09/11/2012 BBC News at Ten

The senior Conservative Lord McAlpine publicly denies

allegations that he abused children in care homes in North Wales.

The former party treasurer hits back at allegations he calls

"wholly false and seriously defamatory".

And tonight, the man who claimed on BBC Newsnight he'd been abused by a

senior Tory says sorry. I would just like to offer my sincere and

humble apologies to Lord McAlpine. That certainly is not the man that

abused me. That is certainly not the man that identified as abused

There had been claims and innuendo linking Lord McAlpine to the abuse

in Wales for decades. His lawyer says now is the time to act.

need to take a number of actions, firstly to take this down from the

internet, which is not going to be easy. And then we have to look at

Newsnight. In a statement in the last few minutes, the BBC has

apologised unreservedly for the Newsnight broadcast.

Also tonight: The Government admits it's too late

to eradicate the disease killing Britain's ash trees.

Tens of thousands sign a petition for the Pakistani schoolgirl shot

by the Taliban to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

And remembering the troops who battled against the odds in the

In Sportsday, Andy Murray reaches the last four of the ATP World Tour

finals - he just needed to win a Good evening.

After days of speculation on the internet, in the press and on

television, the former Conservative Party treasurer Lord McAlpine has

publicly denied allegations linking him to the sexual abuse of children

from care homes in North Wales. He's hit back at what he calls

"wholly false and seriously defamatory" claims against him. And

this evening a victim of abuse at one of the care homes has

apologised to Lord McAlpine, saying he was mistaken in his earlier

belief that the Tory peer was his abuser. Steven Messham's claims

were what sparked a BBC Newsnight investigation which repeated his

allegations that he'd been been abused by an unnamed senior Tory

from the Thatcher era. In the last few minutes the BBC has apologised

for the Newsnight report. Mark Easton reports.

It is now clear that the child abuse scandal of North Wales has

claimed another victim. For 20 years, Lord McAlpine, close friend

of Margaret Thatcher and former Tory party treasurer, has had a

shadow cast upon his personal reputation. Rumours swirled around

newsrooms and the internet that he had abused boys at a Wrexham

children's home in the 1970s. It simply was not true. And today he

found the courage, publicly, to put You can cope with political

criticism. He is broken-hearted over this. His family are very

upset. And he feels that, you know, bearing in mind that his health

isn't that good, that this is a total shock to receive at his time

in life. Lord McAlpine's statement comes two decades after rumours

first circulated, but days after one of the victims of abuse in

North Wales appeared on BBC Newsnight. Steve Messham claimed

that a senior Tory politician had raped him. He did not name Lord

McAlpine on air, but that is who he thought it was. Today, after being

shown a photograph, he realised it had been a case of mistaken

identity. I would like to offer my sincere and humble apologies to

Lord McAlpine. That certainly is not the man that abused me and

certainly not the man identified as abused me to North Wales Police in

the 1990s. That is certainly not the man there was on that

report. Lord McAlpine has said he is considering legal action.

have to be very careful before casting aspersions against

individuals, or bandying people's names around, as was being done

yesterday, without proper evidence. I think every institution,

journalist and politician has to think carefully about those things,

so we should all study carefully what he has said. The abuse at

North Wales children's homes may have happened four decades ago, but

amid the current publicity, new victims -- alleged victims have

come forward with stories not previously investigated. One man

who contacted the BBC claims that while in care in the early 1970s he

was drugged, taken away in a posh car and raped in a hotel or a house.

His abuser, he says, threatened him never to breathe a word and until

now he has not spoken of his ordeal. If I mentioned it in years to come,

said anything, he would send the same people to come and get me and

my family and I would never see them again, because he had friends

in really high places. Police and other authorities are encouraging

people to tell their stories, and often after decades victims are

finding the confidence to speak out. But today's events are a reminder

of how hard it can be to find the truth.

In the last few minutes, the BBC has made a statement about

Newsnight, whose report sparked the renewed allegations about Lord

McAlpine. That is right. As we have heard, and unreserved apology for

having broadcast the programme in the first place. A number of steps

have been taken immediately. A senior news executive has been sent

in to supervise tonight's Newsnight programme. There will be a full

apology on that Newsnight programme for the mistakes they made in

broadcasting that programme. An urgent report, we are told, will be

sent to the Director General, George Entwistle, on what went

wrong. Ken MacQuarrie from BBC Scotland, already involved in the

Savile Inquiry is will do that. There has been a pause on all

Newsnight investigations as of now. Banda also a suspension of all co-

productions with the freelance investigative journalists involved

with this story. -- and also a suspension. It is a real mess. The

BBC is already under huge criticism, Newsnight already under future

criticism. There is a strange irony in this, of course, because the

first time they were criticised for not broadcasting allegations of

trialled abuse against Jimmy Savile. Now they find themselves criticised

for broadcasting the unsubstantiated allegations against

a senior Conservative. And the pickle that they find themselves in,

in a way, exemplify his, it is a perfect example of the problems

with this whole area or court. On the one hand, you have victims who

want to tell their stories and be believed, and on the other you have

authorities who absolutely have to make sure that what they are being

told us the truth. Because if you get it wrong, you get victims,

victims, as we have seen today, like Lord McAlpine.

The future of Britain's 80 million ash trees is in danger, with the

spread of ash dieback disease now inevitable. That's the warning from

the Environment Secretary. Owen Patterson acknowledged that the

disease cannot be eradicated, as he unveiled a plan to try to limit its

spread. Ash dieback has now been confirmed at 129 sites in England,

Wales and Scotland. Here's Jeremy Cooke.

Britain's woodlands, under threat. Some 30% of our trees are ash, and

now it is clear that many, maybe most of them, will fall victim to

this killer fungal infection. In London, a meeting of the

Government's emergency COBRA committee. No doubts about the

scale of the problem. We do not have a magic potion we could stick

and a helicopter this afternoon and spray. There is no immediate cure.

But what we are confident, from what we have seen on the Continent,

is that there is a small number of these trees that can survive.

Across Britain there are now 135 locations identified with ash

dieback. 70 are in tree nurseries and newly planted areas, where

control is relatively easy. But 65 are now in mature would land in

England, probably infected by spores broke -- blown across the

North Sea. There is now a general acceptance that the disease cannot

be eradicated, so the focus now is not so much on how best to save our

80 million ash trees, but rather on how best to replace them. Natural

resistance could be a long-term answer. If DNA testing can identify

the few ash trees resistant to Chalara fraxinea, they might be

used to repopulate the landscape, but that means many mature, even

ancient trees, could be lost. There may be no known cure for ash

dieback, but some are still calling for new research to find a

scientific solution. There are trees out there in excess of 1000

years old. Is there anything we can actually do to prevent damage to

them? Today's action plan calls for newly-planted trees to be destroyed,

mature trees to be monitored but not cut down, more study of genetic

resistance, and for the public to help to identify trees with the

infection. But there is no disguising the fact that this is a

disaster. The ash, and native, iconic species, in crisis. -- a

native. In his first speech since his re-

election, President Obama has laid out the argument he will take to

Congress to try to avoid the looming budget crisis. Mr Obama

said he was open to co-operation and compromise with Republicans.

But he said he wouldn't accept a deal that didn't balance government

spending cuts with higher taxes for the rich. We cannot cut our way to

prosperity. If we are serious about reducing the deficit, we have to

combine spending cuts with the Revenue, and that means asking the

wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes. Strong words

from the President, but will he be able to bridge the political divide

in Congress? It will be very difficult, but he is using all of

the moral authority that he has got as a freshly re-elected President

to get the sort of deal that he wants. The problem is that they are

Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, some of them

freshly elected as well, who think they have a moral mandate, saying,

we want a different sort of deal. It is free difficult to bridge that

gap, but it is imperative that they do, because coming down the

pipeline, this automatic huge increase in taxes and huge spending

cuts would wreck the American economy, the horrible for the

British and the world economy as a knock-on. They know they have to

sort it out, and the President is saying, at least give ordinary

people a tax break, can't you do that? The Republicans will want to

say, no, we have to agree the whole package, but he is putting them on

the spot. The Bishop of Durham, the Right

Reverend Justin Welby, has spoken of his optimism for the future of

the Anglican Church, after being confirmed as the next Archbishop of

Canterbury. He restated his support for women bishops. And while

opposing same-sex marriages, he said there should be "no truck with

any form of homophobia" in the Church. Mike Wooldridge reports. A

broad welcome across the church today for Justin Welby, as he and

his wife, Caroline, posed for the cameras at Lambeth Palace. Rowan

Williams said his successor needs the constitution of an ox and the

skin of a rhinoceros, dealing with the trench warfare between

traditionalists and liberals. Justin Welby seemed undeterred.

am utterly optimistic about the future of the Church. We will

certainly get things wrong. I certainly will, but the grace of

God is greater than our biggest failures. We will also certainly

get much right. As a strong supporter of appointing women

bishops, after 20 years of women priests, he hopes the compromises

so tortuously hammered out will mean a Yes vote later this month.

That would still leave many traditionalists unhappy. But the

biggest continuing controversy in the new Archbishop's in-tray will

undoubtedly be that Church's attitude to same-sex relationships.

I think the future Archbishop will lead to be very careful about the

sort of statements that he makes, so he does not immediately rankle

with gay and lesbian people with in this country. That has caused

problems. It is a fault line issue far beyond this country. A liberal,

traditionalist divide across the 80 million-strong worldwide Anglican

Church. From Nigeria, this warning. The homosexual agenda being

promoted here and there in the Church, and by different

governments here and there, if that is the agenda he is coming to

promote, of course we will not be part of it. With the threat of more

potential breakaways, Justin Welby's reconciliation skills will

be tested. I think the whole thing about reconciliation within the

Church is a major agenda. As I said in my statement, we are trying to

find ways of disagreeing in a way that shows our respect and love for

each other. As the next Archbishop sees it, the work of the Church of

England is not primarily done at Lambeth Palace or on television,

but in over 16,000 churches across the country and through the

millions of hours of voluntary service done by parishioners

outside the church. And whether it is about that real front line, as

he calls it, or the other issues that today's world is grappling

with, Justin Welby says he believes it is absolutely right for the

Of coming up: the Chinese Communist official who was sacked after being

caught wearing nine different watches.

Thousands of people around the world have signed online petitions

calling for a Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban to

be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai,

who is now in hospital in Birmingham, was targeted because

she was campaigning for girls' education. Gordon Brown, now the UN

special envoy for global education, is in Pakistan and told Orla Guerin

that Malala would be were the Riz - - with the recipient.

To just one month after the Taliban left her for dead, Malala is

sitting up, reading get-well cards. From her hospital room in

Birmingham, her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, passed on her thanks to

supporters worldwide. My Lalla is recovering well, and wants me to

tell you she has been inspired and humbled by the thousands of cards,

messages and gifts that she has received. They have helped my

daughters survive and stay strong. Back in Pakistan, others are

drawing strength from her. In this school in Islamabad today, former

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, now UN special envoy for education, got a

lesson in the Malala effect. has been very brave. She had to

stand up to people who were intimidating her, and you all seem

to support her? She stood for their rights. You can't stop someone like

this. She was braver. She gave us an example to follow. The girls

here have big dreams. But when they grow up, many want to be just like

Malala. Gordon Brown is hearing about all the ambitions the pupils

have here, but there are many girls in Pakistan who never see the

inside of a classroom. Malala Yousafzai risked her life to

campaign for girls' education, and now in her name, the United Nations

is going to carry on that fight. The special envoy is pushing for

schools for 32 million girls worldwide, who are denied an

education. Malala planned to campaign for them just before she

was shot. I don't think there is anybody I know who did not shed a

tear, who did not cry. The idea that a girl, simply for going to

school, or wanting to go to school, was shot by the Taliban, is

unspeakable. The a raised their voices in Malala's honour amid

calls for her to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr Brown

said the courageous teenager would be a worthy recipient.

China's economy will be larger than those of all the Eurozone countries

combined by the end of this year and will overtake the US by the end

of 2016, according to the Organisation for Economic

Cooperation and Development. But despite this apparent success,

China's leaders have warned that the Communist Party may fall from

power if it does not stop corruption. As they prepare to hand

over to a younger generation, they are considering a radical way of

tackling it, making party officials declare all their assets.

From outside, it looks solid as a rock. But inside, China's Communist

Party may be corroding. It's absolute power over a billion

people leading to Rank's riddled with corruption.

TRANSLATION: We have elevated the fight against corruption to a life-

or-death issue for the party. But we believe we can control it.

method, by spying on party members using webcams, and getting them to

study more Marxism and Leninism to make them more virtuous. What has

pushed the issue to the fore is the downfall of Bo Xilai, a contender

for the party's new leadership, accused of massive corruption and

arrested after his wife admitted killing the British businessman

Neil Heywood. In China today, it is harder to hide the party's abuses

of power. Under the outgoing leaders, the number of internet

users here has grown ten times in the past decade, to over 500

million. The internet is giving China's people a tool they have

never had to scrutinise the party, and an applet to express their

anger at the corruption they seek. That is why the leaders are so

worried. Yun Jung Zhai was dismissed as a local official after

internet users scrutinised pictures of him and found he had nine

different luxury watches, with many times -- worth many times his

annual salary. Ordinary Chinese are increasingly outraged. Video of

this demonstration against land grabbing officials was posted

recently on the anti-corruption website this man runs.

TRANSLATION: It used to be that individuals were corrupt. Now it is

whole groups of officials. The system is crippled. Nobody is

accountable. No damaging for China's communist leaders is the

extraordinary wealth that has been amassed by their own families.

Legitimately, maybe, but it is embarrassing. Next week, Xi Jinping

will be installed as the party's new leader. His riches are

estimated at more than �200 million, while Wen Jiabao, the outgoing

premier's extended family is thought to have over �1.5 billion

of assets. As Hu Jintao and other leaders before him have said, you

cannot have the country run by a massive kleptocracy, because one

day people will get tired of this. That they may be coming closer, but

since the party is unwilling to submit to any outside control, it

is not clear if it can really clean itself up.

With less than a week to go to the elections for police and Crown

Commissioners in England and Wales, candidates have been out on the

campaign trail amid fears that turnout could be the lowest for any

recent election. The contest has attracted a number of independent

candidates, but can they break feature additional strength of the

established parties? Politicians once again on the

election beat, this time campaigning ahead of next week's

vote to elect police and Crown Commissioners. But some fear that

these elections risk bringing party politics into the police. The

uniforms may have changed since the early days of the police. What

hasn't is the importance attached to the force's political

independence. And yet three- quarters of those standing to

become commissioners are party candidates. Now we are seeing that

the party nominees are beginning to dominate, certainly numerically.

And yes, if you look at the arithmetic, you can see that the

majority of people who will be elected will come with a party

ticket round their neck. The police and crime commissioners will have

the power to hire and fire chief constables, set out a five-year

police and crime plan for the local force, and they will fix the annual

police budget. But there are potential conflicts. In the West

Midlands, the Force is poised to privatise some of its functions,

but many would-be commissioners are publicly pledged to oppose such a

move, paving the way for a potential clash between the

operational priorities of the chief constable and the political

priorities of the Police Commissioner. In Wolverhampton this

afternoon, many voters seemed apprehensive about the change.

seems more political, rather than people who care about what will

happen in the community. We have a Labour candidate and a Conservative

candidate. But no other information than their party politics. I am

looking for an independent to vote for. These are the candidates, but

were for wins will have to work with local councillors and will not

be allowed to interfere in day-to- day policing. We will have to see

how it beds in. If the service will work constructively with a properly

accountable person, it will just happen to be different. Despite the

change facing the police and the dominance of the party machines at

these elections, ministers believe elected commissioners will give

voters a greater say in how they The actor Bill Tarmey, best known

for his role as the workshy, accident-prone Jack Duckworth in

Coronation Street, has died. He was 71. He appeared in the show for

more than 30 years alongside his screen wife, Vera, played by Liz

Dawn. Fellow actors described him as a legend who was very wise and

dignified. It was one of the turning points of

World War II. In 1944, British and Indian soldiers, hugely out LUNT --

outnumbered, held off an onslaught from the Japanese. But the men who

fought at Kohima in north-east India regard themselves as the

forgotten army. As Remembrance Day approaches, Prince Andrew has been

hearing some of their stories. The faces of the men whose lives

were changed on a battle-scarred hilltop, the men who defended a

tiny Indian settlement called Kohima. There was one soldier, who

won his major came into his trench, they had been fighting for ten days

and nights. He said Sir, What We Die, will it be over or will we

still have to go on? Kohima lay in the path of the Japanese advance

into India. 15,000 of their troops surrounded 1500 British and Indian

defenders, dug into a landscape torn by explosions and littered

with the bodies of soldiers who could not be buried. It one of my

troops got a burst of machine gun fire, and I tried to get him out.

He looked me in the face and said it is no use, I am finished. So I

left him. That must have been tough. Yes. It has been on my conscience

ever since. The battle lasted over a month. 10,000 lives were lost.

Every night, about 9 o'clock, I drink a toast to those that were

left behind. I think of the people we were surrounded with, who are

not here any more. Remembrance can take many forms. The Duke of York

has welcomed the veterans' campaign for an educational trust to help

the local communities in Nagaland who lost lives and livelihoods in a

conflict that was not of their making. On fortunately, history

tends to repeat itself more frequently than we would like. We

need to think about the people who it displaces and effects. This is

as true today as it was in the Second World War, as it has been in