Browse content similar to 10/11/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good evening. Coming up, a ground- breaking day for the NHS or an | :00:12. | :00:15. | |
accident waiting to happen? Hinchingbrooke Hospital divide | :00:15. | :00:21. | |
opinion. I think it is devastating. The NHS was set up to be free to | :00:21. | :00:27. | |
people other point of use and funded by taxation. Now there is a | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
private company running it to have to make a profit. All change on the | :00:31. | :00:35. | |
eastern front as the troops feel the effects of defence cuts. | :00:35. | :00:41. | |
makes financial sense to close Waterbeach and sell it. The units | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
there will have good memories of local area but they will build good | :00:45. | :00:51. | |
memories with the area they go to in the future. A mother's plea for | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
the girl from Suffolk to is one in a billion. | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
And as Britain remembers, we have extraordinary footage of the | :00:58. | :01:08. | |
:01:08. | :01:15. | ||
The arguments are still raging tonight after one of our hospitals | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
was taken over by a private company. The Government claims that it is a | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
good deal for patients and staff. But the union's call it an accident | :01:24. | :01:30. | |
waiting to happen. The hospital at Hinchingbrooke was | :01:30. | :01:33. | |
described as a financial and clinical basket-case in parliament | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
today, that had been at risk of closure. The new operator is a | :01:38. | :01:39. | |
closure. The new operator is a private investment firm called | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
Circle, being paid �1 billion of taxpayers' money to manage a | :01:43. | :01:49. | |
hospital for the next 10 years. The deal comes three years after | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
Hinchingbrooke ran up debts of �38 million. One year ago, Circle was | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
named as the preferred bidder. Late last night, after months of delays, | :01:57. | :02:02. | |
the firm was finally told it could go ahead. Circle officially takes | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
over next February. In a moment, their Chief Executive talks about | :02:06. | :02:15. | |
the plans. Our reporter is at Hinchingbrooke. | :02:15. | :02:20. | |
Today has been a historic day. Not only for this hospital but for the | :02:20. | :02:24. | |
NHS. Circle has been offered a contract to run this hospital for | :02:24. | :02:30. | |
10 years. A hospital remains an NHS facility and the staff remain NHS | :02:30. | :02:33. | |
facility and the staff remain NHS staff. But some people feel that | :02:33. | :02:37. | |
this sets a dangerous precedent. Unison called the takeover an | :02:37. | :02:41. | |
accident waiting to happen. They believe that there is no reason why | :02:41. | :02:47. | |
this hospital's troubles cannot be sorted out by the NHS. It is | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
devastating, to be honest. The NHS was set up to be too free to people | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
at the point of use and funded by a taxation. Now we have a private | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
company running it. Earlier this year, we visited an NHS Centre in | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
Nottingham also managed by a Circle. Here, Circle claimed to have saved | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
the NHS money. They also claim they have a patient approval rate of 90%. | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
There are concerns that a district hospital like Hinchingbrooke | :03:18. | :03:23. | |
presents Circle with a different set of challenges. A treatment | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
centre is a planned place where people are booked in. You know what | :03:27. | :03:33. | |
they're coming for and what they are -- when they are arriving, so | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
you can tailor-make services. This is a walk in hospital with | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
midwifery and accident and emergency. That is our concern, | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
that they have no experience of running a general hospital. There | :03:44. | :03:48. | |
are also concerns that as a private company, it will have to make money | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
whilst also paying off debts. There are fears this could lead to | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
services being cut. Will they guarantee to keep accident and | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
emergency services at the hospital? Circle have a job of getting rid of | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
debt. They have the job of efficiently running the hospital. | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
It would be perfect for them if there was no accident and emergency | :04:09. | :04:14. | |
and maternity services. But the NHS and the Government were today quick | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
to reassure people that Circle is committed to maintaining services | :04:18. | :04:24. | |
and jobs. There are no plans to change services at this point. | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
Maternity and accident and emergency remain. That is categoric. | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
There are no plans to change services at Hinchingbrooke. | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
confident that this is the best way forward to establish this hospital | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
once again on a firm footing to meet the finest health care for | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
constituents and those of Honourable Members in the area. | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
is now the hard work begins to prepare the hospital and staff for | :04:49. | :04:57. | |
the changes and challenges that lie ahead. | :04:57. | :04:59. | |
Despite these assurances, I have spoken to some people today who are | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
still unclear as to how this will work. How will a private company | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
make money for itself whilst clearing a �38 million debt and | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
maintaining services? We will find out more in February when Circle | :05:12. | :05:19. | |
takeover. Earlier, I spoke to the Chief | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
Executive of Circle, Ali Parsa. I started by asking him how the | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
company intended to pay off a hospital's debt within 10 years and | :05:27. | :05:31. | |
make a profit. We're going to do that in the same way that any | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
reasonable, rational household is dealing with finances today. By | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
being more efficient, more productive and doing more with the | :05:40. | :05:46. | |
resources that we have, and getting rid of waste, bureaucracy, layers | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
of things that waste our time and effort. We have done it in | :05:50. | :05:55. | |
Nottingham and Bath, and we will do it here. The result will be really | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
good for patients. I am sure there are many ways in which there can be | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
improvements in the NHS as far as bureaucracy is concerned, but the | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
fact remains that this will still be an NHS operation. You cannot | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
just ditched the bureaucracy and save money that way. There will | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
still need to be paperwork and bureaucracy because you're still | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
providing an NHS service. Absolutely. We do the same thing in | :06:21. | :06:28. | |
Nottingham. We have NHS staff within the NHS family. With the | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
idea of them joining us, productivity improved by 18%. 996 | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
out of 1000 patients said they would recommend it. You or eight | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
times less likely to go back into an operating theatre if you have an | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
operation in this facility. Why? Because the doctors and nurses can | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
make decisions on what is good for patients and implement them. They | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
did not need to write a paper on it, and give it to someone else. It is | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
not about the people, it is about the system. The unions are very | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
concerned, calling it an accident waiting to happen. They are worried | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
about the fact that you're going to have to cut the numbers of staff in | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
order to pay off the debt. Can you guarantee staffing levels will not | :07:10. | :07:19. | |
be reduced? You can guarantee that we are about providing more | :07:19. | :07:25. | |
services with existing resources. Some people have written the | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
catchphrase, an accident waiting to happen. You say that unions are | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
against this, I have only heard one union and one official says | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
something. That was the Royal College of Nurses, and they have | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
been a great supporter of what we're trying to do. Local doctors | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
have written to the Prime Minister asking for this to happen. This is | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
about saving a local hospital and creating a model that other | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
hospitals can learn from. What about concerns that have been | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
raised about Circle itself, your financial stability and your | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
political backing, which Labour say is very much to do with the | :08:04. | :08:10. | |
Conservative Party. That is just not true. The last four for five | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
years, we have raised more money more successfully in the middle of | :08:14. | :08:22. | |
the recession -- than many governments have been able to do. | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
There is no question about that. Do some of those people who invest in | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
our organisation support one political party versus another? I | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
am sure they do, but I used to have this conversation with the | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
leadership of the Labour Party when they were in power, about how we | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
could do something extraordinary. Remember, this process started | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
during the Labour government. This is about a simple debate. Does a | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
small hospital in Britain work or do we shut them down and give them | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
to the big hospitals to operate as another alternative? We believe | :08:56. | :09:01. | |
that small community hospitals are the jewel in the crown of the NHS | :09:01. | :09:05. | |
and by giving the power to the local doctors and nurses, we think | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
we can demonstrate how they can do it extremely well. | :09:09. | :09:15. | |
Thank you very much. It has been confirmed that Waterbeach Barracks | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
near Cambridge will close as part of the defence cuts. The decision | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
means nearly 1000 soldiers and families will be relocated to | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
Scotland. The decision is part of a wider shake-up aimed at bringing | :09:27. | :09:36. | |
troops home from Germany. For a region that is very dependent | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
on defence matters, it is going to affect our part of the world quite | :09:40. | :09:47. | |
significantly. The headlines from today's announcement, Firstly 930 | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
personnel and families from the Engineer Regiment here will move to | :09:51. | :09:57. | |
RAF Kinloss. Another 44 from 12 Engineer Group also based here will | :09:57. | :10:05. | |
move to RAF Wittering. 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglians will | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
Battalion the Royal Anglians will move 620 soldiers from Cyprus to | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
RAF Cottesmore or just over the border. Foreign made the biggest | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
border. Foreign made the biggest impact will be here in Waterbeach. | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
-- far and away, the biggest impact. This is what 39 Engineer Regiment | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
does best, construction in conflict zones. Their role in building | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
infrastructure in Afghanistan has been vital. Based at Waterbeach for | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
44 years, they had to Scotland next summer. Those who depend on income | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
from the base are not surprised or happy. We count on the barracks for | :10:37. | :10:46. | |
money. When they go, it will affect us. The day have been very helpful | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
and they are no trouble at all. -- they have been very helpful. | :10:49. | :10:58. | |
could be worse -- it could be worse -- it could be worth �100,000 worth | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
although money that we will lose. Another fear is that the barracks | :11:01. | :11:07. | |
will be sold off, prime real estate for 13,000 new homes. The community | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
has fought off the threat of the New Town three times previously. | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
Residents are clear that they do not want 13,000 houses dumped on | :11:15. | :11:23. | |
them. One to be just a high-value site and it makes sense financially | :11:23. | :11:28. | |
to close it and sell it. -- Waterbeach is a high value site. | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
The units based here will have good memories but they will build good | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
memories of the area they are going to a. For other units, it is a game | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
of musical chairs. This unit, training in Norfolk, will return to | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
their heartland. Many recruits come from Cambridgeshire and the | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
neighbouring counties. Their sister Battalion in Surrey, where so many | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
have been welcomed home from Afghanistan, is currently moving to | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
Wilshere to make room for members of the Yorkshire Regiment. One | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
common thread is that soldiers from three local units are moving to | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
former air bases. One of them, until recently, the home of the | :12:05. | :12:08. | |
Harrier. An indication that there may be a new lease of life at aria | :12:08. | :12:18. | |
:12:18. | :12:18. | ||
footering. A major blow for Waterbeach. -- RAF | :12:18. | :12:26. | |
Wittering. Some of the engineers here at Waterbeach are currently | :12:26. | :12:30. | |
serving in the heat off Afghanistan. But this time next year, they will | :12:30. | :12:35. | |
be experiencing the autumnal chill of northern Scotland. I have to one | :12:35. | :12:39. | |
year, this is not the end of the defence cuts. There is more pain to | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
come. -- I have to warn you. More to come, including a report | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
from Brussels were one of our MPs is heading a campaign against | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
bureaucratic waste. And on the eve of Armistice Day, | :12:52. | :12:57. | |
recently restored film showing the horror of war. That is after a | :12:57. | :13:07. | |
:13:07. | :13:07. | ||
closer look at the news where you Details emerged today of another | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
carbon monoxide tragedy in Essex. On Monday, we reported on a couple | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
found dead at their homes in Wickford. Today, an inquest heard | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
how two pensioners in Southend were also overcome by poisonous fumes. | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
It looks comfortable on naff but this bungalow was a death trap for | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
the elderly couple who lived in there. -- comfortable enough. The | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
bodies were found side by side in the bed nude -- in the bedroom. One | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
of the couple's sons noticed a piece of toast on the bedside table. | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
In the kitchen, the Grill was on. It was later found to emit a | :13:42. | :13:48. | |
dangerous level of carbon monoxide. At an inquest, the coroner, | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
pictured at an earlier hearing, recorded the cause of death as | :13:52. | :13:57. | |
carbon monoxide toxicity. Afterwards, the family urged | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
everybody to have gas appliances checked and to get carbon monoxide | :14:00. | :14:08. | |
monitors. A or I can say to people out there with elderly parents, | :14:08. | :14:16. | |
please, please get them a carbon monoxide detector. -- all I can say. | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
For their own safety and state of mind, please buy one of these. It | :14:21. | :14:26. | |
may save their lives. Even as a Christmas present. You do not know | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
what to buy people, get their gas appliances fixed and serviced. Get | :14:30. | :14:37. | |
them checked out, because it could save their lives. The bodies of | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
Lesley Ann Pamela Cox were discovered on Sunday. They are also | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
thought to be victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. Flowers cover | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
the drive of their home. Today, in response to the tragedy, the Essex | :14:48. | :14:55. | |
fire service urged everyone to get carbon monoxide monitors. | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
Four men have been charged with manslaughter after the death of a | :14:59. | :15:05. | |
man outside Churchill's Bar in Southend. The 37-year-old was found | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
with serious head injuries in June. The men will appear before | :15:09. | :15:12. | |
magistrates later this month. The death of a Red Arrows pilot has | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
led to the temporary grounding of Tornado jets based in Norfolk. | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham died this week when his ejector | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
seat activated on the ground. The Tornado jets are fitted with the | :15:24. | :15:31. | |
same type of seat. Next the story of Kiera, a seven- | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
year-old prone to outbursts of violence. It is down to a medical | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
condition so rare that only six people and the world are known to | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
have it. She lives in Ipswich and her family say coping is a daily | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
struggle. That is why they are appealing for backing to help her. | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
This is Kiera. When we first meet, she is shy of the camera but soon | :15:51. | :16:00. | |
she is talkative and polite. How does this switch to best? Stop! -- | :16:00. | :16:07. | |
switch to this. Mahseer bears the bruises. She took the child in as a | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
baby and adopted her. But her condition means that three parts of | :16:10. | :16:15. | |
her brain are underdeveloped, so there is a whole host of learning | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
problems and that uncontrollable anger at this book of the switch. | :16:18. | :16:25. | |
Some days she is not a pleasure. -- at the flick of a switch. She can | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
be so aggressive and volatile. But there is no medication that can | :16:28. | :16:33. | |
come her down. You have to learn to live with that. She wants to create | :16:33. | :16:38. | |
a wet room and a safe from at their council home. The cost would be | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
around �30,000 but funding has proved elusive. Extra money has | :16:42. | :16:47. | |
been secured in the classroom. Here, two teaching assistants are on hand | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
to help her. The school is fully aware of the pressures that the | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
family is facing. I have been working with the family since Kiera | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
came into the school. We talk of the day. I have seen the pressures | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
that she is under an they are enormous. I wish there was someone | :17:07. | :17:15. | |
they could help. Because I do not seem to get anywhere with her. I | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
have been to all the medical people and what have you, and we'll sit | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
around the table and they say that they're going to do this but | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
nothing ever happens. The school is the only support that I have, | :17:26. | :17:33. | |
really. With that frustration comes a determination to fight on. A | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
fund-raising charity ball will take place later this month. | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
Henry Bellingham is calling for new waste schemes to be discussed after | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
plans for a King's Lynn incinerator were thrown into chaos. The | :17:50. | :17:52. | |
Environment Secretary said yesterday that she will not release | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
a grant of �169 million for the project because of the scale of | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
local opposition. Campaigners have held several protests to try to | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
stop it. The new facility is plans to produce electricity and burn | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
waste. Steve Roberts, a football coach | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
from Suffolk has won the gold award for his online training videos. So | :18:12. | :18:19. | |
far, 40,000 people have watched his videos online. | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
Football is my passion. It is something I have been doing all my | :18:22. | :18:30. | |
life. Meet the coach who is taking the web by storm. Steve Roberts is | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
from Bury St Edmunds. He has just been crowned one of YouTube's next | :18:34. | :18:39. | |
trainers. We are going to test out your balance. Tapped the side of | :18:39. | :18:47. | |
the ball. What you see online is also taught in Suffolk. I wanted to | :18:47. | :18:55. | |
see if it could work for me. Keep the ball close. He does a to a | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
clear overwhelming. I could not imagine what start and when I | :18:58. | :19:05. | |
started uploading the videos. The response has been fantastic. -- I | :19:05. | :19:10. | |
could not imagine what happened. claims that the videos are for all | :19:10. | :19:18. | |
abilities. Maybe that is why they had been used 17.6 million times. | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
He runs the St our skills school. As a father, he knows how to get | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
the most from his pupils. Not only teaching fancy footwork, but a good | :19:28. | :19:32. | |
attitude and respect. And it is paying off. Some of these | :19:33. | :19:41. | |
youngsters have caught the eye of League clubs. He makes me really | :19:41. | :19:49. | |
good and he can show me everything in the world. Mr Roberts has won a | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
global Ward, does that make you feel proud? Very proud. His prize, | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
new filming kit and his work promoted to the hundreds of | :19:56. | :20:06. | |
:20:06. | :20:14. | ||
First it was Greece. Now it is Italy. The crisis in the Eurozone | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
is still dominating the news but there is another battle about to | :20:17. | :20:23. | |
begin in Europe over the EU budget. Brussels is asking for a 5% | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
increase in member contributions but many countries say it should be | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
making cuts. One of our Euro-MPs has caused a stir by claiming that | :20:31. | :20:37. | |
the EU could save millions by cutting down on bureaucracy. | :20:37. | :20:42. | |
This report from Brussels. Is this the latest example of EU | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
waste? For Parliament in Brussels has just spent 20 million euros on | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
a visitor centre. If that is not enough, it also plans to open a | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
museum to celebrate European democracy. In the eyes of many | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
Eurosceptics, this is just the latest proof that the bureaucracy | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
of Parliament is out of control. parliament is about its members but | :21:03. | :21:09. | |
actually, this Parliament is about its officials. There are over 6000 | :21:09. | :21:16. | |
of them. Over 50% have increased in the last five or six years. They | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
work out of 62 different buildings, double the number they had 10 years | :21:20. | :21:27. | |
ago. Mr Van Orton has always felt strongly about waste which is why | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
he has set up a think-tank to reduce the budget. Very quickly, | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
you could save several hundred million. With a bit more effort, | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
you could save nearly half a billion. The report says that | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
ending the month we move to Strasbourg would save 200 million | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
euros, cutting back on translation another hundred. He questions why | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
Parliament spends millions on into the Asian offices and a TV channel | :21:53. | :22:02. | |
with just 60,000 subscribers. -- millions on information offices. | :22:02. | :22:07. | |
Democracy thrives on dialogue with the public. They are not receiving | :22:07. | :22:14. | |
the reportage that they need. And that they deserve. Parliament has | :22:14. | :22:18. | |
announced a freeze in allowances but the Tories, along with Labour | :22:18. | :22:22. | |
and UKIP, say that in a time of austerity, they should be doing | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
more. It is worth remembering that the cost of running this place | :22:27. | :22:31. | |
amounts to 1% of the entire EU budget. If the European Union is | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
going to make serious savings, it will not be here, but Mr Van Orton | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
believes that cutting back on bureaucracy would at least be an | :22:38. | :22:45. | |
important gesture. On the Politics Show this week, we | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
will be finding out what the region's Europe MPs make of the | :22:50. | :22:56. | |
European crisis and what it means for Britain's role in Europe. | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
A documentary about the Battle of the Somme will be screened in our | :23:00. | :23:03. | |
region for the first time this weekend. It will be shown in | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
Norwich on Remembrance Sunday. We have been watching a film which | :23:07. | :23:17. | |
:23:17. | :23:19. | ||
could change the way that we think The documentary was filmed in the | :23:19. | :23:25. | |
early days of summer 1916. A caption refers to platoons of | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
Bedfords and Suffolks moving up on the evening before the attack. It | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
was a propaganda film. When it was released, an estimated 20 million | :23:33. | :23:38. | |
people saw it. Today, the documentary is that helping to | :23:38. | :23:43. | |
change the way that historian's view the battle. The image we used | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
to have of lions led by donkeys, of the generals being butchers who | :23:47. | :23:51. | |
were unconcerned by what was going on, it does not fit with the | :23:51. | :23:57. | |
reality. The generals involved were learning how to fight this form of | :23:57. | :24:04. | |
modern industrial warfare. We see the Battle of the Somme as part of | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
a learning curve for the British Armed Forces. Eight terribly costly | :24:08. | :24:11. | |
learning curve that involved immense human suffering but not a | :24:11. | :24:16. | |
complete waste. It is believed one sequence of British soldiers going | :24:16. | :24:20. | |
over the top was recreated for the cameras, but that is only a small | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
part of the film. On the first day of the battle, the British suffered | :24:25. | :24:33. | |
60,000 casualties, 20,000 dead. Was it a waste? John Wickham describes | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
the Somme as useless slaughter. He fought in the Norfolk Regiment | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
during the Second World War. The regiment lost thousands of men at | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
the Somme. I should not have said useless. It achieved its result in | :24:44. | :24:54. | |
:24:54. | :24:55. | ||
the end, but as an old soldier, I feel that many lives were lost | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
unnecessarily. The film is being shown at Cinema City in Norwich, | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
part of the reels of history series. The screening is a reminder of the | :25:05. | :25:14. | |
sacrifice made by so many at the Battle of the Somme. | :25:14. | :25:15. | |
Battle of the Somme. And to the weather. | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
Good evening. A cloudy day across much of the area. I want to start | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
off by showing you the Sun said yesterday. This is a picture taken | :25:25. | :25:32. | |
at Bradwell Creek in Essex. As we go through tonight, there is a lot | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
of cloud coming in from the east. Low pressure down to the south-west | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
pushing France into central and western parts. This area of high | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
pressure continues to hold. It is going to push quite a bit of cloud | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
towards us through the night. That big area of cloud edging into the | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
West. That will cover the region by the end of the night. Bring us | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
patchy drizzle overnight, rather cloudy and wild but that drizzle | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
coming in as we go through the night. Clear intervals at first but | :26:03. | :26:06. | |
a lot of cloud and light showers across the Midlands. As we go | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
through the night, the patchy light rain will spread in. Mist patches | :26:11. | :26:17. | |
towards the end of the night. Low temperatures tonight. It will be | :26:17. | :26:26. | |
quite mild, 10 and 11 near the coast. Colder inland. The wind will | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
pick up as we go through the morning. Four tomorrow itself, we | :26:29. | :26:39. | |
:26:39. | :26:42. | ||
will begin with a cloudy start. Some drizzle at first. By the | :26:42. | :26:52. | |
:26:52. | :26:54. | ||
afternoon, the top temperatures at 1213. -- at 12 or 13. It will | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
brighten up for a time in the afternoon but as we go into the | :26:57. | :27:02. | |
evening, it will cloud back over. Patchy rain spreading in from the | :27:02. | :27:08. | |
West. That will dampen down the ground. That front will push away | :27:08. | :27:16. | |
to the north. If we look at the outlook, there will be a little bit | :27:16. | :27:21. |