12/09/2011 BBC News at Ten


12/09/2011

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Tonight at ten, all change for British banks. It's the biggest

:00:07.:00:10.

reform in a generation. In the new world, high street business will be

:00:10.:00:17.

set apart to protect taxpayers in any future crisis. Today represents

:00:17.:00:20.

a decisive moment when we take a step towards a new banking system

:00:20.:00:24.

that works for Britain. But the banks are concerned about costs and

:00:24.:00:25.

competitiveness. We will have the details.

:00:25.:00:27.

Also tonight: In Kenya, a British tourist is

:00:27.:00:35.

murdered and his widow is kidnapped. We report from the scene. It is a

:00:35.:00:39.

crime scene at the moment. They are investigating the murder, but also

:00:39.:00:42.

trying to get clues as to where the missing British woman could have

:00:43.:00:45.

been taken. A new head for Britain's biggest

:00:45.:00:47.

force - the Metropolitan Police gets a new commissioner.

:00:47.:00:50.

David Cameron visits Russia, building bridges after five years

:00:50.:00:54.

of tension and distrust. And David Walliams completes his

:00:55.:01:04.

epic swim for charity along the Thames, despite many setbacks.

:01:04.:01:09.

don't know when I will set foot in the water again. I think a bath is

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the only water I want to see for quite a while!

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And I will be here with Sportsday later on the BBC News Channel, as

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Barton takes the captain's armband for QPR his debut and against his

:01:20.:01:30.
:01:30.:01:42.

Good evening. British banks are facing the biggest reform in a

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generation. The Chancellor has accepted the findings of an

:01:44.:01:47.

independent commission, which wants high street banking kept apart from

:01:47.:01:52.

investment banking. The aim is to protect taxpayers in the event of

:01:52.:01:56.

another banking crisis. But there has been criticism of the timescale,

:01:56.:01:59.

seven years, and the banks are concerned about the cost, as our

:01:59.:02:08.

business editor, Robert Peston, reports.

:02:08.:02:12.

Our mighty banks, such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds,

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HSBC, perhaps facing their biggest ever shake-up because of this

:02:17.:02:21.

unassuming economics professor, Sir John Vickers. The status quo is not

:02:21.:02:27.

an option. Things have got to change. So what reforms are

:02:27.:02:29.

proposed by Vickers' Independent Commission on Banking that was set

:02:29.:02:33.

up by the Treasury? The most important one is the creation of a

:02:33.:02:36.

ring-fence or thick high wall to protect the parts of banks that

:02:36.:02:40.

provide vital services to individuals and small businesses.

:02:40.:02:44.

So that these retail banking operations would be protected if

:02:44.:02:47.

the more speculative global investment banking parts of a bank

:02:47.:02:52.

found themselves in a spot of bother. And to provide further

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protection, retail banks would have to hold capital equivalent to at

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least 10% of loans and all big banks would have to have the

:02:59.:03:05.

ability to absorb losses almost double that. The separation of

:03:05.:03:09.

investment banking function from what I would call the commercial

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banking function, which is much more than retail, could be for the

:03:14.:03:19.

good of the bank. Or around me is the evidence of the great boom in

:03:19.:03:26.

banking and finance over 20 years before the crash of 2007-2008. The

:03:26.:03:29.

skyscrapers of the City of London and Canary Wharf. But the

:03:29.:03:32.

commission believes that much of that boom was poisonous. So the

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question is, can the poison be extracted without harming the

:03:36.:03:40.

patient, the British economy? So what is the problem that has to be

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fixed? That a great banking crisis of 2007-8 saw massive costs heaped

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on taxpayers and the worst recession for 80 years, from which

:03:50.:03:57.

the UK and much of the rich West has still not recovered. Billy Emms

:03:57.:04:00.

of pounds have been spent. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost

:04:00.:04:05.

as a result. It is this coalition government that set up the banking

:04:05.:04:08.

commission not just to ask the questions, but to provide the

:04:08.:04:13.

answers. What will be the impact? There will be some costs for banks

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and borrowers, especially bigger companies that borrow. We can't --

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we are concerned that we will be out of step with the rest of the EU

:04:21.:04:25.

and potentially elsewhere in the world, because what is being

:04:25.:04:27.

proposed to date is a higher requirement on UK banks and

:04:27.:04:32.

elsewhere. That will add to the cost of banking in the UK. But the

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commission says the cost to the British economy there will be

:04:35.:04:39.

around �1 billion a year. Compared with its estimate of annual cost of

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banking crises of �40 billion a year. So if his reforms were to

:04:43.:04:47.

work in curbing such crises, they would represent wonderful value for

:04:47.:04:52.

money. But the chief executive of a big bank told me he regards the

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reforms as a disaster. What does a former banker on the commission

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think of that? I have no sympathy for that. It is neither a disaster

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for any British bank, and am certain this is not a disaster for

:05:03.:05:07.

the British economy. It is not all about making banks safer. It is all

:05:07.:05:11.

about promoting competition, such as by making it easier for us to

:05:11.:05:15.

switch accounts between banks. Things like more competition on the

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high street, easier and faster switching, these are things the

:05:19.:05:22.

Government should introduce now. King Louis, there was little

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disagreement between government -- strikingly, there was little

:05:27.:05:33.

disagreement between government and opposition on this. But there: if

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we do not move quickly, small businesses and consumers will end

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up paying a price the banks should be buried.

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A new banking industry, not growing as much, perhaps, but possibly more

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stable and less dangerous. In a moment, Nick Robinson is in

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Downing Street. First, Robert is with me here. You gave us a flavour

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of some of the bankers' responses. Are they going to put up a fight?

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As United, one banker said to me that he thinks these reforms will

:06:03.:06:12.

be a disaster. He is a very influential individual. But no

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banks have come out and, on the record. In general, they say they

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will do their best with these reforms, because they recognise

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that the public mood, and the mood of Westminster, is for change. And

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that is not surprising. We should not forget that the credit crunch

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started four years ago. The great banking crisis was three years ago,

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and economic growth is still very weak in this country. Unemployment

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is still intractably high, and most of our current economic mess, a lot

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of it can be laid at the door of the banks and the excesses they

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took in the boom years, which led to the great bust. We have heard

:06:54.:06:57.

today from influential economists that the squeeze on living

:06:57.:07:01.

standards for most British people will go on for years. If it was the

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banks' fault, as many believe, this is a once in a generation

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opportunity to make sure we do not get into the same mess again in the

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future. It is a very big moment. Our political editor Nick Robinson

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is in Downing Street for us tonight. So there has been a broad political

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consensus today. Is that going to hold? At there certainly was today,

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and we do not know whether it will hold. This was built up as a kind

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of judgement day for the banks, the moment they learnt their fate and

:07:33.:07:37.

we as voters were reassured that our money would not be used to bear

:07:37.:07:42.

that matter again. It felt rather low-key at Westminster, but that

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was because all the major parties had signed up to this approach that

:07:46.:07:50.

has been recommended by Vickers, the restructuring of the banks to

:07:50.:07:54.

separate the so-called retail arm and what some pejoratively called

:07:54.:07:58.

their casino banking arms. But given that a very long timescale

:07:58.:08:02.

which all the parties have broadly signed up to, there is a great deal

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of time for the banks to start to argue, why don't we change things a

:08:06.:08:11.

bit? Why don't we argue about the definitions of what is retail and

:08:11.:08:16.

what is not an how high the walls are between the two different parts

:08:16.:08:19.

of the Bank and the speed of implementation? There are twin

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pressures on politicians. On the one hand, the need to reflect

:08:22.:08:26.

public anger at what happened in the past. But also deep anxiety

:08:26.:08:33.

that if they get it wrong in banking, they may destroy one of

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the industries that Britain is pre- eminent at.

:08:37.:08:40.

There is still no word about the fate of a British woman kidnapped

:08:40.:08:44.

at a beach resort in Kenya by an armed gang who shot and killed her

:08:44.:08:47.

husband. The Kenyan army has now joined police in the search for

:08:47.:08:49.

Judith Tebbutt, who was taken from Kiwayu Safari Village, north of

:08:49.:08:52.

Lamu Island, in the early hours of yesterday morning, possibly by a

:08:52.:09:02.
:09:02.:09:07.

gang from Somalia. Three an idyllic setting on the

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Kenyan coast, with its thatched cottages dotted along the beach,

:09:12.:09:15.

Kiwayu Safari Lodge attracts tourists who want to get away from

:09:15.:09:20.

the crowds and live the quiet life for a few days. The hotel's website

:09:20.:09:25.

boasts of round-the-clock tight security. But after the peace was

:09:25.:09:32.

shattered, soldiers have replaced the tourists. In a midnight raid, a

:09:32.:09:35.

group of armed men killed David Tebbutt, a British publishing

:09:35.:09:41.

executive, shooting him in the back. Then they abetted his wife Judith,

:09:41.:09:44.

who is still missing. -- they abducted his wife there. You can

:09:44.:09:50.

see that a yellow tape has been set up around the rooms. The couple

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were sleeping and one of those rooms when the raid happened. The

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question is, what happened to Judith Tebbutt? She was taken away

:09:59.:10:04.

in a speedboat, apparently heading north to Somalia. Kenyan police are

:10:04.:10:07.

searching, but the gang may be out of reach. In a boat like this, the

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Somali border is just 90 minutes away. In this village just along

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the beach from the hotel, people complain that banditry from Somalia

:10:17.:10:21.

has been a problem for some years. They are worried that this latest

:10:21.:10:26.

attack will keep the tourists away. One man told me the gunmen forced a

:10:26.:10:32.

Kenyan to lead them to the hotel. He told me that they forced him to

:10:32.:10:35.

guide them to the hotel. Then they did what they did and went back

:10:35.:10:45.
:10:45.:10:47.

with the lady. To Somalia? Yeah, to Somalia. The couple's home in

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Bishop's Stortford has been sealed off by the police. For friends,

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there is sadness and shock as they take in what happened. He was such

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a gentle person that I cannot imagine him putting up much

:10:57.:11:03.

resistance. However it happened, it seems very out of character for him

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to fight, especially someone with a gun. The suspicion here in Kenya is

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that either Somali pirates or the Al-Qaeda link to Islamist group Al-

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Shabab carried out the attack. The Foreign Office says officials are

:11:20.:11:27.

focused on trying to ensure that Judith Tebbutt's life is saved.

:11:27.:11:30.

Four men have been charged over allegations that a group of men

:11:30.:11:33.

were kept as slaves at a travellers' site in Bedfordshire.

:11:33.:11:36.

Three brothers, James, Tommy and Patrick Connors, and their brother-

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in-law, James Connors, were arrested at the caravan park near

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Leighton Buzzard, where police found and four men who were forced

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to live in squalid conditions and work for no pay.

:11:49.:11:52.

Three people have each been given life sentences for the torture and

:11:52.:11:56.

murder of a woman from Rugby who had learning difficulties. Gemma

:11:56.:11:59.

Hayter, who was 27, suffered horrific abuse and was left to die

:11:59.:12:04.

by a gang of five people. Another man and woman have been jailed for

:12:04.:12:07.

manslaughter. NATO says it will continue its

:12:08.:12:10.

bombing raids over Libya while the threat to civilians remains in the

:12:11.:12:15.

last few Gaddafi strongholds. It confirmed that planes have hit

:12:15.:12:19.

targets around Bani Walid. Residents of the desert town are

:12:19.:12:22.

trying to flee the fighting. Our correspondent, who is with fighters

:12:22.:12:32.

from the new government, has just sent this report.

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The last few miles to Bani Walid are a dangerous stretch of road.

:12:36.:12:42.

But today, anti- Gaddafi fighters agreed to take us to the town. Take

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a good look. This is the first glimpse of Bani Walid. It is like

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one of those faceless frontier towns in cowboy films. Small, dusty

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and arid. There is no land worth fighting for here, no oil either.

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But it is where Libya's revolution ends and the green flag of Colonel

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Gaddafi still flies. This is now the edge of Bani Walid. We are on

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the northern side of the town. This is the frontline of the rebel

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position and we believe Colonel Gaddafi's troops are down that road.

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It is unsafe to go further. What is interesting about this conflict is

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that whereas the rebels managed to take the capital Tripoli in less

:13:22.:13:27.

than one day, this particular conflict is now weeks old. As we

:13:27.:13:30.

filmed, NATO jets attacked. It is a reminder that their mission is

:13:30.:13:35.

still not over, that this town matters to all sides. For Colonel

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Gaddafi, it is a potent symbol of resistance. For his opponents, it

:13:40.:13:44.

is a reminder that they still have not won this war, that the threat

:13:44.:13:49.

from the old regime remains. We watched some of the last few

:13:49.:13:54.

families escape. Most say there were very few civilians left in the

:13:54.:14:02.

town. The conditions there sound bad. Those left behind are locked

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inside their homes, scared, tired and hungry. The commander here says

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he does not want to push him further, hoping the people will

:14:12.:14:17.

rise up and liberate themselves. It may be wishful thinking. His

:14:17.:14:20.

fighters are lightly armed and their numbers are few. You get a

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real sense that after six months of war, there is little appetite left

:14:23.:14:33.
:14:33.:14:42.

The man chosen to lead the Metropolitan Police is Bernard

:14:42.:14:46.

Hogan-Howe, the former Chief Constable of Merseyside. His

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appointment was announced today. Mr Hogan-Howe takes over at a very

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challenging time, as our home affairs correspondent explains.

:14:59.:15:04.

He is taking on the toughest, most high-profile and most political job

:15:05.:15:11.

in UK policing. In a quartet of candidates he was

:15:12.:15:16.

the one who impressed the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London.

:15:16.:15:21.

His job pitch was simple, but for the politicians it hit the spot.

:15:21.:15:27.

intend to lead the Met so it makes criminals fear that it keeps the

:15:27.:15:31.

trust of the public of London in the Metropolitan Police. Finally,

:15:31.:15:34.

the Metropolitan Police, the Metropolitan Police officers and

:15:34.:15:39.

staff are proud of. After joining the South Yorkshire force and an

:15:39.:15:45.

earlier spell at the met Bernard Hogan-Howe was appointed Merseyside

:15:46.:15:49.

Police constable. One of his prioritys was tackling gun crime.

:15:49.:15:54.

He is targeted with cutting down crime generally. Here are a few of

:15:54.:15:58.

the challenges he is facing.. Restoring the reputation of the

:15:58.:16:02.

force after the phone hacking affair, and criticism of policing

:16:02.:16:07.

during the riots. Then there are the cuts which have angered

:16:07.:16:12.

officers of all sets. Then the Olympics - all eyes will be on the

:16:12.:16:16.

Met. Bernard Hogan-Howe showed he wanted to have a relentless focus

:16:16.:16:19.

on driving down crime. He has an extraordinary record in Merseyside.

:16:19.:16:25.

He has cut it by 40% w a variety of innovative techniques and the Home

:16:25.:16:29.

Secretary and I were agreed he is the man. The two previous men in

:16:29.:16:35.

the job failed to see out their terms of office. The big question

:16:35.:16:39.

now is, will Bernard Hogan-Howe survive the pressure of the top of

:16:39.:16:46.

Scotland Yard? Coming up: Six months on, we

:16:46.:16:50.

revisit a Japanese town recover from the tsunami. We talk to some

:16:51.:16:58.

of the survivors. David Cameron has been visiting Moscow, the first

:16:58.:17:01.

visit by a British Prime Minister since 2005. Relations between the

:17:01.:17:06.

UK and Russia have been strained since the Russian dissident,

:17:06.:17:11.

Alexander Litvinenko, was murdered in London in 2006. Russia has

:17:11.:17:14.

refused to extradite the prime suspect. Mr Cameron raised the case

:17:14.:17:18.

at the start of his visit today, but appealed for a new approach to

:17:19.:17:22.

build bridges between the two countries. Our deputy editor sent

:17:22.:17:27.

this report. This is the first time that

:17:27.:17:31.

Vladimir Putin has met David Cameron. That's not all - it's the

:17:31.:17:35.

first time he's spoken to him or any British Prime Minister since

:17:35.:17:39.

2007. Today, you could see the years of miss trust and tension on

:17:39.:17:43.

their faces. This is what soured relations for

:17:43.:17:46.

so long - the Russian activist Alexander Litvinenko, who was

:17:46.:17:51.

poisoned to death in London in 2006. Britain wants his alleged killer

:17:51.:17:57.

extradited to the UK for trial. Russia is saying "No." Mr Cameron

:17:57.:18:01.

raised the issue today, but also said he wanted to work on Britain's

:18:01.:18:03.

relationship with Russia beyond the Litvinenko case.

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REPORTER: How can you come here and bang the drum for British business

:18:08.:18:11.

while the suspected killer of Alexander Litvinenko is being

:18:11.:18:15.

protected by the Russian state? I don't understand how you can part

:18:15.:18:19.

the issue without being accused of putting trade before human rights?

:18:19.:18:22.

This has not been parked. The fact is the two Governments don't agree.

:18:22.:18:27.

It remains an issue between Britain and Russia. We have not changed our

:18:27.:18:30.

position about that and the Russians have not changed their

:18:30.:18:37.

position. But I don't think that means that we freeze the entire

:18:37.:18:44.

relationship. But President Meadows said that Russia's constitution

:18:44.:18:50.

meant the main suspect -- Medvedev said that the main suspect would

:18:50.:18:57.

never be extradited abroad. Mr Cameron refused his request for

:18:57.:19:01.

both country's spies to co-operate again. They agreed trade deals

:19:01.:19:07.

worth �200 million. On a personal level both men got on well.

:19:07.:19:11.

Cameron suggested this morning that the KGB try and recruit him on a

:19:12.:19:16.

visit here in 1985. Do you think it would have made -- do you think he

:19:16.:19:22.

would have made a good KGB agent? The answer is no. Let's be clear

:19:22.:19:27.

about that! He came to Moscow not to end all the divisions but to may

:19:27.:19:34.

respects and get both sides talking again. On that modest theme he

:19:34.:19:38.

seems to have succeeded. Six months have passed since north-eastern

:19:39.:19:43.

Japan was struck by a powerful earthquake and tsunami. Around

:19:43.:19:47.

16,000 people are known to have died. 5,000 are still officially

:19:48.:19:52.

classed as missing. Our correspondent, who reported on the

:19:52.:19:55.

immediate aftermath of the disaster has been back to the town of

:19:55.:19:58.

Rikuzentakata to catch up with one of the survivors and he sent this

:19:58.:20:04.

report. The water you'd think for a tsunami

:20:05.:20:13.

survivor would be terrifying. Six months ago Chihiro Kanno was

:20:13.:20:18.

swallowed by the waves. She saw more than half her swimming team

:20:18.:20:24.

swept away. Today, she is back in training and says it holds no fear.

:20:24.:20:29.

When Japan's earthquake unleashed a tsunami her team was swimming near

:20:29.:20:35.

the seashore. This is new footage of that day. Under the footage

:20:35.:20:41.

their town of Rikuzentakata lies submerged T building the arches is

:20:41.:20:45.

where she was trapped. Not long after the disaster, her teacher

:20:45.:20:51.

showed us how she survived. The mark on the wall shows the tiny

:20:51.:20:56.

space where she found she could breathe. Of her team-mates, seven

:20:56.:21:00.

died. She had been gripping one friend's hand, trying to pull her

:21:00.:21:08.

to safety. The water tore them apart.

:21:08.:21:12.

When I'm alone I cannot help thinking about my friends who died.

:21:12.:21:21.

I really long to see them again. Chihiro's town, so badly damaged,

:21:21.:21:27.

is trying to move on too. There is a massive effort to sift and shift

:21:27.:21:32.

the wreckage. 1,500 people died when Rikuzentakata was washed away.

:21:32.:21:36.

2,000 more have since packed their bags and left. Their homes and

:21:36.:21:40.

livelihoods gone. Getting on with the job of re-building is the

:21:40.:21:44.

urgent priority for the survivors here in Rikuzentakata. They have

:21:44.:21:47.

started drawing up plans. They fear if nothing is done more people will

:21:47.:21:56.

leave this town and it will slowly wither and die. Chihiro's family

:21:56.:22:01.

and 2,000 others are in temporary housing. A huge emergency budget

:22:01.:22:04.

promised for reconstruction has not materialised. Her grandfather is

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one of 200 people from the town presumed dead, but of whom no trace

:22:09.:22:13.

has been found. TRANSLATION: What do I think about

:22:13.:22:17.

the Government? Not much! Our politicians have been fighting over

:22:17.:22:21.

who should be Prime Minister. This is not a time for that. We've come

:22:21.:22:29.

to expect nothing from them. As for Chihiro, it's her swimming

:22:29.:22:33.

that keeps her from dwelling on memories of the tsunami. When I'm

:22:33.:22:37.

swimming I don't have to think about anything, I just empty my

:22:37.:22:47.
:22:47.:22:50.

mind. That's why I like it so much. More than 80 Conservative MPs have

:22:50.:22:53.

met tonight to discuss Britain's future in Europe. The MPs say they

:22:53.:22:58.

want to see their concerns discussed more widely in the

:22:58.:23:01.

Conservative Party. Our political correspondent is at Westminster for

:23:01.:23:06.

us. What did they decide, if anything? Well, the organisers of

:23:06.:23:09.

tonight's meeting could not find a room big enough to make sure

:23:09.:23:13.

everyone got a seat. There was a lot of interest from Conservative

:23:13.:23:18.

MPs tonight. They did not decide anything, except to look into the

:23:18.:23:23.

issue of Europe a bit more closely. They were discussing the eurozone

:23:23.:23:27.

crisis, which many MPs feel provides an opportunity for Britain

:23:27.:23:31.

to re-negotiate its relationship with the EU and perhaps take some

:23:31.:23:35.

powers back from Brussels. Does this represent some kind of Euro-

:23:35.:23:39.

sceptic challenge to David Cameron of the kind we saw in the 1990s

:23:39.:23:45.

that tore the party apart? No, it doesn't. Many of the MPs who came

:23:45.:23:48.

out of that meeting stressed how they want to co-operate with the

:23:48.:23:53.

Government to come up with a coherent message. If difficulty

:23:53.:23:58.

will be if the eurozone gets worse, the MPs will want a tougher line.

:23:58.:24:02.

They will be in less of a mind to co-operate with the Liberal

:24:02.:24:05.

Democrats. As one MP said tonight, there is a storm brewing over the

:24:05.:24:09.

issue. Thank you. High winds have battered

:24:09.:24:14.

parts of Britain today. One driver died when a tree hit a car in

:24:14.:24:17.

county Durham. Winds of more than 70 miles per hour brought down the

:24:17.:24:22.

roof on this factory in Scotland, Wales and the north of England have

:24:22.:24:27.

been worse hit, with power cuts and transport disruption.

:24:27.:24:34.

It has taken eight days and a distance of 140 miles. Tonight, the

:24:34.:24:38.

comedian David Walliams completed his swim from the source of the

:24:38.:24:43.

river Thames to Westminster Bridge. Despite suffer from a stomach bug

:24:43.:24:46.

and some rather polluted water, he raised more than �1 million for

:24:46.:24:56.
:24:56.:24:57.

charity. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

:24:57.:25:01.

Exhusted but exhilarated. The end of the epic swim. He always knew it

:25:01.:25:05.

would be difficult, but he never knew how tough it would end up

:25:05.:25:10.

being. It was a lot colder than I thought. The weather wasn't good. I

:25:10.:25:17.

got ill. There were a lot of things against me. I just knew if I kept

:25:17.:25:21.

putting one arm in front of the other I would eventually get there.

:25:21.:25:26.

Since he started, eight days and 140 miles ago, in Gloucestershire,

:25:26.:25:31.

braving the Thames Waters in just a ware of trunks he has not only

:25:31.:25:35.

faced the strain of his ordeal, but on top of that vomiting and

:25:35.:25:40.

diarrhoea, not to mention the knowledge that 500,000 cubic metres

:25:40.:25:47.

of sewerage have poured into the river this week, requiring him to

:25:47.:25:51.

take precautionary antibiotics and inoculations. He said the support

:25:51.:25:56.

he received along the way kept him going, despite all the problems.

:25:56.:26:03.

was completely overwhelmed with the generosity of the British public.

:26:03.:26:10.

They came out and saw me and waved and cheered. It made it easier.

:26:10.:26:15.

Many celebrities give their time to energy. He has combined his fame

:26:15.:26:18.

with tiz extraordinary commitment to try and make a difference. The

:26:18.:26:25.

end of the journey marks the perfect start for Sport Relief's

:26:25.:26:30.

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