14/01/2014 The One Show

Hello and welcome to The One Show with Alex Jones. And Matt Baker.

Over the year, tonight's guest has tried he easy hand at many different

things. He once one an altar boy, although he got dismissed for

laughing at a funeral. He then signed up as a marine cadet. He's

been a bar ma'am, had a go at being a waiter, a cleaner, even a mainer

boy and an accountant and a farmer! -- bar Mann. Thankfully for us, he

found his forte in the world of entertainment. It's lovely Paul

O'Grady! Barmam. How are you, all right? Are

you? Very well, thank you. Hot off a plane. We can't believe how many

jobs you have got through. Hundreds, honestly. Which is the worst one?

When I worked in the abattoir. I used to work in the office there.

Was that as the accountant? No, I was never an accountant. I'm

dyslexic with figures. I don't know where we got that from. I got a

machine and you used to put the fluid in and turn the handle and it

was some of the guys who worked in the abattoir would put a pig's head

on a mop and knock on the door and put it round the door and move its

mouth and say "I've come for my wages". I'd sit there and it was the

stench and it put me off meat, I can't tell you. I bet it did. Are

you a veggie now? More or less, 90%, yes. That would do it, if anything

would. And cleaning. I'm the world's worst cleaner. Should never have

been a cleaner. I used to spray Pledge all round the place and I'd

spray it on the phone. Then I'd sit on the couch and watch day time

telly, I was the worst cleaner in the world.

Later we'll be hearing about Paul's new show that sees him travel across

Africa to find out about all kinds of animals that are sadly being

orphaned. We'll be live in Norfolk to meet some more cute Animal

Orphans. Are you there, Miranda? Yes, hi everyone. I'm at an RSPCA

centre in Norfolk where during that terrible weather we had in December

they were inundated with orphaned seal pups separated from their

mothers in the middle of the pupping season. There is around 100 pups

here. Join me later for the noisiest time of the day, feeding time! Who

wants that one... Beautiful. Aren't they just

beautiful. I'll have a couple, no problem. A big bath, shove them in

there, quite happily feed them. This is the thing. All the animals on

your farm, there's just more and more. Plenty of room for a couple of

sealion pups. The RSPCA might be on to you. We know that the UK is a

nation of animal lovers and that many of you watching may well have

rescued an animal in disstress. So if you have, send in a picture of

the animal and tell us the tale. Send them into the usual address and

we'll show some of them later. Last night saw the second episode of the

controversial documentary Benefits Street, aired on Channel 4. So far,

the series has caused quite a stir. Hasn't it just. Aside from the huge

viewing figures, the show was talked about in Parliament and there was a

petition with nearly 30,000 signatures to have it taken off air.

There is been hundreds of complaints to Ofcom and yesterday, protesters

from across the country gathered outside the London offices of the

company that make the show to protest about the apparent

misrepresentation of poverty in modern Britain.

If you haven't seen it and are wondering what all the fuss is

about, here is a clip to get you up to speed.

Unemployed, unemployed... This street here, it was one of the best

streets see ya. Unemployed. Now, one of the worst. James Turner Street in

Birmingham is not your average street. There are 99 house houses.

13 nationalities. And most of the resident residents are claiming

benefits. 5% on this street are working. We were saying you have

been away on holiday and you haven't seen it? It's not the kind of

problem I would want to watch, to be honest, it would rile me. It's one

of those programmes to get Middle England up in arms and these people

are sacrificial lambs on the altar of light entertainment and that they

have gone willingly, you know, with a smart tongue which has got them to

say all sorts and it's a very unfair representation of unemployment in

this country because there's a lot of people who do not choose to be on

benefits and this is betraying everybody on benefits that they are

doing it because they want to -- portraying. I think that's why

there's been a backlash. There is an estate in Birmingham called

Castlevale which you didn't once go near and it's been regenerated, it's

one of the nicest places you could live in, but they don't show that,

do they. This will get the Daily Mail going for weeks! One of the

lads on the programme's become a bit of a hero. It's unfair this kind of

programming. We sent Jo to Liverpool with a one show megaphone to see...

You didn't! We did, we did! Just to seize what the people of Merseyside

had to say about Benefits Street and the benefits system.

Come on Liverpool. We want your views. Come and give The One Show

your views. Jump up here. Press the button. Press the button. Yes, I

watched Benefits Street. UK understand their plight if they are

really skint and stuff but every single one's got a massive TV and

iPads which I haven't got and I work full-time! Did you see Benefits

Street last week? I couldn't believe it. It was sad that people are

living the way they were living on that street. What do you think of

Benefits Street? That's just an agenda to make everyone think that

that's what everyone who's on benefits is about. My missus is on

benefits, she's desperate to get a job. She's not like that, the a ploy

to outlaw our own. Plenty of my friends are on benefits and they

feel like by programmes such as Benefits Street on Channel 4, that

they are made to feel like they are taking money that isn't rightfully

theirs. It's the system that's let them down in the first place. They

have a right to take that money. I know people who're not like that at

all. They are completely different. Do you think they were fairly

represented? No. Do you think that was an accurate picture? No. It's

the media over company rating, making people think that that's what

people are like -- over exaggerating. Liverpool, we want

your views. Share your views with The One Show. What do you think

about benefits? I'm on benefits because I'm just getting over cancer

so I'm really thankful because I was self-employed and I went into debt

over this and it was only when I was diagnosed with cancer, I had a brain

tumour, that I managed to get some kind of benefits, otherwise I would

be out on the street because I couldn't afford my rent or anything

like that. The people who need benefits are put through the eye of

a needle to get what they deserve and there always seems to be people

that don't deserve them who're not entitled to them who seem to be able

to get into the system via the back door.

I might be wrong, but if you really, really wanted a job, I think you

would be able to find somethinged you could do, even if you didn't

like it. I think we need people who're fit and able to work need to

show a genuine effort in order to get the benefits. The taxpayers are

not getting anything and they are getting everything.

Thank you. So, slightly different take there on

Benefits Street. Paul, you have said vocally that you are a supporter of

the Labour Party. How would you... Iain Duncan Smith wants to reduce

it, doesn't he? Yes. That man would reintroduce the workhouse if he

could and he knows nothing about it. He was born with a silver spoon in

his mouth and it annoys me that he's up there spouting on this. How is a

family of four supposed to live on ?20,000 a year, how are they

supposed to clothe their kids, you know, the basics, they are not going

to be able to afford things. How would you reduce the benefit bill?

Create more jobs and raise the basic wage.

You will get people saying, why should I come off benefits and do

that job and lose an extra ?30 a week. That's the point isn't it? And

work myself to death 11 hours a day probably for it. So raise the basic

wage, increase it. Give people an incentive... Exactly, to go to work.

It annoys me. You get the likes of Iain Duncan Smith up there spouting

this stuff, it just shows what this Government are, they really aknow

me. Don't, I'm getting all airiated -- annoy me. Where are you? ! Your

working roots. We'll ask you this, have you ever had chance to get

behind a crane like this? No, but I've seen it and I'm very tempted.

Can you put a Wrecking Ball on the end, please, let me loose? We are

not going to do a Miley Cyrus, but we have a challenge for you later

because we know you enjoy a challenge and it's an opportunity to

add a scale. What is it? We'll keep it a surprise. You are going to

drive it. Fabulous. I'll drive it home! Now, with more and more

traffic on the roads, do you ever stop to wonder what effect the

pollution might be having on your health? Tony has been to Sheffield

where researchers are investigating just that.

This is one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the UK. The M1. Just

outside Sheffield. Last week, the Government announced

it's planning to reduce the 32-mile stretch.

These researchers are using hi-tech equipment to measure pollution

levels in the city centre. A brand-new diesel car would still

emit one of the key air quality pollutants at a high level. Whilst

initially the big concern was the particles that were coming from

diesel engines, now some of the gases that are being emitted from

the diesel engines are also a big concern. Its emissions of particles

and nitrogen dioxide which are the key gas concerns. So, diesel is

duhhier than petrol when you are driving in the city, as the owner of

a 2011 diesel car, I'm surprised by that. When I drove through the

testing area myself, my results showed that while I was producing

low levels of diesel particles, my news wrongen dioxide levels were

high. I've always thought myself a

responsible drive. I bought a diesel to save money but also to look after

the planet. Now that might not be the case -- nitrogen dioxide levels.

Let's get on the ramp and have a look. What do you reckon? We have

the particle filter with catalysts around it. Just after the engine

there. It's the catalysts around the particles particles filters which

are the sources of the nitrogen dioxide emissions. How does that

work? You would imagine they are there to stop problems? The particle

filter doesn't clog up, the catalyst needs to be hot to work well. In

urban driving, the gas is coming out of the engine when idling and

decelerating and they cool the catalysts which don't work well. The

catalysts are less efficient then when I'm stopping and starting. The

result - more nitrogen dioxide. The Government told us they are

investing over ?1 billion to cut air pollution caused by transport which

will help make travelling less reliant on diesel.

And Peugeot, who made by car, said their vehicles were tested to

perform efficiently in a wide spectrum of conditions and

especially in urban and rural areas. They also said the latest models

achieved a reduction of nitrous oxide by up to 90%. One interesting

find made by environmental scientists is that the particles

produced by diesel engines stay low in the atmosphere. That means those

likely to breathe them in are the smallest, most vulnerable of all.

Children like Sophie and Jessica. Both your young girls have press

pill Tory problems, how worried are you -- respiratory? More worried

because they have respiratory problems. I worry about them having

attacks. What scientists have discovered is that pollutants lay

close to the ground, so kids are the most vulnerable. It's not very good

at all is it? It's worrying. You can't keep them away from it, can

you? You can't see it so you don't know when they are most at risk. I

wouldn't have thought about it until you told me that but now I'll be

more vigilant I think wherever we go, especially in the town centre

where it's more congested. Sheffield children's hospital is a

centre of excellence for the treatment of children's respiratory

diseases, the most common complaints they deal with are chest infections.

What contributes to traffic pollution, adding to respiratory

illness in this region? It's clear that increasing levels of air

pollution seem to be linked to increases in poor health from a

respiratory point of view. Things like severity of asthma and

respiratory infections. It does seem that high emissions can contribute

to poorer respiratory health. This isn't just a problem for

Sheffield. Legal levels of nitrogen dioxide set by the EU are being

breached in urban areas across the UK. So who can effect change? Should

it be the Government, should it be manufacturers? Or maybe it should be

us, the drivers, because after all, it's us that buy these things.

Thanks so much Tony. We spoke to the manufacturers representatives. They

said vehicles being produced today have filters that capture over 99%

of particles and are the cleanest ever. Apparently it would take so 0

of today's cars to emit as much as one car made in the 1970s, so

progress has been made. You had a health scare, how are you now? I had

a scare and just went back to work a few days later. I refused to lie

around. It's mind over matter, you can sit back and talk your tablets

and go "I'm not well, I can't do that. " And you are a busy boy. Tell

us about the new animal project? Basically, the the result of

poaching. It's Animal Orphans and I was all over South Africa, Zambia,

went to various places. I had a huge romance with a baby elephant. We

saw! And a vulture. And it was just heaven, honestly. It was just

lovely. But it was already very saddening. When you speak to the

conservationists, they say in ten years, there'll be no rhino or

elephants in the wild. They'll all be slaughtered. There are some

shocking statistics. Horrific. No matter what age you are, you can sit

there and watch it and it really works on so many levels this. Let's

see you with the baby elephant you were talking about. Love him. Now

he's settled in and really coming out of his shell and the only thing

bothering him is that runny tummy. So Rachel's got a job for me. What's

that? Do you want to wipe his bum? Yes, don't forget I was in social

services for many a year. It's a bit stinky, so it's nice to get rid of

the flies. Come here, darling, I'm going to wipe your bum. Good boy.

When I went into showbiz, Rachel, I never thought I'd be wiping an

elephant's bum! I did say something, I said don't

worry about it, it comes to us all, seriously. But he was such a sweet

heart and we really did bond, he'd wrap his trunk around my wrist and

he's so young, his trunk's very weak so we'd go for walks and he'd come

and leaned on me, try and climb on me, sit on my knee and he's a big

lad, you know. I just fell in love with him. It also, for me, just made

me so aware of what's going on with poaching. Carla's there because his

mother was slaughtered. It's all for South East Asia, you know, all for,

for instance in certain wealthy Dunner parties over there, they'll

offer rhino horn, you know, as status symbol. I hope it poisons

them all because basically it's toe nail, it's a hair ball. It's not an

aphrodisiac, it has no properties, it's not magic or anything and what

you are doing is slaughtering these beautiful creatures and it has to

stop. Yes. It's got to stop. Is there any hope for some of the

animals we met in the series? Will any be released back to the wild?

The conservationists' aim at the end of the day is to get the anle thats

back to the wild. They do all this hard work to put them back into the

wild for them to be slaughtered - hopefully they won't be. It's such a

corrupt country and it's so violent, it really is. It's a beautiful

country, but it's so corrupt. So they go back in the game parks and

there's nothing to stop poachers getting in because the authorities

are giving them a back hander and it's dreadful. There's only one

thing wrong with that series, the time that it's on. I think it's on

too late. It's nice for all the family to watch it. I've had three

people say to me today, my kids can't watch it and I said tape it

for them or let them stay up. Hayley's topping herself before the

watershed and there's me kissing a baby elephant. Always been the story

of my life, put me on late. If you don't catch it, tape it. Paul's been

there looking after the animals. But here in the UK, the effort to look

after 100 seal pups who were orphaned after the storms is still

in full swing. We should be able to go to Norfolk now where Miranda is

playing mum. Look at these, Paul! I want one!

Hi. I'm still here. It's getting a bit noisy. Grey seals are here and

should be on the beach. But sadly due to a lot of the terrible

weather, they've been beached and have come here to be looked after.

I'm watching white to stop the spread of disease to the seals and

from them back to me. It's feeding time, as you can see. The seals that

we have got here are all named after breakfast items. So we have baked

bean, bagel and chocolate. With 100 seals here, staff are absolutely

working around-the-clock. Alison, the manager here, how have they

changed? When they arrived, they were white little pups and have got

big, lots of hard work but they are looking great. How are you coping

with so many? It's really hard, physical work, but we are just

getting on with it. The staff and volunteers have been fantastic, we

have had no Christmas but not to worry, the pups are doing great.

What are they being fed on? Mackerel and herring. Can I have a go? For

the member of the public, if they find a seal pup surrounded, what

should they do? They have sharp teeth, so don't approach them. Don't

try this at home feeding them fish, keep dogs away and phone the RSPCA

and see whether they need to be rescued or notted because some don't

need to be. Brilliant. Good luck with everything. If you find a

stranded seal, don't touch, keep dogs away and please phone the

RSPCA. Back to the studio. They're absolutely love lift Paul is

saying if he could he'd have one on the sew fasmt Watching telily with

my arm round them, yes. No problem, I'll have a baby seal. You dress up

in all sorts of wonderful outfits You are telling me. In this animal

seerry, but get the old hard hat on. It's getting close to the time where

you need to get behind the controls... It's small. Get behind

the controls of that crane. OK. Come here, I'll make it bigger!

For somebody with a little head, that. Perfect. March out there,

they'll sort you out. Good lad! Before that, here is an explanation

of how the huge cities get bigger and bigger. Cranes are familiar

sight on our skylines. We don't give them a second thoughts, but

constructing them is a massive undertaking. Sometimes things do go

wrong. Recently, this crane collapsed on the roof of the Cabinet

Office in London following high winds.

At the Sheffield site of HTC Plant Ltd, they have building cranes down

a fine art. You could call this the Crane School. Engineers come from

all over the UK to learn how to erect all manner of cranes safely.

So, how do you build a crane? First, a mobile crane begins building the

fixed crane section by section. Using one crane to build another

works well, but only up to a point. At a height of 70 metres, you soon

run out of big mobile cranes. Since some can reach heights of 250

metres, the only option is for the crane to make itself taller.

To do that, it uses its own arm capable of lifting 18 tonnes to pick

up each new section. Then the crane is broken in two in the middle, the

top is lifted up and the new section is slotted into place.

It's the riskiest thing they do. Tower cranes are designed to take a

certain amount of imbalance because there's a great big lump of concrete

down at the base. But, when you come to climbing the crane a bit higher,

you need to take out the bolt and, at that point, the tower needs toe

be perfectly balanced. This can only happen when the weight

is in just the right position on the angle, otherwise, 75 tonnes of metal

and the men working on it could come crashing 40 metres to the ground. At

once crane is in perfect balance, you can take the pins out, the top

of the crane is lifted using hydraulic jacks capable of

supporting over 130 tonnes, and a new section is inserted.

Because it's in perfect balance, the qhoel thing -- whole thing should

stay upright. If you get the weight in the wrong place, like this...

Disaster! The banksman on the ground knows the

set distance that core responds to this particular weight. He

communicates this information to the crane operator in the cab. They have

started to increase the height of the crane. All around the base of

the crane, there's an exclusion zone and nobody is allowed into that

zone. The guys on the crane at the moment

are both highly trained and they're wearing harnesses. I'm neither of

those things so I'm staying a safe distance away. With the first new

section ready to slide in, the men hammer out the huge pins.

The supervisor activates the hydraulics that shift the top of the

crane upwards. This is where the balance of the

crane is crucial with the pins removed the top section is

effectively disconnected with the rest of the crane and it's then

jacked up with hydraulic ramps. At the most dangerous part of the

process, the new section is slid into place. Then the puns are

hammered in to secure the tower once more -- the pins. A section in, it's

now four-and-a-half meeters taller. Now for the next one. As each

section is added, the next one is positioned at just the right

location to ensure the crane is perfectly balanced as it climbs.

In four hours, the crane has grown taller by 22 metres.

Without tower cranes, the buildings in our modern city wouldn't exist.

Yet how many of us have paused to think about the extraordinary

engineering that goes into making these things?

Thank you very much, Martin. As you can see, Paul is sitting comfortably

in his mini crane. Feeling all right? Yes. To find out what the

challenge is, over to Matt. OK, Paul? ! Yes. You have got to

hoist this ferry 100 kilos up to about my head height and then

gracefully transport it across the Mersey which is the tarpaulin

really. I should have had my wellies on for this. Then you have to park

it into Albert Dock. Doddle. All right. Whenever you're ready, go for

it. Three, two, one, off you go. Raise the ferry high. That's high

enough. That's good. Nice and gentle. He's got a swing opt ferry.

He's got to be quick. Go on, Paul. This is good. This is very good.

The spectators are very brave. There we are, look.

I'm enjoying this. Hang on. Watch out!

Tell you what, keep going, keep going. A I'm not responsible for any

damage. Earlier on, we asked for your pictures of animals that you

have rescued. Let's have a little look.

Hang on, we are lowering. Going down.

Parked in Albert Dock. How's that! Well done, Paul. Listen, thanks for

that. Thanks for all the pictures, we have had loads and you can catch

the first episode of Animal Orphans show tonight at 9 o'clock on ITV. We

are back tomorrow with Fiona Bruce, see you then, bye!