:00:07. > :00:10.Tonight at ten, all change for British banks. It's the biggest
:00:10. > :00:17.reform in a generation. In the new world, high street business will be
:00:17. > :00:20.set apart to protect taxpayers in any future crisis. Today represents
:00:20. > :00:24.a decisive moment when we take a step towards a new banking system
:00:24. > :00:25.that works for Britain. But the banks are concerned about costs and
:00:25. > :00:27.competitiveness. We will have the details.
:00:27. > :00:35.Also tonight: In Kenya, a British tourist is
:00:35. > :00:39.murdered and his widow is kidnapped. We report from the scene. It is a
:00:39. > :00:42.crime scene at the moment. They are investigating the murder, but also
:00:43. > :00:45.trying to get clues as to where the missing British woman could have
:00:45. > :00:47.been taken. A new head for Britain's biggest
:00:47. > :00:50.force - the Metropolitan Police gets a new commissioner.
:00:50. > :00:54.David Cameron visits Russia, building bridges after five years
:00:55. > :01:04.of tension and distrust. And David Walliams completes his
:01:04. > :01:09.epic swim for charity along the Thames, despite many setbacks.
:01:09. > :01:13.don't know when I will set foot in the water again. I think a bath is
:01:13. > :01:16.the only water I want to see for quite a while!
:01:16. > :01:20.And I will be here with Sportsday later on the BBC News Channel, as
:01:20. > :01:30.Barton takes the captain's armband for QPR his debut and against his
:01:30. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :01:44.Good evening. British banks are facing the biggest reform in a
:01:44. > :01:47.generation. The Chancellor has accepted the findings of an
:01:47. > :01:52.independent commission, which wants high street banking kept apart from
:01:52. > :01:56.investment banking. The aim is to protect taxpayers in the event of
:01:56. > :01:59.another banking crisis. But there has been criticism of the timescale,
:01:59. > :02:08.seven years, and the banks are concerned about the cost, as our
:02:08. > :02:12.business editor, Robert Peston, reports.
:02:12. > :02:17.Our mighty banks, such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds,
:02:17. > :02:21.HSBC, perhaps facing their biggest ever shake-up because of this
:02:21. > :02:27.unassuming economics professor, Sir John Vickers. The status quo is not
:02:27. > :02:29.an option. Things have got to change. So what reforms are
:02:29. > :02:33.proposed by Vickers' Independent Commission on Banking that was set
:02:33. > :02:36.up by the Treasury? The most important one is the creation of a
:02:36. > :02:40.ring-fence or thick high wall to protect the parts of banks that
:02:40. > :02:44.provide vital services to individuals and small businesses.
:02:44. > :02:47.So that these retail banking operations would be protected if
:02:47. > :02:52.the more speculative global investment banking parts of a bank
:02:52. > :02:55.found themselves in a spot of bother. And to provide further
:02:55. > :02:59.protection, retail banks would have to hold capital equivalent to at
:02:59. > :03:05.least 10% of loans and all big banks would have to have the
:03:05. > :03:09.ability to absorb losses almost double that. The separation of
:03:09. > :03:14.investment banking function from what I would call the commercial
:03:14. > :03:19.banking function, which is much more than retail, could be for the
:03:19. > :03:26.good of the bank. Or around me is the evidence of the great boom in
:03:26. > :03:29.banking and finance over 20 years before the crash of 2007-2008. The
:03:29. > :03:32.skyscrapers of the City of London and Canary Wharf. But the
:03:32. > :03:36.commission believes that much of that boom was poisonous. So the
:03:36. > :03:40.question is, can the poison be extracted without harming the
:03:40. > :03:47.patient, the British economy? So what is the problem that has to be
:03:47. > :03:50.fixed? That a great banking crisis of 2007-8 saw massive costs heaped
:03:50. > :03:57.on taxpayers and the worst recession for 80 years, from which
:03:57. > :04:00.the UK and much of the rich West has still not recovered. Billy Emms
:04:00. > :04:05.of pounds have been spent. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost
:04:05. > :04:08.as a result. It is this coalition government that set up the banking
:04:08. > :04:13.commission not just to ask the questions, but to provide the
:04:13. > :04:18.answers. What will be the impact? There will be some costs for banks
:04:18. > :04:21.and borrowers, especially bigger companies that borrow. We can't --
:04:21. > :04:25.we are concerned that we will be out of step with the rest of the EU
:04:25. > :04:27.and potentially elsewhere in the world, because what is being
:04:27. > :04:32.proposed to date is a higher requirement on UK banks and
:04:32. > :04:35.elsewhere. That will add to the cost of banking in the UK. But the
:04:35. > :04:39.commission says the cost to the British economy there will be
:04:39. > :04:43.around �1 billion a year. Compared with its estimate of annual cost of
:04:43. > :04:47.banking crises of �40 billion a year. So if his reforms were to
:04:47. > :04:52.work in curbing such crises, they would represent wonderful value for
:04:52. > :04:55.money. But the chief executive of a big bank told me he regards the
:04:55. > :05:00.reforms as a disaster. What does a former banker on the commission
:05:00. > :05:03.think of that? I have no sympathy for that. It is neither a disaster
:05:03. > :05:07.for any British bank, and am certain this is not a disaster for
:05:07. > :05:11.the British economy. It is not all about making banks safer. It is all
:05:11. > :05:15.about promoting competition, such as by making it easier for us to
:05:15. > :05:19.switch accounts between banks. Things like more competition on the
:05:19. > :05:22.high street, easier and faster switching, these are things the
:05:22. > :05:27.Government should introduce now. King Louis, there was little
:05:27. > :05:33.disagreement between government -- strikingly, there was little
:05:33. > :05:37.disagreement between government and opposition on this. But there: if
:05:37. > :05:40.we do not move quickly, small businesses and consumers will end
:05:40. > :05:44.up paying a price the banks should be buried.
:05:44. > :05:47.A new banking industry, not growing as much, perhaps, but possibly more
:05:47. > :05:53.stable and less dangerous. In a moment, Nick Robinson is in
:05:54. > :05:59.Downing Street. First, Robert is with me here. You gave us a flavour
:06:00. > :06:03.of some of the bankers' responses. Are they going to put up a fight?
:06:03. > :06:12.As United, one banker said to me that he thinks these reforms will
:06:12. > :06:16.be a disaster. He is a very influential individual. But no
:06:16. > :06:22.banks have come out and, on the record. In general, they say they
:06:22. > :06:27.will do their best with these reforms, because they recognise
:06:27. > :06:31.that the public mood, and the mood of Westminster, is for change. And
:06:31. > :06:36.that is not surprising. We should not forget that the credit crunch
:06:36. > :06:40.started four years ago. The great banking crisis was three years ago,
:06:40. > :06:44.and economic growth is still very weak in this country. Unemployment
:06:45. > :06:50.is still intractably high, and most of our current economic mess, a lot
:06:50. > :06:54.of it can be laid at the door of the banks and the excesses they
:06:54. > :06:57.took in the boom years, which led to the great bust. We have heard
:06:57. > :07:01.today from influential economists that the squeeze on living
:07:01. > :07:06.standards for most British people will go on for years. If it was the
:07:06. > :07:10.banks' fault, as many believe, this is a once in a generation
:07:10. > :07:14.opportunity to make sure we do not get into the same mess again in the
:07:14. > :07:21.future. It is a very big moment. Our political editor Nick Robinson
:07:21. > :07:25.is in Downing Street for us tonight. So there has been a broad political
:07:25. > :07:30.consensus today. Is that going to hold? At there certainly was today,
:07:30. > :07:33.and we do not know whether it will hold. This was built up as a kind
:07:33. > :07:37.of judgement day for the banks, the moment they learnt their fate and
:07:37. > :07:42.we as voters were reassured that our money would not be used to bear
:07:42. > :07:46.that matter again. It felt rather low-key at Westminster, but that
:07:46. > :07:50.was because all the major parties had signed up to this approach that
:07:50. > :07:54.has been recommended by Vickers, the restructuring of the banks to
:07:54. > :07:58.separate the so-called retail arm and what some pejoratively called
:07:58. > :08:02.their casino banking arms. But given that a very long timescale
:08:02. > :08:06.which all the parties have broadly signed up to, there is a great deal
:08:06. > :08:11.of time for the banks to start to argue, why don't we change things a
:08:11. > :08:16.bit? Why don't we argue about the definitions of what is retail and
:08:16. > :08:19.what is not an how high the walls are between the two different parts
:08:19. > :08:22.of the Bank and the speed of implementation? There are twin
:08:22. > :08:26.pressures on politicians. On the one hand, the need to reflect
:08:26. > :08:33.public anger at what happened in the past. But also deep anxiety
:08:33. > :08:37.that if they get it wrong in banking, they may destroy one of
:08:37. > :08:40.the industries that Britain is pre- eminent at.
:08:40. > :08:44.There is still no word about the fate of a British woman kidnapped
:08:44. > :08:47.at a beach resort in Kenya by an armed gang who shot and killed her
:08:47. > :08:49.husband. The Kenyan army has now joined police in the search for
:08:49. > :08:52.Judith Tebbutt, who was taken from Kiwayu Safari Village, north of
:08:52. > :09:02.Lamu Island, in the early hours of yesterday morning, possibly by a
:09:02. > :09:07.
:09:07. > :09:12.gang from Somalia. Three an idyllic setting on the
:09:12. > :09:15.Kenyan coast, with its thatched cottages dotted along the beach,
:09:15. > :09:20.Kiwayu Safari Lodge attracts tourists who want to get away from
:09:20. > :09:25.the crowds and live the quiet life for a few days. The hotel's website
:09:25. > :09:32.boasts of round-the-clock tight security. But after the peace was
:09:32. > :09:35.shattered, soldiers have replaced the tourists. In a midnight raid, a
:09:35. > :09:41.group of armed men killed David Tebbutt, a British publishing
:09:41. > :09:44.executive, shooting him in the back. Then they abetted his wife Judith,
:09:44. > :09:50.who is still missing. -- they abducted his wife there. You can
:09:50. > :09:54.see that a yellow tape has been set up around the rooms. The couple
:09:54. > :09:58.were sleeping and one of those rooms when the raid happened. The
:09:59. > :10:04.question is, what happened to Judith Tebbutt? She was taken away
:10:04. > :10:07.in a speedboat, apparently heading north to Somalia. Kenyan police are
:10:07. > :10:14.searching, but the gang may be out of reach. In a boat like this, the
:10:14. > :10:17.Somali border is just 90 minutes away. In this village just along
:10:17. > :10:21.the beach from the hotel, people complain that banditry from Somalia
:10:21. > :10:26.has been a problem for some years. They are worried that this latest
:10:26. > :10:32.attack will keep the tourists away. One man told me the gunmen forced a
:10:32. > :10:35.Kenyan to lead them to the hotel. He told me that they forced him to
:10:35. > :10:45.guide them to the hotel. Then they did what they did and went back
:10:45. > :10:47.
:10:47. > :10:50.with the lady. To Somalia? Yeah, to Somalia. The couple's home in
:10:50. > :10:54.Bishop's Stortford has been sealed off by the police. For friends,
:10:54. > :10:57.there is sadness and shock as they take in what happened. He was such
:10:57. > :11:03.a gentle person that I cannot imagine him putting up much
:11:03. > :11:13.resistance. However it happened, it seems very out of character for him
:11:13. > :11:16.to fight, especially someone with a gun. The suspicion here in Kenya is
:11:16. > :11:20.that either Somali pirates or the Al-Qaeda link to Islamist group Al-
:11:20. > :11:27.Shabab carried out the attack. The Foreign Office says officials are
:11:27. > :11:30.focused on trying to ensure that Judith Tebbutt's life is saved.
:11:30. > :11:33.Four men have been charged over allegations that a group of men
:11:33. > :11:36.were kept as slaves at a travellers' site in Bedfordshire.
:11:36. > :11:38.Three brothers, James, Tommy and Patrick Connors, and their brother-
:11:38. > :11:41.in-law, James Connors, were arrested at the caravan park near
:11:41. > :11:48.Leighton Buzzard, where police found and four men who were forced
:11:49. > :11:52.to live in squalid conditions and work for no pay.
:11:52. > :11:56.Three people have each been given life sentences for the torture and
:11:56. > :11:59.murder of a woman from Rugby who had learning difficulties. Gemma
:11:59. > :12:04.Hayter, who was 27, suffered horrific abuse and was left to die
:12:04. > :12:07.by a gang of five people. Another man and woman have been jailed for
:12:08. > :12:10.manslaughter. NATO says it will continue its
:12:11. > :12:15.bombing raids over Libya while the threat to civilians remains in the
:12:15. > :12:19.last few Gaddafi strongholds. It confirmed that planes have hit
:12:19. > :12:22.targets around Bani Walid. Residents of the desert town are
:12:22. > :12:32.trying to flee the fighting. Our correspondent, who is with fighters
:12:32. > :12:36.from the new government, has just sent this report.
:12:36. > :12:42.The last few miles to Bani Walid are a dangerous stretch of road.
:12:42. > :12:46.But today, anti- Gaddafi fighters agreed to take us to the town. Take
:12:46. > :12:51.a good look. This is the first glimpse of Bani Walid. It is like
:12:51. > :12:56.one of those faceless frontier towns in cowboy films. Small, dusty
:12:56. > :13:00.and arid. There is no land worth fighting for here, no oil either.
:13:00. > :13:06.But it is where Libya's revolution ends and the green flag of Colonel
:13:06. > :13:10.Gaddafi still flies. This is now the edge of Bani Walid. We are on
:13:10. > :13:14.the northern side of the town. This is the frontline of the rebel
:13:14. > :13:18.position and we believe Colonel Gaddafi's troops are down that road.
:13:18. > :13:22.It is unsafe to go further. What is interesting about this conflict is
:13:22. > :13:27.that whereas the rebels managed to take the capital Tripoli in less
:13:27. > :13:30.than one day, this particular conflict is now weeks old. As we
:13:30. > :13:35.filmed, NATO jets attacked. It is a reminder that their mission is
:13:35. > :13:40.still not over, that this town matters to all sides. For Colonel
:13:40. > :13:44.Gaddafi, it is a potent symbol of resistance. For his opponents, it
:13:44. > :13:49.is a reminder that they still have not won this war, that the threat
:13:49. > :13:54.from the old regime remains. We watched some of the last few
:13:54. > :14:02.families escape. Most say there were very few civilians left in the
:14:02. > :14:08.town. The conditions there sound bad. Those left behind are locked
:14:08. > :14:12.inside their homes, scared, tired and hungry. The commander here says
:14:12. > :14:17.he does not want to push him further, hoping the people will
:14:17. > :14:20.rise up and liberate themselves. It may be wishful thinking. His
:14:20. > :14:23.fighters are lightly armed and their numbers are few. You get a
:14:23. > :14:33.real sense that after six months of war, there is little appetite left
:14:33. > :14:42.
:14:42. > :14:46.The man chosen to lead the Metropolitan Police is Bernard
:14:46. > :14:55.Hogan-Howe, the former Chief Constable of Merseyside. His
:14:55. > :14:59.appointment was announced today. Mr Hogan-Howe takes over at a very
:14:59. > :15:04.challenging time, as our home affairs correspondent explains.
:15:05. > :15:11.He is taking on the toughest, most high-profile and most political job
:15:12. > :15:16.in UK policing. In a quartet of candidates he was
:15:16. > :15:21.the one who impressed the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London.
:15:21. > :15:27.His job pitch was simple, but for the politicians it hit the spot.
:15:27. > :15:31.intend to lead the Met so it makes criminals fear that it keeps the
:15:31. > :15:34.trust of the public of London in the Metropolitan Police. Finally,
:15:34. > :15:39.the Metropolitan Police, the Metropolitan Police officers and
:15:39. > :15:45.staff are proud of. After joining the South Yorkshire force and an
:15:46. > :15:49.earlier spell at the met Bernard Hogan-Howe was appointed Merseyside
:15:49. > :15:54.Police constable. One of his prioritys was tackling gun crime.
:15:54. > :15:58.He is targeted with cutting down crime generally. Here are a few of
:15:58. > :16:02.the challenges he is facing.. Restoring the reputation of the
:16:02. > :16:07.force after the phone hacking affair, and criticism of policing
:16:07. > :16:12.during the riots. Then there are the cuts which have angered
:16:12. > :16:16.officers of all sets. Then the Olympics - all eyes will be on the
:16:16. > :16:19.Met. Bernard Hogan-Howe showed he wanted to have a relentless focus
:16:19. > :16:25.on driving down crime. He has an extraordinary record in Merseyside.
:16:25. > :16:29.He has cut it by 40% w a variety of innovative techniques and the Home
:16:29. > :16:35.Secretary and I were agreed he is the man. The two previous men in
:16:35. > :16:39.the job failed to see out their terms of office. The big question
:16:39. > :16:46.now is, will Bernard Hogan-Howe survive the pressure of the top of
:16:46. > :16:50.Scotland Yard? Coming up: Six months on, we
:16:51. > :16:58.revisit a Japanese town recover from the tsunami. We talk to some
:16:58. > :17:01.of the survivors. David Cameron has been visiting Moscow, the first
:17:01. > :17:06.visit by a British Prime Minister since 2005. Relations between the
:17:06. > :17:11.UK and Russia have been strained since the Russian dissident,
:17:11. > :17:14.Alexander Litvinenko, was murdered in London in 2006. Russia has
:17:14. > :17:18.refused to extradite the prime suspect. Mr Cameron raised the case
:17:19. > :17:22.at the start of his visit today, but appealed for a new approach to
:17:22. > :17:27.build bridges between the two countries. Our deputy editor sent
:17:27. > :17:31.this report. This is the first time that
:17:31. > :17:35.Vladimir Putin has met David Cameron. That's not all - it's the
:17:35. > :17:39.first time he's spoken to him or any British Prime Minister since
:17:39. > :17:43.2007. Today, you could see the years of miss trust and tension on
:17:43. > :17:46.their faces. This is what soured relations for
:17:46. > :17:51.so long - the Russian activist Alexander Litvinenko, who was
:17:51. > :17:57.poisoned to death in London in 2006. Britain wants his alleged killer
:17:57. > :18:01.extradited to the UK for trial. Russia is saying "No." Mr Cameron
:18:01. > :18:03.raised the issue today, but also said he wanted to work on Britain's
:18:03. > :18:08.relationship with Russia beyond the Litvinenko case.
:18:08. > :18:11.REPORTER: How can you come here and bang the drum for British business
:18:11. > :18:15.while the suspected killer of Alexander Litvinenko is being
:18:15. > :18:19.protected by the Russian state? I don't understand how you can part
:18:19. > :18:22.the issue without being accused of putting trade before human rights?
:18:22. > :18:27.This has not been parked. The fact is the two Governments don't agree.
:18:27. > :18:30.It remains an issue between Britain and Russia. We have not changed our
:18:30. > :18:37.position about that and the Russians have not changed their
:18:37. > :18:44.position. But I don't think that means that we freeze the entire
:18:44. > :18:50.relationship. But President Meadows said that Russia's constitution
:18:50. > :18:57.meant the main suspect -- Medvedev said that the main suspect would
:18:57. > :19:01.never be extradited abroad. Mr Cameron refused his request for
:19:01. > :19:07.both country's spies to co-operate again. They agreed trade deals
:19:07. > :19:11.worth �200 million. On a personal level both men got on well.
:19:12. > :19:16.Cameron suggested this morning that the KGB try and recruit him on a
:19:16. > :19:22.visit here in 1985. Do you think it would have made -- do you think he
:19:22. > :19:27.would have made a good KGB agent? The answer is no. Let's be clear
:19:27. > :19:34.about that! He came to Moscow not to end all the divisions but to may
:19:34. > :19:38.respects and get both sides talking again. On that modest theme he
:19:39. > :19:43.seems to have succeeded. Six months have passed since north-eastern
:19:43. > :19:47.Japan was struck by a powerful earthquake and tsunami. Around
:19:48. > :19:52.16,000 people are known to have died. 5,000 are still officially
:19:52. > :19:55.classed as missing. Our correspondent, who reported on the
:19:55. > :19:58.immediate aftermath of the disaster has been back to the town of
:19:58. > :20:04.Rikuzentakata to catch up with one of the survivors and he sent this
:20:05. > :20:13.report. The water you'd think for a tsunami
:20:13. > :20:18.survivor would be terrifying. Six months ago Chihiro Kanno was
:20:18. > :20:24.swallowed by the waves. She saw more than half her swimming team
:20:24. > :20:29.swept away. Today, she is back in training and says it holds no fear.
:20:29. > :20:35.When Japan's earthquake unleashed a tsunami her team was swimming near
:20:35. > :20:41.the seashore. This is new footage of that day. Under the footage
:20:41. > :20:45.their town of Rikuzentakata lies submerged T building the arches is
:20:45. > :20:51.where she was trapped. Not long after the disaster, her teacher
:20:51. > :20:56.showed us how she survived. The mark on the wall shows the tiny
:20:56. > :21:00.space where she found she could breathe. Of her team-mates, seven
:21:00. > :21:08.died. She had been gripping one friend's hand, trying to pull her
:21:08. > :21:12.to safety. The water tore them apart.
:21:12. > :21:21.When I'm alone I cannot help thinking about my friends who died.
:21:21. > :21:27.I really long to see them again. Chihiro's town, so badly damaged,
:21:27. > :21:32.is trying to move on too. There is a massive effort to sift and shift
:21:32. > :21:36.the wreckage. 1,500 people died when Rikuzentakata was washed away.
:21:36. > :21:40.2,000 more have since packed their bags and left. Their homes and
:21:40. > :21:44.livelihoods gone. Getting on with the job of re-building is the
:21:44. > :21:47.urgent priority for the survivors here in Rikuzentakata. They have
:21:47. > :21:56.started drawing up plans. They fear if nothing is done more people will
:21:56. > :22:01.leave this town and it will slowly wither and die. Chihiro's family
:22:01. > :22:04.and 2,000 others are in temporary housing. A huge emergency budget
:22:04. > :22:09.promised for reconstruction has not materialised. Her grandfather is
:22:09. > :22:13.one of 200 people from the town presumed dead, but of whom no trace
:22:13. > :22:17.has been found. TRANSLATION: What do I think about
:22:17. > :22:21.the Government? Not much! Our politicians have been fighting over
:22:21. > :22:29.who should be Prime Minister. This is not a time for that. We've come
:22:29. > :22:33.to expect nothing from them. As for Chihiro, it's her swimming
:22:33. > :22:37.that keeps her from dwelling on memories of the tsunami. When I'm
:22:37. > :22:47.swimming I don't have to think about anything, I just empty my
:22:47. > :22:50.
:22:50. > :22:53.mind. That's why I like it so much. More than 80 Conservative MPs have
:22:53. > :22:58.met tonight to discuss Britain's future in Europe. The MPs say they
:22:58. > :23:01.want to see their concerns discussed more widely in the
:23:01. > :23:06.Conservative Party. Our political correspondent is at Westminster for
:23:06. > :23:09.us. What did they decide, if anything? Well, the organisers of
:23:09. > :23:13.tonight's meeting could not find a room big enough to make sure
:23:13. > :23:18.everyone got a seat. There was a lot of interest from Conservative
:23:18. > :23:23.MPs tonight. They did not decide anything, except to look into the
:23:23. > :23:27.issue of Europe a bit more closely. They were discussing the eurozone
:23:27. > :23:31.crisis, which many MPs feel provides an opportunity for Britain
:23:31. > :23:35.to re-negotiate its relationship with the EU and perhaps take some
:23:35. > :23:39.powers back from Brussels. Does this represent some kind of Euro-
:23:39. > :23:45.sceptic challenge to David Cameron of the kind we saw in the 1990s
:23:45. > :23:48.that tore the party apart? No, it doesn't. Many of the MPs who came
:23:48. > :23:53.out of that meeting stressed how they want to co-operate with the
:23:53. > :23:58.Government to come up with a coherent message. If difficulty
:23:58. > :24:02.will be if the eurozone gets worse, the MPs will want a tougher line.
:24:02. > :24:05.They will be in less of a mind to co-operate with the Liberal
:24:05. > :24:09.Democrats. As one MP said tonight, there is a storm brewing over the
:24:09. > :24:14.issue. Thank you. High winds have battered
:24:14. > :24:17.parts of Britain today. One driver died when a tree hit a car in
:24:17. > :24:22.county Durham. Winds of more than 70 miles per hour brought down the
:24:22. > :24:27.roof on this factory in Scotland, Wales and the north of England have
:24:27. > :24:34.been worse hit, with power cuts and transport disruption.
:24:34. > :24:38.It has taken eight days and a distance of 140 miles. Tonight, the
:24:38. > :24:43.comedian David Walliams completed his swim from the source of the
:24:43. > :24:46.river Thames to Westminster Bridge. Despite suffer from a stomach bug
:24:46. > :24:56.and some rather polluted water, he raised more than �1 million for
:24:56. > :24:57.
:24:57. > :25:01.charity. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
:25:01. > :25:05.Exhusted but exhilarated. The end of the epic swim. He always knew it
:25:05. > :25:10.would be difficult, but he never knew how tough it would end up
:25:10. > :25:17.being. It was a lot colder than I thought. The weather wasn't good. I
:25:17. > :25:21.got ill. There were a lot of things against me. I just knew if I kept
:25:21. > :25:26.putting one arm in front of the other I would eventually get there.
:25:26. > :25:31.Since he started, eight days and 140 miles ago, in Gloucestershire,
:25:31. > :25:35.braving the Thames Waters in just a ware of trunks he has not only
:25:35. > :25:40.faced the strain of his ordeal, but on top of that vomiting and
:25:40. > :25:47.diarrhoea, not to mention the knowledge that 500,000 cubic metres
:25:47. > :25:51.of sewerage have poured into the river this week, requiring him to
:25:51. > :25:56.take precautionary antibiotics and inoculations. He said the support
:25:56. > :26:03.he received along the way kept him going, despite all the problems.
:26:03. > :26:10.was completely overwhelmed with the generosity of the British public.
:26:10. > :26:15.They came out and saw me and waved and cheered. It made it easier.
:26:15. > :26:18.Many celebrities give their time to energy. He has combined his fame
:26:18. > :26:25.with tiz extraordinary commitment to try and make a difference. The
:26:25. > :26:30.end of the journey marks the perfect start for Sport Relief's