:00:12. > :00:22.Tonight at 10 o'clock: We are in Rome where Pope Benedict has
:00:22. > :00:23.
:00:23. > :00:28.unexpectedly announced his The 85 year-old elected eight years
:00:28. > :00:33.ago said he no longer has the strength to lead the world's 1
:00:33. > :00:39.billion Roman Catholics. It is a decision of great courage and great
:00:39. > :00:44.integrity, I think. And a decision that illustrates again his humility.
:00:44. > :00:49.In an unforeseen break with tradition, he becomes the first
:00:49. > :00:59.Pope in six centuries to step down and relinquish his powers.
:00:59. > :01:04.Pope? Oh, my God. Oh, I am so shocked. He has been a such a short
:01:04. > :01:08.time with us. The Catholic Church is still taking
:01:08. > :01:11.in the news. There should be a new Pope by Easter. We will have the
:01:11. > :01:16.latest. Also on tonight's programme: The
:01:16. > :01:21.Government confirms plans to cap care bills for the elderly in
:01:21. > :01:26.England at �75,000. DNA tests reveal some of Tesco's
:01:26. > :01:29.own-brand skidder to bolognese contains 60% horsemeat. --
:01:29. > :01:33.spaghetti bolognese. A mother relive the moment she saw
:01:33. > :01:38.her son shot dead in a Manchester pub. The court is told that was
:01:38. > :01:44.Dale Cregan, who allegedly went on to murdered two police women.
:01:44. > :01:50.Coming up in Sportsday on the BBC News Channel, can West Brom do
:01:50. > :02:00.enough to beat Liverpool at Anfield with Peter Odemwingie are left out
:02:00. > :02:08.
:02:08. > :02:13.Good evening from Rome where Pope Benedict has stunned the Roman
:02:13. > :02:18.Catholic Church by announcing his resignation today. He is 85. In a
:02:18. > :02:22.statement he said he no longer felt he had the strength, physically or
:02:22. > :02:28.mentally, to sustain the pressures of the papacy and to fulfil his
:02:28. > :02:32.duties. He becomes the first Pope in six centuries to decide to step
:02:32. > :02:39.aside and to relinquish his powers. First tonight, our Europe Editor
:02:39. > :02:44.Gavin Hewitt reports on the events of today.
:02:44. > :02:47.It was during a routine meeting with Vatican cardinals that Pope
:02:47. > :02:55.Benedict did something that no pontiff had done in nearly 600
:02:55. > :03:01.years. He announced his resignation and stunned his audience. Speaking
:03:01. > :03:05.in Latin, he said, I have come to the certainty that my strengths,
:03:05. > :03:11.due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate
:03:11. > :03:16.execution of St Peter's ministry. Pope Benedict said that strength of
:03:16. > :03:19.mind and body are necessary, strengths that in the last few
:03:19. > :03:28.months he admitted had deteriorated to the point he doubted he could
:03:28. > :03:31.carry out his duties. Only yesterday the Pope had spoken to a
:03:31. > :03:35.Sunday audience in St Peter's Square. The Vatican said there was
:03:35. > :03:40.no specific medical condition that forced him to stand down, more the
:03:40. > :03:44.recognition from the Pope himself that at 85, he did not have the
:03:44. > :03:48.stamina to continue. I am very disappointed and in shock about
:03:48. > :03:51.what happened this morning, really, as a Catholic. I think it is a
:03:51. > :03:55.great act of courage to do something that has not been done in
:03:55. > :04:00.600 years. One Cardinal described it as a liberating act for the
:04:01. > :04:05.church. No future Pope would feel compelled to stay on until death.
:04:05. > :04:09.Hints had been dropped before, but still it was a huge surprise.
:04:09. > :04:13.had a warning from the Pope about this and we did not pay a whole lot
:04:13. > :04:17.of attention. A couple of years ago in a book the Pope said there are
:04:17. > :04:23.certain circumstances where the Pope can resign and should resign.
:04:23. > :04:26.One Cardle said that the news had come like a bolt out of the blue. -
:04:26. > :04:30.- one Cardinal. But his closest aides have said that the issue of
:04:30. > :04:36.standing down have been under consideration for several months,
:04:36. > :04:39.particularly since the strenuous trips to Mexico and Cuba. Indeed,
:04:39. > :04:47.he had been counselled against making further difficult
:04:47. > :04:52.transatlantic trips. Tonight at a Mass in Santa Maria in the centre
:04:52. > :04:58.of Rome, there was an awareness that this was an Restorick moment
:04:58. > :05:02.for the Catholic Church. -- historic moment. It was a sign of
:05:02. > :05:05.humility and great courage, said this man. The timing shocked many
:05:05. > :05:10.Catholics across the world, but many came to the conclusion that
:05:10. > :05:15.the decision was the right one. is a decision of great courage. I
:05:15. > :05:20.think a decision of great integrity. And a decision that illustrates
:05:20. > :05:27.again his humility, that he has never been pushing himself forward.
:05:27. > :05:31.He has always wanted to fulfil his role as a preacher of Christ.
:05:31. > :05:35.2010, Pope Benedict visited Britain. The first state visit by a pontiff,
:05:35. > :05:41.during which he urged the UK to resist aggressive forms of
:05:41. > :05:45.secularism. He has worked tirelessly to strengthen Britain's
:05:45. > :05:49.relations with the Holy See. His visit to Britain in 2010 is
:05:49. > :05:53.remembered with great respect and affection. Pope Benedict's message
:05:53. > :05:57.on that visit of working for the common good is something that spoke
:05:57. > :06:01.to our whole country. cardinal's recognise that this was
:06:01. > :06:05.a momentous decision for Pope Benedict. In two weeks' time he
:06:05. > :06:13.will no longer be Pope and in March his successor will be chosen, at a
:06:13. > :06:18.critical moment for the church and the world's 1 billion Catholics.
:06:18. > :06:23.Pope Benedict, as we know, took office in 2005. He was 78 at the
:06:23. > :06:28.time. He was the oldest man to be elected Pope in three centuries.
:06:28. > :06:31.The church is still reeling, as we know, from the impact of the
:06:31. > :06:36.worldwide clerical sex abuse scandal, the full extent of which
:06:36. > :06:41.has come to light during his papacy. He eventually apologised for the
:06:41. > :06:43.impact of that and met with some of the victims. Our religious affairs
:06:43. > :06:49.correspondent Robert Pigott considers his record during the
:06:49. > :06:54.past eight years. Benedict became the church's leader already an
:06:54. > :06:58.elderly and frail man. He knew the burden would be heavy and the path
:06:58. > :07:03.steep. He was seen as a caretaker but nothing prepared Roman
:07:03. > :07:08.Catholics for his decision to step down. This has taken the world by
:07:08. > :07:18.surprise. Catholics attending services at Westminster Cathedral
:07:18. > :07:19.
:07:19. > :07:26.today were shocked by the news. You're joking! The Pope? Oh, my God.
:07:26. > :07:31.Oh, I am so shocked. He has been such a short time with us. Joseph
:07:31. > :07:36.Ratzinger was born into a devout Catholics family in southern
:07:36. > :07:40.Germany just at the National Socialists 40 were sweeping to
:07:40. > :07:44.power and he was forced into the Hitler Youth. He was a theologian
:07:44. > :07:47.but appalled by the student riots in the 60s he became more
:07:47. > :07:55.conservative. As a traditionalist who became the doctrinal watchdog
:07:55. > :08:01.for Pope John Paul II. But people who met the Pope said he was shy
:08:01. > :08:06.and charming and his first -- most important writing dealt with topics
:08:07. > :08:11.such as love. I think he will be remembered probably as the most
:08:11. > :08:16.intelligent, eloquent Pope we have had in years because his sermons,
:08:16. > :08:19.his homilies, his writings are beautiful. Pope Benedict visited
:08:19. > :08:27.Britain to warn that excluding Christianity from national debate
:08:27. > :08:30.could threaten democracy. He was warmly received. By the time Pope
:08:30. > :08:34.Benedict came here to Westminster Cathedral on his visit two years
:08:34. > :08:38.ago, he had already won renewed respect for his argument that
:08:38. > :08:41.religion should stay at the heart of public life. Indeed over the
:08:41. > :08:45.last seven years, Catholicism has grown in much of the developing
:08:45. > :08:50.world. But in its European birthplace Pope Benedict has found
:08:50. > :08:54.the tide of secularism all but impossible to withstand. It is one
:08:54. > :08:59.of several issues that have overshadowed his papacy. Early in
:08:59. > :09:02.his reign, he offended Muslims by quoting historical criticisms of
:09:02. > :09:06.Islam. His management of the Vatican has been questioned after
:09:07. > :09:10.the theft of documents alleging corruption there. And he has faced
:09:10. > :09:15.criticism over the handling of the sexual abuse crisis. The Pope has
:09:15. > :09:21.been accused of doing too little to prevent abuse by priests, at least
:09:21. > :09:25.in his years as a top Vatican official. He seems to not have
:09:25. > :09:34.acted very vigorously in that role. But you know there is a suspicion
:09:34. > :09:37.that they were being shielded by John Paul II, rather than by him.
:09:37. > :09:44.Benedict hoped to build a stronger church but in just seven years
:09:44. > :09:49.there was little he could do. At the Vatican tonight, Gavin
:09:49. > :09:55.Hewitt is with me. Let's start with the shock and the impact of the
:09:55. > :09:59.news. This was a shock. But some of the insiders here thought it might
:09:59. > :10:04.happen. The reason, as you have been saying, he was 78 when he
:10:04. > :10:07.became Pope, the oldest in 300 years. People have been saying when
:10:07. > :10:14.they have gone to visit him that he does appear very frail and
:10:14. > :10:17.sometimes does not quite follow conversations. This is a story of
:10:17. > :10:21.the modern papacy, which does involve constant travel and it does
:10:21. > :10:25.need a strong, authoritative voice to deal with controversial issues
:10:25. > :10:29.like the abuse scandal. That is the reason why there are people tonight
:10:29. > :10:33.saying that in the future the papacy will need a younger Pope.
:10:33. > :10:40.With that in mind, let's think about the weeks ahead. What should
:10:40. > :10:44.we look out for? If first of all, on the 28, Pope Benedict will stand
:10:44. > :10:49.down. Then in March there will be a conclave of cardinals and then
:10:49. > :10:53.before Easter a new Pope, probably. What kind of Pope will they be
:10:53. > :10:58.looking for? Somebody from South America, Africa? The church is
:10:58. > :11:02.growing strongly there. Will they look for Great Communicator to deal
:11:02. > :11:06.with these controversial issues? Are they going to look for somebody
:11:06. > :11:10.from Europe? The reason for that is that the church is struggling in
:11:10. > :11:14.Europe, struggling to get its message across in an increasingly
:11:14. > :11:20.secular society. In fact in some parishes they are struggling to
:11:20. > :11:26.find priests. In all of the weeks ahead, these arguments will play
:11:26. > :11:27.out. Thank you. We will be back before the end of the programme
:11:28. > :11:31.with more thoughts on what is to come.
:11:31. > :11:35.Thank you. Big changes to the funding of care
:11:35. > :11:39.for the elderly have been announced by the Government. Anyone in
:11:39. > :11:44.England needing social care help with regular tasks like washing,
:11:44. > :11:48.eating and pressing will not have to pay any more than �75,000 over
:11:48. > :11:52.their lifetime. As our social affairs correspondent reports,
:11:52. > :11:56.elderly people needing care will still have to pay for the cost of
:11:56. > :12:01.accommodation and food. None of us can predict how much
:12:01. > :12:05.help we will meet in our old age. For some the cost of that care can
:12:05. > :12:10.be huge. But the Government believes that the plans it set out
:12:10. > :12:14.today will create a fairer system for the future. Certainly Ingrid
:12:14. > :12:19.Canwell and her mother Helga feel let down by the current system.
:12:19. > :12:23.Another has dementia and lives in a residential home. To pay the
:12:23. > :12:27.�30,000 in fees each year, they had to sell the house where two
:12:27. > :12:32.generations of the family had lived. The Government claims in future
:12:32. > :12:37.people will not be forced to do that. None of the family had been
:12:37. > :12:42.wealthy. They had come from poor circumstances. They were labourers
:12:42. > :12:47.and clerks. It was a joint effort to live together to save this house,
:12:47. > :12:51.to have this nice house. It was their only asset and I think it is
:12:51. > :12:58.not fair. After a weekend of looks, this afternoon the Government
:12:58. > :13:00.confirmed its plans for social care. -- leaks. There will be a limit of
:13:01. > :13:05.�75,000 on the amount of money anybody is expected to pay for help
:13:05. > :13:10.at home or in residential care. This will not include the cost of
:13:10. > :13:15.food or accommodation in care homes. Anyone with assets of less than
:13:15. > :13:20.�123,000 will be able to get help. That is an increase of nearly
:13:20. > :13:25.100,000 on the current threshold. It will be introduced in 2017 and
:13:25. > :13:28.care costs will not be backdated. There are many who are disappointed
:13:28. > :13:32.by the level of the cap, but for the first time this system could
:13:32. > :13:36.give people clarity about how much they might be expected to pay for
:13:36. > :13:46.care. The Government believes that will encourage people to plan for
:13:46. > :13:50.
:13:50. > :13:53.We make it possible for people to plan much earlier in their life,
:13:53. > :13:58.whether it's through insurance products, whether it's through a
:13:58. > :14:02.change in their pensions policy, to plan for that amount of money.
:14:02. > :14:08.The. The care Minister and Health Secretary, who were visiting
:14:08. > :14:13.residents at a home today, estimate by 2025 an extra 100,000 people
:14:13. > :14:17.will get support each year. But Labour describes the reforms as
:14:17. > :14:21.meek and says they don't address current problems. I am very
:14:21. > :14:25.concerned, it's not going to be fair for people with modest homes.
:14:25. > :14:31.Also, that it's not going to do anything for the thousands of
:14:31. > :14:35.families that are really struggling in the current care system.
:14:35. > :14:39.Campaigners also fear the cap has been set so high it won't help
:14:39. > :14:43.enough people. The independent commission that devised the funding
:14:43. > :14:48.system preferred a �35,000 limit. Even so, the man who wrote the
:14:48. > :14:50.report sees this as a start. There's a broad consensus across
:14:50. > :14:54.the stakeholders and even politically, of course some would
:14:54. > :14:57.like this to go further, some don't want to go this far, but to have
:14:57. > :15:03.change in this area I think is something to note and be pretty
:15:03. > :15:06.pleased about. The �1 billion cost of reform will
:15:07. > :15:10.be partly paid for by freezing the level at which people have to pay
:15:10. > :15:17.inheritance tax. There are slightly different systems elsewhere in the
:15:17. > :15:21.UK, including Scotland, where personal care is free.
:15:21. > :15:25.Our home editor is with me. Lots of figures out there, just who will be
:15:25. > :15:29.affected by these these changes? Fewer than you might imagine. Only
:15:29. > :15:35.one in four of us as pensioners will require residential care,
:15:35. > :15:40.which is where the big costs kick in, in terms of care. So, of that
:15:40. > :15:44.25%, perhaps one person in six or seven will actually have �75,000,
:15:44. > :15:52.in total it means quite a small proportion of people, perhaps only
:15:52. > :15:55.four or 5% of pensioners will need the benefit cap, - will benefit
:15:55. > :15:59.from that cap. The Government says that's not really the point.
:15:59. > :16:02.They're saying for the other 95% they will benefit because they'll
:16:02. > :16:12.be able to plan ahead and you heard the Minister talk about the
:16:12. > :16:14.
:16:14. > :16:17.insurance market, they'll be able to take out a product perhaps which
:16:17. > :16:19.will mean they'll be able to cover those costs. There are two big
:16:19. > :16:21.caveats, again you heard them mentioned. One is this only covers
:16:21. > :16:24.care costs and it doesn't cover those hotel costs, residential
:16:24. > :16:27.costs and in some places that can be more than the care. If you
:16:27. > :16:30.haven't got an income to cover that, you will have to dip into savings
:16:30. > :16:32.and you may still lose your house. The other is that this plan doesn't
:16:32. > :16:34.address perhaps the much bigger problem, which is the population
:16:34. > :16:38.ages, demand for adult social care is going up and at the moment in
:16:38. > :16:41.England supply of social care is going down. The number of adults
:16:41. > :16:45.getting social care has reduced a little over the last couple of
:16:45. > :16:49.years. Clarity perhaps, but some of the big questions remain. Thank you.
:16:49. > :16:52.For more details on this story you can visit the BBC News website.
:16:52. > :16:56.There is an explanation of the current system of social care and
:16:56. > :17:02.how the plans will affect people in England.
:17:02. > :17:05.You can also find out about the system in other parts of the UK.
:17:05. > :17:08.Tesco says they've found more traces of horsemeat in another
:17:09. > :17:11.product that's been on sale in their stores. DNA tests have found
:17:11. > :17:17.that some of its Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese contains more
:17:17. > :17:20.than 60% horsemeat. The meal - which has been withdrawn from sale
:17:20. > :17:24.- came from the French factory producing Findus beef lasagne. Now
:17:24. > :17:27.the Government's announced plans to test all processed beef products.
:17:27. > :17:32.Our medical correspondent Fergus Walsh looks at if there are any
:17:32. > :17:39.health concerns from eating horsemeat.
:17:39. > :17:43.Is it beef or horse? These are samples of bolognese sauce
:17:43. > :17:46.undergoing a battery of tests at that laboratory in south-west
:17:46. > :17:51.London. Every processed beef product on sale in the UK will have
:17:51. > :17:56.to undergo checks to see if they contain horsemeat. With initial
:17:56. > :18:01.results by the end of this week. Horsemeat in itself poses no risk
:18:01. > :18:06.to human health. But the tests here will also check for traces of an
:18:06. > :18:11.equine painkiller called phenylbutazone, or bute, which is
:18:11. > :18:15.banned in food products. The chemical can cause a serious blood
:18:16. > :18:22.disorder in humans but should it be found in horsemeat the threat to
:18:22. > :18:24.health is judged to be extremely low. There is no safe level
:18:24. > :18:30.established for phenylbutazone in food for human consumption. If it
:18:30. > :18:34.is found, though, it will be present, if at all, at parts per
:18:34. > :18:37.trillion level, low amounts and the risk there is very low. Of course
:18:37. > :18:44.it shouldn't be present, but I wouldn't want people to be unduly
:18:44. > :18:48.concerned. Tonight, Tesco confirmed some of its Everyday Value
:18:48. > :18:54.Spaghetti Bolognese were more than 60% horse, none contained
:18:54. > :18:59.phenylbutazone. Checks are still being carried out on Findus Beef
:18:59. > :19:01.Lasagne and two Aldi products. All have have been withdrawn from sale.
:19:01. > :19:06.The Environment Secretary said there was no evidence of a food
:19:06. > :19:11.safety risk, but of fraud and mislabelling. There appears to have
:19:11. > :19:14.been criminal activity in an attempt to defraud the consumer.
:19:14. > :19:19.The prime responsibility for dealing with this lies with
:19:19. > :19:22.retailers and food producers who need to demonstrate that they've
:19:22. > :19:27.taken all necessary actions to ensure the integrity of the food
:19:27. > :19:31.chain in this country. The supply chain of these products is highly
:19:31. > :19:39.complex. Meat from Romania went through different agents before
:19:39. > :19:42.arriving at a meat factory in south-western France. It supplied
:19:42. > :19:48.the Comigel plant who turned it into ready meals for 16 countries,
:19:48. > :19:52.including the UK, supplying Tesco, Findus and Aldi. Romania has flatly
:19:52. > :19:56.denied it's the source of the problem. The Prime Minister is
:19:57. > :20:01.furious his country has been implicated. I am very angry, to be
:20:01. > :20:06.very honest. No fraud has been committed by Romanian companies or
:20:06. > :20:11.on the Romanian territory. There may well be more revelations in the
:20:11. > :20:19.days ahead. The official advice to consumers is to keep buying and
:20:19. > :20:23.eating processed beef products. A mother's been reliving the moment
:20:23. > :20:26.that her son was shot dead in front of her in a pub in Manchester last
:20:26. > :20:29.year. She told a court that a masked gunman burst into the pub
:20:29. > :20:33.and opened fire. She was giving evidence in the trial of Dale
:20:33. > :20:36.Cregan, who is accused of killing her son and her partner, as well as
:20:36. > :20:42.two policewomen - Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes. Dale Cregan denies
:20:42. > :20:47.the charges. Ed Thomas reports. Through the rush hour traffic the
:20:47. > :20:53.convoy carrying Dale Cregan and his co-defendants is led into court.
:20:53. > :21:00.Inside, the jury was told about a feud between two families, the
:21:00. > :21:04.Shorts Ann Atkin sons that led to a -- and the Atkinsons.
:21:04. > :21:08.Today, David's partner and Mark's mother Michelle Kelly, told the
:21:08. > :21:13.court about an argument in a pub between the matriarch of the
:21:13. > :21:23.Atkinson family, and this man, Raymond Young from the Short family.
:21:23. > :21:28.
:21:28. > :21:32.She said Teresa Atkinson was 12 days later on 25th May last year,
:21:32. > :21:37.Mark Short was shot inside the Cotton Tree Pub. The jury's been
:21:37. > :21:41.shown this CCTV footage. The prosecution says Dale Cregan is in
:21:41. > :21:44.the parked car acting on behalf of the Atkinsons. He gets out, walks
:21:44. > :21:47.inside, and carries out the shooting, before running out and
:21:48. > :21:51.driving away. Michelle Kelly told the court what
:21:51. > :21:55.happened here the night her son was killed. She said she heard bang,
:21:55. > :22:01.bang, bang, then it was all over. Asked if she saw the gunman she
:22:01. > :22:05.said, yes, Mark tried to grab him. Three months later, David Short was
:22:05. > :22:11.killed at his home on the same day a grenade was thrown in a separate
:22:11. > :22:16.attack nearby. And in September, PC Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes were
:22:16. > :22:19.shot dead, again a grenade was used. The prosecution says Dale Cregan
:22:19. > :22:24.carried out the murders. Today in court he listened to the evidence
:22:24. > :22:32.against him along with his nine co- defendants. They deny all the
:22:32. > :22:35.charges and the case is expected to last for 12 weeks.
:22:35. > :22:38.Nine more NHS Hospital Trusts in England are to be investigated
:22:38. > :22:40.following concerns over higher than expected death rates. It follows a
:22:40. > :22:46.damning report into failures at Stafford Hospital where hundreds of
:22:46. > :22:51.patients are thought to have died after receiving poor care. Last
:22:51. > :22:54.week, it was announced five other Trusts would also be investigated.
:22:54. > :22:57.A man has died after a group of six hill-walkers went missing in the
:22:57. > :23:00.Cairngorms. The others, thought to be students from the Leeds area,
:23:00. > :23:06.were rescued by an RAF helicopter. More than 100 people from the
:23:06. > :23:10.police and mountain rescue teams were involved in the search.
:23:10. > :23:13.The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has told the BBC that he is
:23:13. > :23:15.very confident that the Lib Dems will hold on to the constituency of
:23:15. > :23:17.Eastleigh in Hampshire in the forthcoming by-election. The
:23:17. > :23:21.contest was forced by the resignation of Chris Huhne last
:23:21. > :23:28.week. Our deputy political editor James Landale has been on the
:23:28. > :23:31.campaign trail. The battle for Eastleigh has begun,
:23:31. > :23:35.an old railway town where the resignation of Chris Huhne is
:23:35. > :23:38.pitching Lib Dem against Tory for the first time in coalition. For
:23:38. > :23:43.this man the outcome could not matter more. Nick Clegg came here
:23:43. > :23:46.knowing that his party may control the council, it may be the
:23:46. > :23:50.incumbent with a slim majority but... You have to show that you
:23:50. > :23:53.can hold on to seats like this in the south of England. If you cannot,
:23:53. > :23:57.your prospects for the elections are poor. I am very confident we
:23:57. > :24:00.will hold on to this seat. But not because I say so, but because the
:24:00. > :24:04.people of Eastleigh are telling us they like the fact that it's
:24:04. > :24:08.Liberal Democrats locally who have been cutting council tax. They like
:24:08. > :24:12.the fact there's Liberal Democrats who have been creating jobs. Even
:24:13. > :24:16.though their MP lied to them? most people have to make a decision,
:24:16. > :24:23.the key question they'll ask themselves is who is going to put
:24:23. > :24:28.money back in my pocket, protect the green spaces we like? This is
:24:28. > :24:32.one of many seats the party will have to win if it wants a majority
:24:32. > :24:37.in in 2015. We think we have a chance to put a Conservative in.
:24:37. > :24:41.Just a chance? Well, you know, it's early days. I have seen a few by-
:24:42. > :24:46.elections in my time, and nothing entirely settles until all the
:24:46. > :24:50.candidates are there. We know from the opinion polls that we are ahead
:24:50. > :24:53.or just slightly behind, I think there is a lot to fight for.
:24:53. > :24:58.the Lib Dems and Tories the stakes here could not be higher. The
:24:58. > :25:02.result will have a huge impact on the morale of both parties and the
:25:02. > :25:07.future of their leader. For both sides there's only one outcome that
:25:07. > :25:11.matters. How well other parties do will
:25:11. > :25:17.shape that outcome. Labour want to win votes in the south but talk
:25:17. > :25:20.more of protests than victory. think that Labour is here to set
:25:20. > :25:24.out our alternative and to give people a way of sending a real
:25:24. > :25:28.protest to the Government and saying you are out of touch, we
:25:28. > :25:31.don't like what you are doing. The change you promised isn't happening.
:25:31. > :25:35.As for UKIP, their leader may not be standing, but they could pick up
:25:35. > :25:38.support from all the larger parties. The hard part for us is that the
:25:38. > :25:42.two parties that see themselves as contenders will throw the kitchen
:25:42. > :25:46.sink at it and we are not as big as them but there is this issue of
:25:46. > :25:49.Romanian and Bulgarian entry from 1st January next year in unlimited
:25:49. > :25:53.numbers to this constituency. Jobs and housing are real issues here
:25:53. > :25:56.and if that catches on we could do amazingly well. This by-election
:25:56. > :26:03.will be a test of which party can get more of its voters out on the
:26:03. > :26:06.day. But the outcome will have huge consequences for the coalition.
:26:07. > :26:14.There's more detail about the battle for Eastleigh and the list
:26:14. > :26:17.of candidates so far on our website. Back to our main story and the
:26:17. > :26:23.sudden resignation of Pope Benedict this morning. Huw Edwards is in
:26:23. > :26:28.Rome with the latest. Thank you. It's fair to say the impact of the
:26:28. > :26:32.news has been felt around the world, not just talking about the Roman
:26:32. > :26:36.Catholic Church with its 1.3 billion members, world governments,
:26:36. > :26:41.too. There's intense interest in the outcome of the race that is
:26:41. > :26:46.starting today. With me is the BBC's David Willey who spent 40
:26:46. > :26:49.years in this city observing Vatican matters. How does today
:26:49. > :26:54.rank in your experience? Unprecedented. I have never seen a
:26:54. > :26:57.day like this because even in previous centuries the transition
:26:57. > :27:05.from one Pope to another has always followed a certain pattern. The
:27:05. > :27:09.Pope gets sick, he dies, and then his successor is elected. This time
:27:09. > :27:13.the Pope is not dead, the Pope is going to be hovering in the
:27:13. > :27:17.background. When the Cardinals arrive in in Rome in the coming
:27:17. > :27:20.weeks to elect his successor, it's an unprecedented situation and we
:27:20. > :27:23.are in unchartered territory. are hinting strongly that because
:27:23. > :27:27.the Pope is still with us, the next few weeks could be very interesting
:27:27. > :27:33.as that race progresses. Very interesting indeed. Of course the
:27:33. > :27:37.big question is shall we have another foreign Pope? Will there be
:27:37. > :27:41.an Italian returning to run this empire of the Church? Could it be
:27:41. > :27:45.that there's going to be the first ever African Pope? Or even an
:27:45. > :27:50.Asian? These are all possibilities. However, one thing we can be sure
:27:50. > :27:55.about, which is that the next Pope is going to be chosen, if not
:27:55. > :28:01.directly, but very indirectly by Pope Benedict, who has put all his
:28:01. > :28:06.men in positions of command in the Vatican for the succession. So even
:28:06. > :28:11.though he won't be Pope, he is still going to play a very