:00:08. > :00:12.The clearest signal yet that a new high-speed rail link between London
:00:12. > :00:15.and Birmingham will be approved. The government-commissioned report
:00:16. > :00:19.says alternatives to the scheme would not deal with long-term
:00:19. > :00:24.overcrowding. Ed Miliband hits back at critics of
:00:24. > :00:28.his leadership of the Labour Party, insisting he is a man of Steel.
:00:28. > :00:38.And police are investigating an Oldham footballer's claims that he
:00:38. > :00:48.
:00:48. > :00:51.was verbally abused during last Good afternoon. A high-speed rail
:00:51. > :00:55.link between London and Birmingham look set to be given the go-ahead
:00:55. > :00:58.after a report concluded that alternatives to the multi-billion-
:00:58. > :01:03.pound project would fail to deal with long-term overcrowding on
:01:03. > :01:07.trains. The Government commission studying to what is known as HS2 is
:01:07. > :01:17.seen as the clearest indication so far that ministers will approve the
:01:17. > :01:17.
:01:17. > :01:24.The proposal to build a brand new railway line across some of
:01:24. > :01:28.Britain's most beautiful scenery has always been controversial. The
:01:28. > :01:33.�17 billion scheme would Link Birmingham to London with a fleet
:01:33. > :01:38.of 200 mph trains. But opposition groups claim it is a waste of money
:01:38. > :01:44.and we should improve the existing network instead. They propose
:01:44. > :01:48.longer platforms, more carriages, extra trains at peak times. But the
:01:48. > :01:51.report from Network Rail says it is a short-term fix that will not cope
:01:51. > :01:57.with overcrowding in the future. They say it will create long delays
:01:57. > :02:01.for years and will not allow for more freight. Part of the booed
:02:01. > :02:07.cuts through the Chiltern Hills. To several Conservative MPs and some
:02:07. > :02:11.of the strongest opposition. It looks peaceful, but this has been
:02:11. > :02:16.one of the main battlegrounds in the debate over high-speed rail.
:02:16. > :02:19.Dozens of local protesters have joined forces. TV celebrities,
:02:19. > :02:24.politicians and community groups, all of them angry and determined to
:02:24. > :02:27.fight on. At a time of national austerity, where we are seeing cuts
:02:27. > :02:32.across the board, we should be investing in infrastructure in this
:02:32. > :02:35.country. But not in a railway that will save 20 minutes to Birmingham.
:02:35. > :02:39.We should be investing in road and rail infrastructure across the
:02:39. > :02:44.entire country. The Government is expected to make a final decision
:02:44. > :02:53.as early as Tuesday. It now seems almost certain to give HS2 the
:02:53. > :02:57.The Labour leader Ed Miliband has hit back at critics of his
:02:57. > :03:01.leadership, describing himself as someone of real steel and grit. In
:03:01. > :03:06.a newspaper interview committee said he had a clear plant and
:03:06. > :03:11.relished the fight of been in opposition.
:03:11. > :03:15.If Ed Miliband, in his own words. He is, he says, a man of real steel
:03:15. > :03:25.and grit. A man who tells the Guardian today that he has taken a
:03:25. > :03:27.
:03:27. > :03:31.His words come after a week in which that fight wasn't made any
:03:31. > :03:36.easier, first by this sometime adviser, Lord Glassman, who said
:03:36. > :03:39.that he seemed to have no strategy and little energy. Then by the
:03:39. > :03:44.shadow minister Diane Abbott, who apologised after saying on Twitter
:03:44. > :03:52.that white people love playing divide and rule. Finally, by it a
:03:52. > :03:59.typo in his own could recount, accidentally saying that Bob
:03:59. > :04:02.Holness was the host of Blackbusters. If you look at our
:04:02. > :04:06.performance, you're looking at a party that has put on over 60,000
:04:06. > :04:12.members, has won five by-elections and has also gained 800 more
:04:12. > :04:16.counsellors. Today, Labour is trying to move the debate on to
:04:16. > :04:19.policy, to curb excess earnings. They want companies to put staff
:04:19. > :04:23.representatives of pay committees, publish ratios showing how average
:04:23. > :04:26.salaries compare to executive earnings and to make top pay
:04:26. > :04:31.packages simpler. All of that, with the Government about to announce
:04:31. > :04:35.its own Pele plot -- pay plans and its MPs arguing that they have
:04:35. > :04:39.dealt best with the issue. David Cameron has been talking about the
:04:39. > :04:43.subject for a long time, whilst Ed Miliband was in the Cabinet that
:04:43. > :04:47.signed off Fred Goodwin's pension. It is an important area. I hope it
:04:47. > :04:51.is one that the Government makes progress on. I think we need to
:04:51. > :04:56.make sure that the system works for everybody, not just those that do
:04:56. > :04:58.not put in. As MPs return to Parliament for the first session of
:04:58. > :05:05.Prime Minister's Questions of the year, they know that ultimately it
:05:05. > :05:08.is the policies that will matter. Labour's more difficult moments of
:05:08. > :05:11.the last few days will still not go unnoticed.
:05:11. > :05:14.Thousands of workers at the consumer goods giant Unilever will
:05:14. > :05:18.strike this month because of what they describe as an unjustified
:05:19. > :05:21.attack on their pensions by the company. The three trade unions
:05:21. > :05:26.which represents staff in Britain say the production at the firm will
:05:26. > :05:29.be disrupted for between 10 and 12 days in January.
:05:29. > :05:33.The Foreign Office has said terrorists could be in the final
:05:33. > :05:35.stages of planning an attack in Kenya. It has urged British
:05:36. > :05:39.nationals travelling there to be vigilant and cautious. Kenyan
:05:39. > :05:43.authorities have warned that Nairobi could be targeted. Frank
:05:43. > :05:47.Gardner is that the Foreign Office with the latest. What more do we
:05:47. > :05:50.know? Well, in the last few minutes people inside the Foreign Office
:05:50. > :05:54.here have said to me that their assessment of the terrorist threat
:05:54. > :05:58.level for Kenya has been raised to critical and the last 24 hours,
:05:58. > :06:01.meaning that they think an attack could be imminent. It is based on
:06:01. > :06:04.information given to them largely by the Kenyan authorities. They
:06:05. > :06:09.have been investigating for the past month what they sought was a
:06:09. > :06:13.disrupted plot. They made a number of arrests. A British national was
:06:13. > :06:20.arrested. They are also seeking a number of other suspects, including
:06:21. > :06:25.a British national. They think the usual high-profile targets are
:06:25. > :06:29.being sought by a militant group. Cafes, bars, beach clubs,
:06:29. > :06:33.restaurants, places like that. This is because they think people have
:06:33. > :06:37.come across the border from Somalia, linked to Al-Shabab, looking to
:06:37. > :06:47.carry out attacks against both Kenyan targets and Western targets,
:06:47. > :06:51.An investigation is under way after a hot-air balloon crashed in New
:06:51. > :06:56.Zealand, killing all 11 people on board. Eyewitnesses said flames 30
:06:56. > :07:06.metres high shot out of the balloon. The accident, in the town of
:07:06. > :07:07.
:07:07. > :07:07.Carterton, happened in bright, clear conditions with little wind.
:07:07. > :07:11.CCTV footage following allegations that an Oldham player was verbally
:07:11. > :07:16.abused during last night's FA Cup match. Defender Tom Adeyemi
:07:16. > :07:19.appeared to be visibly upset after the incident at Anfield. Liverpool
:07:19. > :07:23.say they are working with the police to establish exactly what
:07:23. > :07:29.happened. In the dying minutes of last
:07:29. > :07:33.night's match at Anfield, the game was interrupted. Tom Adeyemi, who
:07:33. > :07:38.it was getting involved. He is now having to be calmed down by Dirk
:07:38. > :07:42.Kuyt. Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi had to be comforted by team-mates
:07:42. > :07:46.and Liverpool players, including Steven Gerrard, after Tia Rigg
:07:46. > :07:55.abuse directed at him. The player was so upset that play was briefly
:07:55. > :07:58.suspended. It was not nice. We are very close, as a team, and when you
:07:58. > :08:03.see one of your boys like that you will feel it. Police are
:08:03. > :08:06.investigating whether the abuse was racist. The suggestion of racism at
:08:06. > :08:10.Anfield compounds an already difficult time here at the club. It
:08:10. > :08:15.comes in the wake of the Luis Suarez affair, the Liverpool
:08:15. > :08:19.striker now serving an eight-match ban for directing racist abuse at
:08:19. > :08:22.Manchester United's Patrice Evra. The club's handling of that
:08:22. > :08:26.situation has been heavily criticised. The squad has
:08:26. > :08:32.previously shown its support for Suarez. Now Liverpool has said it
:08:32. > :08:37.is doing all it can to investigate what happened. It is the last thing
:08:37. > :08:43.they needed after the controversy. I just hope that anyone who was sat
:08:43. > :08:46.close to this moron has gone to the police and says, that is the fellow
:08:46. > :08:51.do after, and then a candidate in the bud. There is no place for it.
:08:51. > :08:56.At Anfield, fans said they were concerned for the club's reputation.
:08:56. > :08:59.I'm disgusted. I supported Suarez, you cannot prove that he is
:08:59. > :09:05.innocent or guilty. But if it is a racist outburst, the club need to
:09:05. > :09:08.take a stand and prove we are not a racist organisation. I am ashamed
:09:08. > :09:12.today to be a Liverpool fan. In 30 years of supporting them, they have
:09:12. > :09:18.never been a racist club. Sometimes you get a group of supporters, it
:09:18. > :09:21.is like any club, they come to make trouble. Just the odd few, really.
:09:21. > :09:25.Neither Tom Adeyemi or Oldham Athletic have made any formal
:09:25. > :09:29.complaint to the police. But officers are reviewing footage of
:09:29. > :09:35.the game and CCTV to establish exactly what was said to the
:09:35. > :09:40.defender and who said it. Today's action from the FA Cup, and
:09:40. > :09:46.the shock result was at Swindon. They knocked out Wigan of the
:09:46. > :09:50.Premier League, 2-1. Earlier today, Birmingham City keeper Colin Doyle
:09:50. > :09:55.ensured that his side will play Wolves again, after blocking two