30/01/2014 BBC News at One

Emergency Committee. As some parts of the country remain underwater,

the armed forces are called in with amphibious vehicles and equipment to

help deal with flooded homes and businesses. With more rain forecast,

the Environment Secretary will chair another meeting of the Government's

Emergency Committee this afternoon. Also this lunchtime: David Cameron

faces a Commons rebellion as Tory MPs call for tougher measures in the

Immigration Bill. Anger as a serious case review

decides that the killing of a pregnant woman and her young son by

the boy's father could not have been prevented.

Hopes of a treatment for peanut allergy. Doctors say a new clinical

trial has transformed the lives of children taking part.

And, flying for the last time over Afghanistan. The RAF's 617 squadron,

better known as the legendary "Dambusters".

Later on BBC London: 700 police swoop on one of the capital's most

notorious gangs. 29 people are arrested. And the

reunion between a man and the stranger who saved his life by

talking him down from a bridge. Good afternoon, and welcome to the

BBC News at One. Figures just released reveal what many of us have

already suspected - January was the wettest month in parts of the

country since records began over 100 years ago. The Met Office says some

parts of England had already seen twice the average rainfall for

January by midnight on Tuesday. And it is warning of more rain for much

of the UK in the coming days. The Government's Emergency Committee,

COBRA, will meet this afternoon as the military arrives in Somerset to

help some of the most-severely flooded areas. Jon Kay is there.

Good afternoon, Simon. An island that has been surrounded by water

since the New Year, they have relied on boats to get backwards and

forwards. You might expect, therefore, they would be full of joy

and relief to hear the military are on their way, but people here are

rather cynical about it. They say it is too little, too late, and they

think this is more about politics and saving face rather than saving

them. Humanitarian assistance arrives in the Somerset

countryside. This lunchtime, the Red Cross turned up, bringing relief in

the form of firewood. How important was this? Incredibly important

because we live in this draughty, ancient house. We need the logs.

It's what we're running out of. Next it is the military expected to

arrive in similar amphibious vehicles. But villagers who were

asking for help three weeks ago seem rather bemused now. Dare I say

anything? It's a bit over the top. We are managing. It's going to start

going down soon, I'm sure. We just get on with it. We are used to it.

So why do you suspect they are being sent in? I suppose it's because

we've had so much media coverage this time. The thing is, after four

weeks of being cut off, Muchelney can be reached by road, so people

wonder what the armed forces will do the charities and emergency services

aren't doing already. A few of the residents have said to me that it's

all a little bit late. Crowe blew its been four weeks that they have

been underwater or cut off and it seems only now has the patent button

hit. It is not just Muchelney. Other communities are affected. The Royal

Marines have been seen nearby this morning apparently carrying out a

recce on the Somerset Levels ahead of more heavy rainfall this weekend.

It's hard to tell at the moment. We were tasked with this last night. At

the moment we are concentrating on understanding the situation, and

very much supporting the local council planning. It is early days

and we've just been on the ground a couple of hours. According to the

latest statistics from The Met office, so far this month 175

millimetres of rain has fallen in southern and central England, nearly

seven inches. Nationally, there has been 35% more than the long-term

average. But it's not the same throughout the UK. Northern

Scotland, for example, has only received 85% of its expected

rainfall. So why has it been so wet for so many of us? What is causing

it is having westerly winds through the window -- Winter, which has

brought us the stormy weather and the big Atlantic weather systems

that have come in and given us all this rain. Those weather systems

have come in from the South first, which is why southern areas have

been particularly wet. Some areas of Britain have been soaking since

Christmas. Yalding has still not recovered. For many of us, January

is set to end as it started, with yet more heavy rain and some very

high tides. You see it here on the island of Muchelney there is still a

significant amount of Warner -- water. It's gone down by about a

foot and a half in the last few days. That is why people think the

help would have been much more useful a week or two or three ago

rather than now when they are a bit cynical about it. Having said that,

they're still a lot more rain coming and we will get the full forecast

late in the hour. A lot more rainfall in the weekend combined

with high tides, which is why people here might be cynical, but they

don't feel full of relief just yet. Aberystwyth was one of the hardest

hit places by the storms in the New Year. Huge waves caused considerable

damage to the historic seafront. Our Wales correspondent Hywel Griffith

is there. One eye on the work being done, but also an eye on the

forecast. Yes, absolutely. Work here is happening brick by brick, trying

to rebuild the historic Victorian prom. On the front of Aberystwyth

they have had heavy machinery in this morning to try and move the

stones. Some people might remember a few weeks ago that much of the beach

was up on top of the Marine Terrace, then it hit some of the

houses. Now it has taken several weeks to bring it back to this

condition and will cost the local council something like ?1.5 million

to do the immediate repairs. In the future they face a bill of something

like ten times that as they look for a way to build bigger and better

flood defences to protect the town. They are even considering some sort

of offshore system that would break the waves before they come in. That

is much further into the future. The immediate concern is what the

weather will bring this weekend. The university told us this morning they

are planning to evacuate some 600 students who live in the houses

along the seafront here. They are even offering to reimburse their

train fares home to go and see their mothers and fathers so they can be

much further away from the seafront, safely at home, in case of the storm

surges hitting this weekend. We expect high tide to reach north and

west Wales on Sunday morning, but ahead of that, high winds might mean

we see bigger waves hitting this weekend and we saw a few weeks ago.

And just a reminder that, throughout the afternoon, the BBC News Channel

has a special day of coverage of how the bad weather has been battering

Britain. David Cameron faces a significant backbench rebellion

later with Conservative MPs calling for tougher measures on Immigration.

A debate is underway now in the House of Commons after the Home

Secretary Theresa May tabled a last-minute amendment to the

Immigration Bill. The change would enable her to strip foreign-born

terrorism suspects of their British citizenship, even if it leaves them

stateless. But other Tory MPs want to go further. Our Political

Correspondent Ross Hawkins reports. It is a debate about authority and

power. Over Britain's borders and government policy. The debate in

part between Tory rebels on the Home Secretary. It is a bill that will

ensure we have greater ability as a government to make it harder for

people to live here in the United Kingdom illegally, make it easier

for us to be able to remove people who are here illegally. Ministers

want tougher powers to strip people who have become British of their

citizenship, even if it means they end up with no nationality at all.

The plans would affect just a few people but have made headlines,

which is helpful, because Conservative rebels have plans of

their own. I am not trying to bring the walls down or crack the

coalition, and I suspect what will happen is that we will have a big

debate and it will pass in the end. He wants to make it much harder for

foreign criminals arguing right they have a family like to avoid being

deported. It's a popular idea at Westminster where over 100 MPs are

prepared to back him. As the debate went on, it emerged that

Conservative ministers would not oppose his amendment. They would

abstain, meaning the Prime Minister could not bring himself to disagree

with his own rebel. Liberal Democrats are expected to vote

against that amendment, but now it is a backbencher who is dictating

the terms of this argument. We will have a better idea by the end of the

day what that means for migration laws and for the authority of

ministers. Our chief Political Correspondent

Norman Smith is in Westminster. Ross was implying this was as much about

politics within the Tory party as immigration. It has been an

extraordinary morning of twists and turns at Westminster. Scrollback 45

minutes, here is David Cameron and his backbenchers, and this was what

was about to happen. Major showdown with up to 100 Tory MPs signing this

critical motion barring foreign criminals from using European human

rights legislation to avoid being deported, in defiance of Mr Cameron,

which is in defiance of the call from Michael Howard to show

self-discipline and unity. And yet, in the past half an hour, we learn

that Mr Cameron is not going to vote against that motion. Now, that might

be seen as a very clever way of avoiding headlines about yet another

Tory revolt over Europe. But it opens up some significant risks. One

is, it opens up a coalition split, because we understand Mr Clegg and

the Liberal Democrats are still going to vote against that backbench

Tory motion. It also risks headlines about Mr Cameron caving into his

backbenchers over Europe. So, yes, Mr Cameron may manage to avoid those

damaging headlines about yet another Tory revolt over Europe, but the

danger is, he is perceived as giving into his backbenchers.

A serious case review has decided that the killing of a pregnant woman

and her young son by the boy's father could not have been

prevented. The Derbyshire Safeguarding Children's Board said

the stabbings of Rachel Slack and her son, Auden, could not have been

"reasonably predicted". But the woman's partner, Robert Barlow, has

said more should have been done to warn Rachael Slack of the danger

posed by Andrew Cairns. Sian Lloyd reports.

Rachel and Gordon were stabbed more than 40 times. After killing his

former partner and young son, Andrew Cairns took his own life. He had a

long history of mental illness, and in the days leading up to the

tragedy had been arrested for making threats to kill Rachel. He had also

been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and released. The report

published today says that their deaths could not have been predicted

or prevented. Rachel had been expecting a baby with her new

partner, and he disagrees with the findings of the report. You cannot

say it would have been prevented until everything was done. All

information was not shared through the agencies. So, they could not

make whole judgements within any decision-making process they had to

do. An inquest jury found that Rachel and Auden had been an auld --

illegally killed and police contributed to their deaths. The

serious case review does not go far enough. There is a discordance

between the two findings, and this discordance needs to be resolved,

and one way to do that is to have a public enquiry and look at the

failings of state agencies across England and Wales. When Andrew

Cairns arrived here at Rachel Slack's home in the village of

Holbrooke he was in breach of his conditions on police bail, but

officers from the Derbyshire force had not warned Rachel that there was

a significant risk that he could kill her. Derbyshire police say

victims are now told of the risks. If we identify a victim of high risk

of domestic violence, and therefore we would argue high risk of domestic

homicide, that is explicit. We talk about protective measures, we asked

the victim to understand what we are telling them, because this is an

emotional time. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has yet

to report its findings. Two people are believed to have died on the M1

motorway this morning. Two ambulances and an air ambulances

attended the scenes between junctions five and six. It's one of

the most common food allergies and it can be life threatening, but

researchers in Cambridge believe they've made a breakthrough in

developing a potential treatment for peanut allergy. A group of sufferers

were given tiny amounts of peanut protein, which was gradually

increased. After six months, a significant number were able to eat

up to five peanuts without a reaction. But experts say more

research is needed. Our Health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson has

been to meet one child who took part in the study. Elizabeth Tooley used

to have a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction

to peanuts, the day after her fifth birthday she was rushed to hospital

with severe swelling after eating peanut butter. But since taken part

in a trial she can eat peanuts safely and now has to eat them every

day. She prefers them chocolate coated. I am happy I am able to eat

the peanuts and there is a trial to help me not be allergic any more. It

is life transforming. The worry that it has removed from our life. The

trial published in the Lancet and carried out at Addenbrooke's

Hospital involved 99 children with the allergy. They were given tiny

amounts of powdered peanut protein to eat, and the dose was slowly

increased. After a few months, the vast majority, 80 to 90% of the

children, were able to eat five peanuts a day. This study carried

out in Cambridge is the largest and most successful of its kind in the

world. Scientists here are describing it as a breakthrough and

are saying that for the first time ever, a treatment for peanut allergy

is a possible to. We do mainly clinical research and to be able to

see something that you might be able to take into real-life treatment,

and hugely benefit patient care, is, for us, the pinnacle. Some

experts are urging caution and say more research is needed to assess

the long-term risks. Researchers in Cambridge say this is the first time

this type of treatment, known as desensitisation, has been successful

for a food allergy. They say it could be used in trials for other

allergies such as eggs, wheat and milk. The study was tightly

monitored and should not be attempted a loan. It has, her family

say, given the freedom to live without constant worry. The doctors

who treated her hope it will eventually be available to others on

the NHS. Our top story this lunchtime.

The wettest January since records began. 100 years ago. And more rain

forecast. Still to come, why, if you suffer

from addiction, depression, or diabetes, it could be down to the

behaviour of your ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Later on BBC London, grown under a street near you, subterranean farm

taking root beneath south London. And reinventing itself after 150

years, the Cutty Sark transforms from tea clipper to theatre.

International troops were sent to Afghanistan after the Taliban were

ousted in 2001 - following the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The

number of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan peaked at about 140,000

in 2011 - 100,000 of them from the US and 10,000 from the UK. But it's

been a costly mission. There have been over 3,400 military fatalities

- of which 447 have been British servicemen and women. There are now

around 5,200 British troops there -including one of the RAF's most

famous squadrons - the Dambusters - who have just flown their final

mission before temporarily disbanding. This report from our

defence correspondent, Caroline Wyatt.

Soaring through the Afghan skies for one of the final missions for the

Dambusters. This is one of their Tornado GR4s being refuelled by an

American tank while in the air, a move that requires precision while

travelling at 450 mph. This is a beautiful country, there are

mountains, Greenlands, snowcapped hills. On a day like this when the

sun is shining, it is a beautiful place to look at. The view from my

office is one of the best in the world. Even when the weather is not

nice, when things are not going right and it becomes hard work, it

is not about what we are doing, we are here to support the guys on the

ground who are in a far more vulnerable position. Day and night

for the past four months, Ben and his fellow aviators have provided

air cover for NATO troops. They will move on to new jobs with different

squadrons. The planes will be handed on to 2 Squadron who are taking over

from 617. For the men and women of the Dambusters it is the end of an

era, it is the last time they will fly these Tornado GR4s. For most, if

not all of the squadron, it is a last tour of Afghanistan. Sergeant

Adam Croxall is on his third tour of Afghanistan and home is just days

away. It is was good to go home at the end of it, happy. It will be

good to not come back here again. This fighter jets have been in

service for some three decades now. Future runways are likely to be

dominated by unmanned aircraft. But not for a while. 617 Squadron will

be back again when the UK's newest jets come into service. Until then,

Ben and several other pilots will continue to fly tornadoes, albeit

with another squadron. The positive news is there is a very bright

future. Later this decade the Dambusters will reform, 617 will be

the UK's first Lightning II squadron and it will reform with a new

aircraft at RAF Marnham. There will be sadness as they fly their

separate ways. Formed from just one task in 1943, the Dambusters have

endured. One day they will fly again.

Michael Adebolajo, one of the two men found guilty of the murder of

soldier Lee Rigby, has lodged an application to appeal against

conviction. Add a blah Joe and Michael Adebowale were convicted in

December of murdering Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks last May.

The former News of the World reporter Dan Evans has told the Old

Bailey he may have been mistaken when he told the court he

intercepted a voice mail message from Sienna Miller to Kelly Hoppen.

Mr Evans, who has admitted phone hacking during his time at the

newspaper, says he now leads it may have been Sienna Miller's sister who

left the message -- he now believes it may have been.

Investigators say a father and daughter, who were killed in a

speedboat accident in Cornwall, died after he took control of the

steering from his wife. Nick Milligan and eight-year-old Emily

were hit by the boat in Padstow last May. A report said Mrs Milligan

should have been wearing a kill-chord safety device to shut off

the boat's engine. Duncan Kennedy reports. This was the moment the

Milligan family boat was left spinning out of control. It was at

Padstow in Cornwall in May last year, when they were enjoying a day

by the sea. All six members of the family were thrown into the water.

Nick and age old Emily were killed when the vessel ran over them. Mum

Victoria and four-year-old kit suffered serious injuries. Two older

children suffered minor ones. The official report into the accident

concluded that Nick Milligan had lent over his wife to take control

of the rig and powered up to guide the boat away from a beach, action

that tipped everyone overboard. Unfortunately the kill-cord, which

should have stopped the engine, was not being worn and so it continued

to circle over the family, resulting in the tragic death and two other

family members being injured. Kill-cord is our standard issue in

smaller boats, designed to be simple and quick -- kill-cords are

standard. This is the kind of Rigby family was in. Each time a a vessel

goes out they should have a skipper attached to one of these

kill-cords, so that this does not happen. Not everyone supports calls

to make them compulsory. We don't believe legislation is the answer,

we believe making sure people are aware of the hazards and better

educating, but are promoting the use of kill-cords is the way forward.

The family had been trained before using their vessel. Today's report

says kill-cords should become second nature when taking the helm at

powerboats. Doctors in France are to begin

brining the former Formula 1 racing champion, Michael Schumacher, out of

his medically induced coma. He's been in hospital since a skiing

accident at the end of last year - in which he hit his head against a

rock. The driver's agent say doctors have now decided to start lowering

his sedation. Researchers have discovered that

many modern afflictions, such as addiction to smoking, depression,

and diabetes are linked to early humans interbreeding with

Neanderthals hundreds of thousands of years ago. The research by

Harvard Medical School suggests that our species also acquired

Neanderthal genes that helped us adapt to the colder climes of Europe

and Asia, as the first humans of our species emerged. Our science

correspondent, Pallab Ghosh, has more.

In the distant past, our ancestors left Africa and populated the rest

of the world. On the way, they met another species of human called the

Neanderthals, with whom they coexisted until they died out 30,000

years ago. Recently, and ours is of DNA taken from the bones of

Neanderthals has shown modern humans have inherited some of their genes

-- analysis of the DNA. When the first humans of our species left

Africa, they encountered and interbred with Neanderthals. As a

result, all non-African people living today have a little bit of

Neanderthal DNA in them. Some of these Neanderthal genes we have

inherited from our ancestors are linked to diseases that afflict us

such as addiction to smoking, depression, diabetes and Crohn's

disease. So what is the explanation for these modern-day diseases having

their origins in Neanderthal DNA? This might be because that DNA is

quite foreign to our body system. We are talking about a population that

is much more different to how people are today. Perhaps that is

triggering immune reactions, some autoimmune diseases may be affected

by this presence of alien, if we call it, alien DNA. The research,

published in the journal Nature, also suggested humans have inherited

genes from Neanderthal that helped them to adapt to the colder climate

outside of Africa. It is another step in getting to know ourselves

better. Until recently we did not know that our ancestors interbred

with Neanderthals at all. We found out that they did, we found out that

we all carry a very small percentage of Neanderthal genomics. Future

studies are likely to find many more Neanderthal genes that have both

positive and negative effects on the modern-day population.

The Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has turned himself in to police in

Toronto and been charged with an assault.

It relates to an alleged attack on a limousine driver in December.

Officials say he'll appear in court in March. The 19-year-old singer has

been involved in a series of bizarre incidents recently. This report from

Sarah Campbell contains some flash photography.

Still the centre of attention, and leaving his clean cut image even

further behind. Justin Bieber handed himself into in Toronto, where he

has been charged with assaulting a limousine driver. We are here to

support him, we are his family. You want to be there for them. Fans have

had several chances to be there for their idol recently. Last week he

was in court in Miami. He has pleaded not guilty to charges

related to alleged involvement in an illegal drag race. The press say he

swore at an officer and admitted to taking marijuana. On January the

14th his LA mansion was investigated by police on a vandalism charge. It

might help explain why more than 180,000 people have signed an online

petition to have him deported from the US. So many, in fact, that the

White House must review and comment on the matter. He remains one of the

world's best-known artists, but flagging album sales suggest he is

becoming in danger -- in danger of becoming known more for his bad boy

image than his music. Time for a look at the weather.

Let's go straight out into the Atlantic because things are on the

move. It is not so much this finger of cloud which loses its gusto, it

is what is lurking further out that will be a problem. This afternoon,

leaden skies for many, some sunshine around. Western side of Scotland,

one or two spots in the north-west of Wales. Cold air has become

further north towards Birmingham and Norwich and you will see wintry mess

about your showers. -- wintry the top end of the Pennines into

Scotland, a cold night, a touch of frost in rural spots, might even be

fog across the South. The area of low pressure doesn't stay in the

Atlantic. After a pretty quiet start to the day, wet and windy weather.

There is still an amber warning for the Somerset Levels, 30 millimetres

of rain, 40 across the high ground in Wales and the south-west of

England. It takes a while before we get into the far east and East

Anglia, blustery showers following on behind. Just when you might be

thinking about leaving work on Friday, the top end of the M6, maybe

into the Scottish roads, there will be a conversion of rain into snow

and that could cause real travel problems. Transient on the snow

front but there will be a lot of surface water around. Saturday, the

low pressure is much closer and it will reduce an awful lot of wind. 60

mph gusts through the Channel coasts, up into the Bristol Channel

and the Irish Sea. That is one part of the triple whammy, the waves will

be high, the tides are high through the course of the weekend.

Potentially up to 70 mph on the western side of Wales. There could

be a risk of flooding around about those coastal areas. That goes on

through Saturday, into the first part of Sunday. That low pressure is

not moving very fast. Saturday is a blustery day. We will continue that

theme into the heart of Sunday because that low pressure is going

nowhere fast. I know that is a lot to take in. You can do it at your

speed on the BBC weather website. Now a reminder of our top story this

lunchtime. The wettest January since records began 100 years ago, and

more rain is forecast. That's all from us. Now on BBC One