17/05/2012 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten: David Cameron warns of huge risks for Britain from the

eurozone crisis. Fears grow that Europe's debt

problems could stifle any recovery in the UK. As safers lose

confidence, some of Europe's banks have called for urgent action.

Either Europe has a committed, stable, successful eurozone, or we

are in unchartered territory that carries huge risks for all.

We are asking if Europe's leaders are considering new options.

The new Vauxhall Astra, to be built at Ellesmere Port, securing

thousands of jobs. For me, I have two children and a

mortgage. This is great news. Facebook is set to be one of the

biggest stock market flotations in history.

The Olympic Flame is on its way to Britain, the handover took place in

Athens. And worldwide tributes to the Queen

of disco, Donna Summer, who has died at the age of 63.

Coming up on Sportsday: Liverpool are starting to look for candidates

for the vacant job. Wigan giving them permission to speak to Roberto

Good evening. David Cameron has told the leaders

of Germany and France that they must do more to build stability in

the eurozone. The Prime Minister said it was remorseless logic that

the richer economies had to support those struggling. Talks were held

on tackling the debt crisis as fears grow that safers are losing

confidence in some European banks. We have the latest.

Britain's economy already back in recession, is now threatened by a

squeeze from a eurozone whose crisis is steadily deepening. Today,

the Prime Minister adopted the tone of an economic wartime leader.

We are living in perilous economic times. Turn on the TV news, you see

the return of a crisis that never went away. Greece on the brink, the

survival of the Euro in question, and faced with this, I have a clear

task, to keep Britain safe. In Athens, the latest in a series

of temporary Greek governments was sworn in. Ordinary Greeks have been

reacting by withdrawing their cash from the banks. There are not

queues at the door yet, but that is the fear. Today the Prime Minister

held a call with the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and the two

Presidents of Europe. That is in advance of a full EU summit next

week and at the club of the G8. This was his public advice to them,

from a leader not in the Euro, but who fears that this is casting a

shadow over the British economy. The eurozone has to make up or it

is looking at a potential break-up. Either Europe has a committed,

successful eurozone, or we are in unchartered territory that carries

huge risks for everyone. Today, the new French President

pose with his new Cabinet. Francois Hollande, elected on a promise to

re-cast the economic pact. This crisis does not just pose an

economic problem for Britain, but a political one too. That is because

the French government says that Europe should put policies to

promote gloth, ahead of those to promote austerity, echoing Labour's

calls at home. No wonder that David Cameron wanted to claim that choice

does not really exist at all. Deficit reduction and growth, they

are not alternatives. Delivering the first is absolutely vital in

securing the second. We cannot blow the budget on more spending and

more debt. In the Commons, the Shadow

Chancellor attacked the Government for believing that cutting could

have created economic growth. Trying to cut the deficit faster

has not boosted growth in recession. It has choked off confidence,

unemployment is up and we are brogue pore than he planned, not

less. This Prime Minister, if he is really claiming he is on the right

course, he is even more complacent than even I thought.

Labour blame the Government for our economic plight, the ministers

blame the eurozone. Whoever is right, things do not look set to

get better any time soon. Well, as Nick mentioned, bank

shares fell sharply with reports that significant sums were being

withdrawn by safers in Spain and Greece. In Madrid the ministers

were forced to deny that the country's fourth biggest bank was

in difficulty, but in the past hour 16 Spanish banks have been

downgraded by Moody's. Robert Peston is with me with his thoughts

on where the crisis is heading. There are uncomfortable signs of a

return to a banking crisis in the eurozone. Yesterday, there were

fears about the Greek banks because the safers were withdrawing cash.

Today, it was the fragility of the Spanish banks, especially the

savings banks that worried the investors, why? Spain has a serious

problem because it has, had a big housing boom and now housing prices

are still falling. The banks are loaded with bad debt. Shares in

Spain's fourth biggest bank, Bankia, tumbled almost 30% on reports later

denied, that people were pulling their money out. The European

Commission tried to calm fears. In spite of all of the difficulties,

we are not complacent in the analysis of the challenge, we are

on the right track. I bring a message of confidence.

But both Spanish banks and the Spanish Government are finding it

more expensive to borrow because of fears over the debts in the Spanish

economy. Tonight a leading ratings agency downgraded the Spanish banks,

likely to further push up their interest costs and it is just a few

months since the whole eurozone banking system was on the brink of

choreography. In 2011 the conditions were

dangerous. European bonds facing severe difficulties to fund

themselves, to access finances and we were close from having a

collapse in the banking system in the Euro area. That initself would

have led to a collapse in the economy and to inflation. This is

something that the ECB could not accept.

In the yods lapse noose crisis, British banks would be the risk

because of their eurozone loans. The Bank of England and the

Treasury have developed contingency plans to protect the British banks

that would involve guaranteeing their debts.

The British banking system is a large portion of our economy, much

larger than other economies, if the guarantees that the Government has

given for the British banks were culled, -- called, which they could

be, we are without dut the most indebted country in the world in

those circumstances. So, however much we in the UK can

congratulate ourselves for staying out of the eurozone, we cannot

protect oufs completely, if the worst were to happen over there.

Thank you very much. The new Vauxhall Astra is to be

built at Ellesmere Port securing thousands of jobs in Cheshire.

General Motors is investing �125 million in the plant. The

announcement was made after the workers accepted a deal on new pay

and conditions. It was business as usual today, but

for the staff there was a big difference, after months of concern

they were finally told that the jobs were safe. Now the next

generation of this car, the Astra would see the plant through into

the next decade. Everyone is happy. It will be a

good weekend. I have two young children, obviously a mortgage, so

it is fantastic news. General Motors says that the plans

with the new car will involve a �125 million investment. That will

safeguard employment for 2,100 existing staff, adding a third

shift will result in 700 new jobs and 3,000 jobs to be created across

the supply chain. We worked hard to make the best

case for Ellesmere Port, the Vauxhall motors in the UK. We have

a labour agreement that does that. It is great news for Vauxhall, for

General Motors, for the workers and indeed the UK economy.

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, stepped in to support the factory,

even flying to the US to meet with motormotormerit's top brass to make

the case for Britain, but it came down to the staff accepting new

terms and conditions. That labour agreement, signed off this morning

was crucial to securing the future of the plant. It involve as four-

year pay deal. There is a two-year pay freeze and more flexible

working by the staff. Union members voted to accept the

deal to lift the uncertainty surrounding the plant.

I believe there was a real ines. -- I believe that General Motors acted

appallingly to leave the threat to dangle.

Britain's car workers helped the firms including Jaguar Land Rover,

Nissan and Mini through the downturn by accepting tough pay

deals, now the industry is reaping the rewards.

This sector now exports more than it imports.

We have bounced back, it has exported its way out of trouble.

That shows the strength that the industry has benefited by having a

weak sterling, so the exports are competitive.

Ellesmere Port has been a cornerstone of the UK's auto

industry for a half a century. It has kept generations of local

epeople in work. Tonight the staff went home, knowing that the

manufacturing tradition will continue for years to come.

The bodies of two British servicemen killed in Afghanistan

have been brought home. Lance Corporal Lee Thomas Davies of 1st

Battalion Welsh Guards had been in Afghanistan since March and Airman

Corporal Brent John McCarthy of the Royal Air Force from killed on

Saturday. They were providing security for local officials in

Helmand province. The war crimes tribunal of General

Ratko Mladic has been suspended as prosecutors failed to disclose some

of the evidence. This morning the The Hague heard that General Ratko

Mladic was possible for the massacre of 7,000 men, women and

children, he denies the charges. Facebook is to go public in New

York with the sale of shares. The demand is set to be high. Questions

remain about Facebook's ability to generate profit and to take

advantage of mobile phone platforms. It started as the Facebook in 2004.

The brainchild of a Harvard student called Mark Zuckerberg, it has

grown and changed year by year into one of the most powerful businesses

of the internet age. It now has 900 million active users who upload 300

million photos a day, but here is an extraordinary figure, $104

billion, the value put on Facebook. This video featuring Mark

Zuckerberg and his top team have been shown to investors over the

last fortnight. It appears to have done its job. So big the demand for

shares, that the price has been raised.

You take Ford with the focus launch it was driven entirely, almost, by

Facebook. This man runs the worl's biggest

advertising business, but Facebook will be valued at six times the

price of Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP. There are a lot of question marks,

but people are looking at the internet. Looking at the growth of

ecommerce, the growth of internet and tj advertising and coming to

the conclusion that the future valuation of, or the future

revnuegss and profitability of Facebook will be such to justify

the $100 billion valuation. But if Facebook justifies the price

tag, the people that use it, the business will be vial. The business

demends on they -- depends on them seeing more advertising and using

the internet. This could be a challenge. As more people use

phones to access days book, persuading them that adverts are a

small -- on a small screen will be a good idea, may be hard.

I think it being on the phone is annoying. It is targeting you. I

would not like it. If it is disruptive, that depends.

This week General Motors was to pull its advertising from Facebook

as it was not selling cars from this. Some are advising caution.

We are telling invest rs to hold off. We don't know what the guts of

the balance shoot look like. We want to understand the business

before telling people to invest. But with small investors keen to

get in on the act, the shares could soar. Then comes the hard bit.

Proving that online friendship Relatives of the blind Chinese

activist, Chen Guangcheng, have given detailed accounts of the

torture and retribution they've allegedly suffered at the hands of

Chinese authorities. The BBC has obtained the first interviews with

family members of Mr Chen since he escaped from house arrest last

month and fled to the US Embassy in Beijing. The events caused a

diplomatic rift between the US and China as our correspondent, Damian

He is the blind Human Rights activist whose escape into the arms

of American diplomats put China and the US at loggerheads. He has been

under guard in a Beijing hospital. Just how Chen Guangcheng managed to

flee his illegal house arrest, eluding dozens of guards watching

him is becoming clearer. First, he had to scale the walls of

his house. As he did, he fell and broke his foot. He hid in a

neighbour's pigsty. Then felt his way late that night to the river.

He couldn't swim across, but the guards on the bridge were asleep.

Villagers found him covered in mud at 5pm and hid him. Then he was

driven with his brother's help to a town where he met activists who

spirited him to Beijing. This is the first interview with

his brother. When the guards discovered Chen had escaped, he was

seized, hooded and interrogated for two days and three nights.

TRANSLATION: They sat me in a chair. Bound my feet with iron chains. Put

my arms behind my back and handcuffed me. They yanked my hands

upwards and slapped my face and stamped on my feet with their shoes.

By that time, Chen was safely here in the American Embassy. The local

Communist party bosses were furious. TRANSLATION: I resisted for a long

time. In the end, I couldn't hold out anymore. I didn't want to name

those who helped my brother, but I had to.

His wife says enraged officials attacked their 32-year-old son who

tried to defend himself. TRANSLATION: So many people were

beating him. His face was beading and his legs too. His trousers were

torn. He said, "Mum, I need to escape now.". His son has been

arrested and charged with attempted murder. In Beijing, Chen Guangcheng,

his wife and two children remain confined in the hospital. He told

us by telephone today, that he can't walk. His wife can only go

outside with approval. They have been allowed to apply for passports

to go to America. If the passports are approved, Chen

Guangcheng could be on his way to New York within a fortnight and the

issue that caused a crisis between America and China will be defused,

but he will have to leave behind relatives at risk of further

Coming up on tonight's programme: A different world - we look at the

changing face of Britain during the The Olympic flame has been formally

handed over to Britain at a ceremony in Athens. David Beckham

and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, were part of an official

delegation led by Princess Anne that travelled to Greece to collect

the torch. The flame will be taken around the UK on a 70 day relay

before the Games begin. Our sports editor, David Bond, watched the

The Olympic flame better get used to this. After a week sunning it's

deaf in Greece, the torch was given a typically British send-off in

Athens today. At least some VIP members of the

London 2012 delegation saw the funny side. After a seven year wait,

others might have been wondering whether it was all a bad omen.

is our attention to detail that we have organised a bit of rain to

acclimatize the torch to what it will experience in Britain!

Handing over the Olympic flame... The dark clouds cleared in time for

the handover to the British Olympic Association president, the Princess

Royal. At last, the torch is in British hands and tomorrow, arrives

in the UK. The torch relay didn't exist when

the first modern Olympics were held in this stadium in 1896, but it is

a crucial part of the build-up to any Games and for London, marks the

start of an extraordinary British summer.

Well, the horse is in theory... Princess Anne told me, she was

relishing a summer which features not only the Olympics, but the the

Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It is busy. There is a lot of competition for

space and time. But, you know, 2012 is an extraordinary year and I

think it will be remembered as such. Watchteded by The Queen and members

of the Royal Family. Princess Anne became the first

member of the Royal Family to compete in the Olympics as part of

the three day Olympic eventing team. She is proud of her sporting

heritage. I presume you would have loved to

have competed in a home Olympics? would have found it really

difficult to do it on my home patch. It would have been easier to have

done it elsewhere. I would hate to be doing it now. It has got worse.

REPORTER: Because of the pressures? Yes, to everybody. I mean once upon

a time it would have been to one or two of the athletes who had higher

profiles. Her daughter, Zara Phillips may

face those pressures, but her chances of competing in London look

slim. After the pomp and ceremony, this is how the flame will be flown

to Cornwall. It might have had a damp start, but organisers hope the

relay will fire enthusiasm for the The Thames river pageant will be

the biggest flotilla. The flotilla is part of the Queen's Diamond

Jubilee and will include 1,000 vessels of all sizes. The latest

jubilee event was the Queen's visit to the north-east of England.

It it has been two days in which the people of the of the north-east

of England have come out in their tens of thousands to show their

loyalty to the Crown. On the Queen's watch, support for the

British monarchy has rarely fallen below 70% across six decades.

Pollsters describe it as one of the most stable indicators they have

encountered. One might have expected in

austerity Britain where institutional, resentment and

mistrust are almost the norm, but inherited power and privilege would

have become unacceptable, but in Lancashire this week, the flags and

the crowds are out in force. Just as they were when The Queen

last came here. It was 1955 and people were also wondering why

austerity Britain continued to embrace the Royal Family.

But the monarchy represented continuity at a time of huge social

change. Among the crowds that day, was Ray

Clarke, back on almost the same spot 57 years later.

1,000 years of the monarchy, there is nothing to equal it anywhere in

the world and we've got it. This is a no nonsense sort of place

and yet the excitement of a wealthy, her red hereditary monarch is

palpable. She is amazing.

With belts being tightened, the British increasingly define

Britishness by more than wealth and possession.

For her to come to our town, and to show love to her is a big thing for

The monarchy may not make sense to many, but from generation to

generation, it is invested with a mystical significance.

The British love to celebrate their eccentricity, not everything has to

be logical or rational. You wouldn't invent the monarchy now,

but there is something in it that plays to our national DNA. The

British rarely pass up an opportunity for wearing daft hats

and not taking ourselves too seriously. There is a slice of

Britain that sees monarchy as a survive of a bygone age at odds

with a modern demock crass European Commission but the same arguments

perhaps explain its popularity. It The American singer, Donna Summer,

has died. She was 63 and she had been receiving treatment for cancer.

She was famous for a series of disco classics. Her family said

that they were at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her

continued legacy as David Sillito That sound, the pulsing electrobeat,

Donna Summer's soaring voice. This was in 1977, the sound of the

future. She started off defining an era.

Then with the track I Feel Love, she elevated disco into high energy

and then onwards which now, you know, is the daddy of today's

modern dance music. So she was so influential. Donna Summer had

learned to sing in a gospel choir, but they didn't teach her this.

She met the music producer while living in Germany. It was a sound

she later regretted. I was tired of the whole sex image

because it wasn't me and it was something I was playing as a role,

but it wasn't who I was as a person, and I always resented it.

In the 80s, she found god and lost many of her fans, especially many

of her gay fans. Alleged comments about HIV, comments which she later

denied, were career poison. Another music producer wanted to

work with her. She was disco. We all owe that

woman a debt because certainly I wouldn't be standing here talking

about music in these lovely surroundings if it wasn't for a

girl who sang I Feel Love because it made me want to make pop records.

29 top 40 hits, the song that changed the world's dance floors,