24/10/2013 BBC News at One

German fury over claims that US spies have been listening in to

Angela Merkel's private phone calls. Berlin takes the unprecedented step

of summoning the US ambassador - America gives a qualified denial.

We'll have the latest from Brussels, where EU leaders are meeeting. Also

this lunchtime... Union leaders voice optimism that the closure of

the Grangemouth petrochemical plant can be averted. What we have said to

the company is that yes, we are prepared to embrace that and to

engage in that discussion with them. A quarter of hospital trusts in

England are at raised risk of providing poor care. A survivor's

story - six months on from being pulled from the rubble of a

Bangladesh clothing factory. We hear about the new life for Reshma.

And a time to remember - the Duchess of Cornwall helps the Royal British

Legion launch its annual Poppy Appeal, to raise ?37 million.

Later on BBC London, experience or expertise? The Government is split

on how to teach the children of the capital. And fighting foreign

criminals, the Met Police brings in officers from Eastern Europe.

Germany took the unprecented step today of summoning the American

ambassador to discuss allegations that the US security services tapped

the mobile phone of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. If true,

it would be the most serious episode so far in the row over the extent of

American spying. The US has insisted her phone is not being monitored

now, but has not mentioned what may have happened in the past. Let's

cross to Brussels, where EU leaders are meeting today. Our Europe

correspondent, Matthew Price, is there. Good afternoon. This row is

already threatening to overshadow this summit, even before it has

formally started. It is clear that it is already threatening to damage

US -EU relations, at a time when the two are trying to come to an

agreement on what would be the world's biggest trade deal. She is

called the Mobile Chancellor. She practically governs by smart phone.

Have the Americans been listening in, monitoring her conversations? In

Berlin, where they have summoned the US ambassador to the Foreign

Ministry, they believe so. Angela Merkel's spokesman said, if true, it

is completely unacceptable. There should be an immediate and

comprehensive explanation, they said. Instead, from the White House

came simply a denial about the present and the future, but not the

past. The president assured the Chancellor that the United States is

not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the

Chancellor. The United States brake lever use our close cooperation with

Germany on a range of security challenges. That has left many in

Brussels wondering, if Europe's most powerful leader can be listened to,

who else is being spied on? The French suspect millions of their

phone calls were being monitored. France's top man in Brussels today

had this to say... Enough is enough. Between allies, we need

trust we need confidence, and I think this confidence has been

shaken. David Cameron could yet get dragged into all this. Reports that

the intelligence service GCHQ helped the US spying programme had already

angered many in Germany. Downing Street stresses today's revelations

are a matter for Berlin and Washington to sort out. At the

European Parliament, where they are investigating all of the claims, a

British member is going to Washington next week to question

senior officials. You have got genuine anger and bemusement. People

in Germany and France want real answers. The enquiries which are

going on in the European Parliament and elsewhere have got a genuine

depth, and needs to have answers. Chancellor and President have a

close relationship. He took the whole family to Berlin recently.

Politically and economically, Europe and the US need one another, but

there is now deep distrust to be overcome. Angela Merkel arrives here

in Brussels in the coming hours. She is going to have a meeting on the

fringes of the summit with her French counterpart to try to work

out whether they should have some kind of joint response to Washington

over these spying allegations. But the German Chancellor will not want

this to overshadow all of the important discussions at this

summit, discussions about trying to save the euro, about banking union,

and about trying to cut red tape, which is being pushed by David

Cameron, and also, the hundreds of migrants who died in the

Mediterranean, and can Europe do anything collectively about that?

You do have to wonder whether, in the summit meeting, they will be

looking around and wondering, who else might be listening in? Let's

speak to our security correspondent, Frank Gardner. How surprised should

we be that close allies are spying on each other? I would be very

surprised if they want. This is not shocking at all. It does not mean to

say that it is morally or politically or ethically

acceptable, but it is what they do, spies gather information off each

other. There is plenty of precedent. Last summer it emerged that the USA

had been able to hack in to the video conferencing mechanism of the

UN, he had been spying on the EU... The mistake people might make is to

think that we are all NATO allies, we all call operator in

counterterrorism, but actually, there are lots of areas where they

are in direct competition, trade being the most obvious. Take arms

sales to the Gulf, where you have got the Americans trying to flog the

F-16, the French trying to flog those, and the Europeans trying to

flog the Eurofighter. They will want to know what the internal

communications of the others are. So, yes, it does not surprise me.

Union leaders have voiced optimism after meeting management that the

closure of the Grangemouth petrochemical plant can be averted.

In a significant climb-down, the Unite union said it had decided to

embrace "warts and all" a survival plan put forward by the owners,

Ineos. All 800 employees were told yesterday they would lose their

jobs, when the company announced the closure of the complex after failing

to reach agreement with the unions. From Grangemouth, James Cook

reports. There's a new dawn bring some hope

for Grangemouth? Yesterday was bleak. Ineos announced the closure

of the petrochemical plant with the loss of 800 jobs. The company said

the refusal of union members to accept a cost-cutting package left

it no option. Today, the leader of Unite came to ask the firm to think

again, saying the workers would now accept the so-called survival plan.

We are not going to allow this plant to close down. We are not going to

allow 800 jobs to go, and the community of Grangemouth to become a

ghost town. We are not going to allow the security of Scotland to be

put in peril. So, big concessions in any Grangemouth talks. It looks like

workers may accept a pay freeze for at least three years, a cut in their

allowances and poorer pensions, with a move away from a final salary

scheme. But will management accept it? Half of them voted for closure,

so we had no choice to do what we did yesterday. We do not want to be

there, it is a terrible position to be in. If there are new things

coming on the table, of course we will listen, we have two. In the

meantime, the media has descended on a community which is waiting and

worrying. Thousands of jobs here depend on the refinery and the

petrochemical plant. These are difficult times. 800 people, plus

the businesses who rely on the refinery, that will be major

contracts for a lot of local businesses. Before you could have a

job there, and you were set for life. But now, it is not there any

more. Many things in the town are connect to that, everything from the

ladies running the burger van, two haulage businesses and other things.

Hoteliers, I cannot even begin to think where that list would finish.

So, both the UK and Scottish governments are now piling the

pressure on Ineos to reach a deal with the union to save this context.

But in the end, it will be the decision of just one man, the

billionaire founder of the company, Jim Ratcliffe. The nation is waiting

for his word. Let's speak to Scotland business editor, Douglas

Fraser. Douglas, picking up where James Cook left off - are we getting

any indication of whether a decision from Ineos is imminent? No, but

there is cautious optimism from close observers to the talks. The

offer was put this morning, it was not in a lot of detail. They are

thrashing through the detail, kneeling down the terms on paper,

before the local management to take it to Jim Ratcliffe, the

shareholder, who will make this decision. It includes not only the

terms of lower pay and inferior pensions, but also a no strike deal

for this year at least, in order to let the management fire up the

refinery at the moment, because the plant is cold at the moment. I am

not confident Jim Ratcliffe will make a decision today, he may well

sleep on it. That said, the deal is not yet done. -the experience of the

past trouble of weeks, of a very rapid intensification of the

bitterness of the dispute, it could still go wrong, because there are a

lot of very bitter personal motions involved. They will want to be sure

that it is not just the paperwork, but that the tone has changed as

well. More than a quarter of hospital

trusts in England may not be offering safe, good-quality care to

patients, according to a review by the hospitals watchdog, the Care

Quality Commission. It looked at data - including death rates,

serious errors and patient feedback - and found that 44 out of 161

hospital trusts fell into the two highest categories for risk. Here's

our health correspondent, Branwen Jeffreys.

He is the doctor leading a new inspection regime for hospitals in

England. Professor Sir Mike Richards says it wants to be fair and

thorough. They are starting with a big review of information, what

patients and staff have been saying about care, the king at death rates

or warning signs of serious mistakes. The idea is to look at any

indication of things which need investigating. -- looking at. We are

announcing a new screening tool which brings together information

from different sources, which tell us about safety, effectiveness,

caring, responsiveness and whether a hospital is well laid. This hospital

monitoring report looked at 150 different types of information. The

more than 150 hospital trusts in England are put into ?6, based on

risks to quality of care. 40-40 trusts are in the higher risk bands,

because they have more than expected warning signs. For some NHS staff,

there are reasons to be cheerful. St George's Hospital in London is in

the lowest risk band. Even so, they now know what they need to look at

to improve. We know that we are going to get an inspection, and it

is like an exam, and people want to we can use it as a call to action

within the organisation and really drive these standards through every

department. This review gives inspect as an initial idea of how a

hospital is doing. They will follow it up with detailed visits, looking

at how care is provided. And only after that win every hospital be

given its final waiting. And that has given a deadline to hospitals

like Croydon, which have been identified as higher risk, to avoid

being rated badly next year. And you can see how your local trust

is rated by going to the BBC website...

In the last few minutes, the authorities in Portugal say they are

reopening their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine

McCann. According to the office of the Attorney-General, it follows the

presentation of new evidence. Earlier this month, the BBC's

Crimewatch broadcast new findings from police. This morning, the move

was welcomed by the Home Secretary, Theresa May. We have been working

very closely with the Portuguese police, who have been developing the

leads and possibilities of Leeds which we have seen coming forward

recently. I think we have got very good collaboration with them, and it

is now starting to bear fruit. I hope it will enable a resolution of

this terrible thing which happened to the McCann family, so that the

parents are able to know finally what did happen to Madeleine.

From today, police are being told to think about how their activities

could damage the relationship between the police and the public.

The new ethics code, which was launched today, comes as some

politicians have claimed that the relationship is under strain because

of the episodes like the Plebgate affair. Today, the Home Secretary,

Theresa May, promised a "beefed up" procedure for complaints against

police. It has been a week when the police

have been accused of failing to hold themselves to account. Next year,

the Independent Police Complaints Commission will be given extra

powers and an extra code of practice put in place. There is an

overwhelming case for a beefed up IPCC and that is what I am

determined to deliver. Where it needs extra powers we have

legislated to provide them. If the evidence of the past week shows we

need to go further than I will do so. There will be more IPCC

investigations. A police code of ethics has been published by the new

College of policing. But at a time of Ajit cuts, some are concerned

that more resources for investigating the police will lead

to less elsewhere -- at a time of Ajit cuts. They will take money and

allocate it to the IPCC so it will take away resources. The pleb Gate

scandal has pitched politicians against officers. Everyone agrees

that confidence in the police needs to be improved. Alistair Morgan

should know. An independent panel is looking into the 25-year-old murder

into his brother Daniel and the role that police corruption played into

failing to bring his killers to justice. A code of ethics is one

thing but what we need is proper in force meant into anti-corruption. It

does not exist in this country in my view. Or it is so weak that it is

derisory. The code of ethics will apply to all officers in England and

Wales. The final details will be published next spring.

It is 16 minutes past one. Our top story this lunchtime: Germany

summonsed American ambassador over allegations that the personal mobile

phone of the Chancellor Angela Merkel was tapped. And still to

come, warning from the Clegg that cutting energy bills would be an own

goal. Later on BBC London: Thames Water challenged over plans to raise

bills by ?29 pounds a year. And celebrating 40 years of Virgin

records - Sir Richard Branson tells us how it all began in London.

It is six months since the collapse of this close thing factory in

Bangladesh which killed more than a thousand people. Many of those who

survived are still not back at work and most have not received

compensation for their injuries. One of the survivors was Reshma Begum

who was trapped under the rubble for 17 days before being rescued. She

has been speaking to our correspondent Mahfuz Sadique. A

miracle, 17 days after a clothing factory came crashing down, pulled

out of the rubble, Reshma's story was one of hope after death and

despair. Six months on, with a job at a luxury hotel in the capital,

she is slowly rebuilding her life. TRANSLATION: A lot has changed. I

have a better life. I am learning English here and computers.

Now I have a good job, as a daughter, I want to look after my

mother. Sometimes now even in my sleep, I have nightmares that I am

trapped in the rubble. It scares me a lot. Reshma has moved on but

millions like her still make cheap clothes for Western consumers in

unsafe conditions. What about them? Their salaries should be increased.

Whatever is needed to make their lives safer should be done. They

work very hard and suffer a lot. These clothes are bought by foreign

buyers. I would ask them to give the compensation they have promised. I

would like to help them out as well. Since April, global retailers in

Bangladesh's government have pledged to make factories safer. But a fatal

fire at a textile plant two weeks ago has highlighted how Little

things have changed on the ground. Reshma was one of the lucky ones,

having survived one of the world's worst industrial disaster is, she

has been given a second chance at life. But for the families of her

fellow workers who perished in the tragedy, and those who live with

this ability is six months on, and without proper compensation, the

Rana Plaza nightmare is not yet over.

Some of the manufacturers who employed people at the factory are

among the best known on the British high street. Have things changed?

One of the firms, Primark, has been speaking to the BBC about its

approach. It said it was doing everything it could to ensure its

workers in Bangladesh were being treated properly.

This was the clothing factory back in April, just after the collapse.

1000 people died here and more than 2500 were injured. The disaster

sparked appeals across the world for the families affected to be helped

by the companies they supplied. Rana Plaza obviously was a huge tragedy.

We all looked on in horror as it developed. We knew our clothes were

in the building so we made and are now at the very same day that we

were in the building and that we accepted responsibility. At the time

of the disaster, up to 28 brands were made at the factory for stores

like Primark and then it on. Six months on, no long-term compensation

has been agreed for the families but try Mark -- company macro agreed to

pay support to the victims. -- Primark. When it became apparent

that compensation would take more time to put in place, we took

another three months and we have just announced that we will extend

that to nine months. Primark was the only British retailer to have

supported the workers and families in this way and that is being well

to. It is a good first step that people need to know about their

long-term futures. They were very young many of them. Two thirds of

them cannot work, they are injured physically or traumatised in some

way. We need companies to react quickly. Last month, more than half

of the companies linked to the factory failed to attend a meeting

to discuss compensation. Six months on, those who suffered here have no

idea when they will be helped. Stripping the green levies out of

gas under visited charges would be an own goal, according to the Deputy

Prime Minister Nick leg. It follows a row over increased energy bills

and comments from the Prime Minister that he would consider rolling back

green charges -- Nick Clegg. This seems to be something of a Dutch or

chin going on here. John Major saying there should be a windfall

tax. Would consumers be much better off under these schemes? All these

ideas have to be seen in the context of what has happened to energy

prices. If you go back to 2004, nine years ago, the typical gas and

electricity bill for a family was ?610. This year, it is over ?1300.

Of that, green levies are ?112. Even without those, prices have doubled.

You look at Labour's idea of a price freeze. That would reverse what

happened up until 2015. John Major's windfall tax, we do not know

what impact that would have on prices. And this idea of rolling

back green levies, trimming them would have an effect but not as much

as the current round of price increases that we are seeing. What

are the government then? They say they will look at these levies which

are to support low income families. Nick Clegg said today that some of

that, what is called the warm home discount could be moved to general

taxation. That is only a small amount of bills, about ?11 of that

?1300 bill. There is a lot to be looked at to make a big difference.

Thank you. England's Chief Medical Officer is calling for new measures

to improve the health of children. A report by Professor Dame Sally

Davies has suggested widening scheme to offer more vitamins to children

and called for more to be done to reduce obesity. This week is UEFA's

football against racism week but it is a fact which may have been lost

on a section of CSKA Moscow fans during the match against Manchester

city last night. The city midfielder Yaya Toure said

he was subjected to a barrage of racist chance. -- racist chance.

This is usually night against racism week.

This is unite against racism week. Yaya Toure feels he has heard this

before. When he told the referee he heard monkey chance, the referee

could have stopped the game. He did not. At the end of the match, Yaya

Toure said he wants serious action, maybe making CSKA Moscow play

without supporters for years. May be banned them from the stadium for a

couple of years or a couple of months because they say we have to

educate the fans but I think it is enough, too much is too much. CSKA

Moscow have told the BBC they did not hear any racist chance in last

night. -- racist chance thing. UEFA needs to take this very

seriously indeed. When countries like Russia are going to be shortly

hosting the World Cup, we need to know a tough line will be taken.

Theoretically, UEFA could order CSKA Moscow to close part of their

ground. There will still have to be a disciplinary hearing first. There

is a case to prove. But for Yaya Toure and others, credibility is on

the line. He is waiting. The 2013 Poppy Appeal is launched

today with a target of ?37 million. It will kick off tonight with a

concert at RAF Northolt in north London and the premiere of a single

recorded by a girl band after competition featuring the children

of military families. A royal visitor at the Poppy factory

in Surrey this morning. The Duchess of Cornwall marked the Royal British

Legion appeal. They have been making poppies here for 90 years, raising

money for those who need their help most. Those like Lance Corp are all

William Cassidy Liddell, who swapped the stage. Blown up in Afghanistan,

he lost a leg and suffered other injuries. The mental scars were just

as bad. This theatre project organised by the Royal British

Legion helped save his sanity. The Poppy Appeal is a salvation because

it is our support network. It is our shoulder to shoulder. It is there,

it is in those donations that guys like myself can continue to live. He

was given his military Cross by the Queen. It is the families left

behind who also suffer. The same explosion killed Sam Alexander. His

mother said the Royal British Legion is giving her support. You bottle it

up inside and put on a brave face on the outside. I do not know how long

that process takes to end but it has not yet. Tonight, the Poppy Girls, a

band made up of military daughters will be performing at a concert in

London, the first event of a campaign which the Royal British

Legion hopes will bring in ?37 million. Now time for a look at the

weather. Missed and mellow fruitfulness at

the moment but perhaps a scene from the Tempest next week. It will stay

dry in most places this afternoon. Some rain fringing into the far

south-west of the afternoon. Temperatures widely into the mid-,

even high teens into England and Wales. Cooler across Scotland and

Northern Ireland. The wind is picking up and the rain is piling

in. A wet night for south-west England, Wales and Northern Ireland

especially. For your journey to work tomorrow morning it is not looking

great. By eight o'clock we have the rain pushing in across western

Scotland as well. Wet for Northern Ireland. Patchy to the east of the

Pennines. Across Wales and south-west England, a lot of water

on the roads. The rain perhaps a bit more patchy across the Midlands,

East Anglia and the south-east first thing. Still a chance of some heavy

bursts here as well. Make sure you have got your umbrella. We will have

brisk winds blowing in so not ideal umbrella weather. A spell of wet

weather across eastern Scotland for a time. River systems are swollen so

that might cause some problems. By the afternoon most of us are into

bright spells and showers. If anything, milder than today. For the

weekend we keep the blustery theme going into Saturday. A band of heavy

rain. Eastern and central areas staying dry until late on in the

day. For Sunday, we can take the winds up a notch. During Sunday

night and into Monday that we are concerned, there is this area of low

pressure running in from the Atlantic. There will be very strong,

even storm force winds in it. We have an amber weather warning

already for Southern counties of England. Dust is potentially up to

80 mph. -- gusts. Nick Miller will tell us more on the website.

A reminder of our top story: Germany has summoned America's ambassador

over allegations that the personal mobile phone of Angela Merkel was