23/08/2012 BBC News at One


23/08/2012

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 23/08/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

A fall in the proportion of GCSEs awarded a A* to a C grade for the

:00:12.:00:15.

first time since the exams were introduced 24 years ago. As

:00:15.:00:18.

hundreds of thousands of pupils find out their results, teachers'

:00:18.:00:22.

unions expressed concerns that some have been marked down. We have

:00:22.:00:25.

heard significant numbers of students who had been expected to

:00:25.:00:29.

get a grade C or above have found themselves getting a D.

:00:29.:00:33.

I Asil Nadir is sentenced to 10 years in jail for stealing millions

:00:33.:00:37.

of pounds from his Polly Peck business empire. His wife says he

:00:37.:00:45.

will fight to clear his name. husband is innocent. Having faith

:00:45.:00:51.

in the British justice and legal system, we will continue with our

:00:51.:00:56.

efforts to rectify the wrongs. Pathologist Freddy Patel is struck

:00:56.:01:01.

off the medical register after seeing newspaper seller Ian

:01:01.:01:05.

Tomlinson died of natural causes at the G20 protests.

:01:05.:01:08.

Memorial services take place in South Africa for 44 people killed

:01:08.:01:12.

in clashes with police at a platinum mine.

:01:12.:01:16.

And the DIY restoration which turned this 19th century fresco

:01:16.:01:20.

into this. The woman responsible say she wanted to save the Church

:01:20.:01:23.

time and money. Later on BBC London. The family of

:01:23.:01:26.

a man who died in police custody claim the police watchdog's

:01:26.:01:28.

investigation is flawed. And dressage, Paralympic style. Will we

:01:28.:01:38.
:01:38.:01:52.

have another golden moment in Good afternoon. The proportion of

:01:52.:01:56.

GCSE entries receiving at least A grades C has fallen for the first

:01:56.:02:00.

time since the exams were introduced, 24 years ago. Results

:02:00.:02:05.

in England, Wales and Northern Ireland show 69.4% of entries

:02:05.:02:11.

earned grades A* to C, compared to 69.8% last year. Union leaders said

:02:11.:02:15.

they were concerned that some exams, particularly in English, had been

:02:15.:02:18.

marked too harshly, with many students not getting the results

:02:18.:02:22.

that they expected. Chris Buckler is that Thornton Grammar School in

:02:22.:02:27.

Bradford. Here, pupils have been getting

:02:27.:02:30.

their results, just as they have been at hundreds of schools across

:02:30.:02:35.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This fall in the percentage of

:02:35.:02:39.

entries getting the top grades is small. It is also significant. It

:02:39.:02:42.

comes at a time when the Government has been trying to address

:02:42.:02:46.

allegations that exams have been dumbing down and also trying to

:02:46.:02:50.

raise the standards of schools. Michael Gove has made it very clear

:02:50.:02:53.

that he is dissatisfied with GCSE. He has been considering big changes,

:02:54.:03:02.

even getting rid of the exam After months of work and weeks of

:03:02.:03:07.

worry... This morning, pupils finally found out their grades. For

:03:07.:03:13.

many, it was good news. But after more than two decades in which year

:03:13.:03:16.

after year results got better and better, for the first time in the

:03:16.:03:21.

history of GCSEs the proportion of entries getting top grades fell.

:03:21.:03:28.

The proportion of GCSEs awarded grades A* to C was 69.4%. That is a

:03:28.:03:34.

fall of 0.4% on last year. 7.3% of entries were given the top grade of

:03:35.:03:42.

A*, again, down by 0.5% from 2011. Girls are significantly

:03:42.:03:49.

outperformed boys in higher-grade passages, including A*. The

:03:49.:03:53.

regulator, Ofqual, had warned exam bodies that they would have to

:03:53.:03:56.

justify any improvement in results this year. But there are worries

:03:56.:04:00.

that some subjects have been knocked too harshly. There are big

:04:00.:04:03.

concerns about the English results and some very surprising results

:04:03.:04:08.

which are much lower than expected. We believe that is because the

:04:08.:04:13.

boundaries have been significantly changed at the very last minute.

:04:13.:04:18.

England, GCSEs are changing. The module system that allowed pupils

:04:18.:04:22.

to sit and resit parts of exams at different times has been scrapped

:04:22.:04:25.

for anyone starting studies next month. Many getting results said

:04:26.:04:30.

they thought doing all of their exams at one time would be harder.

:04:30.:04:34.

I definitely prefer what we have done. It gives you a chance to

:04:34.:04:37.

resit and build on what you have got. You know what you're aiming

:04:37.:04:41.

for and how to achieve more. Education Secretary Michael Gove

:04:41.:04:46.

once even greater changes. He's talked about getting rid of GCSEs,

:04:46.:04:51.

gritty and returning to exams similar to the old O-levels. Unions,

:04:51.:04:54.

the Liberal Democrat and Labour have reservations. I don't know

:04:54.:04:58.

what will happen next. Michael Gove has talked about turning the clock

:04:58.:05:02.

right back and bringing back CSEs and O-levels. I hope we do not go

:05:02.:05:06.

down at route because it would be a disaster for many young people.

:05:06.:05:09.

a time of uncertainty, the Government is putting pressure on

:05:09.:05:12.

schools to raise standards. They are expected to ensure that at

:05:12.:05:18.

least 40% of pupils achieved five good GCSE grades. Slightly

:05:18.:05:21.

irritating if you believe it is a politically driven, rather than

:05:21.:05:24.

educationally. But because we are measured in that way, we have to

:05:24.:05:30.

respond. In Wales, the GCSE system is currently under review. For the

:05:30.:05:33.

minute, pupils there and in Northern Ireland will continue to

:05:33.:05:38.

have the option of sitting modules. Make no mistake, in England it is

:05:38.:05:43.

not just students but the exam itself that is under real scrutiny.

:05:43.:05:47.

There is some divisiveness within this. There is controversy in

:05:47.:05:51.

Michael Gove's suggestion that they could return to some kind of O-

:05:51.:05:56.

level system, potentially even O- levels and CSEs. He has denied

:05:56.:05:59.

there will be a two-tier system. That is something the Liberal

:05:59.:06:02.

Democrat are concerned about. Nevertheless, in coming up with

:06:03.:06:07.

plans there will be a great deal of discussion and some concern within

:06:07.:06:11.

the Government itself. If you would like to find out more

:06:11.:06:14.

about GCSEs and what to do next, there is more information on the

:06:14.:06:22.

The former business tycoon Asil Nadir has been sentenced to 10

:06:22.:06:26.

years in prison for stealing nearly �29 million from his Polly Peck

:06:26.:06:30.

empire in the 1980s. The judge said that he had stolen out of pure

:06:30.:06:36.

greed. Nadir was due to face trial in 1993, but fled to Cyprus before

:06:36.:06:40.

returning to Britain two years ago, saying that he wanted to clear his

:06:40.:06:44.

name. Clive Coleman is at the Old Bailey.

:06:44.:06:48.

Before he was sentenced this morning, Asil Nadir looked relaxed.

:06:48.:06:52.

He was chatting to members of the foreign press committee people in

:06:52.:06:55.

the gallery and to his wife, who remained by the side of the dock.

:06:55.:07:01.

When it came to sentencing, the judge said that the company's

:07:01.:07:05.

success was, in many ways, Dorset S. It said the company money was not

:07:05.:07:10.

your money. He said, you knew that, none the less, you help yourself to

:07:10.:07:15.

it and committed theft on a grand scale. At the conclusion of

:07:15.:07:19.

sentencing, receiving the 10 year sentence, Asil Nadir thanked the

:07:19.:07:25.

judge. But outside court, his wife was defiant. He is a man of great

:07:25.:07:34.

character. Integrity and honour. He gave in abundance to charities and

:07:34.:07:39.

were the organisations for many years. -- were the organisations.

:07:39.:07:45.

My husband is innocent. Having faith in the British justice legal

:07:45.:07:55.
:07:55.:07:56.

system, we will continue with our The judge talked of aggravating

:07:56.:08:01.

factors, what were they? Primarily, the fact that this was a big breach

:08:01.:08:06.

of trust. Asil Nadir was in a position of great power. That he

:08:06.:08:10.

abused that trust. One of the things he pointed out was that Asil

:08:10.:08:15.

Nadir had the single signatory system, where he alone was able to

:08:15.:08:18.

move money around. He was able to do that without a count the

:08:18.:08:21.

signature from another board director. In addition to that, the

:08:21.:08:26.

fact that the thefts were massive and that they took place over a

:08:26.:08:36.
:08:36.:08:36.

very extended period of time, three The pathologist Freddy Patel, who

:08:36.:08:40.

wrongly said that newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson died of natural

:08:40.:08:43.

causes at the G20 protests in London three years ago, has been

:08:44.:08:49.

struck off the medical register. Why did they conclude that he was

:08:49.:08:54.

unfit to practise? Well, Dr Freddy Patel was the first apologist to

:08:54.:08:57.

examine the body of Ian Tomlinson and the only one to conclude that

:08:57.:09:00.

he died of natural causes. Mr Tomlinson was trying to make his

:09:00.:09:06.

way home through the G20 protests in 2009. Even after he was shown

:09:06.:09:10.

this video footage of PC Simon Harwood first striking Ian

:09:10.:09:13.

Tomlinson with a baton and then pushing into the ground, he stuck

:09:14.:09:18.

to his original conclusion, even as other medical experts concluded he

:09:18.:09:22.

had in fact died from internal bleeding. Freddy Patel had been

:09:22.:09:26.

suspended from the Home Office list of pathologists in 2009 and then

:09:26.:09:32.

removed completely in 2010. At the time he conducted a post-mortem on

:09:32.:09:35.

Ian Tomlinson, he was effectively doing so under false pretences. He

:09:35.:09:41.

had also been investigated numerous times. In 2002, he concluded that a

:09:41.:09:44.

woman, Sally White, had died from natural causes when she had in fact

:09:44.:09:50.

been murdered by a serial killer. The fitness to practise panel today

:09:50.:09:55.

concluded and it said that he had a rigid mindset, unwarranted

:09:55.:09:58.

confidence in his own abilities and a deep-seated problem with his

:09:58.:10:01.

attitude. The family of Ian Tomlinson has released a statement

:10:01.:10:04.

in the past half-hour in which they say they are surprised that Dr

:10:04.:10:08.

Freddy Patel was able to work as a pathologist for so long and that he

:10:09.:10:12.

was selected to do the post-mortem on the Ian Tomlinson. But they are

:10:12.:10:14.

pleased he will not be able to put any more families through the

:10:14.:10:19.

ordeal he calls them. Dr Freddy Patel himself has refused to

:10:19.:10:26.

Two men jailed for the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in

:10:26.:10:29.

south-east London in 1993 have had their applications for permission

:10:29.:10:33.

to appeal rejected by a judge. Gary Dobson and David Norris have

:10:33.:10:37.

continued to protest their innocence and were given life

:10:37.:10:40.

sentences in January. They can still renew their applications

:10:40.:10:44.

before a panel of judges sitting at the Court of Appeal.

:10:44.:10:47.

Prince Harry is believed to be back in the UK after pictures of him

:10:47.:10:51.

naked in a Las Vegas hotel room appeared on American gossip website.

:10:51.:10:55.

St James's Palace has confirmed that he is in the photographs and

:10:55.:10:58.

that it contacted the police -- Press Complaints Commission because

:10:58.:11:01.

of concerns about his privacy being intruded on.

:11:01.:11:04.

Three members of Jordan's Paralympic team facing sex charges

:11:05.:11:08.

have been pulled out of the Paralympic Games. The men, who had

:11:09.:11:12.

been in Northern Ireland for training, appeared in court in

:11:12.:11:15.

County Londonderry yesterday. Mark Simpson is in Belfast. They have

:11:15.:11:20.

gone home, what happens next? are on their way home back to

:11:20.:11:24.

Jordan as we speak. They will be back in Northern Ireland to face

:11:24.:11:29.

the courts at some stage. The case is due for mention again on October

:11:29.:11:33.

16th, seven weeks away. It is not clear if the men will be obliged to

:11:33.:11:37.

appear in person. What we know for sure is that they will not be

:11:37.:11:41.

appearing next week at the Paralympics. The Games begin on

:11:41.:11:45.

Wednesday. It is the power lifting event that the men were due to

:11:45.:11:49.

participate in, which starts on Thursday. The three men will not be

:11:49.:11:53.

there. They have voluntarily gone back home to Jordan.

:11:53.:11:56.

Services are taking place in South Africa in memory of those killed

:11:56.:12:01.

during a strike at a platinum mine. Of the 44 victims, 34 were workers

:12:01.:12:06.

who were shot dead by police last week. There are fears now that the

:12:06.:12:14.

dispute could spread to other mines The 44 need never have died.

:12:14.:12:18.

Nothing, their families say, could compensate for the loss of their

:12:18.:12:24.

loved ones. Candlelight provides this community with an enduring

:12:24.:12:27.

symbol of remembrance. South Africans are marking a day that

:12:27.:12:31.

they will recall as one of the darkest in the country's modern

:12:31.:12:36.

history. Bavuyisa Miya was still limping from the injuries he

:12:36.:12:40.

sustained escape in gunfire. He says his colleagues should not have

:12:40.:12:49.

been killed, they were simply TRANSLATION: I am deeply saddened

:12:49.:12:53.

by the turn of events. We were demanding a better wage from the

:12:53.:12:56.

employers. That is what the march was about. We didn't know that

:12:56.:13:02.

these people will kill us for demanding 12,500 rand. Not since

:13:02.:13:06.

the days of apartheid has South Africa witnessed such bloody scenes

:13:06.:13:11.

as they saw here last week. The shocking images of police officers

:13:11.:13:15.

gunning down striking miners has put an ugly face on industrial

:13:15.:13:20.

relations in South Africa. The mining industry is one of the

:13:20.:13:26.

bedrocks of the economy. Lonmin mine has been in virtual shutdown.

:13:26.:13:29.

Reflecting on last week's events certainly will not stop the

:13:29.:13:33.

protests. In some parts of South Africa, unemployment is as high as

:13:33.:13:38.

50%. Discontent is growing. These miners are certain that they will

:13:38.:13:46.

not return to work and tell -- until their demands are met. Other

:13:46.:13:50.

workers in neighbouring mines have downed tools, also demanding better

:13:50.:13:58.

wages. We believe that further deaths resulted from protests and

:13:58.:14:02.

demonstrations can be avoided if only they would listen to what the

:14:02.:14:06.

workers are saying. A President Jacob Zuma says that the industry

:14:06.:14:09.

needs to start to examine the living conditions of people working

:14:09.:14:14.

for them. The nation is under growing pressure from its workforce.

:14:14.:14:17.

The place where so many died has become a poignant symbol of

:14:17.:14:23.

defiance. For the grieving wives, mothers and children left behind,

:14:23.:14:27.

today's prayers are not only for the dead but those left without a

:14:27.:14:37.
:14:37.:14:41.

Our top story. A fall in the proportion of GCSEs awarded that a

:14:41.:14:45.

* to C great have fallen for the first time since the exams were

:14:45.:14:50.

introduced. Coming up, if the rain has ruined your summer, spare a

:14:50.:14:54.

thought for the bees. I'll be finding out by some hives have been

:14:54.:14:59.

left starving by the wet weather. Later on BBC London. Two men jailed

:14:59.:15:02.

for the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence lose the first stage of

:15:02.:15:04.

their attempt to challenge their convictions. And after a 200 mile

:15:04.:15:14.
:15:14.:15:17.

journey a century-old narrowboat One of the Government's most senior

:15:17.:15:20.

scientific advisers has said that efforts to stop a sharp rise in

:15:20.:15:23.

global temperatures are now unrealistic. Professor Sir Robert

:15:23.:15:28.

Watson, who is shortly to step down from his role in government, told

:15:28.:15:31.

BBC News that he'd like to see the Chancellor George Osborne back

:15:31.:15:38.

efforts to cut C02 emissions. Professor Watson is one of the most

:15:38.:15:43.

respected scientists in the world on Climate Change policy. He is

:15:43.:15:45.

currently chief scientist at the Department for food and rural

:15:45.:15:50.

affairs and a former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

:15:50.:15:54.

Change. He believes that because of a lack of progress at successive

:15:54.:15:56.

international climate change summit, it is now unlikely that governments

:15:56.:16:00.

will be able to meet an internationally agreed target to

:16:00.:16:03.

reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions, and so limit the average

:16:03.:16:08.

rise in global temperatures. idea of a to degree target is

:16:08.:16:12.

largely out the window. Not impossible but not particularly

:16:12.:16:18.

likely. I'd really do believe we are on the way to 83, four or five

:16:18.:16:23.

degree world. And if we are in a world that is three, four or five

:16:23.:16:26.

degrees warmer, there will be significant adverse effects.

:16:26.:16:31.

what does this mean? According to the UK Committee on climate change,

:16:31.:16:36.

there are regional variations but overall, if there is a today degree

:16:36.:16:38.

increase in average temperatures there will be more extremes of

:16:38.:16:42.

weather, floods and droughts and more people will die. If

:16:42.:16:45.

temperatures rise between three to four degrees, agricultural

:16:45.:16:49.

production will fall and sea levels will rise. At five degrees the

:16:49.:16:53.

overall picture will get much worse and there will be an irreversible

:16:53.:16:59.

loss of many species. David Cameron has said that he wants his

:16:59.:17:03.

government to be the greenest ever. But because of the recession his

:17:03.:17:08.

Chancellor, George Osborne, has asked for an easing of the

:17:08.:17:12.

ambitious C02 reduction targets, to take the pressure off businesses.

:17:12.:17:16.

Professor Watson said that would be the wrong way to go. I would say to

:17:16.:17:22.

George Osborne, work with the private sector, work with the

:17:22.:17:25.

public on behaviour change. Let's demonstrate to the rest of the

:17:25.:17:28.

world that through some cost- effective technology we can make

:17:28.:17:33.

significant progress here. Professor Watson added that deep

:17:33.:17:37.

cuts in CO2 emissions of possible through the development of new ways

:17:37.:17:40.

of generating energy that do not harm the environment. But he says

:17:40.:17:47.

what is really needed is greater political will. There are reports

:17:47.:17:50.

this lunch time of intense fighting on the outskirts of the Syrian

:17:50.:17:54.

capital Damascus. Government forces are reported to be using helicopter

:17:54.:17:58.

gunships and battery fired to attack a district of the city. Here,

:17:58.:18:01.

the Prime Minister David Cameron joined the United States in warning

:18:01.:18:07.

the Syria against using its chemical weapons in the conflict.

:18:07.:18:16.

Daily life in Syria at the moment. The Syrian army is continuing its

:18:16.:18:20.

attempts to dislodge opposition fighters from the northern city of

:18:20.:18:26.

Aleppo. Unverified pictures, but the aftermath shows heavy damage -

:18:26.:18:33.

typical of aerial bombardment. And now head the attacks have moved to

:18:33.:18:38.

the southern outskirts of Damascus, according to opposition sources.

:18:38.:18:44.

This was apparently the air attack on the suburb of Deraa, first at --

:18:44.:18:48.

possibly the first time shelling attacks in action on residential

:18:48.:18:52.

area so close to the capital. Other amateur footage shows columns of

:18:52.:18:58.

tanks moving in, apparently followed by house-to-house searches.

:18:58.:19:03.

A latest pictures, apparently to date from the same suburb, a

:19:03.:19:07.

reminder of the mounting human cost of this conflict. Funerals for

:19:07.:19:15.

those caught up in the violence. On Syrian state TV, news reports

:19:15.:19:19.

describe the operations of brave army units in Aleppo, pursuing

:19:19.:19:24.

terrorist gangs and mercenaries. Here the reporters say the Syrian

:19:24.:19:30.

army inflicted major losses and killed dozens of them. From now one

:19:30.:19:34.

these glimpses of Syria's war won't be amplified by the UN monitoring

:19:34.:19:40.

team, which is pulling out. More of them departed today. From afar,

:19:40.:19:45.

President Obama and David Cameron have warned they may we think there

:19:45.:19:48.

non-intervention strategy if President Assad dares use chemical

:19:48.:19:53.

weapons. But for opposition supervisors that is little comfort.

:19:53.:19:59.

The flipside of that statement is that if there is no chemical weapon

:19:59.:20:07.

used by the regime then there will be no intervention. There is a

:20:07.:20:10.

craving for international protection from the Syrian

:20:10.:20:14.

opposition and from the Syrian population. Meanwhile, the fighting

:20:14.:20:17.

on the ground is turning more and more of the country into a

:20:17.:20:25.

terrifying battle ground. The Prime Minister is meeting the King of

:20:25.:20:28.

Bahrain in Downing Street this afternoon to discuss the situation

:20:28.:20:33.

in Syria. This will be a controversial visit for some.

:20:33.:20:36.

Eyebrows will be raised because this is the second time that the

:20:36.:20:41.

king has met all will meet Mr Cameron since December. The King

:20:41.:20:44.

was also invited to the Queen's special jubilee lunch for

:20:44.:20:48.

international royalty. This visit comes as protests rumble on in

:20:48.:20:53.

Bahrain. A teenage protester was killed last week and a prominent

:20:53.:20:57.

activist was jailed for three years. So human rights groups certainly

:20:57.:21:01.

know what they want to be discussed. Amnesty International has said what

:21:01.:21:06.

they call a facade of supposed reform in the kingdom, while

:21:06.:21:09.

peaceful protesters have been jailed. It has called on Mr Cameron

:21:09.:21:15.

to say that Britain will stand by while Bahrain locks up dissidents.

:21:15.:21:21.

I've been told that on the agenda of the meeting is Syria, but also

:21:21.:21:25.

trade opportunities. I've been told the purpose of the meeting is not

:21:25.:21:29.

to discuss Bahrain's promised reforms. The first thing mentioned

:21:29.:21:32.

to me was Britain trying to look for further trading opportunities

:21:32.:21:41.

with Bahrain in what clearly is a sensitive time. This summer's wet

:21:41.:21:45.

weather has badly affected Britain's bee population.

:21:45.:21:49.

Conditions have been their worst for three decades and have made it

:21:49.:21:52.

difficult for the insects to gather nectar and pollen. It is warning

:21:52.:21:59.

honey production could be down by as much as 60 %. Our reporter is

:21:59.:22:04.

just outside Conwy. We've heard so much about record rainfall ruining

:22:04.:22:09.

things for us humans this summer. But it's also playing havoc with

:22:09.:22:12.

Britain's bee population. Rain makes it difficult for them to go

:22:12.:22:18.

out and forage, which means that some hives have been left as a

:22:19.:22:23.

staff -- left to starve. Much as humans, honey bees aren't too keen

:22:23.:22:27.

in venturing out in wet weather. Torrential rain in June followed by

:22:27.:22:31.

downpours in July and August have all limited their time foraging for

:22:31.:22:35.

food. And without feathering the enough nectar and pollen, some have

:22:35.:22:41.

been starved. Right in the middle of the summer in the middle of June,

:22:41.:22:46.

when the nectar flows should have been at their best, bees were

:22:46.:22:51.

starving. So beekeepers have had to feed their bees, they feed them on

:22:51.:22:55.

sugar syrup. I've never known that before. This year's honey crop is

:22:55.:22:59.

also likely to suffer. Some beekeepers are predicting a drop of

:22:59.:23:04.

up to 60 % on last year. It's classed as a luxury item. People

:23:04.:23:08.

are coming in buying their honeyed, there's not enough to bring into

:23:08.:23:11.

the shop, the premium will have to go up on the Hanley. The customers

:23:11.:23:16.

will have to pay more for it, which they will not like. Funny isn't the

:23:16.:23:21.

only food the bees help to produce. As they fly from flower to flower,

:23:21.:23:26.

they also pollinate around three- quarters of the crops wheat. A

:23:26.:23:30.

familiar buzz has been missing from Ian Sturrock's orchard. Normally he

:23:30.:23:35.

can depend on bees to pollinators fruit trees, but this year most of

:23:35.:23:40.

Arran. This tree is a bar of the island apple tree. Normally it

:23:40.:23:44.

would be absolutely covered in fruit. This year it is almost

:23:44.:23:50.

totally barren. I've lost about 75- 80 % of my crop. And there's one

:23:50.:23:54.

final sting in the tail. The rain may also have put a dampener on

:23:54.:23:57.

meeting for Virgin Queen Bees, threatening, the numbers in the

:23:58.:24:04.

future. That could be a real problem for all those people who

:24:04.:24:07.

have recently taken an interest in beekeeping. Although beekeeper

:24:07.:24:13.

numbers are up, it seems that colony numbers are on the way down.

:24:13.:24:16.

Developers building new rental properties should be freed from the

:24:16.:24:20.

obligation to provide affordable homes. That's according to a new

:24:20.:24:23.

report commissioned by the government. It says the requirement

:24:23.:24:26.

encourages quick sales and deters developers from considering renting

:24:26.:24:30.

out their properties. But critics say changing the rules would have

:24:30.:24:35.

are those on lower incomes. Once they are finished the developer of

:24:35.:24:40.

these properties will hope to sell them as fast as possible. Very few

:24:40.:24:43.

companies hang on to the homes they build and rent them privately. One

:24:43.:24:47.

of the panel members of today's review says that leaves a great -

:24:47.:24:51.

that a gaping hole in the housing market. The majority of the

:24:51.:24:54.

landlords out there are landlords who have bought houses that are

:24:54.:24:58.

generally in the market for sale. There is very little purpose-built

:24:58.:25:04.

rental stock. Actually, the mansion blocks of the 1920s and 1930s, they

:25:04.:25:10.

were built for rent. The report recommends looking at how planning

:25:10.:25:13.

rules might be further eased to encourage the building of Red 4

:25:13.:25:17.

properties. It says a share of publicly owned land could be set

:25:17.:25:21.

aside and calls for new financial incentives for build to let schemes.

:25:21.:25:25.

But the most contentious element is the call for local authority rules

:25:25.:25:29.

to be waived. At the moment, builders must promise a certain

:25:29.:25:32.

quota of affordable properties to get the go-ahead for more lucrative

:25:32.:25:35.

schemes. They say that is holding back construction. If the

:25:35.:25:38.

obligation is waved it will free up developers, they can be more

:25:38.:25:41.

flexible about how they develop things. That will mean there will

:25:41.:25:45.

be more developments done. More housing available, which will mean

:25:45.:25:48.

that rents will come down because it's a question of supply and

:25:48.:25:52.

demand. From here you can see exactly what these rules have meant

:25:52.:25:56.

in practice. Developers wanted to build expensive luxury flats over

:25:56.:26:00.

there in London's Bankside. But to get permission to do that they had

:26:00.:26:05.

to promise to build these affordable properties over here.

:26:05.:26:08.

Housing associations are worried about any attempt to divert

:26:08.:26:12.

investment away from the affordable sector. We really welcome a strong

:26:12.:26:16.

private rented sector. There is such a shortage of housing in this

:26:16.:26:21.

country that we need all sectors to be strong. But our fear would be

:26:21.:26:25.

that schemes such as this might not be produced. And therefore that

:26:25.:26:30.

would affect our ability to produce affordable rented housing. And many

:26:30.:26:34.

in the housing industry say the biggest problem is the limited

:26:34.:26:37.

availability of credit, both for developers and potential buyers who

:26:38.:26:44.

are struggling to get mortgages. It was all done with the best of

:26:44.:26:48.

intentions. A woman in her 80s who thought that the 19th century

:26:49.:26:53.

fresco in her local church was looking a little worse for wear. To

:26:53.:26:56.

save the Church time of money she decided to do the restoration work

:26:56.:27:00.

herself. The result was... Well, I will let Tim Reid explained. This

:27:00.:27:05.

is how Christ was depicted originally. This is how he looks

:27:05.:27:10.

now, after a DIY restoration. The much-loved fresco has been a

:27:10.:27:13.

feature in this church for more than a century. But the years have

:27:13.:27:18.

taken their toll, as these pictures show. Unhappy at the state of the

:27:18.:27:22.

painting, a local worshipper set to work with a paintbrush, but has

:27:22.:27:27.

denied doing it without permission. No, of course not, everybody could

:27:27.:27:32.

see me as I was painting so I wasn't doing it secretly. But the

:27:32.:27:37.

family of the original artist say the work is now ruined.

:27:37.:27:42.

TRANSLATION: Until now she was just painting the tunic, but the problem

:27:42.:27:46.

started when she began painting the head, too. She has destroyed the

:27:46.:27:52.

painting. Art experts say the 19th century fresco by Martinez was

:27:52.:27:55.

popular locally but not particularly valuable, much less so

:27:55.:28:00.

now. I have to confess when I saw this illustrated in the paper I

:28:00.:28:04.

burst out laughing. It is an amusing tragedy. She has made a

:28:04.:28:10.

horrible mess of it. If a 5-year- old child had done it it couldn't

:28:10.:28:14.

be worse. Of course, nobody is going to be devoted to it now, are

:28:14.:28:18.

they? Local officials have now called in the professionals to try

:28:18.:28:25.

to undo this amateur restorer's handiwork. Never muck about with an

:28:25.:28:34.

Not the cheeriest picture behind me but it's not all doom and gloom.

:28:34.:28:38.

There will be some bright spells of round, a scattering of showers as

:28:38.:28:42.

well perhaps. The cloud is massing out towards the western side of the

:28:42.:28:47.

British Isles, it is tied in with the low pressure. There is a veil

:28:47.:28:51.

of cloud gradually working its way in across some areas. There will be

:28:51.:28:55.

some brightness this afternoon across parts of East Anglia and the

:28:55.:28:58.

south-east. 22 Ward 23 in the sunshine. But there's no getting

:28:58.:29:01.

away from the fact that once you drift out towards the West, the

:29:01.:29:06.

cloud is a bit thicker. You are in with a chance of seeing some

:29:06.:29:10.

showery rain from medium level cloud. A scattering of showers to

:29:10.:29:13.

the western side of the Pennines through the morning, that prospect

:29:13.:29:17.

will continue. Because the weather is out towards the West, Northern

:29:17.:29:21.

Ireland have a better chance of seeing a showery burst of something.

:29:22.:29:27.

The showers in Scotland not as intense as yesterday. As we come to

:29:27.:29:31.

the eastern side of the Pennines, one or two shout was breaking

:29:31.:29:35.

through but again, a little bit of sunshine as well. Let's move on

:29:35.:29:38.

through the evening and overnight, where I think we will find the

:29:38.:29:42.

cloud filling in a bit more as the low-pressure grinds its weighting

:29:42.:29:46.

towards the western side of the British Isles. Even away from that

:29:46.:29:50.

main area of cloud and rain out to the west, we may find an area

:29:50.:29:53.

developing around Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, that could well

:29:53.:29:57.

drift up towards the south eastern quarter of England to start of the

:29:57.:30:01.

day on Friday. But the main weather event is out towards the West. An

:30:01.:30:05.

area of heavy rain gradually swinging its way through the West

:30:05.:30:10.

Country, up into Wales and Northern Ireland. Eventually a box of in two

:30:10.:30:14.

parts of the South East. Away from that is the familiar tale of sunny

:30:14.:30:20.

spells and showers. How is the weekend shaping up? There will be

:30:20.:30:24.

rain at times, gusty winds as well. Compared to last weekend where some

:30:24.:30:28.

places were getting around 30 degrees, it will feel cooler than

:30:28.:30:32.

that. It depends where you are in relation to this area of low

:30:32.:30:37.

pressure. It makes slow progress on Saturday. Persistent rain in

:30:37.:30:41.

southern Scotland and northern England, Northern Ireland and down

:30:41.:30:47.

into the south-west. Showery bursts potentially driven along with gales

:30:47.:30:50.

in the south. The whole thing moving a little bit further towards

:30:51.:30:55.

the east, so a northerly pushing showers towards the eastern side of

:30:55.:30:59.

England through Sunday. Brighter skies pushing in from the West.

:30:59.:31:08.

Monday you strive for some as well. A fall in the proportion of GCSEs

:31:08.:31:12.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS