15/06/2011 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten: Oldham Rock, the bank rescued by the taxpayer, is to

be put up for sale -- Northern Rock. Its collapse more than three years

ago sparked the first run on a British bank for 150 years. A sale

could bring in �1 billion, the Chancellor spilled out some of the

intended effect. It will be a sign of confidence and could increase

competition and high street banking. We can start to get at least some

money back. We will have more on that speech to the City of London.

Also tonight: More public sector workers will strike at the end of

the month against pension changes. I think we will see three-quarters

of a million striking on 30th June, it looks like that could be three

or four million in October if the Government does not change

direction. In Tripoli we talk to families

fighting a secret campaign against Gaddafi's regime.

More turmoil in Greece and a full- scale political crisis caused by

the Government's austerity measures. Who will come to London 2012? We

report on those who will not be welcome.

On sports day: The latest from Denmark. And England's progress at

Good evening. Northern Rock, the bank whose collapse marked the

start of the credit crisis more than three years ago, will be

returned to the private sector. Chancellor George Osborne announced

his decision in a speech to the City of London this evening. It is

thought an auction could raise �1 billion and a new owner could be in

place by the end of the year. Mr Osborne has been unveiling a major

banking sector reforms. Nationalise Northern Rock, tonight

the Chancellor put a For Sale boards up on the boom to bust

mortgage bank to raise probably around �1 billion, not such a great

deal for tax payers given that the state has injected �1.4 billion

into it. I can announce tonight but on behalf of you, the British

taxpayer, I have decided to put Northern Rock up for sale. Images

of the queues outside Northern Rock branches were a symbol of all that

went wrong, and its chaotic collapse did great damage to

Britain's international reputation. This is the bank whose collapse in

late 2007 have altered the worst financial crisis since the 1930s,

but what has been privatised does not include �40 billion of the

older mortgages, so when they are repaid, tax payers should get their

money back and more. But... If the Chancellor is intent on maximising

sale consideration he is not selling as a good time, banks are

out of favour with investors. But if he wants to show he is going to

business as usual, it is sensible. These imaginative protesters

outside the mansion house want the Chancellor to impose bigger

additional taxes on Financial Trading, which they see as a casino.

The Chancellor has a different answer to the risks in the mega

banks. For huge banks like Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, he

once their investment activities to be insulated from the retail bits

that look after savings, loans and move money around the academy, so

in a crisis or collapse the retail operations are less likely to be

damaged. -- move money around the economy. But his predecessor says

ring-fencing will not solve everything. It will not stop

another financial crisis or future governments having to bail out the

banking sector. The idea you can walk away from a big investment

bank and let it collapse, the Americans tried that with Lehman

Brothers and have precipitated the chain of events that broke the

world's but -- brought the world's banking system to its knees.

Britain's battered financial reputation could be rebuilt by

selling the Rock, hopes Mr was born. But that requires a loss-making

bank to be sold, easier said than done.

The Chancellor mentioned getting some of the taxpayers' money back,

but it goes way beyond Northern Rock? Absolutely. The first thing

to reiterate is that selling Northern Rock itself won't be easy.

This is a loss-making bank. The banking industry is not exactly

booming, there is not a lot of money sloshing around two buy banks.

It is vulnerable to competition from the big banks, and who knows

how many people save with Northern Rock do so because they like the

comfort of putting money into a state-owned bank? But if it is sold

it will not raise more than �1 billion, that is a fleabite

compared to the �65 billion that tax payers, you and me, invested in

saving Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland. The share price of Lloyds

and Royal Bank of Scotland is way below the level tax payers sold. We

can't privatise those stakes at anything except a very significant

loss. The economy recovers in the long term, we may get our money

back from the enormous �65 billion investment, but as George Osborne

said tonight, getting our money back is likely to take many, many

years. Thank you very much. Up to three-quarters of a million

public sector workers plan to go on strike at the end of the month

after members of a third major union voted to take action. The

civil service union the PCS said members could not accept changes to

their pensions demanded by the Government. Thousands of Teachers

and Lecturers will also strike on June the 30th.

It is said to be one of the bigger strikes almost a decade. On June

the 30th an estimated three- quarters of a million public sector

workers will walk out, including hundreds of thousands of civil

servants. This afternoon the PCS Union confirmed its members, who

work in areas like JobCentres, courts and the Passport Office, had

voted to back nationwide strikes. Despite the low turnout, just one

in five voted in favour, the union expects a big impact. Everyone will

notice the strike. It is a last resort, the people we represent are

facing a pay freeze when inflation is 5%, pensions being slashed and

100,000 face losing jobs, that is pretty drastic and we are

determined to stop it. It is not just civil servants, two main

teaching unions today confirmed they will also strike on the 30th.

One of those unions has never held a national strike before. This type

of co-ordination among trade unions is a rare and it is the threat of

cuts to pensions making it happen. The Government says the current

pension system is unsustainable and it needs to cut billions from the

bill. But wants workers to pay more in but expect people to work for

longer. Crucially, it wants to move staff to less generous career

average schemes. While unions are united in opposing public sector

cuts, there is less agreement on how to tackle pension reform. Talks

with government are ongoing, the last scheduled meeting is planned

towards the end of the month. The Government says calling strikes now

is a big mistake. We have discussions with the TUC, they are

continuing. There is a huge amount to discuss. At the end of this,

public sector workers will have pensions among the very best

available. This week the health service union Unison threatened to

ballot its 1.2 million members over the pension issue. Others may

follow later in the year. June the 30th may only be the start, with

sustained and co-ordinated industrial action possible in the

autumn. The footballer Ryan Giggs is taking

legal action against the News of the World over allegations his

mobile phone was hacked. He is one of the number of public figures

thought to have been targeted by a private detective Glenn Mulcaire.

He was named in the House of Commons as having obtained an

injunction to try to keep an alleged affair secret.

Britain's biggest care home operator Southern Cross, which has

struggled to pay rent on the 751 homes that managers across the UK,

says it has reached an agreement with landlords and lenders. The

company said the deal would ensure continuity and quality of care to

all 31,000 residents would be maintained. Southern Cross said it

was working towards a consensual solution to its financial problems.

In Libya, opposition activists in the capital, Tripoli, have told the

BBC that support for Colonel Gaddafi is fading despite regime

claims that the support is solid. Rebel leaders said intimidation and

murder are rife but they are taking extreme risks with their secret

resistance. Some have spoken to Wyre Davies.

In a city penetrated by fear and suspicion, this is the only way to

find out what many Libyans really think. We have given our government

minders the slip but it is still a nervous journey to a safe house in

a Tripoli suburb. The four young activists I meet have all suffered

at the hands of the regime in one way or another. Friends have been

killed, they are tired of the corruption and nepotism and say

pressure is mounting on Colonel Gaddafi to go. For their own safety

their words are spoken by actors. It is a fight and we will fight,

but not with empty hands. It is a bit crazy to go out facing people

with guns, we know what intentions they have. But do you think in the

end Gaddafi will have to go? think he is finished already, he is

damaging the country as much as he can, but he is finished, he is

finished. In the early days of the uprising, anti-government protests

in Tripoli were brutally crushed. People are beginning to find their

voices again. At this recent funeral in the capital, the rebel

flag is raised in open defiance. On this video, which is not possible

to verify, government soldiers stand over dying rebels after

recent fighting in the capital. Your dogs, they say, this is

revenge. -- you dogs. Gaddafi's opponents know that Tripoli is

still a dangerous place. I think it is going to be bloody because he

will not give up easily at all. think we will see more violence?

Definitely. Definitely. How does that make you feel, does it make

you concerned? I am a little scared but willing to sacrifice my life

for this. You are willing to die? Without hesitation.

This is how the regime portrays things, fanatical they may be, but

many faces at Gaddafi rallies are by now familiar and fewer in number.

10 weeks of NATO bombing has not yet ousted the colonel. From what

we have seen, his fortress is solid Government plans to reform the

welfare system have been approved by MPs despite claims that

thousands of cancer patients face a reduction in benefits, according to

the charity Macmillan Cancer Support. Labour leader Ed Miliband

raised the matter at Prime Minister's Questions and asked for

a rethink, but David Cameron said Labour was unwilling to back

welfare changes. We all want to be careful when sick

and unable to work, not just medical treatment but financial

support. How quickly should benefits be reduced once recovery

gets under way? With ministers determined to cut the welfare

budget, the priority is to get people back to work, but there will

be a time limit on some sickness benefits. The Labour leader saw an

opportunity to attack today, saying thousands of cancer patients could

lose almost �100 a week. I'm amazed he does not know about these

arguments. Why doesn't he? The House of Commons is voting on this

bill tonight! He should know about these arguments. I ask him again,

will he now admits that 7000 cancer patients are losing up to �94 a

week? Under plans, those assessed as able to look for work will have

a year to find a job before employment support allowance is

means tested. Labour wants that increase to two years. The whole

point about our benefit reforms is there are proper medical tests so

we support those who cannot work out so a generous, tolerant and

compassionate country should, but we make sure those who can work go

out to work. Some cancer charities say that although patients may have

to put a time limit on full recovery. We don't believe people

who are recovering from cancer, who feel vulnerable and are already

experiencing difficult times, should be shouldering this burden.

We think all people in this position should be receiving this

allowance. David Cameron called the row a smokescreen to justify Labour

voting against the welfare bill tonight. Labour insists that it

wants a tougher system but says these measures would end compassion

in the welfare state. The Government won the boots and says

it is determined to press ahead because the state can't afford to

pay indefinite benefits to those Coming up tonight: Gaddafi is told

he's not welcome at the 2012 Olympics, but which other regimes

will make it to London? Unemployment has fallen to its

lowest level in nearly two years. The number of people out of work

went down by 88,000 in the three months to April, the biggest drop

for a decade. In contrast, the number claiming jobseeker's

allowance has risen for the third month in a row, telling a rather

more downbeat story about the state of the jobs market. Our chief

economics correspondent Hugh Pym is here to explain what's happening.

Yes, it's certainly positive news from the jobs market, unemployment

fell by 88,000 during the three months ending in April, that left

just over 2.4 million people out of work, the lowest in two years. And

employment, those in work, was up by 80,000, over the same period.

New jobs are being created right here in South Wales. British Gas is

training engineers to install smart metres and other green technology,

it's even built a street of dummy houses to practise on. Some of

these trainees will be offered permanent jobs with the company.

Clinton Dix is hoping to be one of them. He struggled for a year

trying to find work after being laid off by his previous employer.

I couldn't get an interview to be honest with you, I found it hard to

get a foot in the door, get my face seen by potential employers and I

found it difficult, to be honest with you. What was it like when you

got a chance here? A new lease of life. Schemes like that can only go

so far in an area where unemployment is well above the

national average. After industries like coal and steel declined, there

wasn't much to replace them. The challenge is to train workers for

jobs which may lie outside the South Wales valleys. So far

nationally the private sector has created more than enough jobs to

make up for Government cuts, there was a drop of more than 140,000 in

public sector employment over the last year, but the private sector

has put more than half a million more people into work.

For the time being it looks as though the private sector is making

up for job losses in the public sector. However, the job losses in

the public sector are likely to accelerate in the coming months at

a time when the economy overall is likely to weaken. Now, the narrower

jobless measure, those claiming jobseeker's allowance was up in May,

and that's a reminder that the jobs market is still some way from where

it should be. Thank you.

The fall in unemployment is one key signal of the state of the economy,

but high inflation and low wage rises are creating a real squeeze

for many households. One city that's suffered more than most in

the downtown is Hull, where the number out of work is among the

highest in Britain. In the first of three special reports on how

communities are coping, Richard Bilton has been to Hull where the

problems of one big local employer have caused tough times.

This is caravan country, in east Yorkshire they build them and

holiday in them. Jess and Julie are at the coast for a week, come in

June and it's quiet and cheap. But dad's not here, the family business

went bust and he has to work. He has to miss his own summer holiday.

The company went into liquidation so we struggled since to try and

make ends meet and build another company up because it's not really

safe being employed by anybody because you don't know whether your

job is safe or not. Three years ago this is Sean on the day his

security disappeared. He made caravans. But the company shut down.

To work here and the people... Too upset. This is Sean today working

at a garden centre, he never got back into the caravan industry,

just a series of temporary jobs. This one ends next week. It's the

third time it's happened to me in a year and it's just heart wrenching

because I have to start looking for another job again and it's very

hard to get a job. But it is not all bad. Hundreds of jobs were lost

in the caravan industry, but some have returned. This is a new

company in an old factory and workers who came back from the dole.

It's hard when you are in a situation when you are going for a

job and there's maybe 50 blokes going for one job. The people in

the factory today came back to a different working world. The

average wage in here now is about 20% lower than it was before the

caravan industry went into meltdown. Workers and management now take

nothing for granted. Everybody now is security, it used to be

promotion, where am I going to go? Now it's a case of will I be able

to pay the bills? You have to tell them just come on board, do a good

job and between us, hopefully, we will have a secure future.

industry survived, here and other sites new models are being produced,

but it's a different working life for the city's caravan makers.

Tomorrow Richard will be in Manchester and he will be looking

at the way charities are stepping in to help families in need. Plans

by Welsh universities to increase their tuition fees to the maximum

of �9,000 a year have been blocked by the Higher Education Funding

Council for Wales. The Council says they need to reconsider their plans

on improving access to education. The Welsh Education Minister said

it showed Wales was taking a more robust approach to tuition fees

than England. Police investigating an alleged plot targeting the

singer Joss Stone at her home in Devon have charged two men tonight.

They're accused of conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to

commit grievous bodily harm. The men were arrested on Monday and

they're due to appear in court tomorrow. The political and

economic crisis in Greece is deepening by the day, as rioters

take to the streets of Athens to vent their anger about new

austerity measures. The prime minister George Papandreou is to

form a new government, as he tries to win support for the measures

demanded by the EU and IMF. From Athens, our correspondent Malcolm

Brabant reports. Tens of thousands of protesters

descended on the Greek parliament and a violent minority soon turned

the square outside into a battlefield. They attacked riot

police with petrol bombs and other missiles. The police retaliated

with tear gas. Some protesters tried to force their way through to

parliament to stop MPs debating the new austerity measures, but the

police managed to hold the line. Tonight, the Prime Minister offered

to stand down, but he failed to convince the opposition

Conservatives to join the Government of national unity.

TRANSLATION: I made new proposals to the leaders

of all parties to achieve the necessary national consensus. I

clarified that my responsibility has no dependence on my political

post. George Papandreou has been trying

to push through spending cuts and tax rises but protesters say the

measures are too harsh. It's not about me any more, it's about our

children. I don't see a bright future. Greece currently has the

worst credit rating in the world, the debt stands at �300 billion.

The country is receiving �95 billion as part of a bail-out

package agreed last May. But now the EU is debating whether to offer

a further �39 billion loan. Greece's political turmoil is

jeopardising its future bail-out money. Economic analysts believe

that the International Monetary Fund and the European Union wanted

to see real consensus so that the austerity measures could be forced

through, but George Papandreou has failed to achieve that.

On the streets the protesters may have succeeded in crippling one

Government, but it's doubtful whether they're any closer to

throwing off the pain of austerity. Across parts of Europe, Africa,

Central Asia and Australia, people have been enjoying the rare sight

of a total lunar eclipse this evening. These are live images

showing the longest lunar eclipse in nearly 11 years. It happens when

the earth casts its shadow over the moon. But indirect sunlight can

still illuminate the moon, turning it a bright shade of red. Those are

live pictures there for you. No members of the Gaddafi regime

will be allowed into Britain next year to see the Olympic Games in

London. Downing Street made that clear today. Libya's National

Olympic Committee, headed by Gaddafi's son Muhammad, is due to

be allocated hundreds of tickets. It's raised new questions about the

allocation system, with many thousands of British citizens

unable to get the tickets they'd applied for. Our sports

correspondent James Pearce has the story.

When politics meets sport, Colonel Gaddafi playing chess the other day

at the headquarters of a Libyan Olympics committee which happens to

be headed by one of his sons. The Libyan team competed in Beijing,

and there's no suggestion at the moment that they won't be in London,

as well. The IOC has always tried to keep sport separate from

politics. In every country there is no proper development of sport

without the support of the state and Government. But at the same

time, we respectfully request the governments to take actions in

favour of sport and not utilising sport for their own purpose.

The history of the modern Olympics is littered with examples of

political interference. Hitler at the Berlin games in 1936, there was

a famous black power salute in 68 and then the boycotts, first by the

USA in 1980 and the retaliation by the Soviet Union in Los Angeles

four years later. On July 27th next year during the

opening ceremony the eyes of the world will be on this stadium. But

will the leaders of the world all be invited? When it comes to Libya

the Government here is adamant that they won't. Let's be absolutely

clear about this, Gaddafi, his sons and his immediate entourage are all

subject to EU banning orders, so cannot enter the EU and more spes

eufgly London. -- specifically London. Why are Libyans entitled to

tickets to the Games? Out of a total of 8.8 million 12% end up

with committees of competing countries, including Libya.

Organisers, though, emphasise 75% will still go to the British public.

Most who compete want to keep politics away from their sport.

Some of the strongest views are held by those who took part in

boycotted Games. We have been through all sorts of different

issues where politics have tried to nose their way into sport and

definitely we found out in sport it's best to keep out of them as

far as possible. Even in Beijing politics and China's show of