13/02/2012 Inside Out London

This week we investigate why some marriages are For Love, while

We joined the the Borders agency and as they disrupt the weddings

that they expect are simply to get into the UK.

Also tonight, would you give up a kidney for a loved one? We meet the

families donating their own organs because of a shortage of people on

the register. I don't know how to say thank you, really. I just hope

that you know. And, Shakespeare with the northern twang. We'd look

back at 20 years of Northern Broadsides bringing Shakespeare to

life. I think I was scared of Shakespeare as this construct for

For most people getting married would be one of the most important

days of their lives, but for others it is seen as an easy way of

entering the country by the back door. A Sham marriages, where

people tie the knot just to get residency in Britain, has become an

increasing problem. We joined the UK Border Agency in their latest

attempt to tackle the problem. The historic chapel of Hazlewood

Castle in North Yorkshire and childhood sweethearts Amy McHale

and Anthony Blasket are living the romantic dream. Would you take

Anthony as your husband? I will. With all their family and friends

sharing in the Big Day, their wedding is an experience they hope

to treasure for the rest of their lives. Possibly the most exciting

day. Nothing has topped it yet. not everyone sees life in such

romantic terms. Others have a completely different agenda. Sham

marriages are run by big international gangs who look at

ways to hang trade exploiter West Yorkshire, a world away from

Amy and Anthony's special day, preparations for an entirely

different kind of wedding are taking place. I'm at the Border

Agency HQ in Leeds city centre, where members of their specialist

Criminal and Financial Investigations team are preparing

to launch their latest operation on sham marriages. This operation will

take place this afternoon. Inside, more than 30 officers from the

agency are finalising their plan of action. Operation Polo involves an

Indian national and a French bride. Today, two suspect weddings are

scheduled in quick succession and the operation needs to be carefully

choreographed. How can you be sure that these are a sham marriages are

not normal ones? We have done an awful lot of work beforehand,

intelligence work. We have got excellent co-operation with the

registrars. It is the registrars to inform us of their suspicions. We

do all the checks with the police and other intelligence systems

dissatisfied herself the what we will be disrupting today is a sham

marriage. Briefing over, the team are now on their way to Leeds city

centre and the Registry Office where they believe the two sham

weddings are booked in. From here we need to be very discreet. Some

sham marriages are run by syndicates who employ spotters to

alert bogus brides and grooms if they are suspicious the Border

Agency are on their case. With plenty of time to go before the

first wedding takes place, the team enter via a back door and begin to

take up their position. We are all gathered in a room just down the

hall from where the wedding will take place. Now it is a waiting

game. The groom has turned up with another man. We have the bride as

well and three bridesmaids or witnesses. We are just waiting now

for confirmation that they have gone into the hall. A at what stage

do you decide it is time to go in? When they're inside and prepared to

be married. Two o'clock strikes. The first team are given the signal

to move in. I am from the Border Agency. We believe a sham marriages

about to take place and my officers will speak to you shortly. Sham

weddings are big business, with figures of up to �10,000 a time

changing hands. Typically, it's an Eastern European bride and a non-

European groom who will often pay a fixer to try and seek a way of

obtaining a marriage certificate to stay in this country. Just go with

my officer. All the parties are being split up and talk to about

the wedding. The groom has not objected at all. The key to this is

quick questioning, finding out what part everyone has here, and

deciding he is going to be arrested as part of a conspiracy. We will

get them out if you straight away and be ready for the next one.

are lead away, to be taken to separate police cells in West

Yorkshire. In operations over two separate fortnights in Leeds last

year Border Agency staff estimate they prevented 70 sham marriages

from going ahead. This second group has arrived so we are ready to go

on disrupt the second sham marriage of the day. Like the first

operation, there is a feeling of stunned silence as the officers go

about their work. It is a big deal to interrupt the wedding day.

It is not something we take lightly. With today's arrests coming to a

close, officers will continue their investigations into how the couples

came to this point. Charges vary from perjury to conspiring to

breach immigration law, with those convicted facing a maximum jail

sentence of 14 years. How has the operation gone? Both operations

were a success. How easy is it to disrupt these marriages? Certainly

since we have started doing this since March there has been an

increase and they have been brought to our attention on a more regular

basis, probably because the registrars are more aware of the

problem. Less than a mile from the Registry Office, the Parish Church

are also having to be more rigorous about who walks down the aisle.

Because of some of the abuses that did take place, we are now required

to check that the address that they have given us is a genuine address

by going to visit them, going to both houses of the bride and groom,

and we are required to check their identity by a series of documentary

evidence that proves they are who they say they are. Canon Bundock

says as a society we have a duty to ensure people seeking genuine

refuge in this country are given a chance. We have a sympathy for

everybody because you want to help people as Christians, especially

people in need. We are required to help strangers. We don't like

having to say no in any circumstance, but we can help

people to be dishonest and break the law. With 300 people arrested

for offences related to sham marriages in the past year, they

have become an increasing priority for the Government. The operations

that we went on, they were probably 30 officers to disrupt to sham

marriages. It seems to come expensive way to tackle the problem.

Disrupting an individual sham marriage, you obviously stop that

one and might arrest the facilitator, but it does send a

signal around the World's so it acts as a deterrent. A should more

Paras be given to register as to try and stop this process before it

even gets going? It is possible in the long run we might need to have

new legislation. Registrars are obliged to marry people who appear

legally to have the right to be married. That is something we are

looking at. For Amy and Anthony, marriage should mean a commitment

for life. It means different things for different people, but we have

been together a long time so it meant a long -- meant a lot to us.

Marriages are very precious thing that cement society together and

love is the thing that most of all makes the world go round. We have

seen to sham marriages here in Leeds. For many people are it

should be happiest day of their lives, but there has not been much

romance here. Following those nine arrests, the groom at the first

sham wedding has been deported while the bride and witnesses have

been released. The bridegroom and two witnesses at the second wedding

have been charged with conspiracy to breach immigration rules. In

addition, the bride and groom have Coming up: Shakespeare from the

heart of Halifax. We celebrate 20 years of Northern Broadsides bring

in the classics to live with them nor the and tone.

How would you feel that their loved one was dying and the only way to

save their life was to give up one of your own kidneys. It is a

difficult choice and one that people are being increasingly

forced to meet due to a lack of people being on the organ register.

Keeley Donovan has been to meet some remarkable donors and the

loved ones whose lives have been saved by their selfless acts of

giving. Without a donor kidney, this man's future was bleak. He had

tracked down his long-lost brother that he had not seen for 35 years.

He wanted to meet the man before it was too late. It would turn out to

be a life-saving reunion. He phoned the up out of the blue and offered

be one of his kidneys. We were speaking on the telephone and I

said to him, what about if I give you one of mine. The answer was

complete silence. It was a reunion that led father and son here hands

the story was picked up across the world. When he had his transplant

originally there were very few transplants at that time that it

happened. The gate that they give to the person who needs the

transplant, people must see the benefits that that creates an altar

doors to the person who has a successful transplant. 10 years on

and two sisters from Sheffield are preparing for the same operation.

Helen Thacker suffers from a rare genetic disorder that is destroying

In 20th March 10 I was told my kidney function was down to 20%.

They wanted to know if everybody would be able to be a living donor.

Tomorrow she's due to receive a donor kidney from Claire, her older

sister. It was hardly a decision. I knew I

was going to do it a long time ago. It just happens to have come at

this time. The operation to remove Claire's

kidney is the first of the day. She knows it could change her sister's

life but is aware it's not without risks for her. Helen faces an

anxious wait for news of how the surgery has gone.

This is a gift which I cannot describe personally in words,

Clare's altruism, her willingness to offer a kidney to her sister is

going to transform her life. Donor transplants are unique in

requiring perfectly healthy patients to undergo serious surgery

that cannot benefit them. It will be 20 minutes before the

anaesthetic takes affect, and then it will be up to four hours to

remove the Khedive. Meanwhile, Helen has a very anxious wait. --

removed the kidney. It's now Helen's turn to be wheeled

to the operating theatre. And she hears the news she's been waiting

for. I have had the news that she is out

and everything has gone well. I'm relieved about that. I just want to

get to the theatre and get it all done.

As Helen is being prepared for surgery, the organ is here in this

box. In 2001, David had to leave his

that family and friends in Australia and fly to England to

give his life-saving gift. Everyone is praying he comes back

safe and well. Everybody, give Dave a round of applause.

With as much to lose as his son had to gain, the day of the operation

arrived. I was scared. I'm pretty sure he

was. We held hands. He was in his bed and I was in mind. I just said

a few words to him of encouragement, and Mark squeezed my hand, and for

me, that was it, that was the moment. And we had not done it yet.

What would life have been like without the transplant? I think I

would not have had a life. It was going downhill that fast. On the

10th anniversary of the transplant, Mike and -- Mark has a normal life.

He can see his daughter grow up, which is something... I did not

know I had a granddaughter when I did this.

It was a life saving gift. I'm just grateful that my dad was there at

the time. I never dreamed of a day when I

would be called Dad because of a kidney.

Back at Northern General Hospital, Helen's transplant is well under

way. An opening is made in her side, into which the kidney will be

inserted. The organ is taken out of its protective wrapping and

prepared for transplantation. The blood vessels which once supplied

Claire's kidney are prepared to make the organ work inside her

sister. Less than one. Are -- 1.5 hours

after the initial surgery, the doctors are almost finished. The

delicate job of stitching the tiny vessels into place to connect the

kidney is a painstaking process. The renal artery, vein and

connection to the bladder must all be secured before it can function.

Finally, the moment Claire's kidney becomes part of her sister's

anatomy. The change of colour shows it is successfully plumbed into

Helen's abdomen. We can see the colour is now read.

I do not expect the kidney to work straight away. It will take a

little while. With the kidney successfully

connected, it's time to stitch Helen's side up, having closed the

deep wound. I think it took three hours, which

is good. I am pleased. In transplantation, you can tell the

difference. The patient has not been feeling well before the

transplantation. After transplantation, they are a

different person. But Helen is one of the fortunate

few. Most transplant organs are made available because of untimely

deaths. If you ask people in the street in

the UK, about 90% of people would support organ donation and

transportation, but only about a third are signed up and on the

register. If Mark or Helen wonder about how

long their kidneys could last, they could do worse than come here for

inspiration. This is the home of a woman who received her kidney

nearly 36 years ago. Jennifer Oxby was five months

pregnant with her second child when she suffered a double kidney

failure. She lost her baby, but after years of dialysis her brother

David offered her a kidney. She went on to have three daughters

after the operation. It's believed hers is the longest surviving

transplant kidney in the UK. So, all these years later, how do

you feel about what your brother did? Without his beard, I would not

be here and have my three daughters. -- his gift.

It is marvellous what he has done for us.

It's 12 days on from Helen's transplant, and she and her sister

Claire are recovering from their surgery.

Even if it had not worked, I would be happy we had tried. But for it

to work is just the best thing. That is what you do it for. I think

she has been very selfless, and I don't know whether I could have

done it. I am sure I would have done in the circumstances. I like

to think I would have done that. I don't know how to say thank you,

really, I just hope that you know. To add your name to the register,

Back in 1992, if you went to see a Shakespeare play, you expected all

the actors to speak in a very particular way. But 20 years ago

all that changed when Barrie Rutter set out to shake things up with a

new theatre company which spoke the Bard's words with a northern accent.

Lucy Hester has been to meet the man who created Northern Broadsides.

Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this son of

York. And all the clouds that lowered upon our House in the deep

bosom of the ocean buried. Now are our brows bound with victorious

wreath, our bruised arms hung up for monuments. Our stern alarums

turned to merry meetings, our desperate marches to delightful

measures. I think I'd been scared of

Shakespeare as a construct for posh people who wear tights and have a

cabbage down their front and speak with a lisp. "My lord, my liege,"

etc. I didn't imagine for a second that Shakespeare was for people

like me, who talked a bit like this. What was great was he said, "Let's

approach it like work. My dad was a trawlerman, your dad was a

foundryman. Let's go to work." And that's what we did.

Barrie Rutter is the artistic director and founder of the

Northern Broadsides theatre company. Richard III was the first play ever

to be produced by Northern Broadsides, here in a boatyard in

Hull. Fellow actors thought I was mad. It

was a sort of revolutionary thing to do in 1992 - classic plays in a

non-theatrical setting with a bunch of Northern actors all genuinely

using their Northern cadences. A newspaper had printed "Mah kingdumm

for an hoss!" Of course I didn't do the line like that. It was: "A

horse, boom, boom, a horse, boom, boom, my kingdom for a horse, boom

boom!" Fast forward 20 years and Northern

Broadsides is about to embark on a five-month tour. We catch up with

Barrie again in Stoke rehearsing Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.

It's a real box of fireworks, verbal fireworks and you can't hope

to get every witty conceit in it, but it's delightful to play and I

hope it's going to be delightful to Barrie is playing the part of the

schoolmaster, but he's also directing a company of 17 actors.

I play Don Adriano de Amado. To congratulate the princess in her

pavilion in the posteriors of the day which the rude multitude call

the afternoon. He is a fantastical Spaniard and he

is full of himself, but possibly not as intelligent as he things.

I'm Sophia and I play the princess. She's a bit bolshy. She's not one

of the fainting, falling in love, running after men kind of girls.

She's got an old head on her shoulders.

One thing everyone seems to be struggling with is a musical number

featuring a rather unusual instrument.

You've got to practise the bottle. If a day goes by without you

practising the bottle or plucking a string, it's too long, it's too

Everybody who's not playing a main instrument has a bottle that's

filled up to a point, and when you blow in it, it doesn't workWhen you

blow in it, it makes a certain note. When it's fine-tuned, it'll sound

And there's a bit of extra pressure today as the rehearsal will be

watched by a small audience. We always had a day when we invite

our friends to come and observed. It doesn't matter what state we are

in. In fact, the less polished the better. This afternoon, we will see

the beach events before this messenger comes in with the news.

Messenger? For those of you who've never seen Love's Labour's

Lost,here's what's happens. Turn the sound down if you don't want to

know how it ends. Me and Adam, who plays Costard,

have a bit of a set-to. We have a fight that turns into a Morris

dance - as all good fights do. I bet you didn't know that happened

in Shakespeare, did you? They've got me dancing, fighting with

sticks, throwing knives - all sorts of stuff.

So where does the messenger fit into all this merriment?

There's a famous interruption near the end of the play where the

princess gets the news of her dad's death and they all say, "But we're

in love with you" And that's the "lost" of the title.

Northern Broadsides has worked with many actors over the years. But one

in particular launched his career in a very different direction after

playing a famous Shakespearean lead. Comedian Lenny Henry surprised

everyone back in 2009 when he took the role of Othello for Northern

Broadsides. Othello launched my career as a

serious actor. It was fantastic because for the first time people

saw me in a different light. I love being a comedian because it's my

job, but I love movies and drama. I'm always the one crying and

saying "I'm really moved." And I wanted a chance to move people.

Barrie gave me that chance and I'll always be grateful for that.

What was it like to work with Barrie?

Barrie is very hands-on. He'll stop you and move your hands and push

your bum in. Suddenly you're standing taller and he says, "Stop

crying! Stop shuffling!" He directs It's now the day before opening

night in Stoke and everyone's busy getting ready for the dress

rehearsal. This is the last chance to put

things right. If you haven't learnt it by now, it's your own stupid

fault, really. I'm feeling surprisingly calm. For

a couple of weeks I've been pretending to be a glamorous

princess, but now the hair and make-up team have swooped in and

made me into one. There's a general sense of But I

want the actors to be comfortable, know what they're doing. And

through the next 36 hours you get the inspiration of an audience and

the extra sparkle and twinkle that The moment when everything comes

together it's like, "Ahh, it's landed." It's quite delightful when

that happens, whether you're doing Othello or whether you're doing

this play. The fact that Northern Broadsides

allows people from all parts of the country to participate meant that

my resistance was broken down. They're part of the landscape now

and we're to be thankful to them because they've opened the door to

people who don't necessarily speak with a Received Pronunciation

accent. And Love's Labours Lost will soon

be on tour, returning to perform here in Halifax, its spiritual home,

They've come a long way since that first performance of Richard III

back in 1992. It was not all plain sailing. There

were problems and cynicism. But the Arts one out in the end, as they

should. Our strong arms be our conscience,

swords our law! March on, join bravely. Let us to it, Pellmell. If

not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell!" If you want to contact us

about any of tonight's stories, you can do so through Facebook or

Twitter. That is all from Halifax, but make

sure you join us for next week's programme.