23/12/2013 BBC News at One

Christmas chaos threatened as millions rush to get home ahead of

severe weather warnings across the UK.

Torrential rain and strong winds are already disrupting travel on the

roads and rail, with warnings of flooding in many parts of southern

England. We'll be live with the latest on the

travel situation. The former Labour MP and

minister,Denis MacShane, has been jailed for six months for fiddling

his expenses. Freed from prison, two members of

the Russian band, Pussy Riot, jailed for protesting in a church, are

given an amnesty. Rolf Harris is to be prosecuted over

new allegations of indecent assault, one relates to a girl aged seven or

eight. And down under, but not down and

out. We'll have the latest on the troubles facing England's cricketers

in the run up to the fourth Ashes test.

Later on BBC London: Three people die in a collision on the North

Circular, police appeal for witnesses.

And above inflation fare rises on season tickets for hundreds of

thousands of commuters, we have all the details.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. Millions of people

have had their plans for the Christmas getaway disrupted today

with warnings of travel delays due to a violent storm which has hit the

UK. The Met Office has issued amber warnings for rain for Wales, the

East of England, South West England and London and the South East.

Several train companies including Virgin, East Coast and South West

Trains have already reduced or cancelled services and driving

organisations are advising people to avoid travelling unless it is

"essential". Jon Kay is in Bristol. The start of Christmas week in the

south-west of England. This was Plymouth first thing as the storm

hit. It had sped across the Atlantic of the night, bringing high winds

and torrential rain. This is meant to be one of the busiest days of the

Christmas period on our roads. Conditions are so bad in some

places, drivers are being told to stay where they are and only travel

if it is essential. Drivers on the M5 in Somerset faced atrocious

conditions. It was quite buffeting. When you start to overtake trucks,

you have got to be prepared. It was quite blowy. It has not been very

good at all. The windscreen wipers were on the fastest speed and the

car was moving with the wind. For those relying on the row ways there

are already some delays and cancellations -- cancellations and

there may be more. I have had to get up really early and just coming on

the first available train. We do not know which train will be running. We

know if we leave it till the afternoon we will be stuck and you

don't want to be stuck over Christmas. In Cornwall, hundreds of

homes have been left without power. The Environment Agency said there

could be localised flooding from Land's End to Kent. Today it is

surface water flooding. People need to take care when they are driving,

keep out of floodwater. Even 30 centimetres of moving floodwater can

take a car of its wheels. Forecasters say these conditions are

likely to last through the night and the rest of today. Tomorrow,

Northern Ireland get a battering. Although Christmas Eve looks better

foremost, there is more to come later the week.

As we've been hearing, the bad weather is disrupting road and rail

travel. Richard Lister is at Euston Station. Is there evidence yet of

people bringing forward their travel plans? It has to be said, as the

number of fairly stressed people arriving at Euston Station and I

imagine many others around the country. A lot of people I have

spoken to have changed their travel plans. They have tickets for later

on this afternoon and they had heeded the warnings to get an

earlier seat on a train because that is what the advices. We not

expecting any major disruption until later on when we are expecting speed

restrictions to be put in force by Network Rail. Why speed

restrictions? To give you an example of some of the problems Network Rail

faces, back in October after a big storm, they had to clear something

like 500 trees from the line and they are still dealing with some

flooding which was caused earlier this month. They have hundreds of

engineers on stand-by throughout the night and into tomorrow to deal with

any problems which might arise. They are monitoring the weather in real

time so they can respond Fred quickly. The advice for anyone

thinking of travelling today is coming as early as you can and be

braced with more delays tomorrow. Thank you.

The Met Office has issued amber weather warnings for Wales, the East

of England, Wouth West England and London and the South East. Our

weather presenter Elizabeth Saary is here. Tell us more about the storm

itself, we hve had a fair few of late?! How bad is this one. And how

long will it last? We have seen a lot of storm is coming our way. It

has been driven by some strong temperature contrasts. We are in the

thick of it at the moment. We are seeing this really nasty area of low

pressure leaving towards the UK and that is what is bringing us the

strong winds and heavy rain as well. Will it be sticking? It will be

sticking around for awhile. It is not just today we have to worry

about, is tomorrow as well. This is where we have the strongest winds

and heavy strain at the moment. It is across the south of England and

Wales at the moment. We are seeing as much as 40 to 60 millimetres of

rain falling. We have seen some gusts of wind up to 70 mph. That

will cause flooding and disruption. There will be some trees down from

the strong winds. This evening and overnight, the focus transfers to

the far south-east of England. The rain continues across the south

there but as we go through into the small hours of Christmas Eve, the

isobars are right across the south-east of England, that is when

we will have an amber warning in force. For Christmas Eve itself, you

can see the main low-pressure system coming into the north-west of the

UK. That will be affecting western Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Although for Christmas Eve things will calm down, then our attention

turns to the north-west for the very strong winds. For the next two days

is where the action is but Friday we could see some more wild weather as

well. Thank you. We'll have a full weather forecast

at the end of the programme. And you can keep up to date with the impact

of the heavy rain and winds by listening to your local radio

station, and by visiting the bbc website - bbc.co.uk news.

Former Labour minister Denis MacShane has been jailed for six

months,after admitting making false expense claims amounting to nearly

?13,000. When sentencing, the judge said there was "deliberate" and

"prolonged dishonesty over a period of years." Our political

correspondent Ben Wright reports. He arrived with a suitcase, prepared

for prison. Last month, the former Labour minister pleaded guilty to

filing 19 bogus expense claims, amounting to nearly ?30,000 between

2005 and 2008. He faked receipts for research work and trips carried out

for a think tank he ran. Denis MacShane knew a judge could impose a

custodial sentence. Shaking his head occasionally, he stood in the dock

as Mr Justice Sweeney delivered his sentence. He said the former MP had

no one to blame but himself and that his dishonesty had been considerable

and repeated many times over a long period. Denis MacShane entered the

Commons as MP for Rotherham in 1994 and quickly made a name for himself

as one of the most enthusiastic pro-European voices in Parliament.

Tony Blair made the French-speaking MPA minister. Now he becomes the

fifth MP to be imprisoned in the aftermath of the parliamentary

expenses scandal. The judge said Denis MacShane's case was different

to that of other MPs because he was not motivated by greed. He did not

seek to line his own pockets. However, the judge said Denis

MacShane had done damage to Parliament and democracy. As he was

led from the dock he was heard to minister quelle suprise, what a

surprise. He has been given a six-month sentence but will be

released after three. Talks between the five Northern

Ireland Executive parties in Belfast have been delayed. They were due to

discuss proposals for dealing with parades, flags and the legacy and

aftermath of the troubles. Richard Haass, a former diplomat from the

US, gave them the third draft of his proposed plans on Sunday. Chris

Buckler is in Belfast for us now. Yes, they had expected to be round

the table negotiating here at the Stormont hotel. In reality, the

parties have had to put that back. They are waiting for a fourth draft

of proposals from the chairman Doctor Richard Haass. It is not for

him to do a deal, it is for the politicians to try and agree

something on those big issues. There seems to be deadlock over the issue

of flags but that has been some progress as far as parades and the

past goes. Dealing with these issues is so important when it comes to

dealing with the potential instability with the government at

Stormont and also in the streets. They are the images all too often

associated with Northern Ireland. Violence with deep roots and decades

of division. The Richard Haass talks have been trying to prevent future

years of trouble, by dealing with the problems caused by parades,

flags and the past. However, the politicians which represent what is

often seen as two separate communities, seem unable to do a

deal on one of those issues. At best, the outcome of these talks

will be to have more talks about flags. We need to start to show

respect about each other's cultures. The parades and flags will

be difficult issues but I believe it can be resolved. There needs to be a

will to sit down with each other. Victims are the centre of proposals

about dealing with Northern Ireland's past. Lawrence Keown is a

former IRA hunger striker. He has been funded with European peace made

to work on an exhibition about people affected by the violence of

the Troubles. We are talking about a number of issues and it has moved on

significantly. But there is still some way to go to bringing Northern

Ireland's two communities together which is why it is proving so

difficult to have an agreement. You said they would simply be an

agreement for more talks. Is that what you expect? As far as flags are

concerned, that will be the case. Parties have been arriving in the

last hour. We have been saying, can you do a deal? They have been saying

it is a challenge. It is worth emphasising that there has been some

progress made on parades on the past that flags is a huge sticking point

and there is a chance that it will be simply parked. Complete deadlock.

Over the weekend some of that tension did spill out. Unionist

party members had to apologise after telling Richard Haass, go home and

leave us who live here to mend our ways. But as to the American

diplomat chairing the talks. He said he was not going to mention the word

failure. He talked about successful something else. On flags it seems

fro clear we will get something else.

Rolf Harris has been charged with three more counts of sexual assault,

including one allegation against a girl aged seven or eight. Mr Harris,

who's 83, had already been charged with 13 offences. He's due to face

trial in April. Clive Coleman reports.

We had brought most of the necessary equipment but that pool table came

in handy. For decades, Rolf Harris has been one of the most popular

faces on television screens, hosting programmes like Animal Hospital, but

in August he was charged with 13 alleged sexual offences. They

included nine counts of indecent assault, relating to two girls aged

between 14 and 16 in the 1980s and four council making indecent images

of a child between March and July 2012. He has been charged as a

result of Operation Yewtree, the investigation into alleged sexual

offences by Jimmy Savile and others. But enquiries has three strands,

claims involving Savile, claims involving Savile and others and

those involving others. Rolf Harris is being dealt with under the

other's strand meaning the allegations are not linked to Jimmy

Savile. Now the Crown Prosecution Service has decided of Harris should

face a further three allegations of indecent assault. The alleged

offences concern when existing complainant and two new

complainants. One case of indecent assault relates to a girl aged seven

or eight in the 1960s, another girl aged 14 in 1969 and a girl aged 19

in 1984. She is a complainant in six of the original counts. Rolf Harris

will next appear in court in London on January 14, and his trial is set

to start in April. Our top story this lunchtime:

Christmas chaos threatened, as millions rush to get home, ahead of

severe weather warnings across the UK.

Just the ticket. How councils have made record profits from their

parking charges. Later on BBC London: Calls for more

to be done, as homelessness among young people in London has doubled

in the past three years. And, why church services in London

see record number of worshippers, despite dwindling congregations

across the country. As Christians here gear up for

Christmas, many in the Middle East are facing an ever-increasing threat

of violence from Islamist extremists. In Syria and Egypt,

there's been a sharp rise in the number of attacks, and the levels of

violence being used. In Egypt, one in ten of the population is a Coptic

Christian. And Orla Guerin has been talking to some of them about the

recent rise in violence. Play time for Filopateer, known as

Foo-Foo. Just three years old, and already a victim of sectarian

hatred. He was shot twice in the stomach when gunmen attacked Coptic

Christians at a wedding in Cairo in October. Mariam, his seven-year-old

sister, was one of the four people killed. She collapsed at the feet of

their mother. TRANSLATION: When the shooting

started, I did not think it was live ammunition, I thought it was

fireworks. I felt on my children and kept telling them, do not worry, do

not be afraid. Mariam was not moving. I had no idea she was dead.

Her husband Ashraf shows me the last picture ever taken of Mariam, in her

new outfit for the wedding. He says attacks on Christians go unpunished.

And, for hours drive away, in upper Egypt, more evidence of religious

intolerance. At a church in Minya city set alight. Fire raged here for

about nine hours. Only a shell was left standing. The church had been

renovated just six months before. The devastation here was echoed

elsewhere. Church officials say over 100 religious buildings were damaged

or destroyed in a single week in August. They say the attacks were

systematic and premeditated. The local priest blames the Muslim

Brotherhood and other Islamists for the attacks on his church, which

took place under the noses of police.

TRANSLATION: The church is no more than 12 foot steps away from the

police headquarters. When police were asked to come and help, they

refused. They said they did not have orders to interfere in this problem.

Church burnings are not the only torment. This pharmacist was

kidnapped in September. His wife had to raise $43,000 to get him back. He

had been held for two days, brutally beaten and mistreated, and thrown in

a pit. TRANSLATION: One of the kidnappers

said, this is the death pit where you will now be buried. As soon as I

was pushed in, I could smell the dead bodies inside, the stench was

unbearable. The guide put his gun in my mouth. I felt it was my final

moments. Back at the destroyed church, the

congregation now praise under canvas in the courtyard. Christians here

are hoping for better days, for Egypt, and for their community. They

say the extremists are a minority and the faithful will be relying on

God to keep them safe. The last two members of the Russian

punk group Pussy Riot have been freed from jail, as part of the

latest amnesty granted by President Putin. They had been serving a

two-year sentence for hooliganism and religious hatred, after staging

a protest song inside Moscow cathedral. Our diplomatic

correspondent Bridget Kendall reports.

The latest high-profile prisoner releases in Russia. Maria

Alyokhina, a member of the distant punk rock band Pussy Riot.

Initially, she looked shocked and disorientated as she was set free

this morning. But that soon gave way to continued defiance.

We will carry on our fight for social and human rights, she said,

and we will not change our methods. She called the amnesty just a hoax

and a PR stunt. Then, thousands of miles away in Siberia came the

release of her fellow musician, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. She too

denounced the prison amnesty, calling it a ploy to head off a

boycott of the Russian Olympics by foreign leaders, and appealed to the

outside world not to be hoodwinked. TRANSLATION: I would like to seek

additional legislation so all political prisoners are released.

This is just the beginning now. In Russia, it is a thin line between

freedom and lack of freedom. Freedom is always relative in a totalitarian

state. It was this stunt which got the

Pussy Riot band members into trouble, a provocative punk protest

song staged inside eight Cathedral, outraging many Russian believers. At

their trial, their case was taken up by international human rights

campaigners shocked at tough jail sentences for mothers with young

children. They are not the only high-profile prisoners benefiting

from a new leniency from the Kremlin. So too has this former oil

tycoon unexpectedly flown to freedom in Germany last week, ending ten

years in prison and a Siberian labour camps. Is this all about the

Olympics in Sochi, ensuring foreign criticism does not spoil it?

Certainly, at his annual press conference last week, President

Putin did not sound as if he was taking a softer line on internal

critics. He said he was sorry the Pussy Riot woman had been imprisoned

and called a protest disgraceful. Whether he will tolerate new acts of

defiance from them seems highly doubtful.

English councils have made another record surplus from their parking

charges, according to the RAC. In 2012-13, councils made a "profit" of

nearly ?600 million from parking operations. That's a 5% increase on

the year before. However, 52 of the 353 parking authorities across

England reported a deficit. Sophie Hutchinson reports.

The pain of overstaying your welcome. Each year, parking fines

and charges generate millions of pounds for local councils. The

latest figures suggest profits have reached record levels and seven out

of the top ten earning councils are in London. A report by the RAC

Foundation says Westminster makes the most, almost ?40 million in the

past year. Outside the capital, Brighton and Hove Council next with

?16 million. Then, not in which made ?12 million. There is a suspicion,

as government have cut grants to councils, which they have done on a

large scale, and Council tax is capped, local authorities are

charging more and more for parking to fill in that gap, which is not

legal. This is already under the spotlight, the government is looking

whether to ban cameras or yellow lines. Today's report about profits

will add to the pressure for parking charges to be reformed. Across

councils in the UK, it is a legitimate way of raising extra

revenue for cash-strapped local authorities. I am a builder. It is

?35 a day. There is always a parking attendant at the car waiting to

catch you out. I do start to wonder what they are doing with their

money. Westminster Council has stressed its only spends income from

parking on transport. The Association which represents local

authorities insist it is a myth to suggest otherwise. The indications

are online, to find out what the council is spending their money on,

council tax and money raised from parking charges. The debate over

parking is unlikely to stall, with today's report predicting even

higher earnings for councils in the New Year.

A British Airways plane bound for London has hit a building at

Johannesburg's Tambo Airport last night. The flight was taxiing when

its right wing hit the building, slightly injuring four people

inside. England have had to call up urgent

replacements for the remainder of the Ashes series, after Graeme

Swann's shock retirement midway through the tour. It comes just days

after England lost the third Test in Perth. They're now 3-0 down, with

the real threat of a series whitewash. Dan Roan's report

contains some flash photography. England have been trying to do their

duty here in Melbourne, although the Ashes are lost, commitments still

have to be met. Putting a brave face on things is becoming harder. As if

retiring mid-series wasn't controversial enough, Graeme Swann

has accused unnamed players of arrogance. That is interpreted as a

swipe against his former England team-mates. What does his

replacement make of it? He probably knows who he is referring to. In

terms of his team-mates, we are right behind him. We loved him to

bits. He had great character, his sense of humour was good. We will

back him. With three days to go until the fourth test match, the

England players are trying to be good tourists, but the reality is

this is a tour gone bad. No such problems for Australia, basking in

the glory that comes with having regained the Ashes. They are taking

it in their stride and no matter how tempting, refused to be drawn on the

chaos of their opponents. It is not our changing room, all I can speak

of is us. We're all good mates, we are happy with the way we are

going. Australia are enjoying this as they target a whitewash. The gulf

between them and their opponents growing wider by the day.

Time for a look at the weather. Here's Elizabeth Saary.

Some pretty miserable conditions out and about. Some wild weather

conditions to content with, not just today, but into tomorrow as well. We

are no strangers to severe weather but it couldn't come at a worse time

with the roads busy. We have a number of weather warnings. This

amber weather warning is for rain, affecting southern England and South

Wales. A lot of rain coming our way. You can see that stretches into the

Atlantic. A broad weather front coming across the South. The rain

will be relentless, coupled by these strong winds, severe gales. At least

for the next 16 hours, across southern parts, that is where we are

concerned with rain which could give rise to flooding. The temperatures

are academic, it is mild, turning colder further north with snow

falling across the Scottish mountains. Let us look at the rest

of today in the South where we see the worst of it, 60 millimetres of

rain falling across the South West of England, south Wales and central

England, into the south-east, 80 mph winds. Strong enough to cause

significant damage. The next weather warning is for the winter. This

comes into effect in the early hours of Christmas Eve. This will be

across the extreme south-east of England. That will eventually clear

away through Christmas eve. Looking better across the South. In the

north-west on Christmas Eve, we will seek 80 mph gusts. Some wintry

weather, blizzard conditions over the Scottish mountains. Wintry

showers into Northern Ireland and northern England. A called a feeling

day on Christmas Eve. A lot of problems expected over the next day

or two, disruption is a possibility. Thankfully, we get a breather on

Christmas Day, it settled down. The winds die down. Boxing Day is not

too bad. But coming our way is another big area of low pressure

bringing wild weather for Friday. At 1.30pm, a reminder of our main

story this lunchtime. Christmas chaos is threatened as

millions brushed to get home ahead of that powerful storm hitting the

UK. That's all from the News at One this

lunchtime.