:00:13. > :00:19.Tonight: The people of Homs under attack for a fourth day from the
:00:19. > :00:23.Syrian regime. More loss of life, more people injured by the constant
:00:23. > :00:27.shelling. Our correspondent is one of the few foreign journalists
:00:27. > :00:33.there. We just heard another artillery impact. There was a pause
:00:33. > :00:36.of half an hour but it started up pretty consistently since about
:00:36. > :00:39.6.00am. In Damascus, a big welcome for
:00:39. > :00:43.Russia's Foreign Minister, who says the Syrian President is committed
:00:43. > :00:48.to ending the violence. We will be asking if the Russian visit is
:00:48. > :00:51.likely to lead to a change of tactics in Damascus.
:00:51. > :00:55.Also tonight: The Metropolitan Police admits breaking the law by
:00:55. > :00:59.failing to warn people that their phones may have been hacked by the
:00:59. > :01:04.News of the World. They were liars, that is what comes
:01:04. > :01:08.out of it. Basically, they had that evidence. They recorded the names.
:01:08. > :01:13.Every time I kept asking they said, "You are not on the list." Getting
:01:13. > :01:17.Abu Qatada deported is still the aim, says Ministers.
:01:17. > :01:21.The right place for a terrorist is in a prison cell. The right place
:01:21. > :01:25.for a foreign terrorist is a foreign prison cell far away from
:01:25. > :01:29.Britain. In Greece, fierce opposition to the
:01:29. > :01:33.latest austerity package about to be approved.
:01:34. > :01:40.How Buckingham Palace will be the backdrop for a special Jubilee
:01:40. > :01:50.Concert. Coming up in Sportsday: Will this
:01:50. > :02:09.
:02:09. > :02:13.be enough to see Blackpool into the Good evening. For a fourth day the
:02:13. > :02:16.Syrian Army have been bombarding the city of Homs. President Bashar
:02:17. > :02:20.al-Assad was again promising to end the violence and to bring in
:02:20. > :02:24.reforms. He gave the assurances to the Russian Foreign Minister,
:02:24. > :02:32.Sergei Lavrov, who visited Damascus today. Hundreds of people have died
:02:32. > :02:37.in Homs since the attack began. In Homs, the pressure on the areas
:02:37. > :02:43.held by armed rebels is not letting up. More shelling, more burning,
:02:43. > :02:47.more killing. For the time being, the regime's tanks are standing off
:02:47. > :02:52.and firing in. The rebels who call themselves the free Army have no
:02:52. > :02:56.heavy weapons and no real answer. But their snipers and determination
:02:56. > :03:00.to fight for now any way seem to be deterring an attempt to send in
:03:00. > :03:06.ground troops. Conditions are worsening for the civilians. They
:03:06. > :03:10.are running out of bread and taking risks to get it, according to the
:03:10. > :03:14.BBC's Paul Wood. The man who usually drives the bodies and the
:03:14. > :03:18.injured very bravely drove to another part of Homs, somebody
:03:18. > :03:22.described it as a suicide mission because he had to drive across a
:03:22. > :03:27.road junction which takes a lot of sniper fire. He got a car-load of
:03:27. > :03:33.bread, was fired at a lot on the way there and on the way back, but
:03:33. > :03:36.managed to come in and distribute bread to people. In Damascus,
:03:36. > :03:41.supporters of President Assad turned out for a visit by the
:03:41. > :03:45.Russian Foreign Minister. Syria is a divided country. The President's
:03:45. > :03:51.followers mainly from his own Alawites sect back his view that
:03:51. > :03:56.the regime is all that stands between them and a rebellion by the
:03:56. > :04:04.people the President called terrorists. Sergei Lavrov
:04:04. > :04:10.represents a Government that is President Assad's most important
:04:10. > :04:14.ally. Mr Lavrov paid lip service to the Arab League but the veto
:04:14. > :04:18.blocked international approval of an Arab League call for Mr Assad to
:04:18. > :04:23.step down. TRANSLATION: We confirmed we are
:04:23. > :04:28.ready to do all we can to solve the crisis, based on the Arab League's
:04:28. > :04:31.plan of November 2nd last year and President Assad gave his commitment
:04:31. > :04:35.to end the violence no matter where it is from. Since the Russian and
:04:35. > :04:39.Chinese vetoes at the UN there have been attempts to reboot the
:04:39. > :04:44.diplomatic effort by the countries who want President Assad to step
:04:44. > :04:49.down. But there is a crucial difference with Libya last year. No
:04:49. > :04:52.open military intervention. That removes one very powerful lever
:04:52. > :04:59.which in Libya made all the difference for those who wanted
:04:59. > :05:02.regime change. More confuelzed scenes of violence have -- confused
:05:03. > :05:06.scenes of violence have come out of Syria today. This is said to be
:05:06. > :05:12.more killing in a southern town where the rebellion began almost a
:05:12. > :05:18.year ago. And this is another funeral in Homs in what seems to be
:05:18. > :05:22.a lull in the shelling. So far, diplomacy has failed. If the
:05:22. > :05:31.killing continues, pressure will grow for outside powers to arm the
:05:31. > :05:36.rebels. The risk in Syria is an unstoppable slide into civil war.
:05:36. > :05:41.To take stock, Jeremy is with me now. Let's talk about today's
:05:41. > :05:44.events in Damascus. Are we likely to see any significant change from
:05:44. > :05:48.the Assad regime following these talks? President Assad appears to
:05:48. > :05:52.have said to Mr Lavrov all the things he said before about
:05:52. > :05:57.promises of change, constitutional referendum, a bit of a new
:05:57. > :06:01.beginning. He has said this stuff before. The opposition don't
:06:01. > :06:05.believe him. Western governments don't believe him. The Russians are
:06:05. > :06:09.thinking that either President Assad or someone like him will be
:06:09. > :06:11.part of the solution whereas other countries, Britain especially, and
:06:12. > :06:16.the Americans, the French, they think that he is part of the
:06:17. > :06:21.problem. So what is the future? Efforts to try and get diplomacy
:06:21. > :06:26.again but without a UN Resolution, that is very difficult. It might go
:06:26. > :06:31.back towards the UN. There will be people trying to get pressure on
:06:31. > :06:35.governments to start arming the rebels, to try and funnel guns in
:06:35. > :06:40.to what the rather loose organisation that calls itself the
:06:40. > :06:44.Free Syria Army. What does that suggest? It suggests this worrisome
:06:44. > :06:50.process that is leading towards some kind of sectarian civil war
:06:50. > :06:54.continues and is probably picking up speed. Thank you very much.
:06:54. > :06:58.The Metropolitan Police has admitted acting unlawfully when it
:06:58. > :07:01.failed to warn people in 2006 and 2007 that they could be victims of
:07:01. > :07:06.phone hacking by the News of the World. The admission was made at
:07:06. > :07:10.the High Court in London in a case brought by the former Deputy Prime
:07:10. > :07:14.Minister, Lord Prescott, and four others. Scotland Yard has
:07:14. > :07:18.apologised for the way their cases were handled.
:07:18. > :07:23.Scotland Yard tonight still at the epicentre of a scandal which has
:07:23. > :07:27.now seen it forced to admit that officers sworn to uphold the law
:07:27. > :07:31.had themselves broken the law in their investigation of the News of
:07:31. > :07:36.the World phone hacking affair, failing in their duty to alert the
:07:36. > :07:41.victim. Among those who brought the case at the High Court was the
:07:41. > :07:44.former Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Prescott, who sees today's
:07:44. > :07:49.admission by the Metropolitan Police as vindication for his long
:07:49. > :07:53.campaign. Frankly, they were liars. Basically, they had that evidence,
:07:53. > :07:58.they recorded the names, but every time I kept asking them, they said,
:07:58. > :08:02."You are not on the list." It was the scandal that toppled the Fleet
:08:02. > :08:05.Street legend. A year before the closure of the News of the World,
:08:05. > :08:09.and despite possessing evidence that thousands of people might have
:08:09. > :08:13.had their phones illegally hacked, Scotland Yard's Assistant
:08:13. > :08:19.Commissioner was telling Parliament that Lord Prescott was mistaken and
:08:19. > :08:24.all known victims had been informed. Lord Prescott has discussed the
:08:24. > :08:27.fact he may have been on a list. He is not on that list. Where we
:08:27. > :08:33.believe there is the possibility of someone may have been hacked, we
:08:33. > :08:37.have taken all reasonable steps... John Yates resigned from the Met
:08:37. > :08:42.last summer. Another of those who took the case to court today says
:08:43. > :08:47.the affair exposed an inappropriate relationship between the Met and
:08:47. > :08:50.News International. The Met were corrupted by the News of the World,
:08:50. > :08:53.the relationship between journalists and senior police
:08:53. > :08:58.officers was so close I think that they got confused in their head and
:08:58. > :09:01.in the end, they couldn't see clearly what their real legal
:09:01. > :09:05.obligations were. In a statement today, the Metropolitan Police
:09:05. > :09:09.noted how at the time of the original investigation officers had
:09:09. > :09:14.been dealing with an unprecedented increase in anti-terrorist
:09:14. > :09:18.investigations, but now the 130 officers currently working on
:09:18. > :09:22.hacking inquiries reflects the lessons that have been learned. No-
:09:22. > :09:26.one was available for interview from the Met today, indicative of a
:09:26. > :09:31.hope that they can create a sense of distance between New Scotland
:09:31. > :09:36.Yard and an old flawed regime. The UK's largest police force remains
:09:36. > :09:42.an organisation engulfed by the failures of its recent past. It's
:09:42. > :09:48.not over yet. The editor of The Times has
:09:48. > :09:53.apologised for the actions of a former reporter who hacked into a
:09:53. > :09:58.blogger's e-mail account. Mr Harding was recalled at the Leveson
:09:58. > :10:02.Inquiry. He told the inquiry he regretted the intrusion into
:10:02. > :10:06.Richard Horton's account and he said people expected better of The
:10:06. > :10:13.Times. As editor, I'm responsible for what it does and what its
:10:13. > :10:18.journalists do. So I want to say that I sorely regret the intrusion
:10:18. > :10:24.into Richard Horton's e-mail account by a journalist then in our
:10:24. > :10:30.newsroom. I am sure Mr Horton and many other people expect better of
:10:30. > :10:35.The Times, so do I. So on behalf of the paper, I apologise.
:10:35. > :10:39.James Harding there. The Home Secretary says the
:10:39. > :10:42.Government will pursue all legal possibilities in its efforts to
:10:42. > :10:46.deport the Islamist cleric, Abu Qatada. Downing Street described
:10:46. > :10:49.him as a dangerous man who posed a real threat. Yesterday, a judge
:10:49. > :10:54.ruled that Qatada, who has been held for six-and-a-half years,
:10:54. > :11:00.should be released on bail. He is wanted in Jordan on terrorism
:11:00. > :11:04.charges. He can't be detained, he can't be
:11:04. > :11:09.deported, so within a week, Abu Qatada described officially as
:11:09. > :11:15.posing a real threat to our security will be released on bail.
:11:15. > :11:19.The European Court of Human Rights ruled against his deportation.
:11:19. > :11:29.Disgraceful, muttered Tory backbenchers, and the Home
:11:29. > :11:30.
:11:30. > :11:35.Secretary sounded none too pleased. It is simply not acceptable, after
:11:35. > :11:38.his removal has been approved by the highest courts in our land, we
:11:38. > :11:43.still cannot deport dangerous foreign nationals. After more than
:11:43. > :11:46.a decade of trying to deport Abu Qatada, Ministers now have two
:11:47. > :11:53.options - either to ask the European Court of Human Rights to
:11:53. > :11:58.think again, by appealing to its grand chamber, or to persuade
:11:58. > :12:02.Jordan to promise that if they put him on trial, they won't use
:12:03. > :12:07.evidence obtained by torture, in line with Britain's international
:12:07. > :12:11.commitments. Some Conservatives proposed a third option - ignore
:12:11. > :12:14.the court altogether. It is no good the Home Secretary huffing and
:12:14. > :12:18.puffing about the decision, what the British public want to know is
:12:18. > :12:21.- if we cannot secure the reforms that we need from the European
:12:21. > :12:25.Court of Human Rights, are we going to withdraw from the European
:12:25. > :12:30.Convention? Without that commitment, she is going to be spitting in the
:12:30. > :12:37.wind. She could become a national hero if she leaves this chamber,
:12:37. > :12:41.picks up the phone and orders him to be sent back to Jordan tonight.
:12:41. > :12:46.On release, Abu Qatada will face extreme bail conditions. Curfewed
:12:46. > :12:50.for 22 hours a day, without the use of a mobile phone or internet. That
:12:50. > :12:55.will last three months. After that, he will have more freedom, thanks
:12:55. > :13:00.in part to the coalition's decision to scrap the last Government's
:13:00. > :13:05.control orders. The powers that she has put on the statute book are
:13:05. > :13:08.much weaker than the powers of control orders which were there and
:13:08. > :13:13.which were working satisfactorily. She cannot blame the European Court
:13:13. > :13:16.for her decision to weaken British counter-terror powers. The Home
:13:16. > :13:22.Secretary finds herself in an uncomfortable position tonight.
:13:22. > :13:26.Unable to detain or deport someone she says is a major threat to
:13:26. > :13:29.national security. An attack by the right and the left for her
:13:30. > :13:35.impotence. A man who doesn't believe in democracy or the rule of
:13:35. > :13:42.law may find all this rather amusing. Not so Ministers who find
:13:42. > :13:45.themselves with a responsibility The Chancellor, George Osborne, has
:13:45. > :13:48.promised to fight an "anti-business culture" in a speech to small
:13:48. > :13:53.business leaders. Mr Osborne said that the row over bonuses and pay
:13:53. > :13:56.threatened to undermine jobs and prosperity. His comments came as
:13:56. > :13:58.Labour called for a tax on bankers' bonuses in a House of Commons
:13:58. > :14:01.debate. In Greece, the government is
:14:01. > :14:05.reported to be close to an agreement on new austerity measures
:14:05. > :14:08.to qualify for more bail-out funds. A draft text has been finalised and
:14:08. > :14:10.will be put to Greek political leaders tomorrow. Thousands of
:14:10. > :14:13.protestors have been demonstrating outside the Greek parliament
:14:13. > :14:16.opposing the plans, which are based on much tougher public spending
:14:16. > :14:23.cuts in order to release 130 billion euros from the EU, the
:14:23. > :14:26.European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. In
:14:26. > :14:29.return, banks will write off up to 70% of the money the Greek
:14:29. > :14:39.government owes them. Our Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, reports from
:14:39. > :14:42.
:14:42. > :14:47.Athens, torrential rain and a general strike against further cuts.
:14:47. > :14:50.Once again Europe is waiting on Greece. While there were scuffles,
:14:50. > :14:56.the country's politicians were under pressure from Europe's
:14:56. > :15:00.leaders to accept more austerity in exchange for another bail out and
:15:00. > :15:05.so stave off bankruptcy. In every way you look at it there's no
:15:06. > :15:10.option for Greece other than to try and stay within the euro and fix
:15:10. > :15:14.its economy within the euro. but will renew bail out deal work?
:15:14. > :15:19.Come to this hospital outside Piraeus. After five years of the
:15:19. > :15:25.economy shrinking, many see the hospitals as an example of a broken
:15:25. > :15:33.society. We were told of a shortage of syringes and dressings. This
:15:33. > :15:42.neurosurgeon has seen his wages cut 35% to 1,700 euros a month. I am
:15:42. > :15:45.feeling very hungry. You can imagine, if they are treating
:15:45. > :15:50.hospital doctors like that, imagine what they're doing to the rest of
:15:50. > :15:55.society. There are other signs of a society hurting. Families selling
:15:55. > :15:59.their gold, jewellery held it -- heading into the smelter. There are
:15:59. > :16:09.now scores of gold buyers and they see queues every day. How many
:16:09. > :16:09.
:16:09. > :16:13.people have been in today? 24. That is a normal day? Yes. It raises the
:16:13. > :16:17.question of whether Greeks can take more austerity. There are also
:16:17. > :16:22.doubts whether the government will actually implement reforms like
:16:22. > :16:26.cutting public sector jobs after a string of broken commitments. The
:16:26. > :16:29.commitment had been to drastically cut back the numbers working in the
:16:29. > :16:35.public sector, but up until the middle of last year, they were
:16:35. > :16:39.still hiring people. Take local tax offices like this. The government
:16:39. > :16:43.promised to clamp down on tax evasions yet they reckon there are
:16:43. > :16:47.still 16 billion euros of tax is outstanding. Then there were
:16:47. > :16:51.privatisations like this old airport. The promise was to raise
:16:51. > :16:56.50 billion euros by 2015, but one of those involved said much of it
:16:56. > :17:01.turned out to be a work of fiction. It is not just the failure to sell
:17:01. > :17:05.old airports, some question what more austerity will do to Greece.
:17:05. > :17:09.It will further shrink crease's national income from which the new
:17:09. > :17:12.bail out loans will have to be repaid. A few months later we will
:17:12. > :17:17.be having another conversation of this sort about why it all went
:17:17. > :17:22.belly-up. Many here blame Germany for demanding more austerity. NU's
:17:22. > :17:26.bail out will save Greece from default but at a price. -- A new
:17:26. > :17:28.bail out. Hard times for years to come.
:17:28. > :17:38.Coming up on tonight's programme: At Poets' Corner, Prince Charles
:17:38. > :17:38.
:17:39. > :17:40.marks the 200th anniversary of the Despite persistent criticism of the
:17:41. > :17:43.Government's controversial health reforms, Downing Street says that
:17:43. > :17:49.the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, still enjoys the Prime
:17:49. > :17:51.Minister's full support. The Health and Social Care Bill returns to the
:17:51. > :17:56.House of Lords tomorrow, where peers are again expected to voice
:17:56. > :17:59.their concerns about the impact of the changes. Our correspondent
:17:59. > :18:09.Branwen Jeffreys has been talking to health service workers in Surrey,
:18:09. > :18:09.
:18:09. > :18:13.where some of the new systems are We will check your blood pressure.
:18:13. > :18:18.For Shirley Booth, the front line of the NHS is her front room. Poor
:18:18. > :18:21.health means she gets extra care at home from a community matron. GPs
:18:21. > :18:26.in this part of Surrey have backed the new service. In the future they
:18:26. > :18:30.should be able to make more decisions like this. Have you done
:18:30. > :18:34.a prescription? Doctors like Gil Evans have to start getting
:18:34. > :18:38.involved in NHS finances. It should mean a greater say, but some
:18:38. > :18:42.worried they will not have enough cloud in the new system. We are
:18:42. > :18:46.trying Ben Arfa -- our best to work as hard as possible to have as much
:18:46. > :18:51.influence as possible on the local healthcare for our patients and see
:18:51. > :18:55.what we can improve on. Most patients would have noticed any
:18:55. > :18:58.difference in the local NHS. behind the scenes a massive
:18:58. > :19:04.upheaval is under way. Whether they like the Government's health bill
:19:04. > :19:09.or not, many GPs are getting ready to take control of local budgets.
:19:09. > :19:12.Some parts of the Health Bill are more controversial than others. GP
:19:12. > :19:17.groups will control local budgets. The idea of getting them involved
:19:17. > :19:21.has won support, but there could also be more competition from
:19:21. > :19:25.charities and the private sector. This has provoked strong opposition
:19:25. > :19:29.from doctors and nurses' organisations. Just a couple of
:19:29. > :19:33.years ago, some Surrey nurses won an award from the Prime Minister.
:19:33. > :19:38.They set up a not-for-profit health team of the kind the government
:19:38. > :19:42.wants to encourage. Recently they bid to run services at community
:19:42. > :19:48.hospitals in Surrey, but the NHS contract is due to go to a company
:19:48. > :19:51.backed by Virgin. The reality of competition now in the NHS and
:19:51. > :19:56.health unions argue the Government's Health Bill will mean
:19:56. > :20:01.more contests like this. The real concern is what this is paving the
:20:01. > :20:06.way for. Looking at the wider picture of the Health and Social
:20:06. > :20:10.Care Bill, this is the future of the NHS. The Health Secretary is a
:20:10. > :20:16.man under pressure. There is undoubtedly unease at his handling
:20:16. > :20:19.of these big NHS changes. How do you feel to read in the paper this
:20:19. > :20:24.morning that Downing Street has said that you should be taken out
:20:24. > :20:27.and shot for failing to communicate the vision behind your bill? I know
:20:27. > :20:31.that at every point in this legislation by have been working
:20:31. > :20:35.with my colleagues and David Cameron has given it his support.
:20:35. > :20:38.We are seeing more care being provided closer to home, the right
:20:38. > :20:41.care in the right place at the right time and we will see those
:20:41. > :20:45.improvements come through. Tomorrow night the Health Bill returns to
:20:45. > :20:49.Parliament. It is likely to be passed, but that will not end the
:20:49. > :20:53.controversy. Lloyds Banking Group has announced
:20:53. > :20:56.990 job losses - part of broader plans set out last year to cut
:20:56. > :21:00.15,000 posts. Offices in Romford, Newcastle upon Tyne and Scunthorpe
:21:00. > :21:03.will close. The union, Accord, says Lloyds, which is partly owned by
:21:03. > :21:10.the taxpayer, has now shed more than 30,000 jobs since it took over
:21:10. > :21:12.HBOS three years ago. The former First Minister of
:21:12. > :21:17.Northern Ireland, the Reverend Ian Paisley, remains in hospital under
:21:17. > :21:24.intensive care. Lord Bannside, who is 85, was taken ill at his home on
:21:24. > :21:27.Sunday night. It's thought he's being treated for a heart condition.
:21:27. > :21:30.Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, JLS and Dame Shirley Bassey will be
:21:30. > :21:35.among those appearing at this summer's Jubilee concert marking
:21:35. > :21:39.the Queen's 60 years on the throne. The organisers say there'll be
:21:39. > :21:41.performances from artists drawn from all six decades of her reign.
:21:41. > :21:51.Our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell has been looking at the
:21:51. > :21:53.
:21:53. > :21:56.plans - his report does contain The Golden Jubilee have 2002. A
:21:56. > :21:59.constant in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and one of the
:21:59. > :22:06.memorable moments of that Jubilee summer, the national anthem played
:22:06. > :22:10.from the palace roof. MUSIC: God Save The Queen Brian May
:22:10. > :22:17.and his guitar stole the opening of the show, but there was no doubt
:22:17. > :22:22.who was the star. The Jubilee girl is here! Spool
:22:22. > :22:26.forward 10 years and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, a concert is being
:22:26. > :22:31.planned on an even bigger scale. The big difference is that this
:22:31. > :22:36.jubilee concert will be out here, with Buckingham Palace as the
:22:36. > :22:40.backdrop and a massive stage built around the Queen Victoria Memorial.
:22:40. > :22:44.This is how it will look, with the area in front of the Palace turned
:22:44. > :22:47.into an open-air auditorium and the stage constructed under the
:22:47. > :22:52.transparent canopy around the memorial. The list of artists is
:22:52. > :22:56.still being drawn up. It will include performers from Britain,
:22:56. > :23:00.Canada, Australia and the USA. Among those already confirmed our
:23:00. > :23:06.Elton John, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard and Shirley
:23:06. > :23:10.Bassey. For the younger generation, JLS and Jessie J. And for classical
:23:10. > :23:16.fans, Alfie Boe and Langer and. Pulling the show together with the
:23:16. > :23:19.BBC is its musical director, Gary Barlow. I want the whole world to
:23:19. > :23:24.be on that stage, as the whole world will be watching that stage
:23:24. > :23:30.that night. This will be a massive event on a worldwide basis. We're
:23:30. > :23:37.very excited. There are 5,000 pairs of free tickets available for the
:23:37. > :23:44.concert. Applications for the ballot can be made online. But if
:23:45. > :23:47.you can't get a ticket, the concert will be broadcast by the BBC.
:23:47. > :23:50.The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens has been
:23:50. > :23:53.celebrated around the world. A thanksgiving service was held in
:23:53. > :23:55.Portsmouth, where Dickens was born, and 150 members of the Dickens
:23:55. > :23:58.family gathered at Westminster Abbey, where the Prince of Wales
:23:58. > :24:08.laid a wreath on his tomb in Poets' Corner. Our correspondent Robert
:24:08. > :24:13.
:24:14. > :24:16.Charles Dickens was a literary superstar. But today the bells of
:24:16. > :24:22.Southwark Cathedral pealed in celebration of a man whose books
:24:22. > :24:27.have never gone out of print. is an extract from Bleak House.
:24:27. > :24:34.Across the Thames, around the grave in Westminster Abbey, hundreds
:24:34. > :24:40.marvelled once more at his story telling. I thought I was... Ain't
:24:40. > :24:43.nobody here but you, Mr Woodcut. The author who now lies among the
:24:43. > :24:47.memorials to our greatest creative writers began his life in the
:24:47. > :24:53.shadow over naval dockyard in Hampshire. Three cheers for that
:24:53. > :24:56.great man, Charles Dickens. celebrations tracing Dickens's
:24:56. > :25:02.Korea opened outside the terraced home which still survives virtually
:25:02. > :25:05.unchanged. In Kent, where he grew up, members of the world why
:25:05. > :25:10.Dickens Fellowship read from his books and laid flowers on graves
:25:10. > :25:14.which had provided names for some of his characters. Others followed
:25:14. > :25:20.the Dickens trail to London, to the city which she loved and yet a tip
:25:20. > :25:24.for its social divisions. -- he loved. 200 years on, it is still
:25:24. > :25:29.possible to find traces of the world which inspired Dickens's
:25:29. > :25:32.writing. This is the walk of the old prison. At the age of 12
:25:32. > :25:39.Dickens saw his father locked up for debt and gained first-hand
:25:39. > :25:42.experience of what it was to be disadvantaged. At another former
:25:42. > :25:48.home, now the Dickens Museum, a royal audience for one of those who
:25:48. > :25:54.had helped to bring begins's stories to a new generation.
:25:54. > :25:57.descriptions of characters and the state of being at that time in
:25:57. > :26:02.England is part of our historical record of what it was like that
:26:02. > :26:05.then. Charles Dickens had 10 children. The largest ever
:26:06. > :26:12.gathering of his descendants were among the congregation in poet's
:26:12. > :26:16.corner. When you see the explosion of interest in Charles Dickens's
:26:17. > :26:20.for the bicentenary, it hits the family rather hard. We realise what
:26:20. > :26:25.a special person he was. Dickens had asked to be buried in rural
:26:25. > :26:27.Kent, but the public demanded greater recognition. Perhaps, on
:26:27. > :26:31.reflection, he would have appreciated their efforts.