06/12/2013 Midlands Today

the oppression of one by another. The sun shall never set on so

Hello and welcome to the programme. Tonight the Midlands pays tribute

Nelson Mandela. From Soweto to Sparkbrook, the former South African

presidents legacy spans the miles and generations. I said "about

Nelson Mandela and this is what the quote was. A winner is a dreamer

that never gives up. Probably the greatest person I have ever met.

Basically, almost like a saint. We'll hear from those who met

Mandela and had their lives changed by him.

Also tonight: 2,500 new jobs ` digger maker JCB to invest ?150

million over five years. And after a stormy day yesterday, things have

settled down this weekend but it is not going to be completely dry.

Good evening. As the world unites in mourning the death of Nelson

Mandela, here in the Midlands people have been paying their own tributes

to South Africa's first black president. Although his last visit

here was 20 years ago, its impact has left a lasting legacy. In a

moment I'll be speaking to someone who met and was influenced by him.

But first, here's Bob Hockenhull. The name of Nelson Mandela will be

forever etched on the heart of these children. Their school in Sparkbrook

in Birmingham is named after him. 20 years ago, Mr Mandela was guest of

honour here. He actually came into my classroom, shook my hand, and

made the effort to speak to the children, which they really

appreciated, and so did I. At a special assembly today, the latest

generation celebrated the values of respect and responsibility inspired

by a world leader. I know he died yesterday, but I think he is still

here with us in assembly. I feel really proud. When I learn about

him, it is so inspiring and I feel like he is unique and the school is

unique to be named after such an amazing man. When Norse and Mandela

came, he left a picture, a photograph of himself, `` when

Nelson Mandela came. He wrote, to my school in Birmingham. He recognised

this school is special to him as much as he is special to us. Really

fantastic. You are my brothers and sisters, my children, my

grandchildren. And Birmingham is my home, as Soweto. Thank you. Nelson

Mandela invited the people of Birmingham to become part of his

extended family. Tony Kennedy, a dedicated anti`apartheid campaigner,

needed little persuading. He was instrumental in getting the school

named and also called one of his twin daughters after the leader. He

walked through the doors and came straight to us, we were with our mum

and dad behind us. He knelt down and spoke to us and gave us a cuddle,

and asked us what our names were. I told him he was `` I was named after

him. He gave us a kiss on the cheek each. Nelson Mandela also visited

Handsworth. Phillip Murphy, a city councillor, arranged the visit. He

came to Handsworth just because we said, local people would like to see

him. A man who was so busy, that sense of gratitude is something

which I feel most leaders have forgot. Former Midlanders who worked

in South Africa and met Nelson Mandela also fondly remembered the

leader today. Alan Bradley from Malvern cooked for Mr Mandela on a

number of occasions. They phone call one day, asking me if I could do a

VIP party. They wouldn't tell us who the VIP was. But when they said

there couldn't be broccoli on the menu, I knew it was Mr Mandela. And

while on an internal flight in South Africa, David Baker from Stourbridge

unexpectedly found himself sitting next to Mr Mandela and spent three

hours chatting with him. The man was compassionate, full of

grace, probably the greatest person that I have ever met. He was

basically... Almost like a saint. Flags were at half mast across the

Midlands Today. But as well as sadness, there was also pride that

the great leader made such a memorable visit to this region.

Huge crowds turned out to see Nelson Mandela when he visited Birmingham

in 1993. Just months before he became the first black president of

South Africa, he met with civic leaders, communities and

schoolchildren. One of those he met was Shane Ward, who saw him speak in

Handsworth. Brilliant. The best thing that could ever happen to

black people in this country, Mandela coming here and thanking us

for the support. And Shane is now the CEO of the West Bromwich African

Caribbean Resource Centre. He's with me now. Good evening. I have to say,

it is a fabulous shirt. It is a tribute to Mandela, you liked his

colourful shirts. What memories do you have of meeting him? I said, I

am not going to work today, hold my appointments, I am going to see

Mandela. I didn't have a ticket to get in but I had to make sure I got

in. Shared with us his vision for a nonracial South Africa. And he came

and he shook everybody's hand. I made sure he shook my hand and it

was brilliant. That clip of you 20 is a go, you were so euphoric. What

influence at that meeting have in your life? `` 20 years ago. It made

us realise that sometimes we think we have serious issues but that man

spent 20 years in prison. He came out and he was not then shall, she

just said we need to get on with peace. What have people been saying

to you today? My mum was crying but she said she was or so joyful ``

also joyful. She said he is next to Jesus in my eyes. That is how

important he was. It is joy but also sadness. Joy about the legacy he

left. As black people in this country, we always look to Africa

and America for ideals and Mandela, he was the top. What about that

legacy, how do we make sure that Mandela's legacy is continued? We

saw the pupils from the Nelson Mandela School. It is important that

we pass on the message and what it was about. The ANC were made up of

people from Africa, Asians, whites, they were across the board and we

need to remember that. They were all fighting for a just cause. You've

seen Pele play live and met Muhammad Ali ` where does meeting Mandela

rank? Dairy impressive, he is right there at the top. I would not want

to put people on different levels. `` very impressive. At the time I

met him, he was definitely the top. In a culture of overblown celebrity,

what sets Mandela apart? He is several worlds apart. The fact that

all the celebrities wanted to meet him shows the extremely was held in.

`` the esteem he was held in. To me personally, he was just brilliant,

such an influence on my life and I hope to pass it on to my children

and my grandchild now. Lovely to meet you. Thank you for sharing your

memories of meeting Nelson Mandela. Books of condolence have been opened

across the region ` including Coventry Cathedral, where special

prayers have been said throughout the day. Bob Hockenhull is there for

us this evening. Of course, Coventry has a particularly poignant

significance, being the City of Truth and reconciliation. It does.

That has been felt very keenly by the people here, judging by the

comments they have left in the book of condolence. Many people

contributing to that book. Joining me is the very Reverend John

Witcombe. You have actually spread that message from Coventry to South

Africa. Absolutely, we have an international community of the cross

of nails with over 160 partners across the world and some dozen

going back in South Africa to the late 50s, people who want to work

with our sport peace and reconciliation. `` work with us for

peace and reconciliation. We have had the book of remembrance and the

candle and photographed both here in the new cathedral. And also in the

ruins. That is a particularly poignant place for people to come

and commit themselves to peace and reconciliation in the world. Lots of

people have come in. We have had praise for our Friday litany we have

remembered not some Mandela and given thanks for his life `` had

prayers. Where we have remembered Nelson Mandela. We want to celebrate

his incredible life, and we are going to have a great service here

with the Bishop of Coventry, we hope lots of different people from

churches and beyond, to celebrate and make our own commitment to

celebrity his work for peace and reconciliation. His death has been

felt keenly by many people in Coventry.

Coming up later in the programme: Spreading the investment ` Britain's

biggest butter factory opens in Shropshire, creating 100 jobs.

2,500 jobs are to be created at the Staffordshire based digger maker

JCB. The company is putting ?150 million into the business over the

next five years ` the biggest investment in the company's history.

It plans to expand its current headquarters in Rocester, and build

two new factories at its sites in Uttoxeter and Cheadle. Sarah

Falkland has more. The production line stopped ` the

workforce waited. In came a cheery looking pair ` the chairman no

longer a sir but Lord Bamford. The Chancellor, fresh from his Autumn

Statement. You are a big part of that plan. Britain is moving again

and that is thanks to you. With 11 UK factories and 11 overseas, JCB is

now creating 2,500 new jobs here over the next five years ` all of

them in the chairman's home county. We started here. My family started

as blacksmiths here in 1820. We are still blacksmiths but we don't shoe

horses any more. I like the workforce here. We have a good

workforce. I started as an apprentice year. They are very good

people with a good work ethic. But it's not just good news for the

digger giant. For each job created here at JCB, it's estimated there

were a further three created in the supply chain. JCB say the

Government's commitment to improve the A50 has been a catalyst to

investment. More so, perhaps, the pull of emerging markets ` Africa,

indonesia and South America. But not all companies are recruiting. It was

only last week that npower announced it was outsourcing with the loss of

1,000 jobs in the region. For every jobbing loss, there are many more

being created at the moment. The British economy is moving forward.

Anyone who has lost their job, the best thing we can do is to make sure

there are opportunities to get a new job. Apprentices here have hopes of

more than just a job ` they want a long career. Knowing that they are

doing so well gives me a positive attitude. Cost the company is

growing and I would be able to stay within the company. By his own

admission, the Chancellor has much more to do ` to dig the country out

of the doldrums. ??NELWINE The biggest butter factory

in the country has opened in Shropshire. It's a ?17 million

investment at the Muller site, which will create 100 new jobs. They'll be

turning out 45,000 tonnes of butter a year. But what does this mean for

the dairy industry here? In the past, farmers have carried out

direct action with protest marches and blockades angry at prices. Live

now to David Gregory`Kumar. How do farmers feel about this expansion?

They welcome it. Muller say they are looking to invest about ?20 million

in Shropshire, they have various plants in the county. All of that

investment starts with this brand`new butter factory. We went

for an exclusive look behind the scenes today.

This is what you know Muller four. They make 1.5 billion parts of

yoghurt here in their market Drayton factory every year. Now for the

first time, they are going to be making butter here in the UK as

well. The cream comes in one end and by the time it leaves, it is well on

its way to becoming butter. At this time of year you might not want to

turn all of your cream into butter. You could make more money selling it

in pots to put on mince pies. This machine gives Muller options. For

now it is these massive blocks for the catering trade but there is talk

eventually of Muller barter for the supermarket shelves. We are

accelerating our plans to also invest in retail packet butter, so

as of summer next year we will be seeing retail package butter on the

shelves. We're also at what we can do from a brand point of view. There

could be Muller butter on the shelves. Farmers have not always

seen eye to eye with Muller, blockading the plant several times.

At times it has been very difficult. Fortunately, the farmers who are

supplying us have in general, even over the past 12 months, been very

happy with our performance in the market. It is sometimes unfortunate

that we are also being selected by some of the people who do not supply

us. Farmers are now getting a record price and they will be hoping this

new butter plant is one way that customers like Muller can carry on

paying them at this level. This is a graphic that shows you how

milk prices have gone for the past years. These are average prices.

Since 2011, when they were very low, they have been climbing. In October,

the most recent numbers show that farmers are targeting about 33p per

litre. That is an historic high so it should be good news. Andrew, your

milk goes to Muller, how do you feel about the butter factory? I think it

is great news and we are long overdue some good news in the dairy

sector. I will look forward to supplying them in the future. Let's

talk about this extra money, you are getting an historic high for your

milk, where does that money go on a farm like this? As you can imagine,

costs are still high. We have overdrafts to pay off after the

terrible summer last year. We have had a better summer this year.

Long`term, we will be looking to invest, if we can keep the milk

price high. Do you think it could stay at these levels? I hope so, the

rumours are we might get a bit more in January. Like you say, this

butter plant gives us a bit more stability for the future. Very

briefly, what is the long`term plan for the farmer? Would you like to

employ more people? That would be our ultimate aim. To employ

somebody, have a few more cows, have a greater work life balance. The

1200 farmers who supply Muller across the UK will be thinking, if

Muller can make more money, there is more chance they can keep paying

farmers at the higher prices we have been seeing.

And there will be more on the prospects for economic growth and

job creation here in the Midlands in this weekend's Sunday Politics. Our

political editor, Patrick Burns, will be joined by the Labour MP for

Walsall North, David Winnick, and by the Midlands MEP, Mike Nattrass.

That's at the usual time of 11:00am here on BBC One on Sunday morning.

A 29`year`old man's admitted killing his ex`girlfriend and her baby son

at their home in Birmingham. 25`year`old Yvonne Walsh and

seven`month`old Harrison were found strangled in their beds in Billesley

in June. Today at Birmingham Crown Court, Wesley Williams admitted

their murders. He'll be sentenced next week.

A quarter of the worst hospitals in England and Wales are in the West

Midlands, according to an official report. Dr Foster's annual hospital

guide says Stafford Hospital is the only one in the region to perform

better than expected. Both the Heart of England Trust and the University

Hospitals Birmingham have higher than expected death rates.

BBC Hereford Worcester switched on their DAB service for the first time

this morning. MP Harriet Baldwin and former Worcester Warriors rugby

player Craig Gillis officially switched on the radio station's

three digital transmitters. BBC Hereford Worcester will still be

available on FM, AM and online. More than half the homes in Herefordshire

and Worcestershire have ADA B radio, one of the highest take`up in the

country, and yet we are not on it. From today they can listen to BBC

Hereford and Worcester alongside their national stadiums. It ``

stations was of it has been a long time coming but it is important.

This is our top story tonight: An inspiration for all, who will remain

for all time. One of the many tributes across the Midlands from

those influenced by Nelson Mandela. Your detailed weekend weather

forecast to come shortly from Rebecca. Also ahead: where is your

towel? Find out why Buster Belford hopes his obsession with towels

could help take a small club into the big time.

His first book, a memoir, was hailed as "a real one off" ` now his first

novel has been short listed for a prestigious award. Born to Punjabi

parents in Wolverhampton, Sathnam Sanghera gave up a lavish London

lifestyle to write about mental illness in his family. His new novel

tells of three generations of a Sikh family played out in a corner shop.

Lindsay Doyle has been to meet him. I can see there is something

intrinsically funny about the sound of the world Wolverhampton,

something undeniably grim about the view of the city as you arrive by

train. Short listed for the Costa first novel award, Marriage Material

tells of a young man who returns to Wolverhampton from London on the

death of his father to run the family corner shop. It could be said

that the corner shop is a bit of a cliche. I disagree. It has always

been a symbol of the nation. Napoleon famously said that England

was a nation of shopkeepers. I think it is a symbol of multiculturalism.

For a lot of Asians it is a really good thing and represents how well

we have done in business and integrated. Sanghera has already

published a memoir ` The Boy with the Top Knot` which tells how his

parents moved to Wolverhampton from the Punjab in 1968, neither could

speak English, his father suffered from schizophrenia, his mother

worked in a sewing factory, where he got his first job at 50pence an

hour. The clever schoolboy was to pass the entrance exam to

Wolverhampton Grammar School, his very first publication, the school

magazine aged 13. I think it was a homework piece that was so good, the

editor decided it had to be printed. Even then you get a sense of the

style that came through in the journalist and then the novelist.

Marriage Material follows three generations and looks at immigration

and integration in the 60s and 70', featuring Enoch Powell's famous

rivers of blood speech. It is like watching a nation, busily engaged in

heaping up its own funeral parlour. It is kind of scene as the

equivalent of Harlem in America, as a city on the edge of racial

collapse. I wanted to use that history and revive it because I

think it has been slightly forgotten. The home of the family in

the novel, the Blakenhall area of Wolverhampton. You can be Asian in

this part of the world and you cannot actually need to talk

English. I wanted to explore about whether that is healthy or whether

we are making ghettos in Britain. Sathnam Sanghera will find out if

his novel is the Costa winner in mid January. Three Midlands non`league

clubs are hoping to stage FA Cup upsets this weekend. Stourbridge

take on Stevenage who are four divisions above them, while

Kidderminster Harriers face Newport County. But the biggest chance of an

upset could come at Tamworth, where it will be a family affair against

League One side Bristol City. At Tamworth Football Club only one

family that can fill this big hole. Introducing Cameron Belford, Age 25,

goalkeeper. Cameron's dad, Dale Belford, 46, manager. And Dale's

dad, Cameron's grandad Buster Belford, age 70, kit man. Your dad

seems a bit obsessed about towels. Yes, don't talk to him about towels.

I am very protective of my towels. The kit is done every day. I think

he always manages to clean my kit, which is nice. Goalkeeping is in the

Belfords DNA. Dale enjoyed a good career in non`league football. His

two sons Cameron and Tyrell have both turned professional. Watched

every step of the way by Buster (ptc +

how key is some advantage? I am really excited, I am sure the fans

will turn out in numbers and I am sure it will be a difficult place to

come and play. My top tip is town with two, Bristol City zero. Dale

will feed his lucky goldfish, like he always does. Hoping Cameron will

keep a clean sheet and knowing Tamworth will never throw in the

towel whilst Buster remains in charge of the laundry. And the best

place to follow any FA Cup shocks this weekend will be on your BBC

Local Radio station. There'll also be commentary from the Premier

League and the Championship. Let's find out how the weather is looking

for the weekend, Rebecca. Certainly Littlemore settles. There

is plenty of cloud, though. We had the stormy weather yesterday ``

certainly a little more settled. Some of you spotted this spectacular

cloud. It is caused when high cloud meets cold air and the sun bounces

off it. Unfortunately we are back to your bog`standard clouds for much of

this weekend, and plenty of it. The blanket of cloud will mean limited

brightness but the silver lining is that it will be mostly dry. We have

had a blanket of cloud and it has kept a lot of the brightness away.

The showers are continuing across the North Midlands. It is colder air

and we could see wintry showers. Further South, a clearer picture and

a dryer one. Through the early hours of tomorrow, we start to pull in

less cold air. It means that tomorrow morning we will wake up and

two bridges will not be as low as they were when we wake up tomorrow.

There will be sunshine around, plenty of cloud around `` we will

wake up and temperatures will not be as low. It will be a bit milder than

today. Tomorrow night, very similar to how we are looking tonight. We

will still keep some of those showers rattling through. 20 of

cloud cover, there will be a few holes `` plenty of cloud cover.

Elsewhere where we keep the blanket of cloud, temperatures up to above

freezing. As we head toward Sunday, plenty of cloud about. We will get a

bit of sunshine, temperatures making it into double figures. It is going

to feel much milder. High pressure dominates as we head into the

working week. That is helping to keep things settled but staying

cloudy, too. Let's return to Coventry Cathedral,

where people have been signing one of the many books of condolence, Bob

Hockenhull is there. What have people been saying?

of the many books of condolence, Bob Hockenhull is Lots of people signing

the book. One of the comments, you taught us so much and your wisdom

will be missed. Coventry had a special role to play as far as the

Nelson Mandela story was concerned. The song, free Mohsen Mandela was

written by Jerry Damas, `` free Mohsen Mandela.

A special service will be held here on Sunday and everyone is invited,

Christians and anyone who wants to pay tribute.

Finally, a comment from Mandy Gordon on our facebook page who says" I

grew up in South Africa under Apartheid, I remember the day Madiba

was released from jail ` he united a nation and was a truly inspirational

man, he will be greatly missed the world over."

From all of us on Midlands Today, goodbye.