:00:12. > :00:15.London to Birmingham in 45 minutes. The controversial high-speed rail
:00:15. > :00:20.line gets Government approval. Ministers say it's a green light
:00:20. > :00:24.for the biggest transport project since the start of the motorway era.
:00:24. > :00:28.We are ready for a new chapter in Britain's transport history, one
:00:28. > :00:33.that's designed to boost our economy and our country just as the
:00:33. > :00:37.first coming of the railways or the motorways did for previous
:00:37. > :00:41.generations. My decision to give the go-ahead to High Speed Two.
:00:41. > :00:46.There is still plenty of opposition. It could be more than a decade
:00:46. > :00:54.before the first passenger steps onboard. Initial reaction was the
:00:54. > :00:59.shock, horror, I think. My reaction is even worse today. Also tonight:
:00:59. > :01:03.The row over the future of the Union. Westminster says only it can
:01:03. > :01:08.decide when Scotland holds an independence referendum. We are not
:01:08. > :01:12.going to be dragooned by a Tory Prime Minister in London. These
:01:12. > :01:16.days are over. A key-note speech from the Labour Leader. Ed Miliband
:01:16. > :01:20.is ready to make a break from the Blair/Brown era.
:01:20. > :01:25.The revolution in your living room. Forget about the computer and the
:01:25. > :01:30.TV, it is about to become the same thing.
:01:30. > :01:40.In sport: Mark Hughes is confirmed as the new manager of Queens Park
:01:40. > :01:54.
:01:54. > :01:59.Rangers. He's signed a two-and-a- Good evening. Welcome to the BBC
:01:59. > :02:03.News at Six. You would be travelling at over 200mph, getting
:02:03. > :02:06.from London to Birmingham in 45 minutes. That is the prospect now
:02:06. > :02:11.that the Government's given the green light to a high-speed rail
:02:11. > :02:14.line. Eventually, it will reach Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow. It
:02:14. > :02:18.could take 14 years before the first passengers get to board the
:02:18. > :02:28.train. In the meantime, there are still plenty of people who want to
:02:28. > :02:32.kill off the whole project. High Speed Two will be the longest
:02:32. > :02:36.major new railway line since the Victorian era and it's been given
:02:36. > :02:42.the go-ahead today. A network of faster, longer trains designed to
:02:42. > :02:47.take the pressure off the country's busiest lines and offer some relief
:02:47. > :02:51.to commuters. Not a single seat, overcrowded, jammed, everyone on
:02:51. > :02:59.top of each other. Not a good start to the day. Getting a seat on the
:02:59. > :03:04.train isn't easy. If you do have to stand, that is not great.
:03:04. > :03:10.Transport Secretary says HS2 will change the way we travel in Britain.
:03:10. > :03:13.Our Victorian predecessors would have had immense pride to see their
:03:13. > :03:18.railways providing massive benefit today over 100 years later. But as
:03:18. > :03:26.a result of today's announcement, the railway revolution they started
:03:26. > :03:30.is happening again. Super-fast trains need straight track hence
:03:30. > :03:37.the controversial route. Beginning at Euston Station in London where
:03:37. > :03:41.commuters and residents face years of disruption. It travels north to
:03:41. > :03:45.the Chilterns. Extra tunnels have been added to calm fears, but for
:03:45. > :03:54.protesters in one pub, including a famous face, it is not enough.
:03:54. > :04:00.Announcing my decision to give the go-ahead to High Speed Two. Initial
:04:00. > :04:08.reaction was the shock-horror, I think. My reaction is even worse
:04:08. > :04:13.today. The Government hasn't listened. Trains continue north
:04:13. > :04:17.past Warwick and Coventry to Birmingham where there is more
:04:17. > :04:22.support. Afternoon. This businessman thinks it will make the
:04:22. > :04:27.UK more competitive. If you look at the modern railways today around
:04:27. > :04:32.the world - I travel China and I travel in Europe - what I see there
:04:32. > :04:37.is the ability to get from A to B in short time and that is what's
:04:37. > :04:42.key to us here. The UK does already have a high-speed rail line linking
:04:42. > :04:49.up Kent and London and we are doing 140mph on that train now. The new
:04:49. > :04:53.trains will be travelling at least 85mph faster than this. Travelling
:04:53. > :04:58.at that speed saves half an hour on a trip to Birmingham. Next stop the
:04:58. > :05:03.Government wants to extend the line further north to Manchester and to
:05:03. > :05:08.Leeds. Total cost? �33 billion. Stage one alone could create 40,000
:05:08. > :05:14.jobs. The Government says for every �1 it spends, the economy could
:05:14. > :05:19.make up to �2.50 back. But how much will a ticket be? We are concerned
:05:19. > :05:23.that actually what will happen with High Speed Two is what happened
:05:23. > :05:28.with High Speed One. Passengers from Kent had to pay 3% above
:05:28. > :05:32.inflation for a number of years in fares rises. Don't start queuing
:05:32. > :05:38.just yet, even without delays it will be 14 years before the first
:05:38. > :05:41.passengers can board a train. Richard is at Euston Station.
:05:41. > :05:46.Government approval, Richard, but not a done deal? It is certainly
:05:46. > :05:49.not. MPs will spend the next two years talking to people affected by
:05:50. > :05:53.the line. They then have to vote a Bill through Parliament. I have
:05:53. > :05:56.been speaking to opponents. They are seriously considering legal
:05:56. > :06:00.action, not necessarily to stop the scheme, but to try it bog it down
:06:00. > :06:04.in the courts until an election is looming and maybe the Government
:06:04. > :06:09.just gives up. Thank you very much.
:06:10. > :06:14.In the last hour, the row over the future of the Union has taken a new
:06:14. > :06:17.twist. Westminster says only it can decide to hold a Scottish
:06:18. > :06:23.independence referendum. Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, had
:06:23. > :06:28.strong words for David Cameron. He said it was "entirely unacceptable
:06:28. > :06:32.for Westminster to try to set conditions for a Scottish
:06:32. > :06:38.referendum". They have been under starter's
:06:38. > :06:43.orders since the SNP won a majority last May. The two sides for and
:06:43. > :06:49.against independence manoeuvring for position. Much of the detail of
:06:49. > :06:53.the referendum is still unclear, or disputed. Alex Salmond today
:06:53. > :06:57.visiting a factory near Aberdeen said those details were for
:06:57. > :07:01.Scotland and Scotland only to decide. He condemned what he called
:07:01. > :07:07.David Cameron's interference. is a huge decision for Scotland.
:07:07. > :07:11.This is potentially the biggest decision we have made for 300 years.
:07:11. > :07:15.We will not be stampeded by a Tory Prime Minister in London. These
:07:15. > :07:19.days are over. MPs have been hearing details of the UK
:07:19. > :07:23.Government's plans for what it describes as a fair, legal and
:07:23. > :07:31.decisive referendum. It insists the Parliament 400 miles away in
:07:31. > :07:36.Edinburgh does not have the legal right to legislate for the vote.
:07:36. > :07:39.These issues are not for politicians alone to consider. That
:07:39. > :07:43.is why the consultation process that starts today will let people
:07:43. > :07:47.express their views on when a referendum should be held, what
:07:47. > :07:52.questions should be asked, who should be entitled to vote and how
:07:52. > :07:56.the campaign should be run. In the papers, there is a growing
:07:56. > :08:00.awareness about how important this issue will be to the future of
:08:00. > :08:06.Scotland and the United Kingdom. So when the referendum is finally held,
:08:06. > :08:10.will people really care enough to come out and vote? A lot of it is
:08:10. > :08:15.about mobilising opinion. We have seen referendums in Wales, there
:08:15. > :08:21.was the AV referendum where people were not mobilised to vote.
:08:21. > :08:25.Something as fundamental as independence, I think that would
:08:25. > :08:29.provoke a great deal of interest and high levels of turnout.
:08:29. > :08:33.timing of a referendum is still uncertain. But both sides in this
:08:33. > :08:42.debate are already racing to convince voters of the merits of
:08:42. > :08:46.Scotland going it alone, or remaining part of the UK.
:08:46. > :08:50.Let's talk to Nick Robinson who is at Westminster. The latest
:08:50. > :08:53.intervention from London will look like Westminster throwing the
:08:53. > :08:57.gauntlet? It is certainly something we have never seen before, that
:08:57. > :09:02.historians will talk about today. The day this Parliament here in
:09:02. > :09:06.Westminster sent a message to the Parliament in Edinburgh saying,
:09:06. > :09:09."Work with us to hold a referendum on Scottish independence or we will
:09:09. > :09:14.see you in court." The message coming from Ministers here in this
:09:14. > :09:18.place is, "You don't have the power, we are happy to loan you the power
:09:18. > :09:21.for a time limited period, but if you don't work with us on the
:09:21. > :09:26.nature of the question of when the referendum is had and even on who
:09:26. > :09:30.gets to vote, then we will see you in court." There would be a dispute
:09:30. > :09:35.in the Supreme Court between the Parliaments of Scotland and of the
:09:35. > :09:38.United Kingdom. Things are moving extraordinarily fast on this story,
:09:38. > :09:42.George. Even since Lorna filed her report a moment ago, the Scottish
:09:43. > :09:48.Government is now telling the BBC that it wants to hold the vote on
:09:48. > :09:52.independence in the autumn of 2014. Not soon enough to satisfy people
:09:52. > :09:57.here, also not satisfactory to people here is the fact that they
:09:57. > :10:01.want to involve 16 and 17-year-olds in that vote, people who don't
:10:01. > :10:05.normally vote in elections, and they want to have a vote not just
:10:05. > :10:11.on independence, but on increased powers. This is the beginning of a
:10:11. > :10:16.battle that will run and run. The Labour Leader says the party
:10:16. > :10:19.needs to make a break with the Tony Blair-Gordon Brown era. In a key-
:10:19. > :10:23.note speech, seen by many as an answer to critics inside and
:10:23. > :10:31.outside the party, Mr Miliband said Labour would deliver fairness even
:10:31. > :10:35.in tough economic times when there is less money to spend.
:10:35. > :10:39.What's Labour for if it can't spend money? That is the question Ed
:10:39. > :10:45.Miliband set out to answer today. In Government he was able to
:10:45. > :10:49.promise more cash for hospitals and schools. No more. He presented
:10:49. > :10:53.himself as the man who understands that his party must change, finding
:10:53. > :11:00.new ways to help the least well-off in a time of austerity. Whoever is
:11:00. > :11:04.the next Prime Minister will have a deficit to reduce and less money to
:11:04. > :11:09.spend. That has profound implications for our country and
:11:09. > :11:13.for my party. So, if he couldn't protect the winter fuel allowance,
:11:13. > :11:17.he would force energy firms to cut their prices for pensioners over 75.
:11:17. > :11:21.He would make train companies keep their fares down and he would tax
:11:21. > :11:25.banks to keep tuition fees low. He scorned David Cameron's claims that
:11:25. > :11:30.the Government was tackling irresponsible bosses. I say to the
:11:30. > :11:35.Prime Minister, "Who are you trying to kid? Nobody is going to believe
:11:35. > :11:41.you came into politics to end crony capitalism." Now that he has
:11:41. > :11:45.accepted that this is the battleground of politics, I say
:11:45. > :11:48.bring it on! Can that message win over voters in seats like Hendon in
:11:48. > :11:53.North London, that Labour lost at the last election and needs to win
:11:53. > :11:55.back if it is to return to power? Ed Miliband knows that come the
:11:56. > :11:59.next general election he won't be able to promise more money to
:11:59. > :12:04.places like this. He will have to convince people that he can fix the
:12:04. > :12:09.economy while also helping those struggling to make ends meet. The
:12:09. > :12:14.question is is anyone listening? At this playgroup, mothers said Mr
:12:14. > :12:17.Miliband was right to focus on "the squeezed middle" but can he make
:12:17. > :12:21.things better? I hope so. I don't know that Mr Miliband is the leader
:12:21. > :12:26.that we are looking for. You need a leader with real charisma. Tony
:12:26. > :12:29.Blair may have had any number of issues, but he had the charisma to
:12:29. > :12:34.lead. The message is going the right way but it is whether he can
:12:34. > :12:38.deliver on what he says he can. recent days, Ed Miliband has faced
:12:38. > :12:43.criticism from some in his party and his aides insisted today's
:12:43. > :12:49.speech was no re-launch of his leadership. The polls are bleak.
:12:49. > :12:54.Only 54% of Labour voters say they are satisfied. 83% of Conservative
:12:54. > :12:57.voters are happier with the way he does his job. He has got a tough
:12:57. > :13:01.wicket. Nobody has become Prime Minister as Leader of the
:13:01. > :13:07.Opposition with these ratings. Today's speech was billed as Ed
:13:07. > :13:10.Miliband's answer to his critics. Even he accepts he is yet to win
:13:10. > :13:13.the argument on the economy. There are fewer jobs for British-
:13:13. > :13:18.born workers because of immigration from outside the European Union,
:13:18. > :13:21.that is according to a new report from the Government-backed
:13:21. > :13:27.migration Advisory Committee. It says for every 100 migrants from
:13:27. > :13:34.outside the EU, there are 23 fewer jobs for British workers. It also
:13:34. > :13:38.estimates that between 1995 and 2010, 160,000 British workers lost
:13:38. > :13:48.out. Azmat Prodger reports, the overall impact of immigration on
:13:48. > :13:50.
:13:50. > :13:58.the British economy remains unclear. -- as Matt Prodger reports, the
:13:58. > :14:04.overall impact of immigration on the British economy remains unclear.
:14:04. > :14:10.This man is Albanian. Some British workers feel a bit lazy. Foreign
:14:10. > :14:14.workers do give 110%. He is not alone in that view. His boss, who
:14:14. > :14:19.is British-born, reckons 1% of the job applications he receives come
:14:19. > :14:26.from his fellow countrymen. We get a much higher number of
:14:26. > :14:29.applications from foreign workers. Then furthermore, it tends to be
:14:29. > :14:35.the foreign workers that possess the skills we are looking for.
:14:35. > :14:39.they work harder than British workers? They have a far stronger
:14:39. > :14:43.work ethic. Government policy is focused on cutting non-EU migrants.
:14:43. > :14:48.They have a short-term negative impact on the work prospects of
:14:48. > :14:54.British people. Today's report says that while the economy has a whole
:14:54. > :15:00.may benefit from immigration, that is no consolation to British-born
:15:00. > :15:04.workers. So why a hotel like this may seem migrant workers as its
:15:04. > :15:08.lifeblood, there is resentment elsewhere. There is too many coming
:15:08. > :15:12.from abroad to do what the English youngsters should be doing. There
:15:12. > :15:17.are no jobs for anybody. The more people they keep bringing over to
:15:18. > :15:20.the country, it is making it harder for everybody else. Today another
:15:20. > :15:24.respected research group said immigration has almost no effect on
:15:24. > :15:28.unemployment. There is no association between the number of
:15:28. > :15:32.immigrants coming to an area and what happened to unemployment
:15:32. > :15:35.benefit claimants. Areas which got more immigrants didn't see a faster
:15:35. > :15:38.rise in the number of people claiming jobseekers' allowance.
:15:38. > :15:48.What is apparent is that when times are good, immigration can help.
:15:48. > :15:50.
:15:50. > :15:54.When times are bad like now, it is Our top story - London to
:15:54. > :15:58.Birmingham in 45 minutes. The controversial high-speed rail line
:15:58. > :16:01.gets government approval. Come On Up, it is make-or-break
:16:01. > :16:07.tonight for the British men's gymnastics team hoping to qualify
:16:07. > :16:11.for London 2012. Later on the BBC News Channel, a
:16:11. > :16:21.last-minute rush boosts Christmas sales at M&S and Debenhams. And RBS
:16:21. > :16:22.
:16:22. > :16:25.prepares to cut 3000 jobs as it Now, most of us have a TV just for
:16:25. > :16:30.watching programmes like this, and a computer somewhere else to go on
:16:30. > :16:33.the internet. Well, that is all about change. You will do it all,
:16:33. > :16:38.from watching your favourite soap to doing your online shopping, on
:16:38. > :16:40.the same screen. Our technology and correspondent reports from
:16:40. > :16:50.California on the revolution in your living room. His report
:16:50. > :16:51.
:16:51. > :16:54.contains flash in images. San Francisco, the gateway to
:16:54. > :16:59.Silicon Valley, where so much of the technology which has changed
:16:59. > :17:03.our lives has been born. I have come to see how the software firms
:17:03. > :17:08.here plan to transform another industry. The internet revolution
:17:08. > :17:13.has been slow to hit television. Silicon Valley believes it can now
:17:13. > :17:19.change our relationship with TV. One small San Francisco software
:17:19. > :17:23.company, Dijit, has a big idea. Here is the problem. Today's TV
:17:23. > :17:28.user has almost too much choice - lots of material in the form of
:17:28. > :17:32.movies, programmes, sport and so on, lots of set-top boxes and all of
:17:32. > :17:37.these remote controls for access to that material. What if we took them
:17:37. > :17:42.away and replaced them with one screen which would allow us to
:17:42. > :17:46.control access to all of this television? Dijit believes this
:17:46. > :17:50.second screen, whether it tablet computer or a smartphone, can make
:17:50. > :17:54.choosing what we watch and sharing it with friends easier. But it was
:17:54. > :17:58.when I headed to Google's HQ that I found the firm with the biggest
:17:58. > :18:02.ambitions. Google TV brings the where and applications like those
:18:02. > :18:07.on a smartphone to your living room. So far, it has struggled to attract
:18:07. > :18:11.an audience, but now it will be built into many new televisions.
:18:11. > :18:14.People classic estate television is a lean back experience. The
:18:14. > :18:21.internet is a lean forward experience. What do you know about
:18:21. > :18:26.TV? Google is very good at helping users find what they want. That is
:18:26. > :18:29.what we believe in. We can use technology to help users find what
:18:29. > :18:34.they want when they want. I left Silicon Valley and the software
:18:34. > :18:41.firms and set off to Las Vegas to get another view on the future of
:18:41. > :18:43.television. This week, every big TV manufacturer is in town for the
:18:43. > :18:49.consumer electronics show, and the battle is on between the likes of
:18:49. > :18:53.Samsung and Sony to be the big players in smart TV. They believe
:18:53. > :18:57.that Connecting your set to the net will soon come naturally. Just as
:18:57. > :19:03.when a consumer goes out and buys a PC, they don't think twice about
:19:03. > :19:09.having to connect to the network, when you buy a TV and bring it home,
:19:09. > :19:12.you should connect it to the internet. The screens get ever
:19:12. > :19:17.bigger and slimmer, the pictures ever sharper. Now television is
:19:17. > :19:19.getting smarter, and hoping that viewers will come along on the
:19:19. > :19:21.journey. Syria's President Assad has
:19:21. > :19:25.delivered a defiant speech as violent protests continue against
:19:25. > :19:30.his regime. He said there was a foreign conspiracy behind the
:19:30. > :19:32.unrest, and he promised to use an iron fist to deal with it. But the
:19:32. > :19:42.speech has been dismissed by the opposition groups behind the ten-
:19:42. > :19:47.
:19:47. > :19:52.month uprising. Business as usual in Syria.
:19:52. > :19:57.President Assad's speech promised more of the same, an iron fist, he
:19:57. > :20:05.called it. So today, this latest amateur video, apparently shows a
:20:05. > :20:10.suburb of the capital, Damascus, with tanks on the streets. It is
:20:10. > :20:14.only the fourth speech by Syria's leader in 10 months of this crisis.
:20:14. > :20:22.He said the country was facing terrorism, and he blamed a
:20:22. > :20:29.conspiracy on foreign powers. The dark aims of warmongers outside our
:20:29. > :20:34.clear now, he says. He went on to attack the foreign media. They want
:20:34. > :20:39.to shake Syria's stability, he says. They are stoking fear, pushing us
:20:39. > :20:43.to collapse. At the start of this crisis, President Assad was seen
:20:43. > :20:48.almost as above the fray. The street protesters pinned their
:20:48. > :20:56.hopes on him to bring in reforms. Now they just want him to go. The
:20:56. > :21:03.opposition accuses him of pushing the country close to civil war. The
:21:03. > :21:07.regime has learnt nothing from the past 10 months, said the head of
:21:07. > :21:14.the main opposition group. It is more extreme now than ever. Arab
:21:14. > :21:19.League monitors have failed to calm things. President Assad attacked
:21:19. > :21:26.them. The opposition want foreign military intervention, but help is
:21:26. > :21:30.not on the way. Syria is at the heart of the Middle East. What
:21:30. > :21:35.happens in Syria is unlikely to remain in Syria. There are any
:21:35. > :21:41.number of scenarios where there are significant spillover effects
:21:41. > :21:45.towards Israel, Turkey and the Gulf. So on the ground, both sides now
:21:45. > :21:48.seem to be expecting an escalation in the violence.
:21:48. > :21:51."Tinkering around the edges" will not be enough to solve the problems
:21:51. > :21:56.in the newspaper industry. That's according to Lord Leveson, the
:21:56. > :22:02.judge in charge of the media ethics inquiry. He has today been hearing
:22:02. > :22:12.evidence from editors and chief executives of broadsheet newspapers.
:22:12. > :22:14.
:22:14. > :22:17.Most agreed that substantial reform is needed. They are titles at the
:22:17. > :22:20.top - what used to be the broadsheet end of the market,
:22:20. > :22:24.anxious about recent failings, but as concerned about their tabloid
:22:24. > :22:27.colleagues about what they see as the threat to the freedom of the
:22:27. > :22:33.press. This was the assertion from Lionel Barber, editor of the
:22:33. > :22:38.Financial Times. I strongly believe that there is a public interest in
:22:38. > :22:44.freedom of expression itself. after the phone hacking scandal, he
:22:44. > :22:49.said the industry had to change. This was a shocking episode. All of
:22:49. > :22:53.us, and I speak for myself, believe that as a result, we need to change
:22:53. > :22:58.the way we do business. Them from the Lord Justice Leveson, some
:22:58. > :23:05.clues about how his mind is thinking. First he doubts the
:23:05. > :23:08.durability of wake-up calls. will understand my concern. But
:23:08. > :23:13.there have been wake-up calls in the past and everybody has woken up,
:23:13. > :23:17.and then it all just appears to have drifted off again. No justice
:23:17. > :23:23.Leveson suggested that the press's problems might require a
:23:23. > :23:27.substantial remedy. It will not be good enough, in my present view,
:23:27. > :23:31.although I am listening and will continue to listen to everything
:23:31. > :23:35.everybody is saying, but it will not do just to think that one can
:23:35. > :23:39.tinker around the edges. Other editors from the Independent and
:23:39. > :23:44.Telegraph stressed the importance of a free press. In the Telegraph's
:23:44. > :23:48.case, it had exposed corruption by MPs with its stories about their
:23:48. > :23:52.expenses, points which Lord Justice Leveson was at pains to recognise.
:23:52. > :23:56.As well as recognising its strengths, Lord Justice Leveson has
:23:57. > :24:00.to recommend remedies for the industry's problems. Judging by his
:24:00. > :24:05.comments today, he favours an organisation which is independent
:24:05. > :24:09.from the media and independent from government to regulate the industry
:24:09. > :24:12.effectively. It's make-or-break tonight for the
:24:12. > :24:17.British men's gymnastics team who are hoping to qualify for London
:24:17. > :24:20.2012. The athletes need to secure a place in the top four of the
:24:20. > :24:24.Gymnastics International competition to get through. If they
:24:24. > :24:29.don't, it will be the first major blow for Team GB. Let's go live to
:24:29. > :24:38.the O2 Arena and our sports correspondent. A lot is at stake,
:24:38. > :24:44.then? Absolutely. But for the North Greenwich arena, as the O2 Arena
:24:44. > :24:48.will be learnt -- known as this week and during the Olympics
:24:48. > :24:51.themselves, it is crunch time for a female gymnasts. It is all ready
:24:51. > :24:55.one of London's most iconic buildings.
:24:55. > :24:59.Today it became an Olympic landmark. This may be the latest in a series
:24:59. > :25:03.of 2012 dress-rehearsal us, but as the first Test event of the year
:25:03. > :25:07.got under way, this felt like the real thing. For those competing
:25:07. > :25:12.today, it mattered, a last chance to qualify for the London Games and
:25:12. > :25:18.returned in the summer. We have had a fantastic cycle over the last
:25:18. > :25:23.four years. We have had medals in the European Championships. Louis
:25:23. > :25:26.Smith's bronze medal in 2008 raised expectations, but a surprise series
:25:26. > :25:30.of mishaps at the world championships last year saw the
:25:30. > :25:34.men's team failed to secure an Olympic berth. Tonight only a top
:25:34. > :25:38.four finish will do. The girls managed to get through into a cure
:25:38. > :25:42.and the boys just missed out. But they have had a good run up to this
:25:42. > :25:48.competition. So hopefully, they will do the job tonight. This arena
:25:48. > :25:55.will hold 60,000 spectators, come the Olympics. There are those here
:25:55. > :26:00.today, an early taste of London 2012. I think it brings it to life.
:26:00. > :26:05.Have you got tickets for the real thing? No. We put in a bid, but did
:26:05. > :26:12.not get any. It is the first time we have put on an event here. Our
:26:12. > :26:16.teams are here. It is a real thrill to be here and see it in Olympic
:26:16. > :26:21.mode. A events like this make London 2012 seem closer than ever.
:26:21. > :26:23.Now the hosts need to make sure they are back here are the main
:26:23. > :26:28.event. After last week's embarrassing suspension of the
:26:28. > :26:32.Olympic tickets resale website, organisers needed some good news.
:26:32. > :26:36.In less than an hour, Team GB's male gymnasts will take to the
:26:36. > :26:46.floor and try and provide it by booking a place in the Games. We
:26:46. > :26:51.And some gymnastics from the weather over the next few days. Big
:26:51. > :26:58.changes coming up. It has been yet another mild day, and it will stay
:26:58. > :27:03.mild overnight tonight for most of us, courtesy of a lot of cloud.
:27:03. > :27:09.Northern parts of England and Wales will see drizzle from time to time.
:27:09. > :27:13.Across parts of southern England, then maybe a touch of frost. But
:27:13. > :27:20.generally, temperatures are well above freezing. The wind will be
:27:20. > :27:26.picking up across the far north. Rain clouds will arrive. Further
:27:26. > :27:30.south across the country, more brightness. The cloud will thin
:27:31. > :27:38.across parts of the Midlands, East Anglia and southern England to
:27:38. > :27:42.allow some wintry sunshine. Temperatures are still high.
:27:42. > :27:48.Pleasant enough across south- western parts of England. The winds
:27:48. > :27:51.are light. The further north you go, the breezier it will be. Some
:27:51. > :27:57.dampness will hang around across parts of Snowdonia. Northern
:27:57. > :28:07.Ireland sees some drier spells. For Scotland, it will turn increasingly
:28:07. > :28:11.windy and wet, particularly across the far north. This cold front will
:28:11. > :28:15.slide south during tomorrow night and into Thursday. Most of the rain
:28:15. > :28:19.will die out, but it is an important dividing line between the
:28:19. > :28:23.mild conditions across the South and something a lot brighter and
:28:23. > :28:28.chillier across the northern half of the UK. As we end the week,
:28:28. > :28:32.these colder conditions will spread to the whole of the UK. Sunshine by
:28:32. > :28:37.day, but frost by night. Winter as we used to know it.
:28:37. > :28:41.A reminder of tonight's main news: London to Birmingham in 45 minutes
:28:41. > :28:44.- the controversial high-speed rail line get government approval. The