16/06/2011 BBC News at One

A fall in high street sales, as Labour calls for an emergency tax

cut to kick-start the economy. The Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, says a

temporary VAT cut would boost consumer confidence.

My suggestion to George Osborne is, while he won't agreed to pay VAT

rise permanently, he should do it temporarily until the economy is

growing strongly again. A juror is sent to prison for contacting a

defendant on Facebook in the first case of its kind. The woman she

messaged says she's upset. I feel sorry for the woman, I seriously do.

She's a mother, and I've seen how upset she was. And I felt for her.

If we have jurors who, whether by the internet or by face-to-face

communication, who breach their oath or who disobey the orders of

the judge at the beginning or during the course of the trial,

that constitutes contempt. The 200 of the worst performing

Brummie schools will be turned into academies.

We have never been in an arena. bringing the Royal Ballet to the

people, as they prepare to perform in front of their biggest live

Expectations are high for a Good afternoon, and welcome to the

BBC News at One. Britain's high street shops saw a

drop in sales last month. They fell by 1.4%, a much bigger drop than

predicted. Analysts are blaming the fall on the tough economic climate.

Today, the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, said the government should

introduce an emergency cut in VAT to boost the economy and consumer

confidence. Here's our chief Retailers are used to our ups and

downs, some months, shoppers are out in force, sometimes not. Even

so, the slide in sales in May was more than expected, and is seen as

a son of consumers tightening their purse strings. We have seen

consumers cutting back quite dramatically, and it is clear

consumer spending is on a downward trend, particularly given how high

inflation is. Consumers are not in any mood to spend. The feel-good

factor in the run-up to the royal wedding has bed, the extra bank

holiday boosted takings at the tills. Shoppers in Glasgow told us

how they felt about spending. do not need to spend, I will not

spend unless it is a necessity. I see something I like, I still buy

it. In April, retell cells were up 1.1%. Last month, they were down by

1.4%. Food stores including supermarkets saw a drop of over 3%

in May compared to the same month the year earlier. The latest

evidence of weaker consumer spending comes at a time of

increasing debate about the government's handling of the

economy. Some are calling for a rethink on the package of spending

cuts and tax increases. The Shadow Chancellor today's said the

government should change course to avoid further damage to the economy,

and called for a temporary reduction in VAT. By putting more

money into people's pockets, it would boost consumer spending for

consumers feeling the squeeze from rising prices, especially

pensioners and those on low incomes. The increase in consumer confidence

would help a struggling retail sector. But government sources

argue that the Governor of the Bank of England last night had supported

the deficit reduction plan and Labour's alternative did not add up.

This is planned before bankruptcy, cutting tax and increasing spending

all over again would make the deficit worse and we will end up

like Greece. There is a mixed picture in the economy,

unemployment has fallen, some companies are doing well, but when

it comes to the consumer, there are not many rays of sunshine right now.

Our political correspondent, Gary O'Donoghue, is at Westminster.

The Shadow Chancellor is insisting they should be another way of

cutting the deficit? It is an interesting move by the Shadow

Chancellor. Before this VAT rise was implemented by the government,

Labour were in favour of not raising VAT at all. Their position

has moved slightly in terms of moving to a temporary cut based on

the argument the economy isn't growing fast enough, and if you put

more money in people's pockets, they spend more and businesses

improved. Vat is a big earner for the government. More than �80

billion in year in revenue, a 2% cut cost the Government �1 billion

a month. The question is if you get that money back quick enough. The

bigger question for Ed Balls is to position the Labour Party work it

is in the game on the economic argument. And number of people in

his party felt Labour had been out to lunch, and this is about trying

to undo these months of George Osborne saying there is no

alternative. Labour is arguing there is an alternative.

The 200 of England's worst performing private schools are to

be reopened as academies. Michael Gove it says it will force of

failing schools to improve standards in English and maths.

From now on, Knights Temple Grove Academy in south east London used

to be known as Merlin Primary. This school was struggling, and a

successful local group which runs a chain of schools stepped in to take

over. A new name, new head and a new uniform brought about a big

improvement in performance. Quality of teaching is essential to what we

need to do, in terms of transformation. But you have to

transform the mindset of both the children, parents, the whole school.

The government wants to roll out this reform more widely. 200

struggling primaries in England will be turned into academies next

year, run by other schools. They would include schools which have

failed for five years to meet targets for 11 years olds in maths

and English. Another 500 schools will be forced to convert later if

they do not improve. These are schools where young people are

leaving without a secure foundation in reading, writing and maths.

want to make sure those schools, like this school, are taken over by

organisations with a track record of success, to turn the schools

around and guarantee those its young people the best possible

start in life. Michael Gove made clear he thinks academies which are

state-funded are key to driving up standards. Under the coalition,

hundreds of successful schools have been fast-tracked into becoming

academies. Now he is turning his attention to failing schools.

Meikle -- getting good schools to take over bad ones is a policy

started under the last government and some are asking what is new?

When New Labour introduced academies, it came with new

buildings and transitional funding. Michael Gove is offering no new

money, but a quick-fix solution. Will the Minister tell the House

how many schools have been over funded? Labour has today raised

concerns an error has left academies and with more funding

than they are entitled to. Academies are a preferred means of

transforming schools but Michael Gove has yet to take teachers with

him. Unions are poised to strike over pensions. The Al-Qaeda says it

has a new leader. He's Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was

Osama Bin Laden's deputy. The announcement was made this morning

by the organisation's general command. The he is a very powerful

figure, he has been running Al- Qaeda operationally for six years.

We have seen him in videos far more than Osama Bin Laden. It is no

surprise that he has taken over. But he does not have the same

personal pulling power that Bin Laden had, particularly among

Saudis and the Gulf people. He is an Egyptian. That could represent a

problem for Al-Qaeda it in that he may not be able to unite Al-Qaeda?

He faces challenges, the biggest one is how to harness the Arab

Spring, this vast popular movement where people are fed up with

autocratic governments. His challenge is to try to say, Al-

Qaeda it is relevant and we do listen to what people want, it is

not all about death and destruction. He will have an uphill struggle.

The political and financial crisis in Greece comes to a head today.

The prime minister is trying to form a new government to deal with

the country's catastrophic debts. There were riots in Athens

yesterday, as tens of thousands of people demonstrated against

austerity cuts imposed by the government in an effort to bring

the country's finances under control.

The streets of Athens this morning, like the eurozone itself, in a mess.

A new government is coming and a vote of confidence in Parliament.

In a country at all but bankrupt, people are reaching the end of

their tether. I think the Prime Minister is trying, he says, but

will he achieve anything? He is scared, she says, he should have

taken action a year ago. yesterday, all the frustration

erupted onto the streets again, violent protests against massive

austerity measures, much of it couched in nationalist terms. Many

Greeks wonder whether the high price of staying in the euro is

still worth paying. The rest of Europe is worried, they have

already given billions to Greece but the medicine hasn't worked. Now

they need to raise more money to keep Greece a float and a having to

fight against a perception of paralysis, a sense that nobody

knows what to do next. We need unity, we have to move beyond

national quarrel, said Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris today, we have to

defend our single currency and European institutions. Earlier this

week, finance ministers spend hours discussing how to spend -- finance

a second bail out. Germany was private bondholders to take their

share of the pain. European Central Bank and the French say imposing

losses on the private sector could panic the markets, and make

financial jitters spread. European leaders are meeting here next week

to talk about Greece. They will probably find a compromise

eventually. The stakes are too high for them to fail. If the Greeks

themselves no longer accept the terms of the deal, the crisis will

deepen, and that could affect us all.

Let's get more from our economics editor, Stephanie Flanders. He says

it could affect us all, how much of an impact when it have on Britain?

There is a straightforward financial issue, which is a lot of

European banks have lent a lot of money to Greece. If there is a

question about its ability to repay that money in full, if we do not

get this deal to help them find their weight in financial markets,

that will mean losses for our banks. Most people think those losses are

manageable. The question has always been that you wouldn't then just be

talking about Greece but Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and the amount of

debt would be very large with potential losses for are banks. We

are not looking at a Lehman situation yet. And there is a

broader problem, of governments not being able to solve this. It is

corrosive to confidence. A woman who was serving on the jury

at a drugs trial last year, has been sent to prison for contacting

one of the defendants on Facebook, in the first case of its kind.

Joanne Fraill, 40, burst into tears this morning as she was jailed for

eight months for contempt of court, after admitting exchanging messages

with Jamie Sewart while the jury was still deliberating, causing the

case to collapse. Surrounded by protective members of her family,

Joanne Fraill, a so-called Facebook Truro, arrived at court to receive

a prison sentence. Also here to receive a suspended sentence, Jamie

Sewart, the former defendant in a multi-million-pound drugs trial

whose Facebook conversation with the juror caused controversy. Back

in August, Jamie Sewart had asked the jurors, what is happening with

the other charge? This is what When told today she would be going

to prison for eight months, Joanne Fraill released a cry of anguish.

Several of her relatives and her sister were crying as well. As the

family left court, the sister of read his statement. Joanne Fraill

is deeply sorry for her actions which led to these proceedings. Her

remorse was evident to the court and reflected in the judgment. She

is totally devastated at what has happened. Jamie Sewart was spared

prison today and she said she sympathised with the juror who had

reached out to her on Facebook. feel sorry for the woman. I

seriously do, she is a mother. was the government's lawyers who

brought them to court, keen to send a stern warning to any juror

considering breaking the rules, whether by internet or not. If we

have jurors, but there they are communicating by internet or face-

to-face communication, who breach their oath or disobey the orders of

the judge at the beginning of the trial and during the course of the

trial, that constitutes contempt. It was on the internet which was a

problem, said the group -- said the judge, but the behaviour of the

Let's be to our legal affairs Correspondent. Is this the tip of

the iceberg? How much of a problem will be internet pose to the legal

system? We know from research carried out about a year-and-a-half

ago that people on juries are going to the internet, about five per

cent, that raises to almost 15 per cent in high-profile cases, we do

not know the effect but we know they are doing it. It is a bit like

saying to a juror do not use the internet, leaving a jar of sweets

in a room full of children, the teacher leaves the Rehman says do

not look in the jar marked sweets. A national newspaper -- newspaper

reported this week something like 40 online communications by serving

jurors. If this prison term that has been passed to day of eight

months does not send out a clear message that if people continue to

use the internet while they serve on a jury, we will have to look at

our laws on content and perhaps move more towards an American

system where they take a more relaxed attitude towards this kind

of thing. Our top story this lunchtime...

High street sales fell last month as Britons tightened their belts

and spent less. Coming up... A breakthrough over break-ins - how

new security technology is foiling the car thieves. We are alive at St

Paul's Cathedral where the scaffolding has come down after 15

years of restoration and Centre Court fashion. We see what the top

designers have designed for tennis Twenty years ago, more than half a

million cars were stolen in the UK. But since then that figure has

fallen dramatically to just over 100,000 in a year. It's all thanks

to improvements to the security on new vehicles. Better locks,

toughened glass and immobilisers have all made life harder for the

thief. Our transport correspondent Richard Scott has been to the UK

motor industry's research centre in Thatcham to find out more. Back in

the day the car thief had it easy with this car, he could break the

window, hot while it and drive off. But with modern cars now it is

different. A demonstration... He has broken a window but an alarm

goes off and you cannot open the door because the door handles do

not work without a key. Even if he climbs into the car he still cannot

drive it away because the engine will not start without the key do.

That is because modern keys have a chip inside them unique to the car.

So the engine simply will not start unless you have the relevant key.

About three-quarters of car thefts are carried out with the keys being

stolen as well, with about front the cent of burglaries carried out

simply to get at a car's keys. Andrew Miller is from the Motor

Research Organisation, Thatcham. You are simply saying you have done

all you can as an industry and it up to the public to protect their

keys. The statistics you talked about indicate that about 75 per

cent of thefts are with the keys so people should look after their keys

as much as they can. However, we are working closely with carmakers

to make sure even though they are highly Secure, cars are made even

more securing the future. The even the cars are getting more difficult

to steal, and safer with all of this new technology, insurance

premiums seem to be going up sharply. Why is that? Unfortunately

there is a link between premiums, cost of insurance and claims, which

still continue to rise due to personal injury, whiplash style

claims. You could argue strongly that without the safety and

security developments that have taken place, actually they will go

up even faster. The message from the industry - keep your keys safe

and certainly not within easy reach of your letterbox.

The man accused of abducting and murdering the schoolgirl, Milly

Dowler, in Surrey nine years ago has refused to give evidence at his

trial. Lawyers acting for Levi Bellfield told the judge at the Old

Bailey that he would not be speaking in his defence. He denies

The American congresswoman shot in the head in January has been

released from hospital after showing improvements in her

condition. Gabrielle Giffords was injured and six others died in the

shooting at a constituency event in Tuscon, Arizona. The man accused of

the shooting has been declared mentally unfit to stand trial. Two

men have been remanded in custody in connection with an alleged plot

involving the singer, Joss Stone. Junior Bradshaw and Kevin Liverpool

are charged with conspiracy to rob and commit grievous bodily harm.

Let's speak to our correspondent, Jon Kay, who's in Exeter. What was

said in court? This was a short initial court appearance lasting

half-an-hour. The two men were remanded in custody and have been

taken away. They only spoke in court to confirm their identities,

and the address where they both live in Manchester. Junior Bradshaw

is 30, he had braided hair, wore a grey sweatshirt and Kevin Liverpool,

beside him, 33, he has a beard and warring black T-shirt. They were

charged with conspiracy to rob and conspiracy to cause re the his

bodily harm. The next court appearance will be here at Exeter

Crown Court early next month. This alleged plot focuses on the soul

singer, Joss Stone, she grew up here in Devon. Despite her enormous

fame and global fortune at she still lives in a small hamlet close

to the town of Cullompton. It was in that area near Cullompton that

two men were arrested on Monday. Police recovered balaclavas, knives,

a samurai sword and some detailed maps from a calf at the scene. We

are not sure whether Joss Stone was inside the property at the time but

we know she has been in Devon over the last few days, she has issued a

statement to fans reassuring them The FA Cup is to be sponsored by

Budweiser beer it's been announced today. The deal is said to be worth

�8 million over three years. It's the first time the worlds oldest

domestic cup competition has been Ice hockey is famous - or maybe

infamous - for its brawls between players during the match. But after

one game in Vancouver the violence got a little out of hand. The local

team had just lost the cup final to a team from Boston, and as Jon

Brain now reports, sore losers doesnt come anywhere close to how

they reacted. They had come expecting to see

their team triumph. Instead, at the Vancouver fans experienced only

humiliation as Boston trounced their heroes to win the prestigious

Stanley Cup. Then mayhem outside the stadium... For several hours

downtown Vancouver was turned into a riot zone. There were running

battles between some fans and the Others smashed shop windows and

there were reports of widespread looting. Fire crews were called

into action as the mob set light to vehicles and piles of rubbish. A

plume of black smoke could be seen over the Vancouver skyline. This

city has paid a high price for sporting defeat.

Something more sedate now... There was a time when watching a ballet

meant an evening at the theatre. Well, not anymore. The Royal Ballet

is performing Romeo and Juliet in front of its biggest ever live

audience at the O2 Arena. As David Sillito reports, it's part of a

growing trend to bring dance to a It is huge! Incredible. Amazing.

They may be the stars of the Royal Ballet but this is not Covent

Garden! It is huge. Compared to what we are used to, and when we do

go on tour, again, it is just the it is, we never do arenas! We are

on an arena tour! We are. The it is the stage that gets you because

when you walk out here you realise there are 12,000 seats they, 40,000

people will be watching ballet over the next few days here. There has

never been a moment like this in the history of British ballet. The

intimate, passionate emotions of Romeo and Juliet in an arena. We

were actually be able to see the dancers? Absolutely. You have these

big screens as well. The it is not the same as being up close in

Covent Garden. I am not sure everybody wants that. I think

people enjoy seeing it in a large auditorium, sharing the experience

with thousands of others. You cannot get that at Covent Garden.

Across town, another huge venue, the Albert Hall, where you can see

the English National Ballet's And all this is inspiring an

increasing number of people to return to ballet classes. We run

classes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and they are fully booked,

we have a waiting list! The effort, concentration, the sheer joy of

jumping about. Until recently this was a forgotten pleasure. Have you

come back to this? Yes. After a long time and a lot of laziness.

This is the most fun exercise. You do not even have to be about it. It

is amazing. I wanted to see what it felt like to do a class after 35

years! 35 years? Yes. I loved it! For some, this was their first

ballet lesson. Maybe it is the film, Black Swan, a recent documentary,

or something deeper. A desire in this digital age for an art form

that is all about the beauty of movement, being alive and seeing it

Finally... Just in case you missed last night's lunar eclipse because

of the cloudy skies over the UK, here's what it looked like. This

was the view in Moscow with the moon's vivid red colour caused by

particles in the Earth's atmosphere. It was the longest lunar eclipse in

more than a decade and occurred when the Moon moved behind the

Earth which cast its shadow over Very beautiful. Now the weather...

It is mainly rain at the moment. miserable start to the day for many.

Heavy rain in the south-east which affected Ascot. It does not look

like things will improve. This is the radar image. This green and

yellow brought the heavy showers but now we are seeing showers

through southern England, Wales and north-east England. For the rest of

the day showers at Ascot, a wet day tomorrow and it stays cool and

Sharif through the weekend. -- Sharif. The really heavy rain would

clear away over the next few hours. We continue to see showers

developing across western areas of Four southernmost counties of

England we need to watch out for a line of heavy showers developing

across the southern coast, hail and thunder still a possibility.

Through the Home Counties and the Midlands it is sunshine and showers,

hit and miss, as they will be through Lincolnshire up towards

Yorkshire and the Borders. North- west England faring best with any

sunshine today. South West Scotland may have some sunshine, but for

more than Scotland further showers through the afternoon, cool and

breezy. For Northern Ireland it continues to be hit and miss.

Through this evening the showers track eastwards on the breeze. They

will clear away overnight. A dry night initially until we see more

cloud and rain arriving in the south-west. The best of the

sunshine initially will be in the east. Make the most of it because

we have unsettled weather at the moment meaning we have it

successions of weather fronts sweeping in from the Atlantic. This

is heading our way for tomorrow. So if it is sunny initially make the

most of it because we will see the crowd invading, the winds will

freshen, dragging cloud right across the UK. A miserable day

tomorrow without the sunshine. The rain will be heavy. Starting the

weekend, the brain is still with us, slowly clearing from the north-east

of the UK, then back to what we are familiar with - sunshine and more

showers. As we head through the next few days the weather will

definitely be hit and miss. For Ascot it looks like it will be wet

tomorrow with showers right the way through the weekend. Not great news

for the other sporting action as well.

Thank you. At 1.30pm, a reminder of our top story... A sharp fall in

high street sales. Worse than analysts expected. Still to come on