04/04/2012 BBC News at One

Heavy snow and storm-force gales cause disruption across large parts

of the UK. Nearly 50,000 homes are without power. There are delays to

traffic. Some roads have been closed by seven-foot snow drifts.

David Cameron defends his Government's plans to hold more

inquests and courts cases behind closed doors, despite his deputy

signalling his opposition. Airlines say a shortage of passport control

staff could cause delays at airports in the UK over Easter and

other peak periods. Talks are under way to try to avoid

It is snowing in the north but here in the capital the hosepipe ban

starts at midnight. Fare cuts and investment, the Green Party's

mayoral candidate spells out her Good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC

News at one. Heavy snow and storm force gales

are causing disruption across large parts of the UK. Nearly 50,000

homes and businesses across County Durham and North Yorkshire are

without electricity. Travellers are warned to take care, as snow on

high ground is causing treacherous driving conditions.

Did anyone really expect this? First Scotland and then the north

of England. After baking in the sun, now shivers in the snow. It makes a

confusing picture. It's madness. It was like summer last week. Now it's

freezing. Back to Christmas! skin is still peeling from the

you think about this? It's crazy. And this snow and ice has caused

power cuts. Here some have been without power since yesterday

evening. We have no power, no mobile phone. No mains telephone,

no internet access. Other than the car and the road we have no

communication at all. And then there were problems on the

motorways. This was the M62 from Manchester to Leeds. Drivers talked

about blizzard-like conditions. There were 10-mile tailbacks and

queues for two hours. Appalling weather. We are still trying to get

to work. What's the M62 like? Appalling. On it's top of the hill

there's a bus stuck and a wagon. Everyone is on the wrong side of

the road. There've been weather warnings across parts of northern

England, wheels and the Midlands. The hope is that the snow will move

on and move on quickly. Well, the bad weather has led to

fears that the fuel tanks of a cargo ship that ran aground in

gale-force winds off the North Wales coast may have ruptured. The

seven crew members on board were airlifted to safety. Rhun ap

Iorwerth reports from Colwyn bay. With a part load of limestone taken

on board from the Llanddulas jetty it is thought the carrier hit a

rock on the breakwater. A soon she being hurled about by the waves.

Llandudno and Rhyl lifeboats were on the scene. Seven Polish crew

members were on board the ship. In appalling conditions five were

winched to safety before midnight. The A55 express way used as a

makeshift heli-pad to land the sailors. A broken helicopter winch

brought operations to a stop. Another crew finally bringing to

shore the remaining sailors and a winchman by around 1 in the morning.

Eyewitness praised the bravery of all involved in the operation.

has been a difficult evening for all concerned. The helicopter crews,

the lifeboat crews, Certainly one many years. The helicopter crew

also had a very difficult rescue there. Hovering very close to the

ship in those conditions. From what I could see from the road the spray

was reaching the helicopter. daylight the carrier remained on

the rocks, still being pounded by a fierce Irish Sea. And fears turned

to potential environmental damage. Some 40,000 litres of fuel are on

board. But weather conditions make even assessing the potential damage

difficult. David Cameron has defended Government plans for

secret trials in more civil cases involving national security. The

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has joined civil rights campaigners

in expressing concern about the proposals. Saying that allowing

Ministers not judges to order secret proceedings went too far.

The Prime Minister said the Government would consult on the

needed to be taken to protect the country's interests. Our political

correspondent Carole Walker has more.

He's taking a stand on a key Liberal principle. Nick Clegg

believes the plans for secret trials go too far in tipping the

delicate balance between security and civil liberties. He's written

to the National Security Council, calling for the plans to be scaled

back. I've been here as you know for 29 years arguing the case for

civil liberties. One of the things defending the liberty of the

citizen against the overmighty state. We took on Labour for 13

years because they didn't understand that. The Government

wants to hold some trials the behind closed doors so that

sensitive intelligence can be used without exposing secret agents or

their methods. The Lib Dems say they should local be allowed when

national security is at state and that should be decided by a judge.

The Justice Secretary said there'll be safeguards. No-one is riding

roughshod over justice but you cannot have your spice giving

sensitive information in public. The result is you don't hear them

at all at the moment. There is no open justice. This makes the

security services more accountable if that evidence is before the

judge, even if it has to be heard in closed proceedings. The plans

were drawn up after the case of Binyam Mohamed, a British citizen

held at Guantanamo Bay. A summary of the CIA case against him was

revealed in court. The Justice Secretary said the United States is

now restricting the intelligence it is prepared to pass on. The lds are

out to convince voters they are standing up -- the Liberal

Democrats are out to convince voters that they are standing up

for their core beliefs. The Government has signalled that it is

prepared to look again at some of the detail of the proposals. But

the Prime Minister made it clear that any compromise must not

undermine national security. Where there are gaps that need to be

plugged we need to plug those gaps. We should do that with consultation,

with understanding, with a respect to our long traditions for liberty

in this country, but nevertheless those gaps have to be dealt with.

That is my responsibility and it is one I intend to fulfil. A after if

row over plans to extend internet surveillance there is real tension

within the coalition over the sensitive issue of security and

civil liberties. Let's pick up on that last point with Carole. The

tensions clearly there, but could you elaborate on where they lie

precisely? Yes, Kate, you are right. Everyone agrees they want to

appreciate national security but they want to protect the rights of

the individuals as well. There are practical differences between the

two sides. One of them is about the role of a judge. Ken Clarke, the

Justice Secretary, is talking about some sort of power of judicial

review if a case were to be held in secret. Be Liberal Democrats are

saying they want to scheme Ministers out of it altogether if

possible and it should be decided solely bay judge. The other

question is about inquests. Nick Clegg has said clearly in his

letter that he does not think any inquests should be held in secret,

whereas Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary, a Conservative, is

saying well if we've got to consider matters of national

security and sensitive intelligence in private in court cases, that has

to apply to inquests as well. There are some real practical differences

to be resolved here. I think everyone is well aware that there

are people's lives and liberty at stake. They are going to have to

try and get this right. Carole, thank you.

Airlines say a shortage of pass report control staff could cause

delays at airports in the UK over Easter and other peak periods. The

British Air Transport Association which represents 11 operator has

written to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, urging her to ensure

that the border force is properly resourced is, in theirererer words.

Virgin Atlantic said queues could situation is evermore pressing

giving the bank holiday weekend coming up. More important really

given the changes to the UK Border Agency. There was a row last year

and this year about a decision to reduce the level of checks. The

Government found out and decided it didn't like that and restored the

checks to 100%. But the UK Border Agency had let some staff go. The

airlines are saying there is not enough staff to do the checks that

are in place. Nobody I've spoken to has predicted gridlock over Easter.

At Heathrow Airport and other airports the busiest weekend is not

this weekend but next. But there's a concern that the queues are

getting too long. Heathrow Airport says they have three hours of

confuse sometimes at Terminal 4. They say that is not acceptable and

there has to be an improvement in the staffing levels of the Border

Agency. There's a wider concern among the airlines. Tom, thank you.

Talks are under way between the two going to happen. Both sides will be

I think what's they are going to do today is nail down what the issues

are. What the sticking points are. They are also going to be keen to

find common ground. Even if you can agree on one small thing it gets

the momentum going on the talks. interesting insight. A quick add on

on for people watching a. Should there be any concern over fuel

supplies? It does look like the fuel supplies are getting back to

normal. The people we've spoken to all say by this weekend things

should be just about back to normal. They have upped the tanker hours so

there is more fuel being delivered. There has been a backlog. It has

lasted longer than expected, but things should be fine. There could

still be a strike. The union still has that option but we would get a

week's notice. The Royal Navy's newest destroyer

has set sail on its maiden mission for the Falklands today amid

strained diplomatic relations between Argentina and Britain. HMS

Dauntless left Portsmouth for a six month deployment this morning.

A public consultation by the Government on Scotland's

independence referendum has produced overwhelming support for a

single question of yes or no. Most of the 3,000 people who responded

also said the referendum should take place sooner rather than later.

The Scottish Government's carried out its own consultation, which ask

due to be published next month. It wants to hold the referendum in

woman has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a 92-

year-old man in willen nal the West Midlands. William Davis was

discovered with serious injuries. He died later.

A school's computer manager has been found gilt yoif possessing

almost 400,000 indecent images of children. Jeffrey Gravell, 54, also

stole computers from his school. He was jailed for two years.

Gravell spent ten years working as a school IT manager. He had cleared

local authority background checks. But when officers raided his home

they found every room packed with stolen equipment. Jeffrey Gravell

used the computers to download nearly 400,000 indecent images of

children. This is the largest single collection of indecent

images of children I've come across. 715 of the worst category. I

reached approximately 391,000 images but then found I had to stop.

There could have been more. Jeffrey Gravell claimed he had taken the

computers for repair. He tried to cast doubt on other members of

staff. Officers say they are certain that none of the pictures

or videos they found involved pupils from the school or children

sentenced Jeffrey Gravell the judge told him he breeched a high level

of trust and responsibility. The 54 -year-old was jailed for two years

and disqualified from ever working Our top story this lunchtime: Heavy

causing disruption across large parts of the UK. Over 50,000 homes

and businesses are without power - driving conditions are treacherous.

A I am live at Portsmouth for a unique glimpse of the work that is

under way to prepare thousands of exhibits for the new Mary Rose

Museum. Later on BBC London: The bed that

literally raised the roof and inspired Shakespeare. We'll tell

you what's so special about the Great Bed of Ware. We'll also get

the full weather forecast from Peter Cockcroft. Join us for that

and more at 1.30pm. She's one of the most famous ships

in the world, brought to the surface in a complex salvage

operation. The Mary Rose, flagship to Henry VIII navy, sank with the

loss of 700 men during a battle near Portsmouth in 1545. Now a �35

million project will tell us even more about the ship and her crew.

Robert Hall, is at the historic dockyard in Portsmouth.

For 30 years we have been enthralled by the Mary Rose story

because of the number of items that came up. She sank so quickly, 700

people lost their lives and everything ended up on the seabed.

There is only room in this museum for 1000 items. And there are 10

times that number and now conservationists are preparing them

for the new museum. The Mary Rose, as many of us

remember, seen through a mist of water and preservative, only

accessible to the conservation team. But that will change. For more than

two years, Mary Rose, has been hidden away beside HMS victory

wells construction experts wrestle with a unique problem - how do you

build a brand new museum around the ship, above a Grade 1 listed

building whilst treating the ancient timbers. Away from the

building work, another task is under way. We are removing some of

these from their treatment solution. Week by week, more of the items

found it with the ship are emerging from the preservation tanks.

freeze the objects, and we remove the air from the chamber so we have

a low pressure. Under those conditions the process, we can

safely move water from these objects are without changing the

shape or size of the object. Around 14,000 items will be on display.

This collection specialist has spent 20 years cataloguing them.

This is a piece of anchor cable. Wouldn't longbows, beer tankards,

shoes and personal belongings. have some of the nit combs.

some of them still in there? some of the teeth. One of the gold

coins recovered, this is a gold angel. How much would it be worth?

It is difficult to but values on things, but for insurance purposes,

about �50,000. It is not just a ship, it was life and death 500

years ago. This is Pompeii for this country. A rebuilt museum will

reunite Mary Rose with her contents for the first time since she sank,

breathing new life into the ship and her crew.

The process a Mark Jones was describing, means there when you

handle these items, you feel as if they could be pressed into service.

This looks a virtually brand new. No they are piecing together DNA

evidence which will help them rebuild the people that I work in

the ship, helping to recreate their faces, put them back with their

belongings in a reconstruction. Almost the whole ship reunited, put

back together as it was when it sank.

The Big Society fund opens for business today. The Big Society

Capital. The Prime Minister visited a youth

centre this morning. Cash will be given by high-street banks and

taken from dormant accounts, it will aim at areas usually ignored

by traditional investors. The City has been associated with providing

capital to help businesses expand. Today, this is about supplying

capital to help society to expand. Big Society Capital will work like

this - �400 million comes from bank accounts which have been dormant

for 15 years or more which will be topped up by another 200 million

from the banks. Social enterprises can applied. What are these social

enterprises which could benefit from this? One of them is

potentially this community Cycling business. As well as retailing it

provides training and other opportunities for the long-term

unemployed. Banks usually lend to businesses which make profit, but

this one puts money it makes back into community initiatives. If we

went to a high-street bank, they will be looking at financial return

only. This is looking at the social impact an organisation like this

can deliver alongside providing a return on their investments. Labour

argued the new fund wouldn't fix bigger problems caused by

Government cuts. It is good news for charities and community groups

up and down the country. But I am afraid given what the coalition had

taken an for funding for charities, it is small. Another potential

applicants is the community bus service in London. The Prime

Minister or hoped the new fund keeps his Big Society idea on the

road. Sceptics will wonder how much impact it will really have.

Investigators say a plane crash in Russia that killed 31 people

earlier this week was most likely caused by a failure to de-ice the

aircraft. The internal flight with 43 passengers on board came down

shortly after take off. 12 people are still seriously ill. The

President of Somalia's Olympic Committee and sports organisation

have been killed in as suicide mission. The rebel group, Al-Shabab

has claimed responsibility. The World Track Cycling

Championships are under way in Melbourne and the men's pursuit

team have broken the world record and taken the gold medal. But there

has been disappointment for Britain's, Victoria Pendleton.

Great Britain against Australia. One of sport's rivalries and in

cycling's team pursuit events, could be a tight contest in London.

This was a very important step on the Olympic journey. At stake, not

just a world Championship title, but an injection of confidence for

which ever team could win. Nip and tuck all the way with fractions of

seconds separating them. It turned into one of the most exciting as

well as the fastest race of all time. A new world record, and four

very happy British cyclists. Lost for words. I have been wanting this

for the last four years. It does not quite happened. To come to

Australia and beat them on their home turf and makes it better. That

is the hardest team pursuit I have ever done. It has not all gone

Britain's way. Disappointment for Victoria Pendleton who finished 4th

in the Sprint. And disqualification for so Chris Hoy for a rule

infringement. But Britain have made the bigger statement here today. It

is only the first day of these championships, but it is already

clear wide track cycling is anticipated at the London Olympics.

World records are likely, medals are almost certain.

England have made a solid start in reply for Sri Lanka's to run than

75 all out in Colombo. England are 154 for the loss of one wicket.

Andrew Strauss made 61. A day without shocks, plus all.

Test matches take patients, that is how it is supposed to be. Sri

Lanka's first innings ended quickly for stopping and taking the final

four wickets in an hour and a half. Graeme Swann ended with four

wickets, including the important one. Matthews deceived and court.

That is Andrew Strauss, smiling. And then the scowl of concentration

as the captain tried to build an innings potentially to prolong his

England career. Such has been the scarcity of English runs this

winter, even a little landmark now merited a standing ovation. The

opening pair scored 50 together for the first time this year. As a team,

England need to win this match, but above all else, and their leader

needs to lead and that only comes with runs. Andrew Strauss reached

50 and a chance for all his team- mates and supporters to register

their respect. That was never in doubt, all they needed to see was

this. It all look so easy again. Cook made 154 Stock apart work done,

so Andrew Strauss was out. Faint contact to end a gruelling effort,

61 painstaking runs. By the close, Alastair Cook had 77 and Jonathan

Trott was finding his range. For the first time in a long time,

things looked ominous for England's opponents.

An extremely rare find of a near complete madman -- mammoth has been

discovered in Siberia. Film by the BBC and Discovery Channel, signed

to say it is an unusual fined for this part of the world.

From the depth of the Ice Age to the spotlight of modern curiosity.

This is the extraordinary moment when Professor Alice Roberts meets

a newly discovered mammoth carcass. A cannot wait to see it. Afros and

parcel of prehistoric treasure, when unwrapped it will reveal

secrets of the past. It is an ancient mummy. This is the trunk.

Oh my goodness sets it is amazing. This new specimen has already been

named, Yuka, and would have roamed the Siberian planes tens of

thousands of years ago. Scientists are using genetic and chemical

analysis to understand how woolly mammoths withstood the extreme

temperatures of the Arctic. But they are searching to find out

exactly what killed them off. an animal from the Ice Age. Could

this latest discovery yield new clues? Yuka, appears to have been

attacked by large predators. But there are signs humans may have

intervened in the kill. You can see here were deliberate cuts were made.

Some of the bones and tusks were carefully removed, but the meat was

left untouched. Intriguing evidence of complex human involvement. The

question is whether this happened in the ancient past or more recent

history? It may take more years of investigation before we know the

answers. You can see the programme, Woolly

Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice on At least with the snow there has

been disruption but this beautiful picture taken this morning in North

Yorkshire. Across many parts of northern England, 0 Wales as well,

we have seen snow, chiefly over high ground. It is still with us

today. We can see this spiralling weather front, it is a mixture of

rain, sleet and snow. Mostly rain to lower levels but snow on higher

ground. Awarding from the Met Office across the hills of northern

England and Wales, we could see a further five centimetres. We have

heard about the disruption on Trans Pennine roots, it is worth checking

before you travel. We do have strong winds up to 30 miles an hour

which will give blizzard conditions on some of the Hyatt roots. Slowly

it will turn south so turning drier and brighter in Yorkshire. Rain,

sleet and snow. The South East in contrast is mild. Sunshine and

highs of up to 11 or 12 degrees. Just to the south of the band of

rain there is a risk of scattered showers. They will be heavy with

the risk of thunder. In Wales, at the weather from giving rein to

lower levels. Snow above 150 up to 200 metres. In Scotland and

Northern Ireland, the weather is set fair this afternoon. Lots of

Sunshine with highs of five or six degrees. Overnight, finally the

weather fronts sinks south, relinquishing its grip as it clears

to the south. Patchy, light outbreaks of rain. Mace similar

story in the north. Temperatures are will tumble, so it could be a

tricky, icy start on Thursday. Thursday is looking like a bit of a

breather as the weather front clears away. Skies will Brighton,

patchy rain. But Thursday is the drier with lighter winds and

temperatures up to 10 degrees. Things not too bad as we head

through the Easter weekend. But we are watching this weather front, it

could bring a wet Easter Sunday. Later in the weekend, it will turn

milder but there is the chance we A reminder of our top story. Heavy