19/09/2011 BBC News at Six

The evictions at Dale Farm on hold - travellers win a last minute

legal reprieve. The families can stay put for now, as the bailiffs

retreat. Very happy. At least we might have a good night's sleep now.

The ten-year legal battle goes on - now the council and travellers face

another day in court. I am confident that once we put our case,

the law will seem to be upheld and the council will enforce that law.

We'll have the latest from the Lib Dem conference in Birmingham, where

delegates heard a very gloomy forecast for the economy. Despite a

new factory and new jobs at Jaguar Landrover, the Business Secretary

spells out the economic reality. now face a crisis that is the

economic equivalent of war and this is not a time for business as usual

or politics as usual. Also on tonight's programme: The

latest on the hacking scandal - Milly Dowler's family settles with

News International, the money going to charity.

Doing fine - surgeons show off the twins who were joined at the head,

and their parents' joy. This is a very rare condition and a complex

problem. There are so many things you have to get right.

Tribute to are paid to the legendary racehorse trainer Ginger

McCain, who has died at the age of 80. He famously guided Red Rum to

Good evening. The eviction of Dale Farm, the largest illegal

travellers' site in the UK, has been put on hold after residents

won a last-minute legal reprieve. Bailiffs had already entered and

served eviction papers when news of the injunction came through this

afternoon. It is the latest step in a long and bitter legal battle.

Let's go live now to Dale Farm. They are those who thought today

would see the dramatic end of the 10 year struggle to control Dale

Farm, but it was another day of twists and turns in this convoluted

tale. This was the day when the ruling of the courts collided with

the determination of a community. The bailiffs marched to the

entrance of Dale Farm. Battling against a police helicopter and a

megaphone, the council's warning was heard by no one inside the camp.

I am concerned for your well-being, and the well-being of the council

agents. On the other side of the precariously constructed barricade,

protesters had chained themselves to object. One man had touched his

arm to a barrel filled with concrete. It so bad Day for us, but

also a good day in the sense that the whole world is seeing how the

UK treats its travellers. warning given, the bailiffs

retreated and the stage was set for what many fear will be the long and

hazardous protest of returning a few acres to the green belt.

You seem upset. Were due be upset if your home was being taken away?

The total cost is put at some �18 million, a price worth paying to

those who see this camp to a challenge of the law of the land,

but a scandalous waste of public money to people who think the

action is an attack against a minority culture. It is more than

10 years since Irish travellers bought this land straddling the

green belt, east of London. They were encouraged to buy the plot.

The council only gave permission to build homes on this half, there are

34 illegal pictures, but on the green belt land were building is

forbidden, there are 51 travellers'' homes. Late this

afternoon, celebration in the camp with another twist in this decade

long saga. A court injunction delaying any enforcement action

until at least Friday. We told them not to be spending that kind of

money. It is giving us a chance to sort something out in court.

Clearly I am the council are extremely disappointed and

frustrated by the decision of the High Court today. I am absolutely

confident that once we put our side of the story, our case, that the

law will seem to be upheld. battle for Dale Farm has been cast

as a struggle between the lawful mainstream and an alternative way

of life so there is an irony in the courts agreeing to look at whether

Basildon council has followed the letter of the law. As you heard,

the council say they are extremely confident that when they put their

side to be High Court on Friday, they will win the action and resume

operation at Dale Farm. Anyone who has followed this saga over the

last 10 years would probably caution against assuming anything.

A quick reminder, there is a lot more information online about Dale

Farm, including an interactive map. Britain is facing any economic

crisis which is the equivalent of being at war, that was the

assessment given today by business secretary Vince Cable to the

Liberal Democrats' conference in Birmingham. Let's get the latest

from the conference. A suppose the usual purpose of a party conference

is to give delegates a pep talk and deliver an upbeat message to voters.

It wasn't like that today because Vince Cable painted the gloomiest

view of the country's economic prospects saying there were

difficult times ahead, the economic equivalent of being at war. Nick

Clegg insisted there was no alternative to the coalition's

strategy. Oblique warning was issued in

Birmingham today, a warning to the contrary that danger lies ahead.

The enemy is not one we can see, not one they can protect us against,

it is the threat that the economy may not recover. We now face a

crisis that is the economic equivalent of war. The business

secretary said today that the public deserved and wanted to be

told it like it is. The truth is that there are difficult times

ahead, that Britain's post-war pattern of ever-rising living

standards has been broken by the financial collapse. City-centre

Birmingham looks prosperous enough, but not far down the road the place

that attracts the most customers is the JobCentre. Unemployment in this

parliamentary constituency is the highest in the country, and going

up. The situation in unemployment is dire. It feels that as you go

into the JobCentre today? You can feel it walking around, people are

very unhappy. I haven't worked in the last year, and people are

really down. The Deputy Prime Minister told me today that

ministers are doing everything they can to produce growth, given they

have no more money. If there was an easy alternative, a big red button

in Whitehall that says push here for growth, or a simple remedy

where growth would materialise by next Tuesday, you would have

thought the Labour Party would have come up with the alternative. I

will tell you what they say - look at the small print of their own

deficit reduction plan. Pound-for- pound, they would cut almost

exactly the same amount from public spending than we are in this

financial year. Ministers' language is changing, they are beginning to

talk of the need for a stimulus to get it more companies to follow a

Jaguar and Land Rover, who today announced they would be creating a

750 jobs building a new engine plant in Wolverhampton. You have

spoken of the New deal's style stimulus. Is he in favour of that?

The government is in favour of growth. The world as in a very

difficult set of conditions at the moment. There is a danger of demand

weakening. The government has got to support the economy. It is right

to say we have got to balance the books, but at the same time we can

invest to build for a better tomorrow. The Lib Dem conference is

echoed to the sound of coalition disharmony, as one partner

criticises the other in what they call their political marriage.

Some people say coalition is a political marriage. How would your

wife feel if you called her a nightmare and said divorce was

inevitable? Miriam would not be pleased and I would pay the

consequences, of course. Do I accept the Liberal Democrats will

get on the platform behind me and say stuff about the Conservatives?

That is what happens in politics. Party conferences are the time in

which ministers display their differences in public with their

coalition partners. In private though they are united in worrying

about how to get the economy moving again.

A quick reminder - this is a party that lost more than 600 council

seats earlier this year. Its poll ratings are still in the doldrums,

there is a debate about the nature of its role in the coalition

government. The party president has openly raised the prospect of the

Lib Dems are abandoning the coalition before the next election.

If you think that makes for a downbeat depressed party membership

here, think again. The Liberal Democrats in Birmingham

after an awful year. They have lost hundreds of councillors, a

referendum on voting reform, and their poll ratings are at a record

low, and yet are they think it will turn good. If at the end of a

parliament we have delivered good government for our country at a

time of crisis, informed by liberal principles of fairness which you

are now seeing coming to the fore, I have no doubt the public will

give us the benefit of that. That is the gamble the party members

seem to have accepted as a prize for coalition. There are no tough

questions for the leader. Does anybody else want to ask a

supplementary on that? Heavens, what docility. Like a North Korean

conference meeting. Some Lib Dems are concerned about specific issues,

but many appear content with their lot. It is almost as if they are

getting used to the idea of being in power. They are also used to

being unpopular. If you are as old as I am, you will know we survived

given the 70s and 80s. We survive whatever happens. We have ministers

in office. And that makes a difference? Of course, it restrains

the ghastly thing the Tories might otherwise do. The ministers are

learning to be robust with the media.

You are losing elections across the piece, at record lows in opinion

polls, and he seemed to think in a few years that will change. Why is

that not wishful thinking? I have to say, James, you are miserable

sod really. I think you sometimes come to our conference and you are

hoping we would be miserable, defeated and deflated, and you have

found we are in good form here. Nick is on cracking form. That was

me told. But some Lib Dems will never be exactly happy with the

cost of coalition. To say their party is happy with losing

elections is wrong, you are misreading relishing the challenge

for contentment. The bottom line is that the Lib Dems are bound in

coalition with the Conservative to tackle the economy, and happy or

not that is their lot and it is a lot they are willing to accept.

Where are we? We have doom and gloom in the economy, low poll

ratings and a cheerful membership? It might look as if they don't know

what reality is like, politically it is a lot better than when there

were students on the streets, they were losing the referendum on

changing the voting system, that is politically. Economically, I don't

think they have registered what Vince Cable was saying today when

he was effectively saying prepare for it to get worse. The news

economically has got much worse in recent weeks. Ministers here,

Conservative ministers insist there are things they can do. They can

bring forward spending on infrastructure, have government

programmes to help businesses create jobs, but the ministers I'm

talking to are very worried. One senior Lib Dem came up to me today,

I will get flak for saying this, he said I don't think my party is

understood. It might be about to get worse for us.

More from the conference here in Birmingham on the BBC News Channel

Our top story tonight: Travellers have won a last-minute legal

reprieve against eviction from Dale Coming up: The Grand National hero

Ginger McCain dies. He took the legendary Red Rum to three wins.

Later on the BBC News Channel, a jobs boost for Wolverhampton as

Jaguar Land Rover invests millions in a new factory. Crunch talks in

Europe as the next Greek bail-out Shares in British banks took

another hit today as fears over the great debt crisis continue to

spread across Europe. The Greek government is meeting about now to

try to find the money it needs to fill a massive hole in the

country's finances. Line-out lower Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, who is

in Athens. -- Live Now to Owl. George, there is a crucial telly

conference call going on at the moment between the Greek Finance

Minister and officials from the IMF and the ECB. The Greeks are going

to have to persuade them that they have a convincing plan to cut the

deficit and that they will stick with it. Increasingly, on the

streets, there is a great deal of the air above what new measures,

new austerity measures may lie ahead. -- a great deal of fear.

There's flash photography in his Some people say that future of the

eurozone lies in this man hands, Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek

Finance Minister, and these are critical days for him. His country

faces bankruptcy next month without another injection of bailout money,

but other European leaders insist Greece must do more to reduce its

debt as it, and this was the message the IMF gave him today.

ball is in the Greek court. Implementation is of the essence.

Thank you. Yes, they have already been tax rises and pay cuts, but

they have not done the job. The numbers and the public sector

remain high, tax collection is a shambles, and the economy is

shrinking. So more cuts are on the way, but this time increasingly the

The Athens bike then drew many middle-class families, among them

Joanna, a public sector worker. Already she has seen her salary cut

by 20%. She says she is scared. are very careful of what we buy now.

Every time we go to the supermarket, we are very careful, we go with a

list, and it is getting shorter and shorter. We cannot buy anything for

our children any more. When school started this autumn, this family

found a shortage of books in the classroom. Just one week ago, the

government announced a property tax, the aim to raise 2 billion euros.

It would hit flat-owners like this woman. For the scale that the

government has given for this area, it works out at 7 euros per metre,

which means just about more than 700 euros for this flat. For one

year, in two instalments. How do people feel about that? It is quite

a lot of money. Yes, it is. I think the middle classes and property

owners are getting outraged. tax will be collected through

electricity bills, and already the power unions say they will sabotage

it. And on the streets, there are crowds to say they will not pay the

new tax. That is the problem, families, public sector workers are

increasingly unwilling to accept cuts in exchange for a further

bailout. The plan was, after this conference

call tonight, for the Cabinet to me and perhaps for austerity measures

to be announced, but we do not think that will happen today, more

likely tomorrow. But there is widespread expectation in Greece

that a considerable number, perhaps up to 20,000 state workers will be

laid off as part of the new austerity package, and then of

course the question is, how will that go down, particularly with

protesters on the streets? The BBC understands that News

International is close to agreeing a financial settlement with the

family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler as a result of the phone-

hacking scandal. It is believed the deal is likely to involve the

donation of a seven-figure sum to charity at the Dell family would

receive a payment of around �2 million. -- the Dowler family. June

Kelly is with me now. This case was the tipping point in this whole

hacking scandal, wasn't it? That is right, it caused international

outrage and led to the closure of the News of the World, the

resignation of Rebekah Brooks and raised a lot of questions about the

failure of the original police investigation. News International

are not commenting on this deal, but we understand that it does

involve a figure of close on 2 million to be paid to the family, a

further �1 million to charity, and just to put this into some sort of

context, News International paid out �100,000 to Sienna Miller.

Gordon Taylor of the PFA got around 750,000. The fact that Rupert

Murdoch's empire is prepared to write such a large cheque would

seem to be an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and the pain that has

been caused. Six men and one woman have been

arrested in Birmingham as part of a major counter-terrorism operation.

The men, aged between 25 and 32, were detained last night in a

series of raids in the city. The woman is being questioned on

suspicion of withholding information.

The Ministry of Defence has announced that a Royal Marine has

been killed in Afghanistan. The Marine from 42 Commando was shot

dead in Helmand province. His family has been informed.

An operation to separate twins joined at the head has been

described as about as complex as it can possibly get. Surgeons who

carried out four operations totalling nearly 40 hours say they

are hopeful for the girls' future. The sisters were separated last

month after being flown to the UK from Sudan. Medical correspondent

Fergus Walsh is the only TV journalist who has been allowed to

make them. This is now togetherness for

retired and retard, sharing the same cart, but these twins have

undergone an extraordinary journey to be physically separated. Born

joined at the head, doctors said they would probably have died

unless they underwent surgery. Their parents, both doctors from

Sudan, can now each hold one daughter in their arms. For them,

it is a miracle. What was it like when the twins were able to look

each other in the eye for the first time? It was really a great moment

in our life. I will never forget it. I hope that they will get a normal

life and be treated as normal human beings. And to forget all of the

suffering times. Looking at the twins now, it is remarkable to

think that just one month ago they were joined at their head. It is

still too early to be sure, but there are no signs at this stage

that either has suffered any neurological damage as a result of

This was the huge surgical team at Great Ormond Street Hospital who

carried out four complex operations spread over four months. First,

dividing the veins and arteries, then growing new skin to cover the

skull, and finally this, at the moment when the twins were

separated. There are so many things that you have to get right in the

right order, separating the blood vessels, making sure the brain is

safe, reconstructing skin. It really has been a tribute to the

team, I think, that we have been able to plan is in such detail and

Keith and safe throughout. charity, Facing The World, paid the

medical costs and says the twins should soon be well enough to be

flown home with the hope of a Tributes have been paid to the

legendary horseracing trainer Ginger McCain, who has died from

cancer at the age of 80. He will always be linked with Red Rum, the

horse which won the Grand National three times in the 1970s. Andy

Swiss looks back at his achievements.

What a story this is, Ginger McCain... They called him Mr

Aintree, Ginger McCain, charismatic, colourful and creator of a sporting

fairy-tale. The former used-car salesman, he trained Red Rum on the

beach in Southport, but from this unusual setting unbelievable

results. Red Rum is going to win the National! He won his first

National in 1973, he won it again in the following year, and then in

1977 he was roared into racing history. Red Rum was an equine

superstar, and McCain loved every minute. He was the only horse that

has ever won three Grand Nationals and he was everybody's favourite. A

lovely thing about him was that he had the charisma to match that, he

had star quality. Ginger McCain carried on training at his stables

in Cheshire well into the 70s, and his legacy is plain to see. This

was a man who did not as trained one Grand National winning horse

but two. Amberleigh House is going to give the Red Rum fans...

years after the first win, Amberleigh House gave McCain the

perfect end to his career, a man around whom life was never dull.

Ginger was an extraordinary character. He was totally

unreconstructed, totally non-the sea. He could be extremely

offensive. 30 had so much passion for racing and sport, and he was a

great showman. -- but he had. McKay name lives on. His son Donald

trained this year's winner, Ballabriggs. Aintree was his

spiritual home, and Ginger McCain's remarkable feats there will never

be forgotten. The trainer Ginger McCain, who has

died at the age of 80. Returning now to the main story,

travellers have won a last minute legal reprieve against eviction

from Dale Farm in Essex. After 100 residents and supporters remain

inside. Special correspondent Fergal Keane is inside. You are

inside the barricades, you have seen the jubilation today, but

council officials are determined that the evictions will take place.

They are indeed, and it is important to remember that what

happened as afternoon was not a judgment against the principle of

addiction but against the conditions in which it would take

place. Everything will depend on what is decided by the courts next

Friday. Until then, any kind of celebration here is probably a bit

premature. We will say on Friday whether, finally, the bailiffs, as

they threatened to earlier, will come through that gate behind me

and face the demonstrators who have been preparing to meet them at

their barricades. Time for the weather now with John

Variety is the spice of life, and we have plenty of that over the

next few days, from place to place and date today. Things are clouding

over with rain on the horizon, it is already damp across Northern

Ireland, a sign of things to come, because that will spread into

central and southern Scotland, northern and western parts of

England and Wales, too. Heavy bursts will not reach East Anglia

and the south-east. Clearing up behind, down to single digits here.

To the south and east of the rain, a mild night, no lower than 14 in

London. A bit of a three-way split in the morning, and then we will

keep that going through the day. The rain never reaching the South

East, brightening behind, but very wet in the middle as that band of

rain idles across central parts of the country, probably brightening

up across a good part of north England by the afternoon. Bright

and breezy for a good chunk of Scotland as well. They will be

showers out west, moving through quite quickly. Not warm, 15 degrees,

but not bad in the sunshine. Similar for North Island, showers

in the West. It might brighten up in the west of Wales, but a good

part of Wales looks like being cloudy with dampness in their

southeast. Raining all day in the south-west of England. Underneath

the rain clouds, it could feel cool, particularly in the Midlands. But

in the bright as in parts of the south-east and East Anglia, we

might just nudge 2421. The rain arrives across the south-east

tomorrow night. Then maybe early morning fog clearing. Much of the

UK on Wednesday have a bright enough day. Heavy showers across