08/02/2014 BBC Weekend News


08/02/2014

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Hello, good evening. 18 mile in our winds and heavy rain have again hit

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the coast of the south-west of England and West Wales, with

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floodwaters rising once more on the Somerset Levels. Tonight, all real

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services to want from the West Country are cut off. The train lines

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had already been suffering severe disruption. Today, a landslip on

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track at Crewkerne and nearby flooding closed them completely.

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Chris Buckler is in Somerset for us. The railway lines are the latest

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victims of the weather and they will cause huge problems, their closure,

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for people here in the West Country, who have already been

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facing huge difficulties and the misery is here in Somerset Levels

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and in particular you will see that the sandbags and large sandbags are

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lined up at the edge of this river. Although it is dark I can tell you

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that the water is extremely high. It has been topping over again this

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afternoon and that has caused a great deal of concern. But the

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weather and the storms have caused problems right across the country,

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including on the south coast. Along Britain's coastline the

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weather has been making its presence felt. Towns and villages across the

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South and West have been on the front line for the force of this

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latest storm. The crashing waves are indiscriminate in their assault and

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in places like Kingsand in Cornwall, buildings are already

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battered and people worried after days of disruption. You can stop the

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weather. This is relentless and we have more of it to come. You have to

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batten down the hatches and be resilient. Inland the storms are

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having a major impact. Landslips and flooding have blocked rail lines

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between London and the West Country. The track is barely visible

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above the water. I came to catch a train about 4:25pm, no trains, no

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ticket office, no replacement bus services. Phone calls just say they

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don't know when they are going to have replacement bus service. We are

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completely stuck. It is not just the railways. On the Somerset Levels

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roads are closed and pathways have been swamped by overflowing rivers

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and rain. People have no choice but to wade through water, to rescue

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animals from the cut-off village of more than it today. This is not the

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first time fields here have flooded, threatening livelihoods and

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the farmers' leader says six months ago he wrote to the Prime Minister

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to ask for funding to prevent flooding, but his request was

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refused. We have ministers coming down, environmental chairman coming

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down saying we must learn the lessons. The lesson was there 18

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months ago. Everyone in Somerset new that the rivers would not be fit for

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purpose if we had another winter of rain. But the former floods minister

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who took that decision says despite the claims of campaign as he was

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acting on the best information at the time. If I am honest the

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evidence that was prevented -- presented to me was that while it

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may have made some difference large parts of the Levels would have

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flooded whatever we had done because we have them worst rainfall since

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1760. The weather has been exceptional. There are still

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hundreds of flood warnings and alerts in place across many

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communities. But in Somerset they are struggling to stop the rising

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water. Scores of homes are evacuated and sandbags can only do so much to

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help against this. Those battling the floods will not

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want to hear this, but the latest news from the Environment Agency is

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not good. They are talking about yet more bad weather, the potential of

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more flooding and once again one of the areas of concern is the Somerset

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Levels. They are also worried about the south coast, particularly the

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coast of Dorset, so other results as the wind picks up again here people

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are taking all they can to try and deal with this, yet more sandbags.

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Mark Harper, the Immigration Minister, has resigned from the

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government after it emerged he had employed a cleaner who was in the UK

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illegally. Mr Harper had been in charge of implementing the

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government's immigration reforms. Our political correspondent Iain

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Watson is here. Embarrassing, to say the least? It It is embarrassing if

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any Immigration Minister resigns because he has employed an illegal

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immigrant. He is piloting controversial legislation, which

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requires employers to do more to check the immigration status of

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their employees, and that is why he left. He said he checked on her

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immigration status in 2007, was shown a letter saying she had

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indefinite leave to remain and the right to work. On the 20th of

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January, with the big Immigration Minister -- with the Immigration

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Bill about to be passed, and a couple of days ago his officials

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said she did not have the right to remain. A resignation letter was

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drawn up and he has gone. The Prime Minister has replied warmly. He said

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he recognised that Mark Harper did not do anything wrong, he stuck to

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the letter of the law, has been an effective minister, but Labour say

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while they respect his decision they think perhaps some aspects of the

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Immigration Bill, may have to be revisited.

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Princess Cristina Ross Payne, the youngest daughter of King Juan

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Carlos, has been questioning court over fraud allegations involving her

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husband's business -- Princess Cristina of Spain. The case has

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provoked public outrage. From Majorca, Tom Burridge reports.

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For the first time ever in Spain, a member of the Royal family arriving

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to be questioned in court. Princess Cristina seemed relaxed, but inside

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the court she sat opposite a photo of her father, the king, and faced

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serious allegations. According to reports, she said she trusted her

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husband, who is accused of defrauding millions of euros of

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public money. She is suspected of spending some of that money on

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personal expenses and this while millions of Spaniards are

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unemployed. When they married nearly two decades ago, Spain's Royals were

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more popular. But the scandal has damaged Spain's once much loved

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modern, whose popularity has been falling. -- monarch. King Juan

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Carlos was heavily criticised while hunting effort than -- elephants in

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Botswana, when his citizens were suffering a critical moment in the

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economic crisis. There is no doubt this scandal has caused significant

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damage to the reputation of Spain's Royals. So when the Princess is

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answering questions in court, she will not only be defending her

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credibility but that of the monarchy in Spain. Tonight, the Princess's

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lawyer said she had answered all the questions she could, but this is a

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country where corruption scandals are common and some of the Spanish

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public have already judged for themselves.

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At least two people have been killed and nine injured after falling

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boulder hit a train in the French Alps. The accident happened on a

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remote stretch of line north of the city of Nice. The rock was described

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as the size of a car. Football, the Premier League leaders

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Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 by Liverpool this afternoon. Liverpool

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complete Lee dominated the game at Anfield, with Arsenal 4-0 down

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within 20 minutes. John Watson reports. Unite two teams harbouring

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hopes of finishing with silverware this season. Today's contest could

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prove a turning point in the Premier League turning -- title race. Steven

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Gerrard providing for Martin Skrtel to head in. The pair combined again

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and Liverpool were sued two up. It went from bad to worse for the

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visitors come Sterling-macro giving Liverpool 3-0 lead. When Daniel

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Sturridge made it four, the party started. Nothing for Arsenal Wenger

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to celebrate as his title charge studied. When Sterling added a

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fifth, it was Liverpool who kept their place in the top four. This

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was a masterclass from Liverpool. It is the second weekend of matches

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in Rugby union's Six Nations championship. England beat Scotland

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20-0 at Murrayfield. Wales suffered a surprise defeat to Ireland. Paddy

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Jackson completed the 26 points -3 victory as Wales were outfought and

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out thought in every department in Dublin. Great Britain have missed

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out on the medals in the first day of competition in the Winter

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Olympics in Sochi. Yorkshire's Jamie Nicholls was in silver medal

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position after the first round of the snowboard slopestyle final, but

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he finished in sixth place following a slight slip off the rails.

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Much more throughout the evening on the BBC News channel. We are back

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with

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