04/07/2012 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at 10, Bob Diamond, the former Barclays chief, apologises

for the interest rate scandal. He tells MPs we found out about it

only recently and blames a small group of Rome traders. I got

physically ill, it is reprehensible behaviour, and if you are asking me

should those actions be dealt with, absolutely. As questions multiply,

the debate rages about the best way to investigate banking culture.

favour a public parliamentary inquiry rather than a judge-led

inquiry. I want us to legislate on this starting next year. If he

fails to order a judge-led inquiry, people will come to one conclusion,

he simply cannot act in the national interest.

On the eve of a parliamentary vote, we ask what kind of inquiry is now

likely. Also tonight: A milestone in science, experts say they have

found the fundamental building block of the universe.

Major changes ahead in the provision of children's heart

surgery across England. Kingdoms for... Questions of

nationhood as the Queen visits Scotland on the Diamond Jubilee

And the ace that took Andy Murray through to the Wimbledon semi-

finals. And coming up in Sportsday on the

BBC News Channel, Footballer of the Year Robin Van Persie tells Arsenal

he is not signing a new contract because the club can't match his

Good evening. Bob Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays,

has apologised for the interest rate scandal which led to his

resignation. He told MPs that he had only become aware of the

misconduct very recently and that he dismissed suggestions that the

Bank of England had in effect encouraged Barclays to lie about

its borrowing costs. Business editor Robert Peston listened to

the exchangers. Passions running high about bankers

and banking, this was the banker who has come to symbolise much of

what has gone wrong at Britain's giant banks. Bob Diamond, he

resigned from Barclays yesterday, explaining and stopped up to a

point to MPs today. Is he bitter? Well... I love Barclays. That is

where it starts. I love Barclays because of the people. The bank he

loves was fined a record �290 million last week for attempting to

rid important interest rates, so how did he feel when he learned

that traders who work for him were breaking the rules to maximise

their bonuses? When I read the e- mails from those traders, I got

physically ill. It is reprehensible behaviour. Tanned and mostly

relaxed, he was on first-name terms with the MPs. They were not all

charmed. Either you were complicit in what was going on, or you were

grossly negligent, or you were grossly incompetent! That is the

only conclusion. Sorry, I agree that the behaviour was wrong, it

did not get above supervisory level for a period of time, it is hard to

give another answer. How long ago did you learn about the rate

rigging known as low-balling? did you discover this low-balling

which is the subject of the FSA notice? This is one of the reasons

you have lost your job, Mr Diamond, when did you discover it was going

on? Simple question, approx. findings of the investigation,

other than things I learned as a witness, please, this is important.

I should be able to answer. That came to the four times before they

were published. What month did you discover the low-balling was going

on? This month. And what of his controversial note that Paul Tucker,

deputy governor of the Bank of England, said it did not always

need to be the case that we appeared as high? Was this an

instructional a nudge from the Bank of England that Berkeley should

break the rules and lie about borrowing costs? -- Barclays.

not take it as a director, I took it up as their heads up that you

are high. At Barclays, Bob Diamond has pocketed at least �120 million

since 2005, first for running the investment bank then the whole

thing. Now, he says he was not aware of the scale of the

wrongdoing at the bank until just a few days ago, but some would say

since he was on that kind of money, he should have spotted and fixed

the banks broken culture much earlier. Mr Diamond was sorry but

all the wrongdoing, he did not know what was happening at the time, and

most would say, including Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the committee,

that he did not really explain how and why it all went wrong.

Well, the form of the new inquiry into banking culture will be

determined by MPs and a vote tomorrow. That debate dominated

Prime Minister's Questions today as David Cameron made the case for a

relatively swift parliamentary inquiry, while Labour demanded a

full judge-led inquiry. The debate also involved claims by the

government that Labour must bear some of the blame for the problems.

Political editor Nick Robinson explains.

It is a toxic legacy, the country still living with the consequences,

and politicians are still fighting over who was to blame for what went

wrong in the banks. This is what he told the City of London on the 28th

March 2008. As a free-marketeer by conviction, it will not surprise

you to hear me say that the problem of the past decade is too much

Doesn't it say it all about the double standards of this Prime

Minister?! Well, first of all, Mr Speaker, I'm not going to get a

lecture in getting it from a party that was in office for 13 years

when all of these things took place! Believe it or not, these two

agree on the need for an inquiry into banking. What they disagree

about is what sort of inquiry. truth, the whole truth and nothing

but the truth. Labour wants a judge to be in charge, like at the

Leveson Inquiry into the press, where a barrister cross-examine his

the likes of Rupert Murdoch. The government wants instead the man in

charge at today's hearing to chair a new committee of MPs and peers.

Why is it right to have his judge- led approach to the scandal in the

press but wrong for the scandal in the banks? Now what is required is

swift inquiry, swift action, swift legislation, and that is what

you'll get from this Government. His is a party bankrolled by the

banks. Hickey fails to order -- if he fails to order a judge-led

inquiry, people will come to one conclusion, he simply cannot act in

the national interest. Prime Minister! I have his say, Mr

Speaker, everybody can say what is The party opposite want to talk

about absolutely everything apart from their record of 13 years in

government. Today the Chancellor made an explosive claim, that

ministers in Gordon Brown his government were clearly involved in

the efforts to keep LIBOR down. We have not, George Osborne added, yet

heard the full facts. His predecessor, Alistair Darling, says

he was not involved. Brown's City minister said she only talked about

policy and not illegal rate fixing. The Tories' real target, of course,

is Ed Balls. I had no conversation about the LIBOR market in those

periods, and at no point at any time when I was a minister or

adviser were concerns raised about the LIBOR markets to me. Today

people queued outside the Commons to hear a banker cross-examined by

MPs. Many left early when it turned out to be not much of a show. It

was meant to be Bob Diamond in the dock today, but in truth it was

also the MPs cross-examining him. The Prime Minister insists that

they could do a better job than a judge in a public inquiry. The

question is, after today, how many There is more on the Berkeley story,

including a timeline of events on our website. -- Barclays.

A discovery by scientists at the CERN laboratory near Geneva is

already being ranked alongside those of Newton and Einstein.

Scientists say they have found a particle which is vital to

understanding how the physical fabric of the universe is held

together. The search for the so- called Higgs boson started in 1964

with a British scientist who was there today to celebrate the news,

as science editor David Shukman reports.

It is a discovery about the fabric of the universe that will go down

as one of the greatest in science. In the giant underground laboratory

at CERN near Geneva, researchers have found the key to matter. In

this circular tunnel, they have identified a new kind of particle.

As predicted nearly 50 years ago by a British professor, Peter Higgs.

Today he was in Geneva, an emotional moment hearing about the

particle known as the Higgs boson. Well, I would like to lap my

congratulations to everybody involved in this tremendous

achievement. For me, it is really an incredible thing that it has

The scientists hunted for the Higgs boson by firing particles through

the tunnel and forcing them to collide to reveal their inner

workings. Ultimately, this is about a very basic question to understand

what the universe is made of, how from empty space we get the planets

and us. It involves digging into atoms, deeper and deeper to reveal

the incredibly small parts inside them, so tiny it is not clear how

they have any kind of substance. That is where the Higgs boson comes

in, the particle that acts like glue, giving other particles mass.

50 years of the eerie, no way momentous discovery unlocking new

areas of research. It is like saying we want to explore that

ocean but we do not know where the land is to explore. We have now

found the land, we know in which direction to go. We do not know

what is there yet, but at least we know where it is. Peter Higgs,

known as a quiet man, is suddenly in the limelight. The particle he

suggested back in the 1960s recognised as fundamentally

important. Stephen Hawking is among those offering praise. This is an

important result and should end the day the Nobel Prize. I had a bet

with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the next article

would not be found. It seems I have just lost $100. The giant machines

that did the research cost several billion pounds, and no-one knows

what spin-offs there might be, but when the electron and DNA were

discovered, it took decades to see them as a potential. The Higgs

boson could prove the same. The RAF has confirmed that one end

and has died and two others are missing presumed dead after two

jets crashed in the Moray Firth. -- Emmen. The accident happened

yesterday afternoon and some wreckage has been discovered. A 4th

man is in a stable condition in hospital.

Children's heart surgery will no longer be performed at hospitals in

Leeds and Leicester and at the Royal Brompton in London, the

result of a major review meant to create a network of centres of

excellence across England. It was set up in response to the death of

Jill who had had heart surgery in Bristol back in the 1990s. -- the

deaths of children. Cheers in Newcastle as parents

learn their surgery unit is saved. Hopes of condolence in Leeds as

nurses are told that theirs will close. -- oaks. This is why it all

matters, 3,500 children have heart surgery each year. The aim is to

improve outcomes by creating bigger units, sharing expertise. Ayesha

has already had four heart operations at Liverpool's Alder Hey

hospital, which will continue to operate. Her family lives 60 miles

away, but that does not bother them. Travelling is absolutely not an

issue at all. Even if we had to go to Bristol, wherever we needed to

go, it would not be an issue providing we get the best care.

is more than a decade since the Bristol heart surgery scandal when

many babies died needlessly. The inquiry chairman says that today's

changes are long overdue. What we have got to do is replace

mediocrity with excellence, and when this reconfiguration goes

through, we can be confident that we are bedding in excellence in the

centres that are chosen. proposals will mean more surgeons

per unit, each will now have four. Each centre will do more surgery,

500 operations a year. Successive reviews say this will raise

standards, surgical and medical bodies agree. At present there are

10 hospitals across England which do children's heart surgery, also

covering patients in Wales. In future, Leeds, less than the Royal

Brompton in London will no longer do surgery. -- Leicester and the

Royal Brompton. Leeds will continue to provide day-to-day care for

patients as specialist cardiology centres, but parents there do not

want to travel to Newcastle for surgery. I am angry that the case

that we presented has still not been looked at properly. We

presented such solid arguments about the location, where Leeds is,

and the stuff that most annoys me is that they have disregarded the

evidence on travel. The surgery proposals may face a legal

challenge from London's Royal Brompton, which will also lose its

children's intensive care unit. It warns this would destroy its

renowned service for cystic fibrosis and asthma.

D BBC has appointed a new director- general. George Entwistle will take

over from Mark Thompson in September. The chairman of the BBC

Trust, Lord Patten, has challenged in to make the corporation 20%

better than it is. Nick Higham has the details. BBC director general

to not make programmes, but as its new boss the BBC has opted for a

man steeped in the business of The new director-general with the

chairman of the BBC thrust was outside the BBC's brand new

Broadcasting House. He takes over in September. I'm pleased that the

chairman and the trustees think I'm the right person for the job. It's

a privilege to be asked to lead the greatest broadcasting in the world.

And a privilege to continue to serve. The BBC's chairman told me

the new man's skills go beyond programme-making. It seemed to us

George are the creative profile and had a grafrpl of the changes that

need to be made. He joined in 1989 as a trainee and worked as a

producer on Panorama before becoming editor of Newsnight and

launching The Culture Show. He was responsible for scores of

documentaries and series. Over a year ago he was given overall

charge of television. He signed off on the river pageant. He would not

have applied for the job if he had not have thought he could do it.

Everybody knows this is the hardest job in world broadcasting and the

most rewarding. He will have to renegotiate the BBC's Royal charter

which runs out at the end of 2016. He will have to run an organisation

whose income is largely fixed and he will have to deal with the new

digital technologies which is radically changing the way the

public consumes the series. He will be paid �4350,000 with no bonus --

450,000. Coming up tributes to the comic actor and wire Eric Sykes who

has died at the iing of 89. The Queen's diamond Jubilee tour

reached Glasgow today where more than 1,000 people attended a thank

giving service at the cathedral. Alex Salmond said if Scotland

eventually gained npdz the Queen would remain head of state. It was

Scotland's tribute to their monarch to someone who has fulfilled her

commitment to Scotland as part of her role was Queen of the United

she first came to Scotland in the early 1950's, the crowds were huge.

Then and for years afterwards the idea that Scotland would no longer

wpbtd to be part of the United Kingdom seemed far fetched. In this

year's diamond Jubilee is a change. Alex Salmond wants Scotland to vote

for npdz in two years' time. What would be the position of the Queen?

She would continue as a constitutional monarchy and Her

Majesty would continue as Elizabeth Queen of Scots. Didn't Mr Salmond

feel it would be a distress for the Queen? Not in the slightest, the

Queen is too wise to be engaged in the political process. The Queen

would never interfere in the constitutional process. As to his

claim the Queen would not be bothered by the break-up of the

United Kingdom that would seen less certain. This was the Queen at the

time of her silver Jubilee in a speech written at Buckingham Palace.

I can't forget I was crowned even of the United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Northern Ireland. Queen, of course, will accept

whatever Scotland decides in the referendum in two years' time and

as always she will keep her personal thoughts to herself.

Americans are celebrating npdz day amid growing concern of the state

of the US economy. The International Monetary Fund risks

that the economy is at risk. Our reporter reports from stack ton in

California, the biggest city N to declare itself bankrupt -- Stock it

is ton. At a California racetrack, a celebration of America's strong

sense of self-. These days there's an unease edge to the pride and

patriotism. Some generally worry about the country's place in the

world. I think it's going in the toilet. Why? Economy is shot and

government sucks. People don't cherish what they have here. They

don't cherish it. Some fret that America is dropping behind as other

countries show more energy and ambition. One underlying worry that

America is broke and deep in debt is particularly heart-felt here.

Stockton the largest city in the United States to declare itself

bankrupt. Politicians here in this river port had California sized

braeplgs that turned into a nightmare. Ideas like this turned

them into the red. The impact has been dramatic. Police numbers and

the pay of officers have been cut. The murder rate has spiralled. 34

killings so far this year. It's a picture repeated all over America

as spending has slashed. I lived here until 7th grade. A really,

really normal decent middle class neighbourhood. Now it's a park for

drug dealing and gang problems and drugs shooting. Less visible is the

long-term decline of income in America. For many, the prospect of

prosperity has evaporated. This time, some argue is different. This

time decline will lead to eventually fall. Life has always

been hard for some. The funnelled - - fundamental belief that anyone

can make it in America might not now be true. The American dream no

longer exists. The American model the country that offers equality of

opportunity, a country of class mobility that soft power that you

would associate with America, the universal attractiveness that's in

head-long decline. I find optimism in an unlikely place. The Mayor of

Stockton thinks her city and her country will find a way out.

think we have a good future. I think we're still figuring out how

we play that future. What role we have and how we resume our

prominence and innovation in manufacturing and a lot of those

industries. It's a matter of evaluating who we want to be when

we grow up, truly. There's no doubt America has taken a bit of a

battering recently. Others are catching up. But that may spur this

competitive country to look for ways to stay out in front. Nool

tributes are being paid to Eric Sykes the actor and comedian who

has died at the age of 89. He is best known for a long-running

comedy with haty. Eric and haty, the allegedly identical twins. The

show was a popular show for 20 years. Ever week a disaster. Here,

rogue handcuffs. But it won a life- time achievement award fen -- ten

years before this. When Peter Seller appeared on the show it was

a reminder of ten years earlier. had the privilege of working with

Eric, caught in the net, at the Lyric Theatre. The man was a genius.

The son of a mill worker had a love of silent comedy and slapstick.

This, the plank won awards. Through it all he was gradually losing his

hearing and his sight. He continued to work. Everything from

Shakespeare to Harry Potter. Eric was a lovely man. An amazing man. A

man full of generosity and affection. All Eric's humour was

gentle. It says for the -- says for the swimmer to become acclimatised

he has to wear this every day. Comedy, he said wasn't work. Few

worked harder at it. Eric Sykes more than 60 years of making people

laugh. Rangers will not be able to play in

the Premier League -- it has been barred by rival teams. It's not

clear which division tele-- they'll be playing in. It took three tie

breaks, but Andy Murray has made it through to the semifinals, beating

David Ferrer. Now, facing Andy Murray, David Ferrer, a man they

call apparently as a compliment Little Beast. He was certainly

irrepressible. Dogged, leading to a break. Murray unleashed himself,

breaking back. After an hour, a tie-break and it was Murray muzzled.

His overreliance on the drop-shot making the most kproz composed face

wince. First set to Ferrer. The second set and Murray had to pound

and pound all the way to a tie- break. It was tennis that made you

hold your breath, not dare speak... After almost two-and-a-half hours

it was one set all. The second set went with serve until Murray

remembered when he was meant to be best at, returning. The fourth set

swung back and -- and forth to another tie-break. And now Murray's

time to show the Little Beast who was the alpha male. Next point,