Summary
Insiders tell of packed lockdown parties at Downing Street. Laura is back in the studio to tell Adam about her Partygate Panorama scoop. And they’re joined by the BBC’s Dominic Casciani to chew over the questions facing the PM and the police.
Footballer Troy Deeney discusses why he wants the government to diversify the school curriculum.
And it’s not just a momentous day for Crossrail (which has now officially opened). The notorious Spaghetti Junction turns 50 today! Ed McCann, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, shares some facts about Britain’s most complex interchange.
Today’s Newscast was made by Tim Walklate, with Chris Flynn, Cordelia Hemming and Miranda Slade. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor was Sam Bonham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.2 | Hello, today was the day that London's new railway cross rail, the Elizabeth line, opened. |
| 0:10.6 | We talked about it quite a lot a few weeks ago, and I promised we would make up the regional |
| 0:15.5 | balance by looking at another infrastructure project somewhere else in the country. |
| 0:20.7 | And as chance would have it, it's the 50th anniversary of Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham. |
| 0:26.8 | Here is the opening of it on May 24th, 1972 by the then Environment Secretary Peter Walker. |
| 0:32.8 | From this point onwards, the speed with which one will be able to go to the north west, |
| 0:38.8 | to the south west, to the southeast, will be a matter of tremendous change and transformation |
| 0:45.8 | for all that has gone in the past. |
| 0:48.4 | Therefore, we are opening today, or can only be described as the motorway at half of Britain. |
| 0:57.5 | Happy Birthday Spaghetti Junction, or unhappy birthday if you hate driving around there and |
| 1:01.4 | have got lost. |
| 1:02.4 | Let's chat about its significance, though, with Ed McCann, who's president of the institution |
| 1:06.6 | of civil engineer, Salo Ed. |
| 1:08.4 | Hello. |
| 1:09.4 | So for people who don't quite understand how Spaghetti Junction works, me included. |
| 1:13.6 | What does it actually do? |
| 1:14.6 | What's its function? |
| 1:15.6 | Well, it was built to plug the Birmingham gap. |
| 1:19.3 | So when they built the M1, the M5 and the M6, there was a hole in the middle. |
| 1:22.8 | So all the cars used to have to come off those motorways onto the local roads. |
| 1:26.7 | That was causing tremendous congestion. |
... |
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