:00:08. > :00:12.Floods caused problems on rail and eight roads as the great Christmas
:00:12. > :00:16.getaway begins. Millions are on the move but some major rail services
:00:16. > :00:20.have been brought to a halt after yesterday's heavy rain. I spoke to
:00:21. > :00:26.the lady at the desk and she said it has been cancelled, which is
:00:26. > :00:30.later, and get a connection, which is another hour. It is two hours''
:00:30. > :00:34.delay on a long trip. Roads turned to rivers, motorists are facing
:00:34. > :00:39.major problems after the heavy rain with warnings that there is more to
:00:39. > :00:42.come. Protecting our savings, calls for tougher banking reforms amid
:00:43. > :00:45.warnings the government's plans don't go far enough. A Christmas
:00:46. > :00:51.surprise for British troops as the Prime Minister arrives to tell them
:00:51. > :00:54.even more welcome home next year. Women now face higher costs for car
:00:54. > :00:59.and life insurance after EU rules banned insurers from taking gender
:01:00. > :01:03.into account. And we are still here, the world did not end this morning
:01:03. > :01:07.has some have predicted, but that did not stop thousands around the
:01:07. > :01:11.world from preparing for it. Later on BBC London, a warning to
:01:11. > :01:14.the Met that riot police I using excessive force, and help traders
:01:14. > :01:24.at Stratford shopping-centre are celebrating despite fears about the
:01:24. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :01:38.Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. It plugs are
:01:39. > :01:42.causing problems for thousands of people on the move today, as the
:01:42. > :01:45.Christmas getaway begins in earnest. There is disruption on train
:01:46. > :01:50.services in many parts of the UK. In London, Paddington has been
:01:50. > :01:54.badly affected with very few services in or out of the station,
:01:54. > :01:58.and there is no service on the wrecked Heathrow Express. Gatwick
:01:58. > :02:02.has affected. The line between epurse and Gleneagles has been
:02:02. > :02:07.blocked by a Lancelot. There are problems for motorists with many
:02:07. > :02:10.roads flooded. Let's get the latest from Richard Lister, who is at
:02:10. > :02:15.Paddington Station. A lot of people will be planning to travel from
:02:16. > :02:19.there this afternoon, put on trains. It could be difficult? Yes, a very
:02:19. > :02:22.bad start to the Christmas holidays for a lot of people. The station
:02:22. > :02:26.authorities here say that things are expected to get a lot busier
:02:26. > :02:29.this afternoon and they are still dealing with a lot of cancellations
:02:29. > :02:33.and a lot of disrupted services. There are at present no trains
:02:33. > :02:36.running to Heathrow from Paddington and there are delays and
:02:37. > :02:40.cancellations to many other routes. Some people facing delays leaving
:02:40. > :02:45.Paddington Station of perhaps an hour or so, other people facing
:02:45. > :02:49.delays as they come in because of the reduced service. A fire in west
:02:49. > :02:54.London, which took out an equipment shed, that had to be more or less
:02:54. > :02:58.rebuilt as a matter of urgency. But has taken out two of the four lines
:02:58. > :03:02.that Paddington usually relies on. I am told that situation will not
:03:02. > :03:05.be changed until 4pm at the earliest and may last for the rest
:03:05. > :03:09.of the day. You can imagine the knock-on effect from that. There
:03:09. > :03:12.are millions of people who are leaving Britain over the Christmas
:03:12. > :03:18.holidays, trying to get to the airports and there are problems
:03:18. > :03:23.thereto!? Yes, 123,000 people are expected to fly out of Heathrow
:03:23. > :03:26.today, 104,000 people coming into land at Heathrow. Many of those
:03:26. > :03:30.many thousands of people would expect to take the train to or from
:03:30. > :03:34.London, so they will have to watch their travel plans carefully. The
:03:34. > :03:38.situation is true in Gatwick as well. 700,000 people expected to
:03:39. > :03:43.fly out of Gatwick between now and January 2nd and there have been
:03:43. > :03:46.disruptions on a line because of a fire in Brighton. The advice is to
:03:46. > :03:50.anybody planning to travel from Heathrow or Gatwick and who were
:03:50. > :03:53.hoping to take the train, is to get online first and make sure you
:03:53. > :03:57.still can. The good news for many people who already have train
:03:57. > :04:00.tickets is that if there is a train that can take them to their
:04:00. > :04:04.destination, the ticket restrictions have for the most part
:04:04. > :04:09.been waived. Richard Lister, thank you. Let's get the picture across
:04:09. > :04:16.the whole of the UK with Robert Hall.
:04:16. > :04:19.Empty tracks, signals on red, West Wood Joan it -- journeys disrupted.
:04:19. > :04:23.Managers at Paddington had been prepared for difficulties after a
:04:23. > :04:25.line side fire damaged signalling equipment. Many commuters had an
:04:25. > :04:30.early start their Christmas break as services were cancelled or
:04:30. > :04:34.delayed. The disruption is forecast to continue until late this
:04:34. > :04:37.afternoon and its effect is spreading. Paddington's rail links
:04:37. > :04:40.to Heathrow were among those suspended, bringing extra stress of
:04:40. > :04:45.holidaymakers with flight deadlines to meet at the airport's busiest
:04:45. > :04:49.day of the year. A second fire has badly affected rail services from
:04:49. > :04:53.Brighton. Engineers are still working to repair the damage but
:04:53. > :04:56.the blaze at Preston Park has disrupted travel along the south
:04:56. > :05:00.coast and northwards to Gatwick Airport. Network Rail are warning
:05:00. > :05:04.that journeys may take at least 90 minutes longer than normal. The
:05:04. > :05:09.clouds have listed in some flood hit areas, but it is a brief
:05:09. > :05:13.respite. River levels and ground water remain high and the
:05:13. > :05:17.approaching weather systems will once again affect road travel.
:05:17. > :05:22.is going to be very busy. Christmas is a very peak -- busy time. The
:05:22. > :05:27.weather is not helping. There are severe flood warnings across the UK.
:05:27. > :05:30.Traditional areas like the M1, the and six, will be very busy and we
:05:30. > :05:37.would ask people to plan journeys and take advice before setting off
:05:37. > :05:40.to avoid situations. Journeys will take longer than usual. In Scotland,
:05:40. > :05:43.preparations for what is to come. Flood hit regions across the UK
:05:43. > :05:48.have been strengthening their defences ahead of the rain and
:05:48. > :05:52.strong winds which are likely to affect communities both inland and
:05:52. > :05:55.allow our coastline. It might not be a white Christmas, but for many
:05:55. > :05:58.others it will certainly be a wet one.
:05:58. > :06:02.We will have a full weather forecast at the end of the
:06:02. > :06:05.programme. The government is being warned that its plans to protect
:06:05. > :06:09.day-to-day retail banking from the riskier investment side of the
:06:09. > :06:12.industry do not go far enough. A Parliamentary Commission on Banking
:06:12. > :06:17.Standards say ministers need to include tougher sanctions to make
:06:17. > :06:19.sure the idea of ring-fencing high street deposits works in the long
:06:19. > :06:22.term. Our chief economics correspondent Duke -- Hugh Pym
:06:22. > :06:26.reports. How to avoid a repeat of this, a
:06:26. > :06:31.banking crisis resulting in taxpayer bail-out. Just over four
:06:31. > :06:34.years on, that is what this debate is all about. A parliamentary
:06:34. > :06:37.commission including the future Archbishop of Canterbury has
:06:37. > :06:41.examined at government plans for reform of banking and said they
:06:42. > :06:46.fall short of what is required. The commission welcomes the idea of
:06:46. > :06:49.ring-fencing inside banks, that is pulling high street operations
:06:49. > :06:54.apart from riskier investment banking with a wall between them.
:06:54. > :06:57.But it says the current plan is not secure enough. We welcome the ring
:06:57. > :07:00.fence, but it did -- but if it has a chance to work it has to be
:07:00. > :07:06.strengthened a good deal. That is what the regulators told us in
:07:06. > :07:09.evidence over the last few weeks. We are suggesting that if the banks
:07:09. > :07:16.poke around on this ring-fenced too much and try to get through it,
:07:16. > :07:19.find ways around it, then they run the risk of full separation. That
:07:19. > :07:22.threat of separation, making big banks split themselves up if
:07:22. > :07:25.regulators think the new rules are not working, is a key
:07:25. > :07:29.recommendation of the commission. This is a major challenge to the
:07:29. > :07:32.Treasury. It will have to come up with a detailed response to the
:07:32. > :07:36.proposals as it starts to steer legislation through Parliament next
:07:36. > :07:40.year. That will implement crucial reforms, which will shape the
:07:40. > :07:43.future of British banking for decades to come. I welcome the
:07:43. > :07:47.report of the Commission today and I particularly welcome the fact
:07:47. > :07:51.they agree with us that ring- fencing is the white -- the right
:07:51. > :07:53.model for reforming the banking system. They have made some new
:07:53. > :07:57.suggestions about how we could strengthen the legislation. We will
:07:57. > :08:00.be looking at that very carefully. Getting the detail right on
:08:00. > :08:04.reforming the major banks will be a key priority for the government.
:08:04. > :08:08.Labour says today's report is a wake-up call for ministers. They
:08:08. > :08:12.say we might have to keep open the option, in fact they say we should
:08:12. > :08:16.legislate now in case we need to break up the banks and put that
:08:16. > :08:19.irresponsibility behind us. It is a radical, challenging report, a
:08:19. > :08:24.difficult report for the government, but a good report. The banking
:08:25. > :08:28.system nearly collapsed in 2008. Customers' money was at risk. Only
:08:28. > :08:32.government rescue deals saved the day. Everyone says it must never
:08:32. > :08:35.happen again. That is why the plans currently being debated are so
:08:35. > :08:39.important. The prime minister has paid a
:08:39. > :08:44.surprise visit to British troops in Afghanistan and told them even more
:08:44. > :08:48.may be able to come home next year rather than in 2014. It comes just
:08:48. > :08:51.days after he announced that 4,000 troops will be withdrawn early. He
:08:51. > :08:55.said they had paid a high price in Afghanistan, but they have been
:08:55. > :09:00.rewarded with success. James Landale, who has been travelling
:09:00. > :09:03.with the Prime Minister, sent this report.
:09:03. > :09:07.A Christmas breakfast with the troops and for them an early
:09:07. > :09:12.present from the Prime Minister. It was possible, he said, that more of
:09:12. > :09:16.them could come home even faster than he had planned. Of course we
:09:16. > :09:19.have a staged plan for drawing down our troops, which is based on the
:09:19. > :09:22.stage plan for building up the Afghan army and the Afghan police
:09:22. > :09:26.force. Frankly the Afghan army is doing better than we expected.
:09:26. > :09:31.There is more than we expected, that is why we are able to bring
:09:31. > :09:35.home so many troops. Last week, he told MPs that by the end of next
:09:35. > :09:41.year there would be only 5,000 troops left in Afghanistan, some
:09:41. > :09:43.4,000 fewer than half. But after meeting commanders on the ground
:09:43. > :09:49.today and yesterday, the Prime Minister said that withdrawal could
:09:49. > :09:52.move a little faster if conditions continued to improve. He said that
:09:52. > :09:55.he had been reassured and encouraged by what he had seen and
:09:55. > :10:01.been told about the growing competence of Afghan forces and
:10:01. > :10:05.plans to hand them more control. On his way home the prime minister
:10:05. > :10:09.stopped off in Muskett, to sign a deal that will see the government
:10:09. > :10:12.of all man buying 12 typhoon jet fighters, a deal that the Prime
:10:12. > :10:17.Minister said would secures thousands of jobs at BAE Systems
:10:17. > :10:21.factories in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
:10:21. > :10:25.A High Court judge is due to decide today on whether a seven-year-old
:10:25. > :10:29.boy should have radiotherapy for brain cancer against the wishes of
:10:29. > :10:32.his mother. Sally Roberts has been fighting a legal battle to stop her
:10:32. > :10:36.son, Neon, having the standard treatment for his type of brain
:10:36. > :10:40.cancer, which she fears could cause long-term damage. Medical experts
:10:40. > :10:45.say the treatment of radiotherapy and chemotherapy should go ahead as
:10:45. > :10:50.it offers a survival rate of more than 80%. Fergus Walsh is at the
:10:50. > :10:55.High Court. A desperately difficult case, this. The decision today?
:10:55. > :10:59.a decision shortly after 2:15pm today, the judge said he will rule
:10:59. > :11:04.them and make a definitive ruling. We have had a summary, closing
:11:04. > :11:08.remarks today, from all sides on one side the NHS Trust saying there
:11:08. > :11:13.is an 86% chance of survival for Neon if he has this standard
:11:13. > :11:18.treatment, this radiotherapy. The father has said that he supports
:11:19. > :11:23.that and says it is the only option for Neon. The council appointed,
:11:23. > :11:27.the lawyer specifically appointed to represent Neon in court, to
:11:27. > :11:31.represent his best interests, has said there is no alternative and
:11:31. > :11:35.without that treatment he could die within two to three months. Sally
:11:35. > :11:41.Roberts has the jitters her Cynthia and hard for a belief -- has said
:11:41. > :11:44.it is a sincere and heartfelt belief that radiotherapy has not
:11:44. > :11:48.done his best interests because of possibly damaging his idea and
:11:48. > :11:53.fertility. The court heard she has presented not a single alternative.
:11:53. > :11:57.She simply asks for more time. It is very rare for me to ever predict
:11:58. > :12:01.what a judgment will be, but it is inevitable but the judge this
:12:01. > :12:07.afternoon will order that the radiotherapy goes ahead. He has no
:12:07. > :12:12.other option. That treatment is likely to begin in early January.
:12:12. > :12:18.The government had to borrow �17.5 billion last month, according to
:12:18. > :12:22.the latest official figures. Public sector net borrowing was 17.5
:12:22. > :12:25.billion in November, up from the same time last year. The Office for
:12:25. > :12:30.National Statistics says Britain's total debt has written to us --
:12:30. > :12:34.risen to 68% of national output, 4% higher than a year ago. Adam
:12:34. > :12:37.Parsons is here. Some bad news for the Chancellor? Yes, you remember
:12:37. > :12:40.in his Autumn Statement the Chancellor said that borrowing
:12:40. > :12:44.would fall over the course of this year. It raised few eyebrows at the
:12:44. > :12:49.time and those eyebrows are going sky would because he has had to
:12:49. > :12:54.borrow more money in November to keep the economy ticking over. As
:12:54. > :12:58.you said, 17.5 billion. Lots of people predicted 16 billion. They
:12:58. > :13:03.thought it might fall a bit. It has gone up. It has turned out that the
:13:03. > :13:08.economy did not grow by quite as much as we thought in the third
:13:08. > :13:12.quarter of this year. It went up by 0.9%. People thought it was 1%. The
:13:12. > :13:16.economy is not growing as much as it -- as much as we thought it was,
:13:16. > :13:20.borrowing is going up. If he is going to meet the target of
:13:20. > :13:25.reducing borrowing, he will have to pull rabbits out of his hat.
:13:25. > :13:33.there any festive cheer? services sector, which is the
:13:33. > :13:37.biggest chunk of our economy, 75%, did expand by 0.1%, that is one
:13:37. > :13:41.10th of 1%. At times like this, any growth is seen as good. It offers a
:13:41. > :13:45.glimmer of hope that we might not be going back into reception --
:13:45. > :13:49.recession but I would not put your house on it.
:13:49. > :13:52.The High Court has rejected an attempt by Pakistani man to force
:13:52. > :13:55.the government to reveal whether it has helping US drone strikes
:13:55. > :14:00.against Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan. Knorr Khan, whose father
:14:00. > :14:03.was killed by a drone, argued that the UK could be committing a war
:14:03. > :14:10.crime by providing the CIA with intelligence that helps it target
:14:10. > :14:13.attacks. June Kelly reports. They are the unmanned aircraft
:14:13. > :14:16.which have been such a potent weapon for the Americans as they
:14:16. > :14:21.target Al-Qaeda strongholds in different parts of the world. Jones
:14:21. > :14:24.are operated by computer in the United States. -- drones. But in
:14:24. > :14:28.unleashing their missiles, there blamed for taking the lives of
:14:28. > :14:32.scores of innocent civilians. In March last year ago and attacking
:14:33. > :14:38.the Pakistani region of North Waziristan killed some 40 people.
:14:38. > :14:42.Amongst them was a tribal elder, attended an open-air meeting. His
:14:42. > :14:46.son, Noor Khan, decided to bring a legal case in the UK. He was trying
:14:46. > :14:49.to establish whether British intelligence officials were passing
:14:49. > :14:55.information to the US, helping them to pinpoint targets for drone
:14:55. > :14:59.attacks. TRANSLATION: These stones are constantly flying overhead. We
:14:59. > :15:04.can't offer our prayers, recite the Koran, and we can't even have
:15:04. > :15:08.meetings for fear of don't attacks. So today, the focus which --
:15:08. > :15:11.switched 4,000 miles away to the High Court in London. Judges
:15:12. > :15:15.blocked the case, saying such issues were a matter for Parliament.
:15:15. > :15:21.Lawyers for the Foreign Secretary had argued that with this case the
:15:21. > :15:23.court was being asked to move into an area of extreme sensitivity
:15:23. > :15:26.involving the intelligence and security agencies of both the
:15:26. > :15:30.United States and the UK. They said the Foreign Secretary would neither
:15:30. > :15:35.confirm nor deny any alleged British involvement in drone
:15:35. > :15:38.strikes in Pakistan. And this was his response in a recent BBC
:15:39. > :15:43.interview. On questions of intelligence co-operation or share
:15:43. > :15:47.intelligence, I don't comment on that. But this secret approaches
:15:47. > :15:50.condemned by some, including one Tory backbencher. These basic
:15:50. > :15:54.questions, which can easily be answered, or not being answered by
:15:54. > :15:58.the government. That is why people are drawing their own inferences,
:15:58. > :16:02.to save the government cannot answer these basic questions than
:16:02. > :16:06.it is sharing intelligence with the United States. And Knorr Khan is
:16:06. > :16:16.not giving up his fight. His lawyers will be seeking to appeal
:16:16. > :16:18.
:16:18. > :16:22.Our main headline - floods cause problems on the roads and on the
:16:22. > :16:26.railways, as the Christmas getaway begins. Coming up - the end of an
:16:26. > :16:31.era for television, with the final broadcast of children's programmes
:16:31. > :16:36.on BBC One this afternoon. Later on BBC London, after the problems at
:16:36. > :16:39.Paddington, we will have the latest travel. And after their tough
:16:39. > :16:48.Champions League draw, Arsenal chase the Windows will move them
:16:48. > :16:51.back into the top four. -- the win that will move them back. People
:16:52. > :16:56.across America will be observing a minute's silence later today,
:16:56. > :17:00.exactly one week after a gunman killed 20 children and six members
:17:00. > :17:03.of staff at a primary school in Connecticut. Adam Lanza carried out
:17:03. > :17:07.the attack in Newtown after killing his mother. He later shot himself
:17:08. > :17:10.dead. Today, the largest gun rights group in the United States, the
:17:10. > :17:15.National Rifle Association, will be holding a news conference in
:17:15. > :17:20.Washington, at which it is expected to condemn the killings. This
:17:20. > :17:23.report from Steve Kingstone. One week ago, this quaint, quiet corner
:17:23. > :17:30.of New England was a hidden gem. Today, the whole world knows the
:17:30. > :17:33.name of Newtown. Its pain and loss have been laid bare. Today, America
:17:33. > :17:43.will pause to remember those for whom going to school on a Friday
:17:43. > :17:45.
:17:45. > :17:48.morning cos they're lives. -- cost their lives. Gene Rosen found
:17:48. > :17:53.several children from a nearby school sitting on his lawn,
:17:53. > :17:58.witnesses to an unspeakable crime. The a looked terrified, mortified,
:17:59. > :18:04.and they were crying. Quietly, they were crying. 20 children never made
:18:04. > :18:07.it out. They died, together with six school teachers and support
:18:07. > :18:12.staff. The gunman, Adam Lanza, had turned a pistol on himself as the
:18:12. > :18:16.police moved in. He was just 20, and the guns were not even his.
:18:16. > :18:21.They belonged to his mother, who, at the family home they both shared,
:18:21. > :18:25.had earlier become the young man's first victim. As a country, we have
:18:26. > :18:29.been through this too many times.. In the White House, and at every
:18:29. > :18:34.other home in America, there has been a lot of soul-searching. For
:18:34. > :18:38.many here, the right to own a gun is the very essence of freedom. But
:18:38. > :18:42.there is an emerging consensus that high-powered assault weapons are
:18:42. > :18:45.for war zones, not for the streets. With the President supporting
:18:45. > :18:49.tighter gun laws, and public opinion moving in the same
:18:49. > :18:53.direction, there is a feeling here that these are shootings are
:18:53. > :18:56.somehow different, that this time there will be change, as protecting
:18:56. > :19:01.the most vulnerable becomes the top priority. Every day has brought
:19:01. > :19:08.more funerals, more reminders of lives which were beautifully bright,
:19:08. > :19:13.but brutally shot. Today, family and friends will be saying goodbye
:19:13. > :19:18.to this young child, who had moved from Britain only last year.
:19:18. > :19:22.many families are so stricken with grief, I would just want to say to
:19:22. > :19:28.people around the world, when you pray for them, whether you have a
:19:29. > :19:32.faith or not. Sandy Hook Elementary remains a sealed off crime scene.
:19:32. > :19:39.The children will go back to a different school in the new year.
:19:39. > :19:42.Here, there may never be lessons again. Millions of employees and
:19:42. > :19:46.volunteers will no longer have to have a new criminal records check
:19:46. > :19:49.each term they apply for a job. Instead, they will be able to have
:19:49. > :19:59.a new portable background check, which they will be able to update
:19:59. > :20:01.for free. Ed Thomas has the latest, from Manchester. Yes, this is a
:20:01. > :20:06.charity in Manchester, the Cornerstone Day Centre. It relies
:20:06. > :20:10.on more than 100 volunteers. Some of those volunteers need criminal
:20:10. > :20:13.records checks. From next year, those checks will be free. The
:20:13. > :20:17.people here say this will make a massive difference. When it comes
:20:17. > :20:21.to protecting the young and the elderly, it is a criminal records
:20:21. > :20:29.check which lets us know our trust is well placed. But how it works is
:20:29. > :20:32.about to change. At the moment, checks can cost places like this up
:20:32. > :20:38.to �44. Nursery workers have to reapply for a new certificate every
:20:38. > :20:42.time they move jobs. But from next year, workers will apply just once,
:20:42. > :20:47.and the results will be held online, available for voluntary groups,
:20:47. > :20:52.charities and employers. We employ more than 2000 people, so obviously,
:20:52. > :20:56.to give us the flexibility to be able to move stuff around, and also
:20:56. > :21:00.to meet our recruitment needs more effectively, it will be a real
:21:00. > :21:04.bonus for us. Over 12 months, 4 million people applied for a
:21:04. > :21:08.criminal records check. Over the past seven years, 150,000 people
:21:08. > :21:17.were found to be unsuitable, and nearly a quarter of those applying
:21:17. > :21:20.were volunteers. More than 100 volunteers help out here at the
:21:20. > :21:26.Cornerstone Day Centre. From April, their criminal records checks will
:21:26. > :21:31.be free. Criminal records checks have cost this centre more than
:21:31. > :21:34.�600. A I have got three, one for a parish, one for the school, and one
:21:34. > :21:41.for a voluntary organisation of which have a trustee. The have got
:21:41. > :21:48.four, two for social services, and two others. How many do you think
:21:48. > :21:51.you actually need? One. It is absolutely crazy. The changes will
:21:51. > :21:54.not affect Scotland and Northern Ireland, they have their own checks.
:21:54. > :21:59.In England and Wales, the Government promises the new system
:21:59. > :22:03.will improve and not compromise safety. As well as the volunteers
:22:03. > :22:07.here, and the nursery staff, this new system will also affect
:22:08. > :22:11.temporary workers, like doctors and nurses. But maybe the real test
:22:11. > :22:18.will come interest, that people feel safe, and protected. The
:22:18. > :22:28.Government says it can deliver. From today, women are facing higher
:22:28. > :22:28.
:22:28. > :22:38.costs for car and life insurance, as new EU wiggles come into force.
:22:38. > :22:43.-- rules. This report from our personal finance correspondent,
:22:43. > :22:47.Simon Gompertz. It is enough to put you off your driving lesson. If 17-
:22:47. > :22:51.year-old Jasmine passes her text next month, she will be faced with
:22:51. > :22:55.a big price rise for young women's driving insurance, bringing them in
:22:55. > :23:02.line with men. Until today, they have paid more because they have
:23:02. > :23:08.more accidents. That we should have to pay more for insurance, it is
:23:08. > :23:15.wrong. At a traffic light, males will just zoom off, but ladies will
:23:15. > :23:20.move off with care. Because of a.30 port -- because of a European
:23:20. > :23:29.called ruling, young women's car insurance will be no more than 30%
:23:29. > :23:34.more expensive. There will also be increases in life assurance costs.
:23:34. > :23:36.Insurers say the ban on different prices for men and women is a
:23:36. > :23:42.backwards step, because by giving them discounts, they could be
:23:42. > :23:47.encouraged them to drive well. -- they could be encouraging them.
:23:47. > :23:55.more that insurance premiums can incentivise safe driving, the
:23:55. > :24:00.better. It is not much comfort to Jasmine that young men could see a
:24:00. > :24:07.small cut in the cost of cover. For many young people, car insurance is
:24:07. > :24:10.virtually impossible to afford already. Now, it is the end of an
:24:10. > :24:16.era for children's television today, with the final broadcast of kids'
:24:16. > :24:26.programmes on BBC One. Lizo Mzimba looks back at some memorable
:24:26. > :24:29.moments. Hello, children. Here I am again with the Picture Book. Even
:24:29. > :24:38.before BBC One, when there was only one channel, the BBC television
:24:38. > :24:46.service, children's programmes were one of its cornerstones. And when
:24:46. > :24:50.BBC One began, in the 1960s, informing... And entertaining a
:24:50. > :24:54.young audience remained one of its priorities, something that has
:24:54. > :24:58.continued to this day, with a decade after decade of much-loved
:24:58. > :25:01.programmes. This afternoon's line- up will be the last to be shown on
:25:01. > :25:11.BBC One. After today, they will only broadcast on digital
:25:11. > :25:16.children's channels. Children mostly watch on CBBC and CBeebies,
:25:16. > :25:19.and increasingly, they watch on iPlayer. Demand for programmes on
:25:19. > :25:24.BBC One and BBC Two has gone down slowly over the last few years.
:25:24. > :25:28.Some think it is a worrying step, and that TV in the future will
:25:28. > :25:32.connect with fewer children. Children's television was not
:25:32. > :25:36.bringing in enough ratings to justify its position on network
:25:36. > :25:43.television. As to the future, who knows, but it is clear that this
:25:43. > :25:49.new generation of children are going to be very hard to reach with
:25:49. > :25:55.television. Whatever the future holds, today marks a for a while to
:25:55. > :26:05.BBC One, and for generations who were once Young, avid viewers, it
:26:05. > :26:05.
:26:05. > :26:08.means the end of an era. Now, this morning at 11:11am, thousands of
:26:08. > :26:14.people believed the world would come to an end. But we are still
:26:14. > :26:18.here. 21st December is the shortest day of the year, and the end of the
:26:18. > :26:28.calendar of the ancient Mayan civilisation. Others have
:26:28. > :26:33.interpreted today as the dawn of a new era for humanity. In the Mayan
:26:33. > :26:35.heartland in northern Guatemala, they celebrated the end of one
:26:36. > :26:43.cycle in the Mayan calendar, and the start of another, in
:26:43. > :26:47.spectacular style. It was still dark here as 11:11am went past, and
:26:47. > :26:50.the sceptics and the rationalists were proved right, and the modern
:26:50. > :26:59.world appeared to carry on, and affected by the prediction that it
:26:59. > :27:03.might come to an apocalyptic end. - - unaffected. Bugarach, a village
:27:03. > :27:08.in southern France, was said to be one of the places where there was a
:27:08. > :27:12.chance of surviving the end of the world. Aliens were said to be
:27:12. > :27:17.waiting nearby to take the fortunate to safety. The village
:27:17. > :27:20.seemed to return to normality, with relief. Every couple of years,
:27:20. > :27:25.there is a new story about the end of the world. It does bother people,
:27:25. > :27:28.people get anxious about it. Partly that is to do with the ease with
:27:28. > :27:32.which stories can spread on the Internet. When you hear the stories,
:27:32. > :27:39.you have to think, who is telling the story, what qualifications do
:27:39. > :27:42.they have, what evidence do they have? In China, an infant are
:27:42. > :27:48.designed this pot as a safe haven against the destructive forces of
:27:48. > :27:51.any potential Armageddon. But it was only some Mayan followers who
:27:51. > :27:57.interpret hated this in terms of a possible doomsday. Others said it
:27:57. > :28:04.heralded a more positive era. And it coincided with the winter
:28:04. > :28:11.solstice, and a bumper crowd was drawn to ancient stone hinge. The
:28:11. > :28:13.world's great mysteries survived the day intact. Since we are still
:28:13. > :28:18.the day intact. Since we are still here, we will have to deal with the
:28:18. > :28:22.terrible weather which is coming your way. Yes, I'm afraid so. Today
:28:22. > :28:27.was much drier across much of the country, but it is only a brief
:28:27. > :28:30.respite. There is much more rain in the forecast right up to Christmas.
:28:30. > :28:40.With that rain, we are expecting further flooding and disruption to
:28:40. > :28:41.
:28:41. > :28:45.travel. In the last 24 hours, the heaviest rain has been in Perth and
:28:46. > :28:49.Kinross. This band is bringing the next area of rain towards the
:28:49. > :28:56.south-west of England at the moment. Most of us are sitting in between
:28:56. > :28:59.those two main areas at the moment. -- reign areas. This evening we
:28:59. > :29:06.have still got some rain in Scotland, but it is not so heavy as
:29:06. > :29:09.it has been. -- rain. Northern Ireland, here, it is still rather
:29:09. > :29:14.grey and misty into the evening. Where we have had the breaks in the
:29:14. > :29:16.cloud, across Wales, the Midlands and the south-east of England,
:29:17. > :29:26.watch out for some mist and fog which will be developing quickly
:29:26. > :29:34.this evening. By secured got -- by 6 o'clock this evening, the rain
:29:34. > :29:40.will be pushing back in. It will be sweeping northwards and eastwards
:29:40. > :29:44.to all areas by the start of the weekend. These warnings from the
:29:44. > :29:48.Met Office will be in place right the way through the weekend. Three
:29:48. > :29:54.main areas are of concern - the south-west of England, which could
:29:54. > :30:02.get a couple of inches of rain, and also, catchment areas for the River
:30:02. > :30:07.Ouse, as well as eastern Scotland. We are all going to get wet, we are
:30:07. > :30:15.all going to get some heavy rain at times. Saturday will be miserable,
:30:15. > :30:24.getting a bit drier in the afternoon for some areas. A cold
:30:24. > :30:29.wind will be blowing for Scotland. Staying whack on Sunday for parts
:30:29. > :30:32.of Scotland. It will be bright and breezy further to the south. But we
:30:32. > :30:37.have got yet more rain arriving in the south-west of England towards
:30:37. > :30:44.the end of the day, courtesy of this weather front. That will keep
:30:44. > :30:47.the wet weather going into Christmas Eve. By the time we get
:30:47. > :30:57.to Christmas Day, it is a little bit colder, but we will have a
:30:57. > :31:00.
:31:00. > :31:03.Our main headline - floods have caused problems on the railways and
:31:03. > :31:09.on the roads as the great Christmas getaway begins. Forecasters are