Browse content similar to 22/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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A Sunday Times journalist is among dozens of civilians killed and | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
wounded in the Syrian city of Homs. Marie Colvin was covering a two | :00:13. | :00:18. | |
week assault by government forces. A French photographer died with her. | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
This is a desperately sad reminder of the risks that journalists take | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events | :00:26. | :00:32. | |
in Syria, and our thoughts should be with her family and friends. | :00:32. | :00:34. | |
was an eye witness to one of the bloodiest weeks for the besieged | :00:34. | :00:40. | |
city. Tonight, a tribute from her mother. She was totally committed | :00:40. | :00:46. | |
to what she did and the importance of telling a story and writing it | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
and getting it out to the world No matter what. We will be asking if | :00:50. | :00:57. | |
today's events will help galvanise international opinion. Also, nine | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
cleared after a multi-million-pound trial in Belfast. The judge | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
dismisses supergrass evidence. Bringing Somalia back from the | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
brink on the eve of a London conference, we have a special | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
report. The talk is about a window of opportunity to stabilise this | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
country, but will the outside world and will Somalia seize the moment? | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
And nightclub bouncer gets 35 years for the murder of 19-year-old | :01:22. | :01:28. | |
Nikitta Grender. She was about to have a baby. And Cherie Blair and | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
the phone hacking scandal. She has launched a legal claim against | :01:32. | :01:39. | |
Rupert Murdoch's News Group. What tonight for Manchester City. They | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
put four goals past Porto to sail into the next round of the Europa | :01:43. | :01:53. | |
:01:53. | :02:08. | ||
One of the world's most respected war correspondents, Marie Colvin of | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
the Sunday Times, was among more than 20 people killed in that | :02:12. | :02:15. | |
Syrian city of Homs today. An award-winning French photographer | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
also died in the attack by Syrian troops, who'd been shelling the | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
city for almost three weeks. A British photographer was injured. | :02:23. | :02:26. | |
The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, described the brutal | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
crackdown by Syrian forces as a campaign of terror. The UN says | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
more than 5000 people have died in the 11 months of rising against the | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
rule of President Bashar Al-Assad. Some of the heaviest casualties | :02:38. | :02:47. | |
have been in Homs, and the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr. | :02:47. | :02:57. | |
:02:57. | :03:00. | ||
This report contains distressing Today's the shelling of Homs. | :03:00. | :03:08. | |
Relentless, indiscriminately. It has been like this every day for | :03:08. | :03:15. | |
almost three weeks. Syria's regime is trying to crush the revolution. | :03:15. | :03:25. | |
:03:25. | :03:26. | ||
The district of Baba Amr is trying to hold out but only just. Houses | :03:26. | :03:31. | |
have been reduced to rubble. This was the base of the few foreign | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
journalists here. Many people died when the building was hit. Among | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
them, Marie Colvin minus one of the most respected war correspondents | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
of her generation. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, she described an | :03:46. | :03:53. | |
attack on a city of cold and hungry civilians. It is absolutely | :03:53. | :04:01. | |
sickening. Just today shelling started at 6:30am. I counted 14 | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
attacks on a civilian area within 30 seconds. There's a small clinic. | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
You can't really call it a clinic, it's an apartment. There are | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
plastic bags hanging from coat- hangers. I watched a baby died | :04:13. | :04:20. | |
today, absolutely horrific. 82- year-old been hit. -- 8 two-year- | :04:20. | :04:25. | |
old been hit. Rafa had gone into the chest and the doctor said, I | :04:25. | :04:31. | |
can't do anything. He kept heaving until he died. That is happening | :04:31. | :04:38. | |
over and over. No one here can understand how the international | :04:38. | :04:46. | |
community can let this happen. French photographer, Remi Ochlik, | :04:47. | :04:52. | |
was also killed, and the Syrian video journalist, Rami al-Sayed. | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
The deaths were a reminder, said the British Foreign Secretary, that | :04:56. | :05:03. | |
scores were dying every day. The White House spoke of shameless | :05:03. | :05:10. | |
brutality in Syria. Such words are welcome in the Homs. But you must | :05:10. | :05:19. | |
move quickly, Becks this activist. -- says this activist. The British | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
photographer Paul Conroy was injured. There are efforts to get | :05:22. | :05:32. | |
:05:32. | :05:32. | ||
him out, with a wounded French journalist. But the ferocious | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
bombardment is making that difficult. The International | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
Committee of the Red Cross have called for a humanitarian ceasefire | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
for the victims of this conflict. The international community has | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
often seemed paralysed over Syria. The demand for a ceasefire may well | :05:50. | :05:55. | |
attract support from even those nations which backed the regime. | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
But with bombs continuing to fall on Homs, the question is whether | :05:59. | :06:07. | |
the Syrian government is listening. For nearly three decades Marie | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
Colvin reported from the world's most dangerous places. From Sierra | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
Leone to Chechnya, she drew attention to the plight of | :06:14. | :06:21. | |
civilians caught in conflict. Jeremy Bowen reports. Marie Colvin | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
was a great foreign correspondent. She was devoted to reporting the | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
news, to shining a light into the world's darkest corners. She wanted | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
her readers to know the truth. Especially true of powerful people | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
-- that powerful people preferred to keep hidden. The Middle East was | :06:40. | :06:47. | |
a speciality. I wish you were there. She believed she was a witness | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
there to report things that other people couldn't do. She believed in | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
getting into places where no other people could goal, and then she | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
would stay there and reported and try and made a difference. Marie | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
Colvin lost the sight of an eye covering the civil war in Sri Lanka | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
in 2001. The experience was traumatic but she went back to work. | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
If you are going to cover a war, you always weigh up the risks. I | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
had shrapnel in my eye and lost the sight in the left alive. There was | :07:16. | :07:23. | |
no way to go without taking that risk. Her mother said Murray was | :07:23. | :07:28. | |
about to leave Homs, and she died doing what she loved. I know she | :07:28. | :07:35. | |
did. She was totally committed to what she did. The importance of | :07:35. | :07:40. | |
telling stories and writing it and getting it out to the world No | :07:40. | :07:46. | |
matter what. That was her life. She told them that she was on a story | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
that was important and she wanted to finish it and that he would | :07:50. | :07:56. | |
leave today. That is really hard because it was just one day. | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
was a generous colleague. In Tripoli a year ago, Colonel | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
Gaddafi's people ask her to nominate two reporters to interview | :08:03. | :08:11. | |
him alongside her. Hello, Marie Colvin. She chose me and a member | :08:11. | :08:16. | |
of America's ABC News. She spoke with the fierce urgency of right | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
now. She was a warrior for the truth, she was on the front lines | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
of getting the word out. And the word about the people she was | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
covering. That was the most important thing for her. On Monday, | :08:27. | :08:33. | |
she sent me an e-mail from Homs, talking about the powerful plea she | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
had filed for the previous day's Sunday Times. She wrote, | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
yesterday's piece was one of those we got into journalism for. They're | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
killing with impunity here. It is sickening and anger making. Members | :08:45. | :08:48. | |
of the House will also have seen reports that the talented and | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
respected foreign correspondent of the Sunday Times, Marie Colvin, has | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
been killed from the bombing in Syria. This is a desperately sad | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
reminder of the risks that journalists take to inform the | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
world of what is happening and the dreadful events in Syria, and our | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
thoughts should be with her family and friends. In her e-mail to me | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
from Homs, she had a chuckle about the way she was smuggled into Syria. | :09:11. | :09:16. | |
She wrote, it was kind of fun speeding across the field on a dirt | :09:16. | :09:19. | |
bike, as long as you didn't look left to the Syrian post about 200 | :09:19. | :09:29. | |
:09:29. | :09:33. | ||
I'm joined now by our foreign affairs editor, John Simpson. You | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
knew Marie Colvin well, didn't you? I did. She injected a kind of | :09:38. | :09:45. | |
glamour into war corresponding, foreign corresponding which is | :09:45. | :09:50. | |
rather faded out of it. She seemed to me to be entirely in the | :09:50. | :09:55. | |
tradition of another famous American woman, Martha Gellhorn - | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
probably the best war correspondent of the 20th century. I am so glad | :10:00. | :10:06. | |
that when I saw Marie Colvin last, just before Christmas, I told her | :10:06. | :10:12. | |
that she was in Martha Gellhorn's footsteps and she was very glad. | :10:12. | :10:16. | |
Can events like today helped to galvanise international opinion? | :10:16. | :10:23. | |
think it is possible. After all, it has already been suggested that a | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
house where Marie Colvin was killed was targeted deliberately because | :10:28. | :10:37. | |
of her phone calls and broadcasts from there. That indicates an army, | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
that the Syrian army is out of the kind of control of the politicians | :10:41. | :10:46. | |
that you would expect... Politicians and the feeble Syrian | :10:46. | :10:52. | |
government. I am sure that is starting to play out. Just this | :10:52. | :10:58. | |
afternoon we heard Nicolas Sarkozy and -- saying, that's enough, this | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
regime must go. I think there is going to be an increasing feeling | :11:01. | :11:09. | |
that only on intervention will get rid of him. Northern Ireland's | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
first supergrass trial in 25 years has ended with nine men being | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
acquitted of charges relating to the murder of a loyalist leader 12 | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
years ago. The prosecution was based on evidence from two former | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, who gave evidence in return | :11:23. | :11:30. | |
for shorter prison terms. Walking free from court, nine men accused | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
of being in one of Northern Ireland's most notorious | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
paramilitary gangs. They celebrated with their friends after being | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
found not guilty of murder. They were accused of killing a loyalist | :11:43. | :11:48. | |
rival, Tommy English, during a paramilitary turf war 12 years ago. | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
His widow, Doreen English, watched today as the nine men accused of | :11:52. | :11:56. | |
murdering her husband were acquitted. I'm not happy about it | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
at the minute but we need to get thoughts about it. This was what is | :12:00. | :12:05. | |
known in Belfast as the supergrass case. It was based on evidence from | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
two brothers, Robert and Ian Stewart. They recently admitted | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
their part in the killing but said nine other men were involved. They | :12:13. | :12:18. | |
were all charged with murder. But the evidence from the Stewart | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
brothers wasn't believed by the judge. He said the two former | :12:22. | :12:26. | |
paramilitaries could not be relied upon. They were instead the same | :12:26. | :12:33. | |
men wearing new suits. So how does the supergrass system work? The | :12:33. | :12:35. | |
Stewart brothers have to confess all of their own crimes and agreed | :12:35. | :12:41. | |
to give evidence against others in return they would put in to witness | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
protection scheme. They were given a reduced sentence for murder. Just | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
three years. It is rare for former paramilitaries in Northern Ireland | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
to give evidence in court, in spite of the incentives. The supergrass | :12:53. | :13:00. | |
system has been tried before back in the 1980s. The problem then was | :13:00. | :13:05. | |
that many of the cases collapsed and the system was and used again | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
for more than two decades. The author Chris Ryder reported on the | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
original supergrass cases. He says the authorities may have to rethink | :13:15. | :13:21. | |
the process once more. I think it has to be a disaster for them. They | :13:21. | :13:24. | |
invested heavily in this case. It has cost a vast amount of public | :13:24. | :13:32. | |
money. Most of these people... the police deny defended their | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
handling of the case and indicated they would use the same system | :13:35. | :13:45. | |
A 47-year-old man has been charged with the murders of The Vic had | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
John Suddards and the retired teacher Betty Yates. Stephen Farrow | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
will appear before North Avon magistrates court tomorrow, accused | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
of killing the clergymen and the pensioner. | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
For the third week in a row, Ed Miliband has challenged the Prime | :13:58. | :14:03. | |
Minister over his reforms of the NHS in England. The Labour leader | :14:03. | :14:06. | |
said that David Cameron should ditch the controversial bill, or | :14:06. | :14:10. | |
risk the issue becoming his poll tax. Nick Robinson joins me now | :14:10. | :14:14. | |
from Westminster. Three times in a row, Ed Miliband clearly thinks he | :14:14. | :14:19. | |
is on to something? That's right, in part because there is nothing | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
that any prime minister hates more than having their own words quoted | :14:23. | :14:28. | |
back to them in Question Time. Ed Miliband has delighted in reminding | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
David Cameron that before the General Election he promised no | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
top-down reorganisation of the NHS. Today he threw back at him words he | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
had used about a year ago when the Prime Minister promised to listen | :14:40. | :14:46. | |
to the concerns of the staff in the NHS. He said, change, if it is to | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
really work, should have the support of people who work in our | :14:50. | :14:56. | |
NHS. We have to take our nurses and doctors with us. Now he cannot even | :14:56. | :15:01. | |
be in the same room as the doctors and nurses! We are putting more | :15:01. | :15:07. | |
money into the NHS. Money that they are specifically... They are | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
specifically committed to taking out. Let's be frank, money alone is | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
not going to be enough. We have got to meet the challenge of an ageing | :15:16. | :15:20. | |
population, more expensive treatment, more people on long-term | :15:20. | :15:25. | |
conditions. That is why we have to reform the NHS. A couple of weeks | :15:25. | :15:30. | |
ago there were signs of Tory wobbles on the NHS Bill, which is | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
still making its way through Parliament. Tonight, the concern is | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
amongst Conservatives about whether the Liberal Democrats might renege | :15:37. | :15:43. | |
on the deal made between Nick Clegg and David Cameron to drive the Bill | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
through Parliament. Why are they concerned about that? A couple of | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
reasons. First, there is a move among grassroots Liberal Democrats | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
to get an emergency motion at their forthcoming spring conference to | :15:54. | :15:57. | |
kill the bill altogether. The other reason is that some people have | :15:57. | :16:02. | |
been discussing with Nick Clegg the fact that in certain parts of the | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
country Lib Dem activists are even more angry about the NHS bill than | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
they were about tuition fees and some are leaving the party in | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
protest. Both sides of the coalition absolutely insistent that | :16:13. | :16:18. | |
this Bill will continue, it will go through. But what is striking, with | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
crucial debates in the House of Lords next week, the Liberal | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
Democrats leader is talking about this being a listening government. | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
The message coming from the other side of the coalition is simple, we | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
have done their listening, now let's get on and make the reforms. | :16:33. | :16:39. | |
For coming up: The controversy over Olympic ticket sales. | :16:39. | :16:49. | |
Fans who missed out on the last two David Cameron has warned that the | :16:49. | :16:53. | |
real threat posed to international security by an Islamic militant | :16:53. | :16:57. | |
group that controls part of Somalia. Tomorrow, Britain will chair a | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
conference bringing together international leaders and | :17:00. | :17:05. | |
organisations. African union troops have recently forced the militants | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
Al-Shabab out of most of Mogadishu. Andrew Harding has returned to | :17:10. | :17:15. | |
Somalia to see what challenges remain for the country. | :17:15. | :17:21. | |
Is this the moment that a ruined city is brought back to life? This | :17:21. | :17:31. | |
:17:31. | :17:34. | ||
was DRS in Mogadishu in the bad old Today, it is transformed. Whistles, | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
instead of gunfire. The sound of building and of money. The Islamist | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
militants who held half the city for years have been driven out. | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
it is good. Now everything is good. We are feeling peace, and a | :17:53. | :18:00. | |
comfortable life. Are you optimistic now? Yes. A politician | :18:00. | :18:06. | |
takes a stroll, unthinkable a few months ago. But almost everything | :18:06. | :18:12. | |
needs fixing here. Somalis are counting on the outside world. | :18:12. | :18:20. | |
running water. No electricity. No schools. What we expect from London | :18:20. | :18:25. | |
is a real plan to reconstruct the city. You want money? Of course. | :18:25. | :18:33. | |
How much? Money, billions. By it Somalia's along walls are not over. | :18:33. | :18:39. | |
The front lines have simply shifted outside Mogadishu. These African | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
union and Somali government troops are now launching new offensives | :18:43. | :18:46. | |
against the militant group Al- Shabab. It is getting easier | :18:46. | :18:52. | |
because now we are moving on the open ground. We have more firepower | :18:52. | :18:58. | |
than Al-Shabab. So, more families are on the move. What you see | :18:58. | :19:03. | |
coming down the road behind us, heading into Mogadishu, our convoys, | :19:03. | :19:08. | |
thousands of trucks and vehicles carrying civilians who are fleeing | :19:08. | :19:14. | |
what they fear is an inefficient -- imminent offensive against Al- | :19:14. | :19:19. | |
Shabab. Somalis have been running like this for 20 years. It is very | :19:19. | :19:24. | |
hard back there, he says, no food and we are afraid of Al-Shabab. | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
Some of those fleeing are getting outside aid now. The Turkish are | :19:29. | :19:35. | |
here in force and they are urging other nations to step up. There is | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
nothing to be scared of here. When you come with good feelings and you | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
want to do some thing for these people, they are ready to welcome | :19:42. | :19:48. | |
you. Their needs are still staggering. Thousands of families | :19:48. | :19:55. | |
waiting for aid. The City may be calmer now, a safe haven. But the | :19:55. | :19:59. | |
politics remain chaotic. Rival clans are vying for power across | :19:59. | :20:08. | |
Somalia. Two decades of anarchy A former nightclub bouncer was | :20:09. | :20:13. | |
jailed for at least 35 yesterday for raping and murdering a heavily | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
pregnant teenager. Carl Whant attacked 19-year-old Nikitta | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
Grender at her flat in south Wales, before setting it on fire. She was | :20:21. | :20:29. | |
two weeks away from giving birth. She was 19, in the prime of life, | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
pregnant with a baby daughter already named Kelsey-May. But when | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
police were called to Nikitta Grender's flat on February 5th last | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
year, they found fame that charred, burned-out bedroom. She and her | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
unborn baby were both dead. Today, the trial's father, her partner, | :20:47. | :20:53. | |
Ryan Mayes, saw his own cousin convicted of killing them both. | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
Whant's uncle read a family statement. For others to see our | :20:57. | :21:00. | |
grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
thing we have ever had to do. Whant was so special and will remain in | :21:04. | :21:11. | |
our hearts until we die. -- Nicky devil to stop Carl Whant is a | :21:11. | :21:20. | |
former nightclub bouncer and former soldier. He had been a close family | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
member. They were said to be more like brothers than cousins. On the | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
night of the killing, the men wear out in Newport. Carl Whant's car | :21:29. | :21:33. | |
was caught on camera. He said he was going to his grandmother's for | :21:33. | :21:39. | |
cigarettes. Instead, he headed here, too Nikitta Grender's flat. Somehow, | :21:39. | :21:44. | |
he persuaded her to let him inside. He raped there, stabbed a in the | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
neck and abdomen and set fire to the place. Because the baby would | :21:47. | :21:55. | |
have survived if born, he was also charged with trialled destruction. | :21:55. | :22:01. | |
-- child. This piece of legislation, thankfully very rarely used, is | :22:01. | :22:06. | |
designed to help protect the rights of an unborn child, H child capable | :22:06. | :22:13. | |
of being born alive. Kelsey-May undoubtedly fitted that description. | :22:13. | :22:19. | |
It has been a highly emotional trial and the family still mourn | :22:19. | :22:27. | |
the loss of two family members. Legal action has been brought by | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
Cherie Blair against reporters for the News of the World. Lawyers for | :22:32. | :22:34. | |
the family say they will not be giving any more details at the | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
moment. June Kelly is with me. Give us the background of the case. | :22:39. | :22:44. | |
the owners of the News of the World made a second wave of payouts a few | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
weeks ago there were claims that about 50 times were coming over the | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
hill. Tonight we have confirmation that Cherie Blair is taking action | :22:51. | :22:55. | |
against the Murdoch empire. Tony Blair is godfather to one of Rupert | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
Murdoch's gob daughters. She is not the only person in that circle to | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
be targeted. We know that Carole Caplin said that she was a victim. | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
Alastair Campbell has recently won damages. He told the Leveson | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
Inquiry that he could understand why so many stories appeared in the | :23:13. | :23:18. | |
press about Cherie Blair and Carole Caplin. On a separate front, it has | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
been suggested that Charlotte Church and her family are close to | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
reaching an agreement. Comedian Frank Carson has died at | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
the age of 85. He had been suffering from cancer. He became a | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
household name after winning the television show Opportunity Knocks | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
three times in the 1960s. He was a regular fixture on prime-time | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
television throughout the 70s and 80s. | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
Tickets for some of the most sought-after events at the London | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
Olympics are being made available to thousands of people who failed | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
to secure them in the first two round of sales. They will be given | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
an exclusive 24 hour window to buy some of the final tickets when they | :23:56. | :24:06. | |
:24:06. | :24:06. | ||
We all know how hard it has been to get your hands on our Olympic | :24:06. | :24:10. | |
ticket. Even test events like today's Diving World Cup at the | :24:10. | :24:17. | |
aquatic Centre have sold out. Now it is going to be even harder, with | :24:17. | :24:20. | |
London 2012 deciding to prioritise an exclusive group of 1 million | :24:20. | :24:26. | |
people who missed out in the ballot last year. All we can do is to keep | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
going back and say, this is how we are doing it, we think it is as | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
fair as it can possibly be. Some people will be disappointed but we | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
will give everybody a chance. Those that have been committed to the | :24:38. | :24:42. | |
progress longest, we feel should have priority. How will it work? A | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
24 hour window will be offered to just 20,000 people who were | :24:46. | :24:51. | |
mistakenly told they had bought tickets last year. A second five- | :24:51. | :24:55. | |
day window will open for a further 1 million people, who applied but | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
also missed out. A general sale after that is unlikely because 1 | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
million people are chasing 1 million tickets. That is certain to | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
lead to more criticism for London 2012. Did you find the process a | :25:08. | :25:13. | |
little bit frustrating? Yes, we applied for so much, There are six | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
of us and we didn't get that much. We have had huge problems. Seb Coe | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
says it has been massively supported and the event will be | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
fantastic, but I think it could have been done much better. It has | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
emerged today that the sale in April will include 40,000 tickets | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
for the athletics. 50,000 tickets will be for the basketball and | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
30,000 will be for diving. There is no lack of appetite among the | :25:38. | :25:43. | |
British public to come to Olympic venues like this this summer. | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
London 2012's ticketing process has left many people feeling angry and | :25:47. | :25:53. | |
frustrated. That is why they cannot afford any more mistakes. Website | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
crashers, accusations of secrecy and perhaps too many tickets for | :25:57. | :26:01. | |
sponsors and the I Ps. All of this has added to pressure on Olympic | :26:01. | :26:07. | |
bosses. Of course they realise the cost in public confidence if they | :26:07. | :26:14. | |
raise a hiatus. I think it is all fingers crossed, plus lots of hard | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
work to make sure it works next time. Despite the problems, filling | :26:19. | :26:23. |