:00:10. > :00:14.Tackling excessive fees paid on pension funds, the government says
:00:15. > :00:17.it wants to stop workers being overcharged. It claims limiting the
:00:18. > :00:22.fees could save millions of people tens of thousands of pounds. How
:00:23. > :00:28.would it work in practice? We will be looking at the figures. Also, a
:00:29. > :00:31.row in the Commons over energy price hike ahead of an announcement on
:00:32. > :00:38.plans to investigate competition in the industry. The back-to-work
:00:39. > :00:41.schemes hard disk -- are declared legally flawed but the Supreme Court
:00:42. > :00:47.rejects claims that they are now to force Labour. The 25-year-old
:00:48. > :00:52.student found stabbed to death on his final pizza delivery shift
:00:53. > :00:55.before starting a new career in IT. Sainsbury's and Tesco was are locked
:00:56. > :01:03.in a fight over a campaign to compare prices between
:01:04. > :01:05.supermarkets. Later on BBC London, hospitals to have accident and
:01:06. > :01:11.emergency downgraded. The biggest shake-up the NHS has seen. Five
:01:12. > :01:26.years since Westfield opened but how has it weathered the recession?
:01:27. > :01:36.Good afternoon. Paying into a workplace pension pot is meant to
:01:37. > :01:40.secure financial security in retirement, but many people could be
:01:41. > :01:44.losing out because too much of their money is being paid out on the
:01:45. > :01:49.administration fees and other costs charged by pension companies. The
:01:50. > :01:55.government is proposing a on the fees charged by auto and Roman
:01:56. > :01:59.funds. -- in Roman funds. They are going to consult even though they
:02:00. > :02:07.claim the fees are at the lowest levels. -- enrolment. The government
:02:08. > :02:14.wants us to save more for our pension. Many of us are being
:02:15. > :02:19.enrolled into new workplace schemes. It is a big shake-up, and the
:02:20. > :02:26.government wants to make sure savers don't get ripped off. With 10
:02:27. > :02:30.million people going into workplace pensions over the next few years it
:02:31. > :02:35.is vital they get you for money. This is a short consultation, we
:02:36. > :02:40.will act early, and make sure every pound goes into pensions turns into
:02:41. > :02:45.a pension, not charges. These charges sound small but they really
:02:46. > :02:52.do add up. If you join a pension scheme with a 1% charge, and start
:02:53. > :02:57.to ?100 a month, according to government figures that could cost
:02:58. > :03:05.you ?170,000 in today's money by the time you retire. If the charges is
:03:06. > :03:12.1.5%, it means ?230,000 taken from your pension pot. Ministers say the
:03:13. > :03:15.providers need to cut costs, but the industry says lots of companies
:03:16. > :03:24.already charge less than the proposed. Pension charges are at
:03:25. > :03:29.their lowest ever level. However, charge capping has serious
:03:30. > :03:42.unintended consequences. You might find over time that the charge moves
:03:43. > :03:49.towards the. It is a growing concern having enough to live on. This would
:03:50. > :03:55.apply to the new scheme, but some say there are other fees and costs
:03:56. > :03:58.the government should tackle. What is equally important is that when
:03:59. > :04:01.you come to the point that you need to get money out of your pension
:04:02. > :04:10.scheme, that is the value. Hurriedly, there are no controls on
:04:11. > :04:14.any of those charges. -- currently. Most importantly is putting enough
:04:15. > :04:17.money into your pension. The government wants to make sure the
:04:18. > :04:23.pennies will turn into a bigger pot as possible. Our chief economic
:04:24. > :04:29.correspondent is with us. I am sure people will have questions. In terms
:04:30. > :04:34.of how significant it is, what is the answer? Intentionally very
:04:35. > :04:40.significant. As we heard, if you are coming in to a working scheme, the
:04:41. > :04:48.difference between 0.5 and 1.5 is huge. Thousands of extra fees. If
:04:49. > :04:51.the government wants people automatically in rolled, they will
:04:52. > :04:55.only be able to opt out if they want to, they do not want those people
:04:56. > :05:06.being ripped off. They will benefit if charges are limited. People
:05:07. > :05:10.already in schemes, which people will be opted into, will benefit.
:05:11. > :05:20.The problem will come with the detail. If they end up with limit,
:05:21. > :05:27.what about people on schemes at the moment that are below? We do not
:05:28. > :05:33.know how that will pan out in terms of the detail in the consultation,
:05:34. > :05:38.and the industry is already saying that the fees have come down
:05:39. > :05:44.naturally because of competition. Lots of work to be done. More
:05:45. > :05:48.answers to come. The cost of our energy bills has again dominated by
:05:49. > :05:58.ministers question Time, with heated exchanges between the leaders. --
:05:59. > :06:03.PMQs. David Cameron responded by calling Labour's plans for a freeze
:06:04. > :06:07.on energy bills are conned. Tomorrow, the government will
:06:08. > :06:14.announce new plans for energy competition. This was the lunchtime
:06:15. > :06:20.after the afternoon before. Yesterday afternoon, the bosses of
:06:21. > :06:26.the big six energy companies came to Westminster expecting a duffing up
:06:27. > :06:29.from MPs. That is what they got. They will have expected that was not
:06:30. > :06:33.the end of the argument and sure enough it is not. Ed Miliband has
:06:34. > :06:37.grabbed the political attention of the last few weeks with his promise
:06:38. > :06:41.that if he becomes prime minister he would freeze energy bills for the
:06:42. > :06:46.best part of two years. The Prime Minister thinks it is unworkable,
:06:47. > :06:53.but it does have the advantage of being easily understood. We should
:06:54. > :06:57.not be surprised that there was a return to fairly familiar political
:06:58. > :07:05.territory. The big six energy companies now plenty of customers
:07:06. > :07:08.don't trust them, and they found out that plenty of MPs do not as well.
:07:09. > :07:13.The Prime Minister will have been expecting that this big political
:07:14. > :07:19.issue will come up again. Ed Miliband is convinced the prime
:07:20. > :07:21.ministers on the wrong side of the argument. Having listened to the
:07:22. > :07:26.select committee yesterday, what is the difference between its policy on
:07:27. > :07:33.energy and that of the energy companies? The Prime Minister said
:07:34. > :07:39.it is clear what the industry needs. More competition and lower levies to
:07:40. > :07:41.drive profits and prices down. Ed Miliband is sufficiently confident
:07:42. > :07:47.he has the Prime Minister on the back foot. He stuck with it. He is
:07:48. > :07:50.still on the side of the energy companies, we should call them the
:07:51. > :08:01.big seven, the Prime Minister and them. Why is it he has gone from
:08:02. > :08:10.Rambo to Bambi? Who gave us the big six? Labour. When they first looked
:08:11. > :08:16.at this, there were 20 companies. Because of his stewardship, we ended
:08:17. > :08:21.up with six. The cost of -- the argument about keeping the heating
:08:22. > :08:28.on is personal. Ed Miliband was the energy secretary. The government
:08:29. > :08:30.will shift focus to its plans and announce an investigation into the
:08:31. > :08:35.competitiveness of the energy market. Do not expect that to be the
:08:36. > :08:41.end of the matter. This focus on energy slots into a bigger theme,
:08:42. > :08:45.the cost of living. As evidence that the economy is on the mend, the big
:08:46. > :08:51.argument is on who benefits. Prices are rising quicker than wages. We
:08:52. > :08:55.can get more by speaking to Robert Peston. As Chris was saying, the
:08:56. > :09:00.government has plans for an investigation. Those in the industry
:09:01. > :09:08.want another investigation entirely. That is right. It is a paradox. The
:09:09. > :09:15.investigation that a couple of energy bosses want, the head of E.ON
:09:16. > :09:20.and EDF Energy, would be much more detailed and actually potentially
:09:21. > :09:27.much more damaging to them. The government's investigation, we will
:09:28. > :09:36.get more details, we'll look at whether the status quo of the big
:09:37. > :09:41.six companies being able to sell to us and generate power, whether the
:09:42. > :09:47.status quo can be made to operate more in the interests of consumers.
:09:48. > :09:53.It will look at their prices, their profits, barriers to entry for other
:09:54. > :09:56.firms, but it will essentially be trying to make the current system
:09:57. > :10:02.work. Here is the thing which I think some people regard as
:10:03. > :10:07.remarkable. These two energy bosses think there should be a more
:10:08. > :10:11.detailed and comprehensive investigation by the competition
:10:12. > :10:15.commission, which would look at whether the structure of these
:10:16. > :10:20.companies is actually bad for all of us and bad for the economy. Whether
:10:21. > :10:28.the fact that when prices go up, the fact that they make a huge amount of
:10:29. > :10:33.money in a generation gives them to little incentive to compete with
:10:34. > :10:36.each other to keep prices down for us. Ultimately, their investigation
:10:37. > :10:40.could come up with an answer that their businesses should be broken
:10:41. > :10:44.up. They say they want that investigation because they believe
:10:45. > :10:51.our confidence in their industry is at an all-time low and unless there
:10:52. > :10:55.is a thorough review we are going to continue to be desperately upset
:10:56. > :11:01.every time they raise prices. Thank you for explaining that. Judges have
:11:02. > :11:04.come out against the government over its back-to-work scheme. Ministers
:11:05. > :11:09.had wanted them to overturn an earlier decision that the scheme was
:11:10. > :11:12.legally flawed. The case had been brought by a graduate who went to
:11:13. > :11:18.court after being made to work at Poundland without pay. Cait Reilly
:11:19. > :11:20.had no objection to working for a living but she considered being
:11:21. > :11:26.forced to spend two weeks at a Poundland store without pay to be
:11:27. > :11:30.beyond the pale. She had been sent there on the controversial
:11:31. > :11:32.back-to-work scheme. One of thousands of job seekers told they
:11:33. > :11:38.would lose benefits if they fail to comply. She took the government to
:11:39. > :11:43.court and won. Ministers appealed, but today the Supreme Court has
:11:44. > :11:47.upheld her victory. It has been a long journey, we have come a long
:11:48. > :11:52.way, and I am really glad and very proud that the Supreme Court has
:11:53. > :11:57.upheld the appeal. I just hope new legislation and regulations will
:11:58. > :12:00.help other job-seekers in their search for employment. Although the
:12:01. > :12:04.court found the government scheme was floored in the way it had been
:12:05. > :12:08.set up, they rejected the notion that it amounted to forced Labour.
:12:09. > :12:12.In principle, the government can withdraw benefits from people who
:12:13. > :12:17.refuse to take part in similar work schemes. Rumack five Supreme Court
:12:18. > :12:23.judges said the intention of what we are doing is correct, what we are
:12:24. > :12:29.aiming to do is correct, and that has to be positive news all round.
:12:30. > :12:34.But lawyers for Cait Reilly say the battle over the basic principle of
:12:35. > :12:37.the programme is not over. We were not comparing the scheme to slave
:12:38. > :12:41.Labour, but we are going to take stock and decide whether to appeal
:12:42. > :12:46.to the European Court of human rights on that issue. Cait Reilly
:12:47. > :12:53.has employment in a supermarket at the moment, but this time she is
:12:54. > :12:59.being paid. Sainsbury is is locked in a fight with Tesco over a
:13:00. > :13:02.campaign which compares prices in supermarkets and offers to repay the
:13:03. > :13:09.difference if goods can be found elsewhere cheaper. Sainsbury said it
:13:10. > :13:12.is misleading because it uses own brand products which cannot be
:13:13. > :13:18.compared fairly. Tesco denies this claim. In the supermarket aisles, it
:13:19. > :13:25.is easy to get confused. Weird U-turn for the cheapest deals, the
:13:26. > :13:28.best races, money off? It is almost impossible to know where the
:13:29. > :13:31.cheapest places. It is very difficult with the way that pricing
:13:32. > :13:36.is done, what products are included, to say for certain that
:13:37. > :13:41.you have the right deal, the best deal for you, to the supermarkets
:13:42. > :13:44.must now tidy up their pricing and make it much more comparing all,
:13:45. > :13:51.much more straightforward. -- comparator will. One thing which is
:13:52. > :13:56.guaranteed is a battle between the supermarket giants. Sainsbury
:13:57. > :14:01.announced it was taking the fight to judicial review. It is an argument
:14:02. > :14:10.over whether Tesco's price promise, which compares the price of a basket
:14:11. > :14:14.to other supermarkets, is fear. Sainsbury said it is unfair because
:14:15. > :14:20.it does not compare like-for-like products, for example, the basic tea
:14:21. > :14:26.bags in Sainsbury are fair trade but Tesco does not have them. The
:14:27. > :14:30.response is that Tesco offers value for money and reassurance and that
:14:31. > :14:34.is what they want. Sainsbury has already taken the complaint to the
:14:35. > :14:36.industry regulator but it lost and lost again on appeal. In a
:14:37. > :15:15.statement, they said... So, now the supermarket war is
:15:16. > :15:22.heading for the high court. Which is a rather expensive way of saving a
:15:23. > :15:28.few pennies. In the past few minutes newspaper
:15:29. > :15:34.and magazine publishers have lost a bid to stop the introduction of new
:15:35. > :15:38.press regulation, they argued they weren't properly consulted about the
:15:39. > :15:41.scheme and their own plans weren't given enough consideration. Our
:15:42. > :15:48.media correspondent has just come from the high court. So what has the
:15:49. > :15:52.court heard? Well, the consideration this morning was all about the
:15:53. > :15:55.press's version of their Royal Charter for press regulation, which
:15:56. > :15:59.they presented earlier this year, and the Government has been
:16:00. > :16:03.considering all along. And rejected on the 11th November. The way that
:16:04. > :16:10.was rejected and thrown out, well, the press said was unfair,
:16:11. > :16:13.irrational Kafka-esque and they totally doubted the process by which
:16:14. > :16:17.it was done. However in the last few moments the judge has said that he
:16:18. > :16:22.believed there had been ample time for them to understand all the
:16:23. > :16:25.criteria following the Leveson Report about what they had to meet
:16:26. > :16:32.when it came to press reform and he said they knew all the detail, and
:16:33. > :16:34.they had no duty for instance to be told what the public thought about
:16:35. > :16:38.these things, so negotiation for an injunction is stopped and he said
:16:39. > :16:42.also he believes there is no grounds for a judicial review of this whole
:16:43. > :16:48.process, which is what the press wants. However, does that mean that
:16:49. > :16:52.at 5.30 this afternoon automatically the Privy Council will agree this
:16:53. > :16:57.with the Queen? And we will have a new process of press regulation set
:16:58. > :17:01.up? We are not sure yet. There is a possibility there maybe an appeal
:17:02. > :17:10.this afternoon, so it is not over yet. Thank you for now. Our main
:17:11. > :17:13.stories this lunchtime. The Government's proposing a cap on
:17:14. > :17:17.theifies paid to pension funds because workers could be losing out
:17:18. > :17:21.to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds. Still to come. A safe house
:17:22. > :17:28.for drug users. It is being trialed in Denmark. Could it come to the UK?
:17:29. > :17:33.Later on BBC London. Serving pie and mash since the 1920, now this shop
:17:34. > :17:36.has been awarded Grade-II listed status.
:17:37. > :17:38.And we neat the 15-year-old climbing champion, who is beating adults
:17:39. > :17:51.nearly twice her age. Is providing somewhere safe for
:17:52. > :17:55.addicts to take drugs the best way to save lives? And help clean up
:17:56. > :18:01.drug risen areas of towns and cities? It an idea that has received
:18:02. > :18:05.support from the Police and Crime Commissioner for couldn't Ron Hogg,
:18:06. > :18:08.he has been looking at examples of cities like Copenhagen which
:18:09. > :18:12.operates drug consumption rooms. Our correspondent has been this to see
:18:13. > :18:18.how they work and hear the arguments for and against, introducing them
:18:19. > :18:23.here. Denmark has a reputation for a high standard of living, and its
:18:24. > :18:28.regularly rated one of the happiest places in the world. But it its
:18:29. > :18:33.capital Copenhagen is home to the biggest drug scene in Scandinavia.
:18:34. > :18:38.Since last year, though, addicts like Cas have been shooting up
:18:39. > :18:48.inside legal drug consulion rooms. This is his third fix of the day.
:18:49. > :18:51.It is heroin mixed with cocaine. Addicts arrive here from eight in
:18:52. > :18:54.the morning until midnight. They bring their own drugs which are
:18:55. > :19:00.illegal in Denmark, although police in the area don't arrest users for
:19:01. > :19:05.possession. What they get for free is sterile equipment, so, things
:19:06. > :19:11.like syringe, and also over here, needles. A million of these have
:19:12. > :19:15.been handed out in the past year. It is difficult to understand and
:19:16. > :19:18.people look, there is children, so it is better when they make these
:19:19. > :19:25.rooms where you can use your drug, you get everything, you get needles,
:19:26. > :19:32.everything. Two of my best friends died this year because they were not
:19:33. > :19:36.in a room like this. Every people who has OD in this room, nobody has
:19:37. > :19:40.died. The drug rooms are available for all long-term addicts in this
:19:41. > :19:44.community, no-one's forced to sign up to rehab programmes, although
:19:45. > :19:48.there are signs that more are starting to seek treatment. This
:19:49. > :19:53.area used to be littered with syringes, social workers say they
:19:54. > :19:58.would pick up several hundred every day. But since the drug consumption
:19:59. > :20:02.rooms opened a year ago it has become difficult to spot any. But
:20:03. > :20:04.the projects remain a controversial idea.
:20:05. > :20:09.We think that maybe we should use the resources is on getting them out
:20:10. > :20:13.of the use of drugs, instead of providing facilities for them to
:20:14. > :20:17.don't take drugs and providing a zone where the police cannot enforce
:20:18. > :20:20.the drug law, that is a big dilemma, we are concerned this may mean that
:20:21. > :20:23.more people continue to use drug, and that there will be more dealing
:20:24. > :20:27.in the area. We have been out on patrol with
:20:28. > :20:30.police, and it is clear that despite all the efforts to clear up the
:20:31. > :20:35.neighbourhood, there is still work to be done. Officers is admit it has
:20:36. > :20:39.been a change, directing people to places where they can take drugs
:20:40. > :20:43.safely, rather than arresting them. But Danish police believe the idea
:20:44. > :20:48.could also work in the UK. Perhaps not to solve the country's
:20:49. > :20:54.drug problem, but as a key part of the solution.
:20:55. > :20:59.Public confidence in the police here is said to have fallen since the
:21:00. > :21:02.so-called plebgate row which led to the resignation of the Government
:21:03. > :21:05.Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell. Now it seems that many officers are losing
:21:06. > :21:09.confidence in the organisation that represents them, the Police
:21:10. > :21:13.Federation. 91% of those questioned said it needed to change. Let us tae
:21:14. > :21:18.UK to our Home Affairs correspondent. I will ask what this
:21:19. > :21:22.change might be. First a reminder of the background. The new leadership
:21:23. > :21:27.team at the Police Federation decided to have a review into itself
:21:28. > :21:31.and the review is being carried out by a team chaired by a former senior
:21:32. > :21:37.civil servant. This is his first report and it is strong stuff. The
:21:38. > :21:40.review involved a survey of 12,500 police officers, and many said they
:21:41. > :21:45.were appalled at the damage that plebgate has done to policing, of
:21:46. > :21:47.course last week we had three police fed representatives from the
:21:48. > :21:51.Midlands before a a Parliamentary committee. The Crown Prosecution
:21:52. > :21:56.Service is deciding whether to bring charges against a number of Scotland
:21:57. > :21:59.Yard officers and the review describes the police fed as an
:22:00. > :22:04.organisation that has turned in on itself and is in danger of losing
:22:05. > :22:08.public confidence. What does the police fed do? It accepts the review
:22:09. > :22:12.is worrying, perhaps an understatement, but it says it needs
:22:13. > :22:15.to change, it acknowledges that, this is the first stage of the whole
:22:16. > :22:19.report process, there is another report coming, so what it
:22:20. > :22:24.acknowledges it has to do is work with others to try and find a way
:22:25. > :22:29.ahead and find out how to reform the organisation. Police are appealing
:22:30. > :22:36.for witnesses after a 25-year-old man pizza delivery man was found
:22:37. > :22:40.stabbed to death. Thavisha Peiris was on his last delivery shift
:22:41. > :22:45.before starting a new career. He had been paying for hist studies by
:22:46. > :22:50.doing the delivery rounds. A terribly tragic story, what are the
:22:51. > :22:54.police saying? Yes, police said that he was a bright, intelligent
:22:55. > :22:58.hard-working student, and that he came to this country for a better
:22:59. > :23:02.life. But on Sunday night, his body was found in this small car park
:23:03. > :23:07.behind me, he was slumped in a car, and he had been stabbed to death. It
:23:08. > :23:10.was his final delivery, on his final shift for the pits STAE company he
:23:11. > :23:15.was working for, he was due to start work as an IT consultant, something
:23:16. > :23:20.police said he was extremely proud about. South Yorkshire Police have
:23:21. > :23:24.50 detectives on this cases now, this is a built-up area, they
:23:25. > :23:28.believe someone might have seen or heard something. They want them to
:23:29. > :23:33.come forward. Sunday was his last shift and this
:23:34. > :23:38.was his last delivery, that he was going to make, so it is an absolute
:23:39. > :23:41.tragedy, it was a brutal attack, we don't know what the motive was, at
:23:42. > :23:47.this moment in time, we don't know whether it was a robbery, we are not
:23:48. > :23:54.aware of any enemies, that he had, he was a well liked individual, said
:23:55. > :23:59.to be a calm, lad, never in any trouble at all, just a very
:24:00. > :24:05.hard-working genuine, caring young lad.
:24:06. > :24:11.Police also said his death has cudded untold grief in Sri Lanka.
:24:12. > :24:17.His mother, father and brother are preparing to come to Sheffield right
:24:18. > :24:21.now to help police as they appeal for information. Four French
:24:22. > :24:26.hostages who were seized by Al-Qaeda linked gunmen in Niger in 2010 have
:24:27. > :24:31.arrived back in France following their release yesterday. They were
:24:32. > :24:41.welcomed by the French President frill roll they were kidnapped at
:24:42. > :24:46.the side of a -- Francois Hollande. French run mine. A Royal Marine has
:24:47. > :24:50.insisted the man was dead when he fired at him. He has blamed a stupid
:24:51. > :24:56.lack of self control for what happened. His defence got under way
:24:57. > :25:04.at a military court. Our defence correspondent is there. Jonathan.
:25:05. > :25:11.The prosecution's shown a video taken from a helmet camera. They say
:25:12. > :25:14.it shows the royal marines executing a Taliban prisoner. Today it was the
:25:15. > :25:20.turn of the defence, we heard from marine A, he admitted that they
:25:21. > :25:26.treated in his words that prisoner robustly, he described them dragging
:25:27. > :25:32.that bloody body to a tree line, they said they took him there to
:25:33. > :25:38.administer first-aid not to hide from a helicopter circling above. In
:25:39. > :25:42.that evidence, marine A said he believed that prisoner was actually
:25:43. > :25:47.dead, it was then that he said he pulled out his pistol, he was asked
:25:48. > :25:51.why he fired the shot into the body. He said it was stupid, a lack of
:25:52. > :25:56.self control. He was then asked about his next words. There you are,
:25:57. > :26:01.shuffle off this more tan coil. Marine A said that was foolish
:26:02. > :26:07.bravado and he went on the say in that video, this doesn't go anywhere
:26:08. > :26:10.fella, I have just broken the Geneva Convention. He said he said that
:26:11. > :26:15.because he believed by firing a shot into the dead body of a prisoner he
:26:16. > :26:20.might have been breaking the rules of war. All three marines, deny
:26:21. > :26:24.murder, the judge has ruled in this trial, that the video cannot be
:26:25. > :26:29.released, because it could endanger the lives of those in the front
:26:30. > :26:33.line. We have been hearing a lot recently
:26:34. > :26:39.about allegations of Americans spying on Europe, now the charge is
:26:40. > :26:43.that Russia spied on delegates at the recent G20 summit in St
:26:44. > :26:49.Petersburg by handing out free technology gadgets capable of
:26:50. > :26:53.feeding information back to Moscow. When world leaders gathered in St
:26:54. > :26:57.Petersburg last month, did their Russian hosts spy on them? That is
:26:58. > :27:02.the allegation made by two Italian newspapers. The Russians, they say,
:27:03. > :27:08.providing memory sticks and phone chargers which on later inspection
:27:09. > :27:11.were found to have bugs in them. The devices allowed e-mail, text
:27:12. > :27:13.messages and phone calls to be monitored. A spokesman for the
:27:14. > :27:19.Russian leader said the reports are not true, but it is is not the first
:27:20. > :27:22.time stories like this have surfaced from international gathering.
:27:23. > :27:27.In the summer, the Guardian reported that the British and Americans had
:27:28. > :27:32.behaved in much the same way, at two G20 meetings four years ago. Amid
:27:33. > :27:35.more recent allegations, an EU delegation has been in Washington
:27:36. > :27:39.this week, senior German officials will be at the White House later
:27:40. > :27:45.today, following claims that Angela Merkel's phone was bugged.
:27:46. > :27:48.On Capitol Hill intelligence chiefs have been explaining themselves to
:27:49. > :27:53.Congress. Generally unrepentant and speaking for their counterparts
:27:54. > :28:00.everywhere when they explained what this is all about. As long as I have
:28:01. > :28:04.been in the intelligence business, 50 years, leadership intention, in
:28:05. > :28:10.whatever form that is expressed is kind of a basic tenet of what we
:28:11. > :28:14.collect and analyse. Members of Congress seem satisfied
:28:15. > :28:18.but there are voices of dissent in Washington. Moves are afoot to limit
:28:19. > :28:22.the activities of the National Security Agency. But the
:28:23. > :28:26.intelligence bossed insist reports the NSA trawled through -- trawled
:28:27. > :28:31.through many millions of phone calls are plain wrong. Much the data say
:28:32. > :28:39.they was gathered by the Europeans themselves and shared with the US.
:28:40. > :28:45.It is time knew for a look at the weather.
:28:46. > :28:49.A bright crisp sunny chilly start, shallow fog, first frost of the
:28:50. > :28:53.season for some of us. The outlook is far from tranquil, because
:28:54. > :28:57.despite a bright start, the cloud has been piling in from the west, as
:28:58. > :29:01.you can see on the satellite picture, and we have seen heavy rain
:29:02. > :29:04.already in parts of Northern Ireland, pushing in to Scotland,
:29:05. > :29:07.Wales and western England, heavy rain and strong winds too,
:29:08. > :29:11.particularly across the far north-west of Scotland for a time,
:29:12. > :29:16.gusts up to 60mph and some sharp bursts of rain. The odd shower in
:29:17. > :29:19.the far south-east, but plenty of brightness here holding on.
:29:20. > :29:23.Temperatures not too bad, but further west with the wind and rain
:29:24. > :29:26.not feeing comfortable. Maybe late brightness in the more western
:29:27. > :29:32.parts. Now through this evening the rain will continue to edge its way
:29:33. > :29:36.eastwards, in a sporadic fashion. Some damps in the east. The winds
:29:37. > :29:41.will drop out. We could see fog through the central area, watch out
:29:42. > :29:45.for that. Further showers pushing into the more northern and western
:29:46. > :29:49.parts. Some showers to the west coast, but there is that zone of
:29:50. > :29:52.fog, so for the early morning commute, it could be tricky, that
:29:53. > :29:56.rain lingering in south-east England and East Anglia for a time, and then
:29:57. > :30:01.up to the north-west, breakfast time, already windy and further
:30:02. > :30:04.blustery showers, particularly in the west of Scotland, there could be
:30:05. > :30:08.a lot of rain, shower after shower after shower, the totals will tot
:30:09. > :30:13.up. As we go through the day the showers will become more widespread
:30:14. > :30:18.in northern and western area, the damp in the the south-east will fade
:30:19. > :30:23.away. Disturbed for many other places and
:30:24. > :30:27.again it will feel cool. Temperatures 11 or 12 degree, maybe
:30:28. > :30:32.15 in the south-east, if it does brighten up. If you are trick or
:30:33. > :30:36.treating be prepared for blustery conditions and nobody immune from
:30:37. > :30:39.shower, they will become widespread, then all eyes to the south-west,
:30:40. > :30:43.with the developing area of low pressure, it looks nasty, we are
:30:44. > :30:47.keeping a close eye on this, early warnings have been issued for the
:30:48. > :30:50.more southern parts of the UK, bands of rain pushing their way north
:30:51. > :30:57.wards, some could be persistent and heavy. Some places could catch up to
:30:58. > :31:01.an inch or more of rain. It stays blustery, sunshine and showers, the
:31:02. > :31:05.weekend disturbed, very windy again, there will be spells of heavy rain,
:31:06. > :31:19.yes, there will be sunshine, but be wear some nasty weather expected
:31:20. > :31:24.through this weekend. A reminder of the main story: The government has
:31:25. > :31:27.proposed a limit on the fees paid to pension companies because of
:31:28. > :31:32.concerns workers could be losing out to the tune of 10,000 -- tens of
:31:33. > :31:34.thousands of pounds. That is all