12/07/2011 BBC News at Ten

The pressure piles on News Corporation with fresh accusations

from a former prime minister, police and a united front by

politicians. Gordon Brown tells the BBC he believes another of Rupert

Murdoch's papers, the Sunday Times, illegally obtained his building

society details. There is absolute proof that news International is

involved in hiring people to get this information. I also know that

the people asked they work with, because this is what really

concerns me most, are criminals. Known criminals. Grilled by MPs

over phone hacking investigations, senior police turn their fire on

News International. This is a major, global organisation with access to

the best legal advice. In my view, deliberately trying to thwart a

criminal investigation. But the officers face some uncomfortable

questions. While a police officer, did you ever received payment from

any news organisation... Good God! Absolutely not. I can't believe you

suggested that. Tomorrow, all three main Westminster parties will vote

for News Corporation to abandon the BSkyB takeover. Rupert Murdoch

himself is summoned to give evidence to MPs. Also tonight: More

violence in Belfast after a day of Protestant Orange Order parades.

Could the debt crisis in Greece now be spreading to Europe's third

largest economy, Italy? And has Rory got what it takes to become

the youngest Open champion? Coming up in Sportsday at 10.30,

Carlos Tevez will have to rethink plans to leave Manchester City as

they reject a �35 million bid from Good evening. The pressure on News

International intensify today, with fresh criticism from the former

prime minister Gordon Brown and senior police officers. In an

interview with the BBC, Gordon Brown claimed that the Sunday Times

hired criminals to obtain his financial and medical records. He

revealed how he was left in tears after the Sun obtained information

about his son's cystic fibrosis. It comes on the eve of a parliamentary

debate which will see politicians from all sides unite to call on

Rupert Murdoch to abandon his controversial bid for BSkyB. James

Landale now looks at Gordon Brown's allegations. The report contains

some flash photography. Here are Gordon and Rupert at a

conference. Here is Gordon in Downing Street with Robert's

daughter next to him. And their top editor, Rebekah Brooks, the Red

head on the right. For years, Team Brown stayed close to T Murdoch.

But no more. Today, smiles fell away as Gordon Brown accused them

and their newspaper, the Sunday Times, of using criminals to

investigate his private life. my bank accounts broken into, my

lawyers's files blanked, as they call it, with someone getting

information from my lawyers. My tax returns went missing at one point.

Medical records have been broken into. I don't know how all of this

happened. But I do know one thing. In two of these instances there is

absolute proof that News International is involved in hiring

people to get this information. I also know that the people that they

work with, because this is what really concerns me most, are

criminals. Gordon Brown claimed they were looking for information

about a flat in this London street that he bought in the early 1990s.

He says he paid the market rate. The Sunday Times claimed that he

got a knock-down price. REPORTER: Are you considering resigning?

is the editor of the Sunday Times and he is not resigning. But Gordon

Brown alleged that his newspaper had been out to bring him down as a

government minister. In a statement, the paper said, we believe no law

was broken, no criminal was used and the story was published giving

all sides a fair hearing. Gordon Brown also turned his fire on

another News International Paper, the sun. He attacked the way that

it reported that his youngest son, Fraser, was suffering from cystic

fibrosis. Mr Brown did not allege that his son's medical records had

been stolen, but the revelation was not legitimate, he said, and it

left him... In tears. Your son is now going to be broadcast across

the media. Sarah and I were incredibly upset about it. We were

thinking about his long-term future. We are thinking about our family.

But there is nothing you can do about it, you are in public life.

Other parents in public life who have also had children with medical

conditions are sympathetic. heart goes out to Gordon and Sarah

Brown. To have your children's privacy invaded in that way, and I

know this myself, particularly when your child is not well, is

unacceptable and heartbreaking for the family. The Sun said it had not

accessed any medical records, that the story had originated from a

member of the public whose family had also experience cystic fibrosis

and the article was written sensitively and appropriately.

Above all, Mr Brown accused News International about having an

agenda against him. He said Rupert Murdoch had wanted the BBC and the

media regulator Ofcom reformed. He, Gordon Brown, did not. When the

record of my time as Prime Minister is looked at, and all of the papers

will be there for people to see, it will show that we stood up to News

International. That we refused to support the commercial ambitions

when we thought they were against the public interest. For days, the

Murdoch empire has faced allegations about phone hacking by

the News of the World. Mr Brown has now widened the attack to other

newspapers within the group, an attack that has been pressed home

by Labour's current leader, who met the family of Milly Dowler, whose

phone was also allegedly hacked. Tomorrow he will ask MPs to back a

motion calling on Mr Murdoch to withdraw his bid for BSkyB. The

motion is now backed by the Government. Parliament will have

the opportunity to say no to News Corporation tomorrow. And there is

a good chance it will also be able to question James Murdoch, his dad

and other executives if they agree to appear before an MP committee

next week. What a thought. The scale of the police

investigation into the News of the World phone hacking scandal was

underlined today when the officer in charge of the case said there

were over 4000 potential victims, although only 170 have been

contacted. MPs -- offices past and present have been grilled by MPs

about why they did not do more to A parade of past and serving police

top brass. They arrived by car and on foot to the Commons for a

grilling by committee. Chief constable of Blair, thank you for

coming. What the MPs got was the first full explanation of why the

police stop their original phone hacking inquiry without looking at

all the evidence. Lord Blair set the scene. Metropolitan Police

Commissioner at the time of the original investigation, how did he

regard the case back then? It was a tiny, fragment of an event in the

events that were taking place in London at that time. Events like

this. Police were embroiled in several major terrorism

investigations. Peter Clarke is a former deputy assistant

commissioner who led that first investigation and decided not to

continue. He said fighting terror came first. When set against the

Criminal course of conduct that involved gross breaches of privacy,

but no apparent threat of physical harm to the public, I could not

justify the huge expenditure of resources it would entail Oban

inevitably protracted period. police hope that putting had their

Glen Mulcaire in prison would set an example and mobile phone

companies could be persuaded to improve security. But he said if

News International had come forward with evidence of what was going on,

it would have been a different matter. This is a global

organisation with access to the best legal advice, in my view,

deliberately trying to thwart a criminal investigation. Many

believe the case was dropped because the police became too close

to the News of the World and News International. Enter a more senior

officer at the time, former Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman.

He oversaw the first inquiry while he admits dining with News

International executives. He later ended up writing for the Times.

Have you any idea how that looks to the public? Any suggestion or hint

that these were cosy, candlelit dinners, where state secrets were

shared is rubbish. How could I ever stop a line of investigation, or

driven one in any way, shape or form? I didn't, I couldn't.

sounds more like Inspector Chris Having dinner with people you are

investigating? You don't know they are being investigated? Of course I

do. Did you ever receive payment from any news organisation...

God! Absolutely not, I can't believe he suggested that. They

also have focused on the moment in 2009 when it became clear that

police files contained many more phone hacking victims than first

thought. Another senior policeman, Assistant Commissioner John Yates,

told them that the revelations had appeared in the Guardian. The same

day he decided not to reopen the inquiry. It took eight hours for

you to decide that the inquiry did not need to be taken further?

11,000 pages of material? qualified yes. There was nothing

new in the Guardian article. Two people had gone to prison, I could

go one. So, to Sue Akers, deputy assistant commissioner, now a

leading two new, more in-depth investigations. She revealed there

were 3800 plus potential targets for the Hafez. Only 170 have been

contacted so far. -- for the hackers. I'm confident we have an

excellent team that are working tirelessly to get this right. I

hope I don't have to come back in five years' time to explain why we

failed. Indeed, her task is likely to take not months, but years.

Illegal phone hacking, once seen by the police as, in that phrase, a

tiny, fragmentary event, has tended to a saga which now dominates

public life. -- turned into a saga. Let's talk to James Landale at

Westminster. MPs on all sides appear to be uniting against Rupert

Murdoch. We have the debates tomorrow and now he is being

summoned to appear before them? think tomorrow will be an

extraordinary moment in modern British politics. Politicians, who

for decades have either sucked up to Rupert Murdoch or have suffered

at his hands are going to say, no more. I don't think anybody has

worked through the consequences of that. But there is a real sense

that British politics will not be quite the same again. Tomorrow is

going to be full of drama, Prime Ministers questions, a statement by

David Cameron setting out the terms of references of inquiries into

phone hacking and the assorted sagas. The bottom line is going to

be this. Parliament is now beginning to assert itself once

again. You have to have questions for the police today. You have a

vote against Rupert Murdoch tomorrow, possibly questions

tomorrow. This institution has suffered grievously in previous

years as a result of a phone hacking. But there is life in the

old dog yet. Trouble has broken out again on the

streets of Belfast tonight, with petrol bombs, bricks and bottles

thrown at police. The violence flared during a nationalist

demonstration in the Ardoyne area, in protest at a Protestant Orange

Order parade. It started with stones and bricks.

Then came fireworks. And then petrol bombs. Followed by more

petrol bombs. Trouble on this street in Ardoyne in north Belfast

has become almost an annual event on 12th July, the main day of the

Protestant marching season. Tonight's violence followed end

Orange Order parade in the area earlier in the evening. It was

tense and there was a nationalist protest. But it was peaceful and no

missiles were aimed at the marchers. It only took a couple of minutes

for the parade to pass along this part of malt Belfast but it

required a major security operation and hundreds of police officers.

Sinn Fein claimed that if the Orange Order had agreed to talk to

them about the parade, the tension could have been diffused. Most

people, the vast majority of people, want to move on. The Orange Order

need to realise that they have almost the wrong attitude to this.

Who understands not talking? We are that talking to people here would

not have made any difference and that Republican extremists were

simply bent on violence. 22 police officers were injured last night in

Belfast. More have been heard tonight. And tension in the City is

There has been an unexpected fall in the rate of inflation. The

Consumer Prices Index for June showed an annual rate of 4.2%,

that's down 0.3% on the month before. The slowdown was helped by

discounts on electronics, including televisions and digital cameras.

But food prices have continued to rise.

The Chancellor George Osborne tonight has warned that the UK is

not immune to the instability caused by the debt crisis in the

euro-zone. Italy could follow Greece and Portugal in struggling

to deal with its debt, as our chief economic correspondent reports.

Athens has been buffeted by financial storms for some time. Now

the turbulence has spread to another historic capital, Rome, and

that could mean a much bigger nightmare for the euro-zone. It is

the last thing the finance ministers needed as they met in

Brussels today. They were facing the possibility of Greece

defaulting on some of its debt, then came heightened fears about

Italy. It is the euro-zone's third largest economy. Italian newspapers

spelled out the latest market fears, and others focused on the main

challenge. Italy has poor demographics, a shrinking

population and large parts of the economy are not competitive so it

is highly unlikely to be able to grow its way out of its debt

problem. Italy's government debt has hit 120% of economic output,

second only to Greece in the euro- zone, where debt is 143% of GDP.

Exposure to a Italian debt affects banks' well beyond its borders. UK

banks have lent �41 billion to Italy's public and private sectors.

For heavily indebted euro-zone governments, the view of the

financial markets is crucial because they dictate the cost of

borrowing. If they think lending is getting riskier, they will push up

the interest rate, and that can get to a level which is simply

unaffordable. The question now - is Italy getting close to that tipping

point? There could be serious implications. The financial crisis

we are now facing involving Italy and Spain is now a game changer. If

that is not handled efficiently, it will mean a recession in Europe and

the world, and a financial crisis here and abroad. The Chancellor

today called for decisive action to address the euro-zone crisis. We

are not immune to instability on our doorstep, he said.

Still to come: one of the lucky ones - the plight of the migrants

fleeing the Arab uprising to reach mainland Europe.

The White House has condemned the killing in Afghanistan of the half

brother of President Hamid Karzai. Ahmad Wali Karzai was regarded as

one of the most powerful politicians in the south of the

country, despite being accused of drug trafficking and corruption.

His death raised new fears about instability in the country.

He described himself as the most powerful man in southern

Afghanistan, few disagreed. Ahmad Wali Karzai was a controversial

figure. He said he added spice to Afghan life. In Kandahar today, the

roads to his compound were closed. The President's half brother lived

under the tightest security so the head of personal protection aroused

little suspicion when he entered his room. Without saying a word, he

shot him twice. Hamid Karzai welcome Nicolas Sarkozy of France

today. He said "this morning my younger brother Ahmad Wali Karzai

was martyred in his house". "This is the life of Afghan people, we

have all suffered the life of pain". Forgive me for not speaking with a

smile today, he said. Ahmad Wali Karzai was said to be deeply

involved with the opium trade. The allegations strained his relations

with Afghanistan allies but he had many other enemies besides a. In

April he spoke to a BBC documentary crew about attempts on his life.

There were two major suicide attacks on me in my office. Still

threats against you now? Every day. The Taliban? Criminals? The Taliban.

Ahmad Wali Karzai came close to being charged with corruption, but

according to a US official he was simply too valuable. We needed him,

he kept a lid on things in Kandahar, he said. In Kabul. -- in Kabul,

they say they have lost a valuable fighter.

The BBC has learned fresh allegations of abuse at a second go

home for adults with learning difficulties. The home in Bristol

is run by Castlebeck, the home which also ran Winterbourne View

where abuse was exposed by Panorama. Six months on from the toppling of

the first Middle East regime in the Arab uprising, many people are

still fleeing the region and it has led to a surge in migration to

Europe. For thousands of migrant workers, one of the main routes is

from Libya to the Italian island of Lampedusa. In the darkness, the

boat was hard to pick out. But there were 300 people on board

without any cover. Then another boat, or heading for the Italian

port of Lampedusa. This is an African exodus that has followed

the Arab Spring. These boats that came in recent days are from the

Libyan capital, Tripoli. For the 30 our crossing, the migrants had been

packed in tight. Amongst them, very small children, a mark of the

desperation that had driven these people to flee for Europe. Many of

them said they were escaping the conflict.

Why did you leave Libya? Because of the fighting. They are fighting

each other. The fights in Libya. People are dying, no food. Due to

the crackdown. They are pumping everywhere and I lost some of my

friends. That is why I am here. This man also hinted at being put

on the boat by Libyan authorities, we also heard it from others,

raising the question whether Gaddafi is making good his threat

to unleash an unprecedented wave of immigration to Europe. But it is

exhausting and dangerous crossing - this woman was heavily pregnant.

This is the 5th boat to arrive in Lampedusa in the last 24 hours. In

the first few months after the Arab Spring began, most people arriving

came from Tunisia, and theirs is a very different but equally

difficult story. Over 50,000 Tunisians arrived, mainly economic

migrants. Their numbers so unsettled some European governments

that they began questioning Europe's policies of open borders.

These migrants had their hopes pinned on Paris. We caught up with

some of them on a piece of wasteland in the French capital.

Many were living rough, they all said they want to return to Tunisia.

This man said that without papers it was impossible to find work.

Many had paid smugglers to come to Europe but can't now find the money

to leave. Most of them want to return home because there is no

hope here. Back on the boats from Libya, young men travel with hope.

We would like to work. Showing of hands eager for work. But Europe,

with 24 million people out of work, can be a hard place to invest your

dreams. There is more on the impact of the

Arab uprising on the BBC news website.

The BBC has revealed it has cut the wage bill for its on-air talent by

�9 million. The number earning more 900 than �100,000 a year has

increased. He is the golfer all fans want to

seek and Rory McIlroy didn't disappoint today. The 22 year-old

took to the practice range this afternoon, hoping to get another

major win under his belt to add to his US Open triumph last month.

Everyone wants Rory McIlroy, even on the practice range there was a

world champion boxer - Barry McGuigan - to offer advice on

physique. There has been precious little golf for Rory McIlroy

recently. He has been enjoying the life of a sporting celebrity at

Wimbledon, for example. Experts predict he could be the UK's

highest paid sportsman ever if he keeps winning. The way my life

seems to be going, the golf is the easy bit. You get away, inside the

ropes, and you have five hours to yourself out there. I loved getting

on the golf course and I feel refreshed, I am really looking

forward to playing again. He has done most of his preparation at

home. This is his back garden. Most of his rivals have been braving the

Sandwich course and win his touching 30 miles an hour. Despite

the interest in Rory McIlroy, he is not officially the world's best

golfer - the man over their is. Luke Donald, world number one, but

with a point to prove. I have had a great season, made my way to the

top of the world rankings, so everything is going to plan. What

is left is to try to contend and win a major. In the absence both