21/12/2012 BBC News at One

Floods caused problems on rail and eight roads as the great Christmas

getaway begins. Millions are on the move but some major rail services

have been brought to a halt after yesterday's heavy rain. I spoke to

the lady at the desk and she said it has been cancelled, which is

later, and get a connection, which is another hour. It is two hours''

delay on a long trip. Roads turned to rivers, motorists are facing

major problems after the heavy rain with warnings that there is more to

come. Protecting our savings, calls for tougher banking reforms amid

warnings the government's plans don't go far enough. A Christmas

surprise for British troops as the Prime Minister arrives to tell them

even more welcome home next year. Women now face higher costs for car

and life insurance after EU rules banned insurers from taking gender

into account. And we are still here, the world did not end this morning

has some have predicted, but that did not stop thousands around the

world from preparing for it. Later on BBC London, a warning to

the Met that riot police I using excessive force, and help traders

at Stratford shopping-centre are celebrating despite fears about the

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. It plugs are

causing problems for thousands of people on the move today, as the

Christmas getaway begins in earnest. There is disruption on train

services in many parts of the UK. In London, Paddington has been

badly affected with very few services in or out of the station,

and there is no service on the wrecked Heathrow Express. Gatwick

has affected. The line between epurse and Gleneagles has been

blocked by a Lancelot. There are problems for motorists with many

roads flooded. Let's get the latest from Richard Lister, who is at

Paddington Station. A lot of people will be planning to travel from

there this afternoon, put on trains. It could be difficult? Yes, a very

bad start to the Christmas holidays for a lot of people. The station

authorities here say that things are expected to get a lot busier

this afternoon and they are still dealing with a lot of cancellations

and a lot of disrupted services. There are at present no trains

running to Heathrow from Paddington and there are delays and

cancellations to many other routes. Some people facing delays leaving

Paddington Station of perhaps an hour or so, other people facing

delays as they come in because of the reduced service. A fire in west

London, which took out an equipment shed, that had to be more or less

rebuilt as a matter of urgency. But has taken out two of the four lines

that Paddington usually relies on. I am told that situation will not

be changed until 4pm at the earliest and may last for the rest

of the day. You can imagine the knock-on effect from that. There

are millions of people who are leaving Britain over the Christmas

holidays, trying to get to the airports and there are problems

thereto!? Yes, 123,000 people are expected to fly out of Heathrow

today, 104,000 people coming into land at Heathrow. Many of those

many thousands of people would expect to take the train to or from

London, so they will have to watch their travel plans carefully. The

situation is true in Gatwick as well. 700,000 people expected to

fly out of Gatwick between now and January 2nd and there have been

disruptions on a line because of a fire in Brighton. The advice is to

anybody planning to travel from Heathrow or Gatwick and who were

hoping to take the train, is to get online first and make sure you

still can. The good news for many people who already have train

tickets is that if there is a train that can take them to their

destination, the ticket restrictions have for the most part

been waived. Richard Lister, thank you. Let's get the picture across

the whole of the UK with Robert Hall.

Empty tracks, signals on red, West Wood Joan it -- journeys disrupted.

Managers at Paddington had been prepared for difficulties after a

line side fire damaged signalling equipment. Many commuters had an

early start their Christmas break as services were cancelled or

delayed. The disruption is forecast to continue until late this

afternoon and its effect is spreading. Paddington's rail links

to Heathrow were among those suspended, bringing extra stress of

holidaymakers with flight deadlines to meet at the airport's busiest

day of the year. A second fire has badly affected rail services from

Brighton. Engineers are still working to repair the damage but

the blaze at Preston Park has disrupted travel along the south

coast and northwards to Gatwick Airport. Network Rail are warning

that journeys may take at least 90 minutes longer than normal. The

clouds have listed in some flood hit areas, but it is a brief

respite. River levels and ground water remain high and the

approaching weather systems will once again affect road travel.

is going to be very busy. Christmas is a very peak -- busy time. The

weather is not helping. There are severe flood warnings across the UK.

Traditional areas like the M1, the and six, will be very busy and we

would ask people to plan journeys and take advice before setting off

to avoid situations. Journeys will take longer than usual. In Scotland,

preparations for what is to come. Flood hit regions across the UK

have been strengthening their defences ahead of the rain and

strong winds which are likely to affect communities both inland and

allow our coastline. It might not be a white Christmas, but for many

others it will certainly be a wet one.

We will have a full weather forecast at the end of the

programme. The government is being warned that its plans to protect

day-to-day retail banking from the riskier investment side of the

industry do not go far enough. A Parliamentary Commission on Banking

Standards say ministers need to include tougher sanctions to make

sure the idea of ring-fencing high street deposits works in the long

term. Our chief economics correspondent Duke -- Hugh Pym

reports. How to avoid a repeat of this, a

banking crisis resulting in taxpayer bail-out. Just over four

years on, that is what this debate is all about. A parliamentary

commission including the future Archbishop of Canterbury has

examined at government plans for reform of banking and said they

fall short of what is required. The commission welcomes the idea of

ring-fencing inside banks, that is pulling high street operations

apart from riskier investment banking with a wall between them.

But it says the current plan is not secure enough. We welcome the ring

fence, but it did -- but if it has a chance to work it has to be

strengthened a good deal. That is what the regulators told us in

evidence over the last few weeks. We are suggesting that if the banks

poke around on this ring-fenced too much and try to get through it,

find ways around it, then they run the risk of full separation. That

threat of separation, making big banks split themselves up if

regulators think the new rules are not working, is a key

recommendation of the commission. This is a major challenge to the

Treasury. It will have to come up with a detailed response to the

proposals as it starts to steer legislation through Parliament next

year. That will implement crucial reforms, which will shape the

future of British banking for decades to come. I welcome the

report of the Commission today and I particularly welcome the fact

they agree with us that ring- fencing is the white -- the right

model for reforming the banking system. They have made some new

suggestions about how we could strengthen the legislation. We will

be looking at that very carefully. Getting the detail right on

reforming the major banks will be a key priority for the government.

Labour says today's report is a wake-up call for ministers. They

say we might have to keep open the option, in fact they say we should

legislate now in case we need to break up the banks and put that

irresponsibility behind us. It is a radical, challenging report, a

difficult report for the government, but a good report. The banking

system nearly collapsed in 2008. Customers' money was at risk. Only

government rescue deals saved the day. Everyone says it must never

happen again. That is why the plans currently being debated are so

important. The prime minister has paid a

surprise visit to British troops in Afghanistan and told them even more

may be able to come home next year rather than in 2014. It comes just

days after he announced that 4,000 troops will be withdrawn early. He

said they had paid a high price in Afghanistan, but they have been

rewarded with success. James Landale, who has been travelling

with the Prime Minister, sent this report.

A Christmas breakfast with the troops and for them an early

present from the Prime Minister. It was possible, he said, that more of

them could come home even faster than he had planned. Of course we

have a staged plan for drawing down our troops, which is based on the

stage plan for building up the Afghan army and the Afghan police

force. Frankly the Afghan army is doing better than we expected.

There is more than we expected, that is why we are able to bring

home so many troops. Last week, he told MPs that by the end of next

year there would be only 5,000 troops left in Afghanistan, some

4,000 fewer than half. But after meeting commanders on the ground

today and yesterday, the Prime Minister said that withdrawal could

move a little faster if conditions continued to improve. He said that

he had been reassured and encouraged by what he had seen and

been told about the growing competence of Afghan forces and

plans to hand them more control. On his way home the prime minister

stopped off in Muskett, to sign a deal that will see the government

of all man buying 12 typhoon jet fighters, a deal that the Prime

Minister said would secures thousands of jobs at BAE Systems

factories in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

A High Court judge is due to decide today on whether a seven-year-old

boy should have radiotherapy for brain cancer against the wishes of

his mother. Sally Roberts has been fighting a legal battle to stop her

son, Neon, having the standard treatment for his type of brain

cancer, which she fears could cause long-term damage. Medical experts

say the treatment of radiotherapy and chemotherapy should go ahead as

it offers a survival rate of more than 80%. Fergus Walsh is at the

High Court. A desperately difficult case, this. The decision today?

a decision shortly after 2:15pm today, the judge said he will rule

them and make a definitive ruling. We have had a summary, closing

remarks today, from all sides on one side the NHS Trust saying there

is an 86% chance of survival for Neon if he has this standard

treatment, this radiotherapy. The father has said that he supports

that and says it is the only option for Neon. The council appointed,

the lawyer specifically appointed to represent Neon in court, to

represent his best interests, has said there is no alternative and

without that treatment he could die within two to three months. Sally

Roberts has the jitters her Cynthia and hard for a belief -- has said

it is a sincere and heartfelt belief that radiotherapy has not

done his best interests because of possibly damaging his idea and

fertility. The court heard she has presented not a single alternative.

She simply asks for more time. It is very rare for me to ever predict

what a judgment will be, but it is inevitable but the judge this

afternoon will order that the radiotherapy goes ahead. He has no

other option. That treatment is likely to begin in early January.

The government had to borrow �17.5 billion last month, according to

the latest official figures. Public sector net borrowing was 17.5

billion in November, up from the same time last year. The Office for

National Statistics says Britain's total debt has written to us --

risen to 68% of national output, 4% higher than a year ago. Adam

Parsons is here. Some bad news for the Chancellor? Yes, you remember

in his Autumn Statement the Chancellor said that borrowing

would fall over the course of this year. It raised few eyebrows at the

time and those eyebrows are going sky would because he has had to

borrow more money in November to keep the economy ticking over. As

you said, 17.5 billion. Lots of people predicted 16 billion. They

thought it might fall a bit. It has gone up. It has turned out that the

economy did not grow by quite as much as we thought in the third

quarter of this year. It went up by 0.9%. People thought it was 1%. The

economy is not growing as much as it -- as much as we thought it was,

borrowing is going up. If he is going to meet the target of

reducing borrowing, he will have to pull rabbits out of his hat.

there any festive cheer? services sector, which is the

biggest chunk of our economy, 75%, did expand by 0.1%, that is one

10th of 1%. At times like this, any growth is seen as good. It offers a

glimmer of hope that we might not be going back into reception --

recession but I would not put your house on it.

The High Court has rejected an attempt by Pakistani man to force

the government to reveal whether it has helping US drone strikes

against Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan. Knorr Khan, whose father

was killed by a drone, argued that the UK could be committing a war

crime by providing the CIA with intelligence that helps it target

attacks. June Kelly reports. They are the unmanned aircraft

which have been such a potent weapon for the Americans as they

target Al-Qaeda strongholds in different parts of the world. Jones

are operated by computer in the United States. -- drones. But in

unleashing their missiles, there blamed for taking the lives of

scores of innocent civilians. In March last year ago and attacking

the Pakistani region of North Waziristan killed some 40 people.

Amongst them was a tribal elder, attended an open-air meeting. His

son, Noor Khan, decided to bring a legal case in the UK. He was trying

to establish whether British intelligence officials were passing

information to the US, helping them to pinpoint targets for drone

attacks. TRANSLATION: These stones are constantly flying overhead. We

can't offer our prayers, recite the Koran, and we can't even have

meetings for fear of don't attacks. So today, the focus which --

switched 4,000 miles away to the High Court in London. Judges

blocked the case, saying such issues were a matter for Parliament.

Lawyers for the Foreign Secretary had argued that with this case the

court was being asked to move into an area of extreme sensitivity

involving the intelligence and security agencies of both the

United States and the UK. They said the Foreign Secretary would neither

confirm nor deny any alleged British involvement in drone

strikes in Pakistan. And this was his response in a recent BBC

interview. On questions of intelligence co-operation or share

intelligence, I don't comment on that. But this secret approaches

condemned by some, including one Tory backbencher. These basic

questions, which can easily be answered, or not being answered by

the government. That is why people are drawing their own inferences,

to save the government cannot answer these basic questions than

it is sharing intelligence with the United States. And Knorr Khan is

not giving up his fight. His lawyers will be seeking to appeal

Our main headline - floods cause problems on the roads and on the

railways, as the Christmas getaway begins. Coming up - the end of an

era for television, with the final broadcast of children's programmes

on BBC One this afternoon. Later on BBC London, after the problems at

Paddington, we will have the latest travel. And after their tough

Champions League draw, Arsenal chase the Windows will move them

back into the top four. -- the win that will move them back. People

across America will be observing a minute's silence later today,

exactly one week after a gunman killed 20 children and six members

of staff at a primary school in Connecticut. Adam Lanza carried out

the attack in Newtown after killing his mother. He later shot himself

dead. Today, the largest gun rights group in the United States, the

National Rifle Association, will be holding a news conference in

Washington, at which it is expected to condemn the killings. This

report from Steve Kingstone. One week ago, this quaint, quiet corner

of New England was a hidden gem. Today, the whole world knows the

name of Newtown. Its pain and loss have been laid bare. Today, America

will pause to remember those for whom going to school on a Friday

morning cos they're lives. -- cost their lives. Gene Rosen found

several children from a nearby school sitting on his lawn,

witnesses to an unspeakable crime. The a looked terrified, mortified,

and they were crying. Quietly, they were crying. 20 children never made

it out. They died, together with six school teachers and support

staff. The gunman, Adam Lanza, had turned a pistol on himself as the

police moved in. He was just 20, and the guns were not even his.

They belonged to his mother, who, at the family home they both shared,

had earlier become the young man's first victim. As a country, we have

been through this too many times.. In the White House, and at every

other home in America, there has been a lot of soul-searching. For

many here, the right to own a gun is the very essence of freedom. But

there is an emerging consensus that high-powered assault weapons are

for war zones, not for the streets. With the President supporting

tighter gun laws, and public opinion moving in the same

direction, there is a feeling here that these are shootings are

somehow different, that this time there will be change, as protecting

the most vulnerable becomes the top priority. Every day has brought

more funerals, more reminders of lives which were beautifully bright,

but brutally shot. Today, family and friends will be saying goodbye

to this young child, who had moved from Britain only last year.

many families are so stricken with grief, I would just want to say to

people around the world, when you pray for them, whether you have a

faith or not. Sandy Hook Elementary remains a sealed off crime scene.

The children will go back to a different school in the new year.

Here, there may never be lessons again. Millions of employees and

volunteers will no longer have to have a new criminal records check

each term they apply for a job. Instead, they will be able to have

a new portable background check, which they will be able to update

for free. Ed Thomas has the latest, from Manchester. Yes, this is a

charity in Manchester, the Cornerstone Day Centre. It relies

on more than 100 volunteers. Some of those volunteers need criminal

records checks. From next year, those checks will be free. The

people here say this will make a massive difference. When it comes

to protecting the young and the elderly, it is a criminal records

check which lets us know our trust is well placed. But how it works is

about to change. At the moment, checks can cost places like this up

to �44. Nursery workers have to reapply for a new certificate every

time they move jobs. But from next year, workers will apply just once,

and the results will be held online, available for voluntary groups,

charities and employers. We employ more than 2000 people, so obviously,

to give us the flexibility to be able to move stuff around, and also

to meet our recruitment needs more effectively, it will be a real

bonus for us. Over 12 months, 4 million people applied for a

criminal records check. Over the past seven years, 150,000 people

were found to be unsuitable, and nearly a quarter of those applying

were volunteers. More than 100 volunteers help out here at the

Cornerstone Day Centre. From April, their criminal records checks will

be free. Criminal records checks have cost this centre more than

�600. A I have got three, one for a parish, one for the school, and one

for a voluntary organisation of which have a trustee. The have got

four, two for social services, and two others. How many do you think

you actually need? One. It is absolutely crazy. The changes will

not affect Scotland and Northern Ireland, they have their own checks.

In England and Wales, the Government promises the new system

will improve and not compromise safety. As well as the volunteers

here, and the nursery staff, this new system will also affect

temporary workers, like doctors and nurses. But maybe the real test

will come interest, that people feel safe, and protected. The

Government says it can deliver. From today, women are facing higher

costs for car and life insurance, as new EU wiggles come into force.

-- rules. This report from our personal finance correspondent,

Simon Gompertz. It is enough to put you off your driving lesson. If 17-

year-old Jasmine passes her text next month, she will be faced with

a big price rise for young women's driving insurance, bringing them in

line with men. Until today, they have paid more because they have

more accidents. That we should have to pay more for insurance, it is

wrong. At a traffic light, males will just zoom off, but ladies will

move off with care. Because of a.30 port -- because of a European

called ruling, young women's car insurance will be no more than 30%

more expensive. There will also be increases in life assurance costs.

Insurers say the ban on different prices for men and women is a

backwards step, because by giving them discounts, they could be

encouraged them to drive well. -- they could be encouraging them.

more that insurance premiums can incentivise safe driving, the

better. It is not much comfort to Jasmine that young men could see a

small cut in the cost of cover. For many young people, car insurance is

virtually impossible to afford already. Now, it is the end of an

era for children's television today, with the final broadcast of kids'

programmes on BBC One. Lizo Mzimba looks back at some memorable

moments. Hello, children. Here I am again with the Picture Book. Even

before BBC One, when there was only one channel, the BBC television

service, children's programmes were one of its cornerstones. And when

BBC One began, in the 1960s, informing... And entertaining a

young audience remained one of its priorities, something that has

continued to this day, with a decade after decade of much-loved

programmes. This afternoon's line- up will be the last to be shown on

BBC One. After today, they will only broadcast on digital

children's channels. Children mostly watch on CBBC and CBeebies,

and increasingly, they watch on iPlayer. Demand for programmes on

BBC One and BBC Two has gone down slowly over the last few years.

Some think it is a worrying step, and that TV in the future will

connect with fewer children. Children's television was not

bringing in enough ratings to justify its position on network

television. As to the future, who knows, but it is clear that this

new generation of children are going to be very hard to reach with

television. Whatever the future holds, today marks a for a while to

BBC One, and for generations who were once Young, avid viewers, it

means the end of an era. Now, this morning at 11:11am, thousands of

people believed the world would come to an end. But we are still

here. 21st December is the shortest day of the year, and the end of the

calendar of the ancient Mayan civilisation. Others have

interpreted today as the dawn of a new era for humanity. In the Mayan

heartland in northern Guatemala, they celebrated the end of one

cycle in the Mayan calendar, and the start of another, in

spectacular style. It was still dark here as 11:11am went past, and

the sceptics and the rationalists were proved right, and the modern

world appeared to carry on, and affected by the prediction that it

might come to an apocalyptic end. - - unaffected. Bugarach, a village

in southern France, was said to be one of the places where there was a

chance of surviving the end of the world. Aliens were said to be

waiting nearby to take the fortunate to safety. The village

seemed to return to normality, with relief. Every couple of years,

there is a new story about the end of the world. It does bother people,

people get anxious about it. Partly that is to do with the ease with

which stories can spread on the Internet. When you hear the stories,

you have to think, who is telling the story, what qualifications do

they have, what evidence do they have? In China, an infant are

designed this pot as a safe haven against the destructive forces of

any potential Armageddon. But it was only some Mayan followers who

interpret hated this in terms of a possible doomsday. Others said it

heralded a more positive era. And it coincided with the winter

solstice, and a bumper crowd was drawn to ancient stone hinge. The

world's great mysteries survived the day intact. Since we are still

the day intact. Since we are still here, we will have to deal with the

terrible weather which is coming your way. Yes, I'm afraid so. Today

was much drier across much of the country, but it is only a brief

respite. There is much more rain in the forecast right up to Christmas.

With that rain, we are expecting further flooding and disruption to

travel. In the last 24 hours, the heaviest rain has been in Perth and

Kinross. This band is bringing the next area of rain towards the

south-west of England at the moment. Most of us are sitting in between

those two main areas at the moment. -- reign areas. This evening we

have still got some rain in Scotland, but it is not so heavy as

it has been. -- rain. Northern Ireland, here, it is still rather

grey and misty into the evening. Where we have had the breaks in the

cloud, across Wales, the Midlands and the south-east of England,

watch out for some mist and fog which will be developing quickly

this evening. By secured got -- by 6 o'clock this evening, the rain

will be pushing back in. It will be sweeping northwards and eastwards

to all areas by the start of the weekend. These warnings from the

Met Office will be in place right the way through the weekend. Three

main areas are of concern - the south-west of England, which could

get a couple of inches of rain, and also, catchment areas for the River

Ouse, as well as eastern Scotland. We are all going to get wet, we are

all going to get some heavy rain at times. Saturday will be miserable,

getting a bit drier in the afternoon for some areas. A cold

wind will be blowing for Scotland. Staying whack on Sunday for parts

of Scotland. It will be bright and breezy further to the south. But we

have got yet more rain arriving in the south-west of England towards

the end of the day, courtesy of this weather front. That will keep

the wet weather going into Christmas Eve. By the time we get

to Christmas Day, it is a little bit colder, but we will have a

Our main headline - floods have caused problems on the railways and

on the roads as the great Christmas getaway begins. Forecasters are