30/12/2015 BBC News at Six

Storm Frank batters Britain with heavy rain and gales -

as communities try to minimise further damage.

The government promises more help for those affected.

It takes time to build up flood resilience and capability but in

light of what has happened in recent weeks we will look at making sure we

do deal with these extreme weather events.

In South Ayrshire, 12 passengers have been airlifted from a bus

which had become stranded in flood water.

Elsewhere in Scotland, more than 5,000 homes

In Croston in Lancashire people are hopeful that three severe flood

warnings that have been in place all day could soon be lifted.

A husband and wife who plotted a terror attack on the 10th

anniversary of the 7/7 bombings are both jailed for life.

Also this hour - a hand-held scanner which can detect

London's Air Ambulance trials a device which can spot dangerous

Good evening and welcome to BBC News.

There's been more flooding as Storm Frank brings torrential

This month has now broken records for rainfall in parts of the UK.

Three severe flood warnings - indicating a danger to life -

are in place in Croston in Lancashire and there's one

in Whitesands in Dumfries and Galloway and another one

Communities in the Scottish borders have been warned to prepare for up

to 120 millimetres of rain - with rivers overtopping

In South Ayrshire ten passengers were airlifted from this bus

when it was stranded in flood water near to Dailly Cemetery.

And southern England is also facing bad weather -

there were high tides in Exmouth in Devon today.

Annita McVeigh is in the Lancashire village of Croston.

What a difference it is now compared to nine o'clock this morning when we

first started to broadcast from here. Then it was raining, really

windy, but right now it is calm and the rain has stopped several hours

ago. That has come as a huge relief to the people here and all the

members of the Lancashire Fire and Rescue, the Environment Agency, army

and all agencies that have been working to try to stop a second

flood here. Because this village flooded on Boxing Day from another

river, this time around they have been trying to fill in a breach in

the banks of the River Douglas, that was the concerned that new flooding

could come from there. The Environment Agency is helpful it

will be able to lift those three severe flood warnings that are in

place this evening. The storm has caused a lot of flooding in

Scotland, the wind associated with that as well cutting power to

thousands of homes around the UK. This report coming up.

In Dumfries, the streets look like canals.

Western Scotland is bearing the brunt of the bad weather.

The storm has already cut power to over

More than 70 flood warnings have been issued north of the border.

This is perhaps one of the worst events Dumfries have ever

It rivals 2009 and even 1982, which is the worst in living memory.

The water is still rising, so I can't tell you how high

But it will certainly get further than it is now.

Storm Frank reached the UK before dawn.

More heavy rain across a saturated landscape swept in by

Behind the storm front, evidence of what it may bring

This torrent of flood water was filmed by a resident

And Co Waterford is being pounded here.

In Cork, firefighters pumped out flooded properties,

while in Northern Ireland, engineers worked

to restore power to thousands of homes.

In the Yorkshire town of Tadcaster, where an 18th-century

bridge collapsed last night, soldiers helped to evacuate

residents amid fears that a ruptured gas main might explode.

The bridge, the government has promised, will be

rebuilt, but the collapse has partly blocked the River Wharfe.

People want their lives sorted out as soon as possible.

It is our priority to get things back up and running.

Dilley has arrived back from holiday in Barbados.

He has already faced criticism for taking a holiday in the sun

whilst flood victims spent Christmas out of their homes.

At Croston in Lancashire communities trying to clear up

from the last flood are watching

There have been attempts to shore up local flood defences but they're

about to be put to the test once again.

It seems the defences with a lot of assistance from the agency I have

been talking about have managed to stop that water coming into the

village again. Although with the rainfall and the ground saturated

already and the rivers swollen, it is difficult to be absolutely sure

but fingers crossed things to look better tonight. Just to tell you

more about that dramatic rescue that has been taking place in Ayrshire.

Earlier today, 12 people were trapped by flooding in a bus

Helicopter was dispatched to airlift people from the bus. And passengers

were trapped with the water coming up to window level. Police say

people were never in serious danger, but nonetheless a frightening

experience for everyone involved and a dramatic rescue. We have a

statement from Stagecoach. One of our buses was involved in an

incident this afternoon, the road was open to traffic at the time and

was affected by flooding. We are assisting emergency services to deal

with the situation. That statement emphasising that the road was open

to traffic at the time that the bus was travelling along it. We have

been trying to find out more about the situation in Croston and taking

a closer look at the River Douglas. It has been the source of concern

today. We took a rather circuitous route to have a look at the River

and the flood plain. Normally just a short drive of the bid bridge from

where we are but because of diversions we had to go the long way

round. This is what we found. What we're looking at now is the

Douglas River. Back within its banks, contained within its banks.

If you follow around the flood plain has overflowed and that big flood

plain you can see their surrounding the river. The flashing lights of

where the pumps are being used to try to get the water back into the

river. And on the opposite direction upstream where standing, that is the

breach in the banks of the Douglas. The helicopter the ministry hoped to

use today to repair that gap in the banks, they have not been able to do

that because of the weather and the wind. They hope to do that tomorrow

to really seal up the gap and make everyone in Croston in that

direction feel more secure. Well this a penny from the Environment

Agency is here. -- Lisa Pinney. It has been a big operation through

the day we have worked day and night to improve this since Sunday. The

fire brigade have been here pumping from the flood plain to make sure

that there is capacity. And we continued to work with sandbags,

making sure everything is ready for the helicopter went in those coming.

-- when it does come in. Do you feel this is not contained? I think it is

an improving situation, we have had the high tide go through and it has

been about half a metre below the gap. That is good news and we expect

good weather so that will give us time to get the temporary defences

in ahead of any bad weather there may be in the weeks ahead. It looks

as though potentially it has been quite a dangerous job to be doing

over the last few days. Getting anywhere near flood water is

dangerous, we had some great depth of water around, we need to do that

as safely as possible but also the to do what we can to protect

communities. Everyone has worked tirelessly to do that. We have had

volunteers coming in, all that has been really important. I think there

are some new flood defences coming in to place on April. When we hear

from the Environment Agency about moving from known to unknown

extremes, how concerned are you for the future safety of villages in

this area because of the flood waters? What we're seeing through

December has broken a number of records. Once we get through the

incident part of this event there will be reviewed look at why we had

so many records broken recently. What more can be done. I think you

things are coming online like flood storage areas and they are important

to keep water upstream, communities. -- from communities. Well we can

find out if it is an improving picture elsewhere with Nick Miller.

Can we look now toward some drier weather? There Met Office weather

warnings in place of the moment. But still flood warnings in place across

Scotland. There is a gap between the rain falling and filtering into the

rivers and having the kind of impact we have seen across Scotland. So

flood warnings to continue and everyone needs to be aware of the

risk of further disruption. There are wet weather systems in the

future, perhaps not delivering those exceptional rainfall amounts but

still delivering rain where it is not needed so do keep an eye on the

forecast. And just behind as is the chief pub and restaurant. The pub

part of the business has opened. Some businesses are back up and

running and brings him the money needed to help pay for repairs or

indeed pay for expensive insurance premiums. This is a microcosm of

what is going on right around the UK. Businesses trying to get up and

running as quickly as possible for the people affect his, whose homes

have been affected of course it will be many months yet before probably

they can return to some kind of normality in their homes. But the

picture tonight does seem to be improving. So that is a positive way

to end the evening here. Earlier today, 12 people

were trapped by flooding in a bus On the line is Rory McAdam

who is based at the local garage Can you describe the scene when you

got there, what did you see? The river was really quite high up and

the bus appeared to be floating. The water level was up to the windows.

It seemed to be trapped against the side of the road. I think there was

a boat went to rescue them first and the engine failed. The next thing

was a helicopter arriving. We understand a police helicopter, the

Scottish bar and rescue service, even the Coast Guard involved at

some point. What kind of time was this? I think just after one

o'clock. How long did it go on for? Well it was dark before the

helicopter got people off the bus. So several hours. Could you get a

sense of who was on board? No, it was just a bit far away. We could

see people on the bus but not who they were. It was just a bit far

away. We are hearing perhaps nine adults and three children airlifted.

Is this an area, a road that usually does get flooded or is it unusual?

The road can flood on occasions but not as bad as this. It is the worst

I have ever seen it. And what is the situation now? Well I have now left

the area, when I was leaving all the emergency services were starting to

dissipate. So you think the floodwater has begun to recede. It

is a tidal river and the tide is going out. It is starting to go down

slightly, yes. You are based at the local garage, have you been affected

by flooding? No, the garage is on quite a steep hill. Thank you very

much. Prosecutors in Pennsylvania have

charged the actor and comedian, Bill Cosby, with aggravated

indecent assault. The alleged offence is said to have

happened at his home Mr Cosby, who's 78, says he had

consensual sex with the woman. Our correspondent, David Willis,

who's in Los Angeles gave me more background to the case

a short time ago. This woman, her name

is Andrea Constand, she was head of the basketball team

at Temple University in Pennsylvania and Bill Cosby who lives nearby

became a kind of mentor to her, he invited her to his mansion

on several occasions. It is claimed that she rebuffed his

sexual advances on a number of occasions, and on one

occasion in January of 2004, he gave her drugs which she said

rendered her paralysed and unable to move,

unable to give consent, The statute of limitations on this

case was due to expire tomorrow, so prosecutors in Montgomery County

in Pennsylvania have got in just before the deadline to file these

first criminal charges against Bill That is interesting

because allegations about Bill Cosby have been swirling around,

they have been several cases and I was going to ask why you think

this criminal case has There have been a lot of allegations

levelled against Bill Cosby. It was said you could fill a school

bus with the number of women who have alleged sexual assault

of some kind or drugging by Bill It is possible some of these other

women may be called to give evidence in this particular case

when it goes to trial, we are expecting to hear more

on that from the lawyer representing She is due to give a news conference

in about two hours from now. But it seems there was a deposition

given by Bill Cosby. Relating to a civil

case filed against him This was just unsealed in the summer

of this year and prosecutors apparently are relying on that

as the centrepiece perhaps or certainly a significant part

of their case now against Bill Storm Frank batters the UK with

heavy rain and gale is as communities try to minimise further

damage to their homes. The American comedian Bill Cosby faces a sexual

assault charge over an encounter with a woman in 2004. Husband and

wife who plotted a terror attack on the 10th anniversary of the 7/7

bombings are both jailed for life. A husband and wife who plotted

a terror attack on the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 Bombings have

been jailed for life, and will serve a combined

minimum of 52 years. Mohammed Rehman discussed targeting

the London Underground and a shopping centre on social

media under the name, He and his wife Sana Ahmed Khan,

both from Reading, were convicted Richard Lister was at the Old Bailey

as the judge handed Sana Ahmed Khan and her husband,

Mohammed Rehman, are now on their way to prison

and they will be spending at least 25 years

there in Sana Ahmed Khan's case, The judge was clear that

their sentences would carry those minimum tariffs because of

the severity of the attack The jury heard over the course

of this trial that when police went into Mohammed Rehman's home

after he and his wife were arrested, they found considerable amounts

of explosives and chemicals and bomb-making equipment including

11 kilograms of urea nitrate, which the court heard

could have caused multiple casualties

if turned into a bomb. The court also heard

that they were just two days away from fitting a detonator

to such a device and unleashing havoc, probably

in central London. The reason this couple

were picked up in the first place is because of Mohammed

Rehman's extensive use of Twitter under the Twitter handle

Silent Bomber, using a profile

picture of Jihadi John. Using that Twitter account,

he made clear that he was planning an act of martyrdom

and that he was trying to get advice "Westfield shopping centre

or London Underground?" It was those tweets

which tipped off the police. And after seeing the evidence

that the police uncovered in Rehman's home, where he lived

separately from his wife, the jury had no doubt yesterday

that they were guilty. Mr Justice Baker did hear mitigation

from the defence counsel and he also received this letter

from Sana Ahmed Khan, in which she expresses

her feelings of remorse for how things

have turned out. But Mr Justice Baker

told her in his sentencing that she was clearly funding

this operation and that although her husband intended

to be the suicide bomber, not her, he was clear

that they both intended to cause this explosion to go

off in a public place, something that would have caused

multiple casualties, and he had no hesitation

in giving them More than one million refugees

and migrants have reached Europe by sea since the start of this year,

according to the United Nations About half of those landed

on the small Greek island of Lesbos. This is the north shore

of the island of Lesbos. This is as close as

you can get to Turkey. That is Turkey, just

across the water, no You might think that on a nice,

bright, sunny day, there would be people trying to cross,

but not today, because the wind It is simply not a day for anyone

to attempt to cross these waters. Yesterday, we were here,

the seas were calm and people were coming across in

droves, but not today. This seems to be finally

the arrival of winter, which could reduce

the numbers from the 2000 or so a day that have been

arriving on Lesbos throughout As you can see, here along

the coast, little reminders of how dangerous and violent

these waters can be. All along this rocky coastline,

there are small teams like the one based here

on this stretch of beach, teams of international

volunteers, who are here, waiting for the migrant boats

to arrive and to offer assistance. This is a an inflatable that has

been donated by a college in South There is a crew here at the moment,

training Greek lifeguards When they see the migrant boats

coming across the waters from Turkey, they zip out and offer

assistance and guide them into the right stretch

of safe beach. The UN says that more than a million

people have now arrived into Europe Half of them, half a million people,

arrived here on the island of And look at all this, a mountain

of discarded life jackets. And up there on the ridge,

some of the smuggler boats as well. The weather may give

everyone a break, but who is to say that 2016

will not bring more of this? A hand-held scanner that can detect

potentially life-threatening brain injuries is being tested by air

ambulance crews in London. Surgeons say the device saves time

by helping to make a diagnosis before a patient reaches hospital -

and allows A departments Here's our medical

correspondent, Fergus Walsh. For London's air ambulance speed

of diagnosis and treatment of trauma injuries is often the key

to whether patients make In the spring it began a year-long

trial of this hand-held brain scanner and has since used it

on more than 60 patients to help determine whether they needed urgent

surgery to remove a blood clot. The hand-held device uses harmless

near infrared light like that The light beam penetrates the skull

up to three centimetres. A blood-clot absorbs light

differently to normal brain tissue and the signal is bounced back

to the scanner. The whole procedure takes less

than two minutes. In a hospital setting it has proved

90% accurate with patients then being given a more detailed CT scan

to confirm the diagnosis. On London's air ambulance we treat

approximately five critically ill patients per day,

the commonest causes of those injuries are road traffic accidents

or falls from heights and assaults. Many of those patients have head

injuries, brain injuries, of some degree so in all that

population, this has potential to give us an earlier diagnosis

and institute personalised, Eight years ago the BBC reported

on trials of an earlier version of the infra scanner in India

and the device is now being used by the US Marines to detect

battlefield head injuries. Storm Frank has brought more misery

to parts of the UK. These are the rainfall totals. It has been very

wet in Northern Ireland and in Cumbria.

This was the rain radar picture from earlier,

you can see the main band of rain is slipping

The centre of the storm heading up towards Iceland. Behind that we get

a more showery mixture later tonight. Still some rain to come for

a time for England and Wales. Turning more showery after midnight.

Some heavy showers across Wales and the South West of England, baby Sam

Hill mixed in. For the North of Scotland it looks dry but cold

enough for some icy patches. Elsewhere we have showers moving

north into Scotland. Sunny skies developing for a while, these bands

of showers pushing west to east through the morning and into the

afternoon. And cold enough in Scotland for some snow to fall over

the hills. Northern Ireland after wet weather in the morning turns

more showery in the afternoon but also colder. A sharp rest of rain

pushing east through the afternoon across England and Wales. Colder as

well after the wet weather clears away from Wales and the south-west

of England. The line of rain moves through during the evening, we keep

some wintry showers across Scotland and Northern Ireland as we approach

the midnight hour. If you're out and about it will be pretty cold. Away

from the north-west likely to be dry. Temperatures falling away

through the rest of the night under clear skies and for the first time

and long-time a widespread frost especially in the countryside. A

cold and bright start to New date with some sunshine around. Tending

to cloud over from the South West, low-pressure approaching our shores

and rain coming into the South West. To the north-east drier and brighter

with a chilly wind. Temperatures of four or five Celsius.

Still no respite for storm-battered Britain as heavy rain and gales

In Ayrshire, 12 passengers are airlifted from a bus

In the Scottish borders, attempts to reinforce defences -

with a "danger to life" flood warning issued for the River Tweed.

Well, it has come up very, very quick, I mean I am Peebles born

and bred and I have never ever seen it as high

Do you think the beach is the best place to be managing this crisis

from? Back from his break,

the Environment Agency chairman returns from Barbados to meet

victims of the floods. We'll be looking at what might be

causing the recent extreme weather. Also tonight - Life sentences

for the couple who plotted to bomb The American actor Bill Cosby

is charged with sexual assault over And England's cricketers beat

South Africa by 241 runs to win A huge storm - the third to hit

the UK in a month - has been battering parts

of Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England -

bringing yet more flooding. Storm Frank blew in overnight,

bringing high winds Dumfries and Galloway

and Aberdeenshire bore the brunt. Across Scotland around 6,000 homes

were left without power. We have two reports tonight -

one from Croston in Lancashire where there are three severe

flood warnings in place. But first the situation in Dumfries

where the river Nith has Kevin Keane is there

for us tonight, Kevin. There is still a severe or whether

warning in place for the white sands here in Dumfries but the good news

is, the water levels appear to have stopped rising. For the moment, all

eyes are on whether it does start to increase, even though it is still

lapping away, or whether it stays where it is. If it does, the

question is when will the water start to drain away? Nobody can say

they were not warned about the flooding here.

But some still needed a lift to dry land anyway. The River Nith burst

its bank and rapidly rose. It floods in this part of town a lot but

rarely like this. Over 120 millimetres of rain forecast over 24

hours. Property owners did what they could to hold the Waters but with a

strong sense that it was all in vain. Trying to get everything off

the ground, as high as you can. The boys have been giving us a hand.

When the flood hit mid afternoon, it lapped at dozens of businesses, many

of which are now waiting to see what the damages before they can even

think about clearing up. This river has now doubled in wit and now in

terms of intensity it is much bigger. People have come down here

to see it but if you were one of the businesses on the opposite side of

the river, you will not be very impressed by what is happening. At

the time's Marina, the quayside vanished, making boarding this

vessel risky. The tall ship has never quite stood as tall as this

before. The saving grace is that few residential properties have been

affected but it is not over yet. Some of the businesses have suffered

badly and will struggle to get going again. Huge clean-up exercise. This

was the first place to see evacuations and people try to

salvage what property they could. Passengers had to be rescued from

the service bus in Ayrshire. Coastguards on the Royal Navy helped

with this one. This was near the Queen's Balmoral residence where

hundreds were forced to leave their homes. In Peebles, the speed with

which the waters rose was as a prize even to those who thought they had

seen it all. It has come up very quickly. I am born and bred in

Peebles and I have never seen it as high as this before. Tonight, the

flood waters are still high, only tomorrow's daylight will truly

reveal what damage has been caused. In the village of Croston

in Lancashire, people are braced There are - as we heard -

three severe warnings in place After many questions in the last few

days about the adequacy of the UK's flood defences, the chairman

of the Environment Agency Sir Philip Dilley said he'd be

visiting flood victims. He's come in for criticism

for being on holiday in the Caribbean during some

of the worst storms in decades. Dark skies over Lancashire. In

Croston's Main Street, still littered with the debris of the

Christmas flood, residents kept an anxious eye on the river which has

caused so much damage so quickly. Two miles away, the giant pumps had

rumbled back into action, shifting floodwater off farmland to make room

for more. Since Christmas, millions of gallons have been pumped back

into the river, downstream of a damaged flood bank. The storm had

halted repair efforts, this afternoon, volunteers from a local

rescue team used their tracked vehicles to reach the breached

defences. And assess the remaining threat. The high winds today have

been too strong to get a helicopter out which is the only where we can

move these large sandbags. We will continue to get that done in the

next few days. In the local sports club where villagers are

coordinating their own relief effort, news the storm had moved

further west was welcome but requests for help were unabated. One

urgent call came from this nursing home, its kitchen flooded and power

disrupted. Donations of fresh water and food with a within hours.

Everybody from all walks of life have come in and to help. I have

never known the spirit like it. Sir Philip Dilley has been criticised,

chairman of the Environment Agency, back from a Christmas holiday in the

Caribbean. Should he have returned earlier? Is a beach the best place

to deal with this crisis? I have been in very close contact... In

Tadcaster, the Environment Secretary was here to see the damaged bridge,

and pointed out he had visited flood hit areas over Christmas. Lynne

truss said plans to reunite the parts of the town was in progress.

People want this sorted as soon as possible and that is our plan. In

Croston, there is still a reassuring presence on the Main Street and

tomorrow the clean-up can resume but they will be more storms to come in

the weeks and months to come. Storm Frank has done little to dent the

determination of this community and so many others to get back to

normality as quickly as possible. Work has been going on throughout

the afternoon and the managers of this pub, the Lord Nelson, have told

me they will work through the night to get the pub open for New Year.

Robert Hall. The relentless storms,

which have swept across the UK this month, meant it was

a record-breaking December for rainfall in many parts

of northern England, It's meant the potential

impact of climate change Our Science Editor David Shukman

looks now at what's causing The coast of Cornwall was amongst

the first to be hit by Storm Frank Then, soon after dawn,

County Waterford in Ireland was struck by waves whipped up

by the dangerous winds. And by lunchtime it was the turn

of Anglesey in Wales. And this extreme weather

system reaches far beyond This animation shows how,

out to the west of the UK, the storm is so powerful

it is driving a flow of warm air up to the Arctic, making the North Pole

far warmer than normal. Here in Britain, the past month has

seen a host of new rainfall records If you look at the averages

for December rainfall from 1980 to 2010, Capel Curig in North Wales

normally gets 308 millimetres. But it has been hit

with 1012 millimetres - The average for Shap in Cumbria

is 215 millimetres but it And the average for Bainbridge

in North Yorkshire is 156, We're on course for the warmest

December in more than 100 And the wettest December

for many parts of the UK, including Scotland, Wales

and north-west England in more But we don't expect those

conditions to continue right And all this may be linked

to what is called El Nino. Here, this Nasa image shows warm

water rising in the eastern Pacific and this is happening on a large

enough scale to disturb weather Exactly the kind of thing

that El Nino can bring. And there are similar

scenes in South America. Back here, the aftermath of yet more

devastating rain and because warmer air can hold more moisture,

it could well be that climate change And that will raise more questions

about how well the country copes with more violent weather

in the years ahead. And if you want regular

updates on that story - the BBC Weather web pages have

all the latest information - including all you need to know

about the affected areas - just go to bbc.co.uk/weather

and follow the links. A couple who plotted a terror attack

in London have been jailed for life. Mohammed Rehman and his

wife Sana Ahmed Khan - both in their 20s -

were convicted of preparing terrorist acts - and will serve

a combined minimum sentence Rehman had discussed targeting

the London Underground and Westfield shopping centre on social media

under the name "Silent Bomber". The judge said that Mohammed Rehman

and Sana Ahmed Khan was so dangerous, they might never be

released from prison. He said they had even tested their explosive

device in Rehman's back garden. EXPLOSIONS

There is no longer any trace of the explosives in his garden here. It is

still where his family lives and his father runs a taxi business. He was

testing these explosives right in the heart of this residential area

of Reading. This man has known the family for 20 years and says no one

knew hammered Rehman had been radicalised. He got so caught up in

this world and he was thinking of himself as perhaps a hero. What he

was attempting to do or might have done is terrible, really terrible.

The judge said they bought these explicit witty reels online and they

had never intended to travel to Syria or Iran to fight but wanted to

be martyrs at home. Rehman's parents did not want their faces shown and

told me they believe their son was indoctrinated through the Internet.

Somebody guided him, somebody must have put him on the wrong track. In

a letter to the judge, Sana Ahmed Khan said she did not know the man

she married in secret and what he was up to. But the judge said that

they were both Islamic radicals intent on terror and violence.

The American TV star Bill Cosby has been charged with sexually

assaulting a woman at his home 12 years ago.

The comedian has been accused of drugging and assaulting a former

university employee at his home near Philadelphia.

Cosby has said under oath that they had consensual sex.

Our Washington Correspondent Laura Bicker is in Washington for us now.

- This comes after dozens of women have alleged assault

This the first time we have had criminal charges against Bill Cosby.

He was the all-American father who once instructed young people on how

they should behave, now charged with doping and sexually assaulting a

woman in 2004. That woman brought charges in 2005, the district

attorney decided not to prosecute. New evidence has come to light.

Illegal documents from a similar case where Bill Cosby admits giving

women he wanted to sleep with drugs and paying women to keep quiet. He

has always denied the charges but since then, around 58 women have

come forward and he will face a legal charge in court this

afternoon. The Cabinet Office minister

Oliver Letwin has apologised unreservedly for any offence caused

when he suggested in 1985 that "bad moral attitudes" in black

communities were to blame Mr Letwin's comments were made

in a confidential memo to then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -

as our Political Correspondent Houses burnt to the ground. And

police pelted with petrol bombs. On the Broadwater estate in north

London, one officer was murdered by a mob wielding knives. As riots

broke out in England, Margaret Thatcher and her ministers debated

the causes and how they should respond. Some told her urban

deprivation in largely black communities was partly to blame. But

one young Downing St adviser disagreed. In his memo to Mrs

Thatcher, Oliver Letwin wrote: he added attempts to improve in the

cities would fail as long as bad moral attitudes remained. He

discouraged black entrepreneurs, saying they would set up in the

disco and drug trade. Comments has said how totally out of touch he

was. With no mention to the high unemployment, poor housing and

growing anger at the way the police were treating the black community.

Oliver Letwin went on to become an MP. Today, here's David Cameron's

policy chief. Some Labour MPs say his comments are evident of a racist

view of the world, others say they raise questions about his role in

government. There must be a real concern about Tory party policy in

relation to inner cities where Oliver Letwin is leading on all the

Tory party policy and we know he held views like these. Mr Letwin has

apologised for any offence caused, saying parts of the memo were badly

worded and wrong. Friends say fighting discrimination is a

priority for Conservatives. That is not the real Oliver Letwin speaking,

he is a very civilised person. I think the real message is that since

that note was written, over 30 years, attitudes have been

transformed. The estate is also transformed with better housing and

little crime. Oliver Letwin's ticks want him to know that his views have

changed with the times as well. Cricket now - and England have

beaten South Africa in the first The visitors comfortably won

by 241 runs. Our Sports Correspondent

Andy Swiss has more. A thumping victory for

England here in Durban. A crushing win over

the world's top Test team. For both England's players and fans,

so much to applaud. South Africa had begun the day

still with faint hope, Star batsman AB de Villiers

bamboozled by Moeen Ali, and it prompted the sort of collapse

more traditionally associated Temba Bavuma's rush of blood

offering the simplest of stumpings. For the South African balcony,

it was almost too painful to watch. And it wasn't about

to get any easier. Steve Finn ending Dale Steyn's brief

resistance in about as emphatic And by the time Ali picked

up his third of the day, not so much leg as legs

before wicket... South Africa had lost four

for just seven runs. Indeed, what could have been a long,

tense day was all over before lunch. Stuart Broad trapping Morne Morkel,

whose last, desperate Replays showed it hitting the middle

of the middle stump. A suitably decisive end

to an utterly decisive win. Rarely have England been quite so

ruthless. There's more throughout the evening

on the BBC News Channel, we are back with the late news

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