12/12/2017 BBC News at One

The squeeze on household budgets

continues as inflation

hits its highest level

for almost six years.

In the run-up to Christmas, concern

about a drop in spending as

inflation unexpectedly jumps to

3.1%.

Also on the programme this

lunchtime: Hundreds of schools

remain shut for a second day

after the coldest night of the year.

I'm in Shawbury in Shropshire, where

temperatures plunged to -13 Celsius.

Officially it is the coldest night

of the year.

A woman whose dog attack children in

a playpark in Northumberland has

been jailed for format years.

The Government's considering

a new system of presumed consent

for organ donation in England

to save more lives.

It fills you with comfort

that other families

are actually enjoying

the

lives of their loved ones,

where they may not have done.

Fanned by strong winds and burning

for more than a week -

thousands of firefighters

are still trying to get California's

wild fires under control.

Coming up in the sport later

in the hour on BBC News:

The latest on the dressing room

melee at Old Trafford.

Both managers face the media today.

Good afternoon and welcome

to the BBC News at One.

Prices have increased

at their fastest rate

in nearly six years.

Inflation rose to 3.1 per cent

in November as the squeeze

on households continued.

Consumers are facing pressure

from rising food prices

in the lead-up to Christmas

with grocery price rises reaching

the highest level since 2013.

The Governor of the Bank

of England Mark Carney will now have

to write a letter to the Chancellor

to explain how the Bank intends

to bring inflation back

to its two per cent target.

Our Economics correspondent

Andy Verity has this report.

At this baker on the outskirts of

Barnsley, it's not just the bread

rolls that are on the rise, its

buns, loads and mince pies end up in

pubs and restaurants and as far

afield as the Middle East and Asia.

Ingredients like butter and flour

have shot up in the past year and a

half, so it has had to do everything

it can to make sure its costs are

covered.

One thing we have done with

suppliers is to take a radical

approach, which is to pay them all

very early and demand better terms

from them because we are paying them

early, and that has helped mitigate

some of the cost.

If you're looking

to warm yourself up in the cold

weather, it's not getting any

cheaper. The price of food was up by

4.4% in the year to November. Hot

drinks like coffee and tea were up

5.6%, and electricity cost more than

11.4% more than last year.

Difficult

to make ends meet these days,

especially coming up towards

Christmas. Everything is going up -

electricity, gas, rent, telephone,

it is all going up, so we need

somebody to do something about it.

We see a lot of things going up

maybe a couple of pennies, but if

you are getting a few things, by the

time you get to the cash desk, you

say, how did it come to that? It is

just one of these things.

The fact

that inflation is higher than it has

been for nearly six years tells you

not so much how high it has gone as

Lehigh loll it has been for so long.

-- as how low it has been. In 2011,

it got to 5%, and it was low for a

long time a few years ago, now it

has gone back above target, the

question is, as it peaked? There may

be further pressure on prices coming

down the line that could mean

inflation doesn't slow down any time

soon.

I think it has peaked at 3.1%

and should start a moderate through

2018. The question is, how fast will

it for? Some consumer price data to

date suggest that prices at the

factory gates and those affecting

manufacturers were stronger,

commodity and oil price increases

could be passed through and make

inflation stickier than the Bank of

England would be comfortable with.

Inflation at 3.1% is above the Bank

of England target range and the

governor will soon have to right to

the Chancellor to explain why.

Because wages are rising in

response, there is little pressure

for a second rise in interest rates

any time soon. If your wages are

buying less than they did last

Christmas, though, that is no more

than a crumb of comfort.

Our Economics Editor

Kamal Ahmed is here.

As Andy says, has inflation peaked?

The Bank of England thinks it hasn't

believed that next year it will fall

to around 2.5% by this time next

year. The main reason is what is

producing most of this inflation is

befallen the value of the pound

after the referendum, meaning that

food and fuel that we import from

abroad is more expensive, and that

is being pushed through to

consumers. That effect tends to run

out of the system quite quickly, the

currency effect, but there are some

big upward pressures - the oil price

going up, global growth being very

strong, which tends to be

inflationary, so it will be the

play-off between those two pressures

to see if the Bank of England is

correct and inflation will fall next

year.

Meanwhile, warnings from an

influential American think tank

about the impact that Brexit could

have on the UK economy?

Absolutely.

A lot of our coverage is in the

umbrella of the Brexit negotiations.

Brand Corporation, a big

insignificant American think tank,

part funded by the American

Government, has come up with a

report saying that almost any other

trading relationships we have with

the EU after Brexit will be worse

for the British economy than if we

stayed in the EU. Only one, they

said, would be better. That would be

a very ambitious trilateral deal

between the European Union, Britain

and America, but it says the chances

are that are pretty low, so another

warning that Brexit could have a

negative effect on the British

economy.

Thank you.

Hundreds of schools remained closed

today because of the snow and ice

across much of the UK.

Drivers and commuters have faced

difficult journeys this morning

after the coldest night of the year.

Temperatures dropped to as low

as minus 13 in Shropshire.

Our correspondent

Sima Kotecha is there.

Coming to you from an incredibly

cold, cold Shawbury in Shropshire.

It is around minus five Celsius at

the moment and hundreds of schools

across the region are closed. That

situation correlates with other

parts of the country, including

Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, more

than 300 closed in the West Midlands

and in parts of Wales. Caerphilly in

the south is badly affected. The TUC

is urging bosses not to force people

to go to work, not to take risks on

the roads. There are delays on the

railway lines still. It took me 25

minutes extra to get from Birmingham

to Telford today, for example.

Eurostar said there was delays this

morning, and there were

cancellations on flights at

Heathrow. Public health England is

urging vulnerable people not to take

any risks. The Met office has issued

a level three warning, meaning there

is a 90% chance of more snow and ice

and cold temperatures between now

and Thursday this week. The advice

is, don't take any risks.

Thank you.

Five people are being questioned

over the suspected murder of three

children who died in a house fire

in Greater Manchester yesterday.

The blaze broke out in the early

hours of the morning.

A 14-year-old girl

died at the scene.

Her seven- and eight-year

old siblings died later in hospital.

The children's 35-year-old mother

is in a serious condition along

with her three year daughter.

Our correspondent Danny

Savage is in Worsley.

Danny.

Sophie, just over 24 hours

after this awful fire here in which

these three children die, you can

see the fire brigade have brought in

a hydraulic platform behind me, and

there have been forensic officers

from the police on that platform

getting a very close look at where

the fire started. More details have

emerged about the home as well. It

has been suggested it was fitted

with extra security measures because

of past incidents at the home,

including a special device on the

letterbox to stop people putting

things through it. That doesn't

necessarily mean it is anything to

do with what happened here just over

24 hours ago, but it will

undoubtedly form part of the wider

police enquiry into what happened.

Jackson Street in Walkden is still

cordoned off today. Police are

guarding a family home that was set

alight early yesterday morning,

killing three children. More details

have emerged about the young

brothers and sisters who died here.

The oldest victim was 14-year-old

Demi Pearson, who died at the scene.

Neighbours have been left

heartbroken after watching her

seven-year-old sister and

eight-year-old brother being carried

from the house by firefighters. They

both died later in hospital. Their

35-year-old mother, Michelle

Pearson, is in a serious condition,

along with a fourth sibling, a

four-year-old who is described as

critical.

The deaths of three

children is heartbreaking. Our

thoughts are with the family. The

little girl and her mum, who are

fighting for their lives. Our

specially trained officers are now

with the family to help them through

this devastating time.

Police also

confirmed there had been earlier

incidents at the family home and

said the force had made a self

referral to the Independent police

complaints commission. It is

understood the voluntary referral

was in response to police contact

with the family less than 24 hours

with the fatal fire -- within 24

hours before the fatal fire. A

number of arrests were made

yesterday evening. This video,

filmed by a resident, shows suspects

being detained. The majority of

those in custody are under arrest on

suspicion of murder. To give you a

bit more detail on those people who

are under arrest, for greater

Manchester police say is that there

are four people under arrest on

suspicion of murder. Three men, aged

23, 20 and 18, along with a

20-year-old woman. The fifth person

in custody is a 24-year-old man who

has been questioned on suspicion of

assisting an offender. Lots of

detectives still working on this

enquiry, five people in custody, two

people still ill in hospital, and it

is very much an ongoing

investigation, as you can see from

all the activity here in Manchester

at the moment.

The owner of a dog that attacked 12

children in a playground

in Northumberland has been jailed

for four years.

Claire Neal's Staffordshire bull

terrier attacked 12 children

in a public play area in Blyth last

May.

Our correspondent Peter Harris

is outside Newcastle Crown Court.

Tell us more about what happened

that day.

The judge described this as a truly

terrible situation, as the dog

chased the children through the play

park. Some of those children were

forced to go up onto the climbing

frames or up onto fences to try and

escape from the dog as it was

snapping at them from behind, biting

their arms and legs. Some of the

children, the youngest of whom was

only six, were knocked to the floor

and dragged along by the dog. We

then heard how parents, seeing what

was going on, panicking, came

rushing into the play area to try

and rescue them. Some were kicking

at the dog to try and bring the

attack to an end. A number of those

children subsequently needed

hospital treatment, some needing

skin grafts and stitches. There was

an aggravating feature in all of

this, because Claire Neal, the owner

of the dog, a month earlier had been

ordered by a court to hand it over

and have it destroyed because it had

attacked other children. She has

been jailed today and Northumbria

police now tell us they have

tightened up their procedures to

make sure that dogs are taken in and

destroyed in a timely manner.

Plans to change the rules in England

on using people's organs

after they die are being set out

by the Government.

The Health Secretary has launched

a consultation on moving to a system

of what's called 'presumed consent',

in which people opt out of being

a donor rather than opting in.

It's already been

introduced in Wales.

Scotland is planning to follow suit.

Our health correspondent

Dominic Hughes has more.

Offering a stranger the gift of life

is what lies at the heart of organ

donation.

These are the names of those

who helped some of the 6500

people who need

a transplant each year.

But around 450 will die before

a donor can be found.

The family of Adrian

Williams were happy to

support his decision to donate.

When you lose someone

and they've given

that gift, that huge gift,

you are immensely proud of them,

and it fills you with comfort that

other

families are actually enjoying

the lives of their loved ones, where

they may not have done

because of something

that our Ade has done for them.

The past decade has seen a big surge

in donors across the UK.

In 2007, there were

around 790 deceased

donors.

That's now risen to more than 1400.

The number of registered donors has

also gone up, from 14

million to more than 23 million,

but ministers are concerned that

four out of ten families still say

no to

donation, so are proposing a system

where it's assumed we are all

willing to be donors.

The issue of presumed

consent is one of the

things we're looking at.

What we need, really,

is to have much better

communication inside

families so that people

know what their family

members actually want.

The story of transplants

in the UK over the past

decade has been one of success.

More people are having

operations, and

more people are willing

to donate their organs.

But there are people who worry

that if we move to a

system of presumed consent,

it could actually do

more harm than good.

It's a quick fix for politicians.

You pass a law, automatically

everyone is presumed to be a donor,

and you've got more organs.

In real life, it doesn't

happen that way.

A lot of people who could

potentially become organ

donors object to it

so

strongly that they join

the opt out register.

Organ donors give strangers

the gift of life, but

opinion is split on whether presumed

consent is the way to encourage more

of us to make this

final, selfless act.

Dominic Hughes, BBC News.

The Government is to introduce a new

and simpler system for EU citizens

to apply to live in the UK

permanently. Ministers say the

system currently is deeply flawed

and plan to replace it with an

online system. The immigration

Minister Brendan Lewis today said

the system was overly complicated

and overly bureaucratic. Our

assistant political editor Norman

Smith is in Westminster. The current

system has caused an awful lot of

uncertainty for EU citizens wanting

to apply.

Not surprisingly, after the Brexit

vote there was a surge of people

applying for citizenship. There has

been widespread criticism this is

such a bureaucratic system, some 85

pages had to be filled out by

applicants, all sorts of supporting

documentation segment in. Today the

Government put up their hands and

said this isn't working so what we

are going to get now is a new online

system which will begin in the

second half of next year, which

ministers say will only take a few

minutes to complete. It will be

processed within a couple of weeks,

cost about 70 quid. Might be free

for those EU citizens who already

have permanent residency. But as we

know, talking about brand-new shiny

IT systems is one thing, delivering

them is another. As we know, very

often government IT schemes are not

always huge triumphs.

Norman Smith

in Westminster, thank you. The time

is just after quarter past one.

Our top story this lunchtime:

The squeeze on household budgets

continues as inflation

hits its highest level

for almost six years.

And still to come...

Voters in Alabama go to the polls

in an election clouded by allegation

of sexual misconduct.

Coming up in the sport in 15

minutes on BBC News,

we will have the latest

from Australia ahead

of the first Test in Perth,

which England can't afford to lose

if they are to retain the Ashes.

Strong winds are still fanning

the wildfires that have been

burning in large parts

of Southern California

for more than a week.

Vast areas have been destroyed

and hundreds of thousands of people

have been moved from their homes.

Thousands of firefighters have been

working around the clock to tackle

one of the largest wildfires ever

to hit the state.

Our North America Correspondent

James Cook has the latest

on what is becoming an environmental

and economic disaster.

This fire is a monster.

It has now burned an area

bigger than New York City

and Paris combined.

More than 6,000 firefighters

are battling it but still the blaze

rages in the hills above the Pacific

Ocean.

These helicopter pilots are working

hard, trying to slow down

the northward advance

of this huge fire.

But still it is marching on,

down from that ridge top,

and the concern is that it might

affect homes here and it could even

burn all the way down

to Santa Barbara

on the Pacific Ocean.

California feels like a state under

siege by the climate -

rising temperatures,

years of drought, longer and more

devastating wildfire seasons.

The governor says in this warming

world, it's no surprise.

This could be something that happens

every year or every few years.

It happens to some degree, it's just

more intense, more widespread,

and we are about ready to have

firefighting at Christmas.

This is very odd and unusual

but it is the way the world is.

On the lettuce line, they're

carrying on as best they can.

Inside the greenhouse they've

had to install a fan

to blow ash off the leaves.

150 people work here.

Many are worried about the homes

and the local economy.

The whole community is going

to suffer, you know.

Yesterday all the restaurants

are closed and you know,

normally everything is bustling

on a Sunday evening so it's

going to be tough for everybody.

It's been a distressing

week for animals, too.

Dozens of horses have

died in the fires.

This video shows racehorses fleeing

the flames after they were set loose

in San Diego County.

There is some good news, the worst

winds seem to have died down,

giving firefighters a better chance

to battle the blaze

but it is a daunting task.

This may yet become

the largest wildfire

in the history of the States.

James Cook, BBC News,

Santa Barbara County in California.

Voters are going to the polls

in the US state of Alabama -

normally a safe Republican seat -

in what's been a hard-fought

race for the US Senate.

Donald Trump has publicly endorsed

the Republican candidate,

a former judge whose campaign has

been clouded by allegations of

sexual misconduct towards teenagers.

His Democratic rival

is a former lawyer known

for prosecuting white supremacists.

Gary O'Donoghue

reports from Alabama.

Mr Moore, Mr Moore.

Why won't you answer any questions?

What would you tell your accusers?

What would you tell them?

A month ago, Roy Moore

looked dead and buried.

Accused by eight women of sexual

assault and harassment,

including one who

was 14 at the time.

Even the staunchest

of Republicans had deserted him.

But now this hugely

controversial figure

is ahead in the polls, just,

and defiant in the face

of many who said he should

have stepped down.

We are Alabama, we are Republican.

And we're not going

to stand by and let

other people from out of state

and money from California

control this election.

Wow!

Alabama has not elected

a Democrat as Senator for

more than a quarter of a century.

And the fact that Doug Jones is

still in the running shows just how

unpredictable this race has become.

We say, no more to discriminating

against those that are the least

fortunate among us.

It is time, folks,

that we say, no more!

Donald Trump has also

faced allegations of

sexual harassment, and for several

weeks he declined to publicly back

the Republican candidate in Alabama.

But eventually he

overcame his reticence.

I think he is going to do very well.

We don't want to have a liberal

Democrat in Alabama, believe me.

In Alabama's capital,

these Democrat voters

thought exactly the same,

but about the other guy.

I think that in any situation,

when you are doing a job and you get

accused of heinous acts,

you have to answer to that,

and for some reason when you are

a politician you can kind

of sweep it under the rug.

I think it would be

an embarrassment to the state.

I think he will be ineffective

if Moore is elected.

When he gets to the

Senate, he is going

to be probably shunned by many.

We do not want somebody

in there that has been

accused of molesting kids.

Kids are our next

step for our future.

This race is about much more

than a seat in the United

States Senate.

If the Republicans lose,

then Donald Trump will find it even

harder to get his

programme to Congress.

If Roy Moore wins, then he will face

months of investigation by

an ethics committee.

And Alabama could end

up doing this all over

again in just a few months' time.

And we can speak to Gary now.

Just explain a bit more about why

this has become such a nationally

important election.

I think there

are couple of reasons for that. One

is that this is crucial in a way to

Donald Trump getting his way with

his legislative programme. If he

loses this Senate seat, the margin

goes in favour of the Republicans

and he will find it much harder to

get tax reform and tax cuts through,

let alone anything like healthcare.

The other reason is that because of

the nature of the allegations

against Roy Moore, we have seen a

widespread coming out and outcry

about this kind of behaviour towards

women, whether it be in politics, in

the media, in Hollywood, elsewhere

in business, that people are seeing

this as a test as to whether or not

you can do this kind of thing, you

can be accused of this kind of thing

and still get elected and still take

public office. I think all eyes are

on Alabama for all sorts of reasons

today.

Gary, thank you.

Officials in New York say a man

who tried to set off a bomb

at the city's busiest bus terminal

had been inspired by

the Islamic State group.

The 27-year-old suspect,

Akayed Ullah, moved to the US

from Bangladesh six years ago.

He suffered burns when a crude pipe

bomb he'd strapped to his body

went off prematurely.

Three other people were hurt.

One of the UK's most important oil

pipelines has been closed for urgent

repairs after a crack

was discovered in Aberdeenshire.

The Forties pipeline carries 40%

of North Sea oil and gas.

A crack was discovered

last Wednesday.

It's thought it could take up

to three weeks to fully repair.

As most of the oil from

the North Sea is exported,

the shutdown is not expected

to have a major impact

on domestic supplies.

The French President,

Emmanuel Macron, says

he believes President Trump

will bring the US back

into the Paris deal

on combating climate change.

Earlier this year, Donald Trump

announced he would pull

the United States out

of the global pact on emissions

signed by Barack Obama.

Speaking ahead of a new

climate summit in Paris,

President Macron condemned America's

decision to withdraw for the deal.

The US did sign the Paris agreement.

It's extremely aggressive to decide

on his own just to leave,

and no way to push the orders

to renegotiate because one

decided to leave the floor.

I'm sorry to say that.

It doesn't fly.

So sorry but I think it's

a big responsibility

in front of the history,

and I'm pretty sure that my

friend President Trump

will change his mind

in the coming months or years.

Well Roger Harrabin is with me.

So he's pretty confident that

President Trump will change his

mind, is that the generally accepted

view?

A lot of people think that.

President Trump couldn't pull the

USA out of the deal, the terms of

the deal is he has to wait and

intriguingly the waiting time is the

day after the next US presidential

election. So if he loses, the USA

will stay in by default. If he wins,

there's quite a lot of pressure on

him already, with people wondering

actually you say you want to benefit

the US economy by polling us out,

but what if we, the US, gets left

behind while the rest of the world

is going on to electric vehicles.

You could harm industry by polling

us out.

Meanwhile the latest climate

change summit is getting under way

in Paris, how important is it?

And

are in to lists were wondering if

this is French grandstanding, but it

looks like it isn't. Some major

announcements from business saying

what they will do. Axa, saying they

won't insure pipelines any more.

Other major corporations doing the

same, 1200 businesses saying they

will align themselves with targets

to meet the Paris aim of getting a

temperature rise of no more than two

Celsius so if Paris is setting the

framework, this seems to be the

first step from businesses saying we

can get it done and this is how we

are going to do it.

Thank you.

Offering shopping vouchers

to new mothers can encourage them

to breastfeed their babies,

that's the finding of a new study.

More than 10,000 mothers

were offered up to £200

in vouchers as an incentive.

Breastfeeding levels in the UK

are among the lowest in the world,

but it is believed to help prevent

illnesses in children

and mothers, as well as

reducing costs to the NHS.

Our health correspondent

Adina Campbell has this report.

Three month Annabel is the newest

member of the Sutcliffe family in

Sheffield. Her sister was also

breast-fed, but first time round mum

Fiona was given shopping vouchers as

an incentive.

There was definitely

some time when I was thinking this

is really difficult, I'm really

struggling and that was a really

good incentive to keep me motivated

and keep me going. By the time we

had saved all of the vouchers,

because we didn't spend them as we

got them, we saved them and spend

them on Christmas presents for her

first Christmas.

Fiona was one of

more than 10,000 mothers who took

part in a study over 18 months. They

were offered up to £200 in vouchers

at five different stages of

breast-feeding. £40 at two days old,

and the same amount at ten days, six

weeks, three months, and six months.

Before the vouchers were posted to

new mothers, claim forms were signed

off by midwives or health care

professionals during visits.

If we

give you vouchers...

Overall the

study found the breast-feeding rate

went up by 6% in areas with a low

uptake.

It is not easy to

breast-feed in today's society in

the UK but we do know that

biologically and physiologically we

are designed to breast-feed. 99% of

women, given the right support, can

breast-feed.

The idea of giving

women vouchers for breast-feeding is

controversial. Some say it is

outright bribery, but it is clear in

places such as Yorkshire,

breast-feeding rates can be low,

particularly involving young mothers

from poor areas. But this group have

mixed views.

I don't think it should

really be monetary and I think some

people might get persuaded just

because of the money.

I think it

adds more pressure actually. I

breast-fed because I wanted to

breast-feed but I don't think having

a voucher would have encouraged me

to breast-feed any more.

The

Department of Health says it

encourages breast-feeding babies for

the first six months with support

from midwives or health visitors.

The vouchers were raised -- funded

by Public Health England, which

researchers say is a small price tag

with long-term benefits to babies,

mothers and the NHS.

Darren is here with the latest

weather, and you

Darren is here with the latest

weather, and you are right, it was

very cold.

Yes, still the risk of icy stretches

from many parts of the country. Many

parts of the country still barely

above freezing at the moment. A

bright and sunny picture here in

Suffolk but there are changes taking

place in Northern Ireland where we

have seen the cloud increasing and

outbreaks of rain as well. Things

are changing, we have the cold air

across the UK but coming into that

cold air we have a mass of cloud

which will

bring wet weather and as it runs

into the cold air there is a risk of

icy stretches and even some smoke as

the wet weather moves in across the

northern half of the UK where it is

still very cold. We may even find

snow falling in Scotland, that will

lift onto the hills by the evening.

By this stage the wet weather has

cleared away from Northern Ireland.

Snow over the Pennines into the

Cumbrian fells as well. Further

south, more rain. Whilst we are

seeing increasing cloud, it is still

called this evening and frosty with

a good covering of snow around as

well. So icy conditions likely

through this evening as the wet

weather pushes eastwards. It will

sweep across the whole of the

country, the wind picking up, then

later on in the night we will see

the cloud breaking in between two

areas of wet weather which will

allow temperatures to dip away

again. Sufficiently close to zero to

bring the risk of more ice, and the

greatest risk of disruption due to

icy weather may well be across

Scotland and northern England.

Through the morning tomorrow, we

will see cloud and showery outbreaks

of rain pushing eastwards across all

areas. It will be replaced by more

sunshine in the afternoon, showers

turning wintry in Scotland and

Northern Ireland. Across southern

parts of England and Wales, you

could be up at around nine, even 10

Celsius, albeit rather briefly. This

snow could be an issue through the

evening across Northern Ireland,

Scotland, perhaps northern England

and Wales, even to lower levels for

a while. That moves through and then

as we head into Thursday the wind is

picking up. Showers could be wintry,

snow more likely over the higher

ground. Temperature is beginning to

drop away again. Seven Celsius

across southern England. Wintry

showers will continue into Friday

but the wind direction will change.

We will start to get our air from

the Antarctic once again, nowhere

near as cold as it has been

recently, but the threat of snow and

ice is set to continue.

recently, but the threat of snow and

ice is set to continue.