27/11/2011 BBC Weekend News

Good evening. The Wales football manager, Gary Speed, has died

suddenly. He was found hanged at his home in Chester. Police say

there are no suspicious circumstances. The 42-year-old

became the national team manager a year ago, after winning 85 caps for

Wales. This report from our Wales Correspondent, Hywell Griffith.

Player and manager as well a family man. Gary Speed was described today

as the ultimate professional. In a career spanning 23 years, he'd won

a reputation as a hard-working, combative sportsman, whose life off

the pitch was untinged by controversy. Today the Football

Association of Wales announced, it was shocked and saddened by the

tragic news of his death, described it as a huge loss, not only for his

family and friends, but a nation as a whole. That shock reverberated

amongst players and fans at this afternoon's Premier League match at

Swansea. A minute's silence turning, Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given

was in tears, ahead of the game. A friend of Speed's they played

together for Newcastle. He's a hero. People idolised him. You wanted to

run through a brick wall for him. That's what he means to people, his

spirit, everything about him. You know, Wales were on a role. They

were going to, I believe, under Gary, they would have qualified for

the first major tournament for years. Sadly, that's no longer

going to be. After inspiring so much respeck as a player, last year

Gary Speed returned to Wales as the national team manager. Within just

seven games, he seemed to transform their fortunes and create a real

belief here that Wales could qualify for the next World Cup. For

many fans, today's news, seemed unreal. He's a legend to Wales and

to football in general, especially on the European scale, so I mean,

obviously the football world is deprived of one of its ambassadors.

It's very sad, isn't it, for somebody so young to go so sudden

too. Tonight, tributes from former team-mates and many outside

football, all resonate with the sense of tragedy and disbelief. --

disbelief, at a death which has left all who knew him stunned.

The Chancellor has confirmed that the Treasury is ready to

underwrites up to �40 billion in banking lending to small and

medium-sized businesses. The details will be unveiled in the

Chancellor's Autumn Statement on Tuesday. Our Business Correspondent,

Joe Lynam, reports. Number 11 Downing Street is a hive of

activity these days, as the Chancellor tries to show that the

Government is doing everything in its power to prevent Britain

sliding back into recession. Despite bleak economic forecasts,

both here and abroad, George Osborne was still confident that

his spending cuts were going to work in the long run. We have got a

deficit reduction plan that has brought us record low interest

rates, that has earned us that triple-A credit rating. We are

going to stick to that plan, because that is what is helping

Britain weather this international debt storm and is also helping us

lay the foundations of a stronger economy. Currently firms complain

that they either can't get credit from banks or that it's too

expensive. While banks say companies simply aren't asking for

money. But the Government's new guarantee enables banks to borrow

money at cheaper rates and pass that saving onto firms. In theory,

because loans would be cheaper, companies would borrow Monday and

the economy would benefit. Aspect is a lnd-based property maintenance

company. The boss is sceptical that the banks will lend, even with

credit easing. It's having a major impact on his firm. For a

progressive and profitible business, like ours, not having that funding

available has meant that any plan that's we had for growth,

development and national expansion have been seriously thwarted.

Although the Treasury said that these schemes won't affect the

deficit, Ed Balls said it still wouldn't be enough to boost growth.

There was a big choice a year ago, we were out on a limb in advocating

a different approach, actually increasingly, the IMF, the OECD,

business organisations and Conservative MPs are seeing that

the George Osborne plan hasn't worked. It's led to more borrowing.

We need a different course and a long-term reform of our economy too.

Last year George Osborne set up the independent forecaster, the Office

for Budget Responsibility. He may regret that as they are set to

paint a groomy economic picture on Tuesday, which may overshadow the

Chancellor's own statement. Alongside that statement, the

Government is preparing for the public sector strike on Wednesday,

with neither side showing signs of backing down. Let's join James

Landale now in Downing Street. So how much is at stake for the

Government this week? I think much of next week is predictable. There

will be strikes, bad economic growth and a growth plan from the

Government. What's less clear is what people think about it. Who's

to blame for these strikes? Who's right on the economy? It's around

those questions Thane tense battles are being waged. The Government

saying that its plans over credit easing, over unemployment, youth

unemployment, housing reform they will grow the economy. Labour

saying, no, it's not enough, the Government has to change tack on

deficit plans. At the same time, the Government says pension reforms

are right and fair, the unions are being irresponsible, no new deals

on the table. The unions saying, no, we thit reforms are unjust and we

think the Government is being inflexible. At stake next week is

the Government's competence, to run the economy, competence to handle

these strikes. The view that voters reach, either way, will cast a

pretty long shadow. Thank you. A soldier from 5th Battalion The

Rifles has been killed in Afghanistan. The Ministry of

Defence says that the man was on foot patrol in Helmand province

when he was caught in an explosion caused by an improvoized device.

His family has been told. Six people are now feared dead,

after a cargo ship ran into trouble in the Irish Sea. Two of the crew

were rescued in the early hours of the morning and a body was

recovered earlier today. But five people are still missing. The

search in North Wales has been called off for the night. It's been

confirmed that Prince William was the co-pilot of one of the rescue

helicopters. Colette Hume reports. This was the moment two of the

eight Russian crewmen were spotted by an RAF Search and Rescue

Helicopter. Minutes earlier their ship had sunk. More than 20 miles

off the coast of North Wales. The Sea King battled one of the worst

storms of the year to winch the men to safety. The body of a third

crewman was found later. The helicopter's co-pilot was Prince

William, a men of the search and rescue team at RAF Valley. They had

five people on deck at the time wearing survival suits and one of

the survivors, who's been here in the building, told us there was

what he described asen enormous wave that rolled the ship, she

broke her back and obviously she sank very quickly. This is the

cargo vessel, the Swanland. Last year, she nearly ran aground off