:00:03. > :00:11.Good evening and welcome to the start of the weekend at Midlands
:00:12. > :00:15.Today. Come to that -- consultants say they are appalled by proposed
:00:15. > :00:21.cuts they say threaten patient care at the Birmingham hospital.
:00:21. > :00:26.can't make cuts like that and still have effective, intact services.
:00:26. > :00:31.Partially paralysed - the motor cyclist injured by a hit and run
:00:31. > :00:36.driver bags for an apology. All I want is somebody to turn around and
:00:36. > :00:41.say I'm sorry, it didn't see you, or I am sorry, I wasn't paying
:00:41. > :00:46.attention. The education secretary different
:00:46. > :00:50.plans to turn dozens more schools into academies. It is rescuing
:00:50. > :00:54.those children from years of underperformance.
:00:54. > :01:04.And farewell to a legend as the cricketing world says goodbye to
:01:04. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:15.Basil don of error of Good evening. Our top story - big
:01:15. > :01:21.cuts at three hospitals as consultants warn patient care will
:01:21. > :01:23.be affected. The cuts being proposed by the trust which runs
:01:23. > :01:27.Birmingham City Hospital, Sandwell General Hospital and Rowley Regis
:01:27. > :01:31.Hospital are among the largest in the region. �125 million has to be
:01:31. > :01:36.saved spread over five years. That's an average of 6.5 per cent a
:01:36. > :01:39.year. The health union Unison claims cuts on this scale will put
:01:39. > :01:42.patients' lives at risk. But hospital managers said tonight
:01:42. > :01:50.they're dealing with the challenge. Here's our health correspondent
:01:50. > :01:53.Michele Paduano. There have been fears about the
:01:53. > :02:00.trust's future for some time. Last night senior doctors held an
:02:00. > :02:03.extraordinary meeting to find out. Dr Ken Taylor, a retired doctor,
:02:03. > :02:08.was at that meeting. Doctors were told about �125 million in cuts
:02:08. > :02:13.over five years. And no one was safe. They heard all the fact last
:02:13. > :02:20.night, and I think it was probably shock last night at the enormity of
:02:20. > :02:26.the situation but they face. You can't make cuts like that and still
:02:26. > :02:34.have effective, intact services. the next financial year, over 9
:02:34. > :02:42.million must be saved from the This site in Smethwick is earmarked
:02:42. > :02:46.for a new "single" hospital. It is only a small part of the cards.
:02:46. > :02:50.Having won hospital here would greatly improve efficiency. But the
:02:50. > :02:54.hospital was supposed to have been built by 2010. The latest delay is
:02:54. > :02:57.caused by the government deciding whether the private financing of
:02:57. > :03:02.hospitals that are still affordable. There are some doctors who don't
:03:02. > :03:05.believe it will get built. The chief executive says there is no
:03:05. > :03:10.Plan B and is confident he will get the new hospital. He wants to
:03:10. > :03:14.reassure staff that all hospitals have a similar uphill struggle.
:03:14. > :03:19.think it would be stupid and naive to suggest this is not a tough
:03:19. > :03:24.agenda. The situation we are facing is the same across the whole of the
:03:24. > :03:27.hospital sector in the NHS. It is all part of the 20 billion in
:03:27. > :03:33.savings which everybody is familiar with the that the NHS is required
:03:33. > :03:38.to make. Patient were worried it today. I'm lucky I am not ill, but
:03:38. > :03:42.I do worry about people in hospital, it is a worry. At the end of the
:03:42. > :03:46.day, they have to offer a service, and have the finances are minimised,
:03:46. > :03:56.how are they going to be able to offer the same service? We are
:03:56. > :03:58.
:03:58. > :04:03.going to suffer, nobody else. Bebo are losing jobs already.
:04:03. > :04:07.there's only one certainty. The NHS can't be the same. Is it going to
:04:07. > :04:12.be the same throughout the region? It is the first time I have heard
:04:12. > :04:16.of is happening, but we're talking about 4.5% cuts for all hospitals,
:04:16. > :04:19.that will be taking place, but there is a feeling that district
:04:19. > :04:24.general hospitals will be hit harder, and politically, people
:04:24. > :04:28.think there is a desire to squeeze them out of existence in favour of
:04:28. > :04:31.bigger hospitals. If that is the case, but politicians do have to
:04:31. > :04:36.come forward with those proposals, because if you're cutting and
:04:36. > :04:39.captain, they risk a danger to patients save D. What is the impact
:04:39. > :04:44.likely to be of cutting back budgets on this scale? It is
:04:44. > :04:51.difficult to say, but 7% of hospitals budget is staff. One
:04:51. > :04:55.doctor talked about -- 70%. It could be up to a third of staff,
:04:55. > :04:58.thousands and thousands of people. We are talking serious numbers, and
:04:58. > :05:01.people do not know how they're going to make these cuts over five
:05:01. > :05:05.years. Thanks for joining us this evening.
:05:05. > :05:09.Later in the programme, a big change on the way for the weather
:05:09. > :05:12.this weekend. Yes, it's certainly looking cold, and you may well have
:05:12. > :05:15.heard a rumour about some snow! Well, there's a chance, later on
:05:15. > :05:23.Sunday - but it's a very uncertain forecast. The details, from me,
:05:23. > :05:28.A motorcyclist left partially paralysed after a hit and run
:05:28. > :05:30.accident today begged the driver to apologise. John Parsons was left
:05:30. > :05:33.for dead on a road in Stoke-on- Trent.
:05:33. > :05:36.His spine was fractured in three places and he now faces months in a
:05:36. > :05:41.specialist hospital in Shropshire. He's been talking exclusively to
:05:41. > :05:51.our reporter Joanne Writtle. John Parsons' family have become
:05:51. > :05:52.
:05:52. > :05:59.his rock since this happened. remember being thrown in the air, I
:05:59. > :06:03.remember skidding along the ground, banging my lead, -- leg, and it was
:06:03. > :06:05.torn up for it. The 24-year-old motorcyclist was hit by a car on
:06:05. > :06:09.the A500 in Stoke-on-Trent. Two weeks on, police are still
:06:09. > :06:11.appealing for help to trace the driver who left him in the road.
:06:11. > :06:19.John, from Stafford, has been left partially paralysed, and faces
:06:19. > :06:25.months in the renowned spinal injuries centre in Oswestry. All I
:06:25. > :06:32.want is somebody to turn around and say, I am sorry, I didn't see you,
:06:32. > :06:39.all I'm sorry, I just wasn't paying attention. I am sorry, that is all
:06:39. > :06:42.I want, somebody to say that. More than anything else. Apart from that,
:06:42. > :06:45.I don't really care. Department of Transport figures reveal that
:06:45. > :06:51.travelling over the same distance, motorcyclists are 63 times more
:06:51. > :06:54.likely to be killed or seriously injured than car drivers. And
:06:54. > :06:57.although it's not known whether the driver was insured in John's case,
:06:57. > :07:07.it's estimated that there are over 1.5 million uninsured motorists on
:07:07. > :07:11.
:07:11. > :07:17.our roads. We understand that in a number of these accidents, it is
:07:17. > :07:21.the car drivers's fault, and probably it is when the motor
:07:21. > :07:25.cyclist is going through a blind spot on the mirror of the car
:07:25. > :07:30.driver, that is when things happen. John's stepfather had this message
:07:31. > :07:37.for the driver. It might be that the person has done it panicked,
:07:37. > :07:42.drove off, we were initially very angry that had happened, but if
:07:42. > :07:45.they actually come forward and speak to the police, we can get
:07:45. > :07:49.John's case covered. X-rays show John's spine fractured in three
:07:49. > :07:54.places. But he has recently regained some movement in one leg,
:07:54. > :08:00.and doctors are optimistic. And before we left, there was another
:08:00. > :08:10.small breakthrough. Just having the neck brace off and be able to
:08:10. > :08:13.
:08:13. > :08:17.actually move your neck free is absolutely amazing, to be honest.
:08:17. > :08:20.We wish him a speedy recovery. The Education secretary Michael
:08:20. > :08:21.Gove was met by protests today as he visited the first school in
:08:21. > :08:24.Birmingham to convert to Academy status.
:08:24. > :08:27.He wants more schools to go the same way, insisting standards will
:08:27. > :08:33.be raised. But opponents say it's playing politics with children's
:08:33. > :08:37.education. Here's our political reporter Susana Mendonca.
:08:37. > :08:43.An English class with a difference. The man up front clearly isn't
:08:43. > :08:50.there teacher. Did you like the TV show or find it too confusing?
:08:50. > :08:53.education secretary is discussion and a book called Animal Farm. This
:08:53. > :08:56.was a foundation school, but converted to become an academy.
:08:56. > :09:01.great thing about them is that head teachers have more power to raise
:09:01. > :09:04.standards, so they can vary the school's Bay, the curriculum could
:09:04. > :09:09.bring in new qualifications, they can pay good teachers more.
:09:09. > :09:13.there is a positive reaction in this classroom. It does make a
:09:13. > :09:17.difference to schools, so far it has made the score better.
:09:17. > :09:21.started GCSEs a year earlier, so you get more of a chance.
:09:21. > :09:26.government has invited all schools to convert, and so far, 17 have
:09:27. > :09:34.done exactly that. But not everyone is convinced that academies are a
:09:34. > :09:38.good idea. Teachers at his primary went on strike this week at the
:09:38. > :09:44.plans to turn their school into an academy, and many parents there
:09:44. > :09:51.have been protesting as well. force a school, giving it no-choice,
:09:51. > :09:56.to say either you become an Academy or we will come inside, remove your
:09:56. > :10:01.governors, and make it... It is not democratic. But Michael Gove makes
:10:01. > :10:05.no apology. It is not a state -- is threat to the children, it is
:10:05. > :10:09.rescuing them from years of underperformance. Whenever you
:10:09. > :10:13.change things, the people who are associated with failure say they
:10:13. > :10:19.are criticising us. Yes I am, because they have allowed children
:10:19. > :10:25.to leave drama school after seven years of state education, incapable
:10:25. > :10:30.of reading, writing or adding up properly. He had already left by
:10:30. > :10:32.the time they turned up. Clearly, this is a fight that is not over.
:10:32. > :10:35.And Susana's outside Ninestiles School in Acocks Green now. We've
:10:35. > :10:44.heard Michael Gove's case for academies, why are people against
:10:44. > :10:48.them, Susana? Many other teachers and teaching unions are worried
:10:48. > :10:51.about a potential impact upon their pay and conditions. They had those
:10:51. > :10:55.of local authorities, but academies would be outside of local authority
:10:55. > :10:59.control, so would have to start from scratch. Some of the parents I
:10:59. > :11:03.had been speaking to think there will be a lack of accountability,
:11:03. > :11:08.they will not be on parent-governor boards, but had teacher he says
:11:08. > :11:12.there are the ways parents can get involved. A third area is whether
:11:12. > :11:16.or not there would be a two-tier system, where the Academy's get
:11:16. > :11:20.more funding, and the local authority schools do not. Michael
:11:20. > :11:25.Gove was keen to say today that is not the case. Assuming they are
:11:25. > :11:29.going to improve standards, how will we know? It is a difficult
:11:29. > :11:33.question to answer, the critics say there is no evidence that they will
:11:33. > :11:37.improve standards, the government says there is. But you only know
:11:37. > :11:43.when you see the results that students get at the end of their
:11:43. > :11:51.academic career, and at schools, a child start at a young age, bins at
:11:51. > :12:01.beer GCSEs, so you could be looking at more than a decade of -- ends at
:12:01. > :12:03.
:12:03. > :12:06.did GCSEs. Thank you. This region, which of course has
:12:06. > :12:09.always been known as the heart of British manufacturing, has suffered
:12:09. > :12:11.a bigger industrial slump than anywhere else in the UK. That's
:12:11. > :12:14.according to latest figures spanning more than a decade.
:12:14. > :12:16.Now one senior Labour MP has admitted that his government didn't
:12:16. > :12:20.do enough to help prevent the decline. Our Business Correspondent
:12:20. > :12:27.Peter Plisner has been to Coventry, a city that was once the centre of
:12:27. > :12:30.the UK's automotive industry. dawn has broken.
:12:30. > :12:40.A new dawn for the UK as the 1997 general election sweeps Labour into
:12:40. > :12:43.
:12:43. > :12:47.power, but it wasn't a new dawn for Things didn't get better for many
:12:47. > :12:52.of the region's small manufacturing businesses. At this Coventry firm,
:12:52. > :12:57.the last decade has been a struggle. A real roller-coaster ride, we have
:12:57. > :13:01.seen good years at the outset, around 2000, 2001, we have seen a
:13:01. > :13:07.gradual decline, and some of the major companies we used to supply,
:13:07. > :13:10.household names, have gone. Coventry has had its fair share of
:13:11. > :13:16.big factory closures. This is the site of the old Peugeot factory on
:13:16. > :13:19.the outskirts of the city. It's part of the reason that the West
:13:19. > :13:24.Midlands has seen a 23% decline in manufacturing output over the last
:13:24. > :13:27.13 years - the biggest decline anywhere in the country. But it
:13:27. > :13:30.used to be so different - this newsreel footage shows a royal
:13:30. > :13:35.visit to the Jaguar car plant Brown's lane. But this is what it
:13:35. > :13:37.looks like today. At Coventry's Transport Museum, there's an
:13:38. > :13:41.exhibit charting the rise and fall of the city's automotive industry.
:13:41. > :13:47.It's a good place to find out from experts why the decline in
:13:47. > :13:53.manufacturing here been so bad here. What he saw sterling may be 20%
:13:53. > :13:57.overvalued, that affected our export base. Customers really
:13:57. > :14:01.struggled for much of the period because of that. In and we saw a
:14:01. > :14:06.run-down and closure of energy Rover. It all begs the question,
:14:06. > :14:09.did the Labour government do enough to protect manufacturing jobs?
:14:09. > :14:14.didn't. We have got to be more, we have got to have a different
:14:14. > :14:17.approach for the future. This is a key point, manufacturing companies
:14:17. > :14:24.need access to finance and we have got to persuade young people that
:14:24. > :14:28.it has a bright future. Despite deep recession, employment levels
:14:28. > :14:38.are rising again. It is good news for a government keen to rebalance
:14:38. > :14:41.
:14:41. > :14:46.The let's talk to Steve from the chambers of commerce. What is the
:14:46. > :14:53.problem, what needs to be done to turn things around, some
:14:53. > :14:57.manufacturers are doing well. think if you go back to the late
:14:57. > :15:02.1990s and look at my factory which is becoming unfashionable, there
:15:02. > :15:09.was an obsession with the financial sector and going forward.
:15:09. > :15:15.Furthermore, the skills were a big issue. What we saw was a further
:15:15. > :15:20.obsession with wanting to upscale everybody in terms of sending them
:15:20. > :15:25.to university. Would you make of Labour admitting they did not do
:15:25. > :15:35.enough to prevent a decline? -- what do you make? Apologies, we
:15:35. > :15:38.
:15:38. > :15:48.have lost him. We will go back later if we can. Basil D'Oliveira
:15:48. > :15:52.
:15:52. > :15:55.did not seek... Still ahead for you this evening - tributes to a
:15:55. > :15:57.sporting great Basil D'Oliviera, who was so much more than just a
:15:57. > :16:00.fine cricketer. And how one Premier League club's helping disabled
:16:00. > :16:03.footballers get to the top in their chosen sport.
:16:03. > :16:05.Details were revealed today of plans to build a home in the
:16:05. > :16:08.grounds of a Birmingham hospital for families of injured soldiers
:16:08. > :16:11.and airmen. The 18 bed property at the Queen Elizabeth will cost four
:16:11. > :16:14.million pounds, to be paid for partly by charities including Help
:16:14. > :16:17.for Heroes. The idea's to give military personnel injured in
:16:17. > :16:21.Afghanistan a place where they can spend time with their nearest and
:16:21. > :16:24.dearest while they recover. Giles Latcham reports.
:16:24. > :16:27.In the Houses of Parliament a special occasion to herald a
:16:27. > :16:30.special project - the building of Fisher House - an idea imported
:16:30. > :16:40.from an American charity who are helping to meet the �4.2 million
:16:40. > :16:46.
:16:46. > :16:49.cost. Are my trees have stood shoulder to shoulder and our people
:16:49. > :16:52.have a special relationship. We disagree from time to time but at
:16:53. > :16:58.the end of the day if there is trouble the other one is always
:16:58. > :17:04.there. As I said, I do not view it from the American point of view, a
:17:04. > :17:09.foreign soil, I view this as an extension of family. This car park
:17:09. > :17:15.at Birmingham's QE Hospital is where Fisher House will be built.
:17:15. > :17:22.It will be designed like you are in my home, living room, kitchen, a
:17:22. > :17:25.big family room for people to spend time together but 18 large family
:17:26. > :17:28.bedrooms. There's already something like it on a smaller scale. This
:17:29. > :17:31.home three miles away near the old Selly Oak hospital accommodates the
:17:31. > :17:38.families of soldiers or airmen injured abroad and flown back to
:17:38. > :17:41.Birmingham's military hospital. When Paul's son Craig lost both his
:17:41. > :17:50.legs in Helmand just before Christmas, he moved in to be close
:17:50. > :17:57.to him, along with Craig's girlfriend. From a family 0.22, it
:17:57. > :18:05.is a good accommodation. It allows us to be here. Close to him and not
:18:05. > :18:07.travelling a long way to be here. - family point of view. With the
:18:08. > :18:10.Royal Centre for Defence Medicine's now based at the new Queen
:18:10. > :18:13.Elizabeth hospital site, there's an opportunity to build a bigger and
:18:13. > :18:16.better home. And those who care for the injured say bringing family
:18:16. > :18:19.closer can only aid recovery. Help for Heroes is another charity
:18:19. > :18:23.contributing to the cost of the building, but more funds are needed
:18:23. > :18:24.to run it. Work on the QE's home away from home is due to begin in
:18:25. > :18:28.April. The cricketing world said goodbye
:18:28. > :18:31.today to Basil D'Olivera - a player who influenced so much more than
:18:31. > :18:34.the game he graced with bat and ball. More than a thousand people
:18:34. > :18:36.gathered at Worcester cathedral today for a memorial service to a
:18:37. > :18:46.cricketer who also played a significant part in the fall of
:18:46. > :18:51.apartheid in his native South Africa. Ian Winter was there.
:18:51. > :18:54.It was a few degrees colder than Cape Town but not a sunny as South
:18:54. > :18:58.Africa. Under blue skies in Worcester it felt like the
:18:58. > :19:03.cricketing gods were smiling with fond memories of Basil D'Oliveira.
:19:03. > :19:08.Famous faces mingled with less familiar cricket lovers each with
:19:08. > :19:15.their own favourite story about a friend they called Basil. We have
:19:15. > :19:20.been amazed at the response and the cards and everything. You do not
:19:20. > :19:24.realise, it has been such a long time and so many people remember
:19:24. > :19:28.him so well. A wonderful gentleman at the time when he had the
:19:28. > :19:33.political problem of not being selected but a real gentleman as
:19:33. > :19:37.far as I was concerned in cricket. Basil D'Oliveira learnt cricket in
:19:37. > :19:42.Cape Town, everyone noticed his remarkable talent except the South
:19:42. > :19:47.African government he only saw the colour of his skin. You are born in
:19:47. > :19:52.a certain area and told to live there, you are told where to go to
:19:52. > :20:00.school and walk buses to use. It becomes part of you. You live in
:20:00. > :20:04.the system. You cannot measure it against anything. In 1964 at a 32,
:20:04. > :20:09.he arrived at New Road, fell in love with Worcestershire and stayed
:20:09. > :20:15.for the rest of his life. I was forced to smile when I read the
:20:15. > :20:23.Daily Telegraph which said, Basil D'Oliveira, the cricketer who died
:20:23. > :20:28.n least 80. -- at least 80. Every seat was taken, similarly heartfelt
:20:28. > :20:32.tributes, so much genuine affection. Some recall the prolific all
:20:32. > :20:37.rounder with 44 Test caps, others his outstanding success with
:20:37. > :20:41.Worcestershire. Everyone a knowledge to his unique role in
:20:41. > :20:46.helping to end apartheid. I wonder how good he would have been if he
:20:46. > :20:52.came here when he was 20. I think he would have been possibly up with
:20:52. > :20:55.the greats rather than just a legend. For almost 30 years as a
:20:55. > :20:59.player and coach, Basil D'Oliveira was synonymous with Worcestershire
:20:59. > :21:02.county cricket clubs. Today, they gave thanks for the life of a
:21:03. > :21:12.legend. Ian's still in Worcester tonight. A poignant occasion, Ian,
:21:12. > :21:16.but one for celebration too? Yes, very celebratory as well. I
:21:16. > :21:23.was here for a another memorial service and this was different in
:21:23. > :21:28.style, context and tone. Basil D'Oliveira was 80 after a long
:21:28. > :21:34.battle with Parkinson's disease. This was a celebration of his life.
:21:34. > :21:38.And a magnificent turn out at the cathedral. An indication of what a
:21:38. > :21:43.significant figure he was. I have never seen Worcester
:21:43. > :21:49.Cathedral so full. There must have been at least to 1000, close to
:21:49. > :21:55.1,500 people here. Lenny BG's and tributes. Sir Michael Parkinson
:21:55. > :22:00.said he was an outstanding talent, hard work and will power to succeed.
:22:00. > :22:06.He was a hero in the battle against apartheid. His former captain said
:22:06. > :22:11.he was a true legend of Worcestershire cricket and the
:22:11. > :22:15.former secretary at new road said in many ways Basil D'Oliveira had
:22:15. > :22:19.reached all lives on his remarkable journey. Full coverage of the
:22:19. > :22:28.service on BBC Hereford and Worcester tomorrow morning and a
:22:28. > :22:33.gallery of pictures to look at by looking on to the website. Lovely
:22:33. > :22:36.to see this archive pictures. In football, West Bromwich Albion are
:22:36. > :22:39.aiming for revenge when they host Norwich City in the FA Cup tomorrow
:22:40. > :22:44.after losing to them just two weeks ago in the Premier League. But away
:22:44. > :22:47.from the cup and Premier League the club does much good work. This week
:22:47. > :22:52.it was announced The Hawthorns will be the home to a new academy which
:22:53. > :22:56.aims to produce football stars for the Paralympics. It's already home
:22:56. > :22:59.to some of the best blind footballers in the land. Now future
:22:59. > :23:01.internationals will be groomed at West Bromwich Albion to follow in
:23:01. > :23:10.the footsteps of Paralympics hopeful Darren Harris from
:23:10. > :23:17.Wolverhampton. There has always been a lot of talent in this area.
:23:17. > :23:22.I think we have brought some schoolkids along today, 15, 16 and
:23:22. > :23:25.had split with this investment we will produce some good players for
:23:25. > :23:28.the future. The club's disability section, Sporting Club Albion, will
:23:28. > :23:31.become a centre of excellence thanks to a grant of 8 thousand
:23:31. > :23:34.pounds a year from the football association. And to celebrate first
:23:34. > :23:42.team players Ben Foster and Nicky Shorey joined in with a session
:23:42. > :23:47.this week. Blind football is about the sounds, hitting the ball and
:23:47. > :23:57.every noise of the walls. And with guidance of where the posts are -
:23:57. > :23:57.
:23:57. > :24:03.Shorey was able to beat Foster with a spot kick. The players are quite
:24:03. > :24:05.good. I am quite shocked. It is nice to see, you realise how good
:24:05. > :24:10.they are. The Midlands already boasts excellent facilities for
:24:10. > :24:15.blind football in Hereford. It's hosted the world cup in 2010 and is
:24:15. > :24:25.the base for England. Now young players from across the region can
:24:25. > :24:26.
:24:26. > :24:31.aspire to play for England and dream of Paralympics gold.
:24:31. > :24:34.That is astonishing. How do they do it? And to keep up with all the
:24:34. > :24:40.action involving your club this weekend in the cup or the league,
:24:40. > :24:46.there'll be full coverage on your BBC local radio station. I reckon
:24:46. > :24:52.you might have to wrap up warm. Yes, temperatures are taking a
:24:52. > :24:58.tumble as we head into the weekend. A forecasting headache for the end,
:24:58. > :25:04.snow ought not to snow? For the time being, ice is concerning us. A
:25:04. > :25:10.yellow warning tonight and tomorrow. Showers are falling, some contain
:25:10. > :25:17.some wintry stuff, on high ground. They were cleared away, the skies
:25:17. > :25:22.will clear. Temperatures will plummet. No wonder there is the
:25:22. > :25:27.risk of slippery surfaces. There might be cloud around tomorrow, in
:25:27. > :25:33.the south-east with mist and fog. That will clear away and tomorrow
:25:33. > :25:39.will be a cracking day, fine and dry with blue skies. You need to
:25:39. > :25:44.wrap up well, highs of five or six. Through tomorrow night,
:25:44. > :25:52.temperatures plunging again. A haze of blue. A widespread frost and
:25:52. > :25:58.freezing fog patches. Sunday, quite a quiet day. Cloud, cold with
:25:58. > :26:03.temperatures at two or three. Sunday evening, things will get
:26:03. > :26:09.interesting. A battleground in the weather, cold air from the east and
:26:09. > :26:13.mild air rushing in from the West. This band of rain, did finding --
:26:13. > :26:19.defining line and where it meets the cold air a spell of sleet or
:26:19. > :26:22.snow. Some big uncertainty about where it will come. The worst of
:26:22. > :26:28.the snow will be in the west across Wales but it could first western
:26:28. > :26:32.parts of our region. On Monday morning, my advice is to stay in
:26:32. > :26:39.tune with the forecast. Sorry if you heard me coughing is
:26:39. > :26:41.your report! -- over your report. A look at tonight's main headlines:
:26:41. > :26:44.The backlash over bonuses - politicians line up to criticise
:26:44. > :26:46.the Royal Bank of Scotland payout. And as hospital bosses in
:26:46. > :26:56.Birmingham insist they can safely manage millions in cutbacks,
:26:56. > :26:56.
:26:56. > :27:06.consultants say standards of care will be affected. And more about
:27:06. > :27:11.but reduction in manufacturer on the Sunday politics show. You can
:27:11. > :27:15.read all about it on his blog. It is of course the start of the
:27:15. > :27:18.weekend. I don't know what you're up to but do you fancy spending it
:27:18. > :27:22.in Birmingham? That's what the readers of the New York Times'
:27:22. > :27:27.travel section are being advised to do. Not Birmingham Alabama but
:27:27. > :27:32.Birmingham, West Midlands. The paper calls city, big-shouldered,
:27:32. > :27:35.friendly and fun. Among its suggestions are a trip to the