Browse content similar to 05/12/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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First Scotland and now the rest of the UK is battered by a powerful | :00:18. | :00:24. | |
storm. Two people are killed. One was a truck driver in West | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
Lothian. Winds of up to a 100mph have disrupted transport and left | :00:29. | :00:31. | |
tens of thousands of homes without power. | :00:32. | :00:32. | |
Officials issue the highest category flood warnings. Tousands of homes | :00:33. | :00:35. | |
are evacuated, from Rhyl in Wales to Great Yarmouth in Norflok. Ways were | :00:36. | :00:44. | |
crashing and over that shelter and then doubling over the embankment | :00:45. | :00:47. | |
wall, which has broken away. -- waves. | :00:48. | :00:53. | |
There's a warning that tidal surge could be the worst in 60 years. | :00:54. | :00:57. | |
Also on tonight's programme: George Osborne gives his most | :00:58. | :00:59. | |
optimistic economic forecast yet. In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
said he wanted a responsible recovery and there are more tough | :01:03. | :01:05. | |
decisions to come. The plan is working. It is a long-term plan for | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
a grown-up country. But the job is not done. By doing the right thing, | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
we're heading in the right direction. Britain's moving again. | :01:14. | :01:21. | |
Let's keep going. For most people in our country, living standards are | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
not rising, Mister Speaker, they are falling year on year on year. | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
Millions will have to work longer - people in their thirties will have | :01:31. | :01:33. | |
to wait until they are 69 for a state pension. | :01:34. | :01:36. | |
There's some relief for commuters. Fuel duty will be frozen next year | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
and train fares rises will be capped to the rate of inflation. | :01:41. | :01:47. | |
Nigella Lawson faces more questions about her drug use. She tells a | :01:48. | :01:50. | |
court she would rather be honest and ashamed. | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
And coming up in the sport on BBC News, England fightback on the | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
opening day of the second Ashes Test to finish strongly as it is honours | :02:01. | :02:02. | |
even in Adelaide. Good evening and welcome to the BBC | :02:03. | :02:23. | |
News At Six. A powerful storm that cut across | :02:24. | :02:26. | |
Scotland in the early hours of the morning has now moved south. Two | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
people have been killed - one in West Lothian and the other in | :02:32. | :02:39. | |
Nottingham. High winds have battered parts of Scotland, Wales, Northern | :02:40. | :02:42. | |
England and Northern Ireland. More than 100,000 homes are without | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
power. The Environment Agency has issued 43 severe flood warnings. | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
That's the highest category. Tonight, people from Lincolnshire to | :02:53. | :02:55. | |
Kent are braced for what experts say could be the worst tidal surge in 60 | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
years. In the last half an hour, we have heard the Government's | :03:01. | :03:03. | |
emergency committee has met for the second time today. In a moment, a | :03:04. | :03:09. | |
report from Scotland but first, Jeremy Cooke in Cleethorpes. | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
Yes, thanks and for most of the Day today, the story across northern | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
Britain has been one of high winds but tonight, it is one of high | :03:21. | :03:36. | |
water. It has breached the sea wall and is coming in over the road and | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
we are still a full hour away from high tide. | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
The force and the fury of nature. Northern Ireland in the firing | :03:47. | :03:51. | |
line. This was Portstewart, battered by galeforce winds and massive | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
waves. Soon, the surge hit the coast of North Wales. People in Rhyl had | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
been told to prepare, but nothing could stop the water. There is no | :04:04. | :04:06. | |
wall, no defence, just nothing there to stop it. The waves were crashing | :04:07. | :04:13. | |
in over the top of that shelter and then doubling and over that big | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
embankment wall, which has broken away. So this was a promenade. It is | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
going to take a lot of digging out. Now it is England's eastern seaboard | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
facing a red alert. Last-minute makeshift sandbagging, amidst | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
warnings that tonight's storm surge could be the worst for 60 years. The | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
government's emergency COBRA committee sending out a clear | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
message. Pay close attention to announcements by the Environment | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
Agency, local transport and local government, so in some places where | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
local evacuations have commenced, I would ask everybody to cooperate | :04:56. | :04:58. | |
with the local authorities. In Cleethorpes, they know to take the | :04:59. | :05:01. | |
warnings seriously. In 1953, the flooding was devastating. Jane lived | :05:02. | :05:08. | |
through that as a baby and then the floods of 1976. Now, again, she is | :05:09. | :05:11. | |
fearing the worst. From where we are now, looking | :05:12. | :05:18. | |
out... It is coming in fast. You are smiling, but it is worrying times. | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
Oh, God, it is. If it does breach somewhere and it comes into our | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
businesses, the mess... Several East Coast communities have been | :05:31. | :05:33. | |
evacuated. These residents have been told to move out, to stay with | :05:34. | :05:36. | |
family or friends or in community shelters. The advice is to evacuate | :05:37. | :05:44. | |
the property. On the Norfolk coast, house-to-house calls urging people | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
to say -- stay safe. I haven't been here when this has happened before, | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
it is the first time it has been a natural emergency. High tide is not | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
the end of the matter. There may be one more difficult day ahead. We are | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
worried about three tides. The first one is at 10:45pm this evening. The | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
next will be around 10am tomorrow morning and around 9:30pm tomorrow | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
night after that, so this is a 36-48 hour flood operation, we would like | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
to stress that. Tonight, the River Tyne in Newcastle has broken its | :06:21. | :06:23. | |
banks as the rest of the English East Coast remains on the highest | :06:24. | :06:25. | |
flood alert. The powerful storm struck Scotland | :06:26. | :06:31. | |
this morning. Winds gusting at more than 140mph were recorded on Aonach | :06:32. | :06:35. | |
Mor in the Highlands. The entire rail network was closed because of | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
safety fears. A lorry driver was killed when his vehicle was blown | :06:39. | :06:41. | |
over. Here's our Scotland Correspondent James Cook. | :06:42. | :06:50. | |
The storm swept in just before dawn, with gusts of more than 100 mph. It | :06:51. | :06:56. | |
could not have peaked at worst moment -- a worse moment, the height | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
of rush hour, leaving the motorways blocked and tens of thousands of | :07:01. | :07:03. | |
people stranded. The Forth Road Bridge was closed to all traffic | :07:04. | :07:09. | |
except, it seems, at for one lone cyclist taking his life in his | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
hands. The further out you go, the more exposed you are and the highest | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
recorded speed was 191 mph. We assessed the situation and cleared | :07:20. | :07:22. | |
the traffic from the bridge and deemed it too dangerous to leave | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
personnel on the bridge. There were dangers elsewhere. This accident in | :07:28. | :07:30. | |
West Lothian claimed the life of a lorry driver. His vehicle had | :07:31. | :07:33. | |
apparently been blown onto these two cars. There were similar scenes | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
across the central belt, as the emergency services battle to free | :07:40. | :07:41. | |
people from the wreckage of metal and wood. It wasn't any easier in | :07:42. | :07:48. | |
the air. This pilot's skill was put to the Test on the approach to | :07:49. | :07:52. | |
Edinburgh airport. The railways were hit as well. Glasgow Central station | :07:53. | :07:58. | |
was closed when debris hit the roof, as the entire Scottish rail | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
network came to a halt. Apparently, the glass fell in in the train | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
station and just now, I was in the room and the window just flew open | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
and the alarms started going. I'm sure it will be fine when they get | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
it sorted but it is delaying everything today, we can't do | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
anything about it. At the height of the storm, the power companies say | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
130,000 homes were without electricity. 50,000 in the south of | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
Scotland, 80,000 in the North. Hundreds of engineers have been | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
working to restore supplies. And everywhere you look, there is | :08:37. | :08:39. | |
damage. You can see here the real power of the storm as it swept | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
across Scotland this morning and forecasters say there is more to | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
come. Blizzards and flooding to follow. This afternoon, those | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
blizzards arrived with a vengeance. As the temperature drops, police are | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
now warning of snow and ice and a difficult day is giving way to a | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
dangerous night. Let's go back to Jeremy in | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
Cleethorpes. How are people preparing for this tidal surge you | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
have been talking about? Well, we have seen lots of | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
businesses along the seafront here sandbagging their properties as best | :09:19. | :09:21. | |
as they can come using black bin liners, rather than sandbags, which | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
are in short supply. The residential areas which are likely to be | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
affected have, as we have seen, been evacuated and they have been told to | :09:32. | :09:34. | |
go to friends and family or shelters. And really, this is, as | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
you say, a massive inconvenience that so many people but we should | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
remember this has been a day of tragedy in Scotland with a lorry | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
driver who lost his life and in England, in Nottinghamshire, when a | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
man lost his life because of a falling tree, we understand. | :09:51. | :09:55. | |
Jeremy, thank you very much. To keep up-to-date with the latest in your | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
area, you can tune into your local BBC radio station or go to our | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
website. Our other main story tonight: | :10:04. | :10:13. | |
the Chancellor's Autumn Statement -the first one he's been able to | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
deliver against a backdrop of higher growth, higher employment and lower | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
borrowing. Mister Osborne told the Commons that | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
the growth forecast this year had more than doubled. And with | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
borrowing falling faster than expected, the independent Office for | :10:29. | :10:31. | |
Budget Responsibility predicts a small surplus by 2018. The statement | :10:32. | :10:37. | |
included help for young people, small businesses and retailers. But | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
the squeeze goes on. Millions of people will have to work longer | :10:42. | :10:44. | |
before they are entitled to their state pension. James Landale was | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
watching the Autumn Statement and has sent this report. | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
Christmas has come to Westminster. The season of goodwill, but not | :10:53. | :10:57. | |
always one of good finances. The Chancellor normally lives for the | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
House of Commons this time of year with a sack full of bad news. | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
But... Is there any Christmas cheer? | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
Today, there was. In the Green book, George Osborne had what he saw as | :11:09. | :11:13. | |
tidings of great joy and made his way to Parliament knowing that the | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
Tory faithful would be joyful and triumphant. Britain's economic plan | :11:19. | :11:25. | |
is working. But the job... But the job is not done. Britain is | :11:26. | :11:32. | |
currently growing faster than any other major advanced economy. Far | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
from the mass unemployment that was predicted, we have a record number | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
of people in work, hundreds of thousands fewer on welfare. | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
Borrowing is then come he said, and by 2018... The OBR do not expect a | :11:48. | :11:58. | |
deficit at all. Instead, they expect Britain to run a small surplus. That | :11:59. | :12:04. | |
was music to Tory ears, but, and it was a big but, the Chancellor said | :12:05. | :12:08. | |
all of this growth is not enough to get rid of the deficit. Spending | :12:09. | :12:12. | |
would still have to be cut. We will not let up in dealing with our | :12:13. | :12:17. | |
country's debts. We will not spend the money from lower borrowing. We | :12:18. | :12:21. | |
will not squander the hard earned gains of the British people. The | :12:22. | :12:24. | |
stability and the low mortgage rates, the lower deficit and falling | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
borrowing have been hard earned gains of the British people. The | :12:29. | :12:30. | |
stability and the low mortgage rates, the lower deficit and falling | :12:31. | :12:32. | |
borrowing have been hard-won they could easily be lost. So he can out | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
the spending cuts still to come. Another ?3 billion from Whitehall | :12:39. | :12:41. | |
budgets over the next three years. And... From next year, total cap on | :12:42. | :12:47. | |
welfare spending. And many others will have to do work longer before | :12:48. | :12:54. | |
we can claim our pension. We think a fair principle is that as of now, | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
people should expect to spend one third of their life in retirement, | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
and according to the latest figures, that would have been | :13:04. | :13:06. | |
increasing the state pension age to 68 in the mid-30s and higher in the | :13:07. | :13:16. | |
mid-40s. There would be a crackdown on tax evasion, non-UK residents | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
would have to pay taxes on their properties, and this year's fuel | :13:22. | :13:27. | |
duty rise has been scrapped, rail fares up less than expected, tax | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
breaks from some married couples from 2015 and more school meals for | :13:32. | :13:37. | |
free, at least until 2015. And there was hell to get small firms | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
investing. Business rates capped at 2%. The smallest firms free from | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
rates for another year and a ?1000 discount for pubs, cafes and small | :13:46. | :13:49. | |
shops. And to help businesses and young people, the Chancellor says he | :13:50. | :13:53. | |
will scrap employer National Insurance for anyone under the age | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
of 21. This statement shows the plan is working. It is a long-term plan | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
for a grown-up country. But the job is not done. By doing the right | :14:04. | :14:07. | |
thing, we are heading in the right direction. Britain is moving again, | :14:08. | :14:15. | |
let's keep going. Not good enough, say Labour. There may be a recovery | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
but it is not helping everyone, as their new poster claims. In the | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
Commons, red-faced shadow Chancellor struggled to get heard. As Tory | :14:25. | :14:26. | |
shouted, he called the economy wrong. For all of his boasting and | :14:27. | :14:34. | |
utterly breathtaking complacency, the Chancellor is in complete | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
denial. Under this Chancellor and this Prime Minister, for most people | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
in our country, living standards are not rising, Mr speaker, they are | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
falling year on year on year. He used to say he would balance the | :14:51. | :14:58. | |
books in 2015. Now he once that macro now he wants us to | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
congratulate him for saying he will do it in 2019 --now he wants us to | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
congratulate him for saying he will do it in 2090. Bilson, Mister | :15:08. | :15:14. | |
Osborne was more Scrooge than Santa. There are ?3 billion more of cuts to | :15:15. | :15:17. | |
come, it is misery on top of austerity and people will have to | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
work until they are 70 to claim the basic state pension. Tonight, the | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
Chancellor got the headlines he wanted. The real Test will be | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
whether voters think today's good news is not just for Christmas, but | :15:29. | :15:34. | |
for many years to come. Other measures today include a rise in the | :15:35. | :15:41. | |
state pension of 2. .95 a week, free school dinners for infants until | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
2015. Plans for councils to sell expensive social housing an | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
regenerate run-down estates. Support for exports by British businesses | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
will be doubled to 50 billion and tax allowances for shale gas. Those | :15:57. | :16:02. | |
are some of the details. Now our chief economics correspondent has | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
looked at how the big picture has changed in recent months. | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
Inside number 11 they're probably thinking, what a difference eight | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
months makes. The economic climate on the day of the Autumn Statement | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
is fair. Turn back through the last few months to the time of the Budget | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
in march and -- March and it was gloomier. At that time there were | :16:22. | :16:24. | |
fears of another recession. The growth forecast from the Office for | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
Budget Responsibility was just 0. 6%. After an upturn over the summer, | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
the latest forecasters pushed up growth to 1. 4%. Next year has been | :16:35. | :16:39. | |
revised up too. Unemployment is predicted to fall from 7. 6% of the | :16:40. | :16:45. | |
workforce this year to 7. 7.1% next year. Close to the level at which | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
the Bank of England will consider interest rate rises. | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
The cut in public spending, the reduction in public sector | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
employment and the ongoing squeeze in real wages are all matters that | :16:59. | :17:04. | |
are of concern to eeconomists. Over-- economists. Overall there is | :17:05. | :17:07. | |
a sustainable improvement in the economy and that will outweigh some | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
of the risk factors. News not so welcome to the Treasury, the Office | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
for Budget Responsibility slightly reviled down growth forecasts from | :17:17. | :17:24. | |
2015 saying there was uncertainty over longer run projects. Web the | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
financial years -- web the financial years 2014 and it 2017/18 the | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
forecast was ?433 billion of borrowing over that period. That's | :17:37. | :17:43. | |
been re-viced down to ?360 billion. There's a surplus predicted for | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
2018/19. But to achieve that means continued curbs on spending. The | :17:49. | :17:55. | |
scale of the cuts announced for 2015/16 is substantial. Then two | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
more years of significant cuts on public service spending, probably | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
bigger than the cuts we've seen over the years of this Parliament. Then | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
if we're going into surplus after that, another year of no increase. | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
Yes, austerity has got a long way to run. In a move to help businesses, | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
the Chancellor capped their rate increases, smaller retailers got an | :18:18. | :18:21. | |
extra boost with a ?1,000 discount on their bills, a move designed to | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
stemming the tide of store closures. It was the right call from the | :18:28. | :18:30. | |
Chancellor to tackle the thorny issue of business rates. The cost of | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
property is one of the things which is damaging the High Street. One | :18:35. | :18:38. | |
thing which hasn't improved since March is overall Government debt. | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
That's still rising. A few more years of economic growth will be | :18:43. | :18:45. | |
needed before it gets on a downward trend. | :18:46. | :18:51. | |
That change to the state pension age has been brought into force a decade | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
earlier than expected, a move that will affect millions of people. It | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
means those now in their 40s will have to work until 68 before | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
becoming eligible for a pension. Reeta Chakrabarti is in Bristol | :19:06. | :19:08. | |
finding out what people young and old made of the Chancellor's speech. | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
How long with baby Ellen have to work before she gets a state | :19:15. | :19:17. | |
pension? Longer than her mum Dianne, that's for sure. She has to work | :19:18. | :19:24. | |
longer than her mum, Maureen. On hearing George Osborne say the state | :19:25. | :19:27. | |
pension age was going up, Dianne, along with her husband John was | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
resigned. I think keeping busy is the key. Having to work till 69, 70, | :19:32. | :19:38. | |
it makes no odds to me really. That's the age we have to work to, | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
then that's what we have to do. But Maureen, who is in her late 50s says | :19:43. | :19:46. | |
working at an older age isn't easy. As you get older, your health | :19:47. | :19:52. | |
deteriorates. Thinking that my daughter and son-in-law will have to | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
work until they're 69, we've no idea how they're going to feel by then. | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
The state pension age was already set to increase in line with | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
improving life expectancy. Now some changes will happen a decade sooner, | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
around 2035. If you're in your 40s, it means you will wait until you're | :20:11. | :20:15. | |
68 to retire on a state pension. Those in their 30s, will probably | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
work to 69. If you're younger, you may reach 70 before being able to | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
claim. The youngest but one member of the family, Maya, will from next | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
year get a free school dinner, as George Osborne confirmed, so will | :20:32. | :20:34. | |
everyone in infant school across England. While university is some | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
way off for these youngsters, there'll be more places from next | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
year though twis fees maximum are still ?9,000. Down the road from the | :20:45. | :20:50. | |
school, the own of this Bristol dee is weighing up his options. The | :20:51. | :20:56. | |
Chancellor announced 20,000 more apprenticeships. But for employees | :20:57. | :21:03. | |
under 21 he's scrapped national insurance contributions. There's a | :21:04. | :21:06. | |
saving to be made. It would help us take people on and train them up to | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
get them to be what we need in the business. It's not as if Christmas | :21:11. | :21:17. | |
has come early for all young people. George Osborne linked welfare to the | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
under 201s to Cornwall I -- 21s to qualifications and training. I would | :21:23. | :21:25. | |
rather be out there working and making money. But then people who | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
need it, then they need it. How else will they live? You have to train | :21:30. | :21:36. | |
because it's just a waste of time and taxpayers' money other-wise. | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
George Osborne has brought Christmas cheer for some young people. Unlike | :21:40. | :21:43. | |
Santa, for others, he's taken it away. | :21:44. | :21:51. | |
Let's hear from our political editor, Nick Robinson, in | :21:52. | :21:54. | |
Westminster. We said earlier this was the first statement where the | :21:55. | :21:57. | |
growth numbers were going up for the Chancellor. But you didn't get a | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
sense of mission accomplished. No, and he didn't want you to get that | :22:03. | :22:06. | |
Seb. Much -- sense. It was an important moment for him and a good | :22:07. | :22:09. | |
day in this sense: He's had to rip up his economic forecast many times | :22:10. | :22:13. | |
in the past, but he's never had to rip them up and tell you that the | :22:14. | :22:16. | |
news is better than expected. Today he was able to do that on growth and | :22:17. | :22:21. | |
borrowing. There was a number in the official and independent forecasts | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
that said the budgetary black hole, the problem, the so-called | :22:26. | :22:30. | |
structural deficit in the jargon, that isn't getting smaller simply | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
because the economy is growing more. That allowed the Chancellor to say | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
the job isn't done yet. He's saying to the electorate, keep me after the | :22:39. | :22:41. | |
election, you need to keep this Government doing the things it's | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
doing now. Labour responded by saying all of this good news misses | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
the point that for most people they're feeling worse off than they | :22:50. | :22:53. | |
did before and the figures show that even while the economy grows they | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
will feel worse off at next election than at the last. There's no doubt | :22:58. | :23:00. | |
that George Osborne had an easier day than Ed Balls, who ended up | :23:01. | :23:04. | |
shouting over the Tory MPs who were shouting at him. But the real test | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
is who you believe - do you agree with the Chancellor that the glass | :23:09. | :23:11. | |
is half full? Or do you agree with Ed Balls that the glass is more than | :23:12. | :23:19. | |
half empty? There's comprehensive analysis of the Autumn Statement on | :23:20. | :23:20. | |
the BBC News website. The time is 6. 23pm. Our top story | :23:21. | :23:34. | |
this evening: Authorities are warning of the worst tidal surge in | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
60 years as a powerful storm hits the UK. And in his Autumn Statement, | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
George Osborne says the British economy is bouncing back, but that | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
the job is not yet finished. In Sportsday on BBC News: World | :23:51. | :23:56. | |
champion Ronny O'Sullivan is out of the UK Snooker Championship, beaten | :23:57. | :23:58. | |
in the quarter finals. Nigella Lawson has objected to her | :23:59. | :24:15. | |
treatment as a witness since admitting she'd taken drugs, telling | :24:16. | :24:18. | |
a court this afternoon, "If you want to put me on trial, put me on | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
trial." The TV chef was testifying at the trial of two of her former | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
assistants, Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo. Both sisters deny fraud. ( | :24:28. | :24:37. | |
report contains flash photography. Ms Lawson aroifd at court to face | :24:38. | :24:40. | |
pay second day of questions about her alleged drug addiction. In | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
court, she denied drug dealers had visited her home and that she had | :24:46. | :24:52. | |
hidden cocaine in her handbag. In an emotional outburst she said, "If you | :24:53. | :24:55. | |
want to put me on trial, put me on trial." She said of her former | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
husband, "I have been bullied. I am not going to continue to be | :25:01. | :25:03. | |
bullied." She was often photographed with her former husband Charles | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
Saatchi in the past. But this summer these paparazzi photos were | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
published showing Mr Saatchi with his hand around Miss Lawson's neck. | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
The couple divorced shortly after. She's giving evidence in the trial | :25:19. | :25:25. | |
of her former personal assistants. They deny dishonestly spending on a | :25:26. | :25:31. | |
company credit card. Miss Lawson denied claims that she authorised | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
lavish spending by Francesca Grillo. "I can be totally sure I didn't say | :25:38. | :25:44. | |
go and spend ?7,000 on yourself." Her admission that she used cocaine | :25:45. | :25:47. | |
has attracted the world's media. She told the court she would not be | :25:48. | :25:54. | |
talking about it again. Let's return to one of our main | :25:55. | :26:00. | |
stories today, the Autumn Statement. Robert, the Chancellor said he wants | :26:01. | :26:06. | |
a responsible recovery. Is that what he's getting? He is not taking any | :26:07. | :26:11. | |
great risks. His Autumn Statement was what economists would call | :26:12. | :26:15. | |
fiscally neutral. That means that the spending increases and tax cuts | :26:16. | :26:24. | |
were paid for. But the actual recovery, perhaps, doesn't seem | :26:25. | :26:29. | |
quite as sustainable as he might like, certainly that's the view of | :26:30. | :26:34. | |
his own Office for Budget Responsibility. It says that the | :26:35. | :26:40. | |
jump in growth has been fuelled by a resurgence of consumer spending, | :26:41. | :26:44. | |
which it had not been expecting and that that jump in consumer spending | :26:45. | :26:50. | |
has been caused by people effectively saving less, not | :26:51. | :26:54. | |
spending the proceeds of increased income. That can't go on for all | :26:55. | :27:01. | |
that long. The strength of this recovery will depend on whether | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
businesses start to invest again. The OBR expects them to. But that is | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
not guaranteed. There's one other thing, which I'm afraid made me feel | :27:11. | :27:17. | |
slightly gloomy. The OBR is pretty pessimistic to the extent that | :27:18. | :27:21. | |
productivity per worker will rise. That led to a really startling, | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
disappointing conclusion, which is that public finances on the | :27:26. | :27:30. | |
Chancellor's important measure are actually a bit worse. Thank you very | :27:31. | :27:32. | |
much. Now in a moment, hay full weather | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
forecast. First a reminder of some of the images from a day which has | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
brought danger and disruption. Scotland took the brunt of the storm | :27:42. | :27:45. | |
initially. The driver of a lorry was killed when it was blown over by | :27:46. | :27:53. | |
gale-force winds in West Lothian. In Rhyl lifeboats were used to rescue | :27:54. | :27:57. | |
people from flooded homes. Hundreds of people had to take refuge in an | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
emergency centre. The authorities have urged 10,000 residents in | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex to leave their homes urgently ahead of the | :28:07. | :28:12. | |
first surge which is expected tonight. Here's the weather | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
forecast. It has been an evolving situation | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
throughout the day today. We started off stormy, very wet and windy, | :28:21. | :28:23. | |
particularly in low-lying levels across the northern half of the | :28:24. | :28:29. | |
country. Gusts in excess of 90mph. Then the winds started to transfer | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
south across the north of England and stretching down across that | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
North Sea coastline into East Anglia as well. Now the issue is this storm | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
surge that we've been talking about. We need really three ingredients, | :28:43. | :28:46. | |
this area of low pressure crossing us, we need strong winds, and high | :28:47. | :28:55. | |
spring tides. That's resulting in 28 severe weather warnings, flood | :28:56. | :28:57. | |
warnings being issued for East Anglia and the south-east corner. On | :28:58. | :29:01. | |
top of that, with the winds ease figure away through the night -- | :29:02. | :29:05. | |
easing away through the night, we could see snow showers develop in | :29:06. | :29:08. | |
the far north-east. As they ease away, falling on freezing | :29:09. | :29:12. | |
temperatures, wide spread ice could be a problem across the far north. | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
In rural spots temperatures down as low as minus five to minus nine. It | :29:18. | :29:22. | |
starts bitterly cold in Scotland. Not as windy. Temperatures still | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
below freezing at 8am. Yes, some icy surfaces around. They're not as cold | :29:28. | :29:30. | |
in Northern Ireland. A few showers around and stretching through the | :29:31. | :29:34. | |
Cheshire gap into the Midlands as well. Anywhere south of that line | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
into the south-west it stays milder. Temperatures first thing around | :29:41. | :29:45. | |
three, six degrees. The mild air trying to move in through the | :29:46. | :29:50. | |
south-west all the day. Friday is bitterly cold into the north. We see | :29:51. | :29:53. | |
showers, longer spells of rain brushing into the west, still wintry | :29:54. | :30:01. | |
as well. Temperatures in Scotland really struggling. Plenty happening | :30:02. | :30:07. | |
through the night tonight. -- tonight. More details throughout the | :30:08. | :30:10. | |
evening. That's all from the BBC's news at | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
6pm. It's goodbye from me and on BBC One, we join our teams where you | :30:16. | :30:16. | |
are. | :30:17. | :30:19. |