:00:00. > :00:09.More than 40 years after 21 people were killed in the Birmingham pub
:00:10. > :00:12.bombings, the victims have been honoured today by being given
:00:13. > :00:17.The title's usually given to organisations or people
:00:18. > :00:19.who've served the city in an exceptional way.
:00:20. > :00:21.The victims' families were at the council house today
:00:22. > :00:27.Here's our Special Correspondent Peter Wilson.
:00:28. > :00:30.The families whose loved ones died 42 years ago gathered
:00:31. > :00:36.Over the years, the pub bomb campaigners often felt
:00:37. > :00:42.Inside the grand Council chamber of Birmingham's Council House
:00:43. > :00:50.The City Council posthumously confers on the 21 victims...
:00:51. > :00:54.The granting of honorary Freedom of the City is normally conferred
:00:55. > :00:59.Since the Second World War, it's an honour which has usually
:01:00. > :01:05.We thought it was an appropriate moment to start to do something
:01:06. > :01:08.which says we will never in this city actually forget those 21
:01:09. > :01:11.and that we stand with the families, the surviving families,
:01:12. > :01:20.Nearly 200 people were injured, 21 lost their lives,
:01:21. > :01:26.when two bombs exploded in crowded pubs in Birmingham in 1974.
:01:27. > :01:29.Six Irish men were jailed, their wrongful convictions
:01:30. > :01:35.Because of the controversy surrounding this case,
:01:36. > :01:39.it has felt in the past as though the city wanted to forget
:01:40. > :01:46.But today all of that is forgotten and everyone is describing
:01:47. > :01:54.21 people were murdered 42 years ago and not only were they buried
:01:55. > :01:58.but we believe the establishment has tried to keep their memories
:01:59. > :02:02.and their names and their lives and deaths well and truly buried.
:02:03. > :02:04.But today Birmingham City Council have confirmed that their names,
:02:05. > :02:12.their lives and their deaths and their memories will be forever
:02:13. > :02:18.embedded in the history of this city.
:02:19. > :02:21.Birmingham now follows Liverpool who also bestowed
:02:22. > :02:26.on those who died in the Hillsborough disaster.
:02:27. > :02:29.It was quite emotional, just seeing the councillors
:02:30. > :02:33.all together backing our campaign, it was really quite emotional.
:02:34. > :02:36.It brought a tear to my eye, to be honest.
:02:37. > :02:39.What we really need now is all the MPs in the West
:02:40. > :02:42.We have only got about four at the moment.
:02:43. > :02:45.That would make all the difference, if we got the MPs behind us.
:02:46. > :02:49.Today was the first time the city has granted
:02:50. > :03:00.A record number of patients have waited on trolleys in NHS hospitals
:03:01. > :03:03.in the first week of the new year, according to data
:03:04. > :03:06.485 patients waited more than 12 hours.
:03:07. > :03:09.This time last year only 158 patients had waited that long.
:03:10. > :03:12.But one of the worst affected for long trolley waits
:03:13. > :03:15.was the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.
:03:16. > :03:20.Our reporter Ben Sidwell is outside the Royal Stoke University
:03:21. > :03:22.hospital tonight - Ben why is the situation
:03:23. > :03:35.Well, it has become pretty bad at the moment. Let me try and put it
:03:36. > :03:40.into context, between April and September last year, at University
:03:41. > :03:44.hospitals of North Midlands, there were 43 people who waited more than
:03:45. > :03:51.12 hours on a trolley to have treatment at A If we go to this
:03:52. > :03:55.January and the first week of this January last Tuesday, 38 out of the
:03:56. > :04:00.138 cases anywhere in England happened here in Stoke-on-Trent. On
:04:01. > :04:06.the Thursday they had 33 out of the 71 cases anywhere in England head
:04:07. > :04:10.and just last Sunday 20 of the 29 cases anywhere in England were here,
:04:11. > :04:13.so more than two thirds in the entire country happened here where
:04:14. > :04:17.patients were waiting more than 12 hours. The chief executive of the
:04:18. > :04:23.trust has said that is due to high levels of ambulance conveyances here
:04:24. > :04:26.and patients who are medically fit but are unable to be discharged
:04:27. > :04:30.because there is no waiting care package or anywhere for them to go.
:04:31. > :04:36.What has been the reaction of patient groups? Well, I have been
:04:37. > :04:38.speaking to health watch Staffordshire who are an
:04:39. > :04:41.organisation who monitor health care in the county. They are obviously
:04:42. > :04:43.very concerned about this and I asked them why they thought it was
:04:44. > :04:44.happening. We have got a lot more frail,
:04:45. > :04:47.elderly people in our communities What needs to happen
:04:48. > :04:51.across the country but particularly here in North Staffordshire
:04:52. > :04:54.is we have got to get the whole We desperately need more social care
:04:55. > :04:57.places, we desperately need more people to be able to get home
:04:58. > :05:01.with the right care and we've got a problem with GPs in Stoke,
:05:02. > :05:04.there is a great shortage of GPs in Stoke and that means
:05:05. > :05:17.getting access to those GP Well, the trust say they expect
:05:18. > :05:23.these pressures to continue for the foreseeable future and the message
:05:24. > :05:28.is as always if you do not need to come to A please don't, only if it
:05:29. > :05:31.is a real emergency and a life-threatening emergency or
:05:32. > :05:33.injury, otherwise get help elsewhere, please. Thank you.
:05:34. > :05:36.A court's heard a mother of three was strangled by her ex-partner
:05:37. > :05:38.after she started a relationship with another man.
:05:39. > :05:40.The body of 26-year-old Wendy Mann was found on her kitchen floor
:05:41. > :05:44.63-year-old Leroy Sterling denies murder and the attempted
:05:45. > :05:51.Levels of violence at Hewell Prison in Worcestershire are "far
:05:52. > :05:54.too high", according to its latest inspection report.
:05:55. > :05:57.The prison has two parts, a closed jail which holds more
:05:58. > :06:00.than 1000 male prisoners and an open section,
:06:01. > :06:04.In the six months between February and August this year,
:06:05. > :06:07.there were 49 fights involving prisoners and 47 assaults on staff.
:06:08. > :06:10.In addition, four prisoners have taken their own lives since the jail
:06:11. > :06:19.The prison is overcrowded and that's a big problem.
:06:20. > :06:22.It puts a great strain on all the resources that
:06:23. > :06:26.Certainly Hewell has seen the number of staff cut in
:06:27. > :06:28.recent years and that has undoubtedly had an effect.
:06:29. > :06:31.It means prisoners spend longer in their
:06:32. > :06:34.cells and that can lead to rising tension.
:06:35. > :06:37.Birmingham city councillor Brigid Jones has confirmed that none
:06:38. > :06:40.of the witnesses who gave evidence to the council's inquiry
:06:41. > :06:42.into the Trojan Horse allegations will have their names
:06:43. > :06:49.Lawyers acting for teachers facing disciplinary action as a result
:06:50. > :06:52.of allegations there was a hard line Islamic plot to take over city
:06:53. > :06:54.schools have been pressing for the names of witnesses
:06:55. > :07:01.in the Department of Education's inquiry to be made public.
:07:02. > :07:04.A new scheme to get dairy farmers a better deal has been launched
:07:05. > :07:09."Black top" milk is the idea of the Free Range Milk Marketing Board.
:07:10. > :07:12.They want to offer shoppers milk with a distinctive black cap,
:07:13. > :07:16.which costs 25% more than a standard bottle with the extra money
:07:17. > :07:27.The contracts are fair, it is a transparent situation,
:07:28. > :07:29.which enables the farmers to invest in the best cows,
:07:30. > :07:39.Temperatures in Moscow this week have plummeted to -25 Celsius.
:07:40. > :07:43.Hard to imagine it being that cold perhaps, but 35 years
:07:44. > :07:45.ago it was even colder than that in Shropshire.
:07:46. > :07:48.In fact, it was colder than the South Pole.
:07:49. > :07:49.Rebecca Wood has been looking into those record
:07:50. > :07:57.The West Midlands was blanketed in snow.
:07:58. > :08:01.Temperatures across the region widely fell to -20
:08:02. > :08:05.And here at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, a record
:08:06. > :08:12.It was this weather station where the mercury dropped to -26.1
:08:13. > :08:17.Celsius and that's still the lowest recorded temperature in England.
:08:18. > :08:20.Grounds manager Mark Wall remembers the moment
:08:21. > :08:28.It was just another cold night and of course it wasn't until days
:08:29. > :08:34.later when all the rest of the data was in from around the country that
:08:35. > :08:36.actually here, Harper Adams, was the coldest spot in England
:08:37. > :08:43.Although the official reading was made in Newport,
:08:44. > :08:46.it was originally attributed to Shawbury, where at the RAF base,
:08:47. > :08:53.That day, it was too cold to even go out
:08:54. > :08:58.Everyone turned up for work and made their way to work
:08:59. > :09:01.but they didn't go out in the aircraft that day.
:09:02. > :09:04.The base has its own dedicated Met Office staff because not flying
:09:05. > :09:13.Well, that's down to a series of circumstances.
:09:14. > :09:17.A perfect storm, whereby you combine all the factors, you have cold air,
:09:18. > :09:19.ideal cooling conditions, plenty of snow on the ground,
:09:20. > :09:21.good local geography, so all those factors combined
:09:22. > :09:23.with the period of cold weather leading up to that,
:09:24. > :09:30.With heavy snow, travel across the region was virtually
:09:31. > :09:32.impossible and even the river Avon froze.
:09:33. > :09:34.There's snow forecast later this week and chilly northerly winds,
:09:35. > :09:43.so we're in for a cold snap, but perhaps not as chilly as 1982.
:09:44. > :09:57.Certainly not! Good evening to you. It was quite mild today,
:09:58. > :10:01.temperatures were up to nine Celsius but there was a lot of cloud around
:10:02. > :10:05.and plenty of dry weather. To round off the day we had this beautiful
:10:06. > :10:09.sunset in Staffordshire. However, by Thursday we have got a warning in
:10:10. > :10:12.place for the afternoon, from the morning actually, for snowfall
:10:13. > :10:18.heritage, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire. There is a small
:10:19. > :10:23.chance it could turn into something more substantial and it is being
:10:24. > :10:26.caused by an area of rain crossing the south of the country, colliding
:10:27. > :10:30.with colder air streaming down from the North. It is going to be
:10:31. > :10:34.difficult to pin down the detail. The night, it was mild today and it
:10:35. > :10:38.will be mild the night under that out. Temperatures will be six or
:10:39. > :10:42.seven Celsius. Dry initially before we start to the patchy rain from the
:10:43. > :10:46.West. That is how we start the day tomorrow. Clarity begin with, the
:10:47. > :10:50.best of the temperatures in the morning then colder north-westerly
:10:51. > :10:56.winds, which will drag the temperatures down. Then we have the
:10:57. > :10:59.wind is coming down by Friday, producing a widespread frost in the
:11:00. > :11:00.Saturday morning. The National forecast is next. With
:11:01. > :11:05.of the week, and to start the weekend as well. For more on that
:11:06. > :11:14.snow situation, over to Jay Wynne now.
:11:15. > :11:21.Quite a lot going on over the next few days. The strong north-westerly
:11:22. > :11:26.wind will drag some really cold Arctic air across our shores full
:11:27. > :11:30.stop that will be with us for the next few days. And there will be
:11:31. > :11:34.some wintry weather and it will be a cold end to the week. In the
:11:35. > :11:38.short-term, the strong winds pushing the rain away from Scotland. The
:11:39. > :11:42.winds really picking up in the north and west with frequent showers
:11:43. > :11:48.following into Scotland and Northern Ireland, some of them wintry over
:11:49. > :11:52.the higher ground. It will be particularly cold in the wind, which
:11:53. > :11:53.will be a key feature of things