17/10/2012 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten. Another fall in unemployment, despite the recession,

and a record number in work. The jobless total falls by 50,000. It's

a landmark moment according to Ministers. Unemployment down 50,000

this quarter. That's a success. The claimant down 4,000. That's a

success. But Labour says too many jobs are part time, and long-term

unemployment is on the rise. long-term unemployment, there are

more people out of work for longer than at any time for two decades.

That's happening on his watch. We'll be asking what the figures

might tell us about the state of the economy. Also tonight: After

last night football scuffles and allegations of racist chanting,

Serbia is charged by UEFA. How much but cut them by?

It's full throttle. In the second presidential debate, we'll be

assessing the impact on the campaign. Energy companies will be

forced by law to offer customers the cheapest available tariff.

And a day late, England take on Poland in their World Cup qualifier

Good evening. Despite the continuing recession, the number

out of work has fallen again in most of the UK and there's a record

number of people in employment. The Government says the latest figures

are a real landmark. But Labour says the number of long-term

jobless remains high and more people are having to accept part-

time work. Our chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym, reports.

Whether it is on the ground or high above, jobs are being created.

Developments like this are providing firmer foundations for

the labour market. It may be in London but some of the thousands of

jobs it is supporting are far from the capital. Those jobs are both

within London and throughout the UK. Certain parts of this building are

prefabricating offsite and are providing jobs in the north of

England, Yorkshire and Scotland. From manufacturing to service

industries, there are opportunities, as these young recruits at the

hotel chain Premier Inn have discovered. Today they met the

employment Minister, who hailed news that the total number of

people in work in the economy have gone up again. These are landmark

figures. More people in work than ever before. 170,000 people fewer

on benefits since 2010. Unemployment is still quite a bit

higher than five years ago. At the end of the economic boom it was 1.6

million. It carried on rising last year before falling back in recent

months to 2.5 million. So how can the economy be creating jobs when

it is apparently in decline? Experts are puzzled about that.

Some feel the output figures are pessimistic and when they are

revised they will show the economy has been broadly flat rather than

contracting. The pain has been more evenly shared than in previous

recessions. Another issue is the increase the part-time work. Most

of the jobs created in recent years have been part time. People are

working fewer hours per week than they used to do, so therefore they

can't produce as much output. don't have to go far from the City

of London to find a lingering problem. Here the charity Lifeline

organises training to help the long-term jobless in a programme

funded by the Government. The total out of work for more than a year is

rising. Penny is one of them. She's been looking for office work for

two years but so far has found nothing. I have probably applied

for about 500 jobs within that region. There's probably maybe 20

or 30 responses of thank you but no thank you and the rest nothing. And

that's frustrating. Labour claims that despite sessions like these,

the Government isn't getting to grips with long-term unemployment.

An incredible one third of people out of work have been out of work

for a year. These are people the Government said they were going to

help with their Work Programme. This is fresh evidence that that

programme is comprehensively failing. The there's a slide right

now the outlook seems fair. Live to Downing Street and our

political editor, Nick Robinson. Nick, when Ministers say these are

landmark figures, are they suggesting that we've turned a

corner? They certainly wouldn't dare say that publicly. They

remember the fate of Norman Lamb on the, who talked about green shoots

of recovery when Chancellor in the 1990s. Privately they do talk at

their surprise at these unemployment figures. There was an

expectation that a recession this deep, this long, was bound to

produce unemployment above 3 million. Indeed I was told today of

one official forecaster who thought that if growth had been as flat as

it has been, indeed that double dip recession, unemployment could have

been 1.5 million higher than it has turned out to be. So as well as

that surprise there's puzzlement and frustration. How can it be that

the economy is apparently flat if not declining at the same time, as

employment is going up? And there is a Bert awareness that the

Chancellor when he stands up in seven weeks' time for his big,

annual Autumn Statement, will have to unveil decisions on tax and

spending which aren't about employment, but are about those

growth figures. He may well have to announce to the country that he is

off-target for his two crucial fiscal rules, the ones that say

whether he is getting borrowing down and the deficit down, as he

said he would. Yes, good news, but it is not really putting a huge

smiles on ministerial faces. Nick, thank you.

The Serbian Football Association has been charged by UEFA following

allegations of racist chanting by Serbian fans at last night's match

against the England Under-21 team. England also face a charge of

misconduct after an outbreak of violence at the end of the game.

The English FA says it has strong evidence that black players were

targeted during the game, a claim strongly denied by the Serbs. Our

sports correspondent, Dan Roan, has the latest. They were the scenes

that shamed football. Players and coaches from England's under 21

squad under physical and verbal attack after their match against

Serb gentleman last night. Violence on the pitch and racist abuse from

the stands. CHANTING And the Government has demanded

football's authorities now act. think everybody is appalled by the

scenes we saw last night. By any standards they are completely

unacceptable. They should certain not have happened at a football

match. We now want aif ta to take the toughest possible measures

against those found guilty. Tonight both country's Football

Associations were charged by UEFA for the behaviour of their players

and the Serbian FA for the alleged chanting of their fans. Danny Rose

angrily kicked the ball into the crowd and was sent off. The

defender's gesture making it clear what abuse he felt he had been

subject to throughout the game. The FA have backed the Sunderland

player, insisting he and other black team-mates were provoked by

what they called disgraceful racial abuse. It is quite clear that they

are making monkey chants. Whether that's because of our Dan, there

were other players as well, there was other black players in there as

well and no doubt they were racially abused as well.

Serbian FA remains defiant. St George's Park, the brand-new

training base for England's under 21s symbolises a positive new era

for the national sport. Today the FA lodged a formal complaint with

UEFA for what it described as the disgraceful events in Serbia.

John Terry must decide by tomorrow night whether to appeal against his

four match ban after the former England Captain was found guilty by

the FA of racially abusing opponent Anton Ferdinand. And some say

glirbl football must get its own house in order. We are definitely

vulnerable to cries of hypocrisy, because my opinion on this matter

is that it is immaterial who you play for. It is immaterial who the

player is. It is immaterial what country they are from. This isn't

the first time that Serbian fans have been accused of racism. The

country's FA was fined just �16,000 five years ago when another black

England player suffered abuse. A much tougher penalty will be

expected this time. In America, politicians and

commentators have spent the day analysing last night's televised

debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. It was the second of

three presidential encounters, with just three weeks to go to election

day. Early polling suggests that President Obama was seen as the

winner, unlike the first debate, which was declared a strong win for

Mr Romney. Our North America editor, Mark Mardell, watched the latest

In 19 days time there'll be only one winner. One man will be elected

President, but now both are claiming victory in the big debate.

The two men faced questions from the audience, which reflected the

overwhelming worry - jobs and the economy. What can you say to

reassure me but more importantly my parents that I will be able to

support myself after I graduate? What's happened over the last four

years has been very hard for America's young people. I want tow

be able to get a job. I know what it takes to get this economy going.

Mitt Romney says his five-point plan will create 12 million new

plan. President Obama, under pressure after his dull, passive

performance after the last debate, went on the attack. He doesn't have

a five-point plan, he has a one- point plan. To the make sure that

folks at the top play by a different set of rules. That's been

his philosophy in the price or, and Governor and as a presidential

candidate. They paced around each other, two alpha males used to

getting their own way, determined to have the last word. Not true

Governor Romney. How much did you cut it by then? They scared up

uncomfortably close. I had a question and the question was how

much did you cut them by? Do you want me to answer? I'm happy to

answer the question. Alright, and it is... The tension was punctured

bay moment by an odd phrase by Mitt Romney talking about equal

opportunities. I went to a number of women's groups and asked them to

find folks. The most ill tempered clash came over the murder of

America's ambassador to Libya. let me call it an act of terrorism.

Slapped down by the Moderator Mitt Romney found it hard to recover.

took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist

group. Am I incorrect in that regard? On Sunday your secretary...

Excuse me. President Obama strode over, intimidating his floundering

opponent. Some voters were shock by the brutality of the confrontations.

A lots of the money points that Americans wanted to hear weren't

heard because of the aggression. That kind of put me off. I didn't

think it was going to be as aggressive. I know that Mitt Romney

is that way but I didn't think And become that aggressive May be

offputting to some, but what this debate has done is put Obama back

in the game. Quelled the fear of supporters that he didn't have the

fight left in him. There's still everything to play for.

Energy companies are to be forced to give customers the cheapest

available tariff, according to the Prime Minister. Details of the

initiative are expected to come in the Government's Energy Bill in the

next few weeks. The move comes after a number of gas and

electricity companies announced above inflation price increases.

Our industry correspondent, John Moylan, is with me now. How would

it work? Not very clear. Up until now, the onus has been on you and

me to find ourselves the best energy deal by switching et cetera.

Now the accepts from this is the onus will be on the companies to

make sure we are on the best deal and perhaps force us on to the best

deal as well. All we know is what the Prime Minister said today. He

said the Government would legislate so that energy companies have to

give the lowest tariff to their customers. I spoke to a Number Ten

spokesperson who said they are looking at a number of options. One

might be you receive a letter from your energy company telling you you

could be on a better deal and they intend switching you to save money

unless you choose to opt out. There's a sense of compulsion. In

another part of Government, the department for energy, they are

moving away from that sense of compulsion, simply saying not

enough people are switching. They want more people to switch, and

putting the emphasis on a greater obligation on firms to ensure that

customers are on the best or the lowest tariff. There is confusion

tonight. There's a sense of a policy which to be charitable

hasn't been fully formed yet. The companies don't like it. They

didn't know anything about it. These are the same companies that

are asked to invest billion to keep the lights on in future. Tonight

one of the main switching websites has warned that they've said this

has to be a mistake. The unintended consequences of this would be to

The Government's Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell, is reported to have been

criticised by several Conservative MPs at a meeting this evening,

where they discussed his confrontation with a police officer

outside Downing Street. Labour has renewed its call for Mr Mitchell to

be sacked. An almighty row between the Cabinet minister and police was

always going to make the headlines but this just won't blow over. It's

four weeks since police reported that Andrew Mitchell swore at them

and called them plebs at the gits of Downing Street. Today pressure

mounted at Mr Mitchell faced calls from Tory MPs to resign and rumours

swept Westminster that his deputy wanted to quit. He usually stays

behind the scenes. Today he was the focus of attention. What the Chief

Whip did was wrong, that's why he had to apologise and apologise

properly. It has been accepted by the officer concerned and the head

of the Metropolitan Police. Mitchell looked uncomfortable as Ed

Miliband said he should have been arrested like any other yob who had

sworn at police and he seized on reports that the Chief Whip had

headed off to an exclusive private members club after the

confrontation. While it is a nit in a cell for the yobs, it is a night

in the Carlton Club for the Chief Whip. Isn't that the clearest case

there could be of total double standards. He doesn't want to talk

about how we build on our record in unemployment. He has no plans. He

doesn't want to talk about how we reform we will faifrplt he is

opposed to welfare caps. That is the truth. -- how we will reform

welfare. He has nothing serious to say.

say I practise class war and they go around calling people plebs. It

is good it seat Cabinet in their place roping him in public but in

the newspapers he is undermined. His position is untenal. In other

words, he's toast. Later Mr Mitchell's deputy was said to be on

the verge of quitting. He met the Prime Minister in Downing Street

and Number Ten insisted there would be no resignations. Tonight

Conservative MPs spent more than half an hour in a room upstairs

discussing Andrew Mitchell's future. He may be the Chief Whip, the man

supposed to be in charge of party discipline but several spoke out

against him, some calling for him to resign. Senior Conservative

sources acknowledge that Mr Mitchell has been weakened by this

whole affair and they say he'll have to rebuild relationships with

colleagues in the coming months. REPORTER: Prime Minister is it time

for Mr Mitchell to go? Many believe Mr Cameron has missed his chance to

sack Andrew Mitchell, the damage has already been done.

Coming up: Wayne Rooney on target as England

strike first but it is a draw against Poland.

Now leading universities in England should provide weekly grants to A-

level students from poorer backgrounds to help them win

university places. It's one of the main recommendations by the former

Labour minister Alan Milburn who will publish a report tomorrow on

higher education and social mobility. He says more attention

should be paid to the applicant's background when university places

are decided. Getting pupils from poorer

backgrounds into top universities has proved a hard nut to crack. Too

few applicants with too few A grades among them are major factors.

It is an issue for ministers, schools and universities. A day out

at an Oxford college from 14 and 15-year-olds from ordinary schools.

Oxford does this outreach work regularly in an effort to demystify

the place and encourage them to apply It is a really good. Off

taste of something different and new that you don't normally do. It

is nice to see what it is like to be at university. Everyone deserves

a chance. It doesn't matter what ethnic background, or what your

parents are like. Number of students from poorer backgrounds

has gone up significantly in the last 15 years or so but not at the

most selective universities. Oxford now says it is casting its net

wider to try to get a broader range of students. I'm studying

interactive media. The Government's social be mobility advisor Alan

Milburn wants all universities to go further. He says they spend

hundreds ve mill yonges of reduced fees and bursaries from poorer

students, defined as those on free school meals or those from

neighbourhoods where few go ton higher education. He says they

should invest earlier. Rather than spending this money on hopeless

things like fee-waivers that have no impact on who gets into

university, they should instead take some of that money, and

apolyit to kids who are studying in disadvantaged schools, in hard-

pressed areas, to give them a financial incentive. He wants

universities to fund a new education maintenance a lowance

which was scrapped in England and led to protests.

He wants a cheaper scheme with money taken from bursaries. Abbey

is from a low income family and got into Oxford after coming from a

summer school. She says getting a bursary really helps. I wouldn't

have been able to join in with all of the social aspects and I would

have felt left out. Alan Milburn wants social background routinely

considered when the universities make offers. I think that's the

most controversial aspect of all of the different reports that Alan

Milburn has produced, whether or not universities should target

particular applicants because of the kind of school they go to. We

have always been opposed to the idea of targets or quotas of that

kind. These are just recommendation bus if they are acted on, they

could change the social make-up of England's top universities.

Now in the US a man has been arrested over an alleged plot to

detonate what he believed to be a massive bomb in front of the

Federal Reserve building in New York. The FBI says the man, from

Bangladesh, was tracked by agents who sold him fake explosives. Let's

talk to our correspondent Barbara Plett in New York. What do you

have? Well we are told by the Justice Department that this

Bangladeshi man arrived in the United States back in January with

the intention of carrying out a terrorist attack here. But when he

tried to recruit people to help him, he inadvertently contacted an. If

bi. Informer and he was closely monitored. It was an FBI agent

pretending to be an Al-Qaeda facilitator who supplied him with

what he thought was explosives. The agent was with him this morning

when he assembled what he thought was a 1,000 lb bomb and parked it

next to the Federal Reserve bang and when he tried to detonate it.

He was arrested immediately afterwards. Clearly this was a

sting operation, with all the intended pitfalls of possible

entrapment which the agents would have been aware of. They followed

him right to the toned try to get as much evidence as possible to try

to use against him in court. -- followed him right to the end.

jury has failed to reach a verdict in the case of a man accused of

supplying a gun to Mark Duggan, whose fatal shooting by police

sparked the riots in August last year. Kevin Hutchinson-Foster was

accused of selling or transferring a prohibited firearm to Mr Dug dau,

charge he denied. The trial has revealed new details about the

shooting. -- Mr Duggan. This is Kevin Hutchinson-Foster,

now facing re-trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict on

whether he'd supplied this gun to a man who became famous for all the

wrong reasons. That man was Mark Duggan, shot dead

by police, in August last year. A killing that sparked the Tottenham

riots and all the unrest across England that followed.

These images of Mark Duggan on the ground surrounded by paramedics

showed the aftermath of the shooting but for the past three

weeks a court has heard for the first time evidence of what came

first. This is the spot where the minicab in which Mark Duggan was

travelling was intercepted by police. They say as he got out of

the cab he pulled a gun from the waistband of his trousers. They

thought he was going to shoot so, they fired first. But they were the

only witnesses who said they saw Mark Duggan holding a gun.

There were conflicting accounts of what happened. After Mark Duggan

fell to the ground, no gun was found on him. One eye witness told

the court she saw police take a gun from the minicab. But police say

they found it at least 12 feet away, to the other side of railings.

Loaded but not fired, and with no trace of Mark Duggan's finger

sprints. Kevin Hutchinson-Foster admitted he himself had borrowed

the gun a week earlier. He used it to beat a barber at this Hackney

hair salon, now under different ownership. He denied giving it to

Mark Duggan. This firearm was being moved around or it is suggested

that it was being moved around from one criminal to another criminal.

It was being leased or loaned in order to scare, intimidate, maybe

not necessarily to commit a crime such as a murder, maybe, but

clearly to intimidate and frighten another person. The trial has told

us much more than we ever knew about the shooting of Mark Duggan

but key questions remain unanswered. Was he holding a gun? And were the

police right to shoot him? Football and England took on Poland

in Warsaw this afternoon in a World Cup qualifier. The match was called

off yesterday after the heavy rain flooded the pitch. There are mixed

fortunes for England. The calm after the storm. After

Tuesday's washout, Warsaw basked once more in glorious sunshine and

those England fan that is managed to stay on arrived for the game

with bags packed and plans to make quick gettaways. I could make the

first half and then a mad dash to the airport. I have an 8.00 flight.

I have a 5.00 flight. When they kick-off I will be taking off.

extra rest worked in Poland's favour and pe thought England under

pressure. Robert Lewandowski wasting one of a number of chances

created by the hosts. Then against the run of play, Wayne Rooney took

advantage of poor Polish marking. It could have been 2-0 midway

through the second half but Rooney for once lacked his usual composure

on the heavy surface that. Scoreline would have been unfair on

the Polish and with 17 minutes to go, they got their reward. It was

left to England's manager to acknowledge after the game, that it

wasn't his team's night. Well, I'm pleased we didn't lose the game. I

don't think it was one of our better performances. I maybe

underestimated the fact that we had to stay the extra night and that

the pitch was a little bit sodden. There was disappointment from both

players and manager alike over the level of performance on the