:00:03. > :00:09.A radical overhaul of Britain's banks - plans to protect taxpayers
:00:09. > :00:12.from another multi-billion pound bail-out. It's the biggest shake-up
:00:12. > :00:20.in the City for a generation, giving more choice on the high
:00:20. > :00:24.street. But you will have to wait till 2019. Do they represent a
:00:24. > :00:29.decisive moment when we take a step towards a new banking system that
:00:29. > :00:33.works for Britain. We should not have to wait seven years for the
:00:33. > :00:36.pro consumer parts of this package to go through, things like
:00:36. > :00:39.competition on the high street and faster and easier switching for
:00:39. > :00:42.customers. These are things the Government should get on with now.
:00:42. > :00:44.We will ask whether customers will end up paying more.
:00:44. > :00:49.Also tonight: Murder and kidnap on a paradise
:00:49. > :00:58.isle - David Tebbutt was shot dead and his wife taken away by bandits.
:00:58. > :01:01.We report from the resort. It is a crime scene at the moment. They are
:01:01. > :01:04.investigating the murder. They are also trying to get clues as to
:01:04. > :01:07.where the British woman could have been taken.
:01:07. > :01:12.The tail-end of Hurricane Katia hits part of Britain, battering the
:01:12. > :01:15.coastline. 70 miles an hour winds and heavy rain leave buildings
:01:15. > :01:18.damaged and transport disrupted. Police question four after the
:01:18. > :01:23.discovery of a modern day slave camp, but some of those freed
:01:23. > :01:33.refuse to help the inquiry. And David Walliams beats the Thames
:01:33. > :01:38.tummy bug and nears the finish line of his marathon charity swim.
:01:38. > :01:42.I will be here with Sportsday later on the BBC News Channel, including
:01:42. > :01:52.the loan move that Sunderland described as baffling, but too good
:01:52. > :02:01.
:02:01. > :02:04.Good evening. Welcome to the BBC News at Six. Plans for the most
:02:04. > :02:07.comprehensive overhaul of Britain's banks in a generation have been
:02:07. > :02:10.published today, and they should mean that taxpayers are never again
:02:10. > :02:16.asked to spend tens of billions making up for the costly mistakes
:02:16. > :02:19.of bankers. Under the proposals, which will come into effect over
:02:19. > :02:21.the next eight years, there will be new protection for consumers,
:02:21. > :02:26.keeping high street banking separate from more risky investment
:02:26. > :02:30.operations. Measures to promote more competition, making it much
:02:30. > :02:34.easier for us to switch bank accounts. And there will be
:02:34. > :02:41.measures to prevent another banking crisis in the future.
:02:41. > :02:46.Our Business Editor Robert Peston reports.
:02:46. > :02:50.Our mighty banks, such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds,
:02:50. > :02:54.HSBC, perhaps facing their biggest ever shake-up because of this
:02:54. > :02:59.unassuming economics professor, Sir John Vickers. The status quo is not
:02:59. > :03:03.an option. Things have got to change. So what reforms have been
:03:03. > :03:07.proposed by Vickers' Independent Commission on Banking has set up by
:03:07. > :03:11.the Treasury? The most important one is the creation of a ring-fence
:03:11. > :03:15.to protect the parts of banks that provide vital services to
:03:15. > :03:20.individuals and smaller businesses. These retail banking operations
:03:20. > :03:24.would be protected if the more speculative global investment
:03:24. > :03:28.banking areas found themselves in a spot of bother. A former Royal Bank
:03:28. > :03:33.of Scotland chairman says his old bank should not be too anxious.
:03:33. > :03:38.separation of investment banking functions from what I would call
:03:38. > :03:44.the commercial banking function, it is much more than retail, could be
:03:44. > :03:48.for the good of the bank. Because of recurring financial crises
:03:48. > :03:52.witnessed over the City's many centuries, the banks have to hold
:03:52. > :03:56.more capital, more rainy-day money and borrow from those who can
:03:56. > :04:01.afford to lose in bad times to make themselves more resilient. All
:04:01. > :04:06.around me is the evidence of the great boom in banking and finance
:04:06. > :04:09.over 20 years before the crash of 2007 to 2008. The skyscrapers of
:04:09. > :04:14.the City of London and Canary Wharf. But the commission believes that
:04:14. > :04:19.much of that boom was poisonous. So the question is, can the poison be
:04:19. > :04:24.extracted without harming the patient, the British economy? What
:04:24. > :04:28.is the problem that has to be fixed? That great banking crisis of
:04:28. > :04:32.2007-eight saw massive costs heaped on taxpayers and the worst
:04:32. > :04:38.recession for over 80 years in which the UK and much of the rich
:04:38. > :04:42.West has still not recovered. Billions of pounds have been spent.
:04:42. > :04:46.Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost as a result. It is this
:04:46. > :04:50.coalition government that set up the banking commission not just to
:04:50. > :04:54.ask the questions, but to provide the answers. What will be the
:04:54. > :04:58.impact? The commission says there will be costs of perhaps �1 billion
:04:58. > :05:02.a year for the British economy. But it estimates that the annual cost
:05:02. > :05:07.of banking crises are a staggering �40 billion a year. So if the
:05:07. > :05:11.reforms work, they would represent wonderful value for money. Even so,
:05:11. > :05:18.the chief executive of a big bank said he regards the reforms as a
:05:18. > :05:23.disaster. What does the commission think of that? Is neither a
:05:23. > :05:27.disaster for a British bank nor for the British economy. It is also
:05:27. > :05:32.about promoting competition, such as by making it easier for us to
:05:32. > :05:34.switch accounts between banks. names like more competition on the
:05:34. > :05:40.high street, easier and faster switching, these are things the
:05:40. > :05:44.Government should get on with. new banking industry, not growing
:05:44. > :05:47.as much, perhaps, but possibly more stable and less dangerous.
:05:47. > :05:56.And Robert is with me now. What difference will today's changes
:05:56. > :06:00.made to consumers? Well, there may -- it may be easier for us to
:06:00. > :06:03.switch accounts and there may be more information provided to us by
:06:03. > :06:08.banks to allow us to determine whether we are being provided with
:06:08. > :06:11.services that are good value for money. The banks warned that
:06:11. > :06:15.possibly, the prices charged to customers may have to go up a bit,
:06:15. > :06:19.but that is likely to affect big businesses rather than ordinary
:06:19. > :06:26.customers like you and me. What is much more important is whether or
:06:26. > :06:31.not these reforms succeed in making the costs of Banking crises much
:06:31. > :06:36.less than what we experienced in 2008. The economy has been
:06:36. > :06:41.extremely weak for the last three to four years, and much of that is
:06:41. > :06:47.to do with the boom-and-bust in the banking sector that we saw in the
:06:47. > :06:51.early years of this decade. If the Banking Commission succeeds in
:06:51. > :06:56.protecting taxpayers from that kind of boom-and-bust, and making sure
:06:56. > :06:59.the shock to the economy is reduced, all of us should benefit.
:06:59. > :07:07.And our political editor Nick Robinson is in Downing Street for
:07:07. > :07:11.us now. There is a big but in all of this - a huge truck Royal
:07:11. > :07:15.changes to banking, but we have to wait until 2019? For a long time,
:07:15. > :07:18.we saw this as a sort of Judgement Day, the day that banks would learn
:07:18. > :07:23.their fate, the day when we would be reassured that we will not pick
:07:23. > :07:27.up the bill if the City of London messes up again. And yet there is
:07:27. > :07:32.that long date. And one more and yet - there was not much political
:07:32. > :07:36.fuss about it. The reason is that politicians on all sides accept the
:07:36. > :07:44.verdict of today's report that that date is an end date. It does not
:07:44. > :07:47.mean there will be no reform before then. In addition, they are nervy
:07:47. > :07:52.because although they all want a safer banking system, they know a
:07:52. > :07:57.save the bank may charge more and lend less. Now is not a good time
:07:57. > :08:01.to be doing that. Above all, they are nervy for this reason - for all
:08:01. > :08:05.the public anger about banks and for all the politicians' banker
:08:05. > :08:13.bashing, for years politicians have spend vast sums of money that the
:08:13. > :08:17.banks generator. They want to see the system reformed, not destroyed.
:08:17. > :08:20.The Kenyan army has now joined the search for a British woman who was
:08:20. > :08:23.kidnapped after her husband was shot dead at a luxury resort. David
:08:23. > :08:25.Tebbutt and his wife Judith had just arrived at the Kiwayu Safari
:08:25. > :08:33.Village, close to Kenya's border with Somalia. From there, our
:08:33. > :08:38.correspondent sent this report. An idyllic setting on the Kenyan
:08:38. > :08:41.coast, with its thatched cottages dotted along the beach. Kiwayu
:08:41. > :08:46.Safari Lodge attracts tourists who want to get away from the crowds
:08:46. > :08:50.and live the quiet life for a few days. But now soldiers patrol here
:08:50. > :08:54.after the peace was shattered. In a midnight raid on the resort, a
:08:54. > :08:59.group of armed men killed British tourist David Tebbutt, shooting him
:08:59. > :09:04.in the back. They then abducted his wife Judith, who is still missing.
:09:04. > :09:08.You can see that a yellow tape has been set up around the rooms. It
:09:08. > :09:11.was in one of those rooms that David and Judith Tebbutt were
:09:11. > :09:14.sleeping when they were struck in the middle of the night. That is
:09:15. > :09:21.now a crime scene. The question is, what happened to Judith Tebbutt?
:09:21. > :09:25.She was taken away in a speedboat heading north towards Somalia. The
:09:25. > :09:31.Kenyan police are searching, but the gang may be out of reach. In a
:09:31. > :09:36.boat like this, the Somali border is just 90 minutes away. In this
:09:36. > :09:39.village just along the beach from the hotel, people complain that
:09:39. > :09:43.banditry from Somalia has been a problem for some years. They are
:09:43. > :09:47.worried that this latest attack will keep the tourists away. One
:09:47. > :09:56.man told me the gunmen forced a Kenyan to lead them to the hotel.
:09:56. > :10:03.He told me that they forced him to guide them to the hotel. Then they
:10:03. > :10:08.did what they did and went back with the lady. To Somalia? Yeah, to
:10:08. > :10:12.Somalia. The couple's home in Bishop's Stortford has been sealed
:10:12. > :10:16.off by police. For friends, there is sadness and shock as they take
:10:16. > :10:22.in what happened. He was such a gentle person that I cannot imagine
:10:22. > :10:29.him putting up much resistance. However it happened, it seems very
:10:29. > :10:33.out of character for him to fight, especially someone with a gun.
:10:33. > :10:37.suspicion in Kenya is that either Somali pirates or the Al-Qaeda link
:10:37. > :10:41.Islamist group Al-Shabab carried out the attack. The Foreign Office
:10:41. > :10:46.says officials are focused on trying to ensure that Judith
:10:46. > :10:49.Tebbutt's life is saved. Parts of Britain are being battered
:10:49. > :10:52.by the remnants of Hurricane Katia, with Scotland, Wales and the north
:10:52. > :10:58.of England bearing the brunt of 70 miles an hour winds and heavy
:10:58. > :11:01.rainfall. Buildings have been damaged and transport disrupted.
:11:01. > :11:10.For the latest, let's join Lorna Gordon in Saltcoats on the Ayrshire
:11:10. > :11:14.coast. Yes, a gust of 72 miles an hour was
:11:14. > :11:17.recorded at Glasgow Airport this afternoon. It is still pretty windy
:11:17. > :11:23.here on the Ayrshire coast. We have been getting warnings for days
:11:23. > :11:27.about this approaching bad weather. Preparations have been put in place.
:11:27. > :11:32.There have been extra power staff on standby in case of power cuts.
:11:32. > :11:35.Commuters in Scotland were advised to consider leaving work early.
:11:35. > :11:42.People have been battering down the hatches.
:11:42. > :11:47.The tail-end of a hurricane hitting Britain's assures. High seas, heavy
:11:47. > :11:54.rain and some coastal trains battered by waves and wind. Storms
:11:54. > :11:58.like this hit about once a year. And it is causing disruption to the
:11:58. > :12:03.railways, roads and ferries. In low-lying coastal areas, there have
:12:03. > :12:07.been warnings of possible flooding. People have been advised to stay
:12:07. > :12:10.away from the shore. This is what is causing the problems, Hurricane
:12:10. > :12:14.Katia, weakening as it travels across the Atlantic, but still
:12:14. > :12:23.packing a punch and delivering an unseasonably early bout of bad
:12:23. > :12:27.weather. You can see gusts of 60 to 70 mph, perhaps 80 mph locally. At
:12:27. > :12:32.this time of year, you are looking at trees that are still in full
:12:32. > :12:38.leaf, so we could see trees being blown over, and some distraction on
:12:38. > :12:42.the bridges. In County Durham, a building collapsed in the high
:12:42. > :12:46.winds, crashing nearby cars, although no one was hurt. People
:12:46. > :12:50.travelling on the nearby A6 A Tait were not so lucky after a falling
:12:51. > :12:58.tree crushed their car, trapping those inside and seriously injuring
:12:58. > :13:01.the driver. Winds have been gusting to more than 70 miles an hour in
:13:01. > :13:06.Wales. Bridges have been shut to high-sided vehicles and ferry
:13:06. > :13:10.services between Holyhead and Ireland have also been badly hit.
:13:10. > :13:13.Northern Ireland has also been buffeted by the Atlantic winds,
:13:13. > :13:18.with exceptionally difficult driving conditions and the risk of
:13:19. > :13:23.widespread coastal flooding. We are hearing that hundreds of homes in
:13:23. > :13:27.Ayrshire and Humphries have been left without power, although it is
:13:27. > :13:31.hoped that they will resume power services to those homes later this
:13:31. > :13:41.evening. The winds are expected to ease off a little over the next
:13:41. > :13:42.
:13:42. > :13:45.couple of hours, but the breeze is will continue well until tomorrow.
:13:45. > :13:48.David Cameron is visiting Moscow. It's the first visit by a British
:13:48. > :13:50.prime minister since 2005. Relations between the UK and Russia
:13:50. > :13:52.have been strained since the Russian dissident Alexander
:13:53. > :13:55.Litvinenko was murdered in London in 2006. Russia has refused to
:13:55. > :13:58.extradite the prime suspect. David Cameron raised the case at the
:13:58. > :14:07.start of his visit today, but appealed for a new approach to
:14:07. > :14:11.build bridges between the two countries.
:14:11. > :14:16.This is the first time that Vladimir Putin has met David
:14:16. > :14:20.Cameron. And it is the first time he has spoken to him, or any
:14:20. > :14:25.British Prime Minister, since 2007. Today, you could see the years of
:14:25. > :14:29.mistrust and tension on their faces. This is what soured relations for
:14:29. > :14:33.so long. The rush and activist Alexander Litvinenko, was poisoned
:14:33. > :14:39.to death in London in 2006. Britain wants his alleged killer extradited
:14:39. > :14:42.to the UK for trial. Russia is saying no. Mr Cameron raised the
:14:42. > :14:46.issue with the Russian President today, but also said he wanted to
:14:46. > :14:50.work on Britain's relationship with Russia beyond the Litvinenko case.
:14:50. > :14:54.How can you come here and bang the drum for British business while the
:14:54. > :14:57.suspected killer of a Alexander Litvinenko is being protected by
:14:58. > :15:02.the Russian state? How can you park the issue without being accused of
:15:02. > :15:06.putting trade before human right? This issue has not been parked. The
:15:06. > :15:10.fact is that the two governments do not agree. It remains an issue
:15:10. > :15:14.between Britain and Russia, and we have not changed our position about
:15:14. > :15:24.that. And the Russians have not changed their position. But I do
:15:24. > :15:26.
:15:26. > :15:30.not think that means that we freeze But Dmitry Medvedev said that
:15:30. > :15:34.Russia's constitution meant that the main suspect, Andrei Lugovoi,
:15:34. > :15:40.would never be extradited abroad. They also differed over
:15:40. > :15:43.intelligence. Mr Cameron refused the request for both country's
:15:43. > :15:47.spies to start co-operating again. But they did agree trade deals
:15:47. > :15:53.worth more than �200 million. On a personal level, both men got on
:15:53. > :15:58.well. Mr Cameron suggested this morning that the KGB tried to
:15:58. > :16:02.recruit him on a visit here in 1985. Do you think he would have made a
:16:02. > :16:07.good KGB agent? The answer to that last question, I think, is no.
:16:07. > :16:11.Let's be clear about that. David Cameron came to Moscow not to end
:16:11. > :16:16.all of the divisions between Russia and Britain, but to pay his
:16:16. > :16:21.respects and get both sides talking again. On that modest gain, at
:16:21. > :16:28.least, he seems to have succeeded. -- modest aim at.
:16:28. > :16:31.Our top story: The big shake-up of Britain's banks. Plans to protect
:16:31. > :16:36.tax payers from another multi- billion-pound bail out. Coming up:
:16:36. > :16:41.He has braved cold water, aching muscles. We are live above the
:16:41. > :16:44.Thames as David Walliams reaches the end of his charity swim. Later
:16:44. > :16:49.on the BBC News Channel, a big report out on the future structure
:16:49. > :16:59.of banking. But what does it mean for consumers? And renewed concerns
:16:59. > :17:02.
:17:02. > :17:05.of a Greek default sent local They have been described by police
:17:05. > :17:09.as modern-day slaves. They were forced to live in squalor
:17:09. > :17:12.conditions and work for no pay. But nine of the 24 men removed from a
:17:12. > :17:15.travellers' site yesterday are now refusing to co-operate with the
:17:15. > :17:19.investigation. It's thought that some of the men had been living at
:17:19. > :17:23.the site, near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, for as long as 15
:17:23. > :17:27.years. Four people arrested yesterday are still being
:17:27. > :17:32.questioned. Tucked away in rural Bedfordshire,
:17:32. > :17:38.the Greenacre caravan site, where police believe an organised crime
:17:38. > :17:42.family kept a group of slaves. This is a place local taxi drivers say
:17:42. > :17:46.they refuse to come, for fear of being robbed. We had no trouble
:17:46. > :17:49.walking around. Several travellers who live here told us that the
:17:50. > :17:53.alleged slaves were free to come and go as they pleased. You think
:17:53. > :17:58.there is no foundation to police allegations that these men was
:17:58. > :18:02.laid? Total rubbish. They just don't like us here, that what it is.
:18:02. > :18:09.It's just their way of trying to get us out. And it's not going to
:18:09. > :18:13.work. This is the road that the police officers would have come
:18:13. > :18:16.down early yesterday morning. The site is very isolated but it has a
:18:16. > :18:21.real feeling of permanence. This is the area where it is understood
:18:21. > :18:25.some of the men were kept. You can see the level of security. They
:18:26. > :18:29.were vulnerable, homeless or alcoholic, near here, it is alleged,
:18:29. > :18:39.with the promise of board and lodgings. Some were from the UK,
:18:39. > :18:42.others from Eastern Europe. Police say that some were kept in sheds,
:18:42. > :18:45.others in horseboxes. It's believed they were psychologically tormented,
:18:45. > :18:50.kept in a state of such fear that they felt unable to leave or ask
:18:50. > :18:53.for help. A number have chosen not to support the investigation. 15
:18:53. > :18:56.others are prepared to tell police what happened to them. I think it's
:18:57. > :19:00.a traumatic set of circumstances. It's not something that in this
:19:00. > :19:06.country, in this day and age, that we expect to find. Squalid
:19:07. > :19:12.conditions, filthy caravans and small sheds, covered in faeces and
:19:12. > :19:15.urine. It's more than 200 years since slavery was abolished. A
:19:15. > :19:24.handful of suspects in custody are accused of reviving an ancient
:19:24. > :19:27.Scotland Yard's acting deputy commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has
:19:28. > :19:32.to be the new head of the Metropolitan Police, Britain's
:19:32. > :19:35.biggest force. The former Merseyside chief constable said he
:19:35. > :19:41.intended to make criminals fear the police and is committed to lowering
:19:41. > :19:46.the crime worked. -- crime rate. Prison works. It has been the motto
:19:46. > :19:50.for many that what tough sentencing. Community sentences, under which
:19:50. > :19:53.convicts work as a punishment, are seen by some as a soft option. But
:19:53. > :19:58.is that the case? A year-long inquiry has been looking at the
:19:58. > :20:03.evidence and it has turned up some unexpected conclusions.
:20:03. > :20:05.Government plans to cut prison numbers in England and Wales are
:20:05. > :20:09.founded on the use of non-custodial sentences like this in
:20:09. > :20:13.Leicestershire. Critics argue that such punishments are not tough
:20:13. > :20:18.enough. But a year-long inquiry by criminal justice experts concludes
:20:18. > :20:22.that, for low-level offenders, it's a lot more successful than jail.
:20:22. > :20:27.The report suggests that seeing prison sentences as tough and
:20:27. > :20:31.community sentences as soft misses the point. Not only are some
:20:31. > :20:34.community punishments more demanding than custody, compared t
:20:34. > :20:37.short jail terms they are significantly more effective at
:20:38. > :20:41.turning persistent criminals into law-abiding citizens. They have to
:20:41. > :20:45.address their alcohol and drug problems. They have to look at
:20:45. > :20:49.their employment issues. They have to make reparation, they may have
:20:49. > :20:54.to do something in the community to pay back what they have done. And
:20:54. > :20:57.its five days a week. It can last up to year. The committee was
:20:57. > :21:02.impressed by this project in Leicester, dealing with offenders
:21:02. > :21:08.with drug and alcohol problems. As well as community payback and
:21:08. > :21:12.curfews, criminals must undergo treatment for substance misuse.
:21:12. > :21:16.There was concerns in custody about mental health... Police are tipped
:21:16. > :21:20.off if staff suspect an offender has resorted to crime to feed a
:21:20. > :21:23.habit. By first-time offender, maybe the prison gates might have
:21:23. > :21:29.an effect. But for somebody that has been offended for many years,
:21:29. > :21:32.it does not work. The right-leaning think-tank Policy Exchange recently
:21:32. > :21:36.published a poll suggesting 60% of the public think community
:21:36. > :21:40.sanctions are too soft or week. the moment, they are a joke. Half
:21:40. > :21:44.of them are not completed. Many of them are things like working in a
:21:44. > :21:48.charity shop, not real punishments. Cliff is not laughing. Once
:21:48. > :21:53.described by police as a one-man crime wave, he's now held up as
:21:53. > :21:57.living proof that community justice can change lives in ways that a few
:21:57. > :22:01.months behind bars simply can't. Everything gets done for you. You
:22:01. > :22:06.can go to the gym, you can get fit, you don't have to address any of
:22:06. > :22:09.the issues that got you in jail. Going into a programme and doing
:22:10. > :22:14.community work, it forces you to look at life from a different
:22:14. > :22:18.perspective. Off drugs and out of crime, he feels so remorseful about
:22:18. > :22:21.his previous behaviour that he now does his own voluntary version of
:22:21. > :22:25.community paid at. The Ministry of Justice is among those who hope
:22:25. > :22:31.that stories like his can convince the public that tough doesn't
:22:31. > :22:33.always mean prison. Some of the biggest unions in the
:22:33. > :22:37.country are calling for a major campaign of civil disobedience
:22:37. > :22:42.against spending cuts and changes to employment laws. They have been
:22:42. > :22:45.meeting at the TUC Congress. John Moylan is there for us now. We've
:22:45. > :22:50.heard about the threat of strikes in the past. What would civil
:22:50. > :22:54.disobedience mean? All they mean is non-violent forms of protest. An
:22:54. > :22:58.example often given is the case of pensioners down in the West Country,
:22:58. > :23:02.protesting against cuts. They walked back and forwards across a
:23:02. > :23:05.zebra crossing, stopping traffic and getting their point across. The
:23:05. > :23:10.unions believe there is a lot of opposition across the UK to the
:23:10. > :23:13.spending cuts. Unions can and probably will, this autumn, call
:23:13. > :23:18.strike action. But pensioners, students and church groups cannot
:23:18. > :23:21.go on strike. That is where the other forms of protest may come in.
:23:21. > :23:24.Brendan Barber was not talking about civil disobedience today, but
:23:24. > :23:31.he did call for a mass movement against the cuts, which he said was
:23:31. > :23:36.so severe they would make Margaret Thatcher look like a spendthrift.
:23:36. > :23:40.He has braved aching muscles, cold and even raw sewage. But now David
:23:40. > :23:46.Walliams has the end in sight. The start of Little Britain is about to
:23:46. > :23:54.complete his epic 140 miles charity swim along the River Thames. Lizo
:23:54. > :23:58.Mzimba has been following him all He famously swam the Channel five
:23:58. > :24:01.years ago. This latest challenge is his most gruelling yet. For the
:24:01. > :24:06.past week has been practically the equivalent of swimming the Channel
:24:06. > :24:16.every single day. Here by the Thames, by the Houses of Parliament,
:24:16. > :24:21.
:24:21. > :24:26.he is due to finish his epic 140 The beginning of the end. David
:24:26. > :24:31.Walliams started the final leg of his swim, spanning the length of
:24:31. > :24:36.the Thames. Today's last stretch, a point which, early on, he feared he
:24:36. > :24:44.might never reach. When I started, I didn't know it would be this hard.
:24:44. > :24:49.You know, I got ill, we lost a lot of time. Yes, this started to look
:24:49. > :24:53.like a long way off. Over the past eight days, his efforts have
:24:53. > :24:57.captured the public's imagination. I think he is so inspirational to
:24:57. > :25:00.lots of people. It makes us feel that we should actually get up and
:25:00. > :25:05.do something ourselves. To start with it was such an amazing feat.
:25:05. > :25:09.Then he had all of the problems he encountered. Absolutely capturing
:25:09. > :25:15.the hearts and minds of the nation. The finish line at Westminster
:25:15. > :25:19.heralds the end of an epic swim, venturing a total of 140 miles. It
:25:19. > :25:24.began in the town of Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Wearing just a
:25:24. > :25:34.pair of trunks, he first braved the Thames Water's. He had little idea
:25:34. > :25:34.
:25:34. > :25:37.of some of the difficulties that By day three he had reached
:25:37. > :25:42.Abingdon in Oxfordshire. But he was suffering from vomiting and
:25:42. > :25:46.diarrhoea, which seriously slowed his progress. It's very hard to
:25:46. > :25:51.move your body through the water when you feel like you're going to
:25:51. > :26:00.throw up. But by day five he was back on track and supported by some
:26:00. > :26:06.celebrity friends. Just squeeze it, that way. I'm probably the real
:26:06. > :26:10.hero here! But the final leg is one of the toughest. The Thames is tied
:26:10. > :26:14.or, with strong and dangerous currents. Not to mention the 500
:26:14. > :26:19.cubic metres of sewage that have poured into the river over the past
:26:19. > :26:23.seven days. Now, as he nears the end of his challenge, he says it is
:26:23. > :26:28.particularly support from the public that has kept him going
:26:29. > :26:33.almost to the end. This marks the end of David Walliams' journey.
:26:33. > :26:37.It's also the perfect beginning for Sport Relief 2012 fund-raising
:26:37. > :26:42.efforts. They have raised close to �1 million. A high-profile event
:26:42. > :26:46.has increased public awareness of the charity and its work by a
:26:46. > :26:53.significant amount. What an amazing achievement from
:26:53. > :26:58.David Walliams. You can see him, just going up, I think. 140 miles
:26:58. > :27:04.on the river Thames. Incredible. Time for the weather now. What
:27:04. > :27:07.We are not done yet. For the next couple of hours the wind will be
:27:07. > :27:11.very strong across central and northern Scotland and northern
:27:11. > :27:16.England. We still have an amber warning in force for those winds.
:27:16. > :27:21.We could see gusts of up to 70 mph. The worst has passed for Northern
:27:21. > :27:24.Ireland, maybe. But along the north coast we could see gusts of 70 mph.
:27:24. > :27:30.The main area is central and northern Scotland, parts of
:27:30. > :27:34.northern England. 70 mph gusts could cause disruption. Wherever
:27:34. > :27:40.you are, it is very windy. Overnight, the wind will ease, but
:27:40. > :27:43.only a touch. It will still be very blustery. It's helping to keep the
:27:43. > :27:46.temperatures up, not a cold night. It keeps reining in northern
:27:46. > :27:51.Scotland, maybe the next cause for concern. Tomorrow it is still very
:27:51. > :27:56.windy. There will be sunshine across northern England. Further
:27:56. > :27:59.south, a host of heavy showers across England and Wales. Some
:27:59. > :28:03.sunshine for Northern Ireland in the morning, but it will cloud over.
:28:03. > :28:07.Still very windy, perhaps not as strong as today. Blustery across
:28:07. > :28:11.Wales. Heavy showers in the morning, but the wind will chase the showers
:28:11. > :28:14.away. The afternoon should season sunshine. The same for south-west
:28:14. > :28:18.England, a heavy showers in the morning. The afternoon looks a good
:28:18. > :28:22.deal drier. The travellers will be chased across the Midlands, into
:28:22. > :28:27.East Anglia through the afternoon. Windy here as well, although not as
:28:27. > :28:33.strong as the gusts have been today. The same for more than England.
:28:33. > :28:40.Good spells of sunshine but very blustery. Also, windy across
:28:40. > :28:45.Scotland. The rain is building a plant could cause some flooding