:00:04. > :00:07.Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Nick Owen and Suzanne Virdee.
:00:07. > :00:10.The headlines tonight: Unemployment is up again in the
:00:10. > :00:14.region to nearly a quarter of a million so why are there more than
:00:14. > :00:17.30,000 job vacancies? Whether these jobs just don't fit the aspirations
:00:17. > :00:20.of the people who live and work in this region, it is very
:00:20. > :00:23.disappointing. Our advice was ignored and the
:00:23. > :00:27.Government's strategy may have harmed people - doctors hit out
:00:27. > :00:34.over the handling of swine flu. can't imagine that the special
:00:34. > :00:37.arrangements saved anybody's life or even saved a day of sickness.
:00:37. > :00:41.Angry teachers threaten to go on strike again over plans to turn a
:00:41. > :00:51.primary school into an academy. And at a time when every penny
:00:51. > :00:57.
:00:57. > :01:01.counts, how you can tell the real Good evening, welcome to
:01:01. > :01:03.Wednesday's Midlands Today. Tonight, business leaders accuse the
:01:03. > :01:09.Government of not acting quickly enough and say confidence is
:01:09. > :01:16.falling as unemployment rises again. The number of people without a job
:01:16. > :01:19.now stands at 243,000. That's up 9,000 on last month's figure. That
:01:19. > :01:23.translates to 9.2% of the workforce which is higher than the national
:01:23. > :01:26.average. At the same time, figures released today by the Department
:01:26. > :01:29.for Work and Pensions show that there are plenty of jobs available
:01:29. > :01:39.with more than 32,500 vacancies being advertised in the region's
:01:39. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:45.From frontline to phone line. Gareth Towle was a soldier for ten
:01:45. > :01:53.years serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Back on Civvy Street, he went
:01:53. > :01:58.looking for a job. This was not the first place I came to. It is so
:01:58. > :02:01.hard to find a job coming out. I sent about 30 applications out and
:02:01. > :02:03.nothing came back so I am lucky here.
:02:03. > :02:09.He got lucky at Autonet Insurance in Stoke-on-Trent which employs 500
:02:09. > :02:13.people. They've come up with a new way of recruiting staff. We started
:02:13. > :02:18.recruitment innings which allowed people the opportunity to come and
:02:18. > :02:22.talk to us -- recruitment evenings. Sell themselves instead of relying
:02:22. > :02:25.on a CV. The irony at a time of growing
:02:25. > :02:27.unemployment is that job centres across the region have around
:02:27. > :02:34.30,000 vacancies. Employers complain of a skills shortage, but
:02:34. > :02:38.getting a foot in the door is still a problem. It's terrible, I have
:02:39. > :02:45.applied for 20 jobs in the last two weeks. Any feedback was back none
:02:45. > :02:48.at all. What are you applying for? Anything really. Cleaning, bar work,
:02:48. > :02:51.shops, factory worker put it seems there is nothing.
:02:51. > :02:54.Just yards away in Worcester city centre, a new retail site's being
:02:54. > :02:56.built. When ASDA advertised 300 jobs here, it was reported that
:02:56. > :02:58.3,500 people applied. The Government's now being urged to
:02:58. > :03:07.kick-start growth by investing in big infrastructure projects to
:03:08. > :03:14.create jobs now. Unemployment is the most serious issue facing the
:03:14. > :03:17.region now. With the eurozone crisis, growing uncertainty and it
:03:17. > :03:20.is likely to get worse for some time to come so if we want to be in
:03:20. > :03:25.a better place next year, and nationally avoid 3 million
:03:25. > :03:28.unemployed, we need to get going now and start soon. This company
:03:28. > :03:31.employs 28 skilled people on the side.
:03:31. > :03:34.What I'm being told is a key issue is confidence, or in this case,
:03:34. > :03:41.lack of it. And it's only when business regains confidence in the
:03:41. > :03:46.economy that they'll start recruiting. What we are reacting to
:03:47. > :03:50.is the news of potential eurozone problems, potential double-dip
:03:50. > :03:55.recessions, the problems of banks' lending to each other and that is
:03:55. > :04:04.affected people's confidence. We do not want to get caught out like in
:04:04. > :04:07.200 wait. -- like in 2000 a date. - - like in 2008.
:04:07. > :04:09.But with key manufacturers like Jaguar Land Rover expanding, and
:04:09. > :04:12.the feel-good factor from the olympics and the Queen's diamond
:04:12. > :04:14.jubilee, business leaders are hoping 2012 will restore faith in
:04:14. > :04:16.the economy. Joining us now is our political
:04:16. > :04:22.editor, Patrick Burns. More disappointing news on the job
:04:22. > :04:26.figures today. What's been the reaction at Westminster? Labour MPs
:04:26. > :04:33.are more than disappointed. Liam Byrne says we are looking at an
:04:33. > :04:36.unemployment emergency. He has a constituency in Birmingham and has
:04:36. > :04:40.one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and it is
:04:40. > :04:44.proof that the Government's measures are not working. But talk
:04:44. > :04:49.to local Conservative MPs and they say that their measures need more
:04:49. > :04:53.time to work through. Things like the work programme, the work
:04:53. > :04:56.experience project and the youth contract. Joining the here at
:04:56. > :05:01.Westminster are a Labour MP for Stoke South, the shadow Justice
:05:01. > :05:04.Secretary and Gammon Williamson, the Conservative MP for South
:05:04. > :05:09.Staffordshire for -- Gavin Williamson. Birmingham Chamber of
:05:09. > :05:12.Commerce who are not usually the sternest critics, say that you
:05:13. > :05:18.should be acted more quickly to arrest this problem. What we are
:05:18. > :05:23.doing is addressing this by putting in place things like
:05:23. > :05:29.apprenticeships, 160,000 subsidised new jobs for young people, getting
:05:29. > :05:31.them off unemployment benefit and getting them into proper work and
:05:31. > :05:37.430,000 new apprenticeships, that is what we are creating. A solid
:05:37. > :05:42.progress that Gavin is talking about? Here we go again,
:05:42. > :05:48.unemployment soars in Conservative Government. This is an emergency
:05:48. > :05:52.and even in Gavin's constituency, it is up again. This government
:05:53. > :05:57.needs to act. But you are saying you would not reverse the cuts so
:05:57. > :06:02.you cannot take too much issue with that. We are not saying that. We
:06:02. > :06:06.are saying we would need to make cuts, because in 2015, the
:06:06. > :06:11.projected date of the next general election, will inherit an appalling
:06:11. > :06:14.situation we will have to act quickly to reverse that. We have
:06:14. > :06:19.also found that there are around 30,000 vacancies. Does that say
:06:19. > :06:23.something about the absence of skills? Should jobseeker's reassess
:06:23. > :06:27.expectations? We are seeing the Government putting in an enormous
:06:27. > :06:33.amount of effort creating new jobs. Jaguar Land Rover announces they
:06:33. > :06:36.will create new jobs in my constituency and Amazon, private
:06:36. > :06:41.sector companies creating jobs. We need to get the right skills and
:06:41. > :06:48.that is what we are doing with apprenticeships. We are not seen
:06:48. > :06:52.those skills, though. It is ridiculous to say these things
:06:52. > :06:56.because what we need to have is a proper programme like we had under
:06:56. > :07:01.Labour where people are trained for those jobs. Thank you to you both.
:07:01. > :07:04.Next week, the growth figures which there is lot of speculation for. It
:07:04. > :07:10.is likely to show that we are contracting as an economy. It will
:07:10. > :07:13.probably not lift the mood but for that, back to you in the studio.
:07:13. > :07:20.Coming up later, the caring owner spending thousands of pounds on a
:07:20. > :07:23.rescue team to find his beloved pet dog, Alfie.
:07:23. > :07:28.The Government strategy to fight swine flu was "excessive and may
:07:28. > :07:31.have harmed people". That's the claim being made by two senior
:07:31. > :07:34.public health doctors in a new report. They also say their advice
:07:34. > :07:38.was ignored after a cluster of cases of the H1N1 virus in
:07:38. > :07:48.Birmingham. The pandemic in 2009 was the largest of its kind in 40
:07:48. > :07:50.
:07:50. > :07:55.years. Here's our health In 2009, Britain's focus was on
:07:55. > :07:57.Welford Primary School, the first hotspot for swine flu. The
:07:57. > :08:00.Government's focus was on containing the disease. But within
:08:00. > :08:03.four days it had spread through five schools. For public health
:08:03. > :08:08.doctors Andrew Rouse and Jacky Chambers, it became clear that
:08:08. > :08:13.swine flu was a mild disease and the response was excessive.
:08:13. > :08:16.time had come to move to the treatment phase of this pandemic
:08:16. > :08:19.and we basically, our advice was ignored.
:08:19. > :08:22.They claim that a local action plan was overruled. Policies may have
:08:22. > :08:31.led to greater infection and treatment delay. New systems were
:08:31. > :08:35.set up that simply didn't work. They almost brought to a chaotic
:08:35. > :08:39.end, existing hospitals, GPS systems, out of our systems and put
:08:39. > :08:44.lot of people at risk whereas I cannot imagine that the special
:08:44. > :08:47.arrangements saved anyone's life or even a day of sickness. Concerns
:08:47. > :08:50.about Tamiflu were also ignored. Their claim, that there was little
:08:50. > :08:53.scientific evidence for giving it to healthy people and that it was
:08:53. > :08:57.unethical to give it to children because it made them ill, were
:08:57. > :09:00.backed up today in the Cochrane Report.
:09:00. > :09:03.The official report into swine flu was by Dame Deirdre Hine. She told
:09:03. > :09:12.me that she was working quickly but she openly and honestly identified
:09:12. > :09:16.deficiencies and lessons to be learnt. The conclusions of that
:09:17. > :09:21.review were really a bit of a whitewash in terms of what needed
:09:21. > :09:25.to be learned and our view is that we still yet have to learn the
:09:25. > :09:29.lessons of how this country dealt with the swine flu pandemic.
:09:29. > :09:34.Government published a new pandemic flu strategy in November in which
:09:34. > :09:38.more emphasis is placed on local decision-making in the early
:09:38. > :09:41.decisions and just finding out how dangerous a virus is and less on
:09:41. > :09:44.trying to contain it. But our doctors argue that it could
:09:44. > :09:47.be worse in future because legislation being considered would
:09:47. > :09:56.hand more power to the Secretary of State over public health.
:09:56. > :10:02.And our Michele joins us now. Scathing criticisms we heard in
:10:02. > :10:07.your report, have decisions being taken at all? The regional director
:10:07. > :10:10.for public health says that those experiences are not her experiences
:10:10. > :10:15.and NHS West Midlands has also said they do not accept those
:10:15. > :10:19.experiences. They said there was obviously a need of clear control
:10:19. > :10:22.circumstances because this was a pandemic and you have to have some
:10:22. > :10:27.control from the centre but clearly there are issues to do with the way
:10:27. > :10:30.in which these things are directed. And that they do not have power
:10:31. > :10:35.over trust boards to tell them what to do, they can only guide them.
:10:35. > :10:39.are talking about this nearly three years on so why should we care?
:10:39. > :10:42.There are issues about whether people died because of this because
:10:43. > :10:46.people were not taken to hospital because the advice was they may
:10:46. > :10:50.have swine flu which is actually a mild disease and they may have had
:10:50. > :10:52.something far more serious. Beyond that, an issue to do with the
:10:52. > :10:57.future in that the Government has plans to create an organisation
:10:57. > :11:02.called Public Health England which will actually concentrate the
:11:02. > :11:05.powers in a body which is related to government and so it would
:11:05. > :11:08.become an organ of the Civil Service and issues happening then
:11:08. > :11:12.may happen again and they want the flexibility to be able to have a
:11:12. > :11:16.local response to an epidemic. One man has died and another
:11:16. > :11:19.suffered a broken arm in an incident at a cement works in Rugby.
:11:19. > :11:22.Emergency services were called to Cemex UK's plant at Lawford Road
:11:22. > :11:28.just before 2am this morning. The Health and Safety Executive is
:11:28. > :11:30.investigating. Cemex was fined �200,000 over the death of one of
:11:30. > :11:32.its employees in an explosion three years ago.
:11:32. > :11:39.Detectives investigating the murder of a couple in Birmingham say they
:11:39. > :11:42.don't believe the theft of gold was a motive. Avtar and Carole Kolar
:11:42. > :11:45.were discovered at their home in Handsworth Wood a week ago. Last
:11:45. > :11:50.night police were granted a further 36 hours to question a 37-year-old
:11:50. > :11:53.man arrested on Monday. Teachers furious at plans to turn
:11:53. > :11:56.their school into an academy say they're planning to go on strike
:11:56. > :11:58.next week for the second time over the issue. Education Secretary
:11:58. > :12:04.Michael Gove says, to improve standards, under-performing schools
:12:04. > :12:07.should be run by outside sponsors. A number of secondary schools in
:12:07. > :12:14.our region have already made the switch. Critics say the changes are
:12:14. > :12:18.unfair to families and amount to Montgomery Primary in Sparkbrook is
:12:19. > :12:21.a school, which according to Ofsted, is making satisfactory progress.
:12:21. > :12:26.But the Government says that's not good enough - it's under-performing.
:12:27. > :12:34.Education officials came here with a firm message. The school should
:12:34. > :12:37.be an academy, with sponsorship. The fact that schools are being
:12:37. > :12:40.told by the Government they should become an academy has caused much
:12:40. > :12:45.controversy and this school next Wednesday, Thursday teachers will
:12:45. > :12:49.go on strike. We have asked Birmingham City Council for a, and
:12:50. > :12:59.they said it was a matter for the Government. In a statement, the
:13:00. > :13:04.
:13:04. > :13:12.Mohammed Ashraf sympathises with striking teachers. With a daughter
:13:12. > :13:18.in Year 6, he's calling for proper consultation. If the Government
:13:18. > :13:28.wants to see this big society, and empowering people, why do they
:13:28. > :13:29.
:13:29. > :13:32.force people against our wishes or without us having a say?
:13:32. > :13:35.At the Westwood Academy in Coventry, the school cook's been replaced by
:13:35. > :13:37.a former Royal Navy chef. One freedom, the head says, of a
:13:37. > :13:40.comprehensive school becoming an academy last September. A local
:13:40. > :13:46.computer firm is a sponsor and Ofsted has just rated its teaching
:13:46. > :13:49.as "outstanding". Suddenly where money would have been top sliced,
:13:50. > :13:54.all that money comes into the school so we have to be much more
:13:54. > :14:01.careful about how we spend that money and look for improvements in
:14:01. > :14:03.services for the children and the catchment area we serve.
:14:03. > :14:08.Around a dozen primaries in Birmingham alone could become
:14:08. > :14:13.academies. Campaigners say there's no evidence it'll improve standards.
:14:13. > :14:18.There are virtually no primary school academies in existence so
:14:18. > :14:23.there is no academies. The Government cannot 0.2 successful
:14:23. > :14:26.primary academies because it there are not any -- cannot point too
:14:26. > :14:28.successful. Schools that are improving will
:14:28. > :14:31.still be considered under- performing if new targets for
:14:31. > :14:34.English and maths are not met. The Education Secretary is facing a
:14:34. > :14:37.showdown with his critics, who he's described as "enemies of reform".
:14:37. > :14:44.Staff at the BBC's studios at The Mailbox in Birmingham have begun a
:14:44. > :14:47.24-hour strike. About 80 members of the broadcasting union, BECTU,
:14:47. > :14:49.walked out in protest at plans to transfer jobs and production to
:14:49. > :14:54.Bristol. The move would affect programmes currently made in the
:14:54. > :15:03.city including Coast, Countryfile and Hairy Bikers. Protesters claim
:15:03. > :15:07.it will turn Birmingham into a media ghost town. Moving these jobs
:15:07. > :15:12.to Salford or Bristol says no money, it does not make a better plan,
:15:12. > :15:17.there is nothing strategic about it. They have got a 25 Lydia lease and
:15:17. > :15:21.we have no idea what they are going to do with it. -- a 25 year lease.
:15:21. > :15:23.The BBC didn't want to put anybody up for comment but in a statement,
:15:23. > :15:26.a spokesman said: It is disappointing that BECTU members
:15:26. > :15:33.have gone ahead with industrial action and we remain open to
:15:33. > :15:36.We apologise to our audience for any disruption to service.
:15:36. > :15:40.Still to come in tonight's programme, who'll come out on top
:15:40. > :15:44.as Wolves and Blues prepare to meet again in the FA Cup?
:15:44. > :15:47.Yes, let's hope they're not rained off. It's turning wetter and
:15:47. > :15:57.windier, and as for the temperatures, is that it for the
:15:57. > :16:00.
:16:00. > :16:04.mild weather or is there more? Find The price of gold has travelled
:16:04. > :16:08.with investors rushing to buy it as the economy struggles. It has led
:16:08. > :16:15.to a big increase in trying to pass off cheap imitations as the real
:16:15. > :16:21.things. Birmingham's Assay Office is offering courses to pawnbrokers
:16:21. > :16:24.and antique dealers so they do not get ripped off.
:16:24. > :16:27.Buying and selling gold is big business. This firm in Birmingham's
:16:27. > :16:32.Jewellery Quarter has seen turnover increase from �12 million five
:16:32. > :16:37.years ago to �250 million now. But that old saying that "all that
:16:37. > :16:41.glitters is not gold" is ringing truer than ever. One in ten
:16:41. > :16:51.customers are trying to sell fake gold. Five years ago, it was one in
:16:51. > :16:54.
:16:54. > :16:58.a 100. It is really shocking, some of the things. Sometimes they have
:16:58. > :17:03.got nine inside a shank but when you tested, sometimes it is just
:17:03. > :17:13.not gold at all. This box of mixed gold is worth
:17:13. > :17:20.�100,000. These 22-carat gold And �100,000 of precious metal goes
:17:20. > :17:24.into a melting pot, and is poured into a mould to make gold bars.
:17:24. > :17:30.The price of gold is around �34 per gram, compared to �10 five years
:17:30. > :17:40.ago. Nearly 70 tonnes of fine gold was scrapped in the UK and Ireland
:17:40. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:52.At Birmingham's Assay Office people are flocking to a one-day course to
:17:52. > :17:53.
:17:53. > :17:57.learn about the trade. It's thought to be the only one of its kind.
:17:57. > :18:01.originally started a because people ask us. The first course sold out
:18:01. > :18:04.in short notice. This will be followed by another course in two
:18:04. > :18:10.weeks which is already sold out and we are looking desperately for more
:18:10. > :18:15.day it. -- Maude date. The British Jewellers' Association
:18:15. > :18:19.is working on plans for guidelines surrounding buying and selling gold.
:18:19. > :18:25.We are putting together a code of conduct so people buying gold work
:18:25. > :18:28.to a common set of standards. They will keep records of the
:18:28. > :18:30.transactions being taken place and if they have CCTV, they will have
:18:30. > :18:34.images. The Birmingham Assay Office tests
:18:34. > :18:37.and hallmarks precious metals. Experts there are passing tips to
:18:37. > :18:47.others in their one-off courses to protect the reputation of the
:18:47. > :18:49.
:18:49. > :18:55.That is fascinating. When John was there and our cameraman, three
:18:55. > :18:58.customers came in with more than �100,000 worth of gold in that time.
:18:58. > :19:01.Astonishing. A dog owner is spending thousands
:19:01. > :19:05.to find his beloved terrier, Alfie, who went missing five days ago.
:19:05. > :19:08.It's thought Alfie is lost in a badger sett but all efforts to find
:19:08. > :19:11.him have failed. Now the worried owner has called in a specialist
:19:11. > :19:17.rescue team whose main task is to find earthquake victims buried in
:19:17. > :19:20.the debris. Joan Cummins reports. Alfie? Alfie?
:19:20. > :19:23.Rod Chivers and his family have been maintaining at a vigil at this
:19:23. > :19:33.disused railway line in Rugby since his pet terrier Alfie disappeared
:19:33. > :19:33.
:19:33. > :19:37.on Saturday. It is the not knowing which is destroying me. It was my
:19:37. > :19:40.wife's dog and she died three years ago. It is my lifeline.
:19:40. > :19:43.Alfie had vanished into an entrance hole of a badger sett, before the
:19:44. > :19:47.family could start searching. They had to gain a licence from Natural
:19:47. > :19:49.England who allowed them to employ a drain expert with an underground
:19:49. > :19:56.camera. Despite probing eight meteres of tunnels, no sign of
:19:56. > :19:59.Alfie. Today, four days after his disappearance, the family called in
:19:59. > :20:01.search experts from West Midlands Fire Service. Specialist listening
:20:01. > :20:11.devices and probes usually used to detect casulaties in earthquakes
:20:11. > :20:14.
:20:14. > :20:17.were used through the undergrowth. If Alfie is detected under
:20:17. > :20:21.legislation, the firefighters have to get permission to disturb the
:20:21. > :20:23.badger sett. Rod agreed to pay �700 an hour to
:20:23. > :20:31.use the services of the search specialists but despite repeatedly
:20:31. > :20:35.testing the area, there was still no sign or sound of Alfie. With the
:20:35. > :20:39.equipment we have, we have done as much of a search as we can of that
:20:39. > :20:43.back as possible. I am confident if Alfie work there, making any sort
:20:43. > :20:48.of indication, we would have located him. Unfortunately that has
:20:48. > :20:52.not been the case. When you have to accept the inevitable? No, no. He
:20:52. > :20:55.is out there somewhere. We will find him.
:20:55. > :20:58.It's said that dogs are man's best friend. Today demonstrated
:20:58. > :21:08.perfectly by a man determined to stop at nothing to find his best
:21:08. > :21:12.
:21:12. > :21:15.We would love to give you some good news, but we cannot yet.
:21:15. > :21:20.And the search for Alfie is continuing tonight. Still no news
:21:20. > :21:27.on his whereabouts at the moment. There's a Midlands derby in the FA
:21:27. > :21:33.Cup tonight. But Wolves against Birmingham City isn't exactly a
:21:33. > :21:39.sell-out. Ian Winter is live at Molineux. A bit quiet for a match
:21:39. > :21:42.night but that is not because it has at 8 o'clock kick-off. Or
:21:42. > :21:45.because it's live on TV. It's typical of a growing trend. Just
:21:45. > :21:51.look at the facts. In 1954, 36,000 were here to see Blues beat Wolves
:21:51. > :21:54.in the FA Cup. Tonight, the crowd could be around one third of that
:21:54. > :21:57.figure. But there's one player who doesn't mind a bit.
:21:57. > :22:04.Coming in from the cold. The nightmare is finally over for
:22:04. > :22:06.Michael Kightly. The Wolves winger has battled back from the same
:22:06. > :22:13.career-threatening injury as Owen Hargreaves, patella tendonitis.
:22:13. > :22:17.That's baffled top surgeons across Europe and beyond. You were such a
:22:17. > :22:23.huge favourite with the bull fans before injury and a lot of them
:22:23. > :22:29.have feared that they would never see playing in a shirt again -- a
:22:29. > :22:33.favourite with the Wolves fans. Happily... I know I am through that
:22:33. > :22:37.and I can hopefully show them that I am still the player I was.
:22:37. > :22:40.COMMENTATOR: And here is Michael Kightly.
:22:40. > :22:43.Kightly's loan spell with Watford proved a huge success. He scored
:22:43. > :22:48.three goals, was Man of the Match half a dozen times, and now he's
:22:48. > :22:51.played the last two games for Wolves. Don't be surprised if he's
:22:51. > :22:55.left out tonight, to be fresh to face Aston Villa on Saturday. And
:22:55. > :23:02.judging from the goalless bore at St Andrew's, it could be a good one
:23:02. > :23:06.to miss. Why it is on TV after the first game, I don't know, after the
:23:06. > :23:16.first game. It was a fairly flat affair pulled up lightning cannot
:23:16. > :23:21.
:23:21. > :23:25.10 days ago, fewer than 15,000 fans saw the game at St Andrew's and
:23:25. > :23:31.tonight, the crowd could be even smaller. For those who watched the
:23:31. > :23:35.first one, probably won't come back. At 14,000 not coming already put up
:23:35. > :23:40.the difference is, let me tell you, it will be a barnstorming, rip-
:23:40. > :23:47.roaring Cup tie. Put more pressure on off to win it, they are the home
:23:47. > :23:49.team. -- put more pressure on Wolves to win it. I'm quite looking
:23:49. > :23:52.forward to it. Last season in the Premier League
:23:52. > :23:58.at Molinuex, Wolves beat Birmingham 1-0. No-one would be shocked if
:23:58. > :24:03.You can see the full interview with Michael Kightly on the Midlands
:24:03. > :24:11.Today Facebook page. So, could the clubs do more to encourage fans not
:24:11. > :24:18.to abandon the FA Cup? Jez Moxey is the Wolves chief executive. There's
:24:18. > :24:24.a lot more football today than there was in 1934. It is 24 hour
:24:24. > :24:29.media coverage of the sport. We had to pitch it right, ticket prices,
:24:29. > :24:34.and we have done that tonight. Above all else, we need to play
:24:34. > :24:38.attractive football and win games and they will come. Is there a case
:24:38. > :24:41.for scrapping FA Cup replays altogether? I think if you're not
:24:41. > :24:47.careful, you can dilute the competition too much and I do not
:24:47. > :24:52.think that is an agenda at the moment. We have to make sure that
:24:52. > :24:56.we win and don't have a replay. have slashed the ticket prices.
:24:56. > :25:02.Mick McCarthy has promised an attacking formation. Are you going
:25:02. > :25:05.for it tonight? We have won the FA Cup four times in our history. 4th
:25:05. > :25:10.round for nine consecutive years and we were like to do that again.
:25:10. > :25:14.This time around with Sheffield United, a special club, faced in
:25:14. > :25:17.the next round. Thank you, may the best team win.
:25:17. > :25:20.Don't forget BBC WM has full coverage on tonight's game. And on
:25:20. > :25:22.Friday, we'll have a special profile on Robbie Keane, by his
:25:22. > :25:32.best pal, Matt Murray, before Wolves play Villa in the Premier
:25:32. > :25:34.
:25:34. > :25:36.Mick McCarthy is a man who gets things off his mind. He does not
:25:36. > :25:46.sit on the fence! Here's Shefali with the weather
:25:46. > :25:46.
:25:47. > :25:50.We have got some cloud and a bit of light, drizzly rain but that will
:25:50. > :25:58.be over and done with before the heavier stuff piled in. It will be
:25:58. > :26:02.a mild night. The mild conditions are from today and these were our a
:26:02. > :26:09.maximum temperatures. Hereford was the warmest place with highs of
:26:09. > :26:17.around pole Celsius and that is way above the average -- around 12
:26:17. > :26:25.Celsius. This is what we have across us right now. Drizzly rain
:26:25. > :26:32.and cloud. The main band of rain comes in from the West. It will be
:26:32. > :26:36.heavy in places to. The north of the region will be drier than
:26:36. > :26:40.elsewhere and and all of this, feeling mild with lows of around
:26:40. > :26:44.seven Celsius. Hill fog and the breeze will pick up as the rain
:26:44. > :26:49.heads in soap tomorrow morning, quite windy and it will be fairly
:26:49. > :26:54.wet as well. This whole band moves to the south so much drier across
:26:54. > :26:58.all parts by the afternoon. Sunshine as well in between is the
:26:58. > :27:03.cloud breaks up. Temperatures tomorrow with highs of nine Celsius
:27:03. > :27:13.in central and southern parts but as cold ANA's into the North,
:27:13. > :27:14.
:27:14. > :27:20.temperatures a bit lower. -- but as cold moves into the North. A warm
:27:20. > :27:23.front moves in through on Friday and we will be into warm sectors
:27:23. > :27:29.are temporarily temperatures pick up on Saturday and showers through
:27:29. > :27:32.A look at tonight's main headlines: UK unemployment hits a 17-year high.
:27:32. > :27:35.Figures for the three months to November show the jobless total hit
:27:35. > :27:37.nearly 2.7 million. And figures for the West Midlands