06/12/2012 BBC News at Six


06/12/2012

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The coffee chain Starbucks bows to mounting pressure over its tax

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arrangements. It will pay �20 million over the next two years,

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after criticism it had paid little or no corporation tax. We've done

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it because we have listened to customers these last six or seven

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weeks. Our customers are clear that they expect we can and will do

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something. What we really want to see here is the Government

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clampdown on tax avoidance across the board and make these companies

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pay their fair share. Also on tonight's programme: The publicist

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Max Clifford is arrested on suspicion of sex offences. Police

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took items from his home for investigation. His lawyer says he

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will assist police as best he can. The Duchess of Cambridge leaves

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hospital after treatment for morning sickness. Prince Charles

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says he's looking forewartd to the baby's arrival. -- forward to the

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baby's arrival. A nice thought of grandfatherhood. I am glad my

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daughter-in-law is getting better. Police in Northern Ireland appeal

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for calm after the latest confrontation over the Union Flag.

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And Alastair Cook makes history by scoring more Test match centuries

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than any other British player. Later in the hour, we'll have

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Sportsday on the BBC News Channel, with all the latest reports,

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interviews and features from the Good evening. Welcome to the BBC

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News at Six. Starbucks says it will pay about �20 million in

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corporation tax over the next two years T company, which employs

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thousands of staff and has hundreds of coffee shops in the UK, has

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faced mounting criticism over its tax affairs after it emerged it had

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paid no corporation tax for three years. MPs say the payment is long

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overdue. Some pressure moves called the move, "A hollow promise." It

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sells millions of cups of coffee every week. Starbucks failed to

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fill one profits here in the UK. No profits mean no corporation tax -

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until today. What we have announced today is we are taking action to

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pay corporate tax here in the UK. We'll do it with what is required

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beyond the law. We think it is unprecedented. We think - to my

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knowledge - it has never been done before. What is changing? Last year

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Starbucks had nearly �400 million in sales, but paid zero corporation

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tax. Now the company has agreed to pay about �10 million. Next year

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and the year after, regardless of whether it turns a profit. It will

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claim fewer tax deductions, which helps reduce its liabilities. It is

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hard to think of any big company that pays more tax than it has to.

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Starbucks, a business that's everywhere on our high streets, has

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clearly been stung by all the criticism, especially at a time

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when all the customers are having to tighten their belts. If they can

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get away with it and the Government is letting them get away with it,

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well, good luck to them. What would you do? Some sort of tax dodge is

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what she was saying to me, which is disgusting, considering there are

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so many branches. Pay our tax rates. We have to. I run a business and we

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pay corporation tax. I am not happy. It was here, last month, that the

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furore began as MPs accused the bosses of Starbucks, Google and

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Amazon of immoral tax avoidance. Today, one of them welcomed star

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buck's decision. I hope it -- Starbucks' decision. I hope it

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shows to those who export profit sos they don't pay tax here for the

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activity that takes place here. tax affairs of multinationals like

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star bucks are under scrutiny like never before. Some believe today's

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move is just a token gesture. we want to see here is a clampdown

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on tax avoidance across the board and make companies like Starbucks,

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Google and Amazon pay their fair share. Tonight, the mighty Amazon

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and Google said they comply with all tax rules as well as contribute

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to the UK economy. The pressure is now on for them to follow suit.

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Let's talk now to our political correspondent, who joins us from

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Westminster. As maem was saying, lots of press -- as Emma was saying,

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lots of pressure on other companies to follow suit. I think they will

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watch extremely closely. This reflects a real change in attitude

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that there's been in the last couple of years. That of course

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because of the economic backdrop. In a week when the Government has

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squeezed benefits for some of the poorest, when taxes are set to rise

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and times are difficult for anyone, it doesn't sit well when big

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companies are seen to be avoiding tax. Of course they are not doing

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anything illegal. We saw this, didn't we with famous people who

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used legal tax avoidance schemes. They came under moral pressure.

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That is what happened here. MPs have come down on them. We've had

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the Government on their backs saying they will put more into

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Revenue & Customs. Not all MPs are happy yet because they say this

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illustrates for some they can negotiate with the taxman about how

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much they pay. The rest of us can't do that. Thank you.

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The publicist Max Clifford has been arrested by detectives

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investigating historic sex offences. Mr Clifford was taken from his home

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in Surrey in connection with Operation Yewtree, the inquiry into

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allegations against Jimmy Savile and others in the entertainment

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industry. His lawyer said he will assist the police as best he can

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with their inquiries. Anyone who has read the papers,

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followed the news, will have at some time encountered the work of

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Max Clifford. Famous for his ability to sell stories, but also

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for keeping many out of the news. Today, it was his name in the

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headlines. At 7.40am police arrived at Max Clifford's Surrey home. He

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is, without doubt, Britain's most famous celebrity publicist. It's

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very simple - it's common sense.... Last night, he was on BBC News

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being interviewed about the prank calls made to the nurse looking

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after the Duchess of Cambridge. Today he was interviewed. It was

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confirmed by his lawyer Sayd Abad: He is being questioned by officers

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from Operation Yewtree, the investigation set up following

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allegations about Jimmy Savile. The operation is divided into three

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parts. The first two are Savile and Savile and others. This is the

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third category, called others and is not related to Jimmy Savile. So

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far, six people have been questioned. Among them is Gary

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Glitter, the comedian, Freddie Starr and the DJ, Dave Lee Travis.

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No-one has been charged. Police say that they are following around 500

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lines of inquiry, most are directly related to Jimmy Savile. Both

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police and the NSPCC has led to a number of people coming forward

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with historic allegations of sexual abuse. Police were here before 8am,

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left just after 3pm. So far, no sight nor word from Mr Clifford

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himself. Thank you.

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The Duchess of Cambridge has been discharged from the hospital in

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central London where she was being treated for acute morning sickness.

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She left with Prince William at her side, saying she felt much better.

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This report does contain some flash photography. REPORTER: How are you

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feeling? Much better, came the reply. Kate emerged from hospital

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looking more subdued than normal, but that is only to be expected.

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Walking carefully and with a wave to hospital staff who have treated

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her since Monday afternoon. She was taken from the King Edward VII

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Hospital, near London's Harley Street, to the couple's home at

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Kensington Palace for a period of rest.

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Kate's recovery is a relief for the Royal Family. Prince Charles

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visiting members of a Commonwealth expedition, preparing to set off to

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Antarctica, managed a joke about that Australian prank call to the

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hospital. How do you know I'm not a radio station? I'm thrilled. Very

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nice thought of grandfatherhood. That's splendid. I'm very glad my

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daughter-in-law is getting better. Thank goodness.

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The important thing for Kate now, according to doctors, is to get as

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much rest as possible. The first thing Kate should be doing is

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resting and avoiding any commitments that are not absolutely

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essential. If she doesn't, there is a risk her vomiting could get worse

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and she could end up in hospital. The need to protect the health of

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Kate and the unborn baby raise some very real practical issues for the

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couple. The royal doctors here in London are hardly going to be

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content at the moment for Kate to return to Anglesey in North Wales,

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where William is based as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot. Both have

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decisions to make. Kate has to decide whether she stays in London,

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but that would have to be without William's full-time support. He's

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needed back in Anglesey. And William must decide in the next few

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weeks whether to remain as a Search and Rescue pilot, to leave the role

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or leave the military although. It should mean important discussions

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when William and Kate join the rest of the Royal Family at Sandringham

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for Christmas. David Cameron has strongly defended

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the measures set out by his Chancellor in yesterday's Autumn

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Statement, including a squeeze on many welfare benefits which will

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cap annual rises at 1% for the next three years. Labour say it will

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penalise working people who receive benefits, the group they call the

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strivers and the bat lers. Today after the mini-budget our

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correspondent assesses the winners and losers. It was called the

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Autumn Statement, but it felt like the middle of winter. Those on

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working-age benefits will feel the chill of the decision to cap annual

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increases - a decision he defended today. What we have to do is try

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and save across the system. You cannot do that without looking at

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the benefits bill. It is fair it goes up by 1%, the working-age

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benefits. We are protecting the disabled and pensioners. Some

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families in work would be hit by the policy. He talked about people

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with the curtains drawn when others go to work. When you look at the

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fact - 60% of people who are hit are in work. These are low and

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middle-income families who are losing benefits. What is the impact

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on households and families? How will the Chancellor's policies

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affect different sections? Well, a day on from the Autumn Statement,

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experts have been looking hard at the detail to try and work that out.

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The leading think-tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has

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come up with its analysis. It said the hardest hit, receiving benefits

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and tax credits and the most wealthy who lose out because of

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some tax changes. The least hit are pensioners. Middle income workers

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on benefit who gain from the higher tax-free allowance. We have been to

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this clothing manufacturing in Derbyshire. Caroline is a working

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mother, part-time and married with two children. She gets tax credits.

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She is worried her family may be worse off. The cost of everything

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is rising. What we bring into the household is not rising accordingly.

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There's only so many cuts you can make. Marian has been at the

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company for 18 years. She is pleased her pension is not being

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cut, but she says it is a challenge to pay the bills. It is 2.5, is it

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April? Is it? But the bills are rising a lot quicker and a lot more

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than what your pension is, isn't it? For these and other workers

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there was a working about how the austerity programme might affect

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them after the next election, with a view that tax rises are

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unavoidable. We are looking at really big cuts beyond 2015-2016.

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If he continues to protect health and does not raid taxes, then the

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scale of n other budgets is inconceivable - 30% cuts over the

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consultation period. Tax rises, welfare cuts are almost inevitable.

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There is a prediction that one million more people will find

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themselves in the higher rate tax bracket by 2015. Another

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consequence of the Chancellor's wintry Autumn Statement.

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Northern Ireland's chief constable has appealed for people to step

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back after the violence in connection with a decision to stop

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flying the Union Flag over Belfast City Hall. Last night, a young

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family was attacked and an office In Northern Ireland. A young family

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attacked in their own home as a result of a row over a flag. A

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paint bomb was thrown at the house last night. Fortunately baby Grace

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was not playing with her toys at the time. Her mum and dad belong to

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the cross community Alliance Party. Its support for the removal of the

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Union Flag from Belfast City Council has sparked a series of

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attacks by loyalists. I had just gone to bed with Grace, the bed is

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just below the window. I never realised what's had happened. Sorry,

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the glass has just fallen off the window there. As soon as I realised

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what had happened, I was extremely upset, couldn't stop shaking. It

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was beside myself. You can see how jumpy we were there. The trouble

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began on Monday evening. Belfast City Council decided to take down

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the Union Flag and only fly it on special occasions. The Alliance

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Party's vote for the move was crucial and since then they've been

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the subject of violent attacks by loyalists. Last night a nearby

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Carrickfergus their party office was destroyed. Protesters tried to

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burn it down. The outbreak of violence comes the day before the

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American Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is due to visit

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Northern Ireland. I would like Mrs Clint TB to -- like Mrs Clinton to

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come to Carrickfergus and see what a full-front attack on democracy is

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like. The world is watching and lit make its judgment on the events of

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the next few days. The first test comes tomorrow. The arrival of

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Hillary Clinton will be a chance for politicians here to show off

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the bright new Northern Ireland, but the truth is old problems

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continue to cast a long shadow. Behind the scenes extensive efforts

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are being made to ensure there is no more violence.

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Our top story tonight. Starbucks bows to pressure from consumers and

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MPs and says its will pay millions of pounds in tax.

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Coming up: Man's best friend as you've never seen him before.

:17:08.:17:18.
:17:18.:17:23.

Interest rates are kept on hold again, that's 45 months and

:17:23.:17:31.

The Government says mistakes that led to the collapse of the West

:17:31.:17:34.

Coast Main Line franchise must never happen again. An independent

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report into the bidding process was scathing in its criticism. Virgin

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Trains will continue to operate the line for the next two years. Our

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transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, is at Euston Station with

:17:45.:17:55.
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the details now. This is the 1847 to Manchester. The passengers

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getting on this train tonight won't notice any difference to their

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train services, but the battle to run these services has today

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exposed some serious flaws in the way the Department for Transport

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has been running our railways. It is one of the biggest failures

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since the railways were privatised. Back in August FirstGroup thought

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hit beaten rivals Virgin to run the busy and lucrative West Coast Main

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Line, but the deal collapsed because civil servants had made

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catastrophic errors, and today's report means more embarrassment for

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the Government. I do not hide from the seriousness of its findings.

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They make extremely uncomfortable reading for the department. They

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caused serious problems for the bidding firms, including FirstGroup,

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who were in no way at fault. They must and will be acted upon.

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report tells the story of Department for Transport officials

:18:58.:19:03.

not following their own guidelines. Failing to include inflation in

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their figures, and of Ministers given the wrong information before

:19:07.:19:12.

making critical decisions. It recommends major changes to the way

:19:12.:19:15.

future deals with managed. Including putting one official in

:19:15.:19:20.

charge of the whole thing. Labour says it is passengers who will

:19:20.:19:24.

suffer. The truth is when commuters go back to work in the new year and

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find their fares have gone up by as much as 6% above inflation, they

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will know it is Ministers from this incompetent Government who instead

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of imposing a strict cap on fare rises instead blew taxpayers' money

:19:37.:19:42.

on this franchise fiasco. These trains were meant to be

:19:42.:19:46.

getting a new colour scheme this weekend. FirstGroup had been Tui to

:19:46.:19:50.

take over services on Sunday. But they'll be red for at least two

:19:50.:19:54.

more years as Virgin runs services while companies re-bid fort

:19:54.:19:58.

contract. So now we have a clearer picture of

:19:58.:20:03.

what went wrong, but not who is to blame. Three suspended officials

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have now gone back to work. Meanwhile some say this fiasco

:20:08.:20:11.

could cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds.

:20:11.:20:15.

We can't have a situation where the department simply shrugs its

:20:15.:20:18.

shoulders and says we'll write this money off, taxpayers will foot the

:20:18.:20:22.

bill, and nothing will change. We need utter transparency and this

:20:22.:20:26.

report is clear, that department's processes were not transparent.

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Virgin could make �9 million from running the trains for a little bit

:20:30.:20:35.

longer. They promise to give any profits to charity. For the 30

:20:36.:20:39.

million passengers who use this line every year there'll be little

:20:39.:20:43.

Ching to their service for their fares.

:20:43.:20:46.

-- little change to their service or their first.

:20:46.:20:48.

Patients in England say they're waiting longer in accident and

:20:48.:20:51.

emergency wards, according to an independent survey. The Care

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Quality Commission gathered the views of 46,000 people, and a third

:20:53.:20:56.

said they spent more than four hours in A&E. Our health

:20:56.:21:04.

correspondent, Branwen Jeffreys, has more details. A&E, the front

:21:04.:21:08.

line of the NHS, day or night treating people who need urgent

:21:08.:21:13.

care. The promise to patients, that you will be seen within four hours,

:21:13.:21:18.

but a watchdog says patients are telling them something different.

:21:18.:21:23.

Surveys are an important indication of how people feel and therefore we

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should always take them seriously. We should think about what they can

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do within their own individual hospital to get this better.

:21:30.:21:36.

find out what's going on, every four years patients are asked about

:21:36.:21:42.

their experience for the A&E survey. 46,000 people responded. In early

:21:42.:21:48.

2012 33% said they remembered waiting four hours or more. Up from

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27% in 2008, and 23% in 2004. But the Department of Health says

:21:56.:22:01.

official statistics show that 5% or less of patients waits over the

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four-hour target. A&E departments have been getting busier. There are

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more than 20 million visits to A&E every single year in England. And a

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growing number of patients are saying that they are facing longer

:22:15.:22:18.

waits. Some also said they had to wait in ambulances before being

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handed over to hospital care. Government's figures on A&E

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departments don't add up. What we are hearing on our helpline, which

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is exactly the same as what the Care Quality Commission are telling

:22:28.:22:32.

us, are that the waiting times in A&E are just too long. Either in

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A&E or sitting in the ambulance. That is not good enough. The

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Government have to do something about it quickly and get waiting

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times down. We need a safe and quick A&E department service.

:22:43.:22:47.

Ministers argue that most people are still seen quickly, with

:22:47.:22:51.

priority given to the most serious emergencies. What's we are seeing

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is there are now 1 million more people being treated in A&E every

:22:56.:22:59.

year than before, and that is for a number of reasons. What we also

:22:59.:23:03.

know is that the majority of those patients are seen quickly, are

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treated well. The sickest patients are treated first. A&E doctors say

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they are doing their best, but the number of patients is growing every

:23:13.:23:17.

year, putting evergreater pressure on yaefpbltd

:23:17.:23:20.

-- on A&E. Cricket - and the England captain,

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Alastair Cook, has made history by scoring more Test match centuries

:23:23.:23:27.

than any other English player. He made his 23rd century in the third

:23:27.:23:30.

Test against India in Kolkata. At stumps, England were 216 for 1,

:23:30.:23:33.

with Cook not out on 136. Here's our sports correspondent, Joe

:23:33.:23:39.

Wilson. This is one thing in cricket you must never do. Dropping

:23:39.:23:45.

Alastair Cook is close to sinful. He made just 17 when this happened

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in Kolkata, Pujara's guilty hands. India knew what would happen next.

:23:49.:23:53.

Cook made a century. Even by his own standards recent weeks have

:23:53.:23:58.

been extraordinary, taking the captaincy has inspired rather than

:23:58.:24:01.

burdened him. Hundreds in three consecutive Test matchs to take his

:24:01.:24:06.

career total to 23. A record. India was where it all started for Cook.

:24:06.:24:11.

Flown out in 2006 to replace the injured Michael Vaughan, who now

:24:12.:24:17.

marvels at how far Cook has come. It is his mentality that impresses

:24:17.:24:22.

me more than anything. To score three centuries on the trot takes

:24:22.:24:28.

some menta. Most players, me included, once you get 100 you get

:24:28.:24:33.

a bit giddy, start your next innings as if you are on 120. He

:24:33.:24:40.

doesn't do that. Cook has overtaken Geoffrey Boycott, who had a career

:24:40.:24:49.

that spanned 23 years. He has even overtaken Wally Hammond. Here eat

:24:49.:24:53.

the Lords museum, in the future there may be a corner here devoted

:24:53.:24:56.

to Alastair Cook. Certainly in terms of English cricket he has

:24:57.:25:01.

time to set records which may never be broken.

:25:01.:25:06.

Kevin Pietersen is just behind him but Cook could have another decade

:25:06.:25:11.

with England. India would like to get rid of him this week. England

:25:12.:25:16.

are only one wicket down and Cook will be back in the morning.

:25:16.:25:19.

They already catch burglars, guide the blind and herd sheep. But now

:25:19.:25:22.

dogs, it seems, have added to their skill set. Three from New Zealand -

:25:22.:25:25.

called Monty, Ginny and Porter - are leading the way in a new

:25:25.:25:28.

project aimed at showing how intelligent they are. And as Daniel

:25:28.:25:31.

Boettcher explains, it's thought they're the first canines ever to

:25:31.:25:40.

drive a car. Calm and apparently in control, this is Monty at the wheel

:25:40.:25:46.

of a modified Mini. He is one of three dogs being taught to drive by

:25:46.:25:50.

an animal rescue charity in New Zealand. And this is how they do it.

:25:50.:25:56.

First getting used to mock controls, paws on pedals, then they are

:25:56.:26:01.

harnessed in a cart to get to grips movement and steering. Monty and

:26:01.:26:07.

his fellow pooch pupils Porter and Ginny started with the basics.

:26:07.:26:11.

After several weeks of training and lots of treats it was time for the

:26:11.:26:14.

real thing. We've got ten behaviours we are putting together.

:26:14.:26:18.

Each behaviour is a trained behaviour. We put them into a

:26:18.:26:22.

sequence. It's a lot to do. For the dog to get an idea of what's

:26:22.:26:27.

happening takes a quite a long time. In the car itself the dogs are

:26:27.:26:32.

guided by human commands and there is the occasional helping hand. The

:26:32.:26:35.

society for the prevention of cruelty to animals in New Zealand

:26:35.:26:39.

says it is doing this to show the clever side of the abandoned dogs

:26:39.:26:46.

it looks after, in the hope more rescue animals will find homes.

:26:46.:26:51.

Though new owners may wants to hide the car keys.

:26:51.:26:54.

Clever dogs. Let's look at the weather now with

:26:54.:26:57.

Let's look at the weather now with Jay Wynne. This is the radar

:26:57.:27:01.

sequence. It show as large area of blue, mostly rain, spreading across

:27:01.:27:05.

the United Kingdom. I say mostly rain, because there's been snow

:27:05.:27:10.

over the hills of northern Britain. A lot of rain around falling on

:27:10.:27:14.

saturated ground in the South West. Snow over the hills-northern

:27:14.:27:19.

Britain, but by dawn a lot of the persistent rain will have eased

:27:19.:27:23.

away. Snow in eastern England but more significantly the skies will

:27:23.:27:27.

clear, temperatures will drop. Ice will become a problem across

:27:27.:27:30.

central and eastern parts. Icy stretchs in parts of Scotland

:27:30.:27:35.

through the morning. Still a few of showers in the north and east. It

:27:35.:27:43.

might be wintry over the hills, with a strong wind. Northern

:27:43.:27:47.

Ireland ice-free but not in northern England.

:27:47.:27:50.

Wintry weather first thing across East Anglia in particular. Move

:27:50.:27:54.

towards the south and west and the skies are clearer, so a little bit

:27:54.:27:57.

of sunshine to be found. It is always the western half of the UK

:27:57.:28:03.

which sees the best of the weather, further east, Scotland, eastern

:28:03.:28:07.

England, a grey day, with further showers. Wintry in the afternoon.

:28:07.:28:11.

For all of us there is that wind. Temperatures reaching 5-7 degrees.

:28:11.:28:17.

Adds on the wind and it feeting a raw day. The winds ease down on

:28:17.:28:22.

Friday night into Saturday. The isobars spread out. A recipe for a

:28:22.:28:30.

cold start to the day on Saturday. But the southern half of the UK

:28:30.:28:35.

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