:00:14. > :00:18.privatised, raising around �3 billion. Ministers say it is the
:00:18. > :00:22.best way to invest in the future of the service and give workers a real
:00:23. > :00:28.stake. Our scheme will be the biggest employee share scheme of any
:00:28. > :00:30.major privatation for nearly 30 years.
:00:30. > :00:34.But unions say there is no case for privatisation and they are
:00:34. > :00:37.considering strike action. believe the Government are deluded
:00:38. > :00:42.about selling Royal Mail. We will be asking what the sell-off to mean for
:00:42. > :00:47.the quality and the cost of postal services. Also tonight:
:00:47. > :00:50.An independent review of MPs' salaries recommends a total pay rise
:00:50. > :00:53.of more than 11%. We'll have the details.
:00:53. > :00:58.With the greatest respect you have failed. You have failed. Under
:00:58. > :01:03.attack - the BBC accused by MPs of wasting money on big severance
:01:03. > :01:08.payments for executives. The SAS sniper, Danny Nightingale,
:01:08. > :01:14.is found guilty by a military court, of illegal possession of a gun and
:01:14. > :01:20.ammunition. And the wickets tumble on a dramatic
:01:21. > :01:26.first day of the Ashes at Trent Bridge.
:01:26. > :01:30.In Sportsday: News Froome strengthenings his hold on the
:01:30. > :01:40.yellow jersey finishing second in today's time trial at the Tour de
:01:40. > :01:54.
:01:55. > :01:59.Good evening. Royal Mail is to be privatised in the biggest sell off
:01:59. > :02:03.by Government for more than 20ers yoo. Vince Cable, the Business
:02:03. > :02:07.Secretary -- for more than 20 years. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary,
:02:07. > :02:10.says the universal service will continue, staff will get shares but
:02:10. > :02:14.the union says there is no case for privatisation and they are now
:02:14. > :02:19.considering strike action. It is a key national service which
:02:19. > :02:22.handles 58 million items every day. Now the Government has confirmed
:02:22. > :02:27.details of Royal Mail's privatisation, the biggest state
:02:27. > :02:33.sell-off in years. Britain's large largest Post Office.
:02:33. > :02:37.For decades it was seen as labour intensive, antiquated, propped up by
:02:37. > :02:40.tax payers' cash. But today its profits are soaring, on the back of
:02:40. > :02:46.higher prices, the growth of online retailing and tens of thousands of
:02:46. > :02:50.job losses. Successive governments have tried and failed to privatise
:02:50. > :02:54.Royal Mail. But in the Commons, the Business Secretary said it would be
:02:54. > :03:00.floated on the stock market. Although Labour remain unconvinced.
:03:00. > :03:03.Now the time has come for Government to step back from Royal Mail, allow
:03:03. > :03:08.its management to focus whole heartedly on growing the business
:03:08. > :03:15.and planning for the future. It's now time for employees to hold a
:03:15. > :03:19.stake in the company and share in its success. So, Mr Speaker, having
:03:19. > :03:22.nationalised the organisations' debts by taking on its mention
:03:22. > :03:27.liabilities, they now want to privatise the profit, at the very
:03:27. > :03:32.time it is making money. How on earth does that make any sense?
:03:32. > :03:36.public will be able to buy shares in the business, via a special website
:03:36. > :03:44.or through stockbrokers. It's expected to be valued at up to �3
:03:44. > :03:48.billion. But what will it all mean for Royal Mail's 165,000 workers?
:03:48. > :03:52.Some fear privatisation. This morning union members brought their
:03:52. > :03:59.concerns to the company's central London headquarters. Staff will
:03:59. > :04:03.receive free shares, amounting to 10% of the business. It's a possibly
:04:03. > :04:07.windfall of up to �2,000. I don't think our members will be bought off
:04:07. > :04:11.by the free share issues. We will not take people to take something
:04:11. > :04:15.that's not on offer for free. That's not a referendum on will people
:04:15. > :04:18.think privatisation is the right thing. The postal union is so
:04:18. > :04:23.concerned about privatisation, that it has announced its intention to
:04:23. > :04:27.ballot for industrial action. That raises the very real prospect of a
:04:27. > :04:31.national strike, and mail at a standstill at the very time when the
:04:31. > :04:35.Government is trying to sell off its business. But what will the sell-off
:04:35. > :04:39.mean for Royal Mail's millions of customers? Should they be worried?
:04:39. > :04:42.When things are privatised, people want it make money. If it is
:04:43. > :04:47.privatised, they'll have to compete and hopefully that'll benefit
:04:47. > :04:50.everybody. I think consumers will continue to see quite sharp price
:04:50. > :04:55.rises on the price of stamps over the next few years, but they will
:04:55. > :04:59.also see a private Royal Mail maybe starting to be less generous with
:04:59. > :05:04.them in terms of the scope of the services it offers. Royal Mail also
:05:04. > :05:08.faces challenges in this brave new world. One rival, TNT, has 1,000
:05:08. > :05:15.postmen on the streets of London and hopes to have up to 20,000 around
:05:15. > :05:20.the UK in five years' time. With me is business editor, Robert
:05:20. > :05:24.Peston. We heard there that there is a view in some quarters that this is
:05:24. > :05:28.a business that is no longer a burden on the taxpayer so, what is
:05:28. > :05:33.the rational? The presumption of both parties in the coalition is
:05:33. > :05:36.that organisations that look like businesses - and Royal Mail does
:05:36. > :05:42.increasingly look like a business - have no place being in the public
:05:42. > :05:46.sector. Why do I say Royal Mail looks nor like a business these days
:05:46. > :05:50.than a public service? For example, a huge chunk of what is does is
:05:50. > :05:52.deliver parcels and there it is subject to significant competition.
:05:52. > :05:57.Royal Mail's management, for example, would say that their
:05:57. > :06:02.ability to make proper commercial decisions, decisions that will
:06:02. > :06:06.benefit the business, and its employees, will be enhanced if they
:06:06. > :06:09.don't have ministers breathing down their necks the whole time. The
:06:09. > :06:12.ministers themselves, actually will say they don't really like it when
:06:12. > :06:15.something goes wrong at Royal Mail, being blamed for the letters not
:06:15. > :06:19.turning up, for example. And there is another point: Which is that
:06:19. > :06:22.Royal Mail has invested a great deal in recent years, one of the reasons
:06:22. > :06:26.why it is doing pretty well. It wants to continue to invest
:06:26. > :06:31.significant sums. The Government, as I think we all know, has a fair
:06:31. > :06:35.amount of debt on its balance sheet and is not keen to take on more
:06:35. > :06:39.debt. So, both ministers and management say, in the private
:06:39. > :06:44.sector, the great thing is that the company can borrow to invest, and
:06:44. > :06:47.thass' not a burden on tax payers. -- and that's not a burden. But as
:06:47. > :06:54.you astutely pointed out, it is a business that's currently making
:06:54. > :06:56.profits and it has been turned around while state-owned. So in a
:06:56. > :07:01.sense Royal Mail demonstrate it is possible to have a relatively
:07:01. > :07:06.successful business in the public sector. Now, the union is proposing
:07:06. > :07:12.a sort of half-way house. Where you would have a not-for-profit company,
:07:12. > :07:17.but at some arm's length from the Government and it could therefore
:07:17. > :07:22.borrow without that debt falling again on tax payers. I don't think
:07:22. > :07:26.the CWU is going to win the argue um. It seems to me the momentum
:07:26. > :07:28.towards privatisation is unstoppable. But I don't think the
:07:28. > :07:33.CWU's argument is completely incoherent.
:07:33. > :07:36.Thank you very much. Now, MPs will learn tomorrow what
:07:36. > :07:39.the independent Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is
:07:39. > :07:44.recommending as a pay rise for them. David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick
:07:44. > :07:48.Clegg have already urged restraint. Let's go live to Westminster. Our
:07:48. > :07:52.Political Editor Nick Robinson. What have you learned? There have been
:07:52. > :07:58.rumours about the figure for weeks. I can reveal that figure is �74,000
:07:58. > :08:02.a year. Compared with now, it is an increase of more than 1 # 1%. But --
:08:02. > :08:08.11%. But, given that the increase is only due to come into after the next
:08:08. > :08:12.election, 2015, and MPs will have had a couple of pay rises, 1% before
:08:12. > :08:18.then t would then be an increase of about 9%. Whatever the figure is, it
:08:18. > :08:22.is clear it is not going to be popular and the independent body
:08:22. > :08:27.IPSA knows that very well. The primes Saud in fans of -- Prime
:08:27. > :08:31.Minister said in advance of seeing this, he was not in favour of an
:08:31. > :08:35.increase in the cost of politics. There will be a squeeze on their
:08:35. > :08:38.pension scheme, a squeeze on expenses and a squeeze on their
:08:38. > :08:41.resettlement payments if they lose their seats. But the Prime Minister
:08:41. > :08:46.is going to be disappointed. Those squeezes will not be enough to pay
:08:46. > :08:49.for that pay rise. There will be a total increase. So he has a problem.
:08:49. > :08:53.Nick Clegg said he thought this was an impossible sell to the wider
:08:53. > :08:57.public and that he personally wouldn't take the pay rise. He has
:08:57. > :09:02.got a problem. Ed Miliband said it shouldn't be more than the public
:09:02. > :09:06.sector pay increases of about 1%. He, too, has a problem. Why, Huw?
:09:06. > :09:10.Because the very point of having an independent review, was that
:09:10. > :09:14.Government had nothing to do with this and Parliament could not vote
:09:14. > :09:18.on T that was meant to be the solution to the expenses scandal. --
:09:18. > :09:24.vote on it. The one hope they all have is that there is a review of
:09:24. > :09:26.this after the next election and a consultation now. So IPSA could just
:09:26. > :09:31.change their mind, if there is enough pressure on them. Thank you
:09:31. > :09:35.very much. Now, Lord Patten, the Chairman of
:09:35. > :09:38.the BBC Trust says he was shocked and dismayed by the pay-offs given
:09:38. > :09:41.to some senior executives, in breach of theed corporation's own
:09:41. > :09:44.guidelines. -- in breach of the corporation's.
:09:44. > :09:48.He was being questioned by the Public Accounts Committee. Members
:09:48. > :09:51.of the BBC Trust said they now questioned assurances they had been
:09:51. > :09:54.given by the former Director-General, Mark Thompson.
:09:54. > :10:02.The BBC has, over the last few years, been slimming down, getting
:10:02. > :10:05.rid of managers. But the pay-offs? �949,000 #230r the deputy
:10:05. > :10:09.Director-General, Mark Byford. �486,000 for the former
:10:09. > :10:13.Director-General, George Entwistle. The BBC spent �25 million on deals
:10:13. > :10:19.like this over the last three years. And from the outset of today's
:10:19. > :10:22.bruising encounter with MPs, the bruising encounter with MPs, the
:10:22. > :10:26.Trust that oversees the BBC is clear about what it felt. It was a
:10:26. > :10:29.question of shock and dismay for us to discover how many had been beyond
:10:29. > :10:33.contractual and, therefore, had been even higher than they needed to be.
:10:33. > :10:38.It is not just the size of the payments that alarmed MPs. It's the
:10:38. > :10:42.fact that the BBC was paying more than it needed to. Did the BBC Trust
:10:43. > :10:49.know this was going on? The answer was no. And then came the next
:10:49. > :10:55.question. And it was from the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee?
:10:55. > :10:59.Should the trust have known? Yes. And if you call, in due course, a
:10:59. > :11:03.previous Director-General of the BBC, I will be as interested as you
:11:03. > :11:07.are in why we didn't know. The man he was pointing the finger at, is
:11:07. > :11:12.here in the middle, the former Director-General, Mark Thompson. He
:11:12. > :11:16.had made certain assurances to the Trust. But he wasn't the only one
:11:16. > :11:21.involved in the process. Why did you not, you know, just put your food
:11:21. > :11:25.not, you know, just put your food down? You are head of HR there?
:11:25. > :11:27.think the overwhelming focus was to get numbers out of the door as
:11:27. > :11:31.get numbers out of the door as quickly as possible. It's public
:11:31. > :11:36.money. You know, it's the licence fee payers' money. It's not your
:11:36. > :11:40.fee payers' money. It's not your money. I accept - the BBC has
:11:40. > :11:45.accepted many of the criticisms within the report that too often we
:11:45. > :11:51.were too generous. The BBC spent too much. That's why its new boss is now
:11:51. > :12:00.going to be capping future pay-offs. I think we'd lost the plot. We'd
:12:00. > :12:05.lost the way. We got dedeviled by zeros on various salaries.
:12:05. > :12:08.former controller, Roly Keating has paid back his �376,000. The Chair of
:12:08. > :12:12.theed Public Accounts Committee say others should follow his lead. --
:12:12. > :12:16.the chair of the Public Accounts Committee. In its defence the BBC
:12:16. > :12:24.say it is saving �19 million a year by cutting managers but accepts it
:12:24. > :12:28.could have, perhaps, saved more. An SAS sniper has been convicted of
:12:28. > :12:35.illegally possessing a pos toll and more than 300 rounds of ammunition.
:12:35. > :12:42.-- pistol. Danny Nightingale was found guilty by a court martial. The
:12:42. > :12:44.court attracted attention when the Court of Appeal quashed the original
:12:44. > :12:47.Court of Appeal quashed the original conviction. He has fought in
:12:47. > :12:52.dangerous battles all over the world but today his legal fight to clear
:12:52. > :13:02.his name ended in defeat. An experience he summed up in one word.
:13:02. > :13:04.
:13:05. > :13:10.experience he summed up in one word. Shocking. If didn't have such a
:13:10. > :13:13.stroll firmly, we would be broken. We are close to financial ruin. I am
:13:13. > :13:19.very lucky, Sal has been amazing throughout, dad and the rest of the
:13:19. > :13:25.family. His wife, Sally, said they still believed he was innocent and
:13:25. > :13:28.thanked the public for campaigning on his behalf. I say thanks for
:13:28. > :13:33.their support, I say continue to support us because he is not guilty
:13:33. > :13:39.and he is not a criminal. This was the Glock pistol that the court
:13:39. > :13:44.decided Danny Nightingale owned, and all authorised -- unauthorised war
:13:44. > :13:49.trophy. He confessed into bringing it back to Britain, breaking all
:13:49. > :13:54.military rules, even for the SAS. was intended to be decommissioned,
:13:54. > :13:59.it is something I never got around to. I appreciate it is very naive
:13:59. > :14:04.and something I should have done but haven't yet. In court, it claimed
:14:04. > :14:10.this was a false confession, brought on because of severe brain damage he
:14:10. > :14:14.suffered during a charity run in the Amazon forest. His case generated
:14:14. > :14:18.huge interest from the public. In their view he was a veteran SAS
:14:18. > :14:22.soldier unfairly prosecuted for simple having a gun and ammunition.
:14:22. > :14:28.Campaigners say that this by Beagle two verdicts, the support will
:14:28. > :14:32.continue -- that despite the guilty verdicts. I hope the court will take
:14:32. > :14:38.account of the fact that this man was severely brain-damaged on a
:14:38. > :14:41.charity run in Brazil and has given so much service to the country.
:14:41. > :14:45.spokesman for the military said Danny Nightingale had received the
:14:45. > :14:48.retrial he was looking for and any sentence would be down to the
:14:48. > :14:53.military jury that tried him. It added that Jerry should take account
:14:53. > :14:58.of the fact that he is a fine soldier. -- that jury. It is not
:14:58. > :15:05.often that the words SAS soldier and defeat share the same sentence. But
:15:05. > :15:15.Downing Nightingale -- Danny Nightingale's career is at an end
:15:15. > :15:15.
:15:15. > :15:18.because he broke one of the rules of law.
:15:18. > :15:25.Boston Marathon bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded NOT
:15:25. > :15:31.guilty to all charges. The 19-year-old was driven to his first
:15:31. > :15:35.court appearance with a large police escort. He faces 30 counts of using
:15:35. > :15:38.a weapon of mass destruction in the April blasts that killed three - and
:15:38. > :15:39.injured 260. Prosecutors could press for the death penalty for some
:15:39. > :15:42.counts. The chief executive of the rail
:15:42. > :15:45.company whose runaway train derailed and exploded in Quebec has blamed a
:15:45. > :15:49.local engineer for failing to apply the handbrake. 60 people are now
:15:49. > :15:51.known to be dead or missing in the town of Lac-Megantic after Saturday
:15:51. > :15:53.morning's disaster. At least 30 buildings were destroyed by the
:15:53. > :15:56.explosion. David Cameron has rejected a
:15:56. > :15:59.suggestion by the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, of a cap of �5,000 on
:15:59. > :16:03.individual donations to political parties. The Prime Minister said it
:16:03. > :16:06.would put an unfair burden on taxpayers to make up the shortfall.
:16:06. > :16:11.And he accused Mr Miliband of seeking to divert attention from the
:16:11. > :16:15.row about union influence in the Labour Party. Our deputy political
:16:15. > :16:18.editor, James Landale, has the story.
:16:18. > :16:24.Who should pay for our politics? The days, Labour has been criticised for
:16:24. > :16:27.taking cash from the trade unions but today, Ed Miliband turned fire
:16:27. > :16:35.on the Conservatives, claiming they had received millions from city
:16:35. > :16:39.bankers. The result was a wall of noise. 6p a week in affiliation fees
:16:39. > :16:43.from ordinary people up and down this country, against a party funded
:16:43. > :16:49.by a few millionaires at the top. I am willing, as I have said before,
:16:49. > :16:53.to have a �5,000 limit on donations from trade unions, businesses and
:16:53. > :17:00.individuals. Is he willing to do that? He wasn't. The Prime Minister
:17:00. > :17:04.said he would support a cap but not one set so low. It would imply a
:17:04. > :17:08.massive amount of taxpayer support for political parties. Frankly, Mr
:17:08. > :17:14.Speaker, I don't see why the result of a trade union scandal should be
:17:14. > :17:19.every taxpayer in the country paying for Labour. That is the difference
:17:19. > :17:23.between him and me, I want party funding reform, he doesn't. I am
:17:23. > :17:29.proud we have links with ordinary working people. He is ankle rolled
:17:29. > :17:35.by a few millionaires. The party of the people, the party of privilege
:17:35. > :17:39.-- he is bankrolled. The loosening of financial links changed nothing
:17:40. > :17:45.said the Prime Minister. Will the union still have the biggest vote at
:17:45. > :17:50.the conference? Yes. Will they determine the policy? Yes. Will they
:17:50. > :17:58.have the decisive vote in voting for the Labour leader? Yes. That is the
:17:58. > :18:02.fact. Over the past year, the Tories received donations of �30 million,
:18:02. > :18:07.more than 1 million from one Citibank alone. Two thirds of Labour
:18:07. > :18:10.'s funding came from the unions, the Lib Dems got 2.7 million. The
:18:10. > :18:14.parties say they want to stop relying on rich unions and
:18:14. > :18:18.individuals but can't agree on how much donation should be capped, who
:18:18. > :18:23.should be covered by the cap and how much taxpayers should contribute.
:18:23. > :18:26.One of the most powerful union leaders in Britain said Mr
:18:26. > :18:32.Miliband's proposed reforms would mean Labour getting millions less
:18:32. > :18:38.from them each year, and potentially ending the unions' historic link to
:18:39. > :18:44.the party. I think it is a landmark move. He said he wanted to amend a
:18:44. > :18:52.link, not ended. But I think this is as close to ending it as you can
:18:52. > :18:56.get. -- wanted to mend a link. Politics always gets in the way of a
:18:56. > :18:59.deal. If today's exchanges are anything to go by, don't expect an
:18:59. > :19:02.agreement soon. The Pakistani teenager Malala
:19:02. > :19:06.Yousufzai was shot in the head by the Taliban last October targeted
:19:06. > :19:09.for daring to go to school. Since then she has made a remarkable
:19:09. > :19:12.recovery, and this week she will address the United Nations on the
:19:12. > :19:16.need for better access to education for children and young people across
:19:16. > :19:21.the world. But the situation in her own country remains dire - 3.3
:19:21. > :19:24.million girls under nine are not in education. And latest figures show
:19:24. > :19:28.Pakistan has the second highest number of children out of school in
:19:28. > :19:36.the world. Our correspondent, Orla Guerin, reports on the struggle to
:19:36. > :19:45.get an education. Following in the footsteps of
:19:45. > :19:53.Malala. Rushing to school, hungry to learn. The day begins with the
:19:53. > :19:56.national anthem. These little girls in northern
:19:56. > :20:06.Pakistan have already learned hard lessons. They know the Taliban wants
:20:06. > :20:10.to silence girls' voices. And they know they aren't far away. The
:20:10. > :20:17.attack on Malala change the equation here, but not the way you might
:20:17. > :20:21.expect. This classroom is packed now, but teachers here tell us in
:20:21. > :20:26.the early days after Malala washout, the school was empty. For
:20:26. > :20:30.about a month, parents were too afraid to send their daughters here
:20:30. > :20:38.-- the days after she was shot. There has been a big change,
:20:38. > :20:42.enrolments are up, the school has 30 extra pupils. That is because
:20:42. > :20:48.teachers and aid workers lobbied parents to educate their daughters.
:20:48. > :20:56.And because Malala inspired them. We met some of the new pupils, like
:20:56. > :21:02.10-year old Tasleem, who wants to be a policewoman. My mum saw what
:21:02. > :21:06.happened to Malala on television. That made her think. After this, she
:21:07. > :21:13.decided her girls should also be in school and should get a good
:21:13. > :21:16.education. We should all follow Malala's example. Girls who were
:21:16. > :21:22.trapped at home by conservative social values now have plans and
:21:22. > :21:31.opportunities. But many children in Pakistan never see the inside of a
:21:31. > :21:36.classroom. Instead, their childhood looks like this. Full of
:21:36. > :21:42.backbreaking toil. At this kiln in the South, entire families make
:21:42. > :21:52.bricks. Even the youngest have to pull their weight. Pakistan has
:21:52. > :21:54.
:21:54. > :22:03.millions of child labourers, born into poverty and often debt. Geenie
:22:03. > :22:08.is one of them, she is ten and she is desperate. We eat, otherwise we
:22:08. > :22:16.go hungry. My big brother was hurt and he can't help my father making
:22:16. > :22:26.bricks. He can't make any money. So now it is only ask, younger ones,
:22:26. > :22:34.
:22:34. > :22:36.only lesson here, that life is a test of endurance.
:22:36. > :22:40.Flooding in Western China has created a landslide that has buried
:22:40. > :22:42.as many as 40 people, according to Chinese state media. Days of heavy
:22:42. > :22:45.rain and floods have damaged hundreds of homes and forced the
:22:45. > :22:50.evacuation of more than 36,000 people in Sichuan and Yunnan
:22:50. > :22:53.provinces. The Irish parliament is tonight
:22:53. > :22:58.expected to approve an abortion bill for the first time in the country's
:22:58. > :23:00.history. The government says the bill will simply give clarity to
:23:00. > :23:05.existing laws, but the Catholic Church believes the legislation will
:23:05. > :23:15.lead to abortions where a mother's life is not at immediate risk. Our
:23:15. > :23:15.
:23:15. > :23:23.Ireland correspondent, Chris Buckler, reports from Dublin.
:23:23. > :23:27.Abortion is an emotive issue, particularly in Ireland. As
:23:27. > :23:32.proposed, new legislation was discussed inside the Irish
:23:32. > :23:41.Parliament. Just outside, the debate between pro-choice and pro-life
:23:41. > :23:45.campaigners was loud, heated and sometimes angry. More than two
:23:45. > :23:48.decades ago, Ireland's Supreme Court ruled an abortion could be carried
:23:48. > :23:52.out if a woman's life was at more than substantial risk. The
:23:52. > :23:58.government says it is bring clarity by putting that into legislation.
:23:58. > :24:04.Even some of its ministers are wrestling with that their conscience
:24:04. > :24:14.over how to vote. It is not reversible. They will change the
:24:14. > :24:17.culture in this country. Savita Halappanavar was admitted into
:24:17. > :24:22.hospital in Galway seriously ill and miscarry on, but was denied an
:24:22. > :24:27.abortion and died days later. Her family claimed medical staff were
:24:27. > :24:33.confused about when an abortion could be carried out. There are many
:24:33. > :24:38.concerned in Ireland about legislating for abortion at all.
:24:38. > :24:45.That has exposed a sharp divide between church and state, the
:24:45. > :24:51.Catholic clergy and the Irish government. It includes suicidal
:24:51. > :24:54.feelings as a risk to the mother's live, caused by an unborn child. We
:24:54. > :24:58.would maintain that these wide interpretations open the door for
:24:58. > :25:02.more and more wider access to abortion. Politicians have been put
:25:02. > :25:06.under pressure. The Irish Prime Minister revealed he had been called
:25:06. > :25:11.a murderer and sent a plastic foetus and a letter written in blood ahead
:25:11. > :25:15.of this vote. Opinion polls suggest the majority of people in Ireland
:25:15. > :25:20.support the bill, although the minority have been very vocal.
:25:20. > :25:25.find it in comp rentable, how they think they have the right to enforce
:25:25. > :25:27.those opinions on me and the majority of the public. This is a
:25:27. > :25:31.debate that divides and accommodation of religion and
:25:31. > :25:41.politics makes it an extremely sensitive one for the Irish
:25:41. > :25:42.
:25:42. > :25:49.government. It's been a compelling start to the
:25:49. > :25:52.summer's great clash between England and Australia at Trent Bridge.
:25:52. > :25:54.England's cricketers fought back on day one of the first Ashes test
:25:54. > :25:57.after being bowled out by the tourists for just 215.
:25:58. > :26:02.You have witnessed one-day cricket, drunk maybe a few and seen 14
:26:02. > :26:08.wickets fall. It is the Ashes, all right. Alastair Cook had plenty of
:26:08. > :26:11.time to ponder his decision to bat first after he was dismissed for 13.
:26:11. > :26:18.The weather was overcast, which cheers up bowlers. Peter Siddle was
:26:18. > :26:23.the real star, taking five wickets including Jonathan Trott, who had
:26:23. > :26:28.reached 48 when this happened. The stumps were already flattened.
:26:28. > :26:33.Mitchell Starc roared into action, Jonny Bairstow was exposed. England
:26:33. > :26:37.were all out for a measly 215. It is only a bad score if your opponents
:26:37. > :26:43.make more. Australia were reeling as soon as they had begun. Steven Finn
:26:43. > :26:48.was not sure of his selection but repaid confidence with two wickets
:26:48. > :26:52.in two balls. Against Australia, everything matters more. You grow up
:26:52. > :26:57.on a diet of wanting to play in the Ashes. Play against Australia, one
:26:57. > :27:02.of the things you dream about. To live that dream, especially for
:27:02. > :27:08.someone like me in my first home series, it is a really exciting
:27:08. > :27:12.time. Ideally you bowl your best balls to the best batsmen. James
:27:12. > :27:20.Anderson dismissing Michael Clarke 40, and exquisite example. Australia
:27:20. > :27:25.without their captain and 75-4 at the close -- dismissing Michael