Browse content similar to 10/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Police here in Berkshire declared a major incident, as the river levels | :00:11. | :00:20. | |
along the Thames Reach record highs. There are 14 severe flood warnings | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
along stretches of the Thames, hundreds of homes are flooded, | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
thousands more are threatened. Misery for many residents, with | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
predictions that river levels could rise even higher over the coming | :00:33. | :00:38. | |
days. Nick Clegg is visiting the south-west of England as the blame | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
game continues over why the flooding is so bad. Everybody is having to | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
respond to something we've never encountered before. No one has | :00:49. | :00:52. | |
encountered this kind of deluge in such a sustained way over such a | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
prolonged period of time. We will be live in the areas worst hit by the | :00:57. | :01:04. | |
flooding with the latest. An BBC News that one. MPs vote on whether | :01:05. | :01:09. | |
to back a ban on smoking in cars when children are present. English | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
language test by age of them are suspended after BBC Panorama | :01:14. | :01:16. | |
uncovers systematic fraud and cheating in the student Visa system. | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
And we speak to Team GB's first medal winner in the Winter Olympics. | :01:22. | :01:27. | |
Later on BBC London, lives are in danger as the water level on the | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
Thames continues to rise. The flooding has also disrupted many | :01:33. | :01:34. | |
roads and some rail services both in and out of the capital. | :01:35. | :01:58. | |
Hello and good afternoon, welcome to the BBC News from here in Datchet, a | :01:59. | :02:05. | |
village in Berkshire that, as you can see behind me, has been almost | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
submerged by the floodwaters that have been rising inexorably, hour by | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
hour through the morning. Along the Thames, hundreds of homes have not | :02:15. | :02:18. | |
been flooded and thousands more are at serious risk of flooding. The | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
latest from the Environment Agency is that they have 14 severe flood | :02:23. | :02:26. | |
warnings in place along the Thames. That means there is a risk to human | :02:27. | :02:46. | |
life and also to property. There are two more severe flood warnings in | :02:47. | :02:47. | |
Somerset. Sandbags have been placed around shops, businesses and other | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
properties here in Datchet and other places along the River Thames, but | :02:51. | :02:52. | |
the worry is that the weather forecast says more heavy rain is | :02:53. | :02:54. | |
coming tonight and tomorrow. Let's get this report from Daniel | :02:55. | :02:57. | |
Boettcher. No rain this morning but water levels on the Thames are still | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
rising, leaving hundreds of homes flooded and thousands more at risk, | :03:02. | :03:04. | |
along stretches of the river in Surrey and Berkshire. In Datchet, | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
the Village Green has disappeared. There have been warnings the | :03:10. | :03:12. | |
flooding could get worse, but there's little residents can do to | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
protect their properties. At 11pm last night it was just a stream. We | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
went up at midnight we saw water coming down off the golf course and | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
over the railway lines. We wake up this morning and we are marooned. I | :03:26. | :03:31. | |
have a young family here. My primary goal right now is to pack up and get | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
everyone out of here safe. We will deal with the compensation under | :03:36. | :03:40. | |
bureaucracy after that. The railway line is flooded, diverging more | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
water into the village. No one knows just how much higher it will get. | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
That is why Anita Maunsell is moving the stock of wedding dresses in her | :03:50. | :03:55. | |
shop to safety. It takes months to get back on your feet again. The | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
insurance companies, with the best will in the world, aren't very | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
quick, so consequently, it will take us for ever, as it will everyone | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
else. In worrying times and the bad economic climate, this is the last | :04:09. | :04:11. | |
thing we need. Residents have been complaining that they haven't been | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
enough sandbags. At mid-morning, a lorry load provided by the local | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
authority arrived. Well, it's only just turned up, so I've been trying | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
to get them from as many places as I can, mainly the ones holding | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
roadsides down that aren't needed for doing that. This area has | :04:29. | :04:31. | |
suffered from serious flooding in the past. This was the Thames Valley | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
in 1947. There were bad floods in 2003 as well. Some are making | :04:37. | :04:45. | |
comparisons with those events and say they haven't seen anything on | :04:46. | :04:47. | |
this scale before. No, never. I've seen some flooding but the railway | :04:48. | :04:50. | |
has never been flooded like this. As residents here do their best to cope | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
there is a warning of more to come, as water further upstream works its | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
way down the river. And the ground is already so saturated that it | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
simply can't absorb any more. We are anticipating another three or four | :05:05. | :05:07. | |
inches on the Thames over the next 24 hours or so in this area. But | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
with the Thames Valley being so wide, the gravel is underground | :05:12. | :05:18. | |
water is very saturated as well. There has been a brief respite in | :05:19. | :05:21. | |
the weather so far today, but there is more rain on the way, leaving | :05:22. | :05:25. | |
more communities along the river at risk. Daniel Boettcher, BBC News, | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
Datchet. Well, the war of words between the government and the | :05:32. | :05:34. | |
Environment Agency over the handling of this floods crisis has continued | :05:35. | :05:38. | |
to date. The chair of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, he's | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
been saying that he admits more should have been done to get more | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
money into helping to dredge rivers, but he says that his staff | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
have done all they could with the resources available to them. He has | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
also rejected suggestions from the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
that the Environment Agency have been giving the Government bad | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
advice. Now the Deputy Prime Minister has been visiting the | :06:03. | :06:06. | |
Somerset Levels. Let's go to our correspondent, Hubble Griffiths, who | :06:07. | :06:13. | |
is there in Burrowbridge. Yes, Ben, people here care about first and | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
foremost not be political ramblings but the practicalities of still | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
living and coping with the seventh week of flooding. However, they have | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
been a stream of politicians visiting the south-west, each keen | :06:27. | :06:29. | |
to talk up what they've been doing for the community. The community | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
itself feels the best help they've been given is the help they've given | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
themselves. Don't be fooled by the calm waters as the levels continue | :06:38. | :06:44. | |
to rise. The row over Somerset's flooding is becoming turbulence. | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
Yesterday the government minister heading the flood response claimed | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
the Environment Agency had given bad advice over dredging Beas rivers. | :06:54. | :07:00. | |
Today, the agency hit back. He is wrong. Our agency were following | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
Government rules, Government guidelines. We put money on the | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
table for dredging 12 months ago but the maximum that we were allowed by | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
Government rules to put on the table, the maximum was ?400,000. | :07:15. | :07:20. | |
Others didn't come to the table at the time. Also wading into the row, | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
the Deputy Prime Minister, trying to dampen down anger in what has become | :07:26. | :07:31. | |
a very public blame game. Chris Smith and the Environment Agency | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
have got a very difficult job to do. We can in the future look back and | :07:36. | :07:38. | |
decide what went right and what went wrong. It is very clear now that the | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
calls here locally for the dredging of some of the rivers, while it | :07:43. | :07:45. | |
wouldn't have been a magic wand solution, it clearly should have | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
been dealt with. For the teams of volunteers spending another day | :07:51. | :07:54. | |
shipping supplies, the political storm isn't helping. We are past | :07:55. | :08:05. | |
that. We need to know what they are doing now to solve the current | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
situation. And also, how much effort they are going to give us in tidying | :08:09. | :08:11. | |
the place up. I think it needs something more than just apologies | :08:12. | :08:13. | |
on TV now. I think it needs somebody ought to be held personally and | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
collectively accountable. All the politicians who travelled here from | :08:20. | :08:22. | |
Westminster will have quickly realised the scale of the problem. | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
But they will also have felt an undercurrent of mistrust because | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
whatever promises have been made to put this situation right in the | :08:32. | :08:34. | |
future, it will take much longer to rebuild the people's trust in the | :08:35. | :08:41. | |
authorities. For Margaret Lock it is also about rebuilding her home. | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
After nearly 30 years here it has flooded for the first time. Eight | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
inches of water has washed through the ground floor. A bit devastated. | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
I think it's going to be quite a while before we get back in, to be | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
honest. Because the water has got to go and then we've got to get dry... | :09:00. | :09:06. | |
There's so many things to do. The only response people here feel they | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
can really depend upon is their own, and it's still being tested | :09:11. | :09:18. | |
after day. Day after day, week after week. And while it has been dry here | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
this morning, the river levels are continuing to rise. In fact, new | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
flood defences are having to be put in around a kilometre from the water | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
's edge in anticipation of further flooding. Many here feel they could | :09:33. | :09:36. | |
be stuck with the situation not for weeks but for months. Many thanks | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
indeed for that. It is not only the River Thames that is causing real | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
concern this lunchtime. It is also the River Severn in Worcestershire | :09:47. | :09:49. | |
that has been flooding will stop Worcester itself particularly badly | :09:50. | :09:55. | |
hit. Let's go to Phil Mackie, our correspondent who is there for us | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
now. The river levels are just going down for the time being. You can see | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
that that rolled over there is still flooded and still closed, but this | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
is the main bridge through the city centre. It's been closed all | :10:11. | :10:14. | |
morning, they are about to reopen it in the next couple of minutes | :10:15. | :10:17. | |
because things are gradually improving. Have a look at the river | :10:18. | :10:22. | |
itself, it is completely swollen still. There is a lot of water still | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
coming down from further north in Shropshire, and we are expecting | :10:27. | :10:29. | |
another peak tomorrow evening at levels that were higher than the | :10:30. | :10:43. | |
spawning. The problem is with all these roads closed around you, it is | :10:44. | :10:46. | |
causing a huge impact on the local economy. Local businesses are saying | :10:47. | :10:48. | |
they are being disrupted. They have to weigh that against health and | :10:49. | :10:50. | |
safety concerns. For the time being, things are looking a bit brighter | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
than they have been at any other stage. I've just literally been | :10:54. | :10:55. | |
speaking to the Environment Agency a few seconds ago and they say another | :10:56. | :10:58. | |
peak tomorrow night with levels perhaps higher than this morning. | :10:59. | :11:00. | |
They are looking for those record levels of 2007. The flood defences | :11:01. | :11:03. | |
that have been built along this river since then have been built to | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
withstand those. If they got higher than that then there would be | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
concerned. There is real concern in Datchet in | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
Berkshire. And at other places like as along the Thames. The water just | :11:17. | :11:20. | |
keeps rising and rising. Although the weather is pretty dry and it's | :11:21. | :11:24. | |
been quite bright today, the water just keeps going up. People have | :11:25. | :11:28. | |
been putting sandbags around their homes, shops and businesses, and | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
hoping against hope that that will be enough, because they know the | :11:33. | :11:35. | |
weather forecast is really bad tonight. And tomorrow, there's more | :11:36. | :11:38. | |
heavy rain forecast. So things here may get much worse. Dyfed-Powys | :11:39. | :11:45. | |
Police a body has been found during the search for A34 -year-old kayaker | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
who went missing on the River Usk yesterday afternoon. The body was | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
found about an hour and a half ago. The family of the missing kayaker | :11:55. | :11:57. | |
has been informed. As we've been hearing, a political row seems to be | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
escalating at Westminster with the blame game in full swing. Let's go | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
to our political correspondent, Norman Smith. All of this while | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
people's homes are under water. I imagine many people, whose houses | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
are under water and livelihoods have been appalled, they will be appalled | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
by the name calling. It started yesterday by Eric Pickles launching | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
into the Environment Agency and its boss, Chris Smith, questioning his | :12:26. | :12:28. | |
judgment, whether he should continue in the job. Then Chris Smith | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
retaliating today, saying his staff know 100 times more about flood | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
defences and Eric Pickles or any other politician, he blamed | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
government cuts. The environment Secretary, still recovering from | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
that eye operation, complaining to the Prime Minister about Eric | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
Pickles' intervention. And the former floods minister rounding on a | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
Conservative colleague who described Lord Smith as, quote, a dit, who | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
needed his head flushed down the toilet. Downing Street is aghast at | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
all of this, with the Prime Minister's spokesman saying that the | :13:02. | :13:06. | |
Government needed to and was coming together, going out of his way to | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
praise the good response of the Environment Agency. What does it | :13:11. | :13:13. | |
tell us? It tells us of the nervousness in political circles | :13:14. | :13:16. | |
about the potential political backlash from the flooding crisis | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
and the desire of some politicians to get their retaliation in early. | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
That's the politics. We are joined now by our environment analyst. Talk | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
us through the extent of the flooding we are seeing in the | :13:30. | :13:33. | |
Thames. There has been relentless rain right across the South of | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
England. It is having widespread and increasing effect. Let's take a look | :13:38. | :13:43. | |
of this Environment Agency map. The areas in red show the areas where | :13:44. | :13:45. | |
there is severe flood risk. areas in red show the areas where | :13:46. | :13:47. | |
there is You can see the extent right from Swindon in the West | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
through to Slough. It's a very long stretch. He pulled downstream of | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
Maidenhead and Windsor are complaining that a channel created | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
to take waters away from those towns, called the Jubilee River, is | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
dumping excess water on them. So water taken from one place in the | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
Thames is being shifted to another, nobody wants it. Are there any other | :14:09. | :14:16. | |
causes? Yes, let's take a look at this map of a catchment of the | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
Thames. It shows both sides of the river. The higher ground with the | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
Thames running down the middle. The North Downs on one side, the | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
Chilterns on the other. There are big questions being raised about the | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
land management on those hills. Have we denuded the hills, should we be | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
reforesting them? The idea now from professionals is to catch the water | :14:39. | :14:39. | |
where it falls. reforesting them? The idea now from | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
professionals is to catch the By holding the water up nearer where it | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
lands, it's easier to slow it down. So wary builds up... In the Thames | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
basin it takes several days to build up before it gets downstream towards | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
the outskirts of London. If you can hold the water up and slow it down, | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
then the peaks are much lower, the water levels are much lower and the | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
water can pass through the Thames through London at a lower level. | :15:10. | :15:12. | |
More safely. But you have to do flood some of the Upland areas. But | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
you have to compensate people when you do that. We are seeing the start | :15:17. | :15:26. | |
of a proper national debate, where we are asking ourselves, where are | :15:27. | :15:30. | |
we going to catch the rainfall, who is going to be compensated, and move | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
away from some of the name-calling that has been going on. | :15:35. | :15:41. | |
You can find out more about the flooding on our website. There are | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
updates on BBC local radio and television stations. | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
Our top story this lunchtime. Police have declared a major | :15:52. | :15:53. | |
incident in Berkshire, as river levels along the Thames hit record | :15:54. | :15:57. | |
highs. And still to come: Snowboarder Jenny | :15:58. | :15:59. | |
Jones reflects on her record-breaking medal win on the | :16:00. | :16:10. | |
slopes of Sochi. I celebrated with some champagne, and a bit of | :16:11. | :16:13. | |
dancing! Later on BBC London. Caught | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
red-handed - we expose the pay TV fraudsters. | :16:19. | :16:21. | |
And from tower blocks to Tower Bridge. We meet the photographer | :16:22. | :16:24. | |
who's spent a decade getting a birds-eye-view to capture London's | :16:25. | :16:25. | |
skyline. The Home Office has suspended | :16:26. | :16:36. | |
English exams run by ETS, one of the world's largest language testing | :16:37. | :16:38. | |
companies, after the BBC's Panorama programme uncovered systematic fraud | :16:39. | :16:44. | |
in the UK's student visa system. Secret filming of | :16:45. | :16:45. | |
government-approved English exams needed for a visa showed entire | :16:46. | :16:48. | |
rooms of candidates being helped to cheat. Before the suspension, ETS | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
told the BBC it did everything it could to detect and prevent rare | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
instances of fraud. Richard Watson reports. | :16:59. | :17:07. | |
It's the sort of multiple-choice chess -- test students dream of. | :17:08. | :17:21. | |
Unbelievably, the invigilator is simply reading out the 200 answers. | :17:22. | :17:34. | |
Alpha is a common beta is be, and so on. A two-hour test takes just seven | :17:35. | :17:39. | |
minutes to fake. Panorama has been filming undercover following a | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
network of crooked immigration agents, who help bogus students | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
extend their visas through fraud. The Home Office rules are clear. | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
Non-EU students have to pass an English exam, or they don't get a | :17:55. | :18:02. | |
visa. Early last year, we had and immigration agency in London, called | :18:03. | :18:05. | |
Studentway Education, which could guarantee a pass for a price. We | :18:06. | :18:10. | |
were told how they fall the exam board. Studentway, the agency which | :18:11. | :18:19. | |
arranged our exam, denies any wrongdoing. After paying the agency | :18:20. | :18:26. | |
?500, our undercover was sent to this government approved test centre | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
in East London for an exam. In the hall, and invigilator locks her into | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
a secure computer terminal, but neither she or the other candidates | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
will have to do the tests themselves. Moments before the exam | :18:41. | :18:44. | |
starts, new people arrive to take their places. While the fake sitters | :18:45. | :18:52. | |
start to answer questions in perfect English, the visa applicants stand | :18:53. | :18:59. | |
in the aisle, waiting to have their photo taken to prove they sat the | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
exam at Eden College International. A few days later, our undercover got | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
the certificate. Eden College International strongly deny any | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
knowledge of the frauds. They say after uncovering their own | :19:16. | :19:17. | |
investigation last year, they have not renewed the contracts of three | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
freelancers, and have improved their systems. The company which sets the | :19:23. | :19:28. | |
exams, ETS, told us it does everything it can to detect and | :19:29. | :19:35. | |
prevent rare instances of cheating. We showed our evidence to the Home | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
Secretary. We have done a lot over the past three years. We have rooted | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
out abuse. The amount of abuse has gone down, but it's clear people are | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
finding ways around the system. Our investigation shows the student visa | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
system is still an easy target. And you can see that Panorama | :19:55. | :19:57. | |
programme tonight at 8:30 on BBC One. | :19:58. | :20:00. | |
The opposing sides in Syria's civil war are back around the table today | :20:01. | :20:03. | |
for a second round of peace talks in Geneva. The first talks broke up | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
just over a week ago without any substantial progress on how to end | :20:08. | :20:09. | |
the fighting. Our diplomatic correspondent, Bridget Kendall, is | :20:10. | :20:18. | |
in Geneva. Bridget, is there any cause for optimism this time round? | :20:19. | :20:25. | |
There is some cause for optimism on the ground. That cease-fire in Homs | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
this weekend, which allowed 600 people to be evacuated, and there | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
are now talks going on to extend the truce. Here in Geneva, progress has | :20:37. | :20:43. | |
been going at a snail's pace. The two delegations haven't even met | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
face-to-face today. The UN investigator in charge has decided | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
to hold meetings to keep them apart, while he tries to get them to agree | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
on an agenda. He wants them to discuss the core issues of stopping | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
violence in Syria, and transferring to a transitional government. But | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
even if the two sides agree separately to this agenda, they mean | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
completely different things by the violence. The opposition says it is | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
all violence by the government. They made a public complaint today about | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
the way they say the Syrian government is dropping even more | :21:19. | :21:22. | |
barrel bombs on the City of Aleppo. The Syrian government say the | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
violence is all by the terrorists, and they say they are -- there are a | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
la white villages that are under siege, and they need looking well as | :21:32. | :21:38. | |
Homs. So it is a big task ahead. MPs are to vote in a few hours' time | :21:39. | :21:41. | |
on proposals that would allow smoking to be banned in cars | :21:42. | :21:43. | |
carrying children in England. Smokers' groups say this would be an | :21:44. | :21:46. | |
intrusion, but health professionals have voiced their support. The | :21:47. | :21:49. | |
measure was approved by the Lords last month. Our health | :21:50. | :21:51. | |
correspondent, Dominic Hughes, reports. | :21:52. | :22:00. | |
The family car is somewhere many would regard as a private space, but | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
nearly seven years after smoking was banned in most enclosed public | :22:06. | :22:11. | |
places in England, MPs could be about to go one step further, and | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
ban smoking here too. It is a measure health care campaigners have | :22:17. | :22:21. | |
been battling for. You have young children is developing lungs being | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
exposed to passive smoking, and the possibility of making asthma worse, | :22:28. | :22:31. | |
and a predisposition to other problems later in life. The number | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
of smokers has fallen dramatically since the 70s. Just over a fifth of | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
adults smoke, and one in seven of them admitted to smoking in a car | :22:43. | :22:45. | |
with children. Smoker can stay in the air for two and a half hours, | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
even with the windows open. A campaign has been trying to draw | :22:51. | :23:00. | |
home the message, and say that everything is being done to protect | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
children who are the victims of second-hand smoke. If there's | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
children involved, they shouldn't be allowed to smoke. It is too | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
confined. I don't think it should necessarily be brought into law. The | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
evidence is quite strong that it isn't healthy for children to be | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
exposed to those fumes in the car. But some smokers say this is a step | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
too far, and infringement of their basic rights. In terms of civil | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
liberties and how far the government" is on people's lives, | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
there is a line. And the car ban goes over the line. If the | :23:41. | :23:43. | |
government does that, I think people will ignore it. A few weeks ago, a | :23:44. | :23:50. | |
ban on smoking in cars looked some way off. This evening, MPs are | :23:51. | :23:56. | |
expected to -- Conservative MPs are expected to back the measure. | :23:57. | :23:59. | |
Well, let's speak to our correspondent at Westminster, Gary | :24:00. | :24:06. | |
O'Donoghue. There are two sides. It is health against intrusion. That is | :24:07. | :24:13. | |
the characterisation of the debate at the moment. Those in favour of | :24:14. | :24:16. | |
the ban, including the Prime Minister, because a spokesperson | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
says that he doesn't support the idea, as do a couple of his Cabinet | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
colleagues, like the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. There is a | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
split in this one. The Justice Secretary is against it, as is the | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg. It is clear that this will go | :24:38. | :24:40. | |
through. There will be a bunch of people voting against it, but it | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
will go through our numbers. Just seven years after the ban on smoking | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
came in, we will get the ban on smoking in cars were children are | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
present. We don't know at this stage what the proposed penalties will | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
be. It is going through enabling legislation, which means that | :24:59. | :25:01. | |
government can make secondary rules on how it is going to work. We don't | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
know if it will be a crime or a civil offence, and how big a fine | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
might be. We are going through the motions, in some ways, in the House | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
of Commons tonight, because this will happen. Those who are against | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
it say it is another step towards an nanny state. Thank you. | :25:21. | :25:22. | |
After yesterday's success on the slopes in Sochi, when snowboarder | :25:23. | :25:25. | |
Jenny Jones won Great Britain's first Olympic medal on the snow, | :25:26. | :25:28. | |
this morning the men's curling team have won the first of their matches, | :25:29. | :25:34. | |
beating the host team. But it's not all plain sailing for Team GB's | :25:35. | :25:37. | |
women, who are in a battle against Sweden. Our sports correspondent | :25:38. | :25:43. | |
Andy Swiss is in Sochi. Day three of the action here in | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
Sochi, but still plenty of talk about day two, and that remarkable | :25:50. | :25:53. | |
performance by Jenny Jones. The Winter Olympics were first held way | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
back in 1924. In the 90 years since then, Britain had never won a medal | :25:59. | :26:04. | |
on snow, until a former chalet maid from Bristol wrote her name in | :26:05. | :26:09. | |
sporting history. She is the woman everyone wants to talk to. Jenny | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
Jones in the Sochi spotlight, the morning after the incredible day | :26:15. | :26:20. | |
before. Jones' journey from a dry ski slope in Britain -- in Bristol | :26:21. | :26:26. | |
to an Olympic bronze is and -- is as unlikely as it is unforgettable. | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
Watched by her parents, she won Britain's first ever medal on snow. | :26:31. | :26:37. | |
Even that emotion was trumped by the most tearful of Family Reunion. This | :26:38. | :26:41. | |
morning she told me her mum and dad had been a key to her success. To | :26:42. | :26:47. | |
see them come forward at the end, I was holding it together, but I lost | :26:48. | :26:52. | |
it when I saw my mum. I hope I made them proud. How did you celebrate | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
last night? With sums Champagne! And a bit of dancing! And here is the | :26:59. | :27:07. | |
proof of that fancy footwork. Jones and her team-mates caught on camera | :27:08. | :27:11. | |
after the medal ceremony. Britain is hoping they will have more to dance | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
about. The men's curling team began their campaign in impressive style | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
this morning. They were up against Russia in their opening match, but | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
silenced the crowd with a comfortable 7-4 win. It was a huge | :27:25. | :27:31. | |
crowd, and they were cheering. It was quite hard to hear at times, but | :27:32. | :27:38. | |
that is part and parcel of it. There was also an impressive display from | :27:39. | :27:42. | |
Britain's jack well-born in the short track speed dating. He became | :27:43. | :27:50. | |
the first Briton ever to make it to the final, but sadly, he crashed | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
out. In the last hour, we have also seen Britain's women curlers finish | :27:56. | :28:01. | |
their first-round match. A really tough match against Sweden, which | :28:02. | :28:07. | |
they ended up losing six - four. Disappointment for Eve Muirhead and | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
her team, but this is a round robin contest, so plenty of opportunity to | :28:13. | :28:18. | |
get their medal hopes back onto. Time for a look at the weather. | :28:19. | :28:25. | |
Unfortunately, there is more rain to come. We have some rain and gale is | :28:26. | :28:34. | |
on the way, and also the potential to see snow and ice. Throughout this | :28:35. | :28:39. | |
week, a number of systems could bring some heavy rain. Mixed in with | :28:40. | :28:44. | |
some snow, so it should not cause too much concern. The potential by | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
the end of Friday for South Wales and south-west England to see | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
another 40 to 70 millimetres of rain. Something of a respite today. | :28:54. | :28:58. | |
There are some showers around, some thicker cloud around parts of | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
south-east England. Equally, some drier weather around with some | :29:04. | :29:06. | |
sunshine. Showers are clearing from Northern Ireland and western | :29:07. | :29:12. | |
Scotland this afternoon. Sunshine across parts of northern England, | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
but equally, a couple of showers here possible. Scattered showers in | :29:18. | :29:22. | |
the afternoon for England and Wales. Always keeping a little bit more | :29:23. | :29:26. | |
cloud through Kent and East Anglia, and here, some patchy rain possible. | :29:27. | :29:33. | |
For most of us this evening, the sky is clear. Temperatures will drop | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
away as the cloud breaks up. Here comes another band of rain, moving | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
through Northern Ireland, which could give some snow on higher | :29:42. | :29:47. | |
ground, moving in through Wales and parts of the South West in the early | :29:48. | :29:50. | |
hours. Tuesday's weather system eight quite short lived, in 10th | :29:51. | :29:57. | |
spell of rain, combined with some strong winds that time. Lingering to | :29:58. | :30:03. | |
the north-east, but it will clear away elsewhere, giving brighter | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
skies in the afternoon. In northern areas, showers could continue to be | :30:09. | :30:14. | |
wintry. Some snow showers on higher ground could move on to low ground, | :30:15. | :30:19. | |
and could continue through Wednesday night. Wednesday's storm is fast | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
approaching our shores. Quite a lot of uncertainty about it, but it has | :30:26. | :30:29. | |
the potential to be an intense system, bringing severe gales, gusts | :30:30. | :30:36. | |
in excess of 70 mph, possibly. Some rain and hill snow possible in the | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
north as well. The ground does not need any more water, with those | :30:41. | :30:46. | |
severe flood warnings in force. We will continue to monitor the | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
situation. You can get more details on our website. | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
Now a reminder of our top story this lunchtime. | :30:55. | :30:56. | |
Police have declared a major incident in Berkshire, as river | :30:57. | :30:58. | |
levels along the Thames hit record highs. Visiting the south-west of | :30:59. | :31:10. | |
England, the Prime Minister has defended the work of the Environment | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
Agency, and given his backing to its chairman, Lord Smith. There will be | :31:15. | :31:20. | |
continuing coverage of the flood situation on | :31:21. | :31:21. |