:00:13. > :00:16.with black communities. Mark Duggan's family say they don't want
:00:17. > :00:24.any more violence - but community leaders have their own message for
:00:25. > :00:26.the Met. The police need to ensure that they are having an effective
:00:27. > :00:30.engagement robustly with young people - they need to be more savvy
:00:31. > :00:41.in how they engage with young people. But today, London's mayor
:00:42. > :00:48.said the police have a tough job to do. Armed responses on about 10,000
:00:49. > :00:50.times in the last few years, and on only six occasions have they
:00:51. > :00:54.actually fired their weapons, discharged police weapons. We'll be
:00:55. > :00:57.looking at the challenges facing the police. Also tonight... Latest sales
:00:58. > :01:00.figures show it wasn't a very merry Christmas for some of the biggest
:01:01. > :01:03.names on the high street. The weather's easing up, but the misery
:01:04. > :01:11.goes on - insurers count the cost, but for some, there's a brighter
:01:12. > :01:14.side. And the hidden sugars in everything from flavoured water to
:01:15. > :01:18.bread - campaigners call on food companies to cut back.
:01:19. > :01:21.Tonight on BBC London - we hear from the man responsible for restoring
:01:22. > :01:30.trust in the borough where Mark Duggan was shot by police. And ten
:01:31. > :01:43.fire stations close, but campaigners claim lives will be put at risk.
:01:44. > :01:49.Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. A day after an inquest
:01:50. > :01:52.concluded that Mark Duggan was killed lawfully by an armed officer,
:01:53. > :01:55.the head of the Metropolitan Police has acknowledged that there needs to
:01:56. > :01:59.be an improvement in relations with the black community. Mark Duggan's
:02:00. > :02:02.family are planning a vigil this weekend and they say they don't want
:02:03. > :02:07.any more violence while they pursue the case. Mark Duggan's death
:02:08. > :02:09.sparked off riots in London and elsewhere two years ago. Matt
:02:10. > :02:23.Prodger reports. After the verdict, the
:02:24. > :02:28.soul-searching has begun. The police feel vindicated after an inquest
:02:29. > :02:31.found the killing of Mark Duggan was lawful. But Britain's most senior
:02:32. > :02:36.officer today tried to rebuild bridges with the family, and many
:02:37. > :02:40.black Londoners. At a time of all the emotion we just described, they
:02:41. > :02:44.thought to say to people, you have got to follow the legal process, and
:02:45. > :02:48.we do not want violent protest. That is a really hard thing I think for
:02:49. > :02:52.anybody to say when you are angry about losing somebody you love. So I
:02:53. > :02:55.think they deserve our praise for having the majority to be able to
:02:56. > :02:59.say that. Today, community leaders from Tottenham and across the
:03:00. > :03:02.capital that the police for talks. Top of the agenda, a vigil for Mark
:03:03. > :03:08.Duggan to be held this weekend Robbie Weir have just looked at the
:03:09. > :03:14.best way forward to ensure that the concerns that the family genuinely
:03:15. > :03:18.have about the verdict can be expressed in an effective fashion at
:03:19. > :03:23.the vigil this weekend. The inquest has thrown the spotlight on how
:03:24. > :03:27.police use their guns. This exercise, filmed by the police, is
:03:28. > :03:33.the kind of operation known as a hard stop. It ended with the death
:03:34. > :03:38.of Mark Duggan. But it is these scenes, of officers shooting down
:03:39. > :03:42.the killers of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich last year, which the police
:03:43. > :03:46.want the public to remember. Number of crimes involving guns in England
:03:47. > :03:50.and Wales in fact dropped, from more than 11,000, to just over 5000, in
:03:51. > :03:54.seven years. The number of operations in which police officers
:03:55. > :03:59.were authorised to use firearms has also fallen, from just under 16,000
:04:00. > :04:04.to around 12,500. According to the most recent year's figures, officers
:04:05. > :04:10.actually fired a gun on five occasions. I hope that underscores
:04:11. > :04:15.for us in London the massive restraint of our police, in the way
:04:16. > :04:20.that they handle the use of force. Split second decisions are called
:04:21. > :04:22.for by our police, and of course, they are much more difficult if
:04:23. > :04:27.somebody is carrying a lethal weapon. Armed police officers like
:04:28. > :04:32.these at Downing Street are only supposed to shoot someone if they
:04:33. > :04:38.have a reasonable belief that that person poses an imminent threat to
:04:39. > :04:41.life. It is often a split-second judgements, but one with
:04:42. > :04:46.consequences both for the police and the target. In Tottenham, many
:04:47. > :04:50.believe the police are anything but transparent. A friend of Mark Duggan
:04:51. > :04:53.says misinformation in the wake of the killing was the real cause of
:04:54. > :04:57.the riots. At the end of the day, the only reason the riots occurred
:04:58. > :05:01.is because nobody was answering any questions, a mother lost her son,
:05:02. > :05:06.children lost a father, a wife lost a husband, so everybody was angry
:05:07. > :05:10.and upset. At the end of the day, all we want is just peace, happiness
:05:11. > :05:14.and the truth, nothing but the truth. The Prime Minister said today
:05:15. > :05:18.he hoped Tottenham would remain peaceful, and the Duggan family has
:05:19. > :05:25.also appealed for calm. They say they will fight for justice through
:05:26. > :05:32.the courts. With me now is our home editor, Mark Easton. The inquest was
:05:33. > :05:36.clear, it was unlawful killing, but we have heard quite a lot of
:05:37. > :05:39.criticism of the police. Yes, I asked the Metropolitan division of
:05:40. > :05:43.whether he was proud of the way that his firearms officers had behaved.
:05:44. > :05:47.He replied that he was proud of all of his officers, and particularly
:05:48. > :05:51.proud of his firearm officers, who, as Boris Johnson said in that
:05:52. > :05:54.report, make these incredibly good, split-second, life-and-death
:05:55. > :06:04.decisions, often in a highly charged, emotional atmosphere. He
:06:05. > :06:06.said he gave them absolutely his full backing. And another
:06:07. > :06:08.intervention today from the chief constables Greater Manchester, Sir
:06:09. > :06:11.Peter Fahy, who was asked about the same thing for a BBC interview, he
:06:12. > :06:13.warned actually of a siege mentality in policing, where we feel the
:06:14. > :06:16.public just don't appreciate the reality of what we face on the
:06:17. > :06:20.ground. And I think that there is a concern within the police that
:06:21. > :06:23.somehow the public, at the moment, they don't appreciate just how
:06:24. > :06:27.difficult and challenging it can be for officers, as I say, particularly
:06:28. > :06:30.those who are called out in incidents where firearms are around
:06:31. > :06:33.and have to make these very difficult decisions in a spit
:06:34. > :06:37.second. No one in the police says that officers don't need to be held
:06:38. > :06:40.to account, but I think there is a feeling that the public need to
:06:41. > :06:42.understand better actually just some of the huge challenges that we ask
:06:43. > :06:47.our officers to take. Some of Britain's leading high
:06:48. > :06:49.street stores have had a somewhat less than Merry Christmas, according
:06:50. > :06:53.to figures out today. Marks Spencer and Tesco both reported a
:06:54. > :06:56.fall in sales of just over 2%, but it was Morrisons that fared the
:06:57. > :07:00.worst, with a drop of more than 5.5%. Our business editor, Robert
:07:01. > :07:08.Peston, looks at the reasons for the poor sales.
:07:09. > :07:16.Three of our most famous and biggest retailers have had their hopes of a
:07:17. > :07:24.bright, booming Christmas shattered. Fortunes spent on lavish adverts.
:07:25. > :07:32.M's model filled literary pastiche, Tesco's nostalgia -fest.
:07:33. > :07:36.The nation's favourite entertainers at Morrisons could not get those
:07:37. > :07:42.all-important sales motoring. Here is the thing - the lacklustre
:07:43. > :07:47.performance of these giants was the exception. Has this been a good or
:07:48. > :07:50.bad Christmas for retailers? I think overall, when we look back in a
:07:51. > :07:53.couple of weeks time, we will think it has been a good Christmas, it has
:07:54. > :07:57.been in positive territory. I think there was maybe an expectation it
:07:58. > :08:00.would be more positive, but it has been positive. What we have seen is
:08:01. > :08:03.a polarisation between those who have done well and those who have
:08:04. > :08:06.done less well, but that is for their own reasons, for their own
:08:07. > :08:13.goods and services not being up to scratch, rather than the fact that
:08:14. > :08:15.there is not the demand from the consumer. On the face of it, M's
:08:16. > :08:19.performance was not too bad. Sales rose 2% in the Christmas period, but
:08:20. > :08:24.including a terrible October, clothes and general merchandise fell
:08:25. > :08:30.21%. As the Tesco, it's Christmas UK sales, on a so-called like-for-like
:08:31. > :08:36.basis, fell 24%. And worst of all was Morrisons, down 5.6%. Morrisons
:08:37. > :08:39.suffered in part because it had almost no internet presents, and
:08:40. > :08:46.home deliveries of food bought online start tomorrow. 14 years
:08:47. > :08:52.after Tesco launched Tesco.com. In the six Christmas weeks, Tesco's UK
:08:53. > :08:57.online sales surged 40% to a substantial ?450 million. And
:08:58. > :09:00.perhaps the biggest retailing story this festive season has been the
:09:01. > :09:05.surge in digital buying. So, retailers tell me that this was the
:09:06. > :09:09.Christmas of so-called multichannel sales, where many of us used our
:09:10. > :09:13.mobile phones and tablets to buy stuff. Now, I have used this thing
:09:14. > :09:17.to buy online, but I am interested to know whether I am typical, so I
:09:18. > :09:22.am going to ask people on social media. So, Gail says that she bought
:09:23. > :09:27.everything from online retailers, using her iPad, and she is at home
:09:28. > :09:31.with a one-year-old and two-year-old and was not brave enough to go to
:09:32. > :09:34.the shops with them. However, another person said he did not buy
:09:35. > :09:38.anything with a mobile phone or tablet because he does not own those
:09:39. > :09:45.devices. And this one said he bought 99.9% of Christmas on a tablet. The
:09:46. > :09:50.0.1% was an expensive trip to Bond Street for his wife's present.
:09:51. > :09:53.Consumption by all of us by household has been driving what
:09:54. > :09:59.looks like a strong UK economic recovery. That spending continued in
:10:00. > :10:01.the traditional season of pinching, but not, as it turns out, for some
:10:02. > :10:08.of our most famous stores. Insurers are preparing to pay out
:10:09. > :10:10.tens of millions of pounds to the owners of homes and businesses
:10:11. > :10:14.flooded during the winter storms. More than 2,000 properties have been
:10:15. > :10:18.damaged and with flood waters still rising, the clean-up operation has
:10:19. > :10:19.not yet begun in some areas. Our correspondent Duncan Kennedy is in
:10:20. > :10:32.Streatley in Berkshire. George, the insurers say it is too
:10:33. > :10:36.early to say how much all this is going to cost to clear up there are
:10:37. > :10:40.you're right, they do say it is going to cost tens of millions of
:10:41. > :10:43.pounds. Of course, not everybody can afford flood insurance, it is too
:10:44. > :10:46.costly for them. Others say that they will just have to wait and see
:10:47. > :10:49.whether their premiums go up. It is all just one more problem for these
:10:50. > :10:57.people, in the wake of these winter storms. The River Thames, where
:10:58. > :11:02.Berks becomes Oxfordshire, a tale of two weather battered counties, and
:11:03. > :11:09.two people who are counting the cost of being flooded, won a pensioner,
:11:10. > :11:14.the other, a businessman. Conservatory - swimming pool...
:11:15. > :11:20.Diana has lived here for 30 years and can no longer afford the flood
:11:21. > :11:24.premiums. This looks like the last of Christmas. Better take it up out
:11:25. > :11:29.of the way. So now, it is clear up and pay up. We weren't insured in
:11:30. > :11:36.2003, and then after that, it became astronomical, so we just whisked it
:11:37. > :11:40.for a biscuit. Any idea how much all of this is going to cost you? The
:11:41. > :11:45.washing machine under tumbled right have gone, but there are so many
:11:46. > :11:47.bargains about these days, it is probably cheaper to replace them
:11:48. > :11:54.than have them insured. Across the river, the X one pub and hotel was
:11:55. > :11:59.not spared, either grumpy the river level has risen above the floor
:12:00. > :12:02.here. Gary only took over here five weeks ago. The restaurant and lounge
:12:03. > :12:06.have been ruined, and again, the cost to fix it will be painful
:12:07. > :12:09.grumpy we are looking at tens of thousands of pounds' worth,
:12:10. > :12:14.definitely. That sounds expensive crummy it is, particularly as we
:12:15. > :12:18.refurbished this whole area in March last year. Most flood defences in
:12:19. > :12:22.Britain have held out in this recent run of storms. Nearly 2000
:12:23. > :12:28.properties have been flooded and the insurance industry knows that will
:12:29. > :12:32.cost tens of millions of pounds. Back in 2007, we had some very
:12:33. > :12:35.severe flooding, which cost in excess of ?3 billion. At the moment
:12:36. > :12:40.we are not looking at things of that size, no, but it is too early to say
:12:41. > :12:45.what the final cost is going to be. Can only guess at what insurers
:12:46. > :12:49.would think of this. Just posted on Youtube, it is a wake border are
:12:50. > :12:54.being pulled down a country road in Surrey behind a 4x4. Clearly not for
:12:55. > :13:00.amateurs. Clearly even amid calamity, a few can find some
:13:01. > :13:03.levity. But the floods will drain the smiles from the faces of most
:13:04. > :13:08.people, especially when confronted with experiences like this, the wet
:13:09. > :13:13.and expensive aftermath of this winter's storms. Well, the insurers
:13:14. > :13:17.say they hope to have that final figure of what all this is going to
:13:18. > :13:21.cost in the next few weeks, and that they are working flat out to assess
:13:22. > :13:24.all of those claims. But this is a lot more than just financial cost,
:13:25. > :13:27.it is of course an emotional cost as well for all of those people who
:13:28. > :13:30.have and their businesses in these winter storms.
:13:31. > :13:35.No warning or May Day message was made from a helicopter before it
:13:36. > :13:38.crashed, killing all four crew members, a US Air Force Commander
:13:39. > :13:40.has said. Captain Sean Ruwane, Captain Christopher Stover,
:13:41. > :13:48.Technical Sergeant Dale Mathews and Staff Sergeant Afton Ponce died in
:13:49. > :13:54.the crash in north Norfolk. Their helicopter came down in
:13:55. > :13:59.Cley-next-the Sea on Tuesday. Today their wing commander spoke of his
:14:00. > :14:02.and the team's grief. I am deeply saddened by the loss of
:14:03. > :14:06.these great airmen. They have made the ultimate sacrifice, training to
:14:07. > :14:12.save the lives of others. I'd like to speak directly to the families.
:14:13. > :14:15.As a husband and father myself, I cannot imagine how heart-broken you
:14:16. > :14:19.must feel now you are missing part of your family. I speak for the
:14:20. > :14:21.entire wing when I say we are thinking of you, we're praying for
:14:22. > :14:33.you and we're here for you. A leading children's hospital has
:14:34. > :14:40.taken short cuts and operating theatres to avoid cancellations. An
:14:41. > :14:42.internal review of practices at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation
:14:43. > :14:45.Trust in Liverpool concluded that staff believe senior managers are
:14:46. > :14:48.aware of poor working conditions and the use of high-risk practices but
:14:49. > :14:50.that patient safety hadn't been affected. The hospital says that
:14:51. > :15:04.following the review, measures to improve safety and staff wellbeing
:15:05. > :15:07.are being put in place. How did a routine evening at Belfast's Royal
:15:08. > :15:10.Victoria Hospital turn into one of the busiest ever? There was no major
:15:11. > :15:14.incident, no unusual outbreak of disease but staff were worked off
:15:15. > :15:16.their feet. In the end, they had to declare a major incident, opening
:15:17. > :15:23.additional beds and calling in extra help. Andy Martin has been finding
:15:24. > :15:28.out what went on. Patients had to be redirected to other hospitals last
:15:29. > :15:35.night. Staff at the Royal said they were at breaking point. 42 people
:15:36. > :15:40.were left on trolleys. It is embarrassing, we watched doctors and
:15:41. > :15:46.nurses in tears, simply because they were struggling. Trying their best
:15:47. > :15:52.to provide a service. Stephanie, who has a neurological disorder, was
:15:53. > :15:57.waiting for almost 14 hours. It was absolutely manic. At one point there
:15:58. > :16:02.were 130 people waiting to be seen and 15 people waiting for beds and
:16:03. > :16:07.every inch of the corridors were lined with people in wheelchairs and
:16:08. > :16:11.beds. By 9pm a major incident was declared and more than two dozen
:16:12. > :16:17.nurses and ten senior staff answered calls to come in and help
:16:18. > :16:20.colleagues. There were no dramatic incidents and staff are now worded
:16:21. > :16:25.about capacity to deal with this serious event. We have major
:16:26. > :16:28.concerns. Our members are telling us there are real issues around
:16:29. > :16:34.staffing levels and the ability to deal with if there had been a major
:16:35. > :16:37.incident. But Northern Ireland does have a greater number of emergency
:16:38. > :16:43.departments per head of population than other parts of the UK. So what
:16:44. > :16:49.caused this incident? The Health Trust says that on a normal night,
:16:50. > :16:53.28% of those attending the unit would be admitted. Last night, that
:16:54. > :17:01.stood at over 40%. The Health Minister describe it as a one-off.
:17:02. > :17:07.We had an unusual spec in the numbers coming through. And that
:17:08. > :17:11.situation was responded to. Consultants have repeatedly raised
:17:12. > :17:15.concerns about the safety of A but further cuts are planned and some
:17:16. > :17:25.departments are now on shortened opening hours. It is 6:17pm. Our top
:17:26. > :17:32.story -- a page from the Metropolitan Police in the weird --
:17:33. > :17:38.wake of the Mark Duggan inquest. Edsel Burger axe macro -- Edsel
:17:39. > :17:41.Burger axe Mac Still to come: The first Premier League player to come
:17:42. > :17:45.out as gay talks about his decision to go public. Later on BBC London:
:17:46. > :17:48.Taking to the skies to save lives. London's Air Ambulance celebrates 25
:17:49. > :18:05.years. And hope for the South East's flood-hit communities with drier
:18:06. > :18:15.weather on the way. Sugar - many of us have some with a cup of tea. We
:18:16. > :18:24.know there's quite a lot of it in a bar of chocolate. But now a campaign
:18:25. > :18:27.group is setting out to cut back the hidden sugars we don't really know
:18:28. > :18:30.about. They say that Britain's obesity crisis could be halted in
:18:31. > :18:32.five years if food companies gradually reduced the amount of
:18:33. > :18:34.sugar in their products. Our medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh,
:18:35. > :18:37.reports. First fat, then sold, now campaigners were targeting sugar.
:18:38. > :18:39.Much of it hidden in the food we eat. If we look at the amount was
:18:40. > :18:45.added and natural, this flavoured water contains 40 spoons and this
:18:46. > :18:52.can of soup has five. And this large part of 0% fat yoghurt as the
:18:53. > :18:56.equivalent of 11 teaspoons. It is an unnecessary source of calories in
:18:57. > :19:01.our diet, added sugar, which can slowly be reduced by the industry to
:19:02. > :19:06.reduce calorie intake. Get rid of the Bay City and help slow down the
:19:07. > :19:09.number of people getting diabetes. On average, Britons consume around
:19:10. > :19:14.15 teaspoons - that's around 60 grammes - of added sugar a day. The
:19:15. > :19:16.maximum recommended by the World Health Organisation is ten
:19:17. > :19:20.teaspoons. Experts there are considering lowering that to five.
:19:21. > :19:24.Action on Sugar says a 30% reduction by food firms would cut 100 calories
:19:25. > :19:34.a day from our diet, which would help tackle the growing epidemic of
:19:35. > :19:38.obesity. In the past decade, supermarkets have cut salt levels in
:19:39. > :19:43.food by up to 40%. Bringing clear health benefits. The juicing the
:19:44. > :19:48.risk of heart disease and stroke. As for sugar, we know it can rot teeth,
:19:49. > :19:54.but what about increasing the risk of diabetes and obesity? The
:19:55. > :19:58.evidence is hotly disputed, not least by the food and drink
:19:59. > :20:03.industry. A blanket called to reduce the nutrient in product seems to
:20:04. > :20:09.miss the point. The bigger challenge we face is tackling obesity and that
:20:10. > :20:14.is what the industry is focused on at the moment as well as previous
:20:15. > :20:20.efforts to cut saturated fat and salt. But while as a nation we are
:20:21. > :20:25.getting fatter, the amount of calories we eat has actually fallen
:20:26. > :20:31.by 10% in a generation. The trouble is, we are more sedentary. Cutting
:20:32. > :20:40.out sugar will help but more exercise is essential. Two years ago
:20:41. > :20:44.South Sudan became the world's newest nation. But now the optimism
:20:45. > :20:54.has gone as fighting intensifies between two factions within the
:20:55. > :20:57.national government. The conflict, which started in December, has
:20:58. > :20:59.pitted troops loyal to the president against those allied to his former
:21:00. > :21:02.deputy. At least 1,000 people have been killed. Nearly 200,000 people
:21:03. > :21:05.have been forced from their homes. In the key rebel-held city of
:21:06. > :21:08.Bentiu, civilians have been sheltering in a UN compound as
:21:09. > :21:16.government forces approach. From there, our correspondent, Alastair
:21:17. > :21:20.Leithead, reports. People in South Sudan know when trouble is coming.
:21:21. > :21:26.They have been running from war for decades. This dusty time is
:21:27. > :21:31.temporary. The capital of estate rich in and rebel held. But even
:21:32. > :21:37.these soldiers who have switched sides know the wind is changing.
:21:38. > :21:44.Thousands fled here to the safety of a UN compound and the time fell two
:21:45. > :21:48.weeks ago. Which tribe you were from suddenly became a question of life
:21:49. > :21:55.or death. They came into our home in the midnight and they when we
:21:56. > :22:01.replied in our language, they started shooting. They have food and
:22:02. > :22:05.clean water but supplies are short. It is no place for a baby to be
:22:06. > :22:10.born. I am worried about the fighting and staying here. For how
:22:11. > :22:16.long shall we stay? And the fighting is coming to Bentiu again. The front
:22:17. > :22:20.line suddenly shifted and the government troops advancing. We
:22:21. > :22:24.thought the battle had begun but this was the rebels, destroying
:22:25. > :22:31.ammunition they could not retreat with. More people in need of help,
:22:32. > :22:36.but with food running low, the UN decided to take a risk. An aid
:22:37. > :22:42.mission into time to fetch food supplies from a warehouse as
:22:43. > :22:45.civilians continued to flee. This is a UN compound in the centre of
:22:46. > :22:51.Bentiu. They came to pick up food for the camp before the fighting
:22:52. > :22:57.started. If we come to this area, more than 1000 people came into this
:22:58. > :23:01.compound to try to get shelter. And now they have become the priority
:23:02. > :23:05.and the UN will take these people and get them out, hopefully before
:23:06. > :23:13.the fighting starts. With gunfire already heard nearby, they have to
:23:14. > :23:20.move fast. There is never enough time but when an opportunity like
:23:21. > :23:25.this comes, they took the Likud and will return for the rest. They
:23:26. > :23:31.reached the camp safely but the mission for food and water has
:23:32. > :23:34.brought only more people and historical rift between tribes has
:23:35. > :23:38.been reopened by this crisis. While talks about peace go nowhere, the
:23:39. > :23:48.fear is that more fighting will come. The Chancellor, George
:23:49. > :23:50.Osborne, has warned that a large rise in the minimum wage could be
:23:51. > :23:55.self-defeating and could actually cost jobs. The hourly rate is
:23:56. > :23:58.currently ?6.31. He made his comments ahead of a report next
:23:59. > :24:01.month from the Low Pay Commission, which is likely to recommend a rise.
:24:02. > :24:07.Let's speak to our political correspondent, Iain Watson. I
:24:08. > :24:12.suppose this plays into this debate about the cost of living? At does
:24:13. > :24:15.and Labour have highlighted that and they think this is a natural
:24:16. > :24:23.territory and have called for a significant increase in the minimum
:24:24. > :24:27.wage but Conservative ministers want an inflation busting increase
:24:28. > :24:30.because they will show that the Conservatives are on the side of
:24:31. > :24:35.hard-working families. But it is not the politicians, it is the Low Pay
:24:36. > :24:39.Commission, which recommends the level of national minimum wage and
:24:40. > :24:43.what the Chancellor said is that they opt for a more modest increase
:24:44. > :24:48.and he makes it clear he will not overrule that. Some colleagues
:24:49. > :24:53.believe he is missing a political trick but he has support from the
:24:54. > :24:56.Lib Dems, you want to see the national minimum wage rise but they
:24:57. > :24:58.backed the decision that there should be taken by the experts and
:24:59. > :25:06.not a political foot well. Thank you. The former Aston Villa defender
:25:07. > :25:09.Thomas Hitzlsperger says he hopes one day that a Premier League
:25:10. > :25:16.footballer will be able to come out as gay while still playing.
:25:17. > :25:20.Hitzlsperger came out earlier this week, having recently retired from
:25:21. > :25:23.the sport. In his first television interview, he says part of his
:25:24. > :25:29.decision to go public was to help other gay footballers. Natalie Pirks
:25:30. > :25:32.reports. Whether playing in the Premier League for his country,
:25:33. > :25:37.Thomas Hitzlsperger was most at home on a football pitch. But coming out
:25:38. > :25:42.was a different story, a process he said that was long and difficult.
:25:43. > :25:47.The German international retired in September and he feels neither is it
:25:48. > :25:52.time to help you road stereotypes. In professional football you must be
:25:53. > :26:00.strong, powerful. And they think that being gay is you are the
:26:01. > :26:03.opposite, you are soft, and why do people think being gay also means
:26:04. > :26:11.you are weak? I have proven the opposite. The reaction has been
:26:12. > :26:17.supportive, as it was when Robbie Rogers also revealed his sexuality
:26:18. > :26:20.last year. But when Justin Fashanu became the first player to come out
:26:21. > :26:27.in England in 1990, it was the opposite. He took his own life eight
:26:28. > :26:32.years later. He was black and gay, which was probably at the top of the
:26:33. > :26:36.two worst things to be back then. But in 2014 we are moving on and I
:26:37. > :26:42.really hope that a Premiership are who happens to be gay will have the
:26:43. > :26:45.courage to be who he really is. Chanting from the stands is an
:26:46. > :26:49.important part of the atmosphere of the whole but where campaigners have
:26:50. > :26:53.worked hard over the years to eradicate racist chanting from the
:26:54. > :26:55.game, gay rights activists say football can still be a toxic
:26:56. > 0:20:05environment. Racism, who people