13/02/2013 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten - a new system of random tests on meat is recommended

by the European Commission. It is the latest response to the horse

meat scandal now affecting much of the EU, as ministers act to restore

confidence. The meeting today showed complete determination to

reassure the consumer. When they go to buy a product, they will get

what they want. The owner of one of the two British firms raided

yesterday has denied any wrongdoing. I do not do kebabs, I do not do

beefburgers. This is not a processing plant. We will have the

latest from Brussels, where ministers have been holding talks

this evening. Also tonight... A squeeze on household income for

another two years at least, says the Governor of the Bank of England.

A deadly new virus strain has affected a third patient in the UK,

thought to be spread from person to A final public mass for Pope

Benedict, as he prepares to stand down at the end of the month. And

an early goal for Manchester United as they take on Real Madrid in the

Champions League. Coming up in Sportsday, on the BBC News Channel,

a will have the best of the action Good evening. The European

Commission is recommending a new system of random testing of meat,

starting on 1st March, in response to the horse meat scandal. It says

products being sold as processed beef should be tested for horse DNA.

The Prime Minister has warned that any British firms passing off horse

meat as beef will face the "full intervention of the law". Our

correspondent Hugh Pym has the latest. This scandal knows no

national boundaries. Today, Germany, Switzerland and Norway all ordered

withdrawals of some products, which were thought to be suspect. A

meeting of European ministers in Brussels came up with proposals

including testing processed beef for horse DNA across the European

Union, and tougher law enforcement. They raised the possibility that

there had been a criminal conspiracy. At this stage, we

honestly do not know. But the meeting today showed complete

determination to reassure the consumer. People should know that

when they go and buy a processed beef product, they get beef, they

do not get horse. Back in the UK, the focus was on this plant in west

Wales, after officials from the Food Standards Agency entered with

police yesterday. The owner denied that horse meat handled here was

put into products for UK consumers. I get paid for doing the cutting up.

There is no further processing. I do not to mince meet, kebabs or

beefburgers. This is not a processing plant, it is purely

production, meat cutting. This slaughter house in West Yorkshire

is also at the centre of inquiries. It is said to have supplied the

Welsh plant with horse meat. Shoppers at a local farmer's market

today had varying opinions on the debate about ready meals. I do not

trust it now, to be honest. Obviously, you do not know what

you're getting in the packs. There is no health hazard with horse meat,

it should not be in there, but there is no health hazard - the

French eat it all of the time. officials say they are examining a

paper trail, including documents seized during the raids on the two

meat Plan C yesterday. The Chancellor, on a factory visit,

said he had full confidence in British food, though he rejected

requests to sample a birdie made spaghetti bolognese. The Prime

Minister told MPs that any wrongdoing would be punished. -- a

ready made spaghetti bolognese. have asked for meaningful tests

from retailers and producers, and those will be published in full.

Laboratories are now carrying out those tests, and the first results

will be published on Friday. Criminal inquiries will continue,

along with the scientific, as ministers hint there may be further

raids on meat processing plants. As I mentioned, ministers have been

hoarding those talks in Brussels this evening, and Christian Fraser

is there for us. What progress are the authorities making? In recent

weeks there has been a lot of finger-pointing and blame shifting

between the member states. Today was an opportunity to come together

and share intelligence. On the ground that is already happening.

We have been told that vets from different countries are in other

countries, under reciprocal deals. What they want to do is to collate

all of the information. Tomorrow, Owen Paterson will go to The Hague

to ask the European police agency to get involved, to pull all the

strands of the investigation to go there. He wants the Food Standards

Agency is within the member states to share data better than they have

been doing. But they also need to know how widescale the problem is.

To that end, they have introduced a new testing regime. From 1st March,

for three months, if approved, there would be testing on two

devils. Firstly, a test for equine DNA, and secondly for horse which

is legitimately in the food chain, which will be tested for the banned

chemical phenylbutazone. And so, by May, we should know how many of us

have been a unknowingly eating horse, and whether those

reassurances they have been giving us, namely that the horse meat is

entirely safe, are in fact correct. growth and a squeeze on average

incomes for at least another two years, according to the outgoing

Governor of the Bank of England. Sir Mervyn King warned that the

economy would remain weak until the time of the next election, while

inflation will remain stubbornly high. But he insisted that recovery

was within sight, as our economics editor, Stephanie Flanders,

explains. The Bank of England was celebrating a birthday today, the

20th anniversary of its inflation report. Sir Mervyn King has

presented all 81 of the quarterly reports since 1993, and today, he

tried, against the odds, to find some good news. The UK economy is

therefore set for a recovery. That is not to say that the road ahead

will be smoked. This has not been a normal recession, and it will not

be a normal recovery. -- smooth. The new forecasts show the economy

growing this year, but not quite as fast as they were hoping back in

November. And once again, the forecast for inflation is quite a

forecast for inflation is quite a lot higher. Inflation has been well

above target for the best part of seven years. Back in November, the

best guess of the Bank of England was that it would fall back to 2%

by the beginning of next year. It now thinks it will rise again over

the next few months, and still be around 3% in one year's time. There

are different things pushing up inflation, but Governor said quite

inflation, but Governor said quite a few, like the rising tuition fees,

were the result of government policies. Whether it is education,

green policies, what they have done is to push up prices, which clearly

makes our job in the short run more difficult. Do you think that is

something they should have borne in mind? I hope they did, but it is up

to them to decide on those. We will have to deal with the consequences.

They will have to look through some of those price increases. Looking

through inflation means ignoring it. Any saver hoping for an early rise

in interest rates will be disappointed, as will anyone who

was hoping that the squeeze in living standards might finally be

about to end. In real terms, average earnings are now back to

where they were 10 years ago. If the Bank of England is right, real

living standards could carry on falling even into 2015. There was

more bad news from high street today, as the clothing chain

Republic told its 2,500 staff it was going into administration. Sir

Mervyn said the Government should be doing its best to boost growth

over the long term, but he did not seem to see much scope for a short-

term boost, either from the Chancellor or from the Bank of

England. I think there is some frustration, the Bank of England

have in many ways to run the kitchen sink at this problem, in

terms of the monetary policy response, yet the real economy has

been broadly flat for four years. So, something other than interest

rate cuts or printing more money needs to be done to spare a

recovery. The Bank of England will reach another milestone in July,

when Mark Carney becomes governor. He may want to strike a different

tone, but if these new forecasts are right, his first order of

business will be rather familiar - explaining to the Chancellor when

inflation has gone over 3% yet again.

Live to Westminster now, and our deputy political editor, James

Landale, joins us from there. What impact do you think this will have

on the political battle had? A lot of economic debate is about

forecasts and statistics, and frankly, a lot of it will be

meaningless to many of us. But the cost of living is one thing that we

all understand. That's why the Labour leader has seized on these

figures, showing that the cost of living is rising, while average

earnings are falling. That's why he pressed the Prime Minister on it in

the House of Commons today. And that's why in The Guardian

newspaper tonight, he is promising to fight what he calls a cost-of-

living election. He is arguing that the cost of living is rising, which,

he says, proves that the Government's economic policies are

failing. It can be an effective political argument. A long time ago,

Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter to become President of the United

States in part because he asked voters, do you feel better off than

you did four years ago? The Government says, it is tackling the

cost of living, it has frozen fuel duty, cut council tax and reduced

income tax for millions of low-paid workers. More pointedly, ministers

say, all of this talk from Mr Miliband about the cost of living

in their eyes covered up the fact that Labour have yet to put forward

a coherent argument on economics which is owned alternative, which

the voters can trust. That's the shifting battleground of politics

and economics. And we're just a few weeks away from a pretty important

budget. A third case of infection from a new strain of virus has been

confirmed in the United Kingdom. A man who is in intensive care in

Birmingham to fully thought to be the first confirmed example of the

new coronavirus being passed from person to person. The Health

Protection Agency is monitoring the case closely, as Fergus Walsh

reports. This rare and new coronavirus has killed half the

people it has infected. Now, for the first time, it has been

transmitted in Britain. A man is in intensive care in this Birmingham

hospital, having been infected by his father, who is also seriously

ill, having brought back the virus from the Middle East last month.

The virus emerged in Saudi Arabia last year, and there have been

cases in Jordan and Qatar. Of the 11 people infected worldwide, five

have died, and three men are in intensive care in the UK. The virus,

which may have originally come from bats, attacks the lungs, causing

pneumonia, and it can also damage other organs, like the kidneys. But

fortunately, the virus does not pass easily between humans.

consider that the risk to the UK population, whether within the

country, or travelling abroad, remains very low indeed. Of course

it is a concern to us that there is an infection which has caused

severe illness, and which we know very little about, and indeed,

where it has come from. But nevertheless, the number of cases

worldwide remains very, very lo. This is as close as I can get to

the coronavirus, which is being analysed in a high containment

laboratory like this one. But what about people who may have

unwittingly come into contact with the bug in the 17 days since the

man flew back in from Saudi Arabia? Well, health officials have traced

up to 100 contacts, including people who were sitting near him on

the plane, and no-one, apart from his son, has fallen seriously ill.

It is worth noting that the son has a weakened immune system, which may

have made him more vulnerable. This is one of the most worrying new

pathogens to emerge since SARS, which killed 800 people worldwide a

decade ago. Thankfully, this virus Six journalists who worked at the

News of the World have been arrested following a new

investigation into phone hacking. Three men and three women,

including two journalists currently working at The Sun, were questioned

by Scotland Yard detectives about an alleged conspiracy to intercept

phone calls. Five of them have been given bail until May. The European

Union and the United States are to start negotiations on a free-trade

agreement, which has the potential to be the largest in the world. The

two sides say they want to get as close as possible to eliminating

tariffs, or import taxes, for all industrial and agricultural goods.

Trade between the EU and the USA is Day. Pope Benedict has celebrated

his last public mass before he steps down at the end of the month.

Thousands of worshippers filled St Peter's for the service, marking

the start of elect. Earlier in the day, the Pope told pilgrims at his

weekly audience, that he didn't have the physical or spiritual

strength to continue in office. The meeting of cardinals to elect

the new hope is expected to start in the middle of March.

On Ash Wednesday, Catholics remember that the body is mortal,

only the soul endures. Pope Benedict, in his encroaching

frailty is, by his own acknowledgement, testimony to that.

This is the last scheduled mass he'll celebrate as Pope.

They had to move the service from a much smaller church in Rome to St

Peter's itself, to accommodate all those who wanted to be here, a

measure of how deeply his resignation has moved the faithful.

These are the emotionally-charged last days of Benedict XVI.

Whatever he says over the next two weeks will carry enormous symbolic

significance, bus his remarks will have the character of carefully-

chosen last words a kind of legacy- statement. Already the question is

being raised here: will Pope Benedict's influence retire with

him? Or will it go on? He will live in this former monastery inside the

Vatican walls, a neighbour of the new Pope. Is there a danger that

his presence will undermine the credibility or legitimacy of his

successor? Will there be two Popes in the Vatican? This morning crowds

gathered for his usual Wednesday audience. Among them a party of

schoolchildren from Wiltshire. It's quite an honour, really,

especially as it is one of his last gatherings. It is quite special to

be here. It was once said that Pope Benedict

lacked charisma. No-one says it now. The shock that greeted his

resignation has given way to an open, boisterous affection for a

visibly old man. He said again that his going was for the good of the

church, that the modern world moved rapidly, shaking the life of faith.

TRANSLATION: I'm well aware of the gravity of such an act but at the

same time I'm aware of not being able it carry out my papal ministry

with the papal and spiritual strength it requires. -- to carry

out. In saying explicitly - I'm too old to carry on, is he also saying

implicitly to the church's leaders - this place of me, choose someone

young, someone vigorous. But that's for tomorrow. Today they came to

see the Pope who today was doing something that to me, seems bold,

selfless and brave. Still to come:

The North-South housing divide. Are rich areas in the south of England

benefiting at the expense of poorer regions SNP

In his first State of the Union address of his second term,

President Obama has urged Congress to back his plans to revive the

sluggish US economy. He appealed on politicians on all sides to back

gun law reforms. The response was decidedly mixed.

This President doesn't stop campaigning just because the

election is over. He visited this North Carolina factory to urge

people to get behind the ambitious plans he announced in Congress.

There he needs all the friends he can get. Republicans control the

House and they are likely to stop into laws. The broad grin vanished

as he lectured them. He said harsh cuts which will kick in next month

had to be stopped. No more peering over the Fiscal Cliff. Lets set

party interests aside and work to pass a budget which replaces cuts

with savings. Let's do it without the brinkmanship that stresses

consumers and scares off investors. The greatest nation on earth - the

greatest nation on earth cannot keep conducting its business by

drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next.

We can't do it. He said he wanted to rebuild the

economy for the middle class, raise it's minimum wage, fight climate

change, help illegal immigrants and rein in American's gun culture for

the sake of the families of victims, who were in the audience. They

deserve a vote. APPLAUSE

. They deserve a vote. They deserve a vote. The families of Newtown

deserve a vote. The families of Aurora deserve a vote and Tucson

and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence.

President's constrapbt refrain during the speech - just give us a

vote - underlines his weakness. Without some Republican support all

his plans will come to nought and most want to oppose him. The man

had gave the Republican's reply is a rising star.

He was uncompromising but clearly wants it change his party's image.

I still live in the same working- class neighbourhood I grew up with.

My neighbours aren't millionaires, they are retiree who is depend on

Social Security and Medicare. They are workers who have to get up

tomorrow morning to go to work to pay the bills. The President's

returning to the White House hoping that some Republicans see

compromise as an essential part of a new aim dge.

A lur representing 31 people who alleged they were abused by Jimmy

Savile has issued a writ against Savile's estate and the BBC. -- a

lawyer. There are more than 90 people pursuing legal action in the

wake of scandal. The cases are put on hold until the outcome of a

series of inquiries. A billion pound Government scheme

to encourage house building will benefit rich areas in the south of

England at the expense of poorer councils in the north of England

according to critics. Councils in a number of northern authorities say

the new homes bonus moves millions from deprived neighbourhoods to of

a fluent parts of the country. Ministers say the scheme fairly

rewards those councils which need houses to be built. Is the

Government's housing policy building a new North South twied

across engstphrand councillors in places like Dewer -- across

England? Councillors in Durham arguing that a scheme to build new

homes is diverting money from deprived areas in the north to the

south. The existing pot of money is given

to English local authorities by the Government. Every council

contributes the same proportion from their grant. The cash is

redistributed to councils, according to the number of houses

built in their area. The new homes bonus means poorer northern

councils pay more money in, because their budgets are bigger, and get

less money out, because rewards are based on the value of the new homes.

And property prices here are much lower than they are in the south.

So we're all losing from all the councils across the north. Councils

in the north-east have been crunching the numbers to illustrate

the policy's impact across England. Those areas where residents gain

overall are marked in green. Those that lose in red. The money we are

getting back is less than the amount we are losing, so this is

increasing the amounts of cuts we're having to make here in the

north-east, while elsewhere, it produces extra resource for

councils in the of a fluent south. The latest map reveals how in

Durham the net effect is the council loses �14.25 per person but

in Windsor and Maidenhead the council gains �12.32. The more

expensive the home, generally the more money you get, benefiting

places like leafy Berkshire. But councillors here point out the new

homes bonus is only part of the overall grant from Whitehall.

Overall, if you look at the funding position, Windsor and Maidenhead

get far lest per head or per dwelling than authorities in the

north. I think any incentive for housing must be welcomed.

Housing Minister stands by his policy. Arguing that it encourages

councils to support building in place whereas desmand highest.

you look at the situation say for the north-east, seven of the

authorities there are getting above average in their lever all local

government finance settlement. are not losing out. They are losing

on the new homes bonus. Overall they are not losing out. Those

councils who are building, and I can see several large green areas

in the north, are actually benefiting. Conservatives

complained during Labour years Government money moved north. Now

Labour authorities say the Tories are rewarding their friends in the

south. Some football news now. One of this

season's most eagerly anticipated matches, the first leg of

Manchester United's Champions' League tie against Real Madrid

ended in a 1-1 draw. United took the lead but it was their former

player, Ronaldo, who equalised for the home side.

Real Madrid are the crats of European football. No other club

has won the top troughy more times. They haven't done for more than a

decade. A poor return for the worlds's richest club. Still for

the current leaders of the English Premier League, the rare role of

underdog. Within five minutes, Manchester United almost played

their part. David De Gea just tomorrowed the ball on to the post.

-- toppleed. Then, amid all the promise of Spanish poetry, a goal

of English prose. Rooney's corner, Wellbeck's header, simple. Jose

Mourinho's hand, whipping enthusiasm and spraying disgust.

Which could have only one riposte, from the head of the ex-United

player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Not so much jumping ASLEF Taiting.

COMMENTATOR: A wonderful header. -- as levitating. The second half was

a tale of three feet. One was David De Gea's used for a hung few chop

strange but it worked. The other two belonged to Robin van Persie.

First aer in-miss then a bemusing miss. 1-1. Plenty more to look

forward to. Now Newsnight is starting on BBC