15/11/2011 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10, no compromise in the row about relaxing controls at

Britain's borders. The claim is that passport checks were scaled

back beyond the limits set by ministers. The man suspended by the

Home Secretary Theresa May accuses her acting unfairly. Over 40 years,

I have built up a reputation. And over two days, that reputation has

been destroyed. But Brodie Clark himself faces new allegations.

Also tonight: at the Stephen Lawrence murder trial, the

prosecution says he was swallowed up by a group of white youths.

More calls for petrol price rises to be contained as motorists count

the cost. It has just gone through the roof. You are waiting to pay

the fuel bill. It is extortion. has probably doubled in the last

three years. How this list tallboy was saved by

a pioneering treatment for a liver disease.

And John Terry captains England for the first time since facing

accusations of racism. In Sportsday 1 BBC News, we have a

round-up of all the night's international football as the last

four places at the Euro 2012 finals Good evening. The Home Secretary is

still at loggerheads tonight with Brodie Clark, the man she suspended

from his post as head of the UK Border Force. Mr Clark has been

accused of relaxing passport controls without proper permission.

Today he acknowledged that controls were repeatedly relaxed, but he

denied doing anything wrong and accused Theresa May of destroying

his reputation. Our national border is meant to

look like and be a barrier to prevent the wrong people from

entering the country. But today we learnt just how many times this

year the normal checks had been suspended. Who is to blame? The and

Secretary Theresa May insists that the man who was the head of the UK

Border Force acted without her permission. Today he, Brodie Clark,

had a chance to answer back, telling MPs at first at least that

that was not true. I have not wilfully or knowingly sanctioned an

alteration to border checks that has contravened existing Home

Office policy. I am no rogue officer. Nothing could be further

from the truth. The man who was given a CBE for services to border

security was suspended before resigning last week in protest.

Over 40 years, I have built up a reputation. And over two days, that

reputation has been destroyed. I believe that has been largely from

the contributions made by the Home Secretary. What went wrong at our

borders has descended into a blame game. Theresa May insists that her

authority was defied. She had agreed to try out so-called risk

led checks, allowing border officers to do fewer tests on low-

risk groups like children. But she refused permission to suspend

fingerprint tests. Today the former head at the UK Border Force, Brodie

Clark, admitted that controls were relaxed, including fingerprint

checking, 50 times in just three months. He said that under another

policy, airport safety bosses could wave checks to ensure the safety of

passengers arriving at overcrowded airports. Tory MPs on the Home

Affairs Committee were desperate to find Mr Clark guilty and to prove

Theresa May innocent. So you suspended fingerprint checks before

you ask the Home Secretary? Is that correct? I asked the Home Secretary

on the fingerprint issue in respect of discretionary judgment by

frontline staff. In other words, he did allow checks to be suspended,

but only, he insisted, for safety reasons. Next, the man who

suspended him, the chief executive of the UK Border Agency, Rob White

month. The role of the senior official is to advise ministers and

then to implement their direction. It was clear that ministers wanted

fingerprint checks to be taken and that that had not been put into

effect. There are no fewer than three Home Office inquiries into

what went wrong and Britain's borders. But Labour says the public

should not have to wait for the answers. What the Home Secretary

told us last week is now unravelling, with the facts and

figures emerging this week. That is why she has to publish all of the

information, including instructions to the borders agency. It is clear

that Brodie Clark is not going to go quietly. I am not saying

anything. He will tomorrow, when he gives his first interview. Theresa

May is fast learning that hell hath no fury like an official scorned.

Nick, there has been a very sharp focus all along on Theresa May's

handling of this affair. How do you assess her situation tonight?

depends on your test. Her allies feel that the Home Secretary is

safe to back because they think the evidence we have today confirmed

that border checks were suspended, that she was not informed about

that and that the senior official, the chief executive of the borders

agency felt that Brodie Clark had exceeded his authority. But if you

ignore for just a second the he said/she said element of this and

focus on what most people care about Beyond Westminster, you end

up with this. We learnt that repeatedly, several times a week in

one period this year, border checks were suspended. Why? Because the

fear was that planes full of people would be unable to land at airports,

which would have planes full of people who were unable to go

through border controls, which were themselves full of people. That is

not how most people would want our borders to be. Therefore, although

Theresa May may feel that she is Securon he says/she says test, she

will know that in the end, she will be judged by the state of the UK

borders and that falling out so spectacularly with a previously

well-regarded official may not help her cause.

The prosecution has opened its case in the trial of two men accused of

murdering the black student Stephen Lawrence in south London 18 years

ago. The jury at the Old Bailey was told he was the victim of a totally

unprovoked racial attack by a gang of white youths. Gary Dobson, who

is 36, and 35-year-old David Norris deny murder. The court heard that

the new examination of all the evidence would be central to the

prosecution's case. The killing on the street on an

April night in 1993 has been endlessly scrutinised, but the dark

history of the Stephen Lawrence case has now entered a new chapter.

Opening the case, the prosecution today describe how Stephen was

swallowed up by the weight of numbers and forced to the ground

during the attack. Mark Ellison QC said Stephen and his friend had it

simply been trying to get a bus home. The court heard that as

Stephen looked for the bus, a group of young white men ran across the

road in front of him. One shouted racist abuse, and then they

attacked. Twain was further away. He managed to escape. But Stephen

fell to the ground with two knife wounds. His attackers ran off.

Stephen struggled to his feet. Bleeding, he got a short distance

down this road, but then collapsed. Stephen Lawrence was just 18 when

he died. There were eyewitnesses, but the case against David Norris

and Gary Dobson rests instead on their clothes, seized by police.

Four years ago, forensic scientists discovered a half a millimetre long

bloodstains soaked into Gary Dobson's jacket, which the

prosecution says matches Stephen's DNA. In an evidence bag containing

David Norris's jeans, a tiny hair, again claimed to match Stephen's.

Other forensic evidence includes clothing fibres and flakes of dried

blood, but Tim Roberts to peace -- QC, representing Gary Dobson, told

the jury that if the evidence were to be placed in a teaspoon for you

to examine, you probably would not be able to see it. He said it was a

pinch of material. The defendants argued that the bags containing

their clothes had been contaminated by debris from those containing

Stephen's over the many years since the killing. The prosecution said

there was no realistic possibility of that. Rather, these two men were

part of the group who attacked Stephen. His father, Neville and

mother Doreen are expected to attend every day of the trial,

likely to last at least six weeks. West Midlands police have tonight

charged a man with the kidnap of a ten-year-old boy who went missing

in Oldbury on Sunday morning. He disappeared during a shopping trip,

but a few hours later was spotted by a neighbour at inside a flat

near his home. Earlier this evening, MPs backed a

motion calling on the Government to consider new measures to tackle the

rising cost of petrol. The debate was triggered by an online petition

on the Downing Street website signed by more than 100,000 people.

Some MPs want next year's proposed rise in fuel duty to be scrapped.

The price of fuel fell slightly in October, helping to reduce the

level of inflation. The price of fuel is always a big

talking point for motorists, and today it was for MPs. As the House

of Commons debated scrapping a duty increase planned for January,

drivers made their views clear. has just gone through the roof. You

are working to pay the fuel bills. It is extortion. It is awful. They

always hit the motorists. You need to think of what people are earning

and what they have to pay out. Commons motion calling for the

planned three pence increase to be dropped was carried without a

formal vote, although it is not binding on the Government. Fuel

price rises contribute to inflation across the economy and the annual

rate fell slightly in October to 5%. Living cost increases include food

prices, which are 4.6% higher than a year ago. Clothes are up 4.7%.

Heating and other utility bills are nearly 20% higher, and those fuel

prices are up more than 15%. All of that is causing a few headaches for

Debbie O'Connor around her family. She runs a website business from

home. Her husband is an accountant. Even so, she has to think

constantly about price pressures and what that means for the

spending power. This time last year, I would have walked into a

supermarket and bought whatever I wanted. This year, I do look and I

am trying to find out what is lower-priced, because the things I

want to buy are going up all the time. There is price-cutting in

some parts of the high street, and many economists think that

inflation is on a downward track has been VAT hike will no longer be

in the calculations next year. can never be sure with inflation,

but I think this is probably the peak. We will now see inflation

falling steadily in the first part of next year and a sharp drop after

the beginning when the VAT falls out. By the end of the year,

inflation will be down. Households and businesses are facing a

continuing squeeze because of higher inflation, but the Bank of

England believes it will fall sharply. Its main concern is

looking a field over the next few years, is lack of growth. That will

be thrown into focus with the projections tomorrow. But shoppers

may feel it is too soon to say they are over the worst when it comes to

Legal action to clear the protest camp outside St Paul's cathedral is

to resume. Members of Occupy London Stock Exchange will be handed a

legal notice tomorrow. But in New York, a similar protest has been

dispersed by police, who have made 200 arrests. This report from Mark

Mardell. Clashes have been flaring up all day. The police are now as

much an enemy as the banks. It follows a night-time raid to end

the protest against corporate greed and inequality, which started here

and went global. To the authorities, it had become a health hazard.

police were pushing us. The woman in front of me could not back up,

and the police started beating her with batons. I went to help her and

we got sprayed with pepper spray. Over in California, police have

already evicted a similar occupation. In Oregon, another camp

has been cleared. By daybreak in New York, as the police set up

barricades around the freshly disinfected square, the protesters

returned. Some of them were good- humoured as they walked around the

square, so work furious. The police were ignoring a court order to let

them back in. If we get back in, they will know who we are. The mood

is changing between anger and frustration, dutiful demonstration

and almost a carnival atmosphere. But a lot of people are asking, is

this really having any impact on America? The men and women working

at Ground Zero have been watching the protesters for weeks. Everyone

I spoke to was pleased to have the park cleaned out. At lunchtime, we

only get 35-40 minutes, we like to sit in the park and have a

cigarette. But equally, they thought the protesters had a point.

Now, we can sit in the park and have lunch, like human beings.

do you think about what they were saying about the banks? Oh, that's

real. Wall Street... The message from the protesters, if not their

method, does it strike a chord in a country which is fed up with

Coming up tonight - how do you feel? Pretty good. The American

Congresswoman who nearly died in a gun attack has been describing her

Doctors in London have created a pioneering procedure which has

cured a baby of acute liver failure. The technique involved implanting

cells which supported the damaged organ, allowing it to regenerate.

It's been developed to provide a less invasive alternative to a

liver transplant, and as our medical correspondent Fergus Walsh

explains, the consequences could be This is a medical marvel. It is

hard to imagine, but six months ago, Aayad was close to death, a virus

was destroying his liver. Now, it is working normally. His parents

say their only child has been given back to them. It was great, once he

had the treatment, immediately, after 48 hours, things started to

get better. We are very proud of him. He's brilliant, he's a miracle

boy. What saved his life was not a transplant deep frozen human liver

cells. Scientists at King's College Hospital coated the cells with a

chemical found in algae to prevent Aayad's body from rejecting them.

Instead of going on a waiting list for a transplant, Aayad was given a

single injection of the cells. Their protective coating was porous,

allowing toxins to flow in, be processed, and waste products and

vital proteins to flow out. Immune cells were too big to enter, so

could not destroy the donor tissue. After two weeks his liver had

started to recover. The key benefit over a liver transplant is that

Aayad will never need anti- rejection drugs, immunosuppressants.

Doctors are delighted. It was only a few months back, he was so sick,

requiring support from dialysis and a breeding machine. And we think

that we have given him another chance of life. Seeing him now,

after six months, with a nearly normal liver, without a transplant,

is remarkable. But doctors are urging caution, this world first

might be a one-off, so a large clinical trial is planned. This is

a lovely example of bringing academic research and clinical

effort together in the NHS. The next step will be to see if this

could be used to help other patients with failing livers, who

currently need a transplant. Many patients died before receiving a

liver transplant, so it is hoped the treatment that saved Aayad may

The International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, who's

in Burma, has urged the country to release all its political prisoners.

Today he met the country's ruling generals and said he's cautiously

optimistic that a "proper" political dialogue has begun to

take place, a year after the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi

was released from house arrest. Our correspondent David Loyn is

travelling with Mr Mitchell, and sent this report from the capital.

Burma's military dictators built themselves a 20 lane highway at the

heart of their military capital, but nobody uses it much. There is

nobody here other than the civil servants who were forced to move up

overnight. But there is change in the air. Behind the walls of this

absurdly large building, a new parliament is in session. This is a

democratic country now, we have a democratic system, we have a

parliament, and all matters are discussed for the good of the

country. It all began with a new president, sworn in in March, who

surprised his country by the pace of change. It is early days, and

no-one would yet call this a democracy, but there are signs that

was just a rubber stamp for a military dictatorship is turning

itself into a real parliament. Britain is Burma's largest donor,

and this visit by the International Development Secretary is a chance

to test the new policies. He met the Speaker of the Burmese

Parliament, one of the key architects of reform and tipped as

a future president. Speaking to a foreign journalist for the first

time, Shwe Mann told me there is no turning back.

TRANSLATION: This process is irreversible now. But it will take

more than better debates in Parliament and more freedom for the

media and trade unions. Severe Western sanctions will remain while

Aung San Suu Kyi's party cannot stand in elections, hundreds of

prisoners remain behind bars, and ethnic conflicts rage on the border.

Governments in this region are judged on their actions, not warm

words. But it underlines the point that there are plenty of grounds

for optimism, but still a long way to go before the international

community will be able to signal that real progress has been made.

The workers waiting for a bus in their soulless new capital hope

that things are getting better, after more than half-a-century of

England have beaten Sweden 1-0 in a friendly match at Wembley. Victory

was secured with a goal from Gareth Barry in the first half. Our sports

correspondent, Dan Roan, is there for us tonight. Having missed

England's surprise triumph over Spain on Saturday, John Terry

insisted he was ready and willing to leave his country again for the

first time since racism allegations had been levelled against him.

Terry was under pressure both on and off the pitch, but his return

to the side was a triumphant one. It is a sight you do not often see

at Wembley, tickets available on the night of an England

international. Despite some late demand, this was the lowest

attendance here for 13 years. But if John Terry had been worried

about the reaction he would get from the stadium, he need not have

worried. This seemed like business as usual. England's victory over

Spain was built on defence, but tonight they had to show more in

attack. And they did just that, Gareth Barry scoring his country's

2000th international goal, with the assistance of a deflection off

Daniel Majstorovic. There were eight changes from Saturday, but

England's younger players were once again impressing. Jack Rodwell and

Phil Jones both went close. England were firmly on top. In a low-key

second half, neither side threatened, although Sebastian

Larsson's cross tested Scott Carson. Fabio Capello would have hoped for

more, but it remained 1-0. It was England's first victory over Sweden

for 43 years. So, while the majority of his rather

disappointing 48,000 crowd go home happy, over in Dublin, the entire

country is rejoicing, the Republic of Ireland are back in the big time

for the first time in a major championship for 10 years. Stephen

ward's goal secured a 1-1 draw for Ireland. They join England in the

Championships next summer in Poland and Ukraine. They could even meet

each other in the group stages. The The US Congresswoman who suffered

terrible injuries in a shooting earlier this year has spoken

publicly for the first time about her recovery. Gabrielle Giffords of

Arizona was attending a constituency event in January when

she was shot in the head. Six people died and 13 others were

injured in the attack. The story of her recovery over the past ten

months is a remarkable one, as Ian Pannell explains. This was Gabriel

Giffords a few weeks after she was shot in the head. And this is heard

today. How do you feel? Pretty good. This is a story of one woman's slow,

painful recovery. Was it hard? Difficult, difficult. But she is

also a US Congresswoman, and the attempt on her life and her

struggle back to health has captured the public imagination.

She was attacked during a meeting with constituents last January. Six

were killed, 13 were injured. She was critically wounded. Tissue from

her brain and part of her skull had to be removed. It was weeks before

she was well enough to be told what had happened, that so many had been

injured and killed. Sad. A lot of people died. It hurts your heart.

Yes. For the last 10 months, she has had to learn the basics of life

again, captured on film by her husband, as she learns how to walk

and talk. Songs have been used to help her recover her speech.

you sad? But it has been a long, difficult process. I would say,

Gabby, you have not been beaten, you have just been beaten up. You

will come back stronger than ever. Her progress has been remarkable,

but she still struggles to put thoughts into full sentences.

wants to get better. She's answering a question about whether