28/06/2012 BBC News at One

A serious scandal - the Prime Minister says Barclays' bosses must

answer questions about rigging rates at the banks.

As far as the Chief Executive of Barclays is concerned, he has some

very serious questions to answer today. What did he know and when

did he know it? We need to see serious action against those who

have done wrong, a criminal prosecution and, if necessary, them

going to jail. The Queen unveils a memorial to the

men who died on British bombers during the Second World War.

Flash-floods sweep across parts of the UK leaving people trapped in

cars and homes without power. The latest attempt to save the euro.

More crucial talks are about to begin in Brussels.

A convicted murderer is on the run after he escaped from London's

Pentonville Prison by climbing a wall using a makeshift rope.

David Beckham's Olympic dream is over as he is told he has not been

selected for the 2012 football team. Heathrow residents say new flight

Good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC News at One. There is mounting

pressure on the bosses of Barclays after the Prime Minister said they

had serious questions to answer over the scandal about rigging

rates for the bank. The Chancellor described it as a shocking

indictment of the banking culture in the city. Shares in the bank

plunged by 17% this morning after its admission that traders had

tried to manipulate the rate at which banks lend to other. Barclays

was fined nearly �300 million by regulators. The Labour Leader

called for a criminal investigation. The position of Barclays' boss Bob

Diamond is under mounting scrutiny and a debate on his bank's role in

interest rate manipulation is centre stage at Westminster. In the

Commons, the Chancellor said the episode was a shocking indictment

of the market culture before the crisis and he pointed the finger at

Mr Diamond. As far as the Chief Executive of Barclays is concerned,

he has some very serious questions to answer today. What did he know

and when did he know it? Who in the Barclays' management was involved?

Who therefore should pay the price? Earlier, the Prime Minister said

the Barclays' episode was a scandal and the authorities should use all

powers to pursue it. The fine for Barclays followed a civil

investigation by financial regulators. Today, the Labour

Leader called for wider, possibly criminal enquiries to be carried

out. I do want to see criminal prosecutions. I do want to see

those who have done the wrong thing, those who have committed what I

think are atrocious acts brought to justice. Frankly, if the law

doesn't allow for that at the moment, the law has to be changed

to make that happen. Barclays provided false information to the

group which supplies the key industry lending rate called LIBOR.

Some mortgages are linked to it, as are many business loans. It is

possible because of what happened some may have paid more than they

should have done. Others could have paid less. It is hard to work out

who the winners and losers are. But the investigation has gone wider

than Barclays. The conduct of other banks including RBS and Lloyds and

some US institutions is being probed by regulators. Analysts are

trying to work out what the costs could be. There are two things. One

is the potential fines from regulators in the US and the UK,

similar to Barclays. That is not our main concern. Our main concern

is the potential lawsuits that will happen here and in the US. That is

why Barclays and other leading banks' shares are down sharply

today. Quite how customers and voters react is another matter. The

reputation of banks has already taken a battering.

Let's speak to Robert Peston. Huge pressure on Bob Diamond, lots of

questions to be answered. Can he survive this? You have to look at

this in two different ways. The regulators did look for evidence

linking him personally to the wrongdoing and they couldn't find

it. On the other hand, he was running the business, Barclays

Capital, where this wrongdoing took place. Now, I have spoken to a very

senior banker at Barclays who has said to me that there was a

catastrophic culture failure at Barclays Capital. And because it is

now widely accepted, I think, that there was a culture failure there,

broadly traders breaking the rules in the pursuit of short-term

profits and big bonuses, there is, of course, a big question for Bob

Diamond to answer. He to an extent was in charge of that culture. Some

say he set the culture of the bank. So in the end it comes down to

shareholders. Do they want somebody to take personal responsibility for

this debacle? If they do, and they are considering this - I'm in touch

with them - he is the first in line. These are very anxious times for

him. They are astonishingly anxious times for the bank. The shares fell

18%. I can barely remember the shares of a big company falling as

much as that. It is not alone. Royal Bank of Scotland shares are

down 13-14%. Lloyds' shares down 7- 8%. Here is the other big thing

about all of this. All our focus is on Barclays at the moment because

they are the first to have been punished. We know that these

regulators in the UK and the US are looking at Royal Bank of Scotland,

at Lloyds, HSBC and we know the costs, if they are found guilty for

them, will also be huge. Thank you. The Queen has unveiled a memorial

to tens of thousands of airmen from Bomber Command who died in the

Second World War. Thousands of poppies were dropped from a

Lancaster Bomber over London's Green Park where some of the few

surviving veterans had gathered. Mike Sergeant is at the memorial in

London's Green Park. Their courage has never been

questioned. Their role was important but controversial. At the

end of the Second World War, Bomber Command didn't get official

recognition, but at the ceremony that's just finished here today,

finally they did. They have waited 67 years for a

fitting memorial. Today, the surviving veterans of Bomber

Command gathered for a Service of Remembrance. FANFARE the Queen and

other members of the Royal Family joined thousands of invited guests

and senior military figures. By any measure, this is a profound moment.

A moment which has been a long time coming. Inside the memorial, the

Queen unveiled bronze statues of a seven-man bomber crew coming back

from a mission. A reminder of the risks they took and the thousands

who never returned. They might not have thought of themselves as

heroes, smiling in this newsreel footage from early in the Second

World War. Almost half of the 125,000 airmen of Bomber Command

lost their lives. NEWSREEL: heavy bombers assist the drive into

Dresden. Their roles in the raids on German cities was controversial.

The bombs they dropped killed between 300 and 600,000 Germans and

left scenes of devastation on the ground. A troubling legacy for

veterans like Doug Radcliffe and a reason why proper recognition has

taken so long. Visiting the sculpture as it was made, he felt

the time was right for a permanent tribute. Your first time seeing it

in bronze? The first thing that hit me was Nev Hadley and Frank

Hennesey, two members of my first crew, who died with them with

55,000 others. This will honour them for all time. THE LAST POST At

the end of the ceremony, a fly-past. RAF Tornadoes and one of only two

Lancaster Bombers still flying, releasing not bombs, but a cascade

of poppies for all those who died. After nearly seven decades, a day

of reconciliation and remembrance. That was a moving moment for all of

those gathered here today. The Royal Party has now left and the

veterans are taking an opportunity to go inside the memorial for the

first time and as they look at those bronze statues inside, their

thoughts very much still with all those many friends who set off on

those missions all those years ago and never returned.

There will be a special programme covering the unveiling of the

Bomber Command Memorial by the Queen on BBC2 at 5.00pm this

afternoon. A man in his 60s has died after

being swept away by floodwaters near Ludlow and Shropshire. It

follows a morning of torrential rain across the Midlands causing

flash-floods. In Belfast, flooding closed many of the city's main

streets. Hundreds of homes were left without power.

Morning rush hour in Belfast. Last night's torrential downpour turned

some streets into rivers. These police officers managed to get

through. But their colleagues were in deep trouble before eventually

being rescued. This was the problem. Two hours of heavy, non-stop rain,

just as many people were driving home for the evening. Some managed

it; others were not so lucky. The only option was to abandon the car,

even if it meant getting wet. An emergency centre was set up

overnight at Belfast City Hall and Northern Ireland's First Minister

was there, too. This is just horrendous for people, anybody who

has had their house flooded will know how difficult a period it is.

Compensation will be given to those worst affected. Water levels are

high and the bad weather is not over yet. More rain is forecast for

later today and tomorrow. The weather is also causing problems in

parts of England. In the East Midlands, the Olympic Torch relay

had to stop briefly because of the threat of lightning. It later got

going again, even though at times it was more like paddling than

running. Back in Northern Ireland, the clean-up and the clear-up has

begun. But it's going to be a long and costly process.

Let's get more on those floods in the Midlands from Peter Plisner who

is in Birmingham. There's news of this death of this man in his 60s.

What more can you tell us about that? West midland police have

confirmed that a man, believed to be in his 60s, was swept away by

floodwater near Ludlow. His body was discovered in a stream. But

Birmingham does seem to be one of the worst affected areas. A third

of the rainfall that normally comes during June happened in one hour

here between 10.00am and 11.00am this morning. 20Mms of rain fell.

The Fire Service say they received 40 calls in less than an hour.

Flash-floods are all over the region. The Environment Agency has

issued flood alerts for a number of rivers. Bridgnorth seems to have

been badly affected. In Herefordshire, a number of roads

are said to be impassable. A basement in Wolverhampton had to be

evacuated in a hospital where a maternity unit was going on. And a

school in Wolverhampton, that's only just opened after a �26

million refurbishment, had to be closed. The rain is continuing to

fall here in Birmingham. But it will move north later in the day.

Thank you very much. The latest attempt to save the euro

is about to begin in Brussels but there is still no agreement between

France and Germany on how to do it. The main sticking point is over how

to share the pain of paying for the debts of countries like Italy and

Spain. Let's go to Brussels and Chris Morris is there.

Afternoon, Sophie. The leaders are arriving now. Francois Hollande has

just walked in calling for what he said was very quick solutions.

David Cameron is expected here in the next few minutes. They will

agree on a new compact for growth, trying to promote growth and create

jobs. On the basic issue of what to do next in the eurozone crisis, the

divisions between them are more out in the open than ever.

Preparations and protests for another summit. Let's hope it's not

simply more hot air. They are all looking for ways to calm the

markets and reassure increasingly anxious governments across the

eurozone. Last night, the two main protagonists met in Paris, all

smiles on the surface, but there are disagreements about the best

way forward. France and Germany know where they want to get to, but

the strategies for getting there are not the same.

TRANSLATION: We want to move towards closer economic monetary

and eventually political union based on the integration and

solidarity. But she says integration first, then we can show

more solidarity with countries struggling with high borrowing

costs or too much debt. He says we need to show solidarity now or

there may not be much left to integrate. It means some big

decisions for every country involved. The eurozone cannot

Either you keep the Euro or give up some national sovereignty or keep.

That is basically the choice you have to make.

Already three eurozone countries have had to be bailed out with

billions. First Greece, then Ireland, last year, Portugal.

Spain has now asked for money to stabilise its banking sector and

Cyprus has become the fifth country to seek assistance.

Some of the ideas being discussed here are thin on detail, but

ambitious in intent. They could alter the basic relationship

between the EU and Member States, but the concern surrounding the

summit is not about what Europe could look like in ten years' time,

but about how it could look next Monday morning. That is because

borrowing costs for two of the biggest economies in the eurozone,

Spain and Italy, are high. The pressure is on Germany to do more

to help, but Angela Merkel has favoured a cautious step by step

approach and there is no sign of a radical change of heart.

In fact, as senior German official had warned this morning,

exaggerated panic making and Germany has allies, countries that

don't want to pay more until budgets in the eurozone are more

centralised, but the debate about how to fix the crisis could become

bitter indeed. In the last few minutes, Greater

Manchester Police have confirmed they have arrested a 32-year-old

man in London over an explosion in Oldham in which a young boy died.

The man is being questioned on suspicion of manslaughter. He is

understood to have been involved in maintenance on the property.

We announced this afternoon that a 32-year-old man was arrested in

London last evening and has been arrested on the offence of

manslaughter. He is being transported to Manchester and will

be subject to a rigorous interview process today. I would not like you

to speculate in relation to that line of investigation. What I would

say is that it is only one line of investigation that we are pursuing.

A convicted murder is on the run after es caning from Pentonville

Prison in north London. John Massey is one of the UK's longest-serving

prisoners, jailed in 1975 for the murder of a man in East London. An

investigation is underway as to how he managed to use a make shift rope

to scale the wall and get away. Pentonville Prison in north London.

In the words of a recent inspection report "iconic, but not for the

right reasons" among the prisoners was until yesterday, John Massey,

convicted of a 1975 public murder he had been sent back to jail after

breaking the palyol to spend time with his dying father. So, how did

he escape from the Pentonville Prison? Despite being 64, sources

have told the BBC he used a make- shift rope and somehow got over the

wall. A wall that is more than 25 feet tall in places. A full

investigation followed the escape yesterday evening but no details

have been released. This is a highly embarrassing breach of

security. If John Massey scaled the wall, that would be different to

the more common method of escaping in transit. Three years ago an

arsonist slipped away by clinging to the bottom of a prison van like

this one. The Metropolitan Police said that John Massey was

considered dangerous and should not be approached. They are appealing

for information. A two-year-old girl has died after

falling from the fourth floor of a block of flats in Sheffield it is

thought that the glass panelling on a communal balcony may have given

way in what the police are calling a tragic incident.

Sophie, these are the apartments where Rayaheem Banimuslim lived

with her parents. She was playing in the gardens here when she fell

from the fourth floor yesterday. She was rushed to hospital, but

sadly, later died. If you look at the apartments and go to the fourth

floor you can see the glass panelling running along the side it

was the panel at the end that was broken. The mother did not know it

was broken. It was replaced yesterday with wood panelling. The

people that manage the property say that they carry out regular checks.

They are trying to find out what happened here. The Health and

Safety Executive have been here today. Very have been measuring the

plannels and checking the other panels here, the police are saying

that they are investigating what happened. As for the two-year-old's

family they are heartbroken. They are still at the hospital by their

daughter's side. The top story:

Pressure is mounting on bosses alt Barclays after it admitted

manipulating bank lending rates. Shares in Barclays have fallen

sharply this morning. Coming up: I'm taking a ride on one

of the different pieces of Olympic transport, a cable car spanning the

River Thames. On BBC London: Could Formula One

cars race through the streets of Central London? Turning concrete

into canvass, some of the world's top artists transform the Royal

Docks with graffiti. All to come in 15 minutes.

David Beckham's Olympic dream is over arch he was told he has not

been selected for the Great Britain Olympic football squad. In a

statement the 37-year-old said he was disappointed but there would be

no bigger supporter of the team than him.

This prorp contains flash photography.

It is possible that there would not even be a London Olympics without

David Beckham. Involved in the bid from the start... To the city of

London... Then more importantly a key member of the team in Singapore

that managed to push London over the line in a tight vote against

Paris. He's been a huge part of London 2012 throughout its journey,

appearing on that bus in the Beijing closing ceremony and then

last month, carrying the Olympic Flame when it arrived in Cornwall

for the start of a 07-day relay. That same day, he had told me about

his burning desire to become an Olympian this summer.

Being involved in the Olympic Games would be huge. Obviously being a

part of the GB team, the work that goes into the competition, it would

be massive. The decision by Team GB coach,

Stuart Pearce, to ignore the wishes means that there will be no special

moments like this at London 2012... Being in the Olympics it would have

been great had he been there, but you have to make a decision based

on the best squad available to try to win. David Beckham said if not

selected he would still be involved in the Olympics, but now he will

have to set for the role as a Team GB and ambassador rather than

player. Well, David Beckham is clearly disappointed, but how much

of a surprise is this? I think to those outside of the process,

waiting for the football tournament to start, it is a massive surprise.

People assumed that this would be David Beckham's swansong, he has

given up play are for England, now, this is the end of him as a

international player. This would a great way to go out in the home

crowds, but this is maybe not a surprise for those closer to him.

Stuart Pearce is only allowed to pick three players over the age of

23. David Beckham said he only wanted to be picked on merit.

It was going to be tough. So, Stuart Pearce rang him last

night, I am told, that he said he wanted a player more defensive,

that David Beckham did not fit into what he wanted. Stuart Pearce is

trying to make a name for himself as a manager, but this is not the

end of David Beckham in the Olympics. He will be involved. The

British Olympic Association have Kate and William as ambassadors,

David Beckham will be an integral part, but just not as a player.

Now, his code name was Laval, but in real life he was named Raymond

Mawby, a minister of the Conservative government. The BBC

uncovered information that he sold information for a decade, including

details about colleagues in Parliament.

Raymond Mawby was always an unusual MP, a Tory tpwru a working-class

trade union background. Here he is on BBC TV in 1967, opposing the

legallisation of homosexuality. Most of the people involved in

security cases have been found to be male homosexuals.

But it was Raymond Mawby who was himself the security risk. Files

found by the BBC show he was passing secrets for a decade,

including while being a junior minister.

The contract was that they would set him tasks, he would fulfil them

and they would give him money it was for hundreds of pounds a year

which was a lot of money then in the 1960s.

We had known before that some Labour MPs had worked as communist

spice, but this is the first time - - spies, but this is the first time

we have known of a cif conservative MP, a minister, even had done the

same. So what kind of information did he pass on? He did not have

access to top secret material, but passed on information about fellow

Tory MPs, hand-written on notes like this. There is a there are

plan of the Prime Minister's office in the House of Commons that he

drew at the request of the Czechs and here, a signed receipt for �100,

giving an idea of why he did it, moan was the motivation. Raymond

Mawby had a gambling habit. The cheques helped to cover his losses

then he was put on a retain eer of �400 a year. Colleagues were

surprised. I was astonished, when I heard that

an unnamed Conservative MP was outed as a Czech spy, but given a

list of 100 MPs, I would not have selected him. Raymond Mawby was

selected as the MP for Totnes. He died in 1990, as the Cold War ended,

but it has been another two decades before the truth of what he got up

to emerged. The UK's first urban cable car was

opened to the public today it spans the River Thames between the ExCel

exhibition centre and the O2 Arena at Greenwich. We have been to try

it out. Good morning, the queue is building

up. There is a queue here and outside as well. Members of the

public are waiting to go on the new cable car. They have been here

since 5.30am. This is an important piece of Olympic transport, the

views on board are spectacular. Another hectic Olympic launch. As

always, the Lord Mayor, Boris Johnson, is centre stage.

The new Thames cable car was not built for the Olympics, but it will

be key to getting the spectators around, but it has come at a price.

The view is spectacular, there is the North Greenwich Arena, and if

you spin around you can just see the Olympic Stadium in the distance.

This way, we have the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Now, this

was meant to cost �25 million, all private, but it is �63, and about

�20 million of that from the taxpayer. How can you justify it?

Well, it is a fantastic deal, most of the taxpayer spending will be

recouped from the merchandising and the ticket sales.

Riding 90 metres above the river, the views are likely to be popular

with the spectators and the local schoolchildren, once they are used

to the height... Imagine if you dropped? It's a long way down.

have butterflies in my belly. It is faster. When it took off, it is

faster than I thought. All of the people look so tiny. You can see

the river. It is meandering... London's transport system will be

creaking during the Olympics this summer, trying to squeeze millions

extra people on to the buses and on to the trains. This cable car

should relieve the pressure. We have come live into a cabin,

forgive us if the picture goes, but this is why this is significant,

there is the North Greenwich Arena, that is where the gymnastics and so

on will ga on and there is the biggest Olympic arena, that is

where the boxing and the tie qondow is to be held, but this adds to the

-- tie qondow is to be held, but this is adding to the excitement,

that this is all coming together very quickly now.

Now, the weather. John, we have extreme photographs

coming in from viewers. There are coming in from viewers. There are

hail stones and thunder storms? Yes, huge hail storms and gusty winds

and unfortunately, one fatality. You could earn counterscenes like

this in the rest of the afternoon. If you have pictures send them in.

This is the storm that ravaged the Midlands earlier on. A huge storm

of rain. That is moving to the north-east, but to be replaced by

others. Much of the north of Britain is to be prone to the

violent thunder storms. Do go online for details of those.

The storms are to continue it rumble on into parts of northern

England, up to jorbgshire, to the Scottish border and to -- Yorkshire

and to the north still. Things turning wet and windy later

on. Northern Ireland has gotten away with it so far, but even here

storms are returning in the afternoon. For Wales, the worst is

over. Fresher conditions coming in from the west. That will dampen the

atmosphere down. The showers becoming lighter and less frequent.

A drier end to the day and feeling less humid. Across the south-east

it is hot. Temperatures knocking on the door of 28 Celsius, it is fine

for Wimbledon. This evening, the cold front will push the storms

away. Staying wet in the far north of Scotland, but elsewhere, fresher

and drier conditions. It will be also a lot more

comfortable for sleeping. The temperatures easing down into the

low teens by the end of the night. Tomorrow we will have lost the heat,

the humid, -- the humidity, there will be showers coming from the

west, many of us encountering showers, but a lot cooler than it

was today. In the south-east, some eight or nine degrees cooler.

For the weekend, it is a familiar scene with the low pressure

dominating. Brisk winds coming in from the west.

More showers. It is to the north and the west most prone to the

showers. Some making it to the south-east.

And it will feel cooler. More of the same on Sunday. By then the