07/08/2013 BBC News at One

rates will remain at their record low, at least until unemployment

falls to 7%. In his first major policy statement since becoming

governor of the bank, Mark Carney said there were clear signs of

growth in the economy. A renewed recovery is now underway in the

United Kingdom. And it appears to be broadening.

Criticism for the barrister who described a child abuse victim as

predatory. David Cameron says he has had a

constructive conversation with Spain's Prime Minister amid tensions

over Gibraltar. How we can possibly be giving �8

billion a month to Bongo-Bongo Land... UKIP tells one of its senior

politicians to refrain from using this language when talking about

international aid. And a warning to be wary when

selling your home through what's known as quick house sale firms,

with concern some people are offered just half the value of the property.

Part of south London is in floods up to a meted deep.

And the eight-year-old porn without ears is given new ones made from his

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. Interest rates will

remain at a historic low at least until unemployment falls to 7%. It's

the first time since the Bank of England began setting interest rates

that it's called for a clear link with the level of unemployment. It

is designed to reassure borrowers that the interest rate won't rise

above 0.5% before 2016, so long as inflation remains under control. The

announcement was made by the new governor of the Bank of England,

Mark Carney, as John Moylan reports. Interest rates decide how fast the

wheels of the economy term. They influence how much we borrow and

spend, affecting mortgages and savings, but until now we have had

to guess if they are heading up or down. Not any more. Enter Mark

Carney, in charge of the Bank of England. He confirmed today that

with the economy still performing well below par, it was time to

provide more certainty around interest rates remaining low.

Monetary Policy Committee intends at a minimum to maintain the currently

exceptional accommodating stance of interest rates until economic slack

has been substantially reduced, provided this does not put at risk

financial stability. Unemployment would have to fall to the threshold

of 7% before interest rates would move. It is currently considerably

higher at 7.8% and the bank's best guess is that it may not reach the

7% threshold until 2016, which could mean three more years of record low

interest rates. That would be welcome news for firms like this one

in Burnley. It creates industrial parts and signs using lasers but the

equipment is expensive, making investment decisions tough. Knowing

that interest rates would be low for a period of time would be great for

business generally. It is not just about us investing, it is about our

customers and their customers being able to invest. It is not just

businesses. Some economists believe forward guidance could also help

give consumers confidence. If the consumer and small business thinks

that interest rates will remain very low at 0.5% for the next two or

three years, then potentially they may go out and buy that car, the

small business may invest, and that will create jobs down the line which

would help the economy. The bank believes a renewed recovery is

underway. According to its quarterly inflation report, it expects annual

growth of 2.4% and inflation falling to its target in two years time, but

while the Chancellor sought to take credit for this new forward guidance

policy, critics warned the government should be doing more.

asked the Bank of England earlier this year to think about whether

they should give more information about the future rates of interest

and I very much support the decision that Mark Carney has announced.

Spelling out how long this era of low interest rates will remain has

been tried elsewhere in the world. What is not known is whether it will

work. In a moment we'll speak to our

deputy political editor James Landale but first let's cross to the

Bank of England and our chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym.

John ended with the question, will this work? Before you answer that,

in terms of Mark Carney's new strategy of forward guidance, tell

us more about that, and will it work?

Is a very big questions. Let's not be under any illusion, this is a

radical new policy that has been unveiled by the new governor of the

Bank of England. A huge amount of interest in this media conference

this morning and he has gone for the version of forward guidance on

interest rates, which many analysts were least expecting, linked

specifically to unemployment going down. He has gone for that. I know

people in the Bank of England thought that was tying the Bank of

England's hands and going too far, but if there are worries about

inflation that cropped up, they can withdraw that forward guidance. Mark

Carney said he was not tying the hands of the Monetary Policy

Committee. The big problem is is it so complicated, with all these

conditions, that consumers and businesses, who the message is meant

to get to, will wonder that they are not any the wiser. The other worry

is if it could potentially stoke up inflation and results at the end of

the forward guidance period interest rates happened to be pushed up

rather faster. But there is a view that this is a clear new departure

for the Bank of England and an interesting one.

Let's look at the political aspects of this. What is George Osborne's

response overall likely to be? Not surprisingly he has welcomed it

this morning. The Chancellor hopes this will engender more confident in

the recovery so people will not just look at statistics, they will say,

the Bank of England has said interest rates will not rise and

therefore we can maybe get out a mortgage and invest a bit more. That

is what George Osborne hopes. Labours say while they welcome what

Mark Carney has done, they say he has shown leadership, they say he is

only doing this because of the weakness of the economy. They are

pointing to Mark Carney saying this is the slowest recovery on record

and the recovery has not reached what he calls escape velocity. They

say you have to do more to stimulate growth and get jobs. The most

significant politics behind this though is that it changes the

question for the next election. Labour are desperately trying to

say, the question for voters should be, which party will do most to deal

with the cost of living, the standard of living? The Conservative

Party say no, the test should be which party is most likely to grow

the economy? Today the Bank of England has said the test for growth

will be unemployment. In other words it has shifted the question away

from standards of living and I think in the long run that will help the

Conservative party over Labour. New can find more about this on our

website. -- you can find. The Crown Prosecution Service has

criticised one of its lawyers for describing the 13-year-old victim of

a child abuse case as predatory and sexually experienced. The Attorney

General is also considering whether the suspended prison sentence given

to the 41-year-old man who had abused her was unduly lenient. June

Kelly reports. Child abuse, an issue which has

dominated the headlines for months. We have learned how high profile

names have got away with it for years and how young victims have

suffered in silence. Now in a court case, a 13-year-old has been

described as predatory by both a barrister and a judge. The

41-year-old who abused her has been given an eight-month suspended

sentence. The prosecution barrister, Robert Colover QC,

especially trained to deal with sex offences, said: The goal is

predatory in all her actions. Of the defendant Robert Colover -- Neil

Wilson, he said, you might say it was forced upon him. The idea that a

13-year-old could be considered predatory in a case like this is an

idea that needs to be stamped on quite strongly. It plays into the

idea that the victim is somehow to blame for her own abuse, which is

something victims worry about. The case was heard at Snaresbrook Crown

Court in east London. The Crown Prosecution Service has condemned

the comments as inappropriate but the judge had agreed with Robert

Colover QC, telling the defendant, the girl was predatory and was

egging you on. That suspended sentence is now under review and the

Prime Minister has joined the debate. The CPS are absolutely right

to say that what one of the lawyers said was not appropriate. We need a

criminal justice system that stands up properly for victims. The victims

of crime should always be at the centre of our thinking. I am pleased

the CPS has made the statement and that the Attorney General has said

he will personally look into this case. After the focus on how victims

have been treated in the past, this case raises questions about

modern-day attitudes and how child victims are viewed in the current

legal system. Our legal correspondent is with us.

How unusual is it that the CPS is criticising one of its own? Does

this suggest awaiting this to change attitudes?

As prosecuting counsel, you are not there to secure the highest possible

sentence. If you know of something that assists the defendant's case,

you are obliged to put that before the court. The question is how was

that material scrutinised and I think it is unusual that the CPS has

so speedily come out with a statement saying the prosecuting

counsel used inappropriate language. We have not got the transcript but

on the face of it, it looked as though something went awry, both in

terms of the prosecutor and the way the judge acted upon that.

And we have learned specialist judges will be assigned to the sorts

of cases. We already have specialist judges

but they have said in response to a report by the Home Affairs Select

Committee, they want an elite group in the most complex of these kinds

of cases, cases where you may have multiple defendants cross-examining

a child victim, he wants judges to be specially selected and trained to

sit on those cases. A senior UKIP politician has been

filmed saying Britain should not send aid to what he called

"Bongo-Bongo Land". Godfrey Bloom, who is a Member of the European

Parliament, made the comments in a video obtained by the Guardian

newspaper. Mr Bloom, who denies being a racist, claims that the

countries given the money sometimes squander it on luxury goods. Louise

Stewart reports. How we can possibly be giving the

thought of money to Bongo-Bongo Land to buy sunglasses and apartments in

Paris, for robberies... Godfrey Bloom made those comments last

month. Today he has defended his choice of words, saying he has had

messages of support from across the country. I spoke to my boss Nigel

Farage this morning and he said I wish you had not said Bongo-Bongo

Land. I said, there we are, Nigel, we don't agree. I think we should,

it needs flagging up, and if I had not said Bongo-Bongo Land we would

not be standing here talking about it, would we. It is not the first

time Godfrey Bloom's comments have got him in trouble. He was expelled

from the European Parliament after directing a Nazi slogan at a German

colleague in 2010. They are racist and offensive to people from those

countries across Africa, they are offensive to ethnic minorities and

the vast majority of people in this for ordinary people. In one sense I

agree with him because we need money here. Maybe he should have phrased

it a bit differently. There are ways of getting your point across.

Bongo-Bongo Land, this is very, I don't know, not exactly diplomatic.

There is little doubt these comments are embarrassing for UKIP. The party

leader has pledged to purge it of intolerance. Critics will argue that

if he is serious about that, he must show it applies to everyone within

the party. Detectives investigating allegations

of threats posted on Twitter have arrested a 32 year-man. --

32-year-old man. He was detained in Bristol in connection with a stream

of violent abuse directed at Labour MP Stella Creasy and campaigner

Caroline Criado-Perez on the social networking site. 11 people have been

killed and 24 injured in an explosion in Pakistan 's biggest

city, Karachi. Many were young boys who had been playing a foot or

match. It is thought militants attached a bomb to a motorbike

outside the stadium, targeting a provincial Minister. David Cameron

has phoned the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to discuss

border controls and Gibraltar, following a formal protest from the

British ambassador to Spain over disproportionate border checks.

What do we know about the phone call?

Two views of the phone call. They may have been talking to each other

but past each other as well. Mr Cameron made it clear to his Spanish

counterpart that while Daschle while there may be visionary disputes, the

way the Spanish have been behaving is unacceptable. He made that clear

to Mariano Rajoy. He has come away with an idea things are perhaps on

their way to being resolved. Certainly a Downing Street spokesman

said that the Spanish Prime Minister indicated some of the restrictions

would be relaxed. But the Spanish, after the telephone call, there does

not seem to be a sign of relaxation and they are sticking to their guns

and are insisting this is the fault of those in Gibraltar for trying to

create an artificial reef and they say they within their rights impose

restrictions, so clearly both sides setting out their position, not much

evidence from the statements there is a meeting of minds. Indeed, thank

you. The main story this lunchtime, the

new Governor of the Bank of England signals interest rates will remain

at an historic low at least until unemployment falls to 7%.

And still to come: Why the Office of Fair Trading is investigating three

firms which offer to buy people's homes quickly for reduced prices.

Later, on BBC London: Looking to the future of our skies, the Airports

Commission publishes more than 50 ideas to increase capacity.

And he has policed three Jubilees and two Royal weddings. Now the

oldest serving police officer in the The world's most ambitious attempt

to harness "Fusion" as a new source of power is taking shape in the

South of France. Fusion is the process that drives the Sun. Atoms

are forced together to release energy and repeating it here on

Earth could, in theory, offer an almost endless supply of

electricity. The construction of a vast experimental reactor has now

entered a crucial phase and our science editor, David Shukman, was

given special access to it. A large-scale plot by al-Qaida to take

over oil and gas facilities in Yemen This is what is known -- this is a

Fusion reactor in the South of France. Fusion has long been offered

as a dream of cheap and limitless power. One person trying to bring

this together is Kenya, who is with me now. What is the long-term goal?

-- is Kenneth. It is to demonstrate the technology to show we have this

long-term power source, so it is an energy source in the future.

Fusion has been offered since the 1950s and there was a great dream of

power, but they say it is always 30 years away, what is different?

We have stopped with the science and the design and are entering the

construction phase and manufacturing components around the world.

You have seven international partners, the EU, China, Russia and

India, how difficult is it to bring everybody together to make the parts

work? We have the technological and

coordination and cultural changes and when we build the machine, it

will be the challenge to have the parts arriving at the same time and

in the right order. Everything needs to arrive in

sequence, how difficult is that? We all planning, detailed planning,

so in the future, we know what to do and when to do it.

Costs have doubled and everything is delayed, is it worth the effort?

We have to look at the purpose. It is a future source of energy for

mankind and we are sharing the burden around the world so half the

population of the world are contributing.

Being realistic and given the decades involved, when is the

earliest the commercial Fusion reactor may deliver power to the

grid? About 2030, 2040.

Decades away? So is it worth it when they're so many pressing energy

problems around the world? If we do not start now, we will

never get there, so we have to look ahead. The energy crisis of the

world is long-term and we have two now plan for that.

A lot of hurdles, but some optimism this will deliver. But questions

about the cost and how long it will take to show Fusion power can work.

A large-scale plot by Al-Qaeda to take over oil and gas facilities in

Yemen has been foiled. Unprecedented security measures have been put in

place by the authorities to protect government buildings and key

targets. Britain, the US and other Western countries have withdrawn

their embassy staff from the country. Our security correspondent,

Frank Gardner, is with me. What is the latest in terms of the

developments we are seeing in Yemen? The Yemen plot threat picture has

moved on considerably and there was a drone strike earlier were at least

six Al-Qaeda militants were allegedly killed in a car. But more

importantly, the Yemeni authorities have released details of what they

say is this large-scale plot to take over some of the key economic

installations in the entry, particularly in the East. A port on

the golf of Aden, an important oil and gas terminal. Using their own

militants disguised as Yemeni soldiers. And a number of their

militants have reportedly moved into the capital in preparation for this.

Yemen says it has foiled best but what is not clear is whether this is

connect it to the plot discussed that the Americans intercepted that

prompted this mass exodus of the entire Western diplomatic corps from

Yemen. So it is a very confused picture. Al-Qaeda will always keep

trying to establish some kind of firm foothold. At the moment, they

are pockets dotted around the country and they would love to be

able to take and hold territory. The Americans, backed by the Yemeni

government, are determined to stop them.

Thank you. A huge fire has ripped through

Kenya's main international airport, forcing its closure and causing

disruption to air travel across the region. The blaze has now been

contained and there were no casualties. Hundreds of passengers

have been left stranded outside Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi.

International cargo and domestic passenger services are expected to

resume later today. You might not be familiar with quick

sale firms, they offered to sell your home, bypassing the estate

agent. But their concerns some people are being exploited, after

being offered as little as half the value of the property. The Office of

Fair Trading has stepped in to investigate. Targeted by a quick

sale firms trying to -- in on people who cannot off-load a property.

Charlotte had only just had her baby and needed to sell her flat because

she had moved with a new mortgage, she was tempted with a reasonable --

price and then the company made her pay and waited before evaluation and

offered 40% less than the market value -- and inflatable speed before

valuation. It is awful on this economic climate

that people are cashing in on people 's livelihoods and when people are

struggling financially. The Office of Fair Trading link

9,000 people have used the firms in the last year on sales worth �1

billion. It has uncovered what it calls shoddy practices, some make

misleading claims on how quickly they can pay or insist homeowners

sign an exclusive -- exclusivity deals, and reducing the price

drastically at the last minute. Discounts are typically between 15,

20%, but sometimes even 50%, meaning tens of thousands of pounds lost.

Most vulnerable are the elderly needing to pay care home fees. And

people in financial trouble, particularly after a financial

break-up. They are so desperate, they will pay high fees and take the

-- on offer. The firms are offered on the in -- are advertised on the

Internet and television. One firm not being investigated is

calling for a clamp-down. We feel all the petty traders should

be under the ombudsman with a proper redress scheme to compensate

consumers who have been ripped off. The Office of Fair Trading is not in

posing new rules, but it is warning all 121 providers to observe all

consumer laws -- imposing new rules. Scientists believe dolphins have the

longest memories in the animal kingdom after humans. Researchers in

the US say captive dolphins recognise the whistles of former

companions after 20 years apart, it is thought it is because they have

complex social lives, often leaving a group and rejoining it much later.

Joining us now is Alex for the weather.

weather. sunshine for most parts. If you

shower is, not just today but for the next few days -- some showers.

Temperature is about average. We have seen some cloud from brands,

that is providing thunderstorms. -- France. Thick cloud across Scotland.

Wet across northern Scotland, that rain will break up this afternoon.

Dry and bright, some scattered showers across England and Wales.

Right conditions across western Scotland this afternoon, cloud

across the north-east, some rain here and some showers will head

south across central and southern Scotland and across Northern

Ireland. The majority of England and Wales will have a fine afternoon

with some showers possible across Wales and the South West. Cloudy

across the South East, showers possible around the Kent coast and

East Anglia. Showers not the problem for Cowes week, it is the winds

again. Pretty white, picking up a bit by Friday. -- white. It will

turn chilly across the country tonight. Cloud will disappear and

temperatures will tumble. Double figures in towns and cities, but in

the countryside, down to five, six degrees, so it will feel a bit

chilly in the morning there will be plenty of sunshine. The cloud will

appear and we will see some showers but most places will be dry and

bright, with average temperatures peaking in the low 20s, maybe 24, 25

across the South East. It will change across Northern Ireland,

clouding over with rain in the afternoon. It is from a weather

front. That mixes things up on Thursday night, not as cold but in

what of rain around. Still across the East at first on Friday but we

are left with sunny intervals and showers, temperatures a bit lower

but still high teens although 20s. Weather front -- the weather front

is gone by the weekend and it will look good for most places. But a

weather front is approaching from the south-west that may change

things for Sunday. Saturday is drier and brighter and there could be rain

around on Sunday, but we will keep new Governor of the Bank of England

signals and interest rate -- that interest rates will remain at an