04/12/2013 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten: More spending cuts on the way in the Chancellor's

Autumn Statement, to be unveiled tomorrow. The message from Number 11

is that budgets will be cut by an extra ?1 billion for the next three

years. But ministers are keen to underline their long-term plans for

major investment in big building projects. What you will see in the

Autumn Statement are the next steps in the long-term plan, which will

turn the country around and get it out of our difficulties with debt

and deficit. We'll have more detail on the eve of the statement and

we'll be assessing the strength of the economic recovery. Also

tonight... A special report from the Central African Republic on the

immense human cost of the civil war. TRANSLATION:

They killed my father and took his body. I do not know what will happen

to me now. Record fines for some of the world's biggest banks, including

RBS, after they rigged interest rates. Nigella Lawson tells a court

she's not a drug addict but admits using cocaine on two occasions in

the past. And England say they are all set for the second Ashes Test

against Australia, which starts tonight.

Coming up on BBC News, nine games in the Premier league tonight and there

have been plenty of goals. We will bring you all the results.

Good evening. The Chancellor is to announce more spending cuts for

Whitehall departments, when he delivers his Autumn Statement

tomorrow morning. The hardest hit will include the Home Office and the

Department for Work and Pensions. Budgets will be reduced by an extra

?1 billion for each of the next three years. But he'll allocate ?150

million for school kitchens to increase the provision of free

meals. And he'll confirm plans for major building projects with ?25

billion being invested by the big insurance companies. There will be

an update on the forecast for economic growth. Robert Peston will

be looking at strength of the recovery. But, first, our deputy

political editor looks ahead to the Chancellor's statement. It is a

closed book for now. When George Osborne opens up his Autumn

Statement tomorrow, you knows it will not be all smiles. When he

leaves them 11 for the House of Commons, it would be another number

that will matter - the extra 1 million -- ?1 billion a year he will

cut. He needs the money to pay for more tax breaks and free school

meals. Some departments will be protected but there were now be more

cuts for welfare, business and the Justice Department is, on top of an

exposed in ?10 million squeeze. Today, the man who will make those

cuts had what he hoped will be better news. The Chief Secretary to

the Treasury went deep underground to see tunnels being dragged to

spread electricity across London and promised support for similar

infrastructure projects. We are making real progress in delivering

an infrastructure fit for purpose. It will demonstrate a long-term

vision. It is a plan which will help to secure long-term investment and

lead sustainable, strong and long-term growth. There will be no

new public money but the government will raise cash by selling off its

stake in Eurostar and six insurance firms have promised to spend money

as well. Labour has said there is not enough progress. Isn't it about

time the government actually invested in the fundamentals to

strengthen our economy for the long-term? When will all these

reheated releases finally translate into diggers on the ground? The

government said that subsidised prices for onshore wind farms and

solar energy will be cut substantially over the next five

years. In return, there will be extra support for offshore wind, but

not until 2018. The deal that please Tory MPs and the Lib Dems.

We have the energy security we need and we are getting better value for

money. The Prime Minister said the long-term plan of making cuts was

paying off and hinted the government was ready to go further. If the

economy continues to grow and the sun continues to shine, we should be

fixing the roof. That means, not just getting rid of our deficit

but, in good years, trying to put money aside. The Chancellor is

putting the final touches to his speech. His message, the economy is

recovering but there will be more pain before the job is done. The

Chancellor will deliver his Autumn Statement against a backdrop of

improving economic forecasts. But critics say it is a recovery based

on the wrong foundations - a possible property bubble and

consumer spending. Robert Peston has been taking soundings at a busy

shopping centre in Kent. Lovely! If it is Christmas in a

shopping mall, the huge Bluewater in Kent, I am bored. The day before the

Chancellor 's check on public finances to judge whether shoppers

are in the mood about the economic recovery. Are you spending or

saving? I am spending at the moment but would like to say. I am saving

more than I am spending. I am smart saving. Definitely spending. I would

probably say saving at the moment. Spending a bit more. Spending a bit

more today. In this enormous shopping centre, people are feeling

more confident and spending more. With the economy as a whole, rising

household consumption has been driving the recovery. If that is

going to last, it has two have other sources of growth. Businesses need

to be more successful and they have to invest more. A derelict warehouse

near Preston. If Norman feels the recovery is built to last, he will

expand his plumbing supplies business into it. He is trying to

decide whether the outlook has improved enough for it to be worth

taking bigger risks. No one in government really knows what it is

like to run a business and sit there before payday knowing you have two

feet 40, 45 malls. It is really important we are given the

confidence to not just move one two steps and play it safe, but really

start running because I think we can. What growth we have is faster.

Japan only have .5% in America .7%. Right now, the UK is top of the big

rich country recovery league table, with growth of .8%. We do hope the

recovery will begin to work through to people 's pockets and wage

packets over the next year or two. I do think people will be feeling

somewhat more prosperous. There is an awful lot of ground to make up.

Wages have fallen significantly and people will be poorer than they were

in 2008. What the Chancellor will try to do tomorrow is help to

sustain the recovery long enough so we start to feel richer before the

general election. James Landale is in Downing Street. Tell us a little

more about what you think the Chancellor is hoping to achieve in

the statement tomorrow. The Chancellor is an unusual position.

Forecasters suggest he is likely to have positive economic news, not

just about the economy but the state of the recovery. Today, there has

been an attempt to get some of the bad news out early. That is why we

have learned he will make more spending cuts in Whitehall. It is

emerging tonight he is likely to bring forward plans to raise the

state pension retirement age, so that many people in our 40s and

below are likely to have two wait till they are 68 to get the state

pension. For all the positive news about the economy he is expecting,

he will make the point there is still work to be done. There is more

austerity to come. He wants to tell voters there is still economic risks

so do not risk voting for the other side. Labour is keeping up its

pressure, to keep the debate firmly locked on the cost of living. They

have a new advert out talking about the cost of living bombshell

reminiscent of old Tory posters. The task of George Osborne tomorrow is

to try to change the subject of political debate back to the

economy. The United Nations is to vote

tomorrow on plans to send thousands of troops to the Central African

Republic, where a tide of violence has left much of the country in

chaos. In March, a Muslim rebel group overthrew the country's

president and took power. Since then, many civilians have been under

attack and Christian fighters have retaliated. 400,000 people are

thought to have fled their homes. It is not known how many have died. Our

Africa correspondent and cameraman Fred Scott have travelled to a town

where 40,000 people have fled. Their report contains graphic accounts of

violence and images you might find distressing.

The silence is wanting and unbroken. It lasts for hundreds of

miles. Abandoned villages, burned villages. And the eerie sense of a

nation in hiding. Finally, we spot three nervous, ghostlike figures. On

the right, this man says, we thought you were the rebels. He says his

family is of six kids. The rest are hiding in the bushes, too scared to

come back to the road. We are hiding in the bushes, too scared to come

back to the road. We're going to see them now. As word spreads, others

cautiously approach us. Months of conflict in the Central African

Republic have forced 400,000 people to run for their lives. They are

stranded, increasingly desperate and far from help. Disease killed this

girl 's younger brother last week. We live like animals here, says the

local teacher. No clean water, no food. Back on the road and far to

the south, we ran into the rebels. They are mostly Muslims, some

foreign. They seized power in the country weeks ago but their

rebellion, by no means the first here, has collapsed into a murderous

free for all. Now it seems no one is in charge and violence is surging.

Suddenly, we stumble across the latest bloodshed. They bring out

their dead. Fighters attacked a fewer hours ago. A gallon Christian

farmer is one of five killed here, religion now fuelling the violence.

-- a young Christian farmer. The Muslims are terrorising us, he said.

And now the Christians are hitting back. Nearby, we meet members of a

self defence militia. The weapons are home-made. The desire for

vengeance is growing. These groups have already carried out brutal

reprisals against Muslims. In the middle of the mayhem, this boy has

found sanctuary in a church compound in a town called Bossangoa. He was

left as an orphan. 40,000 people have now joined him here. He fights

back the tears. They killed my father, he says, and took his body.

I do not know what will happen to me now.

It is feared that is trapping thousands of people in this one

spot, and that will not change until people are sure it is safe to go

home. The French and African forces are poised to arrive here in the

next week or so, and things could improve quickly. But can they

protect everyone, and for how long? This is a chronically unstable

nation. With trust absent, the only currency that counts is fear, and

things have never been this bad. The European Commission has imposed

record fines on some of the world 's biggest banks for rigging interest

rates. Six financial institutions including Royal Bank Of Scotland

have confined nearly 1.5 billion pounds for fixing international

rates in the run-up to the financial crisis. Barclays and UBS have not

been fined, as they had admitted that the cartel existed. Let's get

more from our chief economics correspondent. It is worth

underlining that this is just the latest episode in this scandal?

Yes, the latest twist in a story that goes back to last year, when

Barclays was fined by US and UK regulators of allegations of

interest rate fixing. There was a public outcry and other banks were

fined including RBS. Now the European Commission has looked at

suggestions that banks colluded with each other and broke on British law

over interest rate rigging . Several banks have been fined including RBS,

it to the tune of ?325 million. But the bank says it had set that money

aside already. Barclays and UBS are not being looked at because they

went to the commission from the outset. But HSBC is still being

investigated, although it says it will vigorously counter the

allegations. Nigella Lawson, the author and

celebrity cook, has admitted in court that she has taken McCain and

smoked cannabis, but she insisted that she was not a regular user or

an addict. She was giving evidence in the trial of the two former

assistants, who deny charges of fraud. She accused her former

husband, Charles Saatchi, of subjecting her to act is of intimate

terrorism. This report contains flash photography.

Nigella Lawson today look confident as she walked into court. In a

dramatic day of evidence, she said it was her that was facing trial by

the media, following revelations about her marriage to Charles

Saatchi and allegations that she was an habitual drug user. Ms Lawson was

in fact appearing as they witness in the trial of two of her former

personal assistant is, Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo. They are

accused of dishonestly spending over half ?1 million on a company credit

card. In court, Ms Lawson chose to stand as she gave hours of evidence.

The first time she took cocaine was with her late husband, the writer

John Diamond, after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The next time

was in 2010, when she was married to Charles Saatchi, who gave evidence

last week. Ms Lawson alleged that following their divorce Cumbria Mr

Saatchi had threatened her eyes saying, if you don't clear my name,

I will destroy you by spreading false allegations of drug use.

Nigella Lawson and her ex-husband, the multimillionaire art collector

Charles Saatchi, were often photographed in public together.

Then in the summer, these paparazzi photos were published in which Mr

Saatchi has his hand around Ms Lawson's neck. Later, he is seen

pinching her nose. The couple separated soon after. She told the

jury, I felt subjected to intimate terror risen by Mr Saatchi. Nigella

Lawson is one of Britain's most elevated TV cooks, and her shows are

a pillar of broad. In the glare of the world's media, Nigella today

faced tough questions about her personal life. She will return

tomorrow to complete her evidence. The the Grillos denied the charges

against them. Police in Leeds are questioning a

37-year-old man in connection with the shooting of a policewoman early

this morning. The officer is being treated in hospital for serious

injuries to her face, neck and right hand. She was injured in the

Headingley area of the city as she responded to a routine call with a

colleague. The jury in the trial of two men

accused of murdering the soldier Lee Rigby in south London has been

played recorded police interviews with one of the suspect. Michael

Adebolajo describes himself as a "soldier of Allah" and said it gave

him little joy to approach anybody and slay them.

This was Michael Adebolajo, being interviewed at a police station in

south London. He covered himself with a blanket throughout, and said

he wanted to be known by his Muslim name. He described his co-defendant

as his brother. He said he knew him as Ishmael, not Michael Adebowale.

Together from the dock, they watched Michael Adebolajo in police

interviews, saying Britain was at war with Muslims. He told detect

gives, the leaders of Britain are wicked.

He and Michael Adebowale butchered Lee Rigby with a meat cleaver and a

knife as he made his way back to his barracks. The soldier's family were

in court as Michael Adebolajo spoke in his interviews about the killing.

Among evidence shown today was user Lee Rigby's military rucksack, which

he was carrying when the men targeted him. And there were

pictures of their car that they drove at him. After being shot and

arrested, the men were initially under police guard in hospital,

before being transferred to this high security police station.

Tomorrow, the jury is due to learn more about what Michael Adebolajo

told detectives here, as the prosecution case moves into its

final phase. The defendants are pleading not guilty to murder. They

also deny conspiring to kill and attempting to kill a police officer.

As the British economy enjoys some welcome growth, the picture across

the English Channel is different. There are fears that France could be

heading back into recession after the latest figures showed that the

service sector is shrinking at an even faster rate than experts

predicted. It follows poor manufacturing data published earlier

this week. Thousands of people have in protesting against the tax

reforms put forward by President Hollande.

They may well stand for the president, but Francois Hollande is

the plea unpopular, with an night, me seen as the weak link in Europe

and a leader facing a growing revolt against high taxes. Almost daily,

there are protests. Here in Brittany, truckers and farmers have

in demonstrating against a new environmental tax, an eco-tax on

heavy goods vehicles. We want either that they stop the eco-tax or change

it. You cannot always ask the same ones to pay more taxes. It is not

possible. The protesters have taken to wearing red hats, a symbol of an

earlier tax protest. There was further evidence today of a drop in

new orders, with the fear that France could be falling back into

recession. TRANSLATION: The mood is -- the mood in France is very down.

The anti-tax protests in Brittany are part of a wider discontent.

President Hollande is getting the worst ratings of any president in

the history of the French republic. This week, highways have been

blocked. Polls suggest that 94% of the French want reforms, and much of

their frustration is directed at the president. People think Francois

Hollande has not enough courage in terms of reforms. He does not do

enough, according to people, so they want someone stronger. The president

points to a minor improvement with unemployment, and his ministers

insist that some taxes are being cut. We have decided to make tax

cuts on companies. We have said to people, you have to pay more taxes.

Today, President Hollande was meeting African leaders. On foreign

policy, he has been decisive, but at home, he has been cautious, backing

down in the face of opposition. In a few hours time, the second

Ashes test gets underway in Adelaide, one with Australia 1-0 up

in the series. The England captain Alastair Cook has urged both teams

to improve their conduct on the field and criticised some players

for going over the top in the first test, as he put it. Let's join our

correspondent in Adelaide. This is always known as Australia's

most picturesque cricket venue. We have had a bit of drizzle here this

morning and it is breezy. The teams are going to play in this stadium

while it is still under reconstruction. We are not sure how

the England team will be built up. Above all, we are wondering if both

teams will obey instructions to cool down.

The Adelaide Oval is being rebuilt. There is an air of friction, angry

noise, but that is not just the builders. The first test finished

with a verbal threats between England and Australia. Cricket's

world governing body has warned the sides about their behaviour for this

match. Do you think anything has changed in the dynamic between the

teams? No matter the still just as aggressive? It will not change. In

this part of the country, there is one family and one name that stands

out as a symbol of Australian cricket attitude - chap L. Three

Chappell brothers have represented their country. Greg is stylish,

stubborn and inspirationally Australian. These days, his job is

to spot new talent. He has seen all the confrontation before. There has

always been that passion. If there wasn't, the game would not be worth

watching. Every now and then, things bubble over and go yonder where you

would like them to go. Alastair Cook knows his team cannot take a

backward step. He also told me that the captains must protect the image

of cricket. People want to see real cricket, that is what they enjoy.

There have to be boundaries. Last week, we let our emotions get ahead

of us and it became a bit sponsored... As the captains. The

new Adelaide Oval will not be complete in time for this test.

England no that for this theory is, if they lose again here, they will

also be almost finished. That is all from us. The BBC News

Channel has details of the winter storm which will hit Scotland and

northern England tonight, bringing possible travel problems and

flooding. Now we