15/08/2013 Midlands Today


15/08/2013

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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today, with Nick Owen and Mary Rhodes.

:00:00.:00:09.

Joy for thousands of A—level students across the region, but what

:00:09.:00:12.

hope for teenagers where youth unemployment's a major problem?

:00:12.:00:16.

We'll be finding out what's being done in a town with one of the

:00:16.:00:20.

highest numbers of young jobless people in the country.

:00:20.:00:23.

Also tonight, a startling admission from the new boss of Birmingham's

:00:23.:00:26.

Children's Services — "children are unsafe in our care".

:00:26.:00:30.

Testing how we'd react in the face of a terrorist attack — for research

:00:30.:00:35.

purposes only. On the eve of the new Premier League

:00:35.:00:39.

season, new boss Mark Hughes on his hopes for Stoke City. People will

:00:39.:00:47.

possibly be nervous about what is ahead of us but I think we should

:00:47.:00:50.

enjoy and embrace it. And however wet it's been so far

:00:50.:00:54.

this week, it's tame in comparison with what's to come. Join me later

:00:54.:00:56.

for all the details. Good evening. Councillors in one of

:00:56.:01:09.

the UK's worst youth unemployment blackspots have promised a brighter

:01:10.:01:12.

future for the hundreds of A—level students who received their results

:01:12.:01:17.

today. More than one in four young people in Telford and Wrekin are

:01:17.:01:20.

unemployed. That's around 3,500 still waiting to launch their

:01:20.:01:26.

careers. Now the Borough Council is working towards guaranteed

:01:26.:01:28.

education, training or employment for all 16 to 24—year—olds. From

:01:28.:01:36.

Telford, here's Joanne Writtle. Joining us now from Telford is

:01:36.:01:39.

Councillor Shaun Davies, who's responsible for employment and

:01:39.:01:43.

skills. Emotional scenes as students at colleges in Wellington get their

:01:43.:01:47.

A—level results. In line with national trends, those getting top

:01:47.:01:52.

grades dipped by 5% compared to last year but there was still plenty of

:01:52.:02:00.

success. I got an A* grade, A, A. Much better than I'd expected. I got

:02:00.:02:11.

three a star grades and an A. I am going to Oxford. Someone making

:02:11.:02:15.

decisions depending on finance. I wanted to raise the money getting a

:02:15.:02:20.

job to go to university next year. The tuition fees are putting me off.

:02:20.:02:28.

In myself, I'm not ready to go out into the big world at the minute so

:02:28.:02:33.

I am just going to stay at home. It is a bit cheaper as well. We're not

:02:33.:02:38.

seeing fewer students going to university but what we are seeing is

:02:38.:02:42.

that they are staying more locally in terms of transport links. Just a

:02:42.:02:49.

short drive, £250 million is being spent here developing part of

:02:49.:02:53.

Telford town centre. It will create hundreds of new jobs, but

:02:53.:03:02.

nevertheless, youth unemployment stands stubbornly at 27%. That is

:03:02.:03:07.

higher than the West Midlands figure of 23% and higher than the national

:03:07.:03:14.

level of 21%. Amy Spruce is one of 140 apprentices recruited by Telford

:03:14.:03:20.

Council. Last year, she decided against higher education. University

:03:20.:03:25.

is a big pick—up —— big commitment. I didn't want to get into debt as

:03:25.:03:30.

well. I've decided I've wanted a more work —based experience. Amy has

:03:30.:03:36.

a one—year apprenticeship. After that, she is hoping her work

:03:36.:03:41.

experience and her NVQ will help her gain permanent employment. Joining

:03:41.:03:50.

us now is the minister responsible for employment and skills. Great

:03:50.:03:53.

news for the students who studied hard to get great results, but if

:03:54.:03:57.

they're not off to University, what are the chances of them getting a

:03:57.:04:01.

job locally? Well, we really need to work with that forgotten 50% who

:04:01.:04:06.

aren't going to university. We need to work with colleges for further

:04:06.:04:11.

education colleges —— courses. But we need to give our young people a

:04:11.:04:15.

chance of employment. Youth unemployment is a problem in

:04:15.:04:19.

Telford, as one in four is out of work. What are you doing to tackle

:04:19.:04:27.

it? It is a massive problem and it is regrettable the Government didn't

:04:27.:04:30.

put anything into their Comprehensive Spending Review to

:04:30.:04:35.

tackle the issue across the country. We are working now with colleges and

:04:35.:04:42.

with the private sector here to offer a jobs guarantee and jobs

:04:42.:04:45.

charter and unemployment and training guarantee of to every 16 to

:04:45.:04:53.

24—year—old. It is the biggest aspiration the council has put

:04:53.:04:56.

forward in a generation, I would argue. It is not going to take a

:04:57.:05:01.

quick fix and the council cannot do it by itself. We have to give our

:05:01.:05:04.

young people a chance working with the community. We've heard in the

:05:04.:05:08.

last couple of days that exports are rising. Firms in the region are

:05:08.:05:11.

recruiting but they can't find people with the right skills. How

:05:12.:05:19.

can you change that? We need to prepare our young people to have the

:05:19.:05:25.

qualifications and skills and confidence to apply for jobs and get

:05:25.:05:28.

through assessment, so we have this to track approach. There is much

:05:28.:05:34.

more we can do and this will be the number one priority for this

:05:34.:05:37.

Administration in Telford over the next two years. Thank you.

:05:37.:05:46.

Still to come: join me later to find out how innovative designs like this

:05:46.:05:50.

could help boost manufacturing in the West Midlands.

:05:50.:05:54.

Police have been called to an incident in Alvechurch. A cordon has

:05:54.:06:00.

been set up around a white van. It's believed to be part of a wider

:06:00.:06:03.

operation involving West Mercia Police and surrounding forces, and

:06:03.:06:06.

we'll have more in our news from 10pm.

:06:06.:06:09.

The new head of Children's Services at Birmingham City Council has

:06:09.:06:12.

described the current service as unsafe for children and needing

:06:12.:06:15.

immediate action. Peter Hay's comments come just weeks before the

:06:15.:06:18.

results of a Serious Case Review into the death of two—year—old Keanu

:06:18.:06:23.

Williams are due to be released. Our political reporter, Liz Roberts,

:06:23.:06:26.

joins us now. What else did he have to say? The comments from Peter Hay

:06:26.:06:31.

were made to councillors on the scrutiny committee, who's job it is

:06:31.:06:34.

to hold officers in Children's Services to account. He's reported

:06:34.:06:38.

as saying the council is standing near the exit of the last—chance

:06:38.:06:44.

saloon. I've spoken to the chair of that committee, Labour Councillor

:06:44.:06:47.

Anita Ward, who said this is the most honest anybody has been with

:06:47.:06:50.

members of scrutiny in the last year. She says they've had serious

:06:50.:06:56.

concerns about the service since the Ofsted report last October described

:06:56.:07:02.

it as "inadequate". And despite in their monthly meetings being told

:07:02.:07:05.

that things are improving, it's only now that the person in charge is

:07:05.:07:09.

saying things as they are. And he's only a temporary boss? Yes, it's

:07:09.:07:13.

less than a month he's been in charge. He's become the interim boss

:07:13.:07:17.

since Peter Duxbury stepped down in the aftermath of the Keanu Williams

:07:17.:07:21.

case. He's the little boy from Ward End in Birmingham who died aged two

:07:22.:07:25.

in January 2011 after being found with 37 injuries. His mother,

:07:25.:07:29.

Rebecca Shuttleworth, was convicted of his murder in June. What reaction

:07:29.:07:36.

has there been to the comments? A short time ago, we spoke to the

:07:36.:07:39.

British Association of Social Workers, who welcomed Mr Hay's

:07:39.:07:47.

straight talking. I think it will be very hard for people to hear that

:07:47.:07:51.

because we all want children to be safe. It is very, very uncomfortable

:07:51.:07:56.

for us to hear that they aren't. At if you don't start with the reality

:07:56.:08:01.

of what is going on, then you can't change things. —— but. Hopefully,

:08:01.:08:05.

having made these comments, now people around the city, not just in

:08:05.:08:10.

local authorities or social work, will be able to say, what can we all

:08:10.:08:14.

do to try to change the situation for the children? Another Ofsed

:08:14.:08:17.

inspection is due any day now and I'm told there are serious concerns

:08:17.:08:25.

those inspectors won't be satisfied. Thank you.

:08:25.:08:28.

How do you think you would respond in the event of a serious incident

:08:28.:08:33.

such as a terrorist attack? That question was put to the test today

:08:33.:08:37.

in a simulated exercise. A chemical was released inside the

:08:37.:08:39.

International Convention Centre, where 150 volunteers were taking

:08:39.:08:42.

part in a European research project, as Kevin Reide reports.

:08:42.:08:48.

Birmingham's International Convention Centre and an evacuation

:08:48.:08:51.

after a terrorist discharges poisonous gas in one of the halls.

:08:51.:08:57.

But it wasn't for real. All these people are volunteers being used as

:08:57.:09:05.

part of a mock exercise. Several people collapsed so it did seem as

:09:05.:09:09.

if it was a natural thing. We did realise the exercise had started. We

:09:10.:09:13.

thought people were genuinely ill. It's designed to be as realistic as

:09:13.:09:17.

possible. There are observers from universities in the UK and from

:09:17.:09:24.

security agencies from the EU. They'll collate the information and

:09:24.:09:27.

make sure if this ever happens for real, the response will be the right

:09:27.:09:31.

one. There were elso European film crews here, capturing every minute.

:09:31.:09:35.

Isn't there a danger you could alarm people? We have done expense ——

:09:35.:09:41.

extensive work around communication to let people know what is

:09:41.:09:45.

happening. These events are extremely rare but because they are

:09:45.:09:49.

it is important we exercise regularly to make sure we are

:09:49.:09:52.

prepared for them, that we have officers who are skilled with the

:09:52.:09:55.

right kit and the right training to deal with these things in our

:09:55.:09:59.

communities. It also provided the opportunity to try out as yet unused

:09:59.:10:02.

equipment, with the volunteers having to wear specialist chemical

:10:02.:10:07.

attack suits. What these resources are designed for is for a mass

:10:07.:10:11.

decontamination of people, so say a gas has been released or an acid,

:10:11.:10:17.

what we can do is decontaminate and clean people up and clean a lot of

:10:17.:10:21.

people up very quickly. There's people lying on the floor but I

:10:21.:10:24.

don't know... ! The exercise was funded by the European Union and the

:10:24.:10:28.

results will be analysed over the next few months. Then there are two

:10:28.:10:31.

further terror exercises in Poland and Sweden.

:10:31.:10:35.

I'm joined now by Dr Brooke Rogers, senior lecturer in risk and terror

:10:35.:10:38.

at King's College, London, who has been gathering information from

:10:38.:10:42.

today's event. It sounds absolutely fascinating. What have you learned?

:10:42.:10:50.

We have a lot of data to analyse and we'll so have what we have seen and

:10:50.:10:53.

some numbers we have been collecting, and we have very much

:10:53.:10:56.

seen behaviour from members of the public that was very calm and

:10:56.:11:03.

cooperative and I think they enjoyed the event overall, which is what we

:11:03.:11:07.

would expect to see with our theories, and that contradicts what

:11:07.:11:11.

emergency planning assumptions quite often assume they will see when

:11:11.:11:14.

members of the public respond. These events were obviously staged and

:11:14.:11:17.

those taking part had some idea what was about to happen, so how reliable

:11:17.:11:27.

will the data be? We are incredibly confident because this brings these

:11:27.:11:31.

things to life with the practitioners, who are engaged with

:11:31.:11:37.

the public response. We are putting real members of the public through

:11:37.:11:41.

so they can engage with them and we'll so go out and collect data

:11:41.:11:48.

during real events. —— we also. Some of my colleagues were involved with

:11:48.:11:54.

the Alexander Lipton Inc oh incident in London as well. Once your

:11:54.:12:05.

research is complete, what happens to it? We basically say, you can

:12:05.:12:13.

engage with members of the public, you can help them to help themselves

:12:13.:12:17.

and their families and this is what you can do in order to give them

:12:17.:12:22.

some tools they can use as well. This is fascinating. Thank you.

:12:22.:12:26.

This is our top story tonight — as thousands of students receive their

:12:27.:12:29.

A—level results, a pledge to offer more support in one of the region's

:12:30.:12:33.

youth unemployment blackspots. Your detailed weather forecast to

:12:33.:12:36.

come shortly from Shefali. Also tonight, the Premier League is

:12:36.:12:40.

back, and it's all—change at Stoke City, as Mark Hughes launches a new

:12:40.:12:43.

era. And remembering World War II's

:12:43.:12:45.

forgotten army, with a special bronze statue to honour the

:12:46.:12:47.

Chindits. The Midlands has been famous for

:12:47.:12:59.

developing prestigious cars over the years, such as the Aston Martin, the

:12:59.:13:03.

Morgan, the E—Type Jag and many other hugely successful vehicles.

:13:03.:13:07.

Now a rather different type of vehicle is being developed here. It

:13:07.:13:16.

goes a bit slower! It only has a top speed of 25 miles—an—hour. But

:13:16.:13:19.

designers hope the Raptor electric bike will be a major success. Orders

:13:19.:13:23.

are already coming in from Australia and America, with the promise of new

:13:23.:13:27.

jobs as a result, as Bob Hockenhull reports.

:13:27.:13:29.

Brothers Paul and David Loomes have spent three years developing the

:13:29.:13:33.

Raptor. The electric bike can be used on the roads. And the

:13:33.:13:37.

production line in Dudley expects to be making at least 2,000 a year by

:13:37.:13:44.

2015. It's primarily aimed at security, professional users,

:13:44.:13:50.

shopping malls, the police. We are looking to sell in excess of 300

:13:50.:13:55.

vehicles this year, which is a little over £1.5 million turnover.

:13:55.:13:58.

The rear—wheel—drive vehicle is already creating jobs on a small

:13:58.:14:02.

scale. 18 people are working on designing and assembling the

:14:02.:14:05.

machine. The brothers have teamed up with an established design company

:14:05.:14:08.

to help realise their dreams of mass production. This area is obviously

:14:08.:14:16.

renowned over the years with locomotive companies but there has

:14:16.:14:20.

been nothing lately, really, and I think this is one of the new

:14:20.:14:24.

innovations that has come from this area. Nobody could be sure how

:14:24.:14:30.

popular the bike will become but at least it is 100% designed and

:14:30.:14:34.

manufactured here in the Midlands. The question is, are innovative

:14:34.:14:37.

products like this getting the backing they need? We don't think

:14:37.:14:43.

there is enough government backing for this sort of thing. We are

:14:43.:14:47.

exporting 100% of our product. You would think they would come in to

:14:47.:14:51.

help us. One organisation has helped, though. The Manufacturing

:14:51.:14:55.

Advisory Service has given money to around 50 innovators in the region,

:14:55.:15:01.

including Ecospin. We look at the innovation itself, we understand

:15:01.:15:04.

what the product is trying to achieve and we look to see where the

:15:04.:15:08.

marketplace will be, because to commercialise is the own game and

:15:08.:15:11.

without that, all the investment is for nothing. It may be a long road

:15:11.:15:17.

to success. But if inventions like the Raptor can capture the attention

:15:17.:15:20.

of the world's markets, it'll mean more jobs for this region.

:15:20.:15:25.

The West Midlands is one of the most diverse parts of the country in

:15:25.:15:29.

terms of population, but for the first time, we have a real picture

:15:29.:15:33.

of just who makes up our region. The details have been revealed by Oxford

:15:33.:15:35.

University. More than 5.6 million people live

:15:35.:15:41.

here in the West Midlands, and 630,000, or 11%, were born outside

:15:41.:15:46.

the UK. Birmingham has had the biggest

:15:47.:15:50.

increase in migrants over a ten—year period — up by 77,000 to 238,000.

:15:50.:15:56.

While Stoke—on—Trent had the largest percentage increase in its

:15:56.:15:58.

foreign—born population — up 131% to nearly 21,000.

:15:59.:16:06.

The biggest migrant group in the West Midlands is Indian, at nearly

:16:07.:16:10.

100,000, followed by people born in Pakistan, Poland, Ireland and

:16:10.:16:11.

Jamaica. We're joined now by Rob McNeil, from

:16:11.:16:18.

the Migration Observatory at Oxford University. Good evening.

:16:18.:16:24.

Significant increases in the region's migrant population. What's

:16:24.:16:31.

the attraction? There are an awful lot of people who go to the West

:16:31.:16:35.

Midlands to study and many who go to work, and as you said earlier, it is

:16:35.:16:40.

an area with an established migrant population, so people will go to

:16:40.:16:44.

areas where there are family connections or other networks where

:16:44.:16:49.

they can feel comfortable and find work, find ways of doing things that

:16:49.:16:53.

they might otherwise struggle with if they were somewhere with a

:16:53.:16:59.

smaller migrant population. You talk about work. We have big problems

:16:59.:17:02.

with unemployment here in the West Midlands so it seems surprising the

:17:02.:17:05.

region still seems a popular destination. As we were saying,

:17:05.:17:08.

there are other areas apart from work that attract people, but the

:17:08.:17:12.

other thing is, migrants to the West Midlands, while they are obviously

:17:12.:17:18.

still proportionately a large part of the population, they are now

:17:18.:17:25.

smaller as a group than in other parts of the country. For example,

:17:25.:17:29.

London, the south—east and east of England have a larger migrant

:17:29.:17:32.

population. How much of a challenge are these growing numbers to local

:17:32.:17:38.

authorities? Clearly, it is extremely important local

:17:38.:17:41.

authorities have local data to allow them to plan and make sure there are

:17:41.:17:46.

adequate places at schools and hospitals for the growing

:17:46.:17:49.

population. So it is important there is local information popular. ——

:17:49.:17:57.

available. We have been seeing the increased numbers potentially coming

:17:57.:18:04.

from remaining and Bulgaria. What do you say about that? The numbers from

:18:04.:18:08.

those countries have been increasing for several years now regardless of

:18:08.:18:11.

the labour market restrictions preventing them from doing several

:18:11.:18:19.

things. There will be a larger number —— whether there will be a

:18:19.:18:22.

larger number of people coming or not is hard to know. We have to plan

:18:22.:18:26.

for uncertainty because even if we had a precise number of people, we

:18:26.:18:29.

would not know whether they were going to go to London, the West

:18:29.:18:35.

Midlands or elsewhere. Thank you. And if you want to find out more,

:18:35.:18:39.

we've put the full report on West Midlands migration on our Facebook

:18:40.:18:42.

page. The richest football league in the

:18:42.:18:45.

world kicks off on Saturday, with the return of the Premier League,

:18:45.:18:49.

and the first game involves Stoke City. The Potters travel up the M6

:18:49.:18:52.

to Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime with new manager Mark Hughes,

:18:53.:18:55.

looking to rebuild his own reputation and that of his new club.

:18:55.:18:59.

Today he's been talking to Laura May McMullan.

:18:59.:19:02.

It's a new era at Stoke City Football club and a challenge new

:19:02.:19:05.

manager Mark Hughes is determined to make a success of. You have to work

:19:05.:19:14.

exceptionally hard to make sure you remain a Premier League manager. I

:19:14.:19:18.

know to my own cost it is not easy but I think there is a quality of

:19:18.:19:24.

people they have found here and brought here that means I think we

:19:24.:19:28.

can be successful. Hughes knows the pressure is on to climb the ranks of

:19:28.:19:32.

the Premier League. He's confident the squad can adapt to his style of

:19:32.:19:40.

play. I would say my stylist setting up a team that is dynamic, that

:19:40.:19:48.

wants to be on the front foot and dictate. —— I would say my style is.

:19:48.:19:53.

It'll be welcome news to Stoke City supporters, who've made no secret

:19:53.:19:57.

during the last couple of seasons of their desire to have more

:19:57.:20:00.

entertaining football. And they want a top—ten finish. After the Potters'

:20:00.:20:04.

first season in the Premier League under former manager Tony Pulis, the

:20:04.:20:05.

club finished 12th. The next three seasons, they

:20:05.:20:13.

established themselves in the top flight but finished in the lower

:20:13.:20:17.

half of the table. And the theme continued last season again, with a

:20:17.:20:19.

13th—placed finished. Hughes has brought in an experienced

:20:19.:20:25.

backroom staff. His assistant manager, Mark Bowen, and first team

:20:25.:20:28.

coach, Eddie Niedzwicki, have also worked with him at Blackburn,

:20:28.:20:36.

Manchester City, Fulham and QPR. Would you say a top ten finishes

:20:36.:20:42.

realistic? We know long—term that is certainly where we want to be.

:20:42.:20:46.

Whether it happens this year or not, time will tell. But the

:20:46.:20:50.

intention is to be a successful Premier League side in the top half.

:20:50.:20:55.

The manager's aim is to bring in a striker before the transfer window

:20:55.:20:59.

closes in two weeks. He knows it's imperative to make a strong start

:20:59.:21:02.

and he'll be backed by more than 3,000 fans at Anfield on Saturday.

:21:02.:21:10.

And one of those fans is Martin Smith, editor of the Stoke City

:21:10.:21:13.

fanzine The Oatcake, who joins us now. Martin, how are Stoke fans

:21:14.:21:17.

feeling as the new season approaches? Good evening. I think

:21:17.:21:27.

everyone's feeling excited and maybe a bit anxious because it is a big

:21:27.:21:32.

step into the unknown, but, yeah, I think everybody is really looking

:21:32.:21:36.

forward to it. It's the new chapter in the Stoke City story and we are

:21:36.:21:39.

kind of ready to embrace what we hope is a new era for the club.

:21:39.:21:43.

What's the feeling among fans about Mark Hughes. Is it fair to say he

:21:43.:21:47.

wasn't universally welcomed when appointed? Has that changed? I think

:21:47.:21:56.

so. Everybody had their idea of who they wanted to see at the club but

:21:56.:22:00.

in the cold light of day, the board knew what kind of manager we could

:22:00.:22:04.

get. What really is a proven track record apart from one spell at QPR,

:22:04.:22:11.

means he will be a good fit for the club and many fans have realised

:22:11.:22:16.

that. You've made a couple of signings over the summer and Hughes

:22:16.:22:19.

says he wants to sign a striker before the transfer window closes.

:22:20.:22:22.

Is there anything else on your shopping list? We are thinking along

:22:23.:22:26.

the same lines. A striker! I think it is known that we have struggled

:22:26.:22:32.

to score goals most seasons, especially the last two, and it has

:22:32.:22:36.

held us back. We must resolve that and we might be able to do that

:22:36.:22:39.

through a different style of playing or, in all likelihood, we will

:22:39.:22:44.

problem you need a fresh face or two to invigorate the team. And, you

:22:44.:22:48.

know, we have until the 2nd of September, but the sooner the

:22:48.:22:52.

better. Have a good season and enjoy it.

:22:52.:22:59.

Do you know who the Chindits were? They were the largest of the allied

:22:59.:23:02.

Special Forces of the Second World War, operating deep behind enemy

:23:02.:23:06.

lines in North Burma in the war against Japan. For many months, they

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lived in and fought the enemy in the jungles of Japanese occupied Burma.

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ARCHIVE: You've heard of these men before. Their origin goes back to

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the late Colonel. Their history has captured the imagination of the

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Allied world. Here they are in close up for the first time. The

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Chindits. Take a good look. Not that it will help you to recognise any of

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them. Their own mother couldn't. But now, more than 60 years later, the

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Chindits are not forgotten. At the National Memorial Arboretum in

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Staffordshire today, Burma veterans attended a special service which was

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especially poignant for one Birmingham man, as Sarah Falkland

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reports. The statue is of a Chinthe. You find

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them guarding the entrances to the temples. And it was from this

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creature the Chindits took their name. This bronze has been moulded

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from a wooden statue created by computer repair man Roger Neal. He'd

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never carved anything before. It took him two and half years. I see

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this stone being just that thing. The sole of all Chindits. —— the

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sore. Roger's father, Ted, was alongside the Chindits in Burma. The

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special force was formed to put into effect a new guerilla warfare

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tactic, operating long distances behind enemy lines.

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ARCHIVE: Approaching the village, they prepare for action. They look

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casual. It is the Japanese who are worried.

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Veterans came to a consecration ceremony for Roger's Chinthe at the

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National Memorial Arboretum today. The fight against the Japanese may

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have been 70 years ago, but for them, Burma has never gone away. I

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was a 12 stone young man of 19 and I came out at eight stone for. ——

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four. Plenty of marching, walking. Bad memories? Yes.Of the 20,000

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Chindits in Burma, 3,000 were killed and the same number injured. And of

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those who survived, many have to spend weeks and even months in

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hospital that they were —— because they were so starved and disease

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ridden. Roger's own father never lived to see the Chinthe complete.

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This labour of love wasn't for his dad, but for all those lost their

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lives in Burma. Goodness. How very moving.

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It's time for the weather forecast, with Shefali.

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it was nice to see the warmth return today. What we are hoping to match

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tomorrow is today's temperatures, which reached 24 degrees, but

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generally speaking, temperatures were into the low 20s. However, if I

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was going to highlight anything this week, the wettest of periods is

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likely to be tonight and Saturday. Tonight, we have an active front

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pushing in from the West and once that is cleared by the weekend, we

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then have a very deep area of low pressure pushing in from the

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Atlantic. This will not only dumped a whole lot of rain over us, but it

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will also turn things very windy. This evening, we have this lump of

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cloud over us which will produce fairly heavy rain through the night,

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through this evening and overnight. It has already started over parts of

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Shropshire. It will be a wet night and cloudy with mist and Merck

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developing over the northern part of the region once the rain clears over

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the region in the early hours. Quite warm and muggy tonight. Tomorrow, a

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reasonable day once the rain has cleared this southeastern corner and

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we are looking at a largely dry picture with decent spells of

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sunshine, and hoping to match today's values. As I've said, on

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Saturday, wet and windy and dryer on Sunday.

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Two men have been arrested after a robbery at services on the motorway.

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West mercy of police say one man was detained in Alf Church and another

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in Birmingham. More detailed

:27:46.:27:46.

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