:00:08. > :00:12.The Chancellor warns multi-national companies that the Government will
:00:12. > :00:17.come after those that avoid paying tax. George Osborne announces tens
:00:17. > :00:24.of millions of pounds of extra funding to tackle what he called
:00:24. > :00:29.aggressive avoidance schemes. people pay their taxes, few don't.
:00:29. > :00:38.Those who don't, we are coming after them. Diplomatic pressure -
:00:38. > :00:42.Israel's ambassador in London is summoned to the Foreign Office.
:00:42. > :00:45.Putting patients at risk. Hospitals wards are sometimes so full safety
:00:45. > :00:51.is being compromised. Victims of last week's devastating
:00:51. > :00:57.flooding in parts of Wales get a visit from Prince Charles.
:00:57. > :01:02.They said it wouldn't catch on. Today, the text message celebrates
:01:02. > :01:05.its 20th anniversary. On BBC London: Two men die in an
:01:05. > :01:06.accident on the M1 near Watford, causing the motorway to close for
:01:06. > :01:09.hours. And we learn there were warnings
:01:09. > :01:19.the Hammersmith Flyover could collapse two months before it
:01:19. > :01:33.
:01:33. > :01:36.Good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC News at One. The Chancellor's
:01:36. > :01:40.warned multi-national companies that the Government will come after
:01:40. > :01:45.those that avoid paying tax. George Osborne has announced tens of
:01:45. > :01:50.millions of pounds of extra funding for HM Revenue and Customs as part
:01:50. > :01:54.of efforts to tackle "aggressive avoidance schemes". It follows
:01:54. > :01:58.criticism from a group of MPs who describe the way some multi-
:01:58. > :02:02.nationals organise their tax affairs as an insult.
:02:02. > :02:07.After the grilling of Starbucks, Google and Amazon over tax
:02:07. > :02:10.avoidance, the Government says it will pay to squeeze more out of
:02:10. > :02:14.multi-nationals and wealthy individuals. Starbucks was the
:02:14. > :02:21.latest to be targeted. It was accused by MPs of transferring
:02:21. > :02:25.profits overseas so that it hardly pays any tax in the UK. We are not
:02:25. > :02:30.aggressively looking to avoid tax. Its Chief Financial Officer was
:02:30. > :02:34.given a rough ride last month. Now, the Committee's chair has accused
:02:34. > :02:40.companies who minimise their tax as being immoral. The tax authorities
:02:40. > :02:46.have to get a grip and start aggressively policing our tax
:02:46. > :02:53.borders, so that they question these negotiations and the amounts
:02:53. > :02:59.of profits that these companies export. Starbucks had sales of
:02:59. > :03:04.nearly �400 million last year and paid zero corporation tax. Google's
:03:04. > :03:10.UK sales were �2.5 billion and it paid �6 million and Amazon on sales
:03:11. > :03:17.of �3 billion, it says it paid �1.8 million in UK corporation tax last
:03:17. > :03:22.year. Amazon's sales will be bigger this Christmas, but it says it pays
:03:22. > :03:26.all the applicable taxes in every jurisdiction it operates in across
:03:26. > :03:30.the world. These companies generates employment, sales which
:03:30. > :03:38.generates VAT. We don't want to scare that away. It's all about
:03:38. > :03:41.getting a fair amount into our Government's coffers. Starbucks has
:03:41. > :03:46.said after listening to feedback, it's decided it needs to do more
:03:46. > :03:50.and it is in talks with the tax authorities. Most multi-nationals,
:03:50. > :03:54.despite the fact they haven't been accused of breaking the law, are
:03:54. > :03:59.preparing themselves for much closer scrutiny of their tax
:03:59. > :04:05.affairs. Today, the Treasury promised an extra �77 million over
:04:05. > :04:12.two years to tackle tax avoidance which they say should bring in �2
:04:12. > :04:16.billion more annually. The Chancellor visited a tax office
:04:16. > :04:20.today with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to ram home his plan
:04:20. > :04:24.to raise more. There is a very clear message. Most people pay
:04:24. > :04:29.their taxes. A few don't. Those people we are coming after them.
:04:29. > :04:33.With on the road publicity, the Revenue is trying to dispel the
:04:33. > :04:39.idea that while everyone else is up against it, some people can get
:04:39. > :04:43.around their tax. Let's get more from Norman Smith.
:04:43. > :04:47.Isn't this going to need international co-operation and a
:04:47. > :04:51.change in the law if the Government is to really recoup the sort of
:04:51. > :04:54.figures it says it will? Government say they are going to
:04:54. > :04:59.try and ensure there is greater co- operation internationally. They say
:04:59. > :05:04.they believe by investing more in specialist tax inspectors, they
:05:04. > :05:08.really can claw back huge amounts of money. We are not talking about
:05:08. > :05:18.the equivalent of you or I putting our hand down the back of the sofa
:05:18. > :05:20.
:05:20. > :05:30.and emerging with a 50p. They are talking about us emerging with a
:05:30. > :05:30.
:05:31. > :05:38.great number of tenners. So huge amounts of money. When you
:05:38. > :05:42.mentioned those figures to leading accountancy firms, they say these
:05:42. > :05:49.companies are not actually breaking the law and they estimate the
:05:49. > :05:53.amount of money may be as low as �1 billion. It seems to me this is as
:05:53. > :05:57.much about politics as money. Just two days before the Autumn
:05:57. > :06:02.Statement, the Chancellor wants to be in a position whereby he can say
:06:02. > :06:07.to voters, bracing them for more years of austerity, that he is
:06:07. > :06:10.ensuring those in the corporate world are bearing their fair share
:06:10. > :06:15.of pain. Interestingly, the Prime Minister, we understand, while he
:06:15. > :06:19.does not necessarily back the boycotts we have seen of companies
:06:19. > :06:26.like Starbucks, Downing Street says he understands why people want
:06:26. > :06:29.these big companies to pay their fair share of tax. Thank you.
:06:29. > :06:33.The Israeli Ambassador in London was summoned to the Foreign Office
:06:33. > :06:38.this morning following the decision by the Israeli government to expand
:06:38. > :06:42.settlements and build-up to 3,000 more houses in the West Bank. James
:06:42. > :06:46.Robbins is at the Foreign Office. What are we to read into the move
:06:46. > :06:52.in terms of the seriousness of this? Let me tell you what happened
:06:52. > :06:57.this morning. This morning, Israel's ambassador to the United
:06:57. > :07:03.Kingdom was summoned here to the Foreign Office for a meeting with
:07:03. > :07:08.the Middle East Minister, effectively a rebuke. He was told
:07:08. > :07:11.that Britain deplores the recent Israeli government decision to
:07:11. > :07:15.build those 3,000 new homes and to press ahead with possible
:07:15. > :07:20.development plans for a highly controversial block of land known
:07:20. > :07:24.as E1, which lies between East Jerusalem and the Palestinian West
:07:24. > :07:31.Bank. Britain is really worried that this could make the prospects
:07:31. > :07:37.for a final two-state solution even more remote. And their view is
:07:37. > :07:41.shared strongly by others. The French took exactly parallel action,
:07:41. > :07:47.summoning the Israeli Ambassador in Paris. The wider context - the
:07:47. > :07:51.Israelis took this action in direct retaliation for Palestinian success
:07:51. > :07:59.last week at the United Nations in achieving an upgrade in their
:07:59. > :08:04.status towards statehood. The atmosphere for long-term peace
:08:04. > :08:10.settlement talks seems more poisonous than ever before. Thank
:08:10. > :08:14.you. Some hospital patients are being
:08:14. > :08:18.put at risk by overcrowding, according to a report from the
:08:18. > :08:20.healthcare research firm Dr Foster. They suggest a growing number of
:08:20. > :08:24.frail and elderly patients are being treated in hospitals because
:08:24. > :08:28.of a lack of care elsewhere and that is creating pressure in the
:08:28. > :08:34.system. The Government said there is spare capacity and the system
:08:34. > :08:39.can cope. In hospital, with a broken elbow
:08:39. > :08:45.after a fall, this woman was cheerful enough. She would be going
:08:45. > :08:50.home after three days. You know where everything is. I just prefer
:08:50. > :08:55.to be home. I'm sure everybody else does as well. That is because here,
:08:55. > :08:59.patients don't stay long on the ward. The hospital works with the
:08:59. > :09:04.local GPs and the council providing as much care as they can outside
:09:04. > :09:07.hospital. We start by saying if patients can stay at home, they
:09:07. > :09:11.should stay at home. If a patient needs to come into hospital, they
:09:11. > :09:16.will come into the hospital for the minimum amount of time and then we
:09:16. > :09:19.get them back home with a care package wherever possible. One very
:09:19. > :09:24.good measure of the pressures on hospitals is how many of their beds
:09:24. > :09:28.are full at any one time. This research shows that most hospitals
:09:28. > :09:32.in England have 90% of their beds being used for most of the year.
:09:32. > :09:36.But here in Torbay, they have managed to bring the level right
:09:36. > :09:41.down. So what are the pressures on hospitals? The Government says on
:09:41. > :09:46.average the NHS is not overcrowded. It always has spare beds for
:09:46. > :09:51.emergency. But if you take out the quiet holiday times, experts say
:09:51. > :09:54.the picture is quite different. When you start to look underneath
:09:54. > :09:58.those numbers, you find there are particular moments when hospitals
:09:58. > :10:03.come under a great deal of pressure. Sometimes they are full. At that
:10:03. > :10:08.point, it is difficult to provide the safe, effective caring service
:10:08. > :10:12.that we all want hospitals to provide. There are signs of some
:10:12. > :10:17.hospitals struggling. This analysis also shows 12 Trusts had higher
:10:18. > :10:22.than expected rates of deaths. One potential warning sign of problems.
:10:22. > :10:25.Torbay has faced up to the challenges of treating elderly
:10:25. > :10:29.people. Charities say a similar rethink needs to happen elsewhere.
:10:29. > :10:35.Older people are going into hospital when they don't need to.
:10:35. > :10:38.The costs are shooting up for the NHS. But at the same time, local
:10:38. > :10:42.authorities are cutting social care in homes and in communities. From
:10:42. > :10:46.next year, hospital patients in England will be asked about their
:10:46. > :10:54.experience. And the Government says it is looking at better long-term
:10:54. > :11:01.funding of care at home. You can see more of the Dr Foster
:11:01. > :11:05.report on Panorama tonight at 8.30pm. Figures from the Bank of
:11:05. > :11:09.England show that banks and building societies took almost �4.5
:11:09. > :11:19.billion in the first two months of its new Funding for Lending Scheme.
:11:19. > :11:30.
:11:30. > :11:34.The banks have only increased their It's the Bank of England's big idea
:11:34. > :11:37.backed by the Chancellor to get more lending out to businesses and
:11:37. > :11:42.households to help boost growth. Today we got the first set of
:11:42. > :11:46.figures which show lending is up but not by very much. It has not
:11:46. > :11:50.always been easy for banks and building societies to borrow money
:11:50. > :11:59.at low interest rates tonne wholesale market. The point of the
:11:59. > :12:04.scheme was to make cash available at low interest rates to the
:12:04. > :12:10.lenders. By the end of September �4.4 billion had been borrowed from
:12:10. > :12:20.the Bank of England. Between June and September, only an extra �0.5
:12:20. > :12:22.
:12:22. > :12:25.billion had been lent out. Barclays And Nationwide are among those to
:12:25. > :12:31.have increased lending. The Bank of England says availability of
:12:31. > :12:35.mortgage funding has increased and Liam has taken advantage of that.
:12:35. > :12:38.have had the go-ahead from the mortgage now. He's spent two years
:12:38. > :12:43.trying to buy his first home. But only in the last few months was he
:12:43. > :12:46.able to find a mortgage which worked for him and so go ahead with
:12:46. > :12:51.the purchase. Most mortgage companies give you a good deal and
:12:51. > :12:59.waiver those fees to accept their deal and it is like the mortgage
:12:59. > :13:03.lenders are fighting to get you to apply for a mortgage. But a few
:13:03. > :13:07.miles away, a local small business adviser has a more downbeat
:13:07. > :13:12.assessment. He argues the Bank of England's scheme hasn't made things
:13:12. > :13:16.easier for his clients. There could be additional help there. I don't
:13:16. > :13:20.think the scheme is helping. It is not meaning there is more money
:13:20. > :13:25.available to them for a deal now the bank wouldn't have done six
:13:25. > :13:28.months ago. Leading banks say they will borrow more money and step up
:13:28. > :13:31.support for businesses and homeowners and they have cut
:13:31. > :13:35.interest rates on mortgages and business loans. The Bank of England
:13:36. > :13:43.says it will take time for banks to process the new loans and get cash
:13:43. > :13:53.out into the economy. The Home Secretary has applied for
:13:53. > :13:53.
:13:53. > :14:02.permission to appeal against a decision to block the removal of
:14:02. > :14:09.Abu Qatada. A ban on big shops and supermarkets
:14:09. > :14:12.in Wales displaying tobacco comes into force today. It is supposed to
:14:12. > :14:14.remove the temptation for young people to take up smoking.
:14:14. > :14:18.Businesses breaking the law - which was introduced in England earlier
:14:18. > :14:21.this year - could be fined up to �5,000 or jailed for up to two
:14:21. > :14:27.years. It's thought shoppers in the UK
:14:27. > :14:29.will break all records today for online shopping. Known as Mega
:14:29. > :14:33.Monday, consumers are expected to make 115 million visits to retail
:14:34. > :14:36.websites, an increase of 36% on last year. A separate report by
:14:36. > :14:46.Visa estimates that consumers will spend over �200,000 every minute on
:14:46. > :14:49.its cards - with a total of 6.8 million transactions across the day.
:14:49. > :14:52.Talks between the coalition and Labour about how to respond to the
:14:52. > :14:55.Leveson Report will get under way again in just under an hour's time,
:14:55. > :14:58.ahead of a major Commons debate on the recommendations for press
:14:58. > :15:05.regulation later this afternoon. Our political correspondent, Carole
:15:05. > :15:14.Walker, is in Westminster. Is a cross-party agreement looking
:15:14. > :15:18.At the moment there is a big Gulf between the parties on the key
:15:18. > :15:22.question of whether you need new laws to back up a system of
:15:22. > :15:26.regulation for the press, although there seems to be room for
:15:26. > :15:30.compromise on some other issues. David Cameron said he does not want
:15:30. > :15:34.legislation. He think it is could undermine the freedom of the press
:15:34. > :15:39.and also Britain's reputation for this in countries around the world,
:15:39. > :15:43.but he has ordered officials to draw up a draft bill in any case.
:15:43. > :15:47.Labour have said given his attitude, that they are not confident that
:15:47. > :15:52.what which will arrive at the end of this will be something that is
:15:52. > :15:57.workable and effective, so they are drawing up an alternative draft
:15:57. > :16:02.Bill. The Lib Dem's, the Government's coalition partners say
:16:02. > :16:07.they want new legislation. We will get a sense of where the MPs stand
:16:07. > :16:12.on this afternoon, but there will not be a vote now. Come January if
:16:12. > :16:16.the differences cannot be resolved they could get to vote on two
:16:16. > :16:19.different sets of draft proposals. In the meantime David Cameron will
:16:19. > :16:23.be summoning newspaper editors to Downing Street to talk to them
:16:23. > :16:26.about this. He will say, that there is a huge amount of pressure for
:16:26. > :16:33.the edge shraigs, not just from Parliament, but from some of the
:16:33. > :16:36.victims of phone hacking who have gotten a lot of public sympathy. He
:16:36. > :16:42.will say that they have to get together with a proper plan or they
:16:42. > :16:47.could face a harder regime than any of them want.
:16:47. > :16:50.The top story: The Chancellor wants multi-national
:16:50. > :16:55.companies that the Government will come after those that avoid paying
:16:55. > :17:01.tax. I'm here at Surrey Sports Park,
:17:01. > :17:06.where hundreds of people are hoping to become the next Paralympic stars.
:17:06. > :17:12.Later on BBC London: The Government is challenged at the high court
:17:12. > :17:22.over plans for a high speed rail link and we find out the role that
:17:22. > :17:24.
:17:24. > :17:28.the Olympic Stadium will play in The Prince of Wales is visiting the
:17:28. > :17:34.city of St Asaph in North Wales to offer his support to victims of
:17:34. > :17:37.last week's floods. One died and 400 properties were engulfed in
:17:37. > :17:40.water, whether the River Elwy burst its banks in heavy rain.
:17:40. > :17:44.Our correspondent is there for us now.
:17:44. > :17:49.Last week's flood tested the resolve of this community and,
:17:49. > :17:54.sadly, it took away the life of an elderly resident. Today, the Prince
:17:54. > :17:58.is able to meet some of those who felt the full effects of the
:17:58. > :18:03.weather and who are now still cleaning up and drying out their
:18:03. > :18:07.homes. This probably is not how Isla Jones
:18:07. > :18:12.and Martin Jones envisaged welcoming people to their new home.
:18:12. > :18:18.The couple moved in four months ago, today they showed Prince Charles
:18:19. > :18:22.how last week's flood turned their home into a recover bed. The mobile
:18:22. > :18:29.phone picks captured the current as it washed past and through their
:18:29. > :18:34.house. In many ways, it has been an incredible seven gays.
:18:34. > :18:38.-- seven days. Surreal. What a lovely, genuine man
:18:38. > :18:44.he is. He was interested in everything we were telling him,
:18:44. > :18:48.showing him and yes, a nice guy. Like many in St Asaph, the couple
:18:48. > :18:53.know that they will not spend Christmas here, this year, maybe
:18:53. > :18:57.even next year too. Realistically, a minimum of 12
:18:57. > :19:02.months. The insurers said eight to 12 months.
:19:02. > :19:06.The Prince wanted to meet not just those forced to leave their homes
:19:06. > :19:10.but the dozens of emergency and volunteers who staged a mass
:19:10. > :19:16.evacuation. Teams moved from deer- to-door, trying to rescue often
:19:16. > :19:20.frail and vulnerable residents. OK? Today's visit may not change
:19:20. > :19:23.the challenges, still facing this community, but it did offer respite
:19:24. > :19:29.from the months of repair work that lie ahead.
:19:29. > :19:33.Well, the Prince's visit ended here at St Asaph Cathedral, where he was
:19:33. > :19:37.able to meet many of the volunteers who came together to sustain the
:19:37. > :19:42.hundreds of people forced from their homes. We saw in the days
:19:42. > :19:47.following the flood, donations of clothes, bedding food and finances
:19:47. > :19:50.that could help to support these people, mot just now, for Christmas,
:19:50. > :19:54.but maybe for months, if not for years to come.
:19:54. > :19:58.Several new criminal offences take effect in England and Wales today.
:19:58. > :20:03.Including a new offence of aggravated knife crime and
:20:03. > :20:07.mandatory life sentences for anyone committing a sec serious violent or
:20:07. > :20:11.sexual offence. -- second.
:20:11. > :20:16.Various measures have been tried it tackle knife crime, including ak
:20:16. > :20:21.nestis. Now there is a new criminal offence of aggravated knife crime.
:20:21. > :20:26.It targets those who use knives in a public place or a school to
:20:26. > :20:31.threaten and to create a risk of serious orifice kal harm. In almost
:20:31. > :20:35.all cases, judges must impose a custodial sentence. A minimum six
:20:35. > :20:41.months prison for adults or a four month detention and training order
:20:41. > :20:45.for 16 to 17-year-olds. Knife crime can blight cities and
:20:45. > :20:51.estates, according to Government figures in the year to June 2012,
:20:51. > :20:57.there were just over 29,000 recorded offences involving knives.
:20:57. > :21:01.That is down 9% from the previous year, but just 22% of cases
:21:01. > :21:06.involving possession resulted in an immediate custodial sentence.
:21:06. > :21:10.There are some areas where society as a whole expects Government
:21:10. > :21:16.politicians to say that there is a minimum. A clear message to people
:21:16. > :21:20.who attempt to carry knives to use them in an aggressive way, that you
:21:20. > :21:26.should and will go to jail. But some leading lawyers feel that
:21:26. > :21:30.the new offence will achieve little. This is a blunt instrument in terms
:21:30. > :21:34.of deterrent sentences. All of research show it is does not work.
:21:34. > :21:38.No-one in that moment of pulling a knife thinks about the deterrent. A
:21:38. > :21:44.lot do not know about it. Among the other sentences coming
:21:44. > :21:48.into force today, there is the so- called two-strike system, a new
:21:48. > :21:51.mandatory life sentence for people convicted of a second, very serious
:21:51. > :21:55.sexual or violent offence. While some see the new measures as
:21:55. > :22:02.reducing a judge's discretion, others will welcome what is seen as
:22:02. > :22:06.a tough new regime. It causes hundreds of hours of
:22:07. > :22:12.train delays, puts lives at risk and costs the UK economy millions
:22:12. > :22:16.of pounds a week. Metal theft is a serious crime that affects us all.
:22:16. > :22:21.The Government has introduced new measures to make it harder for the
:22:21. > :22:24.thieves to profit. From today it is illegal to use cash when recycling
:22:24. > :22:30.metal in England and Wales. The scrap metal business has been
:22:30. > :22:34.cleaning up its act over the years. It has had to.
:22:34. > :22:39.Metal theft has been rampant from church roofs to railways, to
:22:39. > :22:46.telephone cables. It is a highly damaging and expensive criminal
:22:46. > :22:50.trend. From today's, scrapyards in England
:22:50. > :22:57.and Wales are banned from dealing in cash. So there will be paper
:22:57. > :23:02.records of all transactions. There, -- are, though, loopholes in the
:23:02. > :23:04.law, but that should be closed by legislation coming soon. That is
:23:04. > :23:09.essential. There has been a lag with the
:23:09. > :23:14.Government getting to grips with this. It reached a point where the
:23:14. > :23:22.metal theft was a horrific problem, they have done that today. Now we
:23:22. > :23:24.have to iron out the loopholes, sort out the out of date' 64 scrap
:23:24. > :23:29.metal dealer's act. It needs dealing.
:23:29. > :23:33.So, enhanced powers for the police, but how enforceable will the new
:23:33. > :23:37.law be? I have no doubt there will be some scrap metal dealers
:23:37. > :23:41.operating outside of the law. We will take firm enforcement action
:23:41. > :23:44.to bring them on the right side of the law, but I am confidence
:23:44. > :23:47.because of the work we have done with the British Mteals Recycling
:23:48. > :23:52.Association, that we will see high rates of compliance with the new
:23:52. > :23:56.legislation. No-one is claiming that this is the
:23:56. > :24:01.silver bullet to solve metal theft, but the cashless system has proved
:24:01. > :24:09.effective in France and spot-checks and police raids are making a real
:24:09. > :24:13.difference and not before time. After the success of the
:24:13. > :24:18.ParalympicsGB in London, the British Paralympic association
:24:18. > :24:22.wants to keep the momentum going for Rio and beyond. Today Sports
:24:22. > :24:26.Fest is being launched in Surrey with the hope of inspiring people
:24:26. > :24:32.to take up some of the sports involved.
:24:32. > :24:35.Andy Swiss joins us now from Guildford. As you say, Britain's
:24:35. > :24:41.Paralympians were one of the success stories of the summer.
:24:41. > :24:45.Today they are trying to build on that. Behind me is the wheelchair
:24:45. > :24:50.basketball going on. One of 20 sports to have a go at here if you
:24:50. > :24:56.fancied becoming a Paralympic star, this could be your chance. Three
:24:56. > :25:00.months on, but the memories are as fresh as ever. Britain's
:25:00. > :25:06.Paralympians provided the glories climax to a golden summer, from
:25:06. > :25:10.Jonnie Peacock to Ellie Simmonds, unforgettable moments that inspired
:25:10. > :25:15.a nation. Now the hunt is on for the stars of the future. A chance
:25:15. > :25:19.for children to try out sports, for children like Caroline and
:25:19. > :25:25.Christian, it is a school outing to remember.
:25:25. > :25:30.I wanted to do the basketball training. This looks like fun and
:25:30. > :25:35.maybe volley ball. People who are not as disabled as us can still do
:25:36. > :25:42.the sports that they love but in wheelchairs.
:25:42. > :25:49.10% of Britain's Paralympic team in London came through days out like,
:25:49. > :25:53.this including Adam Knott. I got to the Paralympics in two-
:25:53. > :25:58.and-a-half years. They will have another year-and-a-half on top of
:25:58. > :26:02.me. If you train hard, you can succeed.
:26:02. > :26:07.And certainly the success of Britain's Paralympians has raised
:26:07. > :26:11.interest levels to new heights. We have anything up to 800 people
:26:11. > :26:15.registered to come here. It is something that we want to replicate
:26:15. > :26:21.across the UK. Comparing that to where we were after Beijing, we had
:26:21. > :26:24.successful days, with up to 50 people coming to a session. You can
:26:24. > :26:28.see the exponential growth that London has brought.
:26:28. > :26:33.Today, �10 million is being promised for investment in
:26:33. > :26:36.disability sport. It seems that the Paralympian impact has only just
:26:36. > :26:39.begun. Next year they are hoping to take
:26:40. > :26:44.this sports open day to different places around the country. The hope,
:26:44. > :26:54.really, that there is a success of the Paralympics it just the start
:26:54. > :26:59.of something special. Now 20 years ago today, the first
:26:59. > :27:05.ever text message was sent it read merry Christmas, it was sent by a
:27:05. > :27:10.young engineer in December, 1992. It is thought now that 8 trillion
:27:10. > :27:15.texts are sent a year. Used for everything from hiring and
:27:15. > :27:21.firing to proposing and breaking up. In 20 years it transformed the way
:27:21. > :27:25.that we comounicate. It started with an engineer sending a message
:27:25. > :27:31.-- Communicates. One day they said we want to send a
:27:31. > :27:36.message. I was there at the right time. In the hot seat, so to speak.
:27:36. > :27:40.From merry Christmas, to you are dumped, we have all found ways of
:27:40. > :27:43.expressing ourselves via the text message, but in the early days, the
:27:43. > :27:46.phone industry did not think it was take off.
:27:46. > :27:50.The mobile phone companies knew that this would be possible, but
:27:50. > :27:55.did not release it as they did not think there would be the uptake.
:27:55. > :27:58.They thought it was something that the engineers may use or the
:27:58. > :28:03.internal companies, but did not see it as a user technology.
:28:04. > :28:10.But the users did see the appeal. In the UK they sent 150 billion
:28:10. > :28:14.texts. The average person sends 50 texts a week and al% of UK adults
:28:14. > :28:18.texts friends and family at least once a day, but in the age of the
:28:18. > :28:23.smartphone, there are the first signs that texting may have peaked.
:28:23. > :28:28.It was said that there was a slight dip in the number of texts this
:28:28. > :28:31.year with people turning to instant messaging, Twitter and apps that
:28:31. > :28:35.allow you to communicate for nothing.
:28:35. > :28:39.People are probably texting less because of Facebook and smart
:28:39. > :28:44.phones that mean people are texting less. I am using free applications
:28:44. > :28:48.to send my messages. All I do is text. I get free texts
:28:48. > :28:50.each month. We may be moving on, but 20 years
:28:50. > :28:56.after the first message, we are finding that texting, rather than
:28:56. > :29:01.talking is often the quickest way of getting in touch.
:29:02. > :29:06.Now, let's get an all-important update on the weather with Phil.
:29:06. > :29:11.update on the weather with Phil. How is it looking, Phil? Bright and
:29:11. > :29:16.breezy, I will say it rather than texting. I have not got that much
:29:16. > :29:21.time! There are some exceptions to the rule of bright and breezy. We
:29:21. > :29:25.have had this weather front bringing rain, sleet and snow. It
:29:25. > :29:28.is trying to get away from the north-east of Scotland.
:29:28. > :29:33.Another area where you will not see very much in the way of brightness
:29:33. > :29:37.is down to the south-western corner. More rain here for the afternoon.
:29:37. > :29:41.There the cloud is thickening. The front taking its time to get away
:29:41. > :29:46.from the Channel and the southern counties. In the north, the showers
:29:46. > :29:50.will ripple through on a westerly breeze. Northern Ireland, there is
:29:50. > :29:54.a mixture of sunny smells -- spells and showers here.
:29:54. > :30:00.So too for the west of Scotland. Know is above the north-eastern
:30:00. > :30:06.corner of Scotland. After a rather dank start to the
:30:06. > :30:11.day, I think that we will get sunshine in many of the eastern
:30:11. > :30:16.parts of the England -- English countryside.
:30:16. > :30:21.In many parts, not so cold. In some parts seeing double figures,
:30:21. > :30:25.but cher I can that, it will not last. This evening, the prospect of
:30:25. > :30:29.showers on the western side of the British Isles. A breeze too. That
:30:29. > :30:34.will keep the areas frost-free in the south. A different start in the
:30:34. > :30:39.heart of Scotland. Watch out for the temperatures falling away, an
:30:39. > :30:45.ice problem and freezing fog. You may have to contend with that on
:30:45. > :30:50.Tuesday. Then cloud to the east in Northern Ireland. More snow on the
:30:50. > :30:53.higher grounds of the north-east of Scotland. Showers packing on to the
:30:53. > :30:57.breeze away through Wales, the south-west and Northern Ireland too.
:30:57. > :31:02.The best of the sunshine into the Midlands and central and southern
:31:02. > :31:06.England. The breeze was coming in from the west and the north-west.
:31:06. > :31:11.Out of Tuesday, into Wednesday, notice how behind the weather front
:31:11. > :31:15.we really straighten the isobars into a northerly. That will put a
:31:15. > :31:19.dent in the temperatures and a change in the feel of the day from
:31:19. > :31:24.the middle of the week. So snow showers more on the high ground
:31:24. > :31:28.down the eastern side of the British Isles. Then a chance of
:31:28. > :31:32.sunshine on Wednesday, but as you see there, two, three or four
:31:32. > :31:36.Celsius will be the order of the day. So chilly day and night over