:00:09. > :00:16.The first wave of England's free schools, but a row about whose
:00:16. > :00:19.children will gain the most. New uniforms, a new type of school, but
:00:19. > :00:23.the Deputy Prime Minister insists they are not just for pushy parents.
:00:23. > :00:28.I want them to be available to the whole community, open to all
:00:28. > :00:32.children, and not just the privileged few. Free schools will
:00:32. > :00:37.of course take resources from existing education budgets and
:00:37. > :00:40.schools. They may well take pupils from existing schools. This will
:00:41. > :00:50.destabilise the system. Or so on the programme: The
:00:51. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:57.ransacked room full of secret documents. An inquiry into MI6
:00:57. > :01:01.links with Libya and torturers. And how Raoul Moat's row with his
:01:01. > :01:06.girlfriend may have sparked his rampage.
:01:06. > :01:11.A survey sparks new fears for Britain's economic recovery.
:01:11. > :01:16.The Forth Bridge paint job that was never finished. Now it has, at
:01:16. > :01:20.least for 25 years. I will bring you all the sports on
:01:20. > :01:30.the BBC News Channel, including the latest news ahead of the euro
:01:30. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:48.qualifiers. There is a warning from Good evening and welcome to the BBC
:01:48. > :01:51.News At Six. This term sees the start of a radical change in the
:01:51. > :01:57.way that some children in England will be taught. The first batch of
:01:57. > :01:59.free schools, the Government's big idea on education, are opening. But
:01:59. > :02:03.there are accusations that they will only help the children of
:02:03. > :02:10.pushy parents. Nick Clegg assured critics, including some within his
:02:10. > :02:16.own party, that the schools are not just for the privileged few. Our
:02:16. > :02:21.Education Correspondent has more. It is a new term, and with it in
:02:21. > :02:24.England comes a new type of school, set up by parents, teachers,
:02:24. > :02:30.businesses and faith groups, free from local council control and free
:02:30. > :02:33.to parents. Free schools have arrived. These five year-old at a
:02:33. > :02:37.free school in East London are among the first to get this new
:02:37. > :02:45.brand of education. Many of them struggled to find a place elsewhere.
:02:45. > :02:49.One boy had waited for one year. Parents' sake this school is --
:02:49. > :02:53.parents say the school is offering something different. The Times, 8
:02:53. > :02:58.o'clock until 6 o'clock if they need, it is good for parents. It
:02:58. > :03:04.will be good for my children's education. The flexibility in terms
:03:04. > :03:08.of or parental involvement in the decision-making. It is beneficial
:03:08. > :03:12.for the school and the children as well. Because free schools are
:03:12. > :03:17.independent of the local authority, they have the scope to do things
:03:17. > :03:21.differently. Some have smaller class sizes, 24 or fewer. Others
:03:21. > :03:25.have flexible opening times for the school day and the school term.
:03:25. > :03:32.Exceptionally, free schools can employ teachers that do not have a
:03:32. > :03:37.teaching qualification. Michael Gove has said that repeatedly he
:03:37. > :03:40.wants free schools to be opened in poorer areas, such as this one in
:03:41. > :03:45.London. But critics point out that over half of the school's opening
:03:45. > :03:51.this year are not in deprived areas and they risk becoming middle-class
:03:51. > :03:54.enclaves. A point acknowledged today by the Deputy Prime Minister,
:03:54. > :03:58.mindful perhaps that his party voted against free schools at the
:03:58. > :04:02.conference last year. Nick Clegg had this message for his own
:04:02. > :04:05.Government. They must not be the preserve of the privileged few,
:04:05. > :04:10.creaming off the best pupils while leaving the rest to fend for
:04:10. > :04:20.themselves, causing problems for at draining resources from the nearby
:04:20. > :04:21.
:04:21. > :04:24.schools. The 20 for new schools will cost up to �130 million. -- 24
:04:24. > :04:28.new schools. They include a handful of private schools like this one in
:04:28. > :04:33.Yorkshire which will now be state- funded. Some say the money should
:04:33. > :04:37.be more evenly spread. Free schools will of course take resources from
:04:37. > :04:40.existing education budgets from existing schools. They may well
:04:40. > :04:46.take pupils from existing schools and this will destabilise the
:04:46. > :04:51.system. 24 is a small start, but with hundreds more predicted in the
:04:51. > :04:57.next four years, it could herald the beginning of something big.
:04:57. > :05:00.Our deputy political editor, James Landale, is that Westminster. Nick
:05:00. > :05:04.Clegg wanted to reassure people within his own party, the Liberal
:05:05. > :05:09.Democrats. How much sensitivity is there within the Government over
:05:09. > :05:14.this issue of free schools? There is quite a lot of sensitivity but
:05:14. > :05:17.not much division. Both sides of this Government, Conservatives and
:05:18. > :05:21.Liberal Democrats, back the policy of free schools. A lot of the
:05:21. > :05:24.things that Nick Clegg was talking about would never happen. The idea
:05:24. > :05:30.that free schools could make profits, that was explicitly ruled
:05:30. > :05:35.out in the Conservative manifesto. What has been happening today is
:05:35. > :05:38.Nick Clegg trying to reassure people, people that may or may not
:05:38. > :05:48.have fears about this policy. He went through a list of those fears
:05:48. > :05:48.
:05:48. > :05:52.and said he would not let each of them happen. The problem is that
:05:52. > :05:56.that has irritated some Conservatives. They think this is
:05:56. > :06:00.not the time and place to rein on their parade. They think they can
:06:01. > :06:03.get a good message out this week on education and the idea that there
:06:03. > :06:08.are tensions and divisions is not one the Government wanted to get
:06:08. > :06:12.out. David Cameron says an inquiry will
:06:12. > :06:17.look into new allegations that MI6 co-operated with the illegal
:06:18. > :06:21.transfer out of terror suspects to Libya for interrogation by
:06:21. > :06:26.Gaddafi's agents. The allegation by human rights activists comes after
:06:26. > :06:32.the discovery of documents in one of the offices of a former Libyan
:06:32. > :06:37.leader's key official. The ransacked office of the former head
:06:37. > :06:41.of Libyan intelligence. Inside, a treasure trove of once secret files,
:06:41. > :06:46.which reveal a close relationship between British intelligence and
:06:46. > :06:52.Libyan spy master Moussa Koussa. The question is, did they get too
:06:52. > :06:56.close? Some of the documents are from one time MI6 man Mark Allen.
:06:56. > :07:00.He offers Christmas greetings and an invitation to lunch at his
:07:00. > :07:04.office. Other documents raise difficult questions including over
:07:04. > :07:08.Britain's roll over a transfer of detainees. One from the CIA to the
:07:08. > :07:12.Libyans reads, we are also aware that a service has been co-
:07:12. > :07:17.operating with the British to effect the detainee's removal to
:07:17. > :07:21.Tripoli. Allegations of Britain's knowledge of involvement in the
:07:21. > :07:24.removal of detainees has already led to an inquiry. The Prime
:07:25. > :07:28.Minister said these allegations would be looked at as part of it.
:07:28. > :07:32.We have issued new guidance to intelligence and security personnel
:07:32. > :07:37.on how to deal the detainees held by other countries. And we have
:07:37. > :07:42.asked Peter Gibson to examine issues around the treatment of
:07:42. > :07:45.terror suspects overseas. This inquiry has already said it will
:07:45. > :07:50.look at these latest accusations very carefully. The Foreign
:07:50. > :07:57.Secretary at the time many documents were written says he does
:07:57. > :08:02.not -- did not know about the accusations. It is this
:08:02. > :08:08.Government's policy to be opposed to any complicity in torture and
:08:08. > :08:14.ill-treatment. Much of the information related to the exchange
:08:14. > :08:17.of information over alleged Islamist activist. There are
:08:17. > :08:22.allegations that Britain played a role in the act of rendition where
:08:22. > :08:27.suspects are transferred and sometimes restrictive. One document
:08:27. > :08:31.relates to Mr Belhadj, subject to rendition in 2004, apparently based
:08:31. > :08:34.on British information. He says he was tortured in custody. The
:08:34. > :08:37.British Government has always denied any complicity in
:08:38. > :08:41.mistreatment or rendition. Rendition is effectively the
:08:41. > :08:45.unlawful kidnap of people, carrying them across borders and putting
:08:45. > :08:47.them into jurisdictions where it is known perfectly well that they will
:08:47. > :08:53.be mistreated. The British Government also condemns that,
:08:53. > :08:55.which is why it would be so serious if it turned out that agencies
:08:55. > :09:00.answerable to the British Government had been engaging in
:09:00. > :09:03.that sort of behaviour. Government intelligence agencies
:09:04. > :09:11.are supposed to gather information and sometimes that involves working
:09:11. > :09:14.with regime that do not share their standards, they say. Our Middle
:09:14. > :09:19.East editor is in Tripoli. Do you think there is more to come about
:09:19. > :09:24.these allegations of links between MI6 and the Libyans? Could be.
:09:25. > :09:32.Maybe that is what the inquiry will be finding out. In Tripoli we have
:09:32. > :09:36.only really see a couple of files, mainly from 2003 and 2004, a time
:09:36. > :09:41.when the British relationship with Libya was starting to burgeon.
:09:41. > :09:45.There could be more that comes out of this. I have spoken to the last
:09:45. > :09:54.foreign minister of Libya during Gaddafi's time, Abdul Ati Al-Obeidi,
:09:54. > :09:58.a prisoner at the moment. He said to me that they were working in
:09:58. > :10:03.Tripoli right up until the revolution started on February 17th.
:10:03. > :10:09.We will be looking more into that and I hope to have more on the 10
:10:09. > :10:14.o'clock News. Thank you. The inquest into the death of the
:10:14. > :10:19.gunman Raoul Moat has been hearing how it might have been in rampage
:10:19. > :10:26.sparked off by an argument with his girlfriend. Raoul Moat was in
:10:26. > :10:32.prison when he was told by his girlfriend that she was leaving him.
:10:32. > :10:36.He replied by saying he would go crazy. Raoul Moat was caught on a
:10:36. > :10:40.riverbank in Rothbury, and he lay down, pointing a gun at his head in
:10:40. > :10:45.a stand-off that lasted four hours. Today the inquest into his death
:10:45. > :10:49.told what caused him to get to that point. While serving a prison
:10:49. > :10:53.sentence for assaulting a child, his girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart,
:10:53. > :10:58.ended their relationship. In a phone call she told him that she
:10:58. > :11:01.had had enough. He asked her of what. She said everything. Raoul
:11:01. > :11:06.Moat then said that they had one argument the other day and should
:11:06. > :11:11.not get silly. The telephone is then slammed down. Days later, he
:11:11. > :11:15.calls her and says that she is the only person he has ever cared about
:11:15. > :11:24.and he is going to go crazy. She tells him that she has got a new
:11:24. > :11:28.boyfriend and warns him that he is a handy bloke and much younger.
:11:28. > :11:32.When he was released, Raoul Moat went on to try and kill Samantha
:11:32. > :11:37.Stobbart and murder of her new boyfriend, Christopher Brown. He
:11:37. > :11:41.also tried to kill David Rathband in Newcastle by shooting him at
:11:41. > :11:46.point-blank range as he sat in his police car. Minutes after he did
:11:46. > :11:51.this, Raoul Moat rang 999 to taunt the police. Are you taking me
:11:51. > :11:58.seriously now? I have just shot one of York police officers in
:11:58. > :12:02.Newcastle. You are going to have to kill me. I am not going to stop.
:12:02. > :12:08.huge manhunt followed, centred on the small town of Rothbury, after
:12:08. > :12:11.Raoul Moat's car was found here. It involved hundreds of armed police.
:12:11. > :12:18.Resulting stand-off ended in the rain and darkness, when the gun
:12:18. > :12:22.that Raoul Moat was holding went off.
:12:22. > :12:27.This is where Raoul Moat was lying that night. But what was the exact
:12:27. > :12:32.sequence of events here? Who did what and when in the moments before
:12:32. > :12:36.and after his gun went off? Those are some of the many questions that
:12:36. > :12:42.will be addressed by this inquest. The jury was also told about a
:12:42. > :12:48.noose found in his house, and suicide notes, all written after
:12:48. > :12:52.losing who he describes as the most beautiful woman in the world.
:12:52. > :12:58.More fears about Britain's economic recovery according to one measure,
:12:58. > :13:02.the regular survey of companies. They say Britain's shops and
:13:02. > :13:07.companies have seen the worst slowdown for 10 years. The new
:13:07. > :13:11.figures added to the gloom on the stock market, with leading shares
:13:11. > :13:15.losing �50 billion in value. Our Economics Editor it is here.
:13:15. > :13:20.Some of us might be feeling better after our summer holidays, but the
:13:20. > :13:22.signs are that the British economy is not. A private index that
:13:23. > :13:28.measures business activity across most of the economy has fallen to
:13:28. > :13:33.its lowest level since June 2009, which was during the middle of the
:13:33. > :13:40.recession. The services sector accounts for 75% of the economy,
:13:40. > :13:44.and it was especially downbeat. This covers retailers to private
:13:44. > :13:48.consultants, and they saw the sharpest fall since 2001. That is
:13:48. > :13:51.only one month's figure and might have been affected by the riots,
:13:52. > :13:56.but it speaks to growing pessimism about the pace of Britain's
:13:56. > :14:04.recovery. This is a disappointing number. It is signalling growth,
:14:05. > :14:09.but very meagre growth. The rate of expansion has fallen dramatically.
:14:09. > :14:11.This firm counts as a service sector company. They give planning
:14:11. > :14:16.advice to councils and property developers. They are still winning
:14:16. > :14:21.work but it is tough going. People that were not competing for the
:14:21. > :14:25.work that we were doing are now in the field that we dominated in. We
:14:25. > :14:30.have to compete against many more businesses and therefore cut our
:14:31. > :14:34.cloth accordingly. An independent economist has been busy lowering
:14:34. > :14:38.their expectations for growth, not just for the UK but most of Europe
:14:38. > :14:44.and America, which some now think is slipping back into recession. In
:14:44. > :14:49.March, the average forecast in the City was for growth in the UK of
:14:49. > :14:52.1.8%. That has now fallen to 1.3%, reopening questions about the
:14:52. > :15:02.Government's Budget strategy, even among some of the people that
:15:02. > :15:06.
:15:06. > :15:09.People like Bill Gross, for example, who runs one of the world's largest
:15:09. > :15:19.investment funds. Last year he said Britain had one of the best
:15:19. > :15:22.
:15:22. > :15:26.combination of policies among the This could all help revive the
:15:26. > :15:31.political argument over cuts and whether the Government needs a plan
:15:31. > :15:37.B in time for the party conferences later this month, but in the mean
:15:37. > :15:42.time all eyes will be in the City when it meets later this week to
:15:42. > :15:45.decide whether or not the economy needs even more energy support.
:15:45. > :15:52.Thanks, Stephanie. Our top story tonight:
:15:52. > :15:56.The first wave of England's frea school -- free schools - the Deputy
:15:56. > :16:06.Prime Minister insists they're not just for the few.
:16:06. > :16:25.
:16:25. > :16:28.And coming up, John le Carre gets a The Chancellor weighed into the row
:16:28. > :16:31.over proposed changes to the planning rules in England. George
:16:31. > :16:34.Osborne says they are essential if the economy is to recover. But
:16:34. > :16:39.critics argue the countryside is at risk if the changes go ahead. Our
:16:39. > :16:43.rural affairs correspondent Jeremy Cooke reports. They call it the
:16:43. > :16:48.green belt, protected countryside which lies between our towns and
:16:48. > :16:51.cities. This is the gap which separates the urban sprawl of
:16:51. > :16:56.Birmingham and Coventry. Getting planning permission for places like
:16:56. > :16:59.this has been hard for decades, but now campaigners say the proposed
:16:59. > :17:05.Government changes in the planning system could mean much more
:17:05. > :17:10.development in the countryside. At issue is how much protection we
:17:10. > :17:14.give to areas like this. What you're looking at down there is
:17:14. > :17:22.potentially prime development land. The campaigners say it's also
:17:22. > :17:25.priceless green space. Here, plans for a 220-berth marina complex were
:17:25. > :17:30.previously rejected but are now being reconsidered under appeal.
:17:30. > :17:34.The Government says it wants to simplify planning rules reducing a
:17:34. > :17:38.thousand pages of regulations down to just 52, and crucially, they say
:17:38. > :17:41.the default answer to planning applications should be yes unless
:17:41. > :17:46.there are strong reasons to reject them.
:17:46. > :17:51.The developer owns this field, two fields to the right... It's a
:17:51. > :17:56.change in emphasis, and for some, the alarm bells are ringing.
:17:56. > :18:02.proposed planning guidelines, as far as I have seen them, do provide
:18:02. > :18:06.some protection for the green belt. One's concern is that'll gradually
:18:06. > :18:13.be eroded, and I don't know how strong those - that protection will
:18:13. > :18:16.actually be. Whether sites like this can be developed in the future
:18:16. > :18:19.will depend on the new-look planning rules. The Government
:18:19. > :18:23.insists there will be no erosion of the protection of green belt,
:18:23. > :18:26.National Parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty, but
:18:26. > :18:33.those who support more development are encouraged by the changes being
:18:33. > :18:36.proposed. This changes the balance to make it more positive and will
:18:36. > :18:41.help developers in certain circumstances certainly to improve
:18:41. > :18:45.the possibility of getting consent. The Chancellor, George Osborne says
:18:45. > :18:48.planning reforms are key to the nation's economic recovery. The
:18:48. > :18:58.National Trust has launched an unprecedented campaign to oppose
:18:58. > :19:00.
:19:00. > :19:03.them. The trial of former French
:19:03. > :19:07.President Jacques Chirac on charges of illegal party funding during his
:19:07. > :19:10.time as mayor of Paris got underway today. Mr Chirac, who claims he is
:19:10. > :19:13.too unwell to attend court, was represented by his lawyers. If
:19:13. > :19:15.found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in jail. Our Paris
:19:16. > :19:21.correspondent Christian Fraser has sent this report. For 50 years, he
:19:21. > :19:26.was a potent force not only in French politics, but on the world
:19:26. > :19:32.stage, with adjunctlar style, Jacques Chirac was forever pushing
:19:32. > :19:36.his point of view, the zenith of his career, a bold stance in the
:19:36. > :19:42.war in Iraq. But today, the elder statesman was portrayed as a frail
:19:42. > :19:47.old man with a failing memory. The lawyers who represent him and nine
:19:47. > :19:53.other codefendants say there's no prospect of a fair trial. The most
:19:53. > :19:59.important person in this trial is not available to come and defend
:19:59. > :20:05.himself, and for this only reason I think this trial has no - any
:20:05. > :20:11.(Indiscernible) The case relates to his time as Mayor of Pair fris 1977
:20:11. > :20:16.to 1995. It's alleged he embezzled taxpayers' money, creating 21 ghost
:20:16. > :20:22.jobs to pay alFleiss his RPR Party. The charge carries a possible
:20:22. > :20:27.sentence of ten years or a fine of 150,000 euros, �130,000.
:20:27. > :20:29.The medical report that is being submitted is signed by an eminent
:20:29. > :20:36.neurologist. It concludes he's suffering from a condition that
:20:36. > :20:40.could be linked to Alzheimer's. It affects the speech. There can be
:20:40. > :20:45.bouts of memory loss. The sufferer is often unaware there is even a
:20:45. > :20:49.problem. Friends say the man who once spoke in such eloquent French
:20:49. > :20:54.now forgets which party he's from, but have the people forgotten what
:20:54. > :20:59.he's accused of and how tirelessly he fought to evade this
:20:59. > :21:06.prosecution? He's too old and so sick, he's in the past. So if two
:21:06. > :21:15.months ago he sold a book with his memories, why he couldn't answer to
:21:15. > :21:20.questions? He lost his memory in two weeks? Ahh! And yet in spite of
:21:20. > :21:25.many rear-guard actions to avoid court, Jacques vauk is the first --
:21:25. > :21:30.Jacques Chirac is the French head of state to face these charges
:21:30. > :21:35.since the end of the Second World War, historic, but not as historic
:21:35. > :21:42.as the man they dubbed the untouchable finally appeared in the
:21:42. > :21:45.dock. We've all heard the expression
:21:45. > :21:49."like painting the Forth Bridge" -- coined to describe a never-ending
:21:49. > :21:52.job - one which takes so long that by the time you have finished it,
:21:52. > :21:55.it is time to start again. The painting of the Forth Bridge is
:21:55. > :22:00.finally about to come to an end. Our Scotland correspondent Glenn
:22:00. > :22:04.Campbell is there. Standing on top of this bridge
:22:04. > :22:08.several hundred feet up you get a sense of its scale. No wonder it's
:22:08. > :22:14.taken nearly a quarter of a million litres of paint, but the work is
:22:14. > :22:19.almost done. This awe-inspiring feat of
:22:20. > :22:27.engineering is being restored to its full Victorian glory. It's
:22:27. > :22:32.taken hundreds of men ten years to remove and replace its famous red
:22:32. > :22:38.coat. This is a substance we use to blast off the old coating system,
:22:38. > :22:43.taking the metal back to a clean finish. You can imagine the damage
:22:43. > :22:49.it would do to somebody if they come in contact with it. Once flaky
:22:49. > :22:53.paint and corrosion is stripped away, fresh coats are applied. It's
:22:53. > :22:58.heavy-duty paint originally developed for oil rigs. It takes
:22:58. > :23:02.three years Did the application is a world away from traditional
:23:02. > :23:08.techniques. In the past, Forth bridge painters couldn't afford to
:23:08. > :23:14.put a foot wrong. A bucket and a brush - that's how it was done, a
:23:14. > :23:19.big round brush, a big bucket you had to carry wherever you went.
:23:19. > :23:27.There was no safety belts than these days. The current paint job
:23:27. > :23:32.should keep this mile-and-a-half- long bridge rust free for longer.
:23:32. > :23:37.You have to make sure the bridge is in historic condition. Pretty
:23:37. > :23:42.scabby. Pretty scabby, but structurally sound. The paint has a
:23:42. > :23:47.guarantee for 55 years, so for the first time in this bridge's history
:23:47. > :23:51.you won't need to paint it. So the job that never ends is almost
:23:51. > :23:56.complete. Well, the last painters are due off in three months' time,
:23:56. > :24:04.then, George, I guess we'll all be looking for a new expression for
:24:04. > :24:06.those jobs that go on and on and on. Thank you very much.
:24:06. > :24:09.The latest version of the the classic thriller Tinker Tailor
:24:09. > :24:12.Soldier Spy has it's world premier today. This time the iconic George
:24:12. > :24:21.Smiley is played by Gary Oldman. Can his performance match that of
:24:21. > :24:25.Sir Alec Guiness? Our arts editor reports.
:24:25. > :24:32.There is a double agent at the heart of the British intelligence
:24:32. > :24:37.service. Enter George Smiley, the sharpest tool in the MI6 box of
:24:37. > :24:43.tricks. His main weapons are perception and precision. I want to
:24:43. > :24:50.talk about loyalty, Toby. What did you make of it, Jim? Gary Oldman is
:24:50. > :24:53.playing the enigmatic spook in the film adaptation of John le Carre's
:24:53. > :24:59.book Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It's a role Alec Guinness famously
:24:59. > :25:06.took in this 1979 television series. How does a new George Smiley
:25:06. > :25:12.differ? I think it's a little sexier, a little crueler. There is
:25:12. > :25:22.a sort of - a bit of a sadistic side to George that we've brought
:25:22. > :25:23.
:25:23. > :25:28.to the fore and I think the sort of - the disenchantment - he's a sort
:25:28. > :25:35.of disenchanted romantic, the melancholy. The film boasts a role
:25:36. > :25:42.call of top British acting talent. But the director is Swedish. Tomas
:25:42. > :25:47.Alfredson made his name with this 2008 vampire movie, Let the Right
:25:47. > :25:53.One In. He's brought the same school style to 1970s London.
:25:53. > :26:02.came to England the first time in 1972, as I remember it, and London
:26:02. > :26:09.was quite different from what it is now, and I have very strong images
:26:09. > :26:14.and memories from that period, and since it's a very analogue world
:26:14. > :26:17.compared to today. This film is not your typical modern thriller. There
:26:17. > :26:25.is none of the fast cutting and nonstop action you get served up in
:26:25. > :26:32.a Bond or Bourne franchise, it's much more like HBO's The Wire or
:26:32. > :26:37.The Killing. This movie is very, VERY slow. It is very slow, but
:26:37. > :26:43.it's intellectually compelling, I think. Each tiny detail is a layer
:26:43. > :26:49.upon a layer, so it's a thriller of the mind. Early reviews have been
:26:49. > :26:59.favorable. Could it be a British spy will follow in the footsteps of
:26:59. > :27:06.a British King taking up an Oscar Not exactly a thriller, although it
:27:06. > :27:11.will be quite exciting for weather geeks like me but for most
:27:11. > :27:15.depressing as the last vestiges of summer get blown away. We have a
:27:15. > :27:19.frontal system coming in from the west right now, so turning wet and
:27:19. > :27:25.windy into the evening and night, particularly heavy in western area,
:27:25. > :27:31.could see over an inch of rain. By the end of the night, gusts up to
:27:31. > :27:36.50mph in the English Channel. Soggy journey to work for much of England.
:27:36. > :27:40.Things will improve for most later in the day. We could see disruption
:27:40. > :27:44.to ferry crossings across the English Channel. The wet weather
:27:44. > :27:48.across the south accompanied by a blustery winds but things soon
:27:49. > :27:52.improve. In fact, as we go through the morning, the worst rain will be
:27:52. > :27:56.clearing from Wales. Something drier and brighter emerging in
:27:56. > :28:00.western areas. Sunshine, if you're lucky, across Northern Ireland.
:28:00. > :28:02.Blustery showers will be blowing in on that keen old wind. Some clumps
:28:02. > :28:06.of pretty heavy rain across Western Scotland first up, but at least
:28:06. > :28:09.most of us can look forward to some improvement in conditions into the
:28:09. > :28:14.afternoon. The last of the rain clearing from the south-east, so
:28:14. > :28:20.for the cricket at the Rose Bowl after a wet start, hopefully play
:28:20. > :28:28.later in the day. The A1 en route east of the Pennines will be badly
:28:28. > :28:35.affected by the wind. It's going to be cool wherever you are - 16C-18C
:28:36. > :28:39.is typical I am afraid. The wind is blowing on Wednesday, blowing in a