:00:07. > :00:07.You can Hello and welcome to serious
:00:08. > :00:12.You can Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlinds
:00:13. > :00:15.tonight: Targeting wives and mothers to help stop young Muslims
:00:16. > :00:25.travelling to fight with Syrian rebels. Also tonight: He's `lready
:00:26. > :00:29.smashed through the ?1 millhon fundraising barrier. 24 hours later
:00:30. > :00:37.Stephen is closing in on ?2 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust with
:00:38. > :00:41.help from celebrities. This guy is 19 and he's not bitter but he could
:00:42. > :00:43.be and he would have every right to be. There's something inspiring
:00:44. > :00:46.about him. We'll be speaking live to Dr Raj
:00:47. > :00:52.Mattu, the NHS whistle`blowdr, about his 13`year fight to clear his name
:00:53. > :00:55.and hopes for the future. Why plastic is not so fantastic in
:00:56. > :00:58.Herefordshire ` objections to the growing number of polytunnels.
:00:59. > :01:01.Well, nothing affecting the view of this landscape at Moccas in
:01:02. > :01:04.Herefordshire this morning ` a misty field looking resplendent at
:01:05. > :01:06.sunrise. A thing of natural beauty. Can we hope for more this wdekend?
:01:07. > :01:19.Find out later. Good evening. The West Midl`nds top
:01:20. > :01:22.counter terrorism police officer is urging wives and mothers of young
:01:23. > :01:27.Muslims to convince them to stay at home and NOT join Syrian rebels
:01:28. > :01:31.Hundreds of British Muslims are thought to have joined rebel groups
:01:32. > :01:34.` some with links to terrorhsm. The new head of the West Midlands
:01:35. > :01:37.Counter Terrorism Unit todax warned that anyone fighting in Syrha faces
:01:38. > :01:46.arrest on their return. Gilds Latcham reports.
:01:47. > :01:52.The battle for Syria. It is brutal and extreme and the worry for the UK
:01:53. > :01:57.authorities is that the extremism it breeds will reach as here in the
:01:58. > :02:02.form of young British Muslils radicalised `` radicalised. The new
:02:03. > :02:08.head of the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit was reaching out to
:02:09. > :02:13.mothers, wives and girlfriends and through them, young Muslim len
:02:14. > :02:16.tempted to travel to Syria. We already have evidence of worried
:02:17. > :02:19.members of the family picking up the phone to the police saying their
:02:20. > :02:26.child has gone to Syria, can you help, `` can you help? If wd can
:02:27. > :02:32.generate that energy in a dhfferent way we have achieved somethhng.
:02:33. > :02:38.Serious slide into civil war started three years ago and estimatd that
:02:39. > :02:43.the death toll begin at 100,000 President Assad remains in power.
:02:44. > :02:49.The opposition are determindd but divided, ranging from rains ``
:02:50. > :02:59.mainstream groups to others said to have links with terrorism, such as
:03:00. > :03:04.Al`Qaeda. This is a conflict no one expects to end any time soon.
:03:05. > :03:09.British MPs debated whether to bomb forces loyal to President Assad and
:03:10. > :03:13.some say that sent a mixed lessage. Some Muslims going out therd might
:03:14. > :03:18.think, we're not doing anything wrong because we are on the same
:03:19. > :03:21.side as the British governmdnt. The British government have failed to
:03:22. > :03:29.explain this confusion so they need to do more. This man who appealed
:03:30. > :03:35.for calm when his son was khlled in via three years ago went to Syria to
:03:36. > :03:39.support a charity last May. A fellow fundraiser says worries abott to
:03:40. > :03:48.hard disk mustn't eclipse the plight of refugees. I have seen thd focus
:03:49. > :03:59.`` suffering first`hand `` to hardests. Let us alleviate the
:04:00. > :04:08.suffering their as well. Now the battle is under way for the hearts
:04:09. > :04:14.and minds of young Britons. Coming up: Making some moves. How
:04:15. > :04:16.this top dance festival is putting local amateurs alongside
:04:17. > :04:20.professionals. On last night's programme wd brought
:04:21. > :04:22.you the news that a Staffordshire teenager with incurable cancer had
:04:23. > :04:27.broken his ?1 million fundr`ising target. In less than 24 hours,
:04:28. > :04:31.that's grown to more than 1.5 million. 19`year`old Stephen Sutton
:04:32. > :04:36.from Burntwood tweeted what seemed to be a goodbye message and photo
:04:37. > :04:40.from hospital earlier this week Our reporter, Cath Mackie, has been
:04:41. > :04:43.following the story. She johns us now from Chase Town football club,
:04:44. > :04:46.near to Stephen's home, where they've been helping to raise money.
:04:47. > :04:55.Cath, that fundraising figure just keeps rising, doesn't it?
:04:56. > :05:01.Mary, it is extraordinary. H spoke to a friend of Stephen 's f`mily two
:05:02. > :05:06.days ago and he had raised ?600 000. He was sick and hoping to rdach the
:05:07. > :05:14.target. 48 air was later it has been blown out of the water. `` 48 hours
:05:15. > :05:21.later. Now he has raised ?1.9 million. His story featured a lot
:05:22. > :05:26.yesterday on the national ndws when he posted a message which sdemed to
:05:27. > :05:36.be a good buy. Thankfully, he posted this today:
:05:37. > :05:48.And this has really inspired people to give. When I got onto his website
:05:49. > :05:57.and saw some of the things he was saying, I am angry that I mhght die
:05:58. > :06:01.at 90... This guy is 19 and he's not bitter or angry. He could bd and he
:06:02. > :06:07.would have every right to bd. There's something inspiring about
:06:08. > :06:12.him. The reason I am here is that he is a local lad and it was hdre he
:06:13. > :06:19.began his fundraising efforts. John, I think you have an announcdment you
:06:20. > :06:27.would like to make, haven't you That's right. This weekend, or the
:06:28. > :06:33.programme sales will be dedhcated to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Also, on
:06:34. > :06:36.May the 4th, we will be plaxing Steve's team down here and we will
:06:37. > :06:42.put all the funds from that to the Teenage Cancer Trust. And you went
:06:43. > :06:49.to school with Stephen. What do you make of what he has achieved.
:06:50. > :06:54.Absolutely amazing. And you are planning fundraising as well? Yes,
:06:55. > :07:01.the world record for a tanddm skydive. John, what worked `` what
:07:02. > :07:08.was it about Stephen that m`de you say, yes, we will fundraiser? Beth.
:07:09. > :07:14.Us involved with Stephen. You just have to meet him and you will do
:07:15. > :07:18.anything. His face will be on the programme this Saturday. It will and
:07:19. > :07:22.all the proceeds will go to Teenage Cancer Trust will stop along with
:07:23. > :07:29.all the players, we will we`r the T`shirt is for Stephen so gdt
:07:30. > :07:32.donating. Thank you very much. He is in high spirits today and hd fields
:07:33. > :07:35.better. He really has inspired people. The
:07:36. > :07:38.Teenage Cancer Fund say thex have never seen anything like it. I can
:07:39. > :07:49.give you the up`to`the`minute figure for the amount Stephen has raised.
:07:50. > :07:51.It stands at 1,000,940. The engineering firm Sandvik is
:07:52. > :07:56.closing its manufacturing plant near Wolverhampton with the potential
:07:57. > :07:59.loss of 143 jobs. The company says it has too much capacity across
:08:00. > :08:03.Europe and needs to cut production costs in the UK. The plant `t
:08:04. > :08:06.Featherstone is expected to close at the end of the year. Talks between
:08:07. > :08:10.management and unions are under way. Network Rail has been accusdd of
:08:11. > :08:13.cutting corners on the six hundred million pound re`development of
:08:14. > :08:16.Birmingham's New Street Station Original plans would have sden the
:08:17. > :08:20.old Navigation Street Bridgd clad in stainless steel, but it will now be
:08:21. > :08:23.virtually untouched. Network Rail says the changes will help speed up
:08:24. > :08:34.construction and avoid railway closures.
:08:35. > :08:39.The funeral has taken place this afternoon of Dr Mohammed Naseem the
:08:40. > :08:43.chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, who died on Tuesday at the
:08:44. > :08:45.age of 90. The leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore was
:08:46. > :08:49.among those paying tribute. Funeral prayers were said at the mosque
:08:50. > :08:52.before Dr Mohammed was laid to rest at Handsworth Cemetery.
:08:53. > :08:55.The head of the NHS has agrded to meet a whistle`blower who spent 12
:08:56. > :08:58.years fighting for his caredr after telling Midlands Today about two
:08:59. > :09:01.deaths in overcrowded hospital bays. Last week, Dr Raj Mattu won a
:09:02. > :09:05.landmark employment tribunal which concluded his dismissal was unfair.
:09:06. > :09:09.Our health correspondent, Mhchele Paduano, has been looking b`ck at
:09:10. > :09:12.the history of the case. Walsgrave Hospital was overcrowding
:09:13. > :09:16.wards in 2001, but management insisted lives weren't jeop`rdised.
:09:17. > :09:21.Dr Mattu was shocked. Twelvd times he had told management about his
:09:22. > :09:31.patient dying. Finally, he blew the whistle on Midlands Today. There was
:09:32. > :09:34.no oxygen available. We did not have suction to suck out the airwaves. An
:09:35. > :09:37.employment tribunal said th`t was the start of his troubles. Lidlands
:09:38. > :09:46.Today reported in 2006 about a campaign to oust him. Securhty was
:09:47. > :09:52.asked to watch him. We were asked to monitor his comings and goings in
:09:53. > :09:55.the building. I questioned one former chief executive about a
:09:56. > :10:06.second patient death in overcrowded base. Although... . Although Dr Raj
:10:07. > :10:09.Mattu, got back to work bridfly he was accused ` among other things `
:10:10. > :10:13.of talking to Midlands Todax. He hadn't, but his health suffdred In
:10:14. > :10:17.2011, He was too ill to attdnd his disciplinary hearing and was sacked.
:10:18. > :10:20.So, what's the final bill to the taxpayer? Legal costs for the first
:10:21. > :10:23.inquiry were over ?1 million. In 2011, that had gone up to ?3.7
:10:24. > :10:27.million. Mattu's lawyers cl`im the cost of paying others to do his work
:10:28. > :10:30.was ?3 million alone. With three High Court hearings and the longest
:10:31. > :10:33.tribunal in Birmingham history, some newspapers have claimed the whole
:10:34. > :10:37.affair has cost the NHS ?10 million. And through no fault of his own Dr
:10:38. > :10:40.Mattu's expertise has been lost his health has deteriorated and he'll
:10:41. > :10:44.never work again. And Dr Mattu joins me now. Do you
:10:45. > :10:52.believe the issues which led to you blowing the whistle have bedn
:10:53. > :10:55.addressed and resolved? Unfortunately not. One of mx
:10:56. > :11:02.concerns about this whole hhstory is that I whistle blew because I was
:11:03. > :11:05.concerned patients were placed in danger and were dying. The
:11:06. > :11:11.management response was to silence me as quickly as they could and then
:11:12. > :11:15.to get a dossier of allegathons against me to try and as to me. In
:11:16. > :11:22.the middle of all this the patients seem to have been forgotten. Today
:11:23. > :11:29.`` to date, myself and senior nurses present at the death of my patients
:11:30. > :11:34.have never been questioned. The trust has conducted an audit which
:11:35. > :11:39.wasn't an investigation, in my view. At this moment in time, the
:11:40. > :11:43.relatives of those who died have no idea of the circumstances under
:11:44. > :11:48.which their loved ones passdd away or that they may have had an
:11:49. > :11:53.avoidable death. Do you regret speaking out? I don't regret
:11:54. > :11:58.speaking out but I couldn't encourage anyone else to consider
:11:59. > :12:05.whistle`blowing with the prdsent arrangements. Following the
:12:06. > :12:09.tribunal, Coventry and Warwhckshire NHS Trust said they would continue
:12:10. > :12:14.to support all of their staff to raise issues of concern. Yot don't
:12:15. > :12:20.believe that? I never witnessed that from them. Right now I am a victim
:12:21. > :12:29.of their lack of support for whistle`blowers. Right up to the
:12:30. > :12:34.tribunal they denied I was ` whistle`blower so I am pleased the
:12:35. > :12:43.tribunal came to the conclusion I am a whistle`blower and have stffered
:12:44. > :12:47.detrimentally and that my dhsmissal was inextricably linked to the fact
:12:48. > :12:51.that I am a whistle`blower. It is quite astonishing that, instead of
:12:52. > :13:00.apologising and learning from this, that they are still in deni`l. You
:13:01. > :13:05.have asked to speak with thd new chief executive of the NHS `nd he
:13:06. > :13:09.has agreed to meet with you? Yes, there is a meeting planned shortly
:13:10. > :13:15.and I am hopeful that will take place sooner rather than later. What
:13:16. > :13:21.effect has this had on you `nd your family? It has had a devast`ting
:13:22. > :13:31.affect on my career to the point that it has destroyed my career as a
:13:32. > :13:36.doctor and researcher. It h`s had a damaging effect on my personal life.
:13:37. > :13:39.My wife and I have been forced to make the decision not to st`rt a
:13:40. > :13:46.family with this looming ovdr us. The awful effect on my health ` I
:13:47. > :13:49.have been in a night of hospital on a couple of occasions with `
:13:50. > :13:54.life`threatening deteriorathon of my health.
:13:55. > :13:58.Thank you. Our top story: Targeting wives and
:13:59. > :14:02.mothers to help stop young Luslims travelling to help fight with Syrian
:14:03. > :14:05.rebels. Your detailed weathdr forecast to come shortly. Also:
:14:06. > :14:09.We've made mistakes admit Shrewsbury Town, as the club faces reldgation
:14:10. > :14:14.to League Two. It will be very difficult btt we
:14:15. > :14:19.have to keep going. We owe that to the club and the supporters.
:14:20. > :14:23.Why these slippery customers are helping keep our longest river in
:14:24. > :14:27.peak condition. If you have a story you think we
:14:28. > :14:39.should be covering, we would like to hear from you.
:14:40. > :14:45.If you're in the countrysidd at this time of year, it's likely you'll see
:14:46. > :14:49.fields covered by polytunnels. Increasingly, growers see them as a
:14:50. > :14:53.vital way to stay competitive. In Herefordshire, planning applications
:14:54. > :14:56.have quadrupled in a year. Now one farmer is fighting for the right to
:14:57. > :15:00.use polytunnels in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
:15:01. > :15:05.Objectors insist they spoil the landscape. Here's Bob Hockenhull.
:15:06. > :15:10.A sea of plastic amid the green fields of the Wye Valley. Some local
:15:11. > :15:14.residents say what's the pohnt of calling this an Area of Outstanding
:15:15. > :15:27.Natural Beauty if this is allowed to happen. It is just a case of more
:15:28. > :15:32.polytunnels going up day after day. All you can see is the area
:15:33. > :15:36.disappearing. It is approaching an industrial landscape. Neil Cockburn
:15:37. > :15:39.is the farmer. At Pennoxstone Court in Kings Caple, he grows more than
:15:40. > :15:42.100 acres of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries for
:15:43. > :15:44.supermarkets. Next month, at a public inquiry, he'll appeal against
:15:45. > :15:53.an enforcement notice from Herefordshire Council demanding that
:15:54. > :16:00.he removes most of the polytunnels. If the inspector comes down against
:16:01. > :16:05.us than the business will cdase 100 jobs will be lost. I apprechate some
:16:06. > :16:09.people don't like the look of them and we try and screen them wherever
:16:10. > :16:12.possible and we move them around. A lot of people though are perfectly
:16:13. > :16:17.comfortable and want to havd British fruit grown in England are not have
:16:18. > :16:20.it flown in from abroad. Thd Council for the Protection of Rural England
:16:21. > :16:23.calls Mr Cockburn "a plastic baron". It estimates he and other f`rmers
:16:24. > :16:31.are responsible for covering nearly 2,000 acres of Herefordshird with
:16:32. > :16:36.polytunnels. In this one poly tunnel, there are 10,000 punnets
:16:37. > :16:42.worth of strawberries ready to pick in two weeks. In the shops, they
:16:43. > :16:46.will fetch ?20,000. But if there was no cover, the farmer says hd would
:16:47. > :16:50.not be able to grow the fruht at all on a commercial basis. Before the
:16:51. > :16:53.1980s, the farm here survivdd as a pick your own. But Neil Cockburn
:16:54. > :17:03.says 21st century economics dictate that's no longer possible.
:17:04. > :17:08.One of Europe's biggest dance events got underway in Birmingham today. It
:17:09. > :17:16.will include outdoor perforlances and several new productions. It is a
:17:17. > :17:19.show which has given local dancers and opportunity to perform `longside
:17:20. > :17:23.top professionals. These dancers come from right across
:17:24. > :17:24.the West Midlands, but some of them have never danced alongside
:17:25. > :17:38.professionals. Until now. And this is what they are working
:17:39. > :17:41.towards. Performing with thd creme de la creme in Mathew Bournd's
:17:42. > :17:47.adaptation of Lord of the Flies which comes to the Birmingh`m
:17:48. > :17:51.Hippodrome next month. I watched the film which I continuously w`tched
:17:52. > :17:57.and enjoyed. When I came to the workshops it was the same. Ht was
:17:58. > :18:02.great. It is an amazing expdrience to be part of the show. I dhdn't
:18:03. > :18:09.think I was such a dancer to start off with. I had to do it at college.
:18:10. > :18:14.Seeing this and knowing that I can it has opened a lot of things for me
:18:15. > :18:22.and I am happy I am doing it. It's all part of the Internation`l Dance
:18:23. > :18:28.Festival Birmingham. Over the next four weeks, people across the city
:18:29. > :18:34.can sampled various `` various dance forms from hip`hop... To hakka.
:18:35. > :18:45.Tap... And T. `` T. The festival opens tonight with
:18:46. > :18:50.three works from the Birmingham Royal Ballet. One of which sees the
:18:51. > :18:55.return of former soloist now turned choreographer Aleander Whitley. The
:18:56. > :18:58.real privilege for me to be associated with Birmingham Royal
:18:59. > :19:01.Ballet and the other artists. Great contemporary choreographers I have
:19:02. > :19:08.huge admiration for so to bd alongside them is a great privilege
:19:09. > :19:11.for me. Really nice to kick it off. This is the fourth Internathonal
:19:12. > :19:12.Dance Festival. Since 2008, thousands have turned twinkdltoes `
:19:13. > :19:29.sampling all forms of dance. You can find out more about the
:19:30. > :19:31.festival by following the lhnks on our Facebook page.
:19:32. > :19:34.Only a near miraculous set of results can help Shrewsbury Town
:19:35. > :19:38.avoid relegation to League Two this weekend. It will come at a financial
:19:39. > :19:42.cost as well with their revdnue likely to drop by around a lillion
:19:43. > :19:45.pounds. The club have admitted making terrible mistakes thhs
:19:46. > :19:52.season. Now they've promised to repair the damage by putting their
:19:53. > :19:57.faith in home`grown talent. They were training in the spring
:19:58. > :20:02.sunshine this morning, but there is a dark cloud hanging over this club.
:20:03. > :20:05.Even if these players can ptll off an unlikely win against Petdrborough
:20:06. > :20:09.on Saturday, they will prob`bly still dropped to the bottom division
:20:10. > :20:22.of the football league. With two games to go, they are six points
:20:23. > :20:27.below the safety line. They have to do it for themselves. The board
:20:28. > :20:31.apologised to the fans this week, admitting they borrowed to heavily
:20:32. > :20:37.from players from other teals and they have promised a complete
:20:38. > :20:40.review. Shrewsbury have used an astonishing 20 players on loan from
:20:41. > :20:46.other clubs and it hasn't gone down well with the bands. It has carried
:20:47. > :20:54.on this season. You just don't know who will be on the side each week.
:20:55. > :21:00.We need a dedicated team. I thought we were a big enough club to stay
:21:01. > :21:06.up. I thought we would posshbly go for the championship this ydar. Part
:21:07. > :21:13.of the solution will be to find local talent. But going down that
:21:14. > :21:18.path will require patience, which is often in short supply in football.
:21:19. > :21:26.You can pay loads of money `nd by senior players. That doesn't build
:21:27. > :21:31.for continuity sometimes. It is like boom or bust and the club doesn t
:21:32. > :21:35.want to be in that situation. For now, Jackson and his players are
:21:36. > :21:41.still focusing on the most tnlikely of great escapes.
:21:42. > :21:46.They are not everyone's favourite but our rivers need them. Thousands
:21:47. > :21:50.of baby eels have been rele`sed into the River Severn today to hdlp
:21:51. > :21:55.repopulate an area where thdy had almost disappeared. They were taken
:21:56. > :22:00.from close to Gloucester whdre eel numbers are at a 30 year high.
:22:01. > :22:04.Replenishing the heels of Shropshire. There were plenty of
:22:05. > :22:10.visitors to the estate this afternoon are willing to lend a
:22:11. > :22:14.hand. Conservationists have been working to move thousands of baby
:22:15. > :22:18.eels from downstream in Gloucestershire where they have
:22:19. > :22:23.become trapped and were dying. Eels have been in decline for about 0
:22:24. > :22:31.years but they can't get ovdr in possible barriers of tidal locks and
:22:32. > :22:36.weirs. We are working with the industry to catch thousands of eels
:22:37. > :22:40.and move them to give the population a better chance of being
:22:41. > :22:47.sustainable. Each year, trillions and trillions of baby eels `re born
:22:48. > :22:51.in the sea and hundreds makd it to the River Severn. But because of the
:22:52. > :22:58.man`made barriers, by the thme they get here to Shrewsbury, the numbers
:22:59. > :23:04.are just a few hundred. Puphls at Shrewsbury School are also doing
:23:05. > :23:08.their bit for eel conservathon. We feel proud that we are maintaining
:23:09. > :23:16.the ecosystem and keeping everything going and it is interesting. Eels
:23:17. > :23:20.are pretty cool. Although it helps, human intervention is at thd
:23:21. > :23:25.long`term answer for improvhng stocks in Shropshire. The fhsh needs
:23:26. > :23:30.specially built passes like this one to help them navigate man`m`de
:23:31. > :23:35.obstacles. It is basically ` wooden tube in which there are loads of
:23:36. > :23:42.Nilan bristles and it slows the water up so the eels can wiggle all
:23:43. > :23:50.the way to the top. Of the 00,0 0 release to, 90,000 are expected to
:23:51. > :24:00.survive before making the trip back to the sea `` 9000.
:24:01. > :24:04.After the splendours of the gardens at Shakespeare's birthplace trust
:24:05. > :24:12.yesterday, are you grateful to be dry again?
:24:13. > :24:17.I am. From what I hear from some of the reporters, the Sun todax was
:24:18. > :24:21.enough to create a tan. We could do with this weather over the weekend
:24:22. > :24:27.although I don't think we whll get too much of it. Some sunshine on
:24:28. > :24:36.offer but it is a case of r`in and showers and cooler conditions in a
:24:37. > :24:41.breeze. We have eight dense cluster of showers starting to Spiller from
:24:42. > :24:47.the south`east, mainly affecting the south eastern half of the rdgion.
:24:48. > :24:52.There is an art of fairly intense rain swelling up from the
:24:53. > :24:57.south`west. It is shackled to the area of low pressure so we have will
:24:58. > :25:05.have a raft of showers on Stnday as well. Tonight, in comparison, it is
:25:06. > :25:12.looking quiet. There are cldar spells to begin with but cloud will
:25:13. > :25:17.thicken up later. But largely dry and temperatures will only fall to
:25:18. > :25:25.around seven Celsius. The coolest part will be in the west of the
:25:26. > :25:30.region under clear skies. Not as much fog and mist as we had last
:25:31. > :25:37.night so not too much of th`t to start the day tomorrow. A cloudy
:25:38. > :25:43.start, though, and a raft of showers moves up from the south`east. Fairly
:25:44. > :25:47.widespread and some quite hdavy but they restrict themselves to the
:25:48. > :25:51.eastern half of the region. They will pep up tomorrow night `nd will
:25:52. > :25:55.be met by the next area of rain moving up from the south`west in the
:25:56. > :26:02.early hours of. Dreyer the latter part of Saturday.
:26:03. > :26:06.Delight headlines: Police appealed to British Muslim women to stop
:26:07. > :26:10.their sons and brothers going to Syria to fight. Staffordshire
:26:11. > :26:17.terminal cancer patient, Stdphen Sutton, is helping to raise money to
:26:18. > :26:26.help other teenagers deal whth the disease. Donations now stand at
:26:27. > :26:28.1,000,950. We will be live hn Staffordshire again at ten o'clock.
:26:29. > :26:52.Have a good evening. All across the country,
:26:53. > :26:56.millions of families are waking up to a Britain in which they
:26:57. > :26:59.find it harder to get on. Whilst the Government keeps
:27:00. > :27:02.telling people everything is fixed, no longer stops the pound
:27:03. > :27:07.in their pocket getting smaller or the bills getting
:27:08. > :27:10.harder to afford. gas and electricity bills have
:27:11. > :27:16.increased by more than ?300