, buzzing with sailors, doctors and merchants cutting deals." "But in 2015, there is a real fear that he -- the fish market's days are numbered." "The guts have been ripped out of this town by successive politicians not getting a good deal for Great Britain, and consequently we have now got a market that is 100 the size it was and we have got no" "fishermen left." "They are more red and the fish themselves now. -- rare than." "If Ukip has a heartland, it may well be here." "The party wants to be free of the European Union." "These people want to be free of its fisheries policy and its regulations, which they say can mean half the fish they catch having to be thrown back again." "June runs the auction." "What is real left in this country?" "In the world, what is real?" "My fishermen are real, they go out, how many men and for their fish or their food?" "There is no hunters left, they hunt, a brave men, different breed, they have got to stay." "This is why Steve is so worried about fishing." "He has got two young boys, and they both want to go to see, just like their father and their grandfather. -- go to sea." "Well, I am going to be a fishermen for our family, so I can make some money. -- fisherman." "I heard that most of the people my age get to learn how to be a skipper." "I have been fishing with Add a long time, well, as long as I can remember. " " Dad." "I have always wanted to do a job that involves the sea." "I am a fisherman, I always have been, I am proud of that, but I have hoped that I was going to catch some fish, every time I went to sea." "You can cope with the early mornings and a freezing cold, but not with throwing half the catch back to sea when you have got bills to pay and kids to feed." "It is terrible, really, terrible." "It is all down to politicians." "At the moment I feel like I shall not benefit anybody, I am thoroughly disillusioned with all manner of politicians, yeah." "That is how I feel." "I will probably change my mind, but at the minute I do not think there is any of them that worthy of vote. -- that are worthy of the vote." "They call this Ness Point, as Far East as you can go and still be in" "Britain." "They are proud of that distinction, but you pay the price for this in globalisation, unless you have something to special to offer." "Towns like Lowestoft can be forgotten." "Life was hard in many ways when I was a young man, luxuries we take for granted today simply did not exist, but we knew things would get better." "We expected to get a job when we left school and earn enough to buy a house, and we could see the country changing for the better, becoming a more tolerant place." "We began to recognise racism for what it was and to realise that gay men and women should have equal rights." "And we expected that we would be better off than our parents, and that was not taken for granted for most of Britain today." "A town like Lowestoft pays a price in a number of different ways." "When the industry that has sustained it falls a number of different ways." "When the industry that has sustained it falls along dries up." "Throughout the good years, people knew that there would pretty much always be a job for them and their children, maybe even their grandchildren, in fishing or shipbuilding." "Then the jobs dry up." "But the attitude towards education, that had seemed so unimportant during those good years, that attitude as by then becoming grained." "And this school is the perfect illustration of that." "Since the boom years began, it has been an independent the paying school, a grammar school, a comprehensive, and an academy." "Now it is in special measures, which leaves you wondering what all those changes achieved." "Three of the four secondary schools in Lowestoft have been in special measures." "When a school is placed into special measures, much like a bereavement, the community go through stages of disbelief, anger, upset. -- goes through." "Finally, there is the resilience to carry on with life in the school's journey to recover a position where you are good." "Turning around a failing school is tough, no doubt about that, but Mr Marshall says his job is made even tougher by politicians interfering all the time." "John, I cannot look at my years sevens and with any confidence tell them even the name of the qualification that they may be studying when they are in year" "11." "That seems to me to be a view which is..." "Well, it is something I find deeply difficult to reconcile." "All towns and cities look more impressive from above, you cannot see the imperfections, the graffiti on the walls or the dog mess on the streets." "You cannot see the messy reality of people's lives, which is why politicians usually prefer the big picture." "It is easier for them to agree on whether to buy another Trident submarine than it is to stop teenagers smoking skunk and schoolgirls getting pregnant." "But that's what delivering hope is all about." "She got sectioned because of it." "My dad was working at the time and he had to leave his job because he couldn't look after me and my brother as well as working and that impacted our life." "Megan got pregnant at 16, she hated school and left with very few qualifications." "She's a tough young woman and wants to change things." "I think education in Lowestoft is poor." "The schools - a big priority for me, being a mother, education is one of the biggest things that I would want to be changed in this town." "I want my son to have a good education." "Megan has been homeless and she's lived in a squalid bedsit with no heating or hot water." "When she talks of her baby son, she radiates hope." "I want him to have a nice, happy life." "I want him to do well at school and do well in life and get a career." "And work hard." "That's the main thing." "And have loads of determination in life to do what he wants to do." "And" "Megan sees her family's future here in Lowestoft." "We do live here." "This town could change and develop better." "Alone, it's not - us people in Lowestoft isn't enough." "We do need the help from politicians." "What rescued Megan from homelessness was not politicians, it was people like" "Emma Ratzer." "She runs a local charity that was set up to help fishermen who had fallen on hard times." "Now, it is helping youngsters like Megan, who had lost hope." "This is The Globe." "I walk past it on my way to work every day." "I pass the young people on their way to school who are drinking their fizzy drinks and eating their Mars bar snacks, which are their breakfast." "I thought wouldn't The Globe make an excellent venue for breakfast clubs so people can have breakfast on their way to school." "We are working with fourth and fifth generation worklessness." "Four or five generations without work?" "Yes." "That is a lot." "It is, yes." "A lot of what we are trying to do is raise aspiration." "And get them to see there are other things they can do." "A good example of one of the battles we have - we took some 15 and 16-year-olds into Norwich on the train, a 40-minute journey, and some of them had never been to Norwich." "It seems almost..." "In order to show a young person the future, you take him to Norwich." "There is nothing wrong with that, it is a great city." "It is bizarre." "It is about getting people out of their environment and showing them that there is something else." "Or maybe someone else." "If so, who?" "The politicians?" "It is about whoever is in power at the time, listening to what they have got to say, and finding a way to make that work for our community." "You are saying the fate of Lowestoft isn't going to be determined by the man in" "Westminster, or the man in Whitehall?" "Not at all." "Some of the problems arise from people thinking that they are going to be our salvation, that we will sit and wait for the right Government at the right time to have the right policies to help breathe life into" "Lowestoft." "That is not going to happen." "That's not what I'm waiting for." "It wasn't the gentleman in Whitehall who built this school, it was the gentleman in Ipswich, a local government project." "The town had been through some very hard times, in particular with its economy, and there was a long history of children at the schools locally not doing as well as they could do." "The idea behind this one was to challenge some of those low expectations." "I think the message to everyone that sees this building, and when you come up the drive and you see that this community has invested in all of this, that embodiment of hope is what helps inspire the children to do that" "little bit better." "Whenever you film in a school, the head always wants you to talk to the brightest kids - fair enough - and these were bright." "They loved the school but they didn't have much hope for the future of the town." "When you come to Lowestoft, and you are not from Lowestoft, you don't get the best vibes from it." "It is quite gloomy, I think, would you agree with that?" "It is degrading the fact that the industry has gone and people sort of look on Lowestoft and think it's had its time and it's past and gone." "I think it's a small town with big dreams, where you have to - we all look outside of the box and think what else is out there?" "Everyone has given up with it already, outside the area as well." "You always see, like, new shops opening and then a couple of months later they shut down." "Do you?" "Do you all agree with that?" "You don't?" "Right." "What do you think?" "Lowestoft is lovely." "I really like it here." "We do seem like a friendly, welcoming community." "I do like Lowestoft, but I don't think it's got much opportunity for the next generation." "At that other school I visited, there have been developments." "The day before I met Mr Marshall the" "Government inspectors had gone in again and their verdict?" "The school is out of special measures." "A sign of hope for the town." "It is difficult to feel pride and to feel like you belong to a school that is in special measures." "That is a clear label that things are not as good as they might be." "To have that removed is an enormously significant contribution to our forward journey." "As I heard on the playground today, our students said, "Things are improving" and they say it with a smile and they are proud of the school that they attend." "That is as it should be for every child." "Across town, on an industrial estate, you will find Harrod UK." "It grew out of the fishing industry." "Ron Harrod used to buy old nets from fishermen and sell them to gardeners, that was 60 years ago." "Today, it is run by his children and now it is a big international business." "If you have ever watched a football match, you will have seen one of their nets." "The ladies over here are joining the nets." "These are football nets that they are working on here." "We supply everyone from Wembley, Chelsea, Manchester United, all of the clubs." "This man knows a thing or two about Lowestoft's past." "Like many here, he comes from a family of fisher folk. 20 years ago, he was made redundant from the fishing industry." "He is not weeping about it, he says the success of Harrod UK is a sign of hope for the town." "I came to Harrods in 1996, just as they were doing Euro 96." "We are pushing really hard to go forward." "Not everybody sees that that still happens in Lowestoft, so places like this are, they are certainly my future and my colleagues' future." "A more positive approach would be good." "There is something that everyone in Lowestoft agrees on - it is difficult to be positive when it is so hard to get here and even harder to get around once you have arrived." "It is the most easterly point in the country as well." "Once you get here, that is it." "There is nowhere else to go." "We have seen lots of industries close over the years and there's been very little new investment." "I'm sure it is as a result of roads just to get here, they are so poor." "Then getting around the town as well is not good either." "Well, the bridge is the problem, isn't it?" "Yes, the bridge is hopeless, it goes off several times a day." "The long-term future has to be to sort the infrastructure out." "NEWSREEL:" "Increased activities in the dock has highlighted a problem..." "The bridge!" "For generations, it has divided the town." "NEWSREEL:" "This is the real source of the problem, the town's harbour bridge." "When it is raised to allow a ship to pass, everything stops." "It divides this small town." "It can take an hour to get from one side of it to the other." "To use a bridge as a metaphor for hope might seem a bit obvious, a bit trite." "But it works." "Bridges get you to where you want to go." "At least that, is the theory." "Well, that's it." "Nothing can go across it and even as I speak, the traffic is starting to build-up." "There's a lot of frustration out there." "We need a new bridge!" "And a new A12!" "Otherwise what happens?" "We've got no work!" "You blame that on the bridge?" "Yes!" "It goes up." "Who wants to bring a factory here when you have got to wait - this is going up-and-down all the time?" "You need a new crossing?" "We do." "Desperately." "The Labour politician, the" "Conservative politician - politicians generally are arguing with each other which is the best situation but nothing ever gets done and they use the argument to delay it." "They probably think Lowestoft doesn't deserve it." "Really?" "Yes." "Of course, the town needs another bridge - everyone agrees on that." "The people can't build it themselves." "It will cost a fortune." "It has to be a political decision." "And the politicians have been squabbling about it for 50 years." "No wonder the people are angry." "So, the bridge is closing." "Any minute now, the town is about to get on the move again." "Where's it going?" "Well, nobody's quite sure." "What they are sure of is that they can't rely on the politicians to take them there." "They know that they will have to do it for themselves." "Are they hopeful?" "Yeah." "There's plenty of hope." "You can catch up with all four-parts of this Panorama series on BBC iPlayer." "There's nothing out there in the world that is better than what we have, here."