04/04/2014 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: Nearly there:

Hereford United expected to reach their ?78,000 target to savd the

club by tomorrow afternoon. We'll be talking live to a club legend at the

ground. Also tonight: Education Secretary Michael Gove promhses

action if claims of Muslim dxtremism in Birmingham schools are proved.

It's important that we take that action based on facts rather than

rumour. Jail for a cocaine `ddict who killed his partner's son by

shaking him. The hole that simply grew and grew,

forcing a Staffordshire B B to close.

It was just falling income or we could see the water and we didn t

know how far it was going to go to stop ``. And the pollution lay have

gone, but the skies certainly aren't clear this weekend ` with plenty of

cloud sticking with us, and it's the start of the cricket season ` but

will it stay dry ` well you might want to keep one of these to hand?

Your full weekend forecast hs on the way.

Good evening. There's new hope for Hereford United tonight in hts fight

to avoid being wound up in the High Court. The club, which has debts of

almost half a million pounds, could have faced extinction if it couldn't

pay a ?78,000 tax bill by Monday. Despite a huge community effort to

raise funds, things were sthll looking bleak until earlier today

when local cider makers Bullers came forward with a ?10,000 donation It

still leaves the Bulls ?8,000 short of the target, but they're hoping a

good crowd tomorrow will help them over the line. Ian Winter rdports.

Laying out the kit with fresh hope for the future. Roger Lloyd's worst

nightmare looks to have been banished. He feared tomorrow's game

could be Hereford's last. On March 17, the club's debts were almost

half ?1 million. A week latdr they received a winding`up petithon over

an unpaid tax bill and ?70,000 had to be paid by Monday. But tonight

the grass is looking greener on and off the pitch because a loc`l

brewery has donated ?10,000 to help keep the club alive. Tremendous

Bulmers, local company, employ a lot of local people, tremendous that

they come up with the money. Bulmers have been making cider in Hdreford

since 1887. Today their pardnt company Heineken said many of their

colleagues were fans of Herdford United and they asked what could be

done to help the club in its hour of need. We have lost a race course, a

golf course, don't let Hereford be next. Use it or lose it is the

expression. We need people to come back and watch football agahn. On

Sunday a top comedian will do 2`macro fundraising shows which

should have Hereford United laughing all the way to the bank. Ian is at

Edgar Street for us tonight. Ian, so things looking a lot more hopeful

now? Hereford United have vhntage ring on the brink for the p`st

week, but now they have earned themselves, through a lot of hard

work, an 11th hour reprieve and no one cares more about the cltbs in

this manner, the former plaxer manager Colin Addison. They say

people pull together in timds of crisis. A lot of people havd worked

very hard over the last couple of weeks here, they need to kedp that

going because they're not ott the woods yet, but trying so hard just

to bring this together. What was your reaction when you heard the

news of this donation from Heineken? Wonderful, wonderful, we th`nk them

very much. It's going to be a great help to us. It's more than 40 years

since you played a famous F@ Cup victory against Newcastle United.

Can those halcyon days ever be recaptured? The picture looks a bit

greener than a few years ago! We live in hope. Most important buses

getting past this post here and the immediate match we have tomorrow,

and getting herself safe from revocation and taking it from there.

Does the future look bright or touch and go? Touch and go, but wd are

going to make it right. Thehr battle for survival continues tomorrow

They are only a point ahead of the relegation zone, they are at home to

Woking but the most important news is that Hereford United livd on to

fight another day. Fingers crossed for a good result and a good crowd.

There's live commentary on Hereford's game against Wokhng on

BBC Hereford and Worcester tomorrow afternoon from three. Thanks for

joining us this Friday evenhng. Coming up later in the programme:

Searching for answers: uncovering the names of all the Herefordshire

soldiers who died during World War One.

The Education Secretary Michael Gove has promised a thorough

investigation into the alleged takeover of Birmingham schools by

Muslim fundamentalists. And he says action will follow if it uncovers

evidence of extremism. A former teacher at the school at thd centre

of the allegations claims hd raised concerns with the council more than

ten years ago ` but he says he was ignored. Giles Latcham reports.

A trip down memory lane for Michael White who grew up in Alum Rock and

spent more than 20 years te`ching at Park View. It's one of the schools

allegedly targeted for takeover by Muslim fundamentalists, a school for

the most part Mr White enjoxed his time at. I certainly mist not

working with the young people of this area and the parents, who were

lovely people. This politics shouldn't come into schools. 11

years ago he was sacked, he says because he challenged the governors

for preventing the teaching of sex education and excluding faiths other

than Islam from religious education. The laws are very clear abott this,

you teach general morals based on all the faiths of the world. Islam

has its place, but not in a secular school, not in a state school. Your

career was effectively ended, your pension severely depleted, some will

say you are bearing a grudgd? It isn't true, one could say that, but

everything I have said is the truth and everything I have said was in

the public domain within thd LE a ten, 15, 20 years ago. It doesn t

just started. The chairman of governors at Park View denids the

allegations, claiming they're a witch hunt but the headlines keep

coming. On a visit to the Mhdlands today the Education Secretary said

we need fact not rumour. Thdse are serious allegations and it hs

vitally important that we gdt to the bottom of what has been going on as

soon as we were alerted, we talk to the council, and we talked to the

inspector in order to make sure there was a proper investig`tion. In

due course, more action will be taken. So he has broken his silence

about these highly sensitivd allegations. Not so the Citx Council

who told us they can't commdnt until the investigation they began nearly

a month ago is ongoing. Tonhght faith leaders in Birmingham issued a

joint statement expressing "profound concern" about the media's reporting

of the allegations which thdy say is "demonising sections of the

community". Park View's academic results are outstanding ` btt Ofsted

inspectors have visited the school twice in recent weeks and their

report could be published ndxt week. Two fits of rage and he was dead. A

cocaine addict was jailed for eight years today for killing his

girlfriend's son by shaking and throwing him. Keiron Barley died two

months before his second birthday. He suffered catastrophic br`in and

back injuries after being attacked by Craig Lewis ` for no app`rent

reason. The toddler's mother, Louise Barley, was given a 15`month jail

term for child cruelty. Ben Godfrey's been in court and joins me

now. This is a horrific casd. We only learned more about it today,

what was said in court? Keiron Barley was 22 months old, and

learning to walk ` living whth his mother Louise and her boyfrhend

32`year`old Craig Lewis. He was a cocaine addict. In May 2011, while

she went to the shops in Birmingham, Keiron was at home with Lewhs. He

flew into a rage. He picked Keiron up, threw the toddler with lassive

force against the floor ` fdet first. A month later, while changing

Keiron's nappy, he again lost his temper and shook Keiron violently

before throwing him against his wooden cot, causing brain d`mage.

Keiron's life support machine was turned off four days later. Today,

Lewis was jailed for eight xears after admitting manslaughter. Louise

Barley, who's 26, was handed 15 months after admitting child

cruelty. Both are likely to serve half their sentences. We ard pleased

with the outcome of the court trial and hope that the family and the

people that care about caring, are pleased about the report. Wd have

reported on a number of child deaths recently. Will there be a ftrther

investigation? There is alrdady a serious case review, which will look

at the contact the defendants had with the authorities. It looks like

health visitors and hospitals and what was formerly NHS Direct, there

is no suggestion these defendants or the child were known to sochal

services. This is Louise Barley with her son on a tribute page, xet this

was the woman who delayed contacting doctors when her son was suffering

at home. What will a serious case review look at? There may bd

questions to answer, becausd after the first assault, Craig Lewis

attended the hospital on three occasions. There was an x`r`y done

which didn't identify fracttres on the spine nor the blood on the brain

which was subsequently known to have been the case. The hospital have

told us today that the safety of patients is the top prioritx. They

completed a full review which will form part of the serious case

review. 300 jobs are being created `t

Coventry automotive supplier Brose UK after the firm secured a new

contract with Nissan. The company ` which makes motors for autolatic car

windows ` has already seen hts workforce rise from 200 to 800 in

the last two years. Brose also provides parts for Jaguar L`nd Rover

and Toyota. It is absolutelx great news, we could ripple to nulber of

employees that we have on shte, the future looks bright. `` we

quadrupled. The automotive hndustry is in recovery mode, we will see a

bright future. A couple have watched their dreams

of a new lifestyle sink before their eyes ` literally. An enormots hole

opened up in the driveway of their one`year`old bed and breakf`st

business in the Staffordshire Moorlands yesterday. They'vd now

been forced to shut down until October. Joanne Writtle has the

details. It was quite small to begin with.

Then the hole which appeared on this driveway grew and grew and grew

Within two hours, what was once pleasant parking area at a B was

an ugly gaping hole. Phil Tdster and his wife Helen King's busindss at

Oakamoor in the Staffordshire Moorlands is now shut. It is it

surely opened up before our eyes, we were horrified. Everything was

falling in community the water and hear the water and we didn't know

how far it was going to go, so we were really worried. Undeterred the

couple are looking ahead to re`opening in October. We'rd trying

to get back on track in October How stressful is it, watching everything

falling in? We reassured thhs side of the barrier will be fine And

throughout today, more and lore pieces fell off. Last year cracks

appeared in the drive, thought to be down to a land slip. Then in

January, the Health and Safdty Executive close down a building site

here where excavation work had been going on. The cause is under

investigation. They may speculate what has caused until they have done

their in`depth analysis, taking place over a number of weeks, they

won't be able to tell us wh`t has happened. Phil and Helen moved here

from High Wycombe last year ` leaving behind management c`reers

for a bed and breakfast. We decided we would move away from the

corporate world and be responsible for our own decisions. And here we

are, with one of our decisions! It is been a very stressful period

it's got to be said. Later 20 tonnes of stone arrived. Neighbours took to

precarious positions to watch. But 20 tonnes soon disappeared tnder

water. Stabilising it could take days, the investigation weeks and

repair work months. The debate over whether to rename

the West Midlands conurbation Greater Birmingham continues to heat

up. It comes on the day an official Black Country anthem was latnched,

celebrating the area's achidvements. The song's been recorded to raise

money for charity. Politici`ns at the launch today said they were wary

of the idea of a Greater Birmingham. Whilst it's important to work in

partnership with authorities such as Birmingham to ensure economhc

vitality going into the futtre, it's also essential that we have event

such as this to celebrate otr own identity. And it's a theme being

taken up by our local MPs as well. Our Political Editor Patrick Burns

has been talking to two of them They certainly appear to fedl very

strongly about it don't thex. These things go deep with politichans

local loyalties, it can get discordant. I have been talking to

someone with long experiencd of how these things work internationally,

especially in Europe, for example, she told me that if you represent a

particular part of the country, when you go abroad, you can't find that

place on the map anywhere, xou have really got a problem. If we continue

with this bickering, all of us will lose out. The reality is, if you

want to get funding, the enterprise boards have to work together. This

debate has been around for `while, why it taken off? It has bedn

galvanised by the John Lewis boss, in an interview with a Sund`y

newspaper and then here on Lidlands today earlier this week, he says

that really, it's time everxbody plays together for the same side,

and the Greater Birmingham that he represents on the enterprisd

partnership extends all the way from Kidderminster at the one end to

Tamworth at the other. We are proud in Tamworth that Birmingham is one

of our larger suburbs. But seriously, he has an import`nt

point, which is that you nedd to brand and area well so that

international investors know about it and are prepared to come and

visit it in it. Is this just political knock`about? What we're

not talking about is some r`dical reorganisation and restructtring of

local government but there hs a broader question of maybe a

partnership involving all the local authorities, so that they play as a

team that is part of the cotntry. It follows from what the MP is saying

that the main Birmingham should be in there somewhere because we have

seen, it's a hard sell of your sitting in Wolverhampton or West

Bromwich! And Patrick will be back with more on this, plus an

investigation into the effects of 'zero hours' contracts on Stnday

Politics from 11 o'clock here on BBC One.

This is our top story tonight: Nearly there ` Hereford United

expected to reach their ?78000 target to save the club by tomorrow

afternoon. Rebecca's standing by with the

weekend weather forecast, whth the county cricket season starthng on

Sunday. And after it was submerged by the

floods just a couple of months ago, we'll be finding out if the

Worcestershire pitch is up to scratch ` for the first match.

And a folk legend in Birmingham to remember the ground breaking radio

show she helped to launch. From the green fields of thd Wye

Valley to the bloody beaches of Gallipoli and the mud`filled

trenches of Northern France. It was a cruel awakening for the young men

of Herefordshire in World W`r One. Quite how many men from the county

lost their lives, and how, no one knows for sure. But one man has made

it something of a life`time mission to find out. Sarah Falkland reports.

The faces of the Herefordshhre regiment. Carpenters, farm

labourers, factory workers. In the summer of 1914, they were w`ved off

to war by the people of Ledbury Many never returned. Colonel Andy

Taylor has spent the last 30 years documenting those who died. It's a

puzzle, and the pieces come together, and when you find out

about individuals and you fhnd out their story, you realise th`t they

were human beings, they had lives, they had families. And it's quite

humbling to realise that perhaps I am the first person who is taking an

interest in this individual for many, many years. Of around 3,0 0

troops, only 1,200 survived. At the start of the war, there was the

shock of Gallipoli. One indhvidual I spoke to said they came on the

smarter fire, suddenly they were taking casualties and he re`lised

what the war was all about. But not all those reported dead werd.

Colonel Taylor's own grandf`ther Charles was a bandsman in the

regiment. He was reported mhssing, presumed killed. Within fivd weeks

later, his young wife received this in the post. This is a little card

made by the Germans for British prisoners of war. Charles h`s

written his name here, he h`s scrubbed out where it says winded

and put yes next to the word sound. This was proof he was alive. Even

when there is a gravestone, questions often remain. Died on the

1st of November 19 18, ten days before the Armistice. But hd is

buried here. So I assume from that that he was either wounded hn France

and evacuated and died in England, or died in England as a restlt of an

accident. The Colonel's givdn himself until the end of thd

anniversary of WW1 to compldte his record. But many of the Herdfords

he's found are unknowns. Thdse three survived the war ` .the strhpes show

how one had been seriously hnjured three times.Who they are, though, is

a mystery. Cricket fans are anxiously checking

the weather forecast ahead of the start of the new season this

weekend. And now the flood waters have receded in Worcester, the

players have been enjoying that wonderful springtime sensathon of

the sun on their backs. Nick Clitheroe reports.

There may not be a prettier backdrop in English cricket than the

cathedral at New Road in Worcester. And as the players came togdther for

the traditional pre`season photocall this morning, there was a rdal sense

of anticipation. Always feels nice to start the season, you never quite

know until you have got the first couple of runs, so you alwaxs having

a few butterflies and things, but I'm ready to go, I feel in good

shape. I do run the my first photocall as a Worcestershire player

`` I do remember. I'm still proud to be involved in this wonderftl club.

Just seven weeks ago the ground looked like this and there `re still

plenty of sandy patches. But the ground staff are confident ht will

be ready for the first home match. There are no problems with the

playing surface at Edgbaston but it was certainly a lot chillier as

Warwickshire lined up to face the cameras. With their England batsmen

back in the fold for now, the Bears will be keen to make a fast start.

The number`1 trophy of the xear is the championship, that's thd one you

want to win. Every county would prefer to win the championship. If

we have an injury free season, we can create momentum for the back

end. Once again this season the BBC will be offering online comlentary

of every county game...so what do the reporters make of the two

counties' prospects. Those that have shown promise in the past whll have

to fulfil that with runs and wickets. If players stay fit,

Warwickshire can be competitive They did well to get fourth last

year but that will be key, players being fit and available.

Worcestershire will be known as the rapids. Warwickshire as the

Birmingham Bears. The simpld pleasures are the same. Bec`use it's

the sound of the first bat on the first ball which will reallx mark

the season's start. She's the woman who inspired the

classic song "The First Timd Ever I Saw Your Face" and today thd

legendary folk singer Peggy Seeger has returned to Birmingham ` the

city where she helped make ` series of pioneering radio programles. The

documentaries called Radio Ballads featured the voices of ordinary

people interwoven with folk songs about their lives. Bob Hockdnhull

reports. A young Peggy Seeger recordhng radio

ballads in Birmingham in thd 19 0s. The series combined folk songs with

real voices. Sections of society, like the travellers, that would

normally go unheard.Ahead of a concert at the CBSO centre tonight,

Peggy reminisced with fans `t Birmingham Library this morning

Every time I listen to it, H see in my mind where we recorded them and

who was talking, I have an `mazing memory for that. I was taken along

as musical director, to record. That was expensive but necessary, because

I got a taste of this and I could build it in to the accompanhments.

The ground breaking documentaries were also made by her partndr, folk

artist Ewan MaColl and BBC producer Charles Parker.Peggy Seeger made a

career of writing songs on he was this wonderfully eccdntric,

driven producer and started his career as a Tory and ended tp as a

Maoist, through the influence of UN and the miners, people he rdcorded,

he was an incredible innovator. Peggy Seeger made a career of

writing songs on social isstes. She was also the inspiration for Ewan

MacColl's love song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" later made

famous by Roberta Flack. Yot must have been removed by the fact he

wrote that song. I thought ht was my due at the time! But Peggy proved

she wasn't just a pretty face, telling extraordinary storids of

ordinary lives through her lusic. It's time for the weekend forecast.

From one cricket fan to another Rebecca, how's it looking for this

weekend? I'm afraid it looks like we'll be in

the pavilion having tea bec`use it's not the best for cricket. Wd have

plenty of cloud cover, as wd have seen today. The winds will lake

things feel fresher, and pldnty of rain to come, particularly on

Sunday. We had this blanket of cloud sitting over the top of us today, it

did help to keep things warl, but we're getting clear skies to end our

day, we get the cloud starthng to thin and break as we had through the

next few hours. I dry end to the day, then we start to see cloud

filling in through the West. Some spots of rain possible by e`rly

tomorrow morning. Temperatures overnight not doing too badly. We

start off our Saturday, rather murky, I'm afraid. The cloud cover

doesn't really break through the day, limited brightness, thd showers

pep up as we had through thd day. Temperatures not doing too badly.

But the winds will make it feel fresher. We keep the showers through

the afternoon, eventually they will start to dry out, but try not to

begin with but not long before we start to see the next weathdr front

start to move in. `` a dry night to begin with. Temperatures dropping

down to about 10 Celsius. This is what we have to content with four

Sunday, this cold front, working its way in, bringing with it sole

showers, they will be heavy at times. They are with us frol the

start of Sunday. Temperaturds not doing too badly, but it is ` wet one

and it stays rather miserable for Monday.

Tonight's headlines from thd BBC: Back on track ` the rail line in

Dawlish re`opens, key link to the south west. Nearly there ` Hereford

United expected to reach thdir ?78,000 target to save the club by

tomorrow afternoon.