Our reporters hit the streets to talk to the public in our major cities across the UK about the news making the headlines this week. In this episode, we look at the ban on XL Bully dogs, whether trees should be granted protection, and the new fashion colour trend.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:11 Welcome to The Verdict on the Street,
00:13 the show that listens to its audience.
00:17 We're going to take some of the hottest topics
00:19 out onto the streets of Britain to ask you
00:21 what you think of them.
00:24 In a world that seems full of experts,
00:26 sometimes it's the opinions of the people on the street
00:29 that really matter.
00:30 So, great British public, it's over to you.
00:34 We send our reporters out into a number of cities across the UK,
00:38 armed only with a camera and a microphone
00:40 to ask simply, what do you think?
00:42 On this week's show, we're asking,
00:49 should there be a ban on the XL bully dog breed?
00:53 Should trees be granted official protection?
00:56 And brown is the new black.
00:58 Have you embraced the latest fashion trend?
01:00 On we go then, and we start with dogs.
01:06 After a number of attacks, the government
01:08 has now confirmed that from the 31st of December, 2023,
01:12 XL bully types will be added to the list of banned dangerous
01:15 dogs.
01:18 This means it will now be illegal to breed, sell,
01:21 advertise, exchange, gift, rehome, abandon, or allow
01:25 XL bully type dogs to stray.
01:29 You'll be required to keep your dog on a lead
01:31 and muzzled when they're walked in public,
01:33 and you'll also need to comply with additional restrictions
01:35 to get your dogs exempted, including having them neutered
01:39 and getting third party insurance.
01:42 From the 1st of February, 2024, it
01:44 will be illegal to own an XL bully type
01:47 without a certificate of exemption.
01:50 So, is that fair to the dogs and their owners,
01:53 or do you think that this legislation is long overdue?
01:56 Let's have a listen.
01:58 Yes, I think they should be banned,
02:00 and until we can get a handle on it.
02:03 Yes, I do.
02:04 I mean, I don't think the breed needs to be banned.
02:07 I think what needs to be banned is how people are using
02:09 the dogs themselves, because I find
02:12 that a lot of people have the XL bullies,
02:14 use them as almost weapons, when they're not exactly like that.
02:17 Dogs aren't weapons.
02:19 I think that generally, we need to look at the way
02:22 that we treat animals as a whole anyway,
02:25 and I think that this is just kind of a discussion
02:29 that we need to have that might enter into something that
02:32 is a bit surrounding the wider topic of animal welfare
02:36 and maybe the meat industry as well.
02:40 But I think for sure, we shouldn't be blaming the animals.
02:44 Should XL bully dogs be banned?
02:48 Well, it's down to the owners, isn't it?
02:52 If you have responsible owners, then I think the dogs are OK.
02:58 I don't agree with the ban on XL bullies.
03:02 Again, with the XL bullies, I think
03:04 it's really genetic testing on the actual bullies themselves
03:10 and maybe take out the gene that makes them aggressive.
03:14 Overall, I think yes.
03:16 I know there's a place for people who have them as pets,
03:19 but really, they have such bad press.
03:22 I think they should be banned.
03:24 We are dog lovers.
03:25 We are absolute dog lovers.
03:28 I don't know.
03:30 I'm probably wrong, but I tend to think a dog is what you make it.
03:35 And just a blanket ban just doesn't seem right.
03:39 No, it's down to the people that have the dogs.
03:41 It's not the dog's fault. They are a nice breed,
03:45 but they shouldn't be banned.
03:47 Yes, I think there should be a ban on them
03:50 because they're big, strong dogs.
03:52 But they're not all bad.
03:55 I don't think they're all bad.
03:56 I think it's the owners that make them bad.
04:00 I think it's right that XL bully dogs are being banned.
04:03 I think that obviously a lot of the press around them
04:06 is very negative, but I think it ultimately comes down to ownership
04:09 and how people are treating and training those dogs.
04:13 I don't think they should have been banned.
04:15 I love the dogs, even though there has been some complications
04:17 with them, but I don't think every dog should be punished
04:20 for something that maybe a few have had incidents about.
04:24 I think that bully XL dogs should be banned,
04:27 but I don't think they should be put down.
04:30 I think they should find a way of letting them live,
04:33 but I don't think they should be with families and things like that.
04:36 I think they're just too dangerous.
04:38 Well, like I keep saying to people, it's down to the owners
04:41 and how they bring their dogs up.
04:46 Is it right that XL bully dogs are being banned?
04:48 Yes, I think it is right that they're banned,
04:51 because of the danger they cause.
04:52 Is it right that XL bully dogs are being banned?
04:57 See, for me, for dogs, I think it's the person that's bringing the dog up.
05:00 It's not the dog, it's the owner.
05:01 To trees now, and the country was shocked in September
05:08 when one of the UK's most famous trees was felled in Northumberland,
05:12 close to Hadrian's Wall.
05:14 The police described the incident as a deliberate act of vandalism
05:17 and arrests have been made.
05:20 But what can we do to toughen up the laws to stop this happening again?
05:24 Should trees be granted official protection?
05:27 It was awful what happened on Hadrian's Wall.
05:31 Absolute, terrible crime.
05:34 Yeah, I'm a firm believer that we should be planting more and more and more trees
05:39 and protecting especially old trees.
05:43 Some of the old oaks, which are about 300 or 400 years old,
05:46 they should definitely be protected.
05:49 The same like we do with the National Trust, you know, with buildings.
05:53 Oh, 100%, yeah.
05:55 I think we always walk around places like Bute Park
05:58 and you see trees that have obviously stood there for a very long time
06:01 and you think it's so natural, so nice to be around.
06:03 Yeah, I'm all for getting certain trees protected
06:06 because if they've stood for so long, they have historical significance,
06:09 at least to me, so...
06:10 Yeah, I thought there's a lot being done already, I think,
06:13 with, I mean, you've got lots of trusts and stuff protecting parks.
06:17 But I think, yeah, definitely, I mean, if that's happening,
06:20 what can you do then in that situation?
06:22 Like, security at night, like, it's all going to come down to money, really, isn't it?
06:26 Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
06:29 Yes, indeed, yeah.
06:30 The village that I live in, there are tree falling all over the place,
06:33 so, no, and I see, I live near a train line anyway
06:36 and I see lots of destruction going on.
06:40 Well, I feel it would be important because it's important to have good trees
06:45 and other things like that
06:49 because it helps to keep the country looking a lot better.
06:52 Oh, yeah, definitely. I like trees.
06:56 Why do you think they should put protective status on?
06:59 Well, the way things are going, they're just...
07:02 People aren't, some people aren't bothered, they're just, you know, hack away at something.
07:07 They already do.
07:08 There is trees in the US and the UK that all have protective status already.
07:12 They're specific, like, types that are...
07:14 They have, yeah, famous trees.
07:16 There's an oak tree in one of the home counties which has got it.
07:21 So they already have it.
07:22 I don't know why that one didn't, to be honest.
07:23 It's a certain one, it's a certain one, but that one I got to cut down was just there.
07:30 I know what kind of tree it was and it wasn't a very, eh, thingy one.
07:35 I think they definitely should have a protective status
07:39 because I work with trees as gardeners all the time
07:41 and I like the carbon influence and they take the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
07:48 Well, yeah, it would be great to protect all the trees,
07:50 but how are you going to enforce it?
07:53 Unless you've actually seen somebody do it, it's almost impossible.
07:58 I think there is a need of more surveillance on everything, to be honest,
08:02 not just nature, like crime and everything, the knife crime and everything.
08:06 It is really need to focus more on the security of everything.
08:09 So the tree was cut, every other day you see someone getting stabbed or something.
08:14 So I believe, yes, nature is very important, you need to protect,
08:17 but moreover, you should, like, protect everything.
08:20 I'm a tree lover.
08:22 Yeah, absolutely, trees are wonderful things, yeah.
08:25 Would you say you're a nature lover in general?
08:27 Absolutely. Yes, I am. Yeah.
08:31 Now to fashion, which is something I know very little about,
08:36 but what I do know is that this autumn's must-wear colour is brown.
08:41 So we hit the streets to find some fantastic followers of fashion
08:45 and ask if they knew they were bang on trend.
08:48 ...because you were wearing a brown coat.
08:54 Did you know that brown is the new black?
08:56 No, I didn't.
08:58 And why do you wear brown?
08:59 Well, I don't wear it all the time,
09:02 but I've got it in my wardrobe, the same as me navy blue and me red,
09:06 and I just chose brown this morning.
09:08 I think it is fairly fashionable, but I wouldn't wear a lot of brown.
09:11 I'd rather still have a black dress, so, yeah.
09:16 When I was as young as the person interviewing me now,
09:19 I always wore brown or black, and it's my favourite colour, brown and beige.
09:24 I had a Triumph TR7, and it was brown and beige, with wolf-race wheels,
09:30 and it's just a wonderful colour.
09:31 It all had to be coordinated with a beige shirt and a tie,
09:37 and brown shoes, of course, brown trousers,
09:39 maybe a light sort of beige jacket, camel-coloured jacket.
09:43 I've got the same colour palette probably throughout the whole year.
09:47 I don't really have an autumn/winter differentiation.
09:51 Like 70% of my wardrobe is brown as is,
09:53 so I feel personally attacked a little bit.
09:56 No, I happen to be an art student,
09:58 so we actually had the conversation of what colours, I guess,
10:02 come up to this year and the next year,
10:04 and brown has been one of them, as well as a deep green.
10:08 Ah, interesting.
10:09 Brown, some people, it really suits very well,
10:12 and I always think it looks amazing,
10:15 but brown for me, I look like a potato.
10:19 So, not for me.
10:21 As you can see, I love red.
10:24 And I'm always saying that I should really wear even brighter colours,
10:28 so I like gold.
10:30 I don't know, I don't own anything that's brown,
10:32 and I find it a bit dark, you know what I mean?
10:35 It's not like, at the moment, I'm into more happier, cheerier colours.
10:38 I don't think brown's it at the minute.
10:41 I'm asking people today, did you know that brown is the new black?
10:44 I did not, until you told me.
10:47 I do now.
10:48 And you said that you wear a lot of brown and beige, right?
10:50 Yeah, yeah. I have a very...
10:53 I would have called it bland, actually.
10:55 But I do have, yeah, brown and beige, yeah.
10:58 And why do you wear those colours?
10:59 I'm happy in them.
11:00 I feel comfortable in them, and I'm not like...
11:05 I'm not like a really bright-coloured person,
11:08 even though I'm, like, quite chatty and everything.
11:11 I don't like to stand out, if you know what I mean.
11:14 I had a brown velvet suit in those days, in the '70s and '80s.
11:19 Velvet was fashion, but I still love velvet.
11:21 I don't have any brown at the moment,
11:24 but it's still my brown and black are my two favourite colours,
11:27 and then navy.
11:29 Wonderful colour.
11:30 But brown is considered one of the neutral colours,
11:32 like white, black and navy blue.
11:36 So it's really easy to match with a lot of other things.
11:39 I'm not entirely sure why recently people have discovered brown,
11:43 but I think it works.
11:47 It is really easy to pair up, as said,
11:49 and it might complement a lot of people's skin tone.
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11:56 (upbeat music)
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