05/03/2013 BBC News at One


05/03/2013

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The head of the NHS admits that patients were not the priority

:00:10.:00:13.

during the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. There are

:00:14.:00:16.

calls for Sir David Nicholson to stand down. He says he's staying

:00:17.:00:22.

put, but admits he got things wrong. The leadership of the NHS lost its

:00:22.:00:27.

focus, and I'll put my hands up to that, and I was part of that - it

:00:27.:00:32.

went - but in a sense, my learning through all of that is never to let

:00:32.:00:35.

it happen again. In need of a health check - why the

:00:35.:00:40.

UK needs to do more to tackle preventable diseases.

:00:40.:00:42.

Bankers' bonuses - George Osborne flies to Brussels, saying he won't

:00:42.:00:45.

support EU plans for a cap because it would harm the City.

:00:45.:00:49.

Bringing our forces home - 16,000 troops will return to the UK from

:00:49.:00:54.

Germany, but at what cost? An announcement shortly.

:00:55.:00:58.

And a Bieber backlash - a wave of criticism after the pop star turns

:00:58.:01:04.

up on stage for his young fans two hours late.

:01:04.:01:09.

On BBC London, Ealing Council vote unanimously for an independent

:01:09.:01:13.

panel to scrutinise plans to downgrade four A&E departments. We

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look at the impact of next month's benefit changes on low-income

:01:16.:01:26.
:01:26.:01:45.

Hello. A very good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC news at 1.00pm.

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The head of the NHS has admitted patients were not the priority

:01:48.:01:51.

during the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust which led

:01:51.:01:53.

to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of patients. Sir David

:01:53.:01:56.

Nicholson had been under pressure to resign since last month's public

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inquiry which said there'd been years of abuse and neglect at

:01:59.:02:02.

Stafford Hospital. But this morning he told MPs he was "absolutely

:02:02.:02:08.

determined" to carry on leading the Health Service. And now there are

:02:08.:02:11.

calls for an emergency commons debate into the matter. Our health

:02:11.:02:18.

correspondent Branwen Jeffreys reports.

:02:18.:02:20.

The failures at Staffordshire Hospital have raised questions

:02:20.:02:25.

about the NHS. How were money and targets put ahead of care? Did

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pressure from the top create the wrong culture? Today, Sir David

:02:28.:02:34.

Nicholson, who runs the NHS in England, was grilled by MPs when he

:02:34.:02:38.

visited Stafford, why did he not notice problems? It's a funny old

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trick. It's something that people do when they go on the witness

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stand, say, "I can't remember. I can't remember." You seem not to be

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able to remember lots of things that go on. There is this at page -

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paragraph 116, "I cannot recall what we specifically discussed with

:02:53.:03:01.

regards to any recovery plan." don't - is that a trick? No, no.

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was responsible - I was responsible for 56 - or 54, 56 organisations.

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At Staffordshire Hospital, there were warning signs - unusually high

:03:12.:03:16.

death rates, patients and families complaining. Those who lost

:03:16.:03:21.

relatives due to the appalling failures are still angry. Sir David

:03:21.:03:25.

Nicholson now admits he should have met them to discuss their concerns,

:03:25.:03:32.

but they want him to go. Inside Parliament, he faced similar

:03:32.:03:34.

questions. Do you think on reflection that you're the right

:03:34.:03:38.

person to take it - the NHS forward in the long term, or do you feel

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that there is genuinely a concern that you could be personally

:03:42.:03:47.

conflicted in actually - now that we have other hospital trusts also

:03:47.:03:56.

where we're investigating? I - obviously, I set out before how

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important it seems to me - I think I have a duty and a responsibility

:04:01.:04:05.

to manage the organisation over these great changes. The NHS in

:04:05.:04:08.

England is going through another massive reorganisation. Can it

:04:08.:04:13.

afford to lose its top manager now? Could it be damaging for the Health

:04:13.:04:18.

Service if he stays? Let's talk to our political

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correspondent, Norman Smith. It was an uncomfortable grilling, to say

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the least, but he's adamant he wants to keep his job. Can he?

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was told at the start of the session this is not a trial, but

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that's exactly what it turned out to be, as he was pretty much

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bounced around the walls by MPs, many of whom clearly take the view

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that as head of the regional health authority responsible not for

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running mid Staffs but for overseeing it, he should go. His

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defence, to quote him, "I didn't know. I had no idea -" left MPs

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incredulous, accusing him of turning a blind eye, seeking to

:04:54.:04:59.

bury bad news, failing to look at that most basic of indicators, the

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mortality rate, failing to talk to patients' groups. On the plus side

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for Sir David, though, this lunch time, Jeremy Hunt and Downing

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Street have, as it were, thrown a comforting arm around him, and it

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seems to me at the moment - I stress at the moment - the

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calculation in Downing Street is whatever his performance this

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morning, whatever the likely torrid headlines tomorrow, whatever the

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disquiet amongst MPs, for the moment, the calculation in Downing

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Street is that such is the change the NHS is going through at the

:05:29.:05:34.

moment, they absolutely do not want to throw overboard the man at the

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top. OK, normalan. For now, thank you.

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Heart disease, stroke and cancer - they are some of the biggest

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killers in the UK, and a major study says we're lagging behind

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many Western countries when it comes to stopping people dying

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prematurely from them. But the report in the medical journal the

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Lancet says average life expectancy is rising sharply too. Our medical

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correspondent Fergus Walsh has been looking at the figures.

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The health of our nation is improving. In just 20 years,

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average life expectancy has jumped four years to 79.9 years, and

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Britons can expect to live 68.6 years in good health, which has

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also improved, but on both measures, we're below average for leading

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European countries. If you look at the comparison between different

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countries, it's countries like Greece, Spain and Italy that are

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doing better than us, so I don't think any analysis would say this

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is about money. It may be about what we do with the money. It's

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about how we configure services, how we work together, how we get

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different services working together. Despite all the - tobacco, smoking

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renains biggest cause of ill health followed by obesity, poor exercise,

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high blood pressure and alcohol. Among the most starting increases

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in the last 20 years are deaths from Alzheimer's disease, up 137%

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and deaths from cirrhosis are up 67%. We have seen in the last 20

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years an increase in the affordability of alcohol, so

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alcohol has become relatively much cheaper than it ever has been

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before. We have also seen an increased accessibility of alcohol.

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It's quite easy to pick up a bottle of wine when you go to the

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supermarket to pick up a bottle of milk, so these contributors are

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contributors that lead to heavy conshumption. The Government

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accepts the UK is lacking behind other developed nations and has

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launched plans to cut deaths from heart disease and other major

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causes. The jury in the trial of a couple

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accused of killing their six children in a house fire have been

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hearing from forensic experts. Mick and Mairead Philpott and their

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friend Paul Mosley deny manslaughter. A petrol analyst told

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the court that all three defendants had traces of different types of

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petrol on their clothing. Our correspondent Jeremy Cooke is

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outside the court. Jeremy. Yes, today's evidence has been very much

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about petrol. Now, we know the jury's previously been told that

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the fire at the Philpott family home started in the hallway, and it

:08:17.:08:20.

was started, they had been told, with petrol, but today, this

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morning, they have been given a lot more detail about the science -

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PROBLEM WITH SOUND The court has been told that the

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fire spread quickly through the house at Victory Road within

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minutes of it starting in the hallway. And investigators have

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concluded that it was started with petrol. Today expert witness

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Rebecca Dual spoke about the detailed analysis of samples taken

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from the scene of the fire that made it possible, she said, to

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identify which brand of petrol was used. This is the 16th day of the

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trial in which Mick Philpott and Mairead Philpott and their co-

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accused deny six counts of manslaughter. The expert witness

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said samples from the hallway were a match for fuel and residues of

:09:11.:09:15.

total petrol were found in the U bend of the kitchen sink. Later the

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jury was told traces of total petrol were found on the clothing

:09:19.:09:24.

of all three defendants. Mick Philpott's trainers also tested

:09:24.:09:29.

positive for low levels of additives from Shell fu. All six of

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the Philpott's children died as a result of the blaze last May. The

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jury has been told they would have been overcome by smoke as they

:09:35.:09:40.

slept in their beds. The expert witness will be back on

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the stand this afternoon. It's expected that she will be cross-

:09:45.:09:47.

examined by - PROBLEM WITH SOUND

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. All three defendants deny the counts of manslaughter against them.

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The case - PROBLEM WITH SOUND

:09:54.:09:56.

Apologies for the breakup on that picture there.

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The Chancellor, George Osborne, says he cannot support European

:09:59.:10:02.

Union proposals to cap bankers' bonuses. The legislation, which is

:10:02.:10:05.

backed by the rest of the EU, sets a limit at one year's salary. But

:10:05.:10:08.

Mr Osborne told a meeting of EU Finance Ministers in Brussels that

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the UK wanted more negotiations. Well, our Europe correspondent

:10:12.:10:21.

Chris Morris is in Brussels. Is he going to get it? I think he'll get

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more negotiation, but I don't think he can stop the overall package

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going through. It only needs a qualified majority, and that

:10:28.:10:33.

majority is clearly there, so we will see a cap on bankers' bonuses

:10:33.:10:38.

of one year's salary, rising to two if a majority of bank shareholders

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agree to that. What he might be able to do is chip away at the

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edges somewhat, maybe change some of the terms, create some

:10:47.:10:50.

exemptions because other countries would like to seek consensus with

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the UK, but they're only prepared to go so far. Is he really as

:10:55.:11:02.

isolated as he appears on this? is isolated in many ways because -

:11:02.:11:06.

I suppose for two reason, really - other countries don't need to take

:11:06.:11:09.

such account of the financial sector because it is a much less

:11:09.:11:14.

significant part of their economy, and secondly, because a cap on

:11:14.:11:17.

bankers' bonuses is politically very popular. Take Germany, for

:11:18.:11:22.

example, a country which often sides with the UK on matters of

:11:22.:11:26.

financial regulation. It's got an election coming up later this year.

:11:26.:11:31.

The opposition has made a cap on bankers' bonuses a key election

:11:31.:11:35.

issue, so the Government of Chancellor merk is in no mood to

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hand them a pre-election gift, so I think those two things combined -

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there are those who see this as the shape of things to come, a more

:11:45.:11:50.

united eurozone gagging up on the City of London, but I think those

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immediate imperatives are what's at play here.

:11:54.:11:58.

For over 70 years British forces have had a presence in Germany. Now

:11:58.:12:02.

the MOD is bringing them back to the UK at a cost of nearly �2

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billion. 16,000 troops and their families will have to be rehoused.

:12:05.:12:08.

In the next few minutes, the Government is due to announce how

:12:08.:12:11.

that it affect bases here in the UK. Our defence correspondent Caroline

:12:11.:12:14.

Wyatt has been to one British barracks in Germany, where the move

:12:14.:12:20.

is already underway. The historic move out of Germany has already

:12:20.:12:25.

begun. British forces have been based here since 1945, but the pace

:12:25.:12:32.

of their return is quickening. Now 7 Regiment Royal Logistics

:12:32.:12:37.

Corps are to swap this for Rutland back in the UK.

:12:37.:12:42.

Had a good day? Lance Corporal Stephen Cross and his wife have

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lived here for a year-and-a-half in Germany, but both are keen to move

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back home, closer to their families in Huddersfield. It's nice to

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sample a different country, but I would be glad to get back home now

:12:55.:12:59.

I think, back to the UK. Yes, I am very much looking forward to going

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back now and being quite close to my family, so it's a bonus.

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they happy about it as well? Yes, very happy, especially my mum. She

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can't wait for me to come back. move itself is a huge logistical

:13:13.:13:17.

challenge, ensuring that work can continue until the last minute,

:13:17.:13:24.

even as kit vehicles and office are moved. It is difficult, but we've

:13:24.:13:28.

got a lot of units that are here to support us and to make sure we've

:13:28.:13:33.

got the right advice, the right equipment the right vehicles and

:13:33.:13:37.

transport to get the regiments back toot UK. It's still a huge task,

:13:37.:13:42.

but it's not impossible. There are dozens and dozens of these

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isocontainers full of kit that have got to come back to the UK. That's

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not just for this unit alone, but across Germany something like 5,000

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soldiers plus their families, so perhaps 30,000 people in all, will

:13:54.:14:01.

be moving back to the UK ending in 2020.

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For many who are moving, a key concern remains their children's

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education and whether the schooling and the health care will be as good

:14:09.:14:19.
:14:19.:14:27.

as it has been in these small The head of the NHS has admitted

:14:27.:14:32.

that patients were not the priority at the Staffordshire health Trust.

:14:32.:14:42.
:14:42.:14:53.

Coming up, a stargazer's paradise Coming up in London - teachers say

:14:53.:15:01.

they are being bullied in Northolt. The most senior judge in the UK

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says he fears cuts to the legal aid budget, due to come into effect

:15:05.:15:12.

next month, could undermine the rule of law. Lord Neuburger, the

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President of the Supreme Court, says he is concerned that some

:15:14.:15:20.

people could be tempted to take the law into their own hands. If the

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Home Secretary is unhappy with the decision of a judge, or group of

:15:24.:15:29.

judges, the sensible course is to appeal that decision. If, as a

:15:29.:15:32.

result of an appeal, the Home Secretary still gets an answer they

:15:32.:15:39.

do not like, then they can change the law. For ministers to attack

:15:39.:15:42.

judges in public undermines public confidence probably in both

:15:43.:15:48.

ministers and judges, and is unfair, because the judges and certainly

:15:48.:15:54.

should not reply. So it becomes a one-way argument. To explain more,

:15:54.:16:00.

Home Secretary -- our legal correspondent, Clive Coleman, joins

:16:00.:16:07.

us. Yes, a fortnight ago, the Home Secretary made some criticisms of a

:16:07.:16:11.

group of immigration judges who she said were flouting the will of

:16:11.:16:14.

Parliament by applying human rights laws in a way such that serious

:16:14.:16:17.

criminals, who had committed serious offences in this country,

:16:17.:16:23.

could not be deported because they don't right to a family life was

:16:23.:16:27.

being upheld by judges in a way that Parliament had not intended.

:16:27.:16:32.

We get these arguments occasionally between judges on the one hand, a

:16:32.:16:34.

powerful part of the constitution, and on the other hand, the

:16:34.:16:39.

Government, the executive ministers, gets upset if there will is not

:16:39.:16:44.

being enforced. It is considered bad form for individual judges to

:16:44.:16:49.

answer ministers directly. However, occasionally, you will get a senior

:16:49.:16:52.

judge, like Lord Neuburger, who will come out to defend the judges,

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if you like. On the issue of legal aid, he did go on to say that

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despite the fact that this was intended to cut costs, it would

:17:02.:17:05.

actually cost more to make these changes, and people would not be

:17:05.:17:10.

getting the justice they deserve. This is what he had to say. If the

:17:10.:17:13.

Home Secretary or any government minister is unhappy with a judge or

:17:13.:17:18.

group of judges, the sensible course is to appeal that decision.

:17:18.:17:22.

If as a result of that appeal, the Home Secretary or other ministers

:17:22.:17:27.

still gets an answer they do not like, then they can change the law.

:17:27.:17:33.

For ministers to attacked judges in public undermines public confidence

:17:33.:17:37.

probably in both ministers and judges, and it is unfair, because

:17:37.:17:42.

the judges cannot and should not reply. So it becomes a one while

:17:42.:17:48.

demand. Sorry, that was the same piece of tape that we saw earlier.

:17:48.:17:52.

On the delayed, what he said was that he was very concerned. On the

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1st April this year, major cuts to legal aid come into force, �350

:17:57.:18:01.

million the Government wants to cut from the budget, and they are doing

:18:01.:18:06.

that by taking entire areas of civil law out of legal aid, areas

:18:06.:18:10.

like family law, divorce, people trying to sort out custody and

:18:10.:18:14.

access in relation to children. From 1st April, people on modest

:18:14.:18:19.

incomes who were entitled to legal aid will no longer get it. What

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Lord Neuburger was saying is that he fears that as a result of that,

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there will be less access to justice, and that people may, if

:18:26.:18:30.

they cannot get the problems resolved in court, be tempted to

:18:30.:18:37.

take the law into their own hands. After the Eastleigh by-election

:18:37.:18:42.

last week, there is another constituency in the political

:18:42.:18:45.

spotlight this weekend. In Northern Ireland, voters will be deciding

:18:45.:18:49.

who will be taking on Martin McGuinness's former seat, Mid

:18:49.:18:59.
:18:59.:19:03.

Ulster. There are the usual pledges and promises on the doorstep, but

:19:03.:19:07.

the campaign in Mid Ulster is rather different to other by-

:19:07.:19:10.

elections. It is not just about the future of his constituency, it is

:19:10.:19:14.

also about the past in Northern Ireland. More than 30 years ago,

:19:14.:19:18.

Eric Lutton was shot dead by the IRA because he had been a police

:19:18.:19:22.

officer. His son is one of the candidates in this campaign.

:19:22.:19:28.

Another is a man who was named in Westminster under parliamentary

:19:28.:19:33.

privilege as being a suspect in his murder. Sinn Fein's Francie Molloy

:19:33.:19:37.

has always denied any part in the attack. But he knows that the

:19:37.:19:41.

killing his casting a shadow of the campaign. I think people will see

:19:41.:19:48.

through it, and I have probably done as much for reconciliation and

:19:48.:19:51.

dealing with the issues of victims here as anybody else in the

:19:51.:19:58.

constituency. Nigel Lutton is not used to the cameras. The only

:19:58.:20:01.

unionist candidate is new to traditional campaigning. And many

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believe he has only been selected because of the past. No matter who

:20:05.:20:09.

had stood, I think I would have taken the challenge on board. It is

:20:09.:20:18.

not about his past or my past. cross-community Alliance Party says

:20:18.:20:22.

the real concerns are jobs and the economy. I met a lady the other day

:20:22.:20:26.

who was devastated by the fact that all five of her children are living

:20:26.:20:29.

and working abroad. She wonders what on earth she will see them

:20:29.:20:35.

again. As they campaign in the streets, the nationalist SDLP say

:20:35.:20:40.

voters want to talk about the future. People say, we do not want

:20:40.:20:46.

the past being raked over, we want to talk about the present. But in

:20:46.:20:49.

Northern Ireland, political and personal history is not forgotten,

:20:49.:20:55.

which has added an age to this by- election campaign.

:20:55.:20:59.

Retail sales grew last month at their fastest rate for more than

:20:59.:21:02.

three years. The British Retail Consortium said they were up by

:21:02.:21:07.

2.7% compared with the same month last year. With the details, our

:21:07.:21:10.

business correspondent Emma Simpson. That sounds pretty positive - is

:21:10.:21:16.

it? It is a surprisingly good set of figures from the trade body for

:21:16.:21:23.

the industry. The key figure is that increase of 2.7%. That is in

:21:23.:21:28.

like-for-like sales, compared with the previous February. These are at

:21:28.:21:32.

stores which have been open for more than one year. This is the

:21:32.:21:37.

strongest sales growth we have seen in more than three years. It breaks

:21:37.:21:42.

down like this... Food was sluggish, so it is non-food which is seeing

:21:42.:21:47.

the strongest growth, sales of electronic items, like tablets, as

:21:47.:21:54.

well as clothing and home were. Once again, it is online which has

:21:54.:22:01.

been the stand-out performer, up by nearly 11% on the year. In fact,

:22:01.:22:05.

just about every part of retail has been up in this survey. That brings

:22:05.:22:10.

me to the next point - is it really a true picture, with online up, and

:22:10.:22:13.

yet some of the big names on the high street actually having gone

:22:13.:22:18.

under? That's right. Retail has become incredibly polarised. We all

:22:18.:22:23.

know about the recent high-profile administrations, and much of that

:22:23.:22:26.

is to do with structural problems in the business model, because of

:22:26.:22:31.

the rise of online. Here's what the British Retail Consortium had to

:22:31.:22:36.

say about it. We have seen a number of significant retail failures over

:22:36.:22:40.

the last 12 months, which would appear to be at odds with the

:22:40.:22:43.

decent spending growth which we are now seeing for a second month in a

:22:43.:22:48.

row. What has happened is that is slight revival in willingness to

:22:48.:22:51.

spend on the part of customers has come too late for some retailers,

:22:51.:22:55.

and it is also the case that the retailers who have survived have

:22:55.:22:58.

benefited from some of the spent that would have gone to those who

:22:58.:23:05.

failed. Of course, this is only one survey, and we are talking about

:23:05.:23:15.
:23:15.:23:16.

have painted a different picture since the start of the year. And as

:23:16.:23:18.

for the apparent upturn, the question is, will it last? Business

:23:18.:23:25.

of another kind, show business, and the Michael Jackson has apologised

:23:25.:23:32.

after Justin Bieber was late on stage last night. -- the O2 Arena

:23:32.:23:35.

has apologised. Parents were furious that he had kept young fans

:23:35.:23:40.

waiting on a school night. In the past few minutes, the pop star has

:23:40.:23:45.

said sorry and promised that tonight's gig will be on time. This

:23:45.:23:50.

report from Lizo Mzimba. He is one of the best singers in the world, a

:23:50.:23:54.

19-year-old who has taken the music industry by storm. He has more

:23:54.:23:58.

Twitter followers than anybody else on the planet. He has millions of

:23:59.:24:03.

devoted young fans, and for them, he can almost do no wrong. But

:24:03.:24:07.

being late last night upset many, who had saved up for weeks and had

:24:07.:24:13.

to leave before the event had even finished. Those still there when he

:24:13.:24:18.

appeared were delighted that he was finally on stage. But for many,

:24:18.:24:22.

that did not make up for the delays. These parents had a particular

:24:22.:24:28.

message for the star. Make my nine- year-old daughter happy. It was her

:24:29.:24:36.

birthday apartment -- present, and you have upset her. The kids I took

:24:36.:24:42.

were 14, but there were a lot there who were much younger. They were

:24:42.:24:48.

either falling asleep or they had to be taken home. This afternoon,

:24:48.:24:52.

Bieber used Twitter to say sorry to his fans, blaming technical issues

:24:52.:24:57.

for the delayed start, saying that he was 40 minutes late on to the

:24:57.:25:00.

stage, but adding that there was no excuse for that and apologising to

:25:00.:25:06.

anybody who was upset. The singer will be playing the O2 again this

:25:06.:25:10.

evening as part of his world tour. He has promised that tonight will

:25:10.:25:20.
:25:20.:25:26.

run on time. Just how dark can do night sky get? The skies over the

:25:26.:25:29.

Northumberland National Park certainly fit the bill. The local

:25:29.:25:31.

authority is bidding for it to become the largest dark sky reserve

:25:31.:25:39.

in Europe. Our correspondent went to investigate. In a remote part of

:25:39.:25:43.

the Border forests in Northumberland, high on a hill sits

:25:43.:25:46.

a strange looking wooden building. People travel many miles to get

:25:46.:25:51.

here to look out at the sky. This is the award-winning Kildow

:25:51.:25:57.

Observatory, one of the best places in the UK to see the stars. It is

:25:57.:26:03.

at last cool to be an astronomer. For 25 years, I kept it secret! But

:26:03.:26:08.

now, of course, it is cool to be an astronomer, which is brilliant.

:26:08.:26:13.

People ask you questions about the universe, which is great. And this

:26:13.:26:17.

is what they come here to see through the telescopes -

:26:17.:26:21.

extraordinarily clear use of galaxies and stars, at a mind-

:26:21.:26:26.

boggling distance from Earth, things which cannot be seen in most

:26:26.:26:30.

parts of the UK. It is dark and you can hardly see me, but that's the

:26:30.:26:34.

point of this place. The authorities here are not complacent.

:26:34.:26:39.

They are now bidding for this part of the UK to become a dark sky

:26:39.:26:43.

reserve, and if successful, it will be the biggest of its kind in

:26:43.:26:48.

Europe. But to be given such status means that the few people living

:26:48.:26:52.

here have to minimise their light pollution. Alistair Murray has

:26:52.:26:56.

already adapted his farm so it does not shine like a beacon in the

:26:56.:27:03.

landscape. All I had to do was a just one light fitting. I was

:27:03.:27:08.

really surprised how little I had to do. But how big a job is it to

:27:08.:27:12.

get hundreds of square miles dark enough to be recognise as one of

:27:12.:27:17.

the best places on the planet for the night sky? Often, it is a case

:27:17.:27:20.

of adjusting the lights that you have on the outside of your

:27:20.:27:25.

property. If you have got them angled upwards across the porch,

:27:25.:27:30.

then you can just simply correct it by turning them to one side and

:27:30.:27:33.

literally shining the light onto the ground. And it is not just the

:27:33.:27:38.

stars which stand out here. A few months ago, the beautiful northern

:27:38.:27:42.

lights could be seen dancing across the sky. Northumberland will soon

:27:42.:27:46.

find out if it meets with international approval. It could

:27:46.:27:52.

then join Exmoor, the Brecon Beacons and south-west Scotland as

:27:52.:28:01.

being the perfect location to ponder our place in the universe.

:28:01.:28:05.

On that note, speaking of the weather, which has been wonderful,

:28:05.:28:08.

or so I am told - you told us or so I am told - you told us

:28:08.:28:14.

yesterday that it would be... Yes, for most places, this could be

:28:14.:28:19.

the warmest day of the year so far. Most places will be dry and sunny

:28:19.:28:23.

for the rest of the day, but not everywhere. Make the most of your

:28:23.:28:27.

sunshine, because looming large, all of this cloud in the Atlantic,

:28:27.:28:37.

which is heading a strong way. -- heading a strong way. This was the

:28:37.:28:47.
:28:47.:28:50.

scene in York this morning. -- heading our way. Quite cold around

:28:50.:28:58.

the North Sea coast. Inland, temperatures are soaring. It could

:28:58.:29:04.

get up to 15 degrees today just to the north of London, making it the

:29:04.:29:08.

warmest day of the year so far. This is a sign of things to come,

:29:08.:29:13.

but it should not spoil things too much this afternoon. Again, 15

:29:13.:29:20.

grees possible across northern parts of Devon. A much better day

:29:20.:29:26.

in Northern Ireland, at long last. And also, sunshine in Scotland,

:29:26.:29:31.

away from the north-west of the country. Things changing overnight.

:29:31.:29:35.

Firstly, that cloud coming up from the south-west, bringing patchy

:29:35.:29:41.

rain or drizzle. Secondly, low cloud coming in off the North Sea.

:29:41.:29:47.

Here, a bit chilly tonight. Going further south, it will be

:29:47.:29:51.

significantly milder than it was last night. A big change on the way

:29:51.:29:58.

overnight and tomorrow. This low pressure is throwing ahead some

:29:58.:30:02.

weather fronts, which will bring cloud and rain. It looks like it

:30:02.:30:07.

will be mainly the western side of the UK which would get rain. It

:30:07.:30:16.

will be a very different day from today. With an easterly wind, it

:30:16.:30:20.

will be cold for eastern Scotland and the north-east of England.

:30:20.:30:23.

Further south, that's where we will get the highest temperatures,

:30:23.:30:30.

although not as warm as today. On Thursday, maybe some brightness in

:30:30.:30:40.

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