26/11/2012 BBC News at One

Hundreds of homes are affected as bad weather continues to batter

Britain. Roads are still impassable across the south-west of England.

Emergency services worked round the clock to rescue those trapped. In

North Yorkshire, fire trucks are called to a hospital to save the

operating theatre from being flooded. Insurance companies are

warning that thousands of homes affected this year could be left

without cover. Budget cuts and tax rises could continue until 2018 -

according to an independent think- tank.

Here in Jordan this new science project is trying something

extraordinary, bringing together researchers from countries that are

openly hostile to each other, under one roof you have Iranians and

Israelis. And, England level the Test series

against India - winning by ten wickets in Mumbai.

Later on BBC London: The FA will investigate alleged

anti-Semitic abuse at Tottenham Hotspur during their match with

West Ham. A man is arrested over the brutal rape of an 11-year-old

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at 1.00pm. Many parts of

Britain are braced for further flooding as heavy rain continues to

fall on ground that's already saturated. The Environment Agency

says the north-east of England and North Wales are at greatest risk

today. More than 200 flood warnings and nearly 300 flood alerts are

currently in place in England and Wales. We have the latest from

Exeter in the south-west of England and Worcester in the Midlands,

which were particularly badly hit over the weekend. And we're in

Llanberis in Snowdonia, to see how people are coping there. But first,

from Northallerton in North Yorkshire, Danny Savage reports.

Yet again, river levels in Yorkshire and north-east England

are reaching critical levels. Rainfall on saturated land is

running straight off into water courses and the number of flood

alerts is rising. Thousands of acres of farmland are disappearing

under water. These were conditions this morning in the Vale of York

near Thirsk. Roads are becoming difficult to negotiate. It's a

risky business getting through in ordinary cars.

In Northallerton a major operation is under way to try and stop the

hospital in the town being flooded. A stream which runs under the

buildings here is threatening to seep into the operating theatres.

The situation here is getting worse by the minute. You can see senior

firefighters having a meeting here now to discuss what they're going

to do to try and improve the plan they're working on. They're already

pumping thousands and thousands of gallons of water out at the moment.

But they now need to get another high volume pump in because the

situation is getting so bad. Firefighters say they must give

this job priority, rather than rescuing cars stranded in water.

have been busy over this weekend, getting people out of flood water,

people are still driving into it. I would say to people - it's the case

that we are talking to local people this morning that this particular

area, this is unprecedented for the last 20 years. Elsewhere in

Northallerton town centre, businesses are having to do their

best to hold back the ever rising water. As the Environment Agency

monitors the situation. Up here as you can see, we have rain falling

at the moment on to wet wet ground and we have nowhere to store that

rain so it's going into water courses and tsdz come -- it's

coming down the rivers and we can see the result of that, which is

the water levels are higher than normal.

It's not just in the countryside where the road conditions are

difficult. Let's talk to Danny now in the

hospital grounds. What's the situation there at the moment?

Within the last few minutes the authorities here have said they've

cancelled all surgery for today, that's not really surprising

because of all this pumping that's been going on here, moving the

water out of this beck that was flowing under the building, it was

threatening to flood the operating theatres here. That water was

running into the town and flooding roads surrounding the hospital, so

a new phase of this plan is coming in. What the firefighters have been

doing is laying a new line of hosing all the way along here and

they're trying to pump the water out in a different direction to

stop it flooding parts of the town centre. The rain is still falling.

It's going to be a problem here, I suspect, for several hours. But

it's a big job here for the the fire and rescuers as they try and

keep the water out of the hospital. It's an operation that's working at

the moment but they'll have to stay at it for quite a while longer if

they're going to continue to succeed in the long run because the

rain is still falling and river levels are still rising and many

more problems are cropping up all the time. Thank you.

The Association of British Insurers says people with homes at risk of

flooding could find it impossible to get cover next year. It says

that's because talks between the industry and the Government over a

special fund for the riskiest homes have reached crisis point. Let's

cross to Kennford, near Exeter, and Jon Kay.

Insurance is very much on people's minds as they gather and work out

what they're going to do next. The river here burst its banks the

early hours of yesterday morning. It flooded all these cottages here.

A vivid example of how high it got. Look at that front door, it came

almost up to the letterbox and it's black because it had oil in it,

they're trying to work out why that is. A mess here, but there is sa

mess of a different kind, at top level a row going on between

Government and insurance companies about who pays for this kind of

thing into the future. That's the level of the water which

came in. A line running through the ground floor ever this cottage --

of this cottage. Everything was floating around. This is my study.

The water might have drained away, but repairing the damage will take

much, much longer. That's my little job today, trying to wash that.

They hope their insurance will cover all the damage this time. But

it's the future that concerns them. It's a worry, isn't it? It is a

worry. You know, one does need insurance. But I can understand

them being tricky about it, because they're going to have big pay outs.

The scale of those payouts is clear to see in this village and in many

more. Not just homes to be repaired, but personal possessions to be

replaced and vehicles, too. These new pictures from a BBC viewer show

a motorist being rescued from his flooded car in Somerset.

The insurance industry and the Government have been trying to

strike a deal for sometime, to make sure that people in flood-hit areas

can get affordable insurance in future. People like Wendy. You have

lost a lot here. Everything downstairs, kitchen and lounge is

all gone. It's got to be replaced. The insurance companies claim they

have come up with a solution and they say if the Government doesn't

accept it soon, 200,000 homes will be left without cover when the

current deal runs out next summer. There is no other proposition on

the table which we think is workable or achievable and we very

much hope that the Government will continue to discuss our proposal,

which is very carefully worked out. Visiting definite con-- Devon, the

Environment Secretary. He insists he wants a deal with the insurance

industry but he says it must be fair for policy-holders and for the

wider public. We would like to see an arrangement which is affordable,

as comprehensive as possible and does not put any great burden on

the taxpayer. But in Kennford the priority is dealing with this flood

and hoping they won't need to go through this ever again.

Another cottage here, another sofa waiting to be picked up. This

gentleman is chucking away the contents of his freezer, as well.

That will be part of another insurance claim. The Government

clearly frustrated by the fact that the insurance companies have come

out and argued about this in public today. The Government say they

don't want to do it in public but clearly both sides urgently need to

come up with some kind of agreement and people here are definitely

urgently wanting to hear what that Thank you.

While hundreds of homes and business might have suffered the

misery of being flooded, others have escaped damage thanks to

defences built because they'd been hit by floods in the past. Our

correspondent Jeremy Cooke joins us now from Worcester.

Well it's not as though there aren't problems here, look at the

river, it has broken its banks. If you look beyond the river you can

see the racecourse which lies beyond, well under water now.

That's the bad news here. There's good news, too. If you look down

here you can see the flood defences, these earth banks. They are at the

moment successfully holding back the flood water. It means that many

houses which previously would have been flooded, are this lunchtime,

high and dry. The rain has stopped, but the

waters are still rising. Days of torrential downpours, many miles up

stream mean communities like Worcester are still on high alert.

It looks like there's water everywhere. But, in fact, new

tphrod defences are -- flood defences are doing their job. The

barriers are holding back most of the floods. It is a considerable

improvement and many smaller communities have benefited from

flood defences schemes, I have been happy to attend all the openings of

the flood schemes and the residents, the relief on their faces that

they're not going to be flooded is tremendous.

It was a very different story back in 2007. Then, Worcester's previous

flood defences failed, with sodden, miserable results. The cost of the

new system has been high. But for many it is money well spent.

There's a few places it will still pop up but anything is worth save

ago bit of misery for people, it's worth doing. It has improved

although it's not solved the problem. It's not half as bad as it

used to be. It's well spent. But, of course, any flood defence is

only as good as its weakst link. In In -- in Worcestershire this

weekend the pumps failed to switch on. The The project failed. 30

homes were evacuated as the waters rose. The Government says new flood

defences have saved tens of thousands of homes from flooding.

That's not much comfort here. Perhaps some comfort here is we

don't have heavy rain. We have drizzle at the moment. That's

really not the point, though, because the issue is what's

happening further up stream and there's such heavy rain still

falling that communities like this downstream are waiting for the high

water to come. It could take hours, perhaps even days for to us find

out how bad the situation is. But as I was saying, so far, the flood

defences here in Worcester, are holding firm.

There is going to be a full weather forecast at the end of the

programme. There is a live page on the BBC News website, two. You can

also catch up with the latest in your area by tuning in to local

radio. The current squeeze on public

spending may have to continue for a least another five years, if the

economy doesn't pick up. According to the independent Institute for

Fiscal Studies, the Government may need to find an extra �11 billion

through tax rises or spending cuts. Our chief economics correspondent

Hugh Pym is with me. What else did the IFS say? Well

they're looking to the Autumn Statement and whether the

Chancellor - growth has not turned out as expected and tax revenues

haven't been growing as rapidly as he hoped. It says the Chancellor,

they think, is going to have to borrow more this financial year

than his target, a figure of around about �13 billion in terms of an

overshoot on what he had expected. In other words, a higher deficit

than the previous year. Longer ahead, they say the austerity

programme might have to run longer than everyone thought. At the time

of the election when the coalition took office after that, they were

talking about five years of a public spending squeeze. Now the

IFS say if things don't work out it could be an eight-year squeeze on

public spending, looking further into the future. Here's the IFS

view in more detail. Over the last few months we have

seen weakening of - the outlook for the economy and the UK's public

finances. If some of this reflects a permanent problem rather than a

temporary problem, the Chancellor may have to announce further fiscal

austerity in the Autumn Statement, if he is to stay on course to meet

his fiscal mandate that revenues should be at least sufficient to

cover spending by the end of the forecast horizon. What has the

Government's reaction been? Treasury is saying we need to wait

for the office of the -- Office of Budget Responsibility comes out.

Labour says it's because of Government's decision recovery has

been choked off and that's why it's missing targets.

The new governor of the Bank of England is going to be named this

afternoon. He is going to take over to Sir Mervyn King. Let's speak to

our business editor. Well, we are going to get the announcement at

3.30pm this afternoon. The interviews of the four shortlisted

candidates went went on in the past few days. The widespread

expectation is that the new governor will be Paul Tucker, the

current deputy but I don't think one can be 100% of that. The other

field of candidates, including Lord Burns, Adair Turner, and Sir John

Vickers very strong, many people think Sir John Vickers is a good

outset bet. The new governor of the Bank of England will be the most

important figure in terms of the stewardship of the British economy.

With a possible exception of the Chancellor. This is the chap who

will have a big influence on the level of interest rates, mortgage

rates and the rest that we all pay, and he is getting huge new powers

over the supervision and regulation of banks and finance to try and

avoid a repetition of the kind of busts we saw in 2008, which is

still haunting us and still damaging us. An incredibly

important appointment and the other thing that's changed is that the

new Governor of the Bank of England will have a fixed term of eight

years. So the new incumbent terribly important and will go

through this parliament, the next parliament, into the one after next.

It's hard to overstate the significance of this announcement

Thank you very much, Robert Peston. Now the top story: Heavy rain moves

north. Hundreds of flood warnings and alert are in force. Coming up:

# Get out of my cloud. # It is only rock and roll, but they still seem

to like it. 50 years of the Rolling Stones. Later on BBC London: The

tens of millions of pounds of legal aid that could be given to

superrich criminals due to a legal loophole.

That and more including a full weather forecast.

It may seem like news from the Middle East is nearly always bad,

today, though, good news. Arab and Israeli scientists have come

together to build a multi-million pound scientific installation. It

is a particle accelerator, called sis ses, similar to that in

Switzerland. It is hoped that it will break down barriers between

the often hostile neighbours. In the hills of Jordan this new

research centre is the scene for a bold venture.

Here you can see two openings... project to bring together

scientists from across the Middle East. This is a highly

sophisticated device that can transform the work of researchers

in the region. It is why so many are behind it. This installation

gives researchers the chance to see in incredible detail, objects like

viruses and molecules, leading to a whole host of benefits, including

new medical treatments. It is the first of its kind in the Middle

East and attracting support from countries normally openly hostile

to each other. The project, known as Sesame, is backed by Arab

countries, the Palestinians, Iran and, surprisingly, Israel as well.

It was always my dream to show that Arabs and Israelis can work

together for the benefit of humanity and for the benefit of

their own people. Both sides having an interest in that.

For me, Sesame, in a way, it is part of that dream.

As tensions rise in the region, the researchers say that what matters

is the science that they can do, not the politician dividing their

governments. What we hope is that science will

open the doors to other or further understanding concerning other

issues, OK? This is what we hope. We begin with science, somehow we

will open the doors that are closed for years or centuries.

Much of the equipment installed is second-hand, from Germany and

Britain. About enough money has been raised for the next phase of

construction. Amazingly, despite Gaza, the project is still going

ahead. You can find more about that

project tonight on BBC Radio 4 at 8.00pm and there is coverage on the

BBC website at: The Swiss bank, UBS has been fined

nearly �30 million for failing to stop one of its traders losing more

than �1 billion in unauthorised trieding. Kweku Adoboli was jailed

for seven years. The Financial Services Authority said they had

not taken care to organise its affairs responsibly.

A man has been accused of the rape of an 11-year-old girl. The 26-

year-old is being held in Edmonton in north London. The incident

happened on Friday. The UK Independence Party should be

offered a deal with the conservative countries, according

to the Tories campaign chief. But the idea from the MP, Michael

Fabricant has been given short shrift by UKIP's leader, Nigel

Farage. He said no deals with the Tories, that it was war. We have

more. Should David Cameron form a pact

with UKIP's leader, Nigel Farage, to help the Conservatives in key

seats at the next election? That is the suggestion from a Vice-Chairman

of his party. This is not a coalition, don't

forget. I am talking about a electoral tact that says if UKIP

don't stand against us at the next election we have a firm

understanding to have an inout referendum after that election.

The Prime Minister making a statement after the EU summit, and

playing down the idea of a pact. Number Ten said, Michael Fabricant,

does not speak for the party on the issue. A source said that David

Cameron does not believe that all UKIP members are racist. UKIP did

well in the Corby by-election, and Michael Fabricant claims that the

party cost the Conservatives about 20 to 40 seats at the last election.

UKIP's leader is in no mood mood to do a deal.

The Michael Fabricant plan is to buy off Nigel. It is not going to

happen. UKIP is a different party. We are not about to be bought off

by anybody. So, the prospect of the pact

happening looks remote. Especially as the Conservatives are currently

in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

But the suggestion does show how worried some Conservatives are

about the threat from UKIP. It adds to the pressure on the Prime

Minister to promise a referendum on Europe.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who is in India, offered unexpected

support for the Prime Minister, making it plain he does not want an

in-out referendum on Europe soon it is a difficult issue for David

Cameron, but he can't expect much help from Nigel Farage.

Rotherham Borough Council say it is will be as open and as transparent

as possible with an inquiry ordered by the Education Secretary, Michael

Gove. It will look into why three foster children were removed from a

couple because of their mip with the UK Independence Party.

-- membership. What have the council said this

morning? Well, the council leader demanded a report this morning at

9.00am to get to the bottom of what happened here in Rotherham. He got

that report today. He spent about four hours considering it, but when

Roger Stone left the building he did not make comments. That came in

the form of a full statement. In it he repeated the council's position,

that said that being a member of UKIP should not prevent anyone from

becoming a foster parent. He said that the council will work with the

Department for Education as it investigates what happened here.

Importantly, he said that the children were in safe and wereing -

- were being provided with good care.

What happens next? Well, from reading this statement it is clear

that at the moment, Rotherham Council are not holding anyone

responsible for what happened here. For what happened to the three

children it sees that the accountability is to go to the

Education Secretary, Michael Gove. His department is investigating

what happened and why the three children were removed At the

weekend he said that the decision to take them away was the wrong

decision, made for the wrong reasons. I have a chat with someone

representing the foster parents at the centre of. This they said that

after the statement, it does not tell the full story as to what

happened here. Also they said that it did not include one word, an

apology. Thank you very much.

The Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak has announced he is leaving

politics weeks before the country's general elections. He says he will

step down after a new government is formed in January, in order to

spend more time with his family. Parties which are drawn to

independence for the Spanish region of Catalonia have won a majority

there. The leader of the biggest party is to consultant the people

on independence in the next four years. The Spanish government is

opposed to a referendum which it believes would be unconcity

tuitional. England's cricketers have completed

a ten-wicket victory in a second Test Match against India. It took

Alastair Cook and Nick Compton less than an hour-and-a-half to rattle

off the 57 runs they needed for victory.

It is tough enough for India to be outdone, but shocking to be outspun.

England polished off India's second innings. The conditions prepared to

suit the Indian spin bowlers, played noolt hand of England.

Graeme Swann and the persevering Monty Panesar. Then the ball was

smashed and Matt Prior caught it. Monty Panesar had his sixth wicket

of the innings. India were 142 all out.

Gautam Gambhir last to go. He did not like the lbw decision. Of the

20 Indian wickets to fall, 19 were taken by England. They have beaten

India at their own game in a way that few sides have ever managed.

Now England have to score 57. It should have been easy, actually it

was. Earlier this year, England were bowled out for 72 by Pakistan,

losing a match it seemed certain that they would win. This time, a

man in just his second Test Match that seized the initiative, Nick

Compton. Any victory in India is memorable, but to win

overwhelmingly is like discovering a magic formula. There are two more

Tests for Alastair Cook's England, to use it again. He can hardly wait.

Now, to four men for whom the idea of retirement at 65 just does not

apply. The Rolling Stones were the -- with a combined age of 273 have

celebrated their 50th anniversary in the rock business with a concert

in front of 20,000 fans from London. As Mick Jagger pointed out last

night it had taken the Rolling Stones 50 years to get from

Dartford to Greenwich, a distance of ten miles. The fans had

travelled further. I came from Australia, Midnight

Rambler was the best. The Rolling Stones opened with the

second ever singing from 1963. The two-and-a-half hour 23-song set

spanned the whole career. # I said, hey, you, get off my

cloud. # And former band members, Bill

Wyman and Mick Taylor returned. Much was made of the ticket prices.

Mick Jagger joked about it asking how they were in the cheap seats,

before adding that they were not any, but the crowd seemed to think

it was worth ever penny. It is pretty special. It is not

often you get to see that. The guys put on it -- put on a form. It was

incredible. Incredible. One thing they didn't get was any

satisfaction. Scheduled to the -- to be the last song the night, the

strict curfew meant it had to be dropped.

Now let's get the very latest on the rain, where it has been and

where it is going. Nina Ridge is here.

here. What is it like, Nina? It is still

falling. This morning's focus, where the heaviest downpours have

been have been the north of England. That is moving to north wells.

It is the North East England and North Wales where the amber

warnings are in force. The rain totals are mounting up with a

potential for yet further flooding. On the rest of the afternoon, there

are showers in the south, but they will come and go with dry spells

between. Showers in northern Scotland, but sunshine in the high

north, but the rain is stit sitting with us in parts of northern

England and North Wales as well. As we head to midnight, that is when

the warning is in force. It is moving to the south through this

evening, easing off later on in the night. Showers in the north fr

Scotland. Clearer Customs and Excise in the south-west of

Scotland, meaning a risk of frost. Outbreaks of rain continuing in the

south-west. Temperatures here holding up to

seven Celsius, but in Glasgow, lose of three Celsius.

We are starting to see changes in the weather for tomorrow. Although

it is cloudy and damp in the south. It clears to the east. By 3.00pm,

there are showers peppering the coast of North East Scotland, but

to the west it is drier. Western Scotland with some brightness.

Parts of Northern Ireland, bright with sunny spells. There are

showers in the north and the east of England, down to East Anglia and

the south-east corner, but a rest from the rain. There is drier

weather and sunshine across the south-east England and Wales, but

feeling colder. That theme taking us through the rest of the week but

the drier weather to continue. The rain that we have been having has

been down to low pressure and the weather front. That is clearing to

the east Tuesday and into Wednesday. High pressure is building in behind

with the best of sunshine out to the west. Chilly in the mornings,

there is a night time frost. A cold northerly wind and still showers

that can be wintry over the high ground of northern England and

parts of Scotland. Temperatures at best up to nine Celsius. Still a

risk of disruption due to the flooding and heavy rain.

flooding and heavy rain. Thank you very much.