:00:00. > :00:15.That's all coming up in Sportsday in around 15 minutes.
:00:16. > :00:21.Hello, welcome to our lock ahead to watt papers will bring us tomorrow.
:00:22. > :00:25.With me, Hugh Muir, from the Guardian and Deborah Haynes the
:00:26. > :00:29.defence editor at the Times. Let's look at the front pages now.
:00:30. > :00:33.Start with the telegraph, it leads with the ruling on the Hyde Park
:00:34. > :00:38.bombing. Victims of IRA bomb cheated of justice by a monumental blunder,
:00:39. > :00:42.it says. That sentiment is echoed on the front of the Metro. The Mail
:00:43. > :00:46.leads with a different story, that of a vulnerable man who was dealt a
:00:47. > :00:50.fatal blow after he complained about a cyclist on the pavement. The
:00:51. > :00:53.victim's mother said the four-year sentence handed down was a sick
:00:54. > :00:58.joke. The Express has a health story on the front page. There could be a
:00:59. > :01:03.new powerful injection to ease arthritis pain.
:01:04. > :01:09.We begin with the story that's dominated the news today, victims of
:01:10. > :01:14.IRA bomb cheated of justice by a monumental blunder, this in relation
:01:15. > :01:22.to the Hyde Park bombing in 1982. Yes, it's quite a reminder of the
:01:23. > :01:27.horrors that took place during the conflict and it's quite a puzzling
:01:28. > :01:34.ruling that's been made, that's only really been made public today about
:01:35. > :01:41.how Mr Downey was, by mistake, sent a letter basically an amnesty letter
:01:42. > :01:46.as part of the peace settlement, following the Good Friday Agreement
:01:47. > :01:50.that meant that he had been - no charges were going to be brought
:01:51. > :01:53.against him. He took that letter in good faith, thought he'd been
:01:54. > :02:00.cleared, came to the UK to go on holiday to Greece last year, was
:02:01. > :02:05.arrested and they've been trying to tussle at the Old Bailey, whether or
:02:06. > :02:09.not he could be prosecuted. The judge ruled that it would be a
:02:10. > :02:15.threat to the peace settlement and would be unfair to carry on with the
:02:16. > :02:19.prosecution. Obviously, he's never been found guilty of anything, but
:02:20. > :02:25.he's never stood trial. He's always denied the charges. This is what the
:02:26. > :02:29.judge said, he said this last week, it's only today we can talk about
:02:30. > :02:33.the details of the case. He said that the need to prosecute those
:02:34. > :02:39.accused of serious crime was outweighed by the public interest in
:02:40. > :02:42.holding officials of the state to promises they've made in full
:02:43. > :02:47.understanding of what is involved in if the barringin. The -- in the
:02:48. > :02:51.bargain. The suggestion is that this letter was sent erroneously to this
:02:52. > :02:54.man, but the IRA partly decommissioned their weapons on the
:02:55. > :02:57.understanding that these letters would be September out and this man
:02:58. > :03:02.-- sent out and this man came to the UK on the understanding he wouldn't
:03:03. > :03:06.be prosecuted. There are two issues. On one hand, you can understand as a
:03:07. > :03:10.matter of policy a deal might be made whereby people are told they
:03:11. > :03:13.won't be prosecuted and they will be part of the deal that's brought
:03:14. > :03:17.peace to Northern Ireland. On the other hand, if he was never supposed
:03:18. > :03:20.to be pa of that deal, if he wasn't one of those people designated as
:03:21. > :03:24.being on the run and therefore bundled into that deal, if the
:03:25. > :03:28.letter was sent in error, I think it's a bit a struggle to say, well,
:03:29. > :03:32.why has the judge decided to deal with it in this way. Now it's going
:03:33. > :03:36.to be a transparency issue. I think there's now a job for the media and
:03:37. > :03:40.for politicians to really explain this to the public. I think the
:03:41. > :03:44.public are going to have a lot of difficulty understanding this. And
:03:45. > :03:47.the families as well. Especially, part of the problem is that not a
:03:48. > :03:51.lot of people knew about this deal. I mean, apparently the suggestion is
:03:52. > :03:56.that it was a deal cooked up by the, or sorted out by the British
:03:57. > :04:01.Government and Republicans and unionists had no idea what was going
:04:02. > :04:05.on. Exactly. There will be questions asked about who the other people
:04:06. > :04:12.were who've been granted this amnesty. And also, how it could be
:04:13. > :04:16.that the letter was obviously sent in 2007, I think it said, and it
:04:17. > :04:19.seems as though the error was realised but why that wasn't
:04:20. > :04:23.communicated and they knew that there was a warrant out for his
:04:24. > :04:30.arrest at the time. So it seems as though, something's gone badly
:04:31. > :04:32.wrong. It says that the Police Service for Northern Ireland have
:04:33. > :04:37.launched an investigation. We will have to see what that discovers.
:04:38. > :04:41.What the public think ises going to be key here -- thinks is going to be
:04:42. > :04:45.key here. We will want a die section of the judgment, disection of the
:04:46. > :04:50.judgment, because we need to understand the legal thinking of the
:04:51. > :04:55.judge dealing with this case in the way he has. We also need a detailed
:04:56. > :05:00.explanation from the Crown as to why they felt that they could not or
:05:01. > :05:03.should not continue an appeal. Because, it's because they've
:05:04. > :05:08.dropped the appeal that this story has reached the public domain today.
:05:09. > :05:13.Clearly, they must have had reasons to think that Mr Justice Sweeney's
:05:14. > :05:17.reasoning was logical and sensible. They will have to explain that as
:05:18. > :05:23.well. The public are going to want to faux the details. As you say,
:05:24. > :05:26.transpatience -- want to know the details
:05:27. > :05:29.The vast majority of people will agree that the Good Friday Agreement
:05:30. > :05:34.was a good thing and is a good thing and is cementing peace in Northern
:05:35. > :05:41.Ireland. But this makes people wonder - well, what else was part of
:05:42. > :05:44.the deal to get Good Friday going? What else happened behind-the-scenes
:05:45. > :05:49.that we don't know about? You can see this as being sensible as a
:05:50. > :05:53.matter of political poll soy. Someone may -- policy. Someone may
:05:54. > :05:58.make a decision that for the greater good, someone may have done dreadful
:05:59. > :06:02.things but we need to move on. Ly what they decided. You may make that
:06:03. > :06:06.decision. But does it make legal sense? I think that's what we have
:06:07. > :06:11.to find out. What is the legal reasoninger as opposed to the policy
:06:12. > :06:17.reasoning. I think that's right. It's exactly that point of that
:06:18. > :06:21.balance that you talk about of the public interest against the
:06:22. > :06:26.integrity of civil servants. That doesn't sit very comfortably. I
:06:27. > :06:31.wonder whether this is the end of it. The judge has made his ruling.
:06:32. > :06:35.There are other courts and higher courts. One wonders if particularly
:06:36. > :06:41.the families of those affected won't take it further. I suspect this will
:06:42. > :06:47.run and run. Sticking with the telegraph. Flood defence. Yeah, this
:06:48. > :06:53.is a really interesting story. Obviously... Money's no object in
:06:54. > :06:57.dealing with the floods. We heard this from the Prime Minister. In his
:06:58. > :07:01.wellies. He's been at pains to say under the coalition Government,
:07:02. > :07:07.spending has been increased or, you know, has been more than in the past
:07:08. > :07:14.and there haven't been cuts. There's a study that's been done by UK
:07:15. > :07:20.Statistics Authority, which contradicts this claim and says that
:07:21. > :07:26.the budget for flood defences has been cut by nearly a quarter of a
:07:27. > :07:31.billion pounds, so ?250 million. That supports a study by the House
:07:32. > :07:37.of Commons library, which also found that over the period, the four years
:07:38. > :07:41.up to 2015, less money has been spent on flood defences and
:07:42. > :07:45.apparently this whole issue is going to be debated in the Commons
:07:46. > :07:48.tomorrow. I imagine it will be an uncomfortable time for the Prime
:07:49. > :07:52.Minister. They will have to find this money, after what he said. It
:07:53. > :07:55.will be pretty embarrassing. I was in the Commons just a couple of
:07:56. > :07:59.weeks ago when they were talking about the figures here. There was a
:08:00. > :08:02.ding dong about how much was being spent and whether or not there have
:08:03. > :08:06.been cuts and whether or not what the Government was spending were
:08:07. > :08:10.only making up for the cuts they had already made. One has to say the
:08:11. > :08:14.Government seems to have problems in terms of statistics. This isn't the
:08:15. > :08:20.first time that the UK Statistics Authority have taken them to task.
:08:21. > :08:24.Got their numbers mixed up. Iain Duncan Smith' department was taken
:08:25. > :08:30.to task by the Statistics Authority earlier this week. It becomes a
:08:31. > :08:34.thing about credibility. Particularly on an issue like the
:08:35. > :08:41.floods that obviously and quite rightly made very many people angry.
:08:42. > :08:43.In all those Conservative constituencieses. -- constituencies.
:08:44. > :08:46.This is not a headline the Prime Minister will welcome. There it is.
:08:47. > :08:56.That's the Daily Telegraph. We will go to the inside of the
:08:57. > :09:03.Metro, teenage pregnancy falls again to a record low. Yeah, it's a good
:09:04. > :09:07.story. We seem to be making some headway. Obviously this is something
:09:08. > :09:11.that's been concerning policy makers for some time. What we're told now
:09:12. > :09:18.is that the conception rate stands at 27. 9 births per thousand for
:09:19. > :09:22.girls aged 15 to 17. That's good. These are figures from the Office
:09:23. > :09:26.for National Statistics. There's a caveat, the decrease does not bring
:09:27. > :09:30.us in line with other western European countries, such as the
:09:31. > :09:35.Netherlands, that's only six six births. So far behind in the first
:09:36. > :09:40.place. We seem to be retrieving a very bad situation, but it still
:09:41. > :09:46.isn't great. I don't know if any of the other papers have picked up on
:09:47. > :09:50.it on their inside pages, the Metro has this. It's an interesting story
:09:51. > :09:55.because obviously, while you have got the drop in the teenage
:09:56. > :09:59.pregnancies, there's this massive rise in older women getting
:10:00. > :10:05.pregnant. So it really seems we're having a big shift to enable women
:10:06. > :10:10.to maybe have more of a career before they start becoming parents
:10:11. > :10:14.and I think it's a really positive news story. Any explanation as to
:10:15. > :10:18.why this is happening, why we're getting better at sorting this issue
:10:19. > :10:23.out? It's to do with education. That's a big factor. And because
:10:24. > :10:28.there's more opportunities for women, young women, you know it's
:10:29. > :10:31.not just about leaving school and having a family straight away.
:10:32. > :10:38.There's more chances available to you. And also, greater protection
:10:39. > :10:42.with contraception, obviously, talking about terminations, so
:10:43. > :10:45.there's just more education out there. That means young women are
:10:46. > :10:49.better informed to make choices. We're getting over the squeamishness
:10:50. > :10:53.we've had about dealing with this properly in schools. Because there's
:10:54. > :10:57.always been a reticence to tackle it head on. I think in some areas of
:10:58. > :11:01.the country this has been such a serious problem they've had to do
:11:02. > :11:05.something. Hopefully, this is the result of that public health work
:11:06. > :11:11.and education work that we're doing now. OK. Let's go on to the Express.
:11:12. > :11:20.Harman won't say sorry in child sex row. A story that is really dogging
:11:21. > :11:32.her, her husband, Jack Dromey and Patricia Hewitt. Clearly what
:11:33. > :11:39.happened today when she expressed regret, but still didn't apologise
:11:40. > :11:47.for her role in the national council of civil liberties and its link, has
:11:48. > :11:52.been an attempt to lance the boil, if you like. She will be looking to
:11:53. > :11:56.see if that has happened. Perhaps be heartened it's not on the front of
:11:57. > :11:59.the Mail again. It's interesting they haven't gone for it, they've
:12:00. > :12:04.another front page we will look at. They've gone with another story.
:12:05. > :12:09.What will be important for her is to see if Labour circles the wagons,
:12:10. > :12:13.because one of the things that happened at the weekend even Labour
:12:14. > :12:21.leaning commentators were saying you have to deal with this, address
:12:22. > :12:24.this. Will they be supportive? If they are she may be able to get
:12:25. > :12:28.through this and the Mail will move to something else. She will be
:12:29. > :12:35.looking to signs as to the dynamic now. Ed Miliband has made it clear
:12:36. > :12:39.he gives her a pun -- 100% his support. That's not like a football
:12:40. > :12:44.manager being told we give the manager 100% and they are out the
:12:45. > :12:48.next day. They sometimes do politicians, and then something else
:12:49. > :12:54.comes out and that support dilutes to about 95% and down to 60. I don't
:12:55. > :12:59.think that alone is enough to give you superconfidence. I don't
:13:00. > :13:04.understand why she can't just say sorry for the association. I very
:13:05. > :13:10.much regret, it's that one step down. It's what politicians do. They
:13:11. > :13:15.never just say - speak simply and say sorry, OK, you know, for the
:13:16. > :13:20.association part. It's what the Daily Mail would want her to say.
:13:21. > :13:27.That would be the end. It's not as if she's done anything wrong. Would
:13:28. > :13:31.it? The suggestion is that - the Mail is going after the NCCL, it's
:13:32. > :13:36.an organisation those on the right perhaps didn't fall in love with
:13:37. > :13:43.back in the day. A civil liberties o. If Harriet Harman is to say
:13:44. > :13:54.sorry, potentially reflecting on the work she did. They're able to attack
:13:55. > :14:06.senior Labour politicians and also to attack liberty, I mean the Mail,
:14:07. > :14:11.I think with what Liberty have done, that organisation isn't being
:14:12. > :14:16.attacked. It's really between the politicians and the Mail. The fact
:14:17. > :14:22.it's The Mail is crucial because there is no way that Harriet Harman
:14:23. > :14:27.or Jack Dromey is going to want to make a fulsome apology even if they
:14:28. > :14:31.felt that way because it's The Mail. I find it difficult to see Ed
:14:32. > :14:35.Miliband parting company with Harriet Harman, not least because
:14:36. > :14:41.it's The Mail. All right. The Mail very brief, a few seconds. A
:14:42. > :14:45.vulnerable man's life ended by a punch after he complained about a
:14:46. > :14:50.cyclist on a pavement and he got four years in jail. It's an
:14:51. > :15:00.horrendous story. A split second moment ending a life. This poor man,
:15:01. > :15:05.he has as spergers -- aspergers syndrome and was keen on rules. The
:15:06. > :15:10.cyclist was on the pavement and he objected. The guy who did it is only
:15:11. > :15:15.given a four-year sentence and could be out in two years. We will discuss
:15:16. > :15:19.this further in an hour's time when you are back to look at more of the
:15:20. > :15:24.stories behind the headlines here. Stay with us for that and stay with
:15:25. > :15:27.us, because at 11.00pm we will have more on that police error that led
:15:28. > :15:33.to that man being accused of the Hyde Park bombing actually not
:15:34. > :15:35.facing prosecution now. That's coming up. Now it's time for
:15:36. > :15:54.Sportsday. Hello and welcome to Sportsday. I am
:15:55. > :15:58.John Watson. Here is what's on the way: Manchester United are beaten by
:15:59. > :16:00.Olympiakos in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions