23/10/2013 Midlands Today


23/10/2013

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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: Police

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officers from Warwickshire, West Mercia and the West Midlands on the

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rack before MPs over the plebgate affair. Can I say that we have found

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your evidence most unsatisfactory? We'll be live in Westminster trying

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to get to the bottom of this extraordinary affair all because of

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a four letter word. A medical breakthrough as a patient

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here becomes the first in the world to undergo pioneering new treatment

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for prostate cancer. This is a wonderful opportunity for Birmingham

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University, the hospital here and for our prostate cancer patients.

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A species at risk ` how 25,000 eels have been released into the River

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Teme in Shropshire. A day at work Chloe will never

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forget as a top rapper turns up to say well done.

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And battered by the rain and winds then soothed by the sun. Whatever

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next? Find out later. Good evening. There were more twists

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and turns in the so`called plebgate affair today. It may have started

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with Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell's ill`tempered comments to

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police officers in Downing Street. But it's now become a major issue,

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pitting police against politicians. There were apologies for Mr Mitchell

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as chief constables from the forces and officers from three of our

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forces, West Midlands, West Mercia and Warwickshire, faced tough

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questions this afternoon. We'll be going live to Westminster in just a

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moment, but first, Giles Latcham on the background to the story and

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today's developments. Happy birthday, plebgate. Yes, it's

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over a year now since an MP tried to wheel his bike out of Downing

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Street, police officers told him to use the side gate. They say he

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called them plebs, he says he didn't. What was or wasn't said that

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night is the subject of another inquiry. At stake, public image and

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reputation. Under questioning from NPs, it was the police on the back

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foot. Has this damaged the reputation of the forces? The fact

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that we are all here, we have to say, yes, it has had an impact. And

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here's the police's problem. Three representatives of the coppers'

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union, the Police Federation, from the West Midlands, Warwickshire and

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West Mercia, telling reporters last October that Mr Mitchell had refused

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to give them an account of what happened in Downing Street. It is

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the fact that what the officers recorded at the time Mr Mitchell

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says he did not say. Someone is not telling the truth. Unknown to them

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Mr Mitchell had recorded that meeting and is heard clearly stating

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that he swore but did not use the word "plebs". Those three officers

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have since apologised for their conduct, an apology they came under

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pressure today to extend to Mr Mitchell himself. I don't think I

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can give an apology. I'd suggest you can pour spinning a yarn to the

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press that afternoon to get someone out of high public office because

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that is clearly what you were motivated to do. There was no

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intention to mislead. I do not feel I lied about what went on in the

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meeting. We may have said things that could be interpreted as being

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misleading but we certainly did not intend to do that. We certainly did

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not lie intentionally. A police report found there was no case for

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misconduct charges against the officers. In the past hour, the

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chief constable has revealed he has asked another force to review the

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decision and he said he has offered Andrew Mitchell and unreserved

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apology. Confusion on the streets and wariness prevail. I think it

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might be a bit hard done by `` he might be. It all seems a bit

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extreme. I do not understand what he said. Costing too much money. It

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should have been sorted out straight, as soon as possible. The

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man at the eye of the original storm, Andrew Mitchell is staying

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quiet. Our political editor Patrick Burns

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has been following events at Westminster. This has been a

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desperate day for the police. That is possibly the one and only thing

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on which all of the people in the very dramatic committee hearing

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would agree on. A day in which three chief constables with varying

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degrees of contrition apologised particularly to Andrew Mitchell. As

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we have just heard, this is more than a year after the event itself.

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Keith Vaz the chairman was obviously bemused about questioning all three

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of them. If you are apologising, to paraphrase, why has it taken you so

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long? I think it was the Chief Constable of West Murcia who

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probably had the toughest grilling. He had to endure dear initial `` in

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due at the initial suffering because his force conducted the initial

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investigation into the meeting in Andrew Mitchell's constituency

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office on the 12th of October of last year between Mr Mitchell

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himself and three representatives of the Police Federation. The

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investigating officer who gave evidence this afternoon, his

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recommendation was that those individuals should be disciplined

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RIBA should face a hearing `` or should face a hearing. The

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Independent Police Complaints Commission up to it to gross

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misconduct. The investigating officer was asked why the Chief

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Constable had said they should not have any case to answer at all. He

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said it was because of the floor in the decision`making process that he

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now thought the whole issue should be referred via the Inspectorate of

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Constabulary to another chief constable. That would add further

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time and expense to the whole process. We will leave it there.

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Thank you. Coming up later in the programme:

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Bringing men together in the battle to beat loneliness ` a new role for

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the humble shed. A Birmingham man has become the

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first in the world to undergo a new gene therapy for prostate cancer. In

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tests, the treatment developed from a cold virus has had startling

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results in animals, completely eradicating the cancer. But

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68`year`old Bernard Ward was the first human guinea pig. Our health

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correspondent Michele Paduano was there to see him.

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Meet Bernard, the first person to benefit from decades of research by

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hundreds of scientists. But Bernard who has prostate cancer has more

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immediate worries. As far as I am aware, this trial is virtually my

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only option. You did not have any qualms about giving it a go? Not

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when you have no choice. It is this all nothing. `` this or nothing. The

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trial at this stage is just to test whether the treatment's safe. This

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is a new organism, so the cold virus must be handled by chemists with

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precision. But doctors are excited by what it might do. The protein

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which stimulates the community came from our animal work. We saw amazing

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results when the tumour just disappeared on mice who were

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impregnated with cancer cells and treated with this virus which we are

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trialling now. The treatment itself is straightforward. After mapping

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out the prostate gland, a series of minute pinpoint injections are made

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with the virus in an operation that takes just ten minutes. But how does

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it fight the disease? The virus contains a gene which attracts the

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body's own white blood cells to begin attacking the cancer. The

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virus also carries an enzyme, a type of protein, which sits inside the

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cancer cells themselves. After two days, the patient is put on a drip

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containing a cancer`fighting drug. The drug only works when it reacts

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with the enzyme killing the cancer cells. For the doctors at University

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Hospital Birmingham who've lived this for 15 years, it's the

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equivalent of the moon landings. This must be what it was like all of

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those years ago in NASA control for the guys who had worked years on a

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project like this, lots of minutiae in science. The Eagle has landed.

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Bernard is the first of 20 patients who will be selected. After a couple

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of hours, he could go home. As this is a trial, he is being kept in

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isolation just in case, but this treatment is seen as less drastic

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than other cancer treatments. I was given something beforehand. I don't

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know. Now all the doctors can do is wait.

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And Michele is here now. This really is a very exciting breakthrough. You

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cannot call it a breakthrough yet. We do not know how human beings will

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react to it. They may react in a different way to mice. It is seen as

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a building block. There is a feeling that the idea of getting the immune

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system to work against the cancer is the way forward. `` watches these

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times a `` what is the timescale? 15 to 20 years before it gets into

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general use. Something more important is going on. We have been

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good in Birmingham doing trials for other people. This is a trial made

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in Birmingham and it could have economic prospects for the future.

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The Chinese are already interested in tie`ups with the University and

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the hospital in Birmingham. It's been confirmed the badger cull

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in Gloucestershire will be extended for a further eight weeks. Natural

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England says it's granted a licence to resume the cull immediately to

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try to curb the spread of TB in cattle. Only 30% of the badger

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population were killed during the original six`week cull which ended

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last week. A man has appeared before Cannock

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magistrates charged with two counts of kidnap. It follows an incident at

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a hotel in Stoke on Trent last Friday. Saleem Tahir was remanded in

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custody until 11th November. The ambulance service in Shropshire

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says it's struggling to reach some patients because of a lack of

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resources. It's apologised after an elderly woman with dementia had to

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wait for over an hour for a crew to arrive. Managers in charge of

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funding say they're raising the problem at a national level.

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MPs have handed in a petition calling for more network BBC radio

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and television production to be returned to Birmingham. Campaigners

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estimate the corporation's expenditure in the region is only a

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tenth of the amount it receives from Midlands licence fee payers. The

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petition was handed to David Jennings, the head of regional and

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local programmes. 25,000 eels were released into the

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River Teme at Ludlow today to boost numbers of the endangered species.

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The idea is to move the eels upstream, past manmade blockages

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like weirs. Work is also under way to make our rivers much more eel

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friendly and to help them make their migration from our rivers the 5,000

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kilometres to the Sargasso Sea. Our environment correspondent David

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Gregory`Kumar reports. In the shadow of Ludlow Castle, the

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first large`scale Il release in the Midlands. Only about one Il in every

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box could survive `` the first large`scale release of eels. They

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were donated by the fishermen enjoying a year like no other. The

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river turned white with eels. It looked like Ras had covered the

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River `` it looked like grass. These were some of the ones caught in the

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River Severn. They will not go just to rivers in the Midlands, they will

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go to rivers across Europe. The sex is determined by how many eels they

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are. Putting these in should mean more breeding females. The magic of

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bringing them from the estuaries all the way up to a spot like this, a

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wonderful natural river, we hope we can create females in ten to 15

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years time that will then swim back down the river in a wonderful wet

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October night and make their way all of the way, all of the 4000 miles,

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back to the Sargasso Sea. One of the big problems eels face, a rather

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picturesque weir. The view is the view that painters have painted for

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millennia. It is not very friendly for the eels? We are looking to put

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in the fish pass and alongside that, on the eels itself, we are putting

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something to allow the eels to slither up the barrier.

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Conservationists and fishermen working together to reserve one of

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the Midlands most mysterious creatures. Apologies for Andrew

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Mitchell in the plebgate affair as MPs face a grilling in the comments

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`` as officers face a grilling. The full weather forecast. And this goal

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from Coventry City against the league leaders, was it the best of

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the night? And sprinkled with stardust as

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teenager, Chloe's surprised at work by a top rapper and it's all live on

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Radio 1. If you think you have a story we should be covering on

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Midlands Today, we would like to hear from you. You can call us or

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send us an e`mail, contact us on Facebook or Twitter.

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A recent survey found half of adults in this region experience loneliness

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at some time or another. Men who've retired or lost their jobs can be

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amongst those worst affected. So, could an idea imported from

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Australia help? Called Men's Sheds it creates places to get together,

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away from the pub. And it's catching on, as Ben Sidwell has been finding

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out. If a man's home is his castle, his

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shirt is his... . The shed ` a place for a lifelong

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hobby, a spot of DIY or just getting away from it all. But this simple

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wooden structure is changing and becoming the focal point for a new

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male organisation ` Men's Sheds. Having set one up in Aberdeenshire,

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Ian Wallace who now lives near Market Drayton is leading a campaign

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to get a network of Men's Sheds in Shropshire. We have been developing

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things for ladies. Now women are catching up. Men become less

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isolated. There is less to freshen. There is less... They become more

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active. They use their brains more and muscles. That will of course

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have an impact by reducing the load on the National Health Service. In

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Stratford`upon`Avon, they call themselves Men In Sheds and actually

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meet in an empty shop. Each week the group gather to catch up, chat and

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do the odd bit of woodwork. This is just a bringing together of people

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so that we can socialise and mix`up and perhaps get involved in doing a

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few things for the community. Since 1996, almost 1,000 Men's Sheds have

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been formed in Australia. With many more planned across the West

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Midlands, Men's Sheds could soon be a very familiar site.

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Well, earlier we asked for your thoughts and here are a few of them.

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A viewer calling himself Wolfywolf, clearly an alpha male, says he has a

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man shed to get away from the Mrs and kids. But he'd love something

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like this. Tim Smyth says he'd go but only if they served beer and

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called it a pub. Silly idea, he reckons. But Ken Grinnell disagrees.

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I would go to a Men's Shed if there was one in my area, he says. Thank

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you for getting in touch. Onto football and what a brilliant

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night for our teams in League One. Four wins and a draw, 15 goals

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scored and plenty of thrills for thousands of fans. The former

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Coventry City winger Steve Froggatt travelled to Northampton to watch

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his former club beat the league leaders, Leyton Orient. Ian Winter

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reports. It breaks my heart because Coventry should be playing in

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Coventry. They should be back in the city as soon as possible. It is no

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secret, Steve Froggatt hates seeing Coventry playing in Northampton. But

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last night he loved watching the young kids at his old club beat the

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current league leaders and continue the Sky Blues' surge up the table.

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They played at a really high tempo. Fantastic performance. And Froggy's

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right. This was the first, a rocket from the Coventry captain Carl

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Baker. And this was the second. Even better, perhaps. A cheeky chip from

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Frank Moussa. And the Sky Blues ran out worthy winners, 3`1. You have

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got to give the credit to the manager and his coaching staff to

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have got the best out of the players. Coventry's next game should

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be another cracker. On Saturday, they're off to Walsall who're also

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on top form. Ashley Hemmings scored twice in last night's 3`1 win at

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Swindon. And the Saddlers are now in the play`off zone. Just seven points

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behind Wolves who also enjoyed a good night at Molineux. James Henry

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tapped in their first against Oldham. And Leigh Griffiths rifled

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in his ninth goal of the season to seal a 2`0 victory. Port Vale did

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even better away to Crawley. Ben Williamson scored the pick of the

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bunch in their 3`0 win at Crawley. And we almost had a clean sweep of

:18:58.:19:01.

five victories. But this goal from Cristian Lopez wasn't quite enough

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to win the match for Shrewsbury against Colchester. It finished 1`1

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on a memorable night in League One. Steve Froggatt is on the BBC WM

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football phone`in until 7pm. And well done to Burton Albion and

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Cheltenham Town who both won in League Two.

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For teenager Chloe Woodward today started like any other, working at a

:19:27.:19:31.

Staffordshire school. Then listeners to BBC Radio 1 heard her get an

:19:32.:19:35.

award live on air for bravely battling mental health issues. And

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it was all a complete surprise to Chloe. Satnam Rana was there to

:19:41.:19:48.

capture a special moment. There is some flash photography in this

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report. A normal working day for Chloe until

:19:52.:20:01.

this. Congratulations, you are a team hero for 2013. This was the

:20:02.:20:06.

moment Professor Green revealed she was a BBC Radio 1 team hero. I am

:20:07.:20:14.

shell`shocked, overwhelmed, excited, so happy. What did you think when

:20:15.:20:22.

you saw him? I was just like, no. A look of disbelief. The element it I

:20:23.:20:26.

recognise you and then I was like, my God. And then the excitement

:20:27.:20:33.

continued. You are going to be on the news tonight as well. What is

:20:34.:20:41.

happening? Chloe has had a tough few years. She tried to take her own

:20:42.:20:45.

life over being bullied. Having overcome her mental health problems,

:20:46.:20:54.

she helped a man and prevented him from committing suicide by sharing

:20:55.:20:59.

her story. People can relate to it. It is really important to inspire

:21:00.:21:04.

people. It is an issue close to your heart? It is. My dad committed

:21:05.:21:09.

suicide. I had not seen him for years. But maybe if someone had

:21:10.:21:14.

recognised the signs on him, it would not have happened. It is

:21:15.:21:18.

important to raise awareness. For her mum, Chloe's transformation has

:21:19.:21:24.

been incredible. Every night, I would think, will she be alive

:21:25.:21:31.

tomorrow? I could not sleep. It was awful. Now we see her and... What a

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change. What a massive change. Today has just been the best day. It has

:21:39.:21:46.

just been the best day ever. Sorry. I am so pleased for her. Chloe will

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be meeting stars at the BBC Radio 1 awards on the 3rd of November. A

:21:55.:21:58.

sparkling reward for being such a brave and courageous young lady.

:21:59.:22:07.

Well done to Chloe. Warm and sunny today, but is it the

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calm before yet another storm? Here's Shefali.

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The weather keeps us on our toes. Drive for now but it will be wetter

:22:17.:22:26.

by Friday. `` dry for now. Once tomorrow is over, we have the next

:22:27.:22:31.

weather system raging up from the south`west. This area of low

:22:32.:22:35.

pressure bringing all of the freakish weather we have been used

:22:36.:22:40.

to so far. Wet, windy, thunderstorms, a lot of lightning.

:22:41.:22:45.

It also opens up the gateway to the succession of fronts whipping

:22:46.:22:49.

through from the West. It could be dry to start on Saturday but that is

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still open to question depending on the timing of the fronts coming

:22:54.:22:57.

through. Another weather system will be ready in the south`west at the

:22:58.:23:03.

start of next week. Relentless at the moment. Back to this evening,

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after the blinding sunshine today and the ridge of high pressure

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building, we are looking at a break from tradition with dry and clear

:23:14.:23:18.

and cooler overnight conditions. Particularly so in the countryside.

:23:19.:23:22.

Temperatures could dip a lot lower than five degrees. We could see some

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mist patches as well developing particularly in the North Eastern

:23:30.:23:37.

corner of the region. We will have those to start the day tomorrow

:23:38.:23:39.

morning. Other than that, they should dispose quite quickly as the

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sunshine gets to work. A very pleasant day. Plenty of sunshine.

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Lots of dry weather. The odd stray shower from the West. Affecting

:23:52.:23:57.

parts of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. In the sunshine,

:23:58.:24:01.

temperatures should rise nicely. A degree or so higher than today. That

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is in lighter winds. Feeling very pleasant. Even tomorrow evening

:24:08.:24:14.

looks dry. The rain will hold off until the early hours of Friday. The

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cloud will thicken from the south`west ahead of that. Then this

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rain will creep up from the south`west, could be very heavy

:24:27.:24:28.

around southwestern parts of the region tomorrow night. And again,

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temperatures stop to bounce back up because of the cloud and the rain.

:24:36.:24:41.

Looking further ahead, the weekend, or rather, Friday into Saturday,

:24:42.:24:46.

Friday starts with heavy rain, heavy blustery showers. Saturday, perhaps

:24:47.:24:50.

dry until the evening. Tonight's headlines: A shut down at

:24:51.:24:53.

Scotland's biggest industrial site ` 800 jobs are slashed and more under

:24:54.:24:58.

threat at the Grangemouth refinery. The Prime Minister pledges to bring

:24:59.:25:01.

energy bills down by cutting green taxes.

:25:02.:25:06.

Back now to our top story. The plebgate affair started as a spat

:25:07.:25:09.

between Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell and a couple of police

:25:10.:25:12.

officers, but today three of our chief constables trooped before MPs

:25:13.:25:13.

to explain themselves. Our political editor Patrick Burns

:25:14.:25:24.

is at Westminster. This is what the Chief Constable for West Murcia had

:25:25.:25:29.

to say. In the normal process of events, the apology would come at

:25:30.:25:32.

the end. The timing is just as important as what is said. A

:25:33.:25:38.

profound unreserved apology for the impact of what this has had on him.

:25:39.:25:46.

Patrick, a four letter word, not one of the usual suspects. Especially

:25:47.:25:51.

when you consider Andrew Mitchell has so strenuously denied ever using

:25:52.:25:59.

the word. The Crown Prosecution Service is currently deciding

:26:00.:26:02.

whether charges should be brought against police officers who levelled

:26:03.:26:07.

the accusation in the first place. Significantly today one of Andrew

:26:08.:26:10.

Mitchell's" server did colleagues Ava Davis has said that it reopens

:26:11.:26:15.

the question of whether police officers should be equipped with

:26:16.:26:20.

recording devices on their bodies `` Andrew Mitchell's close conservative

:26:21.:26:27.

colleagues. One of the committee members at the hearing today pointed

:26:28.:26:32.

out to the three Police Federation representatives that if Mr

:26:33.:26:39.

Mitchell's assistant had not taken the precaution of recording the

:26:40.:26:43.

conversation, none of them would be sitting in the Home Affairs

:26:44.:26:47.

Committee session today. Where have we got to tonight? ? la macro this

:26:48.:26:52.

will go on for some time. We can be sure of that `` this will go on for

:26:53.:27:01.

some time. Next up, John Gaunt. The Gaunt Brothers handle PR for the

:27:02.:27:06.

Police Federation. He will be questioned next week.

:27:07.:27:11.

Finally, Birmingham's stunning new library sought its 500,000th visitor

:27:12.:27:20.

today. The library opened only seven weeks ago, complete with an

:27:21.:27:25.

amphitheatre and Gardens, it houses hundreds of thousands of books and

:27:26.:27:28.

has become a popular tourist attraction.

:27:29.:27:34.

That was the Midlands Today. We will be back at 10pm with the latest on

:27:35.:27:39.

the plebgate story and an update on the rest of the day's news. Have a

:27:40.:27:42.

good evening.

:27:43.:27:47.

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