19/12/2012 BBC News at Six


19/12/2012

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The BBC heavily criticised over its handling of the Savile scandal and

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its aftermath - two damning reports published today. An inquiry into

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why it dropped a Newsnight investigation into Jimmy Savile -

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no cover-up but there is stinging criticism of the handling of the

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scandal. The BBC management system proved completely incapable of

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dealing with that. The level of chaos and confusion was even

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greater than was apparent at the time. A second report finds the

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programme failed to make basic journalistic checks before wrongly

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implicating Lord McAlpine in allegations of child abuse. The BBC

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will be able to rebuild its trust but it has to do so by facing up to

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some of its weaknesses and failings as honestly as possible. But no BBC

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managers are sacked. Will today draw a line under the crisis? Also

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tonight. At last, justice for the families of the 96 killed at

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Hillsborough. The verdicts of accidental death are quashed. On

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their way home - nearly half of Britain's troops are to be pulled

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out of Afghanistan by the end of next year. The Swiss bank UBS fined

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nearly �1 billion for fiddling the rates that banks lend to each other.

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And the Christmas post stolen from German troops in the Channel

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Islands during the war and finally delivered after 71 years. And on

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the BBC News Channel - are so will agree long-term contracts with five

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British players, including Jack water. Plus Aaron Ramsey. --

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Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. Two reports into how

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the BBC handled the Jimmy Saville scandal and its aftermath have

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raised big questions for its managers and editors. One found

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that there was no deliberate attempt to cover up information

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about Savile's abuse. But there was chaos and confusion in the way

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managers handled the row that followed. A second report found a

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grave breach of editorial standards in a story which led to false

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accusations against a senior Conservative peer. But neither

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report will result in any sackings, a response the corporation insists

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is fair and proportionate. Mark Easton has more details. Chaos and

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confusion, disarray and distrust, leadership and organisation in

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short supply. The inquiry into that had BBC's handling of the Jimmy

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Savile scandal revealed total crisis. When the full force of the

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affair broke in October, the BBC management system proved completely

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incapable of dealing with it. The level of chaos and confusion was

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even greater than was apparent at the time. Good evening... At the

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heart of the report is the question - why the BBC abandoned an

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investigation into evidence that Jimmy Savile was a predatory

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paedophile just before broadcasting for tribute programmes to him in

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its Christmas Churchill. E-mails reveal how the future Director-

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General was warned about Jimmy Savile's dark side before his death

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and months before the Newsnight investigation. I feel queasy about

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an obituary... I saw the real truth, but once secret -- senior executive.

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Later, in what an executive called account is, the director of News

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told him about the investigation at lunch. But today's report says for

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intervention was too casual, fleeting and left much uncertainty

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about the outcome. His response was unnecessarily cautious and he took

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no steps to review his Christmas chez Joe. I will not get into the

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details... At the launch of the report, the author found no

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evidence that the Newsnight investigation had been told to

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protect the corporation or its Christmas chez Jules. The decision

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by the editor to drop the original investigation was clearly flawed

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and the way in which it was taken was wrong, though I believe that

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was done in good faith. It was not done to protect the Savile tribute

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programmes or for any improper reason. After the truth about Jimmy

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Savile emerged in October this year, the report says the BBC was thrown

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into disarray, a blocked now the news editor explained why he

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ditched their own investigation and it was full of errors and breached

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editorial guidelines. When clearly bishop was required, says the

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report, it was not provided. Pollard is absolutely right in

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saying that the BBC will be able to rebuild its trust but it has to do

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so by facing up to some of its weaknesses and failings as honestly

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as possible. One of those witnesses is perhaps giving George Entwistle

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a huge pay-off when the report reveals that he ignored e-mails

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which might well have prevented the tributes to Jimmy Savile going out

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across the Christmas show Jill. alternative was to go for

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constructive dismissal, which would have certainly cost more and would

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have taken longer. The �2 million inquiry into what is described as

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one of the worst management crisis has been the BBC history, amid

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disarray, Kells and a lack of leadership. The corporation's

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critics will be quick to point out that the response from the

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executive board of the corporation is to sack no-one. Good evening...

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A new said investigation... Today the BBC published a second internal

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report into how Newsnight manager put it the former Conservative

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Party treasurer, Lord McAlpine, in a child abuse scandal. Basic checks

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were not carried out, the Trust concluded, adding there had been a

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grave breach which had been coarsely to all concerned. The

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deputy head of news resigned following the Pollard Review as the

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editor and deputy editor of Newsnight was moved to new roles.

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The head of Radio Five Live would oversee news out's McAlpine report

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and is being moved to a new well. Will anything changed warble people

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be moved around and moved sideways and promoted and nothing happens? A

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second investigation focusing on the victims abused by Jimmy Savile

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will report next year. The fall-out from the scandal isn't yet over.

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Mark is with me. How much damage do you think has been done to the

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BBC's reputation? Trust in BBC News, the offer was asked about this and

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he was pretty confident and said that over time he thought the trust

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could get back to the kind of levels we knew it four years ago.

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It was interesting what the acting director-general said, he said yes,

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it can be rebuilt but we cannot assume that. We have to earn it. It

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was interesting what the BBC Trust said overall in responding to the

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Pollard report, it did not say this is structural, this is about silos,

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it did once say it's about compliance and following editorial

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guidelines. It said it was about culture, it wanted senior managers

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to be here properly and set a good example and said staff should stop

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being insular and stop looking to newspapers and distrusting each

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other. They see the top priority of the new director-general next year

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is to sort that out. Thank you very much. Thank you. A former BBC Radio

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One producer who worked with the presenter has been arrested. It is

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part of the police investigation into allegations of sexual abuse

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against Savile and others. 76-year- old Ted Beston is the eighth person

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to be arrested under Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree. They have

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waited more than 20 years and finally the families of the victims

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of the Hillsborough disaster have got the result they've campaigned

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for. The High Court has quashed the verdicts of accidental deaths for

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the 96 Liverpool fans who were crushed that day in 1989. There

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will now be fresh inquests and criminal prosecutions are being

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considered. Judith Moritz reports from the High Court. These families

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and their supporters have waited nearly a quarter of a century for

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this moment. The UN they learnt that their relatives, who died at

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Hillsborough, would get a new inquest, the relief and abortion

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was obvious. We went through the depth and length of the judgment

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and could not have written it better ourselves. When you get the

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Lord Chief Justice, and he used vindicated, so it is clear that

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justice is on its way and we could come out with something like a

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small step for mankind but it is huge for the families. This was a

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particularly big day for Anne Williams, she has been as far as

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the European Court trying to get a new inquest for her 15 year-old son.

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She has been turned down at every stage, until today. Why Labour not

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just give us the truth from the outset? And we would still have

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mourned our children. What you would not have had 23 years.

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Fighting the system. 96 Liverpool fans were fatally crashed in the

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stadium disaster in April 1989. At the original inquest, controversial

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verdicts of accidental death were returned and the coroner suggested

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that all the deaths were inevitable by the afternoon of the disaster.

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Today, the High Court heard that was wrong and as a result, the

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emergency response had never been examined. Giving the ruling, the

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Lord chief Justice said that over the years there had been a profound,

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almost palpable sense by the family is that justice had not been done.

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He praised their determination and they responded, breaking out into

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spontaneous applause, one woman shouting, thank you, your honour...

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The catalyst for the decision was a recent publication of the

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Hillsborough Independent Panel report, which found new medical

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evidence that many fans might have been saved. When I read the

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Independent publication of documents and that report, it was

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overwhelmingly clear that the inquests had proceeded on seriously

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flawed basis. The youngest to die at Hillsborough was just 10 years

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old. The oldest was 67. More than a third were teenagers. It is likely

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to be many months before the new inquest gets underway, but when it

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does, the families said they will finally feel that justice is being

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done. Nearly half of all British troops currently serving in

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Afghanistan will return home by the end of next year. The UK currently

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has 9,500 troops in Helmand Province, although 500 will return

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before Christmas this year. All NATO operations are due to end by

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2014 with responsibility being transferred to Afghan forces.

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Jonathan Beale reports. That few days ago they were on patrol. No

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gunshots, no clear threat. Perhaps a sign that the security situation

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is improving. Last night, those same soldiers were getting ready to

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come home early. They are among the first 500 combat troops to be

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leaving Afghanistan for good. But with mixed emotions. Leaving three

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months in, that was disappointing, but we have to be sensible. Look at

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the bigger picture. And transition is going faster than expected.

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cost of that transition, handing over responsibility to the Afghans,

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the Prime Minister announced that more troops will be coming home

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next year. Not hundreds of thousands. Because of the success

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of our forces and the Afghan national security forces and the

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fact that we're moving from mentoring at Italian levelled to

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brigade level by the end of 2013, we will be able to see troops

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coming home in to a relatively even steps - 2013, 2014. The British

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prisons in Afghanistan -- presents -- peaked with 9500. The 500 coming

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home brings that to 9000. That will go down to just over 5000 by the

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end of next year. With all British troops out by the end of 2014.

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Along with their NATO allies, they have started the big move. These

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British troops are demolishing a patrol base while others have been

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handed over. But doubts still remain as to whether the Afghan

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army is ready to fight an insurgency that has not yet been

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defeated all on its own. They are concerned about losing some of the

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intelligence assets and surveillance. Those are the things

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they leaned upon that they cannot replicate. But their own

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intelligence and understanding of the population is far better than

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ours. The exit from Afghanistan is already underway. This is a clear

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sign that the war is now winding down. These are among the first 500

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to leave the country for good. And soon, they will be joined by

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thousands more. These will be back for Christmas. But 438 British

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troops never made it home. And no- one can say with certainty that the

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sacrifice has been worthwhile. The Swiss bank UBS has been fined

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nearly �1 billion for attempting to fiddle the interest rate at which

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banks lend to each other. It's the largest ever fine of its kind and

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the second biggest banking fine ever. The City Watchdog said

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misconduct at the bank had been extensive and widespread. Robert

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Peston has more details. UBS is a giant global bank caught trying to

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manipulate important interest rates and punished by regulators with

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�940 million of fines and confiscations of ill-gotten gains.

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This is some of the most shocking this conduct we have seen. This was

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prevalent across the firm for a period of five years with people

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seeking to manipulate and an internationally used benchmarks

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which is used for trillions of pounds worth of contracts in order

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to benefit their own position. Traders colluded with other firms

:14:58.:15:08.
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in the market rigging. One banker Is a �1 billion fine too much, too

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little or about right? Well I'd say it's not about the fines, what we

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have to see is criminal sanctions, the money is really meaningless,

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it's tax deductible. The Government's amenning the Financial

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Services Bill to make sure the fines in future go to good causes,

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not back to the regulator but it's got to be about criminal sanctions.

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At UBS the market manipulation was so widespread and systemic

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according to regulators, that it's now impossible to have confidence

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in any of the main LIBOR prices over a period of years. That really

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matters, because LIBOR rates underpin the prices of more than

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300 trillion dollars of financial products sold to investors and

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people and as those investors start to sue they'll be looking for huge

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damages, damages that could turn out to be a multiple, even of the

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huge bank fines. More than a dozen big banks are

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being investigated for rate-rigging. This year, Barclays was hit with

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�290 million in fines and penalties. Martin Taylor was Barclays's boss

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before the rot set in. We had a rotten culture in a number of

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institutions in the pre-crash City, no question about that. The real

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issue is are these so dreadful and I believe they are, that the people

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in charge of the banks will now get a grip?

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After the humbling of UBS, will come the spanking of RBS, also

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implicated in the LIBOR scandal and early in the new year, due to be

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fined more than its great rival, Barclays.

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Our top story tonight: The BBC is heavily criticised over

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its handling of the Savile scandal and its aftermath, in two reports

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published today. Coming up: A Christmas cracker from 1902, the

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world's earliest recording of festive celebrations.

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Later in the business news, brought down, UBS pays fines for rigging an

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interest rate and Nissan will build a new luxury car in Britain

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creating jobs. Hundreds of cards and letters

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written by German soldiers who occupied the Channel Islands during

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the Second World War have been discovered 70 years on. They were

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stolen by the resistance. Now, the families of those to whom the

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letters were addressed are finally being sent home. Robert Hall

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reports. On a lane in the Frankfurt suburbs, a late delivery nears the

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end of its journey. Festive greetings from a war-time past.

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Dear Hans, dear Mary, I wish you a merry Christmas, but what I hope

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most is that the war will come to an end and soon. Thousands of

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German soldiers were posted to the channel aoeu aoeu -- Channel

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Islands during the occupation. Around them, communities looked for

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ways of fighting back. During the years of occupation, islanders did

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what they could to resist, to obstruct or to irritate the German

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forces who thronged their streets and in the run-up to Christmas in

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in 1941 a group hatched a plan which begins this story but

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remained a secret for years. These letters and cards were part of the

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haul they stole from the German Army Post Office. It was a high-

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risk plan. Bob lived through the occupation. If the offence was

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considered seriously enough, they would be taken to a prison on the

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continent, run by the SS where things were very tough. Some of

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those people, quite a number, did not come back, ever. My dearest

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Kate, I hope you... conspirators swore secrecy but

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decades later the letters were delivered to Jersey's archive.

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Weeks of postal detective work in Jersey and in a much changed

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Germany finally led to the first special delivery. Please tell him

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we are pleased to be delivering this letter today. Engelbert

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Bergmann was delighted to receive a card originally intended for his

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grandfather and more letters are now on the move. Family memories

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stirred once again by a seasonal gesture of goodwill.

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Councils in England will see their overall spending power cut by 1.7%

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next year, although some authorities will see their budgets

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down by nearly 10%. Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles

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told MPs the settlement represented a bargain for local authorities and

:20:03.:20:09.

promised Government support so that council taxes could be frozen. Our

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local government correspondent Mike Sergeant reports.

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Will councils still provide all of these services with less and less

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money from central Government? Ministers think they can, but only

:20:25.:20:31.

if they become more efficient and better at generating money locally.

:20:31.:20:36.

This settlement recognises the responsibility of local Government

:20:36.:20:42.

to find sensible savings and to make better use of its resources.

:20:42.:20:48.

It marks a new settlement for local Government based on self-

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determination and financial independence. Town halls are two

:20:52.:20:57.

years into this spending squeeze and they say they've made easy

:20:57.:21:02.

savings already, protecting services is getting harder. Are

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people noticing the impact? Ron certainly has. He works for the

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city council in Birmingham. Are you in fear for your job? Definitely,

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yeah, I don't see myself any different than anybody else. I have

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seen colleagues over the last two years go. Some good skilled people.

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It's sad. Many others, though, see much less -- seem much less

:21:25.:21:29.

concerned about finances. To me I don't see a massive change to my

:21:29.:21:33.

life because of the council cuts. Personally, it hasn't really

:21:33.:21:39.

affected me yet. I am very happy to say. But I feel it will do shortly.

:21:39.:21:43.

But the leaders of some of England's biggest cities are

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demanding an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State. They're

:21:46.:21:50.

warning of a looming financial crisis. There are disadvantaged

:21:50.:21:54.

individuals and communities across Birmingham who are going to see

:21:54.:21:57.

services cut. You can't get away from this. It's not about solving a

:21:57.:22:00.

budget problem through efficiency savings, we are going to have to

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make cuts which will affect the livelihoods, the quality of life of

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residents of this city. What happens if the funding isn't there?

:22:10.:22:14.

This training centre for social workers in Birmingham gets by with

:22:14.:22:17.

no council money at all. One of its directors had this message for

:22:17.:22:23.

those looking for other sources of funding. Think outside the box,

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guys, you can do it. It's just about using your imagination.

:22:27.:22:31.

Councils in Wales and Scotland are getting a small increase next year,

:22:31.:22:35.

but with costs increasing all the time, local authorities in England

:22:35.:22:39.

are today facing hard choices, about how to keep services going on

:22:39.:22:47.

an ever tighter budget. Thirty police officers are now

:22:47.:22:50.

investigating allegations that a serving officer falsely claimed to

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have heard a row between the former Government Chief Whip, Andrew

:22:52.:22:55.

Mitchell, and Downing Street police. Mr Mitchell resigned from the

:22:55.:22:57.

Government over the incident, admitting he did swear at the

:22:57.:23:01.

officers but denying that he'd called them "plebs". Our political

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correspondent Norman Smith is in Downing Street tonight. 30 officers,

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I suppose it's a sign of how serious this affair is getting?

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view in Downing Street tonight is that there are an awful lot more

:23:16.:23:20.

questions to answer about exactly what happened at the gates behind

:23:20.:23:24.

me during that altercation with Andrew Mitchell and the police.

:23:24.:23:27.

Questions about the validity of the claim that he called police

:23:27.:23:30.

officers plebs, questions too about the conduct of the police and

:23:30.:23:36.

whether we are talking about one rouge officer who we now know

:23:36.:23:39.

fabricated that e-mail claiming to be a member of the public who heard

:23:39.:23:43.

the police being called plebs, or whether we are talking about a

:23:43.:23:48.

wider police conspiracy because of the leaking of the police log book

:23:48.:23:52.

containing details of that encounter. What we do know is the

:23:52.:23:56.

Met are not discounting the suggestions of a possible

:23:56.:24:00.

conspiracy and of - and have assigned 30 officers to a case

:24:00.:24:05.

which they say will not be resolved swiftly. It doesn't mean Andrew

:24:05.:24:09.

Mitchell's version has been vindicated but as one of Mr

:24:09.:24:15.

Cameron's aides put it to me, he is in a better position. Thank you.

:24:15.:24:19.

Nissan says it's investing �250 million in its sun derland plant.

:24:19.:24:23.

It's going to be spent on building a new small luxury car and will

:24:23.:24:27.

create hundreds of jobs on Wearside. The first vehicle is expected to

:24:27.:24:35.

roll off the production line in 2015.

:24:35.:24:38.

Curators at the National Museum of London have discovered what are

:24:38.:24:40.

thought to be the first ever recordings of a family Christmas

:24:40.:24:43.

made over a century ago. The wax cylinder recordings of songs and

:24:43.:24:47.

hymns were made by the Wall family between 1902 and 1917 and are now

:24:47.:24:52.

being broadcast for the first time, as Pallab Ghosh reports. This wax

:24:52.:24:58.

sill independent der con-- cylinder contains events that took place

:24:58.:25:02.

more than 100 years ago. When it was played by curators, this is

:25:02.:25:12.
:25:12.:25:16.

what they heard. # England stop... The recording is

:25:16.:25:22.

from 1904 of a a seven-year-old boy singing to his family. The scene

:25:22.:25:30.

here recreated by his great grandson, Leslie. When I first

:25:30.:25:34.

heard the recordings I have to say that the hairs on my arms stood on

:25:34.:25:38.

end. It was fantastic. It was really like a window opening into

:25:38.:25:43.

the past and like being in the same room. The recordings are of the

:25:43.:25:47.

Wall family who lived in north London. Cromwell, in the middle,

:25:47.:25:51.

was the head of the family. He with his wife on the right, and their

:25:51.:25:56.

nine children, loved to sing. Especially at Christmas. The family

:25:56.:26:04.

would gather around this this graphophone to make recordings. The

:26:04.:26:08.

oldest is this one from 1902 and it's thought to be the oldest ever

:26:08.:26:11.

recording of a family on Christmas Day.

:26:11.:26:16.

Here we are again, another Christmas, 1904. It was only

:26:17.:26:21.

recently that the descendents of the family heard the recordings.

:26:21.:26:25.

Some of them remember that the grand parties went on for years to

:26:26.:26:30.

come. That would have been typical of my grandfather, making them sing

:26:30.:26:40.
:26:40.:26:43.

like that! The recordings are a tale of

:26:43.:26:47.

Christmas past, of warm gatherings, a tradition that Cromwell Wall's

:26:47.:26:57.
:26:57.:26:59.

family has continued to this day. # The little Lord Jesus...

:26:59.:27:03.

Getting us into the Christmas mood, now let's look at the weather.

:27:03.:27:10.

Christmas this year doesn't look white at the moment but it does

:27:10.:27:14.

look wet between now and Christmas. We have a couple of amber warnings

:27:14.:27:18.

in force, be prepared for some problems. The first area of concern

:27:18.:27:23.

is south-west England and south- east Wales tonight as another pulse

:27:23.:27:26.

of rain arrives. It returns to Northern Ireland and all parts of

:27:26.:27:31.

the UK smothered with rain by first thing in the morning. Snow on the

:27:31.:27:35.

tops of Pennines and hills and mountains of Scotland. It will feel

:27:35.:27:39.

cold tomorrow with the wet and windy conditions which prevail for

:27:39.:27:43.

pretty much all of us. The rain extends to northern Scotland.

:27:43.:27:47.

Perhaps it will turn a little bit drier across parts of south-west

:27:47.:27:51.

England later, but for the majority across England and Wales expect

:27:51.:27:55.

rain to come and go throughout the day and a strong wind also. That

:27:55.:27:58.

rain is going to be heavy. We could see problems with this rain

:27:58.:28:02.

building up almost anywhere. It's a wet day for Northern Ireland and

:28:02.:28:06.

particularly wet across the eastern parts of Scotland. There will be

:28:06.:28:11.

snow on the hills, and that rain building up through tomorrow and

:28:11.:28:14.

tomorrow night so that is the second amber warning we have in

:28:14.:28:18.

force here, again be prepared for problems. Elsewhere, the rain

:28:18.:28:21.

starts to ease into Friday. For much of England and Wales and

:28:21.:28:24.

Northern Ireland it's a dry day on Friday with sunshine. However, it

:28:24.:28:28.

is the shortest day. There is more rain gathering to spread in across

:28:28.:28:31.

the country through the weekend and beyond into Christmas week. It

:28:31.:28:35.

looks wet and windy. If you are after a drier day, Friday is your

:28:35.:28:38.

best bet. Many of you will be making travel plans over the next

:28:38.:28:44.

few days and that rain could cause disruption.

:28:44.:28:47.

There is the floodline number, which is also on the BBC weather

:28:47.:28:51.

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