29/09/2014 BBC News at Six

George Osborne announces a benefits freeze for two years if the

The Chancellor says he wants to save ?3 billion from the welfare

The fairest way to reduce welfare bills is to make sure that benefits

are not rising faster than the wages of the taxpayers who are

We'll be looking at exactly which benefits will be affected,

and how the Chancellor will find the remaining tens of billions

Protesting with light - thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators take

Iraqi forces and airstrikes manage to halt the advance of Islamic State

The rise and rise of discount shopping leads to a huge jump in

And why poking fun at your favourite TV shows is

Shot dead by her boyfriend on his 15th birthday - the teenager

And why being sent to a specialist unit rather than A

could double your chances of surviving a cardiac arrest.

Good evening, and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

The Chancellor George Osborne has set out a key battleground

for the next election, pledging that a future Conservative

government would freeze all benefits for two years, except those

for the disabled, pensioners and women on maternity leave.

He claimed it would save ?3 billion a year.

He also warned of more cuts ahead as part of a programme to reduce

government spending by a total of ?25 billion by 2018.

Our Political Editor Nick Robinson was listening to the Chancellor's

speech at the the Tory Party conference in Birmingham.

The economy's growing again, and an election is getting close. Time you

might think for the Chancellor to promise you a give away. Well if you

do this that, you couldn't be more wrong. Is this almost... It is know

where near done with George Osborne's message in Birmingham. He

told the Tory conference that the deficit was still nowhere near being

eliminated and so spending cuts were nowhere near over. He claimed that

unlike Labour, he would level with people. Here are the facts. The

latest Treasury estimate is that to eliminate the deficit, requires a

further ?25 billion of permanent public expenditure savings, or new

taxes. With tax rises off the Tory agenda,

all that 25 billion has to come, from spending cuts. Almost half of

it from cutting benefits. Working age benefits in Britain will have to

be frozen for two years. This is the choice Britain needs to take, to

protect our economic stability and to secure a better future. The

fairest way to reduce Welfare Bills is to make sure that the bet fins

are not rising faster than the wages of the taxpayers who are paying for

them. The Tory plan to freeze benefits

from 2016 would affect those out of work claiming Job Seekers Allowance

but also those in work entitled to tax credits. Five million people and

ten million households in all. It would not affect those on pension,

ESA, if you can't work, and maternity pay.

Just down the road from the Conference, is a charity that sells

cheap second-hand furniture to people struggling to affect it. Many

of them not out of work, but in badly paid jobs. I spoke to two

volunteers here, Martin and Sue about how a freeze might affect

them. If your benefits were frozen, so you get if same amount as now,

but it doesn't go up with inplating, would that be a big problem? Yes,

because the prices will rocket, but my money is not going to rocket. It

should raise, raise up with the inflation, because at the end of the

day, I struggle to pay all my bills and try and pay them off and have

something left for food. In recent years benefits have risen faster

than wages which is why the Tories believe it is fair and popular If it

is going to get the deficit down it seems like a reasonable starting

point. From what I understand he is making allowances for pensioners and

those in need. It should be stricter. Definitely. There is a lot

people that have been able to get away with it for a long time. I

would rather they went off the big companies and their tax than go

after people who are already poor. Funnily enough back at the Tory

conference getting business to pay more of the tax they owe was the

other half of the Osbourne announcement twin pack. And some

technology companies go to extraordinary lengths to pay little

or no tax here. If you abuse our tax system, you abuse the trust of the

British people, and my message to these companies is clear. We will

put a stop to it, low taxes but low taxes that are paid. He didn't say

which company he was targeting but one part of the answer is Google.

Who like Apple have channelled business and profits through low tax

island. Alongside the promise of pain the Chancellor stressed there

would be gain, promising to scrap tax on inherented tax anded by more

houses if he is re-elected Choose fairness, choose freedom. Choose

David Cameron, choose the Conservatives. Choose the future.

The Tories here are taking quite a gamble. That beyond this haul the

public will choose what they are now offering. Cutting benefits sounds

tough but the political we question is whether it is fair. That may

depend on whether you assume people are claiming are strongers or are

people who are struggling to make ends meet. Often in work on very low

wages. Well, as we've just heard,

the Chancellor's pledge to freeze some working benefits

if the Conservatives win the next election still leaves him

with ?25 billion worth of savings to Our Economics Editor Robert Peston

has been looking at the figures. We are spending money again, the

economy is recovering strongly, and the big question, as we approach the

general election is what will secure that recovery, for the long-term?

For George Osborne it is all ant eliminating the gap between what the

Government takes from taxes and spends on public services. The

deficit. That was a record 11.3% of GDP in 2009-10 after the crash, and

when he became Chancellor. Mr Osborne's spending cuts and tax

rises since then should cut it to 5.5% of national income, by the time

of the next general election in 2015. But that means Government debt

would still have risen bay massive 95.5 billion this year and maybe

more than that. His goal, to the next Parliament is to shrink the

deficit to zero, generate a surplus. To hit this target of a surplus in

four years there would have to be ?25 billion of spending cuts in just

the first two years of the next Parliament, with ?13 billion saved

by shrinking the budget of Whitehall departments and ?12 billion from

reducing welfare spending. Today, Mr Osborne announced that ?3.2 billion

of those savings would come from freezing benefits for two years. But

he promised that pencions would not be frozen, even though some say

pensioners have had a good deal, with the bill for pensions

increasing 11% since 2010. If there were a two-year freeze on payments

to pensioner, that would raise a useful ?5 billion.

The bad news is that we are probably not even half way through the total

spending cuts planned through this Parliament and next. It is looking

tougher over the next Parliament but not only are we going to be cutting

or is the Government looking to cut as fast next Parliament as this

Parliament, obviously the easier cuts are gone, it is going to look

difficult to keep on at that rate of reducing public spending. Now, a

Labour Government would cut almost 30 billion less in the next

Parliament than the Tories because it is not aiming for an overall

surplus but would only balance the budget excluding investment. So,

there is now a sharp economic divide between the Tories and Labour,

probably the widest for more than 20 years.

Let us talk to Nick Robinson. As we heard there, the Conservatives still

have a way to go in terms of reducing the deficit with the

Chancellor careful to set out a difference between the Conservatives

and Labour when it comes to how they do it. You know what, if anybody

decide to write one of those books that you can buy in the shop, how to

win an election made simple, I have a hunch they won't write a chapter

that suggests just before an election you should tell five

million people we are going to cut the value of what the Government

gives you. Now why on earth is George Osborne doing it? I think his

calculation is simple. He will get credit for telling light it is. For

levelling with the British people, for spelling out some of the bad

choices that might lie on the other side of an election. He is doing

something else. He is trying to flush the Labour Party out, force

them to either say we don't need to make cuts at all because as Robert

said, Labour believe you don't need to cut spending so fast, you don't

need to cut borrowing so fast, because you can still make the

changes they want, and cut the deficit. So George Osborne wants to

flush them out on either not making the cuts at all or to force them to

spell out other cuts they would make instead. That is the gamble he is

taking and one other too, the gamble that people will judge this to be

fair. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy

protestors are still occupying The police withdrew

after pepper spray and tear gas The protesters are angry at China's

plans to vet candidates for Hong They want a free choice

of candidates for the post of chief executive,

which Beijing has ruled out. From Hong Kong, our China Editor

Carrie Gracie sent this report. The financial system did not

collapse. And there was no chaos. So much for the dire warnings from the

Hong Kong Government and Beijing. There were no buses but no-one wants

to leave any way. After last night's tear gas, they passed their time

preparing remedies, but the riot police never showed.

All ages and background, even one billionaire. If we can't be touched

by the young kids, we are not human beings. These kids are wonderful.

They have done a great job. But there are voices warning that

the protest is illegal, and dangerous.

We are part of China. We need to work within the framework opof our

constitution. There is no point in stirring up confrontation between

our motherland and ourselves. As night fell, the crowd swelled.

Sending Beijing a message, that they're a pose colonial generation

who won't put up with exchanging one set of masters for another. So they

want rid of a leader answerable to Beijing and free elections for a new

one answerable to Hong Kong instead I am optimistic. I hope we can give

more pressure and get back our suffrage. This Wednesday, the first

of October, is the most important date in China's political calendar.

It's the anniversary of the Communist revolution. Already the

celebratory fireworks have been cancelled here, and now Beijing has

to look at this instead. 1.3 billion Chinese citizens must

not be allowed to look though. On the mainland there is tight sensor

ship of these extraordinary scenes and the longer Hong Kong's defiance

goes on, the more humiliating and dangerous it feels to China's

leadership. The Conservative MP Mark Pritchard

says he will complain to the new press regulator

after a Sunday Mirror reporter posed as a young female party activist

and approached him and a number Government minister Brooks Newmark

resigned after he responded to the reporter with

an explicit picture of himself. The Sunday Mirror insists the

story was in the public interest. Our correspondent David

Sillito has the details. Confused, shocked, exploited. The

feelings of this woman, a Swedish model whose photos were used without

permission in a newspaper sting that has brought down a British

Government minister. Brooks Newmark thought he was

sending an explicit photo to a young female Conservative Party worker he

met on line. He wasn't. The photos had been lifted, it was a fake

account run by a male journalist and he wasn't the only Tory MP he had

tried to lure. The real issue is about subterfuge, the trickery, when

does a newspaper, when do journalists have the right to use

that kind of trickery? The defence from the Sunday Mirror.

Brooks Newmark was part of women to win. It its role... Trying to bring

in more women into Parliament. If you have the minister stof civic

society, charged with getting more women into politics but who seems to

be interested in getting them in his bed there is a huge public interest.

There is where the complaint will be handled. It housed the old

discredited Press Complaints Commission, today there is a new

name on the door plate. It has more powers than the Press

Complaints Commission. It can levy fine, carry out investigations but

the heart of this is did we need to know this? Is it in the public

interest? I think it is clear this was a fishing expedition, the use of

subterfuge was not justified by the public interest, and the newspaper

needs to be held to account for what it has done.

Brooks Newmark admits he was a full fool and blames no-one but himself

but a new Watchdog with much to prove has its first big test of how

far our newspapers are allowed to go.

The chancellor has told the Conservative Party Conference

he wants to save ?3 billion from the welfare bill to help reduce

How poking fun at performers could become easier

Why schools are looking to business for help in teaching computing.

And the Olympic transformation of East London's waterways.

We look at the environmental legacy of the 2012 games.

Iraqi ground forces, backed by air strikes, appear to have halted the

Senior Iraqi officials told the BBC they had reached within five miles

The jihadi extremists currently control large swathes of Anbar

province, including, crucially, the city of Falluja which they

captured at the beginning of the year and which is close to Baghdad.

From there the jihadis have been able to launch

a series of attacks to the north and west of the Iraqi capital.

The latest fighting was along the road between Falluja and

Our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet's

report contains some testimony you may find distressing.

Heading into the last defences between Baghdad and so-called

Islamic State fighters. In recent weeks, the IS attack the root on the

western edge of the capital. We are travelling with two powerful shakes.

Their task is to rally the tribes and stop the enemy at the Gates of

Baghdad. There have been heavy battles right here, he tells me, our

brothers were here, pointing to the government. Don't be fooled by their

relaxed pose. The front line lies along that horizon. Beyond that,

just 16 miles away, IS is in charge. And there were intense clashes. You

can feel the tension here. This is the border between us and our yes.

-- IDS. They threaten the Baghdad protective belt and we need support

from the US and Britain -- between us and IDS. The fighters of the

so-called Islamic State move across northern Iraq in June and took the

second city of Mosul, and it set off alarm bells in many capitals,

including Baghdad, with fear that they could also move in here. And

now, after more than six weeks of air strikes, the people of Baghdad

still feel threatened. And you can see why. Islamic State fighters are

about five miles away. Iraqi soldiers like this young man on the

front lines lines near Baghdad. He survived a massacre. Out of 500

troops, only 30 lived. He still fears for his life. This is the

first interviewed by a survivor. We heard the IS fighters, they started

to shoot us, and bodies were falling on top of me, hiding me. There was

blood everywhere. Then my mobile started to ring. One of the IS

answered it and said this is the mobile of your coward brother, and

we have shot and beheaded the cowards. The IS have a tradition

that after they shoot people, they cut their heads off to show how many

they have killed. They started to cut, but there was a call from the

bridge, leave them, more soldiers are coming. And that saved his life.

Iraqi faces an unprecedented crisis. This prominent MP has spoken

to me. The Iraqi state is facing for the first time and existentialists

read. This existential threat is that there is somebody else claiming

sovereignty over Iraqi territory -- facing for the first time and

existentialists read. Did you fear they could make it to bag that --

Baghdad question they are 20 kilometres from where we are now.

Even Western air strikes have not helped these men push back the IS

forces. They are only holding the line.

Lloyds Banking Group has sacked eight employees for their part in

Bonuses totalling three million pounds have also been with held.

In July, the bank was fined ?218 million for manipulating

Midwives in England have voted to go on strike for the first time

The Royal College of Midwives will take industrial action next month.

Hugh, why are they striking and how will this affect services?

Midwives in England are angry at what they see as the imposition by

the government of a 1% pay rise, or an angry -- annual increment based

on seniority, but not both. Previous years they say they have got the

increment by right and then the pay rise on top. There have already been

a couple of years of pay restraint. Two other health unions have voted

for strike action, and there will be a joint action on October 13 lasting

for hours. The Royal College says essential services will not be

affected, but clinics, antenatal and so on, will be disrupted. The

government says it is disappointed that it could only afford a pay rise

or an annual increment, but not both.

The discount supermarket, Aldi, has announced a massive rise

in pre-tax profits - a jump of 65% last year to ?261 million.

The company has become increasingly successful at attracting shoppers

away from the UK's 'big four' supermarkets by competing on price.

Aldi, which is German-owned, says it plans to open another 65

Our Business Correspondent Emma Simpson has the details.

Welcome to Aldi, unlike the big established players, this grocer is

piling on sales and customer -- customers. The supermarket world is

changing fast, ask the shoppers. I see you have a Waitrose bag, Tesco

bag, Sainsbury's and you're also shopping a Aldi. Why? Though

beforehand you could conveniently go to one shop and get loads of stuff,

now you are finding new art spending a lot of money, but if you split it

between shops, and one of them is Aldi, you save a lot of money. All

of this was ?21, and usually it would be about 50 or ?60. Aldi

arrived in the UK more than 20 years ago. It was sold from boxes. But

these days it has upped its game, selling fresh produce, attracting

more upstart -- upmarket shoppers, although small in the UK, it has a

Basque operations across Europe and beyond. It may have far fewer

products than a normal supermarket but it gives them a huge buying

power with suppliers -- a vast operation. Discounters like Aldi are

stealing a mask -- March. What is happening on the Isles is sending

shock waves through the industrial ready grappling with huge change,

and it is a battle increasingly about price. At Sainsbury's, we are

changing the way we set our prices. The big grocers are fighting back.

Sainsbury's is the latest to launch a campaign on price. But experts

reckon it is a battle they cannot win. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons,

they public company and they report to the city and there will always be

an expect -- expectation of profit margins are the three retailers

which makes it difficult for them to invest the margin back into price

again. Privately owned Aldi does not have that problem, but with new

research today suggesting another three years of squeezed household

finances the competition at the checkouts could get even tougher.

Now, parody of films, books and TV programmes has

But until now comics have always run the risk of being sued for breach

All that changes this week when the laws are loosened to allow

a certain amount of original material to be used.

But there's one snag - it maybe left to a high court judge to decide

if the parody is funny enough to be legal - as Clive Coleman explains.

This is the phenomenally successful Mhairi -- Miley Cyrus song Wrecking

Ball. And this is a parody that has had a staggering 50 million and more

hits online. This is Sir Alan Sugar. And here is the Apprentice, but not

as you know it. Do you want to kiss my mouth? The answer to that from me

is yes. You are hired. It's one of a growing number of parodies on the

Internet made by comically reediting snippets. Until now anyone who had

copyrighted films, TV shows or songs to make parodies faced a risk of

being sued. It's not very conducive to good comedy to be sat there

waiting to see what lawyers think of a joke. It might even had a chilling

effect where you think it is too much trouble to do that particular

joke. The man responsible for some of the most popular parodies is

known only as Cassette Boy. Tell me about the legal issues and

frustrations that you have had to negotiate in doing your work. It

feels like censorship. It feels like the chosen form of impression --

expression is being censored. It's like being a painter in a country

where paint is illegal. This parody of the Beatles I am the walrus could

not be shown on British television until now as the music publishers

would not allow the lyrics to be changed. I am Thesaurus. Now

copyrighted material can be used of the parody is fair, but if the

copyright owner sues, it will be up to the judge to decide if the parody

is funny. Whether George who spent years in a court room might --

judges who have spent years on remarked the other judge will be

funny, I don't know. There could be an explosion of parodies now, like

this version of Masterchef. I love your plate, it looks professional.

I think many people would like to copyright the weather this month

because it has been really dry and if you like it is warm, spectacular

September, and the last day of the month also promises more fine

weather for most of us. It will be missed the first thing, some fog

patches, and there will be some rain, chiefly across western parts

of the UK. In the east, some heavy downpours, and those heavy showers

are clear. And also slowly fading through the night, so most of us

have a dry night, and it will be a warm night with temperatures widely

staying in their teens. One or two mist and fog patches, and they

should clear away, and in central and eastern areas, a fine day and

when it brightens up, the sunshine comes through. In the west, we will

see things change. The rain will gradually spread its way across

western Scotland. Staying dry and fine across north-east Scotland, but

a dull evening rush hour in Glasgow and Belfast, but the far west of

Northern Ireland might cheer up. The bulk of England and Wales, it will

be dry and bright, and warm again, 19 or 21 Celsius. Claiming over in

the West -- clouding over in the West. That area of rain will become

more expansive across England and Wales tomorrow evening and another

band of rain pushes across Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are two

weather systems slowly spreading south during Wednesday, bringing

cloud and the damp start the many but brightness in between and for

Scotland and Northern Ireland it will brighten up with sunny spells

here. Further south, patchy rain, nothing too heavy. Still quite mild.

Slightly fresher further north and that is one of the themes of the end

of the week. A big change as we head into the first week of October. It

will turn cooler, spells of rain for all of us, and often quite blustery.

You might say fairly typical autumnal weather on the way.