:00:04. > :00:07.Hello, and welcome to Midlands Today, with Joanne Malin and Nick
:00:07. > :00:10.Owen. The headlines tonight: Police
:00:11. > :00:14.officers are to be retrained, as figures reveal black people are
:00:14. > :00:20.nearly three times more likely to be stopped and searched.
:00:20. > :00:22.I believe there are police judging people and stereotyping by the way
:00:22. > :00:26.you look. We'll have an exclusive interview
:00:26. > :00:29.with the Labour leader Ed Miliband. He says, if Labour get back into
:00:29. > :00:35.power, they'll scrap the so—called bedroom tax.
:00:35. > :00:39.The bedroom tax is unfair, most of the people who are affected are
:00:39. > :00:43.disabled. It leads to people being evicted from their homes
:00:43. > :00:48.potentially. There is great infrastructure, great
:00:48. > :00:54.architecture and fantastic locations.
:00:54. > :00:57.I'm in Warwickshire, to see the planting of the millionth tree in
:00:57. > :01:01.Britain's newest forest. And if you're hoping to do a little
:01:01. > :01:05.gardening of your own this weekend, there's good news, you might even
:01:05. > :01:08.catch a glimpse of the sun. I'll have the full forecast later.
:01:08. > :01:16.Good evening. All front line West Midlands police
:01:16. > :01:21.officers are going to be retrained in controversial stop and search
:01:21. > :01:24.techniques. The promise was made at a summit today, called by the Police
:01:24. > :01:28.and Crime Commissioner. Statistics show that black people are three
:01:28. > :01:32.times more likely to be stopped by the police. Some ethnic minorities
:01:32. > :01:35.view the powers as being used to oppress rather than protect
:01:35. > :01:38.communities. The police say stop and search laws are an important weapon
:01:38. > :01:39.in the fight against gun and drug crime. Here's our special
:01:39. > :01:54.correspondent, Peter Wilson. Every time you take me to court...
:01:54. > :01:57.Anger at the summit, the debate on stop and search often boiled over.
:01:57. > :02:03.Decades of feelings that black people have been unfairly targeted.
:02:03. > :02:07.What does it mean on the streets? Dean Davies was buying his
:02:07. > :02:11.girlfriend a valentines present in Birmingham when he was suddenly
:02:11. > :02:14.detained and searched. He has no police record and was later
:02:14. > :02:20.released. There were two other people in the shop, they just so
:02:20. > :02:25.happen to be white. It was only me in the back of the van. I believe
:02:25. > :02:29.there are police judging people and stereotyping by the way you look.
:02:29. > :02:34.More than 30,000 stop and searches took place last year in the West
:02:34. > :02:40.Midlands. That's a decrease of 11%. But people feel it has been carried
:02:40. > :02:45.out in an overly aggressive way. Stop and search should be a tool of
:02:45. > :02:49.prevention. It is not working in its current format, we need to look at
:02:50. > :02:55.it and revamp it to something that will provide prevention for our
:02:55. > :02:59.community and not to be used or deem to be seemed as a tool of
:02:59. > :03:03.oppression. The conference revealed the police intend to retrain all
:03:03. > :03:08.their front—line officers in the use of stop and search.
:03:08. > :03:12.We can still try to get better information to make sure we are
:03:12. > :03:16.using stop and search smartly, and provide information to assure the
:03:16. > :03:23.community that that is the case. If it isn't, we will do something about
:03:23. > :03:29.it. When —— what are front—line officers saying? They agree it needs
:03:29. > :03:35.to be fair and reasonable and less bureaucratic. But, they say, it is
:03:35. > :03:40.an important tool in the fight against crime. Seven months on, Dean
:03:40. > :03:45.Davies, an innocent man, is still waiting for an apology from the
:03:45. > :03:47.police. Their investigation into his complaint has been completed and
:03:47. > :03:55.submitted to senior officers. Peter's here now. It seems
:03:55. > :03:58.incredible in this day and age that there is such a disparity in the
:03:58. > :04:00.numbers of black and white people being stopped and searched.
:04:00. > :04:05.There's no problem with the police stopping white people, black people
:04:05. > :04:10.or Asian people, as long as there is a good reason and they do it in the
:04:10. > :04:13.right way. What we heard today at this summit is people will say that
:04:13. > :04:17.they are being stopped just because they are wearing a foodie and
:04:17. > :04:19.tracksuit, walking back from the gym.
:04:19. > :04:26.What about this retraining, what will it involve?
:04:26. > :04:31.Really, it is about teaching people how to approach people, how to
:04:31. > :04:34.explain to them why they are being stopped. And to back it up with the
:04:34. > :04:39.right kind of information. In some ways, police officers they say have
:04:39. > :04:42.lost that technique, knowing how to interact with people on the streets.
:04:42. > :04:54.Coming up later in the programme: the coming of age of the homes that
:04:54. > :05:01.were bombed by Spitfires. One of the most controversial parts
:05:01. > :05:06.of the government's benefits changes would be scrapped by a future Labour
:05:06. > :05:09.government. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the party
:05:09. > :05:12.leader Ed Miliband said he would scrap what he calls the "bedroom
:05:12. > :05:15.tax", and pay for it by cutting tax breaks for the boardroom. Labour say
:05:15. > :05:20.this affects 60,000 claimants in the West Midlands, almost 38,000 of them
:05:20. > :05:23.with disabilities. The cut in housing benefit works out, on
:05:23. > :05:38.average, at £676 per household per year.
:05:38. > :05:44.Mr Miliband was speaking to our political editor Patrick Burns who
:05:44. > :05:46.joins us now. This is the most hotly—contested of all the
:05:46. > :05:51.government's benefits changes, so why is Ed Miliband intervening in
:05:51. > :05:57.the argument now? The timing is all about the Labour
:05:57. > :06:02.Party conference which gets underway in Brighton this weekend. Mr Miller
:06:02. > :06:06.band's Keynote theme is the cost of living crisis which is affecting
:06:06. > :06:11.millions of people. He says the more the government goes on about how the
:06:11. > :06:16.economy is turning the corner, more and more the government shows how
:06:16. > :06:19.out of touch it is with the weakest and the most vulnerable people who
:06:19. > :06:23.he says are suffering in the real economy.
:06:23. > :06:29.It is the right thing to do, the bedroom tax isn't working. It is
:06:29. > :06:33.unfair, most of the people hit are disabled and leads to people being
:06:33. > :06:38.evicted from their homes. It shows a Labour Party determined to tackle
:06:38. > :06:41.these issues, in particular the cost of living crisis. This is the first
:06:41. > :06:45.of a number of announcements on how we can make a difference to people
:06:45. > :06:50.'s lives and make people better off. What do the government have to say
:06:50. > :06:55.about this? This is an exclusive interview, we
:06:55. > :07:00.are in the realms of breaking news. There is no formal response from the
:07:00. > :07:04.government. Coalition MPs are pointing out that the total housing
:07:04. > :07:07.benefit bill stands at £23 billion at the moment so there really is a
:07:07. > :07:15.need to reform it for the sake of the taxpayer. And to draw out
:07:15. > :07:18.much—needed accommodation for those who desperately need it. Above all,
:07:18. > :07:24.they accuse Labour of playing politics in party conference season.
:07:25. > :07:28.The Labour language, quite apart from the fact they were slapping
:07:28. > :07:33.down their spokesman saying they would reverse the bedroom tax, it is
:07:33. > :07:38.a hasty repositioning. It is really about Labour trying to
:07:38. > :07:41.move attention away from the fact the economy is recovering, there are
:07:41. > :07:43.clear signs of recovery taking place.
:07:43. > :07:46.Looking at the wider political situation, did Mr Miliband have
:07:46. > :07:52.anything to say about his party's prospects here in a region which, as
:07:52. > :07:54.we know, is home to some so many of those all—important marginal seats?
:07:55. > :07:59.If you look at those all—important Tory marginals you mentioned, places
:07:59. > :08:03.like Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick and Leamington, North Warwickshire,
:08:03. > :08:07.where the Tories have overall majorities of less than 5000 and
:08:08. > :08:13.Labour are the main challenges, a poll last weekend suggested the UKIP
:08:13. > :08:18.vote is the best hope the Labour. Mr Milbank says they will campaign hard
:08:18. > :08:21.and deliver real votes for a real Labour Party with the forthcoming
:08:22. > :08:25.election now a year and a half away. You can see that interview in full
:08:25. > :08:29.on this week's Sunday Politics, back in its usual slot of 11am, here on
:08:29. > :08:30.BBC One in the West Midlands. Patrick also interviews UKIP leader
:08:30. > :08:39.Nigel Farage. Read his blog online. Six men have been jailed for their
:08:39. > :08:42.part in a night of violence in the Black Country, which ended in the
:08:42. > :08:46.death of a 16—year—old boy. Ben Morutare was stabbed in the leg, and
:08:46. > :08:51.repeatedly punched and kicked. He'd been chased from a party in
:08:51. > :08:54.Smethwick by up to 80 youths. The judge called his death pointless,
:08:54. > :08:57.senseless, and the cause of great suffering. Andy Ly from Edgbaston in
:08:57. > :08:59.Birmingham was jailed for seven years, and five others for up to
:08:59. > :09:11.three—and—half years each. The founder and owner of Drayton
:09:12. > :09:16.Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire has died at the age of 92. George
:09:16. > :09:19.Bryan, who was awarded an OBE in 2004, opened the park in 1949, after
:09:19. > :09:22.buying 80 acres of land near Tamworth. He was an engineer who
:09:23. > :09:26.began by making penny arcade machines with his father. The park
:09:26. > :09:48.is still run by the Bryan family today.
:09:48. > :09:52.It was once one of the most notorious estates in the Midlands.
:09:53. > :09:55.Castle Vale, during the late '70s and '80s, was synonymous with crime,
:09:55. > :09:59.tower blocks and unemployment. But, thanks to the people who live there,
:09:59. > :10:02.the estate has been transformed in the past two decades, and now, local
:10:02. > :10:06.residents are holding a festival to tell the world about it. Our
:10:06. > :10:08.reporter Cath Mackie is there now. This is the opening ceremony of the
:10:08. > :10:11.festival. I am told local children will be re—enacting those tower
:10:11. > :10:13.blocks coming down. A lot of people remember seeing those tower blocks
:10:13. > :10:16.as they drove past. This is a year—long festival, telling the
:10:16. > :10:19.story of the 10,000 people who live on Castle Vale.
:10:19. > :10:26.Castle Vale was meant to be an urban utopia. Birmingham's biggest
:10:26. > :10:29.post—war estate of 34 tower blocks was a place families could escape
:10:29. > :10:33.the slums. The estate had risen from the airfield where spitfires had
:10:33. > :10:36.been tested during the war. But, as resident Sue Spicer remembers, by
:10:36. > :10:41.the end of the 1970s, Castle Vale had became a high—rise hell.
:10:41. > :10:45.Litter was thrown from the balconies. People used to your
:10:45. > :10:50.innate in the left, C would go down in the morning. It was really
:10:50. > :10:53.rundown. A feeling of neglect. Sue was among the residents who
:10:53. > :10:56.called for change, which resulted in the estate being designated a
:10:56. > :11:00.Housing Action Trust. And, in the 1990s, government money poured in.
:11:00. > :11:06.And the tower blocks came down. Great, it is an eyesore world got
:11:06. > :11:09.rid of. 21 years of regeneration later, and
:11:09. > :11:12.they're ready to celebrate the journey Castle Vale has made, quite
:11:12. > :11:17.literally, with a heritage bus tour around the estate.
:11:17. > :11:21.Everywhere has its good and bad. I have had 40 years on Castle Vale and
:11:21. > :11:24.I wouldn't go anywhere else. People can see how much has been done here
:11:24. > :11:27.now. How nice everything is now.
:11:27. > :11:33.The local MP first came to the estate in 1982 as a union official.
:11:33. > :11:36.People were queueing up to get out of Castle Vale, now they are
:11:36. > :11:41.queueing up to get into Castle Vale. It is a community rebuild and
:11:41. > :11:44.transformed. What's happened in Castle Vale, the
:11:45. > :11:48.changes that have been made, are a monument to people power. But what
:11:48. > :11:52.they want to do now is inspire the younger generation to continue the
:11:52. > :11:56.work. My aunty used to live here before so
:11:56. > :12:02.we would come down. But it seems to have got better. It is a better
:12:02. > :12:05.place for us to grow up in. It is getting everyone involved to
:12:05. > :12:13.show how good Castle Vale is and promote it outside so people know it
:12:13. > :12:18.is a lovely place to live. With me now is Claire Marshall, the
:12:18. > :12:24.project director. I hope you can hear me. Why are you doing this? It
:12:24. > :12:28.is 21 years of generation coming up next year and the residents said
:12:28. > :12:31.they wanted to do something to honour the people who were involved,
:12:31. > :12:37.and do something really special that says, here we are.
:12:37. > :12:40.One resident said it is a lovely place but there is a stigma still
:12:40. > :12:46.about Castle Vale. Is this festival going to get rid of
:12:46. > :12:51.that? We hope so. We hope Castle Vale is Birmingham 's
:12:51. > :12:54.best kept secret. So much has changed on the estate. If you don't
:12:54. > :13:00.happen to come into the area, you wouldn't know about these beautiful
:13:00. > :13:05.open areas, the facilities, what the people are like. We are a small
:13:05. > :13:10.village within Birmingham. People are so proud to work together to
:13:10. > :13:14.make a difference. What have you got planned for this year?
:13:14. > :13:19.Performance working with Welsh National Opera.
:13:19. > :13:22.A water festival. Next year, the community awards celebrating
:13:22. > :13:28.individuals who were voted the giving back to the community. This
:13:28. > :13:31.is going to be going on all evening. If you are interested in any events,
:13:31. > :13:47.go to their website. This is our top story tonight:
:13:47. > :13:51.Police officers are to be retrained, as figures reveal black people are
:13:51. > :13:54.nearly three times more likely to be stopped and searched.
:13:54. > :13:56.Your detailed weather forecast to come shortly from Rebecca.
:13:56. > :13:59.Also ahead: As the one millionth tree is planted, we'll be taking you
:13:59. > :14:01.on a walk around the country's latest forest.
:14:01. > :14:03.And, a flying start for part—timers Nuneaton Town, as they lead the race
:14:03. > :14:24.for a place in the Football League. A new BBC crime drama is set to hit
:14:24. > :14:27.our screens this weekend and, what's more, it's been filmed here in the
:14:27. > :14:31.Midlands. You may have spotted the cast and crew over the summer, as
:14:31. > :14:33.scenes were captured in Birmingham and the surrounding area. Kevin
:14:33. > :14:36.Reide reports. The new BBC crime drama By Any Means
:14:36. > :14:40.depicts a team of detectives who'll do anything to catch a criminal.
:14:40. > :14:43.We caught up with them filming in Waterloo Road in the centre of
:14:43. > :14:46.Birmingham. The high—profile cast includes Gina McKee, of The Borgias
:14:46. > :14:50.and In The Loop, Warren Brown from Luther and Good Cop, and Shelley
:14:50. > :14:56.Conn of Mistresses and Marchlands. It is a crime drama that focuses on
:14:56. > :15:04.this clandestinely operations team. Together, we put together plans and
:15:04. > :15:06.stings that will frame criminals who usually slip through the net when it
:15:06. > :15:10.comes to the law. It's written by a team who brought
:15:10. > :15:16.us TV gems such as The Hustle, Life On Mars, and Death In Paradise. But
:15:16. > :15:25.you probably won't see many Birmingham landmarks, as the drama
:15:25. > :15:29.is set in London. Everything that we need from a city
:15:29. > :15:35.or from the capital city we have been able to get in Birmingham.
:15:35. > :15:36.Great infrastructure, architecture, fantastic locations. Easily
:15:36. > :15:40.accessible. And the producer is also of this
:15:40. > :15:44.parish, Baggies fan Tim Key hails from Bewdley.
:15:44. > :15:47.I came up at the beginning of the year and had a look around. I
:15:47. > :15:51.haven't been back to the city properly for a few years so it was
:15:51. > :15:53.nice to see it again. I knew straightaway it would work.
:15:53. > :15:57.It's yet another high—profile drama on a lengthening list filmed in
:15:57. > :16:01.Birmingham. It includes Line Of Duty and Peaky Blinders.
:16:01. > :16:09.By Any Means is being screened from this Sunday night on BBC One.
:16:09. > :16:13.Joining us now is Sindy Campbell from Film Birmingham.
:16:13. > :16:16.So many TV dramas and films are being made in the West Midlands now,
:16:16. > :16:19.why's this region suddenly become so popular?
:16:19. > :16:28.It has always been popular. There has been a lot of this in the press
:16:28. > :16:31.recently. But also there is a new tax break for TV production which
:16:31. > :16:38.was announced by George Osborne last year. This was the first production
:16:38. > :16:45.to take advantage of that. We all loved to see things being
:16:45. > :16:49.filmed and behind the scenes. What other benefits for the wider
:16:49. > :16:58.economy? There is a budget, with money spent on location —— hotels
:16:58. > :17:06.and locations, the crew. They use local crew? Yes.
:17:06. > :17:12.There are tax benefits for production companies, aren't there?
:17:12. > :17:22.The incentive is money for trainees. Tax breaks. And you help
:17:22. > :17:26.on set? Yes, we are part of the crew. What
:17:26. > :17:33.reaction do you get? Usually good.
:17:33. > :17:39.The programme on this weekend. What have we got coming next, maybe a
:17:39. > :17:42.feature film? We have a big drama filming at the moment.
:17:42. > :17:52.It is all good for the Midlands. A multi—millionaire's dream to
:17:52. > :17:55.create a huge forest full of native trees reached an important milestone
:17:55. > :17:58.today. The one millionth tree in the Heart of England Forest was planted
:17:58. > :18:01.in a field in Warwickshire. The project is the brainwave of
:18:01. > :18:02.publisher Felix Dennis who hopes it'll eventually contain ten million
:18:03. > :18:08.trees. Here's Bob Hockenhull. These trees represent what their
:18:08. > :18:11.benefactor describes as an "impossible dream" 18 years ago,
:18:11. > :18:14.multi—millionaire Felix Dennis set out to create a large native
:18:14. > :18:27.broadland forest close to the one of Europe's biggest cities, Birmingham.
:18:27. > :18:34.What began this whole journey was my realisation of how few trees there
:18:34. > :18:36.are in Britain. Today, friends and benefactors
:18:36. > :18:40.gathered at Middle Spernall in Warwickshire, to see the millionth
:18:40. > :18:46.tree planted in the Heart of England Forest. One day, Felix hopes there
:18:46. > :18:50.will be 10 million stretching south nearly to the Cotswolds. One man's
:18:50. > :18:54.dream of increasing England's tree cover. We have the lowest percentage
:18:54. > :18:59.of native trees in the whole of Europe.
:18:59. > :19:06.Less than 5%, something has got to be done. The project is chatty plots
:19:06. > :19:10.300 acres of saplings on bought up land, with the aim to create
:19:10. > :19:15.continuous corridors, making it easy for wildlife to move around. It will
:19:15. > :19:19.be several decades before this land has completed its transformation
:19:19. > :19:23.from field to Forest. When it has, it will be an amenity
:19:23. > :19:29.for the public, a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern
:19:29. > :19:33.life. This is the biggest project of its kind in England.
:19:33. > :19:38.It simply wouldn't be happening without the publishing tycoon's
:19:38. > :19:41.foresight and money. It is glorious that an individual
:19:41. > :19:45.can take it on himself to make a real difference on the landscape.
:19:45. > :19:49.Money might not grow on trees but it has certainly made these trees grow.
:19:49. > :19:57.Time for sport now with Dan. And, heady days in north Warwickshire.
:19:57. > :20:01.The new football season is only a few weeks old. And no—one has made a
:20:01. > :20:04.better start here in the Midlands than Nuneaton Town. The club was
:20:04. > :20:06.formed five years ago, when Nuneaton Borough was forced into liquidation.
:20:06. > :20:09.Since then, they've won promotion three times. And now, they're
:20:09. > :20:12.sitting proudly on top of the Conference. Ian Winter reports.
:20:13. > :20:15.There's lots to smile about in the office at Nuneaton Town. Jody,
:20:16. > :20:19.Holly, Kelly and Gemma are working their socks off because, on and off
:20:19. > :20:23.the field, team—work is the key to the club's current success. Phil and
:20:23. > :20:27.John are mowing together in perfect harmony before tomorrow's home game
:20:27. > :20:30.with Salisbury. And Ian Neill is the chief executive who saved the club
:20:30. > :20:38.from extinction five years ago. And is now sitting two points clear on
:20:38. > :20:42.top of the Conference. We have a togetherness at the club,
:20:42. > :20:46.we tend to get everybody from the cleaner to the grounds man to the
:20:46. > :20:51.office staff and supporters, moving in one direction with a common goal
:20:51. > :20:58.for Nuneaton town football club. Obviously the players are the key.
:20:58. > :21:01.What makes their success even more remarkable is it has been achieved
:21:01. > :21:05.on a shoestring budget. Beating Hereford 2—1 on Tuesday put them on
:21:05. > :21:07.top of the table. A great achievement considering the wage
:21:07. > :21:11.bill of some Conference clubs is around £1 million a year. Nuneaton's
:21:11. > :21:16.playing budget is a quarter of that figure. That's why all their players
:21:16. > :21:22.are part—time. Local lad James Armson, for example, works for the
:21:22. > :21:26.Sky Blues in the Community. Today, he was at the Canon Maggs Junior
:21:26. > :21:34.School in Bedworth where the children are amazed to learn he's
:21:34. > :21:38.just made his England debut Clip. It is brilliant, such an honour to
:21:38. > :21:41.represent your country at any level is a major honour. I am really proud
:21:41. > :21:44.of it. James is one of three Nuneaton lads
:21:44. > :21:47.just back Latvia with the England C team, chosen from the very best
:21:47. > :21:56.non—league players. Exciting times for the Conference leaders.
:21:56. > :22:01.A great start for Nuneaton. But not for Albion.
:22:01. > :22:06.The part—timers of Nuneaton are flying. But West Bromwich Albion
:22:06. > :22:10.have had a slow start to the Premier League, and they've got a big game
:22:10. > :22:13.tomorrow. It's bottom against bottom but one Albion who have only scored
:22:13. > :22:16.once in four games. And they've only got tomorrow's visitors Sunderland
:22:16. > :22:19.below them. They'll be hoping Stephane Sessegnon can help with the
:22:19. > :22:21.goals. He's been signed from Sunderland. He scored twice against
:22:21. > :22:26.Albion last season. He has just joined a new club, he
:22:26. > :22:30.has a challenge, you can see every day in training he is excited about
:22:30. > :22:34.the prospect of playing here. He is looking forward to the game at the
:22:34. > :22:39.weekend and I don't think it would matter who he was playing against.
:22:39. > :22:43.A mighty big game at the bottom of the championship.
:22:43. > :22:46.Birmingham City have won only one game in seven. They're at home to
:22:46. > :22:50.Sheffield Wednesday who haven't won in six games. The loser will be
:22:50. > :22:53.feeling sore after that one. But it should before all smiles before
:22:53. > :23:00.kick—off at Shrewsbury Town tomorrow when Wolves come to town.
:23:00. > :23:06.And a big night for speedway rider Tai Woffinden on Saturday. Yes Tai
:23:06. > :23:09.rides for Wolverhampton and on Saturday. He could become the
:23:09. > :23:12.youngest ever world Champion, aged 23.
:23:12. > :23:17.The best break dancers from across the globe will be competing in the
:23:17. > :23:20.Midlands this weekend, at the World Finals at the O2 Academy in
:23:20. > :23:24.Birmingham. It's the first time the event's been held here, and
:23:24. > :23:27.organisers say it's a real coup for the city. Ben Sidwell's at the
:23:27. > :23:34.launch event now, with some of those taking part.
:23:34. > :23:41.It is midway through the actual launch event. This is a Birmingham
:23:41. > :23:47.crew, just warming up. Let us speak to the main organiser. Tell us a bit
:23:47. > :23:53.more about this, what is going on this weekend? Breaking is one of the
:23:53. > :24:01.most explosive forms of street dance, one of the original street
:24:01. > :24:05.dancing. These championships will highlight the world 's elite, from
:24:05. > :24:12.ten countries around the world. Why Birmingham? It has been in London so
:24:12. > :24:16.long. It is a local partnership which blossomed from a small idea to
:24:16. > :24:26.bringing the world finals in Birmingham, we are dilated to be
:24:26. > :24:33.here —— we are delighted to be here. Tell us, it is a hell of a coup to
:24:33. > :24:40.be here. We all know Birmingham has some great dance, ballet companies.
:24:40. > :24:48.But some great street dance crews in the region. It is great to
:24:48. > :24:53.capitalise on that growth of street dancing in the city and bring the
:24:53. > :24:59.championships here. The kudos will just help, won't it? We want to get
:24:59. > :25:02.it established in Birmingham. It is astonishing the dancing
:25:02. > :25:08.everyone will see this weekend at the O2 Academy.
:25:08. > :25:12.They literally are just warming up. There are still tickets for both
:25:12. > :25:15.events. The world finals are on Sunday.
:25:15. > :25:21.Let's get the weekend weather forecast from Rebecca Wood.
:25:22. > :25:30.If you cast your mind back to the start of the week, it was a damp
:25:30. > :25:33.affair. A much more pleasant end with temperatures rising. They will
:25:33. > :25:37.continue to rise through the weekend. There will be some cloud
:25:37. > :25:42.about, when we get some breaks and we see the sunshine, it will feel
:25:42. > :25:47.very pleasant. We are drawing in warm air from the south and we have
:25:47. > :25:52.high pressure sitting over us giving settled conditions. For the next few
:25:52. > :25:58.days, feeling very pleasant. Today, we saw the sun at times. The cloud
:25:58. > :26:03.will start to fill in. That blanket of cloud will help overnight. If you
:26:03. > :26:09.clear spells, cabbages will fall away a little bit. For most places,
:26:09. > :26:15.double figures —— temperatures will fall away a little bit. Down to
:26:15. > :26:19.eight degrees in Hereford. Tomorrow, some drizzle. As we move
:26:19. > :26:25.through the morning into the afternoon, we will see the clouds
:26:25. > :26:31.break. The sun will come out, the best conditions in the West.
:26:31. > :26:36.Temperatures will make it up to 21 degrees tomorrow. Through the
:26:36. > :26:40.afternoon, more sunshine. But then, in repeat performance of tonight,
:26:40. > :26:47.the cloud will fill in once again and a thick blanket of cloud will
:26:47. > :26:51.help temperatures, a much milder night, 15 Celsius overnight. Sunday
:26:51. > :26:57.is a repeat of Saturday, another cloudy start, some drizzle. As we
:26:57. > :27:02.move through the day, it will start to break once again, temperatures
:27:02. > :27:07.continuing to climb, 21 for most places. A very pleasant day. More
:27:07. > :27:14.sunshine. As we move through to the start of the new working week, we
:27:14. > :27:18.keep that high—pressure, giving settled conditions, drawing air from
:27:18. > :27:23.the south—east so it will feel drier as well. By midweek, temperatures up
:27:23. > :27:27.to the mid—20s. A much more pleasant day.
:27:27. > :27:36.Let's recap tonight's top stories: Godfrey Bloom of UKIP has had the
:27:36. > :27:39.party whip withdrawn. And, possibly affecting thousands of
:27:39. > :27:42.people in the region, Ed Miliband says he'll scrap the so—called
:27:42. > :27:47.bedroom tax, if Labour's elected. Joanne will be back at ten o'clock
:27:47. > :27:47.with all the latest news. Until then, have a great evening. Goodbye.