:00:23. > :00:25.Good afternoon. BP has taken a big and expensive step towards
:00:25. > :00:32.finalising the financial bill it will face from its 2010 oil spill
:00:32. > :00:37.in the Gulf of Mexico. The company has agreed to pay �4.9 billion to
:00:37. > :00:44.settle claims from more than 100,000 people and businesses. Our
:00:44. > :00:48.business correspondent, Joe Lynam, reports.
:00:48. > :00:56.It was the worst oil spill in American history, killing 11
:00:56. > :01:02.workers. It was also a financial and PR disaster for BP, costing the
:01:02. > :01:11.job of its then chief Executive Tony Haywood. Now BP has settled
:01:11. > :01:17.with over 100,000 individuals and companies whose lives were affected
:01:17. > :01:23.by the massive environmental disaster. It hit the economy, it
:01:23. > :01:33.gave the perception that this place is tainted. Fishing is good but the
:01:33. > :01:36.people just are not here. You walk into the marshes and it is
:01:37. > :01:41.definitely still there. This settlement is just the beginning of
:01:41. > :01:46.the payout of facing BP. It still has to agree a financial figure
:01:46. > :01:49.with the US government and is itself suing other companies
:01:49. > :01:54.including Trans ocean which actually operated the ill-fated rig
:01:54. > :02:00.and halibut and which operated go deep-sea well. The settlement also
:02:00. > :02:05.appears to be on higher side of what was expected, meaning the
:02:05. > :02:07.reserves set aside for BP for the final cost may not now be enough.
:02:07. > :02:08.Private companies could take responsibility for investigating
:02:08. > :02:12.crimes and patrolling neighbourhoods, under a radical
:02:12. > :02:14.plan being put forward by two of Britain's largest police forces.
:02:14. > :02:21.West Midlands and Surrey have invited bids from major security
:02:21. > :02:27.companies to provide a wide range of services. Daniel Boetcher
:02:27. > :02:32.reports. Police forces in England and Wales
:02:32. > :02:36.are having to make budget cuts of 20% in four years. And there are
:02:36. > :02:40.also under pressure to protect frontline services. Some are
:02:40. > :02:45.already use the private sector for work such as the managing custody
:02:45. > :02:48.blocks and some back of its duties. What is proposed goes much further
:02:48. > :02:58.and is on a bigger scale. West Midlands and Surrey police are
:02:58. > :03:02.asking private security firms to bid for contracts. These could
:03:02. > :03:06.include involvement in patrols, investigations, and responding to
:03:06. > :03:16.incidents. The West Midlands force insist it would not involve
:03:16. > :03:16.
:03:16. > :03:23.carrying out arrests. When it comes to arrests of suspects, it is clear
:03:23. > :03:26.that that continues to be done by sworn officers. The Home Office
:03:26. > :03:31.says it supports the police in considering the value of private
:03:31. > :03:35.sector partnering to achieve cost savings. The police has described
:03:35. > :03:41.the proposal as worrying and Labour says public-private partnerships
:03:41. > :03:45.should not cross the line into areas that could put public Trust
:03:46. > :03:48.or impartiality at risk. David Cameron has said reform of
:03:48. > :03:51.the National Health Service is "unavoidable and urgent" and he did
:03:51. > :03:53.not care if the government - in his words, took "a hit" over the issue.
:03:53. > :03:59.Speaking at the Conservatives spring forum, the Prime Minister
:03:59. > :04:04.said there was no going back on the reforms. But he said support for
:04:04. > :04:07.the NHS was in his party's DNA. Two mortgage lenders are set to
:04:07. > :04:09.raise their mortgage rates - the changes will affect more than
:04:10. > :04:12.800,000 people on variable mortgages. RBS-Natwest is
:04:12. > :04:21.increasing the cost of some mortgages by 0.25%, while Halifax
:04:21. > :04:24.is expected to raise its standard variable rate.
:04:24. > :04:28.A wave of tornadoes has killed at least 27 people in the central and
:04:28. > :04:38.southern United States. Kentucky and Indiana were hit hardest.
:04:38. > :04:41.
:04:41. > :04:48.Philippa Thomas reports. One of the most powerful tornadoes
:04:48. > :04:54.swept over the area. This is what it left behind. A school bus torn
:04:54. > :05:01.across the road, shunted into a house. Devastated. This is the
:05:02. > :05:09.nearby town of Mary still, set by the shelves department to have gone
:05:09. > :05:17.completely. It had 1900 residents. On this big deal you can see the
:05:17. > :05:25.Tornado and also hear the hailstones. Further south in
:05:25. > :05:30.Alabama, residents were well prepared to ride out the storm.
:05:30. > :05:36.That used to be a mobile home. year was one of the deadliest
:05:36. > :05:38.seasons on record. This year at the storms have come early.
:05:39. > :05:42.The funeral is taking place in Belfast for one of the city's
:05:42. > :05:52.favourite sons, the comedian Frank Carson. He died last month at the
:05:52. > :05:53.
:05:53. > :05:57.age of 85. Mark Simpson is there. It has been a very different fuel,
:05:58. > :06:02.people have been bluffing as much as they have been crying. Frank
:06:02. > :06:05.Carson's coffin was taken into the church a short time ago by his
:06:05. > :06:09.family and friends and in the congregation are people from all
:06:09. > :06:15.walks of life, from boxer Barry McGuigan to the broadcaster Eamonn
:06:16. > :06:18.Holmes. The snooker player Dennis Taylor was often there and
:06:18. > :06:24.politicians like Martin McGuinness. And they have all been told within
:06:24. > :06:28.the last few minutes how to remember Frank Carson, the bishops