05/07/2012 BBC News at One

The biggest overhaul of the army since the cold war - 17 major units

are to go. There will be 17 fewer major units as a result of this

announcement. These reductions will fall across the various arms and

services of the Army. Armed police evacuate a coach on a

motorway in the West Midlands after a passenger is reportedly seen

pouring liquid into a box which began smoking.

There were 48 people onboard. They were taken off one by one but the

police say it wasn't terrorist related.

The Bank of England pumps another �50 billion into the economy to

help the UK weather the double dip recession and the Eurozone crisis.

The meltdowns at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant was a profoundly man-

made disaster that could have been prevented says the official report.

And towering high over London, the Shard, Europe's tallest building,

is officially open today. On BBC London, the deaths of more

than 20 patients at London hospitals are reviewed among claims

of poor recordkeeping. A big task to turn around Wimbledon - how will

Good afternoon, and welcome to the BBC news at 1.00pm. In the biggest

restructuring of the Army for decades, the Defence Secretary has

just announced that 17 major units will be cut, among them four

infantry battalions. Philip Hammond says the changes were needed to

build a balanced, capable and adaptable force ready to face the

future. The overall size of the army is being reduced by a fifth

from 102,000 soldiers to 82,000 by the end of the decade. But the

Terriorial Army will be expanded. Jonathan Beale is at the Ministry

of Defence for us. Jonathan? Well, in a briefing just about an hour

ago, the Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond admitted that morale in the

Army is fragile. This is an Army that faces two more rounds of

redundancies. They've already had two, and today was told it would be

losing 17 out of 136 major units, including the disappearance of some

famous historic names like the Green Howards, for good.

Over the past decade, the British Army's fought wars on two fronts -

in Iraq and now in Afghanistan. Both long conflicts committing

large numbers of troops. It's something the Army of the future

will not be able to do again. The Army is getting smaller. In 1978 in

the Cold War it had more than 163,000 soldiers. By 2010 it was

down to 102,000, and by 2020, it will be just 82,000 regular troops.

Today the Defence Secretary came to the Commons to explain where and

how the cuts will be made. There will be 17 fewer major units as a

result of this announcement. These reductions will fall across the

various arms and services of the Army.

These withdrawals and messengers, as unwelcome as I know they'll be

in the units affected are fair and balanced and have been carefully

strucktured to minimise the impact of the regular manpower reduction

and maximise the military effectiveness of the Army. So how

have these decisions been made? The Army has been told that it cannot

disband entire regiments - too controversial, so instead, it

salami sliced or taken out battalions, undermanned units and

those with poor recruiting records with the obvious candidates for the

chop, but some believe it's as much a political decision. It does

concern me that some of the battalions that can't recruit

properly, for instance, the Scottish battalions, I wonder how

much issues like devolution, et cetera come into the mix. General

Sir Mike Jackson was the last to wield the axe, but he had to lose

2,000, not 20,000, troops. Today's decision will not only end the

historic ties for some proud regiments, but also raise questions

about what the future Army can do. You get a sense of, is this Army up

to what an uncertain world may throw at it in the future? And I

The Army of 2020 will have to rely more on part-time soldiers like

these. The Territorials will double in strength and become an integral

part of the Army. This restructuring will be an enormous

challenge with a lingering question - does this make military sense, or

is it all driven by politics and Well, those reservists will be key

to this new shaped Army. They'll have to double in size to 30,000,

and, of course, they'll have to get time off their normal jobs and get

their employers to agree also. Phillip Hammond says this will be a

more agile adaptable force fit for the threats of the future, but

there's no hiding the fact that this is being driven by cuts.

Jonathan, thank you very much. The three Tornado jet crew members

who are believed to have died in a crash on the Moray Firth this week.

Squadron leader Samuel Bailey, Flight Lieutenant Hywel Poole and

Flight Lieutenant Adam Sanders are missing presumed dead after the

incident during a training exercise. In the Commons this lunch time, the

Defence Secretary said his thoughts were with their loved ones and with

the fourth member of the squadron involved in the incident who is in

a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Armed police closed the M6 toll road in Staffordshire after a

security alert. 48 passengers were taken off the bus one by one and

then held on a cordoned-off section of the motorway. In the last few

minutes, police have said the incident is not related to

terrorism. Our correspondent Jeremy Cooke is there. Yes, Sophie, it has

been a morning of intense activity and some confusion here. We've seen

dozens of police officers - some of them armed - on the Tarmac there

behind me. We have been told, though, that this is not a

terrorist-related incident. I think it has been highly confusing, a

bewildering experience for many of the people involved, but the

incident seems to be coming to a conclusion. High drama in the

morning rush hour. The coach at the centre of this incident was

travelling from Preston to London. But on the M6 toll road near

Lichfield, the driver made an abrupt stop. Dozens of police moved

in. The 48 passengers were taken off the bus and sat for hours on

the carriageway as investigations continued around them. This looks -

and it feels - like a major incident. There are dozens of

police vehicles, armed officers and sniffer dogs. For those caught up

in it all, there is shock and bewilderment. The police arrived on

the scene. Some armed response units came as well, and there was a

bus on the hard shoulder, and apparently we heard that there was

a device on the bus. It could be an explosive, then suddenly about 30

other vehicles arrived, so it seemed quite a serious incident.

Exactly what triggered all of this remains unclear. Firefighters and

an Army bomb disposal team remain at the scene. That said,

Staffordshire Police are indicating that this is not a counterterrorism

operation. In the last few minutes, the megabus at the centre of all of

this has pulled away - perhaps indicating that this incident is

nearing its conclusion. And let's just get did very latest.

We have received a statement from Staffordshire Police. It says,

"Following an initial assessment we can confirm no-one has been injured

and there is no danger to the passengers at the scene or any

other travellers who were on the motorway at did time. We're not

treating anyone as a suspect." Finally, I understand the motorway

could be reopened within the next few minutes.

Jeremy, thank you very much. In a separate incident, five men

and a woman have been arrested in London as part of an investigation

into a terrorist plot involving Islamic extremists. Security

sources describe the operation as "significant." Scotland Yard says

the arrests aren't linked to the Olympics. Our Home Affairs

correspondent June Kelly joins us. What more can you tell us, June?

Well, Sophie, these arrests followed a long-running operation

following officers here from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism

Command and the Security Service MI5. We're being told this involved

a possible plot involving suspected Islamist extremists against

potential targets in the UK. Three people were arrested at Ealing in

West London. A man and a woman were arrested at a residential address.

Another man was arrested in a street in Ealing. Three men were

arrested in Newham, East London. Fire officers used a Taser and

electronic stun gun on one of those men, although we're told he didn't

require hospital treatment. East London, interesting because it is

the site of the Olympics, but officers say these arrest aren't

linked to the Olympics. All these six people are being held at a

police station in South London. Thank you very much.

The Bank of England has announced it plans to inject another fifty

billion pounds into the British economy to help deal with the

effects of the double dip recession. The increase takes the total -

pumped into the money supply under quantitative easing - to three

hundred and �375 billion. The Bank of England says the outlook for the

UK economy is weak so it's pulled the lever on supposed to boost

growth. Another �50 billion will be pumped into the economy to make a

total of �375 billion since it was launched. The Bank of England's

decision today is intended to help the economy recover. If the

recovery is very weak indeed, and what the Bank of England's hoping

therefore is this will kick start economic growth. It will make sure

that inflation doesn't fall below its target in a couple of years'

time. The policy, called quantitative easing, is supposed to

work like this - the Bank of England electronically creates new

money. It passes that on to commercial banks and other

institutions. In return they hand over financial assets to the bank.

The institutions spend the money, for example, on shares, homes and

creating jobs. All that in theory stimulates growth. I took my

mortgage out here at the peak. Interest rates, meanwhile, stayed

where they have been for three years - just 0.5%. That's helped

some mortgage payers like Jeremy. He's saved a lot because his

mortgage has tracked that ultralow Bank of England rate. We're saving

about �seven00 a month, and whilst we could overpay our mortgage, and

that would be the sensible thing to do, we have used that reduce other

debt that was on a higher interest rate. At the same time it has been

a buffer because I started a new business around the, say, same time

as I took the mortgage out so having a reduced monthly outgoing

means I have been able to ride out months where the business hasn't

given me any money. Today's decision will not be welcomed by

some areas of the economy who feel they have been damaged by the Bank

of England's policy. One aim of quantitative easing is to reduce

the interest rates payable on Government bonds and because the

pension industry invests in those bonds it says it's lost out. Some

people approaching retirement, for example, will get a relatively poor

deal as they convert their pension savings into an annual income known

as an annuity. People retiring today are several thousand pounds

worse than they would have been a few years ago, and yes, it does

seem deeply unfair this chance of fait, this quirk of timing, has

resulted in them getting a much lower level of income. Savers are

also unhappy with current policy, but the Bank of England feels the

bigger priority is to revive growth it's not alone. The European

Central Bank cut interest rates today to a new low.

This afternoon MPs will vote on what kind of inquiry should

investigate what went wrong at Barclays and other banks, leading

them to fix a key interest rate. David Cameron wants MPs and peers

themselves to hold the inquiry. Ed Miliband thinks a judge should lead

the investigation. But the stand off between the two could mean

neither gets what they want. Our political correspondent Norman

Smith is Parliament for us. What chance of a deal, then? Sophie,

we seem to be in something of heavy-weight weigh-in scenario with

both sides going eye to eye, refusing to back down over their

preferred form of inquiry, insisting that yesterday

underscores their case that a parliamentary inquiry would simply

lack the forensic firepower to get to the truth and the Government

reducing details of time public inquiries take - up to six years -

to underscore their case that they're purely judge-led public

inquiry would take far too long. The one thing that might force a

compromise or Labour to back down is I think the concern about the

public opprobrium that would be heaped upon politicians if they

were not to reach a deal one deal being floated amongst backbenchers

is the Robert J scenario of including a leading barrister or

council on any parliamentary inquiry to ensure there is someone

who can ask the detailed questions. Thank you very much.

Two former NHS employees have been arrested over allegations of

corrupt payments to public officials by journalists. A man and

a woman were arrested in Bridgwater in Somerset, as part of the

Operation Elveden inquiry. Detectives have also arrested a 26-

year-old man in Surrey on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course

of justice as part of Operation Weeting into phone hacking.

The UK Border Agency has been criticised for failing to check up

on 150,000 people who have been refused permission to stay in

Britain after their visas expired. An inspection has found officials

have no idea how many of the migrants, many of them foreign

Those responsible for policing our borders are used to criticism. We

have heard before about queues at passport control and delays

deporting foreign criminals, now this. It involves people from

outside of Europe, such as foreign students who don't want to leave

when their visas expire. The report concludes that there are 159

foreigners in this category, known as the migration refusal pool. The

numbers are growing every week, but there is no plan for dealing with

them. There was confusion on the ground

about how many people should have been chased up by the agency and

there was no strategy Nashally to what was a growing figure as to

those who should be contacted and removed.

Damian Green accepts the report's conclusions and insists that

improvements are being made. The UK Border Agency is getting

better. It is good in parts, but nobody would claim it is perfect.

It does a very, very difficult set of jobs, so it is unlikely ever to

be perfect, but it is getting better.

Managing immigration and our borders e effectively is crucial to

the Government's credibility. There is another very big challenge just

weeks away. The ludicrous thing is that the

Government has cut resources for the UK Border Agency, at a time

when they have the biggest single security issue facing them which is

the Olympics. There is a real danger here that we are cutting off

our nose to spite our face. Those responsible for managing our

borders will want to avoid too many scenes like this when thousands

arrive here for the Olympics. The top story:

The biggest overhall of the army for decades, 17 major units are to

go by the end of the decade to save money.

Coming up: I am live at Wimbledon where the place is buzzing after

Andy Murray's win last night, but today it is the women's turn to

take centre stage. Later on BBC London: In our series

looking at how the Olympics are affecting you, we meet the woman

who says that the Games may have helped to say her life and find out

the fortunes of Lucy Bolton, hoping to qualify for the beach volley

ball. An official report into the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown say it is was caused by a multitude

of errors and wilful negligence by those in charge it says that the

disaster was made in Japan and points the blame at the government,

the regulators an the company that ran the plant.

This report contains some flash photography. March 11th, last year,

a tsunami crashed into Japan's eastern coastline. This was a

natural disaster, but what followed, says a Japanese parliamentary

report was man-made. The water is hit down power at the Fukushima

Daiichi plant and wrecked the back- up generators.

The result was choreography. Explosions after explosion, high

radiation levels causing mass eevacuations and raising questions

about the future of nuclear power. Now, some answers in a report

handed to the Speaker of the Japanese Parliament and they are

damning. It spoke of a multitude of errors after investigators

interviewed more than 1,000 people. TRANSLATION: The accident is not

over. The recommendation should be implemented one after the other.

This is the duty of every member of the legislature and every person of

the nation. There was collusion between the

government and TEPCO, the plant's operators. The disaster could have

been foresoon and -- foreseen and prevented. They failed to adopt

global standards and there was unforgivable arrogance and

ignorance. Swathes of land around the site remain contaminated, tens

of thousands have been forced to leave.

Governments around the world are still deciding their own nuclear

futures. The report says Japan had a right

to be safe from nuclear accidents, that right has been betrayed.

The official report will be published today and one of the most

mysterious air crashes after three years 300 people disappeared over

the Atlantic on an Air France flight.

Stefrlr several cities in England have been given significant new

powers in return for promises to bring down youth unemployment and

to promote economic growth. The so- called city deals have been reached

with Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Newcastle and Sheffield.

The idea is to give them control over billions of pounds of

Government funding. We have this report from Leeds.

Leeds, a city with an important and diverse economy, but it will be

given more money, traditionally managed by central Government to

spend on projects that the local authority thinks will boost the

economy. Here for example, �1 billion is to be made available to

spend on transport in the city and the surrounding region.

But in return, the city must be a place where no person is a NEET.

That means that everyone aged 16 to 24 will have to be in employment,

education or training. Some of these young people in West

Yorkshire fall into that category. How confident are they that new

powers can help their situation? just want to be in work. If it

takes place and something is done about it, and people are benefiting

from it, then yes, I'm all for it, definitely.

But is it realistic it think that everyone here aged 16 to 24 can be

found a course or a job? We will make a commitment to ensure that

the age of 16, you have either a training place, you have either an

apprenticeship or you are either in a job. I think that is our duty.

somebody offered you an apprenticeship today, how many

would take it? They all would. And part of the plan to turn that

pledge into a reality, is more apresent -- apprenticeships.

They are brilliant. It gives young people a chance to learn. It gives

them experience. You can't go into a job without the experience. Some

employers will not have that. is no way on God's earth that they

can get every person to be doing something. There are some who will

never do anything with themselves. Nought will change them.

The Government says that today's announcement is about giving local

authorities the influence they asked for, but Labour say it is

does not go far enough it should be rolled out across England instead

of to just the main cities. Europe's tallest building the Shard

is to be officially opened today it rises 310 metres above London with

the best fews r views in the capital and a price tag as high as

�1.5 billion. The Shard, designed on the back of

a napkin in Berlin ten years ago it now dominates the London skyline.

The 11,000 panes of glass have come from Germany, the architect is

Italian, the money to bankroll the Shard has come from Qatar. The

people that built it, some, more than 1,000 feet up in the end were

British. At ground level people were craning their necks and giving

their views. It is the first time I've seen it,

it looks amazing. It is just, wow! I'm undecided as to whether it fits

into the skyline of London. The Shard has divided critical

opinion. Some saying it looks like it has landed from outer space and

would be better suited to somewhere like Dubai.

It is an outrage. It has been implanted in a part of London that

had no high buildings of that sort. It is a statement, it is a gesture.

For others, the building is like an ethereal 21st century church spire.

The building was not going to be a symbol of arrogance or a symbol of

power, but more like a sparkling, a gentle spire.

The hope is that the Shard will house offices, a hotel, restaurants

and luxury apartments, but the company that owns it says that no

deals with tenants have been signed. So is it viable? The think that the

perception is that it is a gamble and one that, bearing in mind the

way that the economy is working out, is looking like it could be a risky

one. This is the public viewing gallery

in the Shard. We are about 800 feet up here. It is not open to the

public yet, it will be open in February of next year, it will cost

about �25 a head for adults, but the view is spectacular.

London as never quite seen before, from a building that has

transformed its skyline. Goalline technology is finally

expected to get the go ahead when the International Football

Association Board votes to approve its use. The decision is to allow

the Premier League and the Football Association to introduce the

technology, the desire to use it increased after Ukraine was denied

an equaliser when the ball appeared to cross the line in a 1-0 defeat

in by England at Euro 2012. Frank Lampard! Brilliant.

They are the goalline gaffes that appear finally to have forced

football to move with the times. How to avoid high-profile

injustices like these have been on the sport's agenda for years.

And as the game's law makers gathered, the time seems to have

come for the technology to help the match officials get it right.

If the technology is proven fit for purpose and can be rolled out in

the timescales we would like to see, I would be happy for it to be given

the green light. Do you expect it to be? I believe that is where it

is heading. Two different systems to be given

the go ahead today, the Hawk-Eye, and the rival GoalRef, a

German/Danish glab ration that uses a censor in the ball and a magnetic

field in the goal. But those with most to lose believe

that technology is a way forward. I think it is a matter of time

before it arrives. It will arrive. As we see every season, every

tournament, big tournament, we need The decision's taken at FIFA HQ

could usher in a new era for football, but a combination of

opposition and cost mean that technology will not be applied

universally, and in many matches, decisions as to whether a goal has

or has not been scored will still be subject to human error. Disputed

goals like this have been a part of football for decades. Today comes

too late to clear up such controversies, but with technology

introduced into the Premier League as early as January, one of the

longest-running issues in sport could be about to cross a critical

line. After the excitement of yesterday's men's quarter-finals at

Wimbledon, today it is the women's turn as they battle it out for a

place in the final on is Saturday. Katherine Downes is there for us

now. There is always a lot of focus on the men's draw because of the

dominance of the big names, but when it comes to the women's game

it is less predictable. Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka

providing the clash this afternoon, the other semi-finals, producing a

first-time finalist, now we know that Andy Murray is through, it

seems that many have come here this afternoon to celebrate.

There is no official Ladies' Day at Wimbledon, but today is one for the

girls. It is women's finals day, everyone is making the effort.

Dressing for the occasion, Wimbledon's Queen of Fashion in the

shortest of shorts for training. Serena Williams is to play Victoria

Azarenka. Not as famous for her gash as she is for her grunting.

She made the semi-finals here last year, but lost to Petra Kvitova.

Now she is out and Victoria Azarenka is many's pick for the

title. There is an unpredictability about

the women's game right now which is unusual, I think. The number one

position is changing hands on a regular baifts.

Victoria Azarenka has beaten Agnieszka Radwanska six times this

year, but Agnieszka Radwanska avoids a clash with her nemesis

today, she is to play German, Angelique Kerber. Angelique Kerber

is aiming to be the first German in the final since Steffi Graf in 1995.

While the women do their thing, a quieter day for Andy Murray, but if

this is the crowd who have come to watch him to train, imagine what it

will be like tomorrow. Well, Andy Murray is not the epbl

Brit in semi-finals action, Johnny Marry is to play in the men's

double finals, the first British machine to make it through in 35

years. Dare we hope there will be two finals to play come the day.

Now, the weather. There is more rev Now, the weather. There is more rev

rain coming our way? Yes, more rain to come. As we head through the

next few days, as the heavy rain dries up from the south it does

bring in localised flooding, but some areas staying dry. Today there

is a lot of sunshine. The story today is watching out for the heavy

showers. There have been heavy showers in the south-west of

England. The focus for stormy weather is over northern England.

Carlisle has seen 17 .2 millimetres from the rain in the last hour.

Through the rest of the day, the focus for the showers is over much

of Scotland. The north is hit and miss with sunny spells, but for

southern Scotland into the north of England watch out for the doubtfuls.

Where there is the sunny side it will be warm. Up to 24 Celsius.

Humid in the east. Temperatures in the south with the sunshine, up to

20 Celsius, staying largely dry. So largely dry for Wimbledon, but for

the south-west of England the showers are feeding in. Not as

heavy as this morning. Sunshine over Wales, yes, the

chance of showers there, but they are well scattered. For Northern

Ireland after the damp start, an improving story in the day with 19

Celsius in the sunshine. The showers are there for the

evening rush hour, but overnight as the showers fade it is turning

humid, misty and murky. Mild in the south-east, at 17 Celsius, but

there is the rain. We have a warning from the Met Office. It is

an amber warning, one day from the red warning, not just because of

the rain, but as to how persistent it will be it sets in from the

south-east of England making its way through Lincolnshire, the

Midlands and sitting over Wales. Through the central slice is where

we have the focus of really heavy rain tomorrow. Northampton on the

map, Silverstone is starting there tomorrow.

Looking very wet, but the warning covers up to 40 to 60 millimetres,

maybe even up to 80 millimetres of rain in the central areas, but

south and to the north of here it is sunshine and scattered showers.

Through the rest of the weekend, the rain band is pushing to the

north, moving into Scotland. Of course they have T In the Park

there. Elsewhere is unsettled with

sunshine and showers. So fairly hit and miss. It is worth weeping --