Browse content similar to 25/01/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines: two elected mayors for | :00:11. | :00:15. | |
Birmingham and Coventry if the voters say yes in a referendum. | :00:15. | :00:21. | |
You see what has happened in London and Scotland. There is not an | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
equivalent in Birmingham. Police are given more time to | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
question a man over the escape of a dangerous prisoner. The longer that | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
person is free, the more likely is they will leave a fingerprint as to | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
where they are. As a route double-dip recession | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
looms -- recession looms, warnings that the building industry will | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
continue to decline. One of the country's leading | :00:46. | :00:55. | |
:00:56. | :01:02. | ||
dramatists has chosen this region Good evening. Tonight, Birmingham | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
and Coventry could have brand-new directly elected mayors before the | :01:06. | :01:09. | |
end of this year. The Cities Minister Greg Clark | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
announced that the government is fast-tracking plans for London | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
style mayors in 11 UK cities. It would mean referendums being held | :01:17. | :01:22. | |
on 3rd May, the same day as this year's local elections. If there is | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
a yes vote, the plan would be to hold votes for the new mayoral | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
posts on what is being called Super Thursday on 15th November. The | :01:30. | :01:34. | |
minister said he wanted to push ahead quickly to boost growth and | :01:34. | :01:40. | |
create jobs. It is Britain's second city and | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
today the scene of a showpiece government announcement. A horrid | :01:44. | :01:49. | |
to -- our intention is to hold the first mayoral election on 15th | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
November, the same day as the elections for the police | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
commissioners. A day that I hope will be a landmark day in the shape | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
of powers and influence from Whitehall to communities. Joining | :02:03. | :02:08. | |
him on the panel hosted by Birmingham's Chamber of Commerce, | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
two predicted -- political big beasts who think the mayors would | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
do a better job than council leaders. The way the structure | :02:15. | :02:22. | |
works does not give a platform of power to the locality. That is what | :02:22. | :02:28. | |
I think this issue is all about. is also about profile according to | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
this former Labour Transport Secretary. In London, virtually all | :02:33. | :02:37. | |
Londoners know who Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone are. In | :02:37. | :02:41. | |
Birmingham and Coventry, the leaders of councils are not nearly | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
so well known. They are barely known at all outside of the cities. | :02:45. | :02:53. | |
Do we know our council leader? I do not know. Mike Whitby? Ghosh, | :02:53. | :02:59. | |
is it might Whitby? It is. thank goodness I got that right. I | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
work for the council! On the streets of Coventry, another city | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
to vote on whether to switch to an elected mayor in May, we find a | :03:08. | :03:18. | |
similar response. I have not got a clue. I believe it is John Hutton. | :03:18. | :03:20. | |
The council leader in Coventry and his Labour led authority rejected | :03:21. | :03:25. | |
the idea of an elected mayor earlier this month. Hearing | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
Bermingham, Labour candidates have been lining up to throw their hats | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
into the ring. If there are some who think that putting too much | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
power into the hands of one person could be bad for democracy. I think | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
people will probably vote against it because they will not want the | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
corruption and concentration of power. Spicing up the image of | :03:46. | :03:53. | |
Birmingham is what this restaurant things they should do. A we want an | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
ambassador how they are promoting the City. We want it promoted as a | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
leisure and business destination and it would be fantastic. | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
business world does not get to decide. That is the people's job. | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
Let us talk to our correspondent from The Cube in Birmingham. Plenty | :04:11. | :04:16. | |
of support for politicians. Is there any sign the public want a | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
directly elected mayors? That is the key challenge, to get people | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
here in Birmingham and Coventry actually voting in a referendum as | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
to whether Ron not they want a directly elected mayor. -- whether | :04:29. | :04:36. | |
or not. Getting people interested in it is a bit of a challenge. | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said to date it will be backing the yes | :04:39. | :04:45. | |
campaign hearing Birmingham. The no plant -- the no campaign will be | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
pushing for a no vote of course. remind us of the leading candidates. | :04:50. | :04:56. | |
We have already had a lot of people putting their names forward. Three | :04:56. | :05:02. | |
Labour candidates. Sean Simon, who stood down as an MP to take on this | :05:02. | :05:08. | |
role. Another current MP and the leader of the Labour group on | :05:08. | :05:15. | |
Birmingham City Council. Then we have some independents, the TV | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
presenter and some other candidates. In Coventry, Bob Ainsworth is the | :05:20. | :05:26. | |
only big name. No doubt, as we get closer to direct rent -- closer to | :05:26. | :05:30. | |
that referendum, a lot of people will put themselves forward. | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
We would love to know your thoughts on elected mayors. You can get in | :05:35. | :05:41. | |
touch through our Facebook page or by email. We will hopefully read | :05:41. | :05:48. | |
some of your pro -- comments later Later, Aston Villa, the next | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
generation, can the club's talented youngsters move closer to European | :05:53. | :06:00. | |
glory this evening? As the hunt continues bomb murder | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
suspect John Anslow police have been given more time to question a | :06:04. | :06:08. | |
44-year-old man about his escape. Anslow van Tipton in the Black | :06:08. | :06:13. | |
Country is still on the run after he was sprung from a prison van by | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
a gang with sledgehammers. He was heading to Stafford Crown Court | :06:17. | :06:23. | |
from Hewell Prison on doesn't -- on Monday. What is the latest? Police | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
have confirmed they have been given an extra 12 hours to continue | :06:28. | :06:31. | |
questioning a man from Tipton who was arrested on Monday evening. He | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They also | :06:36. | :06:42. | |
say they have executed search warrants at two homes in Tipton and | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
seized property. They hope all of us will help in the hunt for John | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
Anslow who was due to appear at court on Monday where he faced a | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
murder charge. A short distance from the prison where he was held, | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
the van that was transporting him was ambushed by a gang armed with | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
sledgehammers. The police have put up a �10,000 reward for any | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
information that could help them in their hunt. How important has | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
social media been in this investigation so far? Staffordshire | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
Police say that the appeal they have posted on Facebook has now | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
been seen by 2 million people across the country. To get a sense | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
of this investigation and what the police are looking at, I have been | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
speaking to a former police officer who now teaches policing and | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
forensics at Staffordshire University of. The longer that | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
person is free, the more likely that they will leave a fingerprint | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
or a trace of where they are, financially or by other means. | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
People may well bring the police or contact them and give them | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
information. That is why the police have circulated photographs of this | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
person because they need the assistance of the public. That | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
gives us a sense of how the police are approaching the case. They have | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
said that John Anslow is dangerous and that people should not approach | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
him but call the police immediately. Thank you. The building industry | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
will face a tough times for the next five years. The construction | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
skills Network survey predicts at work -- approach frump construction | :08:11. | :08:17. | |
will for by one by one the sense it -- 1.1% year by 2016. That | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
contrasts with the national figure which will see growth of 1.4%. The | :08:20. | :08:26. | |
fault is being blamed on the wait for large-scale projects such as | :08:26. | :08:32. | |
Birmingham's Eastside and the High Speed 2 rail link. | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
Dino Elbakkali has become a specialist in house extensions. He | :08:36. | :08:42. | |
has had to because all of his commercial work has dried up. He | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
says his building business cannot get a loan from the banks of stock | :08:45. | :08:48. | |
we have been struggling for the past three or four years and we got | :08:48. | :08:53. | |
used red and thanks to the domestic market that has kept us going. | :08:53. | :08:58. | |
it was not for projects like this, we would not be here today. | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
Today's report from Construction Industry Training Board makes for | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
grim reading. It says that construction output in the West | :09:05. | :09:11. | |
Midlands was rent by around one. -- 1% a year for at least five years. | :09:11. | :09:18. | |
There will be a skills shortage ahead of the three major building | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
projects according to the survey. Those projects include Sity Central | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
Shopping Centre in Stoke-on-Trent. Daniel Harvey is an apprentice with | :09:27. | :09:32. | |
the construction firm Carillion. He is learning his trade on site. | :09:32. | :09:36. | |
have learnt quite a lot. I like to think that in a couple of years' | :09:36. | :09:41. | |
time, I could be in a job like this myself. I would like to move abroad | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
and advance my skills. Apprenticeships are seen as crucial | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
for a skilled workforce. Although there will be around 5000 fewer | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
construction jobs by 2016 in the West Midlands, jobs in Architecture | :09:53. | :09:58. | |
and blazing are expected to increase. There will be a call of | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
traditional skills needed such as carpentry but there will also be a | :10:02. | :10:12. | |
:10:12. | :10:14. | ||
huge breath of newer skills involved. This school is being | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
built as a prestige construction project. The big uncertainty arises | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
when these sort of contracts and, what will come next? The survival | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
of a small builder like Dino Elbakkali's has been tested further | :10:28. | :10:32. | |
by a young apprentices being lured away by big commercial players. | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
That could soon change if predictions of growth in the | :10:35. | :10:43. | |
private housing sector of realised. Earlier I spoke to Judy Lowe, the | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
deputy chairman of the Construction Industry Training Board. I asked | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
her what could be done to promote growth in the region's building | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
industry. I think the first thing to make clear is that although the | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
figures from our construction skills network report might look | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
quite grim for the best Midlands over the next five years, you | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
should really sit in the context of this being one of the 12 regions of | :11:06. | :11:10. | |
the UK that has been the most successful up until now in bidding | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
for hospital private projects and Building Schools for the Future | :11:14. | :11:20. | |
projects. There has been a 72% growth in public sector and on | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
housing, as it is called, investment in the West Midlands. | :11:24. | :11:30. | |
That is since 2007. You obviously going to come down from a highlight | :11:30. | :11:35. | |
back. You should see it as relative. It is not a that the area is in | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
terminal decline. It is that you are no longer going to be growing | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
at the rate you wear. Public projects are facing a dramatic | :11:43. | :11:48. | |
decline over the next few years? Public projects, nationally, public | :11:48. | :11:57. | |
sector housing is going to drop 25%. Schools, prisons and hospitals will | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
also drop. In the West Midlands, those figures are myriad. 20% drop | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
in public housing, 17% drop in public sector and on housing. | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
Inevitably, that is going to affect the overall figures. | :12:12. | :12:17. | |
In other news, workers are continuing to picket the Kingsbury | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
Oil Terminal. Around 30 oil tanker drivers are taking five days of | :12:21. | :12:24. | |
industrial action in a dispute with the delivery company Wincanton. | :12:25. | :12:29. | |
Members of the United union walked out yesterday and claims the firm | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
wants to cut their pay by 20%. The company says no changes will be | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
made without union agreement. A body has been found in a car in | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
Warwickshire. Police and firefighters were called away field | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
in Aston Cantlow near Alcester at around 7:30am. So far, | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
identification has not been possible. | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
Obesity levels in the West Midlands are among the worst in the country. | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
In some parts of the region as many as one in 10 young children are | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
severely overweight. Today youngsters from five inner- | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
city schools took part in a sports based project to fight back against | :13:04. | :13:14. | |
:13:14. | :13:15. | ||
This is a type of football with the South American origins. Children | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
from inner-city schools in Birmingham were embracing it today. | :13:19. | :13:25. | |
But 10% off four two five-year-olds in Birmingham are obese, according | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory. And events like this | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
one in Birmingham are tackling the problem head-on. | :13:35. | :13:39. | |
I have been working in schools for 17 years. You see it every year, | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
the number of children who are overweight increasing. It is a | :13:44. | :13:46. | |
combination of diet and also exercise. | :13:46. | :13:52. | |
John runs a social enterprise which organised the event. It sends | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
health mentor's into schools to help children eat healthier | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
lifestyles. -- lead healthier lifestyles. | :13:58. | :14:07. | |
This teacher works at one of the worst schools in the country for us | :14:07. | :14:12. | |
-- social deprivation. We have found it has got worse with | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
under seven-year-olds. These are children who are playing games, | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
computer games, and don't get out on a Saturday or Sunday, going out | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
to the park and things like that. Never the less the health message | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
seems to be embedded in children we spoke to. | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
If you eat too much chocolate, you will get fat. What do you have to | :14:32. | :14:39. | |
do to make sure you don't get fat? Eat vegetables. Do sport. This | :14:39. | :14:43. | |
project is not the only one. Another scheme in schools tackling | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
obesity is headed by a senior public health lecturer at | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
Birmingham University. The emphasis is on academic | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
achievements. Schools are measured by that. Often, that is the focus | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
they have. Things to do with physical activity is often | :14:59. | :15:04. | |
sacrificed. Organisers of this event say they | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
are on a mission to promote health by stealth. | :15:08. | :15:14. | |
They seem to be loving it! Still ahead: Or the latest on the weather. | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
It is about to turn colder with a period of heavy rain before it does. | :15:20. | :15:30. | |
:15:30. | :15:31. | ||
But be encouraged that it is not Six months after a famine was | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
declared in Somalia, one charity says it has had more donations from | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
people in Birmingham than anywhere else. Islamic Relief says the | :15:39. | :15:46. | |
crisis in East Africa is far from over and donations are still needed. | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
4,000 miles away from the Midlands, the fight to save lives in the | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
Somali capital Mogadishu goes on. It might seem far removed from here, | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
but it is work than in the West Midlands match has helped to people | :15:59. | :16:04. | |
caught up in the first famine of the 21st century. Tens of thousands | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
of items of clothing, unwanted in the Western world, are proving a | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
vital lifeline. The garments are delivered to this warehouse | :16:12. | :16:16. | |
belonging to the charity Islamic Relief. Some are sent to East | :16:16. | :16:21. | |
Africa, others sold to raise money. This may look like a jumble sale on | :16:21. | :16:26. | |
a massive scale, but this operation by Islamic Relief in the east | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
Birmingham area has contributed to providing life-saving food, water | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
and medical suppliers to 900,000 Somalis since the famine began. | :16:36. | :16:40. | |
The charity's director has just returned from Somalia, where he has | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
found out how the money and clothes donated up being used to help the | :16:44. | :16:48. | |
starving. I first visit was harrowing. | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
Traumatising. I saw thousands of people making their way across... | :16:54. | :17:00. | |
Those were the scenes I remember being my childhood. I had not seen | :17:00. | :17:06. | |
an exodus. I saw some organisation in the camps. | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
Officials say a quarter of a million people are still in danger. | :17:10. | :17:15. | |
It is estimated around 50,000 Somalis live in the West Midlands. | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
They are desperate not to see the relief effort diminish. | :17:18. | :17:27. | |
It is surprising, seeing de digital revolutions in the Middle East and | :17:27. | :17:31. | |
anywhere, that we can have people dying of a lack of food. It is | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
somewhat bizarre. Nonetheless, Islamic Relief is | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
delighted at how the public has rallied round. Nearly 500,000 | :17:38. | :17:42. | |
tonnes of clothing has been donated to the charity by people living in | :17:42. | :17:50. | |
Birmingham alone. That is more than in any other city. | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
Bob joins us now from a charity shop in Birmingham. | :17:54. | :17:59. | |
Six months after the appeal, still a dire situation in Somalia. By | :17:59. | :18:06. | |
donations in fact shopping? They are to some extent. That | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
depends a clearer picture, I should ask the fund-raising manager for | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
Islamic Relief. What is the situation as far as donations are | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
concerned? Donations have naturally dropped as | :18:18. | :18:23. | |
a result of the fact that the media spotlight is no longer on the | :18:23. | :18:30. | |
crisis. Of course, �72 million has been donated by the British public | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
so far. So it is a case, though, that that is not enough? | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
The public have been fantastic. But this has been the worst crisis in | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
64 years. It is not the kind of thing that can be solved in six | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
months. We have got 4 million people reliant on aid and 250,000 | :18:49. | :18:54. | |
people who are at AA real risk of starvation. What are you asking the | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
public to do? We ask the public to continue to | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
support us. They have been fantastic so far but we need their | :19:01. | :19:06. | |
support to continue with the food aid, providing water for drinking | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
purposes and sanitation, and to allow us with -- help us with | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
medical assistance. Thank you very much. Obviously the | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
East African situation is still a very fragile one, and the charity | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
has concerned that if we don't donate more money, that is, the | :19:23. | :19:29. | |
Western world, there will be a crisis there again. | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
One of the country's top dramatists has chosen this region to film his | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
latest big TV production. Set in the 1930s, Dancing On The Edge | :19:38. | :19:44. | |
tells this story of a black jazz band. It is from the pen of writer | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
and director Stephen Poliakoff. It is being are found in some rather | :19:48. | :19:56. | |
unusual locations. Seen by many as a genius, Stephen | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
Poliakoff, on location in Birmingham. He is responsible for | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
many television dramas, and his new production, Dancing On The Edge, is | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
his first five-part drama. He we are at the early 1930s, just | :20:09. | :20:15. | |
before the rise of fascism. It is a fascinating time in the world, with | :20:15. | :20:19. | |
the great financial crash and mass unemployment. It was a time of | :20:19. | :20:25. | |
great change, and a worship of the new. The explosive drama stars | :20:25. | :20:29. | |
Anthony Head. The Imperial Hotel in London. It is | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
the 1930s. Dancing On The Edge tells the story of a black jazz | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
band which initially shocked polite society. But gradually it achieves | :20:37. | :20:44. | |
fame with the help of progressive socialites. But I'm told there's A | :20:44. | :20:48. | |
murder. The location, Birmingham city | :20:48. | :20:54. | |
council house, may not seem obvious, but the set has an incredible | :20:54. | :21:01. | |
attention to detail. It looks very convincing. It is | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
recreating a hotel, the Cecil Hotel, the biggest in the world at the | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
time. It fell on hard times and was nearly demolished. | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
Dancing On The Edge is the latest drama to be brought to the Midlands | :21:14. | :21:21. | |
by From Birmingham, who were responsible for the BBC's Hustle. | :21:21. | :21:26. | |
responsible for the BBC's Hustle. Figures show that Birmingham has | :21:26. | :21:36. | |
:21:36. | :21:45. | ||
It is hotels, food, locations... They also imply local crew. -- | :21:45. | :21:51. | |
employer. That is where the money is spent. The hotels and clubs of | :21:51. | :21:56. | |
the time were enormous. I have tried to recreate that, not on the | :21:56. | :22:04. | |
same budget, but to give an epic look on a small budget. Two feature | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
films are rumoured to be happening here. With much of London being | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
sealed off for the Olympics in the summer, Birmingham is attractive | :22:14. | :22:18. | |
for the film industry. I'm very excited about this. A | :22:18. | :22:22. | |
friend of ours, Dave, whose day job is a painter and decorator, is | :22:22. | :22:28. | |
starring in this. He is dancing in a ballroom scene somewhere. Not | :22:28. | :22:38. | |
:22:38. | :22:39. | ||
much help to you lot, but I will There's a long interview about the | :22:39. | :22:46. | |
prospects of the film industry on the BBC Birmingham website. | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
Any Aston Villa fan will tell you that 1982 was their finest hour. 30 | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
years after lifting the European Cup, the club's talented youngsters | :22:54. | :22:58. | |
are closing in on their own European final. The NextGen Cup has | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
attracted 16 top clubs, and tonight, then a's youth academy are at home | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
to Marseille in the quarter-finals. -- Villa's youth academy. | :23:08. | :23:12. | |
Tension is mounting here. The children are expecting two VIP | :23:12. | :23:17. | |
guests, and so are the teachers. But they are not sure who - until | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
all is revealed. It is Marc Albrighton and his team- | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
mate Gary Gardner. They have just popped in to lodge Aston Villa's | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
new scheme to give free tickets to schools. | :23:28. | :23:33. | |
We are not trained to speak in front of 360 kids. It is harder | :23:33. | :23:36. | |
than playing in front of 40,000 people. | :23:36. | :23:41. | |
At 22, Marc is to all to play in it tonight's game. But Gary, who is 19, | :23:41. | :23:48. | |
believe nothing is to be feared for their love. | :23:48. | :23:58. | |
I have played in every game to get to the quarter-final, and now I | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
want to go all the way. It will be really special for us. | :24:03. | :24:08. | |
Has Gary mentions the hat-trick he scored against Ajax? A couple of | :24:08. | :24:11. | |
times! Those goals helped Aston Villa make | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
the last eight and caught the eye of Alex McLeish, who decided he was | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
old enough and good enough to make his Premier League debut. Tonight | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
the new generation of Aston Villa players are hoping to beat | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
Marseille, cheered on by the next generation of Aston Villa fans into | :24:27. | :24:35. | |
the semi-finals of the NextGen Cup. And there's commentary on the game | :24:35. | :24:38. | |
And there's commentary on the game on BBC WM. Kick-off is at 7pm. | :24:38. | :24:43. | |
Now the weather. It has been a week so far and we | :24:43. | :24:49. | |
have had peaks and troughs, quite literally. We had warned today and | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
after that we have got a cold front to come tomorrow. That is going to | :24:53. | :24:58. | |
lead to a trough, which will leave us with showers on Thursday. Then | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
we have the peak of high pressure coming from the south-west by | :25:02. | :25:07. | |
Friday. So it is all go at the moment. It all amounts to it being | :25:07. | :25:15. | |
colder and,, and also drier and sunnier. That is a bonus. -- holder | :25:15. | :25:21. | |
and drier. For tonight we have got a band of rain going through. It is | :25:21. | :25:27. | |
going to be a heavy bag of rain, producing in the region of 10-20 mm | :25:27. | :25:33. | |
of rain. Behind it we had got clearer skies, and it is going to | :25:33. | :25:40. | |
turn colder. Temperatures are down to a minimum of two Sell Sears. We | :25:40. | :25:46. | |
could see some ice there. Those clearer skies in date from the West | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
tomorrow morning, so because of those we wake up to a lot of | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
sunshine. We have got scatter showers across the region, which | :25:55. | :26:03. | |
could turn wintry. But a top temperature of around six or seven | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
Celsius. Still quite breezy from the south-west. A cold night, but | :26:08. | :26:11. | |
the south-west. A cold night, but as I say, by Friday it is going to | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
turn drier and sunnier. A look at tonight's headlines: That | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
shrinking feeling - the UK economy went into reverse at the end of | :26:21. | :26:23. | |
last year. And there could be elected mayors | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
for Birmingham and Coventry before the end of the year if voters say | :26:26. | :26:30. | |
yes in a referendum. On that note, a lot of comments on | :26:30. | :26:38. | |
this coming in from you all. Thank you very much for them. Paul says a | :26:38. | :26:44. | |
male would do great things for the city. In the days when politicians | :26:44. | :26:46. | |
are celebrities, it would be a good thing. | :26:46. | :26:51. | |
But most seemed against. The Shaun Harrison says giving one person so | :26:51. | :26:58. | |
much power will be a bad. Another person says where is the | :26:58. | :27:03. | |
money going to come from two done this extra layer of government? | :27:03. | :27:10. | |
Another says who is going to pay the staff and costs? This is the | :27:10. | :27:20. | |
:27:20. | :27:22. | ||
end of democracy. Geoff Woodward, a Coventry | :27:22. | :27:28. |