Browse content similar to 26/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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15 farms and 750 pharmacies could be sold off to help cover the expected | :00:10. | :00:17. | |
?2 billion shortfall. Also this lunchtime... The troubled Mid | :00:18. | :00:20. | |
Staffordshire NHS Trust seems set to be abolished, with services taken | :00:21. | :00:23. | |
over by other trusts and some units closed. The Prime Minister says the | :00:24. | :00:30. | |
actions that led to the collapse of the case against Hyde Park bombing | :00:31. | :00:33. | |
suspect John Downey were a "dreadful mistake". | :00:34. | :00:37. | |
A serious case review has concluded that the death of a baby girl at the | :00:38. | :00:42. | |
hands of her father - a former soldier suffering from | :00:43. | :00:44. | |
post-traumatic stress disorder - could have been prevented. | :00:45. | :00:54. | |
Scientists have hailed one of the most astonishing force of | :00:55. | :01:05. | |
discoveries of recent years, a graveyard of whales in Chile. In BBC | :01:06. | :01:12. | |
London News, fears over the impact of HS2, as a consultation draws to a | :01:13. | :01:13. | |
close. Good afternoon and welcome to the | :01:14. | :01:32. | |
BBC News at One. The Co-op Group is expected to | :01:33. | :01:35. | |
announce the biggest loss in its history next month, of around ?2 | :01:36. | :01:38. | |
billion. Much of the shortfall will come from the group's bank, which | :01:39. | :01:42. | |
had to be bailed out by investors last year. It also says it is | :01:43. | :01:45. | |
planning to sell its farming business, which includes 15 farms, | :01:46. | :01:48. | |
and is considering off-loading its 750 pharmacies. Our business | :01:49. | :01:50. | |
correspondent Emma Simpson reports. The Co-op has long been a familiar | :01:51. | :02:06. | |
face on the high street, a business which goes back 150 years. But the | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
group is set to report its worst results ever next month, with | :02:12. | :02:19. | |
expected losses of more Co-op had a terrible 2013, which turned into a | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
nightmare. The main thing which went wrong was that they found a black | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
hole of ?1.5 billion in their bank. Sorting that out, as all of the | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
other things wrong with the group, means they might end up making even | :02:33. | :02:37. | |
more than ?2 billion of losses this year. You may not know it, but the | :02:38. | :02:40. | |
Co-op is one of the biggest farmers in Britain. It has got 15 farms, | :02:41. | :02:46. | |
like this one in Aberdeenshire. They mostly produced cereal, but the | :02:47. | :02:49. | |
Co-op says they are no longer a core part of the business, and it wants | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
to sell them. The Co-op may also sell its pharmacies. It has the | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
third biggest chain, with more than 750 stores, and thousands of staff. | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
It is exploring options as it reviews its business across the | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
group. Britain's biggest mutual is best known for its presence here on | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
the high street, from supermarkets to funeral parlours. It is a | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
sprawling collection of businesses. The group has been in turmoil, | :03:17. | :03:19. | |
thanks to the near collapse of its bank. The new management team is | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
trying to put things right, but it will mean big changes. The boss | :03:25. | :03:29. | |
recently gave his view on the group's troubles and on its future. | :03:30. | :03:35. | |
Over the last five or six years, the business kind of lost its way. As a | :03:36. | :03:40. | |
management team, we all joined last summer, and we are committed to | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
return the Co-op to that point of difference in every local community. | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
The trouble is here in its banking arm. It has cost the Co-op dear. A | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
radical shake-up could eventually lead to many job losses, as this | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
battered group tries to get back on its feet. Well, our business editor, | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
Robert Peston, is with me. What do you think are the real reasons for | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
these eye watering losses, if they are confirmed? Well, my | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
understanding is that the losses will be more than ?2 billion. It was | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
inevitable that there were going to be big losses, given the troubles of | :04:18. | :04:24. | |
the Co-operative Bank. It was rescued at the end of last year, but | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
in the course of being rescued, Co-op Group had to recognise that | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
its investment in the bank had collapsed to zero. So, that is one | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
cause of the loss. Then, the bank had to recognise that lots of the | :04:38. | :04:40. | |
loans it had made in the past had gone bad, that is another source. | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
And then there is something else. This was a group which was very | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
ambitious a few years ago. Apart from the expansion of the bank, | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
buying Britannia, it also bought the Somerfield group of supermarkets, | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
which have also not performed quite as well as Co-op would've liked. | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
They are going to have to write down the value of some of those stores | :05:01. | :05:07. | |
how much will it need to change to turn this around? The new management | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
is looking at really fundamental change. We learned today, farms, a | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
historic business, Co-op has been in farming for more than 100 years, | :05:17. | :05:21. | |
they are going. It is very likely that the third biggest pharmacy | :05:22. | :05:24. | |
chain in the country, owned by the Co-op, will also be sold. But there | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
is a fundamental assessment of the philosophy of the group. They are | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
carrying out probably the largest survey of customer opinion ever | :05:36. | :05:41. | |
carried out by a British company. And two things may flow from that. | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
For example, they may stop paying the famous dividend to the members, | :05:47. | :05:51. | |
millions of members, and they may instead use more of their profits to | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
cut prices. But that would be a big cultural change. Similarly, they are | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
asking members and other people, should they continue to make | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
political contributions to note that may signal the end of the so-called | :06:04. | :06:08. | |
Co-op Party, which would also mean the end of valuable financial | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
support for the Labour Party and its MPs. | :06:12. | :06:13. | |
In just over an hour's time, the plans for the future of the troubled | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust will be made known by the Health Secretary, | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
Jeremy Hunt. He's expected to confirm that it is be the first | :06:22. | :06:24. | |
trust to be abolished, with services taken over by other trusts - and | :06:25. | :06:27. | |
some units closed. A public inquiry last year ruled the trust was | :06:28. | :06:30. | |
responsible for the "unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people". | :06:31. | :06:32. | |
Our correspondent Chris King reports. | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
It is the name which came to symbolise everything which is wrong | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
with the NHS. Yet despite a dramatic improvement in the standards of | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
care, the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust could soon be no | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
more. A report for the health regulator says the trust will not be | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
able to clear a hole in its finances because it does not provide enough | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
specialist services, and that could mean its struggles to maintain state | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
staffing levels as well. The administrators brought in to decide | :07:05. | :07:07. | |
on the future of the trust have recommended that it should be | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
dissolved, with Stafford and Cannock hospitals being taken over by | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
neighbouring trusts. The A department would remain closed | :07:19. | :07:21. | |
overnight. Maternity, paediatric and critical care units would also be | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
downgraded. That would mean some patients having to travel further | :07:26. | :07:34. | |
for treatment. What is important is that the overall quality and safety | :07:35. | :07:37. | |
of services is considered and explained properly to local people. | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
There are some instances when time is of the essence, but typically, | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
alongside that, it is about making sure that you get to the most | :07:46. | :07:48. | |
visualised and appropriate hospital care. The report has sparked anger | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
among local people. Last April, up to 50,000 marched through the | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
streets, calling for services to be maintained. That is despite claims | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
that 90% of patients will still be treated in the same place. The | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
majority of things are not specialised. Although they say 90% | :08:11. | :08:17. | |
of patients will still be seen here, they are predominantly outpatients, | :08:18. | :08:19. | |
they are not the people for whom it will make a huge difference if they | :08:20. | :08:23. | |
are away from home. And they say if today's announcement does not go | :08:24. | :08:31. | |
their way, they could take legal action. Our correspondent Jon Brain | :08:32. | :08:39. | |
is in Stafford. Why closure? There is something of an irony in this | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
hospital trust being dissolved now. The reason is because it is in huge | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
debt. The reason it is in huge debt is because, after the scandal here, | :08:49. | :08:51. | |
resources were poured into improved services. There is now a general | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
agreement that this hospital has turned itself around. The problem | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
is, it is considered no longer financially viable to provide all of | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
those services. So, the plan is to move them to bigger hospitals. That | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
is also part of a national picture, a drive to move more services away | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
from district hospitals like this one to bigger, specialist centres, | :09:14. | :09:17. | |
where there is more expertise and more money. Given the criticism, why | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
are campaigners objecting quite so strongly? Well, they're a complaint | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
is that it is all very well downgrading services here, such as | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
maternity and paediatrics, but then, if there are compensations, if there | :09:33. | :09:36. | |
are no surgeons at hand when you need one, and then you have got to | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
go 18 miles up the road to the bigger hospital, 18 Miles may not | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
sound much, but in this case, it is along the M6, which is often subject | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
to severe delays. And they say that could cause potential dangers to | :09:52. | :09:52. | |
patients. The Democratic Unionist Party has | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
said the collapse of the case against a man charged with killing | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
four soldiers in an IRA attack in Hyde Park in London in 1982 has | :10:02. | :10:03. | |
"very serious implications for devolution" in Northern Ireland. | :10:04. | :10:11. | |
Yesterday, it emerged that garment officials wrote a so-called letter | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
of assurance to John Downey, seven years ago, mistakenly saying he was | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
no longer a wanted man. In the last few minutes, Northern Ireland's | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
First Minister has threatened to resign unless there is a judicial | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
inquiry. In a moment we will speak to our Northern Ireland | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
correspondent, but first, we can go to our chief political | :10:32. | :10:32. | |
correspondent, Norman Smith, at Westminster. Is it fair to | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
characterise this as a good deal of government anger, the letter should | :10:38. | :10:40. | |
not have been sent, but there is nothing we can do? I think that is | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
not far from the truth. It is certainly the case that there is | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
huge anger in the Commons, or there was this lunchtime, at this | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
decision, and other similar letters sent out two suspects, with | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
suggestions that it amounted to an amnesty for terrorists, suggestions | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
that it would undermine the judicial process, and even threaten the | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
stability of the peace process in Northern Ireland. But the response | :11:05. | :11:06. | |
of ministers has been fairly consistent, which is that, of | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
course, we sympathise with the pain and suffering which these letters | :11:11. | :11:13. | |
have caused, there will be a review and lessons learned, but no, there | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
is not going to be any attempt to unpick or scrap these letters. The | :11:18. | :11:22. | |
reason for that, as we heard from the Prime Minister, is because we | :11:23. | :11:28. | |
are a country under the rule of law, as he puts it. In other words, | :11:29. | :11:31. | |
because the previous government entered into an agreement and sent | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
out these letters, there can now be no attempt to abolish them. We have | :11:36. | :11:39. | |
had the Attorney-General confirming in the last few minutes that there | :11:40. | :11:43. | |
will be no appeal against that John Downey decision. But there is | :11:44. | :11:46. | |
another element, hard-headed politics, which comes into this. It | :11:47. | :11:51. | |
was striking, there was no criticism of Tony Blair or the decision of his | :11:52. | :11:55. | |
government to send out those letters in the first place. That suggests to | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
me that within government there is a view that it would be much more | :12:00. | :12:01. | |
damaging for the peace process to scrap these letters than to live | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
with the consequences of them, even given the pain and hurt they have | :12:08. | :12:12. | |
clearly caused. Norman Smith in Westminster, thank you very much. We | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
can now speak to our Ireland correspondent, Chris Buckler, in | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
Belfast. I guess it is the same kind of reaction, except for the | :12:21. | :12:22. | |
conclusion - the letter should never have been sent, however, unionist | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
politicians believing that something has to be done? Yes, I think it goes | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
beyond just one letter, in the case of John Downey. More than 180 | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
letters were sent to other paramilitary suspects as well. As | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
Norman mentioned, this is about the peace process, and many difficult | :12:41. | :12:43. | |
decisions have been made as part of that process. But unionists feel | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
they were not involved in this decision, to send out the letters, | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
that it was all a result of a secret negotiation between Sinn Fein and | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
the Government. They say they simply did not know about these secret | :12:55. | :12:59. | |
letters, which they have referred to time and time again as effectively | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
get out of this morning, the Democratic Unionist Party has been | :13:05. | :13:06. | |
saying that they would not have gone into power-sharing with Sinn Fein if | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
they had known about the existence of this scheme. Beyond that, they | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
said it actually causes real problems for devolution, with | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
potentially serious imprecations. In the last few minutes, the First | :13:19. | :13:21. | |
Minister, Peter Robinson, has made it clear that it does have | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
imprecations, saying that unless there is a judicial inquiry into | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
secret letters given to those suspects, he says he will resign as | :13:30. | :13:33. | |
the First Minister. He says that is because he is not prepared to remain | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
in an administration which is being kept in the dark about such | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
important matters. He is due to speak to the Northern Ireland | :13:42. | :13:43. | |
Secretary this afternoon. I think that will be a pretty frank meeting. | :13:44. | :13:51. | |
A serious case review has concluded that the army, doctors and social | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
workers could have prevented the death of a baby girl at the hands of | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
her father, a former soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder. | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
25-year-old Liam Culverhouse was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court | :14:06. | :14:08. | |
to six years in prison last month for causing or allowing the death of | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
Khloe Abrams. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale | :14:14. | :14:16. | |
reports. In January this year, former soldier Liam Culverhouse, | :14:17. | :14:21. | |
wounded on duty, and still bearing the scars, was jailed for six years | :14:22. | :14:25. | |
after admitting to causing the death of his own baby. He had survived his | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
own injuries but he had inflicted catastrophic ones on Khloe, when she | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
was just weeks old. No photograph of her has been released. Liam | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
Culverhouse were described as a violent and troubled young man, | :14:39. | :14:41. | |
whose problems became worse after he was injured in Afghanistan. This was | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
the rescue after he was shot six times by a rogue Afghan policeman. | :14:48. | :14:50. | |
Five of his comrades were killed in the same attack. Today's report into | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
how Khloe died found key opportunities to intervene were | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
missed. It found that Liam Culverhouse had warned Army doctors | :15:01. | :15:03. | |
he might harm his child, but that was never passed on. Health | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
professionals failed to spot serious injuries to Khloe, just days before | :15:09. | :15:12. | |
she was admitted to hospital. The report concludes that her death was | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
preventable, if a referable had been made and a child protection plan has | :15:17. | :15:17. | |
been put in place. clearly, there were errors, but | :15:18. | :15:30. | |
parts of the system could have raised questions that would have | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
raised a greater degree of curiosity about them as a family as opposed to | :15:36. | :15:43. | |
individuals. This is a highly and usual case, but psychiatrists | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
studying cases of PTSD say there are important lessons to be learned. The | :15:49. | :15:54. | |
impact of military service is not just on military personnel, but also | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
their spouses and children. It could be emotional but also, as in this | :15:59. | :16:06. | |
case, physical harm. There is a need to improve the sharing of | :16:07. | :16:12. | |
information. The MoD says it says -- recognises it could have done more | :16:13. | :16:15. | |
in this case and has already changed procedures. Our top story this | :16:16. | :16:23. | |
lunchtime: The Co-op group is expected to announce the biggest | :16:24. | :16:26. | |
loss in its history next month, of around ?2 billion. | :16:27. | :16:28. | |
And still to come: Beijing is still under a thick cloud of hazardous | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
smog, which could be deadly. Later on BBC London: The weapon that | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
helped win the First World War - how the tank was secretly tested in the | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
unlikely suburb of Dollis Hill. And we're in Istanbul with Chelsea, | :16:41. | :16:43. | |
as they face Didier Drogbar's Galatasary. | :16:44. | :16:58. | |
A new line-up of government ministers in Ukraine is due to be | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
presented to the crowds in the capital, Kiev, this evening, even | :17:04. | :17:05. | |
though it hasn't yet been finalised. The British Foreign Secretary, | :17:06. | :17:08. | |
William Hague, has discussed the situation with the American | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
Secretary of State, John Kerry. Afterwards, Mr Kerry said all | :17:13. | :17:15. | |
nations should work together to bring about a stable and prosperous | :17:16. | :17:17. | |
Ukraine. Well, our correspondent Duncan Crawford is in Kiev. | :17:18. | :17:29. | |
There are so many challenges facing Ukraine. Its new leaders are trying | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
to create a new government, they are trying to stabilise the country as | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
well. They know it could face bankruptcy. They want to find the | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
ousted president, Ukraine's most wanted man, President Yanukovich, | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
and they also want to unite the country. They are trying to stop the | :17:49. | :17:55. | |
splits from developing between the West and the Russian speaking east. | :17:56. | :18:00. | |
So it is a lot to do for anyone, and all of this at a time when much of | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
the country is still in mourning. Most of the men in these pictures | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
were shot. Many of them killed by security forces who were loyal to | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
the then president, Viktor Yanukovich. He is on the run, | :18:14. | :18:19. | |
accused of mass murder. But the authorities today took some action | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
against those who pulled the trigger, disbanding the Ukraine's | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
much hated and specialist riot police. TRANSLATION: We had always | :18:28. | :18:34. | |
wanted them to have stood down. Now people have died and they must be | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
punished. At Parliament, attempts continue to form a new coalition | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
government, but at the moment it is men like this you control the | :18:46. | :18:48. | |
streets around it, convincing some to give up their new-found power may | :18:49. | :18:55. | |
not be easy. This is Independence Square and tonight it will become | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
the scene of a sort of political talent contest with want to be | :19:00. | :19:02. | |
leaders appealing to the crowds for their approval. The ousted | :19:03. | :19:09. | |
president's extravagant mansion continues to be a source of anger. | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
Its zoo and its sonar are mocked for the levels of greed and corruption. | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
The millions he spent on himself and now documented on a website. | :19:21. | :19:26. | |
Meanwhile, there are still concerns a Cold War style conflict could | :19:27. | :19:28. | |
break out between Russia and the West. Many in the international | :19:29. | :19:37. | |
community are urging calm. This is not a West versus East game, it | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
should not be. It is not Russia or the United States or other choices. | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
This is about the people of Ukraine making their own choice about their | :19:50. | :19:55. | |
future. What that future is remains uncertain. In this eastern city, | :19:56. | :20:00. | |
pro-Russian demonstrators are in a stand-off with those who support the | :20:01. | :20:03. | |
demonstrations in Kiev. It shows just how hard it will be for any | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
unity government to heal the divisions in the country. | :20:08. | :20:16. | |
Everyone here has been waiting to see how Russian President Putin will | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
react to events in Ukraine and this lunchtime reports from Russia say he | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
has ordered troops along the west of the country by Ukraine's border to | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
be on alert, to test their ability to mobilise and be combat ready. | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
This isn't an uncommon kind of test, but given the circumstances | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
and the timing of this announcement, it is unlikely to be a coincidence. | :20:40. | :20:48. | |
Thank you. As we've been hearing there's been tensions between rival | :20:49. | :20:50. | |
groups in the Ukraine supporting closer links with Europe OR Russia. | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
Our correspondent Daniel Sandford has just sent this report from the | :20:54. | :20:56. | |
Crimea, where divisions are in danger of getting out of hand. | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
We are seeing decades if not centuries of life blood between two | :21:00. | :21:06. | |
groups of people. Over here, one group whose land is originally was. | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
And over here, the Russians who took it over in the 18th-century and have | :21:12. | :21:16. | |
controlled Crimea and the sense. But it is neither group who control the | :21:17. | :21:23. | |
area now, it is the Ukrainian government. The new government in | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
Kiev is supported by the first group, who feel they will get some | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
support. And they are hated by the Russians, who fear it will undermine | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
their way of life. We've already seen violence here today outside the | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
parliament and there is much possibility of violence in the days | :21:41. | :21:47. | |
and weeks to come. The Big Six energy firms will be | :21:48. | :21:51. | |
forced to publish their wholesale power prices up to two years in | :21:52. | :21:53. | |
advance, under proposals from the regulator Ofgem. The move is | :21:54. | :21:56. | |
designed to make it easier for smaller suppliers to enter the | :21:57. | :21:59. | |
market and make it work better for consumers. Our industry | :22:00. | :22:06. | |
correspondent John Moylan reports. The big six energy firms. They | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
supply 98% of households across Britain, but they also generate | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
power as well. Critics say that has given them an advantage over their | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
smaller rivals. It is also led to questions over where exactly they | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
make their profits. So, from next month, those big firms will be | :22:25. | :22:28. | |
forced to trade that power on a daily basis with smaller suppliers. | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
Electricity is traded up to two years in advance and it is those | :22:35. | :22:37. | |
longer-term products that independent suppliers really | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
struggle to get hold of. These reforms will make sure those | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
longer-term products are available for sale to those independent | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
suppliers. Ofgem hopes these reforms will go a long way to help smaller | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
suppliers compete. There will also be financial penalties if the big | :22:56. | :22:59. | |
firms don't trade fairly. The regulator is also stepping up its | :23:00. | :23:04. | |
scrutiny of the annual statements from the big six suppliers. They | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
will now have to be audited. Last year, MPs grilled the energy company | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
bosses over their profits, costs and prices. They accused of jam of | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
failing to deliver the transparency needed to reassure consumers that | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
high energy prices were not fuelling excessive profits. Today, Ofgem | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
responded. Some say it is too little, too late. These are | :23:28. | :23:31. | |
important ways of making sure the market works better, but incomes | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
have not risen and bills are going up, people are spending more of | :23:38. | :23:40. | |
their incomes on essentials. Much more needs to be done so people can | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
be reassured the market is working properly and we need to take steps | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
so that energy becomes more affordable for everything -- for | :23:49. | :23:56. | |
everybody. In a statement, the industry body said the energy | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
industry is committed to trading fairly so customers get a good deal | :24:02. | :24:07. | |
and if their choice. But this lunchtime the industry regulator | :24:08. | :24:10. | |
responded to criticism of the announcements today, saying they | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
were just part of the sweeping and comprehensive reforms to ensure | :24:15. | :24:18. | |
competition bears down as hard as possible on prices. | :24:19. | :24:24. | |
The Royal College of Surgeons has raised concerns for the second time | :24:25. | :24:27. | |
in six months about the high number of heart patients in Wales who die | :24:28. | :24:30. | |
while waiting for operations. The College has asked Health | :24:31. | :24:32. | |
Inspectorate Wales what has been done since it warned that patient | :24:33. | :24:36. | |
safety was being put at risk. Health officials say steps are being taken | :24:37. | :24:39. | |
to improve services. Let's speak to our correspondent Jordan Davies. | :24:40. | :24:47. | |
What are the concerns of the Royal College of surgeons? Last summer, it | :24:48. | :24:54. | |
said it was concerned about waiting times for heart surgery here. It | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
said it was concerned about the number of heart patients dying while | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
waiting for operations. Today, they say they are still looking for | :25:06. | :25:08. | |
answers about those concerns. Last August, it emerged over 150 patients | :25:09. | :25:14. | |
had died over a five-year period while waiting for heart operations | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
in Wales. Two reviews are being carried out and the watchdog here in | :25:20. | :25:23. | |
Wales says it will report in June course. We've just had a statement | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
from the Welsh government. It says the quality of cardiac surgery here | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
is good and it is looking to improve capacity. We understand the Welsh | :25:33. | :25:35. | |
government has agreed a contract with a private provider in Bristol | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
to carry out surgery there. We understand 80 people could be | :25:41. | :25:52. | |
treated that way. China's biggest online face-mask | :25:53. | :25:54. | |
sellers are reportedly running low on stock, as consumers struggle to | :25:55. | :25:57. | |
protect themselves from smog. Large parts of northern China have been | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
affected by air pollution, and the World Health Organisation says it | :26:01. | :26:02. | |
has become a crisis. Our correspondent, Martin Patience, has | :26:03. | :26:05. | |
visited a hospital in Beijing to see the impact on people's health. | :26:06. | :26:17. | |
Beijing, crowded -- shrouded in a toxic smog. Normal life has not | :26:18. | :26:24. | |
completely ground to a halt, but some of those dancing are taking | :26:25. | :26:30. | |
precautions - with good reasons. At a busy Beijing hospital we will be | :26:31. | :26:33. | |
meeting doctors on the front line when it comes to dealing with | :26:34. | :26:39. | |
pollution. This doctor has worked in 30 years. He's never been busier, | :26:40. | :26:48. | |
seeing up to 30 patients a day. TRANSLATION: As the air pollution | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
gets worse, it is causing more diseases. It is linked with chronic | :26:53. | :26:56. | |
diseases, especially lung cancer, pneumonia and bronchitis. | :26:57. | :27:04. | |
Ironically, when the smog hits, there is not a surge in admissions | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
as the vulnerable are warned to stay indoors. But one woman who is | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
ventured out is suffering from asthma. Her chest is tight, she | :27:14. | :27:17. | |
says, and she is finding it hard to breathe. The impact of China's | :27:18. | :27:23. | |
pollution is being felt in hospitals across the country. According to a | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
study, and pollution here contributed to more than 1 million | :27:30. | :27:35. | |
deaths in 2010. China's economic development may have been | :27:36. | :27:38. | |
remarkable, but it is coming at a huge cost which is proving deadly. | :27:39. | :27:47. | |
It is one of the most astonishing fossil discoveries of recent years - | :27:48. | :27:51. | |
a graveyard of whales found beside the Pan-American Highway in Chile. | :27:52. | :27:53. | |
And now scientists think they can explain how so many of them came to | :27:54. | :27:57. | |
be preserved in one location more than five million years ago. Our | :27:58. | :27:59. | |
science correspondent Jonathan Amos reports. | :28:00. | :28:07. | |
When a road in Chile's Atacama Desert was widened in 2011, | :28:08. | :28:13. | |
construction workers uncovered a remarkable bounty. Rising out of the | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
ground, wail. After Wales boss. More than 40 of them beautifully | :28:19. | :28:32. | |
preserved. -- whale fossil after whale fossil. Scientists have | :28:33. | :28:38. | |
concluded this rock formation is as a result of mass strandings. They | :28:39. | :28:44. | |
suspect the animals were poisoned after eating toxic algae, they were | :28:45. | :28:51. | |
washed ashore and then buried. This is globally important. There has | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
never been a find of this size would have visited anywhere in the world. | :28:56. | :28:58. | |
It is one of the special parts of the Atacama region. The graveyard | :28:59. | :29:04. | |
has now been covered over by the road, but scientists kept a | :29:05. | :29:11. | |
permanent record, scanning the bones using the latest techniques. It | :29:12. | :29:16. | |
means they can cover them in plastic to study them further. It should | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
provide unprecedented insight into the abolition of Wales on earth. -- | :29:21. | :29:25. | |
of whales. Now, a look at the weather. Some | :29:26. | :29:36. | |
lovely pictures have been sent in but we are still in winter and I | :29:37. | :29:40. | |
will be mentioning the word snow a couple of times. There will be some | :29:41. | :29:52. | |
sunshine around, feeling pleasant. What we're left with this afternoon | :29:53. | :29:57. | |
is a strip of showery rain edging further north. This is the picture | :29:58. | :30:04. | |
at three o'clock. If you are underneath this line of rain | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
stretching from south-west Scotland into northern England, it does still | :30:08. | :30:11. | |
cold, but there is brighter weather away from this. It looks like a | :30:12. | :30:14. | |
lovely afternoon in Northern Ireland. Further south, one of two | :30:15. | :30:19. | |
showers in England and Wales, but very few and far between compared to | :30:20. | :30:23. | |
yesterday, so you will be unlucky if you catch one. Even if you do, | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
shower will not make day wash-out. The sun will reappear. Another | :30:29. | :30:37. | |
Atlantic system pushes across overnight, but quickly, so not a | :30:38. | :30:42. | |
huge amount of rain, bank Billy. Some snow in Scotland over 400 | :30:43. | :30:46. | |
metres but not as cold as it was last night, so a mild start | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
tomorrow. Overnight clears to eastern areas and the North Sea, and | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
the sun comes out again. But then the showers get going and will be | :30:56. | :30:59. | |
some heavy downpours, maybe with hail and thunder. Quite a blustery | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
day, but you showers reach eastern parts of Scotland and the northern | :31:04. | :31:08. | |
part of England. Temperatures in single figures. And then some | :31:09. | :31:11. | |
problems. Thursday night, this area of low pressure. We are uncertain | :31:12. | :31:21. | |
about the exact location and any potentially disruptive when they may | :31:22. | :31:24. | |
bring. It may bring rain where it is not needed in parts of England and | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
Wales. There is a potential but gales on the southern flank, | :31:30. | :31:34. | |
wherever that may be. It may look different to this, we have to | :31:35. | :31:37. | |
confirm things and we will do that in the next day or so. But an | :31:38. | :31:43. | |
certainty continues and to lease the start of the week in. Some showers | :31:44. | :31:46. | |
and maybe something wetter in southern areas. At the moment, it | :31:47. | :31:51. | |
looks like Sunday will be the better of the two days this | :31:52. | :31:52. |