18/03/2012 BBC Weekend News


18/03/2012

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A budget for working people - the Chancellor insists he plans to help

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those on low and middle incomes. George Osborne says he'll also

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crack down on the super rich who avoid paying stamp duty. We're

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going to come down on that like a tonne of bricks. We are going to be

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aggressive in dealing with it. Football's messages of support for

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the Bolton midfielder, Fabrice Muamba, who remains critically ill

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after suffering a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup tie. Open all

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hours - how Sunday trading laws could be relaxed during this

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summer's Olympic Games in a bid to boost the economy. And the girl

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band of grandmothers - Russia's entry for this year's Eurovision

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Good evening. The Chancellor, George Osborne, says the priority

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of next week's Budget is to help those on low and middle incomes.

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That's despite expectations of a tax cut for Britain's highest

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earners. Labour accused him of being out of touch with workers who

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were struggling to pay their bills. There will also be separate

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measures to tackle rich people who avoid paying stamp duty. Our Deputy

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Political Editor, James Landale, reports. When George Osborne steps

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out with his budget box on Wednesday, all eyes will be on what

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it says about tax. Today he made clear who he want us to think he is

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going to help. My priority is to help low and middle earners. That

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is where the bulk of the effort will be. We want to see real

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progress on lifting low income people out of tax. We have taken a

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million low income people out of tax and helping working families,

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the people who go out to work, provide for their family, the

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people looking for jobs, those are our priorities. So what does that

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mean? At the the moment no one pays income tax until they earn almost

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�7,500. The Chancellor could promise to raise it to more than

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�9,000. Somebody the Liberal Democrats have been demanding. He

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hinted he may soften plans to cut child benefit for top rate

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taxpayers. But all this would cost money and me promised to find some

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with a crackdown on people who avoid tax. Rich people, often

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foreigners who come to this country, and people from here, who put homes

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into companies to avoid stamp duty, we're going to come down on that.

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Behind the smiles, the Chancellor and his Labour shadow disagree not

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just on the tax cuts, but how they should be paid for. George Osborne

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would not confirm whether he would cut the top rate of tax.

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families on middle and low incomes, seeing petrol prices up, fuel bills

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ub, unemployment rising, the idea that George Osborne is saying that

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the priority is to cut taxes for people on �150,000, it is out of

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touch. What planet are they on? Some Conservatives agree and many

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Liberal Democrats are nervous. But other Tories are putting pressure

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on the Chancellor to cut the 50 pence rate. I want the rich to pay

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more and the obvious way is to set a rate that will make them stay and

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pay. The 50% tax rate is losing us money and we want the rich to make

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a bigger contribution. The problem for the Chancellor, if he does

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conclude that cutting the 50 pence rate is good for business, the man

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next to him will say he is just out to then rich and that is some

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political risk to take. James is at Downing Street for us now. A will

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the of rumour, what is your understanding? There is a lot of

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speculation, no one will confirm anything, was some -- but some

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straws in the wind. George Osborne used his pre-judge interview to

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highlight he will take a lot of low and Niddle -- middle income earners

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out of tax and make rich people pay more tax. So what he has done is

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given himself enough political space and cover to try and cut the

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50 pence top rate if that is what he chooses to do. It would be a

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risk and a lot of people will say that the Tories supporting the rich.

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But he is giving himself the wriggle room to make that decision.

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Thank you. BBC News understands that the Government is preparing a

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move which could bring the privatisation of Royal Mail a step

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closer. Ministers want to transfer all of Royal Mail's assets and

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liabilities to the Government's books next month. That includes

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multi-billion pound liabilities of the company's pension scheme.

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Unions welcomed the move to protect workers' pensions, but said they

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opposed privatisation. The Bolton Wanderers midfielder, Fabrice

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Muamba, remains in a critical condition at a London hospital

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after suddenly collapsing during his team's FA Cup tie against Spurs

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yesterday. The 23-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest. Our Correspondent,

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Ed Thomas, has the latest. They left flowers, shirts and scarfs,

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fans from all clubs came to show support for Fabrice Muamba. In

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Bolton, they say he is the player who never gives up. He is always

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battling and never stops running. That happens, it brings it home to

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you. Why was it important for you to come here today? As a fan, it is

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really just to show our support for him and his family and the team.

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ground around the country there was applause today. This was Stamford

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bridge where Chelsea's Gary Cahill had this message for his former

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team mate. It is now 24 hours since he collapsed. But what happened

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here has left many in disbelief. Fabrice Muamba is in intensive care

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in hospital. His manager, Owen Coyle, said he is hoping for a

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happy outcome. We can always continue with those prayers, we're

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very, I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, if he could pull through

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it would be marvellous. We know Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac

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arrest. In a statement the hospital Tonight there has been a message

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from Fabrice Muamba's family to fans. It thanked them for their

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support, not just here be but across the country. Those at Bolton

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now have one hope that the player they call Fab will soon get better.

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Our correspondent Sangita Myska is at the London Chest Hospital. What

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can you tell us tonight about his condition? It has been an emotional

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day here at the hospital. There have been a string of visitors

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coming in and out. Among them Germaine Defoe of Spurs and Fabrice

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Muamba's brother. Both came and left without saying anything. But

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both were distraught. Phil Gartside the Bolton chairman was here and

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made a statement to the cameras in which he thanked the fans for all

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of their good wishes and said the family and the club had drawn great

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strength from their words. He was vizibly upset. We know from the

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hospital it took two hours to get Fabrice Muamba's heartbeating on

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its own. We expect a further update tonight. Thank you. Sunday trading

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restrictions in England and Wales could be relaxed during the Olympic

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and Paralympic Games. The Government thinks it will boost the

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economy and capitalise on the higher number of tourists expected

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over the summer. But there's concern from some critics that it

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may lead to a permanent change, as our Correspondent Philippa Thomas

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reports. As the Olympics and Paralympics start, hundreds of

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thousands of visitors are expected to flow through London. Shopping

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centres like this opening its door last year near the Olympic park

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will benefit from looser laws. Delighted with the announcement

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that London businesss can benefit from these extra hours of trading,

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an extra �1080 million boost. what is the current position on

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Sunday trading? It was first allowed in England and Wales in

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1994, today more than 50% of people do some shop on a Sunday. But shops

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larger than 3,000 square feet are restricted to six hours of opening.

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So do consumers want more time to shop? I work in a hospital and they

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work 24/7 frplts as long as people aren't working too many hour.

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you're working from Monday to Friday or Monday to Saturday,

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Sunday you need a rest. It is good for the city and good for the UK.

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If changes are introduced, smaller shops could face more competition.

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And the shop workers union says further deregulation will have a

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detrimental impact on millions of workers and they're families. The

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Church of England is also concerned about happens after the Olympics.

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We are in favour of the Olympics, if the Olympic torch was Pazing my

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church, we would cancel services enable people to come out. But what

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I'm concerned about is the potential it could lead to a longer

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lasting change and families and communities wouldn't have Sundays

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as a special time. That is the big question - whatever the intentions

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of the Government, once we treat Sunday as another shopping day,

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will that be the norm for the future? Now with the sport here's

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Karthi Gnanasegaram. The new Formula One season started with a

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British victory for Mclaren's Jenson Button at the Australian

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Grand Prix with his team-mate, Lewis Hamilton finishing in third.

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Button described it as an "amazing way to start the season". Tim

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Franks reports. Formula One's fear is of becoming too predictable. So

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there was a measure of relief at the line up of the grid, with the

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McLarens, not Red Bull, at the front. Come the first corner,

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Jenson Button overtook Lewis Hamilton and that was that. Last

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year's champion, Sebastian Vettel, had to make an unusual for him

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journey through traffic. He showed he could. Sebastian Vettel was

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helped by some hapless driving by Romain Grosjean. Broken the right

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front. Then by the safety car which pootled out for some Sunday driving

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on lap 37, allowing Sebastian Vettel to speak past Lewis Hamilton

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into second. A frantic final lap followed. But Jenson Button

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remained serene to claim the first win of the season. I did pinch

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myself in the race to make sure it wasn't a dream. But a dream start

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for us as a team. We haven't been here before, well not so strong at

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the start of the season. This is important us to to get this one in

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the bank. One thing stays changeless - the drivers remain

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better at handling cars than drink! Manchester United are four points

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clear of rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after

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thrashing 10-man Wolves 5-0. Javier Hernanez scored two second-half

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goals as United extend their lead at the top. A woeful Wolves

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performance means they are now bottom of the Premier League. In

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today's other game Newcastle beat Norwich 1-0. To the FA Cup where

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Fernando Torres scored his first goal in 152 days to help Chelsea to

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a 5-2 quarter-final win over Leicester City. Torres scored twice

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in the second half to bring to an end a goal drought that had lasted

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for 24 games. So Chelsea are into the semi-finals for the fifth time

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in seven years. Liverpool are also through after beating Stoke 2-1.

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There was a big surprise in the Scottish Communities League Cup

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Final with Kilmarnock beating SPL leaders Celtic 1-0 to lift a trophy

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for the first time in 15 years. Dieter Van Tornhout scored the

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winning goal in the 84th minute on his birthday, to deny Celtic the

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treble, and give Kilmarnock their first ever League Cup. And in the

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Edinburgh derby, Hearts beat Hibernian 2-0 to continue their

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domination over their neighbours. Suso Santana sealed the win for

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Hearts with an excellent solo effort in the 90th minute to add to

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Craig Beattie's first half goal. That is all the sport for now.

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Thank you. Englebert Humperdink will tomorrow reveal the song he

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hopes will end Britain's 15 year drought in the Eurovision Song

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Contest. At 75, you'd be forgiven for thinking he's the competition's

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oldest contestant. But there is in fact a 76-year-old who's part of

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Russia's entry - a girl band of six grandmothers. Our Moscow

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correspondent Steve Rosenberg went to meet the Boranava Babushkas.

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Russian villages, have normally havens of peace and tranquility.

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But not this one. Presenting the Buranovo grannys, their entry for

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the Eurovision Song Contest. At the village hall, they are rehearsing

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their song, Party For Everybody. Most of them are in their mid 70s.

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But they have plenty of boom bang- a-bang. These sing grannys are

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already topping the leader board, not in terms of points, but

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pensions, with a combined age of 403, they neighbouring UK entrants,

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Engelbert Humperdinck, look like a spring chicken. We Dons. They are

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strugwling the English -- they are struggling with the English. But

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they say they're determined to prove some contests are not just

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for young people. There is another reason. A more spiritual one.

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Buranovo has no church. Stalin knocked it down 70 years ago. The

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villagers have turned this shop into a prayer house, but they hope

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the Eurovision Song Contest will help them build a new church. But

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household chores don't leave too much time for preparations. I bet

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Aba never had to worry about doing this every morning! At 76, Natasha

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will be the oldest competitor, but she says her husband is not keen on

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the idea. She says, if I'm away, who is going to mill it can cow?

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How do they people -- milk the cow? How do they feel about being up

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against the most famous Danny Alexander dad. Until recently they

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