02/11/2011 BBC News at Ten


02/11/2011

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Tonight at Ten: On the eve of the G20 summit the crisis talks are

:00:11.:00:15.

already under way. France and Germany are fighting to save the

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euro rescue package agreed last week. They've summoned the Greek

:00:18.:00:22.

Prime Minister to explain his decision to hold a referendum. It

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could be a long night. We are working in a co-ordinated fashion,

:00:26.:00:31.

OK. There's a work to be done, a lot of it, but bear with us.

:00:31.:00:35.

will have the latest where the summit opens officially tomorrow.

:00:35.:00:40.

Also: A new pensions offer to public sector workers. Unions

:00:40.:00:43.

aren't impressed. Ministers say it's the best they'll get. This is

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a strong set of pension reforms that will give you pensions that

:00:46.:00:50.

are still better than anything available in the private sector.

:00:50.:00:54.

After months of protests in Syria, the regime promises an end to the

:00:54.:00:58.

violent crackdown. The Archbishop breaks his silence

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on the St Paul's demonstration. He says the protesters do have a case.

:01:03.:01:07.

And David Beckham tells us about his hopes of competing in London

:01:07.:01:13.

2012. We all dream about it, we all think about it. If it happens, then

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I would be honoured. I will be here with Sportsday later,

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including the best of the goals from tonight's Champions League

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:01:33.:01:46.

matches on a great night for City Good evening. Leaders of the

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world's richest nations, the G20, are in the south of France for a

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summit that starts officially tomorrow but crisis talks are

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already under way. The French and German leaders have summoned the

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Greek prime minister to explain his decision to hold a referendum on

:02:02.:02:09.

the latest bail-out package. Live to Cannes for the latest with our

:02:09.:02:14.

Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt. Well, the big showdown meeting

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between the French and German leaders and the Greek Prime

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Minister is over, tough words were spoken. There was a lot of

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irritation expressed at the decision to hold a referendum, but

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there is a huge frustration that essentially everyone's going to

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have to learn to live with uncertainty until the Greek people

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have cast their vote. Some of the world's most powerful

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leaders and officials arrived in Cannes ahead of the G20 summit, but

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hanging over the meeting the latest crisis in the eurozone. We are

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going to do a little bit of business here, OK. The French

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President was playing host, and found himself waiting for ten

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minutes for the Chinese President, but on his mind was the shock

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decision by the Greeks to call a referendum on the bail-out plan. It

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put in jeopardy the entire agreement reached by the EU last

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week. So, before the summit he and the German Chancellor and European

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leaders held an emergency meeting. The Greeks would be told there

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would be no reopening of negotiations. There were also

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strong hints that Greece might not get its latest tranche of bail-out

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money until after the referendum. When the Greek Prime Minister,

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George Papandreou, arrived there was no French President to greet

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him. Europe's leaders are furious with him. If the tkpraoebg people

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vote no it could lead to a Greek default with enormous consequences

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for Europe. The French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, said

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Greece had to decide where its future lay. TRANSLATION:

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The Greeks must understand that Europe cannot spend long weeks

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waiting for the response they will give at the referendum. The Greeks

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must thus say quickly and unambiguously whether or not they

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are choosing to keep their place in the eurozone.

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Back here in Cannes, George Papandreou is being urged if there

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is to be a referendum, hold it as quickly as possible, don't wait

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until the new year. There is also pressure over the question that

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would be asked, the Greek Government insists the people would

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simply be asked whether they approved of the bail-out deal. The

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French, in particular, would much prefer a question that asked the

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Greeks whether they wanted to remain inside the eurozone, or

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outside. There are limits to what pressure can do, however, it would

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now be almost impossible for the Greek Prime Minister to back off

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holding a vote. The fear is that until the referendum is resolved,

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there will be uncertainty and that's damaging to the world

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economy. Well, the Greek Prime Minister,

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George Papandreou, will leave here, he won't be attending the G20 and

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on Friday he faces a vote of confidence. It will be very tight,

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it will be something of a cliff- hanger. If he was to lose that

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almost certainly would trigger elections and that, of course,

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would lead to further instability and uncertainty. All of that will

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be very much on the minds of the G20 leaders when they gather here

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tomorrow. Thank you very much.

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The impact of a 'no' vote in any Greek referendum and a consequent

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failure by that country to pay its debts is already being considered

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in European capitals. Such an outcome would certainly have

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implications for the British economy, but, as our business

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editor Robert Peston explains, it would be an event of global

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importance. The eurozone's financial crisis

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started in Greece 19 19 months ago and is still in Greece but has

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spread to Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, and perhaps most worrying

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of all, Italy, with its huge Government debts.

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So why does it matter that the Greek referendum could lead to

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Greece unilaterally regeging on its debts or withdrawing from the euro?

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You can't really get this one country out and say the rest does

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not have similar implications. This is one of the crucial problems that

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other countries have similar, not as massive problems as Greece, and

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as long as you have this threat investors will think about it.

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point is that last week's painfully negotiated eurozone bail-out

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package doesn't have the money to cope with the stresses and losses

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this will be generated for countries and banks by a Greek

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default or exit from the euro and it's Italy that looks most

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vulnerable. It le's -- lit's problem is the Government debt is

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huge. A fifth higher than economists see

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as healthy. Creditors have become nervous about whether they'll be

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repaid so they're charging Italy record amounts to borrow an

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interest rate of more than 5% for a one-year loan, more than the 0.3%

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paid by Germany. Disaster for Italy which has to borrow around 300

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billion euros next year would be if investors took fright and stopped

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lending. So it's vital for Europe's bail-out fund to have enough money

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to fill that gap. When it's one trillion euros of firepower enough?

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One trillion is probably not enough. We have seen the spreading of the

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crisis of the last few months to countries like Italy and Spain and

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even before that crisis spreading to those countries we thought that

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two trillion was probably already necessary, so one trillion not

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enough to stablise the situation I am afraid. The Italian Prime

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Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and his cabinet under pressure from

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Germany and other eurozone members to accelerate moves to improve

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Government finances have been meeting in emergency session today.

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We as the Government are doing everything that was agreed with

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Europe. As for Greece, well the IMF is threatening to turn off its

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financial life support machine until after the referendum result

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is known. Will such pressure persuade Greek people to vote for

:08:20.:08:24.

the new bail-out package which would see Greece staying in the

:08:24.:08:28.

eurozone circle or will Greece break the circle with who knows

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what painful consequences for it and for us?

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Let's explore the impact of this crisis in more detail. Stephanie

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Flanders, our economics editor, is in Cannes for us tonight and our

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political editor is in Downing Street. Nick, a new dimension to

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this row tonight with direct implications for the British

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taxpayer. The British Government is preparing to lend more money to the

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International Monetary Fund knowing that it in turn will lend more

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money to stricken eurozone countries, perhaps to Greece,

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depending what happens in these talks in the next few days, to

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Italy and to Spain. David Cameron heads to those talks in Cannes

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tomorrow with a solution that he hopes for, that the eurozone gets

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its act together and gets that deal back on the road, one that he fears

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that the Greeks pull out of the euro, causing possibly awful

:09:19.:09:23.

economic dislocation around the globe and finally, that one he is

:09:23.:09:28.

preparing for, giving more money to the IMF. Now this is very delicate

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political territory for the Government. The Chancellor has

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consistently said British taxpayers' money would not go to

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the eurozone direct, not via the IMF to the eurozone. How do they

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get around this problem? Well, what he is likely to argue is that the

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International Monetary Fund just needs to be bigger, to help other

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countries, like Mexico, not just the eurozone countries, but in

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reality, British taxpayers' cash will end up going to those

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countries and the Government will only have to say we hope, we

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believe, we will get it back. Stephanie, how do you see the

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impact of all this, not just for Britain but for the global economy

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really? Well, I have actually just come from a big room where many,

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many journalists from all over the world are waiting for President

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Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel to give a joint statement, presumably

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to report on their meetings with the Greek Prime Minister, the

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managing director of the IMF I am told is meeting with him right now.

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All of this is about trying to salvage something from this summit

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which President Sarkozy had such high hopes for. He thought that

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there were going to be rewriting the rules of the global financial

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system, changing the approach to economic development. Instead, the

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whole thing has been blown open by a country that's not even in the

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G20, Greece. I think what we are seeing now with these meetings

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before the formal proceedings begin is effort to put the summit on the

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right foot and I think to put the emphasis to go back to what Nick

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was saying, put the emphasis not so much on Greece, but on what is

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going to be done to protect our countries from the fallout of what

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happens in Greece. There is a feeling with officials around here

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that Greece is nearing the end of the road and what's really crucial

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is to be able to say tomorrow or Friday credably to the financial

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markets in a way that European leaders were not able to say last

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week, look, we are not sure what's going to happen to Greece but we do

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know we have the capacity, the financial capacity, to protect

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other countries from any contagion from what happens in Greece. People

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watching at home might not care what happens in Greece, a lot of

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people in the eurozone might not care, but we all care about that

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fallout, that contagion being contained. Thank you. Public sector

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workers have been offered a new deal on their pension. Ministers

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say it's their best and final offer. The unions say it's not enough and

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they're still planning a day of strikes at the end of the month.

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Under the latest plans, workers retiring in the next ten years

:11:57.:12:00.

would be protected and new pensions would grow more quickly. But staff

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would still have to pay higher contributions and many would have

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to work longer. Our chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym has the

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details. Today a new front opened up in the

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battle over public sector pensions, with the results of a ballot on

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industrial action by one union due tomorrow the Government has come up

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:12:31.:12:32.

with a new offer, what it's calling a very big move. Everyone will keep

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what they've built up so far. Anyone within ten years of

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retirement will see no change in their pension pension arrangements

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and people in the public sector will actually still get far, far

:12:39.:12:43.

better pensions than people in the private sector. Under the new

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proposals public sector workers aged 50 or over won't have to work

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longer, they'll get the same pension as before. The value of

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pension benefits will rise faster across the board, Government

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contributions will be higher. But there is no compromise on a change

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to a less generous inflation measurement or on higher employee

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kbgses - contributions. Those under 50 will have to work longer before

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getting a full pension. At the TUC union leaders gave this reaction to

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the proposals. We want to resolve this by negotiation without the

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need for further industrial action, that's -- that's always been our

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position. But there's no doubt there are very, very big barriers

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still in the way of us being able to reach an agreement.

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Union leaders acknowledge that the Government has made concessions,

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but they say the detail will now need to be looked at and how it

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applies to different bits of the public sector like health and

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education. At this stage there's no suggestion that the day of action

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and planned walkouts for the end of November will be called off.

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The Government's made a couple of concessions, they're not willing to

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give ground on the question of member member contributions, that's

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the one concession they're still looking for. Ministers say the new

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offer could be withdrawn if there's no agreement. They also acknowledge

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that even if ballots deliver strike mandates for the end of this month

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talks will continue beyond then, but they'll have to be a cut-off

:14:08.:14:13.

The Arab League group of nations says that Syria has agreed to its

:14:13.:14:16.

appeals for an end to the violent crackdown on protestors. The UN

:14:16.:14:18.

estimates that 3,000 people have died in seven months of anti-

:14:18.:14:22.

government protests. According to the prime minister of Qatar, Syria

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has been told to take its tanks off the streets, release political

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prisoners and allow foreign journalists into the country to

:14:27.:14:37.
:14:37.:14:39.

monitor events. Jeremy Bowen is with me. Will it work? The question

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no one knows. If it doesn't work, he will make more enemies than he

:14:43.:14:53.
:14:53.:14:53.

already has. He also says that... The thing about President Assad, he

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has made earlier promises to do things like pull back the army and

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he hasn't done that. In this, he might feel he has room for

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manoeuvre. He says that violent extremists and criminals are trying

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to take over Syria and he is fighting against them. Other

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questions, how do you fire -- defined a political prisoner before

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you release in? Free movement for journalists, will they be able to

:15:20.:15:24.

go around and report what is happening? If this goes ahead as

:15:24.:15:32.

expected, or as wanted by the Arab League, those demonstrators may

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well parade in their thousands and declare victory and what does the

:15:37.:15:41.

regime do then? Your Coming up on tonight's programme:

:15:41.:15:44.

After Beckham in Beijing, all eyes on London 2012 as he reveals he'd

:15:45.:15:54.
:15:55.:15:56.

As the G20 leaders gather in the south of France and Europe's

:15:56.:15:59.

economies slide towards another crisis, the search for a solution

:15:59.:16:04.

has led many to look towards China. With plenty of cash from its huge

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export industry, China is seen as a promising source of help with the

:16:07.:16:11.

euro bail out scheme. Our China correspondent, Damian Grammaticas,

:16:11.:16:12.

has visited the country's manufacturing heartland in

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Guangdong to see if China really can provide a solution to Europe's

:16:15.:16:25.
:16:25.:16:31.

The peaceful canals of Venice. Not quite. This is China, with enough

:16:31.:16:35.

cash to recreate gondolas in a shopping mall. In its hour of need,

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Europe is hoping China will sail to its rescue. The problem is China

:16:40.:16:43.

has already said it would be Europe's saviour. This country is

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starting to get rich, but has a host of problems of its own end you

:16:48.:16:51.

only have to look at this place, some people call it the great

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shopping mall of China, to see why. It's empty. Built six years ago to

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be the biggest mall and the world, the few shops that moved in have

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mostly closed. If Europe thinks Chinese consumers are the answer to

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its economic woes, it needs to think again. I certainly don't

:17:09.:17:15.

think China could actually save the world or on its own. Chinese

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consumption is big and it is increasing and everybody forecasts

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it to be growing at a very high rate, but still it is a very small

:17:23.:17:28.

part of global consumption. China was a bright spot when the global

:17:28.:17:33.

crisis hit three years ago. Then it pumped money into its economy,

:17:33.:17:37.

cities like this all the way. China may not be able to repeat that

:17:37.:17:42.

trick. Now it is trying to rein in inflation, but the building blimp -

:17:42.:17:47.

- boom is slowing. You can see the impact here. Recycling scrap metal

:17:48.:17:54.

used to be profitable. China's economy is poor. Metal demand has

:17:54.:17:58.

gone down. International prices have gone down and prices in China

:17:58.:18:04.

have dropped. For and a slowing China is vulnerable, especially if

:18:04.:18:09.

there's a downturn in Europe, its major overseas market. Choi was

:18:09.:18:13.

biggest export fair, on this week, the turnover is roughly equivalent

:18:13.:18:18.

to the turnover of a small nation like Lithuania. But Europe's crisis

:18:18.:18:23.

is already hitting orders. Some of them don't attend. Some of your

:18:23.:18:28.

buyers are becoming? Sure. And the people who are here, are they

:18:28.:18:34.

buying much? I don't think so. course many malls in China are

:18:34.:18:37.

doing well, but at the Great Mall they are having to let some shops

:18:38.:18:43.

stay rent-free just as fill space. TRANSLATION: There are fewer and

:18:43.:18:47.

fewer people coming. I think the economy is getting worse. Sunday's

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not a single person even walks into this shop. -- summer days. Like its

:18:53.:18:57.

shoppers, China may decide it is better to hold on to its cash in

:18:57.:19:03.

uncertain times rather than bail out Europe right now. Paddy

:19:03.:19:05.

The Archbishop of Canterbury says the protestors camped outside St

:19:05.:19:07.

Paul's Cathedral are expressing 'a widespread and deep exasperation

:19:08.:19:13.

with the financial establishment'. Dr Williams has broken his silence

:19:13.:19:17.

on the crisis at St Paul's by calling for a new tax on financial

:19:17.:19:19.

transactions and insisted that the protestors had little faith in the

:19:19.:19:23.

current pace of reform. He spoke to our religious affairs correspondent

:19:23.:19:33.
:19:33.:19:34.

A protest about banks became a debate about whether the Church was

:19:34.:19:38.

standing up for Christian values. Today its leader tried to wrest

:19:38.:19:43.

back control of the debate. Dr Williams said people were

:19:43.:19:47.

frustrated by bankers irresponsible behaviour and their soaring bonuses.

:19:47.:19:51.

People still feel that the public is very more of the cost and they

:19:51.:19:57.

should. An occasion like a protest outside St Paul's has been a focus

:19:57.:20:01.

for people's feelings. Even if they haven't known exactly what they

:20:01.:20:06.

have wanted. What would you say to criticism that you have been slow

:20:06.:20:10.

in exercising your own leadership, two weeks on. Judging the right

:20:10.:20:13.

time to say something is always difficult and it may not have got

:20:13.:20:17.

it right. This is what I would like to say now. The protest at St

:20:17.:20:21.

Paul's as well as the wider economic crisis represents an

:20:21.:20:26.

opportunity as well as a danger. He wants the Church to seize back the

:20:26.:20:29.

initiative, but Christian concern for the Palace at the centre of the

:20:29.:20:33.

debate. So today he has challenged the government to use the upcoming

:20:33.:20:38.

meeting of the G20 to back controversial proposals for a tax

:20:38.:20:42.

on financial transactions. The so- called Robin Hood tax would place a

:20:42.:20:47.

levy on millions of share, bond and currency transactions. Dr Williams

:20:47.:20:52.

said the tax could answer the campaigners's moral agenda. When

:20:52.:20:57.

you have a scheme like this that is backed by a lot of very serious

:20:57.:21:04.

economists, people who can't be represented as antique applet to

:21:04.:21:08.

lists, there has to be something said for it. Protesters welcomed

:21:08.:21:14.

the intervention. A lot of powerful interventions -- individuals are

:21:14.:21:18.

starting to raise questions. People have a real sense of zeal and

:21:18.:21:21.

commitment and it has a nice answer to the critics saying this is a

:21:21.:21:27.

pointless exercise. Protesters claim tonight the City of London

:21:27.:21:29.

Corporation had delayed legal action, allowing them to stay until

:21:29.:21:33.

the new year. That call for a new tax on

:21:33.:21:36.

financial transactions is also being backed by one of the world's

:21:36.:21:40.

richest men, Bill Gates, the former head of Microsoft. He'd like some

:21:40.:21:43.

of the billions raised to be spent on helping the world's poorest

:21:43.:21:46.

communities. It's a message he's taking to leaders at the G20 summit

:21:46.:21:49.

in Cannes tomorrow. He spoke to my colleague George Alagiah before he

:21:49.:21:58.

Bill Gates is arguably the businessman of his age, the big

:21:58.:22:01.

beast of the information era. It made him one of the world's

:22:01.:22:06.

wealthiest men. But now he has turned his attention to the plight

:22:06.:22:12.

of the poor. Today he told me that helping them was in our interest.

:22:12.:22:17.

Not caring about the instability of these countries really would hurt

:22:17.:22:24.

our economic future quite dramatically, whether it is unrest,

:22:24.:22:29.

disease. On the other hand, if you bring these people into the world

:22:29.:22:35.

economy, then you get this very positive cycle. Few have now come

:22:35.:22:41.

to support something called the attacks on financial transactions.

:22:41.:22:45.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has come out today in support of that.

:22:45.:22:52.

Is that really something that will fly given the opposition? I don't

:22:52.:22:58.

know. It is clearly a political question. When we talk about the

:22:58.:23:03.

financial transaction tax, there's many flavours of this. What I was

:23:03.:23:08.

looking at, are other ways for countries that are falling a bit

:23:08.:23:13.

short of their aid commitments, are there ways they could raise money

:23:13.:23:18.

to get to those commitment levels? My expertise is being able to say,

:23:18.:23:25.

if you apply it to development aid, it will have a fantastic effect.

:23:25.:23:28.

For Bill Gates accepts these are tough and volatile times for the

:23:28.:23:32.

global economy, but he insists that the poor should not be sacrificed

:23:32.:23:42.
:23:42.:23:44.

to save the rich. I think steps have to be taken to restore

:23:44.:23:48.

confidence and vigour -- in the Government's paying their debts. I

:23:48.:23:54.

do think we can come out of this without taking the % or so that

:23:54.:23:58.

goes to the poorest and using that as a way to solve the problem.

:23:58.:24:03.

time tomorrow, Bill Gates will be at the summit in Cannes. He is

:24:03.:24:06.

determined to ensure that the voices of the poor are not

:24:06.:24:09.

forgotten when the world's most powerful politicians sit round a

:24:09.:24:12.

table. George Alagiah with the former head

:24:12.:24:17.

of Microsoft, Bill Gates. David Beckham has no plans to

:24:17.:24:20.

retire as a footballer in the foreseeable future and he hopes to

:24:20.:24:24.

represent the Great Britain football team at the 2012 Olympics.

:24:24.:24:27.

Beckham, who's currently with Los Angeles Galaxy, also says he will

:24:27.:24:32.

probably buy a US football franchise in the years ahead. He's

:24:32.:24:40.

been speaking to our sports editor For decades, people have been

:24:41.:24:45.

making the pilgrimage to this city seeking fame and fortune. When he

:24:45.:24:50.

came to Los Angeles five years ago, David Beckham already had both. His

:24:50.:24:55.

dream was to use his celebrity to help transform a nation of sporting

:24:55.:24:59.

habits. This season it has been his form on the pitch which has got

:24:59.:25:04.

Tinseltown talking. Guiding his club, the Galaxy, to within three

:25:04.:25:08.

games of the American title. But with his contract up at the end of

:25:08.:25:12.

the month, his time here could be coming to an end so has he helped

:25:12.:25:17.

football to break America? When I first came here, I always said it

:25:17.:25:22.

is not going to be a huge success in a year or two, there might be a

:25:22.:25:28.

buzz, but that has to continue. There was the buzz at the start,

:25:28.:25:32.

there's been new stadiums built, new franchises coming to this

:25:32.:25:35.

league, new players coming into this lead in this country, but

:25:35.:25:39.

there's still a way to go. David Beckham's time in America may not

:25:39.:25:43.

have completely delivered on all the ambitious targets he set

:25:43.:25:47.

himself, but he remains one of world football's most valuable

:25:47.:25:51.

brands. The question is, at the age of 36, how long he can continue

:25:51.:25:57.

playing. There is still interested in signing Beckham in Europe, most

:25:57.:26:02.

notably from Paris St-Germain. That is why he insists he is not ready

:26:02.:26:06.

to quit just yet. I think it is always difficult when you come

:26:06.:26:10.

towards the end of your career. It is always difficult making that

:26:10.:26:14.

decision about stopping. But I don't think I will have that

:26:14.:26:19.

problem. I will know when I need to finish. But that's not yet. To the

:26:19.:26:25.

City of London. As part of the London 2012 bid team, Beckham

:26:25.:26:30.

helped bring the Olympics to his home city. Now he is focused on

:26:30.:26:36.

playing a key role in the British football teams push for gold.

:26:36.:26:40.

still a kid when it comes to leading my country or playing for

:26:40.:26:46.

my country. Yes, we all dream about it, we all think about it. If it

:26:46.:26:51.

happens, I will be honoured. people will think it is a bit of an

:26:51.:26:54.

indulgence, we should be picking other players, we want the best

:26:54.:26:58.

team and maybe the youngest team. Maybe people will say that, but

:26:58.:27:02.

people have been saying that about me for the last 10 or 15 years and

:27:02.:27:07.

I have continued to play for my country. David Beckham could have

:27:07.:27:11.

used his time in LA to gently wind down after a long career in the

:27:11.:27:16.

spotlight. Instead, this American adventure has left his footballing

:27:16.:27:21.

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