28/01/2013 BBC News at One

A proposed second stage of the high-speed rail link is announced.

Critics argue it has an economic and environmental cost. The Prime

Minister says the line will help spread wealth. I think it's vital

for Britain if we are going to succeed in the global race. Other

countries have high-speed rail networks. We need them too. Brazil

announces three days of mourning for more than 230 people who died

in a nightclub fire. Long-term loans for energy improvements - is

the green scheme a good deal for consumers? A baby is blown into the

sea off Somerset. We talk to the dock master who dived into freezing

waters to save him. There was a woman Neiling down, saying "that's

my baby." I saw the buggy was upside down and jumped in. And it

is a truth - truly acknowledged that one of our favourite novels is

200 years old today. We mark the A teenager's stabbed to death in

central London. Witnesses say he was heard screaming for his life.

And we look at the rising number of councils using private companies to

Good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC News at 1pm. Details of the next

stage of the high-speed rail line have been revealed by the

Government. The first phase links London and Birmingham. Then the

line will split in two, one branch to Manchester t other to Leeds.

Critics say the route will damage the environment. Our transport

correspondent joins us now from Leeds railway station.

I suspect that quite a lot of the commuters who are getting on trains

behind me this morning will be retired by the time the first HS2

station leaves. It is a hugely expensive project. It has faced a

great deal of opposition. There were remers that the Government

would ditch the whole thing -- rumours that the Government would

ditch the whole thing. Today it is at the heart of its plans to grow

the economy. It may just be a very fast train

line, but the Government says HS2 will transform the country,

shrinking journey times between the biggest cities, sometimes by half.

Fast trains to speed up a sluggish economy. I think it's vital for

Britain if we're going to succeed in the global race. Other countries

have got high-speed rail networks. We need them too. For Britain,

there's a particular benefit of linking up our major cities with

high-speed rail. Today, we've had the route - north of Birmingham.

One branch heads to Manchester, the airport and the city centre. The

other heads east, Derby and Nottingham will have to share a new

hub station, a few miles south of the cities. Then on to Sheffield,

again not the city centre, but Meadowhall, five miles out of town.

Finally, to a brand new station in the middle of Leeds. Here in the

city, Stephanie is meeting the boss of a big technology firm. Her

company helps young people get workplacements. She is convinced

HS2 will spread wealth to the rekpwons. -- regions. It is me, as

the business owner, who has to do the travelling. Connective times

are poor between north and south. It takes a long time to get down

south. It takes a long time for people in the south to visit us in

the north. With shorter travel times we would be able to do so

much more business. Critics rubbish claims that a very fast train line

can transform the economy and say there are far better ways of

spending the money. It's going to cost �34 billion to start with.

There'll be additional problems with linking infrastructure,

regeneration schemes. It will add billions more to the cost. It could

end up costing the average household �,000. It is high speed

and highly controversial. The first HS2 train will not depart for

another 13 years. There's another key question here, isn't there? How

much are the tickets going to cost? What will it be like for

passengers? The Government say it will be in line with the rest of

the railways. There are people who doubt that. The UK has a high-speed

line from Kent into London. Tickets on that line average around 20%

more than the other trains in that service. The likelihood is we'll

pay more to use these trains. Thank you. Let's get more reaction to the

plans from our correspondent in birch moor.

The picture here in this village is mirrored across the country, as

people try and work out exactly where the proposed route is going

and the impact it will have on their lives. Here, the M42 motorway

will move closer to the village during construction as a temporary

measure. That is causing real concern. Plenty of people are

looking at maps, trying to work out the impact on their lives. Let's

bring in Angela who lives here. The Government is talking about the

economic benefit of this, but here, there's a concern about the

environmental cost. There is. The Government's economic benefits are

far from certain really. The environmental cost and the

community impact will be huge right up and down the line. Communities

will be living with years and years of building work, uncertainty for

families of any age, young people, older people. They may find

themselves at a time they may want to move. This is something that

will make problems for people. The environmental impacts are huge also

in terms of land use, food security, water security and things like that.

There are lots of things. Thank you very much. The concern

here is although these plans will not come to fruition for many years,

they will hang over the next generation.

Thank you. We will cross to Westminster now and get some

political reaction from our correspondent there. David Cameron

talking about this second stage being an engine for growth. How

quickly will any economic benefits be seen? It does in the short-term

provide the Government with a handy shield to rebut all the criticism

that they are not doing enough to kick-start the economy, not doing

enough to invest in big infrastructure projects. Here they

have a scheme which will create tens of thousands of jobs. It will

regenerate the north, revitalise our transport system and rebalance

the economy. The difficulty is it's a slow, slow train coming round the

bend - meaning it won't happen any time soon. The first building work

will not begin until 2017. It will not be completed until 2032, so the

benefits to the economy are down the line. Critics would argue much

better to spend the money now rather than getting capital

projects up and running today. critics include the MPs who don't

want the rail line going through their constituencies. Can they

delay it further or stop it? sense is, when you look at the

balance of forces, you have the Conservative Party broadly in

favour, the Labour Party in favour, the Liberal Democrats in favour,

the TUC in favour, most of the business community in favour. That

small group of predominantly Conservative MPs are probably not

going to be able to stop it. The key danger for the project maybe

it's very long Geoffty. Who is to say a future Government may not

decide it has different priorities, different spending commitments. Who

is to say technology itself may not change so much that expanding train

travel might not be seen as such a good idea in 20 years' time. Thank

you. You can find more detail on the

preferred route of phase two of that high-speed rail route, plus

maps and background on the BBC News website.

The Brazilian Government has declared three days of mourning for

more than 230 people killed in a fire at a nightclub in Santa Maria.

Most who died were university students. In the last few moments,

police in Brazil have arrested one of the nightclub's owners and two

members of the band who were playing when the fire broke out.

Some of these coffins will be taken away for burial. For the families

of the survivors of the terrible nightclub fire, pastors have come

to help with the mourning process. Their last chance to say goodbye

and the relatives stick closely together. TRANSLATION: I feel a lot

of sadness because I lost my son in this tragedy. He was 27 years old.

He was full of life and full of health. Families spent the night

saying goodbye to their loved ones here in this make-shift morgue.

These are painful moments for the whole city. Identifying the bodies

was the first step and the process of mourning will continue.

The Kiss nightclub was packed with party goer early Sunday morning.

Officials say a flare set off by the band lit the blaze. Thick smoke

filled the club and people rushed for the one exit open. Survivors

remember the terror and desperation inside. I was dancing with my

friends and the music stopped. My friend pushed me and started to

shout, "Run, run." People were running and stepping on each other.

The sense of shock only deepens here. Investigations into what went

wrong are beginning to take shape. Questions remain about whether the

club was up-to-date on fire safety measures. As the names of the

victims are remembered, and the memorials co-ordinated,

celebrations across Brazil marking the 500 days until the World Cup

have been postponed. The negligence here in Santa Maria highlights

concerns about Brazil's infrastructure as it prepares to

host the world. Householders are to be offered

long-term loans to help make their homes more energy efficient. The

Government's green deal means insulation or other energy-saving

improvements are covered by the loan which is repaid, with interest,

through savings to energy bills. Campaigners warn it does not go far

enough. We have some of the worst housing

stock in Europe, which means we spend more than we need to heating

our homes. The Government believes up to 14 million properties could

benefit from energy-efficiency measures such as loft insulation.

Now it has a big idea on how to make this happen. This is how the

green deal works. First, your home is assessed to see if it would

benefit from energy-efficiency improvements A green deal provider

draws up a loan to pay for those improvements, but only if the plan

meets the so-called golden rule, that the loan repayments are never

more than the savings achieved on your Energy Bill. Everyone is going

to be able to make sensible energy- efficiency improvements. Everything

from a new heating system, boiler, heating, could even be a new front

door and they will be able to pay for that through the savings they

make. That gets attached to the Energy Bill at their home. Critics

say the green deal is too complicated, that there's little

awareness about this flagship policy. The loan stays with your

property. Could that deter a future buyer? And you will pay interest on

the loan too of around 8%. How do you know if that's really value for

money? There are lots of ifs, buts and maybes. It may be complicated

for people. It remains to be seen whether this scheme will take off,

as the Government hopes. Some campaigners warn that the poorest

households which need to cut their bills may not be credit-worthy

enough to join the scheme. The Government insists that the

majority of households will benefit and that the scheme will create

thousands of jobs and help cut our carbon emissions too. The former

Cabinet minister Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce will stand

trial next Monday over claims she took speeding points for him so he

could avoid prosecution. Remind us of what has happened today in this

case? What happened this morning was that Chris Huhne was formally

arraigned. That means the charge was put to him on a previous

occasion his former wife has pleaded not guilty. This morning

the charge was put to Chris Huhne. It was put to him that between 13th

March, 2003 and 21st May, 2003, with spwebt to pervert the course

of public -- intent to pervert the course of publish justice, he

falsely informed the police that Vicky Pryce had been the driver of

the car in question in order to avoid the penalty points. To that,

Chris Huhne replied, "Not guilty." The trial of both Mr Huhne and Miss

Price will take place at this court n a week's time, on Monday next

week, the 4th February. Thank you. A dock master has described how he

dived into freezing waters to rescue a six-month-old boy after

his buggy was blown over the edge of a quay by strong winds. The baby,

who was strapped in, was swept into the water as his mother walked

along Watchet Harbour in Somerset. Let's join our correspondent. The

tide is out now, but it was about halfway up that wall, the harbour

wall, when this mother was pushing her baby in his buggy along the

wall there. There was a freak gust of wind. The buggy was blown into

the water. The baby was head first in that water up to 1 minutes. He

survived. He is -- up to 10 minutes. He survived. He is doing well after

Sam was blown into the harbour in his buggy and spent up to ten

minutes under the cold muddy water. Response of everyone was pretty

amazing. They don't get much better than that. Everyone is talking

about a remarkable rescue, but that is one remarkable little boy. What

is he like that son of yours? brilliant. This is the man they are

calling a hero here. The dock master, when he heard Sam's mum

screaming, the 63-year-old grandfather jumped straight into

the water, 20 feet below. To start with, Sam was unresponsive, but

after first-aid he suddenly showed signs of life. I saw a little bit

of breath, a few bubbles and I thought he's all right. He is alive.

Brilliant. A little miracle. Then I come out of the way. The coastguard

were here and the ambulance. Everyone keeps saying you are a

hero, it is everyone. The helicopter pilot, imagine, they

landed a helicopter, and it is brilliant. Then that is over into

the hospital, in a couple of minutes. It is brilliant. Everyone,

everything gelled together. It is a good result, the little baby is

doing fine, he is in hospital. Mum and dad are all right. Yeah, it is

good news. It is something positive. A thank you hug from Sam's dad for

another person who came to the rescue. The woman who gave his baby

the kiss of life. I have never had to use it in real life, so it is,

it is a bit of a shock when you do, but it kind, it comes naturally.

Despite spending so long under water, little Sam is said to be

doing well in hospital this afternoon. I tell you what it is

still windy here, this lunchtime, it is wet, it is cold and miserable

but I don't think there is a single person in this community who

doesn't have a very big smile of relief upon their face. Thank you.

Let us look at the time. Our top story. The proposed second stage of

the high steed rail link is announced from Birmingham to

Manchester and Leeds. And coming up, some history, generally the 28th, a

novel was delivered to Jane Austen, we are of course celebrating here,

there is an anniversary cake for it. The 200th anniversary of Pride and

Prejudice. Later, the Metropolitan Police faces a potential legal

challenge over the increasing number of Tasers in the hands of

officers and is this a photograph or a drawing? We speak to the man

Three months ago, Hurricane Sandy swept through the Caribbean, and up

the east coast of America, leaving a trail of destruction, at least

130 people were killed in the USA alone, as buildings were raised to

the ground, streets and tunnels flooded and thousands forced frir

homes. We have been back to New Jersey to see what progress, if any,

has been made in rebuilding the homes and lives. This is autoly

beach, and Connie with two friend have finally plucked up courage to

come back to see what happened to her home, of 50 years. It is not

praetty sight Come and stand here. Because it is terrible, isn't it.

Yes. The front porch is gone. That is why the roof fell down, because

the porch went. A lot of people had flood insurance. I didn't keep it,

because you stay here this long, you never have a problem. So you

weren't insured? No, not for a flood. I have home uners that

doesn't pay, but I don't have flood. This is, it is like unbelievable. I

have never been in a disaster like this. It is hard to find the words

to debin to describe the scale of the destruction, round here. This

house behind me is at an angle of almost 30 degrees up to the sky. It

almost looks comic. This one has completely collapsed. If we just

come round a bit, you will see that when the house collapsed, somehow,

just here, there was an old army jeep, it has flipped over on its

back, and it has come to rest underneath the house. The beach has

7,000 homes, 7,000 were doorpbld destroyed. Three months on, this

town is still closed to residents. I met the police chief, who took me

on a tour. You and I go back to our bed at night. These people haven't

been here in three months. Can we go down here, chief? So this was a

road? Yes, this was a road. This is a private beach community, and

every house will come down. A new - - and New Jersey won't be the same

until families can return to these famous but broken and buckled rides.

Can you put a cost on the loss? Well, you know, there they are

still assessing that, it is going to be something in the tens of

million, but there is no... Tens of millions just here? Yes, just here.

Just here on this property. You know, it, very important for us to

rebuild, and to have something going for the summer, as far as job,

the economy and the life blood of the town for the summer season.

the aim is this place should re- open for tourism at the end of May.

But looking at what needs to be done, you would probably bet the

seagulls will still have this beach to themselves. French-led troops in

the western country of Mali have taken control of the airport,

outside the city of Timbuktu as they continue their offensive

against Islamist rebels. The militants are said to have started

the flee the city itself, and reportedly set fire to a library.

Meanwhile, African Union leaders are gathering in Ethiopia to

discuss sending more troops to Mali. Pictures from the front line of the

French-led advance across the desert last night to seize the

airport, outside the fabled outpost of Timbuktu. French forces in the

lead, with Malian troops with them. No resistance from the Islamist

fighters, but they tworn look out for mines, and booby-traps.

TRANSLATION: The minute can use any strategy to try and strike us. So

we expect everything. We are trying to secure our presence as much as

possible. By daylight, destruction wrought by the departing militants

was visible. But with the airport secure, the next military objective

is Timbuktu itself. The legendary City is an ancient trading post in

the middle of the Sahara. When the Islamist rebels seized it last year,

they demolished some of the ancient shrines and monuments which they

considered unIslamic. Reports suggest they may have burned

further buildings and manuscripts as they withdrew. But whether they

have really melted away into the desert was still hidden in the

city's Labyrinth of alleyways isn't clear. In already liberated towns

further south in Mali residents are jubilant. This was Gao. Secured by

French and Malian troops at the weekend. This was a province south

of Timbuktu, where they are erasing the symbols of the Islamic rule,

slogans on the walls and T-shirts. In the capital, refugees from

Timbuktu are also celebrating, but they are worried about the longer

term. Thousands more African troops are due to arrive soon, to help

keep a grip on this fragile country, but securing towns is one thing,

making sure that militants hiding in the desert no longer pose a

threat will be much more difficult. It was a book that Jane Austen

described as her own darling child. Now Pride and Prejudice is 200

years old. The past decade has seen an explosion in sequels and spin-

offs and the book itself still sells tens of thousands of copies

every year in the UK alone. Our arts correspondent is at the

author's last home in Chawton. Let me conjure a scene for you. Jane

Austen is, Isabel is playing the role. 1813, she was sitting

awaiting delivery of a book. This actually is her writing table,

isn't it. And she was awaiting Pride and Prejudice. This was the

beginning. Loved by readers across the world, inspired by that

Cinderella story of Lizzie Bennett and Mr Darcy. It is a truth

universally acknowledged that a single pan in possession of a good

fortune must be in want of a wife. From the first words you know you

are in the company of a woman of wit. And the music, the clothes,

and the cake were a sell wration today, of Jane Austen's best-loved

novel, Pride and Prejudice. 200 years ago, the first copy was

delivered here, and to mark the anniversary other novelists have

been reworking the plots of Jane Austen to honour this great of

English literature. It is a much greater novel than the film

versions have allowed it to be. They are delightful. There is no

question about it. They have been lovely. All of them, in various

ways, but they haven't quite done the novel justice, because it is a

much bigger, deeper, more serious, more important novel than the movie

versions have allowed it to be. This is jaust's own writing table.

It began here, she took delivery of pridge prij 200 years ago. And it

has inspired not just readers, but writers. Dozens have had that go

themselves, with Lizzie Ben nit and of course Mr Darcy. -- Pride and

By why Pride and Prejudice in particular? One writer has written

a book using the couple feels its appeal is a fantasy with deep roots.

Mr Darcy! I suppose it is because it is such a happy book. It is a

love story perfectly told. There is a perfection about Pride and

Prejudice. Of course, the plot is iconic. This is, of course, the

Cinderella story and a story that must go right back to the

beginnings of story telling, which has had a powerful hold on the

human imagination. And so 200 years on the house where Jane Austen

lived is once again abuzz with excitement that can only be

provoked by the likes of MIss Benn nit and Mr Darcy. And one of the

inspirations that took that on was Lost in Austen a series that cast

je mime ma who had to go back to the time of Pride and Prejudice and

caused havoc. You have experienced a little bit of the idea of then

and now, I mean, what was it like? I mean you are wearing the outfit,

do you find yourself yearning to go back? I think everyone when they

read it, which is part of the reason it is so popular, we look

wistfully and romanticly at the life then, the slow pace and men

are polite, and, but the reality of that is very different. As a woman

my character discovered of course you have no choice there, marriage,

if you didn't make a good marriage, you were in a lot of trouble.

was destitution. Yes. But wearing the outfit, do you think any of

that elegance came off? I don't think it did in my case! I tried. I

did find that I realised exactly how poorly I held myself, as soon

as I put the costumes on. I had terrible backache, my headless

friend is very elegant. They are good for posture. They are. That is

one thing to take away from it. You have to remember this is where the

first reading took place, miss Ben was being read to but she had no

idea Jane Austen was the author. She kept it a secret. Thank you.

Let us get a look at the weather. It was snow last week. Looks like

It was snow last week. Looks like it is rain for this week. All we

have done is swap one set of problems for another. You are right.

The weather has changed. Problems all the same. Last week it was snow,

it was cold, temperatures have come up. They will stay higher than last

week throughout this week, but it is rain, strong wind, the winds are

going to cause problems, but it is the rain causing the flooding. 47

flood warnings in force, that number may well go up. Another area

of rain has been moving in from the west so far today, that later will

reach those parts in the east that have stayed dry. It is not just

rain w the arrows here, the strong wind, gusting to 50mph or so,

exposed coast on the south and west. In Northern Ireland the really

heavy bursts are going to ease. The rain will track North East wards in

Scotland. Some particularly heavy bursts of rain affecting northern

England and North Wales so that rain will get to North East England

and patchy outbreaks in parts of the midland, East Anglia and the

south-east, but it will be more persistent this evening. The gusty

wind on the south coast and further outbreaks of rain. Here those

south-west facing hills, we are most concerned about the flood risk

as the rainfall totals will mount. Tonight, the rain will clear away

for manyen, you will notice to the south the rain stays with us. And

it goes north later in the night. Still pretty breezy, mild though,

although wet toward southern areas. Still maybe a touch of frost in the

far North East. It takes us on to tomorrow and we do it all again.

That means more rain spilling north and east, with strong wind. The

triangles here ind caught an amber warning for some places, where we

are concerned about rainfall totals. We could see 50 millimetres or so

in the worst affected areas. Particularly mild for some of us,

round 13 or 14 grease. How the weather feels will pale into

comparison if you have flood problems. Now on Tuesday night,

while it is still raining for some, the concern further north switches

to wind as low pressure tracks to Scotland -- Scotland. It could

cause travel problems. Blustery for the rest of the week. Maybe more

rain in the south on Friday. More details on line. Different weather,

different problem, but problems all the same. Thank you. Now let us

bring you a reminder of the top story before we go. The proposed