:00:13. > :00:16.expensive election campaign in expensive election campaign in
:00:16. > :00:21.history is over we are about to learn what it has wrought, the
:00:21. > :00:25.decision America is makes effects us all, the men fighting it out for
:00:25. > :00:29.leadership in the west, battled each other, even on polling day
:00:29. > :00:33.today. The last day of efforts to prevent his being a one-term
:00:33. > :00:37.President was devoted to getting out the vote. Last-minute call,
:00:37. > :00:40.pleas not to forget to vote. There will be no second chance for Mitt
:00:40. > :00:45.Romney, either, if he didn't do it today, it is back to the drawing
:00:45. > :00:50.board for his whole party. We have Democrat and Republican
:00:50. > :00:54.pollsters reading the numbers back stage. And the novelist, Martin
:00:54. > :00:58.Amis joins our election panel. On this side of the Atlantic,
:00:58. > :01:03.allegations on Newsnight prompt fresh inquiries into child abuse in
:01:03. > :01:07.North Wales. The Government is treating these allegations with the
:01:07. > :01:11.utmost seriousness. Child abuse is a hateful, abhorrent, and
:01:11. > :01:15.disgusting crime, and we must not allow these allegations to go
:01:15. > :01:25.unanswered. The Government promises to listen, but could all these
:01:25. > :01:28.
:01:28. > :01:32.inquiries drown out the truth? It's not strictly accurate to call
:01:32. > :01:38.this election day any longer. Tens of millions of Americans had voted,
:01:38. > :01:43.even before today dawned, and they will still be voting in the Alucian
:01:43. > :01:47.Islands at 6.00am tomorrow morning. This is the day the votes are
:01:47. > :01:51.counted. It is 5.30pm, and it will be hours before we get anything
:01:51. > :01:56.certain. If the polls were right in predicting a knife-edge vote, there
:01:56. > :01:58.are some key states, like, for example, Ohio, who may only
:01:58. > :02:04.discover what they have decided well into December. Let's try to
:02:04. > :02:08.get some early indications now with Mark Urban. Read it for us? All of
:02:08. > :02:13.this campaign has really centered around these called battleground
:02:13. > :02:16.states. The majority of states are either called blue or red, in UK
:02:16. > :02:20.terms, safe seats we would call them, so the key marginals are
:02:20. > :02:24.where so much of the campaigning has been focused. Clearly each side
:02:24. > :02:30.feels it is going into this with a chance of winning key marginals,
:02:30. > :02:36.but the truth is, Governor Mitt Romney has a bigger hill to climb,
:02:37. > :02:40.where he has to go to capture the 270 seats needed to appoint him
:02:40. > :02:45.President, in the Electoral College. In some places he seems to have
:02:45. > :02:55.done very well, in North Carolina, most polls suggest Governor Romney
:02:55. > :02:59.
:02:59. > :03:03.will get that state. Florida, a huge prize, 15 seats in the North
:03:03. > :03:07.Carolina seat. If Democrats win in Florida, that will be a hugely
:03:07. > :03:17.positive sign for them, but the Republicans would like to think
:03:17. > :03:17.
:03:17. > :03:23.they have got it. On the Obama side of this equation, polls have shown
:03:23. > :03:26.consistently for him in Ohio, with 18 states. People see that as the
:03:26. > :03:31.battleground of battlegrounds, and even in a state like vir gainia,
:03:31. > :03:34.which he was pretty fortunate, -- Virginia, which some say he was
:03:34. > :03:38.pretty fortunate to get last time, some people say he could take that
:03:39. > :03:41.again and hold on to the state. you think Romney can win it? Well,
:03:41. > :03:45.of course, so much of what we have said, what we have speculated about
:03:45. > :03:49.is based on polling evidence. Those polls do seem to give President
:03:49. > :03:52.Obama the edge, particularly in the marginals. But, of course, they
:03:52. > :03:55.could be wrong. There are suggestions that they sample too
:03:55. > :03:59.many Democrats in the way the polling is structured. There are
:03:59. > :04:03.also suggestions in some past exit polls that more Democrats have
:04:03. > :04:07.tended to answer the exit pollsters than Republicans. They could be
:04:07. > :04:17.wrong. However, the Democrats, of course, feel they are right, and
:04:17. > :04:20.they feel confident, as we found earlier in virginia.
:04:20. > :04:23.Fredericksberg, Virginia, one of those battleground states, where
:04:23. > :04:28.the Republicans have a real hill to climb. In the surrounding counties
:04:28. > :04:31.there is plenty of support for Mitt Romney, in town, even his campaign
:04:31. > :04:36.workers concede, there is a clear majority for Barack Obama. I just
:04:36. > :04:41.voted for Obama, I'm so excited, this is a huge election year for
:04:41. > :04:45.you, we all need to show support. I will definitely voted for him in
:04:45. > :04:52.2008 and now again this time, four more years, I'm so excited. Thank
:04:52. > :04:56.you, Obama! He's my choice this time. Mr Romney? I'm a registered
:04:56. > :04:59.independent, and I think he will lead the country in a good
:05:00. > :05:06.direction, I like Obama too. It's tough. Obama, what else did you
:05:06. > :05:11.want to know! Why would you be voting for him? Because of his
:05:11. > :05:14.phenomenal record, especially his first two years in office. Back in
:05:14. > :05:20.2008, Barack Obama won this state for the Democrats for the first
:05:20. > :05:24.time in more than 40 years. In order to get re-elect, he
:05:24. > :05:27.desperately wants to hold on to it -- re-elected, he desperately wants
:05:27. > :05:33.to hold on to it. The early signs we have seen this morning are
:05:33. > :05:41.encouraging for the President. At these polling stations, high
:05:41. > :05:45.turnout had made the Obama campaign corkers eboullient. Is high turn
:05:45. > :05:49.out good for the President? Yes, a lot of the Obama supporters are out,
:05:49. > :05:53.they didn't get complacent, that was the only real concern, that
:05:53. > :05:58.there was a big grass-roots effort last time from the Obama campaign,
:05:58. > :06:01.like never before. I think there was some worry that wouldn't happen
:06:01. > :06:07.again for an incumbent, but I think it has.
:06:07. > :06:12.But the dynamics of high turnout, like most things political here,
:06:12. > :06:17.are subject to partisan argument. Certainly the Romney canvasers felt
:06:17. > :06:21.it might favour their man. The conventional or received wisdom
:06:21. > :06:24.seems to be is high turnout is good for the President. I think perhaps
:06:24. > :06:27.you don't think so. Why would it potentially be good for your
:06:27. > :06:30.candidate? A lot of folks are fed up with Obama, what he has been
:06:30. > :06:34.doing for the last four years, that is getting more people out to the
:06:34. > :06:40.polls. Typically you would expect that large turnout would favour the
:06:40. > :06:44.incumbent, this time around I think we will see something else. In this
:06:44. > :06:48.final hour of the campaign, nobody wants to concede. And this pattern
:06:48. > :06:51.in Virginia, was also playing out on the national stage. Mitt Romney
:06:51. > :06:56.voted in Massachusetts this morning. But this state is one of those
:06:56. > :07:01.where the contest is a foregone conclusion. So the questions were
:07:01. > :07:07.about another of those key marginals. REPORTER: What about
:07:07. > :07:13.Ohio? I feel great about Ohio. Goodbye, thank you, take care,
:07:13. > :07:16.Jennifer, you want to come with me to Cleveland. That is where he flew,
:07:16. > :07:21.breaking the usual convention about halting campaigning on polling day,
:07:21. > :07:25.in order to keep up the fight until the very last minute. His running
:07:25. > :07:30.mate, Paul Ryan, meanwhile, urged party workers in Wisconsin, another
:07:30. > :07:34.key state, to redouble their efforts, in the face of what he
:07:34. > :07:38.described as a "Democrat surge at the polls".
:07:38. > :07:43.As for the President, he chose to project an image of calm assurance
:07:43. > :07:48.about the outcome. My name was Barack Obama, you know the
:07:48. > :07:53.President of the United States. Shooting basket ball hoops in his
:07:53. > :07:59.Chicago home town, and stepping back from jetting around those
:07:59. > :08:03.battleground states. I also want to say to Governor Romney,
:08:03. > :08:06.congratulations on a spirited campaign, I know his supporters are
:08:06. > :08:10.just as engaged and just as enthusiastic, and working just as
:08:10. > :08:14.hard today. We feel confident, we have got the votes to win, but it
:08:14. > :08:19.will depend ultimately on whether those votes turn out. I would
:08:19. > :08:23.encourage everybody, on all sides, just to make sure that you exercise
:08:23. > :08:27.this precious right that we have. That people fought so hard for us
:08:27. > :08:33.to have. The fight for key marginals has,
:08:33. > :08:37.then, focused on turning out the base. In Virginia, the Republicans,
:08:37. > :08:43.for example, made more than four million phone calls to possible
:08:43. > :08:46.supporters, and messers Romney and Ryan, dozens of visits. Tonight it
:08:46. > :08:52.will become clear whether that paid off, or whether the reports of high
:08:52. > :08:57.turnout are confirmed, and that has turned it President Obama's way.
:08:57. > :09:02.Let's see if we can learn a little bit more now with the latest
:09:02. > :09:07.numbers. We have the Democratic pollster, Celinda Lake, and her
:09:07. > :09:13.Republican counterpart, Ed Goeas. Right who is going to win? We are,
:09:13. > :09:16.the Democrats. Barack Obama! This is completely independent! That was
:09:16. > :09:24.not my prediction this morning. My prediction would be that Mitt
:09:24. > :09:28.Romney would be right over at 50%, 50.4% and above. It reveals what a
:09:28. > :09:35.bogus science polling is if you come to contradictory conclusions?
:09:35. > :09:37.Neither of us said polling, we said "predicted". As As I said to one
:09:37. > :09:41.earlier today, this is our sixth presidential election, I have
:09:41. > :09:46.called three of those for a Democrats, she has never called it
:09:46. > :09:49.for a Republican. That may tell you how we read the numbers. Or our
:09:49. > :09:52.parties. When pollsters have been saying, as they have been for quite
:09:52. > :09:57.a while, it will be very close. That's really the truth. You think
:09:57. > :10:02.they are right, obviously, you are pollsters? I thought it would be
:10:02. > :10:07.one of three scenario, close Obama win, close Romney win, or surge at
:10:07. > :10:13.the end for Romney. The storm pretty much took out the surge
:10:13. > :10:16.Romney, it close -- it will be close one way or the other, very
:10:16. > :10:21.close. I think it will be close, as you said earlier in the programme,
:10:21. > :10:25.it will be turnout. And both sides have substantial turnout operations.
:10:25. > :10:29.Is there any indication that one side is not getting its vote out as
:10:29. > :10:36.well as it should do, or getting it out better than the other side?
:10:36. > :10:39.think the Democrats have a harder job to. Do our voters have,
:10:39. > :10:43.traditionally have less voting history. We don't have the
:10:43. > :10:48.intensity of 2008. It is always easier to be the outsider party,
:10:48. > :10:52.that always is more energised, but we have an unparalleled operation,
:10:52. > :10:55.if there are experts on either side for turnout, it is the bau,
:10:55. > :10:59.campaign. I would answer it two different ways, normally the
:10:59. > :11:04.Democrats have a big surge in early voting. We matched that now this
:11:04. > :11:08.time. It looked about even between the two parties. Going into the
:11:08. > :11:11.election day the Republicans do a better job and have more intensety.
:11:11. > :11:14.The real battle is today. What do you think will have determined, if
:11:14. > :11:20.you are looking at issues, what do you think will have determined the
:11:20. > :11:24.outcome of this election? Come on, you are the pollster, you are
:11:24. > :11:31.supposed to know! I think the economy is the big factor, of
:11:31. > :11:36.course. The economy in the United States is still limping along, and
:11:37. > :11:39.it is always hard for an incumbent to win re-election with bad economy.
:11:39. > :11:44.Particularly turg the summer the Democrats were very effective -
:11:44. > :11:48.during the summer the Democrats were very effective in drawing a
:11:48. > :11:52.stark contrast between Mitt Romney, about whose side we were on. I
:11:52. > :11:57.think the women's issue matters, Democrats win more when women vote
:11:57. > :12:04.for them more than men vote for Republicans. This was the gift we
:12:04. > :12:08.kept on giving. I agree of it the economy. One of the things we have
:12:08. > :12:12.been watching is Mitt Romney on who can best handle the economy, jobs,
:12:12. > :12:16.spending and, as of last night, for the first time, and small edge on
:12:16. > :12:20.taxes. Which is what the Democrats had take Anne way from Romney
:12:20. > :12:24.earlier in the year. -- taken away from Romney earlier in the year.
:12:24. > :12:29.Mitt Romney led on all those issues and led on who can make something
:12:29. > :12:34.happen. There is about 70% of the voters that are pocket book voters
:12:34. > :12:37.that is the group of voters Mitt Romney has, on those really voting
:12:37. > :12:42.for the economy. Which states, do you think, or the endless focus
:12:42. > :12:46.upon a very, very small number of electorates, which state will
:12:46. > :12:49.decide it tonight? Ohio. Do you agree? Ohio, I think you have to
:12:49. > :12:53.watch it closely and Virginia, there has been late talk on
:12:53. > :12:57.Virginia being very close. In terms of the Democrats maybe doing better
:12:57. > :13:03.than expected. I would also say Wisconsin. We think we are going to
:13:03. > :13:07.win Wisconsin. So the polls will close pretty shortly in Virginia,
:13:07. > :13:11.in an hour's time. At that point we will be able to tell who has won
:13:11. > :13:15.the presidency, we don't have to stay up all night! That is too
:13:15. > :13:18.Earlly I think you will be able to tell. Who won -- early, I think you
:13:19. > :13:24.will be able to tell who won the presidency, there is the state
:13:24. > :13:28.closing and then the polls being done. I could tell you, you could
:13:28. > :13:32.have this election dispued for a number of days -- dispued for a
:13:32. > :13:37.number of days afterwards. There are ballots set aside not sure they
:13:37. > :13:42.will be counted in Ohio, and a lot of dispute could go on here.
:13:42. > :13:48.could be looking at something like Bush and Gore? Or more so. Even
:13:48. > :13:52.worse, the new law in Ohio, is you have more provisional votes in
:13:52. > :13:56....I'm Sorry you have to explain what a provisional ballot is?
:13:56. > :14:00.example, if you filed for an absentee ballot, didn't use t and
:14:01. > :14:04.show up on election day, you set aside that ballot to make sure you
:14:04. > :14:08.didn't vote twice. Provisional ballot. Somebody determines whether
:14:08. > :14:12.or not that vote sellable, after the event? That's right. The new
:14:12. > :14:19.law in Ohio is if you have too many provisional ballots they are all
:14:20. > :14:23.set aside for ten days, and not touched. Which makes it even worse
:14:23. > :14:26.than 2000. It is extraordinary how you people run things, people
:14:26. > :14:31.standing for hours trying to get into a polling station. We think
:14:31. > :14:34.the same thing. I thought we got it from you. Not this way of doing it.
:14:34. > :14:38.Look forward to talking to you, when you have some hard
:14:38. > :14:43.intelligence, I hope. The way the system work here, the fate of the
:14:43. > :14:46.nation lies with the voters of a handful of states, the so-called
:14:46. > :14:55.wing states, which Mark and our two pollsters were taking about. We
:14:55. > :14:58.have reporters in three of them. First Richmond Virginia, a key
:14:58. > :15:02.state Mitt Romney must capture to get to the White House. What is the
:15:02. > :15:05.most interesting thing that happened there today? The most
:15:05. > :15:09.interesting thing that has happened here today is people are queuing
:15:09. > :15:12.and queuing for a long time to get to the poll. The turnout looks to
:15:12. > :15:15.be high. Let as just deal with a few facts, there is a lot of
:15:16. > :15:19.speculation, and a lot of impression, but the Virginia
:15:19. > :15:24.Election Board, says it looks as though the turnout will be higher
:15:25. > :15:30.than it was in 2008, and it was a record then. Conventional wisdom
:15:30. > :15:34.says high turnout is good for the Democrats. Could it be that the
:15:34. > :15:37.Romney campaign that has really managed to get the vote out. We
:15:38. > :15:43.will know something in about an hour-and-a-quarter. It is
:15:43. > :15:46.electronic voting, we should get an impression then. There are a couple
:15:46. > :15:49.of key counties to look out for. If they have gone for Obama, it would
:15:49. > :15:55.be a very significant victory and make it very, very difficult for
:15:55. > :16:04.Romney to win, not only in Virginia, but the rest of the country as well.
:16:04. > :16:07.So, if he wins in Virginia, he's probably going to win nationwide?
:16:07. > :16:13.That is the speculation, and then you would say the money that has
:16:13. > :16:19.been spent might well have been worth it. One statistic for you,
:16:19. > :16:23.$131 million has been spent just here in Virginia, for probably
:16:23. > :16:32.about four, four-and-a-half million voters who will go to the polls
:16:32. > :16:36.today. That has brought 186,000 TV and radio ads, it has bought that.
:16:36. > :16:40.When we went to the polling stations, a couple of students said
:16:40. > :16:47.they couldn't watch television or listen to radio over the past two
:16:47. > :16:51.week, because they couldn't bear any more adverts. It makes the UK
:16:51. > :16:57.elections look like a nickle and dime store. Thank you very much.
:16:57. > :17:04.Our correspondent following voters in Cleveland Ohio. What has excited
:17:04. > :17:07.you there, Clive? I tell you what's excited me, the fact that all the
:17:07. > :17:12.political ads have come to an end here. I have been here two days and
:17:12. > :17:17.I'm fed up of them. Let me give you one statistic, 150,000 times, that
:17:17. > :17:22.is the number of times that all President Obama's ads and those
:17:22. > :17:31.groups backing him, have been shown on television here in Ohio over the
:17:31. > :17:35.last few week. For Mitt Romney 41 ,162. If you strung all the ads
:17:35. > :17:39.together, and ran them back-to-back, it would run for four-and-a-half
:17:39. > :17:44.day. That is the horror show that is political campaigning in this
:17:44. > :17:47.swing state. 18 Electoral College votes, both candidates, both
:17:47. > :17:52.campaigns pushing for them for weeks and weeks and weeks, that is
:17:52. > :17:56.why they spent a fortune and put so many ads out here. I'm not the only
:17:56. > :18:01.one glad they are coming to an end in the state.
:18:01. > :18:09.No wonder you have taken refuge in a pub! But if he doesn't win Ohio,
:18:09. > :18:13.how much trouble is he in? Well, look, the thing about Ohio, it is
:18:13. > :18:18.very difficult for a Republican to get to the White House, if they
:18:18. > :18:21.don't win Ohio. The fact is the 18 Electoral College votes, because of
:18:21. > :18:25.the way that Democrat votes and Republican votes are distributed
:18:25. > :18:30.around the country. Ohio is the easiest way for Mitt Romney to get
:18:30. > :18:34.to the White House F he doesn't win hoe Ohio, he has to get a
:18:34. > :18:37.combination of other states that are perhaps leaning too far towards
:18:37. > :18:41.the Democrats, therefore, it is virtually impossible for him to
:18:41. > :18:45.close the deal and finish the job. For the President, for him, he's
:18:45. > :18:54.looking to get Ohio, along with states like Wisconsin, and Iowa,
:18:54. > :19:01.and these will provide what they have been calling a "firewall", a
:19:01. > :19:05.protective firewall that would stop Mitt Romney getting the 250
:19:05. > :19:10.Electoral College votes he needs. But it will be close. The polls
:19:10. > :19:17.close in an hour-and-a-half, you have provisional ballots that might
:19:17. > :19:20.not be counted for ten days. If it is a tight race it could go on for
:19:20. > :19:24.weeks. Laura Trevelyan has been testing the mood from Miami in
:19:24. > :19:30.Florida. Last night you spent an awfully long time refusing to call
:19:30. > :19:34.it. Are you prepared to do so tonight, do you think? I'm going to
:19:34. > :19:41.be reticent again, one thing I can tell you is there are a lot of
:19:41. > :19:45.alligators in the swamplands in Miami, this had he -- if they had a
:19:45. > :19:49.vote they would be dragged to the polls. It is fascinating today, I
:19:49. > :19:54.have been racing around polling station, started first thing this
:19:54. > :19:59.morning, meeting campaign workers, we are being spun 360 degrees.
:19:59. > :20:06.Everybody telling me ernestly, they have it in the bag, Mitt Romney
:20:06. > :20:09.winning by six, and Barack Obama nabbing the state and getting the
:20:09. > :20:13.Electoral College. They can't both be right. If you look at until
:20:13. > :20:20.recently in this state, he had a bit of a lead, here in Florida it
:20:20. > :20:25.is very, very close. One estimate had both men on 49.75%. I'm sure
:20:25. > :20:32.you can do the math, probably with me with my CSE can manage that one.
:20:32. > :20:35.One thing for sure, if it is a very close result, within 0.5% of the
:20:35. > :20:41.vote, there will be an automatic recount.
:20:41. > :20:46.No more guff about alligators, what would tip the balance? Turnout, and
:20:46. > :20:52.remember here in 2008, Republicans, like across the country, viewed it
:20:52. > :20:55.as an historic election. They had eight years of George W Bush, they
:20:55. > :20:59.were feeling demoralised. Some would have stayed home and Barack
:20:59. > :21:03.Obama's vote turned out in huge numbers. If Republicans are feeling
:21:03. > :21:06.this time very energised, remember this is a retirement state a lot of
:21:06. > :21:09.elderly people, more than elsewhere in the country. If they come out,
:21:09. > :21:14.that could tip the balance. One thing we did find out today, apart
:21:14. > :21:17.from not speaking to alligators who can vote, is turnout here looks to
:21:17. > :21:23.be very high indeed everywhere we went.
:21:23. > :21:27.It is election day and Liberty City, Miami, these streets are some of
:21:27. > :21:32.the most depriefd and dangerous in America. Gangwarfare is rife, and
:21:32. > :21:38.murders are Monday and prospects are few. Yet the mood today is
:21:38. > :21:42.upbeat. High turnout among black voters was
:21:42. > :21:46.crucial to Barack Obama's 2008 victory. Democrats sigh it as a
:21:46. > :21:51.firewall in defend -- see it as a firewall in defending the
:21:51. > :21:56.presidency this time. Who are you voting for? Obama. Why? Because I
:21:56. > :22:02.see he's for us, he's for us. Because I think he can make a
:22:02. > :22:05.change. Mitt Romney, he want to take everything from us. The last
:22:05. > :22:08.four years in the economic crisis have been particularly tough on
:22:08. > :22:12.America's black community, which has suffered rising unemployment
:22:12. > :22:18.and poverty. But in this neighbourhood, at this polling
:22:18. > :22:26.station, the turnout seems just as high as it was in 2008. Outside the
:22:26. > :22:33.polling station we met Sabrena, whose son, tref von, was gunned
:22:33. > :22:37.down on his return to the shops. It resulted in race row in which the
:22:37. > :22:40.President was involved. People have to have their voices heard, and
:22:40. > :22:45.this is the only way to do it. you thinking about your son today?
:22:45. > :22:49.I'm thinking about other people, I just want them out to vote. Also
:22:49. > :22:52.outside was an electoral observer from the Obama campaign. Her job is
:22:52. > :22:56.to make sure people aren't prevented from voting. Inside, a
:22:56. > :23:00.lawyer from the Romney campaign was checking that only the eligible
:23:00. > :23:08.were casting ballots. In polling stations across Miami, Democrats
:23:08. > :23:14.and Republicans are watching the process intently, just waiting to
:23:14. > :23:18.cry foul. The crisis from Florida's disputed election in 2000 run deep.
:23:18. > :23:21.There seems to be lawyers from both parties circling. Like shark in the
:23:21. > :23:25.water. Are people waiting for things to go I don't think? Yes. I
:23:25. > :23:29.think people will file a grievance just on the thought that they may
:23:29. > :23:32.have been infringed upon, they may have thought they were, as opposed
:23:32. > :23:35.to something actually happening, just to make news and headlines.
:23:35. > :23:41.Republicans say they are not trying to suppress turnout by monitoring
:23:41. > :23:45.the voting, they are stopping fraud. In 08 there was widespread cheating,
:23:45. > :23:48.a lot of people who weren't eligible voted and weren't alive
:23:48. > :23:53.voted. Every poll will have at least two to three watchers from
:23:53. > :23:59.each parties, making sure there is no discrepancy to when people turn
:23:59. > :24:04.out to vote. Things were running smoothly until
:24:04. > :24:07.they ran out of ballots mid- afternoon. Harrington's opponent is
:24:07. > :24:13.not only the Congresswoman here, but the chair of the Democratic
:24:13. > :24:19.National Committee. We have been through this in Florida before. 527
:24:19. > :24:22.votes separated Al Gore from the presidency, we have, at the DNC,
:24:22. > :24:26.had an early protection team in place, the voter protection team on
:24:26. > :24:31.the ground here in Florida and the battleground states for months.
:24:31. > :24:34.skirmishing is intense, because the prize here is so big. Florida's 29
:24:34. > :24:37.votes are vital to Mitt Romney's hopes of winning, he has been
:24:37. > :24:43.gaining ground here. If the President loses here in Florida,
:24:43. > :24:45.can he still win the White House? Oh yeah. We have built the largest,
:24:45. > :24:50.most significant grassroots presidential campaign in history.
:24:50. > :24:54.And we have many path, many more paths than Mitt Romney has, to 270
:24:54. > :24:58.electoral votes. We win Florida and it is game over. We win the
:24:58. > :25:06.election. I'm planning for us to do that today. But there are other,
:25:06. > :25:10.numerous other paths, and more paths than Mitt Romney has. We will
:25:10. > :25:14.know the result in the sunshine state in a few hours time, or we
:25:14. > :25:19.won't, if not it could take much longer to resolve.
:25:19. > :25:29.Whatever happens in the long night looming ahead of us here, the
:25:29. > :25:29.
:25:29. > :25:34.elections of 2012 are already notorious for their vagueness, and
:25:34. > :25:39.brass-necked boon dogging. Where Democrats and Republicans go from
:25:39. > :25:44.here, Eleanor Clift, and Jim Gilmore, we're joined from New York
:25:44. > :25:50.by the writer, Martin Amis, who now lives here. Martin Amis, have you
:25:50. > :25:54.been excited by the spectacle of this election? More frightened and
:25:54. > :25:58.depressed than excited. What I can't understand is why it is close,
:25:58. > :26:05.and it didn't looks a though it was going to be until three or four
:26:05. > :26:09.weeks ago. Where Romney was widely ridiculed as a lousy candidate, and
:26:09. > :26:13.couldn't get through a day without some atrocious gaffe. And then it
:26:13. > :26:17.all got turned around by that first debate in Denver. I can't
:26:17. > :26:23.understand why the impact of that was so great. It wasn't that Romney
:26:23. > :26:27.was so eloquent, it was, I think, that Obama looked exhausted, and
:26:27. > :26:32.his presidency looked exhausted. And there may even have been a hint
:26:32. > :26:36.of contempt in the way he engaged with Romney. I don't think
:26:36. > :26:41.Americans like that. It hasn't been pleasant watching Obama being
:26:41. > :26:44.reduced from what he was in 2008, and I don't think the American
:26:44. > :26:51.people have liked it either, that is why it is close, against all
:26:51. > :26:56.rational interest, in my view. You, famously, quite recently,
:26:56. > :27:00.decided you would prefer to live in America than in England, as it now
:27:00. > :27:04.is, would you feel the same way under a Romney presidency? I would
:27:04. > :27:07.be very depressed by a Romney presidency. I came here for
:27:07. > :27:13.personal reasons, out of no disaffection for England, but I
:27:13. > :27:19.have been thinking, in the last few week, that you know the Republicans
:27:19. > :27:25.have got themselves in a state where the Reagan that they refer to
:27:25. > :27:28.so ref vently, would, in fact, be a pariah in the present party. I
:27:28. > :27:34.wonder if we could imagine a Conservative Party in England that
:27:34. > :27:44.had got so far to the right that they would have to disown Margaret
:27:44. > :27:47.Thatcher. It is quite extreme what is going on here. It is a kind of
:27:47. > :27:51.hypocrisy. Tax cuts for the rich, there is not a democracy on earth
:27:51. > :27:54.where that would be mentioned, let alone tabled and passed and given a
:27:54. > :28:01.second term. And yet, they are pressing forward with that, even
:28:01. > :28:11.though it is a long-exploded policy. It is as if they have lost a
:28:11. > :28:14.
:28:14. > :28:17.certain amount of pou-d' err. OK, we will come back to you in a
:28:17. > :28:21.moment. What has happened to your party that it can be characterised
:28:21. > :28:25.in that way? I don't think most people would characterise it that
:28:25. > :28:28.way. The Republican Party is very diverse, I'm a conservative, but
:28:28. > :28:32.I'm not like every other conservative. There are a lot of
:28:33. > :28:37.different points of view. But the heart of the matter, for this race,
:28:37. > :28:42.is the question of the future. What actually should we be doing in
:28:42. > :28:47.order to revitalise the American economy, get more jobs, get more
:28:47. > :28:51.growth. And some how, in order to get the economy growing that it
:28:51. > :28:55.just favours the rich, that is not right. We don't want tax cuts, but
:28:55. > :28:59.tax incentive, so people will invest their capital, create
:28:59. > :29:02.something exciting, new and dynamic, and we can get forward motion. That
:29:02. > :29:06.is the theme of the Romney campaign. Where as the President has been
:29:06. > :29:10.saying, I have been here for four years, give me more and things will
:29:10. > :29:13.turn around. There has been no driving, forward motion with the
:29:13. > :29:18.Obama campaign. That is why it is close. Eleanor Clift, you have seen
:29:18. > :29:21.a good number of elections here, when you look at the state of the
:29:21. > :29:27.Republican Party now, if Mitt Romney doesn't win it tonight,
:29:27. > :29:33.where are they left? First of all, I don't think you have to go back
:29:33. > :29:36.to President Lincoln, to find a Republican candidate to find it
:29:36. > :29:41.difficult to survive in today's Republican Party. Go back to Ronald
:29:42. > :29:46.Reagan, who did indeed raise taxes, the great conflict today is we have
:29:46. > :29:51.gross inequality in this country, we have a huge deaf vit, and the
:29:51. > :29:55.Republican Party just -- deficit, and Republican Party just remains
:29:55. > :29:58.adamant on no new taxes on the upper income. If Romney loses an
:29:58. > :30:01.election that many people thought he would win, because of the poor
:30:01. > :30:05.economy. And because President Obama failed to meet the
:30:05. > :30:11.expectations that he set for himself, and that the country
:30:11. > :30:14.expected of him. I think one response will be that he wasn't,
:30:14. > :30:20.Mitt Romney wasn't Conservative enough. I think there will be some
:30:20. > :30:24.divisions within the party. I think there are enough, hate to use the
:30:24. > :30:28.word "moderates", it is overdone, maybe "sensible", Republican,
:30:28. > :30:32.especially in the Senate. Who are tired of voting against things they
:30:32. > :30:35.actually believe in. The President himself says if he is re-elected,
:30:35. > :30:40.the fever will break. He thinks they will work with him. I would
:30:40. > :30:44.like to believe that as well. terms of election, generally, what
:30:44. > :30:53.has this one been like? It doesn't feel like a real ground-breaking
:30:53. > :31:00.election in the way that, for example, the last one was. These
:31:00. > :31:03.big epocical changes, am I wrong, what do you think? If Romney wins,
:31:03. > :31:07.I believe it is because the American people are tired of
:31:07. > :31:11.mediocrity in the economy, they want something fresh and new, they
:31:11. > :31:17.want some excitement. We understand our responsibility as Americans in
:31:17. > :31:20.the world, and the work we have to do in order to lead and work with
:31:20. > :31:24.allies. We can't do it with a week economy. I think Americans
:31:24. > :31:30.understand all this, and they know that it hasn't worked over the last
:31:30. > :31:35.four years. That kind of programme doesn't work. And I disagree with
:31:35. > :31:38.Elinor about this notion that some how there is gross inequality in
:31:38. > :31:42.the country. There are always going to be inequalities of income in
:31:42. > :31:46.every free society, include tag in the United Kingdom. But the fact is,
:31:46. > :31:50.what -- including that in the United Kingdom. But the fact s we
:31:50. > :31:53.need to create investment and opportunities for people to have
:31:53. > :31:56.forward motion, and rise above their stations in life they have,
:31:56. > :32:00.and move forward. That is what the Republican ticket is about. Do you
:32:00. > :32:05.think this was a really significant election? I think it is significant,
:32:05. > :32:09.because if Mitt Romney is elected he would try to undo loot of what
:32:09. > :32:13.President Obama has done, in terms it of regulation -- undo a lot of
:32:13. > :32:17.what President Obama has done. In terms of regulation, and extending
:32:17. > :32:22.universal healthcare. In terms of restraints on the business
:32:22. > :32:28.community, in the wake of the overreach of the creating of the
:32:28. > :32:33.meltdown in 2008. I think Mitt Romney talks about this forward
:32:33. > :32:37.motion of the economy, he hasn't told us how he would do that.
:32:37. > :32:42.Except, to direct more money to the called job creators, who have been
:32:42. > :32:48.doing very well the whole first decade of this century, and they
:32:48. > :32:52.haven't created the jobs. So, I don't see what Romney represent,
:32:52. > :32:56.except an attempt to undo some of the measures that have introduced
:32:56. > :33:01.some equality into the society. According to the polls he means a
:33:01. > :33:07.lot to quite a lot of people, perhaps just a majority? We are a
:33:07. > :33:15.divided country. The 50-50 country in all of that. But look at the
:33:15. > :33:19.Republican Party, it is 90% white, the Democratic that returns to
:33:19. > :33:26.Congress after the election will be 50% minority and women. Which party
:33:26. > :33:29.is America? Martin Amis, what do you think we should make of the
:33:29. > :33:37.possibility that President Obama might, according to the polls, lose
:33:37. > :33:45.this election? What do we make of it? We should salute the deeper
:33:45. > :33:50.rationality of the American people. There are many vins of severe
:33:50. > :33:55.rationality. We should -- vein of severe rationalty. We should blush
:33:55. > :33:58.for a future Romney, who believes the return of Christ will divide
:33:58. > :34:02.his time between Jerusalem and Missouri, will be the leader of the
:34:02. > :34:09.free world. Thank you all very much indeed. That's it for the moment,
:34:09. > :34:11.back shortly, now over to you. For all the people who say they
:34:11. > :34:17.were abused, in or around children's homes in North Wales,
:34:17. > :34:21.only to have their complaints ignored, a message today from the
:34:21. > :34:25.Government, "we will listen to you". The Home Secretary has announced a
:34:25. > :34:29.police inquiry into the last police inquiry, and a judge will lead an
:34:29. > :34:34.inquiry into the last judicial inquiry. Inquiries are spreading
:34:34. > :34:42.fast. In a moment we will discuss whether a desire to make up for
:34:42. > :34:45.past wrongs risks making more mistakes. First this report.
:34:45. > :34:50.For many years now, former residents of children's homes in
:34:50. > :34:55.North Wales, have alleged they were abused by a paedophile-ring in the
:34:55. > :34:59.1970s and 1980s. In 1991, seven care workers were convicted of
:34:59. > :35:02.abuse, the allegations of a ring persisted. The Government set up an
:35:02. > :35:06.inquiry, its report concluded there was no evidence of a paedophile-
:35:06. > :35:10.ring, beyond the care system. Former residents, witnesses at that
:35:10. > :35:15.inquiry, and their lawyers, have claimed it was too limited in its
:35:15. > :35:21.scope. It was to inquiry into the abuse of
:35:21. > :35:28.children in care in the former County Council areas of grin ned
:35:28. > :35:35.and Clwyd since 1974 -- Gwynedd and Clwyd since 1974, and focus on
:35:35. > :35:40.those responsible for the children. The police inquiries were also said
:35:40. > :35:44.to be flawed. Theresa May said there was to be an inquiry into
:35:44. > :35:48.that York. One of the victims in the report, Steve Meesham, alleged
:35:48. > :35:51.the inquiry didn't look at abuse outside the care homes and a
:35:51. > :35:55.renewed allegations against the police and several individuals.
:35:55. > :35:59.The Government is treating these allegations with the utmost
:35:59. > :36:03.seriousness. Child abuse is a hateful, abhorrent, and disgusting
:36:03. > :36:06.crime, we must not allow these allegations to go unanswered. And I
:36:06. > :36:11.therefore urge anybody who has information, relating to these
:36:11. > :36:15.allegations, to go to the police. The head of the national crime
:36:15. > :36:20.agency is to investigate any fresh allegations, and look at the way
:36:20. > :36:26.the police handled the original complaints. They will be helped by
:36:26. > :36:29.the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, or SOCA, and child
:36:29. > :36:34.exploitation -- the Child Exploitation and Online Protection
:36:34. > :36:38.Centre, CEOP, and a judge will review and secretary the verpls of
:36:38. > :36:42.the Waterhouse Inquiry. Some police officers say things are very
:36:42. > :36:51.different now. If we have made a mistake, I think we have to be
:36:51. > :36:54.honest about it. Times have changed, we are a given force, a different
:36:54. > :36:58.generation that deal with the cases now, than the ones investigating it
:36:58. > :37:02.now. Things have moved on, things have changed. I don't think there
:37:02. > :37:06.will be any issue about people coming and telling us issues that
:37:06. > :37:11.might involve ex-officers, or politicians. I don't think there is
:37:11. > :37:17.going to be any issue about that. Some say that these reviews are
:37:17. > :37:22.themselves too narrow. Mr Speaker, the lesson of Hillsborough, and
:37:22. > :37:27.hacking is that a narrowed down investigation is the basic building
:37:27. > :37:32.block of a cover-up, to limit this inquiry to North Wales and Savile,
:37:32. > :37:35.would, in my view, be a deriliction of the Home Secretary's duty. It
:37:35. > :37:39.would guarantee that many sickening crimes would remain uninvestigated,
:37:39. > :37:45.and some of the most despicable paedophiles will remain protected
:37:45. > :37:48.by the establishment that has shielded them for 30 years. Others
:37:48. > :37:51.say the new inquiries are unwarranted. If you look at the
:37:51. > :37:56.terms of reference, right at the beginning of the inquiry, and which
:37:56. > :38:01.I have read. They were looking at abuse of children in care. They
:38:01. > :38:05.heard evidence from a number of witnesses. They had all been in
:38:05. > :38:09.care, or some people had been social workers and some outside the
:38:09. > :38:13.care system. They weren't restricted, really, in looking at
:38:14. > :38:18.children being abused in a particular care home. They looked
:38:18. > :38:24.specifically at children being taken out of the care system or
:38:24. > :38:29.homes and being abused in hostels or hotel or whatever it may be.
:38:29. > :38:37.These allegations are abhorrent, the abuse despicable, the strong
:38:37. > :38:41.language of politicians expresses a widely felt revelgsvulgs. But
:38:41. > :38:45.securing convictions in these cases are very difficult, even though
:38:45. > :38:50.police forces pursue them harder than in the past. 20 years ago
:38:50. > :38:55.Clwyd Council commissioned a report on the alleged abuse, Karen Lumley
:38:55. > :38:58.was a councillor then, she read it, and remembers crying a lot at the
:38:58. > :39:03.detailed accounts, thinking of her own young children. She understands
:39:03. > :39:08.the strong reaction now. Yes, I think the initial reaction is, how
:39:08. > :39:14.does that happen? How do ordinary human beings do that kind of thing?
:39:14. > :39:17.And my initial reaction is how do we punish them. Even 20 years on f
:39:17. > :39:25.we find people, we should be punishing them. It is not fair that
:39:25. > :39:31.we have let those young people down. And what of the people at the heart
:39:31. > :39:36.of this? The victims of many years of abuse. Steve Meesham says he was
:39:36. > :39:44.confident the Government was taking them seriously. But he wasn't yet
:39:44. > :39:47.confident the investigations would be done properly. With us, Malcolm
:39:47. > :39:50.Johnson, the solicitor we saw in that report, and from Belfast, Jim
:39:50. > :39:58.Gamble, the former head of the police's Child Exploitation and
:39:58. > :40:02.Online Protection Centre. The experience of many victims is
:40:02. > :40:06.they feel let down by the system, institutions and people they went
:40:06. > :40:12.to. Can those people have any more confidence now? I think they can
:40:12. > :40:16.have a lot more confidence now. One of the positive legacys from the
:40:16. > :40:19.Savile investigation, is that people are being much more victim-
:40:19. > :40:23.centered. We are thinking about what we do. I think many of us
:40:23. > :40:27.involved in the child protection world, formally and informally, now
:40:27. > :40:32.think about the language we use. I was contacted by a former victim
:40:32. > :40:36.after my last appearance, who really didn't like the use of the
:40:36. > :40:40.term "historic", when I reflect on that, they are absolutely right,
:40:40. > :40:44.these victims aren't historic, they are suffering every single day. The
:40:44. > :40:47.abuse inflicted on them, may be many years ago, because they feel
:40:47. > :40:53.they haven't got justice. I think there is a real change. This is a
:40:53. > :40:58.real change in mind set, I do believe one of the poss is, more
:40:58. > :41:05.victims are up -- positives is more victims are coming forward. Has the
:41:05. > :41:09.Waterhouse Inquiry been unfairly maligned? I think it is, it was an
:41:09. > :41:14.extensive inquiry, that took place over many months, and interviewed
:41:14. > :41:18.many hundreds of witnesses. The allegations is children taken out
:41:18. > :41:23.of care homes and abused in hotels and so on. They say they weren't
:41:23. > :41:28.listened to? They say so, but if you look at the terms of the
:41:28. > :41:31.inquiry and it examined, they were listened to. But the inquiry,
:41:31. > :41:36.unfortunately, showed the evidence wasn't strong enough to show a
:41:36. > :41:40.major paedophile conspiracy. What is the point of the inquiry?
:41:40. > :41:43.would ask that question. I feel there is political impetuous behind
:41:43. > :41:47.this and politicians feel they need to do something. I would question
:41:47. > :41:52.whether the resources are best put into another child protection issue,
:41:52. > :41:59.rather than this, which has been investigated. You worry this is
:41:59. > :42:04.political activity for the sake of it? I do, I'm afraid. I think the
:42:04. > :42:09.Waterhouse house -- Waterhouse Inquiry did go into these issues,
:42:09. > :42:13.it was sensitively handedled, I think they felt they had to leave
:42:13. > :42:17.no stone unturned. With the police investigation there were a number
:42:17. > :42:21.of conviction as well. To my mind I was rather surprised there would be
:42:21. > :42:28.an inquiry into the inquiry. Just to get your view on this, the terms
:42:28. > :42:31.of reference, and what the Waterhouse Inquiry did. As far as
:42:31. > :42:34.you are concerned, were the allegations about activities
:42:34. > :42:39.outside children's homes themselves, properly investigated? That's the
:42:39. > :42:42.key issue. We don't know. There is an issue of perception and
:42:42. > :42:45.confidence in those people now watching what happens. There are
:42:45. > :42:48.several things need to happen, there needs to be a scoping, to
:42:49. > :42:52.look at the voracity of the allegation against that particular
:42:52. > :42:56.inquiry. I think we are getting very mixed up, I think the
:42:56. > :43:00.Government in launching different inquiries in different areas, is
:43:00. > :43:03.perhaps simply going to congest the space. Do you think some of this is
:43:04. > :43:07.political, by the way? I'm not sure it is political, I think the
:43:07. > :43:10.Government feels a need to react and use strong language. Isn't that
:43:10. > :43:14.political? Let me say this, in child protection you learn to pause
:43:14. > :43:19.and plan. I think there is a lack of pausing and planning here. We
:43:19. > :43:22.have had Savile, there needs to be a single overarching inquiry, the
:43:22. > :43:26.shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said that, and we have
:43:26. > :43:28.heard Tim Loughton say that. I couldn't agree with them more. The
:43:28. > :43:31.issues that deal with individual allegations of potential crime,
:43:31. > :43:35.need to be dealt with effectively by the police. This week I actually
:43:35. > :43:39.felt like standing up and applauding when Keith Towler, the
:43:39. > :43:42.Children's Commissioner from Wales, came out and advocated on behalf of
:43:42. > :43:46.victims in the way he did. We don't see that often enough. There needs
:43:46. > :43:51.to be a balance, there needs to be an overarching review that looks at
:43:51. > :43:54.the lessons that can be learned and how they can be applied across a
:43:54. > :44:00.broad geography, in health, education, policing and care. There
:44:00. > :44:04.needs to be individual scoping, by police investigations, to look at
:44:04. > :44:09.other reasonable grounds to suspects offences. There is 28
:44:09. > :44:14.people referred to in the report. Where are they today, did they
:44:14. > :44:17.commit other offences, were they ever placed on the sex offenders'
:44:17. > :44:21.register, any time nurture. That will give you a sense of how
:44:21. > :44:31.effective that investigation of. Would you support an overarching
:44:31. > :44:37.inquiry, you talked about the investigation not going ahead?
:44:37. > :44:42.child protection it is an enormously delicate issue. If you
:44:42. > :44:46.have a scatter gun approach with inquiries, you won't get anywhere
:44:46. > :44:49.at all. What about one big inquiry? I don't think it would assist, I
:44:49. > :44:54.don't think there should be another inquiry into these allegations. If
:44:54. > :44:56.the Government has decided there has to be, then there has to be. I
:44:57. > :45:01.question seriously whether it will make a difference to the victims.
:45:01. > :45:07.You would just leave it? I think I would, yes. What about the victims?
:45:07. > :45:10.Well, again I would say, those victims gave their allegations to
:45:10. > :45:17.the inquiry at the time. They are saying they weren't listened to,
:45:17. > :45:24.but if you read the terms of the inquiry, they were all listened. To
:45:24. > :45:27.but unfart Natalie, the inquiries cop -- unfortunately, the inquiry
:45:27. > :45:30.concluded there wasn't enough evidence to take the allegations
:45:30. > :45:33.forward. The police already investigated the matters. The
:45:33. > :45:37.history of the North Wales inquiry is the police were fairly
:45:37. > :45:41.aggressive in their investigation, I'm not sure they come in for a
:45:41. > :45:49.great deal of criticism. Thank you very much. With more on the main
:45:49. > :45:53.news, here's Jeremy. We still have our pollsters here.
:45:53. > :45:58.What are the exit polls showing? The early exit polls are showing
:45:58. > :46:01.Obama up a couple of points in most states. Do you agree on that?
:46:01. > :46:08.Supposedly they are. Several of the measures that she was getting of
:46:08. > :46:13.the first run, they do three runs, 10.00, 2.00, and 5.00. She was
:46:13. > :46:18.looking at some of the first run and some of the second run.
:46:18. > :46:23.Republicans usually turn out later in the day, as opposed to on return
:46:23. > :46:28.from work rather than going to work. Is there anything you have
:46:28. > :46:35.discovered with turnout and exit polls that gives comfort to Romney?
:46:35. > :46:41.In Ohio, on the early vote, now that is done. We had a 100,000-vote
:46:41. > :46:45.increase on the Republican side, 100,000-vote decrease on the
:46:46. > :46:50.Democrat side, in a state Obama won last time but only 239,000 voit.
:46:50. > :46:59.Election day becomes that much more -- votes. Election day becomes that
:46:59. > :47:02.much more important. Reports are election is turnout is high, apart
:47:02. > :47:08.from Cleveland? That is the state they have to come out with from a
:47:08. > :47:11.big margin. We have heard, since them, they are trying to push the
:47:11. > :47:16.Democratic vote out. But the provisional ballots are increase
:47:16. > :47:19.anything that area. Have you heard the same thing? Yes, that
:47:19. > :47:24.originally clove land was lower turnout, but we are pushing it.
:47:24. > :47:28.That would be bad news for Obama? It will be, if we don't get it
:47:28. > :47:31.picked up in the last few hours. long night. We will be here
:47:31. > :47:37.tomorrow night, working out what the result, when eventually we get
:47:37. > :47:40.it, means for America and the rest of you. Meantime there were claims
:47:40. > :47:46.earlier today that a voting machine in Pennsylvania, that every time
:47:46. > :47:54.you voted for Obama, it registered Romney, if it was true, it was like
:47:54. > :47:59.life imitating art. One vote for McCain, thank you. No, I want to
:47:59. > :48:08.vote for Obama. Two votes for McCain. Come on, it's time for a
:48:08. > :48:13.change. Three votes for McCain. votes for President McCain. I only
:48:13. > :48:17.meant one of those votes for McCain. This machine is rigged. Must tell
:48:17. > :48:22.President McCain. This doesn't happen in America,
:48:22. > :48:30.maybe Ohio, but not in America! maybe Ohio, but not in America!
:48:30. > :48:33.Ahhhh. Chilly out there, patchy rain and
:48:33. > :48:37.drizzle around western areas, further east a little brightness,
:48:37. > :48:40.sunshine at times. Certainly dry and bright across eastern areas, we
:48:40. > :48:45.saw through the afternoon. North West England, for instance, exposed
:48:45. > :48:51.to that strengthening west low wind, continuing rain and drizzle at the
:48:51. > :48:56.time. Through the Pennines gusty winds. Not as much sunshine through
:48:56. > :48:59.the east Midland. Some brighter spells at times. Cloud amounts will
:48:59. > :49:02.always be fairly large. Particularly across west Devon, and
:49:02. > :49:05.western Wales, don't be surprised to see further rain or drizzle
:49:05. > :49:09.continue from the morning. The wind continue to strengthen during the
:49:09. > :49:12.day, it is a fairly mild wind, temperatures of 9-12 possible. That
:49:12. > :49:15.will be tempered by the strength of the wind. That wind continues to
:49:15. > :49:19.feed in occasional dampness across Northern Ireland. Rain or drizzle
:49:19. > :49:22.throughout the day at times in the west of Scotland, brighter to the
:49:22. > :49:26.east. Aberdeenshire, Angus and Fife. The difference between Wednesday
:49:26. > :49:30.and Thursday will not be a great deal. If anything the winds may
:49:30. > :49:33.ease down a little bit after a breezy neat. Brightness across
:49:33. > :49:37.eastern and southern parts, certainly around western coasts and
:49:37. > :49:40.hills we will see further rain and drizzle at times. Western Scotland