23/12/2011 BBC News at Six

No more excessive credit and debit card fees. The Government says it

will make them illegal. It says it will stop big fees on card

purchases such as cinema tickets, train tickets and holidays.

holiday company were going to charge 2.5% surcharge for me using

my credit card. I thought that was disgraceful. It came to �175 extra.

But there are concerns that businesses may just raise their

prices to compensate. Also on tonight's programme: The violence

in Syria takes a deadly new turn with two bombings in the capital,

Damascus. France agrees to pay thousands of women to have breast

implants removed, though the Government here insists they are

safe. Today is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year

.But will it make up for slow sales And an emotional George Michael

makes his first appearance since he fell dangerously ill with pneumonia.

I spent the last 10 days since I woke up, literally thanking people

for saving my life. I have never had to do that before and I never

want to do it again. In sport: Steve keen hits back at his critics

including Jack Straw. He claims the support of leading Premier managers

Good evening. Welcome to the BBC News at Six. Airlines, train

companies and retailers are to be banned from charging excessive

credit or debit card fees. Some companies are charging up to �8 for

a transaction that costs as little as 20p to process. The Government

says it will change the law by the end of next year and the consumer

group, Which? Has called it a huge victory for consumers. But there

are concerns that retailers may find other ways of clawing back the

money. Simon Gompertz has the details. Card surcharges have

spread like wildfire. You get them when you go to the cinema, often

when you book a train ticket. Most complained about our Airlines was

up there said churches add up to �300 million a year. -- said

charges. This man took his family on a holiday of their lifetime to

the Caribbean. A holiday company wanted to charge 2.5% for using a

credit card. I thought it was disgraceful. It came to �175 extra.

That is an extra �44 per couple they are going to have to find. I

could not see any way the holiday company could justify that kind of

fever. Companies are being more open on their websites about the

charges. The Government ban would restrict them from charging no more

than the actual cost of processing a payment. It is reasonable to

enable service providers, airlines and others, to make some charged to

the cost of using credit cards. I think it has to be a reasonable and

fair charged to the consumer. what is reasonable and fair? The

cost to the customer by easyJet is �12.95. It is �3.54 rail tickets

from train line. To get your tax disc is �2.50. The processing cost

by paying by debit card his twenties pence and for credit card

is up to 2%. -- is 20p. Ryanair says its charge of �6 per flight is

just an admin charge. It shows how tricky it could become for the

Government, having to define what really is the card surcharge and

how big a charge can be justified. Even if that leads to cut charges

being cut, companies might raise other prizes to get the money back.

The competitive pressure should keep that under check. There is a

risk that some prices will go up as a result of this. A Europe-wide

crackdown was planned anyway for a few years' time. The Government is

bringing forward the UK ban on excessive charges to the end of

next year. Simon joins me in the studio now. Customers will welcome

this but how is the Government going to enforce it? It is likely

to be difficult. The calculation would be different for each company.

It would be simpler if they got rid of them altogether, as a lot of

consumers would like to see, or if they set a lower, fixed charge. You

could judge if they were following what the charge should be. You

could have trading standards officers what the Office of Fair

Trading looking to see if there were lots of complaints about the

company and investigating that particular one to see if they are

overcharging. We will have to see what the outcome is. More than 40

people have been killed in what are believed to have been two suicide

bombings in the Syrian capital, Damascus. State television said it

suspected Al-Qaeda was behind the attacks. But opposition activists

accused the government of staging the blasts to influence an Arab

League observer team, who have arrived to monitor the treatment of

This was a devastating escalation of Syrian violence. In Damascus,

scenes that evoke the terror of neighbouring Iraq. According to the

Government for a two suicide bombers drove cars, attacked with

explosives, into state intelligence buildings on the west side of the

city. Here, a vehicle mangled by the blast. All of this happened in

an area that should be one of the most secured in the country. The

dead and the wounded were said to include security personnel and

civilians. Television broadcast images of the survivors as they

recovered in hospital. TRANSLATION: I saw a black car and

an explosion. After that I was taken to hospital. Until today,

Damascus had largely avoided the kind of violence that has affected

much of the rest of Syria. State television began rolling live

coverage, a relentlessly replaying the injury of death. -- imagery of

death. The Government was blaming Al-Qaeda and linking it to the

opposition saying, this was not the way to achieve democracy.

Opposition activist so today's said these bombings had been fabricated

by the regime to discredit the opposition in the eyes of Arab

League observers who have just arrived in Syria. With independent

media banned or restricted, it is not possible to investigate the

claims and counter-claims. The Arab League observers were taken to

witness the aftermath. This evening, the United States urged them not to

allow what had happened in Damascus to impede their work of deterring

human rights abuses. This woman crying to God is from a village in

the north, where the opposition accuses the Army of massacring over

100 civilians. Here in Homs, at rebel fighters shoot down the

Government flag. It is a potent symbol of a country spiralling into

ever more unpredictable violence. The Government says it is keen to

act on advice that all NHS patients should be able to access their

medical records online. The Health Secretary said the proposal, by a

group of doctors advising the Government, would empower patients.

Some GPs support the idea, others fear that confidentiality might be

put at risk by hackers. The French government has said it will pay for

30,000 women to have their breast implants removed as a precautionary

measure. Doctors there are concerned about the high rupture

rate of the silicone implants, made by the French company PIP. 40,000

women in Britain were given the same implants but health officials

here insist there is no need to have them removed. Here is Fergus

Walsh. France and Britain are now at odds over the road PIP implants.

Banned last year because they contain non-medical great silicone.

The French are recommending the implants be removed, even if they

appeared undamaged. The state would pick up the bell. The French Health

Minister said the removal of the implants was a preventive measure

and not urgent. Women who do not want them removed will be offered

six-monthly scans. Let's look in more detail at the medical position

being taken in Paris and London on the PIP implants. The French say

there is no increased risk of breast cancer. The British agree.

The French have found an increase rupture risk from the implants. The

medical watchdog here has not. That difference is so far unexplained.

The French say the unauthorised Jelfs their lead could cause

inflammation. Here, tests have shown no health risks. The British

government will not be paying for their removal. Removing the implant

requires an operation, requires anaesthesia, requires a degree of

risk. We are taking expert advice. We are not in a position where we

can recommend that the risk should be entered into routinely where

there is no safety concern that would justify taking that risk.

Michelle Richardson is disappointed that Britain is not following the

lead of France. She says she has suffered health problems since

having the implants. She was told it would cost �2,500 to replace

them. I do not know if it has ruptured been made. All I know it

is it is not where it is supposed to be and it hurts. Nobody has done

anything for me for that. Some surgeons here believe the British

government should follow the example of the French. They are not

medical grade silicone. They have not been tested for

biocompatibility. Some women might say, I will keep them in for the

time being and others might say, I would prefer to have them removed.

The French moves are likely to add to the worry and confusion felt by

many British women. Hundreds of whom are planning legal action over

the implants. Four senior police officers, including a Chief and

Deputy Chief Constable, are being investigated by the Police

Complaints Commission for alleged misconduct in a gangland murder

case. It relates to claims that evidence concerning the killing of

Adrian Lee, currently chief constable of Northamptonshire, now

under investigation for his past conduct. Also under scrutiny his

deputy, Suzette Davenport and two Assistant Chief Constable, Marcus

Beale, now with the West Midlands force and Jane Sawyers, who is with

staff to check. -- Staffordshire. In 2002, there was a murder in a

country lane in Staffordshire. The victim was Kevin Nuness, a drugs

dealer. He was abducted at gunpoint by his killers. It was a gang rang

to shooting and the murder inquiry went on for some years. -- gangland.

All four police officers and domestication served with the

Staffordshire force. The Independent Police Complaints

Commission has now served notices on the four telling them they are

under investigation. It is the equivalent of reading somebody

their rights, if it were a criminal investigation involving members of

the public. It does not infer any kind about come to the

investigation. The alleged failure to disclose evidence relates to the

trial in 2008 of the five men who were convicted of the killing. The

legal process is now operating on two fronts. As the investigation

into the police of us has continues, the convicted men are preparing for

their case to be re-examined. It is due in the Appeal Court in the

first half of 2012. Adrian Lee is a police national spokesman on ethics.

Neither he nor his colleagues have been suspended as their behaviour

is scrutinised. Today is expected to be one of the busiest shopping

days of the year with millions of people making those last minute

buys before Christmas. But with retailers suffering due to the

economic slowdown, will the all- important Christmas sales give them

It is Christmas time, always crucial for retailers and rarely as

important as this one, when spending power of shoppers squeeze

cars with cost-of-living increases. Some are not around to enjoy the

Christmas takings. Much of the Habitat change has folded. -- chain.

Thorntons has admitted life is tough. Today, last sensa called in

administrators because of financial troubles. It has more than 150

stores and 2600 staff. Many shoppers like those we'd talked to

in Wakefield are watching every penny, even in the final countdown

to Christmas. Her we're on a budget this year. We have given ourselves

�20 each to spend on each other. had cut down on Christmas presents

I spent on friends. How ever busy the stores may look, we will not

know how much shoppers have spent in total until early in the New

Year. We have had some indicators giving a few clues as to the mood

of consumers. One survey of shopper numbers shows a slight fall on last

year's Christmas season. Consumer credit figures show a drop of �0.2

billion. People pay back more than a borrowed. There is an estimate

from Deserve that spending is down more than 2%. This has been a

subdued Christmas. Come the end of the month, I see no reason why it

will have changed. One leading retailer said that shoppers were

now flocking in after holding back too late in the day. We are seeing

that the sales are picking up against last year. We are seeing

good increases but only in the last two weeks. There is no doubt there

is a last minute rush into the shops. Online sales were up

strongly on last year. No retailer thinks it is an easy Christmas.

Most know the climate will be Our top story tonight: The

Government announces plans to ban excessive credit and debit card

fees. Coming up: The teenager who bunked off jury service to see this

and was jailed for it. I never thought of myself as breaking the

law or going to prison. I'm not sure what it is going to do for my

World leaders, including David Cameron, have attended the state

funeral of the first President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel,

who died on Sunday. Thousands of people queued at Prague Castle to

pay their last respects to the playwright and dissident who led

the overthrow of communism in the former Czechoslovakia in 1989. Our

special correspondent, Alan Little, reports. In St Vitus Cathedral they

draped his coffin in the flag of the country he led out of

dictatorship. He was the unwanted politician. Now the unwanted

limelight falls on the eyes of his widow. The eyes of the world

intrude on her private grief. Vaclav Havel brought leader of the

world to Prague Castle today, Lech Walesa, two British Prime Ministers.

The French head of state. Two US Secretaries of State, and a former

President. SIRENS WAIL

And noon they sounded the sirens and the church bells across the

Czech lands. The nation stood in quiet reflection. The former US

Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, Czech-born, said he was a

unique man who confronted his jailers with truth. His humanity

spoke to all. Vaclav Havel was a playwright who emerged in the 1980s

as the leader of a group of young dissidents determined to confront

the Communist authorities. Day after day in 1989 he led hundreds

of thousands in protests on Wenceslas square. He made the

journey from prison cell to presidency in a matter of weeks.

His guiding belief was the truth would always triumph over a lie. He

wad determined, he said, to live a life of truth, even if that meant

going to prison. Today the people of this whole country have stopped

to remember the transforming effect that principled stand has had on

their lives. What is Havel's legacy? 22 Years ago this was a

country that put poets, playwrights and priests in prison. The

presiding Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka, was jailed along

sides Havel. Havel had the values of the mainstream. At the moment

those needed his clearest articklaigsz. Today a free and

democratic people paid their homage. -- articulation.

There have been two powerful earthquakes in the New Zealand city

of Christchurch, ten months after the quake which killed more than

180 people. This was the scene inside a supermarket when the quake

struck, with a magnitude of 5.8. There were dozens of minor injuries

but no deaths. Buildings were damaged and power supplies cut.

A teenage juror jailed for halting a trial after pretending to be ill

so he could go to the theatre has admitted it was a stupid thing to

do. 19-year-old student Matthew Banks was released four days into a

14-day sentence for contempt. His family say the sentence was very

harsh and are now considering an appeal to try and clear his

criminal record. Judith Moritz has more. The musical Chicago is

playing to sellout crowds in London's West End, so when a

students from Manchester got tickets to the show as an early

Christmas present he was keen to go. The problem was that 19-year-old

Matthew Banks should have been here that day on jury service 200 miles

away at Manchester Crown Court. Matthew decided to skip court. He

phoned in sick and went to the theatre. But checks were made, the

judge found out and sent him to prison. I've been locked up with so

many other people who had killed people, assaulted people. Like I

said, I was, I deserve to be punished but I think that was a

little harsh. Today after being released Matthew faced callers on

Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire programme. And just to go away and

watch a play when there's a man's life or reputation, I can't

understand why I would do that. was, like I said, a very stupid

thing to do. Matthew was sentenced to 14 days at this jail in Salford.

He was released after four days because of prison procedure. The

trial he was taking part on was postponed. People do need to

understand it is an important civic duty. After all, most people seem

to be fairly favourable to the idea of having trial by jury. And that

requires members of the public to give up their time to come and do

it. Matthew's mother and stepfather feel that his punishment was too

severe. The teenager says he's relieved to be home in time for

Christmas. The singer, George Michael, says

he's incredibly fortunate to still be alive after a month suffering

from pneumonia in a hospital in Vienna. Emotional and looking frail,

the singer thanked doctors, whom he said had saved his life, and

promised to resume a cancelled concert tour once he's recovered.

Daniel Boettcher's report contains flash photography. George Michael

on stage in Prague in August at the start of a tour that was to take

him across Europe, accompanied by a Symphony Orchestra. A new departure

for the singer, but last months the tour was cut short. He was admitted

to hospital in Austria. The diagnosis pneumonia. Today it

became clear just how ill the singer was. I've got a couple of

minutes. I'm not supposed to speak for long. Merry Christmas everyone.

Looking fail and sounding short of breath he told reporters he was

lucky to be alive. It was by far the worst month of my life, but I'm

incredibly, incredibly fortunate to be here. Saying he was recovering

from a tracheotomy George Michael pied tribute to medical staff in

Vienna who treated him. I spent the last ten days since I woke up

literally thanking people for saving my life, which is something

I've never had to do before, and never want to have to do again. I

really, really, really from the bottom of my heart thank everybody

who sent messages and everybody in that ICU unit who made sure I'm

still here today. The singer made a commitment to play to everyone who

had a ticket for the cancelled tour dates, and to perform an extra show

for the doctors who saved his life. Today is likely to be busiest day

of the Christmas getaway, with 18 million cars estimated to be on the

roads. There'll be no repeat of last year's snowy weather that

prevented millions making the journey to friends and relatives.

But it appears the high cost of fuel means more people are opting

to stay at home. Jon Kay is on the M5 in North Somerset. Fiona, this

time last year the M5 here near Bristol was completely snarled up.

Do you remember there was snow and ice across most of Britain, roads

were closed and flights were cancelled. Tonight, so far, in

mosts, so good. And not just because of the milder weather.

Britain is on the move tonight on the roads, railways and in the air

we are travelling in our millions for the Christmas weekend. For the

UK's road network today is expected to have been the busiest day of the

whole festive period, with 18 million cars making journeys.

Gridlock in West London, where part of the busy A4 has been closed for

engineering work. But in most places things have been quieter

than normal. Partly because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday

this year, so traffic has been more spread out. We've lifted 118 sets

of roadworks, so 98% of our network is roadwork-free. The Jones family

in Gloucester aren't driving anywhere this year. They've

abandoned their usual habit of visiting relatives round the

country, and the car will stay outside. The AA says nearly 70% of

us are staying at home. That's 10% more than last year. We had to make

the choice about what we spent the money on. By not spending it on

fuel and travelling we had more money to spend on the children's

Christmas presents. Experts say last year's bad weather has also

put many of us off travelling at Christmas time. Who would want to

risk a repeat of this? The railways are still expecting to be busy.

This was Cardiff station this noon. Over the holidays the networks

predict 20 million train journeys. There'll be some closures for

engineering works but rail companies say more will be running

this year than last. As for air travel, despite all the talk of

economising, 4.3 million Brits are heading abroad for Christmas.

That's 250,000 more than last year, and these passengers at Heathrow

couldn't wait. Sitting in the sunshine and drinking lots of

wine... We've left presents with family and now we're running away.

But who needs Dubai or Florida? This was Tynemouth near Newcastle

today. So far, the mildest Christmas many here can remember.

The M5 here seems to be running more freely this evening than it

would be on a normal Friday Nate at rush hour. Motoring organisations

say don't be fooled. They say the real problem could be next week

when everybody who is travelling decides to come back, maybe all at

exactly the same time. You have been warned! Let's hope not. Let's

look at the weather now. It all look at the weather now. It all

looks very mild, John. Indeed. That's the way it is set to stay

this Christmas period. If you have a sledge, you won't be using it in

the near term, for sure. Squall y winds will clear from the

seevements things settle down overnight. It will turn -- squally

winds will clear from the south- east and things will settle down

overnight. Rain in western Scotland, it turns increasingly damp and

windy across the west of Scotland. Patchy rain for northern and

western areas. The brightness hangs on further south and east through

Christmas Eve. Some variety across the UK. Mid afternoon, damp and

disappointing in Northern Ireland. Heavy and persistent rain in

western Scotland. We'll see a lot more rain over the next two or

three days, with the risk of floodsing. Parts of eastern

Scotland and the north-east of England will see very little of the

rain. Most of it will be west of the Pennines. Patchy rain in

northern and western Wales, Snowdonia and parts of the South

West. This rain shouldn't be too heavy at this stage. A breezy day.

After that chilly start temperatures are slow to recover.

8-9 degrees. Across the south-east of England, brightness hanging on

through the day. After that cold start it will feel raw was the wind

picks up. The wind will push the rain back northwards on Christmas

day. Western Scotland is really going to cop it. Further south and

east it is drier. Brightness in the far south-east. Boxing Day, wet and