07/11/2011 Inside Out West Midlands


07/11/2011

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Hello and welcome to Inside Out, with stories you need to know about

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Tonight, protests from Black Country horse keepers, as the

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bailiffs move in to catch the wild horses of Sandwell and remove

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tethered horses from council land. They're part of us. If the horse

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isn't here, there's nothing for us really, cos that's all we've got.

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Anti-capitalism or anti-government cuts? We go behind the scenes of

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some new protest movements and meet others who say austerity measures

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have not gone far enough. Time for us to get real! Let's face up to

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the truth. Our public finances are in a total shambles. Britain is

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skint. And Jasper Carrott has the story of

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a radio legend, as he catches up with the consumer crusader from BBC

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local radio. That's all coming up on tonight's Inside Out, with me,

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Horses have been a feature of our landscape for more than two

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centuries. The origin of the Black Country horse is the need for

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industry to have some kind of infrastructure, which means haulage

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and logistics in modern terms. They're a legacy of days gone by,

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but at one time, these horses were the power behind the Industrial

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Revolution. All these were carrying goods between pits and forges and

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foundries and ironworks in the Black Country, and of course moving

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the finished goods out of the Black Country. But horse-ownership, like

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the industries they once powered, could soon be a thing of the past,

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as Sandwell Council has decided that grazing on public land will no

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longer be tolerated. On public open space, the council will not allow

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any horses to be tethered or loose. And so the horse owners of Sandwell

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have become locked in battle with the council, as they fight to

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preserve their way of life. The sight of horses tethered and

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grazing on open spaces in parts of Sandwell is a common feature of the

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landscape. They're part of us. If the horse isn't here, there's

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nothing for us really, cos that's all we've got. Horses have been in

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Malcolm's family for generations. He grew up with horses as a young

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boy. It's something he hopes his children will also be able to do.

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can remember my grandad giving me a horse when I was younger, and he

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said, "This is your horse". I basically worked myself up. Now

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I've got six horses, so I've done it all myself. They're my life to

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me, to be honest. That's all I work for, all I live for. My family and

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my horses. The horses are more than an old tradition. They represent

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quality family time. It's a commitment and responsibility they

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learn at a young age. If my mate's saying, "Do you want to come out to

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play?", and my dad asks me if I want to ride the horse, I'd rather

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ride my horse, basically. All these kids here being in trouble, playing

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out too late. I'm missing that, getting out of trouble, keeping out

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of trouble. I want my children to have what I've had. Cos I've been

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brought up with horses the old- fashioned way, I've learnt a lot of

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respect for people and animals. So I want my children to be brought up

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exactly the same way as me. Put them in the stable. Good lad.

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while some horses are tethered, others have been set loose. Locals

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told us they were dumped years ago and have been roaming free and

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breeding ever since. They say the tethered horses are not the problem.

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But the council disagrees. We've been using this land for... It's

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been over 60, 70 years, the land's been used for horses. Horses was

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around here before the councillor was even born, I suppose, and

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houses was built. So I don't agree with trying to change the way it is

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in the Black Country. That's all we do. Horses, horses, day and night,

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that's all we do. Mix with the horses. We don't drink, we don't go

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out. But the horses are not a welcome sight for everyone. Many of

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the residents in this area believe they pose a danger and a nuisance

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to the community, and want the council to act. On the grounds of

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public safety, earlier this year, Sandwell Council introduced a

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strict no-grazing policy across all of its parks and green spaces.

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They've employed the services of a horse bailiff to issue notices and

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remove illegally tethered or roaming horses. Malcolm's father

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Philip says they understand the council's safety concerns, but

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argue that the problem is not with their horses. I agree with the

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loose horses. They are dangerous, yeah. I totally agree with the

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loose horses. But our horses are never, never loose. If they're

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loose, they're tied up within two or three minutes. There's somebody

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always here to put them back on the tethers. They've never had hassle

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with us on the city, never. They've never caused no accidents or

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nothing, our horses have. We've had them all our lives. Since early

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this year, the council has introduced bailiffs to enforce

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their policy and seize horses illegally grazing on council land,

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whether loose or tethered. But the horse owners have serious concerns

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over the practice of the bailiffs and told us: The bailiffs are

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targeting tethered horses are failing to tackle the horses

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roaming loose. The bailiffs are removing tethered horses without

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giving owners the required notice or opportunity to move the animals

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themselves. And the bailiffs are impounding horses at night,

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something the owners believe is unnecessary and causes great

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distress to their animals. This footage was given to us by one

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horse owner. She didn't want to be identified, as she was afraid her

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horse would be taken again. We're unable to verify its authenticity,

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but she claims it shows the bailiffs taking her horse at night,

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breaching government and industry guidelines. It got taken of the

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night time. The bailiffs came and take him at 11.30pm at night.

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you have any warning? No. They said they warned us but I know for a

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fact that they never cos I went over there every day. How much did

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you have to pay? It was about �4 short of �2,000. Nearly �2,000?

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Yeah, definitely. Rossendales refused to take part in the

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programme, but in a statement told us: The Local Authority tells

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Rossendale's which sites to attend and loose horses are removed first.

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Notice is always given, but if ignored, there is no alternative

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but to remove them. Of 14 animals taken, only one was reclaimed.

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Horses taken at night are handled by qualified officers who treat

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them with the utmost care. residents we spoke to tell us

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they're willing to help deal with the stray horses, and simply want

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somewhere safe to graze their animals. The council keep saying

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they've got no money and then want to get rid of pieces of land. We're

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willing to pay for pieces of land. We're willing to pay for this over

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here to keep our horses on. Today, the horse owners are taking their

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battle to the Council House, in the hope of speaking to someone. We've

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emailed them, we've been up there, we've phoned them. We've done

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everything and nobody wants to speak to us. We handed a petition

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in with about 350 signatures, and still nobody has come back saying

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what's happened to the petition or if anybody's going to do anything

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about it. If it comes to it, I'll do them every week until the

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council talk to us and sort something out. So how did you get

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:08:44.:08:46.

on? No reply. Just been to the council, asked them if somebody

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could come out and talk to us. And he's just said straight, point

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blank, no. Nobody's coming out to see us, point blank. What do you do

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now? Just keep doing these till something gets sorted out.

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Somebody's got to talk to us. They've got to compromise halfway

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somewhere along the line. But later on that afternoon, there was

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someone available to talk to us. Councillor Ian Jones started by

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explaining the council's position. They are breaking the law. We have

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employed bailiffs, which all the horse owners know, because they've

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petitioned. They are fully aware that on public open space, the

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council will not allow any horses to be tethered or loose. Resident

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and horse owners say the council ignore their complaints if the

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stray horses are on private land. You will see horses on private land.

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And on private land, the council is not responsible for those horses.

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So it is these loose horses that are causing the problem, and yet

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the majority that have been taken by the bailiffs are the tethered

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ones, and I appreciate what you're saying, that it's a safety issue...

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Well, no, no. It's the loose horses that are causing the problems.

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They're the ones that should be taken? We should do both. One of

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the issues with the tethered horses, as I've said, and the government

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regulations from DEFRA about no tethered horses around rights of

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way and other public footpaths means that they are breaking the

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law. So how many of the stray and roaming horses have the council

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taken? I think it's about three or four at the moment. How many of the

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tethered horses? About 12. owners have been in touch with the

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bailiffs and the bailiffs have said, "There will be a charge to return

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your horse". The owner pays the �2,000, gets their horse back.

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You're back to square one? that's where responsibility comes.

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If the horse is back on the land, you haven't solved the problem?

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don't have to solve the problem. The council does have grazing land

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that horse owners can hire at Sandwell Valley Country Park. But

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it's full and there's a five-year waiting list for places. So with no

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alternative sites available, and both the horse owners and council

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refusing to back down, this is one battle that could take a long time

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to resolve. We had a very rich family life but the horses are all

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we've got and the tethering's all we've got as well. We won't stop

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having them. They'll never, never stop it. Never. They can do what

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they want. We'll never stop. So what do you think? Is it fair to

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tether horses, and what can the council do to round up the ones

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Now, they've been camping out in cities across the world. Anti-

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capitalist and anti-cuts protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral in

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London were mirrored by smaller tented protests, including one here

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in Birmingham. Earlier this year, Tony started filming some of the

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new protest movements which have sprung up in response to the

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:11:52.:11:54.

economic crisis. Here's his report. CHANTING: Topshop! Pay your tax!

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Whose money? Our money! They call themselves UK Uncut. Cut back!

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Fight back! Cut, cut, cut back! Fight, fight, fight back! For a

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year now they've been arranging to meet through Twitter, Facebook and

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old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Their mission is to disrupt and protest,

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to make a point about the cuts being imposed. They say cut back!

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We say fight back! Their concern is the people who don't normally have

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a voice as loud as theirs. Miss Selfridge! Pay your tax! I feel

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like I'm a nothing. That I don't count anywhere in this world.

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embarking on some very bleak, sad times. You probably hadn't heard of

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UK Uncut until these disturbances in London in March. The violence

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and vandalism made the headlines at an anti-cuts protest involving half

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a million people. Most of those arrested that day were the 145 who

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held a peaceful sit-in at the luxury food store, Fortnum & Mason.

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They were protesting over alleged tax avoidance by the business's

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owners. So we decided to follow the activities of UK Uncut over the

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summer. We'd also get the alternative view from those who

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believe a policy of cuts is right. Indeed, there are those who think

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:13:19.:13:22.

the cuts should be deeper. It is about time that government started

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to stand up for hard-pressed British taxpayers. It looked like

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we were heading for a summer of discontent. April - a warm day in

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Nottingham. UK Uncut supporters gather on a street corner dressed

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as nurses and hospital workers. It's a busy Saturday morning. They

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have a list of targets but the police don't know where they are.

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All of a sudden, there's a quick march to a bank. Lloyds TSB, a

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bailed-out bank, which is 41% owned by taxpayers. This government is

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taking the NHS and, in effect, privatising it. They go in to

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protest at news the banks made �2 billion profit and paid no tax. And

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spent 200 million on staff bonuses. We wanted to know what motivates

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someone to get involved in action Can mummy help colour? On that one.

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Sam Dixon has lost her job because of the cuts, but says that's not

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why she has decided to give up part of her weekend to protest. I'm more

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outraged that people are losing services and people's lives are

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going to be put at risk. I'm going to be able to find another job and

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These are the people Sam means. Those helped by a programme called

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Supporting People. It's upset me regarding what's happening to sort

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of frontline services, because these people are either going to

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end up sort of dying, or needing some severe statutory intervention,

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:15:26.:15:29.

which I find is a complete and utter false economy. May, a rainy

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day in Lincoln. Sam and the UK Uncut protestors from Nottingham

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are on a day trip gathering new supporters. This time they're

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dressed as bankers. We are here to facilitate your peaceful protest,

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OK? First time I come across this, but it's very worthwhile. I think

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it's a good thing they're doing it. Hopefully some people will listen

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and something will change. Once more, it's a peaceful march around

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the city. The police keep a watchful eye, but not everyone is

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happy with the demonstrations. They're wasting tax payers' money.

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Wasting police time as well. If they paid taxes, they'd have an

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argument, wouldn't they. They don't pay taxes, they're all students.

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Idiots. They're not all students though. They are. I can tell from

:16:25.:16:28.

here. How can you tell someone's a student by looking at them? I can

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tell. It's a week later on a sunny Saturday morning in Loughborough.

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Jago Pearson is up early for a student. He's off to London, to a

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demonstration in favour of cuts. It's organised by the Taxpayers'

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Alliance. There are people here who believe the cuts don't go far

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enough. We're not even going to start paying back this debt until

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five years' time, at the current rate. And the interest payment is

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going to get bigger and bigger and that's money we can't spend on

:16:59.:17:03.

anything else. What they want are deeper cuts to public services, to

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get the economy back on track. is time for us to get real. Let's

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face up to the truth. Our public finances are in a total shambles.

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Britain is skint. I'm not a public schoolboy. State educated. We've

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got to accept that everyone's going to get hit in various different

:17:26.:17:30.

ways by any cuts that are happening or any further cuts maybe we are

:17:30.:17:33.

calling for, but the fact is that we can't let our vested interest

:17:33.:17:37.

get in the way of what's good for the country and what's good for,

:17:37.:17:40.

say, our grandchildren in 50, 60 years' time and for the future of

:17:40.:17:45.

the country. June. Nottingham, and around the country the teachers are

:17:45.:17:48.

on strike over pensions, and UK Uncut are supporting them on a

:17:48.:17:58.
:17:58.:17:59.

March. This is another example of the mess the bankers have left us

:17:59.:18:02.

in, and the Government are expecting the taxpayer to foot the

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bill. But a decision has been taken to save money on the public sector

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pension bill. And for people like Jago Pearson that's the right thing

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to do. There are people out there who do believe the cuts are right,

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and we could be going further in some cases. Take away the

:18:20.:18:23.

bureaucracy, and of course the most important thing, the European Union,

:18:23.:18:26.

we spend billions of pounds every year on the European Union. It's

:18:26.:18:36.
:18:36.:18:36.

just about time that stops. August. Riots in London. Disturbances and

:18:36.:18:40.

arrests in Nottingham. While there's injustices and inequalities

:18:40.:18:43.

taking place on that scale then I'll be taking part in whatever

:18:43.:18:49.

actions I can get to. October. Westminster. UK Uncut from

:18:49.:18:54.

Nottingham join in. And now they occupy the Old Market Place in

:18:54.:18:58.

Nottingham. A movement of outrage, which isn't showing any signs of

:18:59.:19:08.
:19:09.:19:09.

going away. Finally tonight, we pay tribute to a BBC local radio legend

:19:09.:19:13.

who's giving up his daily consumer show on Radio WM, and just like Sir

:19:13.:19:16.

Terry Wogan severely cutting back on his broadcasting hours. This is

:19:16.:19:26.
:19:26.:19:26.

the story of Ed Doolan, brought to you by Jasper Carrott. It's 11.50

:19:26.:19:33.

and Ed Doolan is getting ready to go live on air. He's done this more

:19:33.:19:37.

than 9,000 times. But today, for the first time in four decades,

:19:37.:19:46.

he's nervous. He's hiding it, but he is quite upset about today. I

:19:46.:19:49.

think there'll be a few moments later on in the programme. Ed is

:19:49.:19:52.

one of the longest serving radio presenters in the world. He's

:19:52.:19:55.

interviewed the grandest and the greatest. But this is his last show

:19:55.:20:00.

before going into semi-retirement. There's a certain nervousness which

:20:00.:20:07.

I'm not used to, because I don't get nervous. I used to. For 40

:20:07.:20:10.

years Ed has used his microphone to stick up for Brummies and challenge

:20:10.:20:13.

authorities. When he gets on to you, you're going to get a tough time.

:20:13.:20:20.

We had some fearsome rows. I was scared stiff. Ed is our voice. He's

:20:20.:20:25.

fearless. He was even named one of history's 100 famous Brummies, but

:20:25.:20:28.

what few realise is that Ed isn't from Birmingham at all. He's

:20:28.:20:38.
:20:38.:20:46.

Australian. G'day. So, how come a complete outsider from Down Under

:20:46.:20:51.

became one of this city's most famous adopted sons? Let's find out.

:20:51.:20:58.

We're going to be having our usual consumer phone-ins. I'm itching to

:20:58.:21:01.

know why Ed ended up in Brum in the first place, leaving Sydney's sun-

:21:01.:21:06.

drenched harbour behind. So why would a snotty nosed kid from the

:21:07.:21:10.

suburbs of Sydney want to come to Birmingham and do local radio for

:21:10.:21:14.

the BBC? Well, what I wanted to do was to do radio. I was obsessed

:21:14.:21:22.

with radio from about the age of four or five. A typical evening in

:21:22.:21:25.

the Doolan household was to sit down and watch my mother doing the

:21:25.:21:27.

ironing, and listen to the transcription service, the BBC

:21:27.:21:35.

transcription service that they were sending through. And they'd be

:21:35.:21:38.

broadcasting people like Frankie Howerd, The Goons and Take It From

:21:38.:21:48.
:21:48.:21:49.

Here and Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh. I loved it. For the ninth time this

:21:49.:21:55.

season, Much-Binding takes the air. Inspired by a notion that British

:21:55.:21:58.

radio was the place to be, a fresh- faced Ed Doolan journeyed to our

:21:58.:22:01.

shores. Soon he got his chance on Birmingham's brand-new commercial

:22:01.:22:04.

station, BRMB. BRMB, playing Birmingham's best mix of the 80s,

:22:04.:22:14.
:22:14.:22:20.

90s and today. I've brought Ed back to see how things have changed.

:22:20.:22:24.

Gone are the pictures of David Essex and ABBA. In those early days,

:22:24.:22:27.

Ed was an outsider and desperately needed to get Brummies on his side.

:22:27.:22:34.

He told friends he had a plan. remember Ed telling me he heard a

:22:34.:22:37.

show in Australia on radio that changed his life. It was somebody

:22:37.:22:40.

trying to get social justice and trying to change things and make a

:22:40.:22:43.

difference to people by a radio show. Ed thought "I would like do

:22:43.:22:46.

that, I would like to have my programmes make a difference to

:22:46.:22:56.
:22:56.:22:58.

people." Across the West Midlands, on 95.6FM, Lunch with Ed Doolan on

:22:58.:23:07.

BBC WM. Ed's programme certainly made a difference to listener Sam.

:23:07.:23:10.

I've been listening Ed Doolan for nearly 30 years and one day he

:23:10.:23:14.

saved my life. Sam heard Ed talking on air about a rare health

:23:14.:23:18.

condition called abdominal aortic aneurysm. Concerned, he booked a

:23:18.:23:27.

scan. The scan showed up that I had a large aneurysm and I needed to be

:23:27.:23:30.

dealt with immediately, and the next two days I was with the

:23:30.:23:35.

consultant at Heartlands Hospital. But Ed really made a name for

:23:35.:23:37.

himself when he started helping listeners with their consumer

:23:37.:23:46.

problems. Back then it was pioneering stuff. Hello, this is

:23:46.:23:51.

the city's engineers department. Thank you for calling to report a

:23:51.:23:57.

defect. Hello. This is the Ed Doolan Show, on Radio WM. Mr Day

:23:57.:24:01.

from Edgbaston would like to record a message. Yes. There is a blocked

:24:01.:24:04.

drain blocked up by the Severn Trent Water authority. For three

:24:04.:24:07.

months. For three months. If you don't know what the hell's going on

:24:07.:24:11.

in your own city, there's no help for you. You've got some work to do

:24:11.:24:14.

with the customers. We have indeed. If there's a problem, he says let's

:24:14.:24:18.

find the person who can sort that problem out, and he's on the phone,

:24:18.:24:22.

"Get me the phone number for Fred," whoever it is at the Town Hall. And

:24:22.:24:25.

he's on the phone. "Fred, it's Ed Doolan here, a lot of people have

:24:25.:24:28.

been worried about..." and you think he just jumps in with all

:24:28.:24:38.

four feet, you know. So becoming a consumer champion may have made Ed

:24:38.:24:41.

popular with Brummies, but it put him on headbutting terms with some

:24:41.:24:44.

of the most powerful leaders in the region. Isn't that so? Are you

:24:44.:24:47.

saying there are people working for Birmingham Council who are

:24:47.:24:51.

frightened that if they say what is going on, that they will be sacked?

:24:51.:24:58.

That's exactly what I'm saying. it was with Midlands Transport

:24:58.:25:03.

Chief Phil Bateman that Ed had his most notorious battles. So come on

:25:03.:25:07.

Phil, how volatile were those early sets to with Ed? Oh, they were

:25:07.:25:11.

pretty volatile. They were pretty blood and guts - usually my blood,

:25:11.:25:16.

my guts. I didn't like him at first, that's the truth of the matter. I

:25:16.:25:20.

felt he was aggressive. Overly aggressive at times. What were the

:25:20.:25:25.

arguments about? You name it, he'd have an argument with you about it.

:25:25.:25:28.

He'd be very nice to start with. He'd engage you in conversation,

:25:28.:25:31.

and then the next minute, your mics went on, the red light went on and

:25:32.:25:34.

he changed, turned into the Tasmanian devil! Of course Ed

:25:34.:25:39.

normally came out on top. You ever wondered why you can catch a bus on

:25:39.:25:42.

Boxing Day? That's one of Ed's many victories, but in 1989 an

:25:42.:25:46.

extraordinary case came along that really tested the Aussie mettle.

:25:46.:25:50.

Here a prisoner who absconded from staff at jail gave himself up while

:25:50.:25:53.

taking part in a radio phone-in. made national headlines when he

:25:54.:26:00.

took a call from a prisoner on the run. Casting BBC health and safety

:26:00.:26:03.

rules to the wind, he agreed to escort Steven Winnery into custody

:26:03.:26:08.

safely. Winnery agreed to be picked up, provided no police were

:26:08.:26:17.

involved. He also agreed to the presence of cameras. Supposing you

:26:17.:26:22.

had found a gun, what would you have done? I never thought of that.

:26:22.:26:27.

I never thought I would. When we got in the car, he thanked me and

:26:27.:26:31.

said "I don't want to go to the prison. I want to go the nearest

:26:31.:26:34.

police station." And I said "Well, I don't know where the nearest

:26:34.:26:40.

police station is." He said, "I'll show you the way." You know, Ed

:26:40.:26:44.

didn't just help the man in the street, he also helped the man on

:26:44.:26:49.

the stage. $$NEWLINE# When I get my moped out on the road $$NEWLINE#

:26:49.:26:55.

I'm going to ride, ride, ride. # When I released Funky Moped in 1975,

:26:55.:26:58.

few people outside Birmingham knew who I was, but an appearance on Top

:26:58.:27:03.

of the Pops changed everything. That was thanks to Ed, who had been

:27:03.:27:13.
:27:13.:27:13.

promoting the record for weeks. It was my big break. Isn't that nice.

:27:13.:27:18.

Ed's not retiring completely. Oh no. New shows on Fridays and Sundays

:27:18.:27:21.

will keep him busy in Brum. But his last daily consumer prog, the show

:27:21.:27:24.

that made his name, is almost over. It's been an emotional two hours,

:27:25.:27:28.

so will he be able to stick to his script? The problem is when the

:27:28.:27:31.

emotions get involved he often discards it and speaks from the

:27:31.:27:34.

heart. I don't know whether he'll be able to stick to that, to be

:27:35.:27:40.

honest. As the clock creeps towards the hour, Ed delivers those parting

:27:40.:27:46.

words. I'll be back live, next Friday, at 12 noon. But now, until

:27:46.:27:51.

next we meet, thanks for listening. A professional to the end, Ed stuck

:27:51.:27:55.

to his script, word-for-word. After nearly 40 years of sticking up for

:27:55.:27:58.

the people of Birmingham, it's little wonder that we Brummies have

:27:58.:28:01.

made Ed Doolan one of our own. What an honour we have bestowed upon him.

:28:02.:28:05.

However, Birmingham and the Black Country have a lot to thank him for.

:28:05.:28:15.
:28:15.:28:27.

I know I have. Well, that's all for tonight. Join me again next Monday.

:28:27.:28:30.

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