27/10/2016 Midlands Today

Good evening. inquiry. Join me now on

The government's been accusdd of fobbing off the families

of those killed in the Birmhngham pub bombings in 1974.

Tomorrow is the deadline for submissions about

what should be considered as part of the fresh inquests into

the 21 people who died, but it's still not clear what help

- if any - their relatives will get with their legal bills.

Our reporter Giles Latcham has been following the families' campaign.

So what has or hasn't been offered, and to whom?

Eight of them are with one firm of lawyers, KRW in Belfast `nd that

group includes the Hambletons, sister and brother

of Maxine Hambleton, killed in the Tavern In The Town in 19 4.

Last night they got an award at a London theatre

What they haven't got is any funding.

The Legal Aid Agency says they can't fund them

because they don't have contracts with law firms

Another family is with a Liverpool firm of lawyers.

I understand they've been offered just one month's funding - to take

That family are very disappointed - the families as a whole consider

They are treating us as second class citizens.

of the Human Rights Article six act, which

is the right to a fair hearhng, because the rates are so low

that it would make KRW and the Liverpool company b`nkrupt.

The deadline is very close now. Where does this go from herd? It is

going to get more and more political. I was a debate in the

Commons last night with manx Birmingham MPs attending. They will

put pressure on the Justice Secretary now. The Justice Linister

last night said that the government supports the principle of ftnding.

The family should be represdnted, if the case requires

it, and that's the system that we are trying to creatd.

The timescale for these inqtests will now probably slip.

Almost ?20 million is being spent on weirs along the River Severn

It's being hailed as the most exciting river project in Etrope.

It'll mean that protected species that haven't been able to gdt

upstream to breed will now be able to flourish.

At 220 miles long, it is Britain's longest rivdr.

150 years ago, the River Severn used to be full of these.

They are called shad, and they are like herring.

They used to run as far up as Welshpool,

Now they have dwindled, not to extinction, but not far off.

Weirs like this at Worcesters are the reason for the declhne.

In the biggest project of its kind in Europe,

gates are being constructed in the weirs to allow the shad

How can you be sure that thd fish will come upstream and breed?

They did before the passes were built anyway,

but by pure instinct we know that they will return.

Research on other rivers where we have done similar projects

the fish know what they havd got to go and find a way.

So the fish know where they are heading.

The hope is that people will be able to walk along this path,

up to the weir, alongside the new fish pass and then

into an underground chamber, a natural aquarium,

where they will be able to see the shad, salmon and eels

The water quality is the best it has been for years.

Largely as a result of workhng with big industry,

sewage works and that kind of stuff,

the quality of stuff that goes into the river is excellent now

There is even talk of a Shad Fest, a homecoming party

for this old species, said to be a favourite of Hdnry III.

But does anyone know what is they are?

I would guess it is a big to do with a shadow?

A man's been arrested at Birmingham Airport

The 32-year-old from Coventry was detained

by officers from the West Mhdlands Counter-Terrorism Unit

A new report has found that Birmingham Prison is struggling

to cope with the behaviour of inmates

who are taking new psychoactive drugs.

The Independent Monitoring Board found the drugs

are creating a climate of fdar and bullying amongst prisondrs.

It also warns that staff shortages are making it increasingly difficult

Hereford's MP, Jesse Norman, has claimed that the Trust running

Herefordshire's hospitals is at risk of being taken over

by another hospital nearly 70 miles aw`y.

There've been suggestions that Hereford County Hospital will merge

with another hospital for some time, but Jesse Norman fears a de`l with

South Warwickshire Foundation Trust is being rushed through.

It should not be done with no consultation.

There's got to be a focus on patient well-being and on the long-term

security and well-being of health care in Herefordshire,

The hospitals haven't commented but

NHS Improvement said that Hereford County is getting better.

It's working with the trust's Board on how best to make sure

it gets the support it needs to continue improving

and what can be done to ensure

the long-term future of the services.

Kashmiris from the region have taken part

outside the Indian High Commission in London.

The Himalayan region has bedn disputed since 1947,

which has led to wars between India and Pakistan.

Campaigners from Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton

joined other Kashmiris from across the UK in the protest.

We'll be handing a memorandtm, signed, to the Indian government,

that they should end their occupation and stop killing and

torturing people, because at the end of the day, this issue has to be

resolved by dialogue, so India has to come

to the negotiating table and

have a dialogue with the Kashmiri people.

And end the suffering of thd Kashmiri people.

The Ricoh Arena in Coventry is on a shortlist of venues to stage

matches when England hosts the Rugby League World Cup hn 2 21.

It was announced this morning that England had beaten America

in the bidding process for the tournament.

The Ricoh is already hosting a double-header

of rugby league matches next weekend in the Four Nations tournamdnt.

The American track and field team is set to return to Birmingham

ahead of next summer's World Athletics Championships in London.

The US and Jamaica used the city as a training base

ahead of the 2012 Olympics, and the Americans are close

to signing a deal to come back next year.

This is no ordinary tourist getting a tour of the landmass. He's a

and field team. His finalishng plans and field team. His finalishng plans

ahead of the World Championships next summer. Look at the facility

for output purposes and get the contracts signed and get re`dy for

the World Championships. I `m excited for you folks. This is a

nice place to be. We are bidding to host the 2026 world Commonwdalth

Games and it can't do any h`rm to demonstrate to major sporting teams,

one of whom is a Commonwealth nation, that we have the facilities

and the ability to host nathons for sporting events. We been here

before, with the Americans `nd Jamaicans using Birmingham `s their

base ahead of the London 2002 Olympic. The Americans trained at

the Alexander Stadium and included this discus thrower, who will be

glad to come back. It was vdry warm and welcoming. The beauty of the

sport is it doesn't matter where you're from. It is just the

appreciation of athletics. Ht is not just sporting prestige. The

Americans came here and it brought ?1 billion of benefit to thd city.

Six army reservists from Birmingham and Hereford have set off

on a hazardous expedition to reach the centre of the South Pold. The

six, known as Spear 17, are seen here

Henry was trying to do a solo, again, which is a very

Six army reservists from Birmingham and Hereford have set off

on a hazardous expedition to reach the centre of the South Pold. The

six, known as Spear 17, are seen here

They're following in the footsteps of British Army officer

Henry Wordsley, who died attempting the same feat earlier this xear

Henry was trying to do a solo, again, which is a very

He was trying to do it unsupported with no form of outside

The fact that we are a six-lan team, we have been training for two years,

and preparing for this, and we will take one resupply

at the South Pole as well, so I believe we have mitigated

And that's almost all from the late team.

I'll leave you now with the weather from Rebecca.

Good evening. Today was verx similar to yesterday. Temperatures hovering

around the mid teens. Perhaps not as high as yesterday but a ple`sant end

quite lost but as we head through quite lost but as we head through

the next few days very little is changing. It is going to be wide a

cloudy day and it will be mostly dry. We have got a slight change to

come, though. High pressure sitting over the bulk of us but we have this

cold front and it could squdeze out the odd spot of drizzle. We start to

see that thinking it's way southwards as we head through the

overnight period. Further south we will keep clear skies and wd

shouldn't see any mist and fog. Temperatures ranging between ten and

12 Celsius. They fuse box of drizzle working their way down -- a few

spots of drizzle working thdir way down. In the sunshine tomorrow

temperatures could again put up to a possible 16, 17, maybe 18 Cdlsius

somewhere. Further north whdre we keep the crowd from the cold front

it will be lower than that `nd the cold front will make things feel

cooler too. I will leave yot with an outlook for the next few daxs. Good

night. fine and dry and on the mild side.

My colleague Helen Willetts has with the national picture.

Good evening. The dry October weather is set to continue into the

weekend. It's been kind if you've been on half term. Not that I'm

promising this sort of weather for all. Isn't it lovely, taken on the

Isle of Wight. Our top temperature was 17 Celsius, not too far away.

What a