14/11/2012 BBC News at One

Unemployment is down again. The figure falls to just over 2.5

million. It's the lowest level for more than

a year, but the Bank of England warns that the road to recovery is

still a long one. The immediate outlook remains a

challenging one. Growth is likely to remain sluggish and inflation

above target. The road to recovery may be long and winding.

Out on strike - tens of thousands take to the streets across Europe

to protest against rising unemployment and cuts to public

spending. Care for sufferers of schizophrenia

is branded catastrophic - a charity calls for a radical overhaul.

Quids in - after the controversy over Olympic ticket sales, the

latest figures show organisers made millions more than they'd planned.

The sunshine coast says goodbye to the sun - thousands get the chance

to witness a total eclipse Down Under.

Later on BBC London: Keeping the Olympic sporting spirit

alive in London's schools - Lord Coe speaks out about his

frustrations. And more people in work in London,

but there's a rise in unemployment, Good afternoon and welcome to the

BBC News at One. There was mixed news on the economy today, with

figures showing another fall in the number of people out of work, but

warnings of a slowdown in the economy. Unemployment across the UK

is now down to just over 2.5 million. That is despite increases

in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Governor of the Bank of England

says that Britain faces an unappealing mix of a weak recovery

and higher inflation. Sir Mervyn King said inflation will also

remain higher for longer, squeezing household income further.

Unemployment is down again. The number in work is up. So the

headline from the jobs market is positive. But ministers were

cautious in their reaction to the list figures.

It is a good sign. But I think we all recognise there's challenge is

out there. People want to find work, and we have to do what we can to

give them opportunities. Youth unemployment was down 49,000

over the latest period. But the number of long-term jobless was up

12,000. The claimant count was up just over 10,000 last month.

Today's headline for his welcome, but what worries me is what is

going on beneath the headlines. We have seen another sharp increase in

unemployment, to one million. Schemes like this are helping young

people searching for jobs. The Prince's Trust is organising

training. Many get work here as stewards. For Adam, it is a welcome

break after two years of signing on. When you go to sign on the

JobCentre, you just feel like you are a dosser. It makes you feel

that lack of confidence. Many private sector employers are

recruiting, including this engineering business. It makes

components for industries like defence and construction. Did his

prospects right now are looking good. -- business prospects.

We have taken on five people recently. We feel positive. The

markets we are entering into have continued to expand. We are

concentrating more on global markets as opposed to just European

ones. Employment levels have held up

better than most experts expected, given the state of the economy in

the past year. But those in work have had to make some sacrifices.

Many have seen pay rises behind the rate of inflation, or even wage

freezes. Like many others, workers at this

firm have received pay rises below the rate of inflation for the past

couple of years. For a time they were on a four-day week. They are

relieved to be still in work but they know their pay packets have

been squeezed. The Governor of the Bank of England

has warned that next year, inflation will be so good to get

the higher than previously expected. It's because of factors light

tuition fees and gas and electricity price rises.

The immediate economic outlook remains challenging. Growth is

likely to remain sluggish, and inflation above target. The road to

recovery will be long and winding. But there are good reasons to

suppose that we are travelling in the right direction. The committee

is ready to do whatever it can to keep us on the right path.

Let's speak to our economics editor, Stephanie Flanders. It is a pretty

mixed picture today. We had this press conference

unveiling the new quarterly forecast from the Bank of England.

We had something that I can't remember not hearing in the recent

compasses, which is that the forecast has gone up for the next

few months and the growth forecast has gone down. I would not say it

was a Trans formation in the picture compared to August, but

then the outlook and then was not looking great. The message from Sir

Mervyn King was that the growth that we saw for the third quarter,

to September, that took us out of form of recession, we should not

expect anything like that in the next few months, when the figure

comes out for the last three months of the year. In fact, we could, he

said, see a negative figure. That does not mean we are seeing another

double dip, but it underlines that they have got a challenging picture.

The next year could still look like a very kind of bumpy path. The good

news was what you pay was talking about. We have a situation where

employment is growing. People puzzler wages are being squeezed,

but it has kept more people in work. -- people's wages.

Let's speak to Norman Smith. Ahead of the Autumn Statement, will the

government see these figures as good or bad?

My sense is that the figures will provide the government with some

respite ahead of the crucial economic statement, because it

underpins the government's core argument, which is that slowly, the

wheels of the economy are starting to turn. It is not a runaway train

of recovery. It is more like a sort of one-legged crab scuttling this

way and that way. When the borrower into the figures, they are very

mixed. We see youth unemployment below one million, but long-term

unemployment is up towards one million. We see half the regions in

the UK have unemployment falling, but half have it rising. 100,000

new jobs are created, but half are full-time, 1/2 part-time.

Politically, the government will be relieved. But economically, not

much has changed. The economy is still fragile.

Across Europe, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to

take part in strikes and anti- austerity protests. Walkouts have

already started in Spain and Portugal, with action also under

way in France, Greece and Italy. The action has led to Thant --

hundred off light beam of a cancelled. Al correspondent -- our

correspondent is in Madrid. There are chaotic scenes here today

as protesters jostled with the police, who are trying to keep part

of the city open for business. The government has said a lot of people

have not followed the strike. The unions disagree. Today is another

day of discontent in the crisis within the eurozone.

In Barcelona, the unions were out in force. There were some scuffles

at Madrid's main station, but trouble, so far, has been isolated.

Pickets did what they could as some buses headed out. However, there's

widespread disruption and unions have called on people to stay away

from work. They have today this and a message to the government here

and abroad. This is not just about Spain, but

Europe. European policy should change after this. People can't

stand any more. There are 90 austerity protests

today. In Portugal, there is also a general strike. Two in Greece, too.

Both countries are implementing deep measures to try to manage

their debts. Spain has a debt of 76% of its

total annual income. That is the highest it has been in 22 years.

Last year, Portugal's debt rose to 107 % of what its economy generates

in a year. Increase, national debt is at 165 %. -- Kinnock Greece.

People in all three countries are now leading the effects of public

cuts. They are paying more tax. Amid the confusion of a strike, it

is hard to say if the growing anger of the unions and their supporters

represent a wider trend in Spanish society. There will be bigger

protests tonight, which may give us a better indication of whether

people's patience is wearing thin with the government. It was a tough

day for those travelling across part of Europe, but most of those

living in crisis-hit countries have bigger priorities. A path to

economic growth in Spain means so much protest will be hard.

There's been an interesting concession from the banks over

housing. But I don't think we can expect a policy change from Spain's

government. It is committed to deep austerity.

Here, a damning report into the care of people with schizophrenia

in England says standards are catastrophically short. The report

by the Schizophrenia Commission says the NHS are not spending

enough on mental health in England and that money is being wasted on

keeping people in demoralised hospital wards for too long. Our

health correspondent reports. Carly Townsend was just 14 when she

started hearing voices. Twice she has been sectioned in a psychiatric

hospital. Now, anti-psychotic drugs are helping. But broader attitudes

are harder to overcome. If somebody has fallen over and

broken their leg, they were sympathise. But when you have got a

mental illness, people suddenly don't want to talk about it. They

might ask you, how are you, courteously, but they are not

interested in the answer. Today's report describes shameful

standards of care on some wards. Units that are all too often

stressful, chaotic and scary places. And a mental health system that is

broken and demoralised. This report says that a significant

amount of money is spent on providing secured a cremation for

people with mental illness in hospitals. -- secure accommodation.

But it says the money would be better spent reaching people in the

first place. The at this is on keeping more

people on -- the empathy is on keeping people in hospital for too

long. We could release people into lower care.

Schizophrenia and psychosis affects 22,000 people in England alone. One

in six of us will experience it at some stage. Ministers say services

for those with severe mental illness must improve.

We are letting people down. People with some acute problems could be

helped so much more effectively by using the money more sensibly.

The report calls for improved services, more research, and better

drugs. It also points to a change in attitudes to mental illness

across society. Lancashire police have appealed for

witnesses to come forward if they were abused by or knew of any abuse

by the former MP for Rochdale, sell Smith, who died in 2010. -- Cyril

Smith. This follows the naming of him in Parliament.

It does. Yesterday afternoon, Rochdale's MP made the allegation

that one of his predecessors, the town's MP for 20 years until 1992,

had sexually abused young boys who at the time were living at a hostel

in Rochdale. It is not the first time that allegations of this

nature have been made about Sir Cyril Smith. In 1979, three former

residents of that hostel made statements to a solicitor making

similar allegations. But then nothing happened over the

intervening years. Lancashire police said they believed there was

a police investigation, but they can't find the records from it and

they don't know whether it was ever referred to the Director of Public

Prosecutions. That brings us to the present day. Since the Jimmy Savile

affair broke, more Poole have been coming forward. Three people have

made similar allegations. These are new allegations of a similar nature.

But Lancashire police said they have not been made to them, they

have not gone to the police. Today, Lancashire Police said they would

like anybody, they say, who has been a victim of sexual abuse by

Sir Cyril Smith, to get in touch. His family say that they are very

upset by these allegations, and feel that they have been made out

of political motivation. How were top story - unemployment

is down again. The figure falls to 2.5 million. But the Bank of

England warns that the road to recovery is a long one. Coming up,

the handover of power - China prepares to announce its new leader.

Later on BBC London, as Children in Need approaches, we hear about a

mentoring project which is changing the life of a former Young offender.

And on the most important Hindu festival of the year, record-

breaking numbers that at Neasden Tomorrow, China's Communist Party

will announce its new leadership team. President Hu Jintao has

stepped down and his successor is widely expected to be Xi Jinping.

More than 2000 delegates have been meeting at a conference in Beijing

to finalise the handover of power. John Sudworth sent this report. On

fat crisp Beijing morning, the stage is set for the final key

moments in China's power transition. Inside the Great Hall of the people,

a new generation is being anointed. The incoming senior leaders will

not be revealed until tomorrow. But Hu Jintao's decade as unchallenged

ruler of 1.3 billion people is at an end. He stays on as president

for a few months but it is the party position that matters in

China. The delegates vote for a new central committee and that convenes

on Thursday morning to approve the new ruling Politburo. There have

been more candidates than seats. The thin veneer of democracy but

the reality is that this process is highly choreographed. The delegates

selected and the top jobs decided long in advance in backroom deals.

The old leadership choosing the new one. 59 year-old Xi Jinping is

almost certain to become the new general secretary. Little is known

about him but China's leadership transition is a process of the

party and by the party for the party. And few people expect any

surprise change of direction. You can find more information and

analysis on the transfer of power in China on our website. An

investigation has begun into a woman in Ireland he was refused

abortion. The doctors said they could not terminate her pregnancy

because the foetus had a heart beat. She subsequently lost the baby and

died of blood poisoning. Mark Simpson joins me. Inquiries

underway? That is right and I had spoken to the husband of the women

had died and he is adamant that his wife would still be alive today if

she had been allowed that abortion when she said she wanted it, before

she miscarried her baby. Her husband says it was clear that her

life was in danger. The whole investigation will be to try to

establish, was he right? Did DRS think that her life was in danger

but did not get have -- did not give her an abortion because

Ireland is a Catholic country? That is the subject of this

investigation and there will be to investigations, such is the

seriousness. And it has been raised in the Irish Parliament this

morning. Abortion is one of those issues, the most divisive in

Ireland, socially, medically and politically and today it is back at

the top of the political agenda. Mark Simpson, thank you very much.

Toyota is recalling 75,000 cars in the UK. It is because of faults

with steering and water pumps in some Avensis, Corolla and Prius

models. Toyota says the defects had caused no accidents and could be

fixed easily. More than 2.5 million vehicles are being recalled

worldwide. The British drinks company Britvic, that makes

Robinsons, Tango, R Whites and other brands, is to merge with AG

Barr, which produces Irn-Bru and Tizer. The deal will create a

corporation with sales worth �1.4 billion. Up to 500 jobs are

expected to be cut from the combined workforce of 4000. One of

the UK's biggest energy suppliers, SSE, has reported a rise in half-

year profits of 38.3%. It said it had benefited from increased demand

because of recent cold weather. The company put up its domestic gas and

electricity prices by an average of 9% last month along with the other

major firms. It's a potentially lethal infection which is resistant

to treatment, but now doctors at in Cambridge say they've managed to

stop an outbreak of MRSA by cracking its genetic code. They

analysed DNA from several cases of the disease and found it came from

one source, a member of staff who was carrying it without knowing.

Joining me now is Dr Julian Parkhill, who was involved in the

research. What exactly have you done? We have been able to use a

very high frequency technology that was developed to sequence the human

genome. And apply them to bacterial genomes, which are very much

smaller and we have been able to do this rapidly, enabling us to build

a family tree of the bacteria and work out how closely related they

are and how recently they split from each other and how old they

are. And we can call it that information with the information we

have about the likely outbreak and say very clearly whether at the

outbreak has occurred and who has transmitted what. How far can this

be rolled out? Does this mean we are on the verge of ridding of --

on the verge of ridding us of MRSA? No, because it is very common and

is carried frequently by the public. It is frequently brought into

hospitals but what we want to do is identify when transmission ochres

and hospitals because that is when the danger a curse. We believe that

over the next few years, we can Road at this technology into the

NHS and build a system that enables hospitals to detect rapidly and

accurately when transmissions have occurred and when different strands

of MRSA have been brought in separately. Thank you very much and

congratulations. NASA scientists, amateur astronomers and visitors

from around the world gathered in Queensland last night for

Australia's first full solar eclipse for a decade. Onlookers had

a magnificent view of the sun completely obscured by the

silhouette of the moon. Duncan Kennedy sent this report. People

usually travel to the Queensland coast to see the sun. This time,

they came to watch it being obscured. Some brought their

glasses. And then more glasses. Others went for industrial-strength

protection. And some did not quite get that projection through the

card thing. Staying awake meant mobile coffee machines. What you

might call car bunks. All this has been good for the economy. 50,000

tourists converged around the area for an event that lasted no more

than 180 seconds. Nice and clear this morning so I managed to get a

good spot. Once-in-a-lifetime thing. We welcome and have a good look.

precisely 6:38am local time, the total eclipse began its short,

mesmerising cycle. It was the cue for temperatures to plunge, dogs to

start barking and the cheering... Only the white glow of the San's

Corona was visible and all made possible because although the sun

is 400 times bigger than the Moon, the moon is 400 times closer.

absolutely awesome, a fantastic display. It was great, the first

one I have seen. It was just amazing. Absolutely amazing, once

in a lifetime. Australian television brought in its own props

to help the worse still confused. Now, the moon is passing exactly in

front of the Sun. It is about here. And that shall continue and then...

Two hours later, it will be gone. It was the real thing that had

everybody spellbound for two minutes. If you want to see the

next one, head to the North Atlantic in 20th March 15. And

witnessed the greatest celestial show-stopper. # March how to 15. --

March 2015. Revenue from the sale of tickets for the Olympic Games

and Paralympics were far better than hoped for. Sales exceeded

expectations by more than �150 million, but there were still

thousands of unsold tickets for many events, including athletics.

James Pearce is in Central London. Most of those unsold tickets were

for the football but surprisingly there were more than 2000 Olympic

athletics tickets which were never bought and several hundred for the

opening and closing ceremony. But this was a success story with

tickets having been sold in record numbers. The opening ceremony of an

Olympics that has seen unprecedented demand for tickets.

For more than one year, millions tried and many had failed to find a

way to get into the venues to watch what was described as the greatest

show on earth. Arguably, the best Olympics ever, they were the most

successful in terms of ticket sales. London 2012 announced today that

10.9 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and Paralympics. Out

of the 11.3 million which were available. Revenue from ticket

sales reached �659 million, far ahead of the target. One of the

most remarkable statistics is that from well over 1 million tickets

available for the Paralympic athletics, only 668 were not sold.

It was because of the high demand and the sight of empty seats at the

start that caused such anger amongst many of those who had been

unable to get to watch. The problem was mainly caused by those in

accredited areas not turning up. London 2012 said the public seating

was full at nearly every sport, apart from football. This was a

world-beating success in terms of powerful and the atmosphere. In the

accredited areas there is an issue because they do not always sit

there for the whole time but that is part of hosting an international

event. Today, for the first time, London 2012 told us how many seats

had been sold to the home supporters rather than the sponsors.

The total at the men's 100 metres final was only 51% of tickets in

the hands of the British public. Overall, the target of three

quarters of Olympic tickets being sold to home supporters was reached.

It was a summer that one never be forgotten. The athletes enjoyed

themselves and so did the spectators lucky enough to be there.

With the demand for tickets so high, those spectators will be well aware

of just how lucky they were. Stunning figures and far better

than expected? Yes, in terms of revenue there is no doubt that this

has been a resounding success but there are big issues. It was the

biggest problem, ticketing. Next week, Lord Coe and his team go to

Rio de Janeiro for the official debriefing of the London Games and

ticketing, which is discussed, and lessons will be learnt and the

demand was unprecedented but it was frustrating because of the way the

website worked and the desire to stop that happening again. And if

somebody -- some tickets end up in the wrong hands, there have been

investigations and ruthless people from various associations trying to

sell tickets for profit. And Rio will determine that should not

happen. Thank you very much. Now a very lucky escape for three people

whose plane crashed in Brazil. A security camera caught the moment a

Cessna aircraft came off the runway at Sao Paulo's airport. After

bouncing off the end of a grass verge the plane crashes to a

standstill. Seconds later, one of the passengers is seen escaping. No

one was seriously hurt. Investigators are trying to

establish why it happened. Now a Mild again today, not quite as warm

as yesterday, hitting 16 degrees yesterday but temperature is still

above average in many areas. Despite the fact that there is a

lot of cloud. The latest satellite picture shows the extent of the

cloud cover but also whether cloud has been dissolving nicely in

recent hours across southern counties and we shall see more

practice this afternoon across parts of the Midlands at perhaps

the north-east. Further north, more rain for Northern Ireland and

southern and central Scotland. By this evening, particularly into the

small hours, we will have this weakening weather front sliding

into northern England. Behind the weather front, chances of dense fog

across southern Scotland but further south, across England and

Wales, particularly with clear skies. Some of that this and fog

will not clear. Always some favoured spots, like the Viola your,

tending to hold on to that murky weather but we could see mist and

fog just about anywhere and predicting when a Charles Pic and

left is probably going to be our biggest headache for Thursday. The

Midlands looking like an area that might struggle with the lingering

fog and denser patches. Western Wales could come out nicely.

Northern Ireland, Cloudy first thing on Thursday but considerably

drier than it has been. Northern Scotland, potentially patchy frost

in the north-east and further south, drier. But we could have mist and

fog and again, that could stick so it could be bad for rush hour and

also through the day if that does linger. It will mean it feels

rather chilly with temperatures struggling at single figures. Highs

of around him or 11 degrees. Into Friday, potentially as similar

start across England and Wales. For Scotland and Northern Ireland,

another weather front living in the wings, bringing wet weather for the

end of Friday but the rain will affect all parts of the UK as the

weekend gets underway. Sunday could be a very different day. England

and Wales, wet weather around on Saturday but Sunday is cooler and

crisper and clearer with plenty of sunshine on the way. Scotland and

Northern Ireland, cloud and rain possible on Saturday but Sunday

brighter and cooler. A real mixture of autumnal weather. More details

online. Thank you. A reminder of our top story. Unemployment is down