23/01/2013 BBC News at Six

David Cameron promises a referendum on Europe. If he is still Prime

Minister, it will take place within five years. Mr Cameron says he will

renegotiate Britain's links with the EU and then let people decide

whether to stay in or pull out. It is time for the British people

to have their say. It is time for us to settle this question about

Britain and Europe. Labour opposes the referendum and

says it will lead to years of uncertainty.

Why doesn't he admit it? He's been driven to it, not by the national

interest, but he's been dragged to it by his party.

So the politicians have add their say. We will get the reaction here

and abroad. Also tonight: All change for A-level students in

England. From 2015, they will sit one set of exams after two years.

The construction worker who faced a brick wall. Their names were on a

secret jobs blacklist. Nearly a week on, we are still in

the grip of a big chill. The Met Office says we have still got a

couple of days to go. And they have certainly got

something to shout about. Bradford City make footballing history.

Coming up, England have lost the one-day series against India. They

were beaten by five wickets. The fifth match on Sunday will be

Good evening. Welcome to the BBC News at Six. It's been much talked

about and much delayed. Finally, David Cameron has delivered a major

speech that could end up changing Britain's relationship with the

rest of Europe. He promised that if he's still Prime Minister, there

will be a referendum on whether the UK should stay in or pull out of

the European Union by the end of 2017. Before that, he would try to

renegotiate our links with the EU. Labour said the pledge would mean

years of uncertainty. The party's own position has also come in for

criticism. No speech by the Prime Minister has

been agonised over for so long. None will be of such consequence.

None based on a bigger political gamble. David Cameron promised you

a vote on whether Britain stays in Europe, or whether we should get

out. Listen hard. This is a vote that won't come now and it won't

come before the next election. next Conservative manifesto, in

2015, will ask for a mandate from the British people for a

Conservative Government to negotiate a new settlement with our

European partners in the next Parliament. When we have negotiated

that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum

with a very simple in or out choice. To stay in the European Union on

these new terms, or to come out altogether. It will be an in-out

referendum. Europe had to change he said to become more flexible, more

competitive, more accountable. The EU's mission should no longer be

ever closer union. If not, it was clear where he thinks we are

heading. If we don't address these challenges, the danger is that

Europe will fail and the British people will drift towards the exit.

I do not want that to happen. I want the European Union to be a

success and I want a relationship between Britain and the European

Union that keeps us in it. The last time, the only time, Britain had a

vote on Europe was way back in 1975 when TV graphics were a little more

basic! Back then, Labour's Harold Wilson and the Tories's Mrs

Thatcher voted "yes". David Cameron's promised vote could be

another four years away and what would he do? Let me say now that if

we can negotiate such an arrangement, I will campaign for it

with all my heart and all my soul. What the Prime Minister didn't say

today is what new deal he really wanted or what he would do if

Europe said no. If you cannot get a better deal, are you saying you

would vote "no" for Britain to get out of Europe? If you fudge the

question, are we entitled to assume that you want people to think that

but you are scared to say it? would answer that directly. Who

goes into a negotiation hoping and expecting to fail? Less impressed

were the Labour Leader who condemned a speech he said was

written to please them, not the country. Why can't he say that he

will vote "yes" in a referendum? He is frightened because of the people

behind him. The only thing that's changed is a few months ago, when

he said he was against ab in-out referendum -- an in-out referendum

was the situation in the Tory Party. Why doesn't he admit it? He's been

dragged to it by his party. most basic question of all is do

you want a referendum? I do. Does he? We don't want an in-out

referendum. Clear enough, until his spin-doctors explained he didn't

mean no, just no to making the promise now. Labour's opponents are

smelling blood. Ed Miliband's stance will drive Old Labour voters

towards UKIP. I think the civil wars within the Conservative Party,

you will start to see them in the Labour Party. Labour is not alone

in condemning the Prime Minister's promise. Even his own Deputy said

the country should be focusing on turning the economy around. That

job is made all the harder if we have years of grinding uncertainty

because of a protracted renegotiation of Britain's status

within the EU. That will hit growth and it will hit jobs and that is

why it is not in the national interest. The speech David Cameron

delivered here could be a first step towards a European exit for

Britain. The Prime Minister insists it is not what he wants, nor what

he believes will happen. But of course what he's done today is

ensure that he is no longer in charge. He claims that you are.

The Prime Minister did say he wanted the British people to settle

the question of Europe once and for all. So what do people make of the

decision to offer a referendum? Richard Bilton has been to

Birmingham to gauge reaction in the Over the past week, the Midlands

has worried more about its relationship with the Arctic than

Europe! What do those enjoying warm lattes think of the Prime

Minister's view that disillusionment with the EU is at

an all-time high? I'm more concerned about the cuts that are

going on at the moment. We need to be worrying more about what is

happening at home. I would like to see a debate. It should be up to

the public to voice their opinion. It feels like words and points-

scoring off each other. I don't know how that translates down into

normal people's lives. Birmingham sees itself as in the industrial

heartland. Metal-bashing is not what it was. It means in places

like this the UK's relationship with Europe is about more than just

politics. It is about jobs and livelihoods. Here, they don't bash

metal, but they do manufacture. These precision tools are used by

industry around the world. The MD says Europe is no longer the key

market but the debate is important. Too much of the regulation that

comes out of Europe, a lot of the waste that we see, we don't want to

be part of that. What we need to do is to renegotiate our position, but

remain in. Down the road, a different side of the UK economy.

This is a distribution centre. These water and gas meters are not

made here, but from here, they head out across Europe. I think it is a

mistake. An in-out referendum can harm my business. It will introduce

uncertainty into the marketplace. That will cause difficulty for this

business. On the shop floor, the concern was not about Europe, but

about jobs. Plenty of business for the company I work with. And plenty

of progression. So if it keeps me in work, there is no problem.

relationship with Europe has actually become less of a political

issue. Today, David Cameron brought it back into the spotlight.

There's already been plenty of reaction from Britain's European

partners. From France and Germany, the two great powers of the EU,

politicians have said the UK shouldn't assume it can just pick

and choose which bits of the EU it wants to be a part of. Gavin Hewitt

reports now from Berlin on reaction within the EU.

Berlin, chilly and uneasy. The government here had been nervous

about David Cameron's speech, despite being briefed beforehand.

Even on the streets, there is an understanding that leaving the EU

is now an option for Britain. absolutely really is important. We

need Great Britain in the EU. about time for Britain to decide

whether they want to belong to the European project or not. Soon after

the Prime Minister's speech, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel,

said Germany was prepared to talk about Britain's wishes. But she

said a fair compromise was needed, balancing Britain's demands with

those of other countries. Her Foreign Minister made it clear that

what they couldn't accept was Britain picking and choosing what

it liked and disliked. Cherry- picking is not an option.

The German and French leaders had met last night and had co-ordinated

their response. The French too are willing to discuss a more open,

flexible EU. But no special deal for the UK.

TRANSLATION: Imagine the EU as a football club. Once you have joined

up and you are in this club, you can't say, "We want to play rugby."

Some MEPs watched David Cameron's speech and some welcomed his vision

for a leaner, less bureaucratic Europe. It was a breakthrough

speech, a remarkable speech which sets out a complete vision of

European Union for the future. David Cameron is at the World

Economic Forum in Davos. Also there, the Prime Minister of Sweden.

Cameron is not the only one who has been presenting ideas on how to

reshape or alter the direction of the European corporation. We have

been able to solve this in a way that is good for everyone.

message coming out of Berlin is shared in other capitals. They want

Britain to stay in the EU, but not at any price. The door isn't closed

to offering some concessions, but there is very little appetite to

give Britain a whole range of opt- outs for itself. The reality is

that Britain will need the support of the 26 other EU members to claw

back powers from Europe. And that is likely to be a drawn-out and

difficult negotiation. Let's round this off now with Nick

Robinson in Downing Street. There are still plenty of ifs and buts.

We have heard some already. This is a big gamble for David Cameron?

is a gamble, yes. David Cameron thinks it is paying off tonight.

Why? Tory MPs cheered him in the Commons. A few weeks ago, they were

voting against him inside the House of Commons. He saw Ed Miliband, the

Labour Leader, appeared to say no and then appeared to say maybe,

perhaps, in certain circumstances to a referendum. That increased the

smiles on Tory faces. They believe this is a popular position with the

British public. So game over for David Cameron? Not one bit of it.

It was he who told his party that they lost in the 1990s because they

obsessed about Europe and he has given them permission now to obsess

all over again and obsess they already are away from the cameras.

He needs to spell out what powers they want to get back. Another said,

"We are going to force him to harden up his manifesto until we

know we can trust him." Businesses may get worried in all that time.

There is the small matter of those European leaders who might say,

"You know what you want? We have no intention of giving it to you." If

David Cameron pulls this off, it will be a triumph. He knows that

Harold Wilson's Labour Party was split, so too John Major and

Margaret Thatcher's Tory Party. This is merely page one in the

latest chapter of the longest and bloodiest saga in British politics.

Our relations with Europe. There's to be a big shake-up in the

way A-level students are tested in England. Students will face a

single set of exams at the end of a two-year period. Michael Gove wants

the students to have a deeper understanding of their subjects.

The plans have been criticised by Labour and several teaching

It's back to the future for A- levels. From 2015, sixth formers in

England, like so many of their parents, will take exams only at

the end of their two-year course, with AS-levels no longer counting

towards the final grade. What we want to do was essentially

try to ensure that A-levels, which are primarily not exclusive as you

know preparation for university education, give people a better

preparation for universities. wants to get rid of what he called

bite-sized learning and have more detailed study. At this school in

London, sixth formers considered the plans. I think it would deter

students from going to sixth form in the 23 place because of the --

first place because of the pressure. I wouldn't handle the build-up of

knowing my final examination, my last chance to shine was it.

Michael Gove says end of course exams, rather than modules help

promote deeper learning and understanding. No-one's against his

aims but many question his methods. Among them Cambridge which uses AS-

levels taken at the end of year 12 to make offers to sixth formers.

found in this university that year 12 results with the best guidance

we have about how well a student can go on and perform when here. To

use that would throw us back on GCSE results or optimistic

predictions of what they may do in the future. Neither of which is

anywhere near as good as the actual proper exam results of year 12.

Pupils in Wales and Northern Ireland will have to wait to find

out the future of both A-levels and GCSEs for them. In England, the

module system does look set to bite the dust.

Britain's two biggest construction firms, McAlpine and Balfour Beatty

have admitted using an illegal secret list to vet potential

employees, including work on Olympic projects. The practice was

condemned as national scandals in Parliament today and there were

calls for all workers on the list to be told. Here is our industry

correspondent, John Moylan. It's being called a national scandal.

For years, dozens of firms in one of our most important industries

helped compile information on more than 3,000 people. They then used

it to ensure they were blacklisted and denied work.

I'm Dave Smith. I worked as an engineer in the construction

industry for 12 years. I was forced out because I was blacklisted.

includes details of his home, car, involvement in disputes and his

role as a health and safety rep. pay went from �36,000 in one year

to �12,000 the next year. It was that big an impact. After 1999 I

could never get a job that lasted more than a few weeks.

The file was one of 3,000 uncovered in 2009 in a raid of the Consulting

Association based in Droitwich. Now it's emerged that vetting occurred

on major public projects, including the Olympics. Balfour Beatty and

Sir Robert McAlpine have both confirmed that checks were carried

out, but individuals were not refused work.

McAlpine have never operated or sought to operate out of practice.

I would also say the Consulting Association only used members'

references in relation to sabotage and unlawful activity.

Today, senior politicians weighed in. What has happened here is

nothing short of a national scandal. The sadness is that we cannot say

with confidence that these practices are still not continuing.

If it is actually going on, it's a serious matter and it does need

investigation and of course I will want to see it properly

investigated. Many believe workers were

blacklisted for simply being Trade Union members or for raising safety

concerns. If proved, that would leave firms open to legal claims.

The blacklist itself had 3,000 names on it. For the industry, if

these thousands of people take action against the companies, it

could be wide-ranging for the industry as a whole and could run

into many millions. These brick layers of the future

will be hoping their new skill will guarantee them income and

employment for years to come, and that never again will the prospects

for construction workers be blighted by the widespread use of a

secret blacklist. The time is 6.19. Our top story

tonight: David Cameron promises a referendum on Europe in the next

five years if he is still Prime Minister.

Coming up - the history boys - Bradford City become the lowest

ranked club to make it to a major Wembley Cup Final. It's six days

now and Britain is still in the grip of the big freeze. The

snowfall has switched from east to west, north to south. Hundreds of

schools are still shut in Wales and last night, dozens of drivers were

stranded in their vehicles. Right now, it's the south-west

that's causing most concern. Our correspondent, John Kay, who

was himself stranded by the snow last night, reports on today's

extreme weather. Today it looked like somebody had

pressed the pause button on the A39. Freeze frame.

Dozens of vehicles were abandoned here overnight as heavy snow fell

on the Mendip Hills. These men came back to get theirs

this afternoon. They'd been using a van to move

house. But had to leave it and find a floor to sleep on.

Awful driving. Really scary. Then we got to this point and all the

cars had stopped so I mean we were stuck here. It's the remote rural

parts of the West Country that are struggling the most. In some places,

it's not so much a blanket of snow as a whole pile of them.

Of course, less than a month ago, we were here reporting about severe

flooding in Somerset. There are plenty of people around here who're

worried about what will happen when all this melts and turns to water.

That will be yet another concern for farmers. For them, the snow

follows a dire few months. We found one farmer struggling to

reach his hungry cattle today and accepting any offers of help.

is Edward, he should have gone to school today but he's come out

helping us, chucking hey out and what have you. Are you working? Not

a day off?! Are you happy working? Yes. Good for you!

In Devon too, they've been suffering. The village of

Rackenford has given itself a chilling new name. But after nearly

a week of atrocious conditions in so many parts of the UK,

forecasters say things are finally set to improve. After the big

freeze, prepare for a gradual thaw. Unemployment's fallen to its lowest

level for 18 months. The UK's jobless fell by 37,000 in the last

quarter to just under 2.5 million, the lowest since spring of 2011.

Our Chief Economics Correspondent, Hugh Pym, joins me now. It's

puzzling. We keep talking about tough times, yet the jobless

figures look quite good? Yes, George, they did come as a pleasant

surprise and people wonder whether things aren't quite as bad as some

of the data suggests. Let's look at the latest job figures. The one

that stood out for me was the total number in work, nearly 30 million

in the three months ending in November, a record level. The

increase over the previous 12 months up to that period, that was

more than 500,000, the fastest rise since the late 80s. Those are the

headline numbers, but the employment rate as a percentage of

the workforce was up as well. Where do we go from here? Positive news

from McDonald's who want to create 2,500 jobs this year, Lloyds

Banking Group want to cut 1,000 jobs, so uncertainty ahead and some

retail failures we have seen, the fallout from that's not yet hit

these figures. Thank you. Prince Harry's just

arrived back in Britain, he landed at RAF Brize Norton just over an

hour ago after completing his tour of duty in Afghanistan. He was

asked about his recent comments which sparked headlines saying he'd

killed Taliban fighters. You get asked to do things that you'd

expect to do wearing this uniform and that's as simple as that really.

Now, they're entire team costs less than one of their opponents earns

in just a week, but that hasn't stopped Bradford City making

history. They beat Aston Villa to become the lowest placed football

side ever to reach a kem by Cup Final. As Tim Franks has been

finding out, they achievement is still sinking in with the fans --

Wembley Cup Final. The big game is yet to come. Try telling that to

Bradford City. They knocked out three Premier

League clubs en route to the final, no other fourth tier team's managed

such a feat. 1911 was the last time, the only

time Bradford City were in a major Cup Final. Their hero last night

was a former supermarket shelf stacker. It's not really sunk in

what the lads have achieved and it's delight for everyone connected

to the club, the back room staff that work hard and the two chairmen

that put the money in and the fans that come week in week out. It was

without a doubt... This fan had more than most invested in a

Bradford win. His scarves were printed up even before kick off

last night. I think I lost half a stone. I was pacing like a caged

lion watching it. It was more than 50 years ago that a team from the

fourth division of the league made to it a major Cup Final, Rochdale

losing in the end to Norwich. Over the years, as the chasm between the

top and bottom of the Football League has widened and deepened,

the prospect of a repeat appeared all the more distant I've been a

fan since I were four-year-old down here. 1964 we'd get 2,000. I see

those lads now and it's great. I bet they've all got a smile on

their face and it's nice to do that for them. So much of football is

drenched in a stale hysteria, but this has been an achievement of

real wonder. Under freezing grey skies, Bradford City's given sports

lovers a story that will warm them for years to come.

for years to come. Time for the weather now. Couple

more days of snow and ice and we may have to worry about rain and

floods, would you believe. In the short-term, the widespread hazard

will be ice tonight, very few places immune from that. We have

still got some snow to worry about, particularly across parts of Devon,

South Wales, quite heavy here at the moment with heavy showers in

the Midlands. They will tend to fade through the night.

Temperatures will drop below freezing almost everywhere, the ice

is the main problem. Your journey tomorrow morning and temperatures

around the south coast just about above freezing. Grey skies at this

time, but temperatures well below freezing elsewhere. We could go

down to minus seven or eight, possibly even minus ten. Freezing

patches of fog to watch out for, Inverness prone to that in

particular. Very low temperatures to start the day in Highland

tomorrow. We are not expecting any snow to fall tomorrow, but the

stuff on the ground will thaw very slightly because in the sunshine,

temperatures only really getting up to around one or two. A much

quieter day so a chance to draw breath. As we go into Friday, it's

all hands to the pumps with much milder air prushing in from the

west. Heavy rain in the west. Further east, the cold air holds on.

In the battleground, heavy snow looks likely through the course of

the day. The further north you are, the heavier the snow is likely to

be. In Scotland and northern England, we could see two to five

centimetres, possibly more over high ground and it will be drifting.