Browse content similar to 16/10/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: Unemployment | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
falls in the region for the first time this year, down by 14,000 to | :00:07. | :00:14. | |
254,000. But more jobs and services at risk as councils look to save | :00:15. | :00:18. | |
tens of millions extra from their budgets. People are slogging on day | :00:19. | :00:25. | |
by day not knowing if they will have a job in 12 or 18 months and it has | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
been like that for a couple of years now. | :00:30. | :00:31. | |
Also tonight as we'll be hearing from Police and Crime Commissioner | :00:32. | :00:34. | |
for the West Midlands, Bob Jones as three chief constables are called | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
before a parliamentary committee to answer questions in the Andrew | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
Mitchell Plebgate row. A new ?40 million fleet of trams | :00:42. | :00:44. | |
linking Birmingham and the Black Country. | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
And Shefali has the weather. It's been a day of stark contrasts ` | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
soaking up the rain then soaking up the sun. If anything, it's prepared | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
you for what's to come. More details later in forecast. | :00:57. | :00:59. | |
Good evening. Unemployment has fallen here in the West Midlands for | :01:00. | :01:18. | |
the first time this year. Figures released this morning show the | :01:19. | :01:21. | |
number of people out of work fell by 14,000 in the last quarter. That | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
means the total jobless in the West Midlands is now 254,000, though at | :01:26. | :01:28. | |
9.4%, our unemployment rate is still above the national average. But more | :01:29. | :01:31. | |
job losses seem inevitable tonight as three local authorities revealed | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
tens of millions in savings. Walsall needs to cut ?19 million, while at | :01:35. | :01:37. | |
neighbouring Wolverhampton, it's ?65 million. And in Worcestershire the | :01:38. | :01:39. | |
figure is ?100 million. Dark clouds were hanging over | :01:40. | :01:46. | |
Worcestershire's County Hall today as leaders confirmed plans to slash | :01:47. | :01:49. | |
spending by ?100 million over the next four years. It comes on top of | :01:50. | :01:56. | |
?50 million savings already made. By the time the books are balanced, 50% | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
of the council's workforce will have gone. Services for vulnerable adults | :02:01. | :02:03. | |
are taking the biggest hit, ?32 million. There'll be more | :02:04. | :02:05. | |
outsourcing and fewer home visits, technology will be used to monitor | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
the elderly instead. This is a challenge that I am determined we | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
will face up to and we will do it by reforming, localising and basic | :02:13. | :02:13. | |
efficiency. By the time the books are balanced, 50% of the workforce | :02:14. | :02:20. | |
will have gone. Suzi Jones lost her job in the last round of cuts and | :02:21. | :02:23. | |
knows what her former colleagues may be thinking. How do we pay the bills | :02:24. | :02:29. | |
and the mortgage? Where do we go next? Should I look somewhere else? | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
Do I look elsewhere even though I enjoy my job? So it is a very | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
worrying time. Meanwhile, Children's Services will | :02:38. | :02:40. | |
save ?9 million with a range of measures including taking fewer | :02:41. | :02:43. | |
vunerable children into care. It comes at a time when the spotlight | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
is on child safety. We have organised the workforce in a way we | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
think maximises the support to children and families. We have some | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
innovative ideas on, when we bring children into care, those that will | :02:59. | :03:06. | |
be in permanent care and good foster placements and things but we can | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
never guarantee that will not be a case somewhere, you never can. More | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
money will be saved are spending less on public lighting with this | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
area of Droitwich receiving a current experimenting by turning off | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
two out of every three street lamps and there could be more of that to | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
come. You cannot put this level of cuts in without having real | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
consequences and with 50% of staff leaving, that will have very real | :03:32. | :03:34. | |
consequences. The council also said today a | :03:35. | :03:37. | |
three`year freeze on council tax is likely to end next year. The | :03:38. | :03:40. | |
sunshine after the rain seems a long way off. | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
So more job losses likely and many could affect older workers. Among | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
the over 50s, 44,000 are now looking for work in this region. With some | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
finding that setting up their own business is the only answer. | :03:53. | :03:59. | |
Earlier this year at the age of 50, Jacqui Gray was facing redundancy. | :04:00. | :04:02. | |
The jewellery shop in Shrewsbury she'd worked in for years wasn't | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
doing well. So she decided to become her own boss. 60 used to be old but | :04:08. | :04:15. | |
now it is young, isn't it? Said people who have got get up and go, | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
which they should have at 50, to go out there and do it, I think they | :04:20. | :04:21. | |
should. Mature entrepreneurs and older | :04:22. | :04:23. | |
workers are a growing phenomenon. It's estimated there are now a | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
million people in UK over 60 who've started up a business or taken on a | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
new job. And earning a wage isn't always their top priority. I want to | :04:32. | :04:39. | |
write stories which people love to read. Setting up a health and | :04:40. | :04:42. | |
well`being centre. An online business selling own branded petrol | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
remedies and supplements. These over`50s are on the same free | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
training course Jacqui went on. It's the Prince of Wales' initiative for | :04:52. | :04:54. | |
mature enterprise. Here in the West Midlands, uptake is 25% higher than | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
anywhere else in the country, and more than half of the new businesses | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
are doing well. We have only been going for about 18 months across the | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
Midlands but we are looking about a 62% sustainability rate at the | :05:09. | :05:09. | |
moment. But not all over`50s are | :05:10. | :05:12. | |
entrepreneurs. Some experts warn we could see many more older people | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
stuck between being too young to claim for a pension yet not able to | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
a job. So how is Britain treating older workers compared to the rest | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
of Europe? In Holland, the Dutch government has introduced age | :05:24. | :05:25. | |
discrimination laws to protect older workers. In Germany, the Government | :05:26. | :05:28. | |
there intends to introduce greater flexibility to working time and open | :05:29. | :05:31. | |
up more sabbaticals for its older workforce. And in Sweden ` a country | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
where life expectancy is at one of the highest in the world ` employers | :05:36. | :05:38. | |
who recruit older workers on long`term contracts are entitled to | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
a subsidy of up to 75% of their salary. | :05:42. | :05:44. | |
At the age of 71, David Shrubbs is still teaching at Bishop Vesey | :05:45. | :05:51. | |
Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield. To realise the importance of older | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
workers, he says you just have to do the maths. When the retirement age | :05:56. | :06:05. | |
was set at 65, the expected life span was about 68. Now, it is nearer | :06:06. | :06:13. | |
90`odd. I don't think the country can afford to be paying people 30 | :06:14. | :06:16. | |
years of pension. Maybe the days of a long retirement | :06:17. | :06:18. | |
are numbered. Coming up later in the programme, | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
the worst place to grow up in the western world, says Ofsted's chief | :06:25. | :06:33. | |
inspector? Birmingham bites back. To tar an entire city of the size of | :06:34. | :06:36. | |
Birmingham with the kind of remarks he has made, it seems to me utterly | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
unprofessional. And unjustified as well. | :06:42. | :06:44. | |
The so`called Plebgate row involving Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
took another turn today. The chief constables of Warwickshire, West | :06:51. | :06:52. | |
Mercia and the West Midlands have all been called to appear before | :06:53. | :06:55. | |
Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee next Wednesday. It follows | :06:56. | :06:58. | |
a report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission yesterday into | :06:59. | :07:01. | |
a meeting between Mr Mitchell and Police Federation representatives | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
from the three forces. Afterwards the officers insisted Mr Mitchell | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
refused to clarify what he'd said to police in Downing Street, | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
specifically whether or not he'd insultingly called one a "pleb". | :07:14. | :07:21. | |
But a recording of that meeting suggests he did in fact give a full | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
account. Bob Jones is Police and Crime Commissioner for the West | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
Midlands. I spoke to him earlier and asked if officers didn't tell the | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
truth, then surely they should be disciplined by their chief | :07:33. | :07:41. | |
constables. I think the issue is a very full and thorough investigation | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
supervised at the IPCC has taken place and the results were put in | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
front of senior officers of the three particular forces and then | :07:52. | :07:54. | |
concluded on the basis of the evidence and clear legal advice that | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
there was no case to take forward to disciplinary procedures. This has | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
been long`running, as public confidence in your offices | :08:04. | :08:09. | |
undermined by this `` has a big confidence in your offices in | :08:10. | :08:17. | |
undermined? `` public confidence. Having supervised this | :08:18. | :08:20. | |
investigation, they now have the opportunity to take over this and it | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
has been delegated to West Mercia Police and senior officers here with | :08:27. | :08:37. | |
deciding at the last point to make a statement which is not justified by | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
either the evidence of the legal advice. David Cameron says that | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
Andrew Mitchell is due an apology saying that Mr Mitchell had been | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
able to prove that the three Police Federation representatives had not | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
told the truth. Do you not think that Vista Mitchell deserves an | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
apology? He would deserve an apology if there was any evidence had a | :08:58. | :09:04. | |
process not then gone through thoroughly. The process has gone | :09:05. | :09:12. | |
through and all sides and issues are looked at and their conclusion was | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
reached in a fair and appropriate way through due process. So you | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
would dispute what David Cameron said today? He also said the conduct | :09:21. | :09:25. | |
of these officers was not acceptable. Do you dispute that? | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
David Cameron could save me a lot of money by getting rid of lots of the | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
processes like the CPS and simply have the Prime Minister deciding who | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
is guilty but since the introduction of the Magna Carta we have a process | :09:41. | :09:48. | |
of June fairness and that is appropriate to everybody. Should you | :09:49. | :09:55. | |
not be impartial? I should stand up for the whole of the community | :09:56. | :09:58. | |
including police officers when they are being treated unfairly and I | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
forget anything, the police officers are being treated unfairly and the | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
IPCC having investigated and said it is a full investigation have | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
gratuitously slurred their particular character and found them | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
guilty by media and those officers have no redress in respect of that. | :10:16. | :10:21. | |
The official proceedings supervised by the IPCC say they do not have | :10:22. | :10:31. | |
to... There is a strong public view that this is a total waste of money | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
because it all boils down to who said what to whom in a heated | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
exchange over one year ago and has costs estimated at hundreds of | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
thousands. It has and in this particular aspect which refers to | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
the meeting between the Police Federation representatives and | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
Andrew Mitchell is obviously only a small part of that but the whole | :10:53. | :10:54. | |
thing has dragged on. Clearly whatever the profile of people | :10:55. | :11:03. | |
concerned, we need to ensure appropriate and fair treatment to | :11:04. | :11:08. | |
all parties concerned. Thank you. Hundreds of people turned up in | :11:09. | :11:16. | |
heavy rain to the funeral of rapper Joshua Ribera who was stabbed to | :11:17. | :11:20. | |
death in Birmingham last month. The 18`year`old, who's also known as | :11:21. | :11:23. | |
Depzman, was attacked in Selly Oak after attending a tribute night for | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
another stabbing victim. After the attack, a defence today of | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
Birmingham. Politicians, youth workers and teachers lined up to | :11:31. | :11:33. | |
criticise the Chief Inspector of Ofsted for his scathing remarks | :11:34. | :11:36. | |
about the city. Sir Michael Wilshaw described Birmingham's Children's | :11:37. | :11:38. | |
Services as a "national disgrace". But he went further, calling | :11:39. | :11:41. | |
Birmingham one of the worst places in the western world to raise a | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
child ` remarks dismissed today as unprofessional and wrong. | :11:46. | :11:52. | |
Uncomfortable reading for Birmingham ` a city named and shamed. Its | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
record on child protection, a "national disgrace" said the Chief | :11:58. | :12:07. | |
Inspector of Ofsted. White is it... `` why is it. | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
But Sir Michael Wilshaw went further, branding Birmingham one of | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
the worst places in the developed world for a child to grow up. One of | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
the city's MPs agrees child protection is failing but Sir | :12:18. | :12:20. | |
Michael she says has gone too far. To tar an insider city with the kind | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
of remarks he has made seems to me utterly unprofessional `` an entire | :12:27. | :12:29. | |
city. Liam Nolan's made his reputation as | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
a super`head improving the prospects of Birmingham schoolchildren. It is | :12:33. | :12:39. | |
a city with problems, he says, but a great city. Birmingham is a vital, | :12:40. | :12:47. | |
vibrant city, the number one city in my eyes. But we have to get the | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
problems that we currently face looking after all our young people | :12:54. | :13:02. | |
correct. He spoke about high levels of deprivation but others would say | :13:03. | :13:05. | |
that Liverpool and Manchester were worse and even in the midst of | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
poverty, people are trying to make a difference. | :13:10. | :13:11. | |
This charity worker organises activities for children from | :13:12. | :13:13. | |
deprived areas and supports families on low incomes. I do not think it is | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
fair to wrap everything up and say that Birmingham is a place not to | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
raise your children. I think the context of raising children in | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
Birmingham are that two thirds of the families are doing a great job. | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
At the town hall they were tuning up for Tchaikovsky, with 20 of | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
youngsters listening on. What did they make up the remarks? Birmingham | :13:42. | :13:47. | |
has lots of lovely areas and children have educational | :13:48. | :13:49. | |
opportunities, all they want. I think it is taken out of context. I | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
think there are loads of things to do and activities for children, | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
children can immerse themselves in them. Plenty to be proud of. A | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
casual look tells you that but while children services continues to fail, | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
expect more intense scrutiny and more criticism. | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
Our top story tonight: Unemployment falls in the region for the first | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
time this year, but more jobs and services are at risk as councils cut | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
tens of millions from their budgets. Shefali will be along shortly with | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
your weather forecast. Also tonight, plans to commemorate the centenary | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
of the start of the First World War. One of the country's most important | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
archives throws open its doors. And how an Irishman playing for | :14:36. | :14:38. | |
Warwickshire hopes to help England retain the Ashes this winter in | :14:39. | :14:39. | |
Australia. If you have a story you think we | :14:40. | :14:52. | |
should be covering, we'd like to hear from you. You can call us or | :14:53. | :14:56. | |
send an email. We're also on Facebook or you can tweet us ` | :14:57. | :14:58. | |
@bbcmtd. The first of 20 trams that will run | :14:59. | :15:08. | |
from Wolverhampton to the heart of Birmingham was unveiled today. The | :15:09. | :15:11. | |
?40 million fleet will increase capacity on the Midland Metro line | :15:12. | :15:14. | |
from 5.5. Million to as much as eight million passengers. Bob | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
Hockenhull reports now from Wednesbury. | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
Three, two, 1... A fanfare for a tram which is hoped will play a | :15:25. | :15:31. | |
major role in rebuilding the Metro line. This is the first of 20 trams | :15:32. | :15:39. | |
to be delivered from Spain. At the current length of 20 25 feet longer | :15:40. | :15:49. | |
than the previous, they will have more services. Gives better | :15:50. | :15:56. | |
world`class transfer for the area. They will be delivered from the | :15:57. | :15:59. | |
factory in Spain at the rate of one a month and when they are all in | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
place, it will increase capacity on the network by 40%. If all goes to | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
plan, people will get their first taste of what it is like to travel | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
on the trams when the first of the 20 `strong fleet operates on the | :16:12. | :16:16. | |
network next spring. They can carry up to 200 passengers. Compared with | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
156 on the current trams. The new ones will not only run on the | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
existing line from Wolverhampton to Birmingham's Snow Hill station but | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
also to New Street station by 2015. And there are plans to expand | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
further past the city's town hole and onto centenary square which is a | :16:37. | :16:42. | |
trend following the rest of the world. I am happy with the way they | :16:43. | :16:50. | |
have developed these and it has been successful in every city which has a | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
good tram system is expanding and that is a sign of success. Although | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
passengers will be able to travel and more comfort and greater | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
numbers, transport managers say there are no plans to increase fares | :17:04. | :17:05. | |
to pay for the investment. Next year is the centenary of the | :17:06. | :17:12. | |
outbreak of World War One and today the BBC announced plans to mark that | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
anniversary with a series of programmes. The University of | :17:17. | :17:19. | |
Birmingham, with the largest War Studies department in the country, | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
has been closely involved. And it has a war story of its own to tell. | :17:24. | :17:27. | |
The University of Birmingham on a peaceful day. A young generation | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
embraces life, in the place where a previous generation fought to save | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
it. The first convoy of casualties arrived in September 1914 ` injured | :17:38. | :17:40. | |
in the first days of the First World War and the Great Hall where | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
students graduated became a hospital. Images of the men | :17:44. | :17:53. | |
convalescing after being brought here... At the University's Cadbury | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
Research Library, they're digitising thousands of photos from the time | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
and planning exhibitions. We see people whose parents were involved, | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
bringing items in and for them, it is still very personal for them. You | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
think it is a long time ago but it is not that long ago, actually. | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
There are many personal stories here in this archive. This is a diary | :18:18. | :18:21. | |
written by Private Benjamin Gordon Williams of Moseley in Birmingham. | :18:22. | :18:24. | |
He was stationed in Egypt and the Mediterranean. 30th August, 1917 ` | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
he says, "I woke at 1am to hear shells bursting over the hills, 300 | :18:29. | :18:31. | |
yards away. Four prisoners came down today". His diary finished in June | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
1918 and what we don't know is what happened to Private Williams after | :18:36. | :18:37. | |
that date. The extensive archive will also | :18:38. | :18:39. | |
reveal the role played by Birmingham's famous families, like | :18:40. | :18:42. | |
Chamberlain and Cadbury. Historians say the world is still living with | :18:43. | :18:49. | |
the consequences of that conflict. A lot of the problems we face in the | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
Middle East today in places like Iraq and Syria and Palestine are | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
directly traced back to the First World War and the peace treaties | :18:59. | :19:04. | |
that came back to it. Many who were alive in 1914 never lived to see the | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
end of the War, but marking its centenary will ensure their memory | :19:09. | :19:09. | |
lives on. And you can find more about the war, | :19:10. | :19:17. | |
its continuing impact and the BBC's plans for the centenary by going | :19:18. | :19:19. | |
online. As we were hearing earlier, | :19:20. | :19:22. | |
unemployment may at last be heading down in the West Midlands, but could | :19:23. | :19:26. | |
we be doing better at creating new companies to generate more jobs? Our | :19:27. | :19:29. | |
science correspondent David Gregory`Kumar is in the offices of | :19:30. | :19:32. | |
one start`up with very big ambitions. Those offices still look | :19:33. | :19:39. | |
a bit bare. They've only moved into these Birmingham offices, eight | :19:40. | :19:46. | |
weeks ago. But this newly`formed company, spun out of cutting edge | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
university research, has very big plans for the future of all our | :19:50. | :19:52. | |
mobile phones. They've invented a brand new type of antenna. This is | :19:53. | :19:59. | |
one of the prototypes with a prototype Arial, a very smart phone. | :20:00. | :20:02. | |
The modern smartphone may generate a lot of excitement. But these days | :20:03. | :20:06. | |
they all look the same. A glass`fronted slab. The real | :20:07. | :20:14. | |
innovation these days is taking place inside and here in | :20:15. | :20:17. | |
Birmingham, they have come up with an idea that they say could end up | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
inside every single one of these in the future. This brand new | :20:22. | :20:23. | |
Birmingham company has a hobby. Buying broken second`hand phones and | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
tearing them apart to learn more about the antennas inside. Up to six | :20:27. | :20:34. | |
in every phone. The six have to be designed into the phone and have to | :20:35. | :20:37. | |
be characterised and controlled. You have software, different collections | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
and it is a whole cobweb of connections and control for these | :20:44. | :20:46. | |
antennas. Despite the looks, this is probably | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
the most advanced smartphone in the world. It contains just one antenna | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
invented here in Birmingham but that single antenna can do the work of | :20:54. | :20:59. | |
six ` or more. Up to around $20 is the cost of the antenna, just the | :21:00. | :21:07. | |
antenna. That is getting on for 20% of the total cost of manufacturing | :21:08. | :21:11. | |
the phone. With ours, it cost less than a dollar. | :21:12. | :21:14. | |
The scientist behind much of this has now left university to be part | :21:15. | :21:18. | |
of this company, and he's thinking big. Every mobile device, not just | :21:19. | :21:26. | |
every phone. Pretty big! The question is, are there more gems | :21:27. | :21:29. | |
like this hiding in our Universities? That is a good | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
question. And with me is Mark Payton. Your | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
company is a big investor in this start`up. What does the University | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
get out of this? Security because our capital means we can attract a | :21:46. | :21:52. | |
management team and people get paid in a start`up environment. The | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
university gets funded back to its research. It gets a seat at the | :21:57. | :21:59. | |
table so it gets to see the technology going forwards while | :22:00. | :22:01. | |
having an equity stake in what we hope will be able prosperous company | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
spinning out. You are working in eight different madeleines | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
universities, is it hard to get investment in Midlands ideas? It is | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
very challenging and not because the idea is not world leading, it is | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
because the capital predominantly resides around London and Oxford and | :22:21. | :22:24. | |
Cambridge and to get back into the Midlands is challenging and we are | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
one of very few fund managers taking that challenge. Does that mean that | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
many ideas may be falling through the gaps? We are privileged to be | :22:35. | :22:39. | |
able to capitalise and nurture this but I am sure that businesses that | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
we are unable to support because we cannot support that many are falling | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
through the gaps. This idea will make lots of money if it works but | :22:50. | :22:57. | |
what about jobs? Suzi Jones we are investing ``. | :22:58. | :23:05. | |
Lots of businesses are starting off like this and now employ many many | :23:06. | :23:13. | |
people. Replacing six antennas at once reduces the drain on the | :23:14. | :23:23. | |
battery life. For Warwickshire cricketer Boyd | :23:24. | :23:26. | |
Rankin, home is a farm in a tiny village in Northern Ireland. But | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
this winter, he'll be hoping to bowl England to an Ashes victory Down | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
Under. The 29`year`old was a surprise selection for the tour of | :23:33. | :23:35. | |
Australia and he's determined to take his big chance. | :23:36. | :23:37. | |
At six`foot`eight, Boyd Rankin towers over most people, let alone | :23:38. | :23:41. | |
the pupils of Bentley Heath primary school in Solihull. Today's coaching | :23:42. | :23:44. | |
session was a lot of fun for the kids but it's as far as you can get | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
from Boyd's next cricket assignment. On Friday he leaves with the England | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
squad aiming to come back from Australia with the Ashes in their | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
luggage once more. It has not sunk in yet but I am trying to enjoy | :23:59. | :24:01. | |
every moment of it. Three matches coming up before the first test so | :24:02. | :24:08. | |
it is really important to go out and do as well as I can during those | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
games and hopefully I am in for a shot for that first cap at road | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
test. He was outstanding in the one`day international against | :24:18. | :24:24. | |
Australia and those pitch patterns will suit him. He is seeing the | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
benefits of his training. This is not your average cricket | :24:29. | :24:31. | |
story. Boyd left this farm in the tiny village of Bready in Northern | :24:32. | :24:34. | |
Ireland ten years ago to study agriculture at university in | :24:35. | :24:37. | |
Shropshire. But he was also playing cricket in the summer and joining | :24:38. | :24:40. | |
Warwickshire saw his career blossom. The 29`year`old has already played | :24:41. | :24:43. | |
for Ireland in the World Cup but decided to switch to England to | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
fulfil his dream of playing Test cricket. My main aim was to play | :24:48. | :24:54. | |
test match cricket for playing at the highest level so I think that | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
was pretty easy for me in terms of making that decision. | :25:01. | :25:02. | |
Breaking into a winning England team will be difficult but the children | :25:03. | :25:06. | |
he was coaching today are convinced that whoever plays Down Under | :25:07. | :25:09. | |
there's only one team going to win the Ashes. England! Not that they | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
are biased at all. We got some torrential rain today but then we | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
got some lovely sunshine, what will it be like over the next few days? | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
Changeable is the keyword and compare this afternoon to this | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
morning, you would be forgiven for thinking we had experienced two | :25:31. | :25:36. | |
different days. A belt of rain before the weekend means the weekend | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
will be open to comparatively decent weather. Showers at times, yes, and | :25:41. | :25:46. | |
breezy but it will stay mild and those milder conditions will filter | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
through by tomorrow. The rain and showers are created by this trio of | :25:50. | :25:53. | |
fronts, the first of which will be more active than the rest but | :25:54. | :25:56. | |
basically it is this area of low pressure that is giving the energy | :25:57. | :26:03. | |
to the whole lot. It is drawing in the wind from the south`westerly | :26:04. | :26:05. | |
direction which will give us mild conditions. Back to this evening and | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
overnight, we saw the dazzling sunshine this afternoon so you would | :26:12. | :26:13. | |
be forgiven for thinking everything is calm right now but I think we | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
could see some activity resurfacing later on tonight in the form of some | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
punchy showers which will affect the extremities of the region so north | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
and also South but elsewhere looking dry with patchy cloud. At least | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
there is a sign of things warming up even by tonight, temperatures down | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
into double digits. Through the day to morrow, we have got the | :26:36. | :26:38. | |
distribution of showers in the same parts of the region so in the north | :26:39. | :26:42. | |
and the south of the region and they could be torrential and they could | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
contain some thunder but there is a huge swathe across central parts of | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
the region that remained dry with plenty of sunshine. The temperatures | :26:51. | :26:54. | |
as well, highs of 17 Celsius, it will feel pleasantly warm compared | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
with the feel earlier on in the week. Tomorrow night, the same as to | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
light, without the showers. Some cloud around and temperatures into | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
double figures. Reasonably warm and then, because of the rain that is | :27:10. | :27:12. | |
arriving on Friday, it will be cooler but we look quite decent at | :27:13. | :27:15. | |
the weekend. Tonight's headlines from the BBC: | :27:16. | :27:23. | |
Unemployment down again with the biggest fall in people claiming | :27:24. | :27:25. | |
jobseekers' allowance for 16 years. Unemployment also falls in the | :27:26. | :27:28. | |
Midlands, for the first time this year, down by 14,000 in the last | :27:29. | :27:31. | |
quarter to 254,000. That was the Midlands Today. I'll be | :27:32. | :27:35. | |
back at 10pm with our political editor for further analysis of those | :27:36. | :27:38. | |
unemployment figures. Have a great evening. Goodbye. | :27:39. | :28:13. | |
You ask us to get behind you and why should we? | :28:14. | :28:15. | |
You're punching above your weight, aren't you? | :28:16. | :28:17. | |
He wouldn't do that to me because he wasn't that sort of a man. | :28:18. | :28:24. |