13/12/2013 The Papers

Hello. This is BBC News. In a few minutes, we will take a look at

tomorrow's papers with our guests, David Akinsanya and Torcuil

Crichton. Some of the front pages are already in. The Daily Mail leads

on the trial involving TV chef Nigella Lawson and the claims that

she allowed her daughter to smoke cannabis. The Independent describes

Britain as the land of the homeless. It says numbers are rising sharply

because of the Government's welfare reforms and the lack of affordable

housing. The Express says that we are now the scrounging capital of

Europe, as migrant beggars pocket up to ?36,000 a year on our streets.

The Mirror claims that the mother of Baby P, Tracey Connelly, wants a

gastric band operation on the NHS. The Telegraph leads on comments from

the wife of Marine A, the Sergeant jailed for life for shooting a

Taliban fighter. "It was war, not murder", she said. The Times has

more on the row over university leaders endorsing voluntary

segregation of men and women at guest events. And the FT says

Beyonce is in tune with the digital age, after she released her album on

iTunes with no pre-launch publicity. Now the weather forecast.

Much clearer skies across the British Isles tonight. Colder than

last night, which was exceptionally mild. The reason for the clearing

skies, a ridge of high pressure to the south. It is this low we are

focusing on in terms of the pressure chart coming in from the Atlantic on

Saturday, bringing wet and windy weather. First thing on Saturday,

clear skies but rather cold. Into the West, the wind picking up and

the cloud moving in. Across northern England, plenty of sunshine to get

the day underway. The Midlands, East Anglia and the south-east, too. With

the breeze starting to lift, we will not have the mist and fog we saw in

the previous week. For the South West of England and Wales, milder

already, thanks to the south-westerly wind. Notice the

numbers in the wind arrows. Already quite high. The wind will strengthen

across the South West of England and Wales even before this weather front

arrives. For Northern Ireland, a wet start to the day, plastered in

torrential rain, moving into the West of Scotland, too, with wind

strengthening. Through the day, widespread gales for Scotland and

Northern Ireland, gusts of wind up to 70 mph, enough to do damage and

potentially cause disruption. That whole system slowly moving

south-east. We will not see wet weather into the south and east of

England until after dark. Once the rain arrives, it will be pretty

heavy. Scotland and Northern Ireland only have a brief break with more

showers running through in the small hours. By dawn, a lot of sunshine

across the British Isles on the whole, but to the south, the threat

of the tale of the weather system bringing more rain on the afternoon

of Sunday. More importantly, another low from the Atlantic approaching

the north-west, looking like strong wind will be a problem for Scotland

and Northern Ireland again on Sunday, potentially stronger than

Saturday. For Scotland and Northern Ireland, a stormy outlook for the

next couple of days. For England and Wales, relatively quiet.

This is BBC News. We will be taking a look at the papers in a moment,

but first the headlines: Amnesty International accuses EU

states, including Britain, of failing to provide safe haven for

the most vulnerable Syrian refugees as winter closes in, but David

Cameron has defended the help that the UK has offered to those fleeing

the civil war. Police in Colorado have responded to

a shooting at a high school south of Denver. It is reported that a

student with a grudge against the teacher shot and injured a fellow

pupil before turning the gun on himself. One student confronted the

armed student and was shot. That student has been transported in

serious condition to a local hospital.

One of Nigella Lawson's former personal assistants told a jury that

both she and her ex-husband Charles Saatchi have been lying in court.

One of the government's flagship free schools in West Sussex is

ordered to close amid concerns about the standard of education it is

offering. A small bomb has gone off near

restaurants and bars in the centre of Belfast. No one was hurt. The

Northern Ireland Secretary described the attack as deplorable.

In Sportsday, we will hear from both teams ahead of the second day of the

third Ashes Test in Perth. England need to find their best form

quickly. Also, why Robin van Persie will miss

Manchester United's next eight matches. The Christmas period is not

the time to pick up an injury. We also look ahead to the Premier

League this weekend, and there is rugby action from the Heineken Cup,

and we will tell you how great written one gold medal at the world

tae kwon do Grand Prix in Manchester. -- Great Britain's

athlete. Welcome to our look ahead to what

the papers will bring tomorrow. With us for the first time, David

Akinsanya, broadcaster and campaigner, and Torcuil Crichton,

Westminster editor of the daily record. You have got a season

ticket! The Daily Mail leads on the trial

involving TV chef Nigella Lawson and the claims that she allowed her

daughter to smoke cannabis. The Independent describes Britain as the

land of the homeless. It says numbers are rising sharply because

of the Government's welfare reforms and the lack of affordable housing.

The Express says that we are now the scrounging capital of Europe, as

migrant beggars pocket up to ?36,000 a year on our streets. The Mirror

claims that the mother of Baby P, Tracey Connelly, wants a gastric

band operation on the NHS. The Telegraph leads on comments from the

wife of Marine A, the Sergeant jailed for life for shooting a

Taliban fighter. "It was war, not murder", she said. The Times has

more on the row over university leaders endorsing voluntary

segregation of men and women at guest events. And the FT says

Beyonce is in tune with the digital age, after she released her album on

iTunes with no pre-launch publicity. Let's make a start, and we begin

with the Daily Mail and the headline, Nigella let the children

smoke cannabis. Torcuil Crichton, this is another day of extraordinary

evidence in this case. We have to remember this is a court case for

fraud of the Grillos sisters, Elisabetta and Francesca, who

allegedly differ ordered Nigella and Charles Saatchi of ?685,000. --

defrauded. One of them has alleged that Nigella let the children smoke

cannabis, and that she was allowed to buy cigarettes for the underage

children at New York airport. Perfect fodder for the front pages.

It has been a drip, drip. There has been so much we have learned, not

about the court case but about the couple. That is pretty much what the

public want to know about really. It is a good one for talking over your

toast in the morning and for the Daily Mail, it is great, because it

throws up a dilemma for middle-class parents. Do you let them smoked dope

in the house, or in the street? This is all reported from the court case,

having been aired in court. That is the difficulty that Nigella Lawson

and Charles Saatchi have become the focus, rather than the Grillos

sisters. The Daily Telegraph has a clutch of stories for us tonight.

Charles Saatchi again. Another piece of evidence that we heard at

Isleworth Crown Court today was about his book sales. I think this

is hilarious. It says he was sending them out with ?200 in cash three

times a week to buy his book so that it would be elevated in the ratings.

I think that is hilarious. I wonder if many people who have books do

that. If you have that much money. You also have to send out to send

out to buy a shed to keep the books in. What would you do with them?

Give them away at Christmas. It was war, not murder, says the wife of

Marine A. Sergeant Alexander Blackman, who we only knew as Marine

A to begin with, and then the anonymity was lifted. This was his

wife talking about the fact that he was jailed for executing the wounded

Taliban fighter but he is not a murderer, and he reacted in a moment

of madness, something he regrets but he has been sent to prison. Murder

is murder. It is unfortunate. We train people to go and kill people

and this is what has happened. It is a difficult situation. We have heard

him, seen the video evidence and heard it, and it is murder. I know

there has been loads of support for him and it is a really tricky

subject. The case was some time ago and the controversy carries on. This

is an interview with his wife. She has spoken through lawyers before

but this is heard talking now. He is full of remorse and she thinks a

life sentence was too severe. It was war, she says. But we have seen the

video evidence, the jury saw the video evidence and heard the audio

evidence as well, in which he said himself that he was breaking the

Geneva Convention. 41,000 people have written to Downing Street

saying that they support him and they do not think it was a fair

sentence. The suggestion is that in a theatre of war, when you are under

that amount of Russia, but the video evidence was accepted in court and

that was the basis of the sentence. -- that amount of pressure. We will

never know what it was like to be there, when your life is under

threat. But they are highly trained soldiers, professionals. We heard

from the audio evidence that he seemed to know quite deliberately

what he was doing when he shot this man in the chest. You hear lots of

instances of things in war, rape, and all sorts of crimes go up when

there is a war going on. It is one of those things. I could never

personally kill someone, so I would never go into the Army. I don't

think I could do it. Once you have been trained and you have done it a

few times, maybe it comes easy. I don't know. Sometimes it is what you

are called upon to do. The other story, block migrants from poorer EU

countries, urges the PM. Stories like this have been in the headlines

a lot recently, connected to benefits, which is a real talking

point at the moment. We will hear a lot more about them because Romania

and Bulgaria get the chance to come and live in Britain and check -- and

to claim benefits, if they have stayed here for some time. The

government is tightening up on this because they know it will be a key

election issue, immigration, in 2015. But they are running into

trouble with the EU. Handy Aryan EU commissioner claims again that this

is turning Britain into a nasty country. -- the hunger Aryan. There

is a suggestion that immigration should be restricted so only people

from countries with similar economic strength. How do you assess that?

That is not what the EU is about. I know many who have benefited from

cheaper properties in Bulgaria. It is a pillar destination for people

to buy property. We have to understand there are lots of

benefits we get out of Europe. Pensioners who live in Spain and get

free health care. There are also economic benefits from Eastern

European migration. Not just the economy growing, but skilled

professional people who help in our homes and every public service. But

is it an indication, do you think, of how David Cameron is going to try

to renegotiate our relationship with the EU? We have been hearing he is

going to do this for a long time. That is down the road, after the

next election. What is in front of them is 2015, focus groups and

polling telling him immigration is a key concern for voters. All

politicians have to be seen to react to that. Several times in the last

few months, various Labour politicians have admitted that they

got it wrong on immigration. They are all trying to set the record

straight. They are trying to get themselves into position for the

fact that there is an election coming and people are passionate

about this. They do not want Nigel Farage and the other parties to take

votes away from them, I suppose. He is quite quiet at the moment. UKIP

have not been quoted in these articles. I am sure he is not

quiet, but we have just not heard what he has said. I think he has had

a back operation. I am sure he will bounce back and UKIP will bounce up

in the polls as the European elections, in May. A related story

in the Daily Express, with the headline, migrant beggars on ?36,000

a year, why Britain is now the scrounging capital of Europe. Rich

pickings to be had, if they are to be believed. I have seen this story

over the years. I remember stories about beggars earning ?36,000,

?50,000. In fact, a newspaper followed someone begging on the

street and saw him get into his Lashkar and drive off. That is a

story we have heard before. # his flash car. There is a lot of

hysteria around Bulgarians and Rumanian 's. This is happening in

January. They are saying they are targeting sympathetic shoppers. And

they are really begging on the streets. Hysteria, concern, and

newspapers will want to feed into the concerns of their readers. I

don't really rate this story. The next thing as the weather stories!

There is actually bad weather on the way as well this weekend, so we

could have put that on the front pages. Moving on to the Independent.

Britain, land of the homeless. This is a story based around a report by

the Joseph Rowntree foundation, suggesting there has been an

increase in homelessness in various parts of the UK. It is from the

political editor, who is always solid on these things. It is an

annual report that shows that homelessness has gone up 6% in

England this year, and over 60% in London in the last two years. That

is the hard statistics, but you feel that anecdotally, you remember the

80s when there were beggars on the streets of London, and then they

went away, and now they are back. Being blamed if the government's

welfare policy. I work with young people who go through the care

system, and a lot of the hostels - they used to be places under Ken

Livingstone where tramps and vagrants could go and wash and shave

and get their clothes washed. All of those projects have been closed

down. It is hardly surprising we are visually seeing it on the street.

Coming here tonight, I saw a lot more people sleeping in doorways

that I have done for a while. This report specifically blames it on

welfare, things like the bedroom tax. Things causing a squeeze on the

private sector, and consequently, people have nowhere to go. We all

saw those headlines of those families living in ?500,000 houses,

in wealthier areas, on benefits. That appeal to lots of people, the

idea of clamping down on that, and allowing people to live in houses

they could never afford if they had a job. If you happen to be a

resident in Islington or Chelsea, if that is where you were born and grew

up, there is no reason you shouldn't stay there. People are being moved

from those errors, being moved out to Dagenham and Essex and other

areas. Some people would say that they can't afford to live in those

areas. But do we want a city that is exclusively for people with money?

We have always had mixed dwellings in London. This report is not just

about London. It mentions the Midlands and the North as well,

where people are falling into rent arrears. What is the number -- what

is the answer then, apart from spending more money? Public housing.

It is one of these virtuous economic circles, where if you build the

houses, you pay people, they pay taxes, the economy gets better...

Even for the people who want to buy, it is a sellers market in London at

the moment. Even those who want to buy a finding it hard to get on the

housing ladder in London. Some very interesting stories tonight. We will

have some more later. Stay with us here on BBC News, because coming up

at 11 o'clock, we have more on the criticism that is being heaped on

the UK and other EU countries for their pitiful response to the Syria

refugee crisis. Coming up, the sport.

Hello, and welcome to Sportsday. I'm James Pearce.

Life's not getting much better for England's cricketers. They're

heading into the second day of the third Test in a familiar position -