25/01/2012 BBC News at Six

That shrinking feeling. The UK economy went into reverse at the

end of last year. From manufacturing to building and

services, output fell by 0.2%. Labour and the government at odds

over who is to blame. We have a shrinking economy and the highest

unemployment in 18 years. Mr Speaker, how bad two things have to

get in the economy to shake him out of his complacency? He talks about

what our policy is. We remembers what his policy was. No more boom

and bust! And yet he gave us the biggest boom and the biggest bust!

We'll be asking if Britain now faces a double dip recession.

Also tonight: US special forces, the same unit that killed Osama bin

Laden, rescues two aid workers from Somali bandits. Good job, tonight.

Good job, says the President after he ordered the secret mission.

The choice facing Scotland: to stay in the UK or go for independence.

The First Minister gives his plan for the referendum. The people who

care most about Scotland, the people who live and work there,

should be the ones taking the decisions about the future.

Chocolate with strawberries. And what meal do you think would be

fit for a queen? Children get their chance to choose a menu for the

Diamond Jubilee. I will be here with Sportsday, with

news from Anfield and the Carling Cup semi-final. Liverpool are a

goal up from the first leg against Good evening. Welcome to the BBC

News at Six. There are new fears that Britain could slip back into

recession after the latest figures on the economy showed it shrank by

0.2% in the last three months of 2011. The downturn saw a

contraction in manufacturing and building. David Cameron admitted

the figures were disappointing but said Britain was not immune from

the eurozone's difficulties. Labour says cutting the deficit too far,

too fast is to blame. The letters stand for gross domestic product,

the sum total of everything produced in the UK. In a recovery,

it is supposed to keep getting bigger, but not lately and not the

last three months of last year. Our national out but officially shrank

by 0.2%. -- output. The figures showed manufacturing did

particularly badly but for Tony Hancock, who makes trailers for the

aviation industry in Doncaster, it is not about statistics but

survival. I will survive because that is my nature. I don't yet know

exactly how I will survive but the last thing I will do is lose staff.

If I lose any more, I would have to look at saying, let's close the

doors and move on. 2009 was the 2010 looks better now than it felt

then. Revised figures show growth of 2.1%. Last year wasn't half as

good. And the average forecast for 2012 keeps falling. The betting now

is that we will barely grow at all. The Prime Minister said the figures

were disappointing but don't blame him. They reflect wreath things:

The overhang of the debt and the deficit that we have to deal with.

They reflect the higher food and fuel prices that put the squeeze on

household income is at the end of last year, and they also reflect

the crisis in the eurozone that has frozen Europe's economies. He said

unemployment would fall. It isn't. He said the economy would grow. It

hasn't. He said we are all in this together. We are not. When will the

Prime Minister face up to the fact that his policies are failing the

country? It was mainly weak spending at home that held back the

economy last year. Our trade with other countries and even in Europe

held up pretty well but the Prime Minister is right that the

government wasn't the only one squeezing UK households. They also

faced a big rise in energy and food prices. And uncertainty about the

eurozone probably did weigh down on confidence last year. It will be

even more important in 2012. Take tourism. Last year we had more

foreign visitors and spending by UK holidaymakers rose by over 10% but

On the plus side, perhaps exposure of the Olympics and the Diamond

Jubilee but on the negative side, we have the turmoil in Europe so I

think if we have a flat here, we would still be doing extremely well.

This news is a bit worse than expected but the broad message is

the same: The UK economy is flat. But that is enough bad news to be

getting on with two and a half years after the steepest recession

in living memory the supposed to have ended.

So the argument about who or what is to blame rages in Westminster

but what does the downturn mean for families and businesses around the

country? Our correspondent has been focusing on the market town of

Hereford. Hereford, historic, timeless. A

border city that has seen it all. Good times and bad. But today there

on new challenges. In the city centre, things seem pretty healthy.

Plenty of people out and about. Take a closer look. It is late

January and the sales are still on. Some shops have closed down, others

struggling for survival. This man is doing all he can to bring the

customers in. We have been in business 11 years... We have looked

at every cost in the business and we have cut every cost back to the

lowest level that we can. 43! Jerez that's brand new livestock

market is doing brisk business. -- Hereford. Agriculture is crucial to

the economy and land prices haven't been this good for years. Export to

Europe are a driving force. Farmers like John Bishop cannot afford to

celebrate. His income is improving but that is only half of the

picture. The cost of production is going through the roof. It is

soaring out of control. The cost of energy is unbelievable. Perhaps the

economic fightback will start with small businesses like this. In her

farmhouse kitchen, this woman is running courses in Indian cookery.

There is a market there. There is a place for new businesses but you

have to search for the right market. Clearly the people of Hereford are

having to adapt to a new economic reality. They are changing their

spending habits and work patterns, launching new businesses, but you

still get the impression that no one here quite knows what happens

next with the economy or the scale of the problems which may still lie

ahead. Our political editor joins us.

These figures must put pressure on the Chancellor. Any sign he will

have changed tack? These Treasury officials will

probably give you a better sense than me because I have not seen him

but there is clearly a sense that George Osborne is saying to the

country, I knew it was bad, I told you in my last Autumn Statement

that things have got worse, that borrowing would go on longer, that

the pain would be deeper. You get the argument between the Labour

Party saying, it is all your fault, and the government saying, no, it

is the euro, and yet the economists are saying, it is probably both

that have contributed to problems we have. More interesting perhaps

is the argument about what we do next. The last person to be on the

doorstep posing for their cameras was Christine Lagarde, head of

International Monetary Fund, a vital international organisation.

What is intriguing is what her chief economist has said. He said,

because the government has got a plan for dealing with the deficit,

it has got a little bit of room to slow down the cuts if it wants in

order to help with growth. But then he added a but. The but is:

Provided it doesn't spook the markets into thinking that the

government has lost its nerve. That is the argument that will be going

on inside the building, inside the Treasury, inside the next few weeks

before the Budget. What can they do which would contribute to growth

without unnerving the markets that the government had lost its nerve?

Intriguingly, the Liberal Democrats in the coalition are beginning to

say the answer is tax cuts for those on low and middle incomes,

but they have to be paid for and that would mean by tax rises on

people who are richer. Thank you. US special forces, the same unit

that killed Osama bin Laden last year, have mounted another daring

mission. This time they have rescued two aid workers, including

an American, who were kidnapped by Somali bandits three months ago.

President Obama, who ordered the top secret mission, said America

would never tolerate the abduction of its citizens. Our security

correspondent reports. A commander in chief with every

reason to be believed. Good job tonight. On his way to give the

State of the Union address last night, President Obama

congratulated his Defence Secretary on a secret rescue mission in

Somalia. A mission that indeed these two aid workers' nightmare.

American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted from Denmark, freed

by US Navy SEALS after three months held by Somali kidnappers. They

were seized last October while working for a Danish Mind -- mine

clear ring it company. They were being held in a compound in

northern Somalia. US Navy SEALS from Unit 6, the same that killed

Osama Bin Laden, parachuted in the area, landing close to the compound

at 2am. Gunfire broke out and in the fighting that followed, all

nine kidnappers were killed. There were no US casualties. The hostages

were then flown by helicopter to the safety of a US base in Djibouti.

The entire operation lasted an hour. When it was over, the President ran

Jessica Buchanan's father. He had taken a big risk. The president

authorised this personally. I cannot go into more detail. They

concluded they should go and the President gave the go. This was the

highest profile US military operation in Somalia since US

forces pulled out in 1994 but that still leaves over 150 hostages,

mostly sailors, held by Somali pirates and bandits and the ransoms

for their release are rising, running well into the millions. One

of those still being held is a British tourist, snatched from this

Kenyan beach resort last September and taken to Somalia. It is partly

what has prompted David Cameron to call an international conference on

Somalia next month. Tonight two X hostages' ordeal is over. But

Somalia's problems will be up needing profound and lasting

solutions. It has been described as the most

important decision Scotland will have to make in 300 years. First

Minister, Alex Salmond, has set out his proposals for a referendum on

independence from the rest of the UK. The plan will now go out for

consultation. This report contains a flash photography.

It is a day which Alex Salmond believes is historic. He once got

into the Independent and today his government invited the people to

have their say -- he wants Scotland to be independent. It is not just

about the wealth and strength of the Scottish economy, we want to

see a society which has compassion at its heart. A Scotland's First

Minister would like the referendum to start with one key question.

That is, do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?

Much else is open to discussion. Should there be an additional

question about further devolution, devolution max? Would a Saturday

boost turnout for the ballot? Who should get to vote? Should 16 and

17-year-olds et sa? These pupils in Fife would be affected by which way

the decision goes. At the age of 16, we are able to go and get married,

and raise a family, so why shouldn't we be able to vote?

are not informed enough. A lot of people I know have no idea what is

going on with politics. Scotland's first minister says it is the

people who live and work in Scotland who are best placed to

decide its future. That has left some, including James Wallace,

recently graduated and heading to London, I'm happy. It is wrong that

people like me, who has spent my entire life in Scotland, suddenly

through my work commitments have to move to London and all of a sudden

I am excluded from being able to vote in the referendum. Two weeks

ago, Westminster launched its own consultation on the referendum so

what hope that two governments can reach agreement? We want to sit

down with as good as government and see if we can come forward with the

way that will make sure we have a legal and decisive referendum.

what happens in Scotland could affect the rest of the UK.

Scotland's future is a matter for Scotland but the constitutional

debate is a matter for everybody who has an interest in what happens

to the UK. The details of this announcement will be analysed.

Voters will now have three months to consider what Alex Salmond has

said today and to reflect on what is in here but only after people

have expressed their views will negotiations between the two

governments really begin. But this consultation brings the

referendum itself one step closer. The detailed arguments over the

Our top story tonight: the UK economy went into reverse at the

end of last year, as output fell by 0.2%. Coming up: Harry Redknapp and

the taped conversations about his alleged tax evasion.

Later on the BBC News Channel, cutting subsidies for solar panels

was unlawful. The Government loses its High Court appeal.

And mortgage lending hits its David Cameron has set out the

fundamental changes he wants to see to the European Court of Human

Rights. He told the Council of Europe in Strasbourg that the

court's reputation had been undermined by hearing trivial cases,

and it should interfere less in decisions made by national courts.

Our deputy political editor, James Landale, is in Strasbourg and

listened to the Prime Minster's speech. In the wake of the Second

World War, European nations came together to establish a new

convention on human rights. Drafted in part by British politicians and

lawyers, its aim was to give back to the people of Europe the

freedoms they had lost in years of conflict. But today the European

Court of Human Rights, the court has upholds that convention, stands

accused by critics of straying from its original purpose. Critics like

the Prime Minister, who came to Strasbourg to say it is time for

reform. The court should be free to deal with the most serious

violations of human rights. It should not be swamped with an

endless backlog of cases. It should ensure that the right to individual

petition counts, but not act as a small claims court. The court

should hold us all to account. It should not undermine its own

reputation by going over decisions where it doesn't need to.

European Court's decision last week to prevent Britain deporting the

radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada for fear he would not get a fair

trial in Jordan, despite the British courts rueming otherwise.

Mr Cameron says he wants decisions by national courts respected more

often unless there are exceptional circumstances. He wants the get rid

of the backlog of more than 150 ,000 cases so the court can focus

on serious not trivial issues. He wants better judges appointed. But

last year the court ruled that three of Britain's most dangerous

murderers couldn't review their life sentences, prompting

supporters of the court to say it was getting the balance right, and

warned that reform carried risk. Some of the proposals from member

states such as the UK seriously threaten the rights of individuals

all across Europe to seek justice for human rights violations. David

Cameron's come to Strasbourg because he and many of his MPs

believe that the judges who sit this these chairs here are

interfering too much in British national life. But his reforms even

if they are agreed will take years to implement and for some he is not

going far enough. In the coming months the European Court will rule

once again on whether prisonerers should get the vote. If it insists

they should, many Conservatives MPs will say it is not triumph for

withdrawal but -- not time to reform but withdraw from the court

entirely. Harry Redknapp, one of Britain's

most successful and popular figures in football, has been in court for

a third day facing charges of tax evasion. The case revolves around a

bank account held by the Tottenham manager in Monaco. The court heard

taped conversations with a News of the World journalist in which Mr

Redknapp angrily denied the allegations against him. This

Harry Redknapp arriving at Court supported once again by his son,

Jamie, who has been here every day of the trial. The jury heard how

Redknapp had been paid �1 million when while manager of Portsmouth

his team had been promoted to the Premier League that. Information

came from the club's former chairman, Milan Mandaric, in a

telephone recording made by the News of the World which was played

to the court. Max Beesley was the reporter who made the call after

being tipped off about the Monaco bank account. He admitted paying

his informant �8,000. Max Beesley recorded a call with Harry Redknapp

The prosecution also asked the juer Troy consider a series of questions.

One of them: did Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric really think that

payments from a chairman of a Football Club to a senior employee

should not incur income tax? Another: was it credible that it

never occurred to Mr Redknapp to mention the existence of the Monaco

account to his own accountant? Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric

both deny sect up the foreign bank account to avoid paying taxes.

Tomorrow's session will begin with a video link to Monaco, where the

account was based. The BBC has been told to scale back

planned cuts to its regional services. The chairman of the BBC

Trust, Lord Patten, said the changes to local radio stations and

TV current affairs programmes would damage unique services. It means

the Corporation will have to find �10 million worth of savings

elsewhere. England's cricketers will feel they

have the edge following the first day of play at the second Test

against Pakistan. They took seven wickets, with Stuart Broad and

Graham Swann taking three apiece. From Abu Dhabi, here's Joe Wilson.

In cricket terms Abu Dhabi's stadium is located slap-bang in the

middle of nowhere, outside desert. Inside deserted? Not quite. The

crowd grew to a few thousand as England rethought their approach.

Spin bowling in the morning. Swann struck first. Off off accommodating.

Panesar returning triumphly to the team. Forget TV technology and

disputed decisions. If you knock over the stumps it is out. Younis

Khan dismissed by Broad. Azhar Ali followed emphaticly. Pakistan were

103-4. England in the grief. Pakistan's Captain Misbah-ul-Haq is

often regarded as a boring batsman. Panesar may have disagreed. The

bowler's patience stretched further when Misbah was stretched to 30.

Shafiq lbw for 58. Then Broad was lbw. Fortunes had turned. That's

the beauty of the game. Misbah was defiant, choosing the final to

bounce Panesar back over the boundary. Message clear. The

Captain is still there. Test match cricket is at its best when it is

evenly poised. That's certainly the case here. Those who came will

surely think it was worth watching, especially was it was free to get

From flaming beacons to a flotilla of barges along the Thames - just

some of the plans to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Today, the

search began for a special menu to serve at the big occasion, with

schoolchildren being asked to come up with a dish fit for a Queen. The

event was launched by the Duchess of Cornwall, who had some advice of

her own, as Jon Kay reports. Please be seated. She's used to the very

finest cuisine, but the menu at Buckingham Palace is about to get

some updating. In June, the royal kitchens will be serving up food

created by British schoolchildren. So, aprons on, pans at the right-

hand. What would these youngsters in Bristol cook for the Queen?

Chocolate cake with strawberries on top. Ice cream and jelly. Chicken

tikka masala. Everyone likes it. Victoria sponge because of Queen

victoria. I might call it an Elizabeth sponge. This was the idea

of the Duchess of Cornwall, who today became the most unlikely

dinner lady at a Swindon comprehensive school. She wanted to

give mer mother-in-law an unusual present for her Diamond Jubilee and

thought a kids' cookery competition would get things rolling. It is a

light touch isn't it What would you cook for the Queen herself? What

would I cook for the Queen? Something very simple I think. I

don't dare go on about my roast chicken but that's the safest thing

I can cook. What do you think she would like to eat? She likes very

plain. Nothing too complicated. Children entering the competition

are encouraged to use local ingredients, so that pasty made by

kids here contains Wiltshire meat and vegetables. They are encouraged

to give old dish as new twist. So here we've got Coronation chicken,

a royal favourite, but inside a Sam oes Sam. Thinking about pudding.

How about this? This is Queen of puddings appropriately enough, but

here inside a tart. When did you start to cook? The winning entries

will be turned into canapes in the royal kitchens and the young chefs

who create them will get the serve the dishes to the Queen.

More now on our main story. The argument about where the UK economy

is heading. Jeffny Flanders joins me. It's a question everyone wants

answering - is there a possibility of a double-dip recession? Hate to

be a possibility on the basis of these numbers, buts the question

that no-one can answer. You can find people in the City who will

tell you this is likely to be short-lived. We've seen positive

signs today from UK manufacturing in the last few weeks. Good news

from the US economy. Even Germany, but there is plenty of others who

think we are now heading deeply into negative territory for a while.

What's most striking to me is that the average forecast for the UK

this year is 0.4%. When George Osborne became Chancellor, when he

wrote his Budget plans, we thought the economy would grow by 2.6% last

year, 278% this year. I think the crucial thing is just like the

financial crisis before it, this is turning out to be a recovery unlike

Fluctuating numbers of my own, because it's been much milder today.

Temperatures have been higher but tonight they will drop once more.

It will turn colder after we've all seen a spell of wet weather. It's

been raining for much of the afternoon in Northern Ireland and

western Scotland. A big line of rain heading all the way to the

south of Ireland that. Line of rain is a weather front, which will

spread across all areas overnight. We'll all have a few hours of rain.

Because it is a cold front it will then drop temperatures sharply.

Under the clear skies we will see frost forming in northern Britain.

As the rain clears it could turn icy for the morning rush hour

across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. It's a wet

rush hour in eastern counties of England but the rain here will

drift away and then we are all in the mixture of sunshine and showers.

The showers tomorrow will have a wintry shower. Sleet and hail mixed

in. For some there would be snow over the hills of Scotland. Even at

lower levels there could be snow flurries in the central belt, and

in Northern Ireland and northern England. Even at lower level there

is could be hail and sleet for a time. Further south, not many

showers by the afternoon. A better chance of sunshine. Maybe showers

over the moors. Temperatures lower than today's. It will feel chilly

tomorrow night. Temperatures dropping away. Showers in north-

western areas. Snow likely over the hills. The risk of ice on Friday

morning. Friday is again a day of sunshine and showers, with the