14/02/2013 Newsnight

Ed Miliband has finally found a tax policy for a new Labour Government.

It's one they are familiar with. We will put right a mistake made by

Gordon Brown and the last Labour Government. We would use the money,

raised by a "Mansion Tax", to reintroduce a lower, 10p starting

rate of tax. The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury is here

to reveal whether this is a manifesto promise. So these have

been closed down for how long? of the Government's ideas,

channelled through Queen of shops, Mary Portas, was to quick start the

high street. Why have so few towns used the money they were given to

do just that. Is the largest democracy in the world, but why do

so many of India's serving politicians stand accused of

serious crimes. It is an astonishing fact that half

the ministers in the Uttar Pradesh Government are charged with crimes,

ranging from rape, murder and robbery. This is a nationwide

problem. The Olympic and Paralympic athlete,

nicknamed "blade runner", Oscar Pisorius, has been charged with the

murder of his girlfriend, in a shooting in his house in preoria.

We will speak to the man who helped write his autobiography.

Good evening, it was a very bad mistake. That was Ed Miliband's

verdict today on Gordon Brown's scrapping of a 10p tax rate in 2008,

as he readopted the policy, saying he was determined to put it right

after the election. He swiped one of the Lib Dem policies, the

"Mansion Tax", to help pay for it, promising the tax would be levied

on property worth more than �2 million. They accuse the Government

of rewarding those at the top, while squeezing everybody else.

Paul Mason is with me. As taxes go, this one is a bit familiar? In the

great political chess game over tax and spend, someone is finally

getting round to moving the first chess piece. It is Ed Miliband,

into the middle of the board, with the proposal to cut taxes for 24

million people, a bit, and pay for it by taxing housing worth more

than �2 million. We we call in political speak, "mansions". The

Institute for Fist * studies, that everybody likes -- The Institute

for Fiscal Studies, that everybody likes to quote. Says it is not

clear whether the tax would pay for the 10p tax rate. The politics are

clear. We reported this back in 2007. Labour people lived through

it. It was the moment where the political class, and the media, to

an extent, suddenly discovered there were people who earned

�12,000, and Gordon Brown had discovered how to make them very

annoyed. And people in Labour date that moment as the day the wheels

came off the cart. The problem with political chess, is once you move

your piece, somebody else can move their's. While this was designed as

a long-term gambit, a big idea, a blue sky thinking turned concrete.

As we are about to Lear, the other political parties also have ideas

in the short-term about how to respond.

Ten pennies, to be exact, scrapping the 10p tax rate for low earners

was, for many, the point at by Gordon Brown lost the plot. He

reduced the rate to 20p but ending the rate for the lowest paid. Then

he paid for it again at the polls. In hindsight he wished he hadn't.

What happened with 10p? It stunned me, because it really hurt, that

suddenly people felt I wasn't on the side of people on middle and

modest incomes. Because on the side of hard working families is the

only place I have ever wanted to be. But, Labour's political currency

was tarnished. So today, like a new penny, Ed Miliband turned up with

that rare thing in opposition politics, a commitment! Let me tell

you about one crucial choice we would make. Which is different from

this Government and different from the last Government. We will tax

houses worth over �2 million. And we would use the money to cut taxes

for working people. We will put right a mistake made by Gordon

Brown and the last Labour Government. We would use the money,

raised by a "Mansion Tax", to reintroduce a lower 10p starting

rate of tax. David Cameron has focused on taking the low paid out

of income tax all together, by raising the starting point for

paying. Some Conservatives would like to copy today's move. We have

taken two million people out of tax all together. We have cut taxes for

20 million lower earners, that is the right thing to. Do we have

raised the threshold to nearly �10,000 before people pay tax.

After that, rather than continuing raising the threshold, which is

actually very expensive. What we should do is focus on restoring the

10p income tax rate. Something and inexplicably got rid of by Gordon

Brown. I have called this, campaigning over the many months,

the great Gordon Brown repeal bill. Labour is pitching this as the

first of its big ideas for the future, but some Lib Dems see it as

the basis of a cunning and rather immediate plan.

Are they serious when they say they want a "Mansion Tax" and want the

rich to pay their fair share. If they are, let's see the colour of

their money. Why not put it forward in the Finance Bill, why not move

an amendment with to the budget. If they move to a core Lib Dem

flagship policy like that, why wouldn't Liberal Democrat MPs

support it. Is this political posturing, or is it for real.

But Labour is playing a longer game. It is called "subverting the Tory

catchphrase", they have done it with the words "one-nation", and

today went to the birth place of a slogan they would like to haunt the

Conservatives at the next election, think 1957. Some genial

commentatored said I coined the phrase which had a certain

popularity, I don't know who it was, who said something like, "you never

had it so good". It was the Tory Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan,

who coined those words, in Bedford, in the days of black and white, to

signal an era of rising living standards. Ed Miliband wants to

make stagnating living standards the issue now. Look at this graph,

showing real average earnings, they are falling as David Cameron comes

to office, and on both key measures, they are not expected to recover

much by 2015. Though, after that, the feel food factor fight -- fool

good factor right come back. Labour wants to fight the election on the

bays of pennies in your pocket. So -- basis of pennies in our pocket.

It is starting by pledging to took back the -- put back the ten deadly

pennies Gordon Brown took off people back in the day.

The Eastleigh by-election is two weeks away, the seat vacated by the

fast-driving Chris Huhne. Our political editor has been there all

day ahead of a report on that election battle for tomorrow's

programme. First of all, any sense that Labour

know exactly how this is going to be received? Ed Miliband did intend

for that policy to be something of a Valentine's Day present to the

low-paid around the country, but also in Eastleigh. Having been out

and about today, it doesn't feel yet that it is mere hours old that

it is playing. This is a by- election where we are hearing

immigration a lot, and Europe a fair amount. There is the cost of

living and the economy is issues up and down the high street, there are

four or five shops boarded up, they are fed through these decisions

rather than at the forefront of voters' minds. Today I did put to

the Conservative candidate, wasn't it a bit galling that a Labour

leader is announcing tax cuts today, even though's not in Government,

rather than a Conservative one, and she wriggled a bit. That is really

the heart of it. My sources, my Conservative sources are saying to

me, this is smart politics by the Labour leader. They are rather

envious, they suggest that very hard at the next budget coming next

month, that the Chancellor, George Osborne, is looking carefully what

he can do in this area. It won't be funded by a "Mansion Tax", but what

else can he do to bring down the cost of living and down tax. This

is about a real change in Labour strategy? I don't think it should

be overdone. I think it is a real change. There is three key things

for me, but I don't think today we saw the Labour leader set out an

economic strategy. They are not seen spinning it like that. The key

things are these, the first is that oppositions like to set the agenda,

they don't get to do it often, he has done that today. You have

Conservatives and Lib Dems, as we heard in the package, scrabbleing

to have their answer. The second is this is a signal of intent, it is a

value, it is something politicians get to do, it is cheap and free,

and they are held to it. That is what he has done, he has said if I

get in power this is the sort of thing I will do, not the whole

thing I will do. The third thing is this, when the voters are showed

pictures of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, they say Gordon Brown, that

is a problem for the Labour leader and the Shadow Chancellor who have

worked so closely with Gordon Brown. Such a public trouncing of a man

once their mentor is still alive today. The one series of detailed

questions that we will all have to answer, I will have to answer, when

I'm not in Eastleigh, concludes is this something a Labour Government

will say they will do now, nowhere near power now, or will they do it

when they are in power. They are saying it is not a manifesto pledge,

for many people that feels like weird political sophistry. I asking

Rachel Reeves in a moment, Labour's Shadow Chief Secretary to the

Treasury whether it will be a manifesto commitment. As was said,

a lot of people, still at the top, are tainted by the dropping of the

10p tax. At the time it happened, Ed Miliband said the dropping of

the 10p tax was part of a fairer system. I mean, he was clearly,

either he had his fingers and toes crossed, or he genuinely thought it

was a fair system and it burnt you? What Ed Miliband and Ed Balls have

said today, is it was the wrong decision. They got it wrong, Gordon

Brown got it wrong when he was Chancellor. And that we would not

just apologise for it, but if we were in Government we would put it

right by reinTateing that 10p rate of tax. -- reinTateing that 10 --

reinstating that 10p tax. They are taking responsibility, they were in

Government at the time, they made a mistake, the last Labour Government

made a mistake, it is something we want to rectify. But basically, now,

what you are saying is, that it puts Labour and Ed Miliband said it

puts Labour back on the side of working people. So you weren't on

the side of work people before, you weren't on the side of working

people since before you scrapped it? We introduced tax credits in

Government, which helped people, working families. We got that one

wrong. We were wrong to get rid of the 10p tax rate. Politicians don't

often admit they have made mistakes. We have said we would make a

mistake and also that we would put it right. Is it a priority for you

and a manifesto commitment? next election is still more than

two years away. We have been clear that we will not write our

manifesto two-and-a-half years ahead of the next election. But it

is something that we want to do, if we were in Government today we

would do it. And in the package earlier today it was said something

that could be done today by the Government. Ed Balls and Ed

Miliband said we will work with the Liberal Democrats and the

Conservatives if they want to do this on bringing it forward in the

budget this year in this parliament. Let's just be clear, on the

question of the "Mansion Tax", which you think will raise whatever

it is that you need, �2 billion. If the Liberal Democrats put that

forward, or indeed you put it forward, you would vote that

through? We would support a "Mansion Tax", but using that money

to cut taxes for ordinary working families. 25 million of them.

would definitely vote for that, no question? We are saying today that

is what we would do if we were in Government today. We said we would

work with other parties. What would stop you producing this 10p tax,

what would make you ditch it, for example? We don't intend to ditch

it. We're not going to start writing a manifesto in a piecemeal

way. It is only �2 billion of �670 billion of spending? It is �2

billion here and there. This is a costed policy, it is something we

want to do, we plan to do but we are still more than two years away

from an election. It does seem that you are trying to change the

weather. You are trying to say, look, we are now on the side of

working people, we made a massive mistake, this is actually only a

very small part. OK you are making some kind of nod towards a future

Labour Government's economic policy, but actually, it is such a small

part. If it is totemic and says you are on the side of working people,

commit to it now? If you lock at what the Conservatives and Liberal

Democrats did two years before the election, the Conservatives said

they would raise inheritance tax threshold to a million pounds, the

Liberal Democrats said they would get rid of tuition fee, and they

came into Government and didn't do those things. That shows the

dangers of making promises two years before the election. This is

something we want to do, we plan to. Do but we are not going to write

our manifesto two years ahead of an election. We have been very clear

today. If we were in Government now, and at the next election we want to

do this. We want to ask more of those with broadest shoulders, and

use that money to cut taxes for ordinary people struggling right

now with the rising costs of living. The IFS says it is something like

7p a week in the end. It is not that much? The "Mansion Tax", the

IFS have said the calculation it would bring in about �2 billion.

They don't know how it will be valued yet? They say it sounds

reasonable, and those are the estimates others have come up with.

A �2 billion revenue, could, for the 24 million basic rate tax-

payers, save them �100 each year. That is �2 a week. For a family

that is struggling at the moment, with rising gas and electricity

bill, rising train fares, the rising cost of food, this could

make a substantial difference to them. But the problem is, this was

an idea you had, you ditched the idea, it was a policy you had had,

you ditched that, now you are reheating it. And the IFS is saying,

and the words they said is "there is no plausible economic

justification for this". What the IFS said, when we introduced the

10p rate of tax is it was the wrong thing to do. It was a very popular

tax. They did say that today? the IFS have never been in favour

of the 10p rate of tax. They think it is an overcomplication of the

tax system. The reality is the 10p rate of tax sent a very good signal

that work pays, it was a popular tax and it improves those work

incentives for people on lower incomes to go back to work, to take

more hours. We think it is the right thing to do to reintroduce

that 10p rate. What the IFS are not saying is it is not affordable.

What they are saying is they don't think it is the right priority

priority. However it was a popular rate of tax and improved work

incentives. This is not a big, bold idea, it is safe stuff? If you are

a family earning, a mum or dad earning � 12,000-�20,000 a year,

and this means you are �100 better off, this is a difference,

especially at a time when every penny counts. Are you worried about

restructuring the tax system, and we don't know whether it will be in

the manifesto or not and depends on whether we get in, why not say here

is something bold and new, rather than relying on trashing Gordon

Brown? People want something to address their concerns, that is the

rising cost of living and waging going down. This will put money in

the pockets of ordinary people, we think that is a priority, and we

will fund it by asking a bit more from those who live in the biggest

houses in this country. In a moment, what hope for the high street? And

why do so many of India's serving politicians stand accused of

serious crimes? TRANSLATION: This charge is a

conspiracy against me. It was slapped on me during the last

Government. It is a conspiracy. The Government's big idea to revive

the high street was to put Mary Portas on the case. The fairy Queen

of shops took our her wand and point today 12 troubled town

centres in England, including Croydon, Dartford and Stockport.

Then the gift of money to 12 every year to spread her fairy dust on

the chosen high street. A freedom of information request has revealed

in total less than 15% of the money has been spent.

It is the bleakest of times for the high street. Caught between out of

town retail parks and on-line competition, town centres have been

shedding jobs and shutting shops in far greater numbers than they did

at the depth of the recession. The Government's announced a high

street Innovation Fund, urged lower business rates, and appointed a TV

guru, as their retail Tsar. Prime Minister asked retail expert,

Mary Portas, to take a look at what could be done. She has come forward

with 28 recommendations. It is my job, as Government minister to take

a look at those recommendations and see what we can get into place.

Mary Portas became famous for telling shops how to smarten up

their offerings on TV. A key recommendation of her's was a

competition. Local people would form town teams to come up with

ideas for revitalising their high streets. She wanted radical,

creative thinking. Stockport is full of creative people, one of the

things it is lacking is a social hub where these people can come

together and collaberate. That is what she saw in this submission by

Stockport, filmed by a local student. In pay Stockport was one

of 12 lucky winners to become a "Portas Pilots" pilot town. The

plan was to revive the local area with young people. Mary Portas came

and saw what we are all about. town was awarded about �100,000 of

central Government money, to put its plans into action. In Stockport

seven months later, less than a tenth of money has been spent.

have been pretty frustrated by the way it has gone. Really we wanted

to build on our creative ideas and get things going in Stockport, in

this part of the town. It has been hard to do that and get things

going, with the way that it has been set up. That money, doled out

by Grant Schapps in May, was supposed to kick start the revival

of the high street, and get the "Portas Pilots" going. Disclosures

under the Freedom of Information Act reveal just how little of that

Of the �1.2 million handed out to Town Halls by Grant Schapps, less

than 15% has been use. Grant Schapps has now moved on to a new

job. In the underbanks area of Stockport, they are still waiting

to be revitalised. It has rather run down over the years. There used

to be more shops there, there is a bed shop under that unit. They

demolished it and rebuilt and it has never opened it. That was a

hair dretser, that closed the same time -- dresser, that closed the

same time that was rebuilt much that was a God pine furniture shop,

that moved out to one of the mills, hasn't been rebuilt. John runs a

Christian bookshop, and has to compete with on-line and big out of

town shops. We were here a couple of week ago with Mary Portas doing

a photo shoot. I haven't noticed any long-term lasting effects yet.

They put some money, I think into the Dickens Festival, early

December. I think there is plans for some of the money to go into

something happening in June. But long-term, no, I don't know what

the investment objectives are. have also seen a breakdown of

exactly what the town teams have been spending their money on. I

will give awe few examples. In the The second key part of the

Government's strategy was to set up the high street Innovation Fund,

for the towns with the most vacant shops. In April 100 towns got

�100,000 each. How much of that money has been spent? Judging by

the figures we have seen, very little. Five councils revealed out

of that money they had spent nothing at all. So why not? Joe

thinks that in Stockport it has got bogged down in bureaucracy. They

have selected the usual suspect, the Chamber of Commerce, large

retailers and the local shopping centre, and they haven't really

engaged with local community. Portas wanted any interested local

to get involved. So in Stockport, 259 people are on the town team.

They vote on every single spending decision. So far they can't even

agree a promotional website. Obviously the more democracy you

inject in something the longer it can take. But also, I think, there

is an issue about making sure the money is spent wisely. I think what

would be absolutely the wrong thing to do is to say we can spend

�100,000, �200,000 on day one. That is great, we will spend it on a

project. It turns out to be wrong, and the project is not sustainable,

a year later we are saying that was wasted money, wasn't it. Retailers

say the Government is giving �11 million for high street revival

with one hand, and taking away �175 million with another. That is what

it will cost shops when business rates rise in April. That is the

third key part of the Government's strategy, help with rates. The

localism act gave councils the power to cut rates for struggling

businesses. Are they doing that? The reality is for the council, of

course, that we are also facing huge cuts, and we need it make the

books balance. If we give discounts to business rates, that is cuts to

services. That is a big challenge for us. We are looking at targeting

cuts to business rates. It would be wrong to say we could afford to

make really big cuts. In the toughest areas, business is

so bad that shop rents have fallen by nearly a third. Yet rates are

still based on boom time rents from 2008. The Government said it won't

revalue them to 2017. In the moon time, no amount of

creative thinking is likely to stop shops from shutting.

We asked the Government to appear tonight, but no minister was

available. Joining me from Lyndon is Sara Scott, part of the group

which successfully bid to make MarketRasen a "Portas Pilots". And

the writer of Sold Out, about the death of the high street. Is your

view this is good money after bad? Yes, I'm afraid it is.

We have a situation where ghost town Britain, boring town Britain,

call it what you like. The indisputable facts are that 50

stores a day are closing down. But it's not just the high street that

has the problem. It is also the out of town parks. We have seen six

major chains in a year go bust. Isn't if a laudible aim to bring

back life to the high street, to bring it a hub of the town?

Absolutely. There are good parts of the "Portas Pilots" review --

Portas review. Not when they can't make a decision? If they are going

to spend money on Peppa pig, we have a problem. The issue is a

community issue, and communities that have the local economy rooted

in the community will be successful. It is not just a retail issue.

You were given �98,000 how much have you spent? Half of it. Did you

have a plan? We have a plan and are putting it in place. We were a

local group it took time to be constituted and a bank account open.

We didn't have a penny at our disposal for three months. But we

got on and made things happen. It is not about how much you get and

how people are spending it, it is the results generating and the

ideas. It is public money, surely it is about getting results?

Absolutely, and that's what the focus should be. I think today

there has been a lot of coverage about how quickly people are

spending, and that's not really the case. It takes a little while to

get projects on their feet and get momentum behind. That certainly for

us the projects are all in full swing. Have you put retail units in,

or found different ways of utilising shops. Have you managed

to reopen shops? For us, in the six months since we have had the cash

in place, we have managed to cut vacancy rates on the high street by

50%, that is a substantial increase in occupancy. We have opened two

community shops to allow our independent artists and producer as

route on to the high street. Do you think this sounds more optimistic.

Do you think they will be able to survive without a further cash

injection, it will make a long time for the shops to make money,

especially with the rates? This investment is a drop in the ocean.

Long after the cameras have stopped rolling and the reality TV has gone.

Because that is what will come out of this for Mary Portas. The TV

programme is being made now. But this is a PR fluff that is going on.

What we need is to concentrate on what the town centres need. It is

not a retail destination. Make it residential? Make it a combination

of things. I do think town teams need to be set up with local

business people, local residents, and they need to concentrate on

making their town unique. For the local community. Isn't the problem

that people in Market Rasen go elsewhere for shopping. There can't

be social engineering to stop them going to where they think the

better shops are? That's right, if it is just about shopping. But I'm

with Bill on this one. It is about creating an inviting community

space that people want to come and spend some time. It is about

reinventing the high street, not just trying to recreate something

that has had the day. For example we know that all over the country

libraries are shutting down, what do you do, take an empty shop and

turn it into a library. What are the more creative ways to

revitalise the high street, then? Exactly that. We did a survey of

our high street visitors last summer, and we analysed that really

carefully to find out what was missing. One of the things people

wanted was a bookshop. Bookshops are quite hard to run these days at

a profit. We have created a book swap on the high street and put it

at the heart of a community store. It gets people in, talking to each

other. Connecting in a way that unfortunately had become lost in

some communities. You are shaking your head here. The facts are the

general public are changing the way we behave, and our values have

changed. Shopping on-line will be a very real thing in the future. Two

week before Christmas, Amazon reported for the first time in

history, they sold more e-books an hard copy books. What future

Waterstones and other high street book shops, none. Customers are not

going to the high street in sufficient numbers to make it a

viable proposition as a retail destination. It needs to be, what

was said, a complete package, based on residential, entertainment,

restaurants, arts, and that's where Mary Portas has got the right idea

in some of her 28 recommend David Kellys. About the town teams and

the local communities. But we have to recognise that the high street

that we once knew -- recommendations, about the town

teams and local communities. We have to recognise that the high

street we knew is dead and not coming back. I would say on the way

to revitalisations with the right ideas from town teams across the

country. David Cameron is making a three-day

visit to ind next week. He will be arriving in a country still

traumatised by the gang rape of a Delhi student, just before

Christmas. Who later died of her injuries. It set off weeks of

protests over Indian attitudes towards women. It is also prompting

deeper questions in the world's largest democracy about how it runs

itself. As many of its serving politicians are themselves accused

of rape, murder and other serious crimes.

It was an he eruption many Indians believed was waiting to happen. The

Delhi rape case has unleashed a torrent of anger at the old order.

Bringing a darker side of India's democracy to light. The Government

is promising speedier justice and tougher laws.

Attempt to murder. Forgery, murder. But the suspected criminals, this

activist is investigating, are the ones making India's laws, and he

says these politicians are evading justice.

The problem is that our judicial system takes such a long time, and

those people in politics, because at times they get in this seat of

power where they can delay their cases, not just four years but for

decades. We have come to India's heartland,

and its most popular state Uttar Pradesh.

It is one of the engines of Indian politics, controlling the most

number of seats in parliament. Down the line from Delhi is the small

town of Nagina. The name means "jewel", here Manoj Kumar Paras is

king. He is a minister in the state

Government. He has also been charged with gang rape, and six

years later there has been no prosecution or movement in his case.

We find him at his home with his constituents, hearing pleas for

help. He says the rape charge has been fabricated by his rivals.

TRANSLATION: This charge is a conspiracy against me. It was

slapped on me during the last Government it is a conspiracy. But

before the election, people in my constituency knew about it, and

they could see through it, and that's why I won by 30,000 votes.

lot of people find it hard to understand how ministers such as

yourself, and other politicians can uphold the law if they are facing

serious charges themselves? TRANSLATION: Just charging someone

is not enough. You have to wait until you are convicted. Anyone can

be charged for any number of reasons. But in many other

countries, in many other democracies. Please stop the camera,

please. In many other countries, no, if we could carry on. Please stop

the camera. Why do you want to stop, I wanted to ask you another

question? Then the minister is gone. His supporters make their feelings

clear. Nothing more. For many, Uttar Pradesh is a harsh place.

Millions live in extreme poverty, their lives governed by caste and

tradition. Here it's rare for women to press charges at all. Many never

even report an assault, because of the social stigma. We are looking

for the woman the minister is accused of raping.

Is she here? The woman seems to have disappeared. And we are coming

up against a wall of silence here. Everyone seems to be too scared to

tell us where she is. One villager asks who will save

them if they go against the establishment. In 2012, these are

the 370 is attempted murder. This man says he tried to go against the

establishment. He accuses his local minister of trying to kill him,

after he challenged him in a local election. The police documents show

there is a case to answer. TRANSLATION: I am a common man, and

this was my first election. He was a sitting politician, if it was a

false charge the police would never have resisted a case against him.

But there has been no movement in the case so far. Like so many in

India's overloaded justice system. We are on our way now to find

member member Ali, the man accused of -- Mehboob Ali, the man accused

of attempting to kill his rival. It is not just attempted murder he's

charged with, but many others, including robbery and kidnapping.

This is Mehboob Ali's town, he has won four elections here, and been

in power for over 15 years. We pay him a surprise visit, and

find him surrounded by supporters. Mehboob Ali! Mehboob Ali. They are

celebrating because he has just been promoted to Transport Minister.

The police are here to guard him, not arrest him. He disputed whether

he's even been charged with attempted murder. TRANSLATION:

my political career, 150 people have fought elections against me,

there is not a single person who can say I harmed him. Not one

person. You can say anything about anyone if you want to. But this is

now an official charge. The police have registered this, they have

accepted it as an official charge, and so it has to go to court.

Shouldn't you stand down until you can clear your name? No, no.

But how can people trust you to uphold the law, if you are wanted

by the law? Maybe there's a complaint in a court or a police

station, everyone has the right to make a charge. But maybe after an

investigation it might be found to be untrue. I don't know anything

about this. Religion is one clue to

understanding how things work here. The minister is Muslim, and he

delivers Muslim votes for the ruling party. And whatever the

charge, politicians can stay in office as long as they are not

actually convicted. It is the start of a new session at the Uttar

Pradesh State Assembly. Both ministers are in the chamber. And

in their element. They are far from the only ministers here with

spending cases, yet many wonder who is benefiting from the policies

they are making. It is an astonishing fact that half

the ministers in the Uttar Pradesh Government are charged with crimes.

Ranging from rape and murder to robbery. And this is just the

starkest example of what is a nationwide problem. A third of all

India's elected politicians are facing some kind of criminal charge.

The shadow over India's democracy goes all the way to Delhi. All the

main parties have promised change, but instead the number of alleged

criminals in their ranks keeps rising.

At this Delhi-based watchdog, they have been campaigning against what

they call the criminalisation of Indian politics for years. Staff

have built a database of accused politicians, based on the

declarations they all have to make before an election. If India's

justice system can't bring them to account, its director warns the

damage will spread. If you want to give somebody poison, it doesn't

matter whether you are giving a full bottle of poison or a

tablespoon of poison. Poison is poison. One of the reports said

that criminalisation is poison. We are not talking about a tablespoon

of this sort of people, we are talking about a full bottle of

these guys. A judicial commission appointed by

the Indian Government recently recommended all politicians facing

charges should resign. But with a general election

election in India next year, many suspected criminals are preparing

to return to power. Before the end of the programme, we

will have tomorrow morning's front pages. First, to millions Oscar

Pisorius is a hero, the South African athlete, dubbed "blade

runner", is an Olympic and Paralympic star. But today he was

charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steencamp, after

a fatal shooting in the early hours of the morning at his home in

Pretoria. The man who ghost wrote his autobiography spoke to us via

Skype from his home in Italy. I began by asking him how well he

knew Pistorius? I think that I know him quite well. But I know the

Pistorius of before. The new Pistorius is somebody that, for me,

is completely unknown. Is that because you think he has changed a

lot since stardom? When he was training here in Italy, his life

was very quiet, very normal, and especially he was only focusing on

working very hard. I found the new situation very difficult. Only

sometimes from South Africa where having some information regarding

some behaviour that was not nice and simple as the one that he has

expressed here in Italy. Of course we don't know yet what actually

happened, though he has been charged with murder. When you say

that you heard from South Africa that there were some things that

weren't so nice, what kind of behaviour are you talking about?

The situation in his party when he has had big argument with a

girlfriend of one of his friend that at the end he finished to go

to the police station to explain his behaviour. Tell me, though, do

you think that you ever saw any sparks of volatile, difficult

behaviour when you were working alongside him in Italy? No, never.

Never because he was always very pleasant with everybody. Maybe that

one time he was a little bit serious, because sometimes he was

closing himself because he wanted perhaps to save his privacy.

shocked are you about this arrest and charge? It is a big shock.

Because we came early in the morning that the first time I

thought that was a nightmare, and I was still sleeping, I thought I was

still sleeping, because I couldn't believe it. I know that in South

Africa and a young boy can have a violent reaction, because the

society there is quite violent with a lot of guns around. But I

couldn't believe that he can kill a person. That is something that I

cannot accept and that I cannot forgive. If at the end of this,

Oscar Pisorius is found guilty of murder, do you think that will

destroy him, it lobbously have destroyed his career? That's for

sure. The career is normal. But the problem will destroy him as a human

being. I don't know how he will survive. -- inside a jail. Because

you know, he is a man that has fought for the freedom of the

people, the freedom to be normal. If he finshes in jail, I don't

understand what his reaction will be. Thank you very much for joining

us tonight. Thank you to you. Of course we will hear more from

the court in Pretoria tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning's front

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 48 seconds

pages, that story makes most of the Love is supposedly in the air

tonight. Unless you are at work, that is. After a brief trawl of

Valentine's pictures from around the world, we quite liked these,

lanterns being released into the sky in Taiwan to much flash

photography. From all of us here, # Love is waiting there

# In my beautiful balloon # Way up in the air

# In my beautiful balloon # For we can fly

# We can fly # Up up and away

# My beautiful Good evening, what a difference the

day makes. It has felt much milder today. A little chilly Friday,

first thing, there could be the odd patch of ice and pocket of fog to

watch out for. Otherwise it looks largely dry and fine for many of us,

with some good spells of sunshine. Certainly so across many parts of

northern England, eight or nines, those temperatures on a par with

what we have seen today. A shade lower because it will start

slightly colder. Good spells of sunshine, slight winds, very

pleasant, and essentially dry, there is the joud site chance of

the odd shower popping up in western areas. That is more likely

as we head our way further north. Even here, through parts of North

West England and Northern Ireland, far fewer showers than we have seen

during the day today. They will be light as well. One or two through

Dumfries, Ayrshire and Galloway, up to the north of Scotland, here too

much dryer than it has been during the day today. And less windy as

well. The prospects, as you can see, through Friday and Saturday through

the northern half of the country, bring rather more cloud in through

Saturday. Fog in the morning as well. That weather front bringing a

smattering of rain, potentially, fog could be an issue for east

Wales and England on Saturday morning. It look like a cloudier