19/09/2011 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10: At the Lib Dem conference, a dire warning on the

health of the British economy. A glimmer of hope as new jobs come to

Jaguar Landrover, but ministers warn the country is facing

dangerous times. We now face the crisis that is the economic

equivalent of war, and this is not a time for business as usual or

politics as usual. Despite extra money being spent on

infrastructure, the message is clear - people should be braced for

even tougher times ahead. It will take a lot longer than

people initially thought to put the pieces back together again and make

sure we have a strong economy for the future.

Also tonight: A last minute legal reprieve for the travellers at Dale

Farm. They defy the bailiffs and win a court injunction against

eviction. The families can stay put on the UK's largest travellers site,

but it could be just a temporary victory.

Very happy. At least we might have a good night's sleep now.

Milly Dowler's family settles with News International over the hacking

scandal - the deal could be worth millions.

They were joined at the head, now the Sudanese twins start a new life

apart. The to still too early to be sure but there are no signs that

either has suffered any neurological damage as a result of

the separation. I will have the sport in the next

hour as Andy Murray is warning the biggest names in tennis could go on

strike. They want to push through changes to the busy calendar of the

Good evening from Birmingham, where any notion of an improvement in

Britain's economic health has been dispelled today by Vince Cable. He

said the country faced dangerous times the equal of - economic

equivalent of being at war. Nick Clegg insisted there was still no

alternative to the austerity measures.

A bleak warning was issued in Birmingham today, a warning to the

country that danger lies ahead. The enemy is not one we can see, not

one they can protect us against. It is the threat that the economy may

not recover. We now face a crisis which is the economic equivalent of

war. A business Secretary told his fellow Lib Dems today that the

public deserved and wanted to be told it like it is. The truth is

there are difficult times ahead, that Britain's post-war pattern of

ever-rising living standards has been broken by the financial

collapse. So it is Centre Birmingham looks prosperous enough,

but down the road the place that attracts most customers is the

JobCentre. Unemployment in this constituency is the highest in the

country and two is going up. situation in unemployment is dire.

It feels that as you go into the JobCentre today? A you can feel it

walking around. People are very unhappy. I have not worked in the

past year, and people are really down. Ministers insist they are

doing all they can to produce growth but Nick Clegg told me today

there will be sticking to their plans to cut spending. If there was

an alternative, if there was an easy alternative, I don't know, the

big red button in Whitehall that says push here for growth, you

would have thought the Labour Party would have come up with an

alternative. I will tell you exactly what they say. Look at the

small print of Labour's own deficit reduction plan. Pound-for-pound,

they would cut almost exactly the same amount from public spending as

we are. Ministers a' language is changing though, they are beginning

to talk of the need for a stimulus to get the economy moving, to get

more companies to follow a Jaguar Land Rover, who today announced

they would be creating 750 jobs in Wolverhampton. You have spoken of a

new deal style stimulus. Is he in favour of that? The government is

in favour of growth. The world is in a very difficult set of

conditions at the moment, in danger of demand weakening. The government

has got to support the economy. is right to say we are balancing

the books, but at the same time we can invest to build far better

tomorrow. If they agree, what about the sound of disharmony coming from

the ones happy relationship between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives?

Some people say coalition is a political marriage. How would your

wife feel if you described her as whit less, a nightmare, and said

divorce was inevitable? Miriam would not be pleased and I would

pay the consequences. People on the platform behind you have said it.

Do I accept that Liberal Democrats will say stuff about the

Conservatives? That is what happens in politics. The real message is

that it is not the verbal political battles that count, it is what

Vince Cable calls the war with frightening economic forces.

Just a reminder, the party holding its conference last 600 council

seats earlier this year, its poll ratings are consistently weak and

there is a debate about its role in government. The Lib Dem president

has openly raised the prospect of the Lib Dems abandoning the

coalition before the next election. James Landale explains delegates

are showing few signs of despair. The Lib Dems in Birmingham after an

awful year. They have lost hundreds of councillors, lost a referendum

on voting reform, and yet they have a spring in their step. They think

it will turn good. If, at the end of a parliament, we have delivered

good for our country at a time of crisis, informed by liberal

principles of fairness, I have no doubt whatsoever that the public

will give us the benefit for that. That is the gamble the party

members seem to have accepted, so there is no rebellion here, no

tough questions for the leader. Does anybody else want to ask a

supplementary? Heavens, what docility! Like a North Korean

conference meeting. Some Lib Dems are concerned about specific issues,

but many appear content with their lot, almost as if they are getting

used to the idea of be in power. As a party, they are also used to

being unpopular. We have been there before. If you are as old as I am,

you know we will survive whatever happens. We have various ministers

in office. That makes a difference? Of course, it restrains the ghastly

thing the Tories might otherwise do. The party's ministers are learning

to be robust with the media. You are losing elections across the

piece, at record lows in the opinion polls, and you seem to

think in a few years that will change. Why it is that not wishful

thinking? I have to say, James, you are a miserable sod really. I think

you sometimes come to our conference and you are hoping we

will be miserable, defeated and deflected, and you have found we

are in good form here. Nick is on cracking form. That was me told.

But some Lib Dems will never be exactly happy with the cost of

coalition. There is a difference between happy and sanguine. The

party is not happy with the current low position in the polls and not

happy with the criticism we are getting, some of it clearly

unjustified. But some of it justified. The Lib Dems are bound

in coalition to tackle the stagnant economy, and that is there a lot

for the next few years. It is a lot they seem willing to accept for now.

Watching that with any is Nick Robinson. They say they are on

cracking form, do they know something we don't? A Vince Cable

compared the economy with a war, and I was reminded of the political

spirit of the trenches. In the sense, the reason they feel better

is because it is better than it was a few months ago. There are no

longer student protests on the streets, they have moved on from

the elections were they lost council seats, moved on from the

referendum they lost, so it will feel better but the key thing is no

one here at this conference is challenging the decision to go into

coalition, to stay in coalition or the central economic judgment about

how far spending is cut to deal with the deficit. In that context

they have heard today a pretty stark assessment from Vince Cable

which goes beyond the gloom we have had before. Vince Cable is the sort

of man who can be gloomy even without opening his mouth. This was

not acquire moment where he says we are all doomed, like the character

from Dad's Army, but he says the reason we are in this unique

coalition with the Conservatives is because it is like the war. What he

wants to say to the electorate is we are not going to kid you, it is

bad, it may get worse before it gets better. Behind the scenes he

is trying to argue to speed up spending on infrastructure. Not

schools and hospitals, they don't create economic growth. On

broadband, on transport projects, he wants to make sure every

available penny is spent on things that can help businesses create

growth. But his old friend, Lord Hope shot, the man who used to be

the Treasury spokesman, said tonight to the BBC, if we don't get

the economy growing again in the next few years, our party will be

slaughtered. Thank you. More from the Lib Dem conference

tomorrow, and in the meantime it is back to you.

The eviction of Dale Farm, the largest travellers' site in the UK,

has been put on hold after residents won a last-minute legal

reprieve. Bailiffs had already entered the camp when news of the

injunction came through this afternoon. It is the latest Dep in

a long battle that has already cost millions of pounds.

Jubilation among Dale Farm's travellers' community this

afternoon as this decade long saga took another twist, much to the

exasperation of hundreds of bailiffs, security officers and

police surrounding the site, the High Court has issued an injunction

delaying action until at least Friday. Very happy. At least we

might have a good night's sleep now. I ate and the council are extremely

disappointed and frustrated by the decision of the High Court today

but I am confident that when we put our side of the story, our case,

the law will be upheld and the council will enforce the law.

but no sympathy from the travellers on the day when the ruling of the

courts was finally expected to trump the determination of the

community. Mid-afternoon and a dozen or so bailiffs marched up to

the entrance of the Dale Farm settlement, but the omens were not

good. Battling against a noisy crowd, the warning was heard by no

one inside the camp. I have some major health and safety concerns,

namely that you have deliberately blocked and a obstructed the

emergency access road. On the other side of the precariously

constructed barricade, protesters had chained themselves to objects.

One man had attached his arm to a The bailiffs retreated and the

stage was set for what many thought could be the most hazardous process,

returning to the green. REPORTER: Are you upset? Wouldn't

you be upset if your home was being taken from you? The cost of this

was put at some �18 million, the price worth paying to those who see

this has a challenge to the lawless of the land. About but a challenge

to those who see this as an attack on the mine or the culture.

Here, they've been encouraged to buy the plot when government

legislation ended the duty on local authorities to provide official

scythes, the council gave permission to build homes on this

half, but on the greenbelt land where the building is forbidden

there are 51 traveller homes in defiance of planning law. The

battle for Dale Farm has been cast as a struggle between the main

stream and an alternative way of life. So there is an irony, and the

courts are looking to look to see if the council has followed the

letter of the law. The BBC understands that News

International is close to agreeing a settlement worth millions for the

family of the murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler. It follows

allegations that an investigator working for the News of the World

hacked into her voice messages after the teenager's disappearance.

Our correspondent is at News International. June, the Milly

Dowler case was merely the tipping point in this hacking scandal?

That's right. It caused international consternation, the

closure of the News of the World and raised questions about the

failure of the original police investigation. When it comes to the

details of the deal we understand that the plan is for �2 million to

go to Milly Dowler's family and a further �1 million to be paid into

charity. News International paid �100,000 to

7/7 -- Sienna Miller. Gordon Taylor of the professional football's

association got about half a million plus his costs N a

statement that r today, News International said no final

agreement had been reached but they hoped that a deal would be done as

quickly as possible. Over the summer Rupert Murdoch met

Milly Dowler's family and apologised personally. We

understand that he is to personally write the cheque for �1 million to

go to charity. June, thank you.

Coming up: Four complex police stations to sprailt conjoined twin

girls. -- to separate conjoined twin girls.

This is a rare condition and a complex problem. There are so many

things that you have to get right. Crisis talks between the Greek

government and international officials aimed at releasing the

latest trench of its bail-out ended the day without agreement. The

government is under pressure to make deeper cuts, but many Greeks

believe that the measures have gone too far.

This report contains some flash photography. Everyone in Greece

knows that new painful aust airity measures are on the way. Protests

against the recent tax rises have begun. Today, the Greek government

has been in negotiations with EU and erpbl IMF officials, this in a

country where many people are already hurting from previous

rounds of cuts. The Athens Bike Fair was a draw for

many middle-class families. Among them was Joanna Karella, a public

sector worker, she has seen her salary cut by 20%. She is scared.

We are careful of what we buy now. Every time we go to the supermarket

we go with a list. It's been getting shorter and shorter the

list. We cannot buy anything for our children anymore.

When school started in this autumn, this family found a shortage of

books in the classroom. A week ago, the government announced a property

tax. The aim is to raise 2 billion Euros, it would hit the flat owners

like this woman. For the scale of this area, it

works out about six or seven Euros per metre. That is about more than

700 Euros for the flat for a year. That is in two instalments.

How-do people feel about the one- Oftax? That is a lot of money?

think that the middle-class owners an the property owners are getting

outraged. The tax is to be collected by the

electricity bills, the power unions say that they will sabotage it.

Even the police have seen their salaries cut by between two and 600

Euros a month. TRANSLATION: Due to the cuts, 50%

of the police vehicles and bikes cannot be used.

This is the man negotiating for Greece to receive further bail out

funds and avoid defaulting. He is the Greek Finance Minister.

TheemplIMF criticised Greece for -- the erpbl IMF criticised Greece for

wasting time. -- International Monetary Fund.

There There have been tax rises and pay cuts, but they have not done

the jobs. The tax collection is a shambles, the economy is shipging,

so, more cuts are on the way, but this time increasingly, the Greeks

are resisting. There were reports tonight that

Greece is close to a deal to continue to receive bail-out funds.

There is wide spread speculation this thousands of public sector

workers are to be sacked as part of the plan.

President Obama has set out details of a plan to cut America's budget

deficit, saying he was willing to reduce spending on social

programmes as long as it was balanced on raising taxes by the

rich, that the wealthy should pay their fair share, citing a comment

from Warren Buffet, who said he would be willing to pay fairer

taxes. There is no just kaigs --

justification for this. It is wrong in the United States of America, a

teacher or nurse or construction worker who earns $50,000, should

pay higher tax rates than somebody who earns $50 million. What are the

opponents saying about this? Well, the phrase on must Republicans lips

is' is class war, but the President wants to paint the Republicans as

more interested in defending corporate and wealthy America than

looking after the interests of ordinary working men and women.

Wanting to extend the tax breaks to middle and lower-income families,

making sure that the wealthiest pay more than they do now. He feels

that mentioning the name of Warren Buffet could bolster his case.

He knows that they may have little or no chance of passing this

through Congress, but he feels this is the time for the kind of bold,

fiesty move that could galvanise his supporters and set the terms of

the debate for next year's presidential election.

Thank you, Paul. The Ministry of Defence has

announced that a Royal Mail has been killed in -- that a Royal

Marine has been killed in Afghanistan.

The marine from 42 Commando has been shot dead in the Helmand

province. In a counter-terrorism operation,

men were detained in a series of raids in the city. A woman is being

questioned on suspicion of with holding information.

The operation to disrupt a suspected Al-Qaeda-inspired

terrorist plot involved counter- terrorism police and the MI5. They

say that the threat was not imminent, but it was real. They

acted, they say, in the froms of public safety.

There were pre-dawn raids on more than a dozen addresses across

Birmingham. Officers were not armed when they made the arrests, an

indication that they did not expect to find firearms or explosives.

This was a large-skai pre-planned operation, running for a little

time in the West counter-terrorism unit. Today, the forensic teams

took care to protect evidence, wrapping this car in tarpaulins.

Forensic teams in this house and in the spark Brookes area of the city

are conducting a through search. They have been here all day it will

take a long time to examine all that has been found.

Imran grew ep with one of the men arrested.

-- Imran grew up with one of the men arrested.

He did not want to show his face. The aim was to foil the plot at the

planning stage. The threat of terrorism is active.

It is live. It has diversified. We are facing a number of different

challenges from new groups on the emerging scene.

The police now have 14 days to question the suspects under the

terrorism act. Tributes are being paid to Ginger

McCain, he has died from cancer at the age of 80. He will be linked to

Red Rum, the horse that won the ga Grand National three times.

An operation to separate twins joined at the head has been

described as about as complex as it can get. Surgeons carried out four

operations, totalling nearly 40 hours are hopeful for the girls'

future. Rital and Ritag Gaboura were separated last month after

being flown to the UK from Sudan. Our correspondent is the only TV

journalist to have met them. Rital and Ritag Gaboura, sharing

the same cot, but these twins have undergone an extraordinary journey

to be physically separated. Born joined at the head, doctors say

they would have died unless he underwent surgery. Their parents,

both doctors from Sudan can each hold one daughter in their arms.

For them it is a miracle. What was it like when the twins

were able to look each other in the eye for the first time? It was very,

it was really a great moment in our life. I will never forget it. I

hope that they will get a normal life and treat -- be treated as

normal human beings. To forget all of the suffering times.

Looking at the twins now, it is remarkable to think that just a

month ago they were joined at the head. It is too early to be sure,

but there are no signs at this stage that either has suffered any

neurological damage as a result of the separation.

This was the huge surgical team at Great Ormond Street Hospital who

carried out four complex operations spread over four months. First

dividing the veins and arteries, then growing new skin to cover the

skull, and finally this, the moment when the twins were separated.

There are so many things that you have to get right in the right

order, separating the blood vessels, making sure that the brain is safe,

reconstructing the skin. It really has been a tribute to the team, I

think, that we have been able to plan this in such detail and keep