09/10/2012 BBC News at One

Protecting your property, the Government plans to allow home

owners to use greater force against intruders. The Justice Secretary

says people should be able to do whatever it takes to deal with a

burglar, as long as it's not grossly disproportionate.

Stressing his loyalty to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson addresses

the Conservative Party Conference. If we can win in the middle of a

recession and wipe out a 17-point Labour lead, I know that David

Cameron will win in 2015. The International Monetary Fund

sharply downgrades its growth forecast for the British economy,

saying it will shrink by 0.4% this year.

Tight security in Athens as the German Chancellor arrives for her

first visit since the euro crisis began there.

The skydiver about to jump from a balloon 23 miles above earth as he

attempts to become the first person to break the sound barrier without

using a vehicle. And the Duke and Duchess of

Cambridge officially open England's On BBC London - It made them laugh,

but what do London's Conservatives make of today's speech by Boris

Johnson? And after a wet summer and the Olympics, visitor numbers

plummet at some of our most famous Good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC

News at 1pm. People who use force against burglars are promised

greater legal protection by the Government. The Prime Minister said

that only the use of grossly disproportionate force would remain

a crime and that changing laut would provide certainty. Currently

in England and Wales, anyone can use reasonable force against an

intruder. This has, on occasion, led to householders being sent to

jail for attacking burglars. Our political correspondent Carole

Walker reports. Conservatives gathered here are longing for a new,

tough message on law and order from their new Justice Secretary. Today,

Chris Grayling is promising to give greater legal protection to

householders who tackling burglars, even if they overreact in the heat

of the moment. The Prime Minister, who revealed he'd been burgled

twice in the past, said it was something that bothered people.

What we're doing effective here is just raising the bar and raising

the bar pretty high and saying, anything you do as long as it's not

grossly disproportionate is OK. I think that will give householders,

people across our country a certainty that if they ever got

into that situation they could defend their homes, their property,

their family. That's a very important sense that people need to

have. It's more than 12 years since Tony Martin, a farmer in Norfolk,

was found guilty of murder and jailed after shooting a burglar in

his own home. But since then, there have been only a handful of similar

case that's have ended up in court. The law is already well established,

a person can use reasonable force to defend themselves, their

property or their family. It's really for a jury to decide if a

matter goes to court whether the force used is reasonable. To use

words like "disproportionate" really doesn't help. Given the high

rates of re-offender sluggish courts and overcrowded prisons,

it's a move that pleases the crowd. They were cheered further by

another rousing performance from the London Mayor, who's been

stealing the limelight here. He brushed aside yet more questions

about his own leadership ambitions and lavished praise on his old

friend, the Prime Minister. I was pleased to see that you've called

me a blonde-haired mop in the pages of the... A mop is what I am. If

I'm a mop, then Dave, you are a broom that is cleaning up the mess

left by the Labour Government and a fantastic job you are doing and I

thank you... APPLAUSE

Boris told the Tories they should take heart from his victory in the

London elections. If we can win in the middle of a recession and wipe

out a 17-point Labour lead, then I know that David Cameron will win in

2015. He said Britain needs to get through the age of austerity to a

new age of enterprise. The pressure now is on the Prime Minister to set

out how that can be achieved. In a moment, we'll speak to our

political correspondent Norman Smith at the Conservative Party

Conference, but first our home editor Mark Easton is here. When

will the law actually be changed then in regards to intruders

entering people's property? This is a hardy perennial this one.

Certainly Conservative Home Secretarys and justice secretaries

have been talking about this issue for years and years. Mr Grayling

himself in 2009 said that he was determined that a Conservative

Government would introduce did you ever rules on householders using

self-defence against a burglar or something. Actually, it doesn't

look as though anything will happen very quickly. No Parliamentary time

has been put aside for the legislation that would be required

for this measure. Indeed, as we were hearing in that report, most

senior yim nal -- criminal lawyers and some judges would say it's not

necessary any way. The law, as it stands, is perfectly able to deal

with these cases. I say all these cases, in fact, these are very rare

cases. One or two a year before you have one case. It's a very narrow

issue, one that plays well with obviously both the party faithful

and indeed the public. But I don't think that we're going to be seeing

legislation any time soon. Thank you very much. Let's go to Norman

Smith at the Conservative Party Conference. Let's talk about Boris

first of all. There was concern he might overshadow the Prime Minister.

Do you think he has? Sophie, imagine if you will and humour me

here, a Boris Johnson with his hair neatly combed, tie done up and

shoes polished, that was the Boris Johnson on show today. He was

politically on his absolute best behaviour with not a word of

criticism of David Cameron, because if there had been any it would have

been seen as the equivalent of Brutus Boris stabbing Caesar

Cameron in the back. Instead praise for David Cameron. Significantly we

got a list of what Boris Johnson regards as his achievements in

London. Now the read across from that is that this is Boris Johnson

saying this is what I have achieved in London, this is what I could

achieve in the country. This is what I could achieve for this party.

For that reason, those whose job it is to guard David Cameron's back,

be in no doubt, despite today, they will continue to be watching Boris

Johnson very, very closely indeed. And Boris Johnson aside, there's

been a significant development on Europe railsed by the Prime

Minister. Absolutely. The Prime Minister gave his strongest

indication that his favoured mechanism for determining a new

relationship with the European Union would be through a referendum

after the next election. He said today that the cleanest, neatest

and simplest way of deciding any new arrangement with Europe would

be through a referendum rather than through some commitment in a

general election. Now, when you talk to Tory Euro-sceptics here,

yes, they are pleased. But they have one big caveat - they welcome

Mr Cameron's words, but they say they've heard it all before.

The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for the UK economy,

saying it now thinks it will shrink by 0.4% this year. The biggest

downgrade of any advanced economy. It predicts o only a slow

improvement next year with growth of 1.1% expected. The IMF is gloomy

about the prospects for the world economy, saying the global recovery

is weakening and the situation could easily get worse. Our chief

economics correspondent Hugh Pym reports. It's the latest situation

report on the UK economy and it comes from the world's leading

forecaster and economic watchdog, The Bells O Peover -- the IMF. It

thinks the economy is heading the wrong way with a decline of 0.4%.

The Prime Minister said given what was happening in the global economy,

this wasn't a great surprise and there had been a positive appraisal

of the Government's policies. IMF also say we shouldn't abandon

our plans of making reductions in Government spending and also,

regrettably in some cases, putting up some taxes to get on top of our

debt and deficit. It's not Plan B that we need. What we're doing is

making sure that every part of Plan A is firing on all cylinders.

IMF, currently holding one of its main conferences in Tokyo, warned

the British Government might have to think again if growth hadn't

materialised by early next year. Labour claimed it all added up to a

blow for the Chancellor: He's left our economy too exposed. We ought

to have a stronger position now. What is the chance doing - no

change of course, absolutely nothing is necessary. We're in the

longest double-dip recession since the Second World War apbtd IMF

giving him plenty of warnings, he needs to act now. It's not just the

UK. The IMF downgraded forecasts for China and other emerging

markets and for the global economy. Today's predictions come into line

with what most leading forecasters are saying, that is that the UK is

likely to Soay contraction of economic activity across this year.

The IMF is adjusting to a new reality, not exactly bright for the

UK now. It is a serious downgrade. The reason is because of the

eurozone. It's having a powerful negative impact on the UK. We're

likely to grow less quickly because of the crisis and recession there.

I wouldn't be surprised to see negative growth this year and slow

growth not future. It may be slow, but there will be growth in the UK

next year according to the IMF, so the outlook may be a bit brighter.

The organisation also warns everything could change if there's

a worsening of the eurozone crisis. The Chancellor, George Osborne, is

in Luxembourg, where he's meeting other European Finance Ministers.

Chris Morris is there. A pretty bleak outlook for the economy in

Europe as well? Yeah, I'm afraid so. Good afternoon. It is after all the

news we've heard from Europe over the last couple of years, perhaps

no surprise how gloomy it is. The IMF welcomes some of the policy

responses made to try to resolve the eurozone crisis. It says that

crisis is deepening and the situation remains precarious. It

reckons the eurozone economy as a whole will shrink by 0.4% this year.

It's downgraded growth for next year it a palatery 0.2%. If you

look at individual countries, there are problems everywhere. Spain and

France, for example, and others, it believes, will struggle to meet the

budget deficit targets. There will have to be a debate there. Do they

let the targets slip or implement more cuts? You look at Greece,

where the depth of the recession mean that's even now, the

accumulation of government debt is still more rapid than has been

expected. If there's any good news, I guess, it comes from emerging

economies in Eastern Europe, Poland, the Baltic republics, which will

grow somewhat next year. If one thing emerges from this report it

will be that the debate about growth versus austerity, the right

balance will intensify. The IMF has admitted it has consistently

underestimated the effect of cuts on the ability to promote growth.

The woman many Greeks blame for their country's hardships has riefd

in Athens. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is making a brief

visit to show support for the Greek government and it forces through

further austerity measures. There's tight security, with 7,000 police

officers on duty and a ban on public gatherings in some areas.

Our correspondent Mark Lowen is there. Thank you very much indeed.

Yes, Athens feels like two different cities today. Here on the

square, thousands have protested against Angela Merkel, who they see

as the architect of austerity. There have been a couple of rounds

of tear gas already. Behind the security cordons the Greek and

German leaders have held an amicable and symbolic meeting. It's

a sign of a deeply divided Greece, one that Mrs Merkel is visiting for

the first time in over five years. Europe's Paymaster arriving in the

eurozone's most indebted nation. Angela Merkel in Athens for her

first trip in over five years. In the past she's stayed away,

critical of the slow pace of reform here. Germany and Greece in a

frequent war of words. Buff now she came to support the new cost-

cutting government of Antonis Samaras, a crucial endorsement as

he tries to rebuild the credibility of his country. In central Athens,

no welcome, just protests and a strike. Many here see the

Chancellor as the driving force behind the painful austerity

measures. Large parts of the city were in lock down, a sign of the

widespread anger. Reviled by many, respected by some, few foreign

leaders ellicit such reaction here. TRANSLATION: Let's hope it's for

the best and that coming here to Greece, she'll see first hand what

the Greeks are going through and the reduction in their standard of

living and she can form an opinion. Let's hope we're not the guinea

pigs of Europe. TRANSLATION: She should see how the

people are suffering. The anxiety we are going through, that there is

no future. Others have a softer response to Mrs Merkel. This woman

says anti-German feeling is misplaced and that Greeks should

toast the shared goals. The visit is a positive sign there a definite

will from Germany and also from other European countries that

Greece stays in the euro. But on the streets, rage continues to boil.

Demonstrations in the run up to the visit targetting the German leader.

As this nation sinks further into its worst crisis in modern history,

it's looking for someone to blame. Angela Merkel is often that figure.

Now she's come into the lion's den. You might be able to see a few

rocks being thrown at riot police in the corner of the square as the

protests begin to turn a little ugly. No grand announcements are

expected during this visit. The leaders will discuss the new

spending cuts to come. The very fact that Mrs Merkel is here at all

is perhaps the most important thing. Fear drives the markets, they will

be reassured by her visit. On the streets of Athens, the anger will

All the bids meant too little protection for taxpayers against

the risk of a collapse by the franchise holder. The error meant

all the bids offered too little protection for taxpayers against

the risks of collapse by a franchise holder. It's still

unclear who will run the service while a new tendering process is

completed, which could take up to two years.

A 20-year-old man from West Yorksire has been sentenced to 240

hours of community service for comments he made on the internet

about the deaths of six soldiers. Azhar Ahmed from Dewsbury posted

the "grossly offensive" comments on the social networking site Facebook.

Barclays is buying the online bank ING Direct UK from its Dutch owners.

The deal means 1.5 million customers and seven hundred and

fifty ING Direct staff will transfer to Barclays. Our Personal

Finance Correspondent Simon Gompertz is here. How good a deal

is this for Barclays? It's a lot of people, and Barclays is virtually

being paid to take them away because ING, the Dutch bank, is

pulling out of the UK, so it does look like a good deal. As you say,

there are 1.5 million customers affected. They're virtually all

savers with average savings of around �8,000 in ING, so they're

valuable customers to have. Total savings, nearly �11 billion. That

would be a 10% increase in savings held at Barclays, less in mortgages,

about �5.5 billion. This is an internet bank, ING, so customers

who are used to shopping around for the best deals - and Barclays will

have to work hard to keep ahold of them. What does it mean for the

customers? What'll they do? Barclays has promised they'll

honour the existing terms and conditions. If you have a fixed

rate saving or mortgage that'll be honoured, but Barclays will be

setting the - in the long run. You have to keep an eye on that there

is time. Your deposit protection will improve because it's �85,000

under the UK system, which is more than under the Dutch system, which

is what it was before with ING. I think on the other hand, we're

always being told there are not enough players in banking, not

enough competition. Here's one being taken away which was known

from time to time for offering very good interest rates, so that could

be a worry. Thank you very much. The time is coming up to 1.20pm.

Our top story this lunch time: plans to allow homeowners to use

greater force against intruders as long as it's not "grossly

disproportionate". Coming up: I'm in Roswell, New

Mexico where the Australian adventurerer will attempt to break

the world skydiving record and become the first man to fall faster

than the speed of sound. On BBC London: after months of

delay, state-of-the-art school for children with special needs that

still isn't open. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

are in Staffordshire this lunch time where they are officially

opening England's new National Football Centre. St George's Park,

near Burton-upon-Trent, will provide state-of-the-art training

facilities for players and coaches. Our sports correspondent Dan Roan

is there. Thanks, Sophie. Unlike footballing

heavyweights like Spain and the Netherlands, England, until now,

have been effectively homeless, having to borrow training

facilities and accommodation before big international match, but no

longer. Attention to detail is what St George's Park is about. For

example this park behind me is an exact replica of Wembley in terms

of grass and indeed its dimensions. By leaving no stone unturned, the

hope is this place will produce better players and better coaches.

For William, England and St Louis Cardinals, today was all about

Heralding a new era for national sport. The president of the FA and

his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, here to open up a new facility

designed to return England to footballing royalty. What you would

like is a youngster coming here, 15, 16, hopefully they get an early wow

factor. This is a great place to come, and they want to be through

the age groups, 17, 18, 19 - can I stay through the seniors? It's an

aspirational home now. 11 years in the making, this site houses

training, rehab and the best science sports facilities money can

buy, all designed to give English football its own centre of

excellence to match its European rivals. This is what over �100

million of investment gets you. This is the state-of-the-art full-

sized indoor pitch here at St George's Park. It's all very

impressive, of course. But the big question is, will this bring about

a change in the fortunes of the England team? Despite such funding

of the elite level, up and down the country at the grassroots level,

clubs continue to suffer from poor sporting facilities and investing

costs. The cabins here, we had one of them

burn down recently. It cost the club �2,000 to replace the

equipment we lost. �2,000 is a small fraction of a hundred million.

If a small amount of money was provided for a place like us, then

it would make a real difference which would help to supply players

within the region to play at a lie level. After his foul-mouthed Tweet

abusing the FA last week Ashley Cole and the rest of the squad are

here ahead of their next match Friday. Whether the defender wins a

99th cap, though, is unclear. apologised for his actions. He

really did show, I believe, sort of genuine remorse. He said to me it

was done on the spur of the moment and he was sorry he did it and had

apologised, so one way or another, we have now left it to Roy Hodgeson

to decide whether he plays. But no time for domestics in the game's

new home. Today was about England's football family and the foundation

for a new sporting dynasty. Football fans, of course, are

notoriously impatient, but this is all about the long-term development

of the English game, and after 46 years now without a major trophy

for England, it's pretty clear that St George's Park won't provide a

quick fix. Sophie? Dan, thank you very much.

A secret agent who infiltrated the IRA on behalf of British Security

Services says he's been abandoned by those he served loyally and has

been left to live destitute with severe mental health problems.

Raymond Gilmour, who's lived under a false identity in the south-east

of England for almost 30 years, passed on sensitive information

about IRA military operations in Raymond Gilmour infiltrated the IRA

at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. A super-grass

witness, he later earnt himself an IRA death sentence. I brought the

Provisional IRA to their knees in Derry. I have saved countless

amount of lives. But living under false identity for almost 30 years,

he says he has been failed by the intelligence services. I am living

on a knife edge because of my mental health. I have no financial

stability, which I was promised. I have nothing. With the assistance

of his MP, he is now taking his case to the investigatory tribunals

panel, which examines complaints against the intelligence services.

Is this just about money? Not at all. It's about the betrayal of the

intelligence services, the Security Services towards me.

contractual agreements between an agent, that's who we're talk about,

the Government, and the dirtiest war ever besides Kosovo should be

protected. For some reason, Raymond Gilmour is still remembered as a

traitor, guilty of betrayal. There will be no love lost for him. There

will be no sympathy for him. It doesn't come unexpected that when

the MI5 are finished with people, they discard them. It's suggested

Raymond Gilmour's case could have serious repercussions for the UK's

intelligence services, in particular, how they care for

intelligence agents - not just those in Northern Ireland, but

those now being employed to help in the fight against Islamic terrorism.

The establishment will always need agents, good agents, to infiltrate

organisations. No matter where you are in the world, they'll always be

needed, but the point is you've got to honour your debts to them and

look after them as best - way you can. The Home Office say they do

not comment on intelligence matters. Raymond Gilmour accepts speaking

out could endanger his life, but he says he's been left with little

choice. And viewers in the south-east of

England can see more on this tonight at 6.30pm on BBC One, and

it'll be available everywhere after that on the BBC iPlayer. An

Austrian sky diver is hoping to become the first human to break the

sound barrier without the help of a vehicle by jumping to earth from a

height of 23 miles. Felix Baumgartner will leap from a helium

balloon above the desert in New Mexico and fall so fast he's likely

to reach supersonic speeds within a minute. Our science correspondent

Pallab Ghosh is in New Mexico. He'll in fact be breaking four

records. It will be a record for the highest balloon flight, the

highest skydive, the longest skydive, and as you say, he'll

become the first man to break the sound barrier as he falls. Now, the

balloon will take him 120,000 feet into the stratosphere. That's

20,000 feet higher than the current record and 23,000 feet higher than

he himself has been before in his last test flight in July.

Felix in training for his world- record jump. He'll be taken 23

miles up by balloon. He's so high up that if his space suit leaks,

his blood will boil. When he jumps, he'll fall so fast,

he'll break the sound barrier. No- one knows what affect that'll have

on his body, but after his last test jump, he was upbeat. We have

practised this for so many years, and now we're almost there, so this

is my biggest dream, and we're one step closer, and I am almost there.

I feel good at the moment. Felix came to fame as a young base jumper

hurling himself off giant buildings and notoriously off the giant Jesus

monument in Rio. This time he'll need more than just his nerve. He's

being helped by a team of scientists and engineers. His suit

has been adapted from a conventional pressurised suit to

allow him greater movement so that he can glide during free-fall. The

capsule has been specially built to protect him from the freezing

conditions of high altitude. The launch will be at a small airfield

in Roswell, New Mexico. The balloon is 55 stories high and thinner than

a lastic bag. Felix will get in the capsule, and once the wind drops,

the crane releases it and away he'll go. The record was set 52

years ago by Come nor Joe Kittinger. Two people have died trying to

break his record. The colonel is now helping Felix, giving him

support and advice - and it seems living every moment of the mission.

Felix's mother and other family members and friends have come to

wish Felix luck and watch with pride as he falls further and

faster than anyone has ever fallen before.

So we'll know in the next couple of hours whether we're go for launch.

The balloon - if we are, the balloon will be inflated in the

area just behind me. You can see the sun rising, and then if we are

go for launch, it will take two hours to get Felix up to the

stratosphere, five-and-a-half minutes down, but as to whether we

launch, it all depends on the weather.

Thank you very much. Of course, if it does happen, you can watch it

all on the BBC News Channel. Finally, you may have been lucky

enough to witness the spectacular skies above parts of Northern

Britain last night. They were lit up by the Northern Lights which

occurred after a huge explosion on the sun last Thursday flung a wave

of solar particles towards Earth. Here are just a few of the images

And this series of images was taken by the photographer Zoe Barrie in

Fife at about 2.30am this morning. She says she never thought she'd

see anything like it and was in tears as she took the photos from

Lovely clear skies aided all of those processes. Hopefully, the

wind will play ball with Felix as well. The weather certainly playing

ball through a good part of the British Isles this afternoon -

sunny spells, light winds does it for most of us. There are

exceptions to these hard and fast rules. They come in the shape of a

front in Northern Scotland and in southern counties of England and

Wales where the cloud is sitting low in the atmosphere. Fog

conditions in the Channel Islands into the south-west of England.

Temperatures to 15 Celsius. For sunshine, you'll have to move

towards Kent - anywhere north of London into clear sparkling

conditions, in fact. Temperatures not worthy of a postcard home, I am

afraid, just about getting into double figures as we speak. One or

two location struggling for that even. Further north in Scotland,

you'll notice from the satellite we had the cloud. There is the rain

associated with that. Further south of the great glen into Northern

Ireland, dry, fine and sunny will do it. For most of us through the

rest of the afternoon, a similar prospect in the north of Wales.

Come too far south in Wales, we slip into the frontal territory

where the cloud is thick, sitting low in the atmosphere, especially

on the hills of South Wales. In the evening to the small wee hours of

Wednesday, the cloud is still there. The rain petering away somewhat. It

will remain dank and drizzly. Mild in the south-west. But what a

difference further north, yet again. Towns and cities - 12-3-4 Celsius.

Put a minus the you're in the countryside. We could see minus 4

Celsius or 5 Celsius. We do get fog and the frost too into a glorious

start of northern and eastern parts of Britain. Generally speaking on

Wednesday, I think they'll find more cloud across Northern Ireland,

a good part of central and Western England coming back into Wales.

It's not a write-off by any means, but just be aware there will be a

wee bit more cloud. The best conditions to the east. The top

temperatures on the day, 14-15 Celsius. Having had this area of

unsettled area of low pressure, that is slipping into Europe. What

a disappointment. It allows a lot of wind to come in, rain as well.

The heaviest in Eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland. We all get it

during the course of Thursday. It's still there Friday. The Met Office

still warning about this situation with regard to the north-east of

Scotland. There will be a lot of rain. Sunny spells and showers just