:00:26. > :00:29.Good afternoon. The Chancellor, George Osborne, has
:00:29. > :00:34.said he would be very happy for the Government to consider publishing
:00:34. > :00:38.the personal tax returns of senior ministers in the interest of
:00:38. > :00:42.greater transparency. However, the proposal has been
:00:42. > :00:47.criticised by backbench MPs in his own constituency who say it would
:00:47. > :00:51.be a distraction from serious debate and policies.
:00:51. > :00:54.George Osborne once famously said, we are all in this together, but in
:00:54. > :00:58.these tough economic times, do the public believe politicians are in
:00:58. > :01:02.the same boat as them? The Chancellor has gone out of his way
:01:02. > :01:07.to stress he wouldn't benefit personally from his cut in the top
:01:07. > :01:10.rate of income tax. But now, he's suggesting that in future, some
:01:10. > :01:20.senior Cabinet Ministers might be forced to disclose their tax
:01:20. > :01:26.
:01:26. > :01:31.affairs. In an interview with In London's Mayoral election, the
:01:31. > :01:34.tax affairs of the main candidates have in recent days been subject of
:01:34. > :01:38.heated exchanges between Conservative Boris Johnson and
:01:38. > :01:43.Labour's Ken Livingstone. Whatever is necessary to publish, I'll
:01:43. > :01:46.publish it, yes. You will publish yours? Was that a yes or no, I'm
:01:46. > :01:50.happy to publish details of everything I've earned in the last
:01:50. > :01:56.four years, are you going to do the same? Of course I will. Good.
:01:56. > :02:01.the sort of thing they are used to in the US. Presidential hopeful
:02:01. > :02:06.Mitt Romney faced criticism over his tax affairs, but here, some are
:02:06. > :02:10.worried. I don't think it would enrich the British elect raling
:02:10. > :02:14.experience if every run-of-the-mill councillor and MP had to reveal
:02:14. > :02:17.years and years of back tax records and the whole election, instead of
:02:17. > :02:21.being about what you are going to do for the people and institution,
:02:21. > :02:25.is about whether he avoided too much tax because his pension
:02:25. > :02:28.contribution was too big. The tax system is full of loopholes. At a
:02:28. > :02:33.time when there are cries about tax avoidance, there will be a pressure
:02:33. > :02:35.for the MPs to publish their own affairs. Since the expenses scandal,
:02:36. > :02:41.Parliament's been seeking to restore trust in politics. The
:02:41. > :02:46.Chancellor isn't saying they'll definitely disclose the tax details,
:02:46. > :02:52.but by floating the possibility, it opens a debate which could change
:02:52. > :02:57.the style of British politics. You can see a full list of
:02:57. > :03:01.candidates in London's Mayoral elections on the BBC News website.
:03:01. > :03:04.One of the main teaching unions as voted to escalate industrial action
:03:04. > :03:08.in their dispute with the Government over pay, pensions and
:03:08. > :03:12.working conditions. The vote by members of the NASUWT
:03:12. > :03:16.at their conference in Birmingham raises the prospect of strikes
:03:16. > :03:20.closing schools in the autumn. From Birmingham, our education
:03:20. > :03:24.correspondent, Reeta Chakrabarti reports.
:03:24. > :03:27.Teachers in Birmingham today agreed to escalate industrial action after
:03:27. > :03:31.a motion which accused the Government of a vicious assault on
:03:31. > :03:34.teachers. Conference now endorses the work of National Executive in
:03:34. > :03:39.setting out the next phase of the union's industrial action campaign
:03:39. > :03:47.which will include the escalation of action short of strike action
:03:47. > :03:53.and strike action. I move. The vote was carried and could now
:03:53. > :03:57.mean more strikes are on the way. Their grievances are two fold:
:03:57. > :04:01.They're angry about their pensions into which they pay more and may
:04:01. > :04:04.have to work longer for and they are opposed to the spread of
:04:04. > :04:11.academies publicly funded independent schools which they say
:04:11. > :04:15.will break up state education. Downhills School in London has
:04:15. > :04:18.become a flash point. This is a poorly pe forming school which the
:04:18. > :04:23.Government is forcing to become an academy. It's one of the reasons
:04:23. > :04:27.fuelling the strike vote. This vote brings strikes in schools this
:04:27. > :04:31.autumn one step closer. But Government sources have been
:04:31. > :04:38.bulkish, depending their reforms to school and telling teachers that
:04:38. > :04:42.they have pensions those in the private keck for can only dream of.
:04:42. > :04:47.An avalanche has struck a Pakistani military base in the Himalayas,
:04:47. > :04:52.burying more than 100 soldiers. The man are trapped in a batallion
:04:52. > :04:55.headquarters in the Siachen glacier in Kashmir. Orla Gearin is in
:04:55. > :04:59.Pakistan with the latest. What are you hearing?
:04:59. > :05:04.It's hard to imagine a worse place in which to try and mount a rescue
:05:04. > :05:09.operation. This is some of the most remote, most inhospitable terrain
:05:09. > :05:12.on earth. This rescue operation has is a race not only against time but
:05:12. > :05:18.subzero temperatures. The Army says there is a frantic search for life
:05:18. > :05:22.going on now, high in the Himalayas, involving helicopters, hundreds of
:05:22. > :05:26.troops, medical teams and rescue dogs. A spokesman stressed that
:05:26. > :05:32.this was an avalanche on a massive scale. It struck this morning just
:05:32. > :05:36.before six local time, engulfed the entire base, burying 117 soldiers
:05:36. > :05:41.alive, probably as many of them were still sleeping. The Army say
:05:41. > :05:45.they expect the rescue mission to last for days but locals warn that
:05:45. > :05:49.the hopes of findingping many people alive must be quite slim and
:05:49. > :05:54.there are already reports of difficulties in getting heavy
:05:54. > :05:57.lifting equipment to the area because it is so remote and there
:05:57. > :06:02.simply are no roads. England's cricketers have beaten
:06:02. > :06:05.Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the second and final test in Colombo.
:06:05. > :06:11.The result levels the series and means England retain their position
:06:11. > :06:15.at the top of the world rankings. Alex South reports. In cricketing
:06:15. > :06:19.terms, it's been a winter of it is content for England, four straight
:06:19. > :06:25.defeats for Strauss's side have hardly made team talks easy. Not
:06:25. > :06:30.today. Just give Swann the ball and he'll do the rest. As soon as the
:06:30. > :06:35.man of the series, Jayawardene was gone, the rest followed. An
:06:35. > :06:40.inspiring performance by the flying Swann. The winning target was just
:06:40. > :06:46.94. It should have been easy peacey, but this is England. Strauss gave
:06:46. > :06:51.fans the sinking feeling again -- easy peasy. Alastair Cook was
:06:51. > :06:55.determined to see his side home but he needed help. Trott normally so
:06:55. > :06:58.solid couldn't oblige, undone by spin and ultimately the review
:06:58. > :07:01.system. As the temperature rose, the
:07:01. > :07:06.coolest man in Colombo calmed everyone down. Pietersen picked upd
:07:06. > :07:12.where he left off, dominating the Sri Lankan bowlers and there was