Browse content similar to 10/04/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Nigel Evans, the former Deputy Speaker of the Commons, is found not | :00:00. | :00:10. | |
guilty of rape and eight other sex offence charges. Outside court, he | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
said he's been through 11 months of hell, now he wants to rebuild his | :00:15. | :00:23. | |
parliamentary career. There are no winners, so no celebrations. But the | :00:24. | :00:30. | |
fact is, I have got work to do, work that I've done for the last 22 | :00:31. | :00:32. | |
years. We'll be asking why so many | :00:33. | :00:34. | |
high-profile sex offence prosecutions have failed. | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
Also tonight, bright, beautiful and innocent, a tribute from the parents | :00:38. | :00:40. | |
of Victoria and Sarah Hicks at the Hillsborough inquests. | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
More tough questions for Oscar Pistorius, the prosecution lawyer | :00:47. | :00:54. | |
accuses him of being self obsessed. I had to go to training, she knew I | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
had to go, it is all about Indigo oh, all about Mr Pistorius. | :01:01. | :01:03. | |
Housing experts say prices will rise every year for five years, bad news | :01:04. | :01:06. | |
for those trying to get on the property ladder. How the suicide of | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
a violinist who testified against her abuser could and should have | :01:10. | :01:11. | |
been prevented. And the calls for City Airport to be | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
closed to make way for homes and shops in east London. | :01:16. | :01:38. | |
Good evening and welcome to the BBC News At Six. Nigel Evans, the former | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
Commons Deputy Speaker, has been cleared of a string of sexual | :01:45. | :01:46. | |
offences including one count of rape. The MP for Ribble Valley broke | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
down in tears when the not-guilty verdicts were read out. Later he | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
described the 11 months since he was charged as hell but said he wanted | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
to get back to his parliamentary work. Ed Thomas reports from Preston | :01:59. | :02:08. | |
Crown Court. And innocent man emerged from court, | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
but there was no sense of triumph. After a five-week trial, he had been | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
accused of rape undersold, cleared of all charges and supported by his | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
friends. Nigel Evans said his life had been made help. So no | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
celebrations. The fact is I have got work to do, work that I have done | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
for the last 22 years. All I can say is that after the last 11 months, | :02:33. | :02:38. | |
nothing will ever be the same again. That is because his life was | :02:39. | :02:45. | |
laid out in court for all to hear. Nigel Evans cried in the dog as the | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
words not guilty were read out. The prosecution claimed he was a drunken | :02:51. | :02:59. | |
lech who used his influence to take advantage of young Westminster | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
workers. But as evidence was heard, a different story emerged. Two | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
alleged victims said they thought what happened to them was not a | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
crime. A third believed he did not believe he should be in court, and a | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
fourth told jurors that he had texted Nigel Evans to wish him good | :03:16. | :03:21. | |
luck after he was arrested. Nigel Evans has served Parliament for 22 | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
years. The career was brought to the brink. Today the Prime Minister | :03:27. | :03:30. | |
welcomed his return. It is hard to imagine the relief that Nigel must | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
feel after such a traumatic time. I very much welcome what he said on | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
the steps of the court, and I think everyone should pay heed to that. | :03:39. | :03:47. | |
But should the case have gone to court? Some believe the CPS and | :03:48. | :03:54. | |
police got it wrong. Some of these allegations came after the Jimmy | :03:55. | :03:57. | |
Savile revelations, and I do worry that so many of them coming to court | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
costing a lot of money actually end up with acquittals. Today Lancashire | :04:03. | :04:06. | |
police defended the decision to take Nigel Evans to court. We have been | :04:07. | :04:14. | |
committed throughout to investigating this matter in a | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
professional and a victim focused way as we would all such | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
allegations. Nigel Evans told jurors that his arrest left him ashamed and | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
embarrassed, but today he is a free man, free to resume his life and | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
career in Parliament. Ed Thomas, BBC News, Preston. | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
With me now is home affairs correspondent June Kelly, Ed raised | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
this in his report, is this damaging for the CPS? They are certainly | :04:46. | :04:48. | |
getting a number of brickbats tonight, George. Ever since the | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
Jimmy Savile scandal, prosecutors have been accused in certain | :04:54. | :04:56. | |
quarters of a witchhunt against famous names, and of course Nigel | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
Evans is the third high-profile acquittal in the north-west, | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
following those of Coronation Street actors Michael Le Vell and William | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
Roache. For prosecutors to get a case to court, they have to decide | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
first of all if the cases in the public interest, and if there is a | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
realistic prospect of conviction. Now, tonight, after the verdict, | :05:17. | :05:21. | |
no-one from the CPS faced the cameras, but they put a statement | :05:22. | :05:26. | |
saying that they were defending the decision, saying that the | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
complainants provided clear accounts of the alleged offending, and that | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
evidence could only be explored at a trial. Of course, at the trial the | :05:34. | :05:36. | |
jury has to decide whether this person is guilty beyond reasonable | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
doubt, so for the jury, the bar is far higher than it is for | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
prosecutors, and recently this approach was stressed by the | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders. She has also | :05:50. | :05:51. | |
reiterated the need for them to listen to complaints, and she said | :05:52. | :05:56. | |
famous names wouldn't get any special treatment. Well, let's go to | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
Westminster and talk to political correspondent Vicki Young. I wonder, | :06:03. | :06:06. | |
does this raise wider questions about how these things are dealt | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
with in Parliament. I think it does. Interesting, Nigel Evans saying | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
nothing will be the same again, as a public figure he has had his private | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
life pored over in the court for all to hear, and he knows that despite | :06:19. | :06:22. | |
his innocence, his reputation could be tarnished anyway, a point that | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
several MPs have been making. They feel vulnerable to. Allegations, but | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
there are other questions about how this complaint was dealt with. | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
Several of the accusations came from staff working in the House of | :06:38. | :06:46. | |
Commons. Some say there needs to be a professional independent | :06:47. | :06:48. | |
complaints procedure to help both sides. I am also told that the | :06:49. | :06:52. | |
speaker, John Bercow, is keen to set up a helpline. Here, but so far that | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
is being blocked by the political parties. -- for staff here. | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
Bright, beautiful and innocent, that's how the parents of two | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
teenage sisters who both died in the Hillsborough disaster have described | :07:07. | :07:08. | |
them. Trevor Hicks and his former wife Jenni were giving evidence at | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
the inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans 25 years ago. Our | :07:12. | :07:18. | |
correspondent Judith Moritz reports from Warrington. | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
Hillsborough destroyed the family for ever. They went to the match as | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
a four, parents with their teenage children, but Trevor and Jenni | :07:29. | :07:34. | |
returned home as a couple. Their daughters both died in the disaster, | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
and within two years their marriage had crumbled too. Today their pain | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
was laid bare for the jury as they spoke about their loss. This is a | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
small part of what they had to say. The loss of a child is one of the | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
worst things that can happen to a loving parent. Loss of all your | :07:54. | :08:01. | |
children is devastating. It is not the two is twice as bad, it is that | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
you lose everything - the present, the future and any purpose. Sarah | :08:07. | :08:16. | |
and Vicky, you were two bright, beautiful, innocent young women. I | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
left you as you went into a football ground, and a few hours later you | :08:22. | :08:29. | |
were dead. The victims of Hillsborough are often described | :08:30. | :08:32. | |
collectively, known together as the 96, but through family tributes like | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
the ones page today to Sarah and Victoria Hicks, every one of those | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
who died is being portrayed individually. Had she lived, today | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
would have been Sarah's 44th birthday. There was a suggestion we | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
change the date, but we said it would be tough enough, as far as we | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
are concerned, it is more poignant today on her birthday. A fitting | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
tribute to Sarah on her birthday, yeah. Trevor Hicks spoke to | :09:03. | :09:05. | |
reporters at the end of the last inquest in 1991. He and Jenni have | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
long campaigned on behalf of those bereaved, but today they spoke of | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
what it did to their family. Judith Moritz, BBC News, Warrington. | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
The Co-operative Bank is expected to report yet more losses when it | :09:20. | :09:21. | |
publishes its full-year results tomorrow morning. And last night the | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
man who was brought in to sort out the the financial mess at the wider | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
Co-operative Group quit. Lord Myners had previously said the group lacked | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
effective leadership. Our business editor Kamal Ahmed reports. | :09:36. | :09:43. | |
The Co-op, one of Britain's's biggest businesses. It employs | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
90,000 people and owns over 4000 shops and pharmacies. There's now a | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
battle for control of the group the modernisers on one side and the | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
traditionalists on the other. Last night, the battle claimed another | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
victim. Lord Myners, the former City minister, is going to resign after | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
meeting opposition to his reform proposals. This is what he had to | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
say just a few weeks ago. At the moment, if you ask the question, are | :10:09. | :10:15. | |
we truly democratic? No. We led by a board that is fit for purpose? No. | :10:16. | :10:21. | |
Do we enjoy the full and undoubted support without any hesitation from | :10:22. | :10:26. | |
our bankers? No. This is a business that has been through the walls and | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
then some. Tomorrow the Co-op bank could announce losses totalling ?1.2 | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
billion. Next week the Co-op Group losses could total ?2 billion. | :10:37. | :10:42. | |
Critics say that this is an organisation that must change. | :10:43. | :10:44. | |
Traditionalists argue the Co-op is nothing if it does not retain its | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
heart. We know that there are 6000 Co-operative Group and prize is that | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
our independent, trading successfully across the UK, head of | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
the economy at large. -- Co-operative enterprises. This is a | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
successful model. It may be a successful model for some, but the | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
group is facing major losses. Some argue that better leadership is part | :11:10. | :11:13. | |
of the answer. Although it is a mutual, it is no different from any | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
organisation when it comes down to affected leadership and governance. | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
Those systems have to be in place to make sure it moves on and solves the | :11:22. | :11:24. | |
problems so that it can move on and be successful. The Co-op's home is | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
in Manchester - what do customers there think? I think it can be | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
turned around, a big business like that, why not? This is the time to | :11:35. | :11:40. | |
progress. I am really worried, I have been a customer for a long time | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
because of its ethical policies. There is likely to be more | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
controversy ahead. Tomorrow the Co-op bank, part owned by the | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
overall group, will announce what it is paying its chief executive. It is | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
also likely to say it is holding back payments for former directors | :11:57. | :11:59. | |
who were running the bank when it collapsed. Kamal Ahmed, BBC News. | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
The South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who is standing trial for | :12:05. | :12:07. | |
the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, has denied accusations by | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
the prosecution that he bullied her and was self obsessed. Mr Pistorius | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
denies intentionally killing the 29-year-old model. Our correspondent | :12:16. | :12:18. | |
Andrew Harding is live in Pretoria now. | :12:19. | :12:25. | |
Yes, George, Oscar Pistorius did not have an easy time of its today, he | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
blamed his lawyers for inconsistencies, he accused two | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
friends of lying about him, how was of relentless and detailed | :12:37. | :12:39. | |
cross-examination are clearly taking their toll. | :12:40. | :12:45. | |
-- hours. This was not a good day in court for | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
Oscar Pistorius, his character and credibility coming under withering | :12:50. | :12:51. | |
attack. First target, his selfish behaviour towards Reeva Steenkamp, | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
as shown in text messages. I had to go to training, I had to go to | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
lunch. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel suggesting that Pistorius, as usual | :13:02. | :13:04. | |
not shown on camera in court, cared only about one person. Your life is | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
just about you, what is important to Oscar. Oscar shouldn't get into | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
trouble... Then to the athlete's reckless attitude to guns and an | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
incident at this restaurant, when he fired a friend 's pistol by mistake. | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
The prosecutor said Pistorius must be lying when he suggested he hadn't | :13:25. | :13:32. | |
actually pulled the trigger. I must then accept that in your version the | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
gun went off by itself. He gave you a gun, it went off by itself. I | :13:37. | :13:43. | |
don't recall how the firearm went off, my lady, I know that my finger | :13:44. | :13:45. | |
was not on the trigger. No tears in the witness box today. | :13:46. | :13:48. | |
In fact, Pistorius became increasingly assertive, refusing to | :13:49. | :13:51. | |
even look at the prosecutor and directing all his answers to the | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
judge. But Nel was making headway, suggesting a pattern of ducking | :13:55. | :14:02. | |
responsibility for his actions. You see, again, Mr Pistorius, it's the | :14:03. | :14:05. | |
strangest day today, you just don't take responsibility for anything. | :14:06. | :14:11. | |
You just don't do anything wrong. You are lying. The same, he said, | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
applied to the night Reeva Steenkamp died, Nel quizzing Pistorius on his | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
exact movements in the bedroom. I would have run out onto the | :14:23. | :14:25. | |
balcony, my lady, where I shouted for help, the fan would have been in | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
the way. Never happened. It must have been moved. It never happened. | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
You see, because, Mr Pistorius, your version is a lie. | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
Pistorius strongly denied that, and alone on the stand, it has been a | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
bruising day for him. Andrew Harding, BBC News, Pretoria. | :14:45. | :14:51. | |
Tamiflu, the anti viral drug, may be no better than Paracetamol in | :14:52. | :14:53. | |
reducing flu symptons. That's according to new medical research. | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
The study raises questions about the Government's decision to spend | :14:58. | :14:59. | |
hundreds of millions of pounds stockpiling the drug in case there | :15:00. | :15:02. | |
is a flu pandemic. Tamiflu's manufacturer, Roche, say the | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
analysis is flawed. Our medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh, has | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
more. Huge stocks of Tamiflu were distributed during the swine flu | :15:14. | :15:23. | |
pandemic of 2009. It's an anti-viral and should ease symptoms. But | :15:24. | :15:28. | |
researchers, who spent five years fighting to get access to all the | :15:29. | :15:31. | |
data from clinical trials, say the drugs don't work. Or at least not | :15:32. | :15:34. | |
very well. The Cochrane Collaboration, a global health care | :15:35. | :15:36. | |
research network, say the drugs shorten symptoms by half a day, it | :15:37. | :15:51. | |
may be no better than paracetamol. They say there's no good evidence it | :15:52. | :15:54. | |
reduces hospital admissions or complications, and it increases the | :15:55. | :15:57. | |
risk of nausea, vomiting and other side-effects. What is more worrying, | :15:58. | :16:00. | |
we don't have the clear benefits, which compensation reduction, any | :16:01. | :16:02. | |
harms have been accentuated, and this is in otherwise healthy people. | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
Start to use that in elderly people, children, this is deeply worrying. | :16:06. | :16:08. | |
But this detailed review is at odds with a recent study from Nottingham | :16:09. | :16:10. | |
University, funded by the manufacturers, Roche, which looked | :16:11. | :16:12. | |
at 30,000 hospital admissions worldwide, and found that early use | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
of the drug halved the risk of death. Roche says no wonder the WHO, | :16:17. | :16:29. | |
US and health bodies all recommend Tamiflu. There's a clear consensus | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
across all of those people, and that is a significant body of expertise | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
that have looked at our data and share the same position that we do, | :16:40. | :16:42. | |
that Tamiflu is a very useful medicine for what is a serious | :16:43. | :16:44. | |
respiratory infection that can lead to death in some instances. This | :16:45. | :16:47. | |
drug has been a blockbuster which has made billions, but for critics | :16:48. | :16:50. | |
it symbolises a culture of secrecy within the pharmaceutical industry. | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
With some companies cherry picking the data they release from clinical | :16:57. | :16:59. | |
trials that shows their products in the best light. The Health Secretary | :17:00. | :17:05. | |
said suggestions that drug companies withheld data is worrying. The | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
Government has to decide by the end of the year whether to renew its | :17:10. | :17:17. | |
stockpile of Tamiflu. Our top story... The former Deputy Speaker | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
of the Commons, Nigel Evans, has been cleared of rape and eight other | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
sex abuse charges.. And still to come... The Duke and Duchess of | :17:28. | :17:35. | |
Cambridge on a New Zealand Watergate. Later on BBC London... | :17:36. | :17:43. | |
How more needs to be done to prepare school leavers. Employers claim many | :17:44. | :17:46. | |
are not ready for the world of work. The gallery which allows | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
customers to purchase shares in paintings. | :17:51. | :17:59. | |
The number of houses being sold across the UK has reached a six year | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
high, that's according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. | :18:04. | :18:06. | |
And prices are going up too, as demand outstrips the supply of | :18:07. | :18:09. | |
properties. Prices are expected to rise everywhere in the UK over the | :18:10. | :18:12. | |
next five years but at different rates in different parts of the | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
country. Scotland is expected to see an annual average rise of around 4%, | :18:17. | :18:18. | |
Wales nearly 5%, Northern Ireland also 5%, the North of England 2% | :18:19. | :18:28. | |
annually. And prices in London are expected to increase by over 9% each | :18:29. | :18:34. | |
year. Our correspondent, Duncan Kennedy, has been to Salisbury to | :18:35. | :18:43. | |
see what's happening there. This report affects just about everybody | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
involved in the property market. The builder, the buyer, the seller and | :18:48. | :18:56. | |
the state putter. Come along in. John is one of those who wants to | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
buy but cannot. I could many places in Britain, there are not the houses | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
around. I was hoping there would be more to look at and be thought | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
about. Normally, in spring, stuff comes onto the market and things | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
look better. This year, it does not seem to be. Estate agents seem to | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
be. They have an increase in buyers do not have property numbers to | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
match. All agents in the area are short of stock. There is pressure on | :19:28. | :19:32. | |
prices which are starting to move and lending is still difficult. The | :19:33. | :19:39. | |
new report also highlights the state putter is, people like Chris who | :19:40. | :19:45. | |
cannot afford to move but are extending instead. We looked at | :19:46. | :19:53. | |
moving. When we looked at the cost, relocation, the wife may be finding | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
another job or transport to a job, the logical conclusion we came to | :19:59. | :20:10. | |
was not to move. More houses are being constructive but not enough. | :20:11. | :20:14. | |
There is a lack of building plots. Funding is difficult and the | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
planning process. Today's report concludes a property boom is ripping | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
far beyond London. It is going to will check, the Midlands and the | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
north-west. The average prices are rising by 6% in year for five years. | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
Property buying is being put beyond the reach of ordinary people. Until | :20:34. | :20:42. | |
that market is unclogged, it will remain uneven for many people | :20:43. | :20:43. | |
longing to see this. The Government has decided there's | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
no economic case for keeping two of the last three deep-pit coal mines | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
in the country open. UK Coal will be given a ?10 million loan to carry | :20:55. | :20:57. | |
out what ministers have described as a managed closure of Kellingley | :20:58. | :21:00. | |
Colliery in North Yorkshire and Thoresby Colliery in | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
Nottinghamshire. A total of 1,300 jobs will be lost. Australian search | :21:06. | :21:17. | |
teams have discovered more signals in the area where they think the | :21:18. | :21:20. | |
Malaysian airline may have been lost. Officials say they could be | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
from what they call a man-made source. An Australian vessel picked | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
up for acoustic signals in the area, twice over the weekend and twice on | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
Tuesday. The flight vanished 33 days ago with 239 people on board. A | :21:36. | :21:38. | |
major review of the Welsh education system says the Government lacks a | :21:39. | :21:41. | |
long term vision. The Organisation for Cooperation and Economic | :21:42. | :21:43. | |
Development, which produces an international league table on | :21:44. | :21:45. | |
educational standards, recently ranked Wales at the bottom of the | :21:46. | :21:51. | |
UK. Our correspondent, Hywel Griffith, has more. Right, Year 10, | :21:52. | :21:58. | |
if you could all face me for a second. How to get results? It is a | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
question facing these GCSE pupils in Port Talbot and a dilemma the whole | :22:03. | :22:06. | |
education system in Wales has been struggling with. Several years of | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
poor results have led to a new push on numeracy and literacy. But, in | :22:11. | :22:18. | |
some classrooms, there is confusion. I feel for some pupils who are in | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
schools currently. They must be asking, what do you want from us in | :22:24. | :22:25. | |
terms of success? The challenges facing Welsh schools | :22:26. | :22:37. | |
have been clear now. Results lagging behind, not just the rest of | :22:38. | :22:40. | |
Britain, but much of Europe. What today's report makes clear is that | :22:41. | :22:43. | |
the problems are not just within the classroom, but begin at the very | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
top. The OECD says the education system in Wales lacks a long-term | :22:49. | :22:54. | |
vision. Its schools have a high proportion of low performers. The | :22:55. | :23:01. | |
tests pupils face lack coherence. The Labour government in Wales says | :23:02. | :23:04. | |
its education plan is clear and coherent. What is it? What is your | :23:05. | :23:12. | |
long-term vision? Excellent. What does that mean? Excellent in an | :23:13. | :23:18. | |
international context. What does it mean for a pupil or a parent? What | :23:19. | :23:22. | |
it means in simple terms, is that Welsh... Young people in Wales can | :23:23. | :23:29. | |
expect the very best in terms of their educational experience. They | :23:30. | :23:37. | |
will have a passport to success. Are parents convinced improvements are | :23:38. | :23:40. | |
coming? I'm confident in the sense that teaching is excellent. But, how | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
the majority of children will respond to the pressure of tests and | :23:46. | :23:53. | |
stuff, I do not know. There is no-one in the system in Wales | :23:54. | :23:56. | |
looking to make it better or drive standards up. Teachers in Wales have | :23:57. | :24:00. | |
been told to aim for the top 20 in international rankings by 2015. An | :24:01. | :24:04. | |
ambition that will test the path set by politicians. | :24:05. | :24:16. | |
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been paying their respects to | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
the war dead in New Zealand. They were visiting the town of Blenheim | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
on the South Island and later toured the Museum of World War I | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
memorabilia. Here is our royal correspondent. Just to warn you, the | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
start of this report does contain some flash photography. They are | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
taking on a greater share of the workload of William 's grandmother, | :24:43. | :24:45. | |
particularly the long haul journeys like this one to New Zealand. For | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
William and Catherine, there are state receptions in their honour, | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
speeches to be made and jokes about George. He is a bonny lad. He is | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
currently preparing for life as a prop forward. | :25:00. | :25:06. | |
The couple 's first public engagement had been to pay tribute | :25:07. | :25:12. | |
to the war dead in New Zealand. In Blenheim, on the South Island, | :25:13. | :25:15. | |
William and Catherine stepped forward together to place a wreath | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
at the town 's first public engagement had been to pay tribute | :25:20. | :25:21. | |
to the war dead in New Zealand. In Blenheim, on the South Island, | :25:22. | :25:23. | |
William and Catherine stepped forward together to place a wreath | :25:24. | :25:26. | |
at the town is warm and and Catherine another. -- place a | :25:27. | :25:34. | |
wreath. William took one group and Catherine another. A chance for | :25:35. | :25:43. | |
Catherine to show off sharp and communication skills and to be | :25:44. | :25:47. | |
reminded that babies do not necessarily regard meeting it | :25:48. | :25:50. | |
Duchess as a moment not to be sneezed at. There is a serious | :25:51. | :25:58. | |
point, of course, amid all the royal visit frivolity. Does New Zealand | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
want to keep Britain 's kings or queens as their head of state? New | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
Zealand has certainly flirted with the idea of moving on from the | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
monarchy in the past. When you come into small, rural communities like | :26:14. | :26:16. | |
this, support for the monarchy is still strong. He and his son | :26:17. | :26:23. | |
represent the long-term future of the monarchy and, at the moment, | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
there is no real evidence that New Zealand is pressing for a change. | :26:28. | :26:35. | |
That brings us to the weather. More spells of spring sunshine today | :26:36. | :26:46. | |
and more over the next few days. That includes the weekend. Dry and | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
bright the main themes. It be mild by day but, at night, it is still | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
early April so it can be a bit chilly. There has been a of cloudy | :26:56. | :27:03. | |
weather. Still one or two short sharp showers in the South of | :27:04. | :27:07. | |
England. A few showers in the north-west but elsewhere a dry | :27:08. | :27:10. | |
night. It would be colder. Temperatures will be down to two or | :27:11. | :27:18. | |
three. It is a chilly start to Friday. A zone of cloudy weather | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
across East Anglia and the Midlands which should tend to break up. Bar | :27:24. | :27:27. | |
the odd shower, it is mostly a fine day. Sunny spells across parts of | :27:28. | :27:34. | |
Wales and the south-west of England. We should be 16, 17 Celsius. Inland, | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
it could be cooler. A small chance of seeing a show across Cumbria or | :27:41. | :27:46. | |
north-west Scotland. Cloudy know that in the north-west and Northern | :27:47. | :27:50. | |
Ireland. There will be rain in the Western Isles. That will change | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
things a bit on Saturday. There will be damp weather into Northern | :27:55. | :27:59. | |
Ireland could trickling its way into northern England and Wales. | :28:00. | :28:02. | |
Generally dry and bright with a few showers in the north and west. | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
Temperatures getting to ten, 11 and 16, 17 in the South. A few showers | :28:07. | :28:15. | |
and the breeze picking up on Sunday. Dry and bright with temperatures | :28:16. | :28:19. | |
tend to 13. Maybe in the mid to high teens by the end of the afternoon | :28:20. | :28:31. | |
for the London Marathon. A reminder of our main story... The former | :28:32. | :28:41. | |
deputy Speaker of the House of Commons has been cleared of rape and | :28:42. | :28:44. | |
other sex charges. Goodbye. | :28:45. | :28:47. |