17/09/2012 BBC News at One

A shake-up in the exam system in England. The Deputy Prime Minister

says the changes will raise standards. After nearly 25 years,

GCSEs will be out and O-level-style one-off exams are coming back.

think you can raise standards, increase rigour and confidence in

our exam system, but still do so in a single-tier system, which covers

the vast majority of children in this country. Duke and Duchess of

Cambridge take a French magazine to court to stop further publication

of photos of the Duchess sun bathing topless. As fighting

continues in Syria, allegations that opposition forces have carried

out torture and summary executions. An officer cleared of killing a

newspaper seller during protests in London has been found guilty of

gross misconduct by a police disciplinary hearing. And later in

the programme, an exclusive report on plans for a remarkable adventure.

Britain's greatest living explorer, Ranulph Fiennes announces his

Expedition. Later on BBC London: Can you tell me why you have been

selling rats in your shop? We expose the trade in legal meat,

putting Londoners' health at risk. Hello. Good afternoon. Welcome to

the BBC News at One. It's nearly 25 years since the coursework-led GCSE

replaced the exam-based O-level. This afternoon, the Government will

announce it wants to return to a single end of course exam in

England. Pupils who have started secondary school this year will be

the first to take the revised exams in 2017. Labour describe the

proposals as a step backwards. A picture of unity, but it has been

a rocky road for the Education Secretary, Michael Gove and Nick

Clegg on exams. Mr Gove reportedly wanted a return to tough O-level

type exams, with easier CSEs for the less able. Can I ask how many

of you want to go to university? Every single one? There are people

who say if you want to raise standards you have to leave some

children behind and others that say if you want to cover all children

you have to lower standards. I disagree. You can increase rigour

and confidence in our system, but still do so in a way that is a

single-tier system, which covers the vast majority of children in

this country. Exam reform has been testing for this coalition. Schools

can expect major changes. The new exam, name to be revealed this

afternoon, will be tougher than existing GCSEs. They are expected

to be introduced initially in English, maths and science. The

first exams will be sat in 2017. These 11 year olds will be the

first to sit the new exam, if it goes ahead.

The new courses are not due to start until after the next general

election, meaning Labour could ditch them if they get in. What we

know is it seems like this is a big step back towards the 1980s, rather

than a modern exam system, with the kind of breadth testing the skills

for a modern economy. From this political fix which appears to have

been made with the coalition partners and the Lib Dems this is a

step backwards towards the 1980s. Until 1988 there were O-levels,

with CSEs for less able pupils T system was seen as divisive and was

scrapped in favour of the GCSE. The Education Secretary at the time

broadly supports today's reform, but wants reassurance. I don't want

to see any downgrading of vocational qualifications. These

are critical. Millions of youngsters take vocational

qualifications. That involves project work, it involves team work,

and learning by doing. I am a passionate believer that you can

learn by doing as well as studying. Wales, where these pupils

celebrated GCSE results earlier this summer and Northern Ireland

have their own decisions to make about the future of the exam w the

Welsh Government carrying out a review that is reporting in

November. Well, as you can see Reeta joins us now. The question is,

will these exams raise standards? Kate, there is general agreement

across the political divide and among many head teachers that

standards do need to be raised T GCSE is seen by many as not

rigorous nothing. There is worry about grade inflation. This new

exam which will have an exam at the end of the course f you like, is

designed to raise standards and for example, there'll be a single exam

board per subject, so that temptation that schools might have

to shop around for the exam board, they feel sets easier questions,

that will disappear. Those measure are expected to raise standards.

The circumstance toll be squared is if you have this academically

tougher exam, how can it be suitable for the majority of

children? That was the point Lord Baker was making there. 40% of 16

year olds fail to get five good GCSEs. It would seem there have got

to be major changes, not just in the structuring of exams, but also

in their content and the way they are taught for you to be able to

say that standards will be raised. Thank you. You hinted in terms of

will it come into effect? Given it will be after another general

election. Our political correspondent is in Westminster.

Will we really get to see any of this, given it is unlikely to come

into play until 2017? I think that is the key point, Kate. I suspect

at the school gate one thing that causes more angst than anything is

uncertainty. There seems to me a huge cloud of uncertainty hanging

over Michael Gove's reforms. Although he and the Deputy Prime

Minister have clearly spelt out the template they want - a revamped O-

level, the problem is these exams don't kick in after the next

election w the first one not sat until 2017. Labour have signalled

they oppose these reforms. Now, the Government say by 2015 it will be

too late, schools will be gearing up. Labour disagree. They say they

are opposed to an exam-only system and will seek to bring in their own

reforms. In other words, there's an awful long way to go until we can

say with clarity what will replace GCSEs. Thank you. Lawyers acting

for Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have gone to court today to try and

stop further publications of photographs of the -- photographs

of the Duchess sun bathing topless. We'll have the latest on those

proceedings in a moment. First our correspondent on how the events in

France are impacting on the royal couple's tour of the Far East. Far

away from courtrooms and legal submissions, in the Solomon Islands,

William and Kate are concentrating on their visit to these territories

in the South Pacific, which is not hard to do when the islands offer

such eye-catching sights and sound. Perhaps unsurprisingly though, they

seemed disinclined to linger when they were greeted by topless lady

dancers. A bit too close for comfort, particularly perhaps for

Kate. Earlier they seemed more relaxed

than they have been at any point on this tour, laughing and joking

together as they were shown around an open-air museum of Melanesian

culture and history. William and Kate are known to be reliefed that

the legal fight back against the French magazine is underway and

determined with their officials to take as forceful a stand as French

law allows. The couple are hoping that by taking such a very firm

stand in France they will send a message to editors in every country

that intrusion such as this will be fought in the courts.

They have put behind them the shock and the anger they felt when they

first discovered that the pictures had been taken, now it is for their

lawyers and the French courts to deal with the matter. Well, indeed

lawyers for the royal couple are due in court this afternoon. Our

correspondent is there. Yes, this is the courthouse where

the couple's lawyers will present their case later on. It may strike

you as odd that we will not start here in France until 6pm this

evening. It reflects the urgency with which papers were filed at the

court on Friday evening and perhaps the lawyers were prepared to accept

any slot available in a packed court diary. Urgent because Closer

magazine is still available here, the photographs are still available

for circulation and of course other publications are now following suit.

The front-page cover that adds insult to injury - Duke and Duchess

of Cambridge asked editors to exercise some restraint. The

controversial photos were published again, this time in the Italian

magazine Chi and over 26 pages. In Nanterre lawyers for the Royal

couple began the fight-back. A decision is pending whether to sue

the Danish Daily Star and Chi. Lawyers acting for the couple will

request an interim interjunction, followed by a criminal complaint

against the magazine and the photographer, who snooped on the

couple's privacy. Inevitably the photos of the Duchess will evoke

memories of the treatment suffered by William's late mother, and

particularly here in France. The inquest ruled it with us the

pursuing paparazzi partly responsible for the car crash which

killed the Princess of Wales. The editor of Closer seems to have more

photos to publish. That would show how William has acted. They are on

the balcony of a mansion in the south of France, not far from a

road, which cars drive along from. They a young couple in love. She is

a young woman who is topless just like you see on beaches around the

world. Some are calling for the court to set a precedent, with

record damages. Any act has consequences. If the consequences

are heavier, than you might think twice. But an interim interjunction

will only stop redistribution of the photographs here in France. The

Royal couple can hardly sue every publication in every country where

the photos appear. Right now they are being offered for a Princely

sum. I told you that the criminal

complaint would follow the civil hearing here before three

magistrates this afternoon. I understand that in the past hour,

lawyers have filed those criminal papers, but there is no name in the

lawsuit, that is because they don't know the identity of the

photographer that they would like to sue. Nor is the magazine obliged

to tell them. We understand that they take protection of sources

very seriously here in France. Although the skoir has been given

great prom -- story has been given great prominence in Britain, it is

unlikely the judges will demand that the magazine will disclose the

name. The battle for controm of Syria's

biggest city, Aleppo, is about to enter its third month. The past

week has seen the most intense air strikes since fighting began.

Rebels claim they have control of three-quarters of the city. The

Government insists terrorists are being cleared out one neighbourhood

at a time. Our correspondent has been inside Syria along with a

camera man. A woman flees barefoot from her

Al-Assad ast, you pig, he sound - you enemy of God, these were

There were no emergency services to speak of.

Neighbours came out to do what they can.

Then some good news. Three little girls are pulled alive from the

wreckage of the building. It's incredible they survived this.

Paul Wood reporting there. Our correspondent is here. Civil war is

incredibly nasty. As totys now being reported on both sides?

is right. There's a new report out today by the human rights

monitoring agency, Human Rights Watch, which says the armed

opposition as well as the Syrian army are accused of severe human

rights abuses. They say the Government, the Syrian army, may be

responsible for more systematic abuses, but they have documented 12

cases of extra judicial summary executions, as well as cases where

detainees were subject to torture. It echos a report which came from

the UN human rights council in mid- August, which as it happens is

being debated in Geneva today. There too they say that the Syrian

Government may be accused of a state directive policy of murder

and torture of civilians, but nonetheless it looks as though

there were abuses among opposition fighters. They talk about an

alarming presence of Islamist militants who are radicaliseing the

conflict. Thank you. Just a word, you can see Paul Wood's full report

The police officer who pushed Ian Tomlinson to the ground shortly

before he died, has been I cuesed of gross misconduct. PC Simon

Harwood is appearing in a Metropolitan Police disciplinary

hearing. Danny Shaw is there for us in

London. Tell us what happened? hearing began with an omission

Bihar har har that his actions had brought discredit on the

Metropolitan Police, amounting to gross misconduct. He said that in

hindsight he would not have used force against tomorrow -- Ian

Tomlinson. He said it had been unnecessary to strike him with a

baton to the leg and to push him, which led him to fall to the ground.

What followed then was a discussion as to whether the hearing should

continue, given the omissions from PC Simon Harwood. The panel decided

it did not need to consider the wider issue, theish that the family

want addressed, as to whether or not PC Simon Harwood's actions

continued -- caused to the death of Ian Tomlinson. If that is concluded

it will not have to look at that issue it found PC Simon Harwood

guilty of gross misconduct. That he breached the standards of

professional misbehaviour. In the respects use of force, authority,

respect and courtesy, that therefore he was guilty of gross

misconduct. It is adjournsed to consider whether or not he should

be sacked. That is the most likely course of action that it will take.

We expect a result this afternoon. The top story:

The shake-up in the exam system in England after a quarter of a

century, GCSE will be out, O-level style one-off exams will be back.

We reveal which city is the UK's illegal downloading hot spot.

On BBC London: Tributes to a 14- year-old, chased from a bus and

stabbed to death and how the London Design Festival opens up hidden

areas of the Victoria and Albert museum.

The families of four miners killed in the Gleision colliery disaster

say that they are waiting for answers as to what happened. A year

after the tragedy, the families have spoken about their pain at

discovering that the men had died and their ongoing brief. The police

say that they have handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

We have this report. It was the moment when four

families' lives would change forever as the rescue teams tried

to find loved ones in the belly of a mine. Garry Jenkins, David

Powells, Philip Hill and Charles Breslin were experienced miners.

For 36 hours the relatives waited in the village hall, hoping that at

any moment their agony would be brought to an end.

Every ecreek in the door, my son would say, daddy is here, they were

wearing black helmets, but it was a rescue miner.

This is all that remains of the Gleision colliery one year on.

Flowers mark the spot where the entrance used to be. Where the

rescuers started their journey to find the four men. Seen for the

first time, these pictures were taken by the rescue service. After

removing the bodies, they had to use tons of silt and rock by hand

so that the investigators could work out what had gone wrong.

We had to consider from the beginning that an act of negligence

may have been behind this tragedy. That was certainly my focus.

The police have questioned the manager of the mine who survived

the flood and they have handed their file to the Crown Prosecution

Service. For now the victims families say that their lives are

on hold. At the moment, there are still so

many unanswered questions of how this could have happened.

To lose four lives, to ruin four families.

More than �1 million has been raised to help the families of the

four miners, but their grief will reemain raw until their questions

are answered. Viewers in Wales can see more on

that story in a special edition of Week in Week Out tonight at 8.30pm

on BBC One Wales. A 35-year-old woman who took a drug

on the internet to terminate her pregnancy has been sentenced to

eight years in prison. Brigadier General Gunter Katz took the drug

in the last few days -- Sarah Catt took the drug in the last few days

of her pregnancy. It sounds like a terrible case, what are the details,

Danny? Sarah Catt from North Yorkshire went to the British

Pregnancy Advisory Service, for a pregnancy scan. The accurate of

those put the pregnancy at 29 weeks. That is beyond the legal limit for

abortion, that is standing at 24 weeks other than in exceptional

circumstances. That is the last that the health authorities went

looking for her. The police were called in, they seized her

computers and they realised from the moment she went home after the

scan, she had been looking for an illegal abortion and a drug that

may have induced her own miscarriage. That is what she did.

Almost at full-term. She took a drug that she bought on the

internet that induced her miscarriage. She gave birth to a

still-born baby boy at home, she buried him. The judge said she

ended the life of a child capable of being born alive. She was

sentenced to eight years in prison. The singer songwriter, Ed Sheeran

may be 16th in the album chart for the UK, but there was talk that his

album was downloaded more than any other illegally in 2012. It has

been discorped that there is an illegal downloading hot spot.

It has a proud musical heritage and record shops where the fans of

vinyl come for something new, but Manchester is also a leader in

geting music for free. In the UK, the equivalent of 40 million albums

were downloaded illegally in the first half of the year, more so in

Manchester than anywhere else. Maybe as that is because the city

is home to many students. We asked some about the attitudes to music

piracy. It is easier, quicker, cheaper. Cha

is better. Yeah, I guess it is free. It does affect the music industry.

The bigger damage is done to the smaller bands.

Manchester may be number one for illegal downloads, but the students

are aware that there are harmful consequences to the music industry.

What about the artists though? Ed Sheeran, had the most downloaded

album, but he does not seem worried about people getting his music for

free. Speaking to Radio 1 this summer, he said that the most

important thing was to get your music heard.

I have sold 1.2 million albums, the stat is that there are 8 million

downloads of that illegally. So 9 million people have my record in

England that is a nice feeling. You get people that really want to

listen to the songs and to come to an event like. This

You have to worry about all of the artists who have not made money

from music that want to be musicians. The session players, the

people working in radio, the people in the recording studios, losing

their jobs because of illegal downloading.

Students here were given access to a cut price legal downloading

service. So some good news for an industry still battling with piracy.

Now, when you have been to the north whole, South Pole, across the

Antartic and climbed every eest, you may wonder what is left to

coner? Sir Ranulph Fiennes, often referred to as our greatest living

explorer has announced a challenge to cross the Antartica in winter.

We have this report from the team's training camp in Sweden.

They estrode, man and machine through the deep freeze of the

Arctic night. Their breath turning to ice

crystals, almost as soon as it left their lungs.

Fingers numb, toes hardened by the extreme cold. This is exploration

at the limits of human endurance. Why? It is the way that I make my

living. I did not get A-levels, this is what I do.

But you could die out there? More people travelling on the motorway

in the UK. I have never had a prok lep with an expedition.

There is ice on my eyelashes. It is minus 35, but they are having to

cope with twice that regards temperatures, minus 70. In the

Antartica. It will be pitch black. If they can make it across the

continent it will be an astonishing achievement.

No-one's ever crossed Antartica in the winter before. So for months,

they test every bit of kit. Two bulldozers will drag three

industrial shreds, a science lab, living quarters and their supplies

and fuel, but there are problems even here.

They almost lost won of the bulldozers. The crevasses in the

Antartica's ice sheet could prove fatal. This is precisely why they

do days of testing here. The bulldozer there, it is pretty

firmly wedged in. It is stuck at the moment. If this were to happen

in Antartica during the expedition, they would be in big trouble.

And what of the effect of minus 70 Celsius on the human body? People

are not well designed for the cold. We evolved in warm places.

One of the Mings that happens is that you begin to get cold quickly.

The body then shuts off the blood supply to the hands and the feet.

They are not getting warmth from the body and they are thin and on

the end and on the outside of the environment. So the freezing of

hands and feet is a real, real problem.

Night falls and with it the temperature.

But if any of this is to succeed, it is Sir Ranulph Fiennes who must

make it across on foot. You just must not think about

getting old, OK? If you are lucky enough to be able to walk around,

not stoop, no crutch, no Zimmer frame, you may as well go for it.

So, the pensioner will push himself to the limit, again.

Well, I think lucky for us, the temperatures are somewhat higher in

the UK, Phil? I was going to talk about chilly nights, but it is all

relative. Perhaps we need to man up a wee bit! Afternoon, it is a day

of scattered showers and sunny spells. Yesterday's rain, a feature

of the Great North Run and the women's golf, it is now just away.

Following behind, the cloud is bringing showers over the north and

the western parts of the British Isles. They are there over Devon

and Cornwall and running in on a noticeable breeze over parts of

central and western Wales. The further east you are, the more

likely you are drier. Towards the north, this is where the showers

intensify. I would not be surprised to see thund ner Northern Ireland

and over parts of Scotland. Taking yourself away around the Cowes and

there are showers and some brightness, but the showers may

gang up to give longer spells of rain as the time goes on. Towards

central and eastern parts, a drying prospect. This is where the sunny

spells take over. We will get the temperatures up there to 19 Celsius.

The fronts I was talking about that The fronts I was talking about that

brought the rain yesterday, They are lurking with intent to the

south-east. There may be the odd spot of rain.

The showers going over the northern and western parts. A cool night in

the north, but not so in the south. The showers should be there from

the word go across England and Wales. Light for the most parts

there, but heavier in Northern Ireland and western Scotland. The

showers becoming less frequent, but the temperatures, disappointing at

up to 17 Celsius. Having got to the lofty heights, the thing about

Tuesday night, on into Wednesday, the temperatures will be in singing

figures. That is the regime across the towns and the cities, but in

the countryside, we are certainly into single figures and I suspect

one or two pockets of frost. A decent start in central and

southern parts on Wednesday morning. Showers over the northern parts of

the British Isles. Behind me, something a little more persistent,

we will talk about that later. So chilly nights, blustery showers

and longer spells as well. More showers into Thursday. More,

More showers into Thursday. More, of course, on the website.