08/01/2013 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten, MPs approve the plans to cap benefit rises for

millions of people. The cap of 1% for the next three years applies to

most working-age benefits and tax credits, and has provoked a furious

debate. This bill is about picking up the pieces, sorting out the

deficit and being responsible. don't want to live in a society

where we pretend we can enjoy the good life while our neighbours lose

their life chances. We will look at the group's most affected by the

planned changes. Also tonight, a British soldier

died and six were injured when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them

in Helmand. He in Australia, wildfires are

still burning and there is a major emerging threat in New South Wales.

The swirling, and a vicious wind, the soaring temperatures, 45

degrees. At the moment, there has been a sudden change in the wind.

The senior police officer who denies offering information to

tabloid journalists for money. And after a decade of silence,

David Bowie is back with a new Good evening. The coalition's plans

to cap benefit rises for many people have been approved by the

House of Commons. Ministers want to limit the annual rise in working-

age benefits to 1% for the next three years. Labour says millions

of low-income families will be worse off, but ministers insist

that the welfare budget can't be insulated from spending cuts.

Time to cut welfare. Before MPs today, a plan to squeeze a long

list of working age benefits and tax credits over the next three

years. Billions will be saved, but millions will be affected. The

coalition has long promised spending cuts. Now they are

beginning to bite. That meant some angry exchanges in the Commons,

where ministers said they were acting where Labour would not,

challenging Labour to say what it would cut instead of welfare.

difference is that they spent taxpayers' money like drunks on a

Friday night. They spend more, tax more, borrow more and let the next

generation pick up the bill. This bill is about picking up the pieces,

sorting out the deficit and being responsible. But Labour said the

best way to cut welfare would be to create jobs, and they challenged

the Government to justify tax cuts for the rich while squeezing the

low-paid. We oppose this tax. Welfare to work will not work

without jobs. This bill does not create a single job, it creates a

heck of a mess and it asks Britain's Working families to clear

it up. The bill before Parliament will increase many benefits and tax

credits by 1% over the next three years. That is below inflation, so

it is a real-terms cut. The working ages of those -- working-age

benefits are affected. But disability benefits and the state

pension are not affected. The Government is gambling that most

voters will accept that you can't cut the deficit without cutting

welfare. Labour is gambling that voters will think no, this is an

unfair squeeze on millions of low- income families. Both sides say

they have public opinion behind them. Both sides can't be right.

The Tories say opinion polls show that voters agree with them.

Benefits should not rise faster than wages. Labour says some of

those voters may change their minds when they realise that they could

also get hit. Across the Commons, battle lines today were clear and

unambiguous, and not without passion. The same mean and

miserable piece of legislation from a mean and miserable government.

This Government is committed to giving a hand-up, not a handout. We

want to see people get into work. This rancid bill is not about

affordability. It is not. It reeks of the politics of dividing lines.

This is a reasonable choice to get the economy out of the mess that he

admitted he and his colleagues left it in. A like him, most Lib Dems

back to the cuts, but not all. Some were concerned about the language

of the undeserving poor. I shall vote against the bill today with a

heavy heart. I hope myself and any others who choose that cause of

action will give the Government cause for thought. Tonight, despite

that modest Lib Dem rebellion, the Government easily won the vote. But

the battle for public opinion has only just begun, and it will last

all the way to the next general election.

By the government's own estimates, poorer households and lone parents

will be hit hardest by the cap. But ministers insist that benefits

should not go up at a faster rate than wages in the public sector.

The plans affect many people both in work and out of work, and apply

to payments which have traditionally gone up in line with

inflation. Our economics editor has been studying the figures.

No one will see their benefits for in cash terms as a result of the

change, but there will be a squeeze in benefits in real terms because

they will not keep up with inflation. Government analysis

shows that 30% of households in Britain will be affected, and

families with children will be hardest hit. According to the

Institute for Fiscal Studies, 7 million of those who lose out will

be households with at least one person in work. On average, they

will be �165 a year worse off by 2015 as a result of this change.

Georgina Maric and her husband both work part-time because they can't

afford full-time child care for their two kids. If their child tax

credit shrinks in real terms, she is not sure it will make sense for

her to work at all. I have to pay more for childcare, but I am

getting less help and I am not getting a wage increase. For me, if

it will not go up any more, it will be very difficult. But the people

worst affected by this policy will be those who don't have a job to

start with. The Institute for Fiscal Serv for -- Studies reckons

2.5 million out of work households will be �215 a year worse off on

average by 2015 up as a result of the 1% cap. Phil Smith from York

had worked all his life before he lost his job as a heavy goods

driver four years ago. He has struggled to find work ever since,

and he thinks people like him are already suffering enough. It is not

anything to live on. You can exist on it, you can't live on it. It is

there as a safety net. If you cut that safety net, people will really

feel serious pain, especially at the bottom end where I am.

welfare budget is more than �200 billion, 30% of all public spending.

That means any government that wants to squeeze public spending

will have to look for ways to squeeze welfare. Any measure that

saves real money will have to affect millions of households. On

average, the bottom 60% of UK households get more from the

Government in benefits and public services than they pay out in taxes.

Recently, those benefits have risen a lot faster than average earnings.

Earnings have gone up much more slowly than inflation since 2007.

This begins to close that gap. People in work have on average done

worse as a result of the recession than people out of work.

biggest risk in this is inflation. Most forecasters think inflation

will be relatively low over the next few years. If they are right,

benefits will fall by about 4% in real terms between now and 2015,

roughly as much as inflation has shrunk the average pay packet since

2010. But if there are any more nasty inflation surprises,

households on benefits will find they don't have the protection they

A British soldier has been shot dead in Afghanistan and six others

have been injured. Yesterday's are back at a military base in Helmand

was carried out by a man in Afghan army uniform. The British soldier

who died was serving with 28 Engineer Regiment. His family has

been told. As their British instructors look

on, Afghan soldiers are trained in mine clearance inside a British

base. They work and live at close quarters. But always in the

background are armed British soldiers, called Guardian Angels,

their protection against insider attacks. In classrooms, too, they

stand watch. Increasingly, it is an uneasy relationship between the

Afghans and their foreign partners. The first British soldier to die

this year still has not been named. But like the five others who died

before him on their six-month tour of duty, he was killed by Afghan

security forces. The Afghan commander in the area explained

what happened. TRANSLATION: Before firing on the

British soldier, he shot first at Afghans. Then he targeted the

coalition camp next door. Then the gunman was killed. We will have

more details soon. So orders are now at risk where they should be

most safe, inside their camps. Taliban infiltration is often to

blame. The insurgents' tactic is to undermine the relationship between

Afghan forces and their coalition partners, making it difficult for

the Afghan military to take over security here. President Karzai

arrived in Washington earlier today. He is there to map out with

President Obama Afghanistan's future after foreign combat troops

have left. Their meeting will influence how many American troops

remain in Afghanistan and determine their primary mission - to fight

the Taliban, or to root out Al- Qaeda. President Karzai wants

American soldiers out of his country's towns and villages.

Increasingly, they are. His forces now lead most of the missions

across the country, but in the toughest areas, they still are not

ready. So for many years to come, these soldiers and Afghanistan

generally will still rely on America's support.

High winds and record temperatures are driving more than 130 fires in

south-eastern Australia. In four areas of New South Wales, the

danger has been classed as catastrophic. Experts say fires

breaking out in the region are likely to be uncontrollable.

Bast in scale and frightening intensity. The New South Wales

bushfires have been fanned by ferocious winds and some of the

highest temperatures this state has ever witnessed. Four large regions

are being placed at the highest state of alert, catastrophic. It

means the bushfires are uncontrollable and fast-moving.

Residents are strongly urge to escape their paths. At ground level,

we saw how terrifying and unpredictable the fire France can

be. This is one of the state's main roads, the Princes Highway, in the

middle of the afternoon. Too dangerous for all but emergency

services to travel. Just off it, the country homes and properties

most at risk. Close to the fire front, you get a sense of the

conditions the firefighters are dealing with, the swirling, vicious

winds, the soaring temperatures, 45 degrees. At the moment, there has

been a sudden change in the wind, which is what makes these fires are

unpredictable. In the small town of Wandandian, Barbara Bennett decided

to stay and protect her home, her garden hose her main defence.

will only go if necessary. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

roads shut and communities isolated, many locals faced a different kind

of agony. Stranded from family members as the fires closed in.

can't get out, and I can't get into them, so I told them to fill up

every available bath, bucket. Helicopters are bombarded the fires

with water. But to little avail. The weather conditions are such

that we can't do any heavy fire fighting at the moment. The wind is

too strong and it is too hot. not just New South Wales that has

been affected. Victoria, the state that suffered the awful Black

Saturday disaster in 2009, is being hit again. Seldom has Australia

witnessed a heatwave like it, nor fires that have affected such a

A senior police officer says it's ludicrous to suggest she offered

money to the News of the World -- offering the News of the World news

for money. How widespread was phone hacking at the News of the World?

That was the question posed by the New York Times back in September

2010. Their report led Scotland Yard to examine whether the hacking

inquiry should be re-opened. This angered April was burn, the officer

now on tried. -- April was burn, the officer on trial. She admits

phoning the News of the World, but the journalist who took the call

says he offered information about the inquiry in exchange for payment.

April was burn said when she picked up the phone to the paper she was

acting out of public interest and not because she was unhappy with

her personal situation at Scotland Yard. She constantly denied that

she had asked the News of the World for money. April Scotland Yard,

hacking was being investigated by the Counter Terrorism Commmand.

Referring to the TV series she described the command as Life on

Mars in the 21st century. She said when it came to possible victims

one officer wondered if he would get to see the actress, Senna

Miller. She told the jury as a counter-terrorism officer not on

the investigation she was concerned. She said: As for why she went to

the News of the World, she said it was a big-selling newspaper and the

press exposed wrongdoing. At one stage she was in tears. She denies

misconduct in public office. The trial continues tomorrow. Coming up

on tonight's programme - 20,000 gadgets go on show at the world's

biggest technology show in Las Vegas. In Northern Ireland,

political leaders have warned of severe consequences unless a

peaceful solution is reached in the violent dispute over flying the

Union flag at Belfast City Hall. A decision to stop flying the flag

every day has enraged unionists and led to weeks of clashes on the

streets. Tonight, there was more unrest, as our Ireland

correspondent Mark Simpson reports. These are the protesters who refuse

to stop. Back out this afternoon in East Belfast. They have no faith in

politicians at Stormont. They prefer street politics. They

believe the peace process has made Northern Ireland less British and

the recent removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall was the

final straw. We have had enough. Enough is enough and it's time for

action. Enough of what? Being pushed about. We demonised. We

can't walk anywhere and you can't do this and that and millions spent

on inquiries. Scrap the Good Friday Agreement and start again, because

it's one-sided and we won't settle for it. Simple. The flag protests

began 36 days ago, but when are they going to end? Once we get the

flag back, all this will stop. There won't be any protest. Will

that not show that violence pays? Violence might pay, but we want to

represent our country and our unionists. We want to represent our

flag and they've took it down from the pain building in the city.

demonstrations have been peaceful, others haven't. The police say

loyalist paramilitaries have been orchestrating some of the trouble

in East Belfast. I think the paramilitary organisations, the UDA

and UVF still have the clout and dominance of the communities to

switch this off if they want to. We are in a situation now where people

are playing to the crowd and the mood, playing to the street.

violence has only been in a small number of areas and Stormont's

First Minister says most unionists, although angry about the flag issue,

still support the peace process. I'm certainly not going to give way

to those who want to bring down the process, because that would be

anti-democratic and against the wishes of the people. Tonight,

there was more trouble in East Belfast, but not as bad as

previously. Tomorrow, the Union flag will fly again over Belfast

City Hall to mark the birthday of the Duchess of Cambridge. It's one

of 19 days, mostly Royal birthdays, on which the council has agreed to

fly the flag. The new policy is seen by some as a compromise, but

by others as a betrayal. It's a symbol of Northern Ireland's on-

going divisions. The Met Office says it's standing

by its long-term forecast of global warming for the rest of the century.

A new computer system estimates that temperatures will rise by

slightly less over the next five years than previously forecast. But

the Met Office says people shouldn't read too much into the

change, as our science editor David Shukman explains. The met office

tries to forecast everything and what might happen five to ten

years' time. It's one of those forecasts that hit the news today

and here's why - they had forecast the world would warm by a little

over 0.54C by 2015, when compared to the long-term average. They have

had to revise that. They've downgraded it to under 0.4C. It's

caused quite a storm. The key thing here is that if that forecast is

right and there isn't much warming by 2015, we might have had a 20-

year period without much warming and a lot of will will say what's

the fuss about? The Met Office and climate scientists are saying

actually global warming is a long- term threat. Natural factors may

get in the way and influence things, the oceans and solar output, but

bear in mind it's a long-term threat and one that's not going

away. Thank you very much. One of the world's biggest technology

shows has opened in Las Vegas this evening. Over the next week, an

estimated 20,000 new products will be launched at the Consumer

Electronics Show. One of big trends this year is televisions - with

much greater definition and interactivity. Our technology

correspondent Rory Cellan Jones reports. Thousands of new products

are unveiled. The industry giants battle for the attention of

consumers. You can tell that Samsung is the giant of this

industry by the sheer scale of this enormous stand, which is apparently

taken a whole month to build. It shows off the dominance in every

place from smartphones where it's the current leader to the kitchen

where it's trying to sell us smart fridges, but it's television where

the giants of the industry are trying to show their muscle. The

screens get bigger every year. This one is 110 inches across. Next door,

Sony hopes 4 K screens offer four times as many pixels as HD and will

put it back in the race. But Samsung has another trick up its

sleeve, a 3D screen which can show two different programmes at the

same time. The screen appears blurred, but look through the

glasses and each viewer's picture becomes clearer. It's all about the

screens. Smart TVs and tablets, smartphones and how you can connect

them all together and connect devices. Lots of devices whether

it's cameras with si IM cards. -- SIM cards in or other things like

putting in your suitcases to find out where they are. The car

industry has brought new ideas. Many aimed at automating the

driving accidents. This Lexus research vehicle effectively drives

itself. It sensors judge when it is getting close to other cars and

applies the brakes. You don't see a day when I will be sitting in the

back seat and let the car do the work? I would prefer you didn't do.

I would prefer that you drove and the car made you a better driver.

Some of the gadgetry has no commercial purpose, other than to

wow the visitors, but many of the products will take off. Some could

even change our lives. Following a decade of silence, David Bowie

surprised the rock world by releasing a new single today, on

his 66th birthday. His long absence from the industry and heart surgery

in 2004 has prompted plenty of speculation about his health. But

as our arts editor Will Gompertz reports there's also a new album on

the way suggesting plenty of new energy. Without fanfare or

flamboyance, David Bowie posted his first new track for a decade on the

internet. # Where are we now

# Where are we now... # It's a sorrowful ballad that sees the 66-

year-old rock star reminiscing about his time spent in Berlin in

the 1970s. # Had to get the train from

Potsdamer Platz... # Fans were surprised and relieved. Some had

thought he had quietly retired and others speculated that poor health

had incapacitated him, which is not the case according to his old

friend and producer, Tony advice Conti. David is extremely melt --

advice Conti. David is extremely healthy and he's rosy cheeked.

During the recording he was smiling all the time and he was so happy to

be back in the studio. His stamina is fantastic. Bowie has a history

of surprising fans. In 1972 he produced his flamed-haired alter

ego Ziggy Stardust and in so doing helped change the face of pop. It

was here in the West End where the famous album cover shot was taken.

There's a plaque to mark the moment, which in a way is significant,

because it represents part of a process which has turned a pop star

into something approaching a living legend. From glam rock is 1980's

upon. Bowie set the fashion, others followed.

# Put on your red shoes and dance the blues... # He is a true artist.

Says the man who played with him during his last live performance in

the UK in 2006. To play with him in the UK, you get the real deal and

to feel that voice and the power of that voice. And the charisma. And

to see the people just really loving him. It's a great, great

experience. This new single will only add to the Bowie myth, as the