05/09/2011 BBC News at Ten

Colonel Gaddafi's last foreign minister claims British spies had

links with the regime just days before the uprising. Abdul Ati Al-

Obeidi, now imprisoned by opposition forces, tells the BBC

MI6 agents visited Tripoli. Where MI6 still here in January and

February of this year? Yes. baby trial that could show whether

MI6 was involved in the illegal transfer of terror suspects to

Libya. My concern has been to remove any stain on Britain's

reputation and to deal with these accusations of malpractice, so as

to enable our security services to get on with the vital work that

they do. We will be asking whether the latest allegations will affect

relations with the new Libya. The worst growth figures in 10

years for Britain's shops and services. A survey sparks new fears

for the economic recovery. The first batch of free schools

open up their classrooms, but critics say pushy parents will grab

all the places. Is England's green and pleasant

land really in trouble? George Osborne gets involved in the

planning row. Sir Alec Guinness made the part his

own. Now Gary Oldman plays George Smiley in a remake of Tinker,

Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I think it is a little sexier. A little crawler.

-- more cruel. There is a sadistic side to George.

And on the BBC News Channel I will have all of the sports news ahead

of the euro qualifiers tomorrow and a warning for Andy Carroll from

Good evening. David Cameron says claims that Britain's intelligence

services were involved in the illegal transfer of prisoners to

Libya will be checked out by an independent inquiry. The Libyan

foreign minister tells the BBC that links between the two countries

continued just days before the uprising began in February. Abdul

Ati Al-Obeidi, now in custody, has been speaking to Jeremy Bowen in

Tripoli. Libya was an important ally for

Britain and America after Colonel Gaddafi agreed to give up weapons

of mass destruction in 2003. But the documents found in Tripoli

suggest that in their eagerness to get his help in fighting the war on

terror, MI6 and the CIA were embarrassingly close to the Colonel

and his regime. The British embassy in Tripoli was

looted in May by a regime that felt betrayed, but it had been the

centre of an unlikely friendship. This place became a bridgehead in a

land of opportunity. Libya was good for business, and it was good for

security. All of that changed very quickly and by the time a regime

mob came to attack the building during the NATO bombing campaign,

the businessmen and the diplomats and the spies were long gone. Abdul

Ati Al-Obeidi was Colonel Gaddafi's last foreign minister. He is now a

prisoner. He confirmed that Britain's spies were here, working

with the regime, until revolution. We are MI6 still here in January

and February of this year? Yeah. One were they doing? -- what were

Abdul Hakim Belhadj, military commander of Tripoli, is at the

centre of the row about the documents now kept at his

headquarters. The allegation is that MI6 joined the CIA in

illegally returning him to Tripoli, when he was a suspected Al-Qaeda

ally. The key documents, seen by the BBC, are memos from MI6 dated

March 18th, 2004, and headed for the urgent personal attention of

Moussa Koussa. He ran Libya's police state. In it, MI6 is eager

to claim a key role in Mr Belhadj's rendition. They say it is the least

they can do for you and Libya, to demonstrate the remarkable

relationship they have built over recent years. The document is

signed with the letter M. That was Mark Allen, head of counter-

terrorism at MI6. Now he is with BP, which won a huge contract with

Libya in 2007. How important was Mark Allen in relations with Libya

and Britain? He was very important So he was really involved in all

sides of the diagram? Yes. What is he like? I don't know him. What do

you expect? Intelligence, or spy to be. Tripoli has a new start without

Colonel Gaddafi, but when he was the West's friend, that could still

stay in Britain and America. The last revenge on countries that

became his enemies. David Cameron said the latest

allegations about Britain's involvement in the transfer of

terror suspects was this -- significant, but he warned against

any rush to judgment. The inquiry will be carried out by Peter Gibson.

The retired judge is already inquiring whether the UK was

involved in the his treatment of detainees overseas. Did British

intelligence get too close to the Libyan counterpart? David Cameron

said the allegations were significant and should be

investigated. He also reminded MPs that in 2003, two years after 9/11,

there were terrorist groups in Libya allied to Al-Qaeda.

intelligence services are trying to work for the good of the country to

keep us safe. It is very important to remember the circumstances at

the time. Britain should never be complicit in torture and

extraordinary rendition and we should make sure that is the case.

Labour in Government, he said, were right to get close to Libya but to

gullible. The Foreign Secretary at the time said the allegations were

serious. It was a consistent policy of the previous Government and his

to be opposed to any complicity in torture, ill-treatment, unlawful

rendition. But given the serious nature of these allegations it is

entirely right that they should be examined in every detail. The task

of going through the secret documents found in Tripoli at the

weekend will fall to an existing inquiry, led by Sir Peter Gibson,

which is already looking at allegations that terror suspects

were mistreated abroad. Rendition is effectively the unlawful kidnap

of people, carrying them across borders and putting them into

jurisdictions where it is known perfectly well they will be

mistreated. The British Government also condemns that, which is why it

would be so serious if it turned out that agencies answerable to the

British Government had been engaging in that sort of behaviour.

The Government is treading a fine line. David Cameron said that

allegations of torture should be condemned and investigated, but

equally his officials accept that when fighting terrorism, sometimes

Britain has to deal with regimes that do not share its values. So

what MI6 new and it has to be investigated but it is not clear

tonight when that inquiry will start.

Let's go back to our Middle East Editor in Tripoli. How will the

latest allegations, including the ones made in your report, affect

relations between the two countries, do you think? Before I get on to

that, I need to say that we have approached the Foreign Office and

Mark Allen, and neither would comment on what was said. As for

the Libyans, well, I was in Abdul Hakim Belhadj's headquarters today,

the man at the centre of all of this. They were following what

happened in London very closely. They were interested in what David

Cameron had to say. At his celebratory fire, by the way,

nothing sinister. -- that his celebratory fire. They were

interested in what he had to save and they were following it as well.

This is original sin done by their allies, the British and the

Americans. I think they want it to be addressed. That is particularly

the case when it comes to the command of Tripoli and his very

important Islamist allies, who form one part of the coalition. He has

already said that he wants at the very least an apology. Thank you.

European stock markets have fallen sharply amid persistent concerns

about the state of the banking industry and economic growth. The

FTSE lost �50 billion in value. According to one survey of

companies, the UK service sector has just recorded its worst

economic slowdown for three years. No any of us might be feeling

better after our summer holidays but the signs are that the British

economy is not. They survey which measures British Activity in the

economy, has shown that it has fallen to its lowest point since

due -- gene 2009. The services sector was especially downbeat. It

saw the sharpest fall since 2001. That is only one month's figure and

could have been affected by the riots, but it speaks to growing

pessimism about the pace of Britain's recovery. They his is a

very disappointing number. It is still signalling growth, but very

meagre growth. The rate of expansion has fallen dramatically

compared to July. Independent economists have been busy lowering

their expectations for growth, not just for the UK but Europe and

America, which something is slipping back into recession. In

March, the average forecast was for growth in the UK of 1.8% this year.

That has now fallen to 1.3%. It could all make for an interesting

debate on the Bank of England's policy committee when it meets this

week over whether to provide more emergency support for the economy.

It also raises questions about the pace of the Government budget cuts,

even among some of the people that lobbied for cuts at the last

election. People like Bill Gross, who runs one of the largest

investment funds in the world. Last year he said the UK was

implementing the best combination of monetary and fiscal policies. In

an interview for the Times today he said the worst state of the economy

call for fine-tuning, or maybe re- routing of the Government plans.

Clearly fiscal policy is too tight and has been for some time. The

cuts are too far and too fast. It would be better to support growth

and employment by easing off on the pace of the cuts. The Chancellor

should stick to his deficit- reduction plan because otherwise he

risks losing the Triple A status. The cost of borrowing would then go

up and damage the economy. The FTSE fell by 3.6% today. At is the

second largest one-day fall this year. But index is now 15% lower

than it was at the start of July. As the Chancellor often remind us,

investors might shun the UK if he does not have that under control.

But investors are always nervous when an economy does not seem to

grow. The first draft of free schools

opened this term. They are run by charities, faith group, and parents,

but funded by the state. They are proving controversial. Today Nick

Clegg assured critics, including some within his own party, that the

schools are not just for the privileged few. Reeta Chakrabarti

It's a new term and with it a new school, set up by parents, teachers,

businesses and faith groups, free from local council control and free

to parents, free schools have arrived. These five-year-olds at a

free school in East London are among the first to get this new

brand of education. Many of them struingtold find a place elsewhere.

One boy had waited for a year. Parents say this school is offering

them something different. The way they do the times of the schools,

like 8am to 6pm, it's good for parents if they work as well. I

think it will be good to start my children's education.

flexibility in terms of more parental involvement in the

decision making. So any good suggestions from the parents which

is beneficial for the school and for the children as well. Because

free schools are independent of the local authority they have the scope

to do things differently. Some have smaller class sizes than usual, 24

or fewer. Others have flexible opening times, both for the school

day and the school term. And exceptionally free schools can

employ teachers without a teaching qualification. The Education

Secretary, Michael Gove, has said repeatedly that he wants free

schools to be set up in poorer areas, such as this in west London,

which opens in the next few days. Critics point out that half of the

schools opening this year are not in deprived areas, and they say

they risk becoming middle class enclaves.

A point acknowledged today by the Deputy Prime Minister, mindful

perhaps that hills party voted against free schools at last year's

conference, Nick Clegg had this message for his own Government.

They mup not be the preserve of the privileged few, creaming off the

best pupils, while leaving the rest to fend for themselves, causing

problems for and draining resources from other nearby schools. The 24

new schools will cost up to �130 million and they include a handful

of former private schools like this one in Yorkshire, which will now be

state funded. Some say the money devoted to free schools should be

more evenly spread. Free schools will, of course, take resources

from existing education budgets, from existing schools. They may

well take pupils from existing schools and this will destabilise

the system. 24 is a small start, but with hundreds more predicted in

the next four years, it could herald the beginning of something

big. Coming up on tonight's programme:

Out! The best of British, as the classic thriller Tinker, Tailor,

Soldier, Spy gets a 21st century makeover.

Just four months after the September 11th terror attacks, the

US military began sending prisoners, caught on the battlefield in

Afghanistan, to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Ten years later, there are

still nearly 200 prisoners there, including some of those connected

to the attacks. Mark Mardell visited the prison and looked back

on the legacy of Guantanamo. Nestled amid Cuba's tropical hills,

a prison which has cast a long shadow. A President vowed to shut

it down within a year of taking office. A promise unfulfilled. He

called what once happened here a betrayal of American values. At its

height it held 700. Now we're assured the remaining 171 inmates

are allowed to mix freely. They have art classes and their own

library. The official mantra is that their treatment is safe,

humane and legal. I know the individuals behind the fence are my

enemy. But I'm charged to treat them with dignity and respect and

provide humane treatment. That's my mission. High profile prisoners are

held in a secret part of the camp. This is a solitary confinement

block for prisoners who won't cooperate. We're inside camp five,

the maximum security wing here, where prisoners are held who've

attacked guards. They're checked every three minutes during the 24

hour cycle. Guantanamo Bay is still a name that resonates throughout

the world, a potent symbol of the way America changed after 9/11,

questioning even basic values of right and wrong. The immense shock

of 9/11 left America feeling vulnerable, determined to track

down those responsible. We will find those who did it. We will

smoke them out of their holes. We will get them running and we'll

bring them to justice. Those captured in Afghanistan were

categorised not as prisoners of war or criminals, but illegal enemy

combatants. It meant they had no rights. Many were shackled to the

floor of military planes and flown to Camp X-Ray, a hastily set up new

prison in Guantanamo Bay. Phil Mudd was a senior CIA analyst. He said

the atmosphere was hot and heavy. The need for information urgent.

Let's say we got a new prisoner. I don't know what's going to happen

tomorrow. We need to know quickly. Maybe another child will die. The

sense of immediatecy was balanced against what we knew were

techniques that would come to light someday. Interrogators were given

extraordinary powers. A secret memo said those being questioned could

be subjected to treatment that may be cruel, inhumane or degrading,

arguing it wasn't torture unless the pain was equivalent to organ

failure. If you push someone against a wall and all of a sudden,

they don't know what's going to happen, they say "I'll talk to you

about a plot." Is that fair? Tech nickally that would be torture, in

some cases, because that's physical aggression against a prisoner. If

you narrow what we did, no information versus pushing someone

against a wall, what would you say, is that OK? President Obama said it

waents. Neither was the existence of Guantanamo itself. His very

first major act as President was signing ab order to shut it down.

But it still held inmates judged too dangerous to release. The

President halted the military tribunals held there and planned to

try prisoners in the USA in normal courts. That was met by a fire

storm of protest. Obama's top lawyer, charged with closing

Guantanamo, said the objections were ill informed and politically

motivated Having terrorists as your next door neighbours, irresponsible

rhetoric because no-one was proposing doing that, in the

slightest. No-one was proposing jeopardising the security of

American citizens by bringing terrorists into this country. It

was all about being able to bring people in for trial. Reluctantly

the Obama administration has ordered the tribunals to restart.

The prisoners will remain here. The place where it all started, Camp X-

Ray, has been abandoned. It's likely to be a long time before

nature reclaims the prison as a whole. Its impact may linger even

longer. For more stories and analysis in

the run up to the 9/11 anniversary, there's more on our website. The

address is bbc.co.uk/news. The Chancellor has defended the

Government's controversial proposal to overhaul the planning system in

England. George Osborne says they're essential if the economy is

to recover. Critics, such as the National Trust, argue the proposal

could have disastrous consequences for the countryside.

Jeremy Cooke reports. They call it green belt, protected

countryside, which lies in between our towns and cities. Getting

planning permission here has been hard for decades, but amid growing

housing shortages and hard economic times, there are calls to relax the

rules. Campaigners say proposed Government changes to the planning

system could mean more development in the countryside. At issue is how

much protection we give to areas like this. What you're looking at

down there is potentially prime development land. The campaigners

say it's also priceless green space. The need is undenyably pressing.

One possible indicator of housing shortages is the ratio of income to

house prices. In this map, the darker the colour, the greater the

difference between house prices and income. Affordable properties much

more scarce in the darker areas. And it's not just housing. Here,

plans for a 220-berth Marina complex were previously rejected

but are now being reconsidered under appeal. The Government says

it wants to simplify planning rules, reducing a thousand pages of

regulations down to just 52. And crucially, they say, the default

answer to planning applications should be yes unless there are

strong reasons to reject them. proposed planning guidelines, as

far as I've seen them, do provide some protection for the green belt.

One's concern is that will gradually be eroded. The Government

insists that there will be no erosion in the protection of the

countryside, but Chancellor, George Osborne, also says that reforming

the planning system is vital to the national ek am nomic recovery. He

knows (economic recovery. He knows that the number of planning

applications fell to a ten-year low from 2009 to 2010. In total more

than 460,000 applications were received. Of those more than

330,000 were grantsed. But those who support more

development, the Government proposals feel like good news.

changes the balance to make it more positive and will help developers,

in certain circumstances, to improve the possibility of getting

consent. Those who oppose the changes say they threaten some of

our most precious land escapes and that any way, developers already

hold so called land banks, which have planning permission to build

hundreds of thousands of new homes. A date's been set for the eviction

of hundreds of travellers from an illegal site in Essex. Basildon

Council says it will begin clearing Dale Farm two weeks from today.

More than 80 properties built on the former scrap yard don't have

planning permission. Around 400 people are affected, many of them

say they'll resist eviction. The latest version of the classic

John le Carre thriller, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has had its

world premiere today. This time the iconic George Smiley, a role made

famous by Alec Guinness is played by Gary Oldman. But will it live up

to the expectations of an audience already familiar with the book and

There's a mole right at the top of the circus. He's been there for

years. George Smiley is back, the sharpest tool in the MI6 box of

tricks. He's on the trail of a double agent, who threatens

national security. I want to talk about loyalty, Toby. What did you

make of it Jim? Gary Oldman is playing the spook in the film

adaptation of John le Carre's book Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It is

a role Alec Guinness famously took in this 1979 television series. How

does a new Smiley differ? I think it's a little sexier. A little

crueler, there's a sort of, bit of a sadistic side to George that

we've brought to the fore and I think, the sort of, the

disenchantment, he's a sort of disenchanted kind of romantic, the

melancholy. The film boasts a role call of top British acting talent.

But the director is Swedish. Tomas Alfredson maeld his name with this

2008 vampire movie, Let The Right One In. He has brought the same

cool Scandinavian style to 1970s London. I came to England the first

time in 1972, as I remember it. London was quite different from

what it is now. I have very strong images and memories from that

period. Since it's a very analogue world, compared to today. This film

is not your typical modern thriller. There's none of the fast cutting

and non-stop action you get served up in a Bond or Bourne franchise.

Quite the opposite. It's more like HBO's The Wire or The Killing. This

movie is very, very slow. It is very slow, but it's intellect

weal compelling. Each detail is a lair upon a lair. It's a thriller

of the mind. Early reviews have been favourable. Could it be a

British spy will follow in the footsteps of a British king by