:00:00. > :00:10.German fury over claims that US spies have been listening in to
:00:11. > :00:13.Angela Merkel's private phone calls. Berlin takes the unprecedented step
:00:14. > :00:19.of summoning the US ambassador - America gives a qualified denial.
:00:20. > :00:23.We'll have the latest from Brussels, where EU leaders are meeeting. Also
:00:24. > :00:25.this lunchtime... Union leaders voice optimism that the closure of
:00:26. > :00:39.the Grangemouth petrochemical plant can be averted. What we have said to
:00:40. > :00:42.the company is that yes, we are prepared to embrace that and to
:00:43. > :00:45.engage in that discussion with them. A quarter of hospital trusts in
:00:46. > :00:48.England are at raised risk of providing poor care. A survivor's
:00:49. > :00:51.story - six months on from being pulled from the rubble of a
:00:52. > :00:58.Bangladesh clothing factory. We hear about the new life for Reshma.
:00:59. > :01:03.And a time to remember - the Duchess of Cornwall helps the Royal British
:01:04. > :01:12.Legion launch its annual Poppy Appeal, to raise ?37 million.
:01:13. > :01:20.Later on BBC London, experience or expertise? The Government is split
:01:21. > :01:25.on how to teach the children of the capital. And fighting foreign
:01:26. > :01:38.criminals, the Met Police brings in officers from Eastern Europe.
:01:39. > :01:42.Germany took the unprecented step today of summoning the American
:01:43. > :01:45.ambassador to discuss allegations that the US security services tapped
:01:46. > :01:53.the mobile phone of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. If true,
:01:54. > :01:59.it would be the most serious episode so far in the row over the extent of
:02:00. > :02:02.American spying. The US has insisted her phone is not being monitored
:02:03. > :02:07.now, but has not mentioned what may have happened in the past. Let's
:02:08. > :02:11.cross to Brussels, where EU leaders are meeting today. Our Europe
:02:12. > :02:21.correspondent, Matthew Price, is there. Good afternoon. This row is
:02:22. > :02:25.already threatening to overshadow this summit, even before it has
:02:26. > :02:30.formally started. It is clear that it is already threatening to damage
:02:31. > :02:33.US -EU relations, at a time when the two are trying to come to an
:02:34. > :02:39.agreement on what would be the world's biggest trade deal. She is
:02:40. > :02:43.called the Mobile Chancellor. She practically governs by smart phone.
:02:44. > :02:49.Have the Americans been listening in, monitoring her conversations? In
:02:50. > :02:53.Berlin, where they have summoned the US ambassador to the Foreign
:02:54. > :02:59.Ministry, they believe so. Angela Merkel's spokesman said, if true, it
:03:00. > :03:02.is completely unacceptable. There should be an immediate and
:03:03. > :03:07.comprehensive explanation, they said. Instead, from the White House
:03:08. > :03:12.came simply a denial about the present and the future, but not the
:03:13. > :03:15.past. The president assured the Chancellor that the United States is
:03:16. > :03:19.not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the
:03:20. > :03:22.Chancellor. The United States brake lever use our close cooperation with
:03:23. > :03:27.Germany on a range of security challenges. That has left many in
:03:28. > :03:31.Brussels wondering, if Europe's most powerful leader can be listened to,
:03:32. > :03:36.who else is being spied on? The French suspect millions of their
:03:37. > :03:40.phone calls were being monitored. France's top man in Brussels today
:03:41. > :03:47.had this to say... Enough is enough. Between allies, we need
:03:48. > :03:53.trust we need confidence, and I think this confidence has been
:03:54. > :03:59.shaken. David Cameron could yet get dragged into all this. Reports that
:04:00. > :04:02.the intelligence service GCHQ helped the US spying programme had already
:04:03. > :04:07.angered many in Germany. Downing Street stresses today's revelations
:04:08. > :04:11.are a matter for Berlin and Washington to sort out. At the
:04:12. > :04:14.European Parliament, where they are investigating all of the claims, a
:04:15. > :04:19.British member is going to Washington next week to question
:04:20. > :04:23.senior officials. You have got genuine anger and bemusement. People
:04:24. > :04:27.in Germany and France want real answers. The enquiries which are
:04:28. > :04:33.going on in the European Parliament and elsewhere have got a genuine
:04:34. > :04:36.depth, and needs to have answers. Chancellor and President have a
:04:37. > :04:41.close relationship. He took the whole family to Berlin recently.
:04:42. > :04:45.Politically and economically, Europe and the US need one another, but
:04:46. > :04:54.there is now deep distrust to be overcome. Angela Merkel arrives here
:04:55. > :04:57.in Brussels in the coming hours. She is going to have a meeting on the
:04:58. > :05:00.fringes of the summit with her French counterpart to try to work
:05:01. > :05:04.out whether they should have some kind of joint response to Washington
:05:05. > :05:08.over these spying allegations. But the German Chancellor will not want
:05:09. > :05:15.this to overshadow all of the important discussions at this
:05:16. > :05:19.summit, discussions about trying to save the euro, about banking union,
:05:20. > :05:23.and about trying to cut red tape, which is being pushed by David
:05:24. > :05:27.Cameron, and also, the hundreds of migrants who died in the
:05:28. > :05:29.Mediterranean, and can Europe do anything collectively about that?
:05:30. > :05:34.You do have to wonder whether, in the summit meeting, they will be
:05:35. > :05:37.looking around and wondering, who else might be listening in? Let's
:05:38. > :05:44.speak to our security correspondent, Frank Gardner. How surprised should
:05:45. > :05:49.we be that close allies are spying on each other? I would be very
:05:50. > :05:54.surprised if they want. This is not shocking at all. It does not mean to
:05:55. > :05:58.say that it is morally or politically or ethically
:05:59. > :06:02.acceptable, but it is what they do, spies gather information off each
:06:03. > :06:08.other. There is plenty of precedent. Last summer it emerged that the USA
:06:09. > :06:14.had been able to hack in to the video conferencing mechanism of the
:06:15. > :06:20.UN, he had been spying on the EU... The mistake people might make is to
:06:21. > :06:22.think that we are all NATO allies, we all call operator in
:06:23. > :06:25.counterterrorism, but actually, there are lots of areas where they
:06:26. > :06:30.are in direct competition, trade being the most obvious. Take arms
:06:31. > :06:34.sales to the Gulf, where you have got the Americans trying to flog the
:06:35. > :06:39.F-16, the French trying to flog those, and the Europeans trying to
:06:40. > :06:43.flog the Eurofighter. They will want to know what the internal
:06:44. > :06:49.communications of the others are. So, yes, it does not surprise me.
:06:50. > :06:52.Union leaders have voiced optimism after meeting management that the
:06:53. > :06:54.closure of the Grangemouth petrochemical plant can be averted.
:06:55. > :06:58.In a significant climb-down, the Unite union said it had decided to
:06:59. > :07:02.embrace "warts and all" a survival plan put forward by the owners,
:07:03. > :07:05.Ineos. All 800 employees were told yesterday they would lose their
:07:06. > :07:08.jobs, when the company announced the closure of the complex after failing
:07:09. > :07:10.to reach agreement with the unions. From Grangemouth, James Cook
:07:11. > :07:22.reports. There's a new dawn bring some hope
:07:23. > :07:27.for Grangemouth? Yesterday was bleak. Ineos announced the closure
:07:28. > :07:31.of the petrochemical plant with the loss of 800 jobs. The company said
:07:32. > :07:36.the refusal of union members to accept a cost-cutting package left
:07:37. > :07:40.it no option. Today, the leader of Unite came to ask the firm to think
:07:41. > :07:44.again, saying the workers would now accept the so-called survival plan.
:07:45. > :07:50.We are not going to allow this plant to close down. We are not going to
:07:51. > :07:54.allow 800 jobs to go, and the community of Grangemouth to become a
:07:55. > :07:59.ghost town. We are not going to allow the security of Scotland to be
:08:00. > :08:03.put in peril. So, big concessions in any Grangemouth talks. It looks like
:08:04. > :08:08.workers may accept a pay freeze for at least three years, a cut in their
:08:09. > :08:11.allowances and poorer pensions, with a move away from a final salary
:08:12. > :08:17.scheme. But will management accept it? Half of them voted for closure,
:08:18. > :08:21.so we had no choice to do what we did yesterday. We do not want to be
:08:22. > :08:25.there, it is a terrible position to be in. If there are new things
:08:26. > :08:30.coming on the table, of course we will listen, we have two. In the
:08:31. > :08:34.meantime, the media has descended on a community which is waiting and
:08:35. > :08:36.worrying. Thousands of jobs here depend on the refinery and the
:08:37. > :08:46.petrochemical plant. These are difficult times. 800 people, plus
:08:47. > :08:48.the businesses who rely on the refinery, that will be major
:08:49. > :08:55.contracts for a lot of local businesses. Before you could have a
:08:56. > :08:59.job there, and you were set for life. But now, it is not there any
:09:00. > :09:04.more. Many things in the town are connect to that, everything from the
:09:05. > :09:09.ladies running the burger van, two haulage businesses and other things.
:09:10. > :09:14.Hoteliers, I cannot even begin to think where that list would finish.
:09:15. > :09:17.So, both the UK and Scottish governments are now piling the
:09:18. > :09:21.pressure on Ineos to reach a deal with the union to save this context.
:09:22. > :09:26.But in the end, it will be the decision of just one man, the
:09:27. > :09:29.billionaire founder of the company, Jim Ratcliffe. The nation is waiting
:09:30. > :09:36.for his word. Let's speak to Scotland business editor, Douglas
:09:37. > :09:40.Fraser. Douglas, picking up where James Cook left off - are we getting
:09:41. > :09:45.any indication of whether a decision from Ineos is imminent? No, but
:09:46. > :09:50.there is cautious optimism from close observers to the talks. The
:09:51. > :09:53.offer was put this morning, it was not in a lot of detail. They are
:09:54. > :09:57.thrashing through the detail, kneeling down the terms on paper,
:09:58. > :10:00.before the local management to take it to Jim Ratcliffe, the
:10:01. > :10:06.shareholder, who will make this decision. It includes not only the
:10:07. > :10:10.terms of lower pay and inferior pensions, but also a no strike deal
:10:11. > :10:14.for this year at least, in order to let the management fire up the
:10:15. > :10:18.refinery at the moment, because the plant is cold at the moment. I am
:10:19. > :10:23.not confident Jim Ratcliffe will make a decision today, he may well
:10:24. > :10:30.sleep on it. That said, the deal is not yet done. -the experience of the
:10:31. > :10:33.past trouble of weeks, of a very rapid intensification of the
:10:34. > :10:36.bitterness of the dispute, it could still go wrong, because there are a
:10:37. > :10:47.lot of very bitter personal motions involved. They will want to be sure
:10:48. > :10:48.that it is not just the paperwork, but that the tone has changed as
:10:49. > :10:55.well. More than a quarter of hospital
:10:56. > :10:58.trusts in England may not be offering safe, good-quality care to
:10:59. > :11:00.patients, according to a review by the hospitals watchdog, the Care
:11:01. > :11:03.Quality Commission. It looked at data - including death rates,
:11:04. > :11:06.serious errors and patient feedback - and found that 44 out of 161
:11:07. > :11:08.hospital trusts fell into the two highest categories for risk. Here's
:11:09. > :11:19.our health correspondent, Branwen Jeffreys.
:11:20. > :11:25.He is the doctor leading a new inspection regime for hospitals in
:11:26. > :11:29.England. Professor Sir Mike Richards says it wants to be fair and
:11:30. > :11:32.thorough. They are starting with a big review of information, what
:11:33. > :11:36.patients and staff have been saying about care, the king at death rates
:11:37. > :11:40.or warning signs of serious mistakes. The idea is to look at any
:11:41. > :11:48.indication of things which need investigating. -- looking at. We are
:11:49. > :11:50.announcing a new screening tool which brings together information
:11:51. > :11:55.from different sources, which tell us about safety, effectiveness,
:11:56. > :12:01.caring, responsiveness and whether a hospital is well laid. This hospital
:12:02. > :12:07.monitoring report looked at 150 different types of information. The
:12:08. > :12:12.more than 150 hospital trusts in England are put into ?6, based on
:12:13. > :12:15.risks to quality of care. 40-40 trusts are in the higher risk bands,
:12:16. > :12:27.because they have more than expected warning signs. For some NHS staff,
:12:28. > :12:31.there are reasons to be cheerful. St George's Hospital in London is in
:12:32. > :12:35.the lowest risk band. Even so, they now know what they need to look at
:12:36. > :12:41.to improve. We know that we are going to get an inspection, and it
:12:42. > :12:45.is like an exam, and people want to we can use it as a call to action
:12:46. > :12:50.within the organisation and really drive these standards through every
:12:51. > :12:54.department. This review gives inspect as an initial idea of how a
:12:55. > :12:58.hospital is doing. They will follow it up with detailed visits, looking
:12:59. > :13:03.at how care is provided. And only after that win every hospital be
:13:04. > :13:08.given its final waiting. And that has given a deadline to hospitals
:13:09. > :13:10.like Croydon, which have been identified as higher risk, to avoid
:13:11. > :13:19.being rated badly next year. And you can see how your local trust
:13:20. > :13:27.is rated by going to the BBC website...
:13:28. > :13:32.In the last few minutes, the authorities in Portugal say they are
:13:33. > :13:35.reopening their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine
:13:36. > :13:39.McCann. According to the office of the Attorney-General, it follows the
:13:40. > :13:42.presentation of new evidence. Earlier this month, the BBC's
:13:43. > :13:49.Crimewatch broadcast new findings from police. This morning, the move
:13:50. > :13:54.was welcomed by the Home Secretary, Theresa May. We have been working
:13:55. > :14:00.very closely with the Portuguese police, who have been developing the
:14:01. > :14:03.leads and possibilities of Leeds which we have seen coming forward
:14:04. > :14:09.recently. I think we have got very good collaboration with them, and it
:14:10. > :14:12.is now starting to bear fruit. I hope it will enable a resolution of
:14:13. > :14:18.this terrible thing which happened to the McCann family, so that the
:14:19. > :14:25.parents are able to know finally what did happen to Madeleine.
:14:26. > :14:28.From today, police are being told to think about how their activities
:14:29. > :14:34.could damage the relationship between the police and the public.
:14:35. > :14:37.The new ethics code, which was launched today, comes as some
:14:38. > :14:40.politicians have claimed that the relationship is under strain because
:14:41. > :14:42.of the episodes like the Plebgate affair. Today, the Home Secretary,
:14:43. > :14:44.Theresa May, promised a "beefed up" procedure for complaints against
:14:45. > :14:57.police. It has been a week when the police
:14:58. > :15:01.have been accused of failing to hold themselves to account. Next year,
:15:02. > :15:05.the Independent Police Complaints Commission will be given extra
:15:06. > :15:12.powers and an extra code of practice put in place. There is an
:15:13. > :15:17.overwhelming case for a beefed up IPCC and that is what I am
:15:18. > :15:21.determined to deliver. Where it needs extra powers we have
:15:22. > :15:24.legislated to provide them. If the evidence of the past week shows we
:15:25. > :15:31.need to go further than I will do so. There will be more IPCC
:15:32. > :15:36.investigations. A police code of ethics has been published by the new
:15:37. > :15:45.College of policing. But at a time of Ajit cuts, some are concerned
:15:46. > :15:49.that more resources for investigating the police will lead
:15:50. > :15:56.to less elsewhere -- at a time of Ajit cuts. They will take money and
:15:57. > :16:02.allocate it to the IPCC so it will take away resources. The pleb Gate
:16:03. > :16:05.scandal has pitched politicians against officers. Everyone agrees
:16:06. > :16:10.that confidence in the police needs to be improved. Alistair Morgan
:16:11. > :16:15.should know. An independent panel is looking into the 25-year-old murder
:16:16. > :16:20.into his brother Daniel and the role that police corruption played into
:16:21. > :16:25.failing to bring his killers to justice. A code of ethics is one
:16:26. > :16:29.thing but what we need is proper in force meant into anti-corruption. It
:16:30. > :16:38.does not exist in this country in my view. Or it is so weak that it is
:16:39. > :16:43.derisory. The code of ethics will apply to all officers in England and
:16:44. > :16:49.Wales. The final details will be published next spring.
:16:50. > :16:55.It is 16 minutes past one. Our top story this lunchtime: Germany
:16:56. > :16:59.summonsed American ambassador over allegations that the personal mobile
:17:00. > :17:07.phone of the Chancellor Angela Merkel was tapped. And still to
:17:08. > :17:10.come, warning from the Clegg that cutting energy bills would be an own
:17:11. > :17:13.goal. Later on BBC London: Thames Water challenged over plans to raise
:17:14. > :17:16.bills by ?29 pounds a year. And celebrating 40 years of Virgin
:17:17. > :17:29.records - Sir Richard Branson tells us how it all began in London.
:17:30. > :17:35.It is six months since the collapse of this close thing factory in
:17:36. > :17:40.Bangladesh which killed more than a thousand people. Many of those who
:17:41. > :17:44.survived are still not back at work and most have not received
:17:45. > :17:47.compensation for their injuries. One of the survivors was Reshma Begum
:17:48. > :17:52.who was trapped under the rubble for 17 days before being rescued. She
:17:53. > :17:59.has been speaking to our correspondent Mahfuz Sadique. A
:18:00. > :18:04.miracle, 17 days after a clothing factory came crashing down, pulled
:18:05. > :18:09.out of the rubble, Reshma's story was one of hope after death and
:18:10. > :18:15.despair. Six months on, with a job at a luxury hotel in the capital,
:18:16. > :18:28.she is slowly rebuilding her life. TRANSLATION: A lot has changed. I
:18:29. > :18:31.have a better life. I am learning English here and computers.
:18:32. > :18:34.Now I have a good job, as a daughter, I want to look after my
:18:35. > :18:37.mother. Sometimes now even in my sleep, I have nightmares that I am
:18:38. > :18:43.trapped in the rubble. It scares me a lot. Reshma has moved on but
:18:44. > :18:49.millions like her still make cheap clothes for Western consumers in
:18:50. > :18:53.unsafe conditions. What about them? Their salaries should be increased.
:18:54. > :18:58.Whatever is needed to make their lives safer should be done. They
:18:59. > :19:04.work very hard and suffer a lot. These clothes are bought by foreign
:19:05. > :19:10.buyers. I would ask them to give the compensation they have promised. I
:19:11. > :19:14.would like to help them out as well. Since April, global retailers in
:19:15. > :19:19.Bangladesh's government have pledged to make factories safer. But a fatal
:19:20. > :19:23.fire at a textile plant two weeks ago has highlighted how Little
:19:24. > :19:27.things have changed on the ground. Reshma was one of the lucky ones,
:19:28. > :19:36.having survived one of the world's worst industrial disaster is, she
:19:37. > :19:40.has been given a second chance at life. But for the families of her
:19:41. > :19:42.fellow workers who perished in the tragedy, and those who live with
:19:43. > :19:45.this ability is six months on, and without proper compensation, the
:19:46. > :19:50.Rana Plaza nightmare is not yet over.
:19:51. > :19:54.Some of the manufacturers who employed people at the factory are
:19:55. > :19:59.among the best known on the British high street. Have things changed?
:20:00. > :20:03.One of the firms, Primark, has been speaking to the BBC about its
:20:04. > :20:06.approach. It said it was doing everything it could to ensure its
:20:07. > :20:12.workers in Bangladesh were being treated properly.
:20:13. > :20:20.This was the clothing factory back in April, just after the collapse.
:20:21. > :20:25.1000 people died here and more than 2500 were injured. The disaster
:20:26. > :20:31.sparked appeals across the world for the families affected to be helped
:20:32. > :20:35.by the companies they supplied. Rana Plaza obviously was a huge tragedy.
:20:36. > :20:39.We all looked on in horror as it developed. We knew our clothes were
:20:40. > :20:43.in the building so we made and are now at the very same day that we
:20:44. > :20:50.were in the building and that we accepted responsibility. At the time
:20:51. > :20:56.of the disaster, up to 28 brands were made at the factory for stores
:20:57. > :20:59.like Primark and then it on. Six months on, no long-term compensation
:21:00. > :21:07.has been agreed for the families but try Mark -- company macro agreed to
:21:08. > :21:14.pay support to the victims. -- Primark. When it became apparent
:21:15. > :21:19.that compensation would take more time to put in place, we took
:21:20. > :21:27.another three months and we have just announced that we will extend
:21:28. > :21:30.that to nine months. Primark was the only British retailer to have
:21:31. > :21:35.supported the workers and families in this way and that is being well
:21:36. > :21:39.to. It is a good first step that people need to know about their
:21:40. > :21:44.long-term futures. They were very young many of them. Two thirds of
:21:45. > :21:48.them cannot work, they are injured physically or traumatised in some
:21:49. > :21:54.way. We need companies to react quickly. Last month, more than half
:21:55. > :21:58.of the companies linked to the factory failed to attend a meeting
:21:59. > :22:04.to discuss compensation. Six months on, those who suffered here have no
:22:05. > :22:08.idea when they will be helped. Stripping the green levies out of
:22:09. > :22:13.gas under visited charges would be an own goal, according to the Deputy
:22:14. > :22:17.Prime Minister Nick leg. It follows a row over increased energy bills
:22:18. > :22:21.and comments from the Prime Minister that he would consider rolling back
:22:22. > :22:27.green charges -- Nick Clegg. This seems to be something of a Dutch or
:22:28. > :22:31.chin going on here. John Major saying there should be a windfall
:22:32. > :22:39.tax. Would consumers be much better off under these schemes? All these
:22:40. > :22:45.ideas have to be seen in the context of what has happened to energy
:22:46. > :22:49.prices. If you go back to 2004, nine years ago, the typical gas and
:22:50. > :22:59.electricity bill for a family was ?610. This year, it is over ?1300.
:23:00. > :23:04.Of that, green levies are ?112. Even without those, prices have doubled.
:23:05. > :23:11.You look at Labour's idea of a price freeze. That would reverse what
:23:12. > :23:15.happened up until 2015. John Major's windfall tax, we do not know
:23:16. > :23:19.what impact that would have on prices. And this idea of rolling
:23:20. > :23:26.back green levies, trimming them would have an effect but not as much
:23:27. > :23:30.as the current round of price increases that we are seeing. What
:23:31. > :23:36.are the government then? They say they will look at these levies which
:23:37. > :23:43.are to support low income families. Nick Clegg said today that some of
:23:44. > :23:48.that, what is called the warm home discount could be moved to general
:23:49. > :23:53.taxation. That is only a small amount of bills, about ?11 of that
:23:54. > :23:59.?1300 bill. There is a lot to be looked at to make a big difference.
:24:00. > :24:03.Thank you. England's Chief Medical Officer is calling for new measures
:24:04. > :24:09.to improve the health of children. A report by Professor Dame Sally
:24:10. > :24:13.Davies has suggested widening scheme to offer more vitamins to children
:24:14. > :24:17.and called for more to be done to reduce obesity. This week is UEFA's
:24:18. > :24:26.football against racism week but it is a fact which may have been lost
:24:27. > :24:28.on a section of CSKA Moscow fans during the match against Manchester
:24:29. > :24:30.city last night. The city midfielder Yaya Toure said
:24:31. > :24:43.he was subjected to a barrage of racist chance. -- racist chance.
:24:44. > :24:51.This is usually night against racism week.
:24:52. > :24:58.This is unite against racism week. Yaya Toure feels he has heard this
:24:59. > :25:02.before. When he told the referee he heard monkey chance, the referee
:25:03. > :25:12.could have stopped the game. He did not. At the end of the match, Yaya
:25:13. > :25:17.Toure said he wants serious action, maybe making CSKA Moscow play
:25:18. > :25:23.without supporters for years. May be banned them from the stadium for a
:25:24. > :25:27.couple of years or a couple of months because they say we have to
:25:28. > :25:35.educate the fans but I think it is enough, too much is too much. CSKA
:25:36. > :25:36.Moscow have told the BBC they did not hear any racist chance in last
:25:37. > :25:54.night. -- racist chance thing. UEFA needs to take this very
:25:55. > :25:59.seriously indeed. When countries like Russia are going to be shortly
:26:00. > :26:05.hosting the World Cup, we need to know a tough line will be taken.
:26:06. > :26:11.Theoretically, UEFA could order CSKA Moscow to close part of their
:26:12. > :26:16.ground. There will still have to be a disciplinary hearing first. There
:26:17. > :26:20.is a case to prove. But for Yaya Toure and others, credibility is on
:26:21. > :26:26.the line. He is waiting. The 2013 Poppy Appeal is launched
:26:27. > :26:31.today with a target of ?37 million. It will kick off tonight with a
:26:32. > :26:43.concert at RAF Northolt in north London and the premiere of a single
:26:44. > :26:44.recorded by a girl band after competition featuring the children
:26:45. > :26:49.of military families. A royal visitor at the Poppy factory
:26:50. > :26:55.in Surrey this morning. The Duchess of Cornwall marked the Royal British
:26:56. > :26:59.Legion appeal. They have been making poppies here for 90 years, raising
:27:00. > :27:06.money for those who need their help most. Those like Lance Corp are all
:27:07. > :27:13.William Cassidy Liddell, who swapped the stage. Blown up in Afghanistan,
:27:14. > :27:19.he lost a leg and suffered other injuries. The mental scars were just
:27:20. > :27:24.as bad. This theatre project organised by the Royal British
:27:25. > :27:33.Legion helped save his sanity. The Poppy Appeal is a salvation because
:27:34. > :27:38.it is our support network. It is our shoulder to shoulder. It is there,
:27:39. > :27:45.it is in those donations that guys like myself can continue to live. He
:27:46. > :27:53.was given his military Cross by the Queen. It is the families left
:27:54. > :27:56.behind who also suffer. The same explosion killed Sam Alexander. His
:27:57. > :28:03.mother said the Royal British Legion is giving her support. You bottle it
:28:04. > :28:08.up inside and put on a brave face on the outside. I do not know how long
:28:09. > :28:20.that process takes to end but it has not yet. Tonight, the Poppy Girls, a
:28:21. > :28:25.band made up of military daughters will be performing at a concert in
:28:26. > :28:28.London, the first event of a campaign which the Royal British
:28:29. > :28:32.Legion hopes will bring in ?37 million. Now time for a look at the
:28:33. > :28:44.weather. Missed and mellow fruitfulness at
:28:45. > :28:54.the moment but perhaps a scene from the Tempest next week. It will stay
:28:55. > :28:58.dry in most places this afternoon. Some rain fringing into the far
:28:59. > :29:04.south-west of the afternoon. Temperatures widely into the mid-,
:29:05. > :29:11.even high teens into England and Wales. Cooler across Scotland and
:29:12. > :29:17.Northern Ireland. The wind is picking up and the rain is piling
:29:18. > :29:25.in. A wet night for south-west England, Wales and Northern Ireland
:29:26. > :29:28.especially. For your journey to work tomorrow morning it is not looking
:29:29. > :29:32.great. By eight o'clock we have the rain pushing in across western
:29:33. > :29:39.Scotland as well. Wet for Northern Ireland. Patchy to the east of the
:29:40. > :29:48.Pennines. Across Wales and south-west England, a lot of water
:29:49. > :29:51.on the roads. The rain perhaps a bit more patchy across the Midlands,
:29:52. > :29:57.East Anglia and the south-east first thing. Still a chance of some heavy
:29:58. > :30:02.bursts here as well. Make sure you have got your umbrella. We will have
:30:03. > :30:06.brisk winds blowing in so not ideal umbrella weather. A spell of wet
:30:07. > :30:14.weather across eastern Scotland for a time. River systems are swollen so
:30:15. > :30:16.that might cause some problems. By the afternoon most of us are into
:30:17. > :30:23.bright spells and showers. If anything, milder than today. For the
:30:24. > :30:28.weekend we keep the blustery theme going into Saturday. A band of heavy
:30:29. > :30:34.rain. Eastern and central areas staying dry until late on in the
:30:35. > :30:42.day. For Sunday, we can take the winds up a notch. During Sunday
:30:43. > :30:46.night and into Monday that we are concerned, there is this area of low
:30:47. > :30:53.pressure running in from the Atlantic. There will be very strong,
:30:54. > :30:56.even storm force winds in it. We have an amber weather warning
:30:57. > :31:08.already for Southern counties of England. Dust is potentially up to
:31:09. > :31:17.80 mph. -- gusts. Nick Miller will tell us more on the website.
:31:18. > :31:21.A reminder of our top story: Germany has summoned America's ambassador
:31:22. > :31:22.over allegations that the personal mobile phone of Angela Merkel was