23/03/2017 Midlands Today

Details at 6.30pm. and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

Hello, and welcome to Midlands Today.

Police make arrests after raiding two areas of Birmingham

following yesterday's terror attack in Westminster.

It's believed the killer lived in the West Midlands.

All the police and the armed police were there downstairs

Then it started more and more loudly.

In Birmingham city centre, heightened security.

I have been talking to community groups, listening to their reaction.

The attacker has been identified as 52-year-old Khalid Masood.

We'll be asking a security expert what the police

The number of cases of child sex offences in the region have

And after the dull and damp conditions of yesterday,

things are staying dry, bright and settled into the weekend.

Birmingham has become the focus of police investigations

following the terror attack in Westminster yesterday

Police have carried out searches on Hagley Road in the city and

at an address in Winson Green, and a third as yet

They have arrested at least seven people, five men and two women.

Police have identified the attacker as 52-year-old Khalid Masood

who was most recently living here in the West Midlands.

The first of our reports tonight comes from Giles Latcham.

In Winson Green, west of Birmingham city centre,

police search a former home of Khalid Masood, the man

they believe carried out yesterday's attack at Westminster.

My partner talked to him just once but it was just, how are you?

Barely a mile away, the shutters came down at the premises

where the 4x4 car driven at speed across Westminster Bridge

An armed police officer was standing right there.

On the Hagley Road, this man, who didn't want to be identified,

looked on last night as police officers carrying automatic weapons

I didn't think it hit so close to home.

I am really shocked and concerned all this has happened.

So what do we know about Khalid Masood?

Born in Kent, he'd lived most recently in the West Midlands.

He had previous convictions for assault

But significantly no terrorism offences.

Police are doing their job and if we let them do their job,

they can do a better job to make us all feel safe.

On the Hagley Road, a restaurant owner, who rented out

the flat raided by police, read a statement

Like Londoners, it is business as usual for us in Birmingham.

And I shall be opening my restaurant as usual.

United we shall stand against such evil people carrying out

From the authorities too, a call for unity.

The people perpetrating these things are a tiny minority.

And what we mustn't do is allow that small minority who are trying

to undermine our democracy, people are trying to undermine

the peaceful way of life that we have, we are not

going to let them do it by forcing us apart.

For others, today was a day of reflection, reflecting

on the moment they saw terror up close.

Jayne Wilkinson from Sutton Coldfield was sightseing

I saw a man running along with a very large knife,

not your standard flick knife that you pop in your pocket,

this was a big kitchen-sized knife, running towards the police officers

That is when we heard the three shots as he disappeared.

A butcher from Redditch was on the House Of Commons

terrace with his wife, receiving an award when

A lot of people had left the wards slightly

early and they might have

So, your heart goes out to the families and the people

This fast-moving inquiry is being led by the Metropolitan Police.

The attack was on our capital but an attack it now seems likely

was conceived and planned in the second city.

And Giles joins us now from outside the property in Hagley Road

which has been the subject of a police search

is still a busy scene, police officers are on guard outside the

premises in question, their colleagues had been upstairs in that

top floor flat they have raided, throughout the day, I imagine

assessing full potential evidence, examining the tensions.

The Met Police have released a statement in the past half hour

about the arrest, it turns out there are seven arrests, a man and woman

in their 20s arrested in address number one, at the second, we think

it is this one, three men, and a woman in her 20s, and at a third

address, a 58-year-old man arrested, all of them on suspicion of

preparation for acts of terrorism. This is a well-known location. To

find it at the centre of a terror in quarry will be shocking. Peter

Wilson spent the day assessing how communities have responded to the

events today and watching as police mount high visibility patrols on our

streets. Birmingham's Council House,

the city's flag at half-mast. New Street Station, extra police

officers to greet those In the shadow of the Rotunda,

officers in 4x4 vehicles, others There is a lot of police

around from this morning. I was at work at seven,

there were a lot of police. The police want to reassure

the public they are in good hands People do need reassurance,

that is a good thing. Things could be so much worse

and I feel quite protected and safe in the knowledge we have really good

strong people protecting us. We feel safe, this is our home, our

country and we will stay together. In Parliament today,

one of the city's MPs This attacker and people like him

are not of my religion, And we should condemn

all of them who pretend to be of a particular religion

because they are not of religion. If they were, they would not be

carrying out acts like this. We have to stay united and show them

they cannot win on these grounds, Last night at this church,

prayers and candles lit for the four This morning, people

gathered together again at the Holy Trinity Church,

Birchfield. Comfort in a cup of

tea and shared talk. Birmingham is a city

where communities, religions, Birmingham, I hope we will be

as strong as we always have been, to stand tall, to support each

other, to support our neighbours, Early this morning, I was invited

to a mosque in Balsall Heath. Some of the earliest Muslim

immigrants to Birmingham What happened in London has been

called an Islamist terrorist attack. No one will accept this kind

of action whether it is Absolutely we are against any kind

of heinous act like this. Our thoughts and prayers

are with the people who were victims of this, who were killed by this

despicable and deplorable act. What can the Muslim community do

to help the security services? Any criminal act where we have

information to help an investigation, you should support

the security services and give them the help they need,

give any assistance necessary to put The message from the Prime Minister

Theresa May was a simple one today. That message has been echoed

on the streets of Birmingham. The people who live here have also

given a simple piece of advice, the only way the terrorists can win

is if we, the people, are divided. The extra patrols and security

were not the result of any immediate The police repeat that their

operation is one of reassurance. And Peter Wilson joins us now

from Birmingham city centre. Peter, what have the police been

saying to you tonight? I have been speaking to one senior

officer off camera and what he said to me was this attack was no

surprise, it was never a case of if something like this was going to

happen but when. They have been preparing for just this eventuality

since 2005, they have been changing their tactics as the terrorists

around the world have changed their tactics. He also said to me that

there needs to be a debate, a public debate, about security, about Civil

Liberties and also about people's personal sense of risk. In the past,

that debate has often been against the police, this time he says it

needs to be with the police because this involves us all.

For the moment, thank you. Joining me now is Phil Ingram,

a security intelligence expert. What will the police be looking

at following the arrests? The police are trying to look at the

motivation behind the individual, how he has prepared for the attack

and any associates. What they want to do is look at whether he was

assisted or inspired to carry out this act and identify if there was

anyone else involved, get them out of the circuit, and carry on their

investigation. The attacker, Khalid Masood

was known to police. He had a range of previous

convictions for offences including He'd also been investigated

by security services, but seemingly then went

off the radar. None of the crimes listed would

suggest he had come onto the security services radar in the first

place so there was something we are not being told. He would have fallen

off because he would have been assessed as no longer in risk. That

is a reasons as issue. That could be quite significant. It

is not the profile of the youngster radicalised. It is identifying why

he has been radicalised. It could have been as quickly as within the

past week or month. He could have been a long-term supporter, police

will want to identify that. If they're more come out?

A lot more about the whole thing. Thank you very much fewer time. --

For your time. So, as the identity of yesterday's

attacker was revealed and his links to this region became clearer,

international attention turned to Birmingham

and the city where his journey towards radicalisation

may have begun. Elizabeth Glinka has been

following the international reaction We've heard from Phil Ingram

about the intelligence aspect. Well, as we've heard,

the attacker Khalid Masood had been And with homes raided

and other arrests made in Birmingham overnight,

the city has been attracting These are just a few

examples of tweets from Across Europe, we've

got Italy's RAI News, channels in Spain, in Russia,

and across the Arab world as well, all mentioning

the Westminster attacks, terrorism, and Birmingham

in the same breath. This one's in English

from France's biggest rolling news station France 24,

their version of the News Channel. and this is a report

from Romanian TV. And here this is another French

channel from earlier today. In this section the reporter goes

on to refer to Birmingham That's an expression that was also

used last year about the Molenbeek suburb of Brussels where the two

people who attacked So clear parallels being drawn

in some people's minds. And I suppose it's natural to be

asking again, does this mean we, Birmingham, have a

particular problem? Well, a recent report

from an anti-extremism think-tank flagged up that 18%

of the UK's terrorist offenders, 39 people, have come

from the West Midlands. And three-quarters from

the same deprived areas What we think we now know is that

at least seven of the arrests made in connection with yesterday's

attack were made in Birmingham. And as the police investigation

continues, we can continue to expect interest in the attackers'

connections in this region. We will return to this story later

in the programme. The NHS trust which runs

the Royal Stoke and County Hospitals, has been placed

into special financial measures. The University Hospitals Of North

Midlands is one of ten trusts across England

listed as failing to meet It will receive expert checks

on issues such as rota planning, to reduce their dependence

on high-cost agency staff. The trust says it welcomes

the extra support. Members of the campaign

group Our NHS Worcestershire held a demonstration in front

of doctors this morning. The group's calling for a pause

in plans to move some emergency services from the Alexandra Hospital

in Redditch to the It's after the death

of eight-year-old Callum Cartlidge earlier this month when paramedics

were told not to take him to the Alex, despite living

only two minutes away. There is a confusion

about the model. It seems to be saying,

if you have a sick child and you've taken to the Alex,

you'll be seen. If you call an ambulance,

that is a 30-minute Is it right that a hospital that

serves 200,000 people cannot see the sickest children

in an emergency situation? Cases of child sex offences

in the region have That's according to figures obtained

by the NSPCC from police forces They show numbers rose

to more than 2,500 I want you to tell me

what makes children feel I'm going to put

a brick into the sack. Each worry you give me,

I will put a brick in the sack. We will see how that

sack feels at the end. It's a delicate issue,

but one which can't be ignored. NSPCC workers are at

Heathlands Primary School in Castle Bromwich today to talk

to children about keeping themselves safe from danger

including sexual abuse. Last year, 39,000 children

across our region attended an assembly just like this one,

and they are really effective. A few weeks ago, a man was jailed

for rape in Nottingham. His young victim had been

to an assembly like this by the NSPCC and a follow-up

workshop, and then had From a Freedom Of Information

request to police forces in the West Midlands,

the NSPCC found that sex offences against children rose from 1,265

in the year 2014 to 2015, It is sad that there are that many

children that come forward. But on a positive note,

because of the work we do at the NSPCC doing these workshops

it is encouraging more All staff at this school receive

training in safeguarding and child If the worst were to happen, they're

confident of spotting the signs. You would look for a child becoming

suddenly more withdrawn, perhaps not attending

school as regularly. Coming in perhaps with some flashy

gadgets they might not have had before, might

suggest they are being Speak out, stay safe that's

the message these chidren Sarah Bishop, Midlands

Today in Birmingham. A national charity is warning

the level of personal debt in the West Midlands

is getting worse. Christians Against Poverty provides

help to people who have The charity is currently supporting

487 people in West Midlands, together they owe

four-and-a-half-million pounds. That's an average of

almost ?10,000 each. Our reporter Amy Cole has

been to meet a family You want beans instead

of vegetables? For the past year, the Baylis

family has been slowly With a budget in place,

Kelly's now spending ?60 to ?70 Next door, their debt coach

Owen O'Brien is looking through the budget plan

with her husband Karl to see Are the costs for the car on track,

is that still realistic? So we have freed up

that bit of money. The family got into difficulties

when Karl lost his job and racked up They knew the situation had

got really bad when... You didn't want to open letters,

letters were coming through and you knew, you looked

and you knew what letter was. With two children to

support, they turned The charity is unique

in that it sends debt And it helps clients by dealing

directly with their creditors. It is going to be difficult

to actually work out And that is often where people feel

they can't do it or face it. We come in and we stand

in the gap for them, we speak to the creditors

for them, so all they have to do is speak to us

and we take that pressure off them. We looked at it and thought

it is going to be difficult Looking back now, it is very easy

to stick to if you are prepared I am not stressing about money any

more because I know what my budget What luxuries have you sacrificed?

Take aways, stuff like that, you don't need those.

Has it been hard? It is hard, especially when you want those

things. The family will continue to receive

help until they become debt-free. Amy Cole, BBC Midlands

Today, Birmingham. We'll return to our top

story in a moment. Looking promising

towards the weekend? It is good news with our weather.

Today was a turning point. We started with some drizzle and

cloud. But steadily through the day we started to see the sun

breakthrough that cloud. By this afternoon, there is plenty to enjoy.

There was still a keen breeze, temperatures only make it up to 10

Celsius. The satellite shows this nicely,

this cloud across the south of the country, this is the rain overnight.

The cloud broke down and in the afternoon the sun came out. Tonight,

we will continue to see the skies containing too clear. But there is

some cloud lifting temperatures up to six Celsius. Crossed the north, a

touch of frost but high pressure is in control through the weekend. The

winds will drop out as well. Tomorrow, we will see plenty of car

through the morning but that will break, and we will see the sun

coming out, lots more sunshine in the day. Lighter winds, temperatures

up to 11 Celsius. The breeze is from the east. Then

the cloud will melt away and overnight it will be chilly. A

warning to gardeners, there will be some frost into Saturday as

temperatures dipped down. On Saturday, lots of sunshine. And

lighter winds. The same for Mothering Sunday. High-pressure

keeping it settled. policing in Birmingham

following yesterday's terror been following developments

throughout the day. Peter, give us a sense

of what people have been Throughout the day, people have been

saying the same thing. Yes, we know Birmingham will be labelled a

terrorist capital, but they say that is not the city they recognise, not

the city they know. Birmingham has a good history of

community relations, and people say that the terrorists must not be

allowed to drive a wedge between communities. Their message to the

terrorists is, you will not win. My colleague Giles latch is on the

Hagley Road. The horror in Westminster has been

described by some as a so-called lone wolf attack. And maybe it was

but it has become clear as the day has gone on as well as a wife and

child, Khalid Massoud had a number of connections in this city. A

reminder, seven people arrested in Birmingham overnight, two women,

five men, and properties including this one on the Hagley Road have

been raided. Police will be trying to find out as a matter of urgency

whether Khalid Masood acted alone, if there are others in this city who

share his mindset of hate, or others prepared to act on it.

Thank you for that. I'll be back with the latest at

the slightly later time of 10.45pm. For the latest developments, you can

tune