24/09/2012 BBC News at One

A public apology from the Cabinet minister over allegations he

verbally abused a police officer. Opponents say Andrew Mitchell's

statement is not enough. He says he wants to draw a line under the

affair. I'm very clear about what I said and didn't say. I want to make

it clear that I did not use the words which have been attributed to

me. The schoolgirl who is believed to have runaway with her teacher.

The search moves to France. John Terry appears at a disciplinary

hearing on charges of abusive behaviour, the day after quitting

international football. The billion-pound bank being set up by

the Government to lend to small businesses. Floods, heavy rain and

strong winds lash the UK. Autumn has arrived.

Later on BBC London: Kew Gardens is closed to the public after the

death of a woman who was hit by a falling branch. And the

The Three Peaks to raise money for Good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC

News at One. The Government Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell, has made a

public apology to the police following his outburst last week

when he is alleged to have sworn repeatedly and called an officer a

"pleb." He acknowledged he had not shown police the respect he should

have done, but he said, "I did not use the words which have been

attributed to me." The Deputy Prime Minister has called on him to

explain fully and in detail what happened.

No sign of the famous bike today - the Chief Whip arriving for work in

the drizzle, termed to clear the air. Good morning. I want to first

of all reiterate the apology I made last week after the incident on

Wednesday night in Downing Street. It had been the end of a long and

extremely frustrating day. wasn't offering as an excuse, by

way of explanation. I have apologised to the police. I have

apologised to the police officer involved on the gate and he's

accepted my apology. I hope very much that we can draw a line under

it there. But what of those words "pleb" and "moron" that he is

alleged to have hurled at police? am clear what I said and didn't say.

I want to make it clear I did not use the words attributed to me.

Sun said it has seen the reports of the incident filed by police, who

stand by their account. Scotland Yard has told the BBC that it's

investigating how the newspaper obtained the documents. The

officers' union says the PM should launch his own enquiry. He is

challenging the integrity of the officers by denying he said what

was reported. I believe the officers. If an inquiry proves Mr

Mitchell was lying, then he should be sacked. While Mr Mitchell

acknowledges he did not show the respect to the officers, he

maintains he did not use the words attributed to him. So there remain

two starkly different accounts of that altercation last Wednesday

night. It is up to the Prime Minister to decide who he believes.

The Prime Minister's spokesman told reporters this morning that Mr

Cameron obviously accepts the statement made by Andrew Mitchell.

Some Lib Dem ministers in the Government are not so sure.

Explaining what was not said is not the same as explaining what was

said. There is a sense of all the lose ends not being tide up. Andrew

Mitchell still has the confidence of the Prime Minister. There will

be concern that his apology has not brought an end to the matter. Let's

speak now to our political correspondent, who joins frus the

Liberal Democrats conference in Brighton. So, a public apology. Mr

Mitchell has not denied using that word - pleb, - although he said he

did not use the words attributed to him. How much does that matter?

may seem bizarre we're having a huge political row over a bit of

Latin vokab. The word "plebs" conveys the impression there are

people who have a dismiss sieve view of the mere hoypoloi toiling

below. It compounds the Government's difficulty over this

saga. Here at the conference they have not come saddling up to come

to the rescue of their coalition partners. Far from it. When Nick

Clegg was asked if it was over, he did mot say it was. We had another

minister saying there are lose ends to be tied up and a Lib Dem calling

for the Chief Whip to resign. Although Downing Street has put a

comforting arm around him saying he has full confidence in him and did

not deny the pleb word because he thought he would have to deny every

other word, the difficulty is this, not merely damage to relations - I

think the real difficulty is I am not sure the Government now how to

close the gate on the pleb row. Police say a 15-year-old girl,

missing from her home in East Sussex, may have travelled to

France with her maths teacher. Detectives believe Megan Stammers

bordered a ferry bound to Calais with Jeremy Forrest on Friday

evening. 15-year-old Megan Stammers has been

missing for three days now. She's presumed to be with a man twice her

age somewhere in France. Megan set off for her school in Eastbourne as

usual on Friday morning. When she did not appear in class her

teachers were worried and the teacher was called in. Also missing

on Friday was one of the staff. Hi, I live in Brighton. 30-year-old

Jeremy Forrest is a maths teacher and musician, shown here on YouTube.

Police think he and Megan are travelling in his black Ford Focus.

Internet postings by both suggest they may have been considering some

kind of relationship. On a blog Mr Forrest appears to talk of facing a

moral dilemma. "how should we define what is right or wrong?" Her

family have pleaded for her to get in touch, saying they are worried

and miss her terribly. Everyone is talking about it. It is just such

an awful - and I saw her going to school on Thursday. I didn't think

anything of it. It is horrible. doesn't seem the kind that would

run off. She's from a nice family. I hope she comes back safe.

Facebook campaign has been set up to alert people to what has

happened. Sussex Police say they caught the 9.30pm ferry on Friday

night. Officers are liaising with their French counterparts. They are

in close contact with the two families. Jeremy Forrest was

married just last year. Police don't believe Megan is in any

danger, but at the moment they still don't know where she is. Just

hours after announcing his retirement from international

football, the former England captain, John Terry, has appeared

before an FA disciplinary panel. He is accused of using racist language

during a row with a queen parks Rangers' player, Anton Ferdinand.

He denies doing anything wrong. Our correspondent joins us now. Well,

John Terry is a player who has a reputation for never taking a

backwards step. Last night he did that, when he turned his back on

England and sent shock waves through the game. The latest twist

in an increasingly bitter saga. He'll be remembered as one of

England's greatest ever central defenders, proudly patriotic, his

career has come to be defined by courage and commitment, but also by

controversy. It was during this Premier League match that the

Chelsea captain was alleged to have abused Anton Ferdinand. Almost a

year on, Ferdinand arrived at Wembley for an FA hearing this

morning, just hours after Terry turned his back on England N a

Terry denies racially abuses Ferdinand and was acquitted by a

magistrate in July. The FA then opened their own disciplinary

proceedings. I understand Jon's frustration with this. The truth is

there is, there are supple differences between the charge in

the Magistrates' Court and the charge that he faces in front of

the FA disciplinary commission. Terry may have suspected a vendetta,

but he knew he faced the prospect of a lengthy ban if found guilty.

Sues was suspended last year for abuse, as the FA came under

pressure to clamp down on discrimination. The fallout from

this increasingly acrimonious dispute has spilled into this

season. Terry played 7 8tiement force the national team, but -- 78

times for the national team. One of the more remarkable playing careers

is now over. Well, I can tell you that John

Terry is at Wembley, behind me, for the first day of that independent

panel hearing N the past half an hour, the FA have responded to news

of his international retirement. Roy Hodgson, who backed John Terry

said this." I am disappointed to lose a player of his experience and

I have enjoyed a relationship with him as my time as manager. I

reluctantly accept his decision." On one hand they praise the player

who is so important to the national team's hope, on the other a four-

man panel prepare to ban him for some time.

Thank you. A soldier who died from wounds

sustained in a shooting incident in Afghanistan on Friday has been

named by the Ministry of Defence. He was captain Townend town from

the Corps of Royal Engineers. The Government will make �1 billion

of taxpayers' money available for a new business bank, to provide loans

to firms struggling to borrow from the high street banks. The Liberal

Democrats hope it will make it easier for companies to get credit

and then stimulate the economy. The high street banks - some see

them as villains for not lending more to small businesses. They say

many companies are cautious and don't want to borrow. Few would

disagree that credit is not flowing around the economy as it should be.

So, Vince Cable at his party's conference set out a plan to tackle

what he saw as a shortage of loans to business. We need a new British

business bank, with a clean balance sheet and an ability to expand

loans to the exporters, the high- growth companies that power our

economy. And I can announce to you today that we will have it.

The new business bank will not actually lend to companies like

this one, but it will take on loans made by banks. They will be

packaged up and sold on to investors. �1 billion will go into

the scheme. Business groups have welcomed it. This is a sincere

attempt to welcome the problem. They have taken on board what has

failed in the past. We would expect this one to actually deliver going

forward. This is not the first time ministers have launched an

initiative for banks to lend more to small businesses w the aim of

supporting an economic recovery. Previous schemes have met with

mixed results. A plan which set targets for banks last year,

Project Merlin involved �76 million of new lending. Not all targets

The guarantee scheme is being phased out. That is because of a

new scheme involving the Bank of England which hopes to generate an

extra �80 billion of loans. Full details of Mr Cable's latest scheme

have not been worked out. Labour says there are many questions still

to be answered. The Business Secretary has not said where the �1

billion will come from. We are unsure of that. That is why many

people question all he'll be doing is rebadging existing schemes and

calling it a bank. The new bank will take at least 18 months to get

going, so it cannot get the wheels of business accelerating fast

enough to help pull the economy quickly out of recession.

Let's go back to Brighton and hear from our political correspondent

who is at the Lib Dem conference: So a new plan to stimulate the

economy, but the coalition's economic plans have come under

attack from delegates there. They have indeed. I think what Cable

would like to see from this business bank is a symbol that the

state is willing to step in and help boost the economy. That did

not go far enough for some of the activists here this morning. We've

had some disagreements between the two coalition parties. The glue

which binds them together is this strategy to get the deficit down,

to cut public spending. This morning, for the first time, from

the floor of conference, we heard attacks on that strategy by some of

the activists, including criticism by a former MP. No longer can

deficit reduction, by means of cuts in public spending be our top

priority. Instead the priority has to be boosting the economy and

reducing our cuts, or at least spreading them over a longer period.

Plan A is not working. We have the power, if we have the courage, to

stand up and argue for a better In response, Tim Farron did not

mince his words, saying it would be crackers for the party to adopt an

approach similar to Labour's. The critics were defeated desisively,

but what we saw were frayed nerves showing among the activists,

halfway to the next election with the economy in recession.

Let's have a quick look at the top story: The Government Chief Whip,

Andrew Mitchell made a public apology to the police, after his

outburst, where he is alleged to have sworn repeatedly and called an

officer a "pleb". Coming up in the Emmy Awards: Dame

Maggie Smith picks up an Emmy award for Downton Abbey.

On BBC London: Eight people are accused of being involved in a sham

marriage scam. They await sentencing. Why cooking extra can

help to replace the traditional meals on wheels.

JD Sports is calling in the administrators, trading in shares

in the sports cloths and equipment, the retailer has been suspended but

the fate of its 4,000 employees is yet to become clear.

It was once the UK's biggest sports retailer.

But the final whistle is being blown.

Administration is now looming for JD Sports.

Even a glorious summer of sport was not enough to kick-start sales.

After struggling the last few years, JD Sports is simply running out of

time and money to turn things around.

For Dave Whelan, the owner of Wigan Football Club, the news came at not

much of a surprise. I founded the company.with one shop

in Wigan. The old JJ Broughton. I kept the initials, JJB and went

from strength-to-from one shop to over00 shops. When you see this

thing happening, it is really sad. At one point, JJB was a �1 billion

company, but since the financial crisis, the value has tumble. The

shares are now worthless. JD Sports is at its heart a

sporting goods retailer. It moved into glimpse, it moved into selling

shoes, and neither of which were a success. It caused management to

take their eye off what is their core business. As a result they did

not notice that their business was no longer keeping up with what the

change in the marketplace was doing, with Sports Direct and JD Sports

taking different positions. It is this arch rival that is now

the front runner to buy a chunk of the business out of administration.

For now, JD Sports continues to trade as normal, but significant

store closures seem likely, with hundreds of jobs under threat.

A former Chinese police chief who was at the centre of a political

scandal has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Wang Lijun was

convicted of several crimes, including seeking to cover up the

murder of the British businessman, Neil Heywood. He was killed by the

wife of a leading politician. Sudden infant death syndrome has

sent thus report. It is a hard fall from grace for

one of China's most senior and high-profile police chiefs. As he

began his 15-year prison sentence, Wang Lijun was contrite.

TRANSLATION: I would like to express my regret for the crimes

that I committed. I will spend the rest of my life repaying the party.

But a line has not yet been drawn under the scandal. It will rumble

on because of the undecided feat of this man, Wang Lijun's former boss,

Bo Xilai, once one of China's most powerful politicians. Earlier

police chief sought refuge and told the officials here this

extraordinary story that Bo Xilai's wife, Gu Kailai, had murdered Neil

Heywood, her British business partner.

Wang Lijun has been accused of trying to defect. Along with the

charge of corruption and another relating to his role in initially

covering up the murder he could in theory have been given the death

penalty, but he has been shown leaniansy. Had he not blown the

whistle it is likely that the crime would never have come to light.

As a result of his evidence, Gu Kailai, at her trial last month,

was convicted of poisoning Neil Heywood. Her husband, while he

waits to hear if he too waits to hear from a criminal court has been

suspended from his country's powerful seat in the Politburo.

He was tipped for an even higher position later this year. This has

altered the political landscape, raised corruption at the high level

and unsettled what was meant to be a smooth political transition.

Here, the Government is going to miss its target of providing basic

broadband access for the whole of Britain by 2015, that is according

to the Conutry Land and Business Association. The CLA claims up to a

fifth of people in rural areas don't have adequate access to

broadband, that the economy is suffering as a result.

Here is Theo Leggatt. The green and pleasant land of Britain's

countryside it can be a great place to live, but a difficult place to

do business. Many rural areas are not just off the beaten track, they

are also a long way from the information superhighway. That is

because bringing broadband to the countryside can be expensive.

The Government says it is doing all that it can to solve the problem.

We have set aside �500 million to help the rural areas. We are

working with the local authorities, who have also put in money and the

private providers to bid for the contracts who will put in their own

money. So �500 million of Government investment will turn

into about �1..5 million in investment in rural broadband in

the next two-and-a-half years. But the CLA say that the pace of

change is not fast enough. That urgent action is needed.

We think that there is a responsibility to provide broadband.

We know that the demand is there, we need the supply coming to the

rural areas, but this is too slow. We need the process to speed up. To

say that the Government's commitment of 2015 will be met by

2015, is not realistic. The CLA wants the Telecoms firms to

be forced to provide rural services. That remote communities should be

allowed to use public sector broadband networks. Otherwise the

divide between town and countryside will get wider.

Despite a hatful of nominations, it was a mixed night for British

television in LA at the Emmy Awards. Shows including Sherlock, Luther

and The Hour, missed out. Downton Abbey was nominated for a record 16

awards. It was not the clean sweep that they were hoping for, but Dame

Maggie Smith did pick up the prize for Best Supporting Actress. Damien

Lewis picked up a Best Actor award for his role in Homeland.

The Emmys are the Oscars of television. The best of American

prime time, comedy and dram are. Tonight is the night in which we

honour and love more than anything else, ourselves.

It was a close race, but there was one run away winner in the drama

category. Homeland.

A homegrown terror thriller, Homeland, scooped four top prizes.

Benefit series, benefit writing Best Actress for Claire Danes, Best

Actor for Damien Lewis. Hello everybody, I am Damien Lewis,

one of those pesky Brits, apologies! I don't really believe

in judging art, but I thought I would show up just in case! It

turned out lrt! There was a lot of hype over the British period drama,

Downton Abbey, and a lot of nominations.

Is there news of Sybil? But the only big winner on the night was

Dame Maggie Smith. The family nust never be a topic of

conversation. -- must.

It was a disastrous year for 60s add agency drama, Mad Men, which

did not win a single gong. It could have made Emmy history had it won.

In the theatre there was a comedy scrum as John Stewart's Competition,

tried to stop him collecting his tenth award in a row for a news

programme, the Daily Show. And sweeping the boards in the

comedy category was Modern Family. Benefit show, benefit dro directing,

and Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Heavy rain and strong winds or gales are expected over much of the

UK today and tomorrow. The Met Office is warning of floods in

south-west England, Wales and the north-east. Flooding is causing

delays and disruption to train services in Devon and downpours are

forecast in Somerset due. Our correspondent joins us from the

village of Chew Magna. You can see that some vehicles are

chancing it. A couple of hours ago, you could not go through here at

all. So things are improving, the water levels are dropping, but this

is after the effects much that storm. The weather forecasters have

been watching as it head to the UK. It seems that the south-west of

England has had it the worst so far. Autumn made a dramatic entrance in

this part of Somerset. After raining all day yesterday, and all

night long, it was a wild Monday morning in the village of Chew

Magna. The start of the week, even more challenging than usual.

The Howe family were trying to keep the floodwater out of their house.

Adults and children working together, but it was no good.

It came up to about a foot-and-a- half.

I understand that there is more weather on the way. So we are

bracing ourselves. You think of belongings first. You try to rescue

the house. In the end you know it is more important to get yourself

out. It is not just the recent rainfall

that is causing problems, but the fact that the ground is wet from

our terrible summer. Can you imagine the mess in there...

Maureen was one of many homeowners clearing up. The gravel from her

drive had been worked all the way down the lane.

It is a mess. I'm hoping it is not sewage in there. Also next door,

the lady is a childminder, the people were trying to ferry the

little children, carrying them through as they could not drive.

Here, at least, there is respite this after noon. The water levels

are -- this afternoon. The water levels are dropping but there is

more rain and high winds expected to follow.

Although the rain has left Somerset, it is heading up and causing

problems in other parts of the UK. North Wales getting it badly, the

north of England and to the east. Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire too

suffering ten millimetres of rain an hour this afternoon.

Thank you very much. Now the latest on the weather with

Now the latest on the weather with Matt Taylor.

The conditions are deteriorating for some, but the biggest impact so

far has been across parts of the south-west and Wales. It is jufpbd

standable when you take Hereford a month's rainfall here in the space

of 24 hours. The rain band is moving to the north and to the east.

Lively in the east and the north of London. It is in the Midlands and

to the parts of North Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland where

there is concern. The Met Office have an amber warning out. There is

a risk of not only travel disruption, but surface water and

river flooding in the next 24 to 36 hours.

The rain is in for the rest of the day in Northern Ireland. It is

heavy. Turning wet in southern and eastern parts of Scotland.

Thoroughly wet, windy and cold as it is in northern parents of

England. To the east of the pen tkwriens is also in place.

-- Pennines. Another issue to watch out for on the south coast, that is

the strength of the winds. 60 mph, even maybe 07. Similar strengths

too in parts of northern England and Scotland. Adding on to that we

still have the rain. 80 millimetres, up to four inches is possible in

parts of north England and North Wales. So keep on your guard. The

river levels will continue to rise. To the south, heavy showers and to

the north-west, but clearer periods, the temperatures not dropping for

some lower than they are this afternoon.

Responsible for this is the area of low pressure. Tuesday morning it is

with us still. This is where the wettest weather will be.

The strongest winds causing disruption in parts of Scotland and

Northern Ireland. Blustery conditions in the south with a

mixture of sunshine and heavy showers, but look, northern England,

parts of Wales, the blues do not depart it will be cold under that

rain. A little warmer if you have sunshine in the south-east corner.

The low in the south-west on Wednesday. More heavy rain but not

as bad as it has been in Wales and the south-west. Sunshine and

showers elsewhere. The next 367 hours are of greatest concern. We

will keep you up-to-date with the forecast. If you are concerned call

the Environment Agency. With disruption likely to travel