10/07/2014 BBC News at One

Strikes across the UK as around a million public sector

workers protest about pay, pensions and cuts.

Marching through London - school staff, bin men, firefighters

and civil servants among those who've walked out today.

In England hundreds of schools are closed, but the

government says most public sector workers are at work as usual.

We'll be live with our correspondents at marches

Emergency laws to force phone and internet companies to keep

records of customers' calls, emails and internet use.

A man's arrested on suspicion of murder

after a hospital worker was stabbed to death at work in Gloucester.

An Al-Qaeda plot to blow up the Eiffel Tower and

The UN Secretary General warns that the situation in Gaza is

on a knife-edge and could quickly get out of control.

And how this stately home in Leicestershire is going to be

transformed into a rehabilitation centre

A jury finds that police failures contributed to the death of Cherry

Groce, whose shooting by police triggered the 1985 Brixton riots.

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

Strikes by public sector workers are disrupting services across the UK.

Hundreds of schools are closed in England, many museums, leisure

centres and libraries across the UK are also shut - as hundreds of

thosuands of public sector workers strike over pay, pensions and cuts.

The government insists most public sector workers have reported for

work today. This is what frustration looks like. Today around 1 million

public sector workers, downed tools and picked up placards. Fed up with

pay freezes, salary caps and working conditions, union members say that

this is the only way to make the government set up and listen. So who

exactly has gone out question mark today's action involves several

unions. Teachers, council workers, civil servants and some firefighters

are taking part in the strike. As you can see, thousands of people

have turned up here in the centre of Birmingham, to make their voices

heard. All across the country members have manned picket lines and

attended rallies and marches. Among the strikes, firefighters walked out

in Gateshead, Unison members demonstrated in York, Scotland was

also affected in Dundee. There was action in Northern Ireland and

Swansea. And thousands turned out in London. Away from the picket lines,

this is what the unions say is the reality. Chris Black is a union

branch secretary, but she's also a single mother, who works for

Somerset County Council. On a salary of ?16,000, she says a pay rise of

just ?400 in three years is turf. We have had a pay freeze for a number

of years, in the last year they offered us a 1% pay rise, we took

that. But really what it amounted to was about 10p per hour more. They

have offered is 1% again this year, but it will not work. I cannot

afford just 1% pay rise, to continue to pay my bills. Not surprisingly

not everybody is happy about the action, services are disrupted and

not for the first time this year some parents have had to take time

off work. It has been a big hassle, we got to know about it last week

which did not help. It's the second or third time this year. We are

running out of patience. If it is unavoidable, but it has caused lots

of disruption you know. When we're working. Alongside the

inconvenience, questions about the validity of this type of action.

Based on union ballots with such low turnouts. The government says it's

now looking at whether to introduce tougher anti-strike clause in the

future. When unions go on strike it is hard working people that suffer

the consequences the most, vulnerable people that depend on

public services, parents that have to take a day off work because their

local school is closed, these strikes risk damaging those who are

working hard to get the country moving against white teachers simply

cannot work until they are 68. There is a system of pay, there is no

indication it will improve standards and they have abolished the national

pay scale. There may have been a party atmospheric many events but

the messages have been loud and clear, and the unions say that the

Well, marches are taking place in cities

across England, in a moment we'll speak to our industry correspondent

John Moylan in Birmingham, but first Sophie Hutchinson who's in

You can see behind me several thousand people have flooded into

Trafalgar Square to protest. Many more who are sneaking down Regent

Street, in central London to join the elite. They represent a number

of unions, more than six of them here today, the Fire Brigades

Union, Unison, National Union of Teachers to name but a few. You can

see the banners waving in the wind. They represent council workers,

refuse collectors, librarians, teachers and firefighters, NHS

workers. The main complaint from most of them is overpaid. The public

sector workers insist that over the last four years they have seen a pay

freeze -- it is over pay. They say they are ?4000 worse off per year,

since 2010. These thousands of people today is just a small

proportion of those taking part in this mass strike. STUDIO: Sophie,

thank you. John, big strikes in Birmingham, could there be more to

come? Possibly yes, there has been a big demonstration here, the union

members have left and they are marching around the city centre.

What is at the heart of this, the issue of public sector pay, the 1%

payoff in local governor. Today, the LGA representing local government

says that is the limit of what can be afforded, it is not the same as

saying it is an absolute final offer. I have been speaking to Dave

Prentis, leader of Unison, he has made clear union wants to talk and

they want to negotiate and sort it out. Unison intend to assess today,

to see the strength of feeling among the members and see whether it can

elicit some sort of response from the employers. There is talk in

union circles of two more days of industrial action in September.

Unison has said it intends to ballot members in the health service, it

has hundreds of thousands of people in the health service. There's a

possibility if the ballot takes place and they vote for industrial

action that in the autumn we could see a repeat of the events, but on

bigger scale. Thank you for joining us.

Phone and internet companies will be forced to keep records

of their customers' calls, texts and emails under fast-track

The Prime minister insists that the government is acting to keep

people safe by ensuring that the police and security services

can retain existing powers to access the data they need.

The move follows a recent ruling by the European court of Justice -

which would have meant such data could be deleted.

Our security correspondent Gordon Corera reports. In the

modern world we are communicating more and more. But how much should

the state have access to those communications? Government officials

say it is Powers which are vital to deal with a growing range of threat,

and today the Prime Minister made the case of a new emergency

legislation to be presented before Parliament next week. We face real

credible threats to our security, from serious organised crime, the

activity of paedophiles, from the collapse of Syria and the growth of

ISIS, and al-Shabab in East Africa. I am not prepared to be a Prime

Minister that has to address the people after a terrorist incident

and explain I could have done more to prevent it. Officials say being

able to access data was vital in stopping the 2006 plot to blow up

aeroplanes and every other county terrorist investigation in the last

five years. As well as catching serious criminals. --

counterterrorist investigation. The government says new legislation is

needed to maintain existing powers, a case the Home Secretary made

before Parliament. It can prove or disprove alibis, it can identify

associations between potential criminals and it can try suspects

and victims to the crime scene. At Westminster previous proposal for

accumulation is data Bill which would have expanded powers all three

party leaderships today agreed to back the new legislation, and

critics pass proposal say this is because new powers are not added,

and safeguards are being introduced meaning they are winning the back a

temporary fix. Because this legislation will automatically

delete itself in 2016 it forces something that we have been arguing

for, a long time, complete rethink of how the entire system works.

Civil liberties groups will scour the legislation to see whether it is

simply about maintaining existing powers. But they will not have long,

since the legislation will be introduced into Parliament next

week. Well,

our chief political correspondent The government says this is about

retaining, not expanding powers, but some will question that. There has

been some opposition but it has been muted. Confined to a smattering of

backbench MPs. It means bluntly this bill will almost certainly become

law by the end of next week, its extraordinary given how contentious

and divisive and controversial this sort of issue is. The reason the

government has been able to garner such support is twofold, one,

they've gone out of their way to Arsenal large the concerns of their

critics who got Civil Liberties issues, -- to

the biggest reason frankly is the very big picture painted by Mr

Cameron and to Reza May. The Prime Minister said he knew of terror

plots -- Theresa May. He knew they were thwarted because the security

services had the power to monitor certain situations. Mrs May said,

without this legislation, lives would be lost. In this context it is

almost impossible or any MP who has Civil Liberties concerns to say

never mind public safety, I have qualms about privacy. Because of the

grave picture that Mrs May and Mr Cameron have painted, that is why

there has been widespread support for the mission. Thank you for

joining us. A woman has been stabbed to death

while working at an NHS hospital The attack took place yesterday

morning at the in-patient unit of Wotton Lawn Hospital,

which treats people with acute It's thought the attack was

carried out by a patient. A man in his sixties has been

arrested on suspicion of murder. Let's speak to our correspondent

Andrew Plant who's in Gloucester. What can you tell us? Well, Sophie,

police were called here before 7:30am yesterday to reports a female

member of staff, health care assistant received serious stab

wounds. When they got here she was being treated by the doctors that

work here, she was rushed down the road 200 metres to the

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, the doctors could not do anything for

her and she died of her injuries about 8:30am yesterday. Now, the

police yesterday arrested a man. Had not told a lot about him other than

he's in his 60s -- they have not much about him. He's a patient here,

police said still he's in custody still being questioned. This

hospital has 88 rooms, but it only takes the most acute mental health

patients from across Gloucestershire. You can imagine

there are a lot of staff here, not just doctors and nurses, also

psychotherapists, they also do painting therapy here. We've not

seen a lot of activity today. Although in the last half now we

have seen a police van arriving, there is forensically activity going

on inside. Other than that no further statement from the police

although we had a statement from the people that run this place, they

said it would be inappropriate for them to comment further while the

investigation is ongoing although they said their thoughts are with

the family of the woman that has lost her life.

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon,

has warned that the situation in Gaza is on a knife-edge and

Mr Ban said the region could not afford another full-blown war.

He demanded that Hamas stop firing rockets at Israel and urged

the Israeli government to exercise restraint and respect international

Our middle east correspondent Kevin Connolly sent this report.

The grimly familiar morning routine in Gaza, inspecting the damage after

overnight air raids. This is Khan Younis, Webber Beach cafe was hit

while people were watching the World Cup football on television. -- where

people were watching at a cafe. TRANSLATION

I have two brothers who were martyrs, I am looking for the third,

the rescue services said they could not help me, I brought a tractor to

look for him and I cannot find him. Other buildings were hit, too, the

level of destruction remind of the power of Israel's military arsenal.

There are calls for restraint in the international community but no sign

that they're being listened to. Gaza is on a knife edge. The

deteriorating situation is leading to a downward spiral which could

quickly get beyond anybody's control. Israel says the air force

tries hard to avoid civilian casualties. Before houses are

bombed, warnings are telephoned to people inside, and a dummy missile

is fired before the real one. The so-called knock on the roof. It does

not always work. Israel today called the deaths of eight civilians in a

house in Khan Younis on Tuesday a tragedy, saying that the victims had

gone back inside to soon after the warning.

The rocket fire continues from Gaza too. Islamic Jihad have been firing

longer rain rockets than ever before, confirming they have been

building better stockpiles of weapons, capable of reaching almost

every city in Israel. The dome air defence system has been in action

today. And the Israeli army continues

slowly to gather forces on the border with Gaza. Their presence, a

signal if Israel cannot destroy the stockpiles from the air, it might

send in these Air Forces to do the job.

Previous rounds of hostilities like this have ended in ceasefires

before. There's no sign we're anywhere near that point this time.

It's not even clear for the moment who might be able to mediate between

the warring sides. Jurors have at the inquest of Cherry

Goose triggered the broix on the riots in 1985 found failures by

police contributed to her death. -- Brixton.

The Brixton riots were almost 30 years ago. Why has this come about

now? It has come about now because she died in 2011. The inquest into

her death has had to be held and obviously some preparations have

taken part in that. It has been going on for the past week. What the

inquest had to determine is whether or not the injuries that she

sustained, all those years ago, contributed to her death. A

pathologist said they did because she was more susceptible to

illnesses. The inquest also had to look at the role of the police

because it was a police officer, Inspector Douglas Lovelock who shot

her and caused the injurings. In the finding which is damaging for the

police, is that the Met failed to check properly and did not check who

was living at the address before the raid took place. A number of

failings found. As for the inspector, who gave evidence at the

inquest, he stood trial a year later and he was in fact acquitted.

Although he has told tin quest that he was responsible -- has told the

inquest that he was responsible for causing the injuries.

Our top story this lunch time: Public sector workers across the UK

are holding a one-day strike over pay, pensions and spending cuts.

School staff, binmen and civil servants are among those who have

walked out. Still to come - the pilot who put a smile on the faces

of his hungry passengers. Later on BBC London: Thousands have

gathered here in the capital for the public sector workers' strike. We

will have the later on how the industrial action is affecting you

in London. All that and a weather forecast.

It is a stunning stately home, owned by the UK's wealthiest man, the Duke

of Westminster. Now Stanford Hall is being transformed into a

rehabilitation centre for injured of servicemen and women. The centre

will open its doors in 2018, replacing the facility at Headley

Court in Surrey. It will largely be funded by donations, as our defence

correspondent reports. Headley Court, a place of healing

for those who survived the horrors of war. Dedicated staff and

state-of-the-art facilities have helped hundreds of British soldiers,

some with the most severe injuries, back on their feet.

With funding come from the Ministry of Defence, but the public too. Help

for Heroes raised ?8 million for the hydrotherapy centre here, recently

opened by Prince William. Plans are already well under way to replace

it. You look at the facilities at

Headley Court. We have accommodation on one side of the road, treatment

on the other. If you can build a facility that will be a benefit. To

Stanford Hall, one stately home to another. This site, in the Midlands,

has been bought by Britain's wealthiest man, the Duke of

Westminster, who is raising ?300 million for a new defence and

Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre. The move is largely his

grand vision. The hope of those who have

benefitted from treatment at Headley Court is that it will continue the

best treatment and transform lives. Ben McBean lost his leg and arm in a

roadside bomb in Afghanistan. It is pretty cool. You know, they kind of

get you in and get you out. They make you leave when you are pretty

much independent. When I left I was pretty much able to do whatever I

wanted to do. In 200le they had all the fasy -- 2008 they had all the

facilities. The new rehabilitation centre will be open by 2018.

There'll be questions as to what will be the demand by then given

that military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan will be long over.

So, questions too as to whether this will be money well spent.

The French intelligence services say they have uncovered a plot by

jihadists to blow up the Eiffel Tower, the luefr and even a -- the

luefr and even a nuclear p plant. Egypted messages were found between

a butcher and a Al-Qaeda member. Why are details being released now? The

French Government, like the British Government are setting out the

perimeters in the form of an anti- terror bill, which will give them

the power to look at jihadi websites and the powers to stop these from

travelling abroad. They told us about a plot, involving a

29-year-old Algerian. He was working in south-eastern France. He had made

contact with this Lieutenant. In the content of the messages, he was

asked to identify targets. The Eiffel Tower and also nuclear sites

and also bars and places where ordinary French people might gather.

He had identified a festival, for example. The Lieutenant was suitably

impressed and invited him to go to Algeria for ten days. When he

returned he would be awaiting instructions. He was arrested en

route to that meeting. The number of people on the waiting list for

treatment in England has passed three million for the first time

since 2008, according to the latest figures. The new President of the

Royal College of Surgeons says the waiting time target should be

reviewed so people with urgent conditions don't have to wait for 18

weeks, while others could be asked to wait longer.

Some operations such as hip replacements make a massive

difference to patients. Waiting times for routine surgery in England

are lower than ten years ago. That has been driven by targets to cut

delays at every stage. Now, the new surgeons' leader said it is time for

a debate. Could some patients wait longer? With more patients waiting,

can the targets still be met? I would like to think it would be

sustainable. People don't want to wait, quite clearly. One of the

things I think we need to think about is, is 18 weeks too long for

some people? And possibly, can other people wait longer? Around the UK,

waiting times vary. In England and Scotland the target is for 90% of

patients to be treated within 18 weeks. That's the time between your

GP referral to hospital treatment, such as an operation. In Northern

Ireland and Wales, patients face longer waiting times.

Waiting figures published today show the target in England is being met.

The number on the waiting list overall is now more than three

million. A sign of the broader financial pressures in the health

service. The whole system is under tremendous pressure in terms of

money. That is clearly bursting out, potentially in terms of waiting

times. It is the wrong thing is to start to change the targets,

actually. The thing to look at is the budgets a tnd money. The

Government has recently put more money into waiting. ?215 million in

England to help with backlogs. It says there are no plans to

reconsider the 18-week target. Labour also backs the target it

introduced, saying cutting waiting was an historic achievement for the

NHS. India's batsmen are building a big

score in the first test against England at Trent Bridge. They

started the second day on 259 for 4. Our sports correspondent is there.

It is bright and breezy here in Nottingham. That is the weather. I

don't think it is England's mood. A morning of toil for them. One wicket

as a regard. I am sure India are enjoying their lunch.

Much work goes into preparing a Test Match. At Trent Bridge they cover up

the wicket, not out of shame, it is just in case it rains.

For fast bowlers it is like old birthday cake - dry, steal, long

past celebrating. Get the ball in, hope for a response. Dropped! An

early chance missed to get rid of the captain.

Vijay was in his zone of concentration. A steedy lot of runs.

How do we get them out then, the body language screamed. It demands

patience. A slow match is not necessarily bad. Five days of

cricket means five days of paying public. There was Dhoni dancing to

the ball to whack it for four. No doubt he was enjoying himself. As

for James Anderson, not so sure! Could that man eat two ice creams

before the next four? Vijay just about won. He had been batting since

yesterday morning, not stopping. Four runs short of his 150, suddenly

it seized. LBW to relief. Surprise! India refused to use the review

system, so there was no way that Vijay could call for a replay.

England may see that as some form of justice.

India's captain is still at the crease. He'll resume on 81.

In batting conditions here, which are in essence, still more Nagpur

than Nottingham. An American pilot whose flight was

forced to land because of bad weather managed to keep his

passengers happy when they were forced to sit on the plane for hours

on the ground. Speaking to BBC Radio captain Bradner ordered his decision

to order 50 takeaway pizzas to be delivered to the plane. I ordered

half cheese and half meat. That is the good choice in case somebody

doesn't like meat. How many pizzas were there? 50 large ones. I tell

you something, we are a big family here and we consider the passengers

our extended family. Once they set foot on my aircraft I

will take care of them. Who paid for the pizza? I did. Really? Out of

your own money? Yes. Will you claim that money back now? Will your

company reimburse you? The President of the company called me and

insisted on reimbursing me. You are a hero. I just ordered pizza.

Time for the weather now. There is some mixed weather around,

isn't there? For the weekend as well. The

satellite shows that mixed weather we have today. We are a lot of --

have a lot of cloud in the east. Between plenty of sunshine to be

enjoyed. That cloud in the east, that is quite a stubborn weather

front. It is bringing in cloud and outbreaks of heavy rain for parts of

eastern England into western Scotland. West is best in terms of

sunshine. Cloudy over Northern Ireland w a few outbreaks of rain.

There'll be some decent sunshine to be enjoyed throughout the remainder

of the afternoon across Scotland. 22 Celsius for Manchester. Contrast

that to 15 Celsius in Hull. Moving across the Midlands, Wales and the

south-west of England, sunny spells, largely dry throughout the remainder

of the afternoon. Further eastwards more cloud. There is rain affecting

Kent, Sussex, up towards East Anglia and Lincolnshire as well. Through

the evening that rain could be heavy. There'll be surface water.

You can see the green colours indicating thor rention downpours.

Overnight things are looking largely dry. By early Friday morning, 12-15

Celsius. Friday dawns on a mild note.

Cloud in the east working further westwards. Clouding over for the

likes of northern England, the Midlands, probably the best of the

sunshine tomorrow over parts of the south-west of England, Wales.

Northern Ireland having a fairly bright day too. Across much of

Scotland a little bit of sunshine on offer. Up to 22 Celsius or so in the

sunshine. If you are lucky enough to head to T in the Park, Friday

probably is going to be the better of the days. Sunshine around. By

Saturday, the rain will head in across Scotland and turning fresher

too into Sunday. All in all, we have things turning wet across the

north-west for Saturday. For Just to summarise the weekends weather,

Sunny spells with scattered showers, after resume its start it will be

turning colour. Heavy rain on the cards today, enjoy the sunshine

where you see it. The top story this lunchtime,

cards today, enjoy the sunshine where you see it. The top story this

lunchtime, public sector workers across the UK are holding a one-day

strike over pay, pensions and cuts. Binmen, school staff among those

that have