Browse content similar to 12/09/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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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 | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
the only water I want to see for quite a while! | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
And I will be here with Sportsday later on the BBC News Channel, as | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
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 | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
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, | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
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 | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
protection, retail banks would have to hold capital equivalent to at | :02:55. | :02:59. | |
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 | :03:09. | :03:14. | |
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 | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
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 | :03:40. | :03:47. | |
fixed? That a great banking crisis of 2007-8 saw massive costs heaped | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
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 | :04:13. | :04:18. | |
and borrowers, especially bigger companies that borrow. We can't -- | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
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 | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
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 | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
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 | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
reforms as a disaster. What does a former banker on the commission | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
think of that? I have no sympathy for that. It is neither a disaster | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
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 | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
high street, easier and faster switching, these are things the | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
Government should introduce now. King Louis, there was little | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
disagreement between government -- strikingly, there was little | :05:27. | :05:33. | |
disagreement between government and opposition on this. But there: if | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
we do not move quickly, small businesses and consumers will end | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
up paying a price the banks should be buried. | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
A new banking industry, not growing as much, perhaps, but possibly more | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
stable and less dangerous. In a moment, Nick Robinson is in | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
Downing Street. First, Robert is with me here. You gave us a flavour | :05:54. | :05:59. | |
of some of the bankers' responses. Are they going to put up a fight? | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
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 | :06:12. | :06:16. | |
banks have come out and, on the record. In general, they say they | :06:16. | :06:22. | |
will do their best with these reforms, because they recognise | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
that the public mood, and the mood of Westminster, is for change. And | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
that is not surprising. We should not forget that the credit crunch | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
started four years ago. The great banking crisis was three years ago, | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
and economic growth is still very weak in this country. Unemployment | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
is still intractably high, and most of our current economic mess, a lot | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
of it can be laid at the door of the banks and the excesses they | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
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 | :07:01. | :07:06. | |
banks' fault, as many believe, this is a once in a generation | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
opportunity to make sure we do not get into the same mess again in the | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
future. It is a very big moment. Our political editor Nick Robinson | :07:14. | :07:21. | |
is in Downing Street for us tonight. So there has been a broad political | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
consensus today. Is that going to hold? At there certainly was today, | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
and we do not know whether it will hold. This was built up as a kind | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
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 | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
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 | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
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 | :08:19. | :08:22. | |
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 | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
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 | :09:07. | :09:12. | |
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 | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
were sleeping and one of those rooms when the raid happened. The | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
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 | :10:07. | :10:14. | |
Somali border is just 90 minutes away. In this village just along | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
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 | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
Bishop's Stortford has been sealed off by the police. For friends, | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
there is sadness and shock as they take in what happened. He was such | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
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 | :11:03. | :11:13. | |
to fight, especially someone with a gun. The suspicion here in Kenya is | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
that either Somali pirates or the Al-Qaeda link to Islamist group Al- | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
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- | :11:36. | :11:38. | |
in-law, James Connors, were arrested at the caravan park near | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
Leighton Buzzard, where police found and four men who were forced | :11:41. | :11:48. | |
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. | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
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 | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
a good look. This is the first glimpse of Bani Walid. It is like | :12:46. | :12:51. | |
one of those faceless frontier towns in cowboy films. Small, dusty | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
and arid. There is no land worth fighting for here, no oil either. | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
But it is where Libya's revolution ends and the green flag of Colonel | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
Gaddafi still flies. This is now the edge of Bani Walid. We are on | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
the northern side of the town. This is the frontline of the rebel | :13:10. | :13:14. | |
position and we believe Colonel Gaddafi's troops are down that road. | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
It is unsafe to go further. What is interesting about this conflict is | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
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 | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
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 | :14:02. | :14:08. | |
inside their homes, scared, tired and hungry. The commander here says | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
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 | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
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 | :14:46. | :14:55. | |
appointment was announced today. Mr Hogan-Howe takes over at a very | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
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. | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
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 | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
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. |