Browse content similar to 06/09/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello. Welcome to Midlands Today with Suzanne Virdee and Nick Owen. | :00:09. | :00:12. | |
The headlines tonight: Problems at Stafford Hospital were shocking | :00:12. | :00:15. | |
admits the former Health Secretary, but he didn't know about them, he | :00:15. | :00:17. | |
says, when he approved it for elite status. | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
We gave officers facing rioters plastic bullets says the chief | :00:20. | :00:28. | |
constable, but not a shot was fired. Policing needs to be left with the | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
police, and the consequences of being left on the street can be | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
dangerous to the wider community. Fish rescue as the region suffers | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
its driest summer since 1976. And how the RSC in Stratford has | :00:39. | :00:49. | |
:00:49. | :00:57. | ||
inspired a theatre company in Good evening. Welcome to Tuesday's | :00:57. | :01:02. | |
Midlands Today from the BBC. Tonight: the former Health | :01:02. | :01:05. | |
Secretary tells the inquiry into appalling standards of care at | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
Stafford Hospital that the "shocking events will forever be | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
etched in his mind." Andy Burnham also admitted he put | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
the hospital forward for Foundation status, which meant it could be run | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
independently of the Department of Health on the basis of a four-line | :01:16. | :01:23. | |
memo. Our Staffordshire reporter Liz Copper is in Stafford now. Liz, | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
how have the relatives of patients who died at the hospital reacted to | :01:26. | :01:36. | |
:01:36. | :01:38. | ||
Mr Burnham's evidence? This is day 115 of evidence here at the inquiry. | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
I think it's fair to say for the families, this was one of the most | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
eagerly anticipated days of evidence. It was a chance to hear | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
from the man at the heart of Government as events in Stafford | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
unfolded and as decisions were made. Arriving at the public inquiry, | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
which, when in Government, Andy Burnham had argued would not be in | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
the best interests of health care in Staffordshire. He began his | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
evidence by saying the events in Stafford had been shocking and | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
terrible and would be forever etched on his mind. | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
He was questioned about his time as a junior Minister when he'd given | :02:17. | :02:21. | |
support to Staffordshire Hospital's application for Foundation status. | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
Counsel to the inquiry, Tom Kark QC, asked him about a single paragraph | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
in the briefing note he was given. There were just four lines | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
specifically on Mid Staffordshire: "Is that the sum total of | :02:33. | :02:40. | |
information about this Trust" Andy Burnham replied, "Yes, There was a | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
all that was put to me". The inquiry heard the business case was | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
described as marginal but there was a can-do approach. Andy Burnham | :02:48. | :02:55. | |
said, "In retrospect, the can-do attitude was basically a cavalier | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
attitude. Mr Burnham became Secretary of State for Health three | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
months after the highly critical Health Care Commission report into | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
care at Staffordshire Hospital. It was then he had deal with what was | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
described as the aftermath of a pretty explosive report. These are | :03:10. | :03:14. | |
pictures taken by the campaign group Cure the NHS who lobbied Mr | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
Burnham in his constituency following that report's publication. | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
The campaigners gave their reaction to his evidence. These Ministers | :03:20. | :03:26. | |
and MPs - they're living in a bubble, and I think his evidence is | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
exposing that. They haven't really got a grasp of what's going on in | :03:29. | :03:35. | |
the outside world, only what the civil servants tell them. | :03:35. | :03:37. | |
Burnham said improving standards and confidence in the hospital had | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
been his number one job. He said the failings had been local | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
failings by the Trust, the board and senior management. | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
Mr Burnham left the inquiry without making further comment. His former | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
Ministerial colleague, Ben Bradshaw, will be giving his evidence | :03:53. | :04:03. | |
:04:03. | :04:06. | ||
tomorrow. As the inquiry resumes after its summer break, it's due to | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
hear from a number of high-profile witnesses now after the former | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
Ministers have given their evidence. We're due to hear from a number of | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
high-ranking Department of Health officials. They're expected to | :04:17. | :04:23. | |
include the former Chief Medical Officer and also the NHS Chief | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
Executive. An inquiry is expected to conclude hearing its evidence at | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
the end of this autumn. Thank you very much indeed. | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
The BBC Staffordshire website has all the background and the very | :04:35. | :04:36. | |
latest information on the Staffordshire Hospital inquiry. | :04:36. | :04:40. | |
You're with Midlands Today. Still ahead: | :04:40. | :04:50. | |
:04:50. | :04:51. | ||
Are you ready for the final switchover? | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
It's emerged police officers were issued with plastic bullets as they | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
faced rioters and looters in Birmingham and the Black Country | :04:57. | :04:59. | |
last month. The Chief Constable, Chris Sims, said no shots were | :04:59. | :05:01. | |
fired, but he defended his force's tactics. | :05:01. | :05:04. | |
Our special correspondent Peter Wilson spoke to him during a debate | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
in Birmingham, organised by the BBC, which focused on the causes of the | :05:07. | :05:14. | |
riots. The moment last month when gangs in | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
Birmingham turned their guns on the police. The police released this | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
video partly in response to accusations that they'd stood back | :05:22. | :05:26. | |
while looters plundered shops. The deaths of three men who had been | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
standing on the Dudley Road protecting local businesses put an | :05:29. | :05:34. | |
end to the riot. Last night at the city's town hall almost Thieu | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
people came together to debate the causes and the solution -- thousand | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
people came together to debate the causes and the solutions to the | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
unrest. As these events settle on our minds, we need to understand | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
that policing needs to be left with the police and that the | :05:52. | :05:57. | |
consequences of being on the street can be dangerous to the wider | :05:57. | :06:03. | |
community. There is a massive gap between the have's and the have | :06:03. | :06:06. | |
not's. This is something that that went... The Radio Four debate | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
looked at a broken society, broken families, dysfunctional politics. | :06:10. | :06:15. | |
In the audience, everyone had a chance to have their say. I don't | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
agree with everything that happened, and I don't say it's right. I don't | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
condone it, but again, it wasn't just gangs, you know? It's easy to | :06:24. | :06:31. | |
label everyone as gang member or a gang or a thug. Like I said, there | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
were university students and athletes stealing and robbing stuff. | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
This debate hasn't been only happening on the stage here at the | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
town hall. The audience themselves have been debating the issues, but | :06:41. | :06:48. | |
everyone is agreed that there is no easy solution, no silver bullet to | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
these problems. No silver bullet, but the police | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
reveal they had been prepared to use plastic bullets. They're part | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
of the tact take that we would deploy if police came under direct | :06:58. | :07:06. | |
fire. During the riots, our cameras captured two young women carrying a | :07:06. | :07:11. | |
40-inch flat-screen TV. They gently put it down in a hotel doorway. The | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
debate raged on whether harsh environments or just plain greed | :07:15. | :07:20. | |
had sparked the looting. Many in the audience questioned why greed | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
was good for top people in the City, but not for the poor and | :07:25. | :07:27. | |
marginalised. There were undoubtedly banks that were badly | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
run, and of course we know they have taken taxpayers' money from Us | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
all, but the key thing is, on the whole, these banks were not | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
actually breaking the law, and you have to look at other reasons why | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
things went so badly wrong, and they did. This was not just a forum | :07:44. | :07:47. | |
for politicians and Westminster insiders. It was a public debate. | :07:47. | :07:52. | |
The sense that greed is good has led us down a very, very, very dark | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
and dangerous path, and we should get off it. It's just a lack of | :07:56. | :08:01. | |
morality in society in general. It's what I want and I want to have. | :08:01. | :08:05. | |
The knee-jerk reaction we have had over the past couple of weeks has | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
not actually allowed people to pause and actually think about the | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
practicalities of how you deal with such a disparate number of people | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
causing so much disruption for so many different reasons. A Streamed | :08:17. | :08:22. | |
on to the internet, broadcast nationally on The Today programme, | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
the Midlands audience felt that their voice had been heard, even if | :08:25. | :08:30. | |
the solutions to the riots are complex and many. | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
One of the themes promoted at last night's debate in Birmingham was a | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
need to promote old-fashioned values among young people. | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
But can a so-called back-to-basics approach work? | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
Cath Mackie has spent the day at one inner city school where results | :08:44. | :08:53. | |
suggest it can. I've got to solve those problems to make you | :08:53. | :09:00. | |
successful... A rousing start to the term at Perry Beeches School in | :09:00. | :09:09. | |
Birmingham. Lesson one - taking responsibility. We have a team of | :09:09. | :09:11. | |
teaching staff. It's your responsibility to find out who they | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
are. Four years ago just 21% of pupils here got five GCSE's at | :09:16. | :09:19. | |
grade C or above. Then Liam Nolan took over. This summer the figure | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
leapt to 75%, including in English and maths. This is an inner city | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
school in a deprived part of Birmingham, yet in the space of | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
four years, it went from failing to outstanding, and it says it did it | :09:29. | :09:32. | |
in just three simple words - "respect, discipline and | :09:32. | :09:40. | |
standards." We are a very structured school. Students wear a | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
perfect uniform or they don't come here. They do their homework or | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
they're detained. They do not speak with disrespect, otherwise, the | :09:47. | :09:53. | |
parents sit with us and talk to us about where it's gone wrong, so | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
it's clear where the expectations are. It's a philosophy which has | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
won Mr Nolan and his school countless awards and led to an | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
invitation to last night's BBC debate on the riots in Birmingham. | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
What we need to do is think quick. We need to engage our young people. | :10:05. | :10:11. | |
You say "we" - is it schools, patients, Government? Yes and I | :10:11. | :10:16. | |
think it's local councils, local support groups, finding things that | :10:16. | :10:21. | |
engage young people. We cannot just churn out pupils with nothing. | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
These youngsters are engaged, but clearly feel let down by society at | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
large. It's not all of us that's doing bad things. It's the certain | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
few. There are those that want to do the right thing. The youth | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
club's funding is gone. It's going to close. What happens to those | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
students who aren't engaged? More than a quarter of those charged in | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
the West Midlands riots were under 18, and now surgeons are planning a | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
campaign aimed at schools to cut knife crime. | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
We see the consequences, and some of them are dire - death, terrible | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
injuries, and we also have to deal with the families afterwards. | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
the focus is very much on the adults of tomorrow. The question is | :11:01. | :11:09. | |
whether they - and society at large - will learn the lessons of today. | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
Joining us now from Westminster is the Conservative MP Paul Uppal, | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
member for Wolverhampton South West, an area that also fell victim to | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
the riots. Thanks for joining us, Mr. We've clearly got to address | :11:20. | :11:29. | |
the adults of tomorrow, but how? As you alluded to in the report, these | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
are long-term solutions. One thing I noticed on the day after the | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
riots, on Wednesday, a lot of young people came with me and helped | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
clean up a lot of the shops and a lot of the damage that was done to | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
the retail units there. They said, we want to show that young people | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
can have a positive contribution. We do want to put something back. | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
So of course, there are problem, but there are also a lot of young | :11:52. | :11:56. | |
people out there who are trying to to do positive things as well. | :11:56. | :12:02. | |
A lot of people are in despair at the way young people don't care, | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
have a built-in no conscience. How do we break through? One thing I | :12:07. | :12:11. | |
liked about that report is the emphasis on the values of respect, | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
discipline and standards. Besides being an MP, I am also a father to | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
three children. I think the most important job I have is to teach my | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
children what is right and what is wrong. I think it's vitally | :12:22. | :12:24. | |
important we address that. If you're not getting discipline in | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
the family, it's important we get it at school. When did we reach a | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
point in this country when it became acceptable and almost | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
fashionable to disrespect teachers? It's about our values. The me-first | :12:36. | :12:40. | |
culture, the celebrity-obsessed culture that we almost have - there | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
are hundreds of thousands of heroes who are watching this programme, | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
people who do the right thing, raise their children, go to work, | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
pay their taxes - those are the values that made this country great | :12:50. | :12:53. | |
and our city and region great. You're in Government, and you have | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
to get that message out to the ones not thinking like that. How? It's | :12:58. | :13:02. | |
important. It's going to take a long time because this ship has | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
been going in one direction for a long time. I think it's important | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
we talk about this, have discussions like this evening and | :13:10. | :13:14. | |
like we did last night. It's important we stress the long-term | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
values rather than the short-term- ism we have had in the past. Thank | :13:19. | :13:22. | |
you very much indeed. Thank you. | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
You can hear more of the Birmingham Town Hall debate on our Facebook | :13:25. | :13:28. | |
page, and you can also join the discussion about the way forward. | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
A round-up of other news now: A 28-year-old man has been arrested | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
on suspicion of attempted murder after a knife attack on a busy | :13:35. | :13:38. | |
street in Birmingham. Police were called to the Hodge Hill area of | :13:38. | :13:40. | |
the city yesterday afternoon following reports of a man lying | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
injured outside a property. The victim was airlifted to hospital. | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
The trial of seven men accused of charges relating to sexual | :13:47. | :13:49. | |
exploitation and child prostitution has collapsed after running for | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
more than three months. A judge at Stafford Crown Court | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
formally discharged the jury from reaching verdicts on 49 charges | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
variously denied by seven men from Wellington and Sutton Hill in | :13:58. | :14:04. | |
Telford. A decision is underway into whether there will be a re- | :14:05. | :14:14. | |
:14:15. | :14:15. | ||
trial. It's been fish rescue day in Herefordshire as it was revealed | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
that this region's had its driest summer since 1976. | :14:18. | :14:20. | |
The fish were recovered from the River Teme, the third such | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
operation in the last month after water levels fell to dangerous | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
levels. Kevin Reide reports. The River Teme at the village of | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
Leintwardine in Herefordshire is looking more like a gravel pit than | :14:30. | :14:36. | |
its normal picturesque self. A dry summer and regional weather | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
variations mean the flow has all but gone, and it's not since the | :14:39. | :14:42. | |
famously hot summer of '76 that it's looked quite like this. | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
Well, i'm in right in the middle of the river near to the English Welsh | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
border, and normally it's one to two feet high at this time of the | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
year, but as you can see, it's completely bone dry. The fish are | :14:52. | :14:55. | |
trying to survive in the few remaining small pools, but water | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
quality is poor and they're vunerable to predators. So for the | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
sixth time this year the environment agency is carrying out | :15:00. | :15:10. | |
:15:10. | :15:11. | ||
a rescue operation. Well, we use electro--fishing equipment, which | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
puts a small current of electricity into the water, and it just stuns | :15:16. | :15:20. | |
the fish for five to ten seconds, long enough for us to net the fish. | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
The fish in this part of the world are largely unaffected by man. That | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
means they're particularly important as they're classic | :15:27. | :15:32. | |
examples of their species. These brown trout are especially special | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
for this part of the River Teme. They're wild fish. They have not | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
been cross-bred with stocked brown trout, so these are very valuable | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
to us and valuable to their own species, you know, because the | :15:44. | :15:49. | |
genetic strain of them is as pure as you'll get. Other important | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
species like eels and salmon are also being rescued. What we'll do | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
with them is we'll take them down to a bit of river that has plenty | :15:58. | :16:03. | |
of water in it, and they'll be fairly safe and secure. Otherwise, | :16:03. | :16:08. | |
they are going to perish. So far more than 4,000 fish have been | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
rescued, and the Environment Agency says there may be similar | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
situations in other areas. It's asking anyone who has similar | :16:14. | :16:23. | |
concerns about a river near them to call their hot line. | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
A most beautiful part of the world. What a shame. | :16:27. | :16:32. | |
Still to come this evening: Living the dream - one more big | :16:32. | :16:33. | |
amateur tournament, and Andy becomes a professional golfer. | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
And after the driest summer for 35 years, don't knock the rain. Is | :16:37. | :16:47. | |
:16:47. | :16:47. | ||
there more on the way? Find out later. | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
It's the end of analogue television in the Midlands tonight. As the | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
second half of our region prepares to make the big switch. | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
Our science correspondent David Gregory's been behind the scenes at | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
our biggest TV transmitter to see what going digital has involved and | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
what it means for the viewer. His report contains some flash | :17:02. | :17:12. | |
:17:12. | :17:14. | ||
photography. 860 feet of television engineering | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
- the Sutton Coldfield transmitter. Just like the rest of us, it has | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
been preparing to go digital. Inside the broadcasting bunker, | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
what must be the most famous switch in the Midlands. Tonight at | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
midnight the process begins, and they'll throw this switch and after, | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
what, nearly 50 years, analogue BBC Two will disappear from the | :17:32. | :17:38. | |
Midlands completely. Losing BBC Two, though, is just the | :17:38. | :17:43. | |
start. OK. Today, the Sutton Coldfield and the Trenton | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
transmitterer going to start the switchover process. Overnight | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
tonight, the BBC Two analogue process will get turned off forever. | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
From tomorrow morning, all the BBC services will be available for the | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
first time. It's taken a lot of work behind the | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
scenes to prepare for the switch. At the moment, they're testing the | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
signal, but can't broadcast it. It has to be dumped. That generates a | :18:09. | :18:17. | |
lot of heat and energy. The energy is temporarily channelled away | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
through these big pipes. As well as more channels, some 370,000 people | :18:21. | :18:24. | |
will be able to get Freeview for the very first time, and there is | :18:24. | :18:28. | |
help for those who need it. We have been do tooing a lot of work on the | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
ground working with local groups and organisations to get the word | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
out there about the help scheme because we do write to everyone, up | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
to three times, in fact, but we know people need hear things from a | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
trusted voice or friendly face before they take action. We're | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
telling people at this stage to look out for those that might | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
struggle and let them know there is help available. By the 21st of this | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
month, the Midlands will be totally digital. | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
Thousands of performers from across the globe are to tread the boards | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
at the World Shakespeare Festival. The event, which was launched in | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
London today, is expected to be the highlight of the Cultural Olympiad | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
next summer. More than 50 arts organisations | :19:09. | :19:12. | |
will take part, including the Iraqi Theatre Company performing Romeo | :19:12. | :19:22. | |
:19:22. | :19:28. | ||
and Juliet in Baghdad. Ben Sidwell is in Stratford-upon-Avon now. Ben, | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
it sounds like a major event in Olympic year. | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
It is famous across the world. Theatre companies from across the | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
world will be descending on Stratford to perform the works of | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
the bard himself, as I have been finding out today at the launch of | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
the World Shakespeare Festival. Announcing a festival like no other | :19:47. | :19:51. | |
to celebrate the works of William Shakespeare. There is so much | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
creative talent across the globe that have come together for this | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
festival, so it's once a-in a lifetime experience. Everybody's | :19:58. | :20:02. | |
welcome. Next year to coincide with the 2012 Olympics, theatre groups | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
from around the world will come to Stratford-upon-Avon, London and | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
other venues across the UK to perform the bard's works. Many | :20:10. | :20:17. | |
productions will be in the actors' native languages. It certainly is a | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
once-in-my-lifetime. I have never witnessed anything like this, and | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
of course, it's the Olympic Games coming to the UK that has made it | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
possible, really, so you need to take advantage of these moments to | :20:30. | :20:35. | |
celebrate. Rather than Stratford, it was the British Museum in London | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
where details of the World Shakespeare Festival were announced | :20:39. | :20:42. | |
this morning. The British Museum seems a fitting location for the | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
launch of the World Shakespeare Festival. After all, it's here that | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
people come to learn about the history of our country. As far as | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
the arts are concerned, no-one has had a bigger impact around the | :20:55. | :21:00. | |
globe than Shakespeare himself. yeah - he's famous in Iraq, of | :21:00. | :21:10. | |
:21:10. | :21:15. | ||
course, and we studied Shakespeare a lot in the theatre or the academy | :21:15. | :21:18. | |
or university - no, we studied in school. It's not just foreign | :21:18. | :21:24. | |
actors who will be involved in the festival. There is the odd | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
midlander too. I have done all right, haven't I? | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
You know, I have always wanted to work at Stratford. It feels like | :21:33. | :21:38. | |
home, and it does the best work in the world, and to be part of the | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
World Shakespeare Festival at the same time, it's a very lovely dream | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
come true on lots of levels. one million tickets for the | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
festival go on sale next month, and just like the Olympics itself, this | :21:49. | :21:57. | |
is likely to be a once-in a lifetime opportunity. Myra will be | :21:57. | :22:03. | |
playing Beatrix in Much Ado about Nothing if you're interested. One | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
man who should be playing the lead role but isn't because of the curse | :22:07. | :22:11. | |
again - broken arm, I am afraid, is Jonathan Slinger. Commiseration on | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
that. Thank you. Looking to next year, I know you have a lot of | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
things in the festival. It must be exciting as an actor. Hugely | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
exciting. We're going to be the focal point for the international | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
Shakespeare community next year. I am going to be very much in the | :22:25. | :22:31. | |
centre of it playing some amazing parts, so I am incredibly excited. | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
With theatre companies coming from around the world with their take on | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
Shakespeare that must be really interesting as an actor to see that. | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
I think more than anything else, it's important. I think we can get | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
stuck in our own ways of doing things and I think in the same ways | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
corporations around the world are having to take on a much more | :22:49. | :22:55. | |
global perspective to get their ideas, their inspiration, to | :22:55. | :23:00. | |
reinvigorate what they do, and to consider the fact that, as Michael | :23:00. | :23:03. | |
Boyd says, Shakespeare is no longer the property of the English. It's | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
very much a global phenomenon, read, performed and adored across the | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
world - it's really important we see other people's take on it. | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
There was some research out today that said 50% of school children | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
across the world - they still study Shakespeare - quite incredible. | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
These are now available at the theatre. And tickets go on sale | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
October the 10th. Get yours quickly. Thank you very much indeed, Ben. | :23:26. | :23:36. | |
:23:36. | :23:37. | ||
October the 10th - that's the day - not far away, is it? | :23:37. | :23:41. | |
Sport is just a hobby for most of us with only the very best able to | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
earn a living from it. But, for Andy Sullivan, his dream of doing | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
just that is about to come to true. $$NEWLNIE But first, Andy's facing | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
the ultimate test for any amateur golfer competing for the Walker Cup | :23:51. | :23:53. | |
against the United States. Ian Winter's been to Nuneaton to find | :23:53. | :23:55. | |
out more. The good luck bell above the | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
wishing well at Nuneaton Golf Club. September is sure to be a memorable | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
month for Andy Sullivan. He's about to bid farewell to his amateur | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
status and hello to the high pressure world of professional golf. | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
But first, Andy's heading north.. For a hot date in Aberdeen, where | :24:10. | :24:12. | |
the finest amateur golfers from Great Britain and Ireland are | :24:12. | :24:16. | |
hoping to wrestle the Walker Cup away from the vice like grip of the | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
USA. It's the biggest thing you can do as an amateur. At the start of | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
the season, it was definitely on my to-do list. I am really proud of | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
myself. Just to beat the Americans is satisfaction, but personally, I | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
am my own person. I just hope that we all acquitted ourselves very | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
well up there and perform to the highest level we can. It's the | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
pinnacle of every amateur's career, and it's such a great achievement | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
for someone to do that, and for years to come he could be an | :24:44. | :24:48. | |
inspiration for others. His proud dad has followed his career every | :24:48. | :24:53. | |
step of the way. From the age of ten, he recognised his son's | :24:53. | :24:59. | |
special talent. Now he's ranked fifth in the world's amateur | :24:59. | :25:04. | |
rankings. He has no nerves. He has the right frame of mind to do it. | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
He has the ability to speak for himself. He has a good head on his | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
shoulders. In recent years the United States have had a virtual | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
monopoly on the Walker Cup, but if Andy Sullivan can help Great | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
Britain to a victory this weekend, it will be the perfect ending to | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
his amateur golf career. That would be lovely. Good luck, | :25:26. | :25:29. | |
Andy. Now, what about the weather? It was | :25:29. | :25:38. | |
violent last night, wasn't it? I'm sorry - that's the simple | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
answer. You may have heard me say earlier that it has been the driest | :25:41. | :25:46. | |
summer in the Midlands since 1976, so we really need this week's rain. | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
There were no warnings at the present time, so it's not going to | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
be particularly heavy, so as the fronts go through through the week, | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
they tend to weaken, so splashes here and there. This tightly coiled | :25:58. | :26:03. | |
area of low pressure that starts to move in through the weekend. We'll | :26:03. | :26:05. | |
get more substantial rain perhaps. The winds pick up through the | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
weekend. It was blowy tonight. The winds will come in from the south- | :26:08. | :26:12. | |
west. It's warm air, and the temperatures will pick up from | :26:12. | :26:15. | |
Thursday onwards. Back to tonight, and I think compared with last | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
night, it's going to be much drier. We've got a few showers just to the | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
north, but they're going to tend to die away, peter out later on. It's | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
looking largely dry later with clearer spells. Because of those, | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
it's going to be a little bit cooler than last night with lows of | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
around 11-12C. We have some sunshine to start the day tomorrow, | :26:34. | :26:37. | |
again, the distribution of showers, more particularly towards the north. | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
There is a feed of them coming in through the Cheshire gap through to | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
parts of Shropshire and Staffordshire. Elsewhere, mostly | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
dry. Good deal of sunshine the further south you go. Temperatures | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
are still up today - values of 17- 18C. Coupled with that wind from | :26:53. | :26:57. | |
the west, which is easing down compared to today. It's going to be | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
around 20mph from that direction. It is going to feel a little bit | :27:02. | :27:07. | |
cool tomorrow. As for tomorrow night, that's when we start to see | :27:07. | :27:11. | |
rain working in the from the west. Outbreaks on Thursday. The winds | :27:11. | :27:17. | |
There is going to be a load of county cricket on this week. It's | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
not going to be good for that. headlines: | :27:20. | :27:25. | |
Known criminals were at the heart of the English riots. Ministers | :27:26. | :27:30. | |
blame a broken penal system. Conditions at Staffordshire | :27:30. | :27:33. | |
Hospital were shocking says the Health Secretary, but says he | :27:33. | :27:36. |