:00:04. > :00:08.A "sickening" catalogue of abuse by a teacher - a new report blames the
:00:08. > :00:13.school for failing to act on warnings. Convicted paedophile
:00:13. > :00:21.Nigel Leat was jailed last year. Now it's emerged that managers
:00:21. > :00:25.ignored at least 30 reports of his behaviour. I found it incredible,
:00:26. > :00:29.like other people will, that these instances were going on and were
:00:29. > :00:32.not acted upon, were not reported to the local authority, were not
:00:32. > :00:35.reported to the police. Also on tonight's programme:
:00:35. > :00:40.Arrested - the head of the company behind the breast implant scare. We
:00:40. > :00:45.report on what happens to women coping with the aftermath. We've
:00:45. > :00:50.got enough to worry about that we've got this disgusting implant
:00:50. > :00:54.inside us to let alone have to worry about how are we going to
:00:54. > :00:57.find the money to replace them. Revealed for the first time - a
:00:57. > :01:02."shocking waste of talent" as hundreds of schools in England fail
:01:02. > :01:07.their struggling students. The Syrians who've dared to take
:01:07. > :01:11.their protest to the capital - we have a special report.
:01:11. > :01:21.And the heart attack death rate - halved in the last ten years. It's
:01:21. > :01:25.down to better NHS care and healthier living. Coming up in
:01:25. > :01:29.Sportsday on the BBC News Channel three late wicket could prove
:01:29. > :01:39.costly for England's cricketers as the pendulum swings back to
:01:39. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:51.Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.
:01:51. > :01:54.Management at a school where a teacher was found guilty of abusing
:01:54. > :01:57.a number of children have been described as grossly negligent.
:01:57. > :02:02.Last year, Nigel Leat was jailed for his behaviour, described by the
:02:02. > :02:08.judge as "sickening". A review of the case has revealed that staff
:02:08. > :02:16.had concerns on at least 30 occasions but they weren't acted on.
:02:16. > :02:21.Jon Kay is in Weston-super-Mare for us tonight. Jon. This seaside town
:02:21. > :02:25.was rocked last summer when Nigel Leat, a local primary school
:02:25. > :02:29.teacher, admitted sexually abusing young children in his classroom.
:02:29. > :02:34.Tonight one mum told me she feels just as numb this evening, because
:02:34. > :02:39.today parents here were told there were warnings and concerns about
:02:39. > :02:44.Nigel Leat nearly 15 years ago but those concerns were not followed up.
:02:44. > :02:48.Tonight they wonder whether if they had been followed up much of this
:02:48. > :02:53.abuse could have been prevented. Tell us how you manage to do so
:02:53. > :02:58.keep those children silent... Teacher Nigel Leat just after his
:02:58. > :03:03.arrest. The judge said he was a paedophile of the most sickening
:03:03. > :03:09.kind. He abused youngsters behind the school piano and while they
:03:09. > :03:12.read to him in class. It is now emerged that Leat's colleagues at
:03:12. > :03:16.Hillside First School in Weston- super-Mare were worried by his
:03:16. > :03:23.inappropriate behaviour years before he was finally arrested, but
:03:23. > :03:28.today's report claims the school's management repeatedly failed to act.
:03:28. > :03:33.The serious case review says staff had concerns about Leat on at least
:03:33. > :03:38.30 different occasions, but only 11 incidents were recorded by the
:03:38. > :03:42.school and none of them was passed to the authorities. The report says
:03:42. > :03:47.the school's management of elite leets's case was lamentable. The
:03:47. > :03:52.head teacher has since been sacked. I found it incredible, like other
:03:52. > :04:00.people will, that these instances were going on and were not acted
:04:00. > :04:03.upon, were not reported to the police or chair of governors.
:04:03. > :04:09.Absolutely incredible. Complete anger. It is anger, it's
:04:09. > :04:14.frustration. How can he get away with it? This woman's children were
:04:14. > :04:18.taught by Leat. They weren't part of the criminal case against him.
:04:18. > :04:25.She doesn't want to be identified. Tonight she told me the failings
:04:25. > :04:29.listed in the report have horrified her and other parents.
:04:29. > :04:34.education system failed us all, and the head teacher failed us all,
:04:34. > :04:38.which is why he's been sacked. The place we thought was safe has now
:04:38. > :04:43.proven not to be safe. Laws need to be changed. Today's report says
:04:43. > :04:47.what happened at Hillside should lead to changes across the country.
:04:47. > :04:52.It recommends training so teachers know how to raise concerns about a
:04:52. > :04:57.colleague, and spot checks in classrooms to reveal what is really
:04:58. > :05:04.going on. Today's report said the school concerned put academic
:05:04. > :05:07.attainment of pupils ahead of their safety. As for Nigel Leat, he is
:05:07. > :05:10.serving an indefinite jail sentence. Jon, thank you.
:05:10. > :05:13.The founder of the company at the centre of an international scare
:05:13. > :05:15.over faulty breast implants has been arrested by French police.
:05:15. > :05:23.Jean-Claude Mas is accused of fraud and manslaughter for using
:05:23. > :05:29.industrial grade silicone in the implants. Christian Fraser is in
:05:29. > :05:32.Marseille, where the police are holding him. Christian.
:05:32. > :05:36.George, thank you very much. Well, tonight Jean-Claude Mas is being
:05:36. > :05:42.questioned by police. He has shown very little empathy with the
:05:42. > :05:47.thousands of women worldwide who are now facing an unenviable choice
:05:47. > :05:51.whether or not to have the implants removed. He's been taken before a
:05:51. > :05:56.judge and the hearing is likely to last throughout the night. He's
:05:56. > :06:00.been hiding in isolated luxury, on the green coastline of a French
:06:00. > :06:05.Riviera and in a villa paid for by the victims of the PIP scandal. But
:06:05. > :06:11.today Mas mass was arrested at the house he shared with a long-time
:06:11. > :06:15.girl friend, the woman he claims to have left. His lawyer said the 72-
:06:15. > :06:20.year-old was co-operating with police and dismissed the search of
:06:20. > :06:24.the property as a formality. But investigators allege the 72-year-
:06:24. > :06:29.old has been very clever in hiding his fortune. Officially this
:06:29. > :06:35.property together with pool, spa and gym is in the name of his
:06:35. > :06:39.girlfriend, as is the tight of his abandoned PIP warehouse. The
:06:39. > :06:44.company was officially liquidated in March 2010. Yet today we found
:06:44. > :06:47.the factory littered with all kinds of documents and abandoned stock.
:06:47. > :06:51.The equipment gives the air of respectability but the reality of
:06:51. > :06:55.course was very different. To cut his costs Mr Mas filled his
:06:56. > :06:58.implants with an industrial gel more commonly used to fill
:06:58. > :07:03.mattresses. In an earlier interview with police Jean-Claude Mas said
:07:03. > :07:08.his company had fooled European inspectors for some 13 years. His
:07:08. > :07:13.staff, he said, did what they could to hide from them what kind of gel
:07:13. > :07:18.they were putting in the silicone implants. He said his victims were
:07:18. > :07:22.psychologically fragile and were only after him for his money. So
:07:22. > :07:26.far 20 women who had the implants fitted have been diagnosed with
:07:26. > :07:31.cancer but no direct link has been established with the PIP implants.
:07:31. > :07:36.The major problem is the rate of rupture. 5 % higher than in normal
:07:36. > :07:42.cases. Lawyers for the women here in France who timed complaints said
:07:42. > :07:45.the arrest is excellent news. TRANSLATION: We are relieved. Even
:07:45. > :07:51.if it's late. We want a formal inquiry to be opened and we want
:07:51. > :07:55.him placed on bail so he can't leave the country. Mr Mas will now
:07:55. > :07:59.be held in Marseille for 48 hours before investigators must decide
:07:59. > :08:04.whether to charge him with causing injury and involuntary manslaughter.
:08:04. > :08:10.The 72-year-old complains he is not in good health. There is unlikely
:08:10. > :08:18.to be much sympathy from the women he's duped.
:08:18. > :08:22.Mr Mass has been -- Mr Mas has been arrested in connection with a
:08:22. > :08:30.criminal inquiry. But 3,000 women here have had their implants
:08:30. > :08:33.removed. PIP was liquidated two years ago and most of his wealth
:08:33. > :08:36.Han has been transferred into the accounts of his wife and children.
:08:36. > :08:39.More than 40,000 British women were given those substandard implants
:08:39. > :08:41.and many have been left wondering how they'll pay to have them
:08:41. > :08:44.replaced. Our medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh, followed one woman,
:08:44. > :08:54.Debbie Lewis, through her surgery. His report contains images of the
:08:54. > :08:56.
:08:56. > :09:00.implants being removed. It is a dilemma facing 40,000 British women
:09:00. > :09:06.- what to do about their PIP implants. For Debbie Lewis the
:09:06. > :09:11.decision is simple, as one of them is ruptured. She invite us to film
:09:11. > :09:16.her surgery and explained why she had implants in the first place.
:09:16. > :09:21.always wanted big boobs. When I was married I kept saying to my husband,
:09:21. > :09:25."Can I have my boobs done?" And he said, "No." And then we separated.
:09:25. > :09:30.I thought to myself I'm going to treat myself, so I went and got a
:09:30. > :09:35.credit card, saved some money and that's how I got them done.
:09:35. > :09:43.this is the reality of a ruptured PIP implant, as the surgeon removes
:09:43. > :09:48.it. It is so damaged the outer shell is in shreds. It feels like a
:09:48. > :09:53.cheap beach ball! It looks pretty revolting but there is very little
:09:53. > :09:58.evidence that this industrial-grade filler is harmful. But it is the
:09:58. > :10:02.doubts over its long-term safety, which has prompted governments in
:10:02. > :10:08.France, Germany and elsewhere to recommend the removal of all PIP
:10:08. > :10:12.implants. The second implant emerges undamaged and intact. A
:10:12. > :10:19.reason why the Government here says there is no need for routine
:10:19. > :10:26.removal. Debbie's had her implants changed before and even these new
:10:26. > :10:30.ones may not last forever. Her surgeon says one in three he fits
:10:30. > :10:34.are replacements. What always amaze me as a surgeon is how many ladies,
:10:34. > :10:38.even in their 60s, choose to have new implants in rather than a new
:10:38. > :10:42.car. That's the value they've placed on them while they have had
:10:42. > :10:48.them over those years. Four days after surgery and one credit card
:10:48. > :10:53.bill has already arrived. The operation cost �6,000. Her previous
:10:54. > :10:58.clinic wouldn't do it for free and the NHS in England will remove but
:10:58. > :11:04.not replace cosmetic implants. We've got enough to worry about
:11:04. > :11:10.that we've got this disgusting implants inside us let alone having
:11:10. > :11:12.to worry how we are going to find the money to replace them,
:11:12. > :11:17.reconstruction surgery, we shouldn't have a to be worrying
:11:17. > :11:21.about things like that. Some private clinics are offering free
:11:21. > :11:26.surgery, but thousands of women are in Debbie Lewis's position,
:11:26. > :11:33.wondering should they pay like her or ask the NHS to simply remove
:11:33. > :11:36.their PIP implants? It's been described as a shocking
:11:36. > :11:38.waste of talent. The latest figures for secondary schools in England
:11:38. > :11:41.show that hundreds are failing their least able students. For the
:11:41. > :11:45.first time, the annual league tables include information on how
:11:45. > :11:47.children from different backgrounds are coping. Only one in three
:11:47. > :11:57.teenagers from disadvantaged homes achieved five good GCSEs. Here's
:11:57. > :11:58.
:11:58. > :12:02.our education correspondent, Reeta Chakrabarti. How well is your
:12:02. > :12:06.child's school doing? The Government wants you to know and it
:12:06. > :12:12.is flooding parents with data in this year's league tables. Over 200
:12:12. > :12:17.figures for each secondary school in England. Bottom of the year's
:12:17. > :12:21.table is St Aldhelm's in Poole, where just 3% of pupils got five
:12:21. > :12:25.good GCSEs. It serves three big estates and has a high proportion
:12:25. > :12:31.of traveller children. Although it became an academy in 2010 the head
:12:31. > :12:35.said it will take time to turn the school around. We are extremely
:12:35. > :12:39.disappointed, of course, but not surprised. Change takes time. We've
:12:39. > :12:42.only had these young people for 8 months of their ten-year
:12:42. > :12:47.educational experience. We need to work on it and make sure we embed
:12:47. > :12:51.and sustain good learns. Across England today's league tables show
:12:51. > :12:57.shah just 34% of disadvantaged children get the Government's
:12:57. > :13:01.benchmark of five good GCSEs. Of those who are academically weaker
:13:01. > :13:09.age 11, just 6.5 % achieve that goal. For those who are average at
:13:09. > :13:15.11, over 45 % don't get five good GCSEs. But at Lilian Baylis
:13:15. > :13:20.Technology School they are riding high. It is an inner city school
:13:20. > :13:24.with many special needs pupils but is named as one of the 200 most
:13:24. > :13:29.improved secondaries. Students here are pleased. I know that they've
:13:29. > :13:33.improved my grades and the grades of some of my friends as well so
:13:33. > :13:37.I'm very proud of my school. It is one of the schools where no matter
:13:37. > :13:42.where you come from or your background it will release your
:13:42. > :13:45.potential. You succeed. publishing all this information the
:13:45. > :13:50.Government wants to expose weaknesss in other schools that it
:13:50. > :13:55.thinks have been masked by the previous league tables. But some
:13:55. > :13:59.are sceptical about how useful all of this is: All the way this is has
:13:59. > :14:03.been broken up start to get confusing. I feel a bit like I'm
:14:03. > :14:06.reading Stephen Hawking. I understand the words but not the
:14:06. > :14:10.big picture. Ministers say all this data will be useful for parents but
:14:10. > :14:14.Government will use it too to overhaul schools which don't push
:14:14. > :14:16.their pupils enough. And you can find out more
:14:16. > :14:26.information about the England schools league tables on the BBC
:14:26. > :14:27.
:14:27. > :14:33.website at bbc.co.uk/schooltables. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick
:14:33. > :14:41.Clegg, wants the Government to speed up plans at which the -- at
:14:41. > :14:44.which people start to pay tax. James Landale reports.
:14:44. > :14:48.How can the Government help low paid families that are feeling the
:14:48. > :14:53.squeeze? Nick Clegg's answer today was simple. Cut their income tax
:14:53. > :14:57.bills more quickly and pay for it by taxing the rich. The UK's tax
:14:57. > :15:03.system cannot go on like this. With those at the top claiming the
:15:03. > :15:06.reliefs, enjoying the allowances, hiring other people to find the
:15:06. > :15:13.loopholes while everyone else pays through the nose. So the coalition
:15:13. > :15:16.is calling time on our unfair and out of whack tax system is. He said
:15:16. > :15:20.in the Budget the Government should speed up its plans to raise the
:15:20. > :15:25.threshold at which people pay incometa. I want the coalition to
:15:25. > :15:32.go further and faster in delivering the full �10,000. Because bluntly
:15:32. > :15:35.if pressure on family finances is reaching boiling point. Under the
:15:35. > :15:40.Government's existing plans the income tax there are hold will rise
:15:40. > :15:46.to over �8,000 in April and it was expected to carry on rising to pod
:15:46. > :15:51.10 ,000 by 2015. Mr Clegg wants that raised sooner. He said it
:15:51. > :15:57.could be paid for by cutting pension relief, closing loopholes
:15:57. > :16:01.and even a "mansion tax" on houses worth �2 million. But this isn't
:16:01. > :16:06.Government policy, just Mr Clegg's shopping list. Many Tories think
:16:06. > :16:09.tax cuts should be used to help the economy and create jobs. Finally
:16:09. > :16:13.Nick Clegg has woken up to the squeezing of people on middle
:16:13. > :16:17.incomes but the problem is who squeezed the middle? It is this
:16:17. > :16:20.Government, which has put up VAT, this Government which is cutting
:16:20. > :16:25.tax credits and this Government which is allowing energy companies
:16:25. > :16:31.to rip people off on their bills. On one level this is a rather
:16:31. > :16:34.public attempt by Nick Clegg to per Tory colleagues to cut taxes faster.
:16:34. > :16:38.But he is also trying to persuade voters that it's the Liberal
:16:38. > :16:47.Democrats and not the Conservatives who are driving this policy of
:16:47. > :16:50.lower taxes for the less well off So far, his strategy of joining the
:16:50. > :16:55.Conservatives in a coalition government, doing the right thing,
:16:55. > :16:58.he is still waiting for the pay-off. That is why the Lib-Dems want to
:16:58. > :17:07.claim credit for cutting taxes, even if they still have to convince
:17:07. > :17:11.the Chancellor. Our top story: A report into sexual
:17:11. > :17:15.abuse by a teacher Nigel Leat who finds that management at his school
:17:15. > :17:19.were grossly negligent in not acting on their suspicions.
:17:19. > :17:24.And Harry Redknapp tells his fraud trial that he is the most
:17:24. > :17:28.disorganised person in the world. In the business news, markets hit
:17:28. > :17:33.record highs over hopes that talks in Athens will reach a solution to
:17:33. > :17:43.the Greek debt crisis. And it is a bad signal for Nokia as their
:17:43. > :17:44.
:17:44. > :17:47.mobile phone sales fall by a There have been 10 months of
:17:47. > :17:51.violence, more than 5000 people have been killed and still there is
:17:52. > :17:57.no sign that the Syrian uprising is going to end. Army defectors have
:17:57. > :18:02.moved into the Damascus suburb of Douma. Jeremy Bowen was held to
:18:02. > :18:07.enter the area by local activists and sent this report.
:18:07. > :18:12.Look at central Damascus and you might think that this city is calm.
:18:12. > :18:19.But when night falls, head for the suburb of Douma, 15 minutes' drive
:18:19. > :18:24.away. Getting into Douma is not easy. But, at the end of a muddy
:18:24. > :18:28.lane, is a checkpoint controlled by the Free Syria Army. A loose
:18:28. > :18:34.alliance of mainly army defectors across the country are fighting
:18:34. > :18:38.President Assad's military. Locals say they have kept the President's
:18:38. > :18:43.men out most of the time for the last two or three weeks. Their
:18:43. > :18:46.light weapons, shotguns and pistols, as well as Rifles, cannot stop an
:18:46. > :18:51.assault. But they could make it costly for regime forces to stay
:18:51. > :18:56.too long. The President says they are armed gang, directed by foreign
:18:56. > :18:59.conspirators. They say they are protecting the people. Pass this on
:18:59. > :19:08.to the world, our revolution is peaceful. We do not attack the
:19:08. > :19:12.regime. They attack us. TRANSLATION: We are in control,
:19:12. > :19:22.Douma is ours, Syria is ours and we will win. The army and security
:19:22. > :19:23.
:19:23. > :19:32.forces to try to get in here, but Douma is forbidding and dark, with
:19:32. > :19:37.power cuts and fuel shortages. The nights here are very cold. What has
:19:37. > :19:42.changed around here that means we are able to move in? I saw that the
:19:42. > :19:47.Free Syria Army are... Up some defectors are protecting us. The
:19:47. > :19:50.army and the security are on the outskirts, OK? But inside the city,
:19:50. > :19:57.their RADA factors. You mean these are the factors that are fighting
:19:57. > :20:01.for you? Yes. If earth slowly, people emerged from the Evening
:20:01. > :20:07.Prayer. Too often for them, there might have belonged to the
:20:07. > :20:14.President's arrest squads. Now, in nervous shadows, they head to the
:20:14. > :20:21.mosque, where numbers make them feel strong. We are not identifying
:20:21. > :20:26.the people we are interviewing, at their request. Freedom! Freedom!
:20:26. > :20:31.President Assad, from Syria! What do you think should happen to
:20:31. > :20:38.President Assad? We want him killed. He has to be killed. You want him
:20:38. > :20:48.to be dead? Of course. Everybody? Everybody, our people. Including
:20:48. > :20:51.
:20:51. > :20:54.The young men were full of bravado. The older ones also talked about a
:20:54. > :21:01.victory, but they were more conscious of the regime's strength.
:21:01. > :21:04.Do you want help from abroad? Foreign intervention? Well, if
:21:04. > :21:08.there is intervention, it is good. But we are going to win whether
:21:08. > :21:16.there is intervention or not. But the intervention will accelerate
:21:16. > :21:20.the stepped down. Their enemy, the President, also has strong support
:21:20. > :21:27.as he will chant, clap and fight for him. But for protesters across
:21:27. > :21:29.the country, there is no turning back. This is all bad news for
:21:29. > :21:33.President Bashar al-Assad. An important part of his capital city,
:21:33. > :21:38.in the hands of the people and defended by men who have defected
:21:38. > :21:42.from his armed forces. The question is, how much firepower to the
:21:42. > :21:51.President has at his disposal and whether he chooses to use it here,
:21:51. > :21:56.to regain control of these streets. Then they said it was getting
:21:56. > :22:05.dangerous and hustled us out. A few hours later, activists say,
:22:05. > :22:08.security forces were back, David Cameron has sharply
:22:08. > :22:11.criticised Europe's political leadership, saying the eurozone has
:22:11. > :22:14.none of the characteristics needed for success. Speaking at a
:22:14. > :22:17.gathering of political and business leaders in Switzerland, he said
:22:17. > :22:22.that European leaders should be Bill Dee in dealing with their
:22:22. > :22:26.economic problems. -- ball there. A violent prisoner is still on the
:22:26. > :22:30.run after a gunman threatened two prison guards escorting him on a
:22:30. > :22:36.visit to hospital. Andrew Farndon escaped with the gunmen from a
:22:36. > :22:40.hospital in Bury St Edmunds. Daniel Boettcher is there.
:22:41. > :22:44.Yet today evening, police received a 999 call from hospital staff that
:22:44. > :22:51.had witnessed the escape. A short time later, another call from
:22:51. > :22:56.prison officers that had brought Andrew for done here. -- at Andrew
:22:56. > :22:59.Farndon. Police believe this was well planned. The prisoner was
:22:59. > :23:04.being taken to the accident and emergency department with a stab
:23:04. > :23:07.wound that may have been self- inflicted. He was brought in a taxi,
:23:07. > :23:11.handcuffed to a female prison officer. A second officer was with
:23:11. > :23:17.her. A waiting gunman confronted them, holding a handgun to the
:23:17. > :23:22.female officer's head, forcing her to release Andrew Farndon. A having
:23:22. > :23:26.a hand gun pressed against your head is clearly a dip -- are
:23:26. > :23:31.upsetting incident. 26-year-old Andrew Farndon is serving an
:23:31. > :23:35.indeterminate sentence for a hammer attack in which his victim suffered
:23:35. > :23:40.a fractured skull. He has escaped before, from the dock while he was
:23:40. > :23:45.on trial. At Highpoint Prison, near Newmarket, where he is serving his
:23:46. > :23:49.sentence, he is a category C prisoners. An inmate considered
:23:49. > :23:53.unlikely to make a determined attempt to escape. The Prison
:23:53. > :23:57.Service is to hold an inquiry into the circumstances. His prison cell
:23:57. > :24:01.has been searched and police say various items have been recovered.
:24:01. > :24:04.They are trying to establish at any mobile-phone as we used in the
:24:04. > :24:09.escape. Police believe that Andrew Farndon and the gunman are unlikely
:24:09. > :24:14.to have remained in the area and they are liaising with several
:24:14. > :24:17.forces. They are advising the public not to approach the men.
:24:17. > :24:21.This is the second escape of a prisoner this week, in different
:24:21. > :24:28.circumstances. On Monday, John Anslow escaped when the van taking
:24:28. > :24:32.him to court was ambushed. He is still on the run tonight as well.
:24:32. > :24:35.Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has told his fraud trial that he is the
:24:35. > :24:41.most disorganised person in the world. He denies trying to avoid
:24:41. > :24:46.paying tax on the �189,000 paid to him as part of transfer deals
:24:46. > :24:50.involving his former club Portsmouth. James Pearce is at
:24:50. > :24:54.Southwark Crown Court. What is the latest? Well, the jury was played a
:24:54. > :24:59.recording from a police interview conducted with Harry Redknapp in
:24:59. > :25:04.2009, when he was axed to explain the existence of the Monaco bank
:25:04. > :25:07.account that is at the heart of the case. He said that his accountant
:25:07. > :25:12.ran his life, I am the most disorganised person in the world, I
:25:12. > :25:17.have never used a computer, I have never sent a fax or even a text
:25:17. > :25:21.message. In fact, I have never written a letter. I write like a
:25:21. > :25:25.two-year-old and I cannot spell. To emphasise how disorganised he is,
:25:25. > :25:30.he talked about a conversation he had with his accountant. He said,
:25:30. > :25:34.where are the cheques for the column he writes for The Sun. He
:25:34. > :25:39.said, I don't have them, so they must be in the bank. It turned out
:25:39. > :25:43.he had not been paid for 18 months. A Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric
:25:43. > :25:45.deny the charges. It has been announced in the last
:25:45. > :25:50.few minutes that the chief executive of the Royal Bank of
:25:50. > :25:54.Scotland, Stephen Hester, will receive a �900,000 bonus this year.
:25:54. > :26:00.The bonus, which will be paid in shares, has just been agreed by the
:26:00. > :26:05.largely taxpayer owned bank's renumeration committee. Let's join
:26:05. > :26:10.Robert Peston in Davos, Switzerland. What is your reaction? I'm not sure
:26:10. > :26:17.it has actually been announced. I have learned that they have indeed
:26:17. > :26:21.agreed to pay him �900,000 in shares, as a bonus for his
:26:21. > :26:28.performance in 2011. They were under a lot of pressure, as a bank,
:26:28. > :26:31.to reduce the bonus paid to him from the �2 million that he
:26:31. > :26:35.received in 2010. The Prime Minister made it clear to RBS that
:26:35. > :26:38.he was to receive significantly less than �1 million. That is
:26:38. > :26:42.indeed what the renumeration committee of the Royal Bank of
:26:42. > :26:47.Scotland agreed. It will, despite the fact that it is much lower,
:26:47. > :26:51.proved hugely controversial. We have already had trade unions today,
:26:51. > :26:55.in advance of the announcement, saying that any bonus payments that
:26:55. > :26:59.to him would be outrageous, given the job reductions they have been
:26:59. > :27:03.at the bank and that the bank's share prices have performed very
:27:03. > :27:07.badly. The bank itself argues that the poor performance of shares is
:27:07. > :27:12.due to the general climate for banks and that Stephen Hester has
:27:12. > :27:17.taken great strides in reducing the risks taken by disorganisation,
:27:17. > :27:22.which matters to all of us because we own 81% of the Royal Bank of
:27:22. > :27:26.Scotland. In the end, it is the fact that this is, in a sense, a
:27:26. > :27:30.public institution, that makes it so controversial. �900,000 for an
:27:30. > :27:33.individual that many would see as a public servant is an awful lot of
:27:34. > :27:40.money. Well, it is time to look at the
:27:40. > :27:44.It is turning increasingly wintry. Today we have seen plenty of
:27:44. > :27:51.showers, particularly these three clubs in central Scotland, northern
:27:51. > :27:54.England and the south-west. Sleet and snow, quite a bit of snow on
:27:54. > :27:59.the M5. Showers are moving into the West, so a story of further showers
:27:59. > :28:04.for many of us. When a clear, it will turn increasingly icy. We will
:28:04. > :28:08.see showers pushing from east to west. Many areas will stay largely
:28:08. > :28:12.dry. In the clear skies between and after the showers, temperatures
:28:12. > :28:15.will get close to freezing, if not below. A risk of ice that just
:28:15. > :28:18.about anywhere. The greatest rest will be across Scotland and
:28:18. > :28:22.Northern Ireland for Friday morning's for a shower.
:28:22. > :28:29.Predominantly dry, but to the north-west and across Northern
:28:29. > :28:33.Ireland, bringing in heavy showers. A mix of rain, sleet and snow.
:28:33. > :28:35.Babel piloted northern England during the rush-hour. The
:28:35. > :28:42.transpennine roots could even see a covering of snow before the rush
:28:42. > :28:45.hour is completely through. Many will start the day dry and bright.
:28:45. > :28:48.The wind will pick up across England and Wales and that will
:28:48. > :28:51.drive the showers further southwards and eastwards. At the
:28:51. > :28:56.same time, Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England will
:28:56. > :28:59.turn dry and brighter with lighter wind. Wherever you are, it will
:28:59. > :29:02.feel cold, particularly where the show was pushed through and with
:29:02. > :29:06.the strength of the wind. The showers clearing to Saturday
:29:06. > :29:10.morning. Sunny spells developing for many through the day. A cold
:29:10. > :29:14.day with a developing easterly wind. As the cold air pushes in command