03/02/2012 BBC News at Ten

From Cabinet to courtroom - the Energy Secretary Chris Huhne

resigns. He's to be charged with perverting the course of justice

for allegedly trying to avoid a driving ban. His ex-wife will also

be charged. They will appear in court in under a fortnight. He

insists he'll clear his name. innocent of these charges and I

intend to fight this in the courts. I am confident that a jury will

agree. We'll be looking at how a personal

crisis turned into a political storm for Mr Huhne.

Also tonight: How the race row over these words

has lost John Terry the England captaincy for a second time.

Bankers' pay should be reduced - the chairman of RBS makes a candid

admission. I think Banco payee is too high and has been too high for

too long, and that is an important business issue. -- banker.

The confidential call between the FBI and Scotland Yard about hacking

that was hacked. And Britain shivers in the big

freeze. Coming up in Sportsday at 10:30pm,

all of the day's news, including how 16 wickets fell on the opening

day of the third Test between Good evening.

The Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has resigned from the Cabinet after

learning that he and his ex-wife will both face charges of

perverting the course of justice. It's claimed the Liberal Democrat

former minister got his then wife Vicky Pryce to accept penalty

speeding points on his behalf nine years ago to escape a driving ban.

The accusation only emerged last year, shortly after the couple

separated. This morning Chris Huhne insisted again that he was innocent

and said he would fight the charges in court. Nick Robinson reports.

It began with their marriage breaking up. It could end in prison.

Today Chris Huhne lost his job in the Cabinet. In a fortnight, he and

the wife he left, Vicky Pryce, will see each other in court. Today, the

man who heads the Crown Prosecution Service gave his verdict on the

evidence of an eight-month police investigation. All the available

evidence, including the new material, has now been carefully

considered by the CPS, and we have concluded that there is sufficient

evidence to bring criminal charges against both Mr tuna and Vicky

Pryce for perverting the course of justice. -- Chris Huhne and Vicky

Pryce. The Prime Minister and his deputy made clear to Chris Huhne

that his fight to clear his name would have to be pursued outside

the Cabinet. Am innocent of these charges and I intend to fight this

in the courts and a confident that a jury will agree. So as to avoid

any distraction to either mine official duties or my trial defence,

I am standing down and resigning as energy and Climate Change Secretary.

It must feel a very long time since Chris Huhne issue these election

leaflets asking where he would be without his family and telling

voters that he had been married for 26 years. His wife was with him at

the count on election night in 2010. There, too, the woman he was having

an affair with, his media adviser. He would go on to win his seat but

lose his wife and soon face allegations about who had done what

many years before. In 2003, when he was a member of the European

Parliament, Chris Huhne flew into Stansted Airport from Brussels. His

car was caught by speed cameras on the motorway. His wife, Vicky Pryce,

received three penalty points for the speeding offence. Eight years

later, in the aftermath of their acrimonious divorce, the Sunday

Times asked her about rumours that he had persuaded somebody to accept

speeding points for him. Oh, gosh, yes, he did, she was reported as

saying, before pointing out that "there is such a huge pressure on

politicians to be everywhere at once, and he does drive a bit like

a maniac". Days later, a Labour MP asked Essex police to open an

investigation. Today Vicky Pryce posed for the cameras. The woman

who used to head the Government's economic Service issued a written

statement saying she wanted to see a quick resolution of the case.

cannot comment on anything. A Chris Huhne's absence will be noticed

most around the Cabinet table. He was the coalition's most muscular

Liberal Democrat, twice staging angry confrontations with the Prime

Minister about the treatment of his party, has embarrassed colleagues

looked on. Nick Clegg may be sorry, but perhaps a little nervous, too.

He only just beat Chris Huhne to become party leader, and he knows

that if he is clear, Chris Huhne could cause real political trouble.

I totally understand and respect why Chris Huhne has stood down from

his position in Government. If he clears his name, as he wishes to, I

have made clear to him that I would like to see him back in Government

in a key position. But politics does not wait for the slow turning

wheels of justice. Another Liberal Democrat, Ed Davey, is the new

Secretary of State for Energy and climate change. Chris Huhne did

eventually lose his driving licence. He lost his wife. And today he lost

his Cabinet career. Now, he is fighting to save not just his

reputation but his freedom. Nick Robinson is at Westminster. It

is a loss to the coalition but the greater personal loss to Chris

Huhne. That is the striking thing about this, that something began as

personal, became political, it is now legal and it could even, if

Chris Huhne cannot convince the court, the jury of his innocence,

end up being custodial for him as well. It is going to be hard for

the Government to fill the Chris Huhne shaped hole in the Cabinet.

Why? Not just because he stood up to the Tories in a way that pleased

many Liberal Democrats in the country, but because he was seen as

a good and competent minister, an impressive negotiator when it came

to doing a climate change deal. He was also a trusted by green groups

to try to make a reality of the promise made by David Cameron that

this coalition Government would be the greenest Government over, and

in particular he was seen as the man who stood up to the Treasury if

they tried to water down some of those green targets. Whatever now

happens to him, the politics will still be complicated. Of course, if

he is convicted, he will be a source of embarrassment and might

trigger a by-election. It is a close Lib Dem Tory marginal, so

that is the last thing the coalition would want to. But if he

gets off, as he hopes and believes he will, he could be a source of

trouble on the back benches, because he is a politician who

likes to, and who picks the trouble. But I suspect it tonight he will

not be concentrating on the political, but thinking of the

personal and asking the question that people sometimes ask

themselves, how on earth did I get myself into this mess?

John Terry has been sacked as captain of the England football

team. He is due to stand trial in July on charges of racial abuse.

The Football Association said it had taken the decision as it did

not want the case to dominate England's performance in the Euro

2012 championships. It was this incident at Loftus Road

last year that today led to John Terry being stripped of the England

captaincy for a second time. He strenuously denies racially abusing

Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's match against Queen's Park Rangers,

but with a court case adjourned until after the summer's European

Championships, the FA chairman took to the governing body's TV channel

today to explain why Terry had to go. This decision has been taken

due to the high-profile nature of the England captaincy on and off

the pitch, and additional demands and requirements expected of the

captain leading into and during a tournament. Terry's as the game

England captain in 2006, but four years later, after allegations

surrounding his private life, he lost the armband to Rio Ferdinand.

13 months later, he was back, reinstated by Fabio Capello. But

just before Christmas he was formally charged with racial abuse.

With a trial scheduled just a week after the end of Euro 2012, the FA

feared his troubles would prove too great and -- a distraction. Some

would argue the FA should have made the decision earlier, others that

they should not have made it at all. But it is clear that in a season

beset by racism controversy is, the revamped FA board at Wembley wanted

to show firm, decisive leadership over this issue. As so often,

however, club and country disagreed. It is the FA decision and I have

nothing to say about it. I do not agree with it but you have to ask

the FA about it and the people responsible for the decision.

Terry's international manager had also backed his former captain but

ultimately the decision was taken out of his hands. The Italian must

now decide whether Terry Maritz selection at all, and who to

replace him as captain. Rio Ferdinand, who England turned to

last time, is not interested. Honestly, know. You genuinely do

not want to be England captain? MACRO. I have been England captain

before very brief period. It was taken away from me, so I just want

to concentrate on playing for Manchester United. Despite only

being suspended pending the outcome of the trial, Terry is considering

whether to turn his back on the national team altogether. Once

again, months before a major tournament, England have seen their

plans derailed by events off the field.

The chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland has admitted that bankers

salaries are too high and need to come down. But Sir Philip Hampton

defended the decision to pay nearly a �1 million bonus to the chief

executive, Stephen Hester, a bonus he eventually turned down. He said

RBS had underestimated how controversial the proposed payout

would be. He was speaking to Robert Peston.

Royal Bank of Scotland. If it could go wrong, it did in the past nine

days. First, a tidal wave of complaints after the chief

executive, Stephen Hester, was awarded a bonus of just under �1

million, up complaints so forceful he chose not to take the reward.

And then the Queen stripped his predecessor of his knighthood

because of the way that RBS's reckless growth damaged the Bank

and the British economy. Chaired by Sir Philip Hampton, RBS, which is

82% owned by taxpayers, has a bit of explaining to do. Given that

there was such an extraordinary backlash to Stephen Hester's bonus,

was it a mistake to award it to him? No, I don't think so. We

evaluate his performance. We think he is doing a very good job. It is

part of the terms of his employment that he is entitled to a bonus.

you simply not anticipate the public and political outcry?

knew it would receive quite a lot of public criticism. Frankly, we

underestimated the scale of that criticism and that is something we

have got to think about. You are in an intriguing position because you

have said to me in the past that you think in general the pay of

bankers rose more than was justified, in particular in

relation to rewards for shareholders. Yes, I agree, I think

banker pay has been too high for too long and that is an important

business issue. The share of the cake between their shareholders and

employees has been wrong in banks, large numbers of banks, very good

number of years and it needs correcting. So there will be a

reduction in bonuses paid to RBS's investment bankers, he confirmed,

from �950 million last year and �1.3 billion in the previous year.

But even so, there will be many RBS bankers taking home well over �1

million each. Which is why Labour's leader argues that the cancellation

of Mr Hester's bonus is not enough. Anyone who looks at recent history

will find it hard to believe that market discipline is preventing

runaway bonuses. The answer is to change the rules and the culture. I

hope that can be led by the banking sector itself. It is also what the

House of Commons will debate on Tuesday. The Government, too, has

expressed concerns about bonuses, and that is why Sir Philip says he

fears a worrying gulf may be opening between big businesses and

The Dow Jones has closed at its highest level since before the 2008

financial crisis, after stocks rallied on news of a fall in

unemployment for the fifth month in a row. Nearly a quarter of a

million unemployed people found work during the month of January, a

higher number than expected, adding to evidence of a gradual recovery

in the American economy. The FBI and the Metropolitan Police

have launched a criminal investigation after computer

hackers intercepted a conference call in which officers discussed

their efforts against hacking. The conversation, which the hackers

have released on the internet, revealed details of joint

operations and the dates of planned arrests.

A supposedly secure conference call last month between cyber crime

detectives. Hello? Hello, it is Stewart. Specialists from the Met

police talking to FBI agents in Los Angeles and Washington, discussing

their highly sensitive drive to hunt down and prosecute alleged

internet hackers, but one of the very groups they are targeting,

called Anonymous, have hacked into the conversation and published it

on the internet. I will start with the information about the ACPO

conference in Sheffield. Yes, will you be able to come? The detectives

have no idea that adversaries will hear this. They discuss specific

and current cases. We have set back the further arrests of BEEP until

we know what is happening. The prosecution is making the

application in chambers without the defence no win, to try to factor

some time in that will not look suspicious. Us Scotland Yard says

no operational risks have been identified but it is still highly

embarrassing. How could this happen? The lawyer for one suspect

mentioned in the conversation police and FBI agent recorded it

and then sent it as an audio file in an e-mail which was intercepted.

It is shocking that the people who are supposed to be investigating

hacking allegations have suffered at themselves and it could

potentially jeopardise the organisation. Members of the group

Anonymous were seen among the many different protesters of the occupy

a London cab, but who are they? They are a loose gathering free

speech defenders. The Guy Fawkes mask is one of their trademarks.

Anonymous have attacked the websites of the US Department of

Justice, the CA, the Central Intelligence Agency, and Sony. They

are causing headaches in high places over here. Britain's GCHQ

listening station is part of the massive government Investment

inside the security but for all their resources, the British and US

governments have shown that sometimes they can be outsmarted by

the very people they are trying to catch.

Coming up on tonight's programme: A picture perfect scene, but the

prospects for the weekend's weather are pretty grim.

In Russia, tens of thousands of people are expected to march

through Moscow tomorrow, part of ongoing protests against suspected

fraud by the prime minister Vladimir Putin's party in the

parliamentary elections two months ago. The protests are a bid to keep

up the pressure on Mr Putin ahead of next month's presidential

election, which he looks almost certain to win.

There has been no backing off in the new year in the battle to clean

up Russia's elections. This was a raid by a democracy activists on a

lecture theatre, where hundreds of signatures were being forged on the

nomination papers of a presidential candidate. With the presidential

election over one month away, thousands of volunteers are

training to be observers, many of them fired up by stories of

outrageous cheating in December's parliamentary vote. Stories like

that of these people, students who were approached to join a group of

young people played -- paid to go around illegally voting again and

again for Vladimir Putin, but they made sure the whole thing was

secretly filmed by an undercover journalist.

TRANSLATION: We would go into each polling station and go to table

number one or two and shame our passports. And when the person saw

this depot of the apple, he knew exactly what to do, and just gave

us a ballot paper without the usual explanation of how to vote. This

was one of the many polling stations where the young couple

voted that day. It was on a list of over 40 in this area alone where

they had been told they could safely go, which gives you the idea

of the scale of the institutional conspiracy to rig the election.

Although he was an official observer, this man watched

powerless Lee as the result at his polling station was simply changed

after the count. The ruling party gained 80 votes, the four others

lost 20 each. It was my first time but it was much more than I

expected and I was so upset that on the night of the elections, I

couldn't go to bed, so I took time writing a report. It was posted on

the internet. It was these examples of blatant fraud that brought tens

of thousands of protesters out onto the streets of Moscow in December,

and will again this weekend. Some estimates suggest Vladimir Putin's

party stole 10% of the votes. This week a giant banner appeared

reading simply "Putin go", but he is still Russia's most popular

politician and little can stop him returning to the Kremlin.

At least four people have been killed in Cairo tonight during more

unrest in Egypt. There was trouble as police fired tear gas at crowds

gathered in Tahrir Square. Protestors are angry about the

military government's handling of Wednesday night's violence at a

football match, in which 74 people died.

The Royal College of GPs has called on the government to cancel its

plans to overhaul the NHS in England because it threatens to

cause irreparable damage to care. It represents 34,000 family doctors

and it is the first of the medical royal colleges to oppose the

reforms outright. The government says it is baffled by the

criticisms. A trip to your local surgery may

not look different but behind the scenes, fundamental changes are

afoot, giving groups of GPs the power to decide how health services

will be run and crucially, what patient care the NHS can afford. It

has been controversial from the start. Today the Royal College of

GPs said it would be harmful to patients and withdrew its support.

GPs are very worried about what this will do for the care of their

patients, they are very worried about how services will join up and

they are worried about them having to be those to ration the care,

rather than the advocate of the patients. This isn't the first

group to come out in opposition to the bill. The BMA and the wheel

colleges of Nursing and midwives have done the same but this is the

first professional medical body to call for the Bill to be scrapped

altogether and it is coming from GPs who are central to how these

changes will work -- that Royal College of Nursing and the Royal

College of midwives. At this Medical Centre, it is already

happening. Doctors have grouped together to commission care so that

the patients get more seem his treatment closer to home, with as

few hospital trip us as possible. We have been able to reshape care

around the patients, achieving high quality care, patient satisfaction

and value for money, and if we continue to focus on improving

patient care, then I think we will deliver and have a successful

health system. The Health Bill puts much of the Energis budget in the

hands of groups of GPs, responsible for buying and rationing care, and

it opens the way to more competition in the NHS. Private

companies will be able to provide health services. Soak the long-term

diabetes care this patient needs could be done privately -- so the

long term. It is that which worries the Royal College of GPs, and this

afternoon, physiotherapists said the same thing. The real challenge

and the mature point of view is to get in there and helped to make

sure they work so that patients get first class, high quality care,

which is what is at the heart of this modernisation programme.

bill is due back in the Lords next week but already, in surgeries

across England, changes in the NHS are under way.

Cricket, and there was an extraordinary day's play in

England's final test against Pakistan, which saw no less than 16

wickets tumble. England bowled out Pakistan for 99 all out only to

fall apart when they took to the crease. England's batsmen finished

the day on 104 for six, a lead of just five runs, which leaves the

match finely balanced. It probably hasn't escaped your

notice. It is cold, very cold. Temperatures could fall as low as

minus eight overnight. The gritting lorries are out and cold weather

payments to help with fuel costs have been triggered in some parts

of the country. It's all because Britain is caught between an icy

blast from Russia and warmer air to the west. That's likely to mean

snow this weekend. The Peak District, the bitter

conditions shown no sign of easing. In other areas, winter has an icy

grip. The snow is expected to move further south and east, and there

are concerns about what that might mean for those most vulnerable to

the cold. His family in east London have no central heating. Their

boiler is broken and they cannot afford to fix it. They are all in

one room. When you leave the room, you have to weigh your coat. You

see Risley don't want to leave the room. -- where your coat. It is

frustrating for all of us. Sub-zero temperatures over seven days

trigger cold-weather payments for those who are eligible. Almost �30