Browse content similar to 12/06/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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"We're doing all we can" - the Home Secretary announces | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
emergency measures to clear the backlog of passport applications. | :00:07. | :00:10. | |
Theresa May says some will be fast-tracked free of charge, and | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
The Government will do everything it can, while maintaining the security | :00:15. | :00:23. | |
of the passport, to make sure people get their passports in time. | :00:24. | :00:31. | |
This has been a sorry shambles from a sorry department, | :00:32. | :00:33. | |
and a Home Secretary who can't even bring herself to say the word. | :00:34. | :00:37. | |
We'll get all the latest from our chief political correspondent. | :00:38. | :00:39. | |
Islamist militants say they're planning to advance on the Iraqi | :00:40. | :00:44. | |
capital, Baghdad, after seizing two major cities | :00:45. | :00:47. | |
The Court of Appeal rules that most of a major terrorism | :00:48. | :00:53. | |
Angelina Jolie tells the BBC the use of rape as a weapon | :00:54. | :01:00. | |
My key messages to follow up this summit with action, and to make sure | :01:01. | :01:13. | |
we visit them in the field and see these governments and shake their | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
hands. Now and in years to come, we will be doing something. | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
And countdown to the kick-off - we're live in Brazil before | :01:21. | :01:22. | |
The wife of rock star Paul Weller calls for a change to | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
the law to stop photos of children being published without consent. | :01:30. | :01:31. | |
The UK's first dental school in 40 years opens in the capital's worst | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One. | :01:36. | :01:56. | |
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, says the Government is | :01:57. | :01:59. | |
"doing all it can" to deal with the backlog of hundreds of thousands | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
She was called before MPs this morning to explain the delay, | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
and announced a number of measures including a free, fast track service | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
for anyone who could prove they had an urgent need to travel. | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
But that wasn't enough for the Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette | :02:17. | :02:18. | |
Cooper, who accused Theresa May of overseeing a "sorry shambles". | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
Let's cross to Liverpool passport office, and our correspondent, | :02:24. | :02:25. | |
Yes, this crisis came to public light yesterday, when photographs | :02:26. | :02:38. | |
from inside this building word leaked showing piles of our sport | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
applications waiting to be processed. In the last half-hour, we | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
have learnt that staff who are found guilty of that league have been | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
threatened with disciplinary action and all staff here have been told | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
that they may not use mobile phones while working. There was no letup in | :02:57. | :03:04. | |
the demand for passports in Liverpool today, as more | :03:05. | :03:06. | |
applications continued to come through the door. But with 30,000 | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
people waiting for their delayed passports to be processed, this | :03:11. | :03:14. | |
morning the Home Secretary announced new steps being taken to speed up | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
the system. There is no big bang single solution, so we will take a | :03:21. | :03:27. | |
series of measures... We will take a series of measures to address the | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
pinch points and resource in problems HMP oh faces. Theresa May | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
told the Commons that those who can prove they have to travel urgently | :03:36. | :03:38. | |
to have their cases fast-tracked for free. British nationals applying | :03:39. | :03:44. | |
from abroad for renewal will be able to extend their current passports by | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
a year. People applying from overseas on behalf of their children | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
will be issued with emergency travel documents. But Labour condemned the | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
government's handling of the affair full up this has been a sorry | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
shambles from a sorry department, and the Home Secretary can't even | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
bring herself to say the word. Government incompetence means people | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
are at risk of missing their holidays, their honeymoons, their | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
businesses. The Guardian newspaper has posted this internal Passport | :04:15. | :04:17. | |
Office memo on its website, showing that earlier this week on staff were | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
told to relax checks on overseas applications to reduce delays. Today | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
the Home Office said it had ordered it to be withdrawn. Our members are | :04:26. | :04:31. | |
stuck in the middle of getting slated by management and the list is | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
saying the other thing. It is a mess the government has created. There | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
were also reports that last month, British ambassadors and high | :04:41. | :04:42. | |
commissioners from around the world want the Passport Office of the | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
problems. One British citizen in Singapore who is waiting for his | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
document is to be returned spoke to BBC news. It is worrying that they | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
are saying it is a minimum of eight weeks. And the fact that the advice | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
has moved from six to eight weeks leaves me feeling that it could be | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
extended yet again. The word minimum is obviously worrying, because it | :05:03. | :05:05. | |
could push it very close to our trip. The government has said more | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
staff are being brought in and extra office space in Liverpool will be | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
used from next week in response to the highest demand for passports in | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
the last 12 years. Meanwhile, at the centre of all of this, the staff | :05:20. | :05:21. | |
inside this building are continuing to work through those piles of our | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
sport applications. None of them have wanted to come here and talk | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
about their feelings on camera, but their union representatives told us | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
that the staff here are working under considerable pressure and | :05:36. | :05:41. | |
stress. We can speaking our chief political correspondent, who is at a | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
Passport Office in central London. Norman, Labour is clearly not | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
impressed, but will Theresa May's statement have done enough to | :05:50. | :05:52. | |
reassure people that the situation has been brought under control? | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
Today we saw Mrs May in effect ripping up the old government script | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
on the passports are go. No longer any pretence that there was no | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
backlog that it is not that big a problem, that it is kind of under | :06:06. | :06:09. | |
control. Today, Mrs May swept aside all her other business and took | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
personal charge of the passport crisis, indicating that she may take | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
control of the Passport Office, end its independence and run it from the | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
Home Office said that she can keep a closer eye on what is going on. You | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
sensed that today was a kind of cold water moment, a splash of frozen | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
water in the government's face as they woke up to the scale of public | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
anger, the media fury and criticism from MPs, including some from her | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
own party, one of whom berated Mrs May for not sent -- setting up an | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
MP's al plan so that they could get on the blower to the Passport Office | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
to find out what was going on for their constituents. That was why we | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
saw this series of measures by Mrs May, the details of which have still | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
to be worked out. But will determine whether the passport crisis is | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
solved. It will also determine how damaged Mrs May is by it. One last | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
thing - do not be confused by the lack of a queue behind me. People | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
are queueing inside to use a telephone helpline. There are only | :07:09. | :07:14. | |
two, and one is out of order. Thank you very much. | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
The militant Islamist group which has taken control | :07:19. | :07:20. | |
of two key cities in northern Iraq says it's now ordered | :07:21. | :07:22. | |
There are reports that some of its forces are now just 15 miles | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurds are reported to have taken | :07:28. | :07:30. | |
Our diplomatic correspondent, Nick Childs, has the latest. | :07:31. | :07:41. | |
The erratic capital, Baghdad, and a rush of volunteers, it seems, to | :07:42. | :07:48. | |
take on the sudden stunning advance of Islamist militants across a | :07:49. | :07:54. | |
swathe of northern Iraq. This Iraqi general says hundreds of young and | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
old have come forward to defend the country and its holy sites. The | :07:59. | :08:03. | |
Iraqi government has promised to fight back, but it has been rocked | :08:04. | :08:07. | |
by the collapse of its forces in the face of this latest little | :08:08. | :08:10. | |
challenge. That has raised alarms and post questions for the outside | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
world, too. But there is no appetite for direct military intervention in | :08:16. | :08:22. | |
Washington or London. We will not be getting involved militarily. We will | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
support the United States in anything they decide to do, but I | :08:26. | :08:31. | |
stress again that it is for the Iraqi leadership primarily to | :08:32. | :08:35. | |
respond to this. This is a democratic country with an elected | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
government with considerable resources. The militants' had long | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
advance, at least as their own video portrays it, may have been halted | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
for now. But this audio message from their spokesman implores them to | :08:52. | :08:54. | |
greater efforts, and to press on to the Iraqi capital. Already, behold | :08:55. | :09:01. | |
Fallujah and parts of another city. They have been consolidating in | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
Mosul and Tikrit and have got as far as are. The group Isis grew out of | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, under this man. But his and his forces' successors | :09:12. | :09:17. | |
are now challenging traditional Al-Qaeda, their aim to create a | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
single Islamic state across Syria, Iraq and beyond. These images, it is | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
said of gunmen near the town of Kirkuk, to add to the complexities | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
here and fears of a fracturing Iraq, Kurdish forces say they have taken | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
control of the town to protect it from the militants after Iraqi | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
forces abandoned their posts. As more Iraqis flee the fighting, there | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
are growing concerns about the humanitarian impact of all this, but | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
also over the international fallout from a new struggle in an already | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
volatile part of the world. Nick Childs, BBC News. Our Security | :09:52. | :09:59. | |
correspondent is with me. How serious is the situation? For Iraq | :10:00. | :10:06. | |
and the Middle East, it is extremely serious. For Iraq, it is an | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
existential threat. It could be the beginning of the break-up of Iraq. | :10:11. | :10:13. | |
It was always an artificial country, with borders drawn up during the | :10:14. | :10:20. | |
last entry which split up three different communities, Sunni, Shia | :10:21. | :10:23. | |
and Kurd. Now it looks like they are being pitted against each other in | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
the sense that you have got a Sunni incursion coming from this group, | :10:28. | :10:30. | |
taking over Sunni areas and vowing to take bag bad. If they go for | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
Baghdad, a capital populated by both Sunni and Shia, it will be a | :10:37. | :10:42. | |
bloodbath, and it will not be easy. If they do manage to take it on | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
which I think is unlikely, but if they do, they will face the same | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
kind of insurgency that they have been conducting themselves against | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
the Iraqi government. So it would be a disastrous move, but right now | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
they are fired up because they are taking town after town, Isis, and | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
they are encouraging their volunteers to march on Baghdad. For | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
the West and the wider region, at the moment, they are looking on | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
fairly helplessly. America is possibly considering sending in | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
drones, but that will not liberate the areas that have already been | :11:13. | :11:15. | |
taken. Where it will really troubled the rest of the world as if this | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
mini-state that seems to have set up here ends up being a platform for | :11:20. | :11:22. | |
international attacks on the rest of the world in the way that | :11:23. | :11:23. | |
Afghanistan was under the Taliban. The central proceedings in the trial | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
of two men accused of serious terrorist offences are to take place | :11:29. | :11:31. | |
in secret after a landmark ruling The Crown Prosecution Service | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
had wanted the entire case to be heard behind closed doors | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
to protect national security. But that was challenged | :11:40. | :11:42. | |
by a number of media organisations. Let's speak to our home affairs | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
correspondent, June Kelly. This is a controversial case. What | :11:47. | :12:00. | |
happened in court? That's right, the plan to hold this trial in secret | :12:01. | :12:03. | |
caused a few Rory amongst the press and the civil liberties lobby and a | :12:04. | :12:08. | |
number of media organisations, including the BBC appealed against | :12:09. | :12:11. | |
that decision. Today the appeal judges were adamant that the trial | :12:12. | :12:18. | |
should go ahead in secret, on the grounds of national security. But | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
they did make some concessions, notably, for the first time, the | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
names of the defendants, formerly only known as A, B, C, were made | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
public. We can now report their names. The appeal judges also said | :12:33. | :12:40. | |
that when the trial gets going, a certain group of journalists would | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
be allowed into the court. But would be able to report certain limited | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
aspects of the case. But the bulk of the case will still be in secret. | :12:51. | :12:54. | |
Although those journalists can be in court for much of the evidence, they | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
will not be able to come out and tell their listeners, viewers or | :12:59. | :13:02. | |
readers anything about it. At the moment, the plan is to this trial to | :13:03. | :13:05. | |
get going next Monday. There is another hearing this afternoon, when | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
no doubt this timetable issue will be addressed. | :13:11. | :13:12. | |
The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has suggested the Bank of England | :13:13. | :13:15. | |
should intervene to stop the housing boom destabilising the economy. | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
Just hours before the Chancellor gives his annual Mansion House | :13:20. | :13:22. | |
speech, Mr Cable said he'd been "appalled" to discover that some | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
lenders were offering as much as five times a borrower's income. | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
Here's our Business Correspondent, Simon Jack. | :13:30. | :13:37. | |
The red-hot housing market in some parts of the UK has been drawing | :13:38. | :13:44. | |
criticism from experts at home and abroad. International economists | :13:45. | :13:47. | |
have warned that soaring prices pose a threat to the UK economy. Today, | :13:48. | :13:50. | |
Business Secretary Vince Cable waded into the debate by saying that banks | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
who grant big mortgages relative to incomes were making things worse. | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
The Bank of England has the moderate demand. If you lend people five | :14:01. | :14:03. | |
times their income and something goes wrong with their family | :14:04. | :14:06. | |
circumstances, they are potentially in serious trouble. It is feeding | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
prices so that people on ordinary incomes can't get into the market. | :14:11. | :14:13. | |
He was suggested that lending up to 3.5 times eight are well's salary | :14:14. | :14:19. | |
was more appropriate. But that would make homeownership in some areas | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
almost impossible. If you bear in mind that the national salary is | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
?26,500, a multiple of 3.5 times that may be fine in the north-east | :14:29. | :14:32. | |
of the country, but would have a significant impact elsewhere, where | :14:33. | :14:34. | |
people would have to look at larger multiples to afford house prices | :14:35. | :14:39. | |
that are currently being passed. But the Business Secretary and the UK | :14:40. | :14:43. | |
surveys' body said the problems would persist until more homes were | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
built. The problem is one of supply and demand. We are not building | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
enough new homes. We built 130,000 in the year to March, 30% more than | :14:54. | :14:56. | |
the previous year, but still way below the 200 thousand plus it is | :14:57. | :15:01. | |
estimated that we need, and way below precrisis levels. Surveyors' | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
group said today that buyers were beginning to balk at higher prices. | :15:08. | :15:10. | |
They cut their estimate for annual house price growth from 6% | :15:11. | :15:14. | |
nationwide to 5%. In the role runaway London market, which they | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
had estimated to rise at 9%, but I now seeing it come into line with | :15:19. | :15:21. | |
the rest of the country at 5%. We will learn more from the chancellor | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
when he gives his Mansion House speech tonight on how he and the | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
Bank of England plan to tackle a widely acknowledged housing problem. | :15:30. | :15:39. | |
Our top story: The government says it is doing all it can to ease the | :15:40. | :15:42. | |
delay in passport applications. Labour calls it a shambles. | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
And coming up, I will be reporting live from Brazil, where the World | :15:49. | :15:51. | |
Cup kicks off in just a few hours' time. Later on BBC London, signs | :15:52. | :15:56. | |
that London's properties market is slowing a report blames surging | :15:57. | :15:59. | |
house prices. And ahead of the World Cup kick-off, | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
we look at the London players who will not be backing England. | :16:04. | :16:13. | |
Rape as a weapon of war is now used "systematically and deliberately" | :16:14. | :16:16. | |
against women and constitutes "one of the great mass crimes of the 20th | :16:17. | :16:19. | |
and 21st centuries", according to a global summit being held in London. | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
It's being led by the United Nations special envoy Angelina Jolie and the | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
They're trying to persuade governments to work more closely | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
together to clamp down on rape in war zones. | :16:34. | :16:35. | |
Let's cross to the conference and Jane Hill, who's there. | :16:36. | :16:46. | |
Yes, this is a big day politically here at this conference. There is | :16:47. | :16:54. | |
140 countries represented here in today's plenary. Some very senior | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
government ministers and their representatives, NGOs, charities, | :16:59. | :17:01. | |
women, who has survived sexual violence. It is led from organised | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
by the Foreign Secretary William Hague and Angelina Jolie, now I UN | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
envoy and she managed to bring even more publicity to today's events and | :17:14. | :17:16. | |
this particular corner of East London, because she arrived for | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
today's sessions with her husband, Brad Pitt. James Robbins takes a | :17:22. | :17:28. | |
look at the day's events so far. Hollywood star and Foreign | :17:29. | :17:32. | |
Secretary. Angelina Jolie and William Hague may seem an unlikely | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
double act but they have worked together for two years to reach this | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
moment. We are here for the nine-year-old girl in Uganda, | :17:41. | :17:43. | |
kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. We are here for the men in | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
Bosnia, years after rape, still stigmatised, unable to earn enough | :17:49. | :17:52. | |
money to buy bread for his family. Aten -- another of those victims, | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
now a campaigner, has been telling us how she was kidnapped in the | :17:59. | :18:01. | |
Democratic Republic of Congo. TRANSLATION: | :18:02. | :18:08. | |
I was with my and during holiday. Soldiers came to my room. There were | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
four of us. They killed three and I was left. In the world's conflict | :18:13. | :18:18. | |
zones, rape has often been a weapon of war. In the Democratic Republic | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
of Congo, 860 conflict related rates were recorded in 2013. In Bosnia | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
during three years of war in the 1990s, up to 50,000 rapes. But fewer | :18:28. | :18:34. | |
than 70 convictions. It will make a huge difference. As we saw with the | :18:35. | :18:38. | |
launch of the international protocol yesterday, it is giving practical | :18:39. | :18:40. | |
guidelines to people who are dealing with survivors of sexual assault. It | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
includes what questions to ask, what evidence together. It will make a | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
real difference where people have been sexually assaulted in | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
conflicts. It is easy to be sceptical about global summits like | :18:54. | :18:55. | |
this and what they can really achieve. On the other hand the scale | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
is impressive. The number of campaigning organisations and | :19:01. | :19:03. | |
governments who have come together. They share one belief, but if it was | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
possible to make slavery unacceptably the past, surely the | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
same thing could be done to outlaw the use of sexual violence and | :19:12. | :19:19. | |
conflict. Before this morning's plenary I | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
spoke to William Hague and Angelina Jolie and asked them what they hoped | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
today could achieve. My key message is to follow up this summer with | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
action and to make sure that when we visit them in the field and we see | :19:35. | :19:38. | |
these governments and shake their hands, now and in years to come that | :19:39. | :19:41. | |
we are all actually doing something on behalf of all of these people | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
that they will meet today, and they will hear their stories and come | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
face-to-face with the victims from their own countries. They will | :19:49. | :19:55. | |
hopefully not just be forced to axe, but they will really deeply want to. | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
You want them to know that you are going to hold them to account. We | :20:00. | :20:04. | |
will absolutely hold them to account. This is a subject the world | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
did not want to talk about for a long time. We are having a summit | :20:09. | :20:11. | |
with a huge number of countries, more than half the world is going to | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
be represented here. There are ministers of Justice, foreign | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
ministers, military leaders and so on. We have moved a long way in the | :20:22. | :20:25. | |
last two years in getting the world to talk about what was a taboo | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
subject. People will listen to you. Listen to this woman's story, they | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
will listen to you, but because you are Angelina Jolie, no disrespect | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
that you are sitting next to the British Foreign Secretary, but that | :20:38. | :20:41. | |
is how the partnership works. I can of these women and a lot of these | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
women it is not surprising to them that I would be sitting with them | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
and becoming emotional them. When they see the Foreign Secretary of | :20:50. | :20:52. | |
the United Kingdom sit with them, a man, it actually means so much, it | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
means maybe even more because it is something they are not used to. So I | :20:58. | :21:04. | |
think the power and the importance of the male role in this, the great | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
men who protect and love women and support women, the great husbands | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
and fathers, they have such a strong voice and we have missed that voice. | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
We need that voice. I gather your own husband is here today. I can | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
only assume he backs you are 100%. Absolutely. He is as a husband and | :21:24. | :21:30. | |
father, he reads these stories and can hardly read them because he | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
thinks about our daughter. Angelina Jolie at the Foreign | :21:36. | :21:39. | |
Secretary, William Hague. Much more discussions this afternoon. Then | :21:40. | :21:42. | |
communicate issued tomorrow morning at the end of the summit. Back to | :21:43. | :21:44. | |
you. Firefighters in England and Wales | :21:45. | :21:50. | |
have gone on strike in the latest round of their | :21:51. | :21:52. | |
long-running row over changes to The 24-hour stoppage is the | :21:53. | :21:55. | |
longest so far in a dispute that's The union says the pension proposals | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
are unfair and unaffordable. Ministers have accused the union | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
of disrupting negotiations. The main fire union says | :22:05. | :22:06. | |
this dispute is escalating. Here in Manchester they walked | :22:07. | :22:13. | |
out at nine o'clock this morning. Union members joined the action | :22:14. | :22:16. | |
at fire stations across England These firefighters say government | :22:17. | :22:19. | |
plans to change their pensions A lot of people might think that | :22:20. | :22:23. | |
firefighters get one of the best Maybe, but we pay for that, | :22:24. | :22:30. | |
?350 a month into our pension pot. Three quarters of the way through | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
they have decided to change it. To be expected to go into somewhere | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
over 55, that is 1000 degrees This is the first 24-hour walk-out | :22:41. | :22:49. | |
in this increasingly bitter dispute. But over the past year there's | :22:50. | :22:56. | |
been strike after strike. On the issue of pensions | :22:57. | :22:59. | |
the two sides, the government and the Fire Brigades Union, seem | :23:00. | :23:02. | |
just as far apart as they were. Under the proposals firefighters | :23:03. | :23:09. | |
that leave before they are 60 will lose a substantial amount | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
of their retirement income. But ministers insist their reforms | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
are fair and still generous. We think there's | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
a very good offer on the table. This is | :23:21. | :23:27. | |
the most expensive pensions scheme in the public sector and it would | :23:28. | :23:29. | |
still be one of the best schemes for But every time we've been talking to | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
the union and got very close to doing | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
something sensible and moving this While many union members are | :23:38. | :23:40. | |
on picket lines and taking part in rallies, | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
ministers say robust contingency A reduced services being provided | :23:46. | :23:48. | |
by private contractors, part-time In genuine emergencies members of | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
the public should still call 999. England's batsmen have struggled | :23:55. | :24:05. | |
in the opening session of just 98. Our sports correspondent | :24:06. | :24:08. | |
Joe Wilson watched the morning's Like Bs at the first scent of | :24:09. | :24:26. | |
summer, the members sworn to Lourdes, but enthusiasm is not | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
conditional. In recent times England's cricketers have sorely | :24:31. | :24:37. | |
tested patients. For this man, it is an annual punk -- pilgrimage. It | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
costs ?80. He needs something in return. It is entertainment. Play | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
hard, play with flair, lose, that is fine. For you and a lot of fans the | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
entertainer was Kevin Pietersen. Here's the box office. Against Sri | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
Lanka, Sam Robson was poor of three England debutantes. He lasted 15 | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
minutes. The captain Alistair Cook made 17. Within half an hour | :25:03. | :25:06. | |
England's new era was looking disturbingly like the old one. Gary | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
Ballance now had a key role to play in restoring some order. This four | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
took England past 50. There was Ian Bell as well, more of a craftsman | :25:16. | :25:18. | |
than a craftsman, show man will stop if he gets going then it is | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
classical cricket and -- entertainment. England recovered as | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
the sunbaked Lord's, until with the score on 74 Ballance-macro was gone. | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
Enough in the morning to make Sri Lanka glance again. | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
Now, love it or hate it the World Cup is almost upon us. | :25:37. | :25:47. | |
32 nations are competing for football's biggest prize. | :25:48. | :25:49. | |
The host nation Brazil plays its first match tonight against Croatia. | :25:50. | :25:52. | |
England kick off their campaign on Saturday against Italy and it's the | :25:53. | :25:55. | |
condition of the match pitch which is already proving controversial. | :25:56. | :25:57. | |
Let's cross to Ben Brown, who's in Rio. | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
It has been a long, painful journey for Brazil to get here. A wave of | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
demonstrations and strikes. A wildcat strike by Rio airport | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
workers demanding a World Cup bonus payment. Finally it gets under way | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
in a few hours' time. Brazil against Croatia in Sao Paulo. Wyre Davies | :26:19. | :26:19. | |
reports. If Brazilian fans had been slow to | :26:20. | :26:24. | |
get in the mood, Latin American supporters | :26:25. | :26:27. | |
are here in big numbers. But all the negativity of | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
the last year will be swept aside as Here at Sao Paulo's barely ready | :26:32. | :26:38. | |
but imposing new stadium. Despite the delays | :26:39. | :26:46. | |
and the widespread criticism of all the problems we've had | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
in recent months, the Brazilian government is putting | :26:50. | :26:51. | |
up a very stern defence of how it It has all come down to the last | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
minute but the opening stadium is ready and the World Cup, they say, | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
will be a huge success. We are good to celebrate and | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
in delivery. Stadium worries aside, | :27:06. | :27:13. | |
the big concern is disruption These landless activists camped out | :27:14. | :27:15. | |
within sight of the opening venue, one of many groups threatening to | :27:16. | :27:22. | |
demonstrate against excessive FIFA and Brazil's government hope | :27:23. | :27:26. | |
those voices will be drowned out as fans finally get behind one of | :27:27. | :27:33. | |
the world's great sporting events. Let's talk about England now. The | :27:34. | :27:50. | |
squad are on their way to Manaus in the depths of the Amazonian | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
rainforest, where they'll face high temperatures and high humidity and a | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
pretty ropey pitch. Andy Swiss is there. A pretty tough place for | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
England to play their opening game? What is right, welcome to Manaus. | :28:05. | :28:08. | |
You can see the stadium behind me and as you say, it is the pitch that | :28:09. | :28:12. | |
is the real talking point. It is not in great condition. Lots of dry, | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
yellow streaks running across the pitch. In fact, yesterday the | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
groundsman here admitted it was in poor shape and they were carrying | :28:21. | :28:24. | |
out an emergency plan to try to improve it. The problem has been due | :28:25. | :28:28. | |
to recent rainfall and algae within the grass. England are flying out | :28:29. | :28:33. | |
here later within the next few hours. It is quite a journey from | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
Rio de Janeiro, a four hour flight. They are only having a light strip | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
-- a light training session here today. They will send over one of | :28:42. | :28:46. | |
their backroom staff to inspect the pitch before they practice their | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
tomorrow afternoon. The other big issue was the climate. It is only | :28:51. | :28:54. | |
breakfast time. Already you can feel the stifling heat and humidity. It | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
is going to be really tough conditions for the players. | :28:59. | :29:01. | |
Temperatures into the low 30s. England will hope their preparations | :29:02. | :29:06. | |
in Miami and Rio de Janeiro pay off. | :29:07. | :29:09. | |
The atmosphere here in Rio, have perhaps a little flat at the moment. | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
Just a few hours to go until the opening of the tournament. Many | :29:15. | :29:18. | |
Brazilians resent the cost of the whole thing here. The government are | :29:19. | :29:22. | |
hoping once the football does begin then Brazilians will fall under the | :29:23. | :29:31. | |
spell of its magic. Beautiful blue skies here. Peter | :29:32. | :29:32. | |
Gibbs has the weather. This evening's matches looking good. | :29:33. | :29:44. | |
Perfect in Sao Paulo. 23 degrees and sunshine and relatively low | :29:45. | :29:47. | |
humidity. It will probably be warmer here in some places, particularly | :29:48. | :29:51. | |
across the South, during the rest of today compared to Sao Paulo. 25 or | :29:52. | :29:57. | |
26 Celsius in some southern parts. We still have high or very high | :29:58. | :30:00. | |
pollen levels across many parts of the UK. It is not great for hay | :30:01. | :30:05. | |
fever sufferers at the moment. Maybe some improvement as we go into the | :30:06. | :30:10. | |
weekend. More warm sunshine -- sunshine to come for England and | :30:11. | :30:14. | |
Wales today. Things changing in Scotland and Northern Ireland. | :30:15. | :30:16. | |
Outbreaks of rain moving in. Tonight, they will turn heavier, | :30:17. | :30:21. | |
albeit showery. Heavy bursts likely in the early hours. One night, one | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
or two spots could go into single figures but most towns and cities | :30:28. | :30:32. | |
about mid-teens. Tomorrow morning, this is how we start. Lots of bright | :30:33. | :30:37. | |
sunshine across England and Wales. Temperatures picking up quickly and | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
the strong June sunshine. Had further north, we start to meet the | :30:42. | :30:45. | |
cloud and still those outbreaks of rain, particularly across Northern | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
Ireland and Scotland. Some of it on the heavy side, turning misty around | :30:50. | :30:54. | |
western coast sandhills as well. Not terribly pleasant here. We will keep | :30:55. | :30:57. | |
further outbreaks of rain going through the rest of the day. The | :30:58. | :31:01. | |
intensity tending to go out of it. A little lighter and more patchy. The | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
odd light shower may be getting into parts of northern England through | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
the afternoon. The bulk of England and Wales getting another fine, one | :31:10. | :31:13. | |
day. Lots of sunshine around, maybe not quite as much as the day, some | :31:14. | :31:17. | |
high cloud but similar temperatures. Rather cooler under the cloud and | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
the rain further north. Through this weekend the trend is for the cooler | :31:23. | :31:27. | |
weather to push southwards. A bit of sunshine around, still dry for much | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
of the time as well. Quite usable weekend. This is how Saturday looks. | :31:33. | :31:35. | |
You will notice the temperature difference along the North Sea | :31:36. | :31:39. | |
coasts, where the wind will come in off the sea but across central and | :31:40. | :31:43. | |
western areas fairly light winds. Get some sunshine through and there | :31:44. | :31:46. | |
will be some around and it should not feel too bad, with temperatures | :31:47. | :31:52. | |
of 20-21, close to the average this time of year. Not a spectacular | :31:53. | :31:53. | |
weekend, but not too bad. of 20-21, close to the average this | :31:54. | :31:57. | |
time of year. Not Now a reminder | :31:58. | :32:03. | |
of our top story this lunchtime. | :32:04. | :32:09. |