12/11/2013 BBC News at Six

Desperation and anger in the Philippines - hundreds of thousands

are still without food or shelter. In Tacloban, home to more than

200,000 people, everything has been flattened. It's a city strewn with

bodies and debris. People here are having to help

themselves, they're doing everything they can to rebuild their homes,

their lives, and survive, but the question is, where do you start?

Around 11 million people are thought to have been affected. Now there are

fears about the spread of disease. Britain is sending aid - the first

plane from the UK carrying supplies is due land in the next hour.

We'll be live in the disaster zone and we'll be assessing Britain's

response. Also tonight: The energy company EDF

becomes the latest to raise prices, but the hike's a lot less than its

rivals. Will shopping vouchers entice more

mothers to breast-feed? A pilot scheme is launched to find out.

And designer Sir Paul Smith on Britain, brands and business.

England will be without Michael Carrick and Danny Welbeck for the

friendlies against chilly and Germany.

Good evening. There's growing desperation tonight among survivors

of the super typhoon that left a trail of destruction across the

Philippines. Many are facing a fifth night without the basics of life -

food, water and shelter - and there are serious concerns about the

spread of disease. There are fears that at least 10,000 people may have

died in the disaster. -- that up to 10,000 people may have died,

although the final number could change. The United Nations has

launched an appeal for almost ?200 million. Tonight we'll hear from the

worst affected areas - the towns and villages on Cebu island still

waiting for aid - and from the epicentre of the disaster, the city

of Tacloban. From there, Jon Donnison sent this report.

Rain was the last thing people needed here today. After a night of

thunderstorms, the homeless and the helpless are doing what they can to

put a roof over their heads. In this neighbourhood, the clean-up has

begun. It may look futile, but people are doing their best to

restore some sort of order. Remembering what they once had and

wondering when help will arrive. People here are having to help

themselves. They are doing whatever they can to try to rebuild their

homes and their lives and survive. But the question, surely, where do

you start? And this is just one block in one neighbourhood in one

city. Everyone here has remarkable stories

of how they survived the Typhoon. Powerhouse collapsed. I got into my

toilet. -- our house collapsed. I held onto the toilet. But the

survivors are still vulnerable. Clean water is in short supply.

Here, they are using a T-shirt to filter out the filth so it can be

used to cook with. People here are resilient, determined to get their

lives back, but they need help, and soon. We can survive without houses.

It is OK for us. We can sleep anywhere. But we need food. Only

food. No money, no places, no televisions, no cell phones, no

technology, it is food, we need food. To get it, some are

increasingly taking matters into their own hands.

Another big food warehouse was ransacked today. As the word got

out, hundreds rushed to grab what they could. Five days after the

Typhoon struck, people here are still having to help themselves.

The first British Government aid flight is expected to arrive in the

Philippines shortly. It will bring tents and shelters. But getting the

aid into the country is one thing. Getting the aid out to those who

need it is another. George Alagiah flew from Cebu city to try to reach

Tacloban, and sent this report. Flying time to tackle a ban, the

heart of the disaster zone, is about 45 minutes. -- flying time to

Tacloban. But the captain wonders that he might have to dodge a fewer

storms. Much of the aid effort so far is focused on some of the big

towns. From 300 feet above ground you can see just how many villages

have been affected. Helicopter mercy missions would be ideal, but there

is a problem. One of the pilots had a bad experience. He landed, and the

people just ran forwards and grabbed him. It was dangerous. I guess you

can't really blame them, they are just desperate? Exactly, they are

really desperate, they need immediate help. Really desperate

time. Around this area, the roads have been cleared, but other

infrastructure, from electric pylons to factories, have been destroyed.

Much of Leyte province is given over to agriculture - mostly coconuts,

sugar cane and rice. You can see that mile upon mile of

crops has been destroyed. The rural farmers here have lost their whole

growing season. They will be dependent on food age for months.

Tacloban lies on the other side of a ridge of mountains.

Our pilot tried several passes but the weather was closing in. No

choice but to turn back. The rain is too thick, the clouds

are too close to the ground. You get a sense of how difficult the aid

operation must be. Filipinos are resilient, this is not the first

storm they have weathered, and it will not be the last.

If nothing else, they have their faith to cling to.

George Alagiah reporting there. As victims of the typhoon become

increasingly angry at the lack of food, shelter and medicine, the

Filipino government has pledged to leave not one living person behind,

no matter where they are. But many in the more remote areas have heard

nothing from the authorities so far. Our correspondent Alastair Leithead

travelled from Cebu city to the far north of Cebu island, which so far

has received no aid. On Cebu Island, the roads north is

littered with the remains of what the storm left behind. Holmes turned

to matchsticks. Trees stripped. Every village has a terrifying story

of the night the storm hit. Where is your house? There. Jena was inside

with her husband and three children when the roof flew off. The roof has

come off? They had to battle the win to reach the safety of a

neighbour's home. -- battled the wind. We saw two small teams working

on the power lines, a desperate task for so few people. All along the

roads, children have been sent to ask for help, but it has been slow

in coming. These people manage to collect a fewer sacks of rice

together and drove to the first place where they found people in

need. It did not take long. The line was soon up the road. We are packing

rice, candles and medicines. The further you go north, it is very

badly affected. She was right. The wind tore this roof off is one

peaches -- one piece. So much damage and help us not arrived, four days

on. Please, if you could help our people, some of them are dying for

hunger. We need the help and assistance of some kind-hearted

people. On the northern tip of Cebu Island, the storm hit hardest. Some

were lucky and just needed patch holes, others will need to start

from scratch. As we made the way to the area where the majority of the

damage has been done, pretty much every house has been flattened or

had its roof taken off. The people here say the islands surrounding it

are even worse. There are still so many remote places along the trail

of disaster where people are desperately waiting for help.

New footage has also emerged which shows the typhoon as it struck the

Philippines. The amateur video shows trees and buildings in the city of

Tacloban being battered by winds of up to 170 miles an hour as the storm

made landfall. Tim Willcox is at the airport in

Cebu city, where aid is being called elated. Is there any sign that this

aid is coming through in larger quantities? There are problems. I am

in Cebu city, a few miles away from Cebu International airport, which is

meant to be one of the main departure points for international

aid into the worst affected areas. But because of a shortage of

suitable aircraft, for example for Tacloban runway, which is

particularly short, and the bad weather, some of the aid is not

getting through. Earlier today I spoke to a crew on board a Belgian

flight which had flown in from Brussels at dawn via Azerbaijan and

India. On board that flight will water purification systems and a

mobile field hospital, equipment that would keep 30,000 people going

for up to a month. But because there was no on-board transportation

availability, that aid is on the runway here at the international

airport. Very frustrating for the crew on board, they are desperate to

get into the worst affected areas. And really problematic for those

tens of thousands of people who need that aid to like that, -- who need

that aid, like that, you may now be denied.

The rest of the news now. The energy firm EDF has become the latest to

raise its prices. But the hike of 3.9% was

significantly lower than those of its rivals, raising the prospect of

a price war between the companies. The Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, has

warned the big six not to treat their customers as cash cows to be

squeezed. John Moylan reports. Price rises have come thick and

fast. SSE, then three others. It is thought E.ON will move soon. Now 2.5

million EDF customers will see bills increase by 3.9%, the lowest

increase so far. Instead of doing what the others have done, which is

to increase more than twice, we have held back part of the increase so

our customers will benefit now from this review of the cost.

That review is into the green and social levies suppliers pass on to

households. The government is seeking to scale them back. Another

of the big six suppliers has confirmed that if that happens,

prices will fall. If the levy comes down, the price comes down. On the

same basis as EDF, our price would go up net around 6%, from 10% 26%.

What has been forcing prices higher? Some have blamed higher wholesale

gas and electricity costs, but EDF says these have been flat. It is

threatening to increase tariffs if those cuts in levies do not come.

The move today by EDF has put the pressure back on the government. The

Prime Minister has said he wants to roll back the green levies, but the

question for his Energy Secretary is, can the government deliver on

that and, if so, I how much can they reduce bills? ?50 to ?60 seems to be

the informed speculation. The Energy Secretary would not comment today

but stepped up his attack on the firms. It is so difficult for people

to work out what is going on, and they fear that the big energy

companies are taking them for a ride.

Fair or not, consumers look at the big suppliers and see a reflection

of the greed which consumed the banks. Consumers say the big energy

companies always raise prices by the same amount.

Now EDF has broken ranks, but will that be enough to get people to

switch? Inflation has dropped to its lowest

level in more than a year. It's fallen to 2.2% in October, down from

2.7% in September, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index. Our chief

economics correspondent Hugh Pym is here with the details.

It was expected to fall, but not by this much? Indeed. Most analysts

were surprised by the sharp drop in inflation, which measures cost of

living increases. Let's look at some of the detail behind the latest

figures. It is worth bearing in mind that although inflation has fallen,

food prices are raising pretty sharply, up 4.3% in the year to

October. The clothing price increases are more muted, up 1.4%.

The downward pressure on inflation came from fuel prices, on average

they were down 4.2% in the year to October. Inflation is still running

three times the rate of average pay rises, it is not totally clear where

it goes from here because of these energy price increases, but this is

better than expected news for consumers, who will be a bit more

relieved. Our top story: The UN launches an

appeal for ?200 million to help the victims of the Super Typhoon that

hit the Philippines. Coming up, I will be reporting from this Oxfam

warehouse. 16 tonnes of equipment and supplies, heading out to the

Philippines. I will be showing you some of the stuff that is heading

out there. In Sportsday, head Ernie and have appointed Terry Butcher as

their new manager. The former England captain joined from

Inverness. He has admitted he left the Highlands with a heavy heart.

The British fashion designer Sir Paul Smith has spent his life

building his business into a global brand. Now his contribution to

fashion is to be recognised in an exhibition at the Design Museum in

London. Sir Paul, 67, opened his first shop in 1970 in Nottingham. He

now sells clothes in 74 countries around the world. The fashion

industry contributes an estimated ?21 billion to the UK economy. But,

as he told the BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz, it is still a

struggle for designers to get the recognition they deserve.

The latest catwalk show from 67-year-old British designer Sir

Paul Smith. His career is the subject of a new exhibition at the

Design Museum in London. It starts with a replica of the tiny backroom

in Nottingham from which he started his fashion empire by, he says,

trusting his instincts. Do not clutter your head with information

about other people and other stuff. Just look around. What I really

tried to talk to are lots of youngsters, when I see them, people

that visit the building is that it is there if you want it, but you

have to be patient. Nowadays, everybody wants to go like a

rocket. To be a designer now, I think you have really got to have a

point of view. What is the Paul Smith point of view? The overused

phrase is classic with a twist. I worked out many years ago, I am not

a confrontational person, I wanted people to be at ease in my clothes.

But I also wanted them to be a bit special. I thought, why would

anybody buy anything from me when there are brilliant things out

there? And I kept thinking, well, all I can do is make something that

is easy to wear but makes you smile. Or something that has a little

secret that only you know about. What about where we are now, as far

as the fashion business is concerned? You have a major

international business. The creative industries are considered to be a

huge part of Britain's future. Do you think they are supported

sufficiently well by government? I have been to Downing Street. You

know, fighting my corner for design. Not for me, Paul Smith, but for

design. Explaining... I remember years ago, explaining that design is

not just about bare breasts and red hair. It is about designing, for

instance, a tap that some body with rheumatism can turn more easily. If

you look at a lot of the key companies around the world, there

will be a British designer in there. So we are great at producing them

and creating them. But we are not always great at nurturing them. What

is the problem? Probably something to do with our attitude towards the

management of design. Not understanding design. Paul Smith

certainly does. Realising that an emotional connection as often as

important as functional practicalities. He is surrounded by

curios and objects sent in by happy customers. People wanting to

brighten up his world, just as he wanted to brighten theirs.

The jury in the trial of former News International staff accused of phone

hacking has been listening to recordings of voice mail messages by

the former Labour Cabinet minister David Blunkett. They were left on

the mobile of his friend, Sally Anderson. The messages, left in the

wake of false newspaper claims that he was having a relationship with

Miss Anderson, were seized from the home of the private investigator.

New mothers are to be paid to breast-feed their babies as part of

a research project aimed at boosting low rates of breast-feeding. Mothers

taking part in the pilot scheme in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire will

get vouchers to spend at shops and supermarkets. Critics say the money

would be better spent helping those mothers that have difficulties

feeding their newborns. Breast is best. So says the health

message to mothers that their breastmilk can help protect babies

from infection. But breast-feeding rates are still low in some parts of

the UK. At this play scheme in Sheffield, the city where the

research is based, some mothers are unconvinced that offering shopping

vouchers is the right answer. When I think about the people I know that

did not breast-feed, people I know personally, it would not work. It is

almost insulting, because they wanted to feed and they couldn't.

You already save money if you breast-feed anyway, because you

don't have to buy as many bottles or the formula. There is already a

financial incentive. It's more important to give people support.

This is early stage of a four yesterday begins today. It will

involve up to 130 new mothers in parts of Derbyshire and Sheffield.

If they breast-feed for six months, they will get shopping vouchers

worth ?200, given in five stages. The mothers and their midwife or

health visitor sign forms to declare they are breast-feeding, with the

project relying on honest conversations. The initial reaction

is, gosh, you can't do that. Once they start thinking about it and

realising the importance of breast-feeding to babies, nuns and

society, and the fact that the UK has one of the worst Best feeding

rates in the world, they think, OK, let's give this a try. When you look

at breast-feeding rates globally, the UK lags behind many companies.

Hungary has the highest proportion of babies exclusively breast-fed.

The rate is half for Japan. It even lower for the United States, with

the UK at the bottom. By the time they are six months old, just 1% of

babies here are exclusively breast-fed.

Some senior doctors have questioned the scheme because it rewards one

particular group of mothers. The problem is, certain numbers of

mothers may be put at a disadvantage or made to feel bad because of

this. Those are the small number of mums that cannot breast-feed their

babies. It is uncommon, but it does happen. The Royal College of

midwives says there is a much bigger problem, with generations of women

in some areas are unaware of breast-feeding as an option.

Midwives want to see mothers encouraged to do this because it is

best for their babies health and money should not come into it.

The broadcaster David Dimbleby says he has fulfilled a lifetime ambition

by getting a tad too at the age of 75. He had it done as part of a BBC

series. He chose the design because Scorpio is his star sign. Having it

done, he said, did not hurt, zinged a bit.

Sir John Tavener has died at the age of 69. His career began in the 1960s

when he was signed to the Beatles record label, Apple. Over the years,

his choral music took centre stage and his music was performed at

Princess Diana's funeral. Back to the main story, the

devastation left by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The British

government has announced it will match pound for pound public

donations to UK charities raising funds for the victims. Jon Kay is at

an age distribution centre. -- aid. That is what 16 tonnes of equipment

and emergency supplies looks like. It is at the Oxfam Deco, ready to go

to the Philippines. The most important thing is water hygiene.

They have hundreds of metres of cabling and pipes to improve

hygiene. The red rocks are to build portable toilets to stop the spread

of disease. Each one of these contains a water treatment unit,

purification tablets to try to improve the supply. For the rescue

workers, they need these kits to treat and test the water to make

sure there is no disease or germs in there. Inside every one of these

little boxes is one of these. A great big bladder tank that can be

filled with fresh, clean water, put on the back of a truck and then

people can come and open it up and fill their bucket with water. Of

course, you do not want old, dirty buckets in the system when you are

trying to clean it up. So they are sending this. Thousands of

sterilised, hygienic buckets, piled on pallets, ready to go. On these

pallets, do you know what is in here? Thousands of blocks of soap to

encourage people to clean their hands and stop the spread of

disease. It has all been thought out. It is ready to go. Iain Gray

from Oxfam is here. We have seen pictures of the trouble and the

chaos out there. When will this get to families in the Philippines? It

will get there at the weekend. We wish you could get there sooner, but

it can't. We will be doing that as soon as possible. We can do that

because of the generosity of the British public. There are ?250,000

worth of aid here, only because of the generosity of the British

public, that we can do this. That is why today, with other aid agencies,

we are calling for a big public appeal to help the people of the

Philippines. Is there anything that could be done to get it out there

sooner? We will fly this out and get it there as soon as possible. The

big bottleneck is in the Philippines itself, in the disaster zone, where

the ports have been destroyed. It will be eight challenge to get it to

people. Rather than sending out tents, they are sending out pieces

of plastic like this. They can live under this canvas to start with and

then take it back to their homes and use it to rebuild it. If you want to

donate money towards the aid effort, the Disasters Emergency Committee

has launched a campaign this evening.

Many of us have been lucky enough to see at least a little autumn

sunshine this afternoon. But there is a price to pay as we move to this

evening and overnight. A widespread frost is developing. Not necessarily

unusual at this time of year, but the first widespread frost we have

seen across England and Wales this autumn. Western Scotland will be

protected somewhat by stronger wind and a few showers. The frost is

pretty widespread by the end of the night. Those are the temperatures in

towns and cities. These are rural figures. It will be ice scraper is

at the ready for the rush hour. There could be a few patches of fog

in the south of England and Wales. A lot of sunshine to get the day under

way, even if it is a chilly start. Sunshine for Northern England. For

Northern Ireland, and northern Scotland. Some outbreaks of rain and

the wind beginning to pick up. It is strengthening for Northern Ireland

and northern England. It may touch of two Gayle force in parts of

Scotland later in the day. Rain pushing into the West and Northern

Ireland for the afternoon. England and Wales should remain fine. Ten or

11 degrees should feel pleasant. Into Thursday, a slightly different

tale. We moved the band of rain across the British Isles,

accompanied by cloud. We are left with a north-westerly airstream and

a strong north-westerly wind for Thursday. On the face of it, not a

bad looking day. Pleasant spells of sunshine, a frost free start. That

win will make it feel colder than Wednesday. Temperatures, nine or 10

degrees, feeling closer to nine or six on Thursday. A selection of

autumn weather tight is to come. All of the details are on the website.

Our main story: There is growing desperation in the Philippines as

aid struggles to get through to the victims of the typhoon. The UN has

launched an appeal for almost ?200 million. As survivors struggle

without food, water or shelter, there are major concerns about the

spread of disease. That is all from