04/12/2015 BBC News at One

Labour win the first by-election of this parliament in Oldham West

and Royton, increasing their share of the vote.

Labour's leader said the victory showed the party's anti-austerity

This campaign shows just how strong our party is, not just here in

We'll be live with our correspondent in the constituency.

The leader of a Maoist cult is found guilty of child cruelty

David Cameron is in Bulgaria for talks over the migrant crisis and a

The German parliament votes to send military support to Syria,

amid fears the country is now a potential Islamic State target.

The Forth bridge is to be closed until the New Year after faults

And in sport, Britain's two-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome

has released his performance data in an attempt to prove to doubters that

he is a clean rider. Good afternoon and welcome

to the BBC News at One. Labour has comfortably won the

Oldham West and Royton by-election. The party was expected to retain the

safe seat and, although its majority fell from almost 15,000 to just

under 11,000, a lower turnout meant Labour won with just

over 17,000 votes. UKIP were second

with nearly 6,500, and Jeremy Corbyn called it a

"vote of confidence" in his party. Our Political Correspondent

Iain Watson reports now from Oldham. I do hereby declare that Jim McMahon

is hereby elected as a member of Parliament...

His supporters chanted Jim. Oldham's young council leader, Jim

McMahon, fought relentlessly local campaign, and the increased Labour's

share of since the last general election. Now, the morning after the

night before, Jim McMahon was joined by the man he didn't mention in his

leaflets and who had only visited the constituency once during the

by-election campaign. This is a truly overwhelming thing

for a local lad, to represent the town he loves in Westminster is a

big issue. But his party leader Jeremy Corbyn

was here to hail the result as a vote of confidence.

This campaign shows just how strong our party is, not just here in

Oldham, but all over the country. It shows the way we have driven the

Tories back on tax credits, and police cuts, on their whole

austerity agenda and narrative. It shows just how strong, how deep

rooted, and how broad our party, the Labour Party, is, for the whole of

Britain. Thank you very much, everybody.

Some Labour MPs were hoping for a worse result here. They think Jeremy

Corbyn, flanked by the new MP Jim McMahon, is an electoral liability,

and Ukip are crying foul. Ukip's leader is alleging that

postal votes were manipulated to bolster the size of Labour's

majority. We have had Tower Hamlets. We have

had burning. We have robbed had repeated evidence of fraud within

the postal voting system. I am raising that. I think British

democracy should be clean, and I think with this system, it is not.

The Electoral Commission have said that Oldham is one of 16 areas where

postal voting fraud is a risk. Labour sake Ukip's allegations are

sour grapes. Jim was a very strong local

candidate, but our campaign was on tax credits and supporting local

working people, and that is down to the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, and

actually, our opponents exquisitely said that this would be a referendum

on Jeremy Corbyn, and I think he has passed that referendum.

But Labour's Troubles are not over yet. The leader and his deputy have

had to write to activists, telling them that abusive behaviour will not

be tolerated, and after weeks of stories about divisions of splits,

party leadership finally has something to smile about.

Our Political Correspondent Vicki Young is in Oldham.

After a bruising week for Labour, there must be relief?

Yes, it certainly is. I mean, this is an incredibly safe Labour seat,

and has been so for more than 50 years, and if they had lost it, it

would have been a massive upset. But there is no doubt that some MPs were

concerned that recent divisions and arguing between senior Labour

figures at Westminster would have a negative impact here. It seems not

to have happened. With by-elections, there are so many factors in play.

Talking to people here, there is no question that the candidate was an

incredibly strong candidate with local appeal, and that seems to have

won him through, but as we have heard, Jeremy Corbyn was quick to

come up here, because he knows if he had lost, there would have been

people queueing up to put the blame at his door. So people will say he

is well within his rights to come here and claim this is a

reimbursement of labour and his leadership as a whole.

Thank you, Vicky. The leader of a Maoist cult in south

London has been found guilty of a string of sex assaults, cruelty

to a child and false imprisonment. Aravindan Balakrishnan, who's 75,

ran a communist collective which he One of his victims has spoken to

our Home Affairs Correspondent Tom Captivity. Year after year, three

decades in all, in ordinary flats and houses. It was more like

invisible handcuffs. I would be struck down by lightning, or

spontaneously combust if I went out on my own.

Aravindan Balakrishnan's bizarre cult dominated the lives of its

members, but now he is facing prison. It ended in 2013.

To charity workers were asked to prepare for a rendezvous with three

of his followers. -- two charity workers.

We were told to meet at this point at 11:15am sharp.

And they were moving very slowly from this direction. The young one

appeared to have been in an accident. She was moving very

unevenly and very awkwardly. The youngest had been born into the

cult. Balakrishnan had hidden her from the world.

I first learned to write, and I wrote I love Comrade Bala. My mother

would say he the guard and starve our lives, so I had to worship him.

This is her first ever interview. Fran, not her real name, told me to

macro to had one goal. To rule the world. Like he is in charge, and

basically, everyone is his slave. I used to feel like killing myself. I

remember when I was aged six, I was even told not to look out of

windows. Sometimes, I did, and I would see other children playing.

The neighbour had a party for their little boy. There were balloons and

slides in the garden. I was told not to look at that, but I did look. And

I used to feel like I was missing out.

The cult was born in the field trial 1970s. Balakrishnan quoted China's

Chairman Mao, but later, the brainwashing began, that he had

supernatural powers. This was the first of 13 flats and houses they

lived in. There were always rules. Work for the collective, work for

your family. -- forget your family. Doors were always locked, and going

outside was frowned upon because of the risk of the British fascist

state. Balakrishnan sometimes get 12 people and houses meant for far

fewer. Neighbours saw faces at windows and him leaving his

followers to the shops. But they did not see what went on behind closed

doors. The beatings and the rapes. He did not sexually abuses daughter,

but he did do this. I remember lying on the floor near the front door,

and I remember Bala putting his foot on my head and kicking me, and then

he put me outside the door and locked the door when I was outside,

and that was just so scary, because I had been told that I would die if

I was put outside, horrible monsters would come and take me away.

Her mother, Sian Davies, had been loyal to Balakrishnan. But in 1997,

she died, falling from a window. There was a wreck lives of ten macro

to and his followers when they gave evidence at the inquest, but no one

mentioned the daughter, and the local council had no record of her.

Bala began claiming he controlled a mind machine, with power over life

and death. He still believes it. People will see that little old man

arriving at court, and say, how on earth could he keep eight or nine

grown women in his trance for so long?

Yes, I find it hard to believe as well. I think he used a combination

of charm and violence to control them.

Including this woman, who left the cult with Fran. 16 years ago, and

ITV documentary team attempted to speak to the cult members. Josephine

still believes Bala is innocent and all-powerful. When it all ended,

Fran wrote this letter to her tormentors. I may have no wealth, no

property, no position, no prestige, she wrote. But I do have my dignity.

She is also highly intelligent. However, her carers have had to

teach basic life skills. Her progress has been outstanding.

She is a very competent and nearly independent young woman now. She is

looking at moving into independent living fund and she is studying at

college. What are your thoughts about

Aravindan Balakrishnan? I forgive him, really. You forgive him? And I

would like to reconcile with him in the future. If I leave the place

with anger and hatred and bitterness, I am still in prison,

and I don't want to be imprisoned away.

David Cameron has visited Bulgaria's border with Turkey, to see how

The German parliament has voted to send troops and equipment to help

the international coalition against so-called Islamic State in Syria.

They'll be providing military support

The plan is part of the German response to the terror attacks

Here's our correspondent Richard Lister.

German Tornadoes, soon to be in the sky over Syria.

These are reconnaissance planes and won't be dropping bombs,

but they are a sign of renewed German engagement in the fight

The debate about this mission, though, is a passionate one.

Even its supporters said the plan gave them political bellyache but,

in the end, the German parliament gave its overwhelming consent.

MPs voted 3-1 in favour of intervening

This threat coming from Isis and Assad has caused a death toll

of hundreds of thousands of people, and it is a challenge for Europe,

and for too long a time we have denied our responsibility.

Now we have to live up to what is our responsibility in Europe.

Last night, around 800 people demonstrated

"I find it outrageous that Germany is going to war again," he says,

"in my view, against the wishes of most Germans."

This, though, will not be a combat mission.

Germany will send a frigate to assist a French aircraft carrier off

the Syrian coast, as well as the six Tornadoes and refuelling planes.

1200 German military personnel will also go to the region.

German soldiers like these training for foreign deployments are now

Germany's post-war caution about sending troops overseas is

being replaced by thoughts of expanding its army to meet

The war in Syria is having a direct impact on Germany.

Half the Syrian asylum seekers entering the EU have ended up there.

Today's vote is aimed at restoring stability at home

Police are investigating two cases of alleged misuse

David Cameron has visited Bulgaria's border with Turkey, to see how

the country deals with migrants trying to get to western Europe.

Mr Cameron, who's visiting Bulgaria to try to get support

for his attempt to get a better deal for Britain in Europe, said he was

But he admitted yesterday that there'd be no deal in time

for a key meeting of European leaders later this month.

Our Political Correspondent Alex Forsyth reports now from Sofia.

In Turkey, the border measures are stark. This barb wire fans was built

by the Bulgarian authorities to slow the flow of migrants, and today,

David Cameron paid a visit. His Bulgarian counterpart explained

the measures taken here, not only to secure Bulgaria's border, but also

this entry point to the European Union. Leaders agree, that is now

essential. It is important that Europe has

strong external borders, and here in Bulgaria, you can see a Prime

Minister and a government that is absolutely committed to that. They

have a sea border they protect, they have a land border with Turkey to

protect, and I think there are real lessons to learn here about, if you

give it a priority, you can get it done.

How to stem and flow the migrants -- how to stem the flow of migrants

into the EU was one of the topics discussed when David Cameron at the

Bulgaria and Prime Minister here in the capital yesterday. EU leaders

are struggling to cope with the Shia numbers, and as a result, in many

places, once again, tensions are starting to flare.

Last night, there were clashes at the border between Greece and

Macedonia. Here, authorities are only allowing migrants from Syria,

Afghanistan, and Iraq through. Those deemed to be fleeing persecution and

conflict. It is causing blockades and frustrated confrontations. This

morning, more angry scenes. For many individuals involved, this journey

has become a personal crisis. For Europe, it is a political one.

Labour has won the old by-election with a comfortable majority.

And chaos around the Forth road bridge.

It's going to be closed until the New Year because

In sport, Lewis Hamilton rejects suggestions that he and Nico Rosberg

after repair their revelation ship will face leaving Mercedes, after

the team's boss said he would consider dropping one of them if

tension escalated. One of the key arguments that

the British government made in favour of airstrikes

against Islamic State in Syria is Most of those fleeing Syria have

settled in Turkey, Most of those fleeing Syria have

settled in Turkey. Over 2 million Syrians are now

there, escaping attacks by the regime of President Assad, and also

by IS - Our correspondent Mark Lowen has met

a new arrival now living Refugees are continuing to flee

Syria here into Turkey. We have come to this town on the Turkish border

with Syria to meet a town who left Islamic state's stronghold of Raqqa

about 20 days ago. They came to live in this tiny shop front, about six

metres long and three metres wide. You can see how basic preconditions

are. A family of 15 are sleeping inside here. They have a television

to watch what is happening back home in Raqqa, a tiny heater here, and

then, the curtain and they have built a wall, actually, to create

some kind of dividing space where they cook behind and have pretty

basic toilet facilities. Now, they are too afraid to show their faces,

because they still have relatives back home in Raqqa. But one member

of the family has agreed to speak to us, to tell us a bit more about what

life is like at the moment back in Raqqa and IS control.

TRANSLATION: Life has stopped in Raqqa. There is no electricity,

little water, and no work. If you wear tight trousers or have long

hair or smoke, you are put in prison for 15 days. If you are out in the

street during prayer time, you will be arrested. Women and young people

can't go outside. Daesh forces us to join jihad. We were smuggled out by

paying hundreds of dollars. Do you feel that the Western air

strikes against Islamic State in Raqqa are working?

TRANSLATION: They are successful, and are hitting places with a lot of

Daesh fighters. Now, Daesh are afraid and paying people money to

join them. But it is frightening living with the air strikes.

Children can't sleep at night, houses shake.

How do you feel about Britain joining the air strikes against IS

in Syria? TRANSLATION: Whoever targets Daesh

is a good thing, but we are just worried about civilians being hit.

We all have relatives in Raqqa. We just hope Daesh can be defeated.

Undercover pictures show what has become of Raqqa, a once prosperous

city, now awash with weapons and under Sharia law. The capital of the

IS declared caliphate. The aim of British and Allied air strikes is to

crush the militants here and liberate those inside. It will be a

long battle. A candle-lit vigil has taken place

at the scene of a mass shooting Fourteen people died when a married

couple opened fired on public health workers in San Bernardino

during a Christmas party. Authorities are still trying to

discover the motive for the attack. Our correspondent David Willis

reports from California. The day after this California city

was rocked by violence, its people came together at a multi-faith vigil

intended to promote the message Yet for those caught up

in the barbarity, Be they survivors or members

of the rescue services. Police officer Mike Madden was

the first on the scene. It was unspeakable,

the carnage that we were seeing. The number

of people who were injured and, And the pure panic on the face

of those individuals that were still Among the weapons recovered

from the attackers, these semiautomatic handguns and

assault rifles, not to mention more than 1000 rounds of ammunition -

enough, one official said, for the Muslims here also came together

to condemn the attack. Syed Farook was said to have been

a devout Muslim, someone who showed Until a couple of weeks ago, that

is, when he suddenly stopped coming. Overall, a nice person,

peaceful person. Also, he's a mechanic,

he does mechanical work And I remember he told me I can tell

the people here if they want to fix A dozen pipe bombs

and thousands more rounds of ammunition were found at

the apartment Syed Farook occupied And although

the authorities still refuse to be drawn on the matter, it's looking

increasingly likely that terrorism was a motive here, although that

explains neither the target nor The jury in the trial of three men

accused of the Hatton Garden burglary has been listening to

conversations recorded on a bugging device about the scale of the

robbery and even the types of medication the man had taken with

them. That's taught to our home affairs correspond in, who is a

Woolwich Crown Court for us. Tell us more. Yes, the jury has been

hearing about how several weeks after the robbery, police had been

observing some of the men responsible for it, and even had a

listening device in a car. Today, we heard about accommodation between

Terry Perkins and Daniel Jones. Both have pleaded guilty. One says, where

have you put the Stones? Another says, leave them in the cemetery. We

will say that is our bit. Later, Terry Perkins says, I'm going to

melt my gold down. Jones says, your coins or the other stuff? Perkins

says, the Indian, the 18, that can be my pension, do you know what I

mean? They then started boasting about

what they had done. Perkins says, this is the biggest

robbery there could have been. Jones agrees.

He says it will never happen again. Jones agrees. He says it is the

biggest robbery in the f-ing world. Later, Jones says, I don't want to

be paranoid, but almost ?50 notes, they were new, when they? Later,

Perkins talks about his diabetes medication. If I had not taken my

insulin, he said, you would have had to carry me out in a wheelie bins.

The jury heard that it was the jewellery that was carried out in a

wheelie bin from the Hatton Garden burglary, the biggest in English

history. Thank you, Daniel.

From next month, train fares will rise by an average of 1.1%.

The industry body, the Rail Delivery Group, says this is the smallest

The rise for regulated fares is limited to no more than 1 per cent.

Unregulated prices, such as off-peak leisure tickets,

Sales of Volkswagen cars fell by almost 20% last month when overall

sales for new cars were otherwise up. For VW, the news comes in the

wake of the scandal over the rigging of emissions of millions of its

diesel cars. Our transport correspondent reports.

Two months after they admitted lying to the public about how polluting

their cars are, VW's feeling the backlash. UK sales are down, for the

second month in a row, and many other car brand sales are going up.

I think the buyer is speaking. Last month, sales were down, but many

cars that had been pre-ordered were being delivered. Now, we know people

are not going into Volkswagen, Seat, Skoda and Audi dealers like they

were. So absolutely, this is beginning to bite.

1.2 million UK cars are programmed with VW's defective software. We can

tell you how it works. The official emissions test is

always exactly the same. So the car's on-board computer can work out

when it is being checked in a lab, and it tells the engine to cut

pollution from the exhaust pipe. Back on the real road, the car stops

cheating, performance improves, but it is much more polluting.

All the VW group of brands fitted with the device are suffering. Last

month, VW sales were down 20%. Audi was down more than 4%. Seat's fell

nearly 24%, Skoda's 11%. But clearly, not everyone is put

off. Ya, I would definitely be happy to

buy another VW, because it is just a very efficient car. It performs very

well, and I haven't really had any issues with it.

I think the omission scandal would definitely put me off. I mean,

because you definitely don't know what the reality is of it any

longer. Boxlike and says it will start

fixing cars next month, but it is still not clear how that fix might

affect performance. -- vault Biden says it will start fixing cars next

month. They could face claims for millions

in compensation. The Forth Road Bridge has been shut

after discovery of defects on Tuesday. Our correspondent is there

for us now. This spot is a really quiet today.

Normally, you would expect to see 80,000 cars and vehicles passing

back and forth across the bridge. Today, absolutely nothing, and

instead of that background hum of traffic, all we can hear at the

moment is the whistling of that increasingly strong wind. Now,

throughout the morning, people have been coming down here to take

photographs of this bizarre sight, but other day goes on, patience is

beginning to wear thin. In the small hours, nightmare for

drivers as the cones went out on Scotland's busiest road bridge. The

only vehicles able to pass contained the engineers who were trying to fix

it, and this is their focus. A crack in the steelwork, deep the need the

roadway. For those at the wheel, it has meant long queues and lengthy

diversions. This doesn't help anybody, but if

the bridge is unsafe, it is a need. These businessmen are feeling

stranded. The rare tranquillity of this empty bridge offers little

comfort. The first thing that came to mind

was, how am I going to get over the other that water? It is a real big

structure, so the first thing was just to jump on Google straightaway

and look for an alternative route. The situation at the bridge has been

getting worse by the day, from lane closures to weight restrictions,

then a short-term closure, and now this. It is not the first time

problems have been found bridge. The cabling that goes across the top

of the towers has been snapping in small places in recent years, and

that defect has led to the construction of the new bridge

alongside, and unfortunately, that is not going to be opening for

another year. Today, it seems many took the advice

to stay at home, although there were some jams.

It was not as bad as expected, but the next few weeks will be a

challenge. The bridge closure is now unavoidable, but we will try to

mitigate the impact, supporting travel plans, encouraging people to

use public transport, rail, for example, looking at ferry services

also, and bass prioritisation is. We will do everything we can. The

Scottish Government says it has not taken today's decision lightly, but

it says reopening the bridge now will damage it even further.

We're now getting word that even the engineers are being pulled off a

bridge because of the increasingly strong wind, but actually, it is

going to take them several weeks to fix the problems here. The rest of

the year, the bridge will remain closed, and it is still not exactly

clear win in 2016, As you can see from the report,

plenty of strong winds a story well, but before I get onto that, I want

to reminisce a little. They're with me. This was yesterday, a blanket of

cloud across the country, cold on the North of Scotland, but milder

further south. But look at this. This morning, we were greeted with

blue sky and sunshine. Thanks to our weather watcher mat for sending in

this picture. Sunshine generally across the south coast, through East

Anglia and into the Midlands and parts of the North East. Further

north, clouds starting to gather already. We have a significant area

of low pressure. Our fourth named storm across the UK for this season

Storm Desmond arise later on today, bringing severe gale force gusts of

wind and also some significant reign as well. Bright and breezy

conditions continuing further south, condition is widespread. Not as cold

and Scotland as yesterday, but the significant weather will really

start gathering strength is removed with the latter stages of the day,

so in that evening, we could see gusts of wind 's in excess of 70

miles hour, and relentless rain as well, so there could be an issue

with some travel disruption, certainly tune into your BBC local

radio stations for further updates throughout this evening. In the

Atlantic, a ribbon of rain, a conveyor belt of rain, gathering

pace, pushing into the North West through the evening, and into

tomorrow. And the strongest of the winds will start to drift further

south across southern Scotland and to the North of England. Amber

weather warnings have been issued, meaning be prepared for some

disruption due to the intensity and longevity of that rainfall. We could

see as much as 200 millimetres before the rain use is off, already

falling and saturated ground. The winds down into central and southern

Scotland, crossed the peaks and Pennines Pennines, here we could see

gusts of 60-70 on high ground. Central and southern England and

will be bright, drive through the day, but still pretty windy here.

Some significant weather to start our weekend. Into Sunday, our

weather front drifts further south-east, weakening all the time.

A band of cloud and patchy rain. Cooler to the north, but it looks as

though the significant weather continues. All the details on the

website if you want more information about those weather warnings.

Thank you. Well, that is all from us. Now on BBC One, time for the

news where you are.