01/04/2014 BBC News at One


01/04/2014

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A union calls for Business Secretary Vince Cable's resignation, after the

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privatisation of Royal Mail is described as a "botched panic sale".

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With shares in Royal Mail worth 70% more than their purchase price, the

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spending watchdog accuses the Government of letting taxpayers

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down. The truth is, this has been a first-class disaster for the

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taxpayer, and those people he once referred to as spivs and gamblers

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are laughing all the way to the bank. The last thing I intend to do

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is to apologise. What I intend to do is to refer to what the report

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actually said, as opposed to the spinning and the froth which is

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being generated. We'll be getting the latest from Westminster. Also

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this lunchtime... Living a healthier life - Scientists say we should be

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eating at least seven portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

:00:58.:01:01.

25 years after the Hillsborough disaster, the names of each of the

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96 victims are read out at the start of new inquests.

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"Break the rules and we'll take you out" - the warning to payday lenders

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from the new financial watchdog. The full exchanges between air

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traffic control and the pilot of the doomed Air Malaysia plane are made

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public - but do nothing to solve the mystery.

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Later on BBC London News, a new way of policing. And the mayor abandons

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plans to try to stop motorists driving in London when pollution is

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bad. Good afternoon and welcome to the

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BBC News at One. Business Secretary Vince Cable says

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he has no intention of apologising after a damning verdict on the

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Government's sell-off of Royal Mail. A spending watchdog says the

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taxpayer lost out to the tune of ?1 billion after the price of Royal

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Mail shares was pitched too low. Royal Mail shares are now more than

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70% higher than the original sale price of 330p in October 2013. The

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National Audit Office said too much emphasis was put on completing the

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sale within this parliament, at the One union leader has called on Mr

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Cable to resign. John Moylan reports. Successive governments had

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tried to privatise Royal Mail. Now, the public spending watchdog has

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concluded that the Department for Business, which led the eventual

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sale, did not get value for money. The department could have done

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better to achieve value for money. It focused on selling the shares

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within the current parliament, and achieved its primary objectives, and

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we felt it should have gone further to extract the maximum value for the

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taxpayer in this particular transaction. The Government priced

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shares at 330p for the stock market flotation. But the shares jumped 38%

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in value on the first day, the largest first day rise in years. Six

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months later, the shares are now worth 560 2p, a 70% increase on the

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initial price. The report says the shares were offered to the market

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too cheaply because of the Government's cautious approach. It

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prioritised completing the sale over getting a higher price. It relied

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too heavily upon its advisers, and it could have kept a bigger stake to

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benefit when the share price went up. It did not get full value for

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the public asset that it was charged with selling. It continued to

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undermine confidence in the business by telling the public and potential

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investors that it did not think it was worth the share price which the

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market was sitting. It did not look very competent. The Government

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wanted Royal Mail to have long-term, stable shareholders, so

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it gave a core group of city institutions a bigger allocation of

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shares. These firms also had a role in the price being set so low. But

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the report finds that these firms had sold around half of their

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relegation of shares within weeks of the privatisation. Some had sold

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their entire stake. Today, one union called for the Business Secretary to

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resign. It was right that we took a cautious and measured approach to

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the sale. This approach was taken in the light of our primary objective,

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and it reflects the considerable risks that we faced due to

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industrial relations and challenging market conditions. This has been a

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first-class disaster for the taxpayer. Those he once referred to

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as spivs and gamblers are laughing all the way to the bank. The report

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also questions the sell-off process. It was not flexible enough to enable

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the shares to be priced again late in the day. That could have big

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implications for the future, when the Government decides to sell off

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its stakes in our biggest banks. Well, our chief political

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correspondent Norman Smith is at Westminster. Vince Cable says he

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will not apologise, but how damaging is this for him? Well, it is

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striking that we have had no apology, no regrets, no qualms of

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disquiet from any government minister, despite the fact that it

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has cost you and I, the public, around ?1 billion, despite the

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political price paid, because obviously, it is hard to sell

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austerity and benefit cuts if you are blowing ?1 billion in the City.

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Despite the political price paid by Vince Cable in particular, who

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dismissed as froth and speculation the idea that Royal Mail was

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undervalued. And the reason I think no one has said sorry is in part

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because there is a conviction in government that Royal Mail's future

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is better served in the private sector. Ministers took one look at

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the attempts of previous governments to sell-off Royal Mail, and viewed

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it as pretty much mission impossible, with people like Michael

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Heseltine and Peter Mandelson both trying and failing. They decided

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that this time they would succeed. For that reason they decided to give

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free shares to postal workers, to have a tight timetable to avoid

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industrial action, and yes, to sell it for a bargain price. To

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paraphrase a couple of other Conservative chancellors, that was

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regarded as a price worth paying if it got Royal Mail back into the

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private sector. Well, it seems five portions of

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fruit and veg a day is no longer enough - and we should be aiming for

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seven or more. Scientists at University College London analysed

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information from 65,000 adults in England and they say people eating

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at least seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day have the lowest

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risk of an early death. Our health correspondent Dominic Hughes

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reports. A good diet, with lots of fruit and

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veg, can have a significant impact on our health. Now, research

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suggests the more you eat, the greater the benefit. Eating at least

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reduced the risk of death through cancer, heart disease and stroke. --

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eating at least seven portions a day seems to reduce the risk. The most

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health benefit weather people eating seven or more portions of fruit and

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vegetables every day. So, what does this look like in reality? A portion

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of fruit might be a banana or an orange. A portion of veg might be a

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tomato, some salad leaves, or some beans. Some countries like

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Australia, for example, suggest you have at least seven portions. So

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they might add a carrot some cucumber. But could we actually

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managed to eat that much fruit and veg? Of course, it is just getting

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into the habit, though. It is easier said than done. I like fruit, and I

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like vegetables, but I do not eat them every day, you know. The World

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Health Organisation recommends we eat at least 400 grams, roughly five

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portions, of fruit and veg each day. On average we manage just to

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portions of fruit and 1.5 portions of vegetables. Health experts say

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until more of us are hitting that five day target, the official advice

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is unlikely to change. As to weather it should be raised to seven day, I

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think probably not at the moment. This is just one study, and also,

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the majority of us, two thirds of us, do not manage to eat five a day.

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Until we have managed to do that, then I think there is some way to

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go. But there are some reservations about what this study really tells

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us. The group who ate lots of fruit and veg were predominantly

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nonsmokers, better off, and better educated. All of those things may be

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contributing towards a reduced mortality. The research also

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questions whether sugar rich fruit juice should count as part of the

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five a day target. Five a day at least feels achievable. Asking

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people to do more may be too much. And we can speak to Dominic now.

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Consumers could be forgiven for getting a bit bemused, couldn't

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they? They could. One interesting thing about this report is that it

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has exposed how the advice differs around the world. In the UK, it is

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five portions a day, as it is in France, Germany and Spain. In

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Denmark, it is six, in Australia, it is seven, and in the United States,

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where portion sizes tend to be bigger and better anyway, it is

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between seven and 13. But I think the key thing for public health

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campaigners is not to confuse consumers. That might be a very good

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reason for sticking to five day, particularly as we have heard two

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thirds of us are not even that target.

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-- not even hitting that target. The coroner at the inquests into the

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deaths of 96 Liverpool fans in the Hillsborough disaster almost 25

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years ago has told the court that many of the men, women and children

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suffered "terrible crushing injuries" as the pressure in the

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pens on the terraces built up. The hearing in Warrington, in Cheshire,

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was ordered after the original inquest verdicts of accidental death

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were quashed in 2012. At the start of this morning's proceedings, the

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names of each of the victims were slowly read out to the jury. Our

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correspondent Judith Moritz is in Warrington.

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Yes, those names of each of the victims were read out in court by

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one of the lawyers. There was a complete hash in the courtroom, save

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for the tears of some of the relatives. Families of the 96

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Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough have waited for this

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day to come, the moment that the new inquests begin in earnest.

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Yesterday, the jury was selected. Today, the jurors were ready to be

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sworn in. It will just be nice now to finally get started, to get the

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jury sworn in. Once that has been done, it seems like it is real,

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then. Lord Justice Goldring, acting as coroner, opened the inquests by

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telling the jury of seven women and four men about the long task ahead

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of them. He began by telling them about Hillsborough, saying, the

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disaster is seared into the memories of the very many people affected by

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it, most notably, the families of the 96 people who died. The jury

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were told that the tragedy happened in April 1989, when a terrible crush

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developed at the Leppings Lane end of the Sheffield ground. The coroner

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told them it had been the worst ever disaster at a British sports stadium

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just he told them... The jury were told that there will

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be a break inquest in a fortnight, when the 25th anniversary of the

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disaster will be commemorated. The jury were told about the kind of

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evidence that they will be presented with. They were told the process

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could last more than a year. The coroner told them that he is aware

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of the enormous public service... Pay day lenders are facing tough new

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regulations by the Financial Conduct Authority. The watchdog is taking

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over from the Office of Fair Trading. It wants to curb

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extortionate charges and ensure that money is only lent to those who can

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pay it back. And there was a warning to the lenders - if you don't stick

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to the rules, we will take you out. Simon Gompertz reports. It is a

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world of thousands of percentage points APR, and high charges if you

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fail to repay. This south London borough has tried to restrict

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posters being put up by lenders. We have got lonely shop, lonely shop,

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and another one. -- loan shop. That is seven within about 100 yards. It

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is absolutely terrible. The interest is absolutely terrible. I have had

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?100, and then all of a sudden, you miss one payment, the following

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month, they want ?300 off you. They are absolutely terrible, they should

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not be allowed. The new regulator is demanding more checks, it will

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restrict the number of times you can roll over your loan, and also it is

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consulting on a cap on the overall cost of credit, all backed by the

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threat of closing lenders down. We are concerned that people who cannot

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afford the loans, and who then get rolled over, should be protected.

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That is the area we are worried about. They can continue the

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advertising, which has helped make this a ?2 billion industry, as long

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as there is a warning saying late repayment can cause serious money

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problems. I think the FCA has got an important part to play in setting

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new rules for this relatively new industry, which is going to drive up

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standards and help us to drive out the bad practice. Heyday lenders

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were found to be making too much profit out of the people who

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struggle to pay the money back. The new regime is designed to force them

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to lend only to those who can afford it.

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A pupil at a school in Edinburgh was killed this morning when a wall

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collapsed. The Scottish Ambulance Service was called to Liberton High

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School just before ten this morning. Our Scotland correspondent Lorna

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Gordon is at the school. For the last couple of hours,

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children have been arriving to pick up their children, some of them in

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quite a distressed state. The children were told at a special

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assembly that one of their fellow pupils has died in an accident

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earlier this morning. Emergency services were called to the school

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here just before ten o'clock this morning. We understand, talking to

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the parents, that a wall collapsed inside the changing rooms for the PA

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area, the gym area. Talking to the parents, we understand that the girl

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who died was one of the younger pupils, in the first year of the

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school, so she would have been 11 or 12 years old. Many of the pupils

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have left for the day. You can see the ambulance and the police

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remaining outside the building. There will be a full investigation

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into what happened. There was a big operation of course to try and

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release the girl by paramedics at the scene, but she was pronounced

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dead. A lot of distress for the pupils here today and a big

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investigation to work out what has happened. Thank you very much.

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Our top story this lunchtime: A union boss calls for Vince Cable to

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stand down this lunchtime after the selling off of Royal Mail is called

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a botched sale. And still to come: The best April fool ever?

:16:48.:17:01.

The Malaysian authorities who have been coordinating the search for the

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missing airliner flight MH370 have released the transcript of

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communications between the pilots and air traffic controllers and it

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differs from the version they gave just after the plane disappeared.

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They said though that the exchanges showed there was nothing abnormal in

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the conversations. Australia is to deploy a special flying air traffic

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control centre to prevent collisions between the planes searching for the

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missing aircraft in the remote Indian Ocean. Our correspondent Lucy

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Williamson sent this report. Three and a half weeks after MH370

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went missing, the investigation is in some ways becoming less clear.

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Under growing pressure for clarity, the Malaysian Government has

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released a transcript of the final conversation between the plane and

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air traffic controllers. The final words spoken by the cockpit were not

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all right good night, as originally stated, but good night Malaysia

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370, a standard industry sign off. That small difference in language

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does not change the investigation but it does show how unreliable our

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information about it might be. At a conference in Kuala Lumpur today,

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the global airline association said that the plane must never be allowed

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to vanish again, and announced a new task force to look at better ways of

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tracking international flights. I think what we will have to do after

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this incident is to make sure that this can never happen again and that

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aircraft can be tracked in real-time. The technology is either

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they're already or almost there, but we need to think about the most

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effective ways of deploying it to make sure we can never be in this

:18:42.:18:47.

situation again, where we can't find an aeroplane. After days of claiming

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the new search area, all that has been found fishing nets and rubbish.

:18:52.:18:57.

The current search area, to give you some context, about the size of

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Ireland. I have to say, in my experience, and I have got a lot of

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experience in search and rescue over the years, this search and recovery

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operation is probably the most challenging one I have ever seen.

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Political leaders in several countries have said there is no time

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limit on the operation, but with so little information to go on, they

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are working in the dark. Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Kuala Lumpur.

:19:28.:19:33.

NATO Foreign Ministers are meeting in Brussels this afternoon to

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discuss the crisis in Ukraine. With tensions still high in the region,

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Moscow has announced the withdrawal of one infantry battalion from the

:19:41.:19:42.

Ukrainian border but the Americans say tens of thousands of Russian

:19:43.:19:45.

soldiers are still deployed there. Speaking ahead of the meeting, the

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NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the North Atlantic

:19:49.:19:50.

alliance could not carrying on doing business with Russia as usual.

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Russia's actions are unacceptable. We will take positions on which

:19:58.:20:05.

cooperation with Russia is still appropriate because through its

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actions, Russia has undermined the principles on which our partnership

:20:10.:20:15.

is built and has breached its own international commitments. So we

:20:16.:20:20.

cannot go on doing business as usual. Our diplomatic correspondent,

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Jonathan Marcus is in Brussels. What realistically our NATO's options?

:20:28.:20:33.

Clearly NATO was not going to go to war with Russia, that is obvious.

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But I think they want to do three things. In the short term, they want

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to reassure worried NATO allies like the Baltic republics, and the

:20:43.:20:46.

Polish, who believe there should be a more muscular response to the

:20:47.:20:50.

Russians. We may see some small military deployments, stepped up

:20:51.:20:54.

exercises and so on. They also want to give reassurance to Ukraine, so I

:20:55.:20:58.

think we will see a continuation of the sorts of activities that NATO

:20:59.:21:05.

countries have been carrying out with Ukraine and its military in the

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past. For the longer term, they want to reassess the whole relationship

:21:08.:21:10.

between NATO and Russia and to look at NATO defence plans and defence

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deployments, and see whether they should be changed. It was

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interesting, the Polish Foreign Minister arrived a short while ago

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and said it was the 15th anniversary of Poland joining NATO. The only

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NATO facility in his country, he said, was a conference centre, so he

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said really, perhaps with what is going on in Ukraine, and the new

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wind blowing from Russia, the sorts of deployments that NATO has in

:21:42.:21:44.

eastern and central Europe should be looked at again. Thank you. At his

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trial in Preston, the former Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans has had his

:21:48.:21:52.

evidence cross-examined. He is on trial of rape and sexual assault and

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he denies the charges. Danny Savage is at Preston Crown Court. Less

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people at the evidence into context. Yesterday Nigel evidence

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gave evidence in his defence. -- Nigel Evans. He talked about an

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alleged sexual assault that is claimed to have taken place at his

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home in Lancashire. He was asked about the man who was accused of

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assaulting and the MP said he was incredibly flirtatious. I got the

:22:20.:22:23.

impression he was interested in me. There is no fall like an old fool.

:22:24.:22:30.

He was asked by his barrister if his approaches were unwelcome and he

:22:31.:22:36.

said, goodness, no. Nigel Evans said that he wanted a reaction from the

:22:37.:22:40.

man that the passes I was making towards him would be accepted. It

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was put to him that he obviously did not consent to what you were doing.

:22:44.:22:48.

That is right, conceded the MP, but he maintained that he did not

:22:49.:22:52.

sexually assault the man. He was also asked about a couple of the

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other charges, one of them in the House of Commons bar. He is supposed

:22:57.:23:01.

to have tried to kiss a man. It was put to him he was exercising his gay

:23:02.:23:05.

sexuality. You knew perfectly well that the likelihood that he would

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complain about you, Nigel Evans MP, was virtually zero. The MP replied

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to that, this goes from the bizarre to the bunkum. It is ridiculous

:23:15.:23:18.

beyond belief. On another charge, he said, do you realise how absurd it

:23:19.:23:24.

sounds about what you are saying I have done? It is better you don't

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ask questions for fear that I might answer them, Mr Evans, was the

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response. The trial continues. Thank you.

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Do people's perceptions of freedom correspond to how free they really

:23:38.:23:40.

are? That was the question asked by a BBC poll, carried out to mark the

:23:41.:23:47.

end of our Freedom 2014 season. The survey, conducted between December

:23:48.:23:49.

2013 and February 2014, discovered that people who live in countries

:23:50.:23:52.

traditionally considered to be free don't necessarily feel more free

:23:53.:23:58.

than others. Nick Higham reports. Freedom has never been a simple

:23:59.:24:03.

notion, but what does it mean in our modern digital age? The internet and

:24:04.:24:07.

social media mean we can communicate more freely than ever but we are

:24:08.:24:11.

also under more surveillance than ever before from governments and

:24:12.:24:16.

commercial organisations. Our BBC World Service poll began by asking

:24:17.:24:19.

people about freedom and the internet. More than two thirds of

:24:20.:24:23.

those we questioned told us they thought the internet means we have

:24:24.:24:25.

greater freedom but more than half also told as they thought it was an

:24:26.:24:31.

unsafe place in which to say what they think. Edward Snowden's

:24:32.:24:35.

revelations about widespread surveillance by the US Government

:24:36.:24:39.

have really had an impact on the public consciousness in terms of

:24:40.:24:43.

their understanding of the fact that anything they do online can

:24:44.:24:47.

potentially be monitored. These days, the prying eyes of the state

:24:48.:24:52.

seem to be everywhere. Governments say they need surveillance to fight

:24:53.:24:56.

terrorism and crime but what do the public think? In our survey, we

:24:57.:25:00.

asked people whether they felt free from monitoring by their own

:25:01.:25:04.

governments. Results were surprising. In countries like the

:25:05.:25:08.

United States and Germany, which like to think of themselves as

:25:09.:25:11.

bastions of freedom and democracy, fewer than half those and felt free

:25:12.:25:17.

from Government surveillance. In China and Russia, it was completely

:25:18.:25:21.

different. A sizeable majority said they didn't think they were subject

:25:22.:25:26.

to online surveillance. We have about 80% of American and German

:25:27.:25:32.

people who do have access to internet in their homes. It is less

:25:33.:25:36.

than half this in Russia and China. It seems that people in countries

:25:37.:25:41.

with higher internet connectivity naturally feel more exposed. How

:25:42.:25:46.

free you feel, it seems, is not necessarily a reflection of how

:25:47.:25:49.

freely the society in which you live is supposed to be.

:25:50.:25:56.

It's perhaps the most famous April Fool prank in the history of British

:25:57.:25:59.

television. And in a rare interview, the man responsible has explained

:26:00.:26:02.

how it all happened. In 1957 the BBC's Panorama programme showed a

:26:03.:26:05.

report about spaghetti growing on trees in Switzerland and many of its

:26:06.:26:08.

eight million viewers swallowed every word. Here's our entertainment

:26:09.:26:18.

correspondent Colin Paterson. The past winter, one of the mildest

:26:19.:26:21.

in living memory, has had its effect in other ways as well. Most

:26:22.:26:27.

important of all, it has resulted in an exceptionally heavy spaghetti

:26:28.:26:33.

crop. At 8:30pm on the 1st of April 1957, in between Hancock's Half Hour

:26:34.:26:37.

and some heavyweight boxing, the current affairs programme Panorama

:26:38.:26:40.

featured one of the most famous April falls of all time. Spaghetti

:26:41.:26:45.

cultivation here in Switzerland is not carried out on anything like the

:26:46.:26:48.

tremendous scale of the Italian industry. Michael Peacock presented

:26:49.:26:54.

Panorama and was responsible for giving the spaghetti tree hoax the

:26:55.:27:00.

go-ahead. We had noted in the editorial meeting that April the 1st

:27:01.:27:03.

was on a Monday, power transmission day. A week or so later, a freelance

:27:04.:27:10.

cameraman came into the office and they pitched the idea of the

:27:11.:27:15.

spaghetti harvest being an April fool's joke. I gave Charles a budget

:27:16.:27:24.

of ?100 and sent him off. Some heavyweight support gave its

:27:25.:27:29.

backing. The anchorman for Panorama was Richard Dimbleby. Richard was

:27:30.:27:33.

most respected reporter and he earned his reputation as a war

:27:34.:27:38.

correspondent. We knew perfectly well we were using his authority to

:27:39.:27:41.

make the joke work. He loved the idea and went at it with relish.

:27:42.:27:46.

Many people are often puzzled by the fact that spaghetti is produced at

:27:47.:27:51.

such uniform length, but this is the result of many years of patient by

:27:52.:27:55.

plant breeders, who succeeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.

:27:56.:27:59.

Next day it was all over the newspapers. The press loved the

:28:00.:28:05.

story. Others hated it for misleading the nation, which was why

:28:06.:28:09.

it worked so well. We'll felt very pleased with ourselves. Almost 60

:28:10.:28:14.

years later, it is still being talked about. For those who love

:28:15.:28:18.

this dish, there is nothing like real home-grown spaghetti. Colin

:28:19.:28:25.

Pattinson, BBC News. What are the chances of sunshine? No

:28:26.:28:30.

April Fool about the weather. We could see 20 degrees in the South

:28:31.:28:35.

East of England. This is a satellite picture. Cloud across Scotland and

:28:36.:28:40.

the central slice of England. It is breaking up all the time with

:28:41.:28:44.

sunshine around. Already 17th in the South East. With that weather front

:28:45.:28:48.

struggling Scotland and bringing outbreaks of rain, it is quite

:28:49.:28:53.

chilly East coast of Scotland. Through the afternoon, much of

:28:54.:28:56.

England, Northern Ireland and Wales will hold onto sunshine with the odd

:28:57.:29:01.

shower. The lion's share of the rain will affect central and eastern

:29:02.:29:05.

Scotland. That said, the Outer Hebrides is not doing too badly with

:29:06.:29:11.

some shelter. You will enjoy a fine afternoon with sunshine. Eastern

:29:12.:29:14.

Scotland and the South of Scotland will be cool with an onshore breeze.

:29:15.:29:19.

England is not doing too badly. Double figures for Newcastle with

:29:20.:29:24.

sunshine. The Midlands, South East England and Southern counties seeing

:29:25.:29:28.

the best sunshine. Variable amounts of lead cloud around with the odd

:29:29.:29:33.

shower. Most places remain dry. Cloud in the South coast of Devon

:29:34.:29:40.

and Cornwall. In Northern Ireland, conditions improve but the far

:29:41.:29:45.

western coast will hold onto cloud and the odd shower. That is how it

:29:46.:29:50.

is looking this afternoon. Into the evening and overnight, rain affects

:29:51.:29:54.

central and eastern Scotland and low mist and cloud rolls on and off the

:29:55.:29:59.

North Sea in eastern areas. This weather front coming from the South

:30:00.:30:02.

will bring showery -based sovereign into the Midlands. Some dry

:30:03.:30:09.

interludes and a mild night to come but quite chilly in the North.

:30:10.:30:13.

Wednesday morning starts off damp and cloudy with showers and western

:30:14.:30:18.

areas pushing East. It will be quite chilly across the North East corner

:30:19.:30:22.

of England and also eastern Scotland, but some sunshine for the

:30:23.:30:25.

far North of Scotland with better temperatures there. Cool in the

:30:26.:30:30.

North East corner. In the South East, temperatures could hover

:30:31.:30:34.

around 20. The pressure chart for Thursday shows low pressure trying

:30:35.:30:38.

to push further East. This weather front could have more action on it.

:30:39.:30:44.

More heavy rain affecting central and western areas. Slowly pushing

:30:45.:30:49.

its way East. Cooler air moving in the Atlantic. Still quite warm

:30:50.:30:53.

across central and eastern areas with sunshine. We have had lots of

:30:54.:30:59.

emails about the Sahara dust and air pollution situation. If you want

:31:00.:31:03.

more, check our local weather website. Thank you.

:31:04.:31:08.

The top story this lunchtime: A union boss calls for Vince Cable's

:31:09.:31:13.

resignation after the privatisation of Royal Mail

:31:14.:31:15.

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