:00:08. > :00:14.The floods are bad, getting worse and could get worse yet. As the
:00:15. > :00:18.water rises the politicians scramble to avoid accusations of
:00:19. > :00:22.indifference. The fear is that political fortunes will be made and
:00:23. > :00:28.lost in the water. Being seen to do nothing is not an option. You see in
:00:29. > :00:32.them films where people are hanging on by their fingertips, that is us
:00:33. > :00:35.at the moment. Not a single politician visiting flood victims
:00:36. > :00:40.can do much more than offer reassurance. What would happen if
:00:41. > :00:43.they just said, sorry, it is an act of God?
:00:44. > :00:46.Years behind schedule, way over budget and still not even working
:00:47. > :00:52.properly, why is Britain spending ?2. Five billion on an unproven new
:00:53. > :00:56.aircraft? And this:
:00:57. > :01:01.This is their big day, they prepare for their last flight. Japan seeks
:01:02. > :01:06.international protected status for the last letters of World War II
:01:07. > :01:10.kamikaze suicide bombers. We talk to one of them. TRANSLATION: I never
:01:11. > :01:15.look back with regret. The people who died did so willingly, if they
:01:16. > :01:19.were force I had would not collect this stuff. They must not be
:01:20. > :01:31.forgotten. What does a British sailor on the receiving end of
:01:32. > :01:34.suicide attacks think? It must be serious because prominent
:01:35. > :01:40.politicians of all parties are slopping around in wellies doing
:01:41. > :01:44.their best to look ais theive in the face of environmeal conditions which
:01:45. > :01:47.vividly demonstrate the limit of their powers. The floods even forced
:01:48. > :01:52.the Prime Minister to hold his first news conference for months today. He
:01:53. > :01:56.warned there might be worse to come but said money would be no object in
:01:57. > :02:03.the relief effort. We spent the day in Chertsey, Surrey. So it
:02:04. > :02:06.continues, swathes of the Thames Valley are now under water. The
:02:07. > :02:15.second time some residents have been flooded out this year. In the winter
:02:16. > :02:18.sun the bridge at Chertsey might look picturesques, but roads are
:02:19. > :02:25.closed off and dozens of houses cut off. Somewhere on the other side of
:02:26. > :02:29.this vast inland lake are the Parsons family. Where are you? The
:02:30. > :02:32.other side of the bridge on the south side of the river, they closed
:02:33. > :02:36.that off. You won't get across Chertsey scam bridge. Not at the
:02:37. > :02:44.moment. You won't get across that. They called the BBC today to say the
:02:45. > :02:48.media are ignoring their part of the world. We set out to find them.
:02:49. > :02:58.River levels here are well above all-time records, the next 48 hours
:02:59. > :03:02.will be critical. So this is the back garden then? This is the back
:03:03. > :03:10.garden. There is the other pump, pumping. On our way we run into this
:03:11. > :03:15.man, in his 70s, working nonstop and still smiling after just an hour's
:03:16. > :03:18.sleep. Two pumps and dozens of sandbags are now the only things
:03:19. > :03:25.keeping the River Thames from his kitchen. You see in films where
:03:26. > :03:29.people are hanging on by their fingertips, that is us at the
:03:30. > :03:32.moment. We're just hoping we can get through it, that's all. It has been
:03:33. > :03:36.a very stressful time. We're doing all we can. We have had the fire
:03:37. > :03:41.brigade come down, the army come down and the police. But we can't do
:03:42. > :03:47.no more. A few doors down the staff at the local garage are bailing out.
:03:48. > :03:51.Flooding here has damaged machinery and chased away customers. How much
:03:52. > :03:59.do you think this will cost the business? Well, apart from the work
:04:00. > :04:01.we are losing I think this will cost about ?15,000-?20,000 minimum, by
:04:02. > :04:05.the time we have everything repaired. You better hope you are
:04:06. > :04:09.insured? That is something we have to look into. Hopefully there should
:04:10. > :04:14.be something there. At the moment we are looking at quite a bit. Then at
:04:15. > :04:18.the end of the road two new rivers collide, the current is too much to
:04:19. > :04:24.wade through, we hitch a lift from a four X four. Best of luck. So we
:04:25. > :04:35.have just been given a lift across that road which you can't walk down
:04:36. > :04:39.at the moment. We made it to Doreen's, who we spoke to her on the
:04:40. > :04:56.phone. This is her daughter's house, they are own house is down here.
:04:57. > :04:59.Doreen? Hello The house is still dry at the moment, but the river is a
:05:00. > :05:03.few inches off the electrical supply, if it hits that they will
:05:04. > :05:06.have to move out. We never knew, we knew we were near the Thames, but we
:05:07. > :05:10.were told at that point the last time it flooded was 1947. People
:05:11. > :05:17.will say you have a house next to rave that is the risk you take? That
:05:18. > :05:21.is fine, we acknowledge, that you know. It is near a river, this is
:05:22. > :05:24.not just near the river it is the water table and it is coming down
:05:25. > :05:30.from the mountains and like a snowball effect really. And nobody
:05:31. > :05:36.expects this really. We head back across the bridge as the river
:05:37. > :05:40.continues to rise. For some it is too late. In a house backing on to
:05:41. > :05:48.the river, the Smith family is moving out as the army moves in. We
:05:49. > :05:53.have kids from 16-8 months old. All stressed in their own way. A series
:05:54. > :05:59.of new storms are make their way across the Atlantic, the people
:06:00. > :06:08.living in this part of England will hope to miss the worse worst of it
:06:09. > :06:13.and hope for cleaner skies. Ronald Regan said the scariest words
:06:14. > :06:19.were "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help", David Cameron and
:06:20. > :06:29.others were out to disprove that maxim today.
:06:30. > :06:33.You will have seen a lot of VIP wellies if you have been anywhere
:06:34. > :06:38.near the floods this week. There was a time not so long ago when those
:06:39. > :06:42.living along the Thames Valley or the south west of England could open
:06:43. > :06:45.their door without bumping into a party leader. Those times are long
:06:46. > :06:49.gone. Now the politicians have turned up they are getting an
:06:50. > :06:53.earful. As Sky News captured on camera. What will it take for you to
:06:54. > :06:58.understand we are seriously in need, do I need to take you right down to
:06:59. > :07:04.the end where we need people. Do I need to do that, I'm asking you,
:07:05. > :07:09.what do we we need to do? Politically the water is now the
:07:10. > :07:12.only game in town, and today in view of worsening weather the Prime
:07:13. > :07:15.Minister cancelled next week's trip to the Middle East and said money
:07:16. > :07:20.would be no object to Britain's recovery from the floods. A lesson
:07:21. > :07:25.learned perhaps from 2007 when, with his own constituency under water he
:07:26. > :07:29.was in Rwanda. This time round a whistle stop tour of all the worst
:07:30. > :07:35.affected areas so he could see the damage and the problems firsthand.
:07:36. > :07:38.Berkshire has, to my calculations, seen at least three politicians in
:07:39. > :07:44.the last 24 hours. The army has now been moved in to help. There is
:07:45. > :07:46.anger from locals this may be flash-in-the-pan interest, but they
:07:47. > :07:52.are British and mostly they are just getting on with things. The quiet
:07:53. > :07:57.stoicism of the residents, something at odds with the political frenzy we
:07:58. > :08:00.have seen over the past few days. The prime ministerial time devoted
:08:01. > :08:03.to these floods has been substantial. David Cameron has been
:08:04. > :08:07.out and around for some 48 hours now. We hear there are more trips to
:08:08. > :08:14.come. Politically he knows how sensitive this territory is. He
:08:15. > :08:18.can't afford to hear dark mummurings of Catriona, the crisis that brought
:08:19. > :08:29.President Bush to his knees. This image of George Bush staring
:08:30. > :08:32.down at the devastation shows him detatched from the suffering. It is
:08:33. > :08:35.the kind of mistake David Cameron can't afford to make. This evening
:08:36. > :08:41.he gave his first Downing Street press conference for 238 days.
:08:42. > :08:45.Emily? REPORTER: We have seen a frenzy of political visitations to
:08:46. > :08:48.the flood plains in the last couple of days. Do you accept you recognise
:08:49. > :08:53.the seriousness of this problem too late? I think the visits do matter.
:08:54. > :08:56.We should be co-ordinated with the emergency services so we are not in
:08:57. > :09:00.any way getting in the way of their work. So I repeated my question, had
:09:01. > :09:07.he recognised the seriousness of the situation too late? I don't think
:09:08. > :09:10.so. Because Cobra was stood up straight after Christmas with the
:09:11. > :09:16.first floods, and I think what has become more and more apparent is the
:09:17. > :09:20.persistence of this bad weather. Remember weebles wobble but they
:09:21. > :09:28.don't fall down? That is how the blame game is working so far. Eric
:09:29. > :09:33.Pickles blames Chris Smith, Owen Patterson blamed Chris Smith, then
:09:34. > :09:37.the underinvolvement, today the Environment Agency workers were
:09:38. > :09:40.praised but not their head, Chris Smith. This is not a time for people
:09:41. > :09:43.to leave their posts but for people to knuckle down and get on with the
:09:44. > :09:48.important work of running their organisations and departments that
:09:49. > :09:55.they have do. You don't need a degree in semi-otics to suspect that
:09:56. > :09:59.long-term that is no ringing endorsement.
:10:00. > :10:01.The fine line for leaders between showing their involvement, their
:10:02. > :10:04.concern and making themselves overly, personally associated with
:10:05. > :10:09.the cause that is produce pictures like this day after day after day.
:10:10. > :10:13.As a former presidential adviser once said, "never let a certificate
:10:14. > :10:19.crisis go to waste, but where there is flooding it is all too easy to
:10:20. > :10:25.get into deep water". With us now is Anne McIntosh the
:10:26. > :10:28.Conservative Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
:10:29. > :10:32.committee. And Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP and cabinet minister in
:10:33. > :10:37.Gordon Brown's Government. What do you make of the fact that the
:10:38. > :10:39.Government is being blamed for a lot of this? I don't think the
:10:40. > :10:42.Government is being blamed. As the Prime Minister said I think we have
:10:43. > :10:46.all got to come together. We had flooding, not on this scale last
:10:47. > :10:51.year. But what those who have been flooded and those who live in fear
:10:52. > :10:55.of being flooded are wanting to see is everybody to come together. And I
:10:56. > :10:59.think just praise the volunteers, the emergency service, the military
:11:00. > :11:02.who are out there. Yes, the Government can give leadership, I
:11:03. > :11:05.would say the Government have shown leadership throughout. And have now
:11:06. > :11:10.brought in the military. But it is very difficult to pump the water out
:11:11. > :11:17.of such a vast area when there is nowhere to pump the water too. To.
:11:18. > :11:21.That is fair point, it is an act of God? We have had the wettest winter
:11:22. > :11:24.for a very long time. I welcome the new urgency that the Government
:11:25. > :11:29.seems to be displaying. I welcome the new language David Cameron
:11:30. > :11:32.using, that he will give all the money needed. However, I think we
:11:33. > :11:36.need to judge them on their delivery. We had floods in the south
:11:37. > :11:40.west a year a we were promised money after that to improve our rail
:11:41. > :11:43.resilience among other things, that money hasn't materialised. People
:11:44. > :11:46.are justified in asking those questions, and also about the
:11:47. > :11:51.overall Government strategy when it comes to flood defence, funding of
:11:52. > :11:55.flood defence and funding of resilience against climate change.
:11:56. > :11:58.Your own committee did worry about the impact of cuts on the
:11:59. > :12:03.Environment Agency, isn't that correct? I just think there is a lot
:12:04. > :12:07.of confusion, and a great deal of obfuscation over what the money is
:12:08. > :12:10.there for. Everybody understands what money is being spent on
:12:11. > :12:14.physical flood defences, we are trying to get to the bottom of what
:12:15. > :12:19.money is being spent on maintenance and revenue. I'm a big fan of
:12:20. > :12:25.drainage boards in non-flood times, to actually keep the water channels
:12:26. > :12:29.running smoothly and we have the Slow The Flow Project that has
:12:30. > :12:34.protected the town of pickering in my own constituency. There is a lot
:12:35. > :12:38.you can do. This money argument is a hard one for you guys in the
:12:39. > :12:41.opposition to make, given today that David Cameron said money is no
:12:42. > :12:45.object? That is great, but let's see the delivery. He has said this
:12:46. > :12:49.before, we were promised money after last year's floods that was not
:12:50. > :12:53.delivered in the south west. I'm welcoming what he said today. I
:12:54. > :12:58.welcome the new urgency, I hope that leads to a complete reassessment of
:12:59. > :13:02.how we deal with the threats from climate change and the resilience of
:13:03. > :13:06.the transport infrastructure and floods defences. I think flood
:13:07. > :13:11.defences were cut significantly when this Government came to power. We
:13:12. > :13:15.had the major floods of 2007, we have the Pitt Review and we don't
:13:16. > :13:19.need another public inquiry or review, we need the recommendations
:13:20. > :13:26.implemented. The point is the flood defences held this time the flood
:13:27. > :13:31.defences held probably now we will need to see whether they need
:13:32. > :13:36.substantial repair. It is the day-to-day regular maintenance of
:13:37. > :13:41.major and minor water courses that can prevent silt forming and banks
:13:42. > :13:44.being full of vegetation so the water doesn't flow away. What is
:13:45. > :13:49.clear this time is we have had every type of flooding, we have had
:13:50. > :13:52.coastal flooding, tidal surges, river flooding, we have now had
:13:53. > :13:56.ground water flooding in the Thames. Everything is being chucked at us.
:13:57. > :14:01.It is covering such a large part of the country, it is literally all
:14:02. > :14:05.hands on deck. Literally all hands on deck? Volunteer, emergency
:14:06. > :14:11.services and the military. And yet you see the Daily Mail saying money
:14:12. > :14:13.should be taken away from the Department of International
:14:14. > :14:17.Development because there is such a shortage of help for people at home?
:14:18. > :14:22.That is a very popular argument. Can I just say, if you allowed the
:14:23. > :14:26.drainage boards to keep the money they are currently putting into the
:14:27. > :14:30.Environment Agency in Somerset, East Anglia and in North Yorkshire, if
:14:31. > :14:34.they were allowed to do the work themselves, if the Environment
:14:35. > :14:37.Agency then could do what they are good at which is doing the main
:14:38. > :14:41.flood defences, then actually I think we would be in a much better
:14:42. > :14:45.place than what we're currently doing which is not dredging between
:14:46. > :14:50.floods. It is interesting to hear someone from your party talking
:14:51. > :14:56.about "if we could do that" and "if we can do the other", the Government
:14:57. > :15:04.can do it can't they? I'm not trying to enter into a blame culture here.
:15:05. > :15:08.But dredging was dropped mid-2000s. You could have started it again? The
:15:09. > :15:12.Government are doing seven pilot schemes tie low the landowners to do
:15:13. > :15:18.the dredging on their own land. You can do what you like in Government?
:15:19. > :15:23.This is what we are doing, I believe we can go back to that. It is not
:15:24. > :15:27.just about dredging, and Anne knows a lot of places dredging wouldn't
:15:28. > :15:30.work. This is a strategic response to the fragility of our
:15:31. > :15:34.infrastructure and country as a result of increased extreme weather
:15:35. > :15:38.events due to climb mat change. Until the Government grasp that we
:15:39. > :15:42.are not going to have a proper way of addressing the problem. You know
:15:43. > :15:46.how it look, people see a couple of politicians beginning to score
:15:47. > :15:50.points off one another over events which neither of them could properly
:15:51. > :15:54.control? I hope we're not scoring points. I hope that we are trying to
:15:55. > :15:59.edge towards a serious debate about what we need to do in the long-term
:16:00. > :16:02.to address some of the problems that have caused what is happening now.
:16:03. > :16:06.What we have seen today is, as the Prime Minister said, the country and
:16:07. > :16:09.the party is coming together for the good of those who have been flooded.
:16:10. > :16:15.What we are talking about is a long-term solution. One of the
:16:16. > :16:19.reasons that people are slopping around up to their oxters in water
:16:20. > :16:24.is there hasn't been the money to improve flood defences. This is not
:16:25. > :16:26.a problem that affects part of the Ministry of Defence. Tonight
:16:27. > :16:32.Newsnight can reveal that Britain is about to spend ?2. 5 billion buying
:16:33. > :16:35.some fighter bombers for the Navy, encouraged by the man who used to be
:16:36. > :16:38.the head of the Royal Navy, and now earns a tidy sum from the company
:16:39. > :16:43.making the planes. We have more, explain? This is huge
:16:44. > :16:50.for the Royal Navy, they have pinned their future, to a large measure, on
:16:51. > :16:54.the future of these two carriers. ?6 bill I don't know-plus to build them
:16:55. > :17:01.what will -- billion to build them and what will they fly off? They
:17:02. > :17:04.have really only one choice, this F-35, we were expecting the first
:17:05. > :17:08.production order to come this week, for various reasons to do with
:17:09. > :17:21.Government schedule and contractual negotiations it hasn't. We have been
:17:22. > :17:25.finding out what it will consist of. The F-35, the biggest defence
:17:26. > :17:29.project. Britain is about to commit itself fully to its first production
:17:30. > :17:36.aircraft. Along with the capability to land vertically, fly stealthily,
:17:37. > :17:41.and combine sensors to the latest weapons has come delay, and a
:17:42. > :17:45.trillion dollar global price tag. In Britain the Royal Navy has pinned
:17:46. > :17:49.its future on the crane, and the aircraft carriers that will launch
:17:50. > :17:54.it. There is so much riding on the F-35 for Britain, it is going to
:17:55. > :17:58.replace the Harrier and the tornado. It is central to the future of the
:17:59. > :18:03.Royal Navy and the military Aerospace sector of the economy. And
:18:04. > :18:10.yet, the programme has been plaged by development problems, it is years
:18:11. > :18:17.later into service, and the eventual cost to the UK is only just becoming
:18:18. > :18:22.clear. As head of the Navy, Admiral Jonathan Band threatened to resign
:18:23. > :18:28.if the new aircraft carriers weren't built. Now he's with the F-35's
:18:29. > :18:33.makers, delighted that his dream is about to be realised. A production
:18:34. > :18:38.order for the F-35 for me is an exciting moment. We are now by the
:18:39. > :18:43.end of the decade have a credible carrier air capability which this
:18:44. > :18:45.country can deploy. Importantly the current debate we have had and we
:18:46. > :18:51.have seen about whether we're still up for the game in the UK, and
:18:52. > :18:56.whether we are a serious player, with carrier air we certainly are.
:18:57. > :19:02.Is that status? It is more than status, it is capability. There is a
:19:03. > :19:06.status, obviously, in having these capabilities. But there is an
:19:07. > :19:09.operational confidence in having operational confidence in deploying
:19:10. > :19:16.them, it is the credibility that ownership of that gives you.
:19:17. > :19:23.Britain's F-35s were first meant to enter service in 2012, that is now
:19:24. > :19:28.slated for 2018. With 8. 4 million lines of software code, it is the
:19:29. > :19:35.most sophisticated plane ever made. Last year the Pentagon estimated
:19:36. > :19:40.that only 2% of that soft care -- software fully met its standards.
:19:41. > :19:46.The biggest outstanding problem is block 2-B software, vital for
:19:47. > :19:49.missile, radars and combat systems. Critics in Washington argue it will
:19:50. > :19:59.never work proper low. . As an air-to-air fighter it is a
:20:00. > :20:04.target, not a fighter. As an air-to-ground bomber its range and
:20:05. > :20:09.payload are very modest. So far this aeroplane is not working as
:20:10. > :20:18.advertised. It is almost a decade behind its initial schedule. Even if
:20:19. > :20:22.it performs up to all of its performance promise, the design is
:20:23. > :20:26.so modest it will still be a huge disappointment. The Pentagon and the
:20:27. > :20:31.manufacturers insist early snags have been solved, and testing
:20:32. > :20:36.proceeds apace. The aircraft has gone to sea too, part of a plan to
:20:37. > :20:40.get it into service with the US Marines late next year. But even if
:20:41. > :20:50.that deadline is met, will the aircraft be capable of much more and
:20:51. > :20:58.take off and nding. Trying to look at all the mission profiles from the
:20:59. > :21:01.Navy and marine corp, as well as the British, Italian, Israeli, South
:21:02. > :21:05.Korean requirement, all these different air forces have their own
:21:06. > :21:11.say because they put money in. It lip crease the complexity. As for
:21:12. > :21:19.the price tag, Britain's first four planes will cost $95 million, or ?58
:21:20. > :21:24.million. The price of buying aircraft with spares and an initial
:21:25. > :21:34.manufacturers service package is much higher. The Pentagon estimate
:21:35. > :21:40.is $253 million, or ?154 million per plane. We can reveal that Britain
:21:41. > :21:46.will pay about ?2. 5 billion for the first 14 aircraft, the initial
:21:47. > :21:51.support package and maintenance ma sillties for the -- facilities, for
:21:52. > :21:55.the future fleet. Little wonder that a cost-minded Defence Secretary is
:21:56. > :22:02.moving gingerly, ordering the first 14. Or that the planes' champions
:22:03. > :22:07.insist that an eventual buy of 48, suggested by MoD, just isn't enough.
:22:08. > :22:16.If we are going to continue to have one aircraft carrier available. 24/7
:22:17. > :22:24.and 365. And put as much capability as that deck size will give u 48
:22:25. > :22:29.aeroplanes won't be enough. My estimation is we will buy well north
:22:30. > :22:33.of that. The squadron is meant to be in play in 2018 and operational on
:22:34. > :22:37.the carrier in 2020. That may be achievable. But to get a fully
:22:38. > :22:42.functioning aircraft with the whole array of RAF weapons working on it
:22:43. > :22:46.will take longer. That could be a decade from now, even on the more
:22:47. > :22:55.optimistic projections that we have been given. Political and industrial
:22:56. > :23:00.logic him -- militates in favour of committing now. For the F-35 will
:23:01. > :23:06.sustain thousands of high-tech UK jobs. But some other partners are
:23:07. > :23:11.still delaying, waiting for costs to come down and the plane to meet its
:23:12. > :23:17.performance targets. The combat systems are not mature. If you look
:23:18. > :23:23.at Australia and Canada, long-term partners in the F-35 programme, both
:23:24. > :23:29.deciding to go for an interim buy, in the case of Australia, F-18
:23:30. > :23:34.super-hornet, to keep them tidied over through the capability gap, and
:23:35. > :23:40.then intend to purchase F-35 probably ten years down the line. So
:23:41. > :23:47.far Britain has only pledged to buy one third of the F-35s it once said
:23:48. > :23:52.it wanted. This country's commitment remains tentative, due to worries
:23:53. > :23:57.about cost and performance. But with orders expected any day, it is a
:23:58. > :24:00.commitment about to become irrevocable.
:24:01. > :24:06.Have we got this straight Mark, this country is paying ?2. 5 billion for
:24:07. > :24:11.handful of planes which have not yet been properly proved and promoted to
:24:12. > :24:15.us, to man we paid an Admiral's society and now works for the
:24:16. > :24:19.manufacturers. Is that right? They have got themselves into the
:24:20. > :24:22.position where this is the only aircraft they can put on these huge
:24:23. > :24:27.ships, they are committed to the huge ships. The ?2. 5 billion
:24:28. > :24:32.includes quite a lot more than 14 planes. Certain long lead items for
:24:33. > :24:40.other aircraft, maintenance spares and all the rest of it. This will be
:24:41. > :24:45.extremely important aircraft and expensive, and you wonder about the
:24:46. > :24:52.political courage that would need to happen to send them into battle with
:24:53. > :24:56.the limited weapon fix. Is there a concern about how this will look?
:24:57. > :25:01.There is a concern, they have considered the wider ramifications.
:25:02. > :25:05.The have been bitter interservice battles over the years about the
:25:06. > :25:08.carriers and aircraft. I put earlier today to the Defence Secretary the
:25:09. > :25:15.point that it could be hard to justify this in a time of austerity.
:25:16. > :25:22.Yes, this is an expensive aeroplane, we knew it would be an expensive
:25:23. > :25:28.aeroplane, it comes an incredible capability. The world's most
:25:29. > :25:34.sophisticated aircraft, with stealth capability. Able to penetrate enemy
:25:35. > :25:38.defences without with very little radar signature. It makes it a verse
:25:39. > :25:46.style piece of equipment. It will provide a back bone to our air
:25:47. > :25:50.forces, including our carrier projection for many years to come.
:25:51. > :25:54.How worried are you that this thing might not work as advertised, it
:25:55. > :25:58.might take longer to get it works? I'm not worried. I have looked at
:25:59. > :26:05.this report and I have looked at last year's report and previous
:26:06. > :26:09.years report These reports have to be understood in context. This is a
:26:10. > :26:13.complex project and identifying issues in the development of the
:26:14. > :26:17.aircraft that in the overwhelming majority of cases are already well
:26:18. > :26:22.known about, well established and for which mitigation or resolution
:26:23. > :26:27.strategies are already under way. Will it enter service as a fully
:26:28. > :26:32.combat-capable aircraft. We understand many of the most capable
:26:33. > :26:38.weapons the RAF has will not be integrated on to the aircraft by
:26:39. > :26:44.2018, even 2020? Well by 2020, when we expect to declare an initial
:26:45. > :26:49.operating capability, we will have a comprehensive weapons fit. Now I
:26:50. > :26:52.can't tell you at the moment, because we're still in negotiation
:26:53. > :26:58.and this requires agreement of partners across the project, whether
:26:59. > :27:04.for all purposes we will at that stage be using specific UK weapons
:27:05. > :27:09.or whether for some functions we may be using US weapons to be replaced
:27:10. > :27:13.at later stage in the aircraft's development by dedicated UK weapons.
:27:14. > :27:18.But the capabilities will be there, delivered by one or other of the
:27:19. > :27:23.weapons systems. When you look at the risks involved, isn't there an
:27:24. > :27:26.argument for waiting. Now you would like me to wait to order the jets
:27:27. > :27:30.for the carrier, so that you can then run a headline that says
:27:31. > :27:36.carriers have no jets to fly off them. I'm very clear that we have
:27:37. > :27:40.invested, the British taxpayer has investmented over ?6 -- invested
:27:41. > :27:43.over ?6 billion in aircraft carriers. My job is to get the
:27:44. > :27:48.aircraft flying and operating from them, as quickly as we can so that
:27:49. > :27:53.this huge additional capability that we will have with these carriers and
:27:54. > :28:02.Joint Strike Fighter can be available and deployable as soon as
:28:03. > :28:06.possible. T decade's long soap opera in which the Church of England
:28:07. > :28:09.decides whether women are capable of spiritual leadership, one of the
:28:10. > :28:13.rare examples of a soap opera continuing in production year after
:28:14. > :28:16.year, despite the fact that audiences are falling through the
:28:17. > :28:20.floor, staged a new episode today. The end is at last in sight,
:28:21. > :28:26.apparently. Sooner than many had predicted too. For a vote in the C
:28:27. > :28:30.of E General Synod will half the time the church has to spend
:28:31. > :28:37.consulting on whether having a pair of breasts disables you from having
:28:38. > :28:41.being a bishop. The first female bishop could be appointed by the end
:28:42. > :28:49.of the year. I'm joined by Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Chaplain to
:28:50. > :28:53.Parliament, andly thely thely the, director of the evangelical group
:28:54. > :29:00.Reform and member of the General Synod. Is that a fair assessment? I
:29:01. > :29:04.don't think I would say open opera, but I will let you have your day. It
:29:05. > :29:08.could be by the end of the year? I believe in miracles, who knows. Do
:29:09. > :29:13.you think it will be by the end of the year? It could do, but we have
:29:14. > :29:18.to wait for the diocese to vote, we have to wait for Synod to vote, I
:29:19. > :29:23.wouldn't like to put a bet on it. It has stopped the opponents dragging
:29:24. > :29:27.this out interminably, hasn't it? I don't think the opponents have been
:29:28. > :29:31.dragging it out interminably, I think there has been a desire for a
:29:32. > :29:34.very long time for us to find a solution, which means the Church of
:29:35. > :29:38.England can remain a broad church that it has always been. It has been
:29:39. > :29:47.square pegs and round holes, which just does not fit together. And it
:29:48. > :29:53.has been going on for a very, very long time. Perhaps the end is nigh.
:29:54. > :30:01.The reality is the diocese spends a long time, already, discussing it,
:30:02. > :30:07.42 out of 44 dieies said -- diocese, said "yes". Even the two that didn't
:30:08. > :30:13.say "yes", the majority of people did want it. So you know, I'm
:30:14. > :30:19.delighted that we are finding a way through in this process to make it
:30:20. > :30:22.possible. Are you going to give up the ghost now? Absolutely not, the
:30:23. > :30:27.really important thing to remember is this is about theological
:30:28. > :30:30.conviction. It is about, for me I represent part of the church that's
:30:31. > :30:33.growing, we certainly don't see falling numbers, we are seeing our
:30:34. > :30:37.congregations growing, we are having to start new congregations in new
:30:38. > :30:40.churches, I don't think we are going anywhere. Aren't you a bit bored
:30:41. > :30:46.with the way the Church of England is just obsessed with sex and gender
:30:47. > :30:51.issues? I don't think the Church of England is obsessed by those things,
:30:52. > :30:55.personally we're onesed by Jesus Christ, you may only get us on to
:30:56. > :31:02.Newsnight to talk about sex and gender but we preach Christ week in
:31:03. > :31:05.week out. You genuinely see your congregations increasing?
:31:06. > :31:08.Absolutely, fantastic. The churches I represent, 30% of them have
:31:09. > :31:14.planted a new congregation or church in ten years. I don't belong to
:31:15. > :31:18.boxes that says I'm this tradition or that tradition, and I'm also
:31:19. > :31:23.seeing growth, the spirit is moving, is it really is moving. And I just
:31:24. > :31:29.think we have spent an enormous amount of time debating this issue,
:31:30. > :31:34.and it is about time that we move on to more important things. How much
:31:35. > :31:39.damage did the vote last time against women bishops do, do you
:31:40. > :31:45.think? Huge damage. The church looked absolutely ridiculous. It
:31:46. > :31:49.really did. It looked ridiculous, it looked irrelevant, I hope that we
:31:50. > :31:54.can redeem ourselves. How do you explain the fact that congregations
:31:55. > :32:01.seem to be growing where this doctrine of not having women Clergy
:32:02. > :32:05.and bishops is preached? Well, my experience in many places in this
:32:06. > :32:10.country and elsewhere is that very often the leadership of the church
:32:11. > :32:18.is the one that pushes this and the people in the congregation are not
:32:19. > :32:24.necessarily in tune with what the message is there, in terms of as she
:32:25. > :32:28.says we're preaching Jesus, but in terms of not having women in
:32:29. > :32:32.leadership it is not always the congregation that is pushing it. I
:32:33. > :32:35.think that is incredibly patronising tone to be hones. We are very
:32:36. > :32:41.lay-led in our church, certainly there are people within our church.
:32:42. > :32:48.Lay-led but not female-led. Why isn't she fit to be a bishop, she
:32:49. > :32:51.looks perfectly respectable? Not female-led. We have male and female
:32:52. > :32:56.leaders within our church. You do? But the final incumbent is a man.
:32:57. > :33:00.This is part of the, one of the nonsenses of the legislation that we
:33:01. > :33:03.have been looking at today, is that the canon also say that the women
:33:04. > :33:08.bishops are fathers in God, we can't change that. And personally I find
:33:09. > :33:12.it very difficult, Rose you can be many things, but I can't see you
:33:13. > :33:15.being a father? I think we're playing with words there, I really.
:33:16. > :33:19.Do I think, and I think that is irrelevant, we're all made in God's
:33:20. > :33:23.image, both male and female, if we're made in God's image then God
:33:24. > :33:27.is part of who we are, we are part of God. So that's not a problem for
:33:28. > :33:32.me. It really isn't a problem what people call me. I think God created
:33:33. > :33:35.us male and female and wonderfully, it is typical of the Church of
:33:36. > :33:40.England that just as the rest of society is recognising that men and
:33:41. > :33:42.women have different gifts and bring different things to the table and
:33:43. > :33:47.need to be used in different ways, the Church of England is flannel in
:33:48. > :33:52.the 60s burning bras and trying to be feminist. The church has always
:33:53. > :33:58.recognised that we come to the table with different roles, we are not
:33:59. > :34:00.trying to be men, we're not, I'm actually disturbed by what you have
:34:01. > :34:07.just said, it doesn't make any sense. I think the church is trying
:34:08. > :34:12.to live in this world, not in the past. We're going to leave it there.
:34:13. > :34:16.Thank you very much. There is a real spat going on in the Far East
:34:17. > :34:20.between Japan and China. The Japanese are trying to get a
:34:21. > :34:27.collection of letters from kamikaze pilot, included on a register of
:34:28. > :34:30.documents vital to history, with a cultural organisation. The register
:34:31. > :34:35.already includes such things as the diary of Anne Frank, and the Chinese
:34:36. > :34:38.believe that for Japan to try to get letters from suicide bombers
:34:39. > :34:50.included is to try to beautify aggression. Before we talk about it
:34:51. > :34:54.we report from Tokyo. What exactly are the kamikaze letters? What do
:34:55. > :34:59.they contain, and why are they so important that Japan wants them to
:35:00. > :35:03.be world heritage status? To try to find out I will see the man who
:35:04. > :35:10.started the letter collection, and who himself survived not one but two
:35:11. > :35:15.kamikaze missions. For thieves us who grew up after the war -- those
:35:16. > :35:23.of us who grew up after the war it is hard to comprehend the kamikaze,
:35:24. > :35:26.it has become synonymous with irrational and terrifying. They were
:35:27. > :35:30.formed in the last months of the war. Most of the pilots were between
:35:31. > :35:35.17-20 years old. Their job was simple, to slam their planes into as
:35:36. > :36:01.many allied ships as possible and to halt the invasion of Japan. (Greets
:36:02. > :36:05.in Japanese) This man was 19 when recruited into the special attack
:36:06. > :36:10.squadrons. Today the cheerful 89-year-old looks nothing like a
:36:11. > :36:16.fanatic. Why did he volunteer to die? TRANSLATION: Common sense says
:36:17. > :36:20.you only have one life, so why would you want to give it away like that?
:36:21. > :36:25.But at the same time all of us wanted to volunteer. You have to
:36:26. > :36:30.remember that was the time when we were being attacked by the American.
:36:31. > :36:35.Japan needed us to be warriors, to stop the invasion. Our minds were
:36:36. > :36:39.cement we had no -- were set, we had no doubts. On his first mission his
:36:40. > :36:45.engine broke down and he was forced to ditch. The second was called off
:36:46. > :36:54.because of bat weather. And so unlike so many of his comrades he
:36:55. > :37:06.survived. When you look back at all the people who died, doesn't it feel
:37:07. > :37:09.like a wasterades he survived. When you look back at all the people who
:37:10. > :37:12.died, doesn't it feel like a waste? TRANSLATION: I never look back with
:37:13. > :37:14.regret, the people who died did so willingly, that is why I collect
:37:15. > :37:22.because they were not forced. I have committed my life to maintaining
:37:23. > :37:26.their memory. In the late 1970s they began collecting letters and photos
:37:27. > :37:30.from the families of kamikaze pilots across Japan. Many like this one
:37:31. > :37:46.expressed pride in the coming sacrifice.
:37:47. > :38:08.But others expressed clear doubt. One young Lieutenant wrote:
:38:09. > :38:15.Close to an old airfield near his house in central Japan we came
:38:16. > :38:18.across this memorial to the kamikaze who flew from here. The names of
:38:19. > :38:22.those who died are carved on the back of the stone. There are dozens
:38:23. > :38:27.of memorials like this scattered across Japan. When I first came
:38:28. > :38:32.across one of these kamikaze memorials in Japan, I was taken
:38:33. > :38:41.aback. It felt like a shrine to fanaticism, to blind loyalty to the
:38:42. > :38:46.Emperor. So To some on the far right of politics in Japan the kamikaze
:38:47. > :38:50.are held up assen ideal of manhood. That is why the issue is potent
:38:51. > :38:54.today. To most Japanese it is not about glorifying Japan as military
:38:55. > :39:02.past, it is more about rembering the young men who sacrificed their
:39:03. > :39:07.livesselflessly to -- selflessly to defend their nation. The issue today
:39:08. > :39:10.is not what the men did many years a it is the inability of many in
:39:11. > :39:15.Japan, including at the highest levels of Government, to examine Hon
:39:16. > :39:25.least that dark episode in Japanese history. Giving the kamikaze letters
:39:26. > :39:38.world heritage status help that process or hinder it?
:39:39. > :39:44.We have have a sailor from the ships attacked by the kamikaze, and
:39:45. > :39:48.Yuichiro Nakajma, whose father was one of the kamikaze pilots. What was
:39:49. > :39:54.it like? You didn't face them unless you are a gunner on the weather
:39:55. > :40:00.decks. You were aboard the ship in your place of action. Your action
:40:01. > :40:10.stations. Which could be anywhere in the ship. And suddenly you heard on
:40:11. > :40:15.the pipe that kamikazes were in the area. The next thing you knew the
:40:16. > :40:20.guns were opening up and they were firing to shoot kamikazes, or hit
:40:21. > :40:27.them near enough to blow them off course. And then suddenly a big bang
:40:28. > :40:34.and they hit the ship. What did you imagine the pilot of such a plane
:40:35. > :40:40.was like? You couldn't imagine it. You could understand what they were
:40:41. > :40:46.doing, they were fanatics, and you know, that's all there was to it.
:40:47. > :40:52.You couldn't understand or I couldn't, as an ordinary person.
:40:53. > :40:57.They just had the guts to do it. Would you say your father was a
:40:58. > :41:03.fanatic? I wouldn't say so, I think he had very little choice. Japan was
:41:04. > :41:08.entering a desperate phase in the war. It was clearly obvious to those
:41:09. > :41:13.in command that the situation wasn't favourable. So as a military tactic,
:41:14. > :41:17.I think it was the wrong one to take. But they took the decision and
:41:18. > :41:22.educated their men in the way that they wanted to, so that they could
:41:23. > :41:26.justify these suicide missions as a valid means of attack. You better
:41:27. > :41:31.just explain how it was that your father is a kamikaze pilot and
:41:32. > :41:36.survived the war? He had been drafted from university, he had
:41:37. > :41:42.orders to prepare his aircraft, wait for command to take off with his
:41:43. > :41:48.squadron, on the tarmac, and the base commander in the meantime sent
:41:49. > :41:53.up a reconnaissance mission to see where the American fleet had come to
:41:54. > :41:57.in relation to Tokyo Bay. This aircraft had a faulty radio, but the
:41:58. > :42:02.commander had no other choice because there was no other aircraft
:42:03. > :42:05.to send. He told the engineer to fix the radio on board, the radio
:42:06. > :42:09.couldn't be fixed because neither radio communication came back nor
:42:10. > :42:14.the careful itself, it was found shot down after a few days. As a
:42:15. > :42:18.result my father's commander couldn't issue an order for my
:42:19. > :42:24.father to fly, which is how he found out that he wasn't going to go on
:42:25. > :42:31.this mission. We were just, they were young men? They were young men.
:42:32. > :42:36.Executing a desperate tactic in extreme circumstances? Japan by then
:42:37. > :42:40.knew they were losing the war. And they began to get more and more
:42:41. > :42:45.desperate and those were the sort of things that were happening in
:42:46. > :42:52.greater numbers. Some of the planes, the kamikaze planes had a job to
:42:53. > :42:56.fly, but once they got off they could easily hit the ship if they
:42:57. > :43:01.weren't blown off or shot down before they got to it. Once you come
:43:02. > :43:06.to that realisation though, that these were just young men, called up
:43:07. > :43:09.to fly these planes, country in desperate circumstances, and
:43:10. > :43:14.according to some of those letters we saw there, these men thought they
:43:15. > :43:24.were dying for their country. Does it make you feel differently about
:43:25. > :43:31.them? Not me personally. Why not? I couldn't, just couldn't understand
:43:32. > :43:34.how they could do it. The same thing is happening today with these
:43:35. > :43:39.children they are dressing-up and making them into bombs and they are
:43:40. > :43:46.walking into buildings in the Middle East. That's the sort of thing that
:43:47. > :43:53.they were doing. How do those children get to be like that, they
:43:54. > :43:56.know they are a bomb, they know they are going to be decimated and go
:43:57. > :44:02.off. These were extreme circumstances, you must have thought
:44:03. > :44:07.about this quite a bit. How do you answer a question like this,
:44:08. > :44:12.transferring it to Japan. Well I guess for desperate situations call
:44:13. > :44:17.for desperate measures. I'm in no way justifying the Imperial Army.
:44:18. > :44:22.You have said you thought it was completely wrong, you have said
:44:23. > :44:28.that. That raises the question whether it is appropriate these last
:44:29. > :44:34.letters from these kamikaze pilots do have the status on the UNESCO
:44:35. > :44:41.register? They represent the outpouring of humanity by these
:44:42. > :44:48.pilots who knew their fate and the next day two or three days time.
:44:49. > :44:54.They will be perishing in the sea. I think it is a great record, in no
:44:55. > :44:58.way, as you said, it is not a glorification of the war effort at
:44:59. > :45:04.all. It is more a record of what they felt in the last days of their
:45:05. > :45:08.lives, their love for their family, their belief that unless they did
:45:09. > :45:13.this terrible things may happen to those remaining in Japan. Therefore
:45:14. > :45:16.this was their mission. However wrong that mission might be. This is
:45:17. > :45:29.what they have been taught to believe in. And they were there,
:45:30. > :45:32.many case, without any choice. That is all for tonight. Spare a thought
:45:33. > :45:36.before you go for what is left of the rolling news anchorman who asked
:45:37. > :45:44.the actor, Samuel L Jackson, about the car advicement he had filmed --
:45:45. > :45:49.advertisment he had filmed. The piece was made by another black
:45:50. > :45:53.actor, Lawrence Fishburn. This is a short extract of what happened. I'm
:45:54. > :45:57.not Lawrence Fishburn. That was my fault I know that. We don't all
:45:58. > :46:03.lookalike, we may be all black and famous we all don't lookalike. There
:46:04. > :46:07.is more than one black guy doing a commercial. There is it is, no
:46:08. > :46:15.question about that. I'm the "what's in your wallet" black guy, he's the
:46:16. > :46:18."credit card black guy", Morgan Freeman is the other guy. You won't
:46:19. > :46:28.confuse him. I have never done a McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken
:46:29. > :46:30.advert. I know that is surprising! The