:00:10. > :00:13.The head of the NHS admits that patients were not the priority
:00:14. > :00:16.during the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. There are
:00:17. > :00:22.calls for Sir David Nicholson to stand down. He says he's staying
:00:22. > :00:27.put, but admits he got things wrong. The leadership of the NHS lost its
:00:27. > :00:32.focus, and I'll put my hands up to that, and I was part of that - it
:00:32. > :00:35.went - but in a sense, my learning through all of that is never to let
:00:35. > :00:40.it happen again. In need of a health check - why the
:00:40. > :00:42.UK needs to do more to tackle preventable diseases.
:00:42. > :00:45.Bankers' bonuses - George Osborne flies to Brussels, saying he won't
:00:45. > :00:49.support EU plans for a cap because it would harm the City.
:00:49. > :00:54.Bringing our forces home - 16,000 troops will return to the UK from
:00:55. > :00:58.Germany, but at what cost? An announcement shortly.
:00:58. > :01:04.And a Bieber backlash - a wave of criticism after the pop star turns
:01:04. > :01:09.up on stage for his young fans two hours late.
:01:09. > :01:13.On BBC London, Ealing Council vote unanimously for an independent
:01:13. > :01:16.panel to scrutinise plans to downgrade four A&E departments. We
:01:16. > :01:26.look at the impact of next month's benefit changes on low-income
:01:26. > :01:45.
:01:45. > :01:48.Hello. A very good afternoon. Welcome to the BBC news at 1.00pm.
:01:48. > :01:51.The head of the NHS has admitted patients were not the priority
:01:51. > :01:53.during the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust which led
:01:53. > :01:56.to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of patients. Sir David
:01:56. > :01:59.Nicholson had been under pressure to resign since last month's public
:01:59. > :02:02.inquiry which said there'd been years of abuse and neglect at
:02:02. > :02:08.Stafford Hospital. But this morning he told MPs he was "absolutely
:02:08. > :02:11.determined" to carry on leading the Health Service. And now there are
:02:11. > :02:18.calls for an emergency commons debate into the matter. Our health
:02:18. > :02:20.correspondent Branwen Jeffreys reports.
:02:20. > :02:25.The failures at Staffordshire Hospital have raised questions
:02:25. > :02:28.about the NHS. How were money and targets put ahead of care? Did
:02:28. > :02:34.pressure from the top create the wrong culture? Today, Sir David
:02:34. > :02:38.Nicholson, who runs the NHS in England, was grilled by MPs when he
:02:38. > :02:41.visited Stafford, why did he not notice problems? It's a funny old
:02:41. > :02:45.trick. It's something that people do when they go on the witness
:02:46. > :02:49.stand, say, "I can't remember. I can't remember." You seem not to be
:02:49. > :02:53.able to remember lots of things that go on. There is this at page -
:02:53. > :03:01.paragraph 116, "I cannot recall what we specifically discussed with
:03:01. > :03:06.regards to any recovery plan." don't - is that a trick? No, no.
:03:06. > :03:12.was responsible - I was responsible for 56 - or 54, 56 organisations.
:03:12. > :03:16.At Staffordshire Hospital, there were warning signs - unusually high
:03:16. > :03:21.death rates, patients and families complaining. Those who lost
:03:21. > :03:25.relatives due to the appalling failures are still angry. Sir David
:03:25. > :03:32.Nicholson now admits he should have met them to discuss their concerns,
:03:32. > :03:34.but they want him to go. Inside Parliament, he faced similar
:03:34. > :03:38.questions. Do you think on reflection that you're the right
:03:38. > :03:42.person to take it - the NHS forward in the long term, or do you feel
:03:42. > :03:47.that there is genuinely a concern that you could be personally
:03:47. > :03:56.conflicted in actually - now that we have other hospital trusts also
:03:56. > :04:01.where we're investigating? I - obviously, I set out before how
:04:01. > :04:05.important it seems to me - I think I have a duty and a responsibility
:04:05. > :04:08.to manage the organisation over these great changes. The NHS in
:04:08. > :04:13.England is going through another massive reorganisation. Can it
:04:13. > :04:18.afford to lose its top manager now? Could it be damaging for the Health
:04:18. > :04:22.Service if he stays? Let's talk to our political
:04:22. > :04:26.correspondent, Norman Smith. It was an uncomfortable grilling, to say
:04:26. > :04:29.the least, but he's adamant he wants to keep his job. Can he?
:04:29. > :04:33.was told at the start of the session this is not a trial, but
:04:33. > :04:37.that's exactly what it turned out to be, as he was pretty much
:04:37. > :04:40.bounced around the walls by MPs, many of whom clearly take the view
:04:40. > :04:43.that as head of the regional health authority responsible not for
:04:43. > :04:51.running mid Staffs but for overseeing it, he should go. His
:04:51. > :04:54.defence, to quote him, "I didn't know. I had no idea -" left MPs
:04:54. > :04:59.incredulous, accusing him of turning a blind eye, seeking to
:04:59. > :05:04.bury bad news, failing to look at that most basic of indicators, the
:05:04. > :05:09.mortality rate, failing to talk to patients' groups. On the plus side
:05:09. > :05:12.for Sir David, though, this lunch time, Jeremy Hunt and Downing
:05:12. > :05:15.Street have, as it were, thrown a comforting arm around him, and it
:05:16. > :05:19.seems to me at the moment - I stress at the moment - the
:05:19. > :05:22.calculation in Downing Street is whatever his performance this
:05:22. > :05:26.morning, whatever the likely torrid headlines tomorrow, whatever the
:05:26. > :05:29.disquiet amongst MPs, for the moment, the calculation in Downing
:05:29. > :05:34.Street is that such is the change the NHS is going through at the
:05:34. > :05:37.moment, they absolutely do not want to throw overboard the man at the
:05:37. > :05:40.top. OK, normalan. For now, thank you.
:05:40. > :05:43.Heart disease, stroke and cancer - they are some of the biggest
:05:43. > :05:45.killers in the UK, and a major study says we're lagging behind
:05:45. > :05:48.many Western countries when it comes to stopping people dying
:05:48. > :05:51.prematurely from them. But the report in the medical journal the
:05:51. > :05:58.Lancet says average life expectancy is rising sharply too. Our medical
:05:58. > :06:02.correspondent Fergus Walsh has been looking at the figures.
:06:02. > :06:10.The health of our nation is improving. In just 20 years,
:06:10. > :06:15.average life expectancy has jumped four years to 79.9 years, and
:06:15. > :06:19.Britons can expect to live 68.6 years in good health, which has
:06:19. > :06:22.also improved, but on both measures, we're below average for leading
:06:23. > :06:25.European countries. If you look at the comparison between different
:06:25. > :06:28.countries, it's countries like Greece, Spain and Italy that are
:06:28. > :06:32.doing better than us, so I don't think any analysis would say this
:06:32. > :06:37.is about money. It may be about what we do with the money. It's
:06:37. > :06:44.about how we configure services, how we work together, how we get
:06:44. > :06:50.different services working together. Despite all the - tobacco, smoking
:06:50. > :06:54.renains biggest cause of ill health followed by obesity, poor exercise,
:06:54. > :07:02.high blood pressure and alcohol. Among the most starting increases
:07:02. > :07:06.in the last 20 years are deaths from Alzheimer's disease, up 137%
:07:06. > :07:08.and deaths from cirrhosis are up 67%. We have seen in the last 20
:07:08. > :07:12.years an increase in the affordability of alcohol, so
:07:12. > :07:16.alcohol has become relatively much cheaper than it ever has been
:07:16. > :07:20.before. We have also seen an increased accessibility of alcohol.
:07:20. > :07:28.It's quite easy to pick up a bottle of wine when you go to the
:07:28. > :07:33.supermarket to pick up a bottle of milk, so these contributors are
:07:33. > :07:37.contributors that lead to heavy conshumption. The Government
:07:37. > :07:40.accepts the UK is lacking behind other developed nations and has
:07:40. > :07:45.launched plans to cut deaths from heart disease and other major
:07:45. > :07:48.causes. The jury in the trial of a couple
:07:48. > :07:51.accused of killing their six children in a house fire have been
:07:51. > :07:54.hearing from forensic experts. Mick and Mairead Philpott and their
:07:54. > :07:57.friend Paul Mosley deny manslaughter. A petrol analyst told
:07:57. > :08:00.the court that all three defendants had traces of different types of
:08:00. > :08:07.petrol on their clothing. Our correspondent Jeremy Cooke is
:08:07. > :08:13.outside the court. Jeremy. Yes, today's evidence has been very much
:08:13. > :08:17.about petrol. Now, we know the jury's previously been told that
:08:17. > :08:20.the fire at the Philpott family home started in the hallway, and it
:08:20. > :08:24.was started, they had been told, with petrol, but today, this
:08:24. > :08:28.morning, they have been given a lot more detail about the science -
:08:28. > :08:34.PROBLEM WITH SOUND The court has been told that the
:08:34. > :08:37.fire spread quickly through the house at Victory Road within
:08:37. > :08:42.minutes of it starting in the hallway. And investigators have
:08:42. > :08:45.concluded that it was started with petrol. Today expert witness
:08:45. > :08:49.Rebecca Dual spoke about the detailed analysis of samples taken
:08:49. > :08:56.from the scene of the fire that made it possible, she said, to
:08:56. > :09:01.identify which brand of petrol was used. This is the 16th day of the
:09:01. > :09:04.trial in which Mick Philpott and Mairead Philpott and their co-
:09:04. > :09:11.accused deny six counts of manslaughter. The expert witness
:09:11. > :09:15.said samples from the hallway were a match for fuel and residues of
:09:16. > :09:19.total petrol were found in the U bend of the kitchen sink. Later the
:09:19. > :09:24.jury was told traces of total petrol were found on the clothing
:09:24. > :09:29.of all three defendants. Mick Philpott's trainers also tested
:09:29. > :09:32.positive for low levels of additives from Shell fu. All six of
:09:32. > :09:35.the Philpott's children died as a result of the blaze last May. The
:09:35. > :09:40.jury has been told they would have been overcome by smoke as they
:09:40. > :09:45.slept in their beds. The expert witness will be back on
:09:45. > :09:47.the stand this afternoon. It's expected that she will be cross-
:09:47. > :09:53.examined by - PROBLEM WITH SOUND
:09:53. > :09:54.. All three defendants deny the counts of manslaughter against them.
:09:54. > :09:56.The case - PROBLEM WITH SOUND
:09:57. > :09:59.Apologies for the breakup on that picture there.
:09:59. > :10:02.The Chancellor, George Osborne, says he cannot support European
:10:02. > :10:05.Union proposals to cap bankers' bonuses. The legislation, which is
:10:05. > :10:08.backed by the rest of the EU, sets a limit at one year's salary. But
:10:08. > :10:12.Mr Osborne told a meeting of EU Finance Ministers in Brussels that
:10:12. > :10:21.the UK wanted more negotiations. Well, our Europe correspondent
:10:21. > :10:25.Chris Morris is in Brussels. Is he going to get it? I think he'll get
:10:25. > :10:28.more negotiation, but I don't think he can stop the overall package
:10:28. > :10:33.going through. It only needs a qualified majority, and that
:10:33. > :10:38.majority is clearly there, so we will see a cap on bankers' bonuses
:10:38. > :10:42.of one year's salary, rising to two if a majority of bank shareholders
:10:42. > :10:47.agree to that. What he might be able to do is chip away at the
:10:47. > :10:50.edges somewhat, maybe change some of the terms, create some
:10:50. > :10:55.exemptions because other countries would like to seek consensus with
:10:55. > :11:02.the UK, but they're only prepared to go so far. Is he really as
:11:02. > :11:06.isolated as he appears on this? is isolated in many ways because -
:11:06. > :11:09.I suppose for two reason, really - other countries don't need to take
:11:09. > :11:14.such account of the financial sector because it is a much less
:11:14. > :11:17.significant part of their economy, and secondly, because a cap on
:11:18. > :11:22.bankers' bonuses is politically very popular. Take Germany, for
:11:22. > :11:26.example, a country which often sides with the UK on matters of
:11:26. > :11:31.financial regulation. It's got an election coming up later this year.
:11:31. > :11:35.The opposition has made a cap on bankers' bonuses a key election
:11:35. > :11:40.issue, so the Government of Chancellor merk is in no mood to
:11:40. > :11:45.hand them a pre-election gift, so I think those two things combined -
:11:45. > :11:50.there are those who see this as the shape of things to come, a more
:11:50. > :11:54.united eurozone gagging up on the City of London, but I think those
:11:54. > :11:58.immediate imperatives are what's at play here.
:11:58. > :12:02.For over 70 years British forces have had a presence in Germany. Now
:12:02. > :12:05.the MOD is bringing them back to the UK at a cost of nearly �2
:12:05. > :12:08.billion. 16,000 troops and their families will have to be rehoused.
:12:08. > :12:11.In the next few minutes, the Government is due to announce how
:12:11. > :12:14.that it affect bases here in the UK. Our defence correspondent Caroline
:12:14. > :12:20.Wyatt has been to one British barracks in Germany, where the move
:12:20. > :12:25.is already underway. The historic move out of Germany has already
:12:25. > :12:32.begun. British forces have been based here since 1945, but the pace
:12:32. > :12:37.of their return is quickening. Now 7 Regiment Royal Logistics
:12:37. > :12:42.Corps are to swap this for Rutland back in the UK.
:12:42. > :12:46.Had a good day? Lance Corporal Stephen Cross and his wife have
:12:46. > :12:50.lived here for a year-and-a-half in Germany, but both are keen to move
:12:50. > :12:55.back home, closer to their families in Huddersfield. It's nice to
:12:55. > :12:59.sample a different country, but I would be glad to get back home now
:12:59. > :13:03.I think, back to the UK. Yes, I am very much looking forward to going
:13:03. > :13:07.back now and being quite close to my family, so it's a bonus.
:13:07. > :13:13.they happy about it as well? Yes, very happy, especially my mum. She
:13:13. > :13:17.can't wait for me to come back. move itself is a huge logistical
:13:17. > :13:24.challenge, ensuring that work can continue until the last minute,
:13:24. > :13:28.even as kit vehicles and office are moved. It is difficult, but we've
:13:28. > :13:33.got a lot of units that are here to support us and to make sure we've
:13:33. > :13:37.got the right advice, the right equipment the right vehicles and
:13:37. > :13:42.transport to get the regiments back toot UK. It's still a huge task,
:13:42. > :13:46.but it's not impossible. There are dozens and dozens of these
:13:46. > :13:51.isocontainers full of kit that have got to come back to the UK. That's
:13:51. > :13:54.not just for this unit alone, but across Germany something like 5,000
:13:54. > :14:01.soldiers plus their families, so perhaps 30,000 people in all, will
:14:01. > :14:06.be moving back to the UK ending in 2020.
:14:06. > :14:09.For many who are moving, a key concern remains their children's
:14:09. > :14:19.education and whether the schooling and the health care will be as good
:14:19. > :14:27.
:14:27. > :14:32.as it has been in these small The head of the NHS has admitted
:14:32. > :14:42.that patients were not the priority at the Staffordshire health Trust.
:14:42. > :14:53.
:14:53. > :15:01.Coming up, a stargazer's paradise Coming up in London - teachers say
:15:01. > :15:05.they are being bullied in Northolt. The most senior judge in the UK
:15:05. > :15:12.says he fears cuts to the legal aid budget, due to come into effect
:15:12. > :15:14.next month, could undermine the rule of law. Lord Neuburger, the
:15:14. > :15:20.President of the Supreme Court, says he is concerned that some
:15:20. > :15:24.people could be tempted to take the law into their own hands. If the
:15:24. > :15:29.Home Secretary is unhappy with the decision of a judge, or group of
:15:29. > :15:32.judges, the sensible course is to appeal that decision. If, as a
:15:32. > :15:39.result of an appeal, the Home Secretary still gets an answer they
:15:39. > :15:42.do not like, then they can change the law. For ministers to attack
:15:43. > :15:48.judges in public undermines public confidence probably in both
:15:48. > :15:54.ministers and judges, and is unfair, because the judges and certainly
:15:54. > :16:00.should not reply. So it becomes a one-way argument. To explain more,
:16:00. > :16:07.Home Secretary -- our legal correspondent, Clive Coleman, joins
:16:07. > :16:11.us. Yes, a fortnight ago, the Home Secretary made some criticisms of a
:16:11. > :16:14.group of immigration judges who she said were flouting the will of
:16:14. > :16:17.Parliament by applying human rights laws in a way such that serious
:16:17. > :16:23.criminals, who had committed serious offences in this country,
:16:23. > :16:27.could not be deported because they don't right to a family life was
:16:27. > :16:32.being upheld by judges in a way that Parliament had not intended.
:16:32. > :16:34.We get these arguments occasionally between judges on the one hand, a
:16:34. > :16:39.powerful part of the constitution, and on the other hand, the
:16:39. > :16:44.Government, the executive ministers, gets upset if there will is not
:16:44. > :16:49.being enforced. It is considered bad form for individual judges to
:16:49. > :16:52.answer ministers directly. However, occasionally, you will get a senior
:16:52. > :16:58.judge, like Lord Neuburger, who will come out to defend the judges,
:16:58. > :17:02.if you like. On the issue of legal aid, he did go on to say that
:17:02. > :17:05.despite the fact that this was intended to cut costs, it would
:17:05. > :17:10.actually cost more to make these changes, and people would not be
:17:10. > :17:13.getting the justice they deserve. This is what he had to say. If the
:17:13. > :17:18.Home Secretary or any government minister is unhappy with a judge or
:17:18. > :17:22.group of judges, the sensible course is to appeal that decision.
:17:22. > :17:27.If as a result of that appeal, the Home Secretary or other ministers
:17:27. > :17:33.still gets an answer they do not like, then they can change the law.
:17:33. > :17:37.For ministers to attacked judges in public undermines public confidence
:17:37. > :17:42.probably in both ministers and judges, and it is unfair, because
:17:42. > :17:48.the judges cannot and should not reply. So it becomes a one while
:17:48. > :17:52.demand. Sorry, that was the same piece of tape that we saw earlier.
:17:52. > :17:57.On the delayed, what he said was that he was very concerned. On the
:17:57. > :18:01.1st April this year, major cuts to legal aid come into force, �350
:18:01. > :18:06.million the Government wants to cut from the budget, and they are doing
:18:06. > :18:10.that by taking entire areas of civil law out of legal aid, areas
:18:10. > :18:14.like family law, divorce, people trying to sort out custody and
:18:14. > :18:19.access in relation to children. From 1st April, people on modest
:18:19. > :18:22.incomes who were entitled to legal aid will no longer get it. What
:18:22. > :18:26.Lord Neuburger was saying is that he fears that as a result of that,
:18:26. > :18:30.there will be less access to justice, and that people may, if
:18:30. > :18:37.they cannot get the problems resolved in court, be tempted to
:18:37. > :18:42.take the law into their own hands. After the Eastleigh by-election
:18:42. > :18:45.last week, there is another constituency in the political
:18:45. > :18:49.spotlight this weekend. In Northern Ireland, voters will be deciding
:18:49. > :18:59.who will be taking on Martin McGuinness's former seat, Mid
:18:59. > :19:03.
:19:03. > :19:07.Ulster. There are the usual pledges and promises on the doorstep, but
:19:07. > :19:10.the campaign in Mid Ulster is rather different to other by-
:19:10. > :19:14.elections. It is not just about the future of his constituency, it is
:19:14. > :19:18.also about the past in Northern Ireland. More than 30 years ago,
:19:18. > :19:22.Eric Lutton was shot dead by the IRA because he had been a police
:19:22. > :19:28.officer. His son is one of the candidates in this campaign.
:19:28. > :19:33.Another is a man who was named in Westminster under parliamentary
:19:33. > :19:37.privilege as being a suspect in his murder. Sinn Fein's Francie Molloy
:19:37. > :19:41.has always denied any part in the attack. But he knows that the
:19:41. > :19:48.killing his casting a shadow of the campaign. I think people will see
:19:48. > :19:51.through it, and I have probably done as much for reconciliation and
:19:51. > :19:58.dealing with the issues of victims here as anybody else in the
:19:58. > :20:01.constituency. Nigel Lutton is not used to the cameras. The only
:20:01. > :20:05.unionist candidate is new to traditional campaigning. And many
:20:05. > :20:09.believe he has only been selected because of the past. No matter who
:20:09. > :20:18.had stood, I think I would have taken the challenge on board. It is
:20:18. > :20:22.not about his past or my past. cross-community Alliance Party says
:20:22. > :20:26.the real concerns are jobs and the economy. I met a lady the other day
:20:26. > :20:29.who was devastated by the fact that all five of her children are living
:20:29. > :20:35.and working abroad. She wonders what on earth she will see them
:20:35. > :20:40.again. As they campaign in the streets, the nationalist SDLP say
:20:40. > :20:46.voters want to talk about the future. People say, we do not want
:20:46. > :20:49.the past being raked over, we want to talk about the present. But in
:20:49. > :20:55.Northern Ireland, political and personal history is not forgotten,
:20:55. > :20:59.which has added an age to this by- election campaign.
:20:59. > :21:02.Retail sales grew last month at their fastest rate for more than
:21:02. > :21:07.three years. The British Retail Consortium said they were up by
:21:07. > :21:10.2.7% compared with the same month last year. With the details, our
:21:10. > :21:16.business correspondent Emma Simpson. That sounds pretty positive - is
:21:16. > :21:23.it? It is a surprisingly good set of figures from the trade body for
:21:23. > :21:28.the industry. The key figure is that increase of 2.7%. That is in
:21:28. > :21:32.like-for-like sales, compared with the previous February. These are at
:21:32. > :21:37.stores which have been open for more than one year. This is the
:21:37. > :21:42.strongest sales growth we have seen in more than three years. It breaks
:21:42. > :21:47.down like this... Food was sluggish, so it is non-food which is seeing
:21:47. > :21:54.the strongest growth, sales of electronic items, like tablets, as
:21:54. > :22:01.well as clothing and home were. Once again, it is online which has
:22:01. > :22:05.been the stand-out performer, up by nearly 11% on the year. In fact,
:22:05. > :22:10.just about every part of retail has been up in this survey. That brings
:22:10. > :22:13.me to the next point - is it really a true picture, with online up, and
:22:13. > :22:18.yet some of the big names on the high street actually having gone
:22:18. > :22:23.under? That's right. Retail has become incredibly polarised. We all
:22:23. > :22:26.know about the recent high-profile administrations, and much of that
:22:26. > :22:31.is to do with structural problems in the business model, because of
:22:31. > :22:36.the rise of online. Here's what the British Retail Consortium had to
:22:36. > :22:40.say about it. We have seen a number of significant retail failures over
:22:40. > :22:43.the last 12 months, which would appear to be at odds with the
:22:43. > :22:48.decent spending growth which we are now seeing for a second month in a
:22:48. > :22:51.row. What has happened is that is slight revival in willingness to
:22:51. > :22:55.spend on the part of customers has come too late for some retailers,
:22:55. > :22:58.and it is also the case that the retailers who have survived have
:22:58. > :23:05.benefited from some of the spent that would have gone to those who
:23:05. > :23:15.failed. Of course, this is only one survey, and we are talking about
:23:15. > :23:16.
:23:16. > :23:18.have painted a different picture since the start of the year. And as
:23:18. > :23:25.for the apparent upturn, the question is, will it last? Business
:23:25. > :23:32.of another kind, show business, and the Michael Jackson has apologised
:23:32. > :23:35.after Justin Bieber was late on stage last night. -- the O2 Arena
:23:35. > :23:40.has apologised. Parents were furious that he had kept young fans
:23:40. > :23:45.waiting on a school night. In the past few minutes, the pop star has
:23:45. > :23:50.said sorry and promised that tonight's gig will be on time. This
:23:50. > :23:54.report from Lizo Mzimba. He is one of the best singers in the world, a
:23:54. > :23:58.19-year-old who has taken the music industry by storm. He has more
:23:59. > :24:03.Twitter followers than anybody else on the planet. He has millions of
:24:03. > :24:07.devoted young fans, and for them, he can almost do no wrong. But
:24:07. > :24:13.being late last night upset many, who had saved up for weeks and had
:24:13. > :24:18.to leave before the event had even finished. Those still there when he
:24:18. > :24:22.appeared were delighted that he was finally on stage. But for many,
:24:22. > :24:28.that did not make up for the delays. These parents had a particular
:24:29. > :24:36.message for the star. Make my nine- year-old daughter happy. It was her
:24:36. > :24:42.birthday apartment -- present, and you have upset her. The kids I took
:24:42. > :24:48.were 14, but there were a lot there who were much younger. They were
:24:48. > :24:52.either falling asleep or they had to be taken home. This afternoon,
:24:52. > :24:57.Bieber used Twitter to say sorry to his fans, blaming technical issues
:24:57. > :25:00.for the delayed start, saying that he was 40 minutes late on to the
:25:00. > :25:06.stage, but adding that there was no excuse for that and apologising to
:25:06. > :25:10.anybody who was upset. The singer will be playing the O2 again this
:25:10. > :25:20.evening as part of his world tour. He has promised that tonight will
:25:20. > :25:26.
:25:26. > :25:29.run on time. Just how dark can do night sky get? The skies over the
:25:29. > :25:31.Northumberland National Park certainly fit the bill. The local
:25:31. > :25:39.authority is bidding for it to become the largest dark sky reserve
:25:39. > :25:43.in Europe. Our correspondent went to investigate. In a remote part of
:25:43. > :25:46.the Border forests in Northumberland, high on a hill sits
:25:46. > :25:51.a strange looking wooden building. People travel many miles to get
:25:51. > :25:57.here to look out at the sky. This is the award-winning Kildow
:25:57. > :26:03.Observatory, one of the best places in the UK to see the stars. It is
:26:03. > :26:08.at last cool to be an astronomer. For 25 years, I kept it secret! But
:26:08. > :26:13.now, of course, it is cool to be an astronomer, which is brilliant.
:26:13. > :26:17.People ask you questions about the universe, which is great. And this
:26:17. > :26:21.is what they come here to see through the telescopes -
:26:21. > :26:26.extraordinarily clear use of galaxies and stars, at a mind-
:26:26. > :26:30.boggling distance from Earth, things which cannot be seen in most
:26:30. > :26:34.parts of the UK. It is dark and you can hardly see me, but that's the
:26:34. > :26:39.point of this place. The authorities here are not complacent.
:26:39. > :26:43.They are now bidding for this part of the UK to become a dark sky
:26:43. > :26:48.reserve, and if successful, it will be the biggest of its kind in
:26:48. > :26:52.Europe. But to be given such status means that the few people living
:26:52. > :26:56.here have to minimise their light pollution. Alistair Murray has
:26:56. > :27:03.already adapted his farm so it does not shine like a beacon in the
:27:03. > :27:08.landscape. All I had to do was a just one light fitting. I was
:27:08. > :27:12.really surprised how little I had to do. But how big a job is it to
:27:12. > :27:17.get hundreds of square miles dark enough to be recognise as one of
:27:17. > :27:20.the best places on the planet for the night sky? Often, it is a case
:27:20. > :27:25.of adjusting the lights that you have on the outside of your
:27:25. > :27:30.property. If you have got them angled upwards across the porch,
:27:30. > :27:33.then you can just simply correct it by turning them to one side and
:27:33. > :27:38.literally shining the light onto the ground. And it is not just the
:27:38. > :27:42.stars which stand out here. A few months ago, the beautiful northern
:27:42. > :27:46.lights could be seen dancing across the sky. Northumberland will soon
:27:46. > :27:52.find out if it meets with international approval. It could
:27:52. > :28:01.then join Exmoor, the Brecon Beacons and south-west Scotland as
:28:01. > :28:05.being the perfect location to ponder our place in the universe.
:28:05. > :28:08.On that note, speaking of the weather, which has been wonderful,
:28:08. > :28:14.or so I am told - you told us or so I am told - you told us
:28:14. > :28:19.yesterday that it would be... Yes, for most places, this could be
:28:19. > :28:23.the warmest day of the year so far. Most places will be dry and sunny
:28:23. > :28:27.for the rest of the day, but not everywhere. Make the most of your
:28:27. > :28:37.sunshine, because looming large, all of this cloud in the Atlantic,
:28:37. > :28:47.which is heading a strong way. -- heading a strong way. This was the
:28:47. > :28:50.
:28:50. > :28:58.scene in York this morning. -- heading our way. Quite cold around
:28:58. > :29:04.the North Sea coast. Inland, temperatures are soaring. It could
:29:04. > :29:08.get up to 15 degrees today just to the north of London, making it the
:29:08. > :29:13.warmest day of the year so far. This is a sign of things to come,
:29:13. > :29:20.but it should not spoil things too much this afternoon. Again, 15
:29:20. > :29:26.grees possible across northern parts of Devon. A much better day
:29:26. > :29:31.in Northern Ireland, at long last. And also, sunshine in Scotland,
:29:31. > :29:35.away from the north-west of the country. Things changing overnight.
:29:35. > :29:41.Firstly, that cloud coming up from the south-west, bringing patchy
:29:41. > :29:47.rain or drizzle. Secondly, low cloud coming in off the North Sea.
:29:47. > :29:51.Here, a bit chilly tonight. Going further south, it will be
:29:51. > :29:58.significantly milder than it was last night. A big change on the way
:29:58. > :30:02.overnight and tomorrow. This low pressure is throwing ahead some
:30:02. > :30:07.weather fronts, which will bring cloud and rain. It looks like it
:30:07. > :30:16.will be mainly the western side of the UK which would get rain. It
:30:16. > :30:20.will be a very different day from today. With an easterly wind, it
:30:20. > :30:23.will be cold for eastern Scotland and the north-east of England.
:30:23. > :30:30.Further south, that's where we will get the highest temperatures,
:30:30. > :30:40.although not as warm as today. On Thursday, maybe some brightness in