:00:04. > :00:09.Tonight at ten: The British economy slides back
:00:09. > :00:11.into recession. There was a contraction in the
:00:11. > :00:17.first quarter of this year, but the Government says it's still not
:00:17. > :00:20.changing course. The one thing we mustn't do is to abandon public
:00:21. > :00:28.spending and deficit reduction plans because of a solution to a
:00:28. > :00:31.debt crisis cannot be more debt. This is a recession made by him and
:00:31. > :00:35.the Chancellor in Downing Street. Asted economy bumps along the
:00:35. > :00:45.bottom, the pressure on household budgets is growing.
:00:45. > :00:49.
:00:49. > :00:56.I haven't got enough for for We will be asking if there is any
:00:56. > :01:00.prospect of an improvement. Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary,
:01:00. > :01:02.allegations that he has been too close to the Murdoch empire.
:01:02. > :01:05.During the day, Rupert Murdoch appeared at the Leveson Inquiry
:01:05. > :01:08.denying he has any great influence on British politics.
:01:08. > :01:16.The inquest into the death of a former MI6 officer hears new
:01:16. > :01:20.details from a former landlady. Ronaldo!
:01:20. > :01:28.And Ronaldo scores for Real Madrid as they try to join Chelsea in the
:01:28. > :01:31.Champions League Final. I'll be here with Sportsday
:01:31. > :01:41.including the action from the Crucible as the world number one is
:01:41. > :01:55.
:01:55. > :01:58.knocked out of the World Championship. Good evening.
:01:58. > :02:02.Britain is back in recession. It means the performance of the
:02:02. > :02:06.economy in the past four years has been the worst in peacetime for at
:02:06. > :02:16.least a century. In the first quarter of this year, national
:02:16. > :02:17.
:02:17. > :04:06.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 109 seconds
:04:06. > :04:11.output shrank by 0.2%. We have these debts. We have this debt
:04:11. > :04:15.crisis. Debts were built up over many years. If I had some magic
:04:15. > :04:25.wand I would wave and the British economy would spurt into growth and
:04:25. > :04:27.
:04:27. > :04:32.He ignored our warnings and ignored our call for a plans for jobs and
:04:32. > :04:34.growth and families and businesses are paying that price. This is a
:04:34. > :04:37.disgrace. If you leave out the war years,
:04:37. > :04:42.this has been the worst period for the UK economy in a century. Four
:04:42. > :04:47.years after the start of the 1930s recession, we had more than made up
:04:47. > :04:53.the ground lost after the crash of 1929. We recovered faster than that
:04:53. > :04:57.after the down turns of the 70s and early 80s and the early 1990s.
:04:57. > :05:04.This time we are not even close. Britain's economy is 4.3% smaller
:05:04. > :05:13.than it was when the recession began in early 2008. Most
:05:13. > :05:16.forecasters have the economy year. But even that depends on
:05:16. > :05:19.consumers being more willing to spend.
:05:19. > :05:23.We haven't got enough for luxuries or anymore now, it is trying to buy
:05:23. > :05:27.your shopping and pay your bills. We have to reign back. We don't
:05:27. > :05:36.have a choice really. Asda is based in Leeds, but they
:05:36. > :05:40.are seeing a new norm for customers. When they are filling up the car,
:05:40. > :05:46.they put in �5 or �10 because that's how much money they have got
:05:46. > :05:56.that has been the case over the last, certainly the last 18 months
:05:56. > :06:21.
:06:22. > :06:25.and we are not seeing any change in Stephanie is here now.
:06:25. > :06:31.The message is what we have had over the last six months or a year
:06:31. > :06:33.which is there is not much forward momentum, but we are not falling
:06:33. > :06:37.back. When it comes to the next year, the Government and the Bank
:06:37. > :06:41.of England, everyone else, they are expecting to get growth from
:06:41. > :06:46.consumer spending picking up in the second half of the year. Households
:06:46. > :06:49.feeling less squeezed. Inflation falling back a bit, but that
:06:49. > :06:54.assumes we don't get any nasty surprises from the eurozone. It
:06:54. > :06:58.assumes that we don't have a big rise in the oil price. In the next
:06:58. > :07:02.few months, we could see more bumps. Things like the extra Bank Holiday
:07:02. > :07:07.for the Diamond Jubilee could pull the figures down for the next
:07:07. > :07:13.quarter. A bounce back in the construction sector might distort
:07:13. > :07:18.the figures the other way. The message of the last few months
:07:18. > :07:28.is when the recovery is this weak, it doesn't make much to blow it off
:07:28. > :07:32.
:07:32. > :07:38.course. The Culture Secretary is doing an
:07:38. > :07:41.excellent job. Mr Hunt has again resisted calls to
:07:41. > :07:49.resign faced with allegations that he secretly backed Mr Murdoch's bid
:07:49. > :07:53.to take over BSkyB. Nick Robinson reports. Is he the Culture
:07:53. > :07:58.Secretary or the Minister for Murdoch? Protecting the public
:07:58. > :08:02.interest or working for their interests? I am going to be making
:08:03. > :08:05.a very, very determined effort to show that I have behaved with total
:08:06. > :08:09.integrity and conduct this process fairly.
:08:09. > :08:13.Today Jeremy Hunt gave his answer, but before he did, just before noon,
:08:13. > :08:18.when the Prime Minister was to face questions, came a resignation. Not
:08:19. > :08:22.the minister, but his political adviser, Adam Smith, driven out of
:08:22. > :08:26.the department after he said he had given the impression that his boss
:08:26. > :08:31.had too close a relationship with the Murdoch empire. That didn't
:08:31. > :08:36.silence Labour calls for the minister to quit. While his Culture
:08:36. > :08:39.Secretary remains in place, while he refuses to come clean on his and
:08:39. > :08:42.the Chancellor's meetings with Rupert Murdoch, the shadow of
:08:42. > :08:47.sleaze will hangover this Government. It is a pattern with
:08:47. > :08:50.this Prime Minister. Andy Coulson, Rebekah Brooks, and now the Culture
:08:50. > :08:54.Secretary. When is he going to realise it is time to stop putting
:08:54. > :08:58.his cronies before the interests of the country? An anxious minister
:08:58. > :09:02.looked on as the Prime Minister insisted it was for the Leveson
:09:02. > :09:10.Inquiry to investigate and no one should prejudge it.
:09:10. > :09:12.He called for an independent judicial inquiry, that is the
:09:12. > :09:15.is the proper regulation of the press. Whether It is cleaning up
:09:15. > :09:22.our financial system. Whether it is dealing with our our debts. I don't
:09:22. > :09:26.pity, he can't live up to his. this was provoked by evidence
:09:26. > :09:30.produced when James Murdoch was questioned on oath at the inquiry
:09:30. > :09:34.yesterday. What is at issue is what is the
:09:34. > :09:38.truth about the attempted multi- billion pound take-over of BSkyB
:09:38. > :09:42.and the Culture Secretary's relationship with James Murdoch as
:09:42. > :09:48.revealed by text and e-mail messages sent between their
:09:49. > :09:58.advisers. In one, Hunt's adviser, Adam Smith, tells Murdoch's
:09:59. > :10:02.
:10:02. > :10:06.Later Murdoch's man asks him: He gets the reply:
:10:06. > :10:10.Today the Culture Secretary insisted that he had done nothing
:10:10. > :10:15.wrong, despite the publication of material which he said was...
:10:15. > :10:21.Alleged to indicate there was a back channel through which News
:10:21. > :10:24.Corporation were able to influence my decisions. This is categorically
:10:24. > :10:28.not the case. But he said his adviser had gone
:10:28. > :10:33.too far to inform and reassure News Corp.
:10:33. > :10:37.The volume and tone of those communications were clearly not
:10:37. > :10:43.appropriate in a judicial process and today, Adam Smith has resigned
:10:43. > :10:48.as my special adviser. Not everyone was impressed. When
:10:48. > :10:55.posh boys are in trouble, they sack their servants.
:10:55. > :10:58.The man who had to give a verdict on BSkyB's bid for a bigger stake
:10:58. > :11:02.in ITV says ministers have to behave like judges.
:11:02. > :11:07.providing information to either side let alone apparently to one
:11:07. > :11:09.side. You really have to act scrupulously fairly and importantly,
:11:10. > :11:13.you have got to be seen to be agenting fairly.
:11:13. > :11:23.Not long ago, politicians were desperate to get close to the
:11:23. > :11:25.
:11:25. > :11:27.Murdochs. Now Jeremy Hunt is Rupert Murdoch appeared at the
:11:27. > :11:30.Leveson Inquiry into press standards today denying that he had
:11:30. > :11:32.had great influence on British politics over the years and
:11:32. > :11:36.insisting that he had never asked special favours of any Prime
:11:37. > :11:41.Minister. He also claimed that Gordon Brown had declared war on
:11:41. > :11:46.him after The Sun withdrew its support from Labour. Mr Brown says
:11:46. > :11:51.the claim is wholly wrong. Robert Peston watched the exchanges and
:11:51. > :11:57.his report contains some flash photography. Driving to a little
:11:57. > :12:01.piece of history. Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul courted and feared
:12:01. > :12:05.by Prime Ministers was about to be held to account in four hours of
:12:05. > :12:09.interrogation by the Leveson Inquiry into media standards under
:12:09. > :12:13.oath. I swear by Almighty God that the
:12:13. > :12:17.evidence I shall give, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing
:12:17. > :12:22.but the truth. A big figure in the British media
:12:22. > :12:24.since the late 1960s, the biggest since the early 1980s, the doors of
:12:24. > :12:30.Prime Ministers have been open to him.
:12:30. > :12:32.Would it be fair to say that you always have been a great admire of
:12:32. > :12:37.Baroness thatcher and what she stands for?
:12:38. > :12:41.Yes, I was, I became that after she was elected.
:12:41. > :12:45.But it is since the election of Tony Blair in 1997 that the
:12:45. > :12:55.question has arisen whether Rupert Murdoch's influence over political
:12:55. > :12:59.
:12:59. > :13:04.I, in ten years, never asked Mr Blair for anything. Nor indeed did
:13:04. > :13:09.I receive any favours. It's Mr Murdoch's ownership of this
:13:09. > :13:13.newspaper, the Sun, which matters to those who run Labour and the
:13:13. > :13:18.Tories. If any politician wanted my opinions on major matters they only
:13:18. > :13:25.had to read the editorials in the Sun. So what did Gordon Brown think
:13:25. > :13:31.in September 2009 when the Sun came out in support of David Cameron and
:13:31. > :13:38.the Tories? He said, "Well, your company has made, declared war on
:13:38. > :13:43.my Government. And we have no alternative but to make war on your
:13:43. > :13:48.company." Mr Brown deny this is conversation. But how did Mr
:13:48. > :13:53.Murdoch get to know David Cameron? I checked him with my daughter,
:13:53. > :13:59.because he was being flown, I believe, by my son-in-law law's
:13:59. > :14:07.plane on his way to holiday in Turkey. He did stop in Santorini
:14:07. > :14:10.and she says that I in fact met him on her boat. And Mr Murdoch's
:14:11. > :14:15.political relationships extend beyond Westminster. How would you
:14:15. > :14:21.describe your relationship with Mr Salmond? Is it warm or is it
:14:21. > :14:26.something different? Today? Yes. would describe it as warm.
:14:26. > :14:30.Leveson Inquiry heard from the horse's mouth how politicians
:14:30. > :14:35.leading political figures over many years have courted Rupert Murdoch
:14:35. > :14:40.and how Rupert Murdoch's editors tend to have very similar political
:14:40. > :14:45.views to his views. Now, the big question for the inquiry is whether
:14:45. > :14:51.the enormous power this confers on Rupert Murdoch is good or bad for
:14:51. > :14:55.Britain. In half a century as a powerful
:14:55. > :15:00.media proprietor Rupert Murdoch has rarely, if ever, had to explain
:15:00. > :15:10.himself as he had to do today. And he's got to do it all over again
:15:10. > :15:14.tomorrow when Leveson grills him on hacking.
:15:14. > :15:19.As we've seen tonight, what's the strategy they have there for trying
:15:19. > :15:22.to pull through in one piece? hard to see, that because it is the
:15:22. > :15:27.day it got extraordinarily serious for David Cameron. A double dip
:15:27. > :15:29.recession, predicted for a long time but which Ministers and indeed
:15:30. > :15:33.their opponents didn't believe would come today. That on the same
:15:33. > :15:37.day when a Minister is fighting for his career and his Government is
:15:37. > :15:42.fighting to per situate people that it is competent and it has
:15:42. > :15:46.integrity. I have no doubt that it's the economic news that will
:15:46. > :15:50.matter more to people than the row in Westminster. It is bound to mean
:15:50. > :15:55.that for the first a time since the general election the Labour Party
:15:55. > :15:59.finds it easier to get a hearing for their argument that the debate
:15:59. > :16:04.is about how to get growth again and not simply how to cut the
:16:04. > :16:07.deficit. All day and late into the night it was true that Number Ten
:16:07. > :16:14.was focusing more on saving the career of Jeremy Hunt, the Culture
:16:14. > :16:23.Secretary. In the end that requires him to jettison his surpriser. His
:16:23. > :16:27.help takes plangs on a mighty big claim - that the spirz was acting
:16:27. > :16:33.as a cheer leader for the Murdochs, while the Minister was unaware of
:16:33. > :16:39.this and acting independently, almost as a judge. There's a bitter
:16:39. > :16:45.irony for the Prime Minister. He set up the Leveson Inquiry to look
:16:45. > :16:48.into the wrongdoings of the Murdoch empire. Tonight he looks relaxed.
:16:48. > :16:51.David Cameron anything but the. Nick, thank you.
:16:51. > :16:53.At the inquest into the death of Gareth Williams, the MI6 officer
:16:53. > :16:56.whose body was discovered in a padlocked bag, former colleagues,
:16:56. > :16:59.including his line manager, have been giving evidence anonymously.
:16:59. > :17:02.The inquest also heard about an incident described by Mr William's
:17:02. > :17:12.former landlady in Cheltenham, where he worked for GCHQ. Our
:17:12. > :17:13.
:17:13. > :17:16.security correspondent, Gordon Corera, reports. Gareth Williams,
:17:16. > :17:21.the intelligence officer whose body was found in a bag, a man described
:17:21. > :17:27.as a very private person. He spent ten years living in this house in
:17:27. > :17:32.Cheltenham while working at GCHQ. Today his former landlady described
:17:32. > :17:40.hearing him cry for help at 1.30 one morning. She and her husband
:17:40. > :17:45.found him alone in his underwear, embarrassed, with his wrists tied
:17:45. > :17:51.to the bedstead. On August 23rd 2010 police found Gareth Williams's
:17:51. > :17:56.body in the bathtub of his London flat, near his new workplace at MI6.
:17:56. > :17:59.He was curled up inside the bag in a foetal position with the keys
:17:59. > :18:04.beneath him. But the bag was locked to be outside, with police
:18:04. > :18:09.believing someone else was involved. Today the inquest heard from the
:18:09. > :18:13.police officer charged with liaising with the intelligence
:18:13. > :18:18.agencies. His inquiries had found no evidence that Gareth Williams's
:18:18. > :18:22.death was linked with his work. Today his former colleagues gave
:18:22. > :18:26.evidence. His line manager said in hindsight he would have done more
:18:26. > :18:31.to try to establish why Gareth Williams missed a week of meetings
:18:31. > :18:35.and appointments before police were contacted. They gave their evidence
:18:35. > :18:39.behind a screen to protect their identity. Lawyers questioned why
:18:39. > :18:43.spies had not signed standard witness statements, and whether
:18:43. > :18:50.computer material had been secured before police took possession. More
:18:50. > :18:53.evidence from former colleagues in GCHQ and MI6 is expected tomorrow.
:18:53. > :19:01.Coming up on tonight's programme: Was it a good night for the Special
:19:01. > :19:03.One and his Real Madrid team in the Champions League?
:19:03. > :19:06.An international court will deliver its verdict tomorrow in the trial
:19:06. > :19:09.of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia, who's charged
:19:09. > :19:11.with waging war in neighbouring Sierra Leone in the 1990s. He's
:19:11. > :19:17.accused of murder, recruiting child soldiers and terrorising the
:19:17. > :19:22.population. If convicted, Mr Taylor will be the first former head of
:19:22. > :19:25.state to be found guilty of crimes against humanity. Our correspondent,
:19:25. > :19:35.Allan Little, has been back to Sierra Leone and sent this report
:19:35. > :19:36.
:19:36. > :19:42.on the country's long process of recovery. A decade of war reduced
:19:42. > :19:44.Sierra Leone to a poverty it has not yet escaped. In the heart of
:19:44. > :19:50.Freetown children scavenge in a rubbish bump for bits of plastic
:19:50. > :19:54.they might sell for pennies. This patch of land is still known here
:19:54. > :19:58.as the Amputee Camp. Though the camp itself has long gone. In the
:19:58. > :20:04.1990s it was home to a tented settlement of men, women and
:20:04. > :20:07.children who had had their limbs severed by machete or axe. This was
:20:07. > :20:17.the signature atrocity of the rebel Army known as the Revolutionary
:20:17. > :20:18.
:20:18. > :20:27.United Front, or IUF. They stamped on my foot, came with an axe,
:20:27. > :20:30.chopped it off. Not in one blow. About five, six times. He says he
:20:30. > :20:37.heard Charles Taylor on the radio threatening to make Sierra Leone
:20:37. > :20:43.taste the bitterness of war. We've tasted it. And this is my strong
:20:43. > :20:47.conviction that everything that happened to Sierra Leone was
:20:47. > :20:51.Charles Taylor's doing. Charles Taylor was President of the
:20:51. > :20:56.neighbouring state of Liberia. He's been on trial in The Hague for the
:20:56. > :21:01.last four years, accused of arming, funding and directing the IUF. The
:21:01. > :21:06.indictment charges him with terrorising civilians, unlawful
:21:06. > :21:11.killings, sexual violence and the use of child soldiers. At Yonibana,
:21:11. > :21:16.a three-hour drive from Freetown the memory of war is raw. Rebels
:21:16. > :21:20.swept through here in a frenzy of burning and looting. They are at
:21:20. > :21:27.last rebuilding the town's water supply. When finished it will bring
:21:27. > :21:33.Yonibana back to writ was in the 1970s, a measure of how the war
:21:33. > :21:38.retarded progress here. It's the Chinese, ever hungry for natural
:21:38. > :21:42.resources who will bring change. Chinese money is about to put a
:21:42. > :21:45.rubber plantation here, a vast pineapple grove and rice fields.
:21:45. > :21:50.Back in Freetown there is more evidence still of Chinese-led
:21:50. > :21:55.change. We ran into a camera-shy technician supervising a road
:21:55. > :21:59.building project. It is changing lives here. I'm so glad to welcome
:21:59. > :22:08.them, because they trained me up and I'm so glad to work with them.
:22:08. > :22:12.They are good people. What did they train you as? As a surveyor. Slowly
:22:12. > :22:17.the wheels of economic activity are turning again. There are vast
:22:17. > :22:22.untapped resources here. The red dust indicates high concentrations
:22:23. > :22:30.of iron ore. The London Mining Company had reactivated this mine.
:22:30. > :22:34.It had been dorm mant and derelict since the 1960s. This land is
:22:34. > :22:38.astonishingly rich in mineral wealth. Used properly it could
:22:38. > :22:42.transform the country's fortunes. But this has been a curse as well
:22:42. > :22:48.as a by-electioning, because this is what brought war to Sierra Leone
:22:48. > :22:52.in the first place and paid for the war to go on for so long. It it was
:22:52. > :22:57.diamond mines that is alleged brought Charles Taylor into Sierra
:22:57. > :23:01.Leone's war. The court's verdict will be eagerly awaited in these
:23:01. > :23:05.streets. For Sierra Leoneans it is another milestone on their journey
:23:05. > :23:08.back from the horrors that they lived through.
:23:08. > :23:10.Scotland Yard has called on the Portuguese authorities to reopen
:23:10. > :23:13.the search for Madeleine McCann, saying there were nearly 200
:23:13. > :23:15.potential leads to finding her alive. The Metropolitan Police have
:23:15. > :23:25.reviewed the case and they've also released a computer-generated image
:23:25. > :23:30.
:23:30. > :23:32.of how Madeleine might look now, at the age of nine. A week tomorrow
:23:32. > :23:35.voters will take part in the local government elections in England,
:23:35. > :23:39.Scotland and Wales. The smaller political partys will be hoping
:23:39. > :23:44.that voters will look to them as an alternative. There are signs that
:23:44. > :23:49.they are gaining support at theence expense of the biggest parties. Our
:23:49. > :23:54.political correspondent Carole Walker considers whether whether
:23:54. > :23:57.this will translate to votes and seats.
:23:57. > :24:04.In parts of England the smaller parties could come from outside to
:24:04. > :24:08.rob their mainstream rivals of some key seats. When Respect's George
:24:08. > :24:12.Galloway pulled off his unexpected by-election victory he said it was
:24:12. > :24:18.the Bradford Spring, an uprising against the political establishment.
:24:18. > :24:25.Ambitious rhetoric but his party is fielding just 15 candidates in May.
:24:25. > :24:28.It would be nice if you listened. The Greens know are contesting 965
:24:28. > :24:32.seats and hope they can make gains with a campaign that goes beyond
:24:32. > :24:35.environmental issues. I think when the Greens explain that not only
:24:36. > :24:40.are we standing for the environment policies that they know us so well
:24:40. > :24:43.for but also standing up against this regime of vicious thoughts are
:24:43. > :24:49.being visited on people through national Government and via local
:24:49. > :24:53.government, that is resonant ont the doorstep. On the doorstep they
:24:53. > :24:57.are talking about local issues, but campaigners for all the smaller
:24:58. > :25:03.parties will be hoping to capitalise on the national mood of
:25:03. > :25:07.voters fed up with the three main parties. There's a wider trend
:25:07. > :25:13.whereby the British public are winning to vote for smaller parties
:25:13. > :25:20.which for most of the post-war period they were reluctant to do so.
:25:20. > :25:25.Despite the patriotic cupcakes the British National Party's Nick
:25:25. > :25:30.Griffin says this is a rebuilding phase after a financial crisis and
:25:30. > :25:33.internal power struggle. The English Democrats hope to increase
:25:33. > :25:37.their tally of five seats. They've broadened their message,
:25:37. > :25:46.campaigning for tax cuts and more directly-elected Mayors as well as
:25:46. > :25:50.an English Parliament. UKIP's leader Nigel Farage is buoyed by
:25:50. > :25:54.one opinion poll putting his party ahead of the Liberal Democrats and
:25:54. > :26:00.hoping his key theme of standing up to Europe will appeal across the
:26:00. > :26:07.board. The funny thing is that everyone thinks that all the UKIP
:26:07. > :26:12.Tories are disaffected Tories. Our vote comes from across the board.
:26:12. > :26:17.The voting system means the smaller parties will cause few big upsets
:26:17. > :26:21.on May 3rd. Heavy rain has prompted flood
:26:21. > :26:25.alerts in parts of England and Scotland. The Environment Agency
:26:25. > :26:27.has issued four flood warnings and 26 flood alerts in south-west
:26:27. > :26:32.England, a region currently in drought. Flood alerts have been
:26:32. > :26:38.smud in the Midlands, the north and south-east of England and in five
:26:38. > :26:43.areas across eastern Scotland. Football news. After Chelsea's
:26:43. > :26:46.heroics last night, tonight they've been finding out who they will be
:26:47. > :26:51.facing in the Champions League final. One possibility coming up
:26:51. > :26:55.against Jose Mourinho, whose latest club, Real Madrid, were taking on
:26:55. > :27:02.Bayern Munich. It's been another memorable night.
:27:02. > :27:07.The Germans were jumping, but that was before kick-off. A raking cross
:27:07. > :27:14.field pass and optimistic swish and unfortunate arm and a penalty to
:27:14. > :27:18.Real Madrid. Ronaldo struck the pose and then the corner. 1-0. And
:27:18. > :27:25.shortly thereafter Ronaldo made it two, thanks to precise passing and
:27:25. > :27:29.a defence missing. Then Bayern Munich won their own penalty and
:27:29. > :27:36.Robben just, just edged the ball past Iker Casillas's gloves. The
:27:36. > :27:40.tie, all square. In contrast, the second half was short on quality
:27:40. > :27:49.and chances. Gomes apparently forgetting he could use his left
:27:49. > :27:53.foot. Extra time. And then penalties. Ronaldo astonishingly
:27:53. > :27:57.mised. His manager, Jose Mourinho, prayed. It wasn't enough. Bayern