05/02/2014 BBC News at Six

more storms batter the south coast. Rail engineers say it could take six

weeks to repair, disrupting passenger and freight traffic.

Ministers promise an extra ?100 million to tackle the aftermath of

the storms. Winds hit 90 miles per hour last night. And we'll be live

in Somerset where some villagers are being told to evacuate their homes.

The Catholic Church and child abuse. The UN says it cares more about its

reputation than the welfare of children. Two houses destroyed and

ten people injured in Clacton. Fire fighters believe a gas fault caused

an explosion. Strike misery for millions commuting in London.

Ministers say they'll look at curbing the unions' power to take

industrial action. He's got it all, from fashion to

football. Now David Beckham says he's going to own his own team. On

BBC London, one day down and three more to go as the first of the

48-hour choo strikes takes hold. They will have the latest and look

at how commuters will be commuting on the first day of disruption. --

coping. Good evening and welcome to the BBC

News at Six. The main railway linking Cornwall to the rest of the

country is cut tonight - a casualty of the storms that have battered the

south coast in the last 24 hours. Elsewhere, villagers in Somerset

have been told to evacuate their homes and thousands of houses remain

without power. With forecasters predicting yet more storms, David

Cameron has said the Government will do whatever is required to help

families and emergency services. Jon Kay is Dawlish where the rail

was damaged. Built by the Victorians in the 1840s. Destroyed in 2014. The

main route between Devon and Cornwall. This part of the line

looks like a terrifying theme park ride. The waves have taken away the

ground works, the ballast, that used to be under the track, leaving the

railway track just hanging there, unsupported. For Robert and the

other residents, time to evacuate their track-side homes, after a

terrifying night. It was like an earthquake. I could not believe what

was happening. We have retired now. Inland, on the saturated Somerset

Levels, another evacuate on. Villagers who have already been

through weeks of misery now being told for the first time they need to

leave their homes. This should never, ever have happened, ever. The

house of cards came tumbling down, unfortunately. This was the result.

Today has been something else. As Britain 's most southerly port,

Porthleven in Cornwall was ripped by the winds. Several boats sank in the

harbour. Across the south-west, power lines have been brought down

by violent gusts, leading Janice cooking in her camper van and tens

of thousands of others having to cope without. In Dawlish tonight,

and with the tide is now out, a closer look at this roller-coaster

railway line. This spot has long been a favourite of train spotters.

There will not be any role in stock passing anywhere nearby. It looks

like a bomb site. Sympathy for the ones living up above. You think

nobody will get through the second wall. It has got through. Engineers

say it will take weeks, possibly months, to repair this crucial track

and that is without any more storm damage. For now, this is the end of

the line but it is not the end of the weather. The Somerset Levels are

again bearing the brunt of some of the worst weather with some of the

residents being told to evacuate their homes. Claire Marshall is in

the village of Moorland. Clearly it is getting worse where you are. This

is absolutely unprecedented. More pipes have been brought in in order

to try to stop the village, just out of shot, from succumbing to the

floodwaters. An extraordinary site earlier today with a police

helicopter ever aired ordering people to leave. A queue of traffic

formed, fighting force base, along with emergency vehicles. This has

never happened before. People have been here for dozens of years and

their homes have never been flooded. It is an extraordinary sight. They

are trying to set up camp nearby in a village hall where they might get

some shelter. This afternoon, David Cameron has taken personal charge of

the Government's emergency committee, COBRA, which has been

discussing the flood response. Our political editor is in Westminster

for us. Nick, there is clearly a political angle to this, if I can

put it that way. What message is David Cameron trying to send? That

he, the Prime Minister, is now getting a grip. At is why he chaired

the emergency committee. That is why he promised ?100 million more money.

He told the House of Commons that whatever was necessary, the

Government would do it. The impact of the weather has got worse and is

due to get worse. We are no longer just talking about those terrible

scenes in Somerset. We are talking of the cutting of the main rail

artery that connects Cornwall to the rest of the country. There is worse

weather forecast on Friday as well. There is another reason, quite

simply this. Many people in the West Country have been angry with the

reaction from Westminster and Whitehall. They do not like the

Environment Secretary, who forgot to take his wellies on a visit to

Somerset. David Cameron is determined he will not be

portrayed, as his Own Minister is portrayed this week, on the front

cover of private time magazine with a bubble saying, it is all under

control! The Catholic Church has been heavily criticised by a UN

committee, which says its policies allowed priests to rape and molest

thousands of children. Following an inquiry, the committee accuses the

Church of being more interested in its reputation than the well-being

of children. Our religious affairs correspondent reports.

In less than a year, Francis, the People's Pope, has transformed the

image of his church. Now comes a hammer blow to its reputation. Storm

clouds gathered over Rome today with the United Nations harshest

criticism yet the Vatican. It stands accused of failing to stamp out the

sexual abuse of children by priests. The committee on right of

the child said the Vatican 's policies had allowed to continue. It

is about the preservation of the reputation of the Church and the

protection of the perpetrators but the best interests of children. This

scandal has blighted the Roman Catholic Church. The UN committee

accused the Church of failing to acknowledge the scale of abuse

committed by priests. Among many official reports, one recorded more

than 4000 priests accused of abuse in the United States over a 50 year

period. Another said sexual and psychological abuse was endemic in

Catholic run industrial schools and orphanages in Ireland for most of

the 20th century. I am absolutely still very concerned about the

safety of children around the world at the hands of Catholic clergy. We

know a lot of information is held about them in the Vatican and in

dioceses around the world. The author Daugherty 's must have that

information. -- the authorities must have that information. Some

Catholics insist the Vatican has imposed a duty on bishops to port

all allegations of abuse. In Africa and Asia, some work needs to be

done. The idea that in some cases it has been an obstacle is a myth. It

does have a powerful, moral voice which even the Vatican cannot

ignore. Ten people have been injured, two of them seriously, in

what's thought to have been a gas explosion in a residential street at

Clacton in Essex. Two houses have been flattened, and a third has been

badly damaged. 19 homes had to be evacuated, as Robert Hall reports.

In a suburban housing estate on the outskirts of Clacton, a gap has been

torn in the neat row of houses. Two properties have been destroyed,

damage and debris stretching over 100 metres. It sounded like a bomb

going off, an earthquake underneath you. Windows shook, doors came open

and debris came in. I have never seen anything like that before. The

man who took this photo joint rescue struggling to those trapped. I was

trying to clear the rubble. Another gentleman helped to get a lady out.

I don't know, it's just... It's just chaos. We have done what we had to

do. Emergency services declared a major incident. The first cruise to

arrive found buyers still burning and casualties inside and outside

the houses. There were a number of people inside the building and we

helped to get them out. There was nothing dangerous about that but the

structure is unsafe and we needed to get people out of it as quickly as

possible. The two most is he heard were rescued from damaged homes and

taken to a serious burns unit. 19 families were evacuated from

neighbouring properties. Gas and electricity was shut off as

investigators continued with their work. Early indications are that

this was some form of gas leak. Police say, had the explosion

happened ten minutes later, as children were passing by on their

way to school, the consequences would have been even more serious.

There's travel chaos in London tonight because of a strike by

London Underground workers. The 48-hour walk-out, which began last

night, is in protest at the closure of ticket offices and the loss of

hundreds of jobs. Managers say the cuts will be made through voluntary

redundancies. What a lovely way to start your day. On the buses, it was

a case of breed in and hope. For others, at least it was a chance to

keep fit, cycling or walking. Travelling has a difficult for most

across London. I have missed two buses so far. On a good day, the

London Underground carries three times the population of Birmingham.

The strike stopped two thirds of the trains today. The Prime Minister has

condemned the strike, much to the annoyance of Bob Crow. These are

real people that are on strike today. The same people who were

commended when there were terrorist attacks in London. He should

recognise the fact these people have real fears. The London mayor, Boris

Johnson, was not backing down either. It is vital to reform our

ticket offices, upgrade our systems and use the investment to modernise

the tube. What are they arguing about? The mayor wants to close

every ticket office on the entire underground, saving ?50 million a

year. 950 jobs will go although there is a policy of no compulsory

redundancies. There is a pledge to keep staff at every station. It

might be in London strike but it affects everybody. One estimate says

it will affect the UK economy by ?200 million for the nearly as many

people travel on the cheap everyday as the rest of written 's trains put

together. It is the way people get around in London. If it is not

reliable, if you think they might all be out on strike, strikes are

quite rare in this country, it has two damage London and Britain as a

place to do business. People are realising how much London depends on

the Underground. There is a long history of cheap strikes in London.

Today commuters were not quite so eccentric. The prospect of scenes

like this again tomorrow and next week means ministers are looking at

a range of ways to curb strikes in the future. Our top story: More

storms batter Britain. The rail line to Cornwall is destroyed and there's

more bad weather to come. And still to come... Could we soon be seeing

more money in our pay packets? Later on BBC London, Crush hour. Views

from the queues as thousands of Londoners turn to the buses to beat

the cheap strikes. We will have the latest travel information.

The Labour Leader Ed Miliband has accused the Prime Minister of

running the government "like an old boys' network" - pointing to the

lack of women on his front bench. His comments were made at Prime

Minister's Questions. Currently there are four women in the cabinet,

compared to 11 women in the shadow cabinet. The Prime Minister said he

had a "good record" of helping women but was determined to do more.

Here's our political correspondent Carole Walker.

He leads a government dominated by men. This was a bad day for David

Cameron to discover that none of his four senior women ministers had made

it to Prime Minister's Questions. A picture tells a thousand words. Look

at the all-male front bench before us. He says he wants to represent

the whole country. Mr Speaker, I guess they did not let women into

the Burlington club either. David Cameron said it was important to get

more women into politics. I am proud of the fact that as leader of the

Conservative Party benumbed of women MPs has gone from 17 to 48 but we

need to do much more. Some of the women MPs admits there is a problem.

It does not look good if all of the front bench are men. It is important

we change our perception. The clash came after Anne McIntosh, a

long-standing MP, was deselected by her local party in Thirsk and

Malton. But one of a handful of women who have served in David

Cameron's Cabinet denies he has a problem with women. We need more

women in this Parliament making a contribution, civilising this place,

if you like, and bringing a female perception. All the parties have

struggled with getting more women into top positions but it is a

problem for David Cameron as he fends off accusations that he and

his team are out of touch with ordinary voters. David Cameron has

as many female Cabinet ministers as Gordon Brown did in the last Labour

government and some feel the baying row in the Commons today will do

little to encourage all women to go into politics.

The Olympic torch has arrived in the Russian resort of Sochi ahead of

Friday's opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics. Gay rights

activists have chosen the day to hold protests around the world,

accusing the Russian government of being homophobic. But the Russian

president, Vladimir Putin, has insisted gay athletes and spectators

have nothing to fear. Daniel Sandford is in Sochi.

At the end of its journey around Russia, and even into space, the

Olympic torch arrived in Sochi today, for one of the most

controversial gains of recent years. So did the athletes, including

Britain's leading skier, Chemmy Alcott, who is trying to set aside

concerns about terrorism and gay rights. I'm here to get out of that

start gate as fast as I can. I cannot get involved in it. I am a

passionate person and I have not got the energy for that. I am here to

race and represent my country. The stadiums and ice rings are ready, if

some of the hotels are not. Today saw a worldwide day of action for

gay rights activists, like these injuries in. They are trying to

encourage sponsors like Coca-Cola to speak out against a new Russian law,

which bans telling under 18 's of what it calls nontraditional

activities. None of the protesters will be in Sochi itself. The only

place where people will be allowed to protest is here, in a park and a

motorway flyover, next to a railway line and ten miles from the Olympic

venues. In Sochi's main gay club, they were not protesting either. One

of the owners told me his country is not comfortable with Gay Pride

demonstrations. TRANSLATION: Russian society is not ready to accept

people who are openly gay. The main problem is gay people in Russia are

not prepared to come out. President Putin wanted these Olympics to

showcase modern Russia but they also highlighting the country's dark

side. An unmanned drone, said to be the

most advanced aircraft ever built in Britain, has carried out its first

successful test flights. Taranis, named after the Celtic god of

thunder, is the size of a fighter jet. Unlike existing drone aircraft

used by the RAF it will be able to operate in airspace that is

controlled by the enemy. One of the country's most

influential economic forecasters says families will see the squeeze

on their standard of living ease by the middle of the year. The

Institute of Fiscal Studies predicts that wages will start to rise faster

than inflation. Our chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym joins me now.

They have talked about wages but they have also taken a broader look

at the economy, haven't they? Yes, George. They are looking at how the

economy is doing and the deficit-reduction programme. They

are looking at the cuts programme. We are only 40% of the way through

the spending cuts so there will be more to come over the next few years

beyond the election. It looks at the NHS budget which is ring-fenced,

protected from any cuts and that is the case, but if you actually look

at how much spending there will be per person, it will be down 9%

because the population is growing and there are more demands on the

health service. In other words, the budget can be protected but it has

to go round more people. The better news is on wages. Real wages, in

other words above inflation, will be up little bit, 0.2%. That does not

look a lot but it is the first time that have happened for quite a

while. The squeeze, if they are right, looks set to come to an end.

Thank you. A Conservative MP at the centre of a

row over a Nazi themed stag do will stand down at the next election.

Aidan Burley announced his decision earlier. He was sacked as

ministerial aide after it was announced he had bought the Nazi

themed outfit for the groom on the stag do in France.

The former England football captain, David Beckham, is setting up a new

football club in Miami. It's understood the team could start

playing in the American Major Soccer League 2016. At a news conference

Beckham said he had dreamed of owning his own team since he was a

child. Nick Bryant reports from Miami.

The fans and their chance are ready to go. All that has been lacking is

a team to follow. Something David Beckham now intends to rectify.

Miami is a vibrant city. It is a city with a lot of passion and I

know this city is ready for football, soccer, this time around.

I know this will be successful. David Beckham, it sounds like you

are fulfilling a British and an American dream? I really am. As a

player over the years, is to sit back now and see my career that I

have done and the teams I have played for and the players I have

played with, and also the countries I have played in, now to be standing

here and being the owner of the team is a dream. The majority of the

population here is Spanish-speaking. Football is

imprinted in the city's DNA. So there is great excitement that David

Beckham is returning to Major League Soccer, not as a team star player

but as its owner. I am excited and happy and ready to impress them. The

challenge for David Beckham is not selling the game to Miami, it is

preaching to the converted, it is coming up with a product that people

here will think is good enough. The last professional team folded a

decade ago and reportedly lost over $250 million. Getting people here to

play football has never been a problem. Attracting Americans to

watch it may test even the Beckham brand.

Time for a look at the weather, here's Matt Taylor. I gather there

are more storms on the way? There certainly are. A trip to Miami

would be very appealing. Some clearer conditions are following on

but there is more waiting in the wings. There are still 60 or 70 mile

an hour gusts across southern England for a time. The gusty

westerly winds are easing is a bit. Some clearer skies and a bit of a

chill in the air as we go into Thursday morning. Persistent rain in

the far north-east of Scotland. Wind is not as much of a feature but

while we start date dry across many southern areas, that comes our way

producing more in the way of rain. Winds are not much of a feature.

Into tomorrow evening's rush hour, more heavy rain spreading our way

northwards. Some intense showers following on behind. The Met Office

are still very concerned about the situation. An amber warning has been

issued. Be prepared for further disruption and flooding. The rain

that arrives through Thursday, hangs around through England and Wales

during the night. Some snow in the Pennines and Welsh hills. Scotland

and Northern Ireland, only one or two showers but the risk of ice on

Friday morning. We could see some very gusty winds before it eases off

to something drier and brighter. I wish you would stop! Thank you. A

reminder of our main story: Wind and rain battered Britain. The rail line

to Cornwall is destroyed. It could take six weeks to fix. And in

Somerset, more people are told to leave their homes as the floodwaters

rise. That is all from the BBC News at

Six.