29/08/2014 BBC News at Ten

The terror threat level in the UK is raised from substantial to severe.

This means a terrorist attack is highly likely. But there is no

intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent.

The Prime Minister says extremists fighting in the Middle East present

a greater threat to our security than ever before.

The ambition to create an extremist caliphate in the heart of Iraq and

Syria is a threat to our own security here in the UK.

We'll be reporting from Syria and the frontline against

Police warn time is running out for the seriously ill five-year-old,

who's been taken from hospital by his parents and is now missing.

The campaign trail in Scotland turns nasty, as tempers rise ahead

And unseen chapters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reveal

how Roal Dahl intended to include more children winning that lucky

Later on BBC London, the police raids to clamp down on Roma gypsies

begging and sleeping rough. And Heathrow bosses ask the mayor to

back expansion, if Boris Island is scrapped.

The UK's terror threat level has been raised today in response to

It means an attack is considered highly likely, but the Government

says there is no intelligence to suggest an attack is imminent.

The Prime Minister said Islamic State represents

a greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before.

He promised new legislation to make it easier to take passports away

Our Political Editor, Nick Robinson, reports.

Standing guard against the threat of terrorism, a threat we were told

today got bigger, a threat which could see more armed police on the

streets of Britain. This afternoon, a sombre Home Secretary read out the

recommendations of the joint terrorism analysis centre. They have

today raised the threat level for the UK from international terrorism

from substantial to severe. That means that a terrorist attack is

highly likely. But there is no intelligence to suggest that an

attack is imminent. What's led to the change is the increased threat

posed by extremist jihadis, many home-grown, who claim to be fighting

to build what they call an Islamic state. It was they who beheaded the

American journalist James Foley last week before warning they'd go on to

kill other hostages. The Prime Minister said today they also pose a

threat to us here at home. It was clear evidence, not that any more

was needed, that this is not some foreign conflict, thousands of miles

from home, we can hope to ignore. The ambition to create an extremist

caliphate in the heart of Iraq and Syria is a threat to our own

security here in the UK. A week ago, David Cameron saided there be no --

said there would be no knee-jerk reaction to Foley's death. But it is

clear that there are gaps in our armoury and we need to strengthen

them. We need to do more to stop people travelling, to stop those who

do go from returning and to deal decisively with those who are

already here. Ministers do have the power to remove passports from those

who fight abroad, but the Home Office say it can only be used

sparingly. The courts can reverse their decision, as a result just 23

have been removed in the past year. There were lots of strong words

today but precious few details of what the Government is proposing to

do. Downing Street say the Prime Minister will explain that to MPs on

Monday. Before then, though, he needs to get Nick Clegg's agreement.

The Liberal Democrats say they will only agree to things that are

considered calmly, based on the evidence and don't undermine civil

liberties. In the past, the Commons has been split by proposals to limit

the movement of those who might pose a threat to the country or to

control where they can live. Labour say they want to help. We've said

that the prevent programme should be strengthened, but also they should

look again at issues like control orders. We have to have the strong

powers and the strong safeguards that we need in place to make sure

that we can keep the country safe. This is not the first time the

threat level's been raised to severe, one step behind critical. It

was raised to that level after a Jeep loaded with pro pain was driven

into Glasgow airport in 2007 and again four years ago, when there was

an attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner. Today we're

told that the current fighting in Iraq and Syria will change our

lives. , whether we like it or not. So what exactly is the threat to

the UK Here's our Security Correspondent,

Frank Gardner. Just some of the estimated 500 plus

Britons who have gone to Syria many joining ISIS, now renamed Islamic

State. It's the job of MI5, here in London, to detect any plans to carry

out an attack in Britain. They're helped by communications intercepts

from GCHQ, the Government's listening centre. Their input is

assessed in this building by the joint terrorism Nanness centre. It

brings -- joint terrorist analysis centre. They advise the Government

then on what is the level of threat facing the public. There are five

threat levels in all. They used to be kept secret. Critical is the

highest, it last went to that in 2007. Today it was raised from

substantial to severe. The newly raised terror threat level is partly

a response to what you could call easy jihad. Because to join an

extremist group like Islamic State, British passport holders have just

hopped on a flight to Turkey, got a bus to the border and walking across

into Syria. Well over 200 of them have now returned to Britain. Some

are stopped and arrested, but many have witnessed extreme brutality.

This is also the age of social media jihad, with tweets and postings on

Facebook attracting a constant stream of recruits. And then there

are the gaps in the Government's response, despite some new measures,

put bluntly, there just aren't enough police and spies to watch

everybody around-the-clock who comes back from the Syrian battlefield.

You're dealing with a situation where you have groups fighting in

Syria and Iraq who have expressed a rhetoric of wanting to launch

attacks against the West. You have a body of foreigners in Britain in

particular who have been there to fight, some of whom have come back.

In Brussels this summer, a returning jihadist shot dead four people at

the Jewish museum. Here, the Government fears there'll be more

opportunistic attacks like this and last year's murder of Lee Rigby,

attacked by jihadists in Woolwich. The police and MI5 now work so

closely across the country, that it's difficult for terrorists to

plan a large-scale attack like the London bombings. Butt longer the

Syrian conflict continues, the greater the risk that some of those

who have taken part in it may be tempted to use their violent skills

over here. Our North America Editor, Jon Sopel,

is in Washington. When it comes to military action

to deal directly with the threat posed by Islamic State, there's

been no word today here from the government and President Obama took

some observers by surprise, when he Of all the phrases you don't expect

from a president or Prime Minister the admission that you don't have a

strategy yet, but that's exactly what President Obama has said when

it comes to attacking Islamic State in Syria. Perhaps that underscores

the division that's exist within the US administration over just how

hawkish to be. The statement shows that there are profound difficulties

in launching a military strategy. We had a Pentagon briefing, a few hours

back, where senior spokesmen said there were scepticism about whether

there woos a simple -- there was a simple military solution to the

problem of Islamic State in Iraq. Most importantly, it shows the

president's deep, deep wariness and scepticism about launching

unilateral military action. That's what he campaigned against doing

when he ran for office and he's been consistent to that to date. Perhaps

he was sending out another message. Perhaps he was saying to European

leaders like David Cameron, look, the United States can't be expected

to do all the heavy lifting by itself. It was interesting in David

Cameron's news conference today that he didn't rule that out and perhaps,

David Cameron was sending a signal back. When it comes to Islamic State

in Iraq, it seems that everyone recognises that they are dealing

with an imminent threat, it's just not the case that there's going to

be an imminent response. Thank you.

Police have warned that time may be running our

for a five-year-old boy with a brain tumour, who was taken from a

Southampton hospital by his parents, against the wishes of doctors.

Ashya King is now believed to be in France with his family.

Police say a device, which had been feeding him through a tube, has now

probably run out of batteries, putting his life in danger.

Our correspondent, Duncan Kennedy, is in Southampton.

Now police are searching on both sides of the Channel.

They are, Interpol, the British police and Belgian police are

coordinating. It's been more than 30 hours now since Asha was seen here

at the hospital. Tonight there's simply no word on where he is. As

you mention there, the police mentioned early this evening that

the machine he uses to drip feed him may now run out of batteries. That's

critical because he won't be able to get food from that machine. They've

appealed again tonight to his family to bring this little boy home.

Sitting in his buggy, this is the moment yesterday he was led from the

hospital by his father. The five-year-old has a brain tumour and

requires constant medical attention. His parents, including his mother,

have been constantly at his bedside. So too has his brother, who went on

YouTube to speak of the family's distress at his medical condition.

Haven't slept anything really. I've been awake all night worrying. So I

just want to say we love you so much. We are all here for you.

That's all I wanted to say reelly. It's confirmed both of his parents

are Jehovah's Witnesses. A spoke man for the organisation says there's no

indication their religious beliefs are behind their decision to remove

Ashya and travel to France. Events started around 2pm yesterday, when

he was taken from the hospital by his parents. At 4pm, his whole

family travelled to Portsmouth where they boarded a ferry. At 8pm, six

hours after they left hospital, the police were alerted. It's impossible

for us to know Ashya's parents motivation in taking him at this

time. It won't help us solve his whereabouts and that's what we need

to do. We need to get him the care he There's no needs. Indication that

his parents have broken any law. The hospital says they had the right to

escort him off the ward. And it says the alarm was raised as soon as it

was realised that Ashya was missing. Even though that was

was realised that Ashya was missing. Even though that some six hours

after he left. At Southampton he was being fed from a tube by a special

machine that's battery operated. Experts say the machine can't simply

be taken apart to change the batteries when they run out. If it

runs out you'll be running on either no fluid or nutrition going through

the pump or it may go wrong in terms of having a wrong setting. So, the

battery life is used for a temporary period when a child is transferring

from one place to another. The King family posted this video showing a

recent trip to Spain. It's believed they know people. There's no

indication tonight that's where they're heading. He's a very sick

little boy and the unexplained events of the past two days will

only be answered once he's found. The Chief Constable of South

Yorkshire Police has acknowledged that his force was heavily

criticised in a report published this week that revealed how fourteen

hundred children in Rotherham were sexually exploited over 16 years.

He said that any information that had been disregarded by

the police would now be acted on. Ed Thomas reports.

16 years of abuse. At least 1400 victims. So why weren't children

listened to? I have 100 men involved. There was physical abuse.

Rain. She were sold. This man approached the BBC to tell

his story. His granddaughter was groomed when she was 12. How do you

see the treatment by the police? Horrible. Found in a house with four

men. Arrested, charged with drunk and disorderly.

How old was she? 13. These were all adults.

Like so many others, the abusers have never been jailed.

The police and Social Services let us down. I will fight to get justice

for my granddaughter and others in Rotherham.

One facing allegations is the Chief Constable. Confirming they will

investigate any officer that failed victims.

It is clearly my duty to take forward arrangements to look into

the issues raised. That may well mean people being disciplined.

And questions for Rotherham Borough Council. Accused of ignoring

exploited children. They put the bed sheets tote and

went out the window. This care home worker revealed the

scale of the abuse. Phone calls from midnight. Coming

back returned by the police. Sometimes back by a taxi sanctioned

by ourselves. Then they were back out again in half an hour. An

inquiry said that most of the men that exploited the children were of

a Pakistani heritage. But this is the only grooming gang jailed in

Rotherham and Jahangir Akthar Rotherham's former Deputy Leader,

described the gang as a one-off. Why did you say it was a one off? It was

the first time that we had the report.

Do you accept that a wrong? Absolutely.

Do you think that the Pakistani community in this town has done

enough? No. It is imperative. Parents, they bear responsibility to

make sure that they know where their children are... You are talking

about the parents? Absolutely. And the call to do more is being

heard. Friday prayers here was used to send out a message. That all

parts of this community have to confront what went so wrong in this

town. Ed Thomas reports.

NATO has accused Russia of blatantly violating Ukraine's

sovereignty by sending troops and weapons over the border.

Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, denied it and blamed Ukraine

for the crisis, comparing its actions to those of

Nazi Germany during World War Two. Since fighting began in April -

more than 2,500 people have been Here's our Diplomatic Correspondent

Bridget Kendall. Ukraine's pro-Russian rebels are

staging a comeback. They are seizing back territory. The

rebels say that they are fighting on their own but the Ukraine says that

they are being reinforced by Russian troops and hardware. Ukraine now

needs NATO's help. It is clear that Naoto Kan not

support Ukraine's troops. We do not expect NATO Member States to do so.

We can protect ourselves but we need help to stop aggression.

Until a few days ago, the rebels in the eastern Ukraine seemed on the

back foot. Forced from their base in Sloviansk, the strongholds of

Donetsk and then reports of columns of Russian tanks and troops coming

over the border. Now the fighting has spread to the up south.

Novoazovsk under Russian control and Mariupol. But to involve NATO is

dangerous. Look at the Ukraine's border with Russia. If NATO helped

to agree to protect it, it could start an all-out war with Russia. A

nightmare scenario. As the EU foreign ministers

gathered, the tensions were rising. These are apples that Vladimir Putin

says are polish. And tonight, a Defence Minister

plane was barred from using Polish air space. The Germans warn that the

crisis is slipping out of control. There is talk of tougher sanctions.

It has not been ruled out Ukraine being allowed to join the alliance.

Ukraine has decided to pursue a so-called non-alliance policy. We

fully respect if the Ukrainian Parliament decides to change that

policy. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin still denies Russian troops are

involved. Telling a Russian youth forum that the Ukraine was the

aggressor and reminded them of the Nazis. Saying it was unclear that

the sanctions do nothing, other than making him feel that they have

nothing to lose. More on the top story story and the

raising of the terror threat in the UK.

The fighting and the methods that have driven people from their homes

by the Islamache state. More than 3 million people have left the area.

Gabriel Gatehouse has sent this report.

At the now meaningless border between Syria and Iraq, we met the

Syrian Kurds Manning the new front line. They have been battling the

Islamic State for more than two years but are not intimidated by the

group's gruesome tactics or fearsome reputation. I am not happy that they

are beheading people. But it makes us want to fight back harder.

The fighters say that the ISIS have the more powerful weapons but at

close quarters, the Kurds beat them on the tactics.

You can see buildings a few honour dread metres from here where, the

ISIS fighters are based. These two sides are literally eyebrow to

eyebrow here. As we with watch the fighters spot

IS vehicles on the move through the mid-day heat. They fire off a few

shots to remind them that we are here. This man chuckles. The Islamic

State has released pictures showing men that they say are captured Iraqi

soldiers. The propaganda says that one man has been beheaded and warns

that others will meet the same fate. An hour's drive from the front line,

thousands of refugees have gathered in a camp.

These children are from the minority Uzive sect.

They fled Iraq, whether the Islamic state fighters came to their area,

killing their families. But now they are here alive and happy about that.

But for some self-preservation came at a huge cost. This policeman was

forced to make an almost impossible decision. With three infant children

to carry, he decided to leave his four-year-old disabled son, Aziz and

save the others. There was a hut by the side of the

road. We put him in there and left him. We could not carry him anymore.

He was too heavy. It must have been a very difficult decision to make.

To leave one of your children behind as you fled? Of course it was

difficult. We just could not cope. But Kurdish fighters later found

Aziz and brought him to a hospital inside Kurdish-controlled Syria.

Here the BBC found him, badly dehydrated and with his corneas

burnt by the punishing son. No-one knew his name. But the father was

found and made the journey to Syria, hoping to be reunited with his son.

But he arrived too late. Aziz died earlier that morning. One victim of

a violent group that now threatens the whole region and beyond.

Bridget Kendall. A senior Labour MP has suspended

his campaign for a NO vote in the Scottish referendum, because of what

he described as co-ordinated abuse by supporters of independence.

Jim Murphy had eggs thrown at him in Fife.

He said his recent meetings had been disrupted by what he called

"noisy nationalist mobs". Scotland's first minister Alex

Salmond condemned the incident. Our Scotland Correspondent,

Lorna Gordon, reports from Glasgow. Out on the stump, talking directly

to Scotland's voters. And the debate seems to be getting nasty. With the

Labour MP, Jim Murphy claiming in recent days he has been subjected to

increasing levels of sustained abuse. This he claims organised by

some local groups claiming independence.

I shall not be silent. He sites comments on social media as

evidence of what they are doing. This is no about the throwing eggs

at me. I am big enough to be hit by half a dozen eggs but it is

something more serious and sinister it is the "yes" Scotland tolerating

a degree of mob mentality and thinking.

Most of those campaigning in favour of a "yes" or a "no" vote have been

polite, even when passionate when making their case.

But there is a darker side to the referendum debate. It is obvious

online. A small minority of people from both sides are loudly,

sometimes aggressively, trying to drown out their opponents' points of

view. Today this man, Christopher Stevenson from Glasgow was convicted

of behaving in a threatening manner towards Alex Salmond.

There are mindless idiots on both sides not conducting themselves

appropriately. We call on them to stop that behaviour and let us have

the debate about Scotland's future. In three weeks' time Scotland's

fault will have been decided. Work then will begin on deciding what

increasingly feels loo I can a divided nation.

It's 50 years since Roald Dahl wrote the children's classic, Charlie

and the Chocolate Factory. The book's characters have

become household names. But it turns out they were only

part of the original story. The discovery of unpublished

chapters reveals Dahl had intended to include more children lucky

enough to win the Golden Ticket and meet Willy Wonka but dropped

them from the final version. Our Arts Editor Will

Gompertz has the story. Not sure I would do that.

Augustus Gloop, coming to a sticky end.

In Roald Dahl's 50-year-old story that continues to work its magic.

It is very imaginative. You see lots of things that happen in life that

happen in the books. He always manages to add a few surprises.

But they don't know the half of it. When Roald Dahl wrote the story

there were ten, not five children winning the golden tickets. I am

sitting in a recreation of Roald Dahl's writing hut and in front of

me is an early draft of what would become Charlie And The Chocolate

Factory. Full of edits and corrections. Even being called

Charlie's Chocolate Boy. Chapter five was cut by the author and we

saw the demise of Wimbledon Wimbledon Wimbledon and Tommy

Troutbeck. Both spoiled. They were discovered in the archive, impressed

by what she found. I admired him. You see the

invention, it is even more fertile. And you can see him learning his

craft. Charlie is only the second children's book he ever wrote.

The illustrator, Quentin Blake, worked with Roald Dahl and produced

many drawings for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

I knew that he re-wrote many times. For the last chapter about the

vanilla fudge mountain, he is leading a group of people not in the

final book. It is interesting to see something that at an earlier stage

knew what was happening in the cooking. That is fascinating.

So how does a writer feel when it comes to leaving a character on the

literary cutting room floor? It is sad but sometimes they don't do

anything to further the plot or bring as much as they should. You

feel that you are placing that on them a little bit.

The extra characters had to go because of the overcomplicated

story. But half a century later, they give a fascinating insight into

the creative process of one of the world's most imaginative authors.

Gompertz has the story. That's all from us tonight. Don't

forget Newsnight's