Browse content similar to 04/12/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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The Chancellor will set out a fresh spending squeeze in tomorrow's | :00:06. | :00:08. | |
Autumn Statement, to fund new schools, science and transport | :00:08. | :00:17. | |
schemes. Most Government departments will be asked to save | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
an extra 1% next year and a further 2% the following year. | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
Newspaper editors attend a summit in Downing Street to discuss press | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
regulation - David Cameron tells them the clock is ticking and they | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
must act soon. The Duke of Cambridge visits his | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
wife in hospital, where she's being treated for acute nausea in the | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
early stages of her pregnancy. NATO foreign ministers look set to | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
approve Turkey's request for the deployment of patriot missiles on | :00:41. | :00:50. | |
its border with Syria. Calls for more compassion from | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
nurses, the Chief Nursing Officer for England wants a response to to | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
to worries about neglect at some hospitals. On BBC London: We look | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
at plans to improve the capital's public transport network over the | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
next decade. And the family of a missing 14-year-old girl from south | :01:06. | :01:16. | |
:01:16. | :01:22. | ||
London plea for help to find their daughter. | :01:22. | :01:28. | |
Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC news at 1.00pm. Some Whitehall | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
departments are to be asked to make billions of pounds of further cuts, | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
with the savings diverted to capital projects in transport, | :01:34. | :01:41. | |
education and science. Government sources say part of the money will | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
go towards building 100 new free schools and academies. More details | :01:45. | :01:47. | |
will be announced in the Chancellor's Autumn statement | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
tomorrow. With me is our chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym. | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
Take us through what we have learned today. Well, essentially we | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
are getting a chunk of the Autumn Statement a day early, today, | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
that's quite unusual in its own right. The details are put out this | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
morning by Number 10 Downing Street and the Treasury. What do they | :02:06. | :02:11. | |
involve? First of all, �5 billion of extra capital project spending, | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
that's investment, over three years. Where is the money going to go? | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
It's going to be focused, we are told, on three key areas, that's | :02:19. | :02:24. | |
transport, science and schools. �1 billion will go to schools in | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
England. That's not new money, it's got to be paid for somehow. That | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
will be by spending cuts elsewhere. What the Treasury is saying is | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
they're asking departments to cut back 1% on their current day-to-day | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
spending next year and the following year 2%. Health and | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
education will be protected from that, but those cuts will be | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
applied in other departments like transport, for example, local | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
Government and defence. Cuts in administration, we are told, not | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
frontline services. But another big ask for Whitehall. Indeed. Why does | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
he feel the need to do it? Chancellor has been stung by | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
criticisms that in his austerity programme he concentrated too much | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
on investment, capital spending, shovel-ready projects and so on out | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
there in the real economy and he is maybe trying to readdress that and | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
say, let's put more into investment to help the economy get going and | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
cut more on day-to-day spending elsewhere. The problem is that may | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
not work straightaway and �5 billion over three years doesn't | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
amount to a massive amount. Thank you. Let's get more from our | :03:26. | :03:32. | |
political correspondent Norman Smith outside Number 11 Downing | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
Street. How is all of this likely to be perceived politically? Well, | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
the truth is this was always going to be an extraordinarily difficult | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
Autumn Statement with the expectation tomorrow the Chancellor | :03:47. | :03:54. | |
may have to may -- and he may actually have to concede that he is | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
not going to be able to meet crucial debt target of having | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
borrowing coming down by the end of this parliament. And in a way, | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
today's announcement is an attempt it seems to try and change the | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
backdrop, the narrative behind this Autumn Statement from an Autumn | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
Statement exclusively about austerity, to one about growth. The | :04:13. | :04:18. | |
argument being that by releasing this additional �5 billion in | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
capital spending, that is evidence of the Government trying to kick- | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
start the economy and what the Treasury are saying is that capital | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
spending now on average is higher every year than it was under the | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
last three governments when the economy was actually doing an awful | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
lot better. But it seems today's announcement also tells us a truth | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
about just how limited the room for manoeuvre the Chancellor has, | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
because to find this extra �5 billion he cannot go to the markets | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
and borrow money. He cannot raise it through taxes. The only way he | :04:49. | :04:55. | |
can find it is by pairing back even further in in some Government | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
departments. I think that just underlines how politically | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
difficult tomorrow's Autumn Statement is set to be. Indeed, | :05:00. | :05:08. | |
thank you. David Cameron has told newspaper | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
editors the clock is ticking and that they need to set up an | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
independent regulator urgently. A new watchdog was one of the main | :05:14. | :05:16. | |
recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry into press standards. After | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
meeting the editors at Number 10, the Prime Minister said he'd | :05:19. | :05:21. | |
stressed the need for a speedy response. Our political | :05:21. | :05:31. | |
:05:31. | :05:34. | ||
correspondent Robin Brant reports. One by one they arrived, from the | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
Sun, the Financial Times, a dozen or so of the people who decide what | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
goes in the nation's newspapers were summoned to Downing Street. | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
have to try and fix it, obviously. And there's urgency to do so. | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
they were face-to-face the Prime Minister's message was short and | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
sweet. I have told them they have to produce a tough, independent | :05:54. | :05:57. | |
regulatory system, rapidly and they've got to do it in a way | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
that's absolutely meets the requirement of Lord Justice | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
Leveson's report, that means million-pound fines, proper | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
investigation of complaints, a prominent apology, a tough, | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
independent regulatory system and they know, because I told them, the | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
clock is ticking for this to be sorted out. The pressure is on the | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
papers to make the leap, to beef up their standards. Otherwise, the | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
Culture Secretary has made it clear she would act and that... Would | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
include legislation. The judge made dozens of recommendations to clean | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
up the newspaper industry. Lord Justice Leveson called for a | :06:32. | :06:35. | |
new regulatory body, chaired by someone with no press or political | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
background. It could demand apologies be | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
printed in prominent places. And it could enforce fines for | :06:43. | :06:47. | |
serious wrongdoing. And the crucial element, all of this would be | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
backed up by new legislation. As the newspaper editors and the Prime | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
Minister met, campaigners gathered at the gates. In the name of Milly | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
Dowler's family and many more victims of hacking, they say the | :06:58. | :07:04. | |
time for last chances has London past. They want to see real | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
legislation which can ensure that we have independent self-regulation | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
guaranteed in law. So that other people don't find they are the | :07:13. | :07:16. | |
victims of abuse by the press in the way that the people I have met | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
have suffered. Leaving the meeting, the editors | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
know their role as guardians of their own free press is up for | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
grabs. Was it friendly? Friendly, but firm. Labour is lined up | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
against them, the coalition is split on what to do next. A new law | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
forced upon them by the politicians is still the main sticking point. | :07:38. | :07:43. | |
Let's pick up with Robin now. What indeed does happen next? Well, we | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
know the editor of The Guardian who you saw in that report said the | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
editors are going to meet to hatch their own plan and the Culture | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
Secretary wants to keep things moving very quickly. She wants to | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
capitalise on the momentum and wants another meeting with the | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
editors in two days' time. What they seem to all be aiming for is | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
some kind of agreement by Christmas so that is weeks away. The | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
calculation for the Prime Minister, David Cameron, is that did those | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
editors in that meeting across the table from him really get the | :08:13. | :08:18. | |
message when he said I told them they need a tough new regulatory | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
system? Because it has to be acceptable to the editors, their | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
readers, politicians here at parliament. Ultimately, it could | :08:26. | :08:31. | |
come down to parliament whether they accept or reject the new | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
framework. The Prime Minister knows that his coalition partners, the | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
Liberal Democrats, are up against him here. Ed Miliband and most of | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
the Labour Party are up against him. It's ultimately a numbers game | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
often and were there to and vote on a new law, something he doesn't | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
want at the moment, David Cameron is likely to lose that. | :08:49. | :08:55. | |
Thank you. Later this afternoon MSPs will be | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
debating the findings of the Leveson Inquiry. Alex Salmond has | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
indicated he's in favour of Scotland exercising its right to | :09:00. | :09:02. | |
legislate on press regulation independently of Westminster. Our | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
correspondent Lorna Gordon is at Holyrood. The First Minister | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
looking to get some consensus in Scotland on the issue? Yes, that's | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
what he would like, what any politician would like really. | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
Whether he gets consensus another matter entirely. What is clear, | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
though, is that sitting back and doing nothing at this point is not | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
an option. The reason for that is that press regulation is devolved | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
to Scotland. So MSPs here in the Scottish parliament will have to | :09:32. | :09:36. | |
have a view on this issue. They will get to debate this matter this | :09:36. | :09:42. | |
afternoon in the debating chamber up the steps behind me. Alex | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
Salmond has said a body with a statutory underpinning is a very | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
attractive option. He believes it's possible to have that and still | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
have a free and vigorous press. I think what he is thinking of is | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
along the lines of an Irish model where you have a Scottish press | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
council and an ombudsman who would take cases forward on behalf of | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
people who feel they've been wronged by the press. They'll | :10:07. | :10:16. | |
debate that this afternoon. Some of the parties would like to see a | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
cross-border solution. Others have an issue with Alex Salmond leading | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
any discussions because party leaders will meet on Thursday to | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
discuss this, if a voluntary code is agreed that may supersede all of | :10:28. | :10:36. | |
this entirely. Thank you. | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
The Duchess of Cambridge has spent the night in hospital, after | :10:39. | :10:41. | |
yesterday's announcement that she's expecting a baby but is suffering | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
from acute nausea. A short time ago, the Duke of Cambridge arrived at | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
the King Edward VII Hospital in Central London to visit his wife. | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
Our Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell is there. The Duke is | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
still there, Nick? Yes, he is. But otherwise no change or certainly no | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
change that we are aware of. It's now nearly 22 hours since Kate was | :10:59. | :11:03. | |
admitted. She is still at the hospital, still one assumes being | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
unwell, still being treated. This hospital never says a single word | :11:06. | :11:10. | |
about any of its patients, particularly Royal ones, St James | :11:10. | :11:20. | |
:11:20. | :11:21. | ||
Palace hasn't said anything at all this morning about Kate's condition. | :11:21. | :11:24. | |
He went up the steps quickly looking preoccupied and this is the | :11:24. | :11:29. | |
very last thing that he will have wanted to happen for his wife to be | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
in hospital, for this very private moment in their lives to be being | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
played out in this very public fashion. There are literally dozens | :11:37. | :11:40. | |
of broadcasters here outside the hospital, such is their profile, | :11:40. | :11:44. | |
such is the level of interest in them. What they had wanted was to | :11:44. | :11:47. | |
keep this news private. I should imagine they were hoping to tell | :11:48. | :11:50. | |
the Queen and other members of the Royal Family at Christmas at | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
Sandringham and then for the news to be announced in the new year | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
after she had passed this critical 12-week point in the pregnancy. | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
Well, that hasn't - isn't the way it's turned out. She's here at the | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
hospital receiving medical attention and one imagines in the | :12:06. | :12:14. | |
best place for her at the moment. Thank you. The Secretary-General of | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
NATO reiterated President Obama's warning to the Syrian government | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
not to use chemical weapons against rebel forces. Mr Rasmussen said it | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
would provoke an immediate reaction from the international community. | :12:23. | :12:25. | |
This afternoon, NATO foreign ministers are expected to approve a | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
request from Turkey to deploy missiles on its border with Syria | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
as a defensive measure. Our world affairs correspondent Richard | :12:33. | :12:43. | |
Galpin reports. Panic yesterday in the Turkish town | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
which lies on the border with Syria. Syrian airforce jets had just | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
bombed rebel positions a few hundred metres away in Syrian | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
territory. Some of the wounded brought over | :12:55. | :13:03. | |
for treatment in Turkey. So, today in Brussels, NATO leaders gathered | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
to agree on ways to defend Turkey, as fears mount it could be sucked | :13:08. | :13:14. | |
into the Syrian conflict. I would expect NATO allies to make a | :13:14. | :13:21. | |
decision later today. I am confident we will demonstrate our | :13:21. | :13:29. | |
determination to deter against any threats and defend our ally. It's | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
expected the decision will be to deploy this, the patriot missile | :13:33. | :13:39. | |
defence system along Turkey's border with Syria. This system also | :13:39. | :13:46. | |
capable of shooting down aircraft. NATO officials have already been in | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
Turkey, deciding where to place the missiles, visiting around ten | :13:50. | :13:55. | |
different sites. It's thought around six batteries | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
will be sent to guard the border area and could be in place in weeks. | :14:01. | :14:06. | |
To operate them, at least 300 foreign troops will be needed on | :14:06. | :14:09. | |
the ground. They could come from the United States, Holland and | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
Germany. Those involved insist it's purely | :14:15. | :14:20. | |
defensive, it's not about creating a no-fly zone for the rebels inside | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
Syria. The weapons system is basically the | :14:23. | :14:28. | |
only thing it will do over there, it's defend population against | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
ballistic missiles coming from a certain area to the direction of | :14:31. | :14:36. | |
NATO territory. Shells have already been fired from Syria into Turkey | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
recently. But Turkey's biggest fear is a chemical weapons attack which | :14:41. | :14:47. | |
the patriot system should help prevent. | :14:47. | :14:52. | |
Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale is in Brussels. Two issues at | :14:52. | :14:56. | |
stake here. One is the missile for defensive reasons, the other is | :14:56. | :15:03. | |
this talk of potential use of chemical weapons. Yes, first of all, | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
on the patriots, very clear message from the Secretary General of NATO | :15:08. | :15:12. | |
that this is a defensive measure, that this is not about creating a | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
no-fly zone, hz that's as much to give reassurance to Russia which | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
has voiced opposition to the siting of missiles in Turkey itself and | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
the Russian foreign Minister will be here at Brussels at that meeting | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
and no doubt will be a fly in the ointment. That said, because this | :15:29. | :15:33. | |
request comes from Turkey we are expecting approval to be given. It | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
will be sometime before those patriot missiles are actually on | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
the ground to transport them, but also some of the countries involved, | :15:40. | :15:46. | |
namely Germany and the Netherlands, would need approval of their | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
parliaments. On that separate issue of the chemical weapons, a very, | :15:49. | :15:54. | |
very strong message from President Obama, backed up now by the NATO | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
Secretary General, warning of consequences, nobody is spelling | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
out what those consequences would be. Clearly they're thinking of | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
military action but the options of military action are not that | :16:05. | :16:08. | |
attractive, either striking volatile chemical weapons or | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
putting boots on the ground ground so the hope is these strong | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
warnings will force Syria to make sure that they don't use that | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
chemical weaponry they have and indeed the message from Syria at | :16:18. | :16:25. | |
the moment is they no intention if The NHS should put more emphasis on | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
the compassionate care of patients - that's the call from leaders of | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
the nursing profession in response to worries about neglect and abuse | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
at some hospitals. The chief nursing officer for England, Jane | :16:34. | :16:37. | |
Cummings, is starting a campaign to reassure the public and says action | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
must be taken to ensure that the values nurses stand for are not | :16:40. | :16:50. | |
:16:50. | :16:52. | ||
betrayed. Our health correspondent, Compassionate care in the NHS has | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
been in the spotlight in recent weeks. A series of critical reports | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
have highlighted there are still too many places where the quality | :16:59. | :17:06. | |
of care is pork or even unsafe. Maria and her family feel they have | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
seen that first hand. Her father was admitted to hospital with a | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
broken hip. He had been a fit 82- year-old but Maria says a lack of | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
care left him ill and dying. needed a bit of help and they | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
didn't give it to him at all. He was not ready to die. He was fit as | :17:24. | :17:32. | |
a fiddle. He used to walk about, he used to go on holiday, he used to | :17:32. | :17:37. | |
do gardening, visit his sons and daughters. He wasn't ready. They | :17:37. | :17:43. | |
let us all down. Can there are many more cases. Tameside Hospital where | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
he was treated has apologised to the family and says it has taken | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
steps to address the shortcomings in his care, but reports into poor | :17:52. | :17:56. | |
care have prompted a more official response from government. A three- | :17:56. | :18:00. | |
year campaign to develop a culture of compassionate care. It includes | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
concentrating on the values held by staff as well as technical skills, | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
regular reviews of staffing levels and ensuring that every contact | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
with patients counts towards improving health. Some places, | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
nurses are working under huge pressure and in other places there | :18:16. | :18:21. | |
are extra demands. It is about stepping back and looking at what | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
works well in some organisations and spreading that good practice | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
and having a really strong leadership from the people that run | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
those organisations to the nurses on the front line foot of her the | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
new plans will affect nurses, midwives and care staff across | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
England, but the Royal College of Nursing says the key is having the | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
right number of properly trained staff. You need the infantry, you | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
need people on the ground in order to do the job. If you don't, it | :18:48. | :18:53. | |
will undoubtedly fail. You need a world trade, well-motivated | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
workforce. In an era where so many jobs have been cut, this is very | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
worrying. An ageing population with more complicated health problems | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
plus pressure on finances mean nurses and other health workers are | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
under increasing strain, but there's also pressure for good- | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
quality compassionate care to be provided across all parts of the | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
health service. Our top story this lunchtime: | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
Billions of pounds worth of cuts to Government departments will be | :19:20. | :19:22. | |
announced by the Chancellor, George Osborne, in his Autumn Statement | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
tomorrow. Coming up: | :19:26. | :19:28. | |
Desperate measures to save Desperate Dan - Britain's longest | :19:28. | :19:36. | |
running comic enters the digital Later on BBC London: | :19:36. | :19:38. | |
How cash from foreign investors is being ploughed into London's | :19:38. | :19:40. | |
property market. And some respite for residents | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
living under Heathrow's flight path as planes are told to steer clear | :19:43. | :19:53. | |
:19:53. | :19:57. | ||
15 police officers have been hurt in Belfast after violence flared | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
following a vote to stop flying the Union flag over City Hall. Hundreds | :20:01. | :20:03. | |
of loyalists gathered as councillors voted by 29 to 21 to | :20:03. | :20:06. | |
hoist the flag only on special occasions. Our Ireland | :20:06. | :20:16. | |
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correspondent, Mark Simpson, is in Belfast. | :20:17. | :20:24. | |
History has been made. For the first time in 106 years, the Union | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
flag is not flying at Belfast City Hall. The decision was taken inside | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
the building last night. Outside, it right in the heart of Belfast, | :20:32. | :20:38. | |
things turned very, very ugly. He Christmas time in the centre of | :20:38. | :20:47. | |
In one part of the city, people were late night shopping. Here, | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
they were rioting. Not for the first time in Northern Ireland's | :20:51. | :20:56. | |
history, it was a dispute about a flag. The council decided to stop | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
flying the Union flag from Belfast City Hall every day of the year. | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
These loyalists came to protest. At one stage, they came close to the | :21:06. | :21:16. | |
council chamber. But police managed to hold them back. But the | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
demonstration didn't change anything. The council decided that | :21:19. | :21:24. | |
the Union flag should only fly 15 days a year. A we will not be | :21:24. | :21:29. | |
deterred by a bunch of thugs threatening us. This is about | :21:29. | :21:33. | |
equality, making it a City Hall for everyone. Unionist councillors | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
condemned the violence, but they refused to support the removal of | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
the flag. Her absolutely not. We live in the United Kingdom, for | :21:42. | :21:48. | |
flag of the kingdom is the Union flag. 18 people were hurt during | :21:48. | :21:54. | |
the violence, including 15 police officers. We will be very robust in | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
identifying those that were responsible for breaking their way | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
into the grounds of City Hall and attacking police officers. It is | :22:00. | :22:06. | |
unacceptable. Outside Belfast City Hall, the flag is now no longer | :22:06. | :22:11. | |
flying. But peace has been restored, the rioting has stopped and | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
shopping has resumed. You have to say, looking around the | :22:16. | :22:22. | |
centre of Belfast today, riot, or what riot? Everything has returned | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
to normal. People Christmas shopping, business as usual. | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
Felicity required -- recovers very, very quickly. Sadly, it has had | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
plenty of practice over the years. A Dutch linesman has died after he | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
was chased and beaten by teenage footballers taking part in a youth | :22:40. | :22:42. | |
match. Richard Nieuwenhuizen was officiating at the game in which | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
his own son was playing. After he was attacked, he collapsed and was | :22:46. | :22:55. | |
taken to hospital where he died Killed while helping at his own | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
son's football match. 41-year-old Richard Nieuwenhuizen was a | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
volunteer linesman for Buitenboys club in the Dutch town of Almere, | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
but as a youth game on Sunday he was attacked by several members of | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
the opposing team, Nieuw Sloten. It was claimed he was punched and | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
kicked. Later that evening he collapsed and he died the following | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
day. While his friends in his club are still struggling to come to | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
terms with what happened, police have now charged three of the Nieuw | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
Sloten players with manslaughter. Throughout the Netherlands, | :23:29. | :23:35. | |
football is in mourning. TRANSLATION: This is not just a | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
tragedy for Almere and our club, but the Dutch football in general. | :23:39. | :23:43. | |
This can't happen on a football field. FIFA President Sepp Blatter | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
said he was deeply shocked by the events, the same ills that inflict | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
-- afflict society, he said, are present in football. Nieuw Sloten | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
have now withdrawn from the league, but investigations continue into | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
how a teenage football game could end in such violence and tragedy. | :24:03. | :24:06. | |
The high cost of fuel, food and housing has pushed household | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
spending to its highest recorded level. Despite pressure on their | :24:10. | :24:13. | |
budgets, families spent an average of �484 a week last year, �10 more | :24:13. | :24:19. | |
than in 2010. Highest spending was in London, the lowest in the north- | :24:19. | :24:21. | |
east of England. Our personal finance correspondent, Simon | :24:21. | :24:28. | |
Gompertz, is with me. Perhaps no surprise that spending | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
is highest in London given a higher living costs, but overall what is | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
behind the higher spending? This snapshot from 2011 shows how | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
families are struggling with higher prices for housing and fuel. They | :24:42. | :24:48. | |
are having to spend extra money. Let's take driving first. That is | :24:48. | :24:57. | |
the weekly spend, up 9%. Around �36. Because of the rising price of | :24:57. | :25:05. | |
petrol. But housing and heating the home, as well, that is up 5%. Fuel | :25:05. | :25:10. | |
costs and rent as well. In contrast, what they call household goods | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
spending, that is down by a whopping 15%. Furniture down a lot, | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
but also clothing, footwear. He people are shifting their spending | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
from those things they can economise on to the essentials. It | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
is not all bad news because we are having fun. We are managing to go | :25:29. | :25:34. | |
to the movies, it costs more nowadays, to football matches and | :25:34. | :25:37. | |
to the gym. We are spending a bit more on that so we are managing to | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
have a bit of fun as well. wondering whether money is coming | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
from. People's earnings are generally not going up so how are | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
people managing? You are lucky if you had a pay rise. This higher | :25:50. | :25:52. | |
spending meets it seemed like people have more money, but | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
generally speaking they haven't. They might be borrowing money, that | :25:57. | :26:02. | |
is a worry, or dipping into savings. We have this challenge. We have a | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
pot to spend, but we face higher prices. This is a reflection of | :26:06. | :26:09. | |
that and it shows how people are up against it. | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
Desperate Dan appears in print for the final time today as Britain's | :26:12. | :26:15. | |
longest running comic, The Dandy, disappears from the shelves to | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
become a digital only publication. By making it available as a | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
smartphone and tablet application, the publishers hope to attract a | :26:21. | :26:23. | |
new generation of readers to the comic, which has suffered dwindling | :26:23. | :26:33. | |
:26:33. | :26:35. | ||
sales. Our correspondent James Cook They were queuing for the Dandy in | :26:35. | :26:41. | |
Glasgow today, but too late to save the comic as we know it. This is | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
the 3610th edition had of a much- loved institution and its final | :26:45. | :26:51. | |
issue in print. I grew up with it as a kid. I got it every week. My | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
mother bought it. This is the last one, it is iconic. Quite a sad | :26:55. | :27:01. | |
moment. Yes. It is quite sad because I read the Dandy when I was | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
little. Then I brought the boys up on it as well. I will have to buy | :27:06. | :27:14. | |
another one to send my sister in America. She will be quite sad and. | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
It is a wistful moment also for the staff at the Dandy's publisher, DC | :27:18. | :27:23. | |
Thomson. Skills like these are becoming history as the presses run | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
for the last time. But it is not the end. The Dandy is going digital. | :27:28. | :27:32. | |
I think it will be more fun and there will be a lot more of the | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
children can do. It is more interactive. You can control the | :27:36. | :27:39. | |
pace through which they read the stories. I think they will be | :27:39. | :27:45. | |
delighted. The strips will be animated. This is what the 21st | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
century Dandy will look like, on tablet and on the where, the | :27:49. | :27:51. | |
designers are Folkington -- focusing on interactive games and | :27:51. | :27:56. | |
videos. We recognise that the decline in print sales of comics | :27:56. | :28:00. | |
and magazines across the board and to make the content relevant to | :28:00. | :28:04. | |
children, we have to have it digitised. We are competing with | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
the likes of Angry Birds and Club Penguin. When they Dandy first | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
appeared in 1937, Britain were still trying to appease Adolf | :28:12. | :28:17. | |
Hitler. By the 1950s it was selling 2 million copies a week. That has | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
plummeted to just 8,000 of these pupils in Stevenage think they know | :28:20. | :28:25. | |
why. I haven't even heard of it. Her Bishi in is not good, it is | :28:25. | :28:30. | |
cheesy. We've got more electrical things to play like the Xbox. | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
clear at that the Dandy and its characters still inspired great | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
loyalty and affection, but the age of the printed comic is going by | :28:37. | :28:46. | |
the book, forcing the characters like desperate Dan to adapt or die. | :28:46. | :28:48. | |
like desperate Dan to adapt or die. Poor Desperate Dan! Let's get the | :28:48. | :28:55. | |
weather. Memories, memories. This is the way | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
things are shaping up this afternoon. Cold across the British | :28:58. | :29:03. | |
Isles, some sharp showers as well. The satellite picture shows them | :29:03. | :29:09. | |
nicely, especially across the south-west. Plenty in Wales. And | :29:09. | :29:13. | |
they will feature over parts of Northern Ireland as well. Another | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
feature in the north-eastern corner of Scotland. To the north, some | :29:17. | :29:21. | |
very cold air and it is not going to stay there. Some snow showers | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
down to about two to 300 metres, plenty coming in through Liverpool | :29:26. | :29:29. | |
Bay and into the north of Wales through the Greater Manchester area | :29:29. | :29:34. | |
and down into the North Midlands. The best of the sunshine in the | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
south Midlands and to the eastern side of the Pennines and then | :29:37. | :29:42. | |
coming down into central and southern England. We are not quite | :29:42. | :29:46. | |
done with the showers because there might be a bit of law in | :29:46. | :29:50. | |
proceedings with those showers in the afternoon, but that feature I | :29:50. | :29:54. | |
was talking about to the west of Ireland will perk up those showers | :29:54. | :29:58. | |
in the south-east -- south-west. The more northerly feature across | :29:58. | :30:02. | |
north-east Scotland comes down into the Midlands. Maybe some sleet as | :30:02. | :30:07. | |
it comes out. It keeps temperatures up underneath a cloud, but it | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
introduces colder air. A widespread frost and they could be a problem | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
with ice first thing in the northern half of the British Isles. | :30:16. | :30:19. | |
That weather front continues its journey across the British Isles. | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
On Wednesday, a really crisp, sunny affair across many parts. You will | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
notice one or two showers to the west of Wales. Further showers on | :30:28. | :30:37. | |
the eastern coasts and they will be snowy. Top temperatures of two to | :30:37. | :30:41. | |
three degrees only in the northern half of the British Isles. Through | :30:41. | :30:46. | |
the course of the night, before we bring in that cloud, wind and rain, | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
the temperatures will really see the way across the British Isles. | :30:49. | :30:53. | |
This is the wee small hours of Thursday morning. Those are the 10 | :30:53. | :30:58. | |
judges you can expect in towns and cities, but if I take you into the | :30:58. | :31:03. | |
countryside, it will be a bitterly cold night. Once we've got that | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
sort of temperature profile across the British Isles, one site | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
introduced or cloud and wind and rain from the north-west, there | :31:11. | :31:15. | |
will be some snow for a time before will be some snow for a time before | :31:15. | :31:18. | |
it turns back into rain. Loads going on, more online. | :31:18. | :31:21. | |
Now a reminder of our top story. Billions of pounds worth of cuts to | :31:21. | :31:24. | |
Government departments will be announced by the Chancellor, George | :31:24. | :31:26. |