11/06/2012 BBC News at Ten

Gordon Brown and George Osborne at the Leveson Inquiry. Both distance

themselves from Rupert Murdoch. The former Prime Minister contradicts

Mr Murdoch's evidence, saying he never declared war on his

newspapers. I am shocked and surprised that it should be

suggested, even when there is no evidence of such a conversation,

that it happened. There was no such conversation. Then the Chancellor.

He denies taking sides in News Corporation's bid for BSkyB. I did

not have a strong view about its merits, because as far as I could

see, it was just going to cause us trouble one way or the other.

will be assessing the political impact of today's evidence.

Also tonight: The market gave a thumbs down to the Spanish bail-out,

forming back after early gains. Back to basics. New proposals to

shake up the primary school curriculum in England.

A hospital is flooded. There is disruption on the roads and homes

are wrecked as nearly one month's rain falls in 24 hours.

Steven Gerrard! And a bright start for England against France in their

first match of Euro 2012. The car in up later on the BBC News Channel,

I will be here with Sportsday and full reaction to the draw against

Good evening. Gordon Brown and George Osborne both appeared at the

Leveson Inquiry today and both men have been distancing themselves

from Rupert Murdoch and his media business. The former Prime Minister

flatly contradicted evidence given under oath to the inquiry by Mr

Murdoch, claiming he never made an angry call in which he declared war

on his companies. Later it was the Chancellor who denied any undue

influence over the bid for BSkyB. Nick Robinson reports.

Two men who agree on almost nothing, who both tried hard to woo the

Murdochs. Today insisting on oath they had been much less close to

the media moguls than the evidence might suggest. Gordon Brown and

Rupert Murdoch were once so close that their children played together.

Today the former Prime Minister accused his former friend of lying.

This call did not happen. This threat did not get made. I cannot

be unbalanced in a call that I did not have. That in reference to a

phone call he was alleged to have made when the Sun newspaper turned

its back on him before the last election. He said, well, your

company has declared war on my Government. And we have no

alternative but to make war on your company. Here is another reason

Gordon Brown might have wanted to do that. The Sun newspaper claimed

the family were happy to reveal that their baby son was seriously

ill. I ask you if any mother or any father was presented with a choice

as to whether a four month old son's medical condition, your

child's medical condition, should be broadcast on the front page of a

tabloid newspaper, and you have a choice in this matter, I don't

think there is any parent in the land that would have made that

choice that we are told we made. That contradicted evidence given by

another former friend of Gordon Brown, Rebekah Brooks, the chief

executive of News International. Why did your wife in particular

remain good friends with Mrs Brooks, to the extent of arranging her 40th

birthday party at Chequers? I think Sarah is one of the most forgiving

people that I know. It was not the only moment of awkwardness in court

73. Others came when he denied any knowledge that his spin-doctors had

ever briefed against ministers or plotted to remove Tony Blair. He

said it was the Murdoch desire to dominate the media that made them

turn on him. They wanted to buy BSkyB, of course, but also changed

the whole nature of the BBC, chained Ofcom, chained impartiality

rules that Ofcom. -- change of calm and impartiality rules. The problem

was that the Conservative Party went along with all of that and we

would try to defend the public interest. The target of that attack

arrived with his response ready. George Osborne said only a real

fantasist could believe that the coalition had a secret plan to do

the bidding of the Murdochs. claim is that there is some vast

conspiracy where the Conservative Party knows before the general

election that News International wants to bid for more of Skye. That

we signed up to some deal in return for their support, endorsement by

the Sun newspaper, and then when we get into office we hand over BSkyB.

That is what the previous person at this inquiry has emerged this

morning. It is complete nonsense. And as for the �8 billion attempt

to take over BSkyB, the Chancellor claimed he had no view on it the

tall. I regarded the whole thing as a political inconvenience that we

just had to deal with and the best way to deal with it was to stick it

under process. Inconvenient, too, was the man that George Osborne

hired as Tory spin doctor, Andrew Nicholson, could never escape

questions about phone hacking when he was editor at the News of the

World. -- Andy Coulson. You came a personal friend of Andy Coulson, is

that right? Yes, I remain his friend but sadly I cannot speak to

him for a year. George Osborne and Gordon Brown, both men with good

reason to regret getting so close to the Murdochs, both men with good

reason not to say so. Where does this leave the two men

tonight? They will not thank me for saying so, because after rule

Gordon Brown and George Osborne are united in one thing, they hate each

other. They have the same problem, the problem of credibility about

the version of events they have given to the Leveson Inquiry. When

George Osborne said he did not know what his spin-doctors were up to,

it was greeted by incredulity in and out of court. When George

Osborne said he scarcely ever discussed the Murdochs' media

ambitions with them, and when he went on to say it was irrelevant

that Andy Coulson had once worked for News International, that was

also greeted with doubt outside court 73. Tonight the two men, who

both share one other thing, I love and passion and interest in news

and headlines, will disagree on this. Gordon Brown may be pleased

that he has taken the news headlines, but George Osborne in

this case will agree with him, that he has got it horribly wrong. The

Government will be relieved if this story is about Labour and not about

them. Thank you. The multi-billion pound they are

out for Spain's banks has failed to rally world markets as gains in

Europe and the USA were reversed when investors grew concerned about

the consequences of the bail-out and the stability of other

countries in the eurozone. As Robert Peston explains, there are

big questions about which country will be next in line.

Greece, the first eurozone domino to tumble in 2010, followed by the

rescue of Ireland, then Portugal, Greece again and now Spain. It is

went investors and markets lose confidence in the ability of a

Government like Spain to repay its debts that there is the humiliation

of being bailed out by other eurozone countries. It is intended

to be a very clear signal that the euro area is willing and able to

tackle this, and in this context Europe is standing by Spain and

supporting Spain. Spain's most pressing problem is too many banks

with too little capital to withstand losses. But can the

eurozone tackle the housing problems and the recession? He in

the short term, it gives us a breather, but in the long term we

need more. Lot more money but more reforms in Spain. The tumbling

dominoes of Greece, Portugal, Ireland and now Spain has taken to

500 billion euros the total amount committed by the eurozone and the

International Monetary Fund to rescue eurozone countries. The next

domino to fall is expected to be Cyprus, which today said it needed

help to strengthen its banks. According to bankers, it may need a

25 billion euros rescue. Then there is Italy, a massive economy, whose

Government has two trillion euros of debt, considerably more than its

annual economic output. If Italy were to request emergency loans,

there would not be enough left in the emergency kitty, which is why

it has become urgent to find a way of stopping the eurozone's dominoes

from tumbling. To avoid contagion to Italy, what

is required probably is a proper pruning of Germany's ample

resources with those of other countries. -- proper pruning. But

that requires the eurozone to look more like a single country with a

single Government rather than a collection of nations. And if that

does not happen? That failure could lead to the complete disintegration

of the euro system, with terrible consequences not just the European

countries but for Britain, on the fringes of Europe and the eurozone.

In Italy, euphoria about the Spanish rescue faded fast. Share

prices rose and then fell and borrowing costs for Spain are

rising again, as are Italy's. That shows investors are worried that

the tumbling Spanish domino could knock Italy down.

It is being billed as a back-to- basics curriculum and it could be

at the heart of teaching in primary schools across England. The

Government says it wants more spelling, times tables and

arithmetic, but as our education correspondent reports, some

teachers fear it might signal a return to learning by rote.

Let's think about doubling these numbers. Four? 8. The Government

wants more of the traditional three Rs in primary school, reading,

writing and arithmetic. Children learning their times tables up to

12 by the age of nine and being able to spell complex words like

appreciate. A-P-P-R-E-C-I-A-T-E. Government? Ministers want more

emphasis on content in the curriculum in England, so more

facts and rote-learning of spelling and mental arithmetic looked to be

on the cards. Children are taught tables and arithmetic at a young

age, but the Government says it wants higher standards and more

rigueur across the curriculum in primary schools, so the results can

compare with the best internationally. By the time they

are 11, children should be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide

factions, which they are not expected to do now. They should

know more scientific facts about the solar system and evolution and

they should have more focus on grammar, such as the correct use of

punctuation. Another idea is compulsory foreign languages.

Everyone does French here and there had to be stress gave a cautious

welcome. -- the headmaster gave a cautious welcome. Rote-learning

does not necessarily mean a child has understood something and can

apply it. I would like to see beggars on problem-solving as well.

Parents gathered at the end of school had their own opinions.

need to see the evidence to back up these changes to make sure we are

coaching children in the right way and that they are getting the most

out of it and we are getting the results that they say that we need.

Time stables, reciting poetry, all the sorts of things that they are

putting forward are right. -- times tables. It is good to go forward.

The changes will be brought in 2014 with the secondary school

curriculum due to be rewritten as well. So lessons for all ages could

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable has drawn up news proposals to

allow employers to withdraw payments to underperforming workers

to encourage them to leave, but the offer could not be then used to an

unfair dismissal trial. William Hague is considering what

to do if the anan peace plan fails. Speaking in the comns, William

Hague said that all options would be on the table.

Syrian government forces are continuing to shell the city of

Homs. In the confusion that is Syria,

amateur footage that is becoming all too familiar, relentless

shelling of hom homs and the northern suburbs, reportedly

trapping women and children. The bombardment, including firing from

government helicopters, according to UN observers, who were

accompanied by the BBC's Paul Danahare.

While standing on the UN headquarters, with the UN observers,

we were watching the mortar rounds land into the old city area of Homs

at the rate of about one a minute. That was followed by a small arms

fire or machine gun fire and it went on for hours and hours.

More heavy shelling in the north in the Latakya province, prompted Kofi

Annan to express grave alarm. These unverified images were said to show

mourners, grieving over child victims from the violence. The

United States spoke of fears of a potential massacre. In London,

William Hague held open the possibility of intervention.

We don't want to see the Annan Plan fail, but if, despite our best

efforts it does not succeed, we would have to consider other

options for resolving the crisis, and in all view all options should

then be on the table. William Hague repeated his fear that the violence

in Syria was becoming horrifyingly reminiscent of the sectarian

conflict that pitted village against village in the Balkans in

the 1990s, so brutal that in the end the jould world felt compelled

to intervene. Since the massacre in Houla, the fighting has continued

in every major town in Syria, apart from in the centre of Damascus, but

that changed this weekend with protests becoming gun fights in

many parts of the Capriati tal. -- capital.

There have been rocket-propelled grenades and an admission from the

Syrian opposition, that they may be using heavy weaponry, smuggled in

from abroad. Coming up:

After Tron shall rain over England and Wales wreaks havoc, the

residents count the cost. 30 minutes and completely flooded.

Coming up from underneath the skirting boards it was horrendous.

A pilot scheme that gives sex offenders medication to lower sex

drives show good results. The programme is being run at Whatton

Jail, the largest rehabilitation centre for sex offenders in Europe.

Our Home Affairs correspondent has been speaking to some of those in

the trial. Whatton Jail is the largest rehabilitation centre for

sex offenders in Europe. 800 inmates, 07 guilty of offences

against children. This is one of the volunteers on the jail's

controversial drug's programme. His victim was in her early teens.

I understand the conception that outside of the community I am

possibly evil, but I personally believe that my offence is the

thing that was evil. The aim is to stop the men on the

programme from re-offending. All of them will be considered for release

at some stage. As well as the established psychological treatment,

they have chosen to take drugs to lessen they're preoccupation with

sex. We have altered these mens' voices.

My behaviour has changed completely. It is such a relief not to be

thinking about sex all of the time. It is called chemical castration,

an inaccurate phrase cording to the professionals here. Vord, the pilot

is taking place inside a highly controlled environment. The staff

say that the aim is to make society safer so, what about when the

offenders are released back into the community, on the drugs but

with access to children? When we work with the men in treatment we

spend time practising how they manage those sorts of situations.

So that when they see children, for the first time, what their

reactions will be, where they can seek support.

Some believe that paedophiles should be locked up for life. This

like this young man who raped a number of girls.

They may be right, but they are human beings, we have made mistakes,

I think that we deserve a chance to rehabilitate.

In the outside world, some who deal with the after math of child abuse

have themselves been victims, what about this rehabilitation argument?

Somebody who destroys the incense, who offends, hurts, violates a

child, they have to accept that they are putting their own human

rights in jeopardy. Children only get one shot at childhood.

Initial results show that the drugs seem to be working, but it is only

when the men on the programme are outside of the walls that this

experiment can be fully put to the test.

Britain's ambassador to Libya was in a convoy of cars that came under

attack in the city of Benghazi. He was unhurt, but two protection

officers were injured. It is not known who carried out the attack it

comes days after the diplomatic mission was targeted. The Red Cross

has come under attack recently. There has been nearly a month's

rain in 24 hours. It has caused flooding at a hospital in Sussex

and traffic and flooding in England and Wales. It is not over, the

Environment Agency has issued more than 30 flood alerts today.

As summer evening on the south coast seaside strip goes, but all

around, the scenes are more reminiscent of autumn. The rains

been ongoing here, and the rivers and the streams cannot longer

contain it. The floodwater has come into the properties. This man has

just finished his home reconstruction and the water

flooded in. The fire service said that there

was nothing they could do until the tide went down and they could start

pumping. In the east, homes in Littlehampton were evacuated.

Sussex fire crews dealt with nearly 150 flood-related calls in a few

hours. The scenes here are typical of those worst-affected by the

heavy rain. The drains here and the pumping station has been unable to

cope, so the Fire Brigade and the local authorities is laying a

temporary pipeline to relieve the pressure and to carry the surface

water that the river a mile away. Worthing Hospital was another

victim. The floodwaters reached the engineering areas and baift

corridors, but the hospital staft managed to stop the patients being

affected. There have been problems in the north of England in the

village of Swillington, the water coming too quickly for the

residents to rescue all of their possessions. Many had to leave

their homes temporarily whilst the Fire Service pumped the water out.

In Wales, still reeling from the weekend, residents are clearing up.

Trying to assess the impact on his family, Morris Jones said that the

loss of personal items, especially relating to his daughter, Charlotte,

were hard to bare. We are all alive, but there are so

many things that we have lost that meant so much to us. The

christening stuff, the little presents given to us. It is all

gone in bin bags. Forecasters say that the current spell of

unseasonal conditions is due to the jet stream that drives the weather

systems, pushing further south and there is more rain to come. Summer

is proving somewhat elusive. The Queen's granddaughter, Zara

Phillips has been picked to represent Team GB in the London

Olympics. She is part of a five- strong eventing team to follow in

the foot steps of her mother, Princess Anne and her father, both

of whom competed in the Paralympic Games.

Roy Hodgson derclaid himself satisfied after the game in --

diclaird himself satisfied after the -- declared himself satisfied

after the football game against France in Donetsk.

Well, Roy Hodgson has lost his best player, Wayne Rooney to suspension

so, the first game of the Euro 2012 was the first game in a new era,

what we smould expect of Roy Hodgson? Few thoughts of winning

this... This was England's great leap into the unknown. A new

manager and a team full of new faces, well, almost. Up against a

French side packed with star quality and unbeat no-one 21 games.

No wonder they were confident. It may have been the sweltering

heat, but this did not feel like le crunch. With fewer than 4,000

England fans making the long trek to Donetsk, the atmosphere was

often subdued, but those who broke the journey were well-rewarded.

Joleon Lescott putting England ahead on the half an hour with a

classic set-piece goal. For a brief moment England was dreaming.

France responded instantly, switching through the gears with

this drawing a fine save from Joe Heart. Then six minutes before the

break, the French were level. Samir Nasri! Brilliant strike.

Samir Nasri's clean strike, too good for the England goalkeeper.

After halt, -- half-time the game seemed to fizzle out, along with

some in the crowd. While they may have been exhausted, England

players knew that this was a result to lift the spirits.

I think we are satisfied with the performance. Of course we went in

to win it, but if you start a competition and put a point against

a good team like France, we are happy.

For the locals in this city of heavy industry, the first taste of

Euro 2012 must have been heavy going.

But England fans will not worry about that. This result has given

them a reason to hope. So, England have got a good

platform to build from here going into the next game against Sweden

in Kiev Kiev on Friday and a key match against the co-hosts

Ukrainian, back here in Donetsk, in over a week from now. The key thing

for England is to get through the match from the Swedes, to welcome