03/06/2013 BBC News at One

An end to Winter Fuel Payments for the wealthiest pensioners. Shadow

Chancellor Ed Balls unveils plans to save money if Labour wins the next

election. He claims it would save �100 million

a year and promises an iron discipline on public spending.

At a time when Public Services of pensioners and others are relying on

and are a strain, it can no long orbe a priority to pay the winter

allowance to the wealthiest pensioners. Also this lunch time.

The two men accused of the murder of drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich have

made separate court appearances. Banks and building societies are

lending fewer loans to businesses despite a scheme designed to lend

more. Further protests in Turkey between

police and protesters. More than 1,700 people are arrested. Four dead

and nine missing and torrential rain lashed central Europe and countries

on high alert for more flooding. Back on the red carpet. Angelina

Jolie makes her first public appearance since her double mass

ticket mist. -- mastectomy. Very happy to see the

discussion about women's health expanded and that means the world to

me. After losing my mum to these issues, I'm very grateful for it and

I've been very moved. Later on BBC London - calls for the

mayor to allow tube stations to be sponsored in a bid to freeze fares

and more from the inquest into the death of a man being deported on a

Welcome to the BBC News at One. Winter Fuel Payment should be cut

for Britain's richest pensioners, that's according to the Labour

Party. The Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, says if his party wins to

next general election, it would enforce an iron discipline on

spending. The move would affect more than 500,000 people and save around

�100 million, an amount Downing Street called a drop in the ocean.

Here is our Political Correspondent, Chris Mason.

With the squeeze on Government spending showing no sign of ending,

should rich pensioners, perhaps living in houses luke these, still

be given a handout to help them with their heating bills? At the moment,

anyone getting the state pension also gets the winter fuel allowance,

but Ed Balls says if he was Chancellor, that would stop.

In tough economic times, we have to make difficult choices about

priorities for public spending and strike the right balance between

universal and targeted support. So at a time when Public Services that

pensioners and others rely on are under strain, it can no longer be a

priority to pay the winter allowance to the wealthiest pensioners.

the plans, the payments could stop for pensioners with an income of

just over �42,000 a year in today's money. That is around �600,000

people at present and would save around �100 million a year. For the

Treasury, that figure is little more than loose change down the back of

the sofa, but for Labour, it's about wrestling back the right to be taken

seriously on the economy, or, as Ed Balls put it four times in his

speech this morning, showing iron discipline.

What we have seen today is the same old Labour, the Labour Party that's

opposed every measure we have taken to bring the deficit under control.

They've proposed the savings and they've confirmed today that their

plan is simple, more borrowing, more spending and more debt.

This pensioner's leader is worried Labour's suggestion could set a

precedent. Let them do it through taxation, not through universal

benefits, because that could be very dangerous. They could start going

into all sorts of other universal benefits, even like the NHS. Labour

insist whilst the benefit for heating the homes of rich pensioners

would go, free bus passes and TV licences would stay.

The NHS would be a priority. Let us speak to our Political

Correspondent at wealth, Norman Smith. That idea of setting a

precedent, Norman, Labour has traditionally backed the universal

state benefits. How significant a change is it for the party?

Sian, today is really all about symbolism more than it's about

spending, it's about sending out a message rather than clawing back

vast amounts of money on behalf of the taxpayer because it will only

bring in around �100 million. That is a sort of peanut of fiscal

recollect dued, or a thimble full of deficit reduction in a sea of debt.

The importance is the fact that Labour hope it will say to voters,

we are willing to take difficult, uncomfortable decisions. It is, if

you like, offering up the policy as a sacrificial Lamb because the

universal win federal fuel allowance introduced by the last Labour

Government with great fanfare, many Labour MPs remain committed to it.

The hope is that it will earn the Labour Party if you like economic

credibility points with the electorate. The voters think it's

only going to raise �100, that suggests the party hasn't got to

grips with the scale of the economic crisis we are facing, and in a way,

as important as Ed Balls' announcement on the winter fuel

allowance was his suggestion that a future Labour Government would

inherit and work within the coalition spending plans. Now, what

that means, is that if Labour is elected, there 'll still be

difficult decisions, spending squeezes and cuts in the early years

of a Labour Government. Thank you.

Two men charged with the murder of drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich have

made separate court appearances today. 22-year-old Michael Adebowale

appeared at the Old Bailey via a video link and 28-year-old Michael

Adebolajo made his appearance before wealth Magistrates Courts. Tom

Symonds is at wealth Magistrates Court now. Michael Adebolajo was

charged on Saturday after leaving hospital on Friday. This was a

brief, procedural hearing, but the first opportunity for reporters to

get sight of the suspect. Michael Adebolajo was brought to

wealth Magistrates Court under armed escort. Police officers on every

corner. The treatment given to terrorism suspects. Though

technically he's not charged under terrorism legislation. Despite the

police shooting that ended the Woolwich incident, Mr Adebolajo

walked into the dock unaided, his lower left arm was covered with a

large plaster cast, his right hand-held the Koran.

The court was told that from now on, he wanted to be known by the name

Mujahid about Hamza, that was the name the deputy chief magistrate

used. The charges resulting from the death of Lee Rigby were read out,

murder, attempted murder and a firearms offence. He entered no plea

at this stage, though asked a number of questions. The case of his

codefendant, Michael Adebowale, is at a slightly more advanced stage.

He aids peered via video link at the Old Bailey this morning, later this

month the court is to set a timetable for a trial. Michael

Adebolajo was escorted back to Belmarsh Prison after this morning's

hearing, he too will appear at the Old Bailey within 48-hours.

Now, aside from the two events at courts here in London today, there

has also been a meeting separately of a terrorism Task Force set up by

the Government. That's a Cabinet level Task Force with ministerial

and police involvement and one imagines the Security Services as

well, set up following the Woolwich attack. The idea is to deal with the

problem of radicalisation head-on to look at the kinds of messages that

young people might be being given, both in communities and in

education. No details as yet as to what's coming out of that meeting,

but we hope to bring you the details later today. Sian.

Thank you. Later this afternoon, the Prime

Minister is due to give a statement in the House of Commons on the

Woolwich attack. It will be covered on the BBC News Channel.

Lenders have given fewer loans to businesses, despite a recent scheme

designed to boost them in one instance. The part nationalised

Lloyds and RBS, both reduced lending despite borrowing from the Bank of

England under the scheme. As our Chief Economics Correspondent, Hugh

Pym reports, it's helped some households.

Home sweet home. Gemma's baby arrived five weeks ago, soon after

she and her partner, first time buyers, moved into their new house

in Bristol. They'd been looking at homes for

over a year and, with mortgage rates falling, they eventually clinched an

affordable deal. We found that from looking for a property for a year,

that the mortgage rate we could secure as first time buyers this

time last year was a lot higher than the rate we could secure as first

time buyers from January of this year.

A scheme launched by the Chancellor, George Osborne, in partnership with

the Bank of England last year, to try to get banks and building

societies to lend more, has helped bring down mortgage rates, but it

hasn't had the same impact on other types of credit in the economy.

Under the scheme, banks and building societies can borrow from the Bank

of England at cheap rates, as long as they hold or increase lending to

households and businesses. Since last June, Barclays has increased

its loans by �6. 8 billion, and Nationwide's raised its total by �4.

8 billion. RBS's cut lending by �3. 9 billion and Lloyds, the biggest

bank taking part, has seen a fall of �6. 6 billion.

Business loans are down, and many small firms complain they can't get

credit from banks, even if they are making profit and want to expand to

handle rising order books. research shows that confidence is

up, so the beginning of this year from our members' confidence was up,

suggesting small businesses do want to grow, they do want to create the

jobs that our country so desperately needs, but the problem is access to

finance. The Bank of England is reforming the

scheme to give more incentives to lend to small businesses. Critics

say right now it's not doing enough to expand lending across the

economy. Pf Changes will be made to the lobbying

industry in the wake of fresh allegations of sleaze within

Parliament, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg. Three

peers and one MP were secretly recorded appearing to offer to carry

out Parliamentary work for payment. Mr Clegg said he and the Prime

Minister were determined to bring forward reform. Our Political

Correspondent, Louise Stuart, reports.

Three years after David Cameron warned that lobbying who you believe

the next big scandal to break in politics, both Houses have been hit

by damaging allegations. Undercover footage of peers apparently prepared

to carry out Parliamentary work for money has led to Labour suspending

Lord Cunningham and Lord Brian MacKenzie, a third peer Lord Laird

has resigned the Ulster Unionist Party whip, all three deny the

allegations. It comes after the Conservative MP, Patrick Mercer,

resigned the Tory whip on Friday. Today the Deputy Prime Minister says

the Government is determined to press ahead with a register of lob

Iain Duncan Smiths, something promised in the coalition agreement.

We are not going to change everything overnight and no single

measure will stop any politician who's absolutely determined to

behave badly. But that doesn't mean that we can't take worthwhile steps,

including most urgently legislating for a statutory register for

lobbyists. Parliament's rules say peers must not take on paid

advocacy, mustn't seek to profit from membership of the Lords and

must register financial interests. But they can participate in

proceedings in the House, even on subjects in which they have

interests as long as they are declared openly. The Cabinet Office

minister, Francis Maude said lobbying could get under way before

the next election but won't be a panacea. What's been alleged to have

taken place is against the rules already, so no additional law would

have made any difference to that. The proposal for a statutory

register of lobbyists, which we will of course undertake, would not have

made any difference here. Those involved in the lobbying industry

also say more needs to be done to tackle rogue elements.

We don't think the Government's proposals are wide enough. We think

they are too narrow because they focus on just those people doing it

for agencies, consultancies, calling them third party lobbyists. We

believe all organisations should be part of such a list. The Government

says work to introduce a register of lobbyists and a recall bill which

would mean any MP found guilty of serious misconduct, could be forced

to resign is ongoing. Labour say they'll cooperate to introduce

tougher rules quickly in order to try to limit the damage to

Parliament's reputation. The Turkish Prime Minister's called

for calm after thousands of anti-Government protesters clashed

with police on the streets of Istanbul for the third night in a

row. Around 1700 people have now been arrested across the country as

protests which began in Istanbul have spread to other cities. From

Istanbul, James Reynolds roars. -- reports. Late at night, the city

of Istanbul saw its biggest protests so far.

Here, one group of demonstrators got hold of a digger.

They tried to reach the Prime Minister's office. Near the

Bosphorus strait. The police stopped them.

The overnight protests continued, almost until dawn.

The sound echoed across the city's neighbourhoods.

The antigovernment demonstrations have also spread to the coastal city

of Izmir. This region has always mistrusted

the Conservative Government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

People on the coast fear he's trying to impose his own more religious way

of life on them. This morning, in Istanbul, a few

people had a go at tidying up. It is a never ending job.

Protesters want to protect the nearby Gezi Park from a construction

project. But the Prime Minister condemns their actions.

TRANSLATION: The people are forced into protests organised by

extremists. This has nothing to do with Gezi

Park because there isn't an issue about cutting down the trees in Gezi

Park. This is a country which has lived

through plenty of social unrest. The Government has warned its population

not to go back to the past. It says that the people who did all

this are pillagers and looters. In Turkey's Conservative heartland,

many will agree. But here, in Istanbul, the

demonstrators still have plenty of the richest pensioners, Ed Balls

sets out his plans if Labour won the next election. Still to come - code

of the UK soon become self-sufficient in energy thanks to

the supplies of shale gas beneath the North West of England. How

government funding is being offered to people who live near rivers to

clean them up themselves. And remembering suffragettes, 100

the origins of the food they eat? For instance, do they know where

cheese comes from? Might they be confused about what a fish finger is

made of? Research by the British Nutrition Foundation suggests almost

a third of primary school children in the UK think that cheese comes

from plants, where as one in five say that fish fingers are made out

of chicken. They take food seriously here at

this primary school in Essex, where it comes from, and the benefits of

healthy eating are paramount. are root vegetables, and they grow

underneath the ground. On the menu besides cooking, maths, science, and

today, history. It enhances their general learning, as well as giving

them an opportunity to get up close and personal with food, absorbing

the smells and colours and flavours, increasing the range of foods they

will hopefully eat. The children are crucially trusted to use kitchen

knives, exploring the tastes, textures and smells. It is an

approach that is getting the British Nutrition Foundation's taste buds

going, but not everyone is so well informed. A survey of children found

that 18% thought fish fingers came from chickens. Some believe cheese

was harvested from plants. 29% in fact. But the five per day campaign

scored well, 77% of primary aged children knew about it with a figure

rising to 88% for secondary schools, although the number who eat them is

lower. So why is this important? Making the link from the chain of

events that brings the food from the ground to your plate helps to

understand how you can have a healthy, balanced diet. This group

of children agree. You have to know where food comes from because when

you prepare a meal you need to know what kind of food it is unless you

are allergic to it. Food is so important and you can add spices and

you have these ingredients because you don't need to miss them out.

With so much pressure on the curriculum, this school believes

there is still room for teaching children about cooking and food,

especially when linked in with other subjects. They have also found other

benefits, from improved concentration to self-confidence.

They say it is a recipe for success. Three years after his initial

arrest, the American soldier Private Bradley Manning is going on trial

accused of leaking classified military documents and diplomatic

cables to the Wikileaks website. If convicted, he faces life in prison

without parole. To his supporters, he is America's foremost political

prisoner. A man with the courage to lift the lid on the most egregious

examples of US foreign policy. Private Bradley Manning stands

accused of the biggest leak of government secrets in US history.

Among them, battlefield reports and diplomatic cables, as well as this

video of US soldiers shooting at unarmed civilians in Iraq, all of

which has proved deeply embarrassing to the US government. His supporters

are calling for the charges to be dropped. He gave away the truth

about the lies my government has been doing and is still doing.

you don't think he should be prosecuted? Know, in fact I would

nominate him for a Nobel prize. Obama Administration believes

Bradley Manning is a traitor whose actions compromised national

security and put American lives in danger. The trial is expected to

last three months and will hear evidence from more than 100

witnesses. If Bradley Manning is found guilty of aiding the enemy, he

faces the prospect of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Officials in China say a fire at a poultry processing plant has killed

at least 120 people and injured more than 50. About 100 people managed to

escape from the building but the gates were locked and many of the

victims were trapped inside. This report comes from Beijing. It is

China's most deadly blaze in a decade, beginning at 6am when this

processing plant caught fire. The lights went out and people panicked

as they tried to flee the flames and smoke. Many couldn't find a way to

escape and fire crews were unable to get into the building. It is thought

the corridors were cramped, and the gate was locked. TV crews spoke to

survivors. This woman said she heard a huge blast, she thought it was an

earthquake. Everybody started running, she fell and had to crawl

out of the building. Another survivor said she escaped by

climbing out of a window. Smoke came down the corridor, it was burning

hot, it engulfed me, she says. She collapsed unconscious outside. The

company that owns the plant has been operating for three years. The scale

of loss of life in this accident is raising new questions about the

safety of workers being compromised in Chinese factories.

One of the energy firms hoping to exploit the UK's resources of shale

gas says there may be significantly more than previously thought. The

company, IGas, says the area it is licensed to explore may hold up to

170 trillion cubic feet of gas. The chief executive of the firm says

people shouldn't be concerned about fracking, the controversial process

used to get the gas. Big numbers, what does the company say about

this? Yes, and we are interested because fracking has transformed the

US. Let's have a look at the numbers. At the moment, in the UK we

consume 3 trillion cubic feet of gas each year. IGas have previously said

that just on its area that it can explore, that it may well have

access to 9 trillion cubic feet. Today, it has upgraded that estimate

and now believes it may have somewhere between 15-172 trillion

cubic feet of gas beneath it. That is a massive increase, something

like 20 times what it had previously thought, and today the company has

suggested the gas just from its licensed areas in the North West

could make a significant contribution to the UK's energy

equation for years to come. There could be a very significant amount

of gas in place and therefore a significant amount could be

recoverable. If 10% was achievable, we could have an amount of gas that

could make the UK energy independent for maybe the next 10-20 years.

Self-sufficiency in gas, is that likely? The truth is no one knows

how much is down there. The government has asked the British

geological survey to conduct an assessment for how much gas may be

in place for that region in the North West. We expect to get that

number in the coming weeks. Industry sources suggest it will be a big

number. It could be a lot of gas down there, and the industry wants

to get on and start working out how much of that could come out, but

environmentalists are worried fracking could be unsafe and

contaminate our water and lead to the industrialisation of some parts

of our countryside. Angelina Jolie says she feels moved by the support

she has received since announcing she has had a double mastectomy. 's

baking at a film premiere in London, she said she felt wonderful and very

grateful. The mother of six had surgery to reduce her chances of

getting breast cancer. This was Brad Pitt and Angelina

Jolie's first public appearance since revealing she had a double

mastectomy earlier this year. She made the decision because she

carries a gene that gives her a high chance of developing breast cancer

and spoke about the public reaction and how her family has dealt with

it. I have been very happy just to see the discussion of women's health

expanded and that means the world to me. After losing my mum to these

issues, I have been very grateful and I have been moved by the

support. Her partner, Brad Pitt, who she says was with her for every

minute of the surgeries, paid tribute to her courage. I get very

emotional about it because of the act itself, and what it has meant to

others. It has surprised me. She is a very special woman. She is one of

Hollywood's most respected celebrities because of the way she

uses her fame to campaign for organisations like the UN. The

public has wondered if this might alter her behaviour in many way --

anyway. Many will see this as underlining a message that despite

what has been far from easy year, she has not let that affect other

areas of her life. Four people have died and at least

eight people are missing as torrential rains lashed central

Europe forcing hundreds to leave their homes because of flooding and

landslides. Our correspondence reports from Berlin.

In Bavaria, the old city here where three Rivers meet including the

River Danube was underwater. The rivers were expected to rise,

perhaps higher than in the devastating floods of 2002. As

people sandbagged their properties, motorboats varied inhabitants to

safety. In the region, two months' rain has fallen in a few days.

Across the border in Austria there were two tasks, rescuing people and

shoring up river and properties to prevent further damage if the rains

persist. In the Czech capital Prague, the high waters meant the

ancient Charles Bridge had to be closed, a state of emergency was

declared with the Army called in to help. Flood barriers have been

erected and emergency centres set up throughout the west of the country.

The Prague zoo started moving animals to safer, drier areas.

Throughout Central Europe, transport has been disrupted by the high

water, but also by landslides triggered by the rain. The

forecasters say the rain should ease, but water continues to flow in

torrents into rivers from the deluge Let's look at the weather prospects

now. It seems as if it has been one severe weather story after another

in recent months. I want to focus on some positive news, some good news.

You can see high pressure building across the UK. There is the

potential for some decent weather to come across the UK for the rest of

the week. There is some fair where the cloud around at the moment

across Scotland and Northern Ireland, and here we could see some

isolated showers, but elsewhere it will be dry and sunny and starting

to feel quite warm indeed. Some fair weather cloud across England and

Wales, but if you draw your attention to the middle of the

afternoon, further north we could see some sharp showers. Fairly

isolated, but nevertheless fairly sharp. The warmest weather today

perhaps across the sheltered Northwest, we could see high

temperatures of up to 21 degrees. We have a light north-easterly breeze

across the north Sea coast, so here it will feel fresher. As we go into

the evening, the sunshine stays with us, finally losing the risk

overnight of the showers across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Temperatures will fall away sharply, a chilly night to come. Overnight

low temperatures generally of around 8-12d. In the far north, chilly for

many, some cloud lingering across the Kent coast, but generally

speaking the temperatures will respond to the sunshine nicely the

risk of fewer showers in the far north. Always on the north Sea

coast, fresher here, but some decent spells of sunshine. We keep that

theme for the rest of the week, light winds and fewer showers across

the country. There is the potential on Wednesday for a little more cloud