29/11/2013 BBC News at One

"A cowardly and callous murder." An Old Bailey jury is told how soldier

Lee Rigby was killed as he walked back to his London barracks.

Two men go on trial for his murder as the court hears claims they drove

at fusilier rig a before stabbing him to death.

We'll be getting the latest from the Old Bailey. Also this lunchtime: A

further 19 hospitals are to be investigated over links to serial

sex attacker Jimmy Savile. The Government denies reports that

its putting pressure on the big six energy companies to freeze prices.

Ed Miliband accuses the Prime Minister of privately pleading with

the companies. Charles Saatchi takes the stand

against two personal assistance. Fathers can be more hands-on - the

Government commits to introducing a year of shared leave for new parents

by the general election. Later on BBC London: From capital to

coast - seaside councils are angry that London's benefit claimants are

being re-housed in their towns. And hundreds of penalty notices are

issued to drivers and cyclists as part of the Met's clamp-down on

cycle safety. Good afternoon and welcome to the

BBC News at One. The trial has begun of two men

accused of murdering the British soldier, Lee Rigby, in Woolwich in

May. The court heard that Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo

drove a car at the soldier, then repeatedly stabbed him and attempted

to mutilate the body in what the prosecution called a "cowardly and

callous" killing. Both men deny murdering the soldier and attempting

to murder a police officer. Our home affairs correspondent, June Kelly,

is at the Old Bailey. Lee Rigby eyed and a spring

afternoon and his death was witnessed by many members of the

public. Today the Old Bailey was told that the he misbehaviour -- the

behaviour of the meant that is killing him is in contrast to the

decency of some of the public present. Just a warning that this

report contains some very distressing evidence. It is now six

months since Lee Rigby's life was taken on a London street. Today his

stepfather, on the left, and his mother, on the right, right at the

Old Bailey with other members of the family. -- arrived. The two men

accused of the soldier's murder were brought to London in a high security

convoy. Traffic was stopped as the vans carrying the men made their way

into court. They are pleading not guilty to killing Lee Rigby. The

jury was told that Michael Adebowale a end Micheal Adebolajo were in a

car which he sold and knocked him unconscious. They then attacked his

motionless body. They were armed with a meat cleaver, knives and a

revolver. The court heard that he was repeatedly stabbed, and Micheal

Adebolajo made a serious and almost settle attempt to decapitate him

with multiple blows. -- almost successful. At the same time,

Michael Adebowale it was using a knife to cut his body. The

prosecution described how witnesses witnessed events on the street in

which close to the barracks where Lee Rigby was based. The men dragged

his body into the middle of the road. The prosecuting barrister told

the jury: In the dock, the men listened as the

court heard how they waited for the police to arrive and then ran

towards them. They were then both shot by firearms

officers. The jury has now been shown CCTV footage of the car

hitting Lee Rigby. He is seen being lifted onto the bonnet and his body

fitting the windscreen. This afternoon there will be more visual

evidence. The jury have seen a lot of very

distressing images. Just before Lee Rigby's final movements were shown,

his mother left the court. A further 19 hospitals are to be

investigated over their links to the sexual predator Jimmy Savile. That's

in addition to the 14 which are already part of inquiries into

offences carried out by the former presenter. Let's speak to our health

correspondent, Branwen Jeffreys. Where are we with this

investigation? This confirms what the BBC has previously reported. The

scale of investigation in terms of the NHS now includes more than 30

hospitals. Today we have got the name of those hospitals. A further

19 have been added to the list. They include psychiatric hospitals,

Children's Hospital, and many others around the country. Quite a number

are in Manchester and in and around Leeds and New York. The Met Office,

the Met Police Hellas they are continuing their investigations. --

tell us. We don't know how many offences there are. The focus will

likely be with the main three. But the investigation continues.

The political battle over energy bills broke out again today. The

government denied asking the big six energy firms to hold their prices

until after the next election. It said recent meeting with the firms

over how to hold down prices had been misinterpreted. But Labour said

it showed that David Cameron had been privately pleading with the

energy firms. Here's our business correspondent, John Moylan.

Green levies help support renewable energy and schemes to intellect our

homes. But the government has promised to roll them back amid

rising concern over the impact on our bills. No industry sources have

told the BBC that the government wants a commitment from the big six

suppliers that they will not raise prices due to the cost of these

green and social policies until the middle of 2015. The governor denies

asking the firms to hold down prices, but says it is reviewing

those green costs. -- the government. We want to get

sustainable elope prices. The only way to do that is by increasing

competition and rolling back the costs of some of the levies on

bills. I said that was what we were going to do. That is what we are

going to do. But how significant is the role of government energy

policies in the overall cost of our bills? By far the biggest part of

our energy bill is the wholesale cost of gas and electricity. Then

there is the cost of getting all the energy to our homes. That is the

so-called network costs. Suppliers claim their profits are around 5% or

less. Then the final element are those green and social levies. They

are based on government policies and they forecast to in years ahead. The

government as -- looking at lowering the companies' environmental

obligations. They spec alleging it could lead to cuts in bills of

around ?50. -- there is speculation. There is a considerable amount of

the bill which is outside the control of the energy company. These

are some of the things which I think we need to talk about more. The

understanding and knowledge of what goes into the bill I don't think has

been properly conveyed. Energy shot off the agenda when in Miller band,

to freeze bills -- went Ed Miliband promised to freeze bills.

What we now know is that while David Cameron has in public been posing

and energy price freeze, in private he has been pleading with energy

companies to get him off the hook. If cuts to our bills are coming, we

should find out in a matter of days. But whether the firms will give any

commitment to freeze prices is not clear.

Our political correspondent, Iain Watson, is in Westminster. We have

got Ed Miliband saying the Prime Minister is privately pleading with

the companies. We had got soul -- Tories saying no he isn't. Where are

we on this? This is where George Osborne is going to come next week.

He was to get it -- wants to get energy bills down by looking at

Queen levies. The government are keen to kill off the suggestion that

they have been pleading with companies to hold down bills. Why?

Because it looks like an anaemic version of Labour's policy. What is

going on? But treasury sources are saying is that the covenant has been

involved in an information gathering exercise. -- Treasury sources are

saying. How much could bills fall? George

Osborne wants to get a figure next week. He wants to be able to say

that bills would be ?50 lower if the government makes changes. They are

asking the energy companies for advice. If any of them have

misinterpreted this as pressure to hold down bills, they are very much

mistaken. Labour say the government is moving into their agenda.

Charles Saatchi has begun giving evidence at the trial of two former

personal assistant accused of living the high life by defrauding the

couple out of more than ?600,000. The two sisters, Manchester and

Elisabetta Grillo, both deny fraud. Let's cross to Isleworth Crown

Court. What is the court hearing? This morning, Charles Saatchi, the

multimillionaire art collector, arrived here escorted by two

security guards and made his way through an enormous media scrum. He

has just taken to the stand in the last few minutes. He has been

describing the Grillos' relationship to the family. He says they took on

a number of duties, including personal errands, laundry and

looking after the children. He went on to say that when they took the

children over on holiday abroad, they would be responsible for paying

for everything, including hotel bills. He also said that grieving

that micro-giving the Grillos a company credit card was Nigella

Lawson's idea. He said, I was fond of them, we liked him very much. Why

coming in the midst of a rather acrimonious marriage split. -- all

this is coming. We have had interesting evidence earlier during

the pre-trial hearings. We have learnt that the Grillos' defence

team claim that manager Lawson allow them to spend millions on this

credit card. -- Nigella Lawson. They said they had a possible

understanding with her that they would not reveal her drug use. As

you say, since then, since this summer, they have divorced

acrimoniously. New parents will soon be able to

share the 52 weeks of maternity leave they're entitled to. The

government wants to bring in the change by April 2015. It says the

current system is "Edwardian" because it's so inflexible. But some

employers have called the change a nightmare which will heap yet more

burdens on struggling employers. Here's our political correspondent,

Chris Mason. Fathers and their young children

playing at this centre in south London. They are juggling work and

spending enough time being and involved parent. It is tough. That's

hearsay that these changes are welcome. It's important for children

to get to know their dads. I have a lot of friends where the father is a

strange figure who arrives after bedtime. Employers have to realise

it is more of a balance now, and dads are going to take more part in

it. It is going in the right direction. Allowing fathers to be

more involved can't be anything but good. What will new parents be in

title to? 50 weeks of leave will be shared between the parents. Fathers

can go up to two antenatal appointments. All parents will be

entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid leave while their children are aged under

18. The current rules don't suit a lot of modern families. There are a

lot of parents where maybe the mother, having taken time off, wants

to get back to work more quickly and the father wants to take more time

off to look after the newly arrived baby. At the moment the rules stop

mums and dads taking those decisions for themselves. Parents can divide

their time up as they see fit. But employees will be able to refuse

compact requests which will see if either taking time off repeatedly.

-- a father. There is a balance in -- balancing act here between

parents and businesses. The CBI support the changes, but others are

more sceptical. The proposals have enough hitches that they will be a

nightmare for a lot of small businesses. That is the biggest

challenge. Even a well-meaning small-business owner is going to

struggle to understand these complex rules and how to work with them. But

the hope is that the rules will provoke a cultural shift, allowing

women to return to work earlier if they wish and helping working dads

be more involved with their children. It is 1:15pm, the top

story this lunchtime: Two men go on trial for the murder

of Fusilier Lee Rigby. The Old Bailey hears claims they

drove at the soldier before stabbing him to death.

And still to come: Not one piece of jealousy between any of us. We all

had each other's back. An offer he couldn't refuse. David

Beckham tells the BBC about life at Manchester United under the

Godfather. And on BBC London:

Carrying hallowed ground from Flanders.

Why a Belgian ship has delivered sacred soil from the battlefields of

World War One. And the life and wardrobe of

flamboyant fashionista Isabella Blow is honoured in a new exhibition.

There's a warning today that the war in Syria is creating a generation of

damaged children. More than a million have become refugees as a

result of the conflict and, according to a report from the

United Nations, many live with the daily threat of physical or

psychological damage. Others have no schooling or have to work long hours

for little pay. Nearly 400,000 of those child refugees have fled to

Lebanon, from where our correspondent Paul Wood sent this

report. Welcome to the Children of Martyrs

School. Most of the pupils have lost one parent or both to Syria's Civil

War. There are tens of thousands more like them, says the UNC are. --

the UNHCR. Here in Turkey and in Lebanon. A generation of children

has been left traumatised by the war, some watched their mother or

father killed. Here, they draw what they witnessed, returning to the

same horrific images again and again. Musa remembers losing his

father. The family woke to hearing a plane. My dad told when to hide in

the toilet, he says. He went out to rescue someone. A missile landed and

killed him. Although she is just ten, Fatma is too afraid to show her

face. Her father was killed, she explains and she is worried that

Bashar al-Assad will kill the rest of her family. Prince Buddai and

Loui say how their family fled in the back of a truck and the truck

was ambushed -- tweens Buddai and Loui. Her mother was hit -- their

mother was hit here and here, he says and explains how she died in

front of them. To be a child refugee is often to assume a crushing burden

of responsibility. Many have do work to support their families. It can be

backbreaking, long hours for little pay, just a few dollars a day. They

have no choice. The child may be the family's only breadwinner. UNHCR

officials talk about a lost generation of Syrian children. They

call the 1.1 million child refugee is a "shameful milestone of the

conflict" . It is, though, a crisis with no end in sight and in

Lebanon, around one in four of the population is a refugee. Yet every

day, more cross the border. Half of them, children.

For the first time since the Second World War, the Red Cross is to

collect food nationwide to go to families struggling to feed

themselves. It's joined two other charities asking people to donate

food as they do their supermarket shop. Latest figures suggest that

nearly half a million people in Britain needed support from food

banks last year. Emma Simpson reports.

Every donation counts. All part of a massive operation to gather food.

This supermarket chain is providing the collection points, and for the

first time, the Red Cross has decided to help out. Humanitarian

organisations do many things in the UK and food poverty is one of the

issues that has come to the foreground very recently, we think

it is a growing issue and something we want to get more involved in,

helping people in crisis which includes food poverty. The idea is

simple. Shoppers are asked to pop a few extra items into their baskets

and then drop them off on the way out. And the most generous shoppers

of all are here in Liverpool. Christmas offers are everywhere, but

not everyone can afford them. Some people are struggling with the

basics. Tesco polled more than 4,000 people and found that almost one

third had skipped meals or relied on others to feed their families over

the last year. 40% said their situation had got worse and almost

as many said they would resist putting the heating on in order to

need. At this after-school centre in Liverpool, they are now able to

provide some fresh food. A snap for some, but for others, it is a

decent, much-needed meal. There is a lot more money in households.

Speaking to the parents here, they find they are struggling to be able

to keep the same levels of food on the table. An unexpected treat. The

generosity of others can go a long way. The hope is for a mountain of

food to be donated by the end of this weekend.

Two men charged with plotting to defraud bookmakers have appeared in

court, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency into

alleged football match-fixing. Our sports correspondent Natalie Pirks

is outside court in Cannock, Staffordshire, where the hearing was

held. Natalie, what happened? Well, both men came into the dock

flanked by two security guards and barely spoke in the hearing that

lasted little over five minutes. 33-year-old Chann Sankaran, from

Singapore, came in wearing a black Manchester United proper jacket and

glanced at reporters. He had 43-year-old Krishna Sanjey

Ganeshan, of dual UK and Singaporean nationality, are both charged with

conspiracy to defraud bookmakers by influencing and betting on football

matches. They are among seven people arrested this week, five of whom

have been bailed pending further enquiries and it is all part of an

ongoing investigation by the National Crime Agency and comes amid

reports this week from the Daily Telegraph that an illegal betting

syndicate in Asia had claimed they could influence the outcome of lower

league English football matches. Both men were remanded in custody

and will appear before Birmingham Crown Court on December 13th.

Nearly 150,000 children in England are cared for by people other than

their immediate families. The vast majority are with other relatives or

friends. But according to a report out today, many of those families

don't get the same kind of support from local councils as that given to

official foster carers. A report out today from the Local Government

Ombudsman says that's unfair and there needs to be a cultural shift

in the way carers are treated. Mike Sergeant has more.

Laura Warner now cares for two other young grandchildren. Her daughter

was in an abusive relationship and became heavily involved with drugs

and alcohol. Laura can now provide the children with a safe home

environment but says it was a battle persuading the authorities to make

her recognised carer, an arrangement she says is best for the family.

They have their memories with us. Just because a birth parent has been

unable to cope, and it is not always about drugs or alcohol, it can be

bereavement or mental health issues, they have got their memories with us

and relationships with others. Every child is entitled to a loving

family. If they have already got it there, why should they be removed

from it? Laura is known as a family and friends carer. She is a

grandparent but children could be placed with friends, aunts, uncles

or adult brothers and sisters. The Local Government Ombudsman has

recorded a sharp increase in complaints from many such carers,

who say they are getting a raw deal. What we spotted recently was a

growing concern with this particular area of work, support for family and

friends carers. It is clear from the complaints that have come to us that

some local authorities are not treating them fairly and not giving

them support and allowances they should have. The Local Government

Association, which represents most councils in England, says local

support reflects the available resources and the needs of the

community. But one third of councils have not

even published their policy on family and friends carers, despite

the insistence of ministers. The Government says all carers, whether

they are relatives or not, should access support through a fair and

transparent process, and that needs to be consistent across all local

authorities. The Bank of England says the number

of mortgages approved last month was the highest in almost six years.

Almost 68,000 were authorised, the most since February 2008. Figures

from the UK's second-biggest lender, the nationwide building

society, showed house prices have risen by 6.5% over the past year.

They're called The Class of 92, six Manchester United players who joined

the club as teenagers and went on to play together in one of the most

successful team's the world's ever known. A new film is being released

which tells their story. One of the six, David Beckham, has been talking

to the BBC's Sally Nugent about life playing under Sir Alex Ferguson,

revealing that he was known as the Godfather and not necessarily "in a

good way". I have just watched the film and it seems to me like it is a

film about friendship and there is a bit of football in it as well.

Yes. How are you all still friends after all these years? That is the

great thing about us. We were able to play for a team that we had

supported our whole lives. All six of us came through the youth team,

reserve team, first team and on to represent our countries, and did it

as friends and did it and won everything in football. It doesn't

get any better than that. Six young lads who were enjoying life. In our

eyes, we were just playing football. Not one piece of jealousy between

any of us. We all had each other's back. It wasn't my greatest skill,

chatting goes up. If you weather band of Brothers, what was Alex

Ferguson? The Godfather. And not in a good way. Not in a bad way! But we

were all very scared of him. And will we be seen you in charge of an

American soccer team soon? Yes, at some point. What is going to

happen? Hopefully the announcement before New Year. Go on, and NSAID

now! As much as I would love to, we are not ready yet but we are almost

there. You have lots of other business interests. Designing, you

designed a range of underwear. What is important to you in a pair of

pants? Comfort. The fit. The colour. But, comfort and fit. I wanted to

ask you about Victoria, because her business is going from strength to

strength. Are you involved in that at all? I am involved in the fact

that I say, "do you want a cup of tea while you work on dress?" I have

good at tea. Sweet whitehead you have it? No milk, one sugar. She has

said that the airport is her catwalk and we have seen lots of pictures of

you all going from one side of the Atlantic to the other, with the

children in tow, looking immaculate. Victoria always looks

immaculate, I look comfortable. We are very organised. How do you get

organised? The nappy bag is my job. Good. Victoria always walks with two

other boys and I am always carrying Harper, of course. And I have one of

the other boys. They are amazing, really are amazing.

The Class of 92 is in selected cinemas from Sunday.

Time for a look at the weather. A bit of a change taking place

today. We have this cold front pushing its way south across the UK.

It is pushed along by some fairly brisk and cold winds and it is

bringing a little bit of rain, but behind it, something brighter than

we have seen of late. Brightening up from the North was a cold wind will

be affecting all parts of the United Kingdom. Not completely dry, there

is patchy rain moving its way south, pushed along by the wind, but a

scattering of showers behind it. Some of them in the north and west

of Scotland turning wintry over the hills but in the north-east of

Scotland, the strongest winds, 60 mph and possibly more. But a decent

afternoon despite the blustery winds. The north-west of England

sees a bit more cloud, one or two showers but East Anglia is doing

pretty well this afternoon, brightening up all the while. Here

is the remnants of that front drifting away from the south coast

pretty briskly. Ten or 11 degrees on the face of it but in the wind, it

will feel colder. A bit of brighter weather along the south coast of

Wales but generally a little bit of cloud through the afternoon, largely

dry and quite blustery and it will be blustery in Northern Ireland. But

here we have brighter spells and a scattering of showers. Overnight,

the strongest winds will transfer their weight down the North Sea

coast. But apart from that, it is a fairly quiet night with clear spells

developing, particularly in the south of Scotland and the north of

England, where the lowest temperatures will be. Major towns

and cities, a couple of degrees above freezing. Windy start the

weekend but the wind will continue to ease and many others, lovely day

with plenty of sunshine but most places fine and dry. Always a bit

more cloud drifting into Scotland and Northern Ireland. Not much rain

but there will be some in the far north and west. The second part of

the weekend sees that ploughed across Scotland and Northern Ireland

drifting down across England and Wales. --that cloud. I suspect

Sunday will be a blustery day, maybe a little bit of rain in the

north-west of Scotland and I think there will be brighter spells here

and there. With much lighter winds, it should feel less cold. It does

feel cold this afternoon. Saturday looks like it will be a sunny day

and Sunday, cloud drifting down across many parts. A quick look

ahead to last week and high pressure will settle things down quite

nicely. A lot of cloud underneath it, but essentially a dry story. It

could be quite cold overnight with some night-time frost and patches of

fog. A reminder of our main story this

lunchtime: two men have gone on trial for the murder of Fusileer Lee

Rigby. The Old Bailey hears claims that

they drove at the soldier before stabbing him to death.

That's all from the News at One this lunchtime. On BBC One, we now