03/02/2014 BBC News at One

The Education Secretary sets out his vision for the future of state

schools, as the row continues about his decision to replace the chair of

Ofsted. Michael Goves says he wants standards to be raised in state

schools so that they match independent schools. More great

schools, more great teachers, more pupils achieving great results, add

up to one inescapable conclusion. The English state education system

is getting better and better. We will be getting the latest from

Westminster. More criticism of the Environment

Agency as a severe flood warnings remain in place in several areas,

with the Met Office warning of worse to come.

Lloyds Banking Group says its increasing its provision for the

mis-selling of PPI by another ?1.8 billion, but says it is on course to

full advertise a share tributes to the Oscar-winning actor Philip

Seymour Hoffman, who died of a suspected drug overdose in New York.

And the 30 foot deep sinkhole that swallowed a car in High Wycombe.

Later on BBC London. Police search for Robert Richard

Fraser in connection with the death of a sex worker in Earl's Court.

And should curbs be placed on overseas buyers snapping up property

in the capital? Good afternoon. The Education

Secretary has said state schools in England should be more like private

schools, with longer school days, more discipline, and with all

students taking the equivalent of the Common entrance exam. Michael

Gove was speaking as the row at the top of Ofsted intensifies, with one

Chief Inspector warning him not to believe his own hype.

A swell of controversy has surrounded Michael Gove this weekend

over how he makes public appointments and over his style.

This morning, he sought to wrest back the agenda, with a speech laden

with his main priorities, rigorous standards with no excuses for poor

performance. He said he wanted a state system that matched the

private sector. My ambition for our education system is simple. When you

visit a school in England, standards are so high all round, you simply

cannot tell whether it is a state school or an independent fee-paying

school. Mr Gove urged state secondaries to try out common

entrance test papers, sat in private schools aged 13, to give pupils a

chance to see how they are performing. He said a future

Conservative government would help state schools offer a nine or ten

hour day, with homework, music and sport. I have nothing against an

extended school day, as long it isn't teachers who have to work from

6am to 8pm. Teachers do the largest amount of unpaid overtime of all

professions. A row has raged over the airwaves over the position of

the Labour peer Sally Morgan. She accused Mr Gove is being politically

motivated in the placing her as the chair of the schools watchdog

Ofsted, which he denies. The furore of Lady Morgan prompted a former top

mandarin, Sir David Bell, to issue these words of advice to the

Secretary of State. Supporters of Michael Gove say he's

acted entirely properly. The minister is responsible for the

policies he delivers, the others are not. He is held to account by the

electorate, and wants the best people in the job to push his

policies through. He's right to make changes. Michael Gove has never been

frightened of ruffling feathers in the education establishment, but his

pursuit of radical change in school has ruffled political feathers too.

Let's speak to our chief let call correspondent in Westminster. Trying

to gain the initiative on education, Michael Gove. Has he

managed? The radical reforms outlined by him today are part of

the same story, which is that Michael Gove is a bit like the Billy

whizz of British politics. He wants to get from a as quickly as

possible, and doesn't care about the mayhem that might follow behind him.

He is not a conservative, he is a Tory radical. He doesn't want to

protect the establishment, he wants to change it. That's why he got rid

of Sally Morgan, not because she was not any good, but because he felt

she didn't have the zeal to press a head with the changes he wants. If

the former chief inspector of schools is upset, so be it. He

almost regards offending the educational establishment and the

Lib Dems as badges of honour. Paradoxically, within the

Conservative Party, that does his standing a lot of good, because they

like to see politicians of conviction. But if you demotivate or

alienate the people who are meant to be implementing the change you seek,

you could jeopardise that change. You might know that Billy whizz

frequently ends up battered and bruised, and not quite where he

intended to be. Thank you. Downing Street has called on the

Environment Agency to scrap premium rate charges on a helpline for flood

victims. People were being charged 41p per minute. There are two severe

flood warnings in place in the Midlands, and nearly 300 other

warnings and alerts in place across the UK. Our correspondent is at

Thorney in Somerset. You can probably see the rain is

holding off this lunchtime, but behind me, there's no sign of that

flood going away. All over the weekend, people in this area were

watching the weather forecast with trepidation, waiting to see what

might happen to them again. Not just them, those living on the coast as

well. Another day, another storm. There

was little let out, as gale force winds and high tides battered parts

of the South West. Again. More damage, more costly repairs, and

fears arguments about how to protect areas like this in the future. The

chair of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, today said there are no

quick fixes in the face of this kind of extreme rainfall, and the

solutions are not just for the Environment Agency to find. He said

there is no bottomless purse, and we need to make difficult but sensible

choices about what we try to protect. Cold comfort to those

already living with the floods, or worried they might be next.

Terrible. These people are suffering all the time. Last year, they said

it wouldn't happen again, but it is worse. We don't need new flood

defences, we just need to keep in order what was built 50 years ago.

Anger this morning too that and Environment Agency flood helpline

charge -- charged worried callers a premium rate. The Environment Agency

says it doesn't make money out of it, but David Cameron is calling for

it to be scrapped. People can look at our website and see flood

warnings free of charge. We are willing to move towards a free

service for the flood line number. This event is going to run for a few

days or weeks to come. In the middle of this event, it isn't the best

time to move to a different number, when people already know the number

we are using. Tomorrow, the Levels by Royal appointment. Rinse Charles

is coming here to see the extent of the damage and how people are

coping. You can hear they're the

frustration, the sheer frustration, of people living here in Thorney and

right across the Somerset Levels, that there are these arguments being

put forward about whether to dredge or not to dredge, and what to do.

What they really want is action on the ground, and they would like it

now. The Lloyds Banking Group has taken

another step towards full privatisation after saying it hopes

to start paying dividends to existing shareholders for the first

time in six years. That's despite having to set aside an extra ?1.8

billion for PPI compensation. Our business correspondent reports.

Lloyds is the biggest force in high Street ranking, and it sold more

payment protection policies than anyone else. It's billed just keeps

on rising. Lloyds is having to set aside another ?1.8 billion for

mis-selling PPI, bringing its total bill to merely ?10 billion, half the

total for all UK banks. These figures are mind blowing, but there

is good news in this for Lloyds. Despite having to pay out vast sums

for PPI claims last year, it is expected to make a small profit when

it announces its results in the next few weeks. It is now in good enough

position to start paying dividends later this year. This big bank that

we own a large chunk of is cleaning itself up, getting ready for the

next step in its privatisation. The Lloyds management is trying to put

everything up front, so when it comes to having the share sale later

this year, there are no more embarrassing announcements. This is

throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, out. The government

has already sold a 6% stake in Lloyds. The question is how soon the

next sell-off will be, and when individual investors will be able to

take part. When ever it is, the process will be closely scrutinised.

Robert Peston is with me now. The good news is good news, but looking

at that figure for PPI that they have had to set aside, that is a

huge figure. Almost ?10 billion in total. It just tells you how bad

this product was, this credit insurance sold by all the banks, and

how Lloyds was up to its neck in it in the bad old days. But even the

bad news about its past sins is, in a way, good news for the rest of us.

In total, the banks are handing out not far off 20 alien pounds -- 20

alien pounds to millions of British people. And the British people are

spending that money. There was a little bit of a mystery a few months

ago about why the economy was recovering as fast as it is. We can

now be confident that one of the reasons the recovery was as fast as

it has been is because of all of these PPI payments. They are

economic least significant, more than 1% of GDP, a bigger stimulus to

this economy than anything the government has done. Perhaps we

should all count our blessings that the banks did pay soap -- did behave

so badly in the past. There's also the issue of privatisation. There

are going to be two phases to the share sale this year. There will be

a lump of shares, maybe 5 billion flogged to investment institutions,

and some to ordinary people, in April. There will be an even bigger

sale in the autumn, aimed at the mass market.

A 24-year-old woman has appeared before magistrates in Oldham charged

with murdering her son. Katarzyna Gacek is accused of killing Thomas

Gacek at a house in the town. She was remanded in custody to appear at

Manchester Crown Court tomorrow. The judge has begun summing up in

the trial of the Coronation Street actor Bill Roache. The 81-year-old

is charged with the rape and indecent assault of five girls in

the 60s and 70s. Mr Roache denies all the charges.

This is a trial which is now into its fourth week. The jury of eight

women and four men have heard both sides. They are now listening to the

judge summing up the case. He reminded them that this is a case in

which five women alleged they were sexually abused by the Coronation

Street actor William Roache, and he flatly denies this. He told the jury

there is a head on conflict of evidence here which you will have to

regard -- to resolve. He told members of the jury they'd should

not feel daunted or overawed by the task ahead of them. He spent the

morning going through various points of law to direct them, talking to

them about the fact that some passage of time has gone by since

the offences were alleged to have taken place. He said that that in

itself did not provide Mr Roache with a defence, although his defence

lawyer has pointed to this in her case. He also talked about Bill

Roache's good character, and told the jury they must decide the level

of importance they will attach to that. Overall, he has said they must

be certain of the actor's guilt before conviction. If they are not

certain, they must acquit him. The judge will then send the jury out to

consider their verdict. A pupil at a Russian high school is

reported to have shot dead a police officer and a teacher. He also held

more than 20 students hostage at the school on the outskirts of Moscow

before being arrested. Last year there were 45,000 cosmetic surgery

operations. There was a big jump in the number of people, women and men,

having liposuction. It is a multibillion pound industry. Last

year was the busiest ever for Britain's cosmetic surgeons. Amy

works at this private clinic in Newcastle. Three months ago she

became a patient and had liposuction on her hips. I had stubborn areas on

the back of my hips. Most women know what I'm talking about. I couldn't

get rid of it through dieting and exercise. It was getting rid of it

to make me more comfortable in my clothes. The surgeon's organisation

said its members carrying out a record 50,000 operations last year.

T 0% were on -- 90% were on women. Breast implants were the most

popular. The biggest increase was on liposuction. . We have seen a

double-dig get rise. We have not seen this standard of rise since

before the recession. So, clearly this is an indicator of economic

recovery because the people having these procedures are from all walks

of life and from all parts of the country. Two years ago, it was

revealed more than 40,000 British women were given implants made from

industrial silicon. Controls have since been tightened and the

negative publicity seems to have been overshadowed by people's desire

to change their appearance. If you are unhappy or dissatisfied with

their life for whatever reason it is easy to buy into this myth that

cosmetic surgery is the answer. In fact the problem is in your mind, it

is not with your body. A lot of the time it does not work that. Kus

mettic surgery has -- kus mettic surgery has not been so popular.

Surgeons warn despite its popularity plastic surgery has risks as well as

possible rewards and should not be taken lightly.

Our top story this lunch time: The Education Secretary, Michael Gove,

says he wants standards to be raised in state schools so they match

independent schools. Still to come - that sinking feel - the hole that

swallowed a car in Buckinghamshire. Later on BBC London - the Met's

campaign getting tough on those who abuse and exploit children. Showing

off the capital - how London is trying to lure the growing number of

tourists from India. The family of Philip Seymour Hoffman

have been paying their own tribute to the 46-year-old actor who was

found dead in his New York home yesterday. They have issued a

statement in which they speak about their tragic and sudden loss, but

also their appreciation of the outpouring of love and support they

have received since the news of his death. It is thought he died of a

heroin overdose. Our arts correspondent's report contains some

flash photography. It could have been the scene from

one of his films, but this was tragically real. Philip Seymour

Hoffman's body being removed from his New York home after a suspected

drug overdose. Tributes were paid to him at last night's Super Bowl. It

is a shame. Who knows what he would have been able to do. We are left

with a legacy of the work he's done. It all speaks for itself. I am kind

of in shock right now. We lost one of the greats, one of the greats. It

is very, very sad. Often describes as an actor's actor,

he was utterly authentic in roles, whether playing a baddie in such as

Mission: Impossible III or in more art house fare, like Magnolia. Those

who worked with him have expressed their sorrow. Robert De Niro saying:

At the start of his career, Philip Seymour Hoffman had drug addiction

problems. He went on to win the Best Actor Oscar for Capote.

Clean for more than 20 years, he checked into rehab last May after

taking heroin. He appeared to be getting his career back on track. He

almost finished the next two hunger games movies. On Friday, the cast

was announced for his second film as a director. Something on which he

wanted to focus. Acting is my day job. It really is. I think it will

never not be. I don't think I could just act. I think that would wear me

down. Philip Seymour Hoffman described

acting as torturous, but both on-screen and on-stage gave some of

the most memorable performances of the last two decades.

An inquest has opened into the death of a royal military police officer

who hanged herself after claiming she was raped by two male

colleagues. Prosecutors decided not to press charges after Corporal

Anne-Marie Ellement made the complaint. Her family said

afterwards she was subjected to rape-related bullying.

The Army was Anne-Marie Ellement's life. In November, 2009, while

serving in Germany, she claims she was raped by two colleagues.

Not long after, she transferred to this base in Wiltshire, saying she

was angry that no-one had been charged with the assault.

She worked here at the Royal Military Police office and told her

family people were shouting - there's the girl that cried rape.

Anne-Marie Ellement was 30 years old and a corporal in the Royal Military

Police. It was after she was posted here, to Bulford camp, in Wiltshire,

that her body was found in October 2011. The inquest has to decide what

were the exact circumstances that led up to that death. Her family

have fought for this second inquest, saying the first didn't get to the

truth. We want some justice. We want some answers. We want to know the

real reason of what happened between my little sister and why she wasn't

protected. Thank you. Her mother told the inquest:

The Ministry of Defence will argue that Anne-Marie Ellement did receive

support and that there wasn't enough evidence to charge the two soldiers

involved. The inquest is due to last three weeks.

Older women are being targeted by a breast cancer campaign. At the

moment screening stops automatically for women when they are 70 and they

have to request it themselves. Recent figures show one in three

women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in England each year are aged

70 or over. That is around 13, 500 women, over 70, diagnosed with the

disease every year in England. This accounts for half of all breast

cancer deaths annually. We will speak now to Yvonne Doyle, the

regional director from public health England. What will surprise a lot of

people is the risk of breast cancer increases with age. A lot of older

women don't think that either. Actually their risk does go up. One

in three of all cases are in the over 70s. You ra not past it if you

are -- you are not past it if you are 70. If you turn up early for

treatment you do very well. We are worried that older women are not

turning up early enough for treatment. This campaign is to try

and make them aware of the signs of breast cancer that they may not be

aware of. So, increased awareness is crucial. Treatment, presumably, the

same as for younger women? If they get in early their survival is very

good. Older women respond well to early treatment. They need to look

for signs. Everyone thinks it is about a lump, actually it is about

changes in the nipple, the skin, the shape of the breast or pain in the

breast. A lot of older women are not aware of those signs. Dr Yvonne

Doyle, thank you for coming in. Thank you. There are just 170 days

to go before the Commonwealth Games begin in Glasgow. Organisers are

concerned about the future of the event because so far no-one has said

they want to host the Games in 2022. An Extraordinary General Meeting of

the federation is being held on Friday and bids have to be in at the

beginning of March. Where will you be when the world

comes to Scotland? Glasgow 2014 selling itself to the world, in

order to attract big crowds and athletes to the city for the 20th

Commonwealth Games. It is so far proving popular with most of these

venues ready and the majority of the tickets sold. How popular are the

Games in General. In 2018, Australia ya's Gold Coast will be the hosts,

after that, in 2022, the destinations of the Games so far

remains a mystery. So far, no serious expressions of interest have

been received T man in charge of attracting them remains upbeat.

Obviously there's no bids, the Games will finish in 2018. It is logical.

I think we will go on. The movement will continue to grow. The Games

have been held every four years since the first empire games in

1930. As they have grown, so has the price tag, so as the Queen's baton

makes its way around her 70 nations and territories, the message is

smaller games could be smaller. Meaning less athletes. The

Commonwealth games is important, not jus because of thes at -- just

because of the atmosphere, but the competition. It is very competitive.

So Glasgow builds to r the summer t question is - have the games -- so

Glasgow builds for the summer, the question is - have they lost their

shine? One moment your car is on the drive way, the next it is vanished,

thanks to a sinkhole. At the weekend one opened up in High Wycombe, 30

feet deep and 15 feet wide. It swallowed a car, but thankfully

injured no-one. Imagine waking up to find this outside your house! A

gaping hole in the drive way, with your car at the bottom of it.

Phil and Liz were first alerted to the sinkhole yesterday morning when

they heard their daughter scream. 15 feet across and 30 feet deep, the

hole had simply swallowed up her car. We heard this piercing scream

at about 7am. We came rushing out and she was looking out the window,

"My car has gone." We saw this huge hole. The car is buried, barely

visible, under the mud. How did it happen? One theory is the heavy rain

we've had over the past few weeks washed away the earth under the

tarmac. There are old chalk mines in this area and they may have played a

role. Happily, no-one here was hurt. Sinkholes in other parts of the

world have been much bigger and sometimes catastrophic.

This collapse looked like a scene from a disaster movie.

The local council are now investigating what happened here in

High Wycombe. The family are keeping a close eye on the sinkhole in their

drive way, hoping it doesn't get bigger!

That is an understatement! Let's have a look at the weather.

I have been looking back at the weather. I think it was the 5th

December we last had decent high pressure over the British Isles.

Since 9th December we've had south-westerly winds, which have

been bringing huge rainfall totals, particularly in Wales and south-west

England as well. We have seen some really, really wet weather over

these areas. January, across parts of the south had some of the highest

rainfall totals we have ever seen for a January. On the satellite we

have an area of cloud working into the western side of the British

Isles. This front is slow-moving today. The chances are if it is

raining where you live at the moment, it probably will be as we

head towards the evening time as well. It is windy across the Irish

Sea coasts. Some wet weather clinging on to the

coastline of Antrim and Down this afternoon. The wettest will be

further south, across southern Wales and south-west England, again. With

around 30 mms of rain before the rain eases up. Across eastern

England, bright and breezy. Ass the winter has been so far -- as the

winter has been so far, it will be mild, running a degree or so above

average. The rain band will weaken as it

pushes eastwards. More snow for the Scottish mountains

and across the north-west of the country, particularly over rural

areas, we could get a nip of frost. Tuesday morning, well expect showers

from the word go. Focussed in on Wales and south-west England.

Overnight rains clears from Aberdeen. Fine weather for eastern

Scotland into the afternoon. For most, bright and breezy. During the

afternoon, the winds will crank up across south-west England, with

severe gales here by the end of the day. This next weather system, well

we are monitoring at the moment - this lump of cloud racing across at

the moment will be picked up by a powerful jet stream, blasting at

around 180 miles per hour. That dwrops this low press -- develops

this low pressure. Expect a very, very windy spell of weather through

Tuesday night into Wednesday. How strong will the winds get? We are

looking at winds of 80 miles per hour. 60-70 miles per hour through

the Irish Sea coasts and similar through the English Channel coast.

It could bring down some trees and more rain to come. 30 mms across

south-west England. More over hills. Yes, I reckon it has been the best

part of two months that we have seen this incredible rainfall. Any sign

of it stopping? Well, not really. In the next couple of weeks it seems

like we'll see further bouts of wet weather. Towards the end of February

there are hints we could get something less wet, if you like.

That is a long, long way off. Don't forget the BBC News Channel this

afternoon will have the latest on those flood alerts in the Midlands

and the south-west and live reports from Somerset. A reminder of our top

story this lunch time: The Education Secretary has said he wants

standards to be raised in state schools so they match independent

schools. That's all from us. Now on BBC One,

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