10/01/2014 BBC News at One


10/01/2014

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A Metropolitan Police officer admits misconduct in public office over the

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plebgate affair. Good morning. Any response to today's news? Have you

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seen the statement? PC Keith Wallis admitted falsely claiming to have

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witnessed a row between Andrew Mitchell and police at the gates of

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Downing Street. We will be live at the Old Bailey for the latest. Also

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this lunchtime come on alert, residents along the River Thames are

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warned of yet more rising waters over the weekend. And an angry

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President Hollande says he's thinking of suing the French

:00:41.:00:43.

magazine that claims he's having an affair with a 42-year-old actress. A

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record amount of online shopping was done in the run-up to Christmas.

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Latest figures show close to one in five non-food items was bought

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online. It is going to be a doll and wet start to the day. Quite a lot of

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rain, probably. Looking back at 60 years of looking ahead, celebrations

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get under way to mark six decades of the TV weather forecast. Later on

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BBC London, the Environment Agency warns people living by the Thames

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west of London to brace themselves for more flooding. And Tube workers

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vote to strike in protest at plans to close ticket offices.

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Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News At One. A police officer

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who falsely claimed to have witnessed the so-called plebgate row

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which led to the resignation of the then Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell has

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pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. PC Keith Wallis said

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he had seen the argument in Downing Street between Mr Mitchell and

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another officer, who accused the Conservative MP of using the word

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pleb. Mr Mitchell said he was pleased that justice had been done.

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Our home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds is outside the Old Bailey.

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Tom. Yes, it may have been a brief and

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angry encounter but it has led to massive repercussions and a police

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investigation that saw more than 1000 statements taken and laptops

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and mobile phones seized. That has all resulted in one criminal charge

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and today, one plea of guilty. The murky images of the now infamous

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incident in Downing Street in September 2012. The vested gators

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studied these pictures and other CCTV footage and concluded there was

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insufficient evidence to suggest the officer who spoke to Mr Mitchell

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lied -- the investigators. Another officer it now turned out, did. PC

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Keith Wallis, who serves with the diplomatic protection group, was not

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on duty that night and did not see what happened. But he e-mailed his

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MP, saying he did. And that's why he was prosecuted. His e-mail back to

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the police log of the event, which had already been leaked and which

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accused Andrew Mitchell of swearing and calling officers plebs. It

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helped pile the pressure on the Chief Whip and he later resigned.

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But this morning Keith Wallis has admitted he was lying. The case has

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been adjourned before sentencing. In a statement the Metropolitan Police

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Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said, to lie about witnessing

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something and provide a false account falls way below the

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standards that I and PC Wallis's colleagues expect of police

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officers. His actions have also negatively impacted upon public

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trust and confidence in the integrity of police officers.

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Morning. He also apologised to Andrew Mitchell, this morning at his

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constituency office in Sutton Coldfield, who responded in his

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statement, it is very sad and worrying for all of us that are

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serving police officer should have behaved in this way. There remain

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many questions unanswered, in particular why PC Wallis wrote this

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e-mail and who else was involved in this process. PC Wallis is facing a

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possible jail sentence and a police misconduct hearing but the conduct

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of four was a Metropolitan Police officers is also being considered as

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part of disciplinary proceedings. Now PC to be Rollins, the police

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officer that spoke to Andrew Mitchell that night, is not facing

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any disciplinary hearings but he is doing Andrew Mitchell, who accusing

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him of lying and Andrew Mitchell is suing the sun, which covered the

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initial story about the plebgate affair. So none of this really

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resolves the who said what to who question and although we may be out

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of the criminal courts we are likely to be in the civil courts in due

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course. Back to you. Tom, thank you very much. That speaks our political

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correspondent Alex Forsyth in Westminster. There are those who

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feel this vindicates Andrew Mitchell, so does this create the

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possibility of a comeback? It is certainly a step in that direction.

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You remember that Andrew Mitchell resigned voluntarily, saying the

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time of this case became so much he could not concentrate on doing his

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job but he has always maintained he was the victim of a police

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conspiracy and that is what he wanted to prove. This is -- he might

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say this result helps his case but what it doesn't prove is whether or

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not he'd used that crucial word, pleb. Now, as you have heard, that

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will be the subject of libel cases which are still to go through the

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courts and politically speaking it's vital that Mr Mitchell exonerates

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himself from the use of that word if he wants to return to high office.

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Now, he has always enjoyed much cross-party support and he still

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does. Friends of his saying today that if you look at the line in his

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statement saying he wants to support the Conservatives that the next

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election, that is a clear indication of his determination to return to

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the political fold. Today might help him do that but I guess there are

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still further twists in this fairly convoluted tale before we see full

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career revival. Thank you very much. It's feared that parts of

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England are suffering the worst flooding in a decade with river

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levels set to rise even further. There are still about 100 flood

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warnings in place with communities along the Thames expected to be

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worst hit. Insurers have warned the cost of the damage will run into

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hundreds of millions of pounds. Fiona Irving is in Sunbury for us.

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Yes, the river here is very swollen. You can see the floodwaters behind

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me and the river is running very fast. The Environment Agency has

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warned that river levels here haven't peaked yet. Around 100 flood

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warnings are in place across England and Wales. The majority of those are

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in the south-east and communities in Berkshire, Surrey and Oxfordshire

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have been told to stay on alert. There may have been a respite from

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the rain recently, but as water strains -- gain from the Thames

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basin into the rivers there is no respite yet from the flooding is Ben

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Geoghegan reports. In some places the River Thames is

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not just at the end of the garden but flowing right through it. Here

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in Rosebury, just west of Heathrow Airport, dozens of homes have been

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flooded or are in danger of flooding in the next few hours. The last few

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days it has risen two to three feet. Before that it was already

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half in flood. It's been in semi-flood for a week and now for

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the last two or three days it's really come on big-time. Have you

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ever seen it like this? Never seen it like this. This is the River

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Thames and it's usual to Revel is about eight feet below where I am

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standing but it's been rising steadily over the last week during

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the rain. It's still raising even though we've got blue skies and

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sunshine. The rain may have stopped but water is pouring off the land

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and into the River Thames, leading to flooding downstream. So many

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areas in the Thames Valley are still facing flood alerts. Some residents

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have no option but to wait for the water to recede and they just don't

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know how long it's going to take. I just don't know how to deal with it.

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I don't want to pump it out because obviously it's not very clean water,

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is it? Hundreds of sandbags were still being delivered this morning.

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In some places it's too late, but with the river level expected to

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rise more properties are at risk. Here they say they were warned it

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would be bad but not this bad. Each day we are getting ten or 20 more

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houses flooded. We've now got people that are trapped in their houses.

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They can't get out. We're trying to get milk and bread to them but we

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can't. We are now losing electricity, losing sewerage, losing

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mains water. The Environment Agency says these are the worst floods in

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this part of England for a decade and on top of the rising river there

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could be more rain to come this afternoon.

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That was Ben Geoghegan reporting. Just to give you a sense of the

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river levels here at Sunbury-on-Thames you can see behind

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me a park bench just poking out of the water there and across the side

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you can see trees under water. That would normally be the banks of the

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river. People say their gardens and basements are flooded here and

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they've been telling me they can only sit and wait and see if those

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floodwaters cause any more serious damage.

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Fiona Irving, thank you. Plans to force housing developers to build

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flood prevention measures around new homes to avoid some of the scenes

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we've witnessed in recent weeks are facing more delay because no one can

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agree who should pay for it. The government was advised after the

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floods in 2007 to make builders use landscaping around properties to

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help water soak away. The Home Builders Federation has rejected

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claims that building firms are holding up the prevention work. Our

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environment analyst Roger Harrabin reports.

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Does this look familiar? Not 2014, but 2007. The year of the great

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floods, which led to a government review which led to the 2010 floods

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act, which laid down rules which -- that developers should stop making

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buildings in a way that makes flooding worse. The thinking behind

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the act led to developments like this. It looks like a park and it

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is, in Southeast Sheffield, but it's also a smart drainage system to

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capture rainwater and prevent flooding. Normally rainfall from new

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developments like this flows into the sewers, where it quickly swelled

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rivers and makes flooding worse. Not here. The water is carried by pipe

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to this pile of rocks, where it seeps slowly into the ground.

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Capturing water on the surface from this housing development, the

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pollution is removed because it goes through vegetation, it provides the

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biodiversity and landscape developed -- benefits for the community but

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also dividing flood prevention by controlling flow. The house-builders

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say ponds like this take space and that costs money. They want to cap

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the water in giant tanks underground. The experts say the

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tanks will cause problems with maintenance and won't bring the

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wider benefits that a scheme like this offers. County councils will do

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the maintenance, then charge people living on new estates annual fee in

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place of what they'd otherwise have paid on their water rates. The

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government promised MPs to publish the rules by April this year but

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this week it admitted it couldn't make that revised deadline. A

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spokesman said the government still intended to go ahead with the plans.

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Roger Harrabin, BBC News. There is a special programme on BBC One

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tonight, counting the cost of more than a month of bad weather. Sophie

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Raworth prevents Battered Britain: Storms, Tides And Floods at 7:30pm

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tonight. Plans for a referendum on Britain's's membership of the EU are

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back in Parliament today. Members of the House of Lords are debating a

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bill which would see people getting a chance to have their say in 2017,

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if the Tories win the next general election. Meanwhile the vice

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president of the European Commission has accused the British government

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of stoking fears about immigration by implying that foreigners were

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draining health and welfare resources. Our political

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correspondent Vicki Young reports. Whether its immigration or human

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rights, David Cameron knows the influence of Brussels on UK life is

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a contentious issue. He's promised a referendum on Britain's's EU

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membership but his MPs want a law on the books now, to show voters they

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are serious. But the Bill is likely to be blocked by the Lord where

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today peers disagreed passionately over the need for a referendum. We

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politicians have made a regular mess of it over decades. That's why we

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need to get the people to decide. Stop grand and -- grandstanding to

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the UKIP gallery. If you are really serious about European reform, you

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have to go out and work for it and join with others in achieving it. My

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Lords, this is an utterly unnecessary, indeed otiose bill. It

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does serious damage to business and jobs in Britain and stability and

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security in Europe. Many conservatives feel under pressure

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from the UK Independence Party, fearing their Euro-sceptic stance is

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striking a chord with voters in the run-up to European elections in May.

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That debate about Britain's's relationship with the rest of the EU

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has been dominated in recent months by increasingly heated exchanges

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over the pros and cons of immigration. Net migration is the

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difference between the numbers coming here each year from other EU

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countries and those leaving the UK. It peaked in 2007 at 127,000. The

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most recent figures from June and stand-up 106,000. A senior official

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from the European Commission has criticised ministers for appearing

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to stoke up fears about immigration. What is the leadership if you just

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try with popular stick movements and populist speech to gain votes? You

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are destroying the future of your people, actually. Despite the

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attacks from some Mr Cameron believes the European Union has to

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change and he's confident he can get support from other EU leaders.

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The French President, Francois Hollande, says he deplores a breach

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of his right to privacy and is contemplating legal action after a

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magazine reported he's having an affair with the actress Julie

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Gayet. Klose-macro -- Closer magazine says it has spread showing

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the Palace -- showing the president emerging from near the palace.

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Here's Hugh Schofield. A bombshell from what the French call the people

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press, a seven page exclusive with photos to back up the claim that

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their president is having a secret love affair. His alleged place with

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Julie Gayet is no more than 100 yards from the Elysee Palace.

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According to Closer magazine it is on the upper floor of this classic

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town house that the pair have their assignations. According to the match

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between the couple arrived separately. The actress Julie Gayet

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and then later the president, normally wearing a helmet on the

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back of a chauffeur driven motorcycle and quite regularly the

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magazine says the couple are now spending the night here together.

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Julie Gayet is not an especially well-known actress. One of her

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nonprofessional roles was in the campaign video for the president at

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the 2012 election. She said she found him modest, formidable.

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President Hollande was apparently told a few days ago that Closer

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would be publishing the story of one it went ahead he reacted. In a

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statement he said he deplored the breach of his right to privacy and

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was looking at what steps to take including legal ones. French

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presidential love affairs are not exactly new. Since the selection

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Francois Hollande has been living at the Elysee Palace with the

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journalist, the woman from whom he left the mother of his children,

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said Alan Royale. Most French would agree that what is private is

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private and will back the President's right to do what he

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wants in his love life. The problem is that these are extremely

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difficult times for France and for the president, who has been plumbing

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the depths of unpopularity. He needs to show he's got bold new ideas for

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the economy. Instead it looks to some like his mind is on other

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things. In a way what's most striking is how this story, though

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gossiped about at Paris dinner tables, has taken so long to enter

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the public domain. A sign perhaps that in the age of the tweet fans's

:16:57.:17:02.

long tradition of protecting politicians' privacy is breaking

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down. Our top story this lunchtime: A police officer who falsely claimed

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to be a witness to the so-called Plebgate row admits misconduct in

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public office. And still to come, Jess' next

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challenge - why the Olympic medallist will miss out on the

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Commonwealth Games. Later on BBC London: Tottenham

:17:22.:17:24.

Hotspur confirm that England striker Jermaine Defoe is leaving the club

:17:25.:17:29.

to play in Canada. And with 40 flood warnings in places

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along the Thames and floodwaters set to peak over the weekend in many

:17:33.:17:35.

places, we have a full weather forecast.

:17:36.:17:44.

The mother of a British surgeon who died in a Syrian prison last month

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has spoken of what she calls her failure to save her son. Fatima Khan

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spent five months in the country trying to free Dr Abbas Khan after

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he was arrested in a rebel controlled area in November 2012.

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Just days before he was due to be released, Abbas died, and as Jenny

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Hill reports, Fatima worries that she will never learn the full story

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of what happened to him. Even as a child, his mother told us

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Abbas Khan liked to help others. Why was he so compelled, do you think,

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to go to Syria? Because, you know, it was everywhere on the internet

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and in the news that people are dying, no doctors, no medicine. So

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he thought, "It is my profession. Instead of giving money, I should

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give my service as well". So once Abbas disappeared, you decided to

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try and find him in Syria. Yeah. It is such a dangerous place to have

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gone. Why did you feel you have to go? He is my son. There was no

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danger for me. And I said to my other children and myself as well

:18:46.:18:48.

that if I die, I will die for my son. So it is nothing strange. Any

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mother would do it. And when you found him, can you describe the

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circumstances he was in? Yeah. When they brought him, we learnt in the

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meeting that they took me to a court of terrorism. Suddenly, I find that

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somebody is there and I don't know how I got up and hugged him. He was

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a skeleton and he was crying, he had tears. He said "Mummy, I'm sorry.

:19:18.:19:21.

Take me from here, Mummy". I said "Don't worry, you will be released

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in a few days". And I was checking. His hands were full of blood marks

:19:28.:19:33.

as if electric shocks were given. They screw drill in his nail, and

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the legs were full of cigarette marks. And they used to beat him up

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for no reason, putting the eye band on his eyes. What for? Because he

:19:43.:19:51.

helped women and children. But they said "No, you helped other

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opposition". He didn't. He said "Mummy, I swear I didn't". Only

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women and children. You have done so much to try and get him released.

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You have done so much to try and free your son. It is a shock that

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they killed him. And it's because it came in the media, and the British

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government didn't do anything. Didn't want to do anything. When was

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the last time you actually saw him? I saw him on 25th November. So at

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this point, you really thought he was coming home? Yes. He said

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"Mummy, this Christmas, I want in London. Last Christmas, I was in

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prison, but this Christmas, I want in London". I said "Yes. As usual, I

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will cook Christmas dinner". The Syrian government claim Abbas took

:20:38.:20:41.

his own life in prison. Fatima, though, says a government official

:20:42.:20:44.

there told her something very different. He said "Yes, we killed

:20:45.:20:49.

your son". He knew. He wasn't surprised. I said "Why?" He said "Go

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back to Britain and tell your British government that we kill the

:20:57.:21:01.

British. And tell your government, don't send any more British." So

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they knew. They wanted to kill, and they killed him. A mother has

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failed. A mother is the loser. I failed to save my son. What can I

:21:16.:21:23.

do? Fatima Khan, talking to our

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reporter, Jenny Hill. It seems many of us decided to avoid

:21:29.:21:32.

the hassle of hitting the high street to buy presents for

:21:33.:21:34.

Christmas, with more shopping done online than ever before. According

:21:35.:21:37.

to the British Retail Consortium, nearly one in five purchases last

:21:38.:21:40.

month was made on the internet, as our business correspondent, Emma

:21:41.:21:48.

Simpson, reports. We left it late, very late to hit

:21:49.:21:55.

the shops this Christmas. Sniffing out the bargains. In the end, we did

:21:56.:21:59.

spend, but it was not a bonanza for retailers. Christmas was OK. It was

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a respectable business. We saw retail sales grow by about 2%, which

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was a sort of indication that we are seeing a slow, but fragile growth

:22:12.:22:18.

within the retail industry. That growth did not come from physical

:22:19.:22:24.

stores. The real action has been online. Shopping on the internet has

:22:25.:22:28.

been catching on for quite a few years now, but there has been a big

:22:29.:22:33.

surge in sales this Christmas. They were up just over 19% in December,

:22:34.:22:38.

compared with the previous year excluding food. That is nearly one

:22:39.:22:42.

in five purchases being made online. Christmas has shown just how much

:22:43.:22:46.

more on food and we are about buying stuff over the internet, especially

:22:47.:22:50.

when we can click and then collect our purchases in store. Morrison's

:22:51.:22:55.

shoppers won't have to lug the shopping bags home much longer. It

:22:56.:23:00.

has started its own online delivery service in the Midlands to the,

:23:01.:23:04.

catching up with its rivals, one reason why it had a dismal

:23:05.:23:08.

Christmas. But it's been a challenging time for all the big

:23:09.:23:14.

supermarkets. Underlying food sales fell in the last three months, as

:23:15.:23:18.

cautious consumers hunt for deals in the aisles and on the high street.

:23:19.:23:22.

It comes down to, as long as you can provide value to the consumer, there

:23:23.:23:27.

is pent-up demand out there. It will have tightened their belts, but

:23:28.:23:30.

inflation is still running high and people will be cautious. It is

:23:31.:23:33.

important to have the right product at the right price. If you offer

:23:34.:23:38.

that, shoppers are willing to spend. As ever, some retailers fared better

:23:39.:23:41.

this Christmas than others. The big winners may have been us, the

:23:42.:23:46.

consumers, bagging even bigger bargains than last year.

:23:47.:23:54.

Britain's Olympic golden girl, Jessica Ennis-Hill, has revealed

:23:55.:23:56.

that she is pregnant, and will therefore miss this summer's

:23:57.:23:58.

Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The 27-year-old heptathlete said the

:23:59.:24:01.

news was "unexpected, but exciting" and stressed that she remained

:24:02.:24:03.

committed to competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. With

:24:04.:24:06.

more, here's our Commonwealth Games reporter, Chris McLoughlin.

:24:07.:24:13.

She was the poster girl who helped light up London in 2012. Jessica

:24:14.:24:20.

Ennis is the Olympic champion! But her news today means she won't be

:24:21.:24:24.

the golden girl of Glasgow. In a statement, the 27-year-old stared

:24:25.:24:29.

"we are completely overwhelmed with excitement. My plans for 2014 have

:24:30.:24:33.

been turned upside down. I am sorry I won't be in Glasgow for the,

:24:34.:24:37.

games, but know it will be an amazing occasion. " The start of her

:24:38.:24:42.

family does not signal the end of her career . She says she intends to

:24:43.:24:46.

get back to training after the baby is born to prepare for the Olympics

:24:47.:24:52.

in Rio in 2016. Where will you be when the world comes to Scotland?

:24:53.:24:55.

With the majority of tickets for the games already sold, the news is

:24:56.:25:00.

unlikely to affect in Glasgow, but it is a massive blow. Organisers say

:25:01.:25:04.

they are delighted for her and she will continue her role as an

:25:05.:25:08.

ambassador. They would much rather she was running, though. So, who is

:25:09.:25:12.

going to Glasgow? Sir Chris Hoy has hung up his bike, so no home games

:25:13.:25:18.

for him. Fellow Olympian Mo Farah is unlikely to be there. He says he has

:25:19.:25:21.

other priorities. Underworld's fastest man, Usain Bolt, is so far

:25:22.:25:27.

undecided. They are the key players and everybody wanted to see them, so

:25:28.:25:31.

I don't know if it is right to say it will not be as exciting, but for

:25:32.:25:34.

most people want to look for these people, it will be disappointing for

:25:35.:25:41.

sure. It will be a big miss not having them there. But she will

:25:42.:25:46.

bounce back. So a day of excitement for the Ennis-Hills, but

:25:47.:25:50.

Commonwealth concern in Glasgow. Now, Peter Gibbs is here and he will

:25:51.:25:53.

bring you the weather forecast in just a moment.

:25:54.:25:55.

But tomorrow marks the anniversary of the first ever TV weatherman.

:25:56.:25:59.

Yes, it's 60 years since my predecessor, George Cowling,

:26:00.:26:01.

predicted the "perfect day for trying clothes". That is

:26:02.:26:10.

coincidentally the perfect forecast for tomorrow! Well, Nick Higham has

:26:11.:26:15.

been taking a look behind the scenes at how the faces and technology of

:26:16.:26:18.

the daily weather forecast have changed. It is going to be a dull

:26:19.:26:22.

and wet start to the day. 1953, and the man for the Met Office tries out

:26:23.:26:25.

for a new job, television weather forecaster. Jack Armstrong later

:26:26.:26:31.

became a familiar face, but it was his colleague who actually delivered

:26:32.:26:35.

the first forecast. We had been briefed to try and be a bit human. I

:26:36.:26:38.

mentioned that tomorrow was going to be a good day for hanging out the

:26:39.:26:42.

washing. This was something that had never been said before, and the

:26:43.:26:45.

press really took this up and thought that was a jolly good

:26:46.:26:50.

thing. The forecasters became familiar. You swine! That is the

:26:51.:26:59.

picture this morning. What out for ice. The first woman arrived in 1974

:27:00.:27:03.

and found being in the public eye disconcerting. It did get to me a

:27:04.:27:08.

bit more all the criticism especially about clothes and hair.

:27:09.:27:13.

Most of the letters and things I got were lovely, very complementary and

:27:14.:27:18.

nice, but of course, it is the critical ones you remember. Some

:27:19.:27:22.

forecasts became notorious. Apparently today a woman rang the

:27:23.:27:25.

BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way. If you're

:27:26.:27:27.

watching, don't worry, there isn't. But there was and this terrible

:27:28.:27:33.

storm that night in October 1987. It's not as easy as it looks, as the

:27:34.:27:37.

amateur 's show went from time to time, they have a go. In the West,

:27:38.:27:41.

rain will be lighting and patch. There may be a few drier interludes

:27:42.:27:46.

of Dumfries and Ayrshire. Actually, he wasn't bad. This is one of the

:27:47.:27:49.

weather studios at forecasting house. One thing that has not

:27:50.:27:54.

changed in 60 years is that television forecasters have to be

:27:55.:27:57.

able to talk for up to four minutes, precisely to time, without

:27:58.:28:02.

any kind of script and in the studio at any rate, without a map behind

:28:03.:28:06.

them, although they do see a chart if they look at themselves in the

:28:07.:28:10.

screen. The thing that has changed completely is the technology

:28:11.:28:14.

involved. Can bond charts gave way to Mike mystic symbols that stuck to

:28:15.:28:19.

the charts, or sometimes didn't -- magnetic symbols. Let's do it

:28:20.:28:24.

again. Computer graphics arrived in the 1980s. Today's forecast are more

:28:25.:28:30.

details, and, they claim, more accurate than ever. It's been shown

:28:31.:28:34.

that the four-day forecast today is more accurate than the one day

:28:35.:28:37.

forecast was 30 years ago. You may not believe that! But that has been

:28:38.:28:44.

shown. So forecasts have improved. Today's forecasters are still

:28:45.:28:48.

employed by the Met Office. There is a team of 18. Just now, they are not

:28:49.:28:51.

short of work. That was then, this is now. Here's

:28:52.:28:59.

Peter Gibbs. I have got the pencil and brother

:29:00.:29:02.

standing by just in case. But hopefully, if I press this button,

:29:03.:29:07.

we can jump forward 60 years into a very similar forecast, with a

:29:08.:29:09.

weather front coming in from the west, giving us some outbreaks of

:29:10.:29:13.

rain gradually creeping in across most places through the day. Of

:29:14.:29:17.

course, rain is the last thing we need across central and southern

:29:18.:29:21.

parts of England at the moment. It is not going to help. Behind the

:29:22.:29:30.

clear skies, colder air moves in. We also start to see some mist and fog

:29:31.:29:33.

forming as those temperatures drop away, but we keep clear of the

:29:34.:29:38.

frost, fax to the cloud lingering on. But a risk of ice on those damp

:29:39.:29:46.

surfaces anywhere across western parts of the UK tomorrow. But you

:29:47.:29:51.

will have some bright, blue skies to compensate for that. It is a nice

:29:52.:29:55.

looking day for most of us. There is the risk of mist and fog across

:29:56.:29:59.

Northern Ireland, the odd patch of ice likely here, along with parts of

:30:00.:30:06.

Scotland. It is the remnants of that cold air that moved out of America,

:30:07.:30:12.

but much modified by the time it got to us. Saturday will be one of the

:30:13.:30:15.

better days we have seen for a long time. Lots of sunshine to come,

:30:16.:30:19.

particularly England and Wales. Still a few showers feeding in to

:30:20.:30:23.

the north-west of Scotland. Temperature is about right for early

:30:24.:30:30.

January. As we go into Saturday night, clear skies mean temperatures

:30:31.:30:33.

will drop away quickly and we will see widespread frost for a time, but

:30:34.:30:37.

then cloud increasing from the West and some fog forming ahead of that.

:30:38.:30:42.

Temperatures rise in the West as the wind starts to pick up. We end the

:30:43.:30:47.

night fairly mild in these western areas. We do see a change as we go

:30:48.:30:51.

into Sunday, with this weather front beginning to get wound up, pushing

:30:52.:30:57.

in on the Atlantic once again. The dark blue colours mean that

:30:58.:30:59.

initially, the rain will be heavy as it slowly edges it away in, breaking

:31:00.:31:04.

up to some extent and becoming a bit lighter. Eventually, a wet day for

:31:05.:31:08.

many Western parts. Further east, drier and quite chilly. Saturday is

:31:09.:31:14.

your good day for getting out and about to enjoy some sunshine. Watch

:31:15.:31:17.

out for overnight frost. On Sunday, the rain is increasing on the west,

:31:18.:31:22.

so Sunday is not a good day for hanging out your watch --

:31:23.:31:24.

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