07/02/2014 BBC News at Six

need to be evacuated, as the flood waters continue to rise. Angry

villagers confront the head of the Environment Agency and demand that

he quit. Without a doubt, I am not the only one who would like him to

resign. I have no intention of doing so because there is important work

to be done. And more bad weather is expected

tonight on what's being called a conveyor belt of storms.

Also on the programme: The Prime Minister says the UK would be deeply

diminished if Scotland votes for independence.

I love this country. I love the United Kingdom and all it stands

for, and I will fight with everything I have to keep us

together. The most expensive Winter Olympics

ever gets underway in Sochi. And human footprints uncovered in

Norfolk, 800,000 years old. Residents in the Thames Valley are

told water levels will continue to rise.

And next week's Tube strike is set to go ahead after talks fail to

reach an agreement. Good evening and welcome to the BBC

News at Six. The unprecedented levels of rainfall

have brought flooding across the south of the UK but Somerset still

has the worst of it. There were chaotic and angry scenes when the

head of the Environment Agency made his first visit there since the

crisis began. Lord Chris Smith refused calls to resign and insisted

he was proud of the agency's work. Then, hot on his heels, the Prime

Minister visited the area too. Tonight there are more severe

weather warnings in place for southern England, the Midlands and

South Wales. Jon Kay is in Burrowbridge on the Somerset Levels.

Yes, these are normally quiet villagers have had an extraordinary

few get -- days. In the space of four days, they have been visited by

the Prince of Wales, the Prime Minister, the head of the

Environment Agency, and the Marines, who are now doing a job on the

ground. That shows how seriously this crisis is being taken. But

people round here say if it had been taken more seriously sooner much of

the worst of this might have been avoided. The focus today has been on

one community called Moorland. The people of Moorland tried to defend

themselves, but they have been beaten. Villagers who were told to

evacuate their homes will now return to waterlogged properties. Thank

you. It is the call she has been dreading. Bryony's house is among

those that have gone under. She and her family had to leave last night

as the water rose. It is in the house. I would have done anything to

have saved my home. What do you do? This afternoon, the Prime Minister

came to see things for himself, to see the defences that have failed,

the pumps that did not do enough, and the families who believe they

have been let down by the outside world. The resources are there, the

money is there, councils will get the money from central government,

the military are on stand-by to help where they can. We will go as fast

as we can but it will take some time to get right. We are facing

extraordinary weather events, both from the coast and in terms of

quantity of rain. It emerged today that Mr Cameron had been called by

Prince Charles earlier this week, after the air to the throne paid his

own visit here. Another high-profile visitor today, Lord Chris Smith,

chairman of the Environment Agency, the body many here blame for causing

this crisis by not dredging the rivers. Our house is going under. I

am one of the last ones. Moorland has gone. It is nice to see you have

actually got a pair of wellies on. Lord Smith agreed to meet a handful

of local people behind closed doors. Bryony was among them. What is going

through your mind? Lets see what happens. They talked for over an

hour in what appeared to be a tense meeting. Lord Smith told them he had

no intention of resigning but afterwards he revealed that dredging

would begin shortly. These people have told you they feel let down by

you. Do you agree that you have let them down, not just recently but

over years? I can understand the distress and concern that local

people have. The sort of weather we have been seeing over the last two

months has thrown more water at the Somerset Levels than it has ever

experienced before. So, after lunch with the man at the top, was Bryony

satisfied? If they are going to dredge, we can go home and read all

our lives and there is a fight worth fighting. Are you more confident?

Yes. Tonight, she was at least reunited with her horse, who she

thought had drowned, back together, but miles from home. Actually, as

the crow flies, they are only about three miles away in temporary

accommodation, but because so many of the roads are flooded, they have

to drive the best part of one hour, all around the Somerset Levels, to

get to the place where they are now staying, from where they normally

live. That is the kind of challenge people around here are facing, and

there is more bad weather coming tonight and through the weekend. One

of these days I will stand here and tell you we are almost out of it,

but no time soon. It's not just Somerset that's

suffering from the floods. Great swathes of the south of the UK have

been affected, from Cornwall to Kent, and with more heavy rainfall

forecast in southern England and Wales, the Environment Agency is

warning of more flooding misery to come. Our Science Editor, David

Shukman, reports. For mile after mile after mile, the

endless vistas of flooding that have transformed so much of Britain this

winter. Between Bristol and Exeter today, a train forced to a halt,

stranded amid a vast and spectacular ocean covering the fields, just one

of countless examples of what extreme weather can mean for us. For

the second time in a week, the village of Bridge in Kent has been

flooded. There has been so much rain that water is now bubbling up

through the ground. But unlike in Somerset, people here do not think

anyone is to blame. The real worry is the water coming up from ground

water through the flooring. So there is not a lot we can do with that, I

am afraid. People keep coming round, but there is no use pumping it now

because as soon as they pump it, it keeps coming up through the floors.

In Surrey this afternoon, we found water suddenly spilling over the

roads. The River Thames is rising again. You might expect this kind of

thing every few years, but not nearly as often as we are seeing

now. This lane has become something of a river. There are scenes like

this up and down the country and the real challenge is the scale of what

is happening. And it is going on on multiple fronts. There is flooding

from swollen rivers, from intense rain and from the sea. And the real

difficulty is that it has just been going on for so long. Two months so

far, and the worst thing is that it is not over yet. Again this

afternoon, the Environment Agency flood map was crammed with

warnings, including two severe ones that mean life is at risk. The last

two months have seen over 5000 homes flooded, but across the country,

well over a million homes have been protected. Many defences have

worked. If we look at the aftermath and start to learn the lessons, one

question to ask is, how many homes would have been flooded, properties

affected, if there had not been the work that has been done over the

past five or six years. And effort to save a village in Oxfordshire.

More storms are forecast. The country faces difficult choices for

the future, about where to defend and how best to do it.

For all the latest on the weather, you can visit our website. It has

live updates on the situation across the country and you can find out

information for your local area. David Cameron has said he fears the

UK would end up "deeply diminished" if people in Scotland voted for

independence in September's referendum. He said people living in

the rest of the UK should call on friends and family in Scotland to

reject independence. The Confederation of British Industry

has echoed his view that the UK is stronger together. But Scotland's

First Minister, Alex Salmond, said Mr Cameron should debate the issue

with him instead of, as he put it, delivering a "sermon from Mount

Olympus". Our Political Editor, Nick Robinson, reports.

Summoning up the spirit of the Olympics, David Cameron is calling

on Britain's quiet patriots to save Team GB. Two summers ago, a Scot,

Sir Chris Hoy, became Britain's greatest ever Olympian. The Prime

Minister celebrated at London's velodrome that night. Today, he

returned there to issue a warning about what might happen in seven

months. If we lost Scotland, if the UK changed, we would rip the rug

from our own reputation. There are 63 million of us who could wake up

on September the 19th in a different country, with a different future

ahead of it. This plea to keep Scotland in the UK was delivered

from England. David Cameron called on those who thought they were mere

spectators, who don't have a vote, to join him in the cause. Frankly, I

care too much to stay out of it. This is personal. This is our home,

and I could not bear to see a torn apart. Scotland's destination, he

said, was a decision only for the people living there, but he wanted

everyone else, including 800,000 Scots who have moved south, to help

them make up their minds. You don't have a vote, but you do have a

voice. Let the message ring out from Manchester to Motherwell, from

Pembrokeshire to Perth, from Belfast to Butte, from us to the people of

Scotland, let the message Beavis, we want you to stay. David Cameron came

here in order to claim that Team GB represents a share -- a set of

shared values, but he knows all too well that Alex Salmond is portraying

him as an English Tory lecturing the people of Scotland from along way

away. Sir Chris Hoy is now leading celebrations of another games, this

summer's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Scotland's First Minister

says Mr Cameron should travel here to debate with him. The Prime

Minister of the UK against the First Minister of Scotland. That is the

debate that should happen, that people want to see. David Cameron

cannot enter into that but not actually have it in a democratic

fashion. He wants to pronounce from unhide -- on higher, from the

Olympic Stadium in London, instead of having that debate. What if the

rest of Britain joins the debate? What will they say? If they feel

they can be independent and that is what is most important to them, they

should go for it. I would certainly rather Scotland stays as part of the

UK. I believe we are stronger together. What difference will it

make to me? What made the Olympics special were the crowds who came

here. Today, David Cameron seemed to say, if Scotland won't listen to me,

maybe they will listen to you. Let's talk to our Scotland

correspondent. A plea from David Cameron. Give us a sense of where

the different camps stand at present. If you look at the polls,

it is always a tricky business interpreting them, but there have

been half a dozen since the Scottish Government published its weighty

White Paper on independence back in November. And those polls have shown

a slight shift, a slight movement in the number of people who say, the

proportion of people who say they would vote yes, rather than no,

indirect friend which will take place in September. Not one of those

polls has suggested a decline. I think that has put wind in the sales

of those campaigning for independence. They would argue that

today's speech shows jitters and nerves in the Better Together

campaign. Alex Salmond has gone so far as to say that the Prime

Minister is too scared to enter a debate with him. The Prime Minister

says he will be coming to Scotland and number of times between now and

September and will make his case for the UK remaining, something he

believes passionately in, he will make his case directly to the

Scottish people rather than within the confines of a debate with

Scotland's First Minister. The country's first Muslim free

school is to close its doors to secondary pupils from August, just

two years after it opened. A government report criticised the

poor quality of teaching at Al-Madinah school in Derby, which

had already been forced to review its strict Islamic practices. Staff

have promised to help students find places at other local schools ahead

of the new academic year. Two brothers have been jailed at

Derby Crown Court after admitting trafficking offences. Igor and Marek

Marcin recruited vulnerable men from Slovakia and the Czech Republic by

promising them well paid work in Derby, but when the victims arrived

they were, in the words of the judge "dehumanised", forced to live in

squalid, cramped conditions and given just a fraction of their

wages. Sian Lloyd reports. Brothers, the judge said they were

targeted and cynical in their exploitation of vulnerable men who

wanted to come to the UK to do an honest days work. Their wives were

part of the plot. They stole earnings from some of the victims.

12 men were brought to Derby from Slovakia and the Czech Republic in

residential streets, they were hidden from the authorities.

Conditions were cramped and basic. The degree of control the

traffickers had over their victims has been described by police as

truly shocking. When they raided this house, they found men living

four to a bedroom. The traffickers were sleeping right next to the

front door so that they could monitor everyone who came in and out

of the house. One of the men they rescued had been sent out to wash

cars. Without protective clothing, the chemicals burnt his skin. He has

spoken about his ordeal. TRANSLATION:

I was shown some of the evidence in the case. These documents showed

?100,000 of false benefits claims. The head of the UK human trafficking

unit says every community here is affected. There are people,

unfortunately, who will exploit those who want to come to the UK to

genuinely work hard and make sufficient money to live in a

reasonable way. Again, these crime groups, they are just exploiting

people's dreams. Anything you wish to say to the victims? Having been

in custody while on remand, the women walked away from court.

Between them, they'll husband 's will serve almost 18 years in

prison. Our top story: Residents accuse the

Environment Agency of letting them down as its head visits the Somerset

Levels for the first time since the flooding crisis began. Still to

come, exclusive access to a new front line in the fight against

terrorism in the Horn of Africa. Later on BBC London: A mother of two

is jailed for a glass attack on the daughter of Ground Force star Tommy

Walsh. And from trading to training - we

meet the former City boy now the manager of Brentford Football Club.

The 22nd Winter Olympics are officially underway after an opening

ceremony in the Russian resort of Sochi that combined spectacular

effects with the usual questionable outfits. They're the most expensive

Olympic Games ever. Building the infrastructure from scratch, as well

as intensive security measures, is estimated to have cost more than ?30

billion. 3,000 athletes from 88 countries are

set to take part. Another 700 will compete in the Paralympic Games next

month. And the world is watching - some three billion people across the

globe are expected to see the Games on television.

Our sports editor, David Bond, is in Sochi.

Fiona, this is the first time that Russia has staged the Winter

Olympics. It is the first time since the summer games in Moscow in 1980

that the Olympic movement has been here. It is a big moment for Russia.

Guy Demel Putin once the opening ceremony, which are still going on

behind me, to send a message to the world. -- Vladimir Putin. After so

many years, this was finally Russia's time. In front of 40,000

people in the stadium, and opening ceremony designed to wow the world.

They called it dreams about Russia, an avant-garde journey through this

country's which cultural and political history. Having spent more

money on these games than all previous Winter Olympics combined,

the pressure was on to hit the right note. But not everything went

according to plan. One of the iconic Olympic rings failed to open.

Let's hope the Russian president didn't see. That these games are as

much about him as they are about modern Russia. It is a showcase for

country determined to reclaim its superpower status. As the Russian

flag was raised in the Olympics stadium, you couldn't help feeling

this was a night for politics as well as sport. But then all games

have a broader international significance. When Great Britain's

biggest winter teams is 1988 made its entry, it brought back memories

of that sum of 2012, when London felt like the centre of the world.

Although China's premier turned up, many world leaders come including

the American president, have stayed away from these games in protest at

Russia's anti-gay laws. It is the sort of destruction which has

overshadowed the long build-up to Sochi 2014. Russia's athletes will

be hoping they can give this country a reason to forget all the problems.

In the next hour or so, the Olympic flame here will be lit and Sochi's

games will be officially underway. Even if the rest of tonight's

ceremony goes smoothly, there are still plenty of questions for the

organisers to answer in the coming days, not just security and gay

rights but how will these games feel? What kind of atmosphere will

may generate? Will be at -- the Russian athletes deliver? So far, so

good, but tonight is just the start. The US is dramatically increasing

its military operations in the Horn of Africa to try to tackle violent

extremism. America's base in the tiny state of Djibouti is the focus

for counter terrorism operations against Al-Shabab in neighbouring

Somalia and Al-Qaeda in Southern Yemen, both organisations which have

targeted British civilians. Our security correspondent, Frank

Gardner, has this exclusive report from Djibouti.

In the deserts of Djibouti, the US military is stepping up operations.

It is flying long-range missions all over East Africa, determined to

counter what it calls the violent extremism. These are special forces

rescue paratroopers, trains to receive still commands or others

from deep inside Somalia. From its base in Djibouti, America is

extending its reach across this region. It is not alone. This is a

French helicopter refuelling from a US tank over Djibouti's Essbase. As

long Jane -- long-range refuelling is just part of a huge build-up in

US and Coalition military operations here in the Horn of Africa. Djibouti

is the nerve centre. This former French colony has thrown in its lot

with the West. Its Foreign Minister told me that makes it a target for

Al-Shabab. He supports controversial US during strikes launched from this

country. These people are very dangerous. Whatever it takes, if we

can contain them, OK. If we can get rid of them, it is better. We don't

have to waste time in asking every time ourselves if we should use

drones. The US base here is fallen to over 4000 people. From here,

trainers go to African nations, sending soldiers to fight

Al-Shabab. It is seen by Washington as the main threat to the region.

The reason we are here is to neutralise Al-Shabab in Somalia.

That is why I am sitting here, so I can assist the other nations to

neutralise Al-Shabab in Somalia so it will not leave Somalia or

threaten a US interest for our country, the United States. America

certainly has the tools in its armoury. But does it have the

patience? 20 years ago, it rushed to leave the region after getting

embroiled in Somalia's clan wars. Now it is trying a different

approach. Defeating extremism here could still take years.

Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human

footprints outside Africa... On the Norfolk Coast. The footprints are

more than 800,000 years old and were discovered on the shores of

Haseborough, making the ancient Britons who lived there the oldest

known human settlers in Northern Europe. Our science correspondent,

Pallab Ghosh, reports. Off the coast of North Norfolk,

footprints frozen in time. These were made nearly 1 million years

ago. Researchers unearthed them to take photographs before they are

washed away forever by the sea. Then they record their reactions in this

scientific footage. Potentially it is very exciting. This could be the

earliest footprint from anywhere outside of Africa. This analysis

shows footprints from at least five people, mostly quite small, of

children, perhaps. But this one is size eight, of an adult male. The

prints have been digitally reconstructed by researchers, and

then, using a 3-D printer, they have recreated them so they can study the

fine detail stop you can really see the toe prints. Four years ago,

these researchers discovered the stone tools. This is what they might

have looked like. Various species are thought to have walked along

these shores. 800,000 years ago, it was the human predecessor. 500 years

ago -- 500,000 years ago, it was an more advanced form. 400,000 years

ago, they evolved into Neanderthals, who stayed here until 40,000 years

ago, when they were replaced by our species will stop -- our species.

They came when there was no see between the UK and the rest of

Europe. The coast of Europe is obviously the gateway to the rest of

the United Kingdom. As people would have roamed in, this was clearly a

path they would have followed. These footprints have rewritten the

history of these shores. It is only now that researchers are beginning

to realise just how long ago the first humans set foot in Britain.

This is the point where we normally take a look at the weather, but I'm

not sure we want to. Brace yourselves. Peter, depress us all. I

can do that easily. Today the UK was peeping out from

behind the cloud, bravely. But now it is closing quickly. Huge arc of

cloud the size of Western Europe is heading our way. Yes, it is the next

storm that is set to continue for a while yet. The Gaels are picking up.

Southerly gusts are battering places like Dawlish again. Three of four

hours of rain everywhere through the night. A bit of snow as well in the

Highlands. A cold night for northern Scotland. Elsewhere, relatively

mild. When he started a weekend. It will be pretty stormy, in fact,

especially western areas. The winds will be squeezed into the

south-west. Lots of heavy showers feeding in as well. Still falling as

snow in the Scottish Highlands. The winds are not quite so strong in

Northern Ireland, but lots of blustery showers in northern and

western parts of England. Not many showers to the eastern side, but as

we head to the south-west and into Wales, battering Gailes and gusts of

up to 70 mph here, and big waves crashing onto the shore as well. A

dangerous place to be tomorrow. The winds will continue into Sunday.

They will slowly abated during the course of the day. He were showers

by the end of the day. Temperatures at around six in the north to around

eight or nine in the south. I hesitate to show you a charge for

the start of next week, but here it is. -- chart. Another deep area of

low pressure, so it is more of the same. Whatever way you look at it,

it is bad. When is it going to end? Goodbye

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