26/03/2012 BBC News at Ten

Downing Street dinners for Conservative donors, David Cameron

reveals who was on the guest list. Inside Number 10, the men invited

to the Prime Minister's private apartment for dinner. He insists

buying influence was not on the menu. None of these dinners were

fund-raising dinners and none of these dinners were paid for by the

taxpayer. I have known most of those attending for many years.

Anything short of an independent inquiry will leave a permanent

stain on this government and this prime minister.

We will look at where this leaves calls for the reform of party

funding. Also tonight, to British troops

shot dead at a NATO base by an Afghan soldier. The latest insider

attack. A year ago she was a playful 5-

year-old, she is now paralysed in a wheelchair, a victim of gang

warfare. Three men found guilty of shooting her.

And tanker Vite -- drivers vote for strike action. There are fears of a

fuel crisis. And taking the Catholic message to

communist Cuba. Pope Benedict hopes Stop coming up on the BBC News

Channel, harsh lessons for the cricketers in Sri Lanka, Mahela

Jayawardene and it's a brilliant century as England falter after a

great start in the first Test -- Good evening.

David Cameron has revealed that some of the Conservative Party's

biggest donors have been invited to private lunches and dinners at

Number 10 and Chequers. It follows the emergence of secret filming, in

which the party's former treasurer said six-figure donations would buy

access to the Prime Minister. Mr Cameron has launched an internal

party inquiry but the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said that would be "a

whitewash". Here's our political editor, Nick Robinson.

Not everyone can afford to have dinner in the flat over the shop.

Not least when the shop in question is Number 10 Downing Street, and

your host is none other than the Prime Minister himself. But today

came confirmation that David Cameron had, as claimed, hosted not

dinner parties, but donor parties for the very, very rich. In the two

years I have been Prime Minister, there have been three occasions on

which significant donors have come to a dinner in my flat. None of

these dinners were fund-raising dinners and none of these dinners

were paid for by the taxpayer. is not what those attending a

conference on dementia had attended -- had expected, but David Cameron

knew he had no choice but to reveal who had attended the trip --

attended the shadow we dynasts in which his party treasurer had been

boasting about. The guests at the three donor parties contributed

nearly �10 million to the Conservative Party. Amongst the six

donors were Henry Angest, a Swiss- born banker who also funds groups

sceptical about climate change and There was also a big thank-you

dinner for donors downstairs at Downing Street, straight after the

election. At the end of his speech today, David Cameron left without

taking any reporter's questions. And he was no were to be seen in

the Commons, when there was a The minister had come to talk about

reforming party funding, he was met with derision. As set out in the

coalition government's programme, party funding in Britain need to be

reformed. The Labour leader was particularly

scathing. It shows utter contempt for this House that the Prime

Minister can make a statement to the media just three hours ago, but

refuses to come here to face Members of Parliament. Ed Miliband

condemned what he called the whitewash of an inquiry into the

Conservative Party, by the Conservative Party, for the

Conservative Party. This scandal speaks to the conduct and character

of the Prime Minister, and the Government. Anything short of an

independent inquiry will leave a permanent stain on this government,

and this Prime Minister. Having started the day with his aides

saying he would not reveal his dining companions, David Cameron

produced not one but two lists, at his country residence Chequers, he

welcomed another five party donors. Only a few weeks ago, the Prime

Minister told visiting schoolchildren about his flat over

the shop. I live in a little flat, a very nice flat above Number 11

Downing Street, up there. But what I get up to in there, that's

private. How he must wish that was still true. What he gets up to up

there is private no longer. And Nick is in Downing Street for

us tonight. First, David Cameron said he would

not release the names, then he did. Where does it leave the question of

party funding? 24 hours ago we were told he wanted to maintain his

privacy. Then I think he and his aides had to -- decided they had to

answer the question, guess who is coming to dinner, because if they

did not, this story would have momentum for day after day. There

is still the question of the influence that those donors got,

and why on tape, the former Tory treasurer seem to be willing to

discuss, how a foreign donation, illegal under British law, might be

processed in a way that would allow it to go into Conservative coffers.

That issue of party funding overall is also back on the agenda. Plenty

of people say, why don't they sort it out? The Tories say, we are

willing to cap donations at �50,000, if only union donations to the

Labour Party would capped as well. Labour say, we will cap union

donations but membership are fully earn -- affiliation fees, they are

different, they are not a donation Independent no wonder this is a

A Royal Marine and a soldier from the Adjutant General's Corps

serving in Afghanistan have been shot dead by an Afghan soldier. The

Taliban has said it was responsible for the shooting. The men's

families have been informed. As our correspondent, David Loyn reports,

the attack, at the main British base in Lashkar Gah, is the latest

in a growing number of incidents in which Afghan troops have turned

This is a tough conflict at the best of times, but for

international troops, the risk of being shot by the very men they are

training and fighting alongside is the hardest one their face. These

two deaths bring to 15, the number of British troops who have died in

this way. The news was announced in the Commons. Details of the

incident are still emerging but it appears that a member of the Afghan

national army opened fire at the entrance gate to the British

headquarters in Lashkar Gah city, killing the British service

personnel. The assailant was far MacAskill by return fire. -- was

killed by return fire. Afghan anger has escalated out reports of a

soldier's urinating on corpses, burning copies of the Koran and the

attacks by the rogue US soldier. In The news of a third green on blue

attack brings to 14, the number who have died at the hands of Afghan

forces. Six American soldiers died, including two inside the Ministry

of Interior in Kabul. One Albanian was killed close to the Pakistan

border, and four French troops were killed by an Afghan soldier in

February. We are taking a lot of measures to ensure that these

incidents are kept to a minimum and I do not predict that this will

result in a shift in policy. It is a terrible spate of attacks, isn't

it? It is. Although these attacks are relatively small in number, the

effect that they have his severe. The aim is that Afghan forces will

be ready to take on the fight against the Taliban for themselves

by 2014. There is international resolve to stick to the plan, keep

to the timetable of withdrawal by the end of 2014. However strong

that maybe, it is hard to see how there can be trust on the ground,

between the soldiers of these different nations, after this spate

of violent killings. The flags will be flying at half-mast again

tonight at the base in a Lashkar Three members of a gang from south

London have been found guilty of shooting a 5-year-old girl, leaving

her paralysed. Thusha Kamaleswaran was playing in her uncle's shop

when a masked gunman - looking for a rival gang member - fired into

the store, injuring her and another customer. A jury at the Old Bailey

was shown CCTV pictures of the attack. Matt Prodger's report

contains some of that graphic footage.

This is 5-year-old Thusha Kamaleswaran, playing at the back

of her uncle's south London grocery store. What follows is the moment

in March last year when London's gang wars changed her life forever.

CCTV showers staff, Thusha and another little girl rushed to

investigate the commotion at the front door. A gun is fired and

everyone retreats except Thusha, who has been hit in the chest and

is lying on the floor. Seconds later, the intended targets of the

shooting walk calmly from the shop. The Kenyan was Nathaniel Grant. His

accomplices, Anthony McCalla and Kazeem Kolawole. Today convicted of

attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. It is a dreadful case,

these people have showed no remorse for what they have done. Haitink

they would have worked many hours as it took an for as long as it

took to make sure we got a result on this case -- I think they would

have worked. One of members -- one member of the attack appeared in

this video, posted on the Web, sometime before the shooting.

Police identified him from the several hundred hours of CCTV

footage that made up the investigation. Here he is mimicking

a drive-by shooting as the three left Brixton by bike, to hunt rival

gang members. As the gunmen approached the shop where Thusha

was playing, two members of a rival gang ran into a shop to take

shelter. Nathaniel Grant fired a shot was the bikes were still

moving, before stopping and firing again. A camera in a neighbouring

store recorded the gunshots. One hit Thusha, another customer was it

in the face, both survive. When paramedics arrived, Thusha's heart

had stopped but paramedics were able to revive her. It stopped

again in an ambulance on the way to hospital, and there, doctors were

finally able to save her life. Thusha's mother and father thanked

the emergency services for saving their daughter. They said the

shooting had been unbearable. Thusha herself had once dreamed of

being a dancer. Doctors say she Another high street name has

revealed the extent of its financial problems tonight. More

than 2,000 jobs will go this week at Game, the UK's biggest video

game retailer, after it went into administration. Nearly 300 stores

in the UK and Ireland will close Royal Bank of Scotland, the bank

that was bailed out by the taxpayer at the height of the financial

crisis is at the centre of talks between the Government and state-

backed investors in Abu Dhabi. The BBC learned that up to a third of

the taxpayer's stake could be sold, but critics say selling now would

be selling cheap. We have the details.

It is the bank we bailed out when it was about to go bust four years

ago. Now we could be selling some shares in Royal Bank of Scotland to

Abu Dhabi. Talks have been ongoing, on the table is a stake of at least

10% and perhaps as high as 30% in Royal Bank of Scotland, but should

the taxpayer consider a sale? The Treasury injected �45 billion into

Royal Bank of Scotland to prevent it from collapsing. The price at

which the Government gets its money back is 50 pence a share, that is a

long way off the closing price of 28 pence. Meaning a sale would mean

a loss. We will look closely as the terms

of the sale to ensure it holds good value for money for the taxpayer as

we have looked at all other aspects of the enforced nationalisations,

but it does strike as sensible to take an opportunity if it is there.

But Labour says it is too soon to sell.

If we have a hasty approach by the Chancellor, there is a risk we may

lose billions of pounds of taxpayers' money, that would be

wrong and it would be better if we waited for the economy to recover

for the share price to recover, so that we got better value for money.

There are advantages to the Government selling, even at a loss.

It sends a signal it does not want to be in the banking business which

deflects pressure when it comes to bankers' bonuses, but the market

watchers say it is crucial that the Government sells to a buyer

interested in long-term investment. If it turns out that the buyer

doubles the money and thin sells the stock into the market. There

will be a feel, that is a profit that Abu Dhabi made, but maybe it

should have been for the taxpayer. It is the subject of talks between

the Government and Abu Dhabi, Royal Bank of Scotland had no say in the

outcome. That is ironic, the people who benefit the most are the

bankers who work there. The senior guys are paid mostly in shares.

They could be set to recover strongly.

The Government said that it was talking to a range of investors.

That the priority was to generate value for the taxpayer. Also

ensuring stability for the bank. Coming up:

Fans to the rescue. The limb pick athletes who could not get tickets

to their own events. British aid agencies working in

Niger are warning of a food crisis after severe crop failures across

the impoverished country. The West African nation is the seventh

poorest in the world. More than one in five children die before the age

of five and as the desert spreads to the south, there is even less

land for agriculture. As Andrew Harding reports, the aid agencies

say that the action now could prevent humanitarian disaster.

We need an armed escort to venture into the baron fringes of the

Sahara. Islamist militants are growing threat in Niger. So is the

hunger. In the tiny village of Kasi Tondi, 50-year-old Maya pounds the

grain. In recent years she has lost her husband and six children to

disease and poverty. Now the rains have failed. This year's pittiful

crop fed what is left of the family for a week.

TRANSLATION: Of course we go hungry. The rain did not come. It's been

getting worse for years. There are almost no men left in the

village now. All have gone abroad in search of work.

There is a food crisis, pretty much every year in this village now, but

2012 is going to be tough. The harvests have failed, the prices

are shooting up. There is growing insecurity across the region.

And so, the familiar warning signs. Ten severely malnourished children

arrived in the local clinic. The United Nations fears that 400,000

children could be in this condition in Niger within months. Almost one

in ten is likely to die. It is much worse already this year,

says this nurse. That they are seeing more children arriving in a

state of complete exhaustion. Yet, Niger is not without hope.

At Maya's village, a scheme to trap rainwater and revive the fields.

Niger has finally a democratic government acknowledging the crisis

and co-operating with the outside world, the key eto avoiding a

famine. So now Maya now gets a small wage from the United Nations.

TRANSLATION: Bus of this work we can feed our families and maybe in

the future these fields will recover.

But that does not change the fact that the village well is drying up.

Maya needs a longer rope each year. As a child she remembers life was

wonderful here. Not anymore.

Fuel tanker drivers have voted in favour of strikes in a dispute

about pay, working conditions and safety. With fears that industrial

action could affect the Easter break, ministers are saying that

they are making contingency plans. We have this report.

It was the day that Britain stood still. Well, several days, actually.

The fuel protests of 2000, choked up roads, tense picket lines, the

army on the streets. Today's vote to strike by hundreds

of tanker drivers raises the spectre of the protests. The Unite

union say it is does not want to take action, but the promotional

video insists that safety is at stake. ADVERTISEMENT:

contracting process has created a beat the clock culture. Drivers

pushed to go faster and cut corners... If you have the volatile

fuel being distributed by people not properly trained, rewarded. If

there are contracts undercutting and undermining without this being

taken into account, there is a danger of a major incident.

This is denied by the tanker companies who say that the drivers

get a good deal. The drivers are paid about �45,000

per year on average. We want to engage with the union on the health

and the safety. There are worries over fuel

reserves. Thousands of petrol stations have shut over the years,

that means that less is stored under ground. That is why soldiers

will be brought in to drive the tankers and to keep the petrol

flowing. The training began today.

We are looking at how to use the army to help us, to work to ensure

that as much fuel gets through as possible.

The union is very keen to stress that it has not actually set a

strike date yet, that it will take a couple of days to digest the

ballot information. So we eare some distance away yet from the

nightmare scenario of pickets at fuel terminals like this one, of

soldiers driving the trucks and of forecourts running dry.

The Foreign Office has asked the Chinese authorities to

reeinvestigate the death of a British businessman in China.

Neil Hayward died in the city of Cong Ching in November in what is

now reported to be a suspicious circumstance. He had business links

with a very prominent politician, ousted lags month.

Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Cuba at the start of the first

Papal visit to the communist country in more than 14 years.

Relations between the church and the state have eased, but the Pope

has been critical of the regime. Yes this report from Havana.

There are five communist countries left in the world. This is one of

them. Still froze no-one a Cold War with

its superpower neighbour, where the same men and the same party have

ruled for more than 50 years, but make no mistake, Cuba is slowly

changing. Catholics and communists may answer

to different masters, but after years of owe epression, religion is

now toll rated. The pius and the political live side by side.

Some now see a chance to push for reform.

Like the Woman in White, the head of a group of actists who want to

meet the Pope. TRANSLATION: We are going to pray

for the freedom of political prisoners and political rights and

we ask the Pope to give us a moment of his time. This is a very

important moment. We want to tell him there is no respect for human

rights or political prisoners Cuba. Daring to speak out is still a risk

in Cuba. Most of their husbands were in prison for doing just that,

but the Ladies in White still meet each week to pray and protest. This

is a small but important display of public defiance. When the ladies

were arrested last week, they were specifically ordered to crease

their protest, they have decided to defy that ban. The message to the

Pope is clear: To heed their call for freedom and human rights in

Cuba. Perhaps Pope Benedict XVI is

list.ing. As he estepped slow -- is listening. As he stepped slowly on

to Cuban soil with Raul Castro. He may be here to rally the faithful,

but calling for sense of consciousness, saying that Marxism

no longer works. Embarrassing when the host sk carries a card saying

the Communist Party. TRANSLATION: Freedom is amongst the

most important values of our country. We respect all opinions

and welcome an exchange of ideas. We will listen to what the Pope has

to say. What Cubans ask for a is better

life. Relief from poverty and appalling housing. Crippled by the

US embargo and a system that has failed to bring wealth to the

masses. It is a prayer neither the Pope nor the party are likely to be

Now, if you have had trouble buying limb pick tickets bare a thought

for the -- Olympic tickets, bare a thought for the families in a

difficult situation. Now, self-less sports fans have stepped in to help.

Training hard, Dai Greene's one of Britain's best hope force gold at

the Olympics, but he shared a problem with everybody else.

Getting hold of tickets. Until somebody he had never met read

about his frustration online. Matt De Monte tracked down tickets from

an official foreign seller, contacted Dai Greene and spent

�1,500 to buy them for him. Dai Greene paid him back, now they are

meeting. Great to meet you. 7 You too. The

man who saved my Olympics. When Dai Greene won the

Commonwealth Games in Delhi, getting hold of tickets was not an

issue, but the demand in London is so great, athletes are limited to

two each. Not fuf.

You don't hear many stories like, this but someone going out of their

way to help others, this is what the Olympic spirit embodis and it

is thanks to someone you have never met before. Anything we can do to

help, especially Dai Greene, with the events at the Olympics by

getting his friends, family, supporters there, this is fantastic.

Dai Greene is not the only British athlete to have been helped out.

Around the country others have clubbed together in the same way to

assist some of their favourite Olympians.

Third man down here is Olympic rowing champion, Zac Purchase,

alongside him the people who have managed to find him an astonishing

14 tickets for the final. I have had so many people who have

gotten behind me. It is really nice to help them out and reward them to

say we can help you get tickets, come and watch. We would like you

to be there. These are Zac Purchase's family and