05/11/2012 BBC News at Ten

The Prime Minister orders an urgent inquiry following allegations of

child sex abuse involving a senior Conservative from the Thatcher

years. The inquiry will look at whether claims of abuse at

children's homes in North Wales in the 70s and 80s were ever properly

investigated. Child abuse is an abhorrent crime and these

allegations are truly dreadful. They must not be left hanging in

the air so I am taking action today. I weld come the announcement -- I

welcome the announcement. There is no point in an inquiry into the

inquiry. Also tonight, we are in Washington looking at the closing

hours of this closely-fought presidential campaign. The Obama

team is urging supporters to turn out with the result looking too

close to call. We will win this election. We will finish what we

started. Team or -- 18 Romney is heading to three pivotal states.

hoped that Obama would solve problems. He has not. I will.

will be knocking on doors in rural Ohio, the state that could deliver

the keys to the White House. Coming up in Sportsday on the BBC

News Channel: Craig Levein pays for Scotland's poor form and is sacked

as manager with the team bottom of Good evening. An urgent inquiry has

been set up by the Prime Minister following allegations of child sex

abuse are involving, among others, a senior Conservative from the

Thatcher era. The abuse is alleged to have taken place in the 70s and

80s at care homes in North Wales. An inquiry will look at whether the

first inquiry was sufficiently thorough. They were also look at

whether police looked at it sufficiently a thoroughly at the

time. A dozen years after Britain's

biggest child abuse inquiry, the victims say that their stories were

never really listened to. We used to hide with our heads under the

sheets, hoping to God it was not due next. We would see them coming

back at night, crying their eyes out. A Keith Gregory suffered years

of abuse at the Bryn Estyn home in Wrexham. I was aware of different

people, cars and minibuses, coming into Bryn Estyn. And doing the same

thing, to be honest. Allegations that a Conservative politician from

the Thatcher era was one of the abuses today forced the Prime

Minister to act. Even though David Cameron is 4000 miles away from

Downing Street on a trip to the Gulf. I will be asking the senior

independent figure to lead an urgent investigation into whether

the original inquiry was properly constituted and properly did its

job, and to report urgently to the Government. Downing Street on our

looking for a judge to look into the work of this former judge, the

late Sir Ronald Waterhouse, whose report into allegations of abuse in

homes across Wales was published in 2000. What convinced to Number 10

to act was suggestions that the original inquiry failed to

investigate child abuse allegations simply because the abuse took place

outside children's homes. That and suggestions that the inquiry had

excluded allegations of named public figures. There were also

allegations aired on last Friday's news that by one of the original

victims of abuse. Tonight he welcomed the Prime Minister's

announcement but said it did not go far enough. I welcomed the

announcement as long as there is an inquiry into the abuse that took

place. There is no point in an inquiry into the inquiry. It was

clear that it did not go far enough and covered up a lot of the abuse

and that is what we should be looking at, the abuse itself.

MP who first challenged the Prime Minister to launch an investigation

into a paedophile ring has gone further tonight in a letter.

Labour's Tom Watson tells David Cameron that he has heard an

allegation about another political figure and says that he needs to

order a special police investigation, outside the affected

forces, with proper resources to review all relevant police files

and those are the intelligence services. What happened here

decades ago still dramatises the victims. Now it is raising

uncomfortable questions for the police, politicians, and those

meant to uncover the truth. Let go live to Downing Street and speak to

Nick Robinson. The Prime Minister is keen to be seen to be taking

action. That is right. That is one of the consequences of the scandal

surrounding Jimmy Savile. Nobody in authority can afford not to listen

to victims of abuse who say that their stories have not been

properly listened to in the first place. Add to that, these

allegations concern a politician, albeit one no longer frontline

politics in any way, and that the original inquiry into the abuse was

set up by the last Conservative Government, William Hague to be

precise when he was Welsh Secretary, and you can see why there is

political concern. William Hague is out of the country tonight. His

aides so that nobody raise any concerns about the inquiry that he

originally set up at the time or in the two-and-a-half years that it

was doing its work under the last Labour Government. What we have

seen tonight is this. The Government is, let's be frank,

trying to learn from mistakes made by the BBC. Don't act after people

demand it. Try and act first. you.

I will be back later in the programme, but now on the eve of

the US election, let's go to Huw Edwards in Washington.

Thank you. Welcome to Washington, on the eve of polling date in one

of the closest presidential campaigns in recent years. Obama

and Romney of covering hundreds of miles today, including pivotal

states like Ohio, which could hold the keys to the White House. It

could even be a dead heat. Mark Mardell has the latest on the

President's campaign from Madison, Wisconsin. Win or lose, it is the

last time he will campaign to save his job. He has criss-crossed a

disenchanted nation, travelling 8000 miles in three days, cajoling

voters into giving him another chance. Bruce Springsteen joined

the final push and he adds more than simple star power with his

songs of the shattered American dreams of the American working

class. # I am a man and I believe in the

promised land. He defended the President and

explained why that land has proved so hard to reach. I am here today

because I have lived long enough to know that the future is rarely a

tide rushing in. It is often a slow march, inch by inch, day after a

long day. We are in the middle of one of those long days right now.

Barack Obama needs voters to embrace that explanation, it is not

that he failed but that change is so very hard. He looks exhausted,

boggart, determined. We will win this election. We will finish what

we started. We will renew the bonds that bind us together, reaffirm the

spirit that makes the United States of America the greatest nation on

earth. God bless you. The thrust of this whole long campaign has been

about protecting the President's project, not allowing America to go

backwards, as he would have it. Now some friends have criticised him

for having no big ideas this time, but he has tried to make it about

the choice about what sort of America people want, rather than

specific policies. But we do know some of his plans. Taxes would rise

for the riches. He would carry on spending on things like education

and energy and he has promised to bring home troops from Afghanistan

by 2014. The time for pledges has passed. The President is now

straining to turn supported into actual voters and his team seemed

to be relaxed. I feel very good about where we are. I feel

confident. We have to work harder than the other side for another day

and a half and we will be in great shape. The work of rebuilding the

coalition that propelled the President to power is at an end.

The job now is to nag and drag the people to the polls.

There has been an equally breathless pace on the Romney

campaign. He has been in Florida, another swing state without which

he is unlikely to build enough support to take the White House.

Ian Pannell is travelling with the Romney team and he reports from

Sanford in Florida. He is the man who would be President, the

Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. Like his opponent, he has amassed

countless air miles chasing every last vote. He is in those parts of

America that could tip the balance in his favour. Today his supporters

gathered for one last rally to wave the flag and cheer their man.

extremely hopeful. I love my country. I hope it gets that

President that it deserves. It is a wake-up call for America. I believe

if we do not turn things around now, our children will suffer and their

children. It has been a bruising contest in an increasingly divided

nation, an election fuelled by one question above all: who has the

strongest plan for the economy? What have the climate be like?

difficult. Money is tight and people do not want to buy things

they do not necessarily need. next President of the United States,

Mitt Romney! This is Mitt Romney's second run at the presidency. Even

his father ran for the White House and he has used millions of dollars

of his own wealth to try and fulfil what must seem to him like his

destiny. His record speaks to a moderate Republican, but in this

campaign he has embraced more conservative policies, leaving some

to wonder who is the real Mitt Romney. The door to a brighter

future is open, it is waiting for us. I need your vote, I need your

help. If he wins, these are the pledges that Mitt Romney has made.

To cut income tax and create 12 million new jobs. The appeal Barack

Obama's health care law. And a promise not to cut military

spending. In truth, we know how most states are likely to vote

tomorrow. For example, history would indicate that California will

go to the Democrat and Texas to the Republicans. The outcome of this

election will in fact be decided in just a handful of states. This has

been of the most extensive and expensive election in history. The

Romney campaign has probably done all it can to secure victory. Now

America must decide if he is the right man to lead the country.

Well, the latest national polls have been suggesting a dead heat.

Surveys in some of the key states like Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio,

suggest that Barack Obama might have a slim lead, but the final

result will depend on the precise workings of the US electoral system,

as Jeremy Vine explains. Welcome to our election situation

room. This is the map as the last election are left America. Decided

by Annette or college votes. Each state has a certain number of them

according to its population size and the winner of the college votes

takes the election, which Barack Obama did last time. It means that

this result comes down to a handful of states, Colorado and Ohio and

Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Mitt Romney really needs

to get those states back for the Republicans. Some, if not all of

them. What are the opinion polls saying? At the start of the

campaign, it was not very tight. Obama was ahead with Romney

struggling. The crucial date is right here, October 3rd, the first

debate. Suddenly Romney is back in contention and it stays very tight

until the end. That does not mean it will necessarily be a very close

result because it all depends on those states that I showed you. My

goodness, what an exciting election. For the latest on the two campaigns

tonight in the closing stages, Mark Mardell is in Wisconsin and Ian

Pannell is in Florida. What is your sense of the campaign with just

I think President Obama's camp is fairly positive. I do not detect

any nervousness and they will be buoyed up by an opinion poll by ABC

television, just released, which puts the President ahead by three

points. It does seem to be going in his direction, as many do in a

swing states, but honestly, nobody knows how this will turn out. Maybe

the most important speeches today were not the soaring rhetoric by

the President but by those local officials, local people, saying to

the crowd, go and vote tomorrow and when you have voted, get your

friends to vote. That is the game now. To get people who are perhaps

a bit reluctant to turn out. Mark, thank you. Let's go from

Wisconsin to Florida. How do you gauge the mood in the Romley Camp?

-- Romley? There is a lot of hope and optimism.

What you detect is a hunger for change and that challenge as Mark

has suggested is to get the supporters out to the polls, and

you detect a sense of urgency. They are appealing for not just due to

go and vote but your friends and family and neighbours. It is a

numbers game. Mitt Romney appeals to people's pockets as well as

their pay druidism. Above all, it has been about the economy -- as

well as their patriotism. He is trying to convince people he can

run the country because of his business expertise, but the opinion

polls look like a tie. The truth is, Mitt Romney has been more steep

hill to climb and the president has more parts to victory than his

opponent. The campaign isn't dominating all

the headlines here. A week after the havoc caused by Superstorm

Sandy, there are a million homes on the east coast still waiting for

their power supply to be restored. And there are growing concerns that

tens of thousands of people need to be rehoused as temperatures fall

sharply, especially at night. Matthew Price has the latest from

New York. In tower block 105, there is no

getting back to normal. Sandy plunged their lives into darkness

and this is what Jason is left with. It is not habitable. No power, no

heat. I do not know if the water is safe any more. Up on the fourth

floor, they escaped the flooding. But not the uncertainty.

You have got a national election tomorrow. Yeah. I usually vote

downstairs in the building. I have no idea where I am supposed to go.

Where indeed, when this is that you from the balcony? The clean-up has

barely begun. Officials say New York is recovering. That is not how

this woman sees it. No heat, no nothing, so we are just walking

away from the house right now. one violent act, the storm lifted

up the boardwalk and dropped it in the community pool. 400 of

thousands of people along this coast line, the effects of

Hurricane Sandy will be filed for months to come, and winter is fast

approaching, and with temperatures set to plummet this weekend there

are fears for those without heat and power. So as the Christmas

shoppers fly in, down below they get anything they can. Clothes

donated by the more fortunate to keep them warm. We are sleeping

with clothes on. You know, I never pictured nothing like this could

happen. At the epicentre of the clean-up, Manhattan itself is

getting back to normal. The avenues bustle again, power has largely

been restored. But this is a city frizzy vehicles are running on

empty. The promised emergency fuel supplies are not getting to

everyone, and at night, the thousands left with little huddle

for warmth. There will be more from Washington

a little later. And we will have a report from the key state of Ohio,

where I have been talking to voters in one of the rural communities

about their concerns. But now, back to Fiona.

Let's look at some of the rest of the day's news.

The Prime Minister has begun a three-day visit to the Middle East

hoping to secure a lucrative contract to sell Typhoon jets. It

could be worth more than six billion pounds. David Cameron will

be performing a delicate balancing act, trying to boost British

business on the one hand while raising the tricky issue of human

rights with his hosts on the other. Frank Gardner is travelling with

the Prime Minister. He sent this report from Abu Dhabi.

Touching down in the Gulf for one of his more controversial overseas

visits since taking office. David Cameron has come to the United Arab

Emirates amid mounting criticism of its human rights record, yet he is

hoping to sell up to 68-jets and forge a long-term strategic

partnership he believes that Britain needs. David Cameron is

looking to boost sales of the Typhoon jets that can be worth

billions of pounds and thousands of British jobs, but both the UAE and

Saudi Arabia had been criticised by human rights groups. Their role as

reject this. They say privately that if Britain pushes too hard for

democratic reform in the Gulf, they could take their business elsewhere.

As the Prime Minister met some of the RAF serving personnel, defence

officials said the base could develop into a military help for

Britain, with Typhoons deployed here in a crisis, but the recent

crisis in the Middle East have been mainly internal. So how will David

Cameron balance his calls for more open society is that the

suppression of political dissent? On human rights there are no no-go

areas. We discussed all of these things. But we also show respect

and friendship to a very old ally and partner. We have one of the

strictest regimes for defence sales anywhere in the world. No such

controversy about the Dubai Metro, built with British help. The Prime

Minister is hoping this booming market will help Britain. Then it

was onto Abu Dhabi and a hastily convened encounter with university

students. He answer their questions about Syria and it runs. They told

them about their education, their hopes dashed about Syria and Iran.

In private, there are severe strains. International pressure

over human rights is mounting, but the rulers in the Gulf say they

will go at their own pace, and as one of them as props plus countries

in the world, they do not want a lecture from Britain -- one of the

most prosperous countries. A 50-year-old man has been jailed

indefinitely for abducting and sexually assaulting a ten-year-old

boy in the West Midlands last November. Michael Jackson, who was

originally called Albert English, snatched the boy off the street in

broad daylight and held him prisoner in a cupboard for three

hours. Jackson also admitted abducting a ten-year-old girl in

September last year. A stockbroker who defrauded people

through a Ponzi pyramid scheme has been jailed for 13 years. 48-year-

old Nicholas Levene from North London conned investors out of a

total of �32 million. Rather than investing his client's money,

Levene spent the funds on an extravagant lifestyle for himself.

Back to Washington. Ask anyone where this presidential

contest will be decided and they will pick any one of a handful of

key states, which will make hefty contributions to the body that will

decide the final outcome. One of those states is now being mentioned

more than any other, so why travel to the US to find out more. -- so I

travelled. I have driven two hours south of

Columbus in Ohio, or one of the biggest swing states, and every

single vote will count on election day, and I am heading for one of

the smallest communities in Jackson County. It is called Oak Hill and

in fact, I have a rather special reason for coming here. As it

happens, this is a very Welsh corner of the USA, a village

settled by Welsh farmers in the first half of the 19th century.

Some of my ancestors among them. Their descendants are still here.

Mr Lloyd? Q Edwards? Nice to see you. I think we are related! Jim

Lloyd's mother was an Edwards and will certainly have plenty of

family history to talk about, but this is a man who had seen 16

presidents. He is keener to talk politics. The best President, I

think, as it turned out, was Franklin D Roosevelt. Although I

was a republican I think it was probably Franklin D Roosevelt.

wants a President who will rebuild the economy but he does not think

Obama is the man. The problem with this country is we have no jobs.

Oak Hill, for instance. There is no jobs in Oak Hill. Young people have

to move to the cities, or drive for miles to get to their jobs.

unemployment in Oak Hill is about the state average. The old

industries have disappeared, the works and found his built by

migrants, so I came to the Welsh heritage museum to ask the mayor

for his priorities. It feels like the eyes of the world are on Ohio

right now. It feels how Ohio goes, so goes the election. We need jobs.

We need to see a change in the economy. If you would speak to

anybody off of the street, I believe that will be their concern,

the economy and jobs. Finding Democrats in Oak Hill is not easy,

but those we came across said that Obama was on the right track.

have to look at the eight years before he came in. He came in when

things were really bad and you cannot clean up a mess like that in

four years. I am not saying everything he did was right, but in

my heart, I think he was trying to do the best job he could. On the

outskirts of Oak Hill, a remote Welsh chapel, plenty of evidence of

the local heritage, and today's Edwards firmly in the Mitt Romney

camp. He has what it takes to turn the country a rounds. He has been

in business and I think he will help with the economy. That is what

I am concerned with us. Pretty much the same reason. He was a

businessman, he will may be tried to straighten the economy out. I

know it cannot be done in one term. But no desire to give Obama a

second term. That is the view in rural Ohio but this is a deeply

divided state in closest of presidential races.

The view from Jackson County, Ohio. And for a final word ahead of

polling day, Mark Mardell joins me from Wisconsin.

We have had time and again about a divided nation. How divided his

America according to your assessment of the campaign?

Some people viciously dislike President Obama, not for what he

has done but for what he stands for, the way that America is changing.

Part of the reason is that there has never been the Grand bargain

between left and right that we have had in Britain and Europe. Some

Republicans want to really reduce the role of the state to almost

nothing and allow the individual states to do that work, and beyond

that, there is two Americans in terms of who votes for the parties.

Generalisations are just that, but in the main, Republicans are white

and rural and elderly, and Democrats are younger and ethnic,