:00:00. > :00:10.Unemployment falls by 90,000 to its lowest level since 2009. The drop is
:00:11. > :00:21.sharper than expected and has been welcomed by the Prime Minister.
:00:22. > :00:27.Everyone back in work means greater stability for them and greater help
:00:28. > :00:32.for their families. But the plan is working, let's stick at it and get
:00:33. > :00:34.unemployment down even further. Also this lunchtime... Preventing
:00:35. > :00:36.benefits tourism - the Government is rushing through legislation to
:00:37. > :00:43.counter an expected influx of job-seekers from Romania and
:00:44. > :00:47.Bulgaria. The jury in the trial of two men
:00:48. > :00:51.accused of murdering the rid we has learned that the pair wanted to
:00:52. > :00:54.scare police officers into killing them in a bid for martyrdom. The
:00:55. > :00:58.most infamous of the great train robbers, Ronnie Biggs, has died at
:00:59. > :01:01.the age of 84. Plastic fantastic - the Bank of England will be
:01:02. > :01:13.introducing polymer banknotes from 2016. Later on BBC London, the
:01:14. > :01:14.council criticised for its Christmas cards warning tenants to pay their
:01:15. > :01:36.rent. Hello and welcome to the BBC News at
:01:37. > :01:42.One. Unemployment has fallen by just
:01:43. > :01:45.under 100,000. Official figures for the three months to October show
:01:46. > :01:49.there are now 2.39 million people out of work. This means that the
:01:50. > :01:53.unemployment rate now stands at 7.4%, its lowest since early 2009.
:01:54. > :01:58.This is better than analysts had expected. The figures also show that
:01:59. > :02:02.the number of people claiming job-seeker's Allowance last month
:02:03. > :02:12.fell to 1.27 million. Our industry correspondent John Moylan has more.
:02:13. > :02:19.At this printing firm in west London, the signs of growth are all
:02:20. > :02:22.around. Business is booming, they have invested in new equipment and
:02:23. > :02:29.taken on nine more people this year. My confidence is as high as it
:02:30. > :02:33.has been for the last five years. We have seen some sustained activity,
:02:34. > :02:38.which has had no drop-off in terms of employment and investment, it is
:02:39. > :02:45.about as good this is going to get for me. Across the UK, the jobless
:02:46. > :02:51.total fell by 99,000 in the three months to November. It means almost
:02:52. > :02:56.2.4 million people are out of work, but that is down almost 10% from the
:02:57. > :03:00.peak. But the number in work jumped by a quarter of a million, taking
:03:01. > :03:05.the total to more than 30 million for the first time. We are seeing
:03:06. > :03:08.improvements in vacancies across the board, not just in the south-east
:03:09. > :03:13.but throughout the country, particularly Yorkshire and the
:03:14. > :03:17.north-east, and it is growth in the utilities and the business and
:03:18. > :03:21.finance sectors. This latest snapshot of the labour market will
:03:22. > :03:25.be a big pre-Christmas boost for the Government, but it could have wider
:03:26. > :03:29.economic consequences. The Bank of England has stated that it will not
:03:30. > :03:33.consider raising interest rates until unemployment falls to 7%. On
:03:34. > :03:38.the basis of today's figures, that day is coming ever closer. The
:03:39. > :03:43.consensus at the minute is that the first interest rate hike from the
:03:44. > :03:46.Bank of England will come from the middle of 2015 onwards. But today's
:03:47. > :03:52.figures show the economy growing much faster than we had expected,
:03:53. > :03:58.which raises the risk of an interest rate hike earlier than that. But
:03:59. > :04:01.there are still 1 million people more out of work than before the
:04:02. > :04:07.financial crisis. Spencer is living at home and can only find part-time
:04:08. > :04:12.jobs. It has been a lot of I thought I would have a job by now. It has
:04:13. > :04:19.been difficult. I have had a couple of interviews more recently, but not
:04:20. > :04:23.a paid, full-time position yet. And there is little festive cheer in
:04:24. > :04:28.terms of pay. Earnings are growing by just 0.8%, less than half the
:04:29. > :04:32.rate of inflation. So, household budgets will still be stretched this
:04:33. > :04:36.Christmas, but the prospects for the jobs market are looking up.
:04:37. > :04:39.In a moment, we will talk to Norman Smith, who is at Westminster for us.
:04:40. > :04:45.But first, our chief economics correspondent, Hugh Pym, is here.
:04:46. > :04:49.Clearly, good news for people who are seeking work, but does this have
:04:50. > :04:54.indications for interest rates? Very much so. There is enough in this
:04:55. > :04:58.latest set of statistics to tell you a lot about the British economy.
:04:59. > :05:02.Unemployment is at its lowest in four years. The number of job
:05:03. > :05:06.vacancies is at its highest since 2008, at the start of the recession.
:05:07. > :05:11.But as John Moylan was declining, there is this added by mention of
:05:12. > :05:15.the Bank of England. They said they would not consider raising interest
:05:16. > :05:20.rates until unemployment got to 7%. Back in August, it did not seem
:05:21. > :05:25.likely that unemployment would get down to 7% until 2016. But
:05:26. > :05:29.everything has moved a lot more rapidly on that front, compared to
:05:30. > :05:33.what the Bank of England thought. It now looks as if that 7% threshold
:05:34. > :05:38.could be reached maybe even late next year. The message from the Bank
:05:39. > :05:43.in recent weeks has been, we never said we would raise interest rates,
:05:44. > :05:47.we only said we would start thinking about it, and we would look at a
:05:48. > :05:53.whole load of other things. The message now is, never mind 7%, could
:05:54. > :05:55.be a little bit further than that. A bit confusing for households and
:05:56. > :06:00.businesses, but there is a lot riding on this, with millions of
:06:01. > :06:05.people with mortgages, and savers also being affected by interest
:06:06. > :06:08.rates. Let's go to our chief political correspondent, Norman
:06:09. > :06:13.Smith, at Westminster. Where does this leave the political argument?
:06:14. > :06:16.For some time, Labour have been chiding the coalition that their
:06:17. > :06:21.policies are not working... Prime Minister's Questions today in many
:06:22. > :06:25.ways typified the political story this year on the economy, which has
:06:26. > :06:29.seen the Government stressing the recovery, and Labour are seeking to
:06:30. > :06:34.stress the cost of living. But with each bit of better economic news, be
:06:35. > :06:39.it on growth or on record numbers of employment, you just sense the
:06:40. > :06:43.balance is beginning to shift in the Government's favour, that it is
:06:44. > :06:48.getting harder for Ed Miliband to make his case on the cost of living,
:06:49. > :06:51.that the argument begins to sound almost as if you are carping about
:06:52. > :06:56.an economy which is getting better. But there is a second chink in the
:06:57. > :06:59.armour of Labour, which centres on the position of the Shadow
:07:00. > :07:04.Chancellor, Ed Balls, who you will remember had a difficult day when
:07:05. > :07:07.the Autumn Statement was announced, with all sorts of rumblings
:07:08. > :07:12.afterwards about whether Ed Miliband might try to move him. Today, he had
:07:13. > :07:16.another difficult day, when he was motioning downwards, and David
:07:17. > :07:21.Cameron said he really should be motioning goodbye. Also today, the
:07:22. > :07:26.Speaker said, we are going to go on and on, as long as it takes, and the
:07:27. > :07:29.Tory MPs cheered, they wanted to carry on, because they think the
:07:30. > :07:34.momentum on the economy is now moving their way.
:07:35. > :07:37.And you can find out much more on the latest unemployment figures at
:07:38. > :07:39.bbc.co.uk/business. That also includes details of inflation,
:07:40. > :07:46.economic growth, interest rates and house prices across the UK.
:07:47. > :07:50.From first January, new migrants from the European Union will have to
:07:51. > :07:55.wait for three months before they can apply for out-of-work benefits.
:07:56. > :07:58.The measure - one of a series of restrictions on EU job-seekers set
:07:59. > :08:01.out by David Cameron - is being rushed through Parliament, so it can
:08:02. > :08:04.be in place when remaining work controls on Romanians and Bulgarians
:08:05. > :08:14.are lifted. Our political correspondent Chris Mason reports.
:08:15. > :08:21.There are just 14 days to go. You might call it last-minute, or the
:08:22. > :08:24.11th hour, or in the nick of time. In a fortnight, plenty of people
:08:25. > :08:28.will have a New Year's Day hangover, and plenty of Romanians
:08:29. > :08:32.and Bulgarians can come here to work. But they, along with other
:08:33. > :08:35.European migrants already here, will now have to wait three months before
:08:36. > :08:42.they can apply for out of work benefits. This will kick in in a
:08:43. > :08:46.fortnight. We should have done I have had to go out and check with
:08:47. > :08:51.many other nations, to see what their systems are, to demonstrate to
:08:52. > :08:54.myself that this was feasible. I have come back, we have taken a
:08:55. > :09:00.legal opinion on it, and decided that this can be done in time for
:09:01. > :09:05.the beginning of January. What about the 13 years that Labour had to sort
:09:06. > :09:12.this? How come this was not done by you guys in government. Well, we are
:09:13. > :09:18.a we have got the transitional controls put in place for January.
:09:19. > :09:20.We supported those. We recognise that people need to make a
:09:21. > :09:27.contribution if they are coming here for benefits. Why this arms race to
:09:28. > :09:30.sound muscular on immigration? Some say the problem of migrants'
:09:31. > :09:34.benefits is a problem which does not really exist, but Westminster has
:09:35. > :09:39.woken up to the fact that immigration matters to a lot of
:09:40. > :09:45.people. It has also woken up to the political threat of the UK
:09:46. > :09:49.Independence Party. The public have been concerned about this for years.
:09:50. > :09:53.At one minute to midnight, David Cameron comes out with gesture
:09:54. > :09:57.politics. He has got his last chance to get our borders back at the EU
:09:58. > :10:01.summit tomorrow and Friday. If he does not do that, there is no point
:10:02. > :10:05.in him returning. For the Conservatives, this is just the
:10:06. > :10:08.opening skirmish with Brussels. David Cameron wants to take a look
:10:09. > :10:14.at the whole principle of the free movement of labour in Europe as part
:10:15. > :10:19.of a renegotiation of our membership of the European Union. The thing
:10:20. > :10:21.is, free movement is a central idea of the EU, so changing it will not
:10:22. > :10:35.be simple. The jury at the trial of two men
:10:36. > :10:38.accused of murdering the soldier Lee Rigby near Woolwich Barracks in May
:10:39. > :10:40.has been hearing closing arguments. Michael Adebolajo and Michael
:10:41. > :10:47.Adebowale both deny the charge. Our correspondent June Kelly is at the
:10:48. > :10:50.Old Bailey. This morning we heard from the barrister representing the
:10:51. > :10:56.second defendant in this case, Michael Adebowale. Michael Adebowale
:10:57. > :11:00.chose not to go into the witness box, so this is the first time we
:11:01. > :11:03.have heard anything of his defence. His barrister said he would be
:11:04. > :11:07.relying on the same defence as Michael Adebolajo. They both see
:11:08. > :11:15.themselves as soldiers of Allen, and they both regarded the killing of
:11:16. > :11:21.Lee Rigby as an act of war. -- soldiers of Allah. Both men are
:11:22. > :11:26.facing a second charge of attempting to murder a police officer. The jury
:11:27. > :11:31.has seen footage of them approaching the police with weapons. But the
:11:32. > :11:34.jury heard today that Michael Adebolajo said the gun he was
:11:35. > :11:38.holding that day was not loaded, and he said he knew he could not do any
:11:39. > :11:42.harm to the police. The barrister said his client wanted to be
:11:43. > :11:46.martyred by the police. This afternoon, we will have the judge's
:11:47. > :11:54.closing speech, and tomorrow, the jury will be sent out to consider
:11:55. > :11:57.their verdicts. One of Britain's most notorious
:11:58. > :12:01.criminals, Ronnie Biggs, has died at the age of 84. He was jailed for his
:12:02. > :12:04.part in the ?2.5 million Great Train Robbery of 1963. After escaping from
:12:05. > :12:08.prison, Biggs spent more than 30 years on the run - most of it in
:12:09. > :12:11.Brazil. In 2001, he returned to Britain and was sent back to jail,
:12:12. > :12:22.before being freed when his health deteriorated. Nick Higham reports.
:12:23. > :12:26.Ronnie Biggs in Rio, playing the lovable rogue, who stuck two fingers
:12:27. > :12:32.up to war for tea, living it up in the sun. But Ronnie Biggs had been a
:12:33. > :12:36.minor member of a violent gang who robbed the Glasgow to London mail
:12:37. > :12:43.train in Buckinghamshire in August 1963, making off with ?2.5 million.
:12:44. > :12:49.The train driver, Jack Mills, was knocked unconscious, and never fully
:12:50. > :12:52.recovered. Convicted and sentenced, Biggs escaped by scaling the wall of
:12:53. > :12:56.Wandsworth prison and lowering himself into a waiting van. The
:12:57. > :13:01.length of his sentence, 30 years, had astonished him and the public.
:13:02. > :13:07.The robbers became folk heroes to some. 50 years on, the crime has
:13:08. > :13:10.become part of modern myth. There is a BBC drama about it starting
:13:11. > :13:15.tonight. Ronnie Biggs, ever the self publicist, would have relished the
:13:16. > :13:22.coincidence. After his escape, Biggs fled to Brazil. In 1974, he was
:13:23. > :13:26.merely extradited, but then he had a son by his girlfriend, and under
:13:27. > :13:30.Brazilian law, he was safe. He made a living by exploiting his
:13:31. > :13:35.notoriety, helped by a steady stream of visiting journalists, and he
:13:36. > :13:40.showed no resource. I do not regret the fact that I was involved in I am
:13:41. > :13:44.quite pleased with the idea that I was involved in it, because it has
:13:45. > :13:49.given me a little place in history, I have made a mark for myself. My
:13:50. > :13:54.poor old doubt used to say to me, I know you will make good one day. I
:13:55. > :13:58.have made good in a curious way, by becoming infamous. Part of his
:13:59. > :14:03.secret was his considerable charm. He had a lot of charisma, the women
:14:04. > :14:07.always fell for him, they said it was his sparkling eyes. He would
:14:08. > :14:11.captivate people totally. It did not matter whether it was a police
:14:12. > :14:15.officer, another crock or some rock star, they were all in all of this
:14:16. > :14:25.guy, who had no airs and graces about him. But by the 1990s, his
:14:26. > :14:29.health was failing. He had suffered a series of strokes. A tabloid
:14:30. > :14:35.newspaper flew him home, and he was jailed. Eight years later, unable to
:14:36. > :14:38.walk, talk or feed himself, he was released into a nursing home close
:14:39. > :14:42.to his family. His last public appearance was at the funeral of
:14:43. > :14:44.fellow train robber Bruce Reynolds. He made sure the photographers got a
:14:45. > :14:50.good picture. Our top story this lunchtime...
:14:51. > :14:55.Unemployment falls by 90,000 to its lowest level since 2009. The drop is
:14:56. > :15:01.sharper than expected and has been welcomed by the Government. And
:15:02. > :15:11.still to come... If you have a spare million pounds or so, how about this
:15:12. > :15:15.Stradivarius for Christmas? Later on BBC London, cutting pollution in the
:15:16. > :15:20.capital, new electric buses are put to the test. And from Dick
:15:21. > :15:22.Whittington onwards, a round-up of some of the family entertainment on
:15:23. > :15:32.in London over Christmas. The controversial use of drones, or
:15:33. > :15:36.unmanned aircraft, in Afghanistan has been defended by the Defence
:15:37. > :15:38.Secretary. Philip Hammond was visiting RAF Waddington in
:15:39. > :15:45.Lincolnshire, the operation centre of the UK drone programme. Cameras
:15:46. > :15:47.were allowed to film inside for the first time, and our Defence
:15:48. > :15:55.Correspondent Jonathan Beale was there.
:15:56. > :15:59.From an airfield in Lincolnshire to Afghanistan. For the first time, we
:16:00. > :16:03.have been able to witness preparation for a mission. Here,
:16:04. > :16:10.they do not climb into a cockpit, but a windowless room. This is
:16:11. > :16:13.flying, but not as we know it. This air crew on the ground in
:16:14. > :16:19.Lincolnshire are making decisions about life and death thousands of
:16:20. > :16:24.miles away in Afghanistan. Have you ever had to fire weapons? I have,
:16:25. > :16:31.but it is not something I like to talk about. It is part of my job. It
:16:32. > :16:35.is what we do. Are you confident that you have hit the right target
:16:36. > :16:42.and not killed civilians? Without fail. The target procedures are so
:16:43. > :16:44.robust. There is a reason the Ministry of Defence has released
:16:45. > :16:52.these carefully selected videos. This is what the drone can be seen
:16:53. > :16:56.thousands of metres in the air, even the weapon being fired by an
:16:57. > :17:03.insurgent. The RAF says this is proof of how civilian casualties are
:17:04. > :17:09.avoided. As a suspected insurgent enters a compound, the missile is
:17:10. > :17:12.diverted to avoid collateral damage. People have got a right to be
:17:13. > :17:18.worried because mistakes have been made in Afghanistan. There is one
:17:19. > :17:22.incident in which we are aware of civilian casualties out of 400 uses
:17:23. > :17:28.of weapons systems by remote piloting. There have also been
:17:29. > :17:33.incidents involving land aircraft and I am afraid the nature of
:17:34. > :17:37.warfare is you can never guarantee 100% that there will not be
:17:38. > :17:44.collateral damage. The military shuns the word drone. It prefers the
:17:45. > :17:49.words promoted piloted or unmanned air system. It insists there is
:17:50. > :17:58.always a person in charge. Debate about their use has only just begun.
:17:59. > :18:03.Ian Watkins, the former singer of a Welsh rock band, is due to be
:18:04. > :18:07.sentenced this afternoon for a series of child sex offences. He was
:18:08. > :18:10.described by a prosecutor as a determined and committed paedophile.
:18:11. > :18:20.He pleaded guilty to 13 charges at Cardiff Crown Court last month.
:18:21. > :18:26.We have heard this morning that since he pleaded guilty, Ian Watkins
:18:27. > :18:29.has been making light of his convictions. In a recorded phone
:18:30. > :18:37.call from the prison he told one person that he did not know why
:18:38. > :18:40.people were freaking out. He said that no baby had been harmed, that
:18:41. > :18:46.he was not really a paedophile, he had only pleaded guilty to avoid a
:18:47. > :18:49.trial. That was in stark contrast to the mitigation put forward by his
:18:50. > :18:54.defence barrister, who claimed he had been appalled at his actions,
:18:55. > :18:58.that he was a fragile individual and had been on suicide watch every 15
:18:59. > :19:02.minutes in prison. We have heard defence on behalf of the two women
:19:03. > :19:07.who stood beside him, both mothers of his victims. We heard that one
:19:08. > :19:11.was a 17-year-old A-level student when she first met Watkins. The
:19:12. > :19:20.other woman had been told by him, both you and your baby now belong to
:19:21. > :19:23.me. Although all three defendants have put forward guilty pleas, the
:19:24. > :19:26.judge has already indicated that that will not give them any credit.
:19:27. > :19:36.He is due to deliver his sentencing just after two o'clock.
:19:37. > :19:39.The family of a British doctor found dead in Syria has dismissed the
:19:40. > :19:47.offer from Damascus to said an official to the prison. Abbas Khan,
:19:48. > :19:50.a surgeon from south London, was arrested in Syria last year after
:19:51. > :19:53.entering the country to help victims of the civil war. The Syrian
:19:54. > :19:56.authorities say he committed suicide. But the Foreign Office says
:19:57. > :19:58.his death amounts to murder. Dr Khan's brother believes the British
:19:59. > :20:01.authorities could have done more to help him. Although they said they
:20:02. > :20:04.were watching closely, they did nothing. It was as if he had broken
:20:05. > :20:11.a trivial law, like a drunken man on a Dubai beach. If they had treated
:20:12. > :20:15.it with sufficient respect, this was an innocent man caught up in a
:20:16. > :20:19.horrible conflict and they could do something to save his life. They
:20:20. > :20:24.just might have been able to do that.
:20:25. > :20:28.A former personal assistant of Nigella Lawson and her ex-husband,
:20:29. > :20:39.Charles Saatchi, has denied she was a fantasist and a shopaholic.
:20:40. > :20:42.Francesca Grillo and her sister are alleged to have spent thousands of
:20:43. > :20:45.pounds on credit cards belonging to the television cook and her
:20:46. > :20:51.husband. Tell us what has happened at court today.
:20:52. > :20:56.Francesca Grillo has finished giving evidence. She spoke for a short time
:20:57. > :21:00.this morning. Due denied that she denied being a liar, fantasist and
:21:01. > :21:06.shopaholic. She said her and her sister contributed recipes to one of
:21:07. > :21:09.Nigella Lawson's cookbooks. She says, it is difficult for people to
:21:10. > :21:14.understand how close I was two people. Closing speeches began. The
:21:15. > :21:18.prosecution reminded the jury about the evidence. For example, texts
:21:19. > :21:22.that Francesca Grillo had sent to Charles Saatchi's accountant after
:21:23. > :21:26.he confronted her with credit card statements. One said, let me know as
:21:27. > :21:30.in as possible how much I have to pay back. Another said, other
:21:31. > :21:35.consequences or shall I give myself up to the police? She said she did
:21:36. > :21:39.not realise she was being accused of making unauthorised payments. The
:21:40. > :21:44.defence for her sister made their speech. They asked the jury to
:21:45. > :21:53.consider why Charles Saatchi expected his accountant to involve
:21:54. > :22:00.only the Grillos, and was this attacking Nigella Lawson by proxy?
:22:01. > :22:03.The trial continues. Councils in England have been told
:22:04. > :22:07.that the amount of money they have to spend on services next year, will
:22:08. > :22:12.be reduced by almost 3%. Ministers say they have tried to be fair to
:22:13. > :22:14.every part of the country. Our local government correspondent Mike
:22:15. > :22:19.Sergeant reports from Newcastle on the decisions facing the local
:22:20. > :22:22.council there. Newcastle thinks it has had a raw
:22:23. > :22:27.deal, as do many of the big cities in England. The council leader says
:22:28. > :22:33.the funding crunch is getting ever more severe. We are seeing the
:22:34. > :22:36.systematic destruction of local governor as we know it. It is clear
:22:37. > :22:42.that councils will not be able to survive for more than another few
:22:43. > :22:49.years with the current cuts. Amanda is more than -- one of more than
:22:50. > :22:53.1000 Newcastle council employees made redundant. We knew there would
:22:54. > :22:57.be cuts but we did not think they would delete a whole service that
:22:58. > :23:03.had been around for an awfully long time. What did you think when they
:23:04. > :23:09.told you? Absolute devastation. Services are under pressure. A
:23:10. > :23:13.campaign to save Newcastle's city swimming pool ended in failure this
:23:14. > :23:17.year. This is a stark illustration of how the money has been drained
:23:18. > :23:21.out of part of local governor. These old buildings can only tell part of
:23:22. > :23:24.the story. In many areas, services have been maintained or even
:23:25. > :23:31.improved, despite reductions in funding. Ministers said today was a
:23:32. > :23:35.good news day for local government, with average funding reductions of
:23:36. > :23:39.less than 3% next year in England and extra money to maintain the
:23:40. > :23:45.council tax freeze. This is fair to all parts of the country, rural or
:23:46. > :23:49.urban, district or county, city or shire. Councils can deliver sensible
:23:50. > :23:56.savings while protecting front-line services. Many communities are
:23:57. > :24:00.already finding new ways to keep moving. This Newcastle dance set
:24:01. > :24:04.appears to thrive even as local authority funding is cut. Today,
:24:05. > :24:08.councils across England are finding out just how tight the money will be
:24:09. > :24:11.next year. The government wants them to keep council tax down and keep
:24:12. > :24:17.the most important services going. That may not be possible everywhere.
:24:18. > :24:21.Not everybody likes them, but plastic bank-notes will be
:24:22. > :24:23.introduced here from 2016. After a public consultation revealed that
:24:24. > :24:26.87% of the population approve the change from paper, the Bank of
:24:27. > :24:31.England will go ahead, following in the footsteps of Australia and
:24:32. > :24:34.Canada. The fiver with Winston Churchill on it will be first in
:24:35. > :24:42.circulation, followed by the ten pound note featuring Jane Austen.
:24:43. > :24:46.Emma Simpson reports. Here at the Bank of England museum
:24:47. > :24:51.you can see how our money has changed over the years. Centuries of
:24:52. > :24:58.tradition are about to be broken. We are all used to having the old
:24:59. > :25:02.crumpling ?5 note in our wallets. By 2016, they will be made from
:25:03. > :25:10.plastic. Look similar, but it feels very different. You can crumple it
:25:11. > :25:13.or bend it. More than two dozen other countries already use plastic
:25:14. > :25:19.notes. The governor told me it was time for change. They are more
:25:20. > :25:25.secure, so they protect us against counterfeiting. Secondly, they are
:25:26. > :25:29.cleaner. They do not suffer from the deterioration that we have seen with
:25:30. > :25:33.other notes. Thirdly, are they more durable. Because of that, they are
:25:34. > :25:39.more cost-effective and will save the taxpayer money. We will seek
:25:40. > :25:44.plastic ?10 notes as well by 2017. The bank has been testing public
:25:45. > :25:48.opinion. It says most are in favour. So, what did people make of the new
:25:49. > :25:55.note today? I like it. They dislike the Australian version. It is all
:25:56. > :26:01.right. If it gets wet and goes through the wash it will be fine.
:26:02. > :26:06.These are big steps for the bank. The first note will feature Winston
:26:07. > :26:10.Churchill, followed by Jane Austen on the tempo note. As for Scotland
:26:11. > :26:12.and Northern Ireland, it is up to the banks are to decide if they want
:26:13. > :26:15.to follow suit. A Stradivarius violin that was
:26:16. > :26:19.stolen in London three years ago from the soloist Min-Jin Kym will be
:26:20. > :26:22.sold at auction this afternoon. The violin, which was made in Italy more
:26:23. > :26:26.than 300 years ago, was recovered this year. It's expected to fetch up
:26:27. > :26:42.to one and a half million pounds. Colin Patterson has more.
:26:43. > :26:50.When this violin is sold at auction today, it won't be going for a song.
:26:51. > :26:56.The reserve price of ?1 million has already been reached and bedding is
:26:57. > :27:00.expected to go a lot higher. -- heading. It is one of around 600
:27:01. > :27:11.Stradivarius violins left in the world and was made in Italy in 1696
:27:12. > :27:15.by the master, Antonio Stradivarius. It is like playing in a vat of warm
:27:16. > :27:21.honey. It has got that surety and sweetness of sound that other
:27:22. > :27:28.violins do not have. This is me holding something worth ?1 million.
:27:29. > :27:36.Possibly more. Two years ago at auction, a Stradivarius reached a
:27:37. > :27:39.world-record price of ?9.8 million. Up and coming musicians tend to not
:27:40. > :27:47.have those sums of money readily available, so price tags have to be
:27:48. > :27:52.about more than simply music. Why is a Jackson Pollock worth so much? It
:27:53. > :27:57.is just a canvas and paint. Same thing with a Stradivarius, but it
:27:58. > :28:02.means a lot more. It is what everyone has wanted for the last 300
:28:03. > :28:05.years and, frankly, it is a supply and demand issue. There are fewer
:28:06. > :28:14.every day. They are not making more of them. Today's auction closes at
:28:15. > :28:21.two o'clock. A figure around ?2 million is expected. 300 years on,
:28:22. > :28:27.it is clear that Strad is no fad. Time for a look at the weather...
:28:28. > :28:33.We have seen a lot of wet and windy weather of late. More to come into
:28:34. > :28:37.Christmas week and for many of us, it start as early as this evening
:28:38. > :28:42.with gale force winds and heavy rain. If the cloud is not new year
:28:43. > :28:47.at the moment, it will be in the next few hours. The drama confined
:28:48. > :28:51.to the southwestern quarter of the British Isles. Winds in excess of 50
:28:52. > :28:57.mph already. Elsewhere, lots of cloud and wind. There is enough
:28:58. > :29:04.clout for there to be quite a lot of rain and drizzle around. And then,
:29:05. > :29:10.the the cloud makes its way across and the rain strengthens. We are
:29:11. > :29:17.looking at a very wet and windy weather across the Irish Sea. We
:29:18. > :29:19.could have costs of 70 mph. We will see problems across Northern Ireland
:29:20. > :29:25.and the southwestern quarter of Scotland. Getting towards the top
:29:26. > :29:30.end of low pressure appear. I will come back to that. Further east, no
:29:31. > :29:36.great dramas. There will be cloud around and some rain and did Breeze
:29:37. > :29:40.will be freshening, but there will not be a problem for rush-hour in
:29:41. > :29:46.this neck of the woods. -- and the breeze will be freshening. This
:29:47. > :29:50.weather feature is on the move. It is driving ever further towards the
:29:51. > :29:59.east. Notice the isobars. There are yellow warnings for the strength of
:30:00. > :30:02.the wind. As the low pressure comes into Northern Ireland and the North
:30:03. > :30:08.West of Scotland, we could see costs of 80 mph or so, possibly isolated
:30:09. > :30:12.spots of 90. That goes on into the start of Thursday as well. By that
:30:13. > :30:17.stage, the rain is away and it is a bright and blustery day and a cold
:30:18. > :30:23.day as well. Wintry showers from the word go for Scotland and Northern
:30:24. > :30:30.Ireland. Later on, something a bit more organised into the south-west.
:30:31. > :30:33.There could be snow to low levels and in the middle part of the
:30:34. > :30:37.afternoon and towards the evening rush hour, it works its way into the
:30:38. > :30:43.south east into the Greater London area. All of the wild, it keeps the
:30:44. > :30:46.snow coming. The accumulation is significant in Scotland and Northern
:30:47. > :30:51.Ireland. Having had the cold and blustery day on Thursday, Friday,
:30:52. > :30:57.rewind, we are back where we started, wet and windy. Lots of
:30:58. > :31:00.details right into Christmas week on the BBC weather website.
:31:01. > :31:06.At half past one, a reminder of our main story this lunchtime...
:31:07. > :31:10.Unemployment has fallen by 90,000 to its lowest level since 2009. The
:31:11. > :31:15.drop is sharper than expected and has been welcomed by the government.
:31:16. > :31:17.Much more this afternoon on the BBC News