:00:09. > :00:13.A major U-turn on the Government's plans to scrap some GCSEs as the
:00:13. > :00:16.Education Secretary admits some of the reforms were a bridge too far.
:00:16. > :00:18.Just five months after announcing the controversial proposals for an
:00:18. > :00:28.English Baccalaureate Certificate, Michael Gove, abandons the idea and
:00:28. > :00:28.
:00:28. > :00:33.says he'll make GCSEs more rigorous instead. My idea we end the
:00:33. > :00:37.competition between exam boards to offer GCSEs in core academic
:00:37. > :00:43.qualifications and had just one new exam in each subject, was one
:00:43. > :00:49.reform too many at this time. this Government, the words GCSE and
:00:49. > :00:52.fiasco is seen to be linked. This is a humiliating climbdown.
:00:52. > :00:55.The families of two police officers shot dead in Manchester arrive in
:00:55. > :00:57.court as the jury is told they were lured, unarmed, to a house by Dale
:00:57. > :01:01.Cregan and then killed. The veteran broadcaster, Stuart
:01:01. > :01:11.Hall, vows to regain his honour as he appears in court charged with
:01:11. > :01:11.
:01:12. > :01:19.sex offences. The last two months of my life have been a living
:01:19. > :01:22.nightmare. I have never gone Uncovered - widespread use of
:01:22. > :01:25.banned drugs in Australian sport with links to organised crime and
:01:25. > :01:27.possible match-fixing. Later on BBC London: We reveal how
:01:27. > :01:32.Westminster Council is spending millions on families who've lost
:01:32. > :01:42.their housing benefit. And what's it like to live long-
:01:42. > :01:52.
:01:52. > :01:55.term in this temporary Good afternoon and welcome to the
:01:55. > :01:58.BBC News at One. The Education Secretary, Michael
:01:58. > :02:02.Gove, is abandoning plans to scrap some GCSEs in England. He had
:02:02. > :02:07.wanted to replace exams in English, Maths and Science by 2015, with a
:02:07. > :02:10.new, qualification called the English Baccalaureate Certificate.
:02:10. > :02:13.He told MPs in the Commons that some of his proposals had been a
:02:13. > :02:18.bridge too far and he would now concentrate on reforming GCSEs in
:02:18. > :02:28.England to make them more rigorous. Labour's called it a humiliating
:02:28. > :02:34.climb down. Our education correspondent reports.
:02:34. > :02:40.Replacing GCSEs in key subjects would suffer EBC had been key to
:02:40. > :02:45.this Government's reform of exams. So had plans for each exam board
:02:45. > :02:50.course subjects. One of the proposals I put forward was a
:02:50. > :03:00.bridge too far. My idea we end the competition between exam boards to
:03:00. > :03:06.of the GCSEs and have just one, a new exam was one reform too many.
:03:06. > :03:10.Labour was quick to pounce. Under this Government, the words GCSE and
:03:10. > :03:16.fiasco seemed to be linked indelibly. This is a humiliating
:03:16. > :03:21.climbdown. The trouble with the Secretary of State is he thinks he
:03:21. > :03:26.knows the answer to everything. Michael Gove had wanted a return to
:03:26. > :03:30.an O-level type traditional qualification, but his plan for the
:03:30. > :03:35.EBC was met with a storm of criticism from headteachers and
:03:35. > :03:40.teacher unions, from the exam regulator and last week from a
:03:40. > :03:44.strongly worded report. It has led to a climbdown for Michael Gove.
:03:44. > :03:50.The Government does want GCSEs to be made tougher, with more emphasis
:03:50. > :03:55.on end-of-year exams and less coursework. What the EBC
:03:55. > :04:02.qualification qualification being scrapped, the Ebacc remains. This
:04:02. > :04:07.headteacher welcomes the overall moves. There is a lot of confusion
:04:07. > :04:13.about EBC, Ebacc. A lot of people, including many teachers had not got
:04:13. > :04:20.a clear picture. Also, we did not know what the EBC was going to look
:04:20. > :04:25.like. This does give us more focus on the future. The abandoned EBC
:04:25. > :04:29.left out art and creative subjects. It was to be a tougher exam, sat by
:04:29. > :04:33.pupils of all abilities. We were ruling out important subjects that
:04:34. > :04:38.matter to our economy and creating a system that could not measure the
:04:38. > :04:42.ability of every child sitting them within a single paper. I am pleased
:04:42. > :04:47.Michael Gove has listened to the voices of concern. Schools were
:04:47. > :04:51.braced for a major upheaval. This U-turn means many are breathing a
:04:51. > :04:55.sigh of relief. For more on this, we can talk to
:04:55. > :05:00.our political correspondent Vicki Young. How much of a climbdown is
:05:00. > :05:04.this, and how damaging can it be to the Government? You can call it a
:05:04. > :05:08.climbdown, you can call it humility, but Michael Gove wanted to go much
:05:08. > :05:13.further with his reforms by scrapping GCSEs for start he has
:05:13. > :05:18.not been able to do that. You can remember in the regional leaking to
:05:18. > :05:21.a newspaper was seen as a return to the old system of O-levels and
:05:21. > :05:26.CSC's. It ran into opposition from the Liberal Democrats and after
:05:26. > :05:29.that we had the Education Select Committee coming out against the
:05:29. > :05:35.changes and finally, in the exam regulators said this idea wouldn't
:05:35. > :05:39.work, he was trying to go too far, too fast. He has come to this
:05:39. > :05:44.conclusion himself and won't be going as far as he wants to go.
:05:44. > :05:50.There will be changes. He has talked about wanting to bring
:05:50. > :05:53.rigour back into the exam system. GCSEs will change at the beginning
:05:53. > :05:59.of 2015, there will be less coursework, more exams. To some
:05:59. > :06:02.extent he has got part of that and Michael Gove was putting on a brave
:06:02. > :06:07.face saying success means moving from one mistake to mistake, with
:06:07. > :06:12.no loss of enthusiasm along the way. A message to his critics he will
:06:12. > :06:15.carry on with his reforming agenda. A jury's been hearing how two
:06:15. > :06:18.unarmed police women were shot dead in Manchester last year after being
:06:18. > :06:20.lured to a house following a call about a burglary. 29-year-old, Dale
:06:20. > :06:25.Cregan, is accused of killing Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes last
:06:25. > :06:27.September. He is also charged with the murders of father and son David
:06:27. > :06:37.and Mark Short. He denies the charges. Our correspondent Judith
:06:37. > :06:38.
:06:38. > :06:42.Moritz is at Preston Crown Court. What was the jury told? The case
:06:42. > :06:47.against Dale Cregan and nine others it was open this morning at Preston
:06:47. > :06:51.Crown Court. Dale Cregan is charged with murdering the Greater
:06:51. > :06:57.Manchester Police officers, Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes. He is also
:06:57. > :07:03.charged with murdering a father and son, David and Mark Short. The
:07:03. > :07:09.other nine defendants related to charges over the deaths of David
:07:09. > :07:12.and Mark Short. The case began amid high security. The defendants were
:07:13. > :07:17.brought in a police convoy. The judge told the jury it is not
:07:17. > :07:24.unusual to see high-security measures in high-profile cases such
:07:24. > :07:28.as this, and they shouldn't hold any of that against the defendants.
:07:28. > :07:33.Standing in the dock this morning, Dale Cregan, was with the other
:07:33. > :07:38.nine defendants. He stood with his arms folded, looking out at the
:07:38. > :07:43.courtroom as the charges against him were read out. The jury heard
:07:43. > :07:49.details of some of the background to what he is accused of. The
:07:49. > :07:56.prosecution QC, Nicholas Clarke, told the jury Dale Cregan, had been
:07:56. > :08:01.on the run after being involved in the murder of David and Mark Short.
:08:01. > :08:05.On 18th September, Dale Cregan had waited for the two Greater
:08:05. > :08:09.Manchester Police officers. He called them to his house on the
:08:09. > :08:14.pretence of a burglary. He had lain in wait with a firearm he had
:08:14. > :08:19.loaded, and a jury heard he shot them repeatedly with many bullets
:08:19. > :08:22.until his magazine was empty. The veteran broadcaster, Stuart
:08:22. > :08:25.Hall, has vowed to fight sex offence allegations and regain his
:08:25. > :08:28.honour, saying his life has been a living hell since the charges were
:08:28. > :08:32.brought. The 83-year-old appeared at Preston Magistrates' Court this
:08:32. > :08:40.morning. He told reporters that without the love of his family he
:08:40. > :08:45.would have considered taking his own life. Ed Thomas reports.
:08:45. > :08:48.He is used to the cameras and attention, but not like this. For a
:08:48. > :08:53.second time in four weeks, Stuart Hall was surrounded by
:08:53. > :08:58.photographers at Preston magistrates courts. Inside, the
:08:58. > :09:06.broadcaster faced 15 charges. He is accused of raping a 22-year-old
:09:06. > :09:11.woman in 1976. And indecently assaulting 10 girls aged nine to 16
:09:11. > :09:17.between 1967 and 1986. The hearing lasted only several minutes. Inside,
:09:17. > :09:24.he spoke to confirm his name, age and address. Outside he said a lot
:09:24. > :09:30.more. Alas two months of my life have been a living nightmare. I
:09:30. > :09:35.have never gone through so much stress in my life and I am finding
:09:35. > :09:39.it difficult to sustain. Fortunately, I have a very, very
:09:39. > :09:47.loving family and they are very supportive. I think, but further
:09:47. > :09:53.love, I might have been constrained to take my own life. His reputation
:09:53. > :09:59.goes back nearly half a century. He made his name presenting the BBC's
:09:59. > :10:04.It's a knockout in the 1970s and 80s. In 2011 he was awarded an OBE
:10:04. > :10:07.eat. Recently he has been a football reporter for Radio 5 Live.
:10:07. > :10:13.He no longer works for the BBC while the case against him
:10:13. > :10:17.continues. The district judge told Stuart Hall, the charges against
:10:17. > :10:22.him were so serious, he would have to be dealt with at a Crown Court.
:10:22. > :10:27.He was given bail, on condition he surrendered his passport and he had
:10:27. > :10:32.no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 17. Stuart Hall
:10:32. > :10:37.has already denied three separate charges of indecent assault at a
:10:37. > :10:40.previous hearing last month. He will next appear at Preston Crown
:10:40. > :10:43.Court on 1st March. David Cameron is due to join
:10:43. > :10:47.European leaders in Brussels this afternoon to try to reach agreement
:10:47. > :10:52.on the EU budget for 2014 to 2020. Britain and Germany are among some
:10:52. > :10:56.north European countries that want further reductions in spending. But
:10:56. > :10:59.some countries, including France and Italy, want to maintain it. The
:10:59. > :11:01.summit's been delayed, while behind-the-scenes talks go on. We
:11:01. > :11:10.can speak now to our Europe Correspondent, Matthew Price, who
:11:10. > :11:15.is in Brussels for us. A delay already, do we know what the
:11:16. > :11:20.problem is? One official has told me it is our for fine tuning of the
:11:20. > :11:24.main proposal that it will be presented to the leaders of the
:11:24. > :11:28.European Union in this building, in the coming hours. It is an
:11:28. > :11:34.illustration of how difficult it is proving to be to find a compromise,
:11:34. > :11:39.even before this summit begins. Make no mistake, this is a really
:11:39. > :11:42.crucial stuff. What happens in his building in the next 24 hours will
:11:42. > :11:46.define what the European -- European Union does and how much
:11:46. > :11:51.money it has to spend on what it wants to do in the coming seven
:11:51. > :11:55.years. It is of direct relevance to every single citizen living in the
:11:55. > :12:00.EU, and of course to citizens who are parting with their own money in
:12:00. > :12:04.the form of taxes to pay for what goes on here. The actual sum of
:12:04. > :12:08.money is something in the order of less than a trillion Euros. It
:12:08. > :12:13.sounds like a lot of money, but when you spread it out over several
:12:13. > :12:17.years, and the 28 nations that will make up the EU when Croatia joined
:12:17. > :12:22.in the summer, it is relatively small to British Government
:12:22. > :12:25.spending. In terms of that argument you mentioned in the introduction
:12:25. > :12:29.between countries like Britain and Germany who want a tighter,
:12:29. > :12:35.efficient and more controlled budget, to rein it in as much as
:12:35. > :12:39.possible. And other countries like France and Spain who want to see
:12:39. > :12:49.increases, the impression I get is David Cameron and his allies are
:12:49. > :12:53.winning the argument, but it is still going to be tough for them.
:12:53. > :12:58.66 of HMB's 220 stores are to close in the next couple of months in a
:12:58. > :13:03.move which will cost almost 1000 jobs. HMB called in the
:13:03. > :13:07.administrators last month in the hope to secure the company's future.
:13:07. > :13:12.The Bank of England has held interest rates at their record low
:13:12. > :13:16.of 0.5%. It does not been changed for just under four years.
:13:16. > :13:22.From July the Bank of England will have a new governor, Mark Connolly,
:13:22. > :13:25.and today he has been defending his pay deal of �800,000 a year. He is
:13:25. > :13:30.currently the central bank governor in Canada and told MPs his salary
:13:30. > :13:34.will be similar to Sir Mervyn King's.
:13:34. > :13:37.When he moves from Canada, he will become one of the most powerful
:13:37. > :13:42.players in the British economy, as the Bank of England takes on
:13:42. > :13:48.regulation of banks. Today, Mark Connolly, got a taste of things to
:13:48. > :13:53.come. Thanks for coming in. MPs did not take long to talk about his pay
:13:53. > :13:58.deal. You are were mortgages are hard to come by in the UK for many
:13:58. > :14:05.people, including my constituents. Is that why you need an extra
:14:05. > :14:14.quarter of a million a year? offer of the housing allowance,
:14:14. > :14:18.which I accepted his consistent with many arrangements for
:14:18. > :14:23.international executives, who moved for a period to this country, or to
:14:23. > :14:29.other countries. How could he just defy a total package including
:14:29. > :14:33.housing of more than 800,000 a year? My pay and pension is the
:14:33. > :14:39.equivalent to the current governor. He raised the idea of broadening
:14:39. > :14:44.the Bank of England remit targeting inflation of 2%. Today he made it
:14:44. > :14:49.clear he Fowler -- favoured a policy review. The Chancellor said
:14:49. > :14:53.he welcomed the debate. The bar for change is high, but there should be
:14:53. > :14:58.that debate. A relatively short debate because I don't think
:14:58. > :15:03.prolonged uncertainty is in anybody's interest. And then either
:15:03. > :15:08.a read confirmation of the existing framework, or a change. He is at
:15:08. > :15:11.ease in all parts of his native country, Canada. What remains to be
:15:11. > :15:21.seen is how he adapts to the British climate when he starts his
:15:21. > :15:23.
:15:23. > :15:29.new job and the inevitable had wins So could there be changes ahead?
:15:29. > :15:32.There is a careful, polished performance. Lots of detailed
:15:32. > :15:36.answers on monetary policy. Of course he is keen to point out that
:15:36. > :15:40.there are nine members of the Committee to set the interest rates
:15:40. > :15:45.and other parts of monetary policy in the Bank of England. If he
:15:45. > :15:50.wanted to dictate a change he may not be able to achieve it but he is
:15:50. > :15:54.still taking questions. Now we are on to questions about the banks.
:15:54. > :15:58.You could not listen to the technical answers without thinking
:15:58. > :16:02.this is a man who thinks there is room for the Bank of England to do
:16:02. > :16:06.more. That they are not yet on a path out to a strong recovery.
:16:06. > :16:10.Someone with a longer list, if you like, of things that the Bank of
:16:10. > :16:14.England might do to support the economy. So for example he admitted
:16:14. > :16:19.matter of factly, that there may be diminishing returns to quantitative
:16:19. > :16:24.easing, to the policy of pumping money into the country, it may not
:16:24. > :16:30.have the Saddam Hussein effect now as it had at the start. That is not
:16:30. > :16:35.something that the current Bank of England wanted to commit. Saying
:16:35. > :16:40.that interest rates may be low for long time, until unemployment
:16:40. > :16:45.reached a certain level. So no big change. He said he did not want to
:16:45. > :16:48.overturn or have a new framework but willing to use that to a bit
:16:48. > :16:53.more aggressively to support the economy.
:16:53. > :16:58.And the top story: A major U-turn on the Government's
:16:58. > :17:02.plan to scrap some geeses as the Education Secretary admits some
:17:02. > :17:09.proposals were a bridge too far. Coming up: A future without
:17:09. > :17:12.flooding. More than 60,000 at-risk homes to be protected with a new
:17:12. > :17:17.multi-millionlb flood defence programme.
:17:17. > :17:22.On BBC London: A woman who escaped from the fire at Lakanal House said
:17:22. > :17:30.that people were advised to stay in their flats. Captured on canvass,
:17:30. > :17:35.whether the Thames froze over. A now project online.
:17:35. > :17:39.A court's been hearing how the duction wife of disgraced MP, Chris
:17:39. > :17:44.Huhne, confided in a political journalist about how she had taken
:17:44. > :17:47.the speeding noints 2003. The Political Editor of the Sunday
:17:47. > :17:51.Times told the court that Vicky Pryce said that Chris Huhne
:17:51. > :17:57.pressurised her into taking the points.
:17:57. > :18:02.Tom Symonds is at Southwark Crown Court, what else was said? It was
:18:02. > :18:07.given detail about how Vicky Pryce found out that Chris Huhne was
:18:07. > :18:13.pacing the points on to her. It was said that he had nominated her as
:18:13. > :18:18.the driver of the car without consultanting her. She was, it was
:18:18. > :18:23.said, upset about that. Then to 2011, after the point that
:18:23. > :18:27.Chris Huhne revealed to Vicky Pryce who was having an affair.
:18:27. > :18:31.The journalist who was close to Vicky Pryce said she was a very
:18:31. > :18:35.hurt woman that Vicky Pryce did not believe that Chris Huhne did not
:18:35. > :18:38.deserve to be in a position of immense responsibility that he had
:18:38. > :18:43.at the time, in other words the Energy Secretary in the Cabinet.
:18:43. > :18:48.All of this is important. The jury has been told that they have to
:18:48. > :18:54.decide if Vicky Pryce is the sort of woman to be coerced into taking
:18:54. > :18:57.the points. That is the defence. That she was coerced. Liz bell
:18:57. > :19:02.Oakeshott described Vicky Pryce this way, that she was constantly
:19:03. > :19:07.on the verge of tears, that little could tip her into a tearful
:19:07. > :19:12.condition, but that contrasted with the armour, as she put it, the
:19:12. > :19:16.impression she gave as a successful business woman. There is more
:19:16. > :19:20.evidence from Vicky Pryce later on this afternoon. Five hospitals in
:19:20. > :19:24.England are facing investigations over high death rates following the
:19:24. > :19:29.inquiry into failings at Stofford Hospital. This afternoon, the
:19:29. > :19:35.barrister who led the inquiry is meeting relatives of some of the
:19:35. > :19:39.hundreds of patients who died. Dominic Hughes is in Stafford for
:19:39. > :19:45.us now. The families of those who died in the Stofford Hospital
:19:45. > :19:52.scandal and those from across the NHS organisation who have been
:19:52. > :19:56.assessing the Francis Report, but the scale has been clear that five
:19:56. > :19:59.further hospitals, perhaps more, are to be investigated because of
:19:59. > :20:04.higher than average death rates. The faces of some of the hundreds
:20:04. > :20:08.of people, thought to have died after receiving poor care at
:20:08. > :20:12.Stofford Hospital. Today, the friends and relatives, who have
:20:12. > :20:15.campaigned to make the NHS a safer place in the wake of the Stafford
:20:15. > :20:19.scandal are to meet Robert Francis, his report detailed the suffering
:20:19. > :20:24.that some of the patients endured. At Stofford Hospital, itself, the
:20:24. > :20:29.staff have spent the past five years working under the cloud cast
:20:29. > :20:33.by the terrible stories of poor care, but they say that Staffed is
:20:33. > :20:37.now -- Stafford is a different place.
:20:37. > :20:40.Matrons and sisters nurses are out, walking and talking to patients.
:20:40. > :20:44.Checking the chance. Whilst it is not all about audits, it is about
:20:44. > :20:49.talking to people as well. Now, other NHS hospitals find that they
:20:49. > :20:52.are in the spotlight. The NHS medical director is investigating
:20:52. > :20:53.worrying death rates in five hospital Trusts. Colchester,
:20:53. > :20:57.Tameside, Blackpool, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals and
:20:57. > :21:01.East Lancashire Hopsitals NHS Trust, have all had above average death
:21:01. > :21:04.rates for two years. All of the hospitals say that they welcome the
:21:04. > :21:09.investigation. The Care Quality Commission looks
:21:09. > :21:13.at the mortality rates in all of the work that they do. One of the
:21:13. > :21:16.things that must emerge from this is that more of this information in
:21:16. > :21:20.the public domain, not just available to Government or the Care
:21:20. > :21:25.Quality Commission but so that the public knows exactly what is going
:21:25. > :21:30.on in our hospitals. The campaign group, Cure The NHS,
:21:30. > :21:34.helped to expose the Stafford Hospital scandal. The founder,
:21:34. > :21:37.Julie Bailey, whose moth are died in the hospital, warns that this is
:21:37. > :21:42.not an isolated case. There are pockets of this
:21:42. > :21:47.throughout the country. When we say high mortality we are talking about
:21:47. > :21:50.harm. These are people that we are talking about. It is as if this
:21:50. > :21:56.does not matter. That these are not real people. We have to hold people
:21:56. > :21:59.to account for the failings. There is real anger that no-one has
:21:59. > :22:03.ever been held responsible for the disaster that unfolloweded at
:22:04. > :22:09.Stafford Hospital. The families of those who died say that they are
:22:09. > :22:16.determined that will change. We have had an admission by the
:22:16. > :22:20.Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, that it is still far from clear who is
:22:20. > :22:23.responsible for preventing another Staff yord Hospital scandal from
:22:23. > :22:29.developing. That is something that the families here will want to
:22:29. > :22:33.watch out for. Making sure that the politicians keep up with their
:22:33. > :22:38.words of making the hospitals more transparent.
:22:38. > :22:41.A year-long investigation has u uncovered widespread use of illegal
:22:41. > :22:46.drugs in a range of professional sports in Australia it says that
:22:46. > :22:50.organised crime is involved in the doping. The Anti-Doping Agency say
:22:50. > :22:55.it is should serve as a wake-up call to governing bodies from
:22:55. > :23:00.around the world. Chris Bryant has this report from Sydney N a country
:23:00. > :23:04.that loves sports and hates cheats, the allegations of widespread
:23:04. > :23:08.doping have produced what many are kaurling the blackest day in
:23:08. > :23:14.Australian sporting history. The Anti-Doping Agency allege that the
:23:14. > :23:19.use of performance hen enhancing drugs is fas it Tateed by doctors,
:23:19. > :23:24.sports fists and coaches and organised crime. Some athletes are
:23:24. > :23:28.using substances not yet approved for human use. In some cases entire
:23:28. > :23:32.teams have been doped. The findings are shocking. They
:23:32. > :23:38.will disgust Australian sports fans. The work that the Australian Crime
:23:39. > :23:43.Commission has done, has found that the use of prohibited substances,
:23:43. > :23:47.including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs is widespread amongst
:23:48. > :23:52.professional athletes. Multiple criminal offences have
:23:52. > :23:59.allegedly been committed. Athletes who have used illegal substances
:23:59. > :24:04.have been urged to come forward. Standing here today with some of
:24:04. > :24:08.the CEOOs with Australia's sport is a statement to those who seek to
:24:08. > :24:10.ruin sport if you want to dope and cheat, we will catch you. If you
:24:10. > :24:17.want to fix a match, we will catch you.
:24:17. > :24:21.For a country at the forefront of the global anti-doping campaign,
:24:21. > :24:24.the accusations have been shocking. This is the blackest day in
:24:24. > :24:28.Australian sport. Because criminal investigations are
:24:28. > :24:33.underway, the authorities have not revealed which athletes or teams
:24:33. > :24:37.are involved. So tonight a cloud of suspicious hangs over all of
:24:37. > :24:45.Australian sport and fans are left asking, which of their heroes they
:24:45. > :24:50.can trust? Ministers have approved the construction of almost 100 new
:24:50. > :24:54.flood defences across England, that will offer better protection to
:24:54. > :25:01.65,000 homes it is hoped that the �300 million investment will bring
:25:01. > :25:06.peace of mind to the homeowners. Jeremy Cooke reports. Floods, they
:25:06. > :25:11.are destructive, expensive, and frequent. With the extreme recent
:25:11. > :25:15.weather, new flood defences have been put to the test an passed.
:25:15. > :25:20.Communities from Wakefield to Upton on Severn, saved from the rising
:25:20. > :25:25.water. Now the Government says more businesses and home hofpls will get
:25:25. > :25:28.protection. 156,000 spropts a lot of properties.
:25:28. > :25:33.A significant number of people who can go to work, knowing that the
:25:33. > :25:37.house will be safe when they come home and can plan to develop for
:25:37. > :25:40.the future. Building flood defences is an
:25:40. > :25:43.expensive business, but the experience has shown, once the
:25:44. > :25:52.investment is made, it is very likely to pay off.
:25:52. > :25:56.Here in Leeds it means a new � 50 million project. Making this weer
:25:56. > :26:02.movable to control the water flow, but Leeds has not been flooded for
:26:02. > :26:08.decades. So why is this a priority? There will be more thation -- that
:26:08. > :26:10.you can spend the money on. We are taking a priority approach to it.
:26:10. > :26:15.Investing where we can get the benefit.
:26:15. > :26:20.So, on the Somerset levels they are not a priority. Farmland and
:26:20. > :26:25.businesses are under water after months and there is no money
:26:25. > :26:29.announced to help here. The locals are increasingly desperate.
:26:29. > :26:34.Farmers are getting desperate and I know that the householders are, who
:26:34. > :26:40.have had their houses inundated. We need someone to take account for us.
:26:40. > :26:45.Do you feel abandoned? Totally. The economics of flood defences
:26:45. > :26:49.look good. It is calculated at every �1 spent saves �8 in the
:26:49. > :26:59.future, but no everywhere can be protected. Some communities will
:26:59. > :27:00.
:27:00. > :27:06.remine at risk. They are life-like robotic patients.
:27:06. > :27:10.They are used by doctors and nurses who want to practise their skills.
:27:10. > :27:20.The staff can film themselves treating the robots to see how they
:27:20. > :27:20.
:27:20. > :27:22.How are you? John is sick. He's been in a car crash. He is
:27:22. > :27:29.struggling to breathe. These doctors are trying to figure out
:27:29. > :27:32.what to do. If they can't, no-one dies, all medical students train on
:27:32. > :27:35.dummies but these robots are different. They are controlled by
:27:35. > :27:41.computer to react to treatment, second by second.
:27:41. > :27:45.Although we are taught rigidly from protocols and books, what to do in
:27:45. > :27:49.certain situations, it is different with the equipment in the hands and
:27:49. > :27:53.people talking to you and the machines making noises. It is an
:27:54. > :27:57.added stress. So this is a great way to run through a real-life
:27:57. > :28:02.scenario. There are other man Quinns of this
:28:02. > :28:07.family too. There is a child and this is Reg. Over here, a pregnant
:28:07. > :28:13.woman and even a baby. It is cutting-edge technology. It is not
:28:13. > :28:17.the only new technology here. In unseen service corridors, robots
:28:17. > :28:22.are on patrol. Picking up and delivering the teas and the coffees.
:28:22. > :28:27.They are employed to sort out the mail and they have revolutionised
:28:27. > :28:29.the hospital's pharmacy. Cutting out human errors and allowing the
:28:29. > :28:35.staff to concentrate on the patients.
:28:35. > :28:39.One of the first things we have seen is the freeing up of staff. So
:28:39. > :28:44.some routine task can be done safely while the robots are freeing
:28:44. > :28:47.people up, allowing them to spend time on the patient facing the
:28:47. > :28:52.activity. That is what we are achieving here.
:28:52. > :28:56.Back in the virtual A&E, John's lung has collapsed, but the doctors
:28:56. > :28:59.should be able to save his life. They should be able to save many
:28:59. > :29:02.more, thanks to this training in the future.
:29:02. > :29:06.the future. Now the weather with Philip.
:29:06. > :29:10.Sophie, thank you very much. I will try to make it through in
:29:10. > :29:15.the next two-and-a-half mince! The weather is gradually improving. The
:29:15. > :29:18.wind has been a feature. Lighter now. Towards the west a change in
:29:18. > :29:22.hand. A wet morning in Northern Ireland. The western fringes of
:29:22. > :29:26.Scotland too. Here is the reason for it. Cloud coming in from the
:29:26. > :29:33.Atlantic. That will make itself known across the western parts of
:29:33. > :29:39.the British Isles. The rain here increasing. Winter scenes across
:29:39. > :29:43.the high ground. Over the east, some sunshine, but
:29:43. > :29:47.then becoming hazy. There may abconversion of rain to snow in the
:29:47. > :29:51.high grounds of Scotland. There may be a flake on the M8 but not
:29:51. > :29:55.amounting to much. A similar prospect in the high grounds of
:29:55. > :29:58.Wales. Ahead of that, showers out of Liverpool Bay, down to the
:29:58. > :30:02.Midlands. It could get into northern London,
:30:02. > :30:09.but the main reaction is out to the west. There will be rain across the
:30:09. > :30:14.south-west. Even this far south across the moors, there may be
:30:14. > :30:20.winter scenes, but over the west of Cornwall, the wind strong through
:30:20. > :30:23.the evening and overnight. For a time there could be gusts up to
:30:23. > :30:27.50mph. The rain fizzling as we move to the east.
:30:27. > :30:31.The greatest concern is not about the rain or the snow but as the
:30:31. > :30:36.skies clear, the sun comes up, north wist Scotland, Wales, parts
:30:36. > :30:39.of the Midlands, the south-west, you may have a problem with ice.
:30:39. > :30:43.The remnants of the front through Friday, easing towards the east.
:30:43. > :30:48.Again, a flake of something perhaps but nothing to write home about.
:30:48. > :30:52.Then a jolly picture there. Much of Scotland, western England and Wales,
:30:52. > :30:59.a bit of sunshine there. A feature coming in over the shoulder, that
:30:59. > :31:03.will be dom innocent on Saturday, it is one of those day -- that will
:31:03. > :31:08.be the dominant feature on Saturday. Then, and this is the one that is
:31:08. > :31:13.concerning me, the weekend starts off as described, staying on the
:31:13. > :31:18.cold side. There is a risk of snow on Sunday and indeed on into Monday.
:31:18. > :31:21.Initially the threat, we think, there is some uncertainty, will be
:31:21. > :31:25.found over the northern parts of British Isles. That will be snow to
:31:25. > :31:31.lower levels. In the south a wet old day. Then the conversion to the
:31:31. > :31:36.south in time for the rush-hour on Monday. If it matters to you, keep