02/02/2012 BBC News at Six

Prince William flies into the Falklands and a diplomatic row

between Britain and Argentina. He's there as an RAF Search and Rescue

pilot, the Ministry of Defence insist it's a routine deployment.

30 years since the UK and Argentina went to war. British forces say it

will not be allowed to happen again. We are in a very, very different

place to where we were 30 years ago. But my mission is to deter any

military aggression. We'll be live in port standly. Also

tonight. Funerals in Egypt for some of the

74 killed in yesterday's football violence. And questions about who

was behind it. A decision within hours on whether

Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne will be charged over allegations that

his wife accepted speeding points on his behalf.

And the Met Office issues an England-wide cold weather alert as

charities warn of health risks for the elderly. Welcome to the BBC

News at Six. Within the last hour, Prince William's flown into the

Falkland Islands amid the worst diplomatic row between Britain and

Argentina since the two countries went to war. He's there as an RAF

Search and Rescue pilot. But the Argentines say the deployment is a

provocative act. We can go straight to Port Stanley now and our Special

Correspondent, Alan Little. How is this deployment being viewed there?

I don't think anybody shares the view this is just another routine

deployment. It is after all the 30th anniversary of the conflict,

the war by Britain to reestablish British sovereignty in the islands

and he is after all the future King. The Argentines are furious, they

see it as a deliberate provocation. The islanders, not a very excitable

bunch, are quietly pleased by what they see as a symbolic

reaffirmation of Britain's long- standing commitment to their

British identity. Argentina's rhetoric does not panic

this place. The part-time soldiers of the Falkland Islands Defence

Force patrol their wet island home. No-one here fears another invasion.

Officially, he is here as plain old Flight Lieutenant Wales, not a

Royal but a search and rescue helicopter pilot. That's not how

the world sees it. The Falkland Islanders welcome him as a

restatement of the bond with Britain. Argentina said he was here

in what it called the uniform of the conqueror. But the Falklands

are not spooked by the rhetoric. We are in a very, very different

place to where we were 30 years ago. But my mission is to deter any

military aggression to these islands or the other south Atlantic

overseas territories and it's only if that fails should I need to

defend this. I've got the capabilities to do that.

The islanders even so are glad of this, HMS Dauntless is one of the

knewest, most powerful in the flood, prepared to attack from the air.

Argentina says it's militarised the pursuit. Britain says it's a

deployment, not an escalation. The islanders defiance is shaped by

memory. For them, it's a living vital thing that men came from

9,000 miles away to win back their right to self-determination.

Many of them died for it. That experience underpins Britain

eetion position that whatever Argentina's claims to the islands,

the right to the people here to choose their own destiny remains

non-negotiable. Port Stanley is as British as fish

and chips, Sussex in the south Atlantic, loyal to the crown

through generations. It is calmly defiant.

Argentinians have had many opportunities to have a

relationship with them, in terms of fishery, oil, trade, but it was

actually Argentina that pulled out of the talks. They walked away from

it, the Falkland Islands didn't. The bond with Britain causes great

confidence here. The Falklands are forging ahead with oil exploration,

to the fury of Argentina. No-one here cares much for Argentine

sensibilities. If they feel it's a provocation to

them, that's their view. The UK Government's got no doubt about

Falkland sovereignty being British. I think it's not really an issue

that it's any of their business in our view.

1982 casts a shadow. For what happened here made this distant

difficult place still more stead fast in its enduring Britishness.

There is one other thing that helps bolster the islanders' confidence

here, that's that Argentina has changed. 30 years ago, it was a

right-wing military dictatorship looking for a way to stay in power,

today it's a democracy and keeps repeating that it seeks a peaceful

resolution to its dispute with Britain. Paradoxically, change in

Argentina has itself helped make the Falkland Islands more securely

British, and that certainly bolsters confidence here too.

Thank you very much. Egypt's Parliament has held an

emergency session today after 74 people were killed in rioting at a

football match last night. The violence has fuelled political

tensions with the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest

political movement, claiming that supporters of the former regime

planned the violence in Port Said. Today, in Cairo, hundreds of angry

fans gathered in Tahrir Square to demand those responsible are caught.

Our Middle East correspondent, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes is there for

us now. George, the funerals have begun

this afternoon of some of those 74 mostly young people who were killed

last night in Egypt's worst ever football violence.

Today in Cairo, it's been a day of anger, disbelief and of deep, deep

suspicion on the part of many about who is really behind the violence

that killed so many. On the streets of Cairo this

afternoon, they already have their own theories.

These football fans are convinced the attack was planned and

organised by Egypt's Security Forces.

It's a crime done from the old regime. They stole money from the

people for 30 years and now they are spending the money to make

gangsters and corruption in Egypt because they don't want the

revolution to be succeeded. There is so far no evidence to

support that claim. These were the extraordinary scenes at Cairo

railway station early this morning as the train carrying survivors and

the dead from Port Said pulled in. Thousands and thousands of

supporters crammed the balconies and platforms, justice or death,

they chant. This man immediately blames the

Head of Egypt's military junta for the deaths. Tantawi opened the

doors so the thugs could attack our friends, he says.

As dawn breaks, another train pulls Anxious parents wait desperately

for news. TRANSLATION: My son's not answered

his phone since yesterday. Please, I beg you, help me find my son.

This is how it all happened on live television. As the game ends, fans

from the victorious Port Said team flood the pitch. The Cairo team

fled for their lives, but many of the fans were not so lucky. They're

overrun, beaten, bludgeoned and stabbed.

Today, the blood-smeared seats tell of the brutality of the attacks,

the piles of shoes show where bodies were crushed against locked

gates. The Head of Egypt's military junta

met with shaken players from the Cairo team. He promised the

culprits will be found and punished. TRANSLATION: With the results of

this investigation, each one will take his punishment and we'll know

why and who caused this tragedy. But with so many young people dead,

nothing will stop some here from believing that the old men who

ruled Egypt for so long somehow were responsible.

You may be able to hear behind me here there are sirens going off.

There is still protests taking place in Tahrir Square tonight. We

understand that tear gas has been fired in the last half hour or so.

The Government says that it's firing, it's going to sack rather

the governor of Port Said and it's sacked the whole board of the

Egyptian Football Association. As I said in the piece, that doesn't

seem to be placating the anger and suspicion here.

Thank you very much. The energy and climate secretary,

Chris Huhne, will find out tomorrow morning if the Crown Prosecution

Service is to press charges against him over claims his former wife

accepted penalty points on his behalf.

In an unusual move, the Director of Public Prosecutions will make a

public statement on the decision. Mr Huhne has denyed the accusations.

Essex Police have been examining the allegations against Mr Huhne

dating back to 2003 for several months.

Let's get the latest with our Political Editor Nick Robinson. So

a decision tomorrow morning. Crucial hours for both Mr Huhne and

the Government? They are. It's not every day that

Britain's top prosecutor, the Director of Public Prosecutions

summons the news cameras in order to make a statement which will seal

the fate of a senior Cabinet Minister, but that is what we now

have. Now, if we hear tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock that Chris

Huhne is to be charged, it is clear to me that he will be speeding out

of the Cabinet. Even though he's always protested

his innocence, Nick Clegg, his party leader and the Deputy Prime

Minister, signalled a while ago in a television interview that what

mattered is that Cabinet Ministers were seen to have the highest

standards of probity. He signalled too he'd been speaking to the Prime

Minister about it, but also to the Cabinet Secretary, Britain's top

civil servant, who is in these cases a kind of arbiter of the

necessary standards. Some people have concluded that the

presence of the cameras, the presence of the Director of Public

Prosecutions must mean that tomorrow's announcement will be one

that charges are going to be brought. I have to say, I would be

careful about jumping to any such conclusion. When there is an issue

of this sort which has huge public interest which makes its way on to

the front-pages of newspapers and on to television bulletins, the

Crown Prosecution Service is always very keen that it's thinking very

clearly. Maybe there are to be no charges and they want to explain

exactly why. George, you have probably noticed that's a long

winded way of me saying I don't know what's going to happen

tomorrow morning, and normally we political journalists like to get

you a leak. The problem is, none of the people who ought to know do

know and so there's no leak to be had.

All right Nick, thank you. The pharmaceutical giant

AstraZenica has announced it's to cut 7,300 jobs worldwide. The firm

employs 8,000 people in the UK. Unions claim up to 350 jobs are

expected to go at the company's Alderly Park site in Cheshire.

A policeman who ill filtrated a group of environmental protesters

defied management instruction and was inadequately supervised a

review concluded. Mark Kennedy spent seven years undercover

amongst activists and caused a trial to collapse. The report

suggests an independent body may be required to authorise deployments.

An inquiry has been ordered into the tax affairs of top civil

servants. It comes after an investigation by BBC Newsnight

revealed that the Chief Executive of the Student Loans Company, Ed

Lester, was paid through his private company, which meant he

could avoid normal tax deductions. Our Deputy Political Editor, James

Landale, has more. Civil servants in Whitehall paid

for by the taxpayer. But how much tax should they be able to avoid

paying themselves? Over the last two years, this civil servant's

been able to avoid paying tens of thousands of tax quite legally. In

2010, Ed Lester was appointed by the university's minister, David

Willets here on the right to head up the company that deals with

student loans. But it's now emerged that ministers and officials agreed

to pay Mr Lester �182,000 for his work here in Scotland.

But it was paid into a company based at his home here on the

Thames, a move that meant he could pay a lot less tax.

Today, the minister who signed off the salary, flanked by Mr Willets,

was forced to the Commons to eat humble pie. There's no place for

tax avoid answerance in Government. He said he will now pay tax and

national insurance like the rest of Mr Speaker, at a time when 'all

have to pull in same direction to tackle the financial problems, it's

essential we pay our null and fair share. That's why tief I've taken

this action to make sure Government departments do not support this.

That wasn't good enough. Those working in the frontline of the

public sector will find these revelations obscene. At a time when

the economy is flatlinings, families are being squeezed and

students face a tripling of tuition fees, the news that ministers

approve the contract of a senior official which allowed tax and

national insurance to be avoided shows just how out of touch they

are. It's still not clear who approved

Mr Lester's tax deal. Documents obtained by the BBC appear to show

that Mr Willets, the Universities Minister, was aware of the deal and

that he claimed that Mr Alexander here approved it.

Mr Alexander says he wasn't aware of the tax benefits. Either way,

students were not impressed. hypocrisy of the idea that the

Government tell us they can't afford education maintenance

allowance and to fund our universities but they can come to

comfy arrangements with senior public servants to avoid tax, well

that's a real kick in the teeth for us. The Treasury's inquiry will

find out how many more officials in Whitehall have similar tax deals,

deals that are embarrassing for a Government trying to tackle tax

avoidance, a Government that claims we are all in this together.

The time is 6.15. Our top story tonight:

Prince William's tour of duty in the Falklands gets under way amid

rising tension between Britain and Argentina. Coming up: I'll find out

if this Central London Street really was the inspiration for

Dickens when he was writing Oliver A multi-billion pound merger in the

business world - Xstrata and Glencore are talking.

With winter's deepfreeze upon us, there are fears for the elderly

after the Met Office issued a serious England-wide weather alert.

Age UK has warned plunging temperatures can be a dangerous

time for the elderly with a greater risk of heart attacks and strokes.

In the high hills of the Pennines the snow has come and gone all

winter. Today was below freezing again. But in the Lowlands of

County Durham, people are concerned that it is going to get colder and

are worried about what could happen. I wouldn't dare go out because I

would be frightened I fell. I did fall years ago. Where I live, I'm

in a railway bungalow. They don't come to sweep the snow away. You

have to do it yourself. Every man for himself! That is what it is,

darling, every man for himself. are hoping for volunteers to clear

the paths for the elderly people, to make it safer. We also have put

together some food parcels that we hope to distribute to anybody who

is housebound over the time. the temperatures have got so low

that the Met Office has issued its most serious cold weather alert of

the winter so far. Temperatures tonight could get as low as minus

10 and scenes like this are likely to become familiar to many of us

over this coming weekend. We are right on the edge of this really

cold weather across Europe. Our temperatures are struggling. The

problem for the weekend is we have milder air trying to come in. As

that bumps up against the cold air, we are likely to see some snow.

Europe, the conditions are much harsher. Temperatures have dropped

to minus 32 Celsius in places and at least 160 people have died.

Scores of communities in Eastern Europe have been cut off and in

places, even the sea has frozen. Back here, hill farmers are used to

these conditions, but still have to be prepared. We make sure that we

have plenty of fuel in for the stove in the house. I add a bit of

paraffin to the diesel in the tractors to make sure it doesn't

freeze up. With big bales, you can't start a tractor. It may be

late in coming, but it seems winter is finally here for a large part of

the UK. William Hague has called for more

action to tackle the terrorist threat from Somalia as he became

the first British Foreign Secretary to visit in 20 years. His arrival

in Mogadishu signals the start of a major diplomatic push to restore

stability in the country. He described Somalia as the world's

most failed state. The Tottenham manager has denied

telling his trial at Southwark Crown Court what he called "a "pack

of lies"". Mr Redknapp said the allegation had been an insult and

insisted he told the whole truth. He and Milan Mandaric deny two

counts of tax evasion. James Pearce was in court. There is some flash

photography in the report. Accused of setting up an offshore

bank account to avoid paying tax. Harry Redknapp arrived for a second

day in the witness box. He denies that a payment in Monaco was a

bonus for the transfer of Peter Crouch. The court heard that Harry

Redknapp had first found out about the allegations when he received a

phone call from a reporter at the News of the World. Redknapp claims

that in the recorded conversation which followed he lied to the

There were lighter moments in court, too. Redknapp was asked about his

dog which had given its name to the Monaco account. "I loved Rosie" he

said. "I don't like ever calling her a dog. She was better than

that!" As the cross-examination drew to a close, once again the

atmosphere became heated. Redknapp was accused of telling a "pack of

lies". The Tottenham manager replied, "You think that I put my

hand on The Bible and told lies? That is an insult. Everything I

have told you has been the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the

truth so help me God." The prosecution continued, "Mr Redknapp,

you have come to this court and twisted your account to get you and

Manda off the hook, haven't you?" The reply: "Absolutely not. Give me

The Bible back and I will put my hand back on it." The jurors were

told that they should be sent out to consider their verdicts on

Tuesday. Tomorrow the prosecution will give their closing arguments.

Tomorrow morning England's cricketers begin the Third Test

against Pakistan desperate to avoid the embarrassment of a 3-0

whitewash. Having ended 2011 as the best team in the world, England

already face the prospect of losing that coveted position.

In the UAE, you will find United all - tallest, wealthiest and

fastest. Over 150mph, this is the quickest rollercoaster in the world.

Considered the most nerve-wracking experience in the UAE. Until we

watched England bat here! This week in Dubai England have been trying

to repair the confidence which was shattered in the Second Test when

they were bowled out for 72. England cricket team... It was only

in December when they were BBC Sports personal Team of the Year,

unbeaten in 2011. How rapidly the feeling has changed. You get to

number one, now it is the tough stage. England have had it their

own way in terms of the way they have played for two years, they

have played great, but now it's a challenge. It's a test of

everyone's mentality, their togetherness as a team. England

have been undone by spin. With his much discussed action, Saeed Ajmal

makes the ball skip and skid. He won Pakistan the First Test. Then

Abdur Rehman, spinning it differently, tore England apart in

the second. This series has become a Pakistan revival. We work hard,

bowling line and length. Just focus on my bowling. When we finished

last game, they celebrate everywhere in Pakistan, we are

happy here and they are happy there. The same thing happening again is

what England are afraid of. Cricket's world rankings are

complex and competitive. England know if they lose here they risk

losing that number one status. As for the tallest, this building is

close to 3,000 feet so you reach the top. Where next?

Now, he was the most famous writer of his time, a man whose novels

captured the Victorian era. 200 years since his birth, Charles

Dickens remains an iconic figure. Now, there is new evidence that

Dickens lived closer to some of those characters than previously

thought. Charles Dickens is one of the great

writers. The academics are convinced and so are the public.

His books have never been out of print. There are many reasons to

admire his work. The style, the characters, and the subject matter.

Few authors have documented their time more incisively than Charles

Dickens. Now a new book claims to reveal the full extent to which he

was influenced by his surroundings. This is a street in Central London

which the new book claims was Dickens' inspiration for Oliver

Twist. He did once live here. And he would have walked up-and-down

this road doing his favourite thing which was observing every day life

with his ear for dialogue and keen eye for detail. This building was a

work house when he lived in the street. The historian who

researched the book took me on a tour of the area. I found Dan

Wheller like Sam Wheller in Pickwick Papers. This series is set

on a fictional council estate in Manchester. It has social realism

at its heart. They know how to throw a party! No surprise then

that its writer is a Dickens fan. He was making the world want to

read about the state of the British underclass. He somehow, that is

what he did. That is an act of genius. You compel somebody to read

what they most don't want to read about. He stole the nation's hearts

through fiction. Fiction is one of the finest ways of telling the

truth. Please, Sir, I want some more. The author of a Dickens

biography agrees that was his great skill. He was a great reporter. Of

course, he began as a reporter. He combines, I think, the acute

perceptive eye of a reporter with a poetic imagination. He embroiders

upon reality through language and that is marvellous. And it is that

gift which has given Dickens his appeal to readers and writers alike.

He exposed the universal truths of life that are still as relevant

today as they were when he was born today as they were when he was born

200 years ago this month. Now it is time for the weather with

Alex. We have had this alert. How is it playing out? We could have

some Dickensian winter scenes of our own with some snowfall. The

main focus has to be those temperatures falling sharply. We

already have a frost and that frost is only going to get worse. There

are one or two snow flurries across the eastern counties of England.

Temperatures in towns and cities will drop to minus three to minus

five. In rural areas we may be lower than that. As low as minus

nine or ten in the countryside. Yes, bitterly cold again on Friday.

Essentially, another fine day with plenty of sunshine. There will be

some snow showers across parts of Kent and Sussex early in the day. A

bit more cloud through Northern Ireland and the cloud may increase

across parts of South West Scotland. Most places it will be a sunny day.

On Friday night, those temperatures will drop. There is a risk of some

snow flurries coming into parts of Kent. There could be a few

centimetres developing here during Friday evening. Then for the

weekend, the focus turns west. It is a bank of rain for Northern

Ireland and western Scotland. This weather system promises to give us

a few headaches. We have the mild air, we have been talking about the

battleground between the mild and the cold air. It looks as if the

cold air will stick across England and Wales. As that weather system

bumps in, it could provide some significant snowfall. Still some

uncertainty about where and how much. Northern, Central and Eastern

areas of England are the areas most at risk from a period of snow. Stay