12/12/2011 BBC News at Six

Her David Cameron defence at his EU veto. He says it was the right

thing to do -- defends his Euro He says signing up would have left

Britain without protection. choice was a treaty without proper

safeguards, or no treaty. The answer was no treaty. It is not a

veto when the thing he wanted to stop goes ahead with algae. That is

called losing. The deputy -- goes The two young boys and their

parents found dead in their two -- in their Leeds home. Friends and

neighbours said they seemed a loving family. The bank that had to

be bailed out by taxpayers. A new report blames bad management and

risk-taking at RBS. Settling into their new Scottish

home, the giant pandas from China come out into the open.

Culling up on Sportsday on BBC News, build up to the big game at

Stamford Bridge as Chelsea play host to league leaders, Manchester

It was one of the most momentous decisions of his premiership and

David Cameron was in Parliament, defending his veto at the EU summit.

Nick Clegg decided to stay away, raising more tensions about Europe

in the coalition. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, hit back at David

Cameron, claiming that the British veto had failed to stop the rest of

the EU going ahead with their plans, anyway. Here is James Landale, his

report contains flat photography. Christmas made -- flash photography.

Christmas may have arrived in Downing Street but the question was

whether any festive spirit had spread down the road to the House

of Commons. David Cameron made the short journey there knowing that

while his party would celebrate the decision to say no to Europe, his

coalition partners would not. When the Prime Minister got to his feet,

the cheers from his MPs were predictable. I went to Brussels

with one objective, to protect Britain's national interest, and

that is what I did. To the delight of his backbenchers, the Prime

Minister defended his decision. choice was a treaty without proper

safeguards, or no treaty, and the right answer was no treaty. It was

not an easy thing to do but it was the right thing to do. Last week,

Britain stood alone as Mr Cameron refused to back plans for a new

treaty of all 27 EU countries. He said the deal was not in Britain's

interests because it failed to protect the City of London from new

European regulations and taxes. Mr Clegg said it was bad for Britain,

would potentially leave Britain I have to say, how can the Prime

Minister expect to persuade anybody else it is a good outcome, when he

can't persuade his own deputy? Faced with a choice between the

national interest and his party interest, he has chosen the party

interest. We will rue the day this Prime Minister left Britain alone,

without allies, without influence. It is bad for business, it is bad

for jobs, it is bad for Britain. Last week, some Tory MPs were

questioning their leader's judgment. Today, they were jubilant. I thank

him for displaying the bulldog spirit in Brussels last week.

congratulate my right honourable friend on his actions. Can he

confirm he will not make any further policy concessions to the

lickspittle Euro-fanatics on the Lib Dem benches, as a result of

doing the right thing for Britain last week? Others were less

enthusiastic? He has walked out without using his veto, without

getting a rebate, like Mrs Thatcher did. He has walked out without a

couple of opt-outs like John Major. As Del Boy would say, what a

plonker. Although MPs were mostly restrained, some asked if

constructive diplomacy might be better. Would the Prime Minister

reflect whether that kind of constructive and positive diplomacy

might be a better approach to securing British interests, than

rushing for the exit? The Lib Dem leader once again made his

disagreement clear, outside the Commons. Being isolated, as one, is

potentially bad for jobs, bad for growth, bad for the light beards of

millions of people in this country, but the coalition is here to stay -

- bad for the livelihoods of millions of people. There is not

much good cheer about among the coalition partners.

As we have heard, the Prime Minister justified his action by

saying he was protecting British interests, especially the financial

sector which employs more than 1 million people. What do City and

business leaders think about the possible effects on the UK economy?

Whether it is UK banking, insurance or other financial services, the

outcome of the side could redefine the landscape. Has the clash with

the eurozone's leadership generated short-term gains because of David

Cameron's stance, or are they long- term losses because UK influence is

reduced? The Prime Minister said he wanted to safeguard the City of

London from further European regulations. He couldn't get firm

commitment Sony wouldn't sign the treaty. Some say he was right. --

couldn't get firm commitments so he wouldn't. David Cameron had to do

the best he could to try to protect British financial services from a

slew of regulations, of which he would have had very little control

inside the treaty. There was a warning from a senior European

official that the City of London was not immune from further

restrictions, even under the existing rule book. If this rule

was at -- intended to prevent bankers from being regulated, that

is not going to happen. It is a crucial issue, because financial

services makes up 9% of the UK first past the post economic output,

not far short of manufacturing, with just over 10% of the economy.

When it comes to implement, financial services lags well behind

manufacturing, with 2.3 million -- when it comes to employment. There

is no doubting the importance of financial services, but there are

many other sectors across the UK economy, some with different

perspectives, including longer term views on whether their best

interests have been served by the outcome of last week's summit.

Japanese car maker Honda is a major investor in the UK. The company

said its operations were not affected by Britain's political

relationships in Europe, it was business as usual. Other industry

leaders are more concerned. It is much better to be inside...

Martin Sorrell, who runs a global media business, told the BBC that

the UK's image had suffered. I was talking to an Indian businessman

this morning about where would he locate his plant, given what has

happened in the last 72 hours. The perception will be that the UK is

outside western Europe. Looking into the future, the really big

concern is the possible break-up of the euro, and fears about that sent

share prices lower today. Let's delve a little deeper into

that extraordinary session in Parliament. Nick Clegg was

conspicuous by his absence today in Parliament. What does it say about

the state of the coalition? I don't think I have attended a prime

minister Oriel -- prime-ministerial statement quite like it, utterly

dominated by the man who was not there. Nick Clegg's aides said they

thought he might not be a -- thought he might be a distraction

but he was a distraction by not being there. Labour MPs shouted it

again and again, Where's Nick? Although he would not -- was not

there, he had clearly helped to write the words of the Prime

Minister. Designed to hear some of the coalition wins. While the Tory

MPs cheered him on -- designed to heal. The Tory MPs were utterly

silent when they said the EU was in Britain's interest and he wanted to

stay in. Silence again when it became clear there was no question

of a European referendum. Silent when it became clear that the

institutions of the EU could, after all, perhaps be involved in this

new European club of 26. Exactly the opposite of what we were told a

day ago by the Chancellor. The Prime Minister can have a sigh of

relief tonight, he has no major rebellion on his backbenchers, none

at all, in fact. He is not fighting to get his legislation through all

worrying about a referendum. But he has to worry about the long-term

corrosive damage of a row with the man who is his deputy.

A murder inquiry has begun in West Yorkshire after the bodies of a

couple and their two sons were found in Pudsey near Leeds. Rigid

and Clair Smith and their boys were found in an upstairs bedroom --

Richard and plasma. Police say they are not looking for anyone else in

connection with the accident our as Richard and Clair.

A private ambulance took away the bodies of Richard, his wife Clare

and their two children. Flowers were left outside the police cordon

from friends, struggling to understand what has happened. Sara

Turnbull and shell hides were good friends of the couple. -- Sheryl

heights. Lovely, a really nice family. Devastating, shocked.

were such a lovely family. It was only three or four weeks but I was

talking to them at the cricket club. I can't believe this has happened.

All four bodies were found in the bedroom and a fire had been started

in the house. Police have launched a murder inquiry, but are not

looking for anyone else. It has left family members like Gary

tempest with many questions. They were the perfect family.

suggestion that three family members have been murdered, the 4th

a suicide, can you comprehend that? No. I don't believe that for a

minute. I would find it very hard to believe that. Police have been

speaking to neighbours to try to get a clearer picture of what led

to the family's deaths. Detectives are also waiting for post-mortem

examination results on all four bodies. That could reveal how they

died, and what happened inside this house. Until those questions

answered, the police cordon will It was one of the key moments in

the phone hacking scandal that led to widespread public revulsion. The

allegation that messages left on the phone of the murdered

schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, were deleted by someone working for the

News of the World. A police lawyer told the Everson inquiry into press

standards that the paper may not have been responsible after all --

told the Leveson Inquiry. It was the story that ignited

public revulsion, placed the press under intense scrutiny and brought

the News of the World's presses to a halt. It was the claim by the

Guardian last July that the News of the World has hacked into the phone

off the missing schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, and that the paper had

deleted messages from her voicemail. It was this latter action that

merely's mother, Sally, told the inquiry last month had given her

hope. I rang her phone and it clicked through on to pervert -- 0

voicemail, and I heard her voice. I jumped, she had picked up her

voicemail. It was then, really. News of the World investigator,

Glenn Mulcaire, has always denied deleting the messages and the

inquiry in hurt -- heard that the Metropolitan Police had evidence to

support that. It was unlikely that anything Mr Mulcaire did was

responsible for what Mrs Dowler heard. The News of the World did

hack into Milly Dowler's phone, that is not contested, but it seems

that Mulcaire did not delete messages. As counsel for the

Dowlers pointed out, over three days after her abduction, and

messages were interfered with. Someone was continuing to access

that voicemail, between the 21st and the 24th, and did delete those

voicemail messages, which gave rise to Sally Dowler being able, finally,

to get through to her daughter's voicemail. Why does this matter?

What happened to the Dowlers had a significance in causing this whole

inquiry to be set up, and as much indifference to their feelings as

anything else -- in deference to The head of the Financial Services

Authority, the City watchdog, has said there should be a public

debate about how to make bank bosses more accountable. It follows

a report from the FSA which blames the spectacular collapse of the

Royal Bank of Scotland at the height of the financial crisis on

poor management. The FSA also admitted that its own light touch

Outside Edinburgh, a symbol of banking who press. Vast palatial

offices, built by Royal Bank of Scotland and occupy shortly before

the bank failed. Royal Bank of Scotland was rescued with �45

billion of investment by taxpayers, who today faced more than �25

billion of losses. Three years after the collapse, we have the

verdict of the City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority.

Management and regulator made woeful errors, but no one has been

punished. Do you understand why people are so angry that no one has

been seriously punished? absolutely understand the anger of

ordinary people, not just about the failure of RBS, but about what

happens to the overall financial system. The financial crash of 2008

has caused enormous harm, and they ought to also be angry about a lot

of the talk that existed before the crisis about the need for light

touch regulation, unleashing the elegies and innovation of the

It is startling to look at the areas which were made. The failure

of the Royal Bank of Scotland was caused by a catalogue of mistakes

by the bank's previous management. They paid too much at the wrong

time to buy the Robert of -- the rub of a big international bank,

ABN Amro. The bank became hideously, dangerously dependent on borrowing

on markets, and when markets wouldn't lend to them any longer,

we as taxpayers had to bail them Here's the Banker MOTs blamed for

the collapse of RBS, Sir Fred Goodwin. He left with a pension pot

Goodwin. He left with a pension pot of �16.6 million, but handed back a

sizable amount of money. Do you believe you should have done more

tos back more of Sir Fred Goodwin's enormous pension entitlement?

had a completely rock-solid arrangement for all of his

entitlement. We were told that we could be facing litigation, and we

would have a negligible chance of winning. This is why we had to try

to persuade Sir Fred Goodwin voluntarily to reduce his pension.

The chairman of the Financial Services Authority thinks the law

may have to be changed, so that those who run banks that go bust

will face automatic professional and financial punishments. But

perhaps that it should apply to Our top s#tory tonight... David

Cameron has told the Commons his decision to block a new European

Union treaty was "the right thing to do" for Britain. Coming up... A

highlight from the BBC's Frozen Planet series, but this was filmed

in a Dutch animal park - not in the American troops in Afghanistan

called it the valley of death, a remote part of Helmand where the

Taliban are still a lethal threat. In October, British soldiers, led

by the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, took over control of the

area between the towns of Sangin and Gereshk. Our defence

correspondent, Caroline Wyatt, has been on patrol with them. One

soldier has been killed and several others have been seriously injured.

The battle here now is for the road, Route 611, which links the town of

Sangin to Gereshk in the south. But unlike the Americans, who were here

before, the job of the British is to make sure this road remains open

for Afghans and NATO forces are like. The main focus for British

forces in this area is to keep his route safe and open for people to

travel on. But the Taliban are playing a deadly game, they cannot

put bombs on the road, which has been Tarmac, so they're putting on

the roadside instead, some terms to lethal effect. Travelling in the

Mastiffs, we saw a packed local minibus. It swerved off the road,

perhaps to avoid the military vehicles. Moments later, we hear

muffled blast behind us. The minibus has hit a roadside bomb. We

are told not to stop. 18 people are dead, five of them children. A few

hours later, we are able to return, and this was all that was left of

the bus after the Taliban's bomb. For the soldiers, who rescued the

injured and picked up the bodies, it was a devastating day. At the

time, I was more engrossed in the incident, trying to make sure those

that arrived could stay alive. It is only afterwards when you think

about it. At a checkpoint further north, the soldiers have had to

deal with their own casualties from the first day. This regiment, 2

Mercian, have fought in the area before. They know what they're up

against. To separate friend from foe, they collect biometric data on

local farmers and workers. But the Afghans know it will not be all

that long before these combat troops leave, and the battle for

the loyalties will then be waged by It was one of the most startling

images in the BBC's Frozen Planet series - a polar bear giving birth,

apparently buried under the snow and ice of the Arctic. Today, the

programme's makers - and Sir David Attenborough - went on the

defensive after it emerged that the sequence was actually filmed in a

Dutch animal park. The BBC said the sequence was carefully worded, and

denied misleading viewers. Lizo Mzimba reports. It has been one of

BBC One's biggest hits. Frozen Planet has delighted audiences and

enchanted millions of viewers. But the combination of words and

pictures in one sequence has led to some criticising the programme.

on these slopes, beneath the snow, new lives are beginning... This was

filmed in an artificial den in an Animal Park in Holland. The

programme makers say it would have been impossible to film this in the

wild. So, were a review was misled? Sir David Attenborough, who

presented the programme, says no, they were not. In the middle of

this scene, to say, oh, by the way, this was filmed in a zoo, it would

completely ruin the atmosphere and destroy the pleasure of the viewers.

It is not a false it. We do not keep it secret, either.

chairman of parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee disagrees,

but still has praise for the show. The opinions are split amongst

viewers. I was not really misled, I thought it was fine. I was more

interested in what was happening, then where it was filmed. Now, when

I found out, yes, I was misled, but I do not really mind. The BBC also

says it explained exactly how the sequence was filmed in a special

film on the website. That film has been viewed tens of thousands of

times. The programme itself had an audience in excess of 8 million,

and some critics will continue to accuse the BBC of failing to learn

from mistakes of the past, despite its robust defence of how it made

It's the start of a week of stormy weather across the UK. Gale-force

winds and torrential rain are expected to sweep through swathes

of England and Wales tonight. South-east England could be

hardest-hit. Our correspondent Robert Hall is in Mudeford in

Dorset. But a terrible forecast - what precautions are people being

advised to take? Yes, tonight is really just the start of it, it is

going to be a pretty miserable week. Mudeford is in the path of the

storm, which has been coming up the Channel this afternoon, bringing

gusts of wind up to 70mph and driving rain. So far it has not

been as bad as that which Scotland experienced last week. But there

have been plenty of weather warnings, and flood barriers have

been raised on the rivers. As yet, the flood alerts extend right along

the south coast, up the coast of Wales, NW England and on into

Scotland. It is likely this will blow itself out, but there is a

worse storm due on Thursday night. The message I am hearing tonight is

that people should be aware of his weather and be prepared for

unexpected dangers. While we have been on air, Jonny Wilkinson has

announced his retirement from international rugby. He first

played for England when he was 18. The 32-year-old is currently

playing in France. They flew in from China last week and have been

settling into their new surroundings. Today Edinburgh Zoo's

newest arrivals were supposed to be on show for the cameras. But the

pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang are taking a very different approach to

their new fame. Lorna Gordon was lucky enough to be there. He's one

half of what is hoped will become a very famous pairing. This is Yang

Guang walking around his new home. Tian Tian was a bit more shy,

apparently taking a nap. They're settling in fantastically well,

straight for the bamboo, straight into the den. The female is a bit

more quiet and shy, but she has settled in very nicely. She has got

her favourite sleeping areas. can see each other through a small

opening, they have been calling out, and we're told, touching. But they

are solitary creatures, and will only come into close contact to

mate. The elusive Tian Tian will only come into season for a couple

of days a year. What they really like is a sleeping and eating. That

has meant bamboo, and lots of it. Yang Guang has been eating about 30

kilos of the stuff every day. It costs �70,000 a year for food,

�600,000 the year for the loan of the pandas. But they hope that it

will pull in the punters. It is a lot smaller than I expected, but it

is nice to see them. We actually skipped school today to come and

see them. He's so began cuddly looking, but you know that he could

repeal part. Everything is being done to keep these giant pandas

happy. Visitors will be able to see them from Friday. It is hoped that

if all goes well, cubs will follow next year. What is the weather

forecast, Alex? Yes, we have got that vicious weather coming our way.

More stormy conditions coming up later in the week, as well as

later in the week, as well as tonight. It has already arrived in

parts of the south coast. You can see this big massive Stanley and

swamping the country. Heavy rain, accompanied by the strengthening

wind. It is not very pleasant out on the roads. Following on behind

that, it could be icy. There will be further snow flurries coming in.

It is going to be feeling cold on Tuesday, it will be a very blustery

day. After that, there will be a bit of sunshine, but lots of

showers. They will be providing snow across parts of Scotland and

Northern Ireland and northern England. There will be some wintry

showers even across parts of England and Wales. It is going to

feel cold because of the strength of the wind, which could pick up

further tomorrow evening across the This will be accompanied by another

band of wet weather, which could bring more snow in some places. By

Wednesday, the winds start to he's a bit. Some of the showers will be

wintry again. Perhaps it will be coming down a touch on Wednesday,