Browse content similar to 06/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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court. The actor was accused of preying on young girls, and he had a | :00:14. | :00:17. | |
message after the verdict. In these situations there are no | :00:18. | :00:20. | |
winners, and I think we should all be much kinder to ourselves. Now, if | :00:21. | :00:26. | |
you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to work. | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
We'll have all the reaction, including from his friends in the | :00:32. | :00:33. | |
world of acting. Also tonight: One storm after | :00:34. | :00:39. | |
another - severe weather on the way as the Government pledges more money | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
for flood defences. A boost for the Midlands after | :00:44. | :00:46. | |
Bombardier seals a billion-pound contract to build trains for | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
London's new Crossrail. The police officer who lied about | :00:51. | :00:53. | |
the Plebgate affair is jailed for a year. | :00:54. | :01:01. | |
This is going to be the double backside double ten. | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
And the jump of his life - Team GB are off to a flying start at the | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
Winter Olympics. On BBC London: Day two of the Tube | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
strike. No sign of an agreement, but more trains have been running. | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
And eight years in jail for abusing boys. Nick Clegg's former | :01:18. | :01:18. | |
headteacher is sentenced. Good evening and welcome to the BBC | :01:19. | :01:44. | |
News at Six. William Roache, one of the stars of Coronation Street, has | :01:45. | :01:47. | |
been found not guilty of historic sex offences. He was cleared of two | :01:48. | :01:54. | |
counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault after a four-week | :01:55. | :01:57. | |
trial at Preston Crown Court. As he walked free today he said "in these | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
situations there are no winners". Our correspondent Judith Moritz has | :02:04. | :02:06. | |
been covering the high-profile case for us. | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
The stakes could not have been higher for William Roache. He could | :02:12. | :02:18. | |
have been going to jail. Instead he walked out if caught with his | :02:19. | :02:21. | |
freedom, career and reputation intact. I have just got one thing to | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
say. In these situations, there are no winners. And I think we should | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
all be much kinder to ourselves. So now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like | :02:33. | :02:39. | |
to get back to work. Thank you. Just minutes before, the court room | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
had fallen silent as the actor stood in the dock to hear his fate. As the | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
not guilty verdicts were returned one by one, his children sobbed and | :02:51. | :02:56. | |
sighed with relief. William Roache's career on Coronation Street | :02:57. | :03:01. | |
is as old as the soap itself. He has appeared as Ken Barlow since the | :03:02. | :03:07. | |
first episode in 1960. But it was alleged that in the 1960s, the actor | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
had indecently assaulted teenage girls in the studios of Granada | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
television. He always denied both that and separate charges of rape, | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
saying such offences were against his nature, and he was a spiritual | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
man. I was given exclusive access to film William Roache as he meditated | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
with a group called the Circle of Love. It is the best way that I have | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
available for you in this room at this time, and that word is love. | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
Today, William Roache thanked this group for supporting him. We filmed | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
the just for the trial began, at which point legally we couldn't | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
interview the actor. And the glory shall manifest, and the glory is | :03:48. | :03:55. | |
peace. However, the group's speaker, known only as James, gave him their | :03:56. | :04:01. | |
support. We have always treated him as a friend. We don't need him to go | :04:02. | :04:05. | |
through bad times to be treated any differently. We treat in the same | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
day today as we have always treated him, as a friend, trial or no | :04:12. | :04:13. | |
trial. This is also support for William | :04:14. | :04:19. | |
Roache at the Coronation Street studios. Michael Le Vell was himself | :04:20. | :04:22. | |
accused of sexual offences. Absolutely delighted. Other cast | :04:23. | :04:28. | |
members were pleased, too. I think it is brilliant news. We're looking | :04:29. | :04:31. | |
forward to seeing Bill back at work soon. | :04:32. | :04:34. | |
William Roache hasn't appeared on Coronation Street since his arrest | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
last year. ITV has said it is looking forward to working with him | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
again. Now the way lies open for the street's most in during residents to | :04:43. | :04:44. | |
return. And Judith is at the Coronation | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
Street set in Manchester now. There have been some questions about | :04:50. | :04:52. | |
whether this kind of celebrity case should have been brought to court in | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
the first place. Yes. William Roache's barrister told | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
the jury that this was a trial which was haunted by the spectre of Jimmy | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
Savile, and the actor himself, when asked why these allegations may have | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
been brought, speculated that I could have we motivated by the wish | :05:11. | :05:17. | |
to sell a story, all for a moment of fame. But today, the Crown | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
Prosecution Service has defended its decision to prosecute, saying this | :05:22. | :05:24. | |
was a case treated like any other, and Lancashire police said they | :05:25. | :05:27. | |
believed there had been enough evidence to secure a realistic | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
proposition of conviction. It came down, though, to whether the jury | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
believed William Roache or the women making the allegations. The judge | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
described this as a head-on collision of evidence. In the end, | :05:41. | :05:46. | |
the jury believed the actor. And tonight, he has his freedom as a | :05:47. | :05:49. | |
result. Judith, thanks very much. The South | :05:50. | :05:53. | |
West has barely had a chance to catch its breath after yesterday's | :05:54. | :05:55. | |
storm damage and already it's preparing for another onslaught. | :05:56. | :05:57. | |
Forecasters are predicting more heavy rain into the weekend. Today | :05:58. | :06:05. | |
new figures indicate that over 5,000 properties remain flooded across | :06:06. | :06:08. | |
England. An extra ?35 million has been pledged by the Government | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
today. Two severe flood warnings, meaning danger to life, remain in | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
place in the Somerset Levels. Jon Kay's there. He has spent the day | :06:16. | :06:24. | |
with a farmer, and joins us now. Yes, a danger to human life and a | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
danger to animal life, and today we have seen large numbers of livestock | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
just taken away from this part of Somerset. When we got here this | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
morning, there were 150 cattle in this barn. Tonight there are | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
absolutely none at all. But getting all those animals away to places | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
that are high and dry has proved quite a challenge. | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
In flooded Somerset, a modern-day arc. Here to take the animals away. | :06:52. | :06:59. | |
Farmers who have been up all night trying to save their terrified | :07:00. | :07:06. | |
livestock, two x two. It has been a long morning. The water is rising | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
and inch an hour, they tell me, so I reckon the whole farm will be | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
underwater. There are 60 cows here, but only enough room to take six to | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
safety. The rest will have to wait. All farmers are used to mark and | :07:25. | :07:31. | |
water, but this is something else. The whole barn has been flooded. 100 | :07:32. | :07:37. | |
yards up the road, another mass evacuation of livestock. Calves, | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
just a few weeks old, but now have to go. The family who farmed here | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
for generations are racing to save what they can before they get | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
flooded, too. I haven't washed, I haven't showered, I probably stink. | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
Becky is desperately trying to get her goats taken the higher ground. | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
The horses will have to go somewhere else. This entire farm is being | :08:02. | :08:08. | |
broken up. I don't know what to do. I really don't know what to do. This | :08:09. | :08:16. | |
community has been ripped to pieces. It is not on, and it's not right. | :08:17. | :08:24. | |
It's not right at all. For Becky's partner, James, it's time to hand | :08:25. | :08:27. | |
over the paperwork before the cards are taken away. This is a business, | :08:28. | :08:33. | |
but it is also a way of life, and he can't imagine a time when it will | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
return to normal. It has taken me quite a long time to build up to | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
this level, and it's almost gone within moments. I don't know if I | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
will be able to bounce back from this. The farrier is here to take | :08:49. | :08:56. | |
Becky's horses. She doesn't know when or if they will return. This | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
will soon be a farm without animals. We have just ripped the heart and | :09:03. | :09:07. | |
soul out of this farm with the livestock that we have. Without | :09:08. | :09:09. | |
them, it's nothing. What's the point? Do we go under? That's it. | :09:10. | :09:18. | |
When you say go under, you talking about water or business? Both. I'm | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
talking about both. It's taken just over an hour, but that's it. Gone. | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
The animals should be safe now, but with the river still rising, James | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
feels anything but. Jon Kay, BBC News, on the Somerset Levels. | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
Well, today, engineers in Devon have been assessing the damage to the | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
train truck Dawlish which was ripped apart by the storms. Experts say the | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
risks were well-known, and there have been warning about the threat | :09:51. | :09:58. | |
from bad weather. Our science editor J Vince Shipman reports on | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
Britain's coastal defences. A machine cuts through the first | :10:04. | :10:10. | |
twisted rail lines at Dawlish, the start of at least six weeks of work. | :10:11. | :10:14. | |
It is huge in terms of the engineering scale, and in response | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
to other things we have done in the last five or ten years, it is up | :10:20. | :10:21. | |
there with the biggest challenges we have had. This is the scale of the | :10:22. | :10:27. | |
task ahead. The huge waves yesterday tore through the defence is the role | :10:28. | :10:32. | |
where relies on. This is a key link between Cornwall and the rest of | :10:33. | :10:35. | |
Britain. There have been repeated warnings that it is vulnerable, even | :10:36. | :10:41. | |
before the line opened back in 1847. Now a massive repair operation is | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
needed. What striving all this is the jet stream flowing high above | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
the Atlantic. It has been stuck on a route that forces endless bad | :10:51. | :10:54. | |
weather our way. Here is the system hitting the country right now, but | :10:55. | :10:58. | |
it is just one of many. The next one will reach is tomorrow night. But | :10:59. | :11:02. | |
the conditions have created a kind of conveyor belt out in the ocean, | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
the mean yet more storms to Britain in the coming days. | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
As huge waves batter the coastline, this was Cornwall yesterday, | :11:13. | :11:17. | |
engineers who work on flood defence say the country needs to wake up to | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
the dangers. We are an island nation, and we have a lot of exposed | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
coastline. Much of it is of Victorian era, and it is | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
deteriorating. On top of that, we have got rising sea levels, adding | :11:33. | :11:35. | |
pressure. More people living along the coast. So yes, we are very | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
vulnerable nation. A bus on the Cornish coast caught in | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
a weird swirl of foam. No real danger, but the storms are causing | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
some very strange effects. At Lyme Regis yesterday, proof that flowing | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
water really is dangerous. The country's resilience, its ability to | :11:59. | :12:01. | |
cope, are being tested like never before. David Shukman, BBC News. | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
A Metropolitan Police officer who lied about witnessing a row in | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
Downing Street that led to the resignation of a former cabinet | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
minister has been jailed for a year. PC Keith Wallis admitted committing | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
misconduct in public office. He had sent an email to a senior | :12:18. | :12:19. | |
Conservative official falsely claiming to have witnessed Andrew | :12:20. | :12:22. | |
Mitchell insulting policemen at the gates to Downing Street in 2012. | :12:23. | :12:31. | |
Let's talk to Nick Robinson, our political editor. Is that it? Do we | :12:32. | :12:40. | |
finally know who was telling the truth? We don't know it all. What we | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
do know is this. A police officer is in jail tonight for conduct which | :12:46. | :12:48. | |
according to the judge in the case was devious misconduct, and I quote, | :12:49. | :12:54. | |
which fell far below the standards expected of a police officer. Let me | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
simplify. He said he was here on the fateful night. He wasn't. He said he | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
heard Andrew Mitchell use a swear word and the word pleb. He didn't. | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
He said he was a member of the public who was just passing. Of | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
course he wasn't. He lied. We also know that five other police officers | :13:14. | :13:16. | |
now face gross misconduct charges for their role in spreading this | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
story and putting it into the press and into the media. Now the police | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
watchdog, the IPCC, said that this was evidence of collusion, but not | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
of a conspiracy designed to bring a cabinet officer down. That's the | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
seriousness, that is why the case matters. What we do know, though, is | :13:35. | :13:39. | |
that what actually happened behind those gates, what actually was said. | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
Was the word pleb used is still a matter of debate, and may never be | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
settled. Only two men know, the Cabinet Minister at the time, Mr | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
Mitchell, and the police officer, and they are both sticking to their | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
side of the story. Whatever happened, the police watchdog said | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
tonight that the conduct of police officers, plural, not just one, had | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
brought shame on the police service. Those of us who go in and out of | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
these gates almost every day know that there are decent, honourable, | :14:11. | :14:18. | |
hard-working people, but others have let them down and let down badly. | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
Nick, thank you very much. A new report into the NHS in England | :14:25. | :14:27. | |
says the problems that contributed to the scandal at Stafford Hospital | :14:28. | :14:30. | |
have not gone away. The report, published on the anniversary of the | :14:31. | :14:33. | |
Francis Inquiry into Stafford, says there are profound tensions between | :14:34. | :14:36. | |
financial constraints and the aim to provide high-quality care. Our | :14:37. | :14:37. | |
health correspondent Branwen Jeffreys reports. | :14:38. | :14:47. | |
This busy cancer unit is being reorganised. Ahmed is having a quick | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
blood test. But they also give rapid, urgent care to other cancer | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
patients. It has freed up beds, so it has saved money. Every hospital | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
is trying to think like this, but it is getting harder. We have probably | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
got a couple of years where we can keep finding savings and changing | :15:08. | :15:10. | |
the way we do our internal practices. The real opportunity now | :15:11. | :15:13. | |
is to disrupt the way we think, to work right across the whole system. | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
They call it the Stafford effect, the crossing and hospitals have been | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
hiring nurses. But only of say they won't be busting their budget this | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
year. Every single hospital in England has | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
felt the impact of what happened at Stafford. The NHS has been through | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
an intense period of soul-searching. But it still faces many of the same | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
challenges. Trying to meet its financial targets without | :15:41. | :15:42. | |
compromising the quality of care for patients. Stafford Hospital has | :15:43. | :15:51. | |
tried to move on. It is not so easy for those whose relatives died here. | :15:52. | :15:54. | |
Julie says money should never be an excuse for poor care. Mistakes cost | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
the NHS more money than getting it right. We spend a fortune on harming | :16:00. | :16:08. | |
patients. It is also unnecessary. There is no need to harm patients in | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
the NHS. Today but my research suggests managers are still under | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
pressure to meet targets. -- today's research. The man who led | :16:19. | :16:20. | |
the standard enquiries says it worries him. We can't continue to | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
have stories of patients left in their own faeces. If we really can't | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
afford to provide care at that level, we need to have a frank | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
conversation about what the NHS can do. There is also evidence of | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
managers listening more to patients and staff. One of the big lessons | :16:39. | :16:46. | |
from Stafford. Hospitals are taking on the lessons. 80% are saying they | :16:47. | :16:49. | |
have taken on new actions and they have started. It is encouraging. | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
Hospitals are getting busier. They are seen more elderly patients. It | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
is going to get harder, not easier, to do that well within their | :17:01. | :17:09. | |
budgets. Our top story this evening: The | :17:10. | :17:11. | |
Coronation Street actor William Roache is cleared of rape and | :17:12. | :17:14. | |
indecent assault after a four-week trial in Preston. | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
And still to come: On the eve of opening ceremony, how no expense was | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
spared to bring the Winter Olympics to Sochi. | :17:24. | :17:25. | |
Later on BBC London: We analyse what's at stake for Boris Johnson | :17:26. | :17:29. | |
and Bob Crow as the tube strike continues. | :17:30. | :17:30. | |
And unregulated and bad for your health - why the authorities are | :17:31. | :17:33. | |
cracking down on the use of shisha in the capital. | :17:34. | :17:51. | |
It's a big boost for the East Midlands and one of the biggest | :17:52. | :17:54. | |
manufacturing deals of the year. The Derby train builders Bombardier have | :17:55. | :17:57. | |
won the contract to make trains for London's new Crossrail. It's ?1 | :17:58. | :17:59. | |
billion worth of business, and it will see the Canadian-owned company | :18:00. | :18:02. | |
build 65 trains for the service set to open in 2018. It's thought the | :18:03. | :18:06. | |
contract will secure 500 manufacturing jobs and the project | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
will create over 550 more. Our transport correspondent, Richard | :18:13. | :18:14. | |
Westcott, is in Derby with the latest for us tonight. | :18:15. | :18:26. | |
They have been building trains in this workshop for around 100 and | :18:27. | :18:29. | |
years. That ironwork in the roof if the original Victorian ironwork. | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
This is the last train building factory in Britain. A few years ago | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
there was talk of it closing down. Today, its future has been secured. | :18:40. | :18:49. | |
You can feel the relief. After a tense few years, the future of | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
Britain's last train building factory and the people who work | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
there is safe. I was sat in the office at the time the announcement | :19:00. | :19:02. | |
came. It was a joyous moment for us all. All of the guys who work here | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
will be looking forward to hear the news. It is great. I have been here | :19:07. | :19:11. | |
since was an apprentice, about five years. It has secured my future | :19:12. | :19:17. | |
work. Eventually, the new trains will end | :19:18. | :19:24. | |
up down here, on Crossrail, the multi-billion line to dissect | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
London. Contracts like this don't just benefit all the people working | :19:29. | :19:32. | |
around me now in the factory. They benefit tens of thousands of people | :19:33. | :19:37. | |
all around the country. The money, the business, ripples out across the | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
region. A couple of miles down the road, the | :19:44. | :19:46. | |
company that makes, among other things, toilets the trains. The boss | :19:47. | :19:51. | |
says this could mean taking on new staff. This announcement means we | :19:52. | :19:59. | |
can replace staff that were lost, we can grow and train more young people | :20:00. | :20:04. | |
and bring them into engineering. It is a far cry from 2.5 years ago. | :20:05. | :20:10. | |
This march stopped traffic in Derby for four hours after another huge | :20:11. | :20:13. | |
contract went to a German train maker. Bombardier shared 1400 jobs. | :20:14. | :20:24. | |
-- cut 1400 jobs. The company blamed European rules. The rules are the | :20:25. | :20:27. | |
same but different factors are taken into account these days. | :20:28. | :20:31. | |
Is British jobs one of those factors? It is one of the factors I | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
would take into account and it is one we have to take into account | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
when we have to award the contract. They have to be one within the rules | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
but we have to apply across all countries -- companies. Derby is a | :20:46. | :20:52. | |
rail city. It is in the DNA. They built trains on this site alone for | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
nearly 150 years. It had its own iron afford to make every nut and | :20:58. | :21:01. | |
bolt. It employed five times the number of workers. Today's news | :21:02. | :21:10. | |
keeps the tradition alive. In a week's time political parties | :21:11. | :21:13. | |
will face their first electoral Test of the year when voters go to the | :21:14. | :21:16. | |
polls in the Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election. The safe Labour | :21:17. | :21:19. | |
seat became vacant following the death of former minister Paul | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
Goggins. Here's our deputy political editor, James Landale. | :21:24. | :21:31. | |
Damp streets, a few posters, bit of light canvassing. A typical | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
by-election in a safe Labour seat. Of interest, you might think, only | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
to those who live in this corner of Southern Manchester. Archie would be | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
long -- wrong. It matters because it is a Test of UKIP's ability to take | :21:46. | :21:51. | |
votes of Labour in seats like this. If it can do this, the consequences | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
for the general election are huge. Within a short is classic Labour | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
territory, a sprawling suburb just north of Manchester airport | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
containing one of the larger housing estates in Europe. It is here that | :22:03. | :22:08. | |
UKIP is hunting for votes. They came fifth at the last election. Now they | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
are hoping to come second. To do that, they are deliberately pitching | :22:13. | :22:16. | |
for disillusioned Labour supporters. Just listen to this. The Labour | :22:17. | :22:22. | |
Party has betrayed the working class in this country, consistently | :22:23. | :22:25. | |
betrayed their interests. Everybody can see that now with the mass | :22:26. | :22:28. | |
uncontrolled immigration that is driven wages and living standards | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
down. But our poll today has put a smile | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
on Labour's faces, suggesting they have a firm grip on the campaign. | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
This might be the first electoral cost of then -- Test of the cost of | :22:42. | :22:47. | |
living campaign but they don't sound worried. There have been other safe | :22:48. | :22:54. | |
seats for other parties that haven't gone that way. We're not taking any | :22:55. | :22:57. | |
vote for granted. We are working incredibly hard. The Tories have | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
some support in the leafy suburbs of Sale but they need to stop their | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
voters staying at home. All lending UKIP their vote as a | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
temporary protest. If people want to see Ed Miliband in Downing Street, | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
they will vote for UKIP. It takes away support from David Cameron. | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
Support for the Lib Dems has fallen here lately. | :23:24. | :23:26. | |
Their candidate is working hard to buck the trend. As for her party... | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
Well, we had to find a spokesman in London. Labour hold the seat with a | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
big majority, and nobody would be surprised if they continue to do | :23:38. | :23:40. | |
that. It doesn't mean we are not going to have a jolly good try. Next | :23:41. | :23:46. | |
Wednesday, voters have a choice over which road to take. | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
There are few signs there will be any change in direction. | :23:50. | :23:52. | |
If you want more information on the candidates running in the | :23:53. | :23:54. | |
Wythenshawe and Sale-east by-election, details of all seven of | :23:55. | :23:57. | |
them can be found on the BBC website. | :23:58. | :24:08. | |
Russia says the Winter Olympics at Sochi are as safe as anywhere in the | :24:09. | :24:10. | |
West, despite warnings from Washington about potential militant | :24:11. | :24:13. | |
attacks. The Games saw their first action today - qualification for one | :24:14. | :24:16. | |
of the snowboarding events. But as our sports editor, David Bond, | :24:17. | :24:18. | |
reports, security concerns still dominate. | :24:19. | :24:27. | |
Everything about Russia's first Winter games is designed to | :24:28. | :24:32. | |
impress. Sochi's Olympic Park has been built from scratch at no | :24:33. | :24:39. | |
expense. The wow factor of the brand-new venues is impossible to | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
ignore. The centrepiece is the ?500 million stadium which will host to | :24:45. | :24:51. | |
my's opening ceremony. But is it all going to be an extravagant waste of | :24:52. | :24:54. | |
money? The man in charge says it's worth every ruble. This is the | :24:55. | :25:03. | |
greatest ever catalyst. It is exhilarating. What we have built | :25:04. | :25:06. | |
here in seven years, they have said it would take years to develop the | :25:07. | :25:16. | |
region. Up in the mountains, the first action has already been taking | :25:17. | :25:20. | |
place. Here, too, there have been a remarkable transformation, and yes, | :25:21. | :25:25. | |
there's even a bit of snow. With a price tag of more than ?30 billion, | :25:26. | :25:29. | |
the Sochi politics are the most expensive in history. For Russia, | :25:30. | :25:35. | |
it's a big gamble. Now, on the eve of the games, the question is, can | :25:36. | :25:41. | |
they pull it off? Central to the question is security. No modern | :25:42. | :25:43. | |
Olympics is free from the threat of terrorism. Sochi is a target for | :25:44. | :25:50. | |
Islamic extremists. Today, the US warned that planes bound for Russia | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
could be at risk from bombs smuggled inside tubes of toothpaste. | :25:55. | :26:03. | |
All the athletes can do is focus on competing. Today, Team GB's | :26:04. | :26:07. | |
snowboarders took to the slopes in spectacular style. Those leading | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
Briton's delegation are confident everything is being done to keep | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
people safe. One of the big psychological cushions that an | :26:20. | :26:22. | |
athlete needs to know is that everything has been done to make | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
sure they really don't have to think about anything else other than | :26:27. | :26:29. | |
performance. I am satisfied that the arrangements here are in good shape | :26:30. | :26:35. | |
and the arrangements that we have made for the team, both in travel | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
and while they are here, are in good order, too. These Olympics are a | :26:41. | :26:46. | |
showcase for modern Russia. The challenge for Sochi is to insure | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
that all of these anxieties don't spoil their moment in the sun. | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
Let's get the latest now on the weather. Only one question, is there | :26:57. | :27:05. | |
any end in sight? In a word, no. It is relentless. We have severe | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
warnings at the moment, amber warnings, for heavy rain in south | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
Wales and much of southern England. They are in force right through to | :27:14. | :27:17. | |
Saturday. We have got more storm system is heading in. It is not just | :27:18. | :27:21. | |
rain but some strong winds picking up, too. Through this evening, we | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
have already seen some heavy showers in England and Wales. More heavy | :27:26. | :27:33. | |
rain will push back in here as the evening wears on. The rain is | :27:34. | :27:37. | |
heading northwards all the while, turning to a bit of snow on the high | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
ground of the Pennines. It is a bit colder as he gave further north. | :27:43. | :27:45. | |
Strong winds in the English Channel. Lighter winds, though, in | :27:46. | :27:49. | |
Scotland and Northern Ireland. Here, it is going to be a chilly starting | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
tomorrow. There could be some ice around. That is unlikely in northern | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
England. Much in the way of cloud here. Not much rain further south, | :27:59. | :28:01. | |
just the remnants across the south-east corner of England, where | :28:02. | :28:05. | |
there will be gusty winds, too. Head west and we have got more problems | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
with the flooding. Then a dry start at least tomorrow with some sunny | :28:11. | :28:13. | |
spells coming through. The brighter weather spreads across the UK as the | :28:14. | :28:17. | |
day wears on. One window of fine weather, but it is not going to | :28:18. | :28:21. | |
last. Even the wind is easing down tomorrow. Temperatures eventually | :28:22. | :28:25. | |
are around five or six degrees in the North. Up to ten in the south. | :28:26. | :28:29. | |
You might convince yourself spring is on the way until Friday evening, | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
because there is the next storm. Gales are coming in from the south. | :28:36. | :28:39. | |
It is a bad direction for places in Cornwall. A stormy start a weekend | :28:40. | :28:46. | |
with to come. Peter, thank you. | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye | :28:51. | :28:51. |