29/05/2014 BBC News at Six

Letters between Tony Blair and George W Bush

in the run-up to the Iraq war will never be published in full.

The deal allows for the eventual release of the findings of the Iraq

inquiry, five years after it began. We will be asking if this is the

final hurdle before the report can be published.

inquiry, five years after it began. Also tonight, Nick Clegg insists

Vince Cable wasn't involved in any plot to oust him as

Liberal Democrat leader, as the party tries to end the infighting.

Thousands of homes are being bought under the

government's Help to Buy scheme - most of them by first-time buyers.

Health experts say e-cigarettes shouldn't be restricted as they

may help people quit smoking. And the Hillsborough inquest sees

footage of another FA Cup semifinal eight years earlier when a crushing

incident forced fans onto the pitch. may help people quit smoking.

On BBC London, a warning that Londoners are losing out to foreign

buyers in the property boom. And calls to block

the resignation of a Met officer facing an investigation over

a death in custody. Welcome to the BBC News at Six.

Private letters between Tony Blair and George W Bush,

written in the run-up to the Iraq war, will not be published in full.

The chairman of the Iraq Inquiry, Sir John Chilcot, has said that only

quotes, or suggestions of the notes' content, will be made public.

The inquiry completed its public hearings in 2011,

and today's announcement comes amid mounting criticism of

the delay in releasing the report. Here's our

Political Editor Nick Robinson. His report contains some flash

photography. For many, it is the war that never really ended. A war that

cost so money lives. Some say 100,000, others many times that

figure. Still there is no official version of the events which led to

Britain and America invading Iraq. Key to that is exactly what was said

by Tony Blair to George Bush. What have the British Prime Minister

promised the then American president? An inquiry chaired by Sir

John Chilcot was established and established -- a staggering 58

months ago to find the full story. It was there that Tony Blair came to

give his account of his actions, and was asked to spell out exactly what

he had told George Bush in more than 130 private conversations and 25

private notes. I said we would stand shoulder to shoulder with them. We

did in Afghanistan. I was determined to do that again. The last public

airing was more than three years ago. Today we heard of the deal done

to unblock it. The inquiry chairman says he has agreed to publish on the

or jests, not full documents. These come he went on, should not reflect

President Bush's views. And direct quotation should be the minimum

necessary. The mother of one of the 179 British soldiers who died in the

conflict is disappointed. It is disappointing because I think it is

the most important thing what is in them, to let us understand why they

went to Iraq. We were told there were map -- weapons of mass

destruction. We need to see what is in those letters. It is more than

ten years since the invasion. Tony Blair has always insisted its

Tremadog and bloody story contains no secrets and that he wants the

inquiry out as soon as possible. We should be able to read it later this

year. Political Editor Nick Robinson.

And Nick Robinson joins me now. Was there ever any chance that we

would have seen everything contained those conversations? The Iraq

inquiry certainly wanted that. They were blocked by Britain's top civil

servant at the time, Sir Gus O'Donnell, and they expressed their

frustration they could not do this. This is the result of a bargain

going on behind the scenes to publish as much as they think they

can. What has been the problem? Suspicious people say it is Tony

Blair's full. He insists he did not block anything. He wanted it out.

What is at issue are Mac -- are two things. The conversations that take

place in government and crucially the relationship between a British

Prime Minister and American president. The White House did not

want a British inquiry to reveal what their president said or rolled

in private, hence that line about not reflecting President Bush's

views. There was also a fear that future prime ministers may make

secret calls if they thought one day these conversations would be

published. That is why we get the gists and quotes reference. Some

people will never be satisfied so -- max. Some people would say the

inquiry... The inquiry says this is the best deal they could get.

And Nick Robinson joins me now. The Deputy Prime Minister,

Nick Clegg, says he doesn't believe for a second

that the Business Secretary was involved in any plot to oust him.

Vince Cable has faced questions about what's been described

by some as an attempted coup, organised by his long-standing

friend Lord Oakeshott. The peer resigned

from the party after it was revealed he'd commissioned opinion polls

which suggested the party would be better off with a different leader.

Alex Forsyth reports. Two men at the top of the Lib Dems,

today determined to dispel rumours of division and show a united front.

today determined to dispel rumours On a trade visit to China, Business

Secretary Vince Cable told the BBC he is no Trojan horse. In other

words, he was once again forced to deny any involvement in a plot to

oust his party leader. Nick Clegg is the leader. I am working with him.

We are part of the United team. We're not speculating about abstract

possibilities. I want to put a stop to all of the infighting. There has

been too much of it. We have had a bad election.

been too much of it. We have had a recover. We have to start now. No

aspirations to be leader? No. It is what Nick Clegg wanted to hear. The

election results have left him vulnerable. Today he seemed a

happier man on his radio phone in, and one convinced of Vince Cable's

loyalty. I fully expect that people will try and suggest that there are

endless plots. I don't believe that for a second. Vince is an

outstanding Secretary of State for business. We have worked together

for years. One man was business. We have worked together

the cold. Lord Oakeshott quit the party yesterday after commissioning

damaging opinion polls which suggested the Lib Dems would be

better off without Nick Clegg. Sorry,

better off without Nick Clegg. He claimed Vince Cable new. But Mr

Cable's denial of any involvement in the most damning polls, seems to

have been believed by his party leaders. Here at Lib Dem

headquarters they will be pleased to have seen of this leadership threat.

Any would-be challengers to Nick Clegg have been forced to pledge

their loyalty. A number of local activists have concerns about the

direction of the party and its leader. Many activists are bruised

and shocked by the results. They have asked questions about why they

are in the party, why the party is still in government, why we are

taking these hits year after year. Nick Clegg face another challenge on

his radio phone in today. Could he master a bacon sandwich which more

authority than the Labour leader did? He passed that leadership test.

It may not be the last. Alex Forsyth reports.

Help To Buy has been a central plank of the Government's attempt

to kick start the housing market. But the scheme has been accused

of stoking a housing boom - today, ministers unveiled figures they say

shows that wasn't the case. More than 27,000 households have

made use of Help to Buy since it was introduced last year in

England - just 3% of all mortgages. Just over 7,000 properties were

bought using the UK-wide mortgage guarantee scheme,

which was introduced last October. Emma Simpson is live in Kingston

upon Thames for us now. Yes, and very smart it is, too. 19

buyers have used the Help to Buy programme here to grab one of these

flats. You would not be able to use the scheme to buy this very swanky

show flat. It is way too pricey. There has been a lot of heated

debate about the mortgage guarantee scheme. Today we found out who has

been using it and where. It is not easy building of the cash to buy a

home. The government has helped -- the Government's Help to Buy scheme

makes it easier to get it -- to get on the property ladder with a small

deposit. Is it working? It did for the Bond family. They got the keys

to their new home just a few weeks ago. With a growing family they

managed to get a bigger house with a small deposit. We have two small

children. We were looking for somewhere we could grow into, a

small village location that meant we could be part of a small community.

We found that house that ticked all those boxes. I would definitely say

that at this point we would not have been able to move into it unless we

had Help to Buy. Today we found out who has been using the Government's

mortgage guarantee scheme which covers both new and old properties.

13% of the transactions were in Scotland. That drops to 5% in Wales

and even lower in Northern Ireland. What about England? There were lots

of borrowers in the north-west. A similar amount in the south-east.

Just look at the figure from London. 5%. Despite concerns, Help

to Buy has had no real direct impact on soaring prices in the capital.

The figures show that Help to Buy is a huge success. 94% of property sold

have been outside London. Typically it has been first time buyers. More

than 85%. Also, the prices people are paying for these properties are

well below the national average. But is it help the housing market could

now do without? This scheme is subsidised by billions of pounds of

taxpayers money. With average UK house prices on the rise, there are

some who think the brakes should be applied. The Bank of England should

be looking to virtually raise interest rates because the economy

is improving and the housing market is partly a symptom of that. But

also I think the Government should be looking at how generous their

Help to Buy scheme is. It is contributing to froth in the housing

market. Help to Buy may have helped to kick-start this market but many

are still struggling to get on the housing ladder. It will take

hundreds of thousands more sales to get back to precrisis levels.

upon Thames for us now. Pro-Russia separatists have shot

down a military helicopter which was on its way to a base near

the rebel stronghold of Sloviansk, in the east of the country.

The acting president said the plane was brought down

by a surface to air missile. 14 people on board were killed,

including an army general. Australian officials have discounted

the area of the Indian Ocean where acoustic pings were detected,

as the final resting place of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The plane disappeared nearly three months ago,

with 239 people on board. A six-week long underwater search,

using this submersible robot, found nothing, and has been called off.

But efforts continue to search another larger area

of 60,000 square kilometres. The plane disappeared nearly three

months ago. The jury at the new inquest into the Hillsborough

disaster has been shown footage from the FA Cup semifinal of 1981,

between Tottenham and Wolverhampton Wanderers. There was a crushing

incident at the Leppings Lane and. Fans were injured and had to be

removed from the terrace onto the side of the page. Questions were

raised about the design and the capacity of the stand were 96

Liverpool fans were to die eight years later. Dan Johnson has the

details. The families came to court today to hear evidence of fans being

crushed during a match at Hillsborough in 1981. Eight years

before the disaster. The jury was shown a video from another FA Cup

semifinal played on an April day in Sheffield. Four minutes into the

game, Steve Archibald put Tottenham ahead, causing Spurs fans on the

Leppings Lane Terrace to surge forward. Two minutes later, fans can

be seen climbing the fence to escape the cross as the game carried on.

Nine minutes in and supporters who had been freed from the overcrowded

terrace can be seen sitting behind the goal. Once it becomes clear

something is wrong, ambulance staff are captured carrying an injured

supporter away on a stretcher. While cameras followed the action on the

pitch, fans continued freeing themselves from the crush. Between

100 and 250 were eventually removed. 38 were injured, most of them

treated at the ground. Eight went to hospital, two with broken arms, one

with a broken leg. The jury heard that before the match there had been

overcrowding outside the turnstiles, and an exit gate had to be opened

and the pressure. After the game, questions were raised about the

design of the turnstiles and the capacity of the Leppings Lane

Terrace same place in is your favourite 96 Liverpool fans.

Our top story: A deal is done to prevent full publication of letters

between Tony Blair and George W Bush. And self the moving

between Tony Blair and George W Bush. And self the story of a

suicidal man saved by a stranger, now captured in a documentary in the

hope of hoping others. the world have signed a letter to

the World Health Organisation arguing that electronic cigarettes

should not be regulated in the same way as tobacco. They say millions of

lives will be lost if restrictions are placed on e-cigarettes. The

debate comes amid a battle between the tobacco industry and the health

campaigners about whether to introduce plain packaging on normal

cigarettes. The BBC has been given rare access inside the world's

second largest tobacco company, British American Tobacco.

This is an increasingly common sight.

But these are no ordinary cigarettes.

They're electronic or e-cigarettes, based on nicotine.

Because they're tobacco-free, they can legally be used in most places

where real cigarettes are banned. To the tobacco industry,

these devices are revolutionary. They could save thousands of lives.

??FORCEDYELLOW If we're able to take consumers and give them the nicotine

There is a danger they get children interested in nicotine there by

smoking e-cigarettes but the use of nicotine I never generally. Thought

I would see the day when a tobacco company would open its doors to me.

BAT did part of a giant of an industry whose products kill six

million people a year. 100,000 in the UK. It's biggest factory is here

in Germany. What first hits you, when you enter the factory, apart

from the noise and the smell of tobacco, is its sheer size and

scale. These machines are churning out around 200 million cigarettes a

day. It's really quite staggering. Whatever the health benefits of

e-cigarettes its conventional cigarettes that still account for

most of the industry's profits. Now, those profits face a new threat as

one of the industry's last vestiages of marketing comes under attack. If

the Government ledge slates, current bes packs will be replaced with

plain packs with gruesome images. BAT say it is will consider legal

action. Plain packaging inherently involves the taking of what belongs

to us, which is our intellectual property,

to us, which is our intellectual something which is not theirs, and

taking that property as if it were their own. The Government asked the

leading paediatrician to examine the evidence on plain packaging. He has

now advised the Government to introduce it. We have a duty of care

to our young people and our children. And we should do

everything we can to encourage them not to do something which they will

regret later in life. The controversies over plain packaging

and e-cigarettes are set to continue. For health campaigners,

the war is not yet won. Peter Tailor, BBC News. Let me tell you,

you can see Peter Taylor's report later this evening. It's called

Burning Desire - the seduction of smoking, at 9.30pm on BBC Two. A

week today, the voters of Newark go to the polls in the first electoral

test since last week's local and European elections. The

Conservatives have a sizeable majority in the Nottinghamshire

constituency, but by-elections are of course unpredictable. If UKIP

does well, off the back of its you can is sells in the European

elections, the party could get its first MP. The by-election will also

be a test for the troubles Liberal Democrats, as our deputy political

editor, James Landale now reports. Welcome to Newark a buzzling corner

of Middle England. This is more than just a market town where people know

the price of beef. Here they choose their parties as carefully as their

cattle. Voting Conservative often, but not always. I've always voted

blue, for the Conservatives. Tempted by UKIP? No. I'm going to vote

Labour, I'm sticking with emthis. I think Ed Miliband is a good bloke.

You are sceptical of UKIP? Sceptical, I don't know what they

stand for. This town is now being invaded by what UKIP call their

people's army. Hoping, if not yet quite believing, they might just win

again. If you don't win here, doesn't ha show UKIP has peaked? I

don't believe it does. We had European and local elections where

we performed sensationally, if we get within touching distance of the

Conservatives it proves we have momentum. Boy are some tempted to

join that momentum. You were Labour, you are now voting UKIP, Fresh

party, fresh ideas. It's time for a change. I would prefer to vote to be

able to feel happy voting You are Conservative. Tempted? I am tempted.

It's this Conservative. Tempted? I am tempted.

minister after minister to come here and pound the streets. Throwing the

kitchen sink at what should be a safe Tory seat with a 16,000

majority. We are out there on the doorstep and we're talking to people

about how we can secure Newark's future with a Conservative member of

parliament, working with the Conservatives in Government.

Conservatives in Government that have been delivering on the

long-term economic plan. The future of this political bastian will

depend on the 20,000 people who backed Labour or the Lib Dems last

time. Will they stay at home? Or will they join UKIP storming the

rampards? Labour's aim is to stopping it happening. That is why

Ed Miliband has come here to show his party is taking on UKIP. This is

a test of your appeal in Middle England, isn't it? I think the

primary test is for David Cameron. This is a seat that David Cameron

should be romping home in frankly. 44th safest seat in the country -

You are admitting defeat? Absolutely not. We have fighting for every Big

hit vote. Ters are thin on the ground. We had to auto find this one

in London. It's clear the Conservatives are rattled by it.

Every MP has been told to go there three times. I'm content we should

campaign on our record. A record of delivering an economic recovery for

the United Kingdom. In this political bakoff it's a battle

between the Blues and Purples that matters most. Next week we will find

out whose bun has risen the most. Here is the full list of candidates

standing in the Newark by-election. John Darwin, the man who faked his

death in a canoeing accident in 2002, has been ordered to use his

pension to repay ?40,000. Darwin, and his then wife, Anne, claims

hundreds of thousands of pounds in life insurance after

hundreds of thousands of pounds in death in 2002. They then moved to

Panama to start a new life. John Darwin has so fared repaid just ?121

out of ?679,000. Hundreds of people turned out to green the Duke and

Duchess of Cambridge on their first joint public appearance since their

visit to Australia last month. The couple were in Perthshire where the

Duke, a were foer search and rescue pilot, met the crew of Scotland's

Charity Air Ambulance. William and Kate, who are also known as the Earl

and Countess of VAT earn, visited Scotland's oldest working whisky

distillery and enjoyed a dram at the famous Grouswhisky bar. The Queen's

Baton Relay has scaled the highest peak in Wales as part of the tour of

the country in the run up to the Commonwealth Games. It reached the

top of Snowdon early this morning where it was greeted by, among

others, our correspondent, Hywell Griffith. It was taken to the top by

a team of runners carrying with them a message from the Queen that has

already travelled 118,000 miles around the world, around the globe,

taking the messesage that in July the Commonwealth Games will finally

begin. Through the cloud its route unrelenting. The Queen's Baton Relay

climbs towards the summit of Snowdon. These runners are used to

testing mountain conditions, but carrying a 3.5llb weight, with a

Royal message inside is something else. How has it been on the way up?

Quite tough. We have all been taking turns. How does it feel to be

carrying it to the peak of Snowdon? Great. The first Queen's Baton Relay

was run from England to Wales. When Cardiff hosted the 1958 Games. This

will year's route will take in 70 Commonwealth territories. Few stages

will have been as gruelling as the scramble up Snowdon. Another

milestone on the route to There athletes Glasgow. Will become

rivals. The man who masterminded British cycling success at the

London Olympics say it is adds an added dimension. They divide up into

Wales, England and Scotland. And Isle of Mann. A huge opportunity for

them. They feel so proud. Over land and sea another 55 days before the

relay reaches its finishing line and the Games finally begin. Goodness,

not very kind weather, was it really, John Hammond for the poor

runners. How is it looking more generally? At least it wasn't

raining, the same cannot be said for one other part of the UK. I will

zoom in on south-west England am we have heavy storms right down the M5

towards Exeter, thunder mixed in there too. Difficult driving. These

showers will move westwards into parts of south Wales, Devon and

Cornwall. Most of us will end the night on a dry note. Not as murky as

it was last night for most of us. Mild, although chilly in the Glenns

of Scotland we could see a touch of frost here. Tomorrow will be a

rather non-disscript day. Most of us should stay dry. Showers to the

south-west, not as many as today. should stay dry. Showers to the

south-west, not as many as Dry, cloudy weather. Best of the weather

to the coastal fringes. The Queen's Baton Relay makes it is way to

north-east Wales this time tomorrow. If you are going it will be dry,

light winds, rather cloudy, no real problems weather wise. As far as the

weekend is concerned, Saturday OK. Again fair bit of cloud, showers,

but mostly dry. Question marks are for Sunday. It does look as if it

hinges on a weather front coming down from the north-west. It will

spread rain into parts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland as we

go through the day. The question is, how far that front extends

southwards and eastwards. We will nail down the detail. North-western

areas will turn wet. The risk of showers further south and east.

Hopefully most of us will see sunshine as