18/05/2014 Midlands Today

Good evening. West Midlands One it's time for

Good evening. West Midlands candidates contesting Thursday's

European elections have clashed over the prospect of a referendum on

membership of the EU. The Prime Minister is promising to give the

public a say in 2017 if the Conservatives win the next General

Election. But voters in the Midlands are seeing a major split between

parties over whether Britain should be in or out of Europe. Ben Godfrey

reports. Every five years, voters in the West Midlands get a say in what

happens here ` Brussels, the home of the European Parliament. The

campaign leaflets have been sent out and in seven days, seven MEPs will

be elected to represent our diverse region. On the BBC Sunday Politics

programme, candidates from the four main parties joined a special live

debate and focused on one thorny issue: a referendum on EU

membership. The Lib Dems and Labour peers are locked a referendum just

recently. So it is clear that we cannot have a Conservative

Government. Let us negotiate, that is get the best deal possible and

UKIP wants the UK to leave the EU as soon as possible. Then have a

referendum. We have clout with the people. They know we are the party

and we have tapped a fair amount of people in the European Parliament to

make them listen. But the Liberal Democrats say EU membership is good

for business. Our view is that outside the EU we will not have full

access to the single market and it will cost us jobs. Labour has said

an EU referendum is unlikely if the party wins the next general

election. It is not a clear, clarion call that the other parties can

offer. If we see more transfer of powers, that is when we will have a

referendum. It is not in the interest of others, here in the West

Midlands, to have a referendum right now. Eleven parties are vying for

your vote on Thursday. The results will be declared in Birmingham on

Sunday after polls across the EU have closed. Ben Godfrey, BBC

Midlands Today. Prayers have been said at churches in Staffordshire

for the teenager Stephen Sutton who died on Wednesday.The 19`year`old

became famous around the world for the positive attitude he displayed

after finding out he had terminal cancer. Tonight, the fundraising

page he set up in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust is on the brink of

reaching the ?4 million mark. It currently stands at 3.9 million.

Meanwhile, hundreds have turned out for a charity football match

organised in memory of Birmingham youngster Harry Moseley.

Eleven`year`old Harry made bracelets after falling ill and raised almost

?1 million for Cancer Research before his death from a brain tumour

in 2011. His legacy, the charity Help Harry Help Others, has

continued fundraising and organised this afternoon's celebrity match at

St Andrews. Families who've lost children because they were born with

only half a heart have gathered for the unveiling of a memorial at the

National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. The dedication was

organised by the Birmingham`based charity Little Hearts Matter, which

is marking its 20th anniversary. Liz Copper has this report. A brass band

accompanied the ceremony as bereaved families gathered to remember their

children. Among the musicians, Peter Groves, who lost his daughter

Stephanie 20 years ago. They are always with us, but having a

permanent place that has a national recognition. We had children that

were here and deserve to be remembered. There were prayers and

poems, and this contribution from Sophie Williamson from Nuneaton. We

never met them, but we know them. We cannot see them, but we feel them.

When we are sad we talk to them and have a heart full of love for them.

Her reading was in memory of her brother, Jacob, and sister, Megan,

who she never met. It was a poignant ceremony ` a chance to share

memories and gain comfort from other families whose children suffered

from this rare heart condition. So what did today's ceremony mean?

Everything. We are able to say their names out loud, because people do

not say their names when they are gone. We are able to remember them.

We are able to come together as a unit and we are all bereaved

families and we are all together in this. It is really important. It

gives them that voice, that we were here. And we were helped in going

forward. There were special children. This is the only national

charity dedicated to providing support for those affected when a

child is diagnosed as having half a heart. But the hope is this will

become a place of quiet reflection and solace. Liz Copper, BBC Midlands

Today at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. I'm sure

you'll agree we've had some superb weather ` but for how much longer?

Kaye Forster has the forecast. Good evening.

We have had some glorious weather through the weekend and it's not

over yet. If you have the day off tomorrow, there is more of the same

to come. Lots of lovely warm sunshine, and, again, the

temperatures will be soaring. And for the rest of the day we stay dry.

The clouds will increase later in the night and we will see cloudier

skies towards morning time, but we are staying really quite mild, with

lows of around 11 or 12 Celsius. Tomorrow morning, a little bit more

in the way of cloud, but equally, some decent sunshine breaking

through as we head on into the afternoon. That will allow the

temperatures to soar once again up to around 23 Celsius. A bit more

unsettled from Tuesday onwards and cooling down slowly towards the end

of the week. That's all from us. I'll be back with our late news at

10.20pm tonight. And tomorrow on Midlands Today, we'll have a special

report on the Midlands' entrants in this year's Chelsea Flower Show.

Have a good evening. Bye bye. St James Park and Sheffield both hit

25 Celsius this afternoon. That gives us our warmest day in nearly

nine months, since 5th September 2013. It goes without saying that it

is going to be a warm night. Look out for some showers clipping into

eastern Scotland. Some of those could be heavy. Still some patchy

rain for western Scotland. More persistent