:00:00. > :00:13.An inquiry's ordered into the scandal that's engulfed the
:00:14. > :00:15.Co-operative Bank. Its former chairman, Paul Flowers, faces
:00:16. > :00:24.allegations involving drugs, pornography and male prostitution.
:00:25. > :00:29.Why was Reverend Flowers judged suitable to run the bank?
:00:30. > :00:32.As the Government seeks to pin some of the blame for the scandal on
:00:33. > :00:34.Labour, we'll have the latest from Westminster.
:00:35. > :00:38.Also tonight: Two women and two children are killed in a house fire
:00:39. > :00:39.in Derbyshire in the early hours of this morning.
:00:40. > :00:42.Anger as Northern Ireland's top legal officer calls for an end to
:00:43. > :00:49.criminal prosecutions for killings during the Troubles. Life has to go
:00:50. > :00:55.on. I think we never got closure. So how can you have closure if you
:00:56. > :00:58.don't get justice? Relief for the Greenpeace activist
:00:59. > :01:01.Alex Harris - one of three Britons granted bail in Russia after months
:01:02. > :01:10.in prison. And celebrations in Hull as it's
:01:11. > :01:14.named UK City of Culture 2017. In the sport: Alastair Cook tells his
:01:15. > :01:18.England side that they have nothing to fear ahead of the start of the
:01:19. > :01:37.First Ashes Test in Brisbane tonight.
:01:38. > :01:42.Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. The Government is to
:01:43. > :01:45.order an independent inquiry into why the disgraced Methodist
:01:46. > :01:50.Minister, Paul Flowers, was deemed a suitable chairman of the Co-op Bank.
:01:51. > :01:54.It follows allegations that Reverend Flowers bought illegal drugs and
:01:55. > :01:58.used a male prostitute. This afternoon, the Methodist Church
:01:59. > :02:02.suspended him indefinitely. The inquiry - one of three now on the
:02:03. > :02:05.way - is also expected to examine whether the crisis has had any
:02:06. > :02:10.impact on the bank's customers, as our business editor, Robert Peston,
:02:11. > :02:16.explains. Co-operative Bank in dire straits,
:02:17. > :02:21.needing to be rescued, chaired as it careered to near disaster by a
:02:22. > :02:25.Methodist Minister who apparently had a taste for hard drugs. At
:02:26. > :02:29.Westminster, the Prime Minister said he wanted to know how it all went so
:02:30. > :02:33.badly wrong. My right honourable friend, the Chancellor, will be
:02:34. > :02:37.discussing with the regulators what is the appropriate form of enquiry
:02:38. > :02:41.to get to the bottom of what went wrong here. There are, clearly, a
:02:42. > :02:45.lot of questions that have to be answered. Why was Reverend FlouRps
:02:46. > :02:49.judged suitable to be chairman of a bank? Why weren't alarm bells rung
:02:50. > :02:58.earlier, particularly by those who knew? In fact, there are likely to
:02:59. > :03:03.be three inquiries. The police probe into the illegal possession of
:03:04. > :03:09.drugs, a so-called enforcement investigation by the Financial
:03:10. > :03:12.Conduct Authority and a long and detailed inquiry into everything
:03:13. > :03:16.that's gone wrong at Co-operative Bank to be ordered by the
:03:17. > :03:22.Chancellor. So, what should the probes seek to find out? It should
:03:23. > :03:26.be looking at the role of both the senior management team within the
:03:27. > :03:32.Co-op organisation in deciding to appoint men like the Reverend
:03:33. > :03:35.Flowers as chairman of the Co-operative Bank and I should think
:03:36. > :03:40.it should look at as well as the role of the regulators. Labour is on
:03:41. > :03:47.the defensive about the Co-op debacle because the Co-op Party and
:03:48. > :03:52.Co-operative Group have donated over ?1.5 million to Labour over the past
:03:53. > :03:59.decade. So, Labour's leader today decided attack was the best form of
:04:00. > :04:03.defence. He's taken nearly ?5 million from Michael Spencer, whose
:04:04. > :04:06.company was found to be rigging LIBOR rates, he has a party chairman
:04:07. > :04:13.who operated a company under a false name and was investigated for fraud,
:04:14. > :04:19.he's taken millions from tax exiles, his party has never paid back the
:04:20. > :04:24.money from Asil Nadir and they are just the people I can talk about in
:04:25. > :04:28.this House. What we can now see is that this bank, driven into the wall
:04:29. > :04:32.by this chairman, has been giving soft loans to the Labour Party,
:04:33. > :04:36.facilities to the Labour Party, donations to the Labour Party,
:04:37. > :04:41.trooped in-and-out of Downing Street under Labour, still advising the
:04:42. > :04:45.leader of the Labour Party and yet now we know all along they knew
:04:46. > :04:49.about his past. Why did they do nothing to bring to the attention of
:04:50. > :04:57.the authorities this man who has broken a bank? Reverend Flowers, not
:04:58. > :05:02.quite so Reverend today, suspended indefinitely from the Methodist
:05:03. > :05:09.Church. Who knows what the three probes will find. Which makes them
:05:10. > :05:21.destabilising to the attempt to fill a ?1.5 billion hole in the bank.
:05:22. > :05:27.Smile, as the Co-op's online bank is called. Probably not if you work for
:05:28. > :05:31.the bank or have a stake in it. Our political correspondent, Gary
:05:32. > :05:35.O'Donoghue, is in Westminster. Clearly, the Government are pinning
:05:36. > :05:38.the blame on Labour. How much of a problem for Labour is all this
:05:39. > :05:43.turning into? The heat is clearly being turned up on Labour now. We
:05:44. > :05:47.have learnt today that when the Reverend Flowers resigned from the
:05:48. > :05:52.council in Bradford, shortly after that he was appointed as a local
:05:53. > :05:57.authority governor into a primary school and it seems that the school
:05:58. > :06:03.was not told about why he was forced to resign. The Tory council are
:06:04. > :06:08.calling for an inquiry. We are getting a political heat being
:06:09. > :06:11.turned up here in London by the Prime Minister accusing Labour of
:06:12. > :06:15.knowing all along about Paul Flowers' private life and him still
:06:16. > :06:18.being an adviser to the Labour Party, something they deny. For
:06:19. > :06:22.their part, Labour say despite having received more than ?1 million
:06:23. > :06:27.from the Co-op movement over the last ten years, Mr Flowers was not
:06:28. > :06:31.influential and that they did not know about his activities. The
:06:32. > :06:34.question remains - why didn't anyone ask questions after he resigned from
:06:35. > :06:38.the council? Surely someone must have known about the activities and
:06:39. > :06:43.about his appropriateness to chair the bank. Thank you very much.
:06:44. > :06:46.Two women and two children have been killed in a house fire in
:06:47. > :06:49.Derbyshire. A third child is being treated in hospital for minor
:06:50. > :06:52.injuries. Firefighters were called to the house in a village near
:06:53. > :06:59.Chesterfield early this morning. Our correspondent, Sian Lloyd, is there
:07:00. > :07:02.for us. Well, police and fire crews have
:07:03. > :07:07.been working here all day and investigations will continue into
:07:08. > :07:11.the night. This road usually a busy artery towards the M1 has been
:07:12. > :07:14.closed to traffic. We understand that it is going to re-open shortly,
:07:15. > :07:21.though, as they try to return to some sense of normality here.
:07:22. > :07:24.From the outside, it looks unscathed, but fire took hold of
:07:25. > :07:30.this terraced home in the early hours of the morning, killing four
:07:31. > :07:37.inside. There must have been about five police cars, a fire engine and
:07:38. > :07:44.it is surreal. Because it's yards away from my house. Shocking. When
:07:45. > :07:49.fire crews arrived at the house at 5.00am, it was already full of
:07:50. > :07:55.smoke. Two boys and two women had died inside. The only survivor, a
:07:56. > :08:00.seven-year-old girl, was found in the back garden. It's not yet clear
:08:01. > :08:03.how she managed to escape. She was taken to hospital in Chesterfield
:08:04. > :08:08.where she's being treated for the effects of smoke. Officers don't yet
:08:09. > :08:14.know what caused the fire. They say they are keeping an open mind. It is
:08:15. > :08:17.a tragic event. The impact on the community is recognised and
:08:18. > :08:24.together, we are working through that with the family.
:08:25. > :08:27.Specially-trained officers are working with the family.
:08:28. > :08:32.Investigations are continuing at the scene. They are described as being
:08:33. > :08:37.at an early stage. And the latest information that we
:08:38. > :08:42.are receiving is that it is looking less likely that the cause of this
:08:43. > :08:45.fire is suspicious although the exact cause is not known. We don't
:08:46. > :08:51.have any confirmation of that. It is, of course, the question that the
:08:52. > :08:56.family of the victims and the community here desperately want
:08:57. > :08:59.answered. Thank you very much. It would mark a radical change in
:09:00. > :09:03.the history of Northern Ireland's Troubles and it's divided opinion
:09:04. > :09:06.among many victims of the violence. Northern Ireland's top legal
:09:07. > :09:08.officer, the Attorney General, John Larkin, has proposed an end to
:09:09. > :09:14.prosecutions for Troubles-related killings carried out before the Good
:09:15. > :09:18.Friday Agreement. More than 3,500 people were killed between the start
:09:19. > :09:23.of the Troubles and 1998, when the Agreement was signed. The proposal
:09:24. > :09:28.would cover all deaths caused by paramilitaries, police or the army.
:09:29. > :09:32.If implemented, the move would stop all investigations, arrests and
:09:33. > :09:39.inquiries. Our Ireland correspondent, Chris Buckler, has
:09:40. > :09:45.been gauging reaction. They were decades marked by chaos
:09:46. > :09:51.and killing. The period that became known as the Troubles saw Northern
:09:52. > :09:56.Ireland engulfed in conflict. And left many families grieving. Years
:09:57. > :10:01.have done little to ease the pain felt by some. Florence Magill's son
:10:02. > :10:09.was a serving police officer when he was shot dead on duty in 1980. He
:10:10. > :10:15.didn't have a chance. It was all in the back. He was left lying on the
:10:16. > :10:22.road to die. Nobody there. That memory comes to me quite often.
:10:23. > :10:26.Especially at this time of the year. Murders that took place on these
:10:27. > :10:29.streets remain unsolved, killers never convicted and now there's been
:10:30. > :10:33.a call by Stormont's chief legal advisor for an end to all
:10:34. > :10:41.prosecutions and investigations related to the Troubles. The time
:10:42. > :10:47.has come to think about putting a line set at Good Friday 1998 with
:10:48. > :10:51.respect to prosecutions, inquests and other inquiries. This is a place
:10:52. > :10:54.where the past can cast a long shadow. And there are some who feel
:10:55. > :10:58.that the Attorney-General of Northern Ireland has gone beyond his
:10:59. > :11:02.brief by making this suggestion. He doesn't call it an amnesty, but that
:11:03. > :11:07.is how others are viewing it. We don't feel that is right. Victims'
:11:08. > :11:10.groups expressed their anger when they met the American diplomat
:11:11. > :11:13.Richard Haass today. He is trying to broker an agreement between
:11:14. > :11:18.politicians about the past. The Attorney-General's comments have
:11:19. > :11:22.stirred that debate. The way in which John's contribution has been
:11:23. > :11:29.presented I think will present all sorts of difficulties for victims. I
:11:30. > :11:34.think the focus of all that we do about the past has to be
:11:35. > :11:41.victim-centred. That makes this a sensitive debate. Alan McBride's
:11:42. > :11:47.wife was killed in an IRA bombing this man's brother was shot dead,
:11:48. > :11:51.but they are united. What victims have been asked to do here from the
:11:52. > :11:54.Good Friday Agreement in terms of saying the people that murdered our
:11:55. > :11:59.loved ones serve a relatively short period of time in prison and then be
:12:00. > :12:03.released. To come with all of that and then decide that there should be
:12:04. > :12:09.no investigations and no inquests, no inquiries, nothing, I think it's
:12:10. > :12:12.ridiculous. My first thought this morning was that is another door
:12:13. > :12:18.shut in my face. I have been fighting for years to get the truth
:12:19. > :12:21.about the killing. 30 years of violence scarred lives across the
:12:22. > :12:25.British Isles. While the Prime Minister has made clear that there
:12:26. > :12:29.are no plans for legislation, in the near future politicians will have to
:12:30. > :12:34.find a way to deal with the dreadful past.
:12:35. > :12:36.A senior police officer says an obsession with reducing crime is
:12:37. > :12:40.creating pressure on police to manipulate crime figures.
:12:41. > :12:43.Derbyshire's Chief Constable, Mick Creedon, says numerous officers in
:12:44. > :12:48.many forces have told him that's what's happening. He says the police
:12:49. > :12:53.are doing everything they can to ensure crime does not go up.
:12:54. > :12:57.The Church of England has backed new proposals that could mean women will
:12:58. > :13:01.be ordained as bishops by the end of next year. The vote came after the
:13:02. > :13:03.Church's ruling body agreed to ensure that parishes which don't
:13:04. > :13:08.want a woman bishop aren't discriminated against. A final vote
:13:09. > :13:15.is now expected next July. Our religious correspondent, Robert
:13:16. > :13:20.Pigott, reports. I baptise you... They have become a
:13:21. > :13:24.common sight, women have done the work of priests for 20 years, but
:13:25. > :13:32.opposition remains to their appointment as bishops. Some
:13:33. > :13:37.traditionalis believe because Jesus chose only men to be his apostles
:13:38. > :13:42.women cannot be priests, let alone bishops. The Synod has been the
:13:43. > :13:47.arena for this epic battle, traditionalists have fought here to
:13:48. > :13:51.be excused from serving under women. But, quite suddenly today they
:13:52. > :13:57.accepted the compromise on offer and it past by a massive majority. An
:13:58. > :14:03.honoured place is assured for all in these proposals. The battle surely
:14:04. > :14:08.is over. Let's now get on with the mission for the wondrous things he
:14:09. > :14:13.has done, now thank we all our God. The deal to open the doors of the
:14:14. > :14:16.Church to women bishops gives traditionalists rather less than
:14:17. > :14:19.before. They will still be able to request an alternative male bishop,
:14:20. > :14:23.although that right will no longer be written into the law. There will
:14:24. > :14:28.be an independent arbitrator who can rule in the case of disputes, a key
:14:29. > :14:34.concession to traditionalists. After the vote, we brought together
:14:35. > :14:44.representatives of the two sides, a traditionalist evangelical and a
:14:45. > :14:49.progressive member of the Synod. Something had to be done. There was
:14:50. > :14:54.huge pressure. I'm very glad we made a big move forwards. There was
:14:55. > :14:56.pressure, but also a new willingness to show sensitivity towards one
:14:57. > :15:06.another and I think the result will be good for the church if we can
:15:07. > :15:12.focus on not on our differences. Women clergy say they are also
:15:13. > :15:17.comprising. A final vote could take place as soon as next July.
:15:18. > :15:21.Resistance to women bishops has been a matter of deeply held conviction
:15:22. > :15:25.for many traditionalists. The church has been taken by surprise by how
:15:26. > :15:30.quickly they have conceded. When the first women bishops are ordained,
:15:31. > :15:32.probably in 2015, Anglicans will look back to this as the moment when
:15:33. > :15:44.everything changed. Our top story: An independent
:15:45. > :15:48.inquiry is launched into why disgraced Methodist minister Paul
:15:49. > :15:55.Flowers was deemed a suitable chairman of the Co-op. Still to
:15:56. > :15:58.come, a nation expects. Australia prepare to take on England in the
:15:59. > :16:02.Ashes. In Sportsday on BBC News, work
:16:03. > :16:05.starts to convert the Olympic Stadium into West Ham's permanent
:16:06. > :16:22.home for the 2016 season. They have been dubbed the Arctic
:16:23. > :16:26.30. A multinational team of Greenpeace activist 's and two
:16:27. > :16:30.journalists who were arrested on their ship by the Russian security
:16:31. > :16:34.forces two months ago during a protest against Arctic oil drilling.
:16:35. > :16:38.They are charged with hooliganism and could face seven years in
:16:39. > :16:41.prison. 12 of the 30 had already been granted bail and one
:16:42. > :16:45.Australian's request was turned down. This morning, eight more
:16:46. > :16:51.people appeared in court, including three of the six Britons being
:16:52. > :16:53.held, and the parrot, Kieron Bryan and Alex Harris. They were also
:16:54. > :17:08.bailed. -- Anthony Perrett. I feel trapped inside a political
:17:09. > :17:12.game, it's horrible. Behind bars, looking scared and nervous, Alex
:17:13. > :17:16.Harris, a British Greenpeace press officer who has been in a Russian
:17:17. > :17:20.jails in September. I spent two months in prison. It has been the
:17:21. > :17:29.hardest two months of my life. I beg you to grant me bail. I am a good
:17:30. > :17:31.person. Pleading tearfully for bail, as she has twice before, but
:17:32. > :17:47.this time the judge agreed. It's not over yet. It is nice that
:17:48. > :17:53.Russia has made the right decision. She has been granted bail. We broke
:17:54. > :17:56.the news to her parents at their home in Exeter, where they have been
:17:57. > :18:03.following the whole thing on their computer. To see the sheer delight
:18:04. > :18:07.on her face, because he could see how stressful it was during the
:18:08. > :18:11.trial, it has been brilliant. It is a change of heart by the judges in
:18:12. > :18:17.Russia. Suddenly, one by one, all of the Greenpeace activist are being
:18:18. > :18:23.given bail. Down two flaws in the same building, video producer Kieron
:18:24. > :18:27.Bryan was awaiting his fate. Then came the good news from his
:18:28. > :18:32.translator. I was doing my job, I can't regret doing my job, I love my
:18:33. > :18:37.job. It's an important thing. What Greenpeace do is an important thing.
:18:38. > :18:45.But if you had told me what was going to happen, I probably would
:18:46. > :18:48.not have been there. It was this Greenpeace protest at an Arctic oil
:18:49. > :18:55.rig that prompted the strong Russian reaction. The next day, men from the
:18:56. > :18:58.special services in balaclavas and carrying guns abseiled down onto the
:18:59. > :19:06.Greenpeace ship. The activist 's had been detained ever since. The oil
:19:07. > :19:12.and gas industry is vital to this country's economy and the oil rig
:19:13. > :19:15.targeted by Greenpeace is Russia's first in the Arctic, where there are
:19:16. > :19:21.vast reserves. Protesters are not welcome. But, this evening, Russia
:19:22. > :19:26.relented a little and the first Greenpeace protester, a Brazilian,
:19:27. > :19:28.walked free from prison. Paperwork means that the Britons will not be
:19:29. > :19:37.out for a few days. In the past few minutes, the
:19:38. > :19:41.Government has defeated a rebellion by Conservative MPs over its plans
:19:42. > :19:44.to restructure the Armed Forces. The Defence Secretary Philip Hammond
:19:45. > :19:48.wants to cut the regular Army by 20,000 troops and boost the
:19:49. > :19:54.reservists is. But that prompted a backlash by Conservative
:19:55. > :19:58.backbenchers. Caroline Wyatt is here. Just explain what is at stake.
:19:59. > :20:03.The size and shape of the British Army. How many people are part of
:20:04. > :20:08.it, whether they are regulars, reservists, part-time as you can
:20:09. > :20:11.call up as and when you need them. The Ministry of Defence says they
:20:12. > :20:15.are, by and large, cheaper. The MoD had to cut the number of regulars
:20:16. > :20:21.after 2010. They had to cut budgets by 20%. They said regular numbers
:20:22. > :20:25.would be brought down by 20,000, reserve is to be brought up by
:20:26. > :20:28.30,000. Many Tory backbenchers, at least 20, back to that motion today.
:20:29. > :20:34.They were deeply involved in defence, among them John Barron MP.
:20:35. > :20:40.They said, take a pause, you have got rid of regulars and yet you have
:20:41. > :20:43.not been doing very well as a government in getting the number of
:20:44. > :20:47.reserves you want to. That motion was treated. It will carry on going
:20:48. > :20:53.ahead, but I don't think this is the last we will hear on the matter.
:20:54. > :20:57.The poet Philip Larkin lived and worked there. The actress Maureen
:20:58. > :21:03.Lipman was born there. And it is the city that produced the 80s pop band
:21:04. > :21:11.the Housemartins. Now Hull has been named the UK City of Culture for
:21:12. > :21:16.2017. Colin Patterson is there. Ten years ago, a bestselling book
:21:17. > :21:20.declared that's was the worst place in Britain to live. Today, it was
:21:21. > :21:26.named the next City of Culture. So, why the change and what should we
:21:27. > :21:33.expect from Hull in 2017? I am delighted to announce that the UK
:21:34. > :21:39.City of Culture 2017 is Hull. A shock result and an ecstatic
:21:40. > :21:43.reaction. Those who backed Hull's bid thought that justice had been
:21:44. > :21:49.done. It fully deserves it. Hull has been a city of culture for many
:21:50. > :21:55.years. This is a vindication of the work that has been going on over
:21:56. > :22:00.time. Hull has had sporadic cultural victories in the past. Philip Larkin
:22:01. > :22:07.was a librarian here in the 60s when he he wrote his major works. When
:22:08. > :22:12.getting my nose in a book queue had most things, short of school, it was
:22:13. > :22:17.worth ruining my eyes to make sure I could keep cool... And in the 80s,
:22:18. > :22:25.Hull band the Housemartins made it to the top of the charts. But what
:22:26. > :22:31.of the current cultural highlights? We have a lot of art going on,
:22:32. > :22:37.music. I think it's about time, we deserve it. Quite a lot going on in
:22:38. > :22:42.Hull. A lot of people give it a bad name, that it's a good city. There
:22:43. > :22:46.are cultural aspects to route, you just have to find them. Organisers
:22:47. > :22:50.say that it will feature one cultural event every day of the
:22:51. > :22:56.year, 25 festivals, and it is aiming to change the perceptions of the
:22:57. > :23:01.city. Hull is only the second place to become a UK City of Culture, a
:23:02. > :23:06.title devised by the Government to boost to us and the economy of the
:23:07. > :23:10.chosen area. Crucially, there is no extra funding from Westminster to
:23:11. > :23:22.host the events. There was one main reason why Hull was picked. It is
:23:23. > :23:25.because of the Hullness being thrown at me from the presentation team.
:23:26. > :23:30.That sums up the hunger and desire to have it. One of their problems
:23:31. > :23:36.has been that it is tucked away, you do not travel through it to get
:23:37. > :23:42.anywhere else. In 2017, the hope is that millions will make it a
:23:43. > :23:48.destination. Hull sees this as a real chance to change its image and
:23:49. > :23:53.thinks that if it is starting to work in the current City of Culture,
:23:54. > :23:55.Londonderry, it can work for them as well.
:23:56. > :24:00.The Government is expected to announce an extra ?150 million to
:24:01. > :24:04.help hospital A units in England cope with winter pressures. The
:24:05. > :24:08.money is on top of code and ?50 million announced in this summer,
:24:09. > :24:12.which was targeted at hospitals judged to be in greatest need of
:24:13. > :24:15.extra support. In a few hours time, England will begin their defence of
:24:16. > :24:19.the Ashes in the first test in Brisbane. The England cricket
:24:20. > :24:22.captain Alistair Cook says his squad has nothing to fear against
:24:23. > :24:29.Australia. Here's hoping they can win the Ashes for the fourth time in
:24:30. > :24:36.a row. Australia is no longer a jungle. In
:24:37. > :24:42.fact, this is Brisbane's botanical Park. For Ian Bell, a stroll. Fresh
:24:43. > :24:45.in his memory, the series win in Australia three years ago. There is
:24:46. > :24:49.no longer fear about coming here. A lot of the guys have great memories
:24:50. > :24:52.of playing in Australia. I think that is great to have in our
:24:53. > :24:57.dressing room and environment. Guys that have tasted success out here.
:24:58. > :25:02.It takes a lot of effort to win any test cricket. But in Australia, as
:25:03. > :25:07.an Englishman, it is the number 12. Everybody knows the great names of
:25:08. > :25:11.Australia's past. Shane Warney is long gone. The current side have
:25:12. > :25:14.only won one test match all year. Australian cricket knows it must
:25:15. > :25:20.nurture new talent like never before. They spend ?20 million on a
:25:21. > :25:24.new cricket centre in Brisbane. With the recovery and training facilities
:25:25. > :25:28.to match any in the world, the Australian players can even learn to
:25:29. > :25:32.cook here. One of the cricket coaches is a man who played over 20
:25:33. > :25:36.tests for England. Graeme Hick emigrated and is now helping
:25:37. > :25:40.Australia's revival. But he warns it will not come overnight. They are
:25:41. > :25:45.desperate, not only to win the Ashes, the goal is to get back to
:25:46. > :25:49.number one in all forms of the game. Maybe four or five years time, the
:25:50. > :25:52.people that start playing for Australia then will be the first
:25:53. > :25:58.people to benefit from these facilities that the centre offers.
:25:59. > :26:02.Cricket Australia has been promoting the series with a film imagining it
:26:03. > :26:06.going down to a last ball thriller. In reality, is the Australian
:26:07. > :26:10.captain convinced they can win? I am not going to promise the world and
:26:11. > :26:13.tell you everything will be different. It will be a tough
:26:14. > :26:19.battle, like it was in England. We have to play our best cricket to
:26:20. > :26:25.have success. Australia's problem is that, with every Ashes success,
:26:26. > :26:29.England grow in stature. As you can tell with Ian Bell.
:26:30. > :26:35.Time for a look at the weather now. Lovely blue skies and Australia,
:26:36. > :26:38.decidedly wintry here? I wish I could stand here and
:26:39. > :26:43.promise you the high 20s they experience in Brisbane. Decidedly
:26:44. > :26:47.cold. What I can give you is the weather widening down somewhat over
:26:48. > :26:51.the next few days. The wind will be slowly easing. A bit more frost
:26:52. > :26:55.around, a bit of fog as well. There will also be fewer showers. That
:26:56. > :26:59.makes a difference. At the moment we are looking at lively showers. The
:27:00. > :27:02.showers could be heavy enough for snow on higher ground, maybe a
:27:03. > :27:08.coating of snow on the Pennines. Maybe some on the higher ground
:27:09. > :27:12.further south. A little bit of clear skies between. The odd pocket of
:27:13. > :27:17.frost or ice possible. In western Scotland the wind has been most
:27:18. > :27:21.lively today. Light wind through the night, clear skies mean it is going
:27:22. > :27:26.to be a frosty start but a dry and bright one. Watch out across parts
:27:27. > :27:30.of Scotland. With temperatures below freezing we will see ice on roads
:27:31. > :27:32.and pavements. Some parts of eastern Scotland will see showers. In
:27:33. > :27:36.north-east England you will see the showers through the day. Winds are
:27:37. > :27:39.going to a more north-easterly direction. They will bring in a
:27:40. > :27:41.scattering of showers for the morning rush hour through England
:27:42. > :27:46.and Wales. Some of you will miss them, but if you catch them, with
:27:47. > :27:50.the wind as strong as it is, it will feel rather chilly. The wind will
:27:51. > :27:54.continue to feed in showers to the rest of the day. A few showers
:27:55. > :27:58.across eastern areas as well. Further west, they become less
:27:59. > :28:01.numerous. Many will have a dry and bright afternoon with spells of
:28:02. > :28:06.sunshine. It is not going to feel especially warm. Even in Scotland,
:28:07. > :28:10.temperatures only four or six degrees. The wind will make it feel
:28:11. > :28:14.colder, as it will on Friday. Still windy in East Anglia and the
:28:15. > :28:18.south-east. Kent in particular could have a thoroughly wet day. After a
:28:19. > :28:22.frosty start, a lovely right day for many. Only one two showers in the
:28:23. > :28:26.forecast. In the weekend, high-pressure dolts, most of us
:28:27. > :28:31.become dry but there is some high-pressure expected.
:28:32. > :28:37.An independent inquiry is ordered into why disgraced Methodist
:28:38. > :28:42.minister Paul Flowers was deemed a suitable chairman of the Co-op. That
:28:43. > :28:43.is all from the BBC News at six. On BBC One we