28/06/2011 BBC News at Six

David Cameron's direct message to public sector workers - call off

your strike. Preparing for one of the biggest

walkouts of recent times, the Prime Minister insists his pension

proposals are fair. These strikes are wrong. For you, for the people

you serve, for the good of the country.

Thousands of schools in England and Wales will close their doors on

Thursday. Some teachers say they have no choice.

As a young teacher, having to work until I'm 68 now, so they're

changing the goalposts all the time. Also on tonight's programme - a

general strike in Greece turns violent. Demonstrators oppose plans

to slash spending. After all the tension, bitterness

and frustration of recent days, it was almost inevitable that there

would an outbreak of violence. Another high street name in trouble

as shoppers stay away. Thousands of jobs at TJ Hughes are at risk.

It's a shame really, isn't it? I used to come here with my mum years

ago. It's been part of your life. Hidden charges on credit and debit

cards. Travel companies are told to be upfront with the customer.

It hurt but a foot injury is not enough to keep him out. Nadal is

still on course to meet Murray at Wimbledon. Good Evening. Welcome to

the BBC News at Six. Just two days before they go on strike, David

Cameron has told hundreds of thousands of public sector workers

that they are wrong. In a speech aimed directly at

teachers and civil servants, he said the Government's planned

changes to pensions are fair to them and fair to the taxpayer. It's

the first time he's intervened publicly in a row that could lead

to one of the biggest walkouts of recent years. Here is our Deputy

Political Editor, James Landale. The talks are over, it's time to

get ready to strike. Across the country, activists like these from

the PCS Civil Service union are cutting, pasting and sticking their

placards, preparing for Thursday when up to 750,000 public sector

workers are expected to walk out against pension changes that civil

servants like Sian Ruddock say are unfair. My pension will be worth

�46,000 less, I'll have to work an extra six years and pay �60 extra a

month which is difficult to afford. Cameron... Out... In Birmingham

today, David Cameron avoided the demonstration waiting for him

outside, but inside, he threw his personal weight behind the

Government's pension reforms. They were essential, he said and fair to

taxpayers and low-paid workers alike.

So to those considering strike action, at a time when discussions

are ongoing, I would say to you, these strikes are wrong for you,

for the people you serve, for the good of the country.

The problem is that we are all living about six years longer than

we were in 1980, meaning public sector pension funds face a black

hole of almost �10 billion by 2015. The Government wants public sector

workers to pay more into their pensions and work for longer.

David Cameron today was not just making his case to the unions, but

also appealing to a wider audience. In this dispute, the battle for

public opinion will be as vital as the argument over the detail. It

wasn't just the Prime Minister who was trying to capture the public

mood. The Labour Leader too said the strikes were wrong. I do think

the strikes are a mistake, yes, they shouldn't be going ahead

because they'll inconvenience parents and children. Public sector

pensions do need to be reformed, but the Government's got to take

its share of responsibility because they've gone about these

negotiations in quite a reckless, provocative way. My message to both

sides is get round the negotiating table.

But the leader of this union said they were right to strike. I think

the Prime Minister's comments today show how totally out of touch he is

with ordinary people in this country. He's urging them not to

strike while he's forcing them to work eight years longer, pay

thousands more and get half of their pension back.

So for now, the politicians' appeals are falling on deaf ears

and preparation force Thursday's strikes continue. The question is,

houf often will the placards be used after this week -- how often.

Tonight, the National Union of Teachers says it's expecting 85% of

schools in England and Wales to be affected on Thursday, leaving

millions of parents up and down the country trying to work out who to

do with their children for the day. Danny Savage has been gauging the

mood in Halifax. At Parkinson Lane School in Halifax, the school run

won't be happening on Thursday, one of thousands of schools where

teachers will be on strike and the children have been told to stay

away. Jo Mansfield is one of those taking

action because of prosed pension changes and having to work longer.

It's a great job to do, but the amount of training we do, then to

say we have to pay more and get less in the outcome. As a young

keeper, having to work until I'm 68 now, so they're changing the

goalposts all the time. Later this week come the consequences. All 500

pupils have been given a letter to take home telling parents the

school will be completely closed on Thursday and thanks them for their

patience and understanding. But how much patience and understanding do

the parents have? The answer is quite a bit. At least

for now. What the Government are doing is

wrong. You know, the teachers, we are in full support of them. It was

an inconvenience on Thursday, we'll overcome that. Halifax is a town

where quite a few people struggle to get by. And many have little

sympathy with teachers. I think they're asking too much. I don't

know. The country's in a bad debt with all this noun pay back and

everything like that. I have some sympathy, but having said that, I

work in the private sector, my terms and conditions have been

changed as well. Even has to tighten their belts. Get set...

But teachers argue that a poorer pension will lead to a poorer

quality of person wanting to join the profession. A lot of people

will be put off and you won't get the high calibre of teachers coming

into the profession that you could have.

It's years since teachers have gone on strike on this scale, but the

letters have gone home and playgrounds are set to fall silent

as teachers make their point. Police in Greece have fought

running battles with demonstrators in Athens today at the start of a

two-day general strike against Government plans to raise taxes and

cut spending. The country's economy is teetering on the edge of

bankruptcy and its Parliament is due o vote on austerity measures

tomorrow. Gavin Hewitt is in the Greek capital for us tonight.

The Greek Parliament is currently in session, discussing those

austerity measures, which are a condition for receiving further aid

without which the country is heading for bankruptcy. There are

still thousands of protestors outside of Parliament, the mood

tonight, I have to say, is pretty festive. But during the afternoon,

the mood here was violent and angry. Greek police expected trouble. This

was the key moment when Parliament was about to debate and vote on

further austerity measures. The protest almost immediately

turned violent. The unions had called a 48-hour general strike.

For hours, there were running battles in the square outside

Parliament. Satellite trucks were attacked and

set on fire. After all the tension, bitterness

and frustration of recent days, it was almost inevitable there would

be an outbreak of violence. The police fired hundreds of

volleys of stun grenainds teargas to try and clear the area in front

of Parliament -- grenades. One of them landed around us and in the

face of a BBC cameraman. There is real anxiety in the Greek

Government about the extent of the riots. The main vote on the

austerity package doesn't take place until tomorrow.

Away from this square, large parts of the Greek economy were brought

to a halt by strikes. Earlier in the day, there had been

protest marches. The Government insists that austerity measures are

needed to qualify Greece for a further emergency loan from the EU

and IMF, without them Greece is heading for bankruptcy. But many

ordinary Greeks simply don't accept that.

We've tried this system, it doesn't get us out of the crisis. They are

lying, they are lying and everybody knows that.

Time and again, I heard ordinary Greeks telling me that they were

not to blame for the debt crisis. We are protesting against the Greek

government, the IMF and the European Union because they are

trying to make us pay a debt we didn't create. As the afternoon

wore on, the violence continued. 21 policemen were injured. It only

deepens doubts as to whether the Government can implement spending

cuts in the face of such resistance. You will have such a public

reaction to these measures that it will be very problematic for the

Government to continue governing. In the chaos, some Greeks turned on

each other, trying to stop the violence. But it wasn't just

anarchists attacking the police, many ordinary Greeks are deeply

angry, especial sli with further taxes on people with low incomes --

especially. The expectation is that when it comes to the vote tomorrow,

these austerity measures will be approved, but every indication is

the vote will be very tight. Today, the President of the European

Council said these were critical hours, not just for Greece, but for

the eurozone. But I have to say, it's going to be

very difficult for this government to push through these reforms under

volleys of teargas. I think one of the questions beyond this week will

be, say the Government gets a yes vote, will it be able to implement

very controversial austerity measures, including 50 billion

euros of privatisation plans, and there is widespread opposition to

those, George. Thank you.

Here, the amount of money families have to spend has seen the biggest

fall since the late 1970s. The new official figures come as the

discount department store, TJ Hughes, signalled it was in deep

financial trouble. It's not alone. Chocolate maker Thorntons says it's

closing up to 180 branches. Jon Kay has been gauging reaction.

99 years after TJ Hughes was founded, tonight its future hangs

in the balance. The company which is based in Liverpool has nearly 60

stores nationwide and 4,000 staff. But now it intends to call in the

administrators. It's a shame really, isn't it? I

used to come here with my mum years ago and it's been sort of part of

your life. It's been another bad day on the nation's high street.

The chocolate makers, Thorntons, are closing up to 180 shops, to

concentrate on franchises instead. Carpetright says it could close 50

stores. In the last few days, the fashion retailer, Jane Norman, has

shut 89 branches and across the country, Habitat stores like this

one in Bristol are selling off their stock. We won't have any

shops left, will we, they'll all be charity shops and estate agents.

Until we are all given a bit more money, then it's going to keep

happening. That squeeze on our finances is confirmed tonight by

new figures from the Office for National Statistics. The last year

has seen the biggest drop in real, disposable household income since

1977. We are seeing an emerging perfect storm. We have a number of

things coming together, the effects of the Internet on top of that,

reduced consumer spending, credit controls and shifting trends in the

market. Despite the casualties, there are still some retail winners.

Especially companies luring customers online. I think you have

got more choice and more competition in prices, so I think

you can find better deals. Our high streets have changed dramatically

in the last two years and the changes won't end here.

Our Chief Economics Correspondent, Hugh Pym, is with me. Jon talked

about the squeeze on households. The fact is people can't shop like

they used to? Yes, we have reported on this a lot, the squeeze on

household budgets and there was more confirmation of it today with

the figures that Jon's referred to. The scale of it I think took it a

bit by surprise, the 2.7% drop over the year to the first three months

of 2011 was the biggest drop in take home pay after inflation and

tax since the late 1970s. That's one of the reasons why retailers

are in trouble, some of them, I have to say, not the whole of the

high street. Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England,

was asked about this subject by MPs earlier today. He said that yes,

there was a very substantial squeeze in his words, on real

living standards. He was concerned about it. But he said it's not easy

to do very much about it because he said this is part of the economy,

rebalancing after the recession, moving away, if you like, from

borrowing and consuming towards saving and investing. It will

happen and he said it will be uncomfortable while that happens.

Obviously, as part of that, manufacturing is dog better and we

had confirmation that there was growth in manufacturing in the

first three months of this year. A policeman who is being

investigated over the deaths of two police dogs is being treated in

hospital after throwing himself from a moving car. The dogs had

been left in an unventilated vehicle outside a police training

centre on one of the hottest days of the year.

Now the cheap flights that turn out to be not quite as cheap as they

look. The trading watchdog the Office of Fair Trading has

threatened travel companies with legal action over hidden charges

for online, debit and credit card bookings. Our personal finance

correspondent Simon Gompertz has the details.

Credit and debit card charges have taken off, with EasyJet adding at

least �8 to most card sales and total airline surcharges climbing

to �300 million a year. Rail booking agencies are charging too.

Trainline levies �3.50 for credit card bookings. Charges for using

debit cards should be banned says the Office of Fair Trading. Now it

is threatening court action. We're glad a number of companies have

agreed to increase the transparency of their surcharging. Where they

don't go far enough we'll take action to ensure consumers can make

the right choice. If you're buying online, you can't use cash and

often what you see is not what you get because it can be hard to see

what the surcharges are, so you could end up paying tens of pounds

to use the card, when in fact the cost to the company is 2% if it's a

credit card and just 20p, on average, if it's a debit card.

Easyjet and trainline said they'd work with the Office of Fair

Trading, though Ryanair argued it wouldn't have to change its fees.

Shoppers in Belfast made it clear how much they disliked card

surcharges. Surely, it would be more convenient for them paying by

card, you know, as opposed to anything else. What's the

alternative? There is no alternative. It's ridiculous. You

ask for one payment. That's all you should be paying. You shouldn't be

paying any extra. There could be more restrictions in store for

surcharges. A European directive is being drawn up to prevent companies

levying any more than the true cost of processing a payment.

The time is a little after 6.16pm. Our top story tonight:

David Cameron has told public sector workers they are wrong to go

ahead with a strike on Thursday. Coming up: Royal Family finance -

how much the Prince of Wales costs the taxpayer.

Later on the BBC News Channel, more gloomy news from the High Street as

Thornton's and Carpet Right together announce plans to close

hundreds of stores, and why petrol pumps have run dry in one of the

world's largest producers of oil. Universities which offer degrees

with poor job prospects will be named and shamed under new plans

for a shake-up of higher education. With fees at England's universities

due to rise to a maximum of �9,000 a year in 2012, Ministers have

defended the proposals, saying students should be able to tell if

they are getting value for money. Our education correspondent Reeta

Chakrabarti is here with the details.

Thank you, George. Well, English universities come in many shapes

and sizes offering academic and vocational courses. The differences

will be more stark from next year with tuition fees ranging from a

maximum of nine to �6,000, and FE colleges doing degrees for less.

Ministers want future students to know more about what they'll get,

viewing them as consumers who will demand more because they'll be

paying more, so students will be able to compare universities

according to hours of teaching, teaching quality and what to expect

from future salaries for graduates once they leave. We will put

students at the heart of the system, improving the academic experience

with universities and colleges more accountable to their students than

ever before. We will also take steps to improve social mobility

without compromising academic excellence or institutional

autonomy. There are other changes too - student numbers are fixed for

universities at present, but from next year, one in four places will

be fought over. Universities will be able to recruit more bright

students, those getting at least two As and a B, and those offering

cheaper degrees of less than �7,500, will also be able to recruit more.

But the overall number - about half a million students each year - will

stay the same, meaning universities in the middle could get squeezed.

To begin with, welcome... University of West London is to

charge an awe average of �7,500 for its courses. Its Vice Chancellor

acknowledges they could be under pressure. Inevitably, universities

in the middle, perhaps, who can't compete with the AAB and upwards

might get squeezed. That's of a concern because we offer the

widening participation. We offer the students who have not had a

chance to go to university before, the first of their families to go

into higher education. Ministers were surprised over half of all

English universities are charging �9,000 for half or all of their

courses. That's expensive as fees are paid up front by the Government.

Far more universities are charging more than the Government had

planned for, causing huge political embarrassment for the Government

and creating a crisis for the Treasury, yet the real substance of

this White Paper is a desperate drive to cut fees no matter what

the effect on quality. These are big changes, and tomorrow the

Education Secretary in Scotland will outline how he plans to plug a

multi-million-pound university funding gap. Ministers have ruled

out raising fees for Scottish students, but might charge those

from England, Wales and Northern Ireland more.

Thank you. The amount of funding Prince

Charles received from the tax pair increased last year by nearly 18%

or over �300,000. But the amount he pays in tax has also gone up by

more than �900,000. Daniel Boettcher has the details.

Prince of Wales had a busy diary last year. Today the latest

accounts showing how that's paid for - funding from the taxpayer was

up almost 18%, rising to �1.96 million. Private funding from the

Duchy of Cornwall rose 4% to almost 17.8 million. But Prince of Wales

was left with a higher tax bill too, up by nearly a quarter to nearly

�4.4 million. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall travelled

less, but costs rose. His officials said that's because the previous

year's figures were unusually low. They deliver lat for the British

Government's objectives overseas. They support British relations all

around the world. For example, when we were in Spain, Portugal and

Morocco, there was important work we were doing on sustainability,

the environment, trade and investment. Other costs that rose

significantly include entertaining and receptions, but that's paid for

by Prince Charles himself. Even though funding from the public

purse has gone up, Clarence House insists that travel costs are still

below recent averages and that it's money well spent, but what about

public perception at a time of cuts across the board? To be truthful, I

think it's quite good because I think he's good for the country.

don't think he really needs all that, surely. He can just, you know

- maybe he can get a bike or something. The figures don't

include his contributions to the cost of the Royal wedding. Some

details may be included in the next account, but the total figure will

remain private. The defending Wimbledon men's

champion Rafael Nadal will be able to defend his title. His future in

the tournament looked in doubt last night when he injured his foot on

court. But a scan revealed there was no damage and he could be one

game away from a semi-final against Andy Murray. Tim Franks reports.

Rafael Nadal, the muscle man of tennis, was in such pain last night,

he thought he'd broken his foot. thought I am never going to win

this match, and I am worried for sure. I'm going to do the MRI.

We'll see what's going on. answer, happily for everyone except

his future opponents, seems to be that he's going on. Rafael Nadal

was back on the practise courts this afternoon, but the experts say

his approach to the game will catch up with him. I mean, he's wonderful

to watch, but, you know, the positions he gets into and the

force he uses on every shot in comparison with someone like Roger

Federer, who is sort of - almost like a ballet dancer - is just

totally different. Should Andy Murray, training earlier today, win

his game tomorrow along with Rafael Nadal, they'll face each other in

the semi-finals. Andy's best preparation may be to steer clear

Yesterday it showed Nadal, even on one foot, able to defeat his highly

talented opponent. Most mortals, it seems, couldn't beat Nadal if he

were bound and gagged and staked to the baseline. So the tale of Rafa's

foot has provided one twist to these Championships, but the

fleetest footwork of the day has had to belong to the Wimbledon

administrators who have had to reschedule a slew of rain-sodden

matches. Even under the roof of Centre Court,

the weather demanded it be heard. The unseeded participant was on her

way to winning her quarter-final, but not before she'd been made to

flinch. Her semi-final match will be against the former champ Maria

Sharapova. She confirmed her status as tournament favourite.

It's seen a garden vandalised, an elephant out of control - and a lot

of sticky back plastic. Now after more than 50 years, Blue Peter is

moving out of BBC Television Centre - to Salford. Our Arts

correspondent David Sillito has been looking back at the

programme's memorable moments and forward to ask - will it ever be

the same again? For more than tift years Blue Peter

has -- 50 years, Blue Peter has entertained children. Say hello to

dad. "Hello, dads. Nice to see you!" It's the last show of the

series. And my last one ever. it's the last time you'll ever see

Blue Peter here at Television Centre in London. Today it, and

some of its former presenters, bade farewell to its famous home, TV

centre, with some record-breaking hulahooping.

I was just in awe of this place, and every time I come back, it

still evokes those memories. From the early days at Lime Gro and Lulu,

the badly behaved elephant, to the campfire that got out of control.

We're on fire, so we'll just get the firemen in! The doors that

wouldn't open. LAUGHTER

The doors are shut! We've got some rather bad news. The vandalised

Blue Peter garden. It's a show that for many evokes powerful memories.

Do you feel westful seeing it? Yeah. It was a huge part of my life

and the grammar and geography and the geometry of the television

studio is instantly familiar. next time you see the Blue Peter

garden, it will be on a rooftop of Well, time for the weather now with

What an afternoon it was across parts of central and Southern

England. Here's where the rain was falling during the afternoon. From

that, hundreds of lightning strikes, large hail, flooding, disruption to

transport. The good news is it's all leaving us - drier and clearer

for this evening. The last of the rain clearing from East Anglia now.

Just one or two showers across those eastern parts overnight.

Heavy showers in Northern Ireland, easing for a time, but more

returning later. For most of us, a clear, rather cool night - 8C into

Wednesday morning. Here's a look at tomorrow's rush hour, dry for many

of us, a bit more cloud building for north-west England but brighter

prospects further east. Cloud lingering along eastern coasts. For

central England, a sunnier start. To the south-west and Wales, whilst

there will be some sunshine, you'll notice the cloud already taking on

a cauliflower appearance, a few showers by 8.00am, not many. Many

will Dr A dry commute. Most will be working eastwards across Northern

Ireland, sunshine in between. Most of Scotland, particularly south-

eastern areas, a dry and bright start to Wednesday. But I think

it's the morning which will be drier than the afternoon for some.

It will be a story of clouds building up, transferring eastwards.

Northern Ireland and Northern England likely to see showers, some

heavy. For most, few showers. One or two will get into Wimbledon by

the end of the day. Most will have a dry day, temperatures of 21C. By

the end of the week, we have lost the heat to start with. Most of us