Browse content similar to 12/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hosepipe bans are to come into force as soon as next month across | :00:04. | :00:08. | |
south and eastern England. Two unusually dry winters have left | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
reservoirs and rivers far below normal levels. Five water companies | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
will bring in the bans in the first week of April - millions of | :00:16. | :00:24. | |
households will be affected. If we looked at February 1976, the ground | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
water levels now on lower than they were then and the reservoir levels | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
and river flows are lower than then so it is quite serious. | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
Also on tonight's programme: A man wins his right for the High | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
Court to decide whether he can ask his doctor to kill him with his | :00:38. | :00:45. | |
consent. In an ideal world he would like me to give him a sedative so | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
that we can be with him and he would go to sleep and then a doctor | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
to come and end his life. A boost to the housing market - | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
new-build homes that can be bought with just a 5% deposit. | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
And plans to help elderly drivers to make sure they're still safe | :00:59. | :01:09. | |
:01:09. | :01:33. | ||
Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. | :01:33. | :01:39. | |
Hosepipe bans are to be brought in across south and eastern England. | :01:39. | :01:41. | |
Some areas are experiencing the worst conditions for over 30 years | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
after two unusually dry winters have left reservoirs well below | :01:44. | :01:47. | |
normal levels and land cracked and parched. Seven water companies will | :01:47. | :01:50. | |
introduce water restrictions, five of them from April 5th. And the | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
Environment Agency is warning the drought could spread as far north | :01:53. | :01:56. | |
as East Yorkshire and as far west as the Hampshire/Wiltshire border | :01:56. | :01:59. | |
if the dry weather continues this spring. Jeremy Cooke is at Rutland | :01:59. | :02:07. | |
Water. Jeremy, the water level looks very | :02:07. | :02:13. | |
low there. Very low here. In some places we are told the water levels | :02:13. | :02:18. | |
in the ground far as low as they were in the infamous drought year | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
of 1976. We simply have not had enough rain in the east and the | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
south-east of England. That made today's announcement of hosepipe | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
bans pretty much inevitable and so for millions of customers, the bans | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
will begin on April 5th and they are likely to continue all summer | :02:34. | :02:39. | |
long. Early spring. The reservoirs should | :02:39. | :02:45. | |
be full. Instead, two exceptionally dry winters have left many regions | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
high and dry. Seven of them have confirmed hosepipe bans from next | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
month. We are asking customers to think about water efficiency across | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
the piece. Think about what they are doing and take every | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
opportunity to save water. A hosepipe ban signals this is pretty | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
significant and important. So which water companies are imposing | :03:08. | :03:18. | |
:03:18. | :03:23. | ||
restrictions? They range from I've never seen our soil so dry. | :03:23. | :03:28. | |
Water restrictions were not only affect gardeners. Farmers like | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
Andrew are already struggling. He is putting less crops in the ground | :03:32. | :03:38. | |
this year, a direct response to the lack of water. We only had 60% of | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
our rainfall here last year and the problem has been getting bigger and | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
bigger and it is a big concern for us and any farmer, particularly in | :03:45. | :03:51. | |
East Anglia. Monitoring it, the Environment Agency, which says that | :03:51. | :03:57. | |
unless this area has rain soon, the drought area could extend as far as | :03:57. | :04:02. | |
East Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Shropshire. Across huge swathes of | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
England, and rivers are now worryingly low. At this time of | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
year we should be seeing maximum flows. Instead we are looking at | :04:11. | :04:16. | |
levels more likely to be seen in the middle of a dry summer. Half of | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
England now is either at drought or at high risk of drought and that is | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
why we are working closely with farmers and water companies to make | :04:24. | :04:30. | |
sure we balance the needs. The wisest way to use water is | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
important and we need to protect the environment. Of course, large | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
parts of the country have plenty of water. Scotland, north-west England | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
and here, North Wales. Could it be moved to the drought Sohn? Maybe, | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
but it would be difficult and potentially very expensive. | :04:49. | :04:54. | |
These kind of droughts in the south of England may become regular. What | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
are the long-term solutions? I've been speaking to industry leaders | :04:59. | :05:03. | |
and they've been saying this notion of building a giant pipeline from | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
the north-west to the south-east is frankly a non-starter. It would be | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
10 times more expensive than creating a giant desalination plant | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
in the south-east. Instead they are looking at the possibility of | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
linking up networks which already exist within water regions. They | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
quite often move water around and it might not be a massive | :05:23. | :05:25. | |
engineering job to connect these different work and passionate works | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
and move water around the country that way. In the long term, the | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
solution may well be to build more reservoirs, more underground | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
storage so that when the rain finally arrives, more can be | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
captured so it can be used later. Thank you. | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
A severely disabled man who wants a doctor legally to be able to kill | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
him has won the right to have his case heard in the High Court. Tony | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
Nicklinson has "locked-in syndrome" following a stroke in 2005 and has | :05:52. | :05:56. | |
described his life as "miserable, undignified and intolerable." He | :05:57. | :05:59. | |
wants legal protection for any doctor who agrees to end his life | :06:00. | :06:09. | |
:06:10. | :06:14. | ||
for him. Our medical correspondent, His mind is intact, but Tony | :06:14. | :06:20. | |
Nicklinson can't talk. He has paralysed from the neck down. He | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
communicates with his wife Jane by head movements and blinking. Today | :06:24. | :06:29. | |
a judge ruled the court should hear his plea that a doctor be allowed | :06:29. | :06:35. | |
to kill him when he so wishes. says I'm delighted that the issues | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
surrounded assisted dying art to be aired in court. Politicians can | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
hardly complain about the courts provided a forum for debate if the | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
politicians continue to ignore a debate. It is no longer acceptable | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
for 21st century medicine to be governed by 20th century attitudes | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
to death. This case takes the law on assisted dying way beyond | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
current boundaries. The Ministry of Justice says it is Parliament and | :07:03. | :07:08. | |
not the courts which should decide on such fundamental issues. At | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
present, any doctor who gave a lethal dose, even with the aim of | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
ending suffering, it would be charged with murder. It is that law | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
which Mr Nicklinson is challenging. The judge said the courts would be | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
asked to cross the Rubicon on which separates the care of patients on | :07:24. | :07:31. | |
one side and euthanasia on the other. The courts have intervened | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
in end of life decisions before. Tony Bland, crushed in the | :07:35. | :07:40. | |
Hillsborough disaster and left in a vegetative state, was allowed to | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
die after judges ruled it was in his best interests. The courts | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
ordered conjoined twins at Great Ormond Street Hospital to be | :07:48. | :07:56. | |
separated despite knowing it would mean one would die. But this doctor, | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
who specialises in the care of terminally ill patients, is deeply | :07:59. | :08:05. | |
worried about this attempt to permit euthanasia. My concern is | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
that by setting a precedent it will fundamentally change the | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
relationship between patients and doctors and an expectation that we | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
are able to deliver something that, the within the law we can't deliver, | :08:16. | :08:24. | |
namely to actively kill patients. The law on assisted dying was | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
successfully challenged by Debbie Purdy, who has multiple sclerosis, | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
and wanted protection for her husband if he took her to us with | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
suicide organisation. Tony Nicklinson has even fewer options | :08:36. | :08:42. | |
and could take his own love life only by refusing food. Starvation | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
is a whole -- horrible way to go at and Switzerland is not what he | :08:46. | :08:51. | |
wants so this is his only way out. At the judge said Tony Nicklinson's | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
case raised questions of great social, ethical and religious | :08:55. | :08:59. | |
significance which will now be fully aired in court. | :09:00. | :09:02. | |
A 17-year-old male has admitted killing a pensioner who was trying | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
to put out a fire during last year's summer riots. The youth, who | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
can't be named because of his age, punched Richard Mannington Bowes in | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
Ealing, London, knocking him to the ground. He banged his head and died | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
in hospital three days later. The teenager admitted manslaughter when | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
he appeared today in court. The brother of a former EastEnders | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
actress has appeared in court charged with her murder. Gemma | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
McCluskie's torso was discovered in a canal in east London last week. | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
The actress, who was 29, played Kerry Skinner in more than 30 | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
episodes of the BBC soap in 2001. Tony McCluskie, who's 35, was | :09:36. | :09:41. | |
remanded in custody. In Syria, there are fresh reports | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
of a massacre by government troops in the city of Homs last night. | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
Activists say 47 people, including children, were tortured and killed. | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
The Syrian government has blamed "armed terrorists" for the deaths. | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
Foreign ministers meeting at the UN Security Council in New York have | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
once again appealed for an end to the violence. | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
There's growing pressure in Afghanistan for the US soldier who | :10:04. | :10:06. | |
killed 16 civilians yesterday, including nine children, to be | :10:06. | :10:11. | |
tried in an Afghan court. The country's parliament has passed a | :10:11. | :10:13. | |
resolution saying people had 'lost patience' with the actions of | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
foreign troops. Reports say the gunman was a 38-year-old army staff | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
sergeant on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan. From Kabul, Quentin | :10:21. | :10:31. | |
:10:31. | :10:34. | ||
This is the aftermath of a massacre. Investigators arrived in Kandahar | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
today trying to piece together a rampage that left 16 dead. The | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
bodies of the victims, including nine children, have now been buried. | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
If he did it deliberately, he should be punished with death, | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
otherwise it will raise many questions and it will help the | :10:53. | :10:58. | |
Taliban to benefit from this and become stronger, this man said. | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
common in Fidel went to the House of Muslims and massacred children | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
and women? I personally feel very sad. Even I am ready to go to the | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
side of the Taliban to fight against these foreigners. We know | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
that the killer was a regular soldier, but was working with | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
special forces. 11 years in the army, he was fully armed and | :11:18. | :11:22. | |
wearing night-vision goggles when he carried out the attack. He was a | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
guard at the base, making it easier for him to come and go from the | :11:26. | :11:33. | |
combat out pursed in Kandahar. He left the base at 3am local time. He | :11:33. | :11:39. | |
walked to the nearby villages and there he travelled from door-to- | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
door, some were locked. But he made his way inside one home. There, he | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
gathered together the family and killed all 11 with a single bullet | :11:48. | :11:53. | |
each. Then five more in another two houses. The children were mostly | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
toddlers. President Obama was shocked and saddened by the | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
killings, which he said were not representative of US military | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
forces. In a quarter President Karzai he promised a full | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
investigation. This will not affect the mission in Afghanistan, says | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
the US. What will not happen is that the mission will suffer as a | :12:14. | :12:19. | |
result. It is tragic, it is a very tragic incident, but it would be a | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
far greater tragedy for this to affect what we are doing at large | :12:22. | :12:26. | |
in the country. But in Kabul, others are more sceptical. | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
President Karzai called the killings unforgivable. Many are | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
already talking but the long-term damage to relations with America. | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
The questions occupying senior officers in Kabul tonight far, was | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
his attack pre-planned, did others know of this order's intentions? | :12:42. | :12:47. | |
The Afghan people are asking for an even simpler question. Why did a | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
long serving American soldier, an ally of Afghanistan, commit such a | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
bloody act? This is clearly and unsurprisingly | :12:56. | :13:01. | |
causing real anger in Afghanistan. That's right, but the surprise | :13:01. | :13:05. | |
today match was that we did not see a continuation of some of the | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
protests we saw earlier, yesterday. Afghanistan was fairly quiet today. | :13:10. | :13:15. | |
We have been speaking to some of the village elders in Kandahar and | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
they say that as long as they believe justice is done, this | :13:18. | :13:23. | |
soldier will be properly tried and will face the full penalty of law, | :13:23. | :13:28. | |
they will not feel the need to protest. The Taliban has been | :13:28. | :13:30. | |
capitalising on this event, they were in the village today, | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
encouraging people to protest and take action against what they | :13:34. | :13:40. | |
called Savage Americans and their brutality. As you mentioned in your | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
introduction, the Afghan parliament is insisting that this soldier is | :13:44. | :13:49. | |
tried in an Afghan Court, an open Afghan court, and faces the Afghan | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
public. There is any agreement between the US and Afghanistan that | :13:53. | :13:59. | |
means he will face the US tribunal. As far as we are hearing from the | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
international mission in Afghanistan, that agreement still | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
stands. Thank you. Our top story tonight: | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
Drought conditions in southern and eastern England have left millions | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
facing a hosepipe ban from next month. | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
Coming up: Game, the latest retailer | :14:16. | :14:26. | |
:14:26. | :14:27. | ||
struggling on the high street, goes Later on BBC News, finance | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
ministers from the eurozone at meet to discuss Greece's bail out and | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
Spain's deficit. Game over? Struggling retailer Game | :14:35. | :14:45. | |
:14:45. | :14:50. | ||
groups confirm suppliers of The plans to make it easier to buy | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
a newly built home in England have been unveiled. They are offering | :14:54. | :14:58. | |
people the chance to buy a home valued up to �500,000 with a | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
deposit of 5%. The scheme has been criticised as a death at measure | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
which would do little to boost the housing market. -- desperate | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
measure. Since the credit crunch the housing market has stalled, and | :15:11. | :15:17. | |
it never really restarted. Sales have halved. 800,000 low were a | :15:17. | :15:23. | |
year. 40% fewer homes are being built. Deposits for first-time | :15:23. | :15:32. | |
buyers have doubled to 20%. David Cameron was at a development in | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
London to launch one way of kick- starting the market, lenders except | :15:37. | :15:42. | |
5% deposits, in exchange for a guarantee which limits any losses. | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
We have got lenders to one not lending to the builders cannot | :15:46. | :15:51. | |
build and the buyers cannot buy. It needs the government to help step | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
in and unlock the market. guarantee is welcome news for 20- | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
year-old Harley Angus in Cambridge, along with one million other | :15:59. | :16:04. | |
householders you couldn't afford the deposit per 5% would do nicely. | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
Absolutely fantastic. It means we could buy eight this year with the | :16:08. | :16:16. | |
percentage they want, it will really help. The government says | :16:16. | :16:22. | |
100,000 more homes could go up. The idea is buyers will find it easy to | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
buy, so builders will be able to build more new homes, but how much | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
difference that will make to the overall housing market where most | :16:31. | :16:37. | |
people are purchasing of homes is not clear. Only one in 10 mortgages | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
is for newly built homes so other buyers simply would not get his | :16:40. | :16:47. | |
help. He will not help people who want to mortgage or buy it is | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
second-hand property, and it will not mean there is total mortgage | :16:50. | :16:57. | |
funding available. 28,000 have already registered to say they are | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
interested, but Labour is concerned it is not enough. It is right we | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
help those who want to buy to be able to realise their dream, the | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
question is, will the scheme work, and crucially, will ordinary | :17:11. | :17:17. | |
families be able to get a mortgage at a price they can afford? Some | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
MPs have been asking whether the taxpayer it really should guarantee | :17:21. | :17:27. | |
mortgages, warning the tactic could fuel another housing bubble. | :17:27. | :17:31. | |
The high street retailer Game has admitted it is in danger of | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
collapse after several suppliers failed to provide new stock. Shares | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
lost two-thirds of their value. It employs 6,000 people in 600 stores | :17:41. | :17:47. | |
across the country. It has been one of the most eagerly | :17:48. | :17:55. | |
awaited releases of the year. One place where you would hope to buy | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
it is facing a battle of its own. Some suppliers are withholding new | :18:00. | :18:06. | |
blockbuster titles to the retailer Game and its future is in doubt. | :18:06. | :18:10. | |
The most important thing for gamers is to have the newest games and if | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
they cannot stop them they will lose out on millions of pounds of | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
revenues. Supermarkets are doing it cheaper and online specialists | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
doing it better -- better. blames his trouble on a lack of new | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
consoles and a lack of consumer spending. It said it was working to | :18:26. | :18:31. | |
resolve the supply issue but want a solution was uncertain. Shares may | :18:31. | :18:37. | |
become worthless. Game has 600 UK stores and employs 6,000 people. It | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
is not the only specialist retailer that is struggling. You don't have | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
to go far along the High Street to find another household name that | :18:46. | :18:52. | |
has had more than its fair share of troubles. HMV is also finding it | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
difficult to compete. The question is, it can these niche chains | :18:56. | :19:02. | |
survive? It will be incredibly difficult. The fundamentals of how | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
we shop have changed. They have been changing for a long time. If | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
you look back, most of the music and video really perk -- retailers | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
we knew 10 years ago have disappeared. There is only really | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
HMV and Game remaining and there are question marks over the future | :19:19. | :19:26. | |
of both of those remaining. Gamers are still prepared to queue for | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
hours to get the blockbusters. This retailer badly needs some new hits | :19:30. | :19:36. | |
to sell. It has got a big rent bill looming. It is not game over just | :19:36. | :19:43. | |
yet, but the pressure is on. The MP Eric Joyce has resigned as a | :19:43. | :19:46. | |
member of the Labour Party and apologised to colleagues for a | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
brawl in a parliamentary poll. He told the House of Commons he had a | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
number of personal issues to address. Last week a court fined | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
him �3,000 for assault and banned him from pubs for three months. He | :19:58. | :20:04. | |
will continue as an independent MP. Steve McFadden, best known for | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
playing the character of Phil Mitchell in EastEnders, has won | :20:07. | :20:13. | |
undisclosed libel charges from News of the World. In 2010 it published | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
its stories suggesting he had harassed a former girlfriend. News | :20:18. | :20:24. | |
Group Newspapers has apologised. They have been calls for George | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
Osborne to cut tax relief. The party -- the Labour Party said it | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
would raise money which could be spent helping people on low and | :20:32. | :20:40. | |
middle incomes. This is presumably Labour's pre-emptive strike ahead | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
of the Budget. The budget is almost upon us. So | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
far speculation has focused on the debate between Conservative and | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
Liberal Democrat ministers about which taxes should go up and down. | :20:51. | :20:54. | |
That has been continued at the highest levels of government this | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
afternoon. Today Labour joined the debate and they said the top rate | :20:58. | :21:05. | |
taxpayers should pay some more tax. At the moment if you earn �150,000 | :21:05. | :21:10. | |
or more pay D8 you get 50% tax relief on all your pension | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
contributions. Labour say that is too high, it should be reduced to | :21:14. | :21:21. | |
26%. The party's leader it says �1.2 billion could be saved from | :21:21. | :21:26. | |
this and should be used to scrap a planned cut in tax credits that is | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
due to comment. The priority must be to reverse the | :21:30. | :21:36. | |
damaging cuts to tax credits. The cuts which mean for working people | :21:36. | :21:43. | |
the work stops becoming worthwhile, the cuts mean for working women, | :21:43. | :21:46. | |
affordable tell care, gets further out of reach, and the cuts that | :21:46. | :21:50. | |
mean a message is been sent to working families, you're on your | :21:50. | :21:54. | |
rain. The message is it is attempting to | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
get its message across before the Budget because it reckons its | :21:57. | :22:02. | |
message to be similar to the Government's, namely that is -- | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
that the better off in society should lose some pension relief, | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
and instead some of that money should be used to help those people | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
feeling the squeeze in these austere times. Perhaps by cutting | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
their income tax. These plans have met a barrage of opposition. It had | :22:21. | :22:25. | |
been said these would discourage saving, discourage Britain's | :22:25. | :22:29. | |
reputation as being a place that can attract talented businessman, | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
the Institute of Directors said this would persecute success and | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
discouraged and stifle growth. The Conservatives said the figures were | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
based on phoney statistics and said there is no way this Packs hike | :22:40. | :22:49. | |
would raise the amount Labour project. -- this price hike. -- | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
this tax hike. One of Britain's most famous race | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
horses, Kauto Star, is fit to race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on | :22:56. | :23:03. | |
Friday. Its trainer said it had been given the green light after a | :23:03. | :23:09. | |
fall earlier in the year. It has won the Gold Cup twice before. | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
There are nearly 4 million people aged 70 and over driving on our | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
roads, compared with less than a million in 1975. A group of MPs has | :23:17. | :23:22. | |
been looking at how to make sure the older generation can keep the | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
Independent the card gives them, but yet remained safe behind the | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
wheel. -- a card gives them. Everybody wants to stay mobile as | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
they get older, but is there a point at which you should accept | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
the years have overtaken you and leave your car in the driveway? | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
Donald is 91 and still off happy behind the wheel. | :23:44. | :23:50. | |
As long as it once site is good there is no limit to the age the | :23:50. | :23:56. | |
individuals can drive -- as long as your eyesight is good. Once you hit | :23:56. | :23:58. | |
70 all you need to renew your licence is declare yourself fit to | :23:58. | :24:02. | |
drive but the report calls for a National course to help older | :24:02. | :24:07. | |
people improve their skills. Not a compulsory test, just a refresher. | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
If we are talking about an assessment, not pass or fail, | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
somebody sitting with you and saying what are you doing, are you | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
enjoying this Germany, do you think you could do it in a different way, | :24:19. | :24:25. | |
-- did -- are you enjoying this journey? | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
And this is what it might look like. Rosemary is 78 and was recently | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
caught speeding twice. She has gone back to the classroom at Aston | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
University to help get her confidence back. | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
I don't know whether my driving has improved immediately but I think I | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
have paid more attention to things. It has reminded me of things. It | :24:45. | :24:50. | |
might be a good idea to have certain little tests you could put | :24:50. | :24:57. | |
all the people through -- older people. We are desperate not to | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
lose our licensees. The number of people over the age | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
of 70 driving on the rate has accelerated fast. In the mid-70s | :25:06. | :25:11. | |
15% of people held a licence. That number has quadrupled. Today's | :25:11. | :25:16. | |
figure is nearly 60%. That works out as nearly 4 million drivers. A | :25:16. | :25:21. | |
number that is only set to increase in the future. This report says | :25:21. | :25:27. | |
getting out and about is one of the key factors in a happy life. It is | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
calling on the government to make it easier and safer for older | :25:32. | :25:42. | |
:25:42. | :25:43. | ||
people in the future. Is there likely to be a change in | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
this dry spell we have been having? We need a couple of seasons of | :25:47. | :25:50. | |
above average rainfall and at the moment the signs are we might not | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
achieve that, certainly in the short term it is looking dry. We | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
are off the back of a couple of very dry winters. | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
It has not been the same everywhere, part of Scotland have had their | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
wettest year on record and during winter had 120% of their average | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
rainfall. Compare that to East Anglia which saw and 75% of what | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
would normally fall. The crucial thing is it is over a length of | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
time, month after month of below average rainfall so we need a lot | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
more to come and it will come over a long spell of time. During spring | :26:26. | :26:33. | |
and summer, not a great time to see it. It is the winter months that | :26:33. | :26:37. | |
are crucial. We are coming out of them at the moment and whilst today | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
we saw quite a bit of cloud, not much of that was rain Bering, just | :26:42. | :26:47. | |
a bit of drizzle. Good gaps in the cloud where we saw the sunshine. | :26:48. | :26:52. | |
That made all the difference to the way your day went. In the south- | :26:52. | :26:58. | |
east, temperatures peaked at 18 degrees. On the coast a market it | :26:58. | :27:08. | |
:27:08. | :27:09. | ||
was only eight in the mist and low cloud -- on the coast at Margate. | :27:09. | :27:13. | |
On the chart you can see the cloud shadows starting to increase in | :27:13. | :27:18. | |
size. That will have a consequence, probably not as cold tonight as | :27:18. | :27:28. | |
:27:28. | :27:28. | ||
some of you last night. For most a grey start. Light rain and drizzle. | :27:28. | :27:36. | |
A damper date in north-west Scotland. -- day. Eastern Scotland, | :27:37. | :27:46. | |
Calder, -- it will be colder. It will be the higher ground of Wales | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
and south-west England where we see some sunshine first thing. For most | :27:50. | :27:57. | |
people, Gray, Miss D, some fog around. -- it will be grey, and | :27:57. | :28:06. | |
misty. Today we saw some good gaps in the | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
cloud. We will see brighter conditions in the east of Wales, | :28:10. | :28:20. | |
:28:20. | :28:20. | ||
eastern Scotland. More cloud. Temperatures might struggle. | :28:20. | :28:26. | |
Wednesday and Thursday, not a huge amount will change. If anything, a | :28:26. | :28:34. | |
bit more sunshine in eastern areas. Temperatures will start to leap up | :28:34. | :28:39. | |
again. We could see some rainfall by the weekend. For the time being | :28:39. | :28:44. | |
it looks very dry. A reminder of the main news. | :28:44. | :28:48. | |
Drier conditions in southern and eastern England have left millions | :28:48. | :28:50. |