11/02/2014 BBC News at Six

before it gets better. Officials say it's the most exceptional period of

rain for more than 200 years. 1000 homes evacuated, thousands more at

risk. 1,600 soldiers have been drafted in,

ready to help wherever they're needed. Soul destroying. You work

all your life to get a decent place and then something like this

happens. The Prime Minister tours the worst

affected areas - he says money will be no object in tackling the

problem. With some rail lines under water,

millions of travellers face disruption.

Also on tonight's programme: Bonus payments are up at Barclays - but

profits are down. And jobs are cut. The Hollywood child star who went on

to be a diplomat - Shirley Temple has died at the age of 85.

Tonight on BBC London: A two-day Tube strike is called off after a

last-minute deal between unions and TfL.

And the flood-hit residents who say they're marooned and unable to leave

their properties. Good evening from Wraysbury in

Berkshire - just one of the towns along the Thames Valley caught in

what experts say is the most exceptional rain for more than two

centuries. I hope you can see behind me what people are up against here

tonight. Tonight 1,600 troops are on stand-by - and forecasters are

predicting more severe weather to come. The Prime Minister said that

money would be no object in getting many places back on their feet.

Tonight we'll have the political reaction, travel details and the

latest scientific assessments. But first, Duncan Kennedy is with the

community in Colebrook, just along the Thames Valley.

You are right, George. Yet more flooding here in the Thames Valley.

Hearing Colnbrook, they've seen the waters rise imperceptibly, but

definitely, over the past 24 hours. But what's it like living with all

this flooding and water? Today we spent the entire day with this one

community on this one street to find out.

This is the story of a street underwater and a community under

pressure. Laurel Close, where River meets road. Lindsay Joyce's day now

starts with the wellingtons routine. This is the view out of the front

door. The school run has become the school carry. 100 yards of it.

Nobody seems to know anything. We do feel a little bit left our own

devices, really. So abandoned, they've organised their own Santa

delivery. -- sand. It's mid-morning and the only troops are those who

live here, an army filling sandbags. Do you know these people? Not all of

them. It takes a disaster to bring people together. Every kind of

transport is used to move the sandbags, from wheelie bins to

shopping trolleys to babies' bodies. Men and women in a backbreaking

race. -- babies' prams. We've got to protect our homes, protect our

valuables. We've got no idea what's coming next to so we need to be

forearmed. By mid afternoon, this man is helping to barricade one of

the houses on the street. But the stress of the rising water is

getting to his mother. I feel emotional and depressed. I can't say

more than that. I'm really depressed. Nearby, this family are

also losing hope. They've moved their lives upstairs. How long can

you live like this? Not long. I'm just hoping that in a day or two,

things calm down so that we can move on with our lives. Late this

afternoon, Lindsay Joyce returned home with six-year-old Marshall.

Unlike the water, it's been another draining day. I'm still stressed,

wondering if it's going to go or if it's going to be worse tomorrow.

Lindsay Joyce and all her neighbours know this won't go away quickly. The

lives of one community facing nature, fighting bureaucracy and

fending for themselves. Well, the Prime Minister has spent

the day travelling from Devon to Somerset, then here to the Thames

Valley and back to Downing Street. He's promised to do everything in

his power to help the flood victims, as our correspondent Jon Kay

reports. High visibility - a prime minister

keen to be seen. He was visiting Devon's fractured railway line this

morning and insisting he will get storm battered Britain back on

track. If money needs to be spent, it will be spent. If resources are

required, we will provide them. If the military can help, they will be

there. As he inspected the damage to the front, coffee time at this

seaside cafe. But what did customers think of his visit? He speaks a lot

of sense and the fact that he's come - he cares. He's got to be seen

doing it, rather than sitting in Westminster. Next stop, Taunton. The

prime minister cancelled a cabinet meeting to be here in stead. In this

control room, the response to the Somerset Levels flooding has been

coordinated and after all the criticism and blame, a chance to

show a united front. A bit of welcome sunshine in Somerset today,

but many here told us they wanted Mr Cameron to spend some of Britain's

foreign aid budget helping flood victims at home. Some of the

millions being sent to help people abroad - OK, people abroad need help

- we do here. This part of the country is in chaos. The school

where this woman teachers was closed by flooding today and she wants to

see more leadership from the Prime Minister. I think he's panicking

because he doesn't quite know what to do and it is a very difficult

situation and I appreciate we are experiencing unusual weather.

However, there are still ditches to be cleared, people cut off, people

without provision. If Mr Cameron thought the south-west was wet, wait

until he reached the Thames Valley. In Staines, he surprised people

living on this flooded street. Mr Cameron has been in there holding a

private meeting with residents about the state of their overflowing

drains. Not the kind of thing you'd expect a prime minister to deal with

himself but he knows that his leadership will be judged by the way

he deals with this wider crisis. And those who met him today agree. If

action is not taken, all we can do is vote. It will make a difference

to the way you vote? Yeah, I will vote for whoever fixes this problem.

Back to Downing Street and after 300 miles, this message tonight. There

is absolutely no sign of this threat abating and with further rain and

strong winds forecast throughout the week, wings may well get worse

before they get better. My message to the country today is this - money

is no object in this relief effort. Whatever money is needed for it will

be spent. The Prime Minister announced he was cancelling his trip

to the Middle East next week. Instead, he will deal with the

crisis in middle England. Let's talk to our political editor,

Nick Robinson, in Westminster. We've just seen the prime minister out and

about but is there a real change in what the government is doing now?

We've seen him out and about. He is chairing committees. He's been

making these visits. But that promise that you just heard that

money is no object is a really dramatic change, frankly. There's

been a great argument about whether spending on flood defences has been

cut. That bro minister insists it hasn't but others insist it has. --

the Prime Minister. It depends on how you measure it. He is saying to

farmers, businesses, who lost money that he will make it up. He says he

will help householders rebuild their homes in a way that protects them

from floods. But those words will be held against him day after day,

month after month, as people say, "do you really mean money is no

object? Can I have some for the cause I think is important?" . David

Cameron now knows that he must be seen to be in control, not least

because he is predicting things will get worst, not least because he is

saying the progress in sorting out the floods and broken railways will

be, in his words, depressingly slow. Thanks very much.

Well, some of the country's top scientists are warning that some

communities will take many months to dry out.

It was the wettest January in England since records began - with

158mm of rain. And there's no end in sight. Tomorrow, the forecast is for

20mm across the UK, and up to 30mm across parts of the South West and

Wales. This report from our science editor David Shukman.

To get a view of how much water is underground, you need to open up a

borehole. This is mere one foot in Oxfordshire. -- near a town in

Oxfordshire. You can see the incredible pressure of the water

deep underground. There is so much of it that it has become a source of

flooding in itself. The flow from deep below is so strong that this

could keep going for months. Imagine the effect of even more rain. There

are borehole is up and down the country. Those marked in black on

the map have never held so much water. This means, sadly, yet more

flooding. The water in the ground will take weeks, possibly months, to

work its way through the system. So the flooding could last for at least

another couple of weeks. Even if the rain stops now. The new research

shows that nine of the boreholes measuring ground water are at record

levels. One is at its highest for 179 years. 17 Riverside blinks

stations recorded the highest ever average flows in January and they

are still rising. The River Thames is well over its banks in

Oxfordshire. It has been higher at this point before but never for so

long. In fact, there is so much water is stored in the ground and in

the rivers that one researcher studying the flows says more

flooding is inevitable and for a long time to come. Even if it

doesn't rain any more, there will be more flooding. But the likelihood is

that we will see more rainfall in the coming weeks and months and that

this level will continue for some time. It could be three to six

months before we see the situation back to what we would describe as

normal. This is the long haul that David Cameron has warned about. The

extreme weather is producing exceptional volumes of water, which

means flooding will be a threat to a great many people for some time to

come. Many rail links across southern and

south-west England are under water, causing travel disruption for

commuters. Our transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, is

in Datchet in Berkshire. Richard, I wonder if you can give us the latest

situation. I can. This should be a really busy platform about now, with

commuters coming back from London. This line is still closed. It's a

ghost station and let me show you why. These pictures from a few hours

ago. The is completely underwater. The water has come through the River

Thames, underground. One of the lines should be electrified but they

can't mix the electricity with water. It's probably going to be

closed for the rest of the week and possibly longer. When you talk to

rail engineers, who have done this job for 20 years or more, they say

they've never seen anything like it. Let me remind you of the national

picture. You cannot get in or out of Cornwall on a train. Big delays

going across Somerset and Devon with lines still underwater. And now,

across the Thames Valley, especially trains going into Paddington station

in London, we've got big delays and signals out. These are some of the

busiest trains in the country. The worst news of all, I'm afraid, we

are going to have weeks of problems. Even when the water goes,

they've got to go in and fix the issue so we're going to have weeks,

if not months, of delays, still. Thanks very much, Richard. I'll be

back later in the programme but for now, over two Jane Hill in the

studio. Thank you, George.

A mother from Lancashire and her boyfriend have been arrested on

suspicion of manslaughter, after the woman's 11-month-old daughter was

mauled to death by a dog. Ava-Jayne Corless was in bed at a house in

Blackburn last night when she was attacked. Police say the the dog was

a type of American pit bull. Judith Moritz reports.

this is baby Ava-Jayne Corless who died last night after being mauled

by a dog. She is being held by her mother, 20-year-old Chloe King, who

is now under arrest on suspicion of child neglect and manslaughter,

along with her 26-year-old boyfriend, Lee Wright. 11-month-old

Ava-Jayne was attacked while asleep in a bedroom last night. Today, a

dog cage left in the garden was the only reminder of the American pit

bull type dog responsible. It has since been destroyed. Neighbours

spoke of their shop but also said they had been frightened by dogs

kept at the house. The No they chased me and I was really scared

and my kids were scared as well. I saw the police vans arriving. He was

pulled out of the house cuffed. Lancashire Police will now examine

claims that they had been called on previous occasions I neighbours

worried about the dog. We will have to ascertain the exact nature of the

dog. The police are also trying to establish whether the dog was a band

breed. When Ava-Jayne was attacked she was asleep in a bedroom

upstairs, her mother and mother's boyfriend were downstairs on a sofa.

Detectives will be asking them how exactly the dog attack was able to

happen. Our top story this evening.

More communities have been hit by flooding in the Thames Valley, and

beyond. And still to come, the pub landlord leading the flood relief

effort, in one Somerset village. Later on BBC London: The flood-hit

businesses - we've spent the day with those who say their trade is

suffering. And we'll give you the latest

details on the travel disruption caused by the flooding in the Thames

Valley. There's been sharp criticism of

Barclays today, for its large payments to executives. The bank

announced a rise of 10% in bonuses and other incentives, to ?2.4

billion. That's at a time when profits are down by more than a

third, to ?5.2 billion. Our business editor Robert Peston has more

details. There are murky hidden depths to

bank results but at Barclays, what is clear, is bonuses and incentives

paid to its workers have risen by 10% while profits fell last year by

almost a third. What many people do not understand is how profits can

fall but bonuses can rise. Can you explain why that happens? One thing

we do when we look at bonuses is we have to be competitive on pay and we

have to pay for performance. We operate in many countries around the

world from Singapore to San Francisco, and we compete for talent

in global markets. A pretty picture? Not according to a business leader.

Any business which pays out three times as much to its managers as its

owners, which is you and me, is doing something profoundly wrong.

Shareholders, the investment companies which invest our pensions

ought to be up in arms. Antony Jenkins, Barclays' chief executive

has put the slogans all over Barclays. They are supposed to

demonstrate the way that the bank's values and culture are changing. As

it happens, the first letter spells rises. Does that mean Barclays'

rises or pay rises? Does it damage the reputation of the retail bank

and the commercial bank, this furore at about bonuses year after year? We

do not think investment banking damages the result of the bank. It

is what we do that matters. If we do business the right way in retail

banking, investment banking and credit cards and so on, then our

reputation will improve and it has been improving. This wily former

head of the CBI has been asked by the big banks to help them mend

their reputations by creating a body to set higher standards of behaviour

for them. Three things are happening. One is regulation, the

other is an industry wide approach. Barclays global and also local. In

Scotland, independence, good for the UK or bad for the UK? That is a

matter for the Scottish people to decide. We think we can make it work

either way as a bank. Barclays, when bonuses do not fall with profits,

can it be properly respected again? Hollywood's biggest ever child star,

Shirley Temple, has died at the age of 85. She began her film career at

the age of three, and with her curls and dimples became America's

sweetheart during the 1930s, with films such as Bright Eyes and Curly

Top. She later had a second career as a diplomat, serving as US

ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. David Sillito looks

back at her life. # On the Good Ship Lollipop.

# Its a sweet trip. # To the candy shop.

Shirley Temple was a child star without equal. She did seven films

in 1934 alone, helping to save FOX Studios from bankruptcy. She said

she stopped believing in Santa Claus when aged six, she sat on his knee

and he asked her for an autograph. Shirley has got her first car, she

drives like a grown-up woman. She seemed to have everything, even her

own Baby Oscar. What she did not have was friends her own age. Money,

can I go home now? So aged ten she was Hollywood's number one star. At

12, that stardom was fading. She retired in 1950 to discover her

fortune had gone. Out of the $3,200,000 that I had earned from

everything, doll sales, books, clothing and everything, I had

$44,000 left in a trust account. But this was a life with a remarkable

second act. Shirley Temple Black moved into politics. I am dedicating

my life and my energies to public service because I think our country

needs it now more than it ever has before. During her career she was

ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia and the White House

Chief of Protocol. It was a startling reinvention. But whatever

she did, she will always be remembered as America's little

princess. Oh, my goodness! Shirley Temple, who's died in

California, at the age of 85. More on the floods now, with George

in Berkshire. George. Welcome back to the Thames Valley

where thousands of families are struggling to keep the flood water

from their homes. In Somerset,the misery has been going on for weeks,

and in one village, Burrowbridge, the local relief effort is being led

by the pub landlord. Jim Winkworth has been telling us his story.

You wake up in the morning and you think, are we going to be flooded or

not? You open the door and hope not to see water everywhere. That is how

we are living. If we get another inch or two of rain, there will be

more water into houses, more misery, basically. Rain means misery at the

moment. We have been out this morning and sandbagged three

properties which were at immediate risk. This is all being done by

ourselves, this is not by any environment agencies or anyone else,

we have just done this for ourselves. The damage to trade is

huge. You have got no passing trade because the police will not let

anyone in. It is becoming impractical to run the business

here. I just cannot see us continuing. It makes you feel sick.

It is pouring someone's knife out. Luckily, everyone have not lost

everything. We have managed to get people out and furniture out but it

is the shock of seeing someone's home destroyed. Children's toys and

things like that. Sorry. This is the river, this first bit. The rest, as

far as the eye can see is farmland. Every drop of that water has to be

pumped. So, it is like a see, isn't it? Are we fighting a losing battle

here? Are we really fighting a losing battle? There you get a sense

of the situation in Somerset. Back here in Wraysbury I have Rose

who has been the volunteers. The spotlight is on you now but you have

been here since January. The we have been here on our own. All the

residents have organised a emergency sandbags. We had 100,000 delivered

in January with the help of our borough councillor. That was a dry

run for this case. What is the mood like now? The mood has taken a

change for the better with the help we have now received. I think people

are feeling far more safe and in control. It is far better than it

was yesterday, for sure. There was some anger? There was but we are

trying to calm it and say, let's get through this. We will make sure we

are safe. The anger will not go away. Thank you very much. Let's get

the all-important weather forecast now with Louise Lear.

Thank you. We'd love a movie sequel in this country. Storm, the return

will be into double figures at the box office. We do it all again in 24

hours. Keep watching the weather forecast or tune into your BBC local

radio stations. We have some snow at lower levels across Scotland and

Northern Ireland. As we speak, a cold night to come. I want to draw

your attention to Wales. With temperatures falling away we could

potentially pick up some snow showers to lower levels here. That

could affect parts of South Yorkshire and maybe even the

Midlands. We could see a centimetre or two of snow. There will be some

showers around. With a cold night there will be some icy stretches to

look out for first thing. That will pale into insignificance when we

talk about what is to come tomorrow. We have another significant area of

low pressure already starting to knock on the door of the

south-west. That will be accompanied by severe gale force gusts of wins

again and some intense rain, particularly moving across southern

parts of England and Wales. It will take some time to clear. Once it

does we will see plenty of sharp showers. By the middle of the

afternoon we will have some clear skies. A little calmer across

Northern Ireland and the hills. By the end of the afternoon, into the

North West and North Wales, we could see severe gales, perhaps storm

force gusts. Look at that intense rain still to clear away across the

Essex and Kent coast. We have early amber warnings out. Be prepared for

the wind across west facing coasts, 60 to 70 mph gusts. Across North

Wales and the Northwest we could see even stronger as the day

progresses. A slightly quiet spell on Thursday before we do it all over

again as we move towards Friday. Plenty of stormy weather to come.

Thank you. Before we go, let me just give you a reminder of our main

story. David Cameron says money will be no object in tackling the floods

affecting thousands of families. That's all from the team here in

Berkshire. Now it's time for the news where you