:00:00. > :00:08.Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: Teachers
:00:08. > :00:18.strike over pay and conditions. Over 750 schools affected across the
:00:18. > :00:21.region. Teachers are fed up with the Government are just not listening
:00:21. > :00:25.and not being willing to negotiate. We'll be putting your points to one
:00:25. > :00:28.of the union's leaders. Also tonight: Jailed for 15 years after
:00:28. > :00:32.pleading guilty to killing a mother and son in a house fire in Stoke
:00:32. > :00:38.over 20 years ago, then fleeing to America.
:00:38. > :00:41.He deprived me of a mother and brother. All those precious moments
:00:41. > :00:44.we should have shared were taken away from me that night.
:00:44. > :00:48.Social workers in Walsall criticised for trying to force a vulnerable
:00:48. > :00:50.teenager to leave her school for financial reasons.
:00:50. > :00:55.Making history, and keeping it — how the heritage of Digbeth in
:00:56. > :01:04.Birmingham is being preserved. And Shefali has the weather.
:01:04. > :01:05.Things could turn rather ugly fairly soon, with warnings of heavy rain to
:01:05. > :01:17.come. Good evening and welcome to the
:01:17. > :01:20.programme. Thousands of teachers were on strike across the region
:01:20. > :01:24.today in a dispute over pay and conditions. More than 750 of our
:01:24. > :01:31.schools were affected, around 500 were closed completely, while 250
:01:31. > :01:34.were open to some classes. But the figures could be higher, as some
:01:34. > :01:39.councils didn't keep a tally of how many schools were affected by strike
:01:39. > :01:43.action. Holly Lewis reports. Out of the classroom and onto the
:01:43. > :01:46.streets of Birmingham — almost 2,000 teachers marched through the city
:01:46. > :01:53.centre today, and their message was clear.
:01:53. > :01:56.It meant a day off for thousands of children and a childcare challenge
:01:56. > :02:04.for working parents. At Hagley Primary School seven out of 21
:02:04. > :02:09.classes were open. It is something that they have to
:02:09. > :02:14.do, but it just puts so much disruption on everybody else. I am
:02:14. > :02:22.not a big fan of strikes, it is just an inconvenience. I am a grandmother
:02:22. > :02:24.and I have to look after the little ones.
:02:24. > :02:26.Some children spent their day off marching with their teacher parents,
:02:26. > :02:29.protesting against changes to pensions, increased workloads and
:02:29. > :02:37.Government plans to bring in performance—related pay. Teachers
:02:37. > :02:42.have had enough and are fed up with the Government just not listening.
:02:42. > :02:48.It is not just about pensions, it is basically about all the changes
:02:48. > :02:52.being made. The teachers say this protest is to
:02:52. > :02:55.try and make the Government set up and listen, to try and force Michael
:02:55. > :02:58.goes back to the negotiating table. But at the Tory Party Conference
:02:58. > :03:10.today the Education Secretary remained unmoved. They have gone out
:03:10. > :03:13.on strike, in a new example of twisted militant logic, because they
:03:13. > :03:20.want to stop good teachers being paid more money. We have always had
:03:20. > :03:24.performance related pay. No one objects to it, we just feel that the
:03:24. > :03:30.way the Government is doing it is very unfair. The march ended with a
:03:30. > :03:34.rally, where union leaders left the audience in no doubt that this could
:03:34. > :03:38.be the beginning of a long campaign of action against the coalition and
:03:38. > :03:42.its education policy. I'm joined now by Chris Keates, the
:03:42. > :03:46.General Secretary of the NASUWT, one of the unions which took strike
:03:46. > :03:49.action today. The Education Secretary Michael Gove has accused
:03:49. > :03:52.you of using "twisted militant logic", "standing in the way of
:03:52. > :04:05.progress" and "wanting to stop good teachers being paid more money".
:04:05. > :04:10.Quite frankly it is nonsense. We do not want to stop good teachers being
:04:10. > :04:14.paid more money, in fact teachers have had performance related pay now
:04:14. > :04:20.since 2002. What we want to stop is the teacher that —— the system being
:04:20. > :04:25.introduced that means that however hard teacher works, they can have no
:04:25. > :04:31.guarantee of any paper aggression. And teachers do not think that is
:04:31. > :04:35.fair or reasonable, they think there needs to be clear expectations of
:04:35. > :04:42.what they need to do put —— to progress up the pay scales. Is it
:04:42. > :04:47.the system you have a problem with the education secretary himself? The
:04:47. > :04:51.policies are the concern, of course they are, but the Secretary of State
:04:51. > :04:56.is going to be the focus of teachers' concern and anger simply
:04:56. > :05:00.because he is the one who is promoting the policies. But
:05:00. > :05:04.basically it is the systems he is trying to introduce, the relentless
:05:04. > :05:07.attacks he has made for three years and teachers, on their
:05:07. > :05:12.qualifications, on their pensions and their working conditions.
:05:12. > :05:18.We have been asking our viewers for their views. Many are incredibly
:05:18. > :05:23.frustrated. Julie Rathbone says she is going to find her daughter's
:05:23. > :05:31.School £60 for teacher —— teachers' unauthorised absence.
:05:31. > :05:35.The point she is making is the inconvenience of the strike action.
:05:35. > :05:39.Do you understand that? We obviously understand it, and we regret any
:05:39. > :05:45.disruption that is being caused to parents and families. We would not
:05:45. > :05:49.want to do that, and the only thing we have asked the Secretary of State
:05:49. > :05:54.to do is to meet with us and just discuss the concerns of teachers
:05:54. > :05:57.seriously. I do not think that is an unreasonable demand, and I do not
:05:57. > :06:02.think it is unreasonable but in the face of him refusing to do that,
:06:02. > :06:07.after three years teachers are now finally showing their anger and
:06:07. > :06:11.frustration by taking strike action. This is not something we have done
:06:11. > :06:24.within months of this Government coming to office. If you does not
:06:24. > :06:27.agree to meet you, will he strike again? We have got to evaluate, and
:06:27. > :06:29.consider what our members views are. Our members feel extremely strongly
:06:29. > :06:32.about this, but my view would be we need parents not to direct their
:06:32. > :06:35.anger at teachers but actually at the Secretary of State and ask him
:06:35. > :06:38.to get round the table and avoid the need for any further disruption of
:06:38. > :06:42.children's education. Coming up later in the programme:
:06:42. > :06:45.What next for Stafford Hospital? The consultation into its future ends at
:06:45. > :06:49.midnight. A man's been sentenced to 15 years
:06:49. > :06:53.in prison after pleading guilty to killing a mother and son in a house
:06:53. > :06:56.fire in Stoke—on—Trent more than 20 years ago. Faisal Latif fled to
:06:56. > :07:02.America, living in Texas and New York under a false name for more
:07:02. > :07:10.than two decades. Today he finally admitted his crimes. Liz Copper was
:07:10. > :07:15.at Stafford Crown Court. This is a family who have waited 21
:07:15. > :07:22.years for justice. Relatives of those who perished in the fire
:07:22. > :07:26.emerging from court. And this is the man, Faisal Latif, who carried the
:07:26. > :07:32.dark secret for two decades, but he was responsible for killing a mother
:07:32. > :07:36.and her son. It is a small piece of comfort knowing that somebody has
:07:36. > :07:40.finally been made accountable. He deprived me of a mother and brother,
:07:41. > :07:45.all those precious moments we should have shared were taken away from me
:07:45. > :07:51.that night. No prison sentence can bring them back, but never a day
:07:51. > :07:57.goes by when we do not think about them. Let us hope no that they can
:07:57. > :08:01.rest in peace finally. The court were shown this video taken by the
:08:01. > :08:07.fire service on the night the fire was set alight in April 1982.
:08:07. > :08:11.16—year—old Nicholas died in the fire, his mother was initially
:08:11. > :08:16.treated for burns but died later in hospital. Her partner was injured in
:08:16. > :08:21.the fire but survived. He died of wholly unrelated causes seven years
:08:21. > :08:25.ago. The judges —— the judge heard Latif was the landlord, and look
:08:25. > :08:30.upon the family as difficult tenants. The house had been allowed
:08:30. > :08:34.to look —— fall into disrepair, and he wanted them out. He dashed the
:08:34. > :08:40.downstairs rooms with petrol. It was accepted he did not expect or intend
:08:40. > :08:44.the dramatic consequences, but within hours of the fire he fled. He
:08:44. > :08:51.was arrested for his crime earlier this year in the United States. He
:08:51. > :08:56.married an American girl. She had absolutely no idea until we arrived,
:08:56. > :09:01.but she had in effect been married to a stranger, none of his friends
:09:01. > :09:07.had any idea, and he basically lived a secret life for 20 years. Latif
:09:07. > :09:11.finally pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and one of arson
:09:11. > :09:17.with intent to endanger life. The judge said, until today the family
:09:17. > :09:21.have had to endure the emptiness and uncertainty of the case and
:09:21. > :09:25.resolve. He said it is hoped the case will offer a degree of
:09:25. > :09:30.resolution. One which they have had to wait for years.
:09:30. > :09:33.Plans to turn an arts centre in West Bromwich into a sixth form college
:09:33. > :09:36.have moved a step closer. The Public currently costs Sandwell
:09:36. > :09:41.Council £30,000 a week to run, which it can no longer afford. A deal has
:09:41. > :09:45.now been drawn up to allow Sandwell College to take on the building.
:09:45. > :09:49.Under the plans it would still be used by community groups. A final
:09:49. > :09:52.decision will be made later this month.
:09:52. > :09:55.The consultation into the future of Stafford Hospital and health care
:09:55. > :09:59.services across the county ends at midnight tonight. Over the past two
:09:59. > :10:01.months a series of meetings have been held by the Trust Special
:10:02. > :10:05.Administrators to get opinions from the public.
:10:05. > :10:08.The Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust needs to save £53 million over the
:10:08. > :10:10.next five years, and the Administrators are recommending that
:10:10. > :10:15.maternity, critical care and paediatric services are downgraded
:10:15. > :10:18.at Stafford. Today the local Clinical
:10:18. > :10:20.Commissioning Group put forward their own views, as our Health
:10:20. > :10:30.correspondent Michele Paduano reports.
:10:30. > :10:34.The Government gave money to Clinical Commissioning Groups to run
:10:34. > :10:38.the NHS. Stafford and Cannock groups have looked at the plan to
:10:38. > :10:43.reorganise services, and said it is not what they want. Their proposals
:10:43. > :10:45.are very interesting but we do not agree with them because they are not
:10:45. > :10:52.clinically and financially sustainable in our opinion. In a
:10:52. > :10:57.letter to the trust special administrators, they have said the
:10:57. > :11:01.CCG will not be responsible for any future debts. More work needs to be
:11:01. > :11:05.done on the reorganisation, and a five—year period of changeover is
:11:05. > :11:09.needed rather than the current three years. The CCG has come under
:11:09. > :11:14.pressure, but what has happened does not mean maternity and children's
:11:14. > :11:20.services are safe. The only thing agreed is the process so far does
:11:21. > :11:24.not go far enough. This process can only dissolve the trust, which we
:11:24. > :11:28.knew at the outset. They have made it quite clear that when everyone
:11:28. > :11:31.goes away they will be left with the commissioning, and they will
:11:31. > :11:35.hopefully consult, and they have said they will, with the public,
:11:35. > :11:39.with the commissions, and build the services from the bottom up.
:11:39. > :11:44.Thousands marched on Saturday to save maternity and children's
:11:44. > :11:50.services. The time's MP has today come up with an alternative plan. If
:11:50. > :11:55.the trust is dissolved, as I believe it should be, that gives us time,
:11:55. > :11:59.with hospitals in Stafford and Cannock being taken over by other
:11:59. > :12:05.trusts, merged with other trusts, it gives us time to give —— do the job
:12:05. > :12:08.properly and see how we can keep these vital services of maternity
:12:08. > :12:14.paediatrics and critical care with us. So Stafford has a £9.25 million
:12:14. > :12:18.plan from the special administrators, an MP's alternative
:12:18. > :12:21.plan, and a CCG wanting to start again.
:12:21. > :12:28.And Michele Paduano is here now. So what happens now?
:12:28. > :12:32.The whole thing has been going on for just over one year, and we do
:12:32. > :12:36.not know what is going to happen next. It is all up in the air
:12:36. > :12:43.because the Clinical Commissioning Groups control the pace —— purse
:12:43. > :12:48.strings. There is still time before October 22 to Monitor, I suspect
:12:48. > :12:53.there is a bit of politics going on, but for anyone who wants to save
:12:53. > :12:58.maternity and children's services, Stoke, has said today category ——
:12:58. > :13:05.categorically it will not provide those services in Stafford. How will
:13:05. > :13:13.the CCG make those plans were? Babe —— Stafford Hospital wants to
:13:13. > :13:18.look at new ways of working, and one thing, later this month there will
:13:18. > :13:21.be a 10—year contract for all patients in Staffordshire who need
:13:21. > :13:24.cancer and end of life services, and I think contracts like that the way
:13:24. > :13:27.forward and could save money. Social workers in Walsall have been
:13:27. > :13:30.criticised for trying to force a vulnerable teenager to leave her
:13:30. > :13:33.residential school — for financial reasons. The case arose last year
:13:33. > :13:36.when Walsall Children's Services was judged to be failing by inspectors.
:13:36. > :13:46.Here's BBC WM's political reporter, Susana Mendonca.
:13:46. > :13:51.Providing care for vulnerable young people, is a duty every council has
:13:51. > :13:56.to fulfil. Children are supposed to be at the centre of decisions made
:13:56. > :13:59.about their lives, but that is where social workers in Walsall went wrong
:13:59. > :14:04.when they tried to force one teenager to leave the residential
:14:04. > :14:07.school that had become her home. She was treated very shabbily because
:14:08. > :14:11.her needs were not taken into account, and there was no proper
:14:11. > :14:19.care planning at a critical part of her life when she was about to
:14:19. > :14:23.embark on GCSE courses. The 13—year—old had settled at a school
:14:23. > :14:27.somewhere away from Walsall. Until the council decided to move her
:14:27. > :14:32.closer to home. The local Government ombudsman said this was not on the
:14:32. > :14:37.interests of the child but purely on financial grounds. That has led to
:14:37. > :14:42.criticism. Are now it is a difficult climate financially, but we cannot
:14:42. > :14:46.sacrifice children's best interests for financial interest. That is not
:14:46. > :14:59.right. We need to put the welfare interests of young people first.
:14:59. > :15:01.Details of why the teenager was in residential care cannot be revealed,
:15:01. > :15:04.but the woman in charge of children's services said money had
:15:04. > :15:06.nothing to do with the decision to move her, and that the girl had no
:15:07. > :15:09.longer special needs —— or educational needs. Financial issues
:15:09. > :15:16.were not the driver. It was balancing finance for replacement ——
:15:16. > :15:21.placement, and we wanted that placement to be nearer to Walsall.
:15:21. > :15:24.This case happened last year during a period when Walsall social
:15:24. > :15:31.services have been classed as inadequate, but —— but news —— and
:15:31. > :15:35.new staff were brought in to turn things around. The services no
:15:35. > :15:46.longer seem to be fading. If we look back at when this was, there were a
:15:46. > :15:50.of issues. Walsall is no far more committed to putting children at the
:15:50. > :15:54.centre for all decision making. —— now far more committed. As well as
:15:54. > :15:58.promising to listen better to children in their car, Walsall
:15:58. > :16:02.Council has also agreed to hold £1000 in trust for the girl's
:16:03. > :16:05.education and leisure expenses. Our top story tonight: Teachers
:16:06. > :16:10.strike over pay and conditions — over 750 schools affected across the
:16:10. > :16:14.West Midlands. Your detailed weather forecast to
:16:14. > :16:17.come shortly. Also in tonight's programme: Tributes to the Wolves
:16:17. > :16:22.and England forward Peter Broadbent who's died at the age of 80.
:16:22. > :16:25.And the campaign to resurrect a five—mile canal hidden beneath
:16:25. > :16:35.Birmingham for nearly a hundred years.
:16:35. > :16:39.If you have a story you think we should be covering on Midlands
:16:39. > :16:43.Today, we'd like to hear from you. You can call us or send an email to
:16:43. > :16:49.midlandstoday@bbc.co.uk. We also on Facebook or you can tweet us —
:16:49. > :16:52.@bbcmtd. Now, an exhibition celebrating the
:16:52. > :16:56.heritage of the Digbeth area of Birmingham is to be saved in the
:16:56. > :16:58.city's official archives. The Digbeth Speaks project, which
:16:58. > :17:02.received Heritage Lottery funding, is an audio and visual time capsule
:17:02. > :17:06.of life in 2013. The exhibition opens this week, and Laura May
:17:06. > :17:10.McMullan is there for us tonight. So what's happening?
:17:10. > :17:16.Yes, I'm here at the Custard Factory in the heart of Digbeth where the
:17:16. > :17:20.exhibition opens on Thursday. As you can see the organisers are right in
:17:20. > :17:26.the middle of putting up pictures and setting up these audio booths.
:17:26. > :17:29.And really the Digbeth Speaks project has been an opportunity for
:17:29. > :17:39.everyone to get involved in their local heritage.
:17:39. > :17:46.The area of Digbeth was once the industrial heart of Birmingham. Now
:17:46. > :17:53.it is developing an identity for being a creative and artistic hub,
:17:53. > :18:00.and the Digbeth Speaks project is celebrating the area's heritage. We
:18:00. > :18:06.are creating a time capsule of what Digbeth is like in 2013. It is just
:18:06. > :18:10.because we felt like the stories and experiences are often undocumented
:18:10. > :18:18.and might become lost. We wanted to get that sense of recalling things
:18:18. > :18:22.now for the future. Over the last six months volunteers of the friends
:18:22. > :18:25.of Birmingham archives and heritage have taken to the streets to
:18:25. > :18:33.interview members of the public, community groups and shop owners.
:18:33. > :18:39.What does Digbeth mean to you? I love the people around here, I love
:18:39. > :18:44.the shops. There is a lot of culture here, and there are lot of
:18:44. > :18:50.musicians, loads of arts people. It quite diverse. How would you
:18:50. > :18:58.describe Digbeth in three words based on your first impressions? I
:18:58. > :19:04.think creative, dynamic and diverse. The area itself feels quite
:19:04. > :19:10.transitory, but to so many people it feels like home. The project has
:19:10. > :19:15.captured a snapshot of life in Digbeth during 2013, and organisers
:19:15. > :19:19.wanted it to be documented through the eyes of ordinary people.
:19:19. > :19:24.Well, this history project has been a year in the making, the organisers
:19:24. > :19:27.have spoken to hundreds of people. And visitors to the exhibition can
:19:27. > :19:30.sit themselves down at one of these sound booths and listen to people's
:19:30. > :19:36.thoughts and stories all about Digbeth. And the long term plan is
:19:36. > :19:39.for the Digbeth Speaks project to be housed in the official Birmingham
:19:39. > :19:42.archives at the city's new library. In the meantime, the exhibition
:19:42. > :19:45.opens here at the Custard Factory this Thursday the third and runs
:19:45. > :19:49.until the 13th of October. Dan's here with the sport, and a sad
:19:49. > :19:52.day for Wolves fans. The former Wolves inside forward
:19:52. > :19:56.Peter Broadbent has died today aged 80. He'd been suffering from
:19:56. > :19:59.Alzheimer's disease. Broadbent played almost 500 times for Wolves
:19:59. > :20:03.club and was part of the all—conquering side of the 1950s.
:20:03. > :20:07.Many considered him their greatest ever player.
:20:07. > :20:13.The Molineux flags were at half mast today. Wolverhampton Wanderers have
:20:13. > :20:17.lost one of their finest. But Peter Broadbent's left an indelible mark
:20:17. > :20:20.on the club. It can be seen throughout the Molineux Museum. And
:20:20. > :20:31.Wolves club historian John Hendley says many rated Broadbent the best
:20:31. > :20:36.of the lot. Our knew Phil Morgan, who reported for the local
:20:36. > :20:42.newspaper, and I remember asking him, he saw all the great players in
:20:42. > :20:48.the 1950s and 1940s, who was the best, and he did not hesitate,
:20:48. > :21:00.Broadbent. The manager spent £10,000 buying Peter Broadbent in 1951. You
:21:00. > :21:09.might say it was money well spent. But Broadbent and the Wolves still
:21:09. > :21:13.won the 1960 FA Cup final. Ron Flowers was a former team—mate. He
:21:13. > :21:23.said Broadbent was a quiet person, never short of a joke, and a great
:21:23. > :21:26.player. It is no longer they paid him probably the record at the time.
:21:26. > :21:30.Broadbent also played for Shrewsbury Town and Aston Villa. But he's best
:21:30. > :21:32.known for his glory days at the Wolves.
:21:32. > :21:37.Legend can be an over—used word. But for Peter Broadbent and the Wolves
:21:37. > :21:40.of the 1950s, it just feels right. How is the club planning to remember
:21:40. > :21:42.Peter Broadbent? Well, the officials have been
:21:42. > :21:45.speaking to Mr Broadbent's family and there will be a minute's
:21:45. > :21:49.applause in his honour before kick—off at the club's next home
:21:49. > :21:52.game on Tues, against Notts County. The players may also be wearing
:21:52. > :21:55.black armbands this weekend. In speedway, the Brummies got the
:21:56. > :21:59.better of the local derby? In speedway, Birmingham Brummies are
:21:59. > :22:02.through to the Elite League Play—off Final. They went into last night
:22:02. > :22:05.semifinal second leg against Wolverhampton Wolves with a
:22:05. > :22:08.two—point lead, and wasted no time in extending their advantage. The
:22:08. > :22:11.outcome was rarely in doubt, with the Brummies running out winners by
:22:11. > :22:14.101 points to 82. They'll now meet Poole Pirates in the first leg of
:22:14. > :22:18.next week's final. And good news for our local gymnast
:22:18. > :22:20.Kristian Thomas, who's at the world championships in Antwerp?
:22:20. > :22:23.The Wolverhampton gymnast Kristian Thomas has made it through to the
:22:23. > :22:26.Vault final at the World Gymnastic Championships in Belgium. Thomas,
:22:26. > :22:29.who's been training in Shropshire, was part of the British team which
:22:29. > :22:32.won Bronze at the London Olympics last year. He's only just returned
:22:32. > :22:35.to competition, having missed much of this season because of breaking
:22:35. > :22:38.bones in his legs. And Birmingham take on Millwall
:22:38. > :22:41.tonight in the Championship tonight. Kick—off is at 7:45, and there will
:22:41. > :22:44.be full match coverage on BBC WM. A lost waterway that disappeared
:22:44. > :22:47.from Birmingham's extensive canal network nearly a hundred years ago
:22:47. > :22:58.could be restored. The Lapal Canal was once used to transport coal
:22:58. > :23:01.between Halesowen and Selly Oak. Selly Oak in Birmingham. Hidden
:23:01. > :23:04.below the roads and houses, an old forgotten waterway. In Victorian
:23:04. > :23:07.Britain the Lapal was used to ferry coal quickly from Halesowen to the
:23:07. > :23:11.South East. Campaigners want it reopened. They say the five and a
:23:11. > :23:18.half mile canal will provide a major economic boost to the region. The
:23:18. > :23:22.regeneration that you get when you restore a canal is widely understood
:23:22. > :23:26.because it has been happening elsewhere in the UK, and it is a
:23:26. > :23:31.missing piece which if it was in place would make it possible for a
:23:31. > :23:34.lot more visitors to come on shorter duration visits. It takes a whole
:23:34. > :23:38.week to visit the West Midlands on many of the routes at the moment.
:23:38. > :23:41.It would cost £50 million to restore the entire length. The developers
:23:41. > :23:45.behind a proposed new retail park in Selly Oak are expected to help fund
:23:45. > :23:52.the first stage in the project which would include a small marina. We
:23:53. > :23:56.would have on in water canal through the site for leisure activities and
:23:56. > :23:59.sports such as canoeing and kayaking.
:23:59. > :24:02.The canal closed 96 years ago due to a tunnel collapse. Moving west from
:24:02. > :24:09.Selly Oak towards Woodgate Valley reveals one of the biggest obstacles
:24:09. > :24:15.to full restoration. The canal really is lost here, it is
:24:15. > :24:20.buried overground. —— Underground. This is where the Lapal tunnel
:24:20. > :24:23.began. It may seem an insurmountable problem, but the campaigners say
:24:23. > :24:27.there is no reason why this should be a waterway here again.
:24:27. > :24:35.The proposal is to dig a new channel overland. They will be starting to
:24:35. > :24:39.put in a flight of locks which will commence just beyond where we are
:24:39. > :24:42.here. In the last half century many old
:24:42. > :24:45.canals have been made navigable again by enthusiasts. If the Lapal's
:24:45. > :24:48.restoration goes ahead, it'll end here at Leasowes Park where there
:24:49. > :24:50.are already signs of life returning to a waterway which may yet host
:24:50. > :25:03.boats once more. If you were with us at the beginning
:25:03. > :25:10.of the programme you would have heard warnings of some ugly weather.
:25:10. > :25:16.What do you mean by that? Yes, we have changes on the way this
:25:16. > :25:20.week. Some people may prefer or even be grateful of cooler weather and
:25:20. > :25:26.rain, so long as there is a proper dose to make up for the lack. This
:25:26. > :25:30.particular warning applies to Thursday, which if you were watching
:25:30. > :25:34.yesterday I advertised as being the wettest day of the week. We
:25:34. > :25:38.basically have three systems affecting us over the next couple of
:25:38. > :25:43.days, this Oakley did from coming later on tonight, and then on
:25:43. > :25:47.Thursday a combination of two, a cold front from the West and another
:25:47. > :25:56.area of rain coming up from the south and northern France. For now,
:25:56. > :26:01.we have largely dry conditions across the region, a lot of cloud,
:26:01. > :26:05.in fact a lot more of rain across the region today which was an
:26:05. > :26:09.overspill from this main area of rain which will arrive later. In the
:26:09. > :26:13.south—west by about midnight and spreading northwards by the early
:26:13. > :26:19.hours. There will be heavier bursts rippling northwards as it goes. But
:26:19. > :26:23.it is quite a warm night tonight, those of 12 to 13 or even 14
:26:23. > :26:28.sources. Tomorrow that rain is pushing northwards through the
:26:28. > :26:34.course of the morning, but around the 40, M6, that is where you will
:26:34. > :26:38.find the heaviest of the bursts during the rush hour. During the
:26:38. > :26:42.afternoon it dries up quite nicely with even a hint of brightness.
:26:42. > :26:48.Temperatures will rise to 19 Celsius in the South, so it will be quite
:26:48. > :26:52.warm, especially seeing as the winds will be lighter than today. For the
:26:52. > :26:55.next band of rain, which that warning applies to, that arise
:26:56. > :27:01.during the course of tomorrow night in the west of the region, so that
:27:01. > :27:05.will be again into the early hours, some heavy bursts packed into that.
:27:05. > :27:10.That will spread eastwards through the course of Thursday, so for those
:27:10. > :27:17.in the East dry start but a wet end to the day.
:27:17. > :27:20.Tonight's headlines: from the BBC: Miliband versus the Mail — the
:27:20. > :27:22.Labour leader's highly personal row over what the paper says about his
:27:22. > :27:25.father. David Cameron unveils a plan that
:27:25. > :27:27.could see GP surgeries open from 8:00 in the morning to 8:00 at
:27:28. > :27:30.night. Teachers strike over pay and
:27:30. > :27:33.conditions. Over 750 schools affected across the West Midlands.
:27:33. > :27:37.Jailed for 15 years after pleading guilty to killing a mother and son
:27:37. > :27:40.in a house fire in Stoke over 20 years ago, then fleeing to America.
:27:40. > :27:44.That was Midlands Today. I'll be back at ten o'clock, including more
:27:44. > :27:45.on the future of services at Stafford Hospital. Have a great
:27:45. > :27:46.evening. Goodbye.