:00:13. > :00:18.from Oxford. In tonight's programme: Chinese investment in the Thames
:00:18. > :00:27.valley. Also: Where the wild things are, and
:00:27. > :00:37.the campaign to save these meadows from development. And hoping to
:00:37. > :00:44.
:00:44. > :00:47.eradicate rabies, the mobile surgery firm Huawei has officially opened
:00:48. > :00:51.new UK headquarters in the Thames Valley. But the move, which has been
:00:51. > :00:54.hailed as good news for the region, has been overshadowed by fears that
:00:54. > :00:56.its technology could be used to undermine national security. The
:00:56. > :01:00.company's little known about, high-security operation in Banbury,
:01:00. > :01:02.is at the centre of concerns. Some politicians want the cyber centre to
:01:02. > :01:11.be taken over by British surveillance experts. Here's our
:01:11. > :01:16.business correspondent Alastair Fee. There was one message at the launch
:01:16. > :01:21.of the Huawei headquarters in Redding, jobs and investment. Its
:01:21. > :01:27.move is good news for the town but that is only part of the story.
:01:27. > :01:30.Viewed with suspicion in the US, there is a news here too that the
:01:30. > :01:36.technology can be exploited by the Chinese. That was the last thing
:01:36. > :01:45.they wanted to talk about. It is good news for jobs in this area.
:01:45. > :01:52.There has been talk about cyber security. Should the UK be worried?
:01:52. > :01:55.Absolutely not. Security and cyber security is critically important.
:01:55. > :02:04.Huawei recess macro job is to sell equipment to our customers which is
:02:04. > :02:10.secure. The deal has given Huawei a huge role in the telecoms structure.
:02:10. > :02:17.That has given concerns there could be a threat to national security. An
:02:17. > :02:21.allegation Huawei denies. Last week, the government 's and Security
:02:21. > :02:25.Committee warned of the involvement of Chinese telecoms fans and singled
:02:25. > :02:31.out Huawei as a risk. In particular, that ministers were not
:02:31. > :02:35.told about the deal in advance. We looked the decision of allowing a
:02:36. > :02:40.Chinese company to become part of our critical infrastructure and
:02:40. > :02:44.discovered the decision was taken by Cabinet officials who didn't even
:02:44. > :02:50.inform ministers never mind asked about the decision which was very
:02:50. > :02:56.bad and must never happen again. Another worry is the Huawei cyber
:02:56. > :02:59.Security Centre set up in Banbury in 2010 where checks are made on
:03:00. > :03:02.high-tech kit, controversially done by Huawei staff.
:03:02. > :03:08.The Intelligence and Security Committee says they should be done
:03:08. > :03:16.by the government. That controversy was far from the agenda of the
:03:16. > :03:22.employment minister who was happy to mingle with staff. They left their
:03:22. > :03:28.previous site last year. Waiting has pledged �1.3 billion into the UK
:03:28. > :03:32.economy over five years and create 700 new jobs.
:03:32. > :03:38.It is a good opportunity, the company is offering good, skilled
:03:38. > :03:41.jobs within the Thames Valley and the UK. It is a good opportunity.
:03:42. > :03:51.Today's events suggest job security may be more important than national
:03:52. > :03:52.
:03:52. > :03:59.security. I spoke to Alistair earlier.
:03:59. > :04:03.The employment minister was their welcoming investment but not keen to
:04:03. > :04:13.talk about cyber security fears. A similar story when the deal was made
:04:13. > :04:16.
:04:16. > :04:20.between BT in -- because it was cheaper to use Huawei kit.
:04:20. > :04:24.Should we be worried about Huawei? The Americans clearly think so, they
:04:25. > :04:30.have kept Huawei out of the infrastructure. A different story in
:04:30. > :04:37.the UK where Huawei have been part of the telecoms infrastructure for a
:04:37. > :04:40.decade, providing equipment. Huawei has stressed it is an independent
:04:41. > :04:46.company from the government and it would not be in their interest to do
:04:46. > :04:51.any work on behalf of the Chinese state. What is being done to manage
:04:51. > :04:57.the risk? That is where the top-secret
:04:57. > :05:02.facility comes in, where they check on their own equipment.
:05:02. > :05:06.Crucially, the people doing the checking our Huawei staff, employed
:05:06. > :05:10.and paid for by the Chinese firm. The Intelligence and Security
:05:10. > :05:17.Committee says it is not independent enough and it wants the government
:05:17. > :05:21.to step in and do the checking on its behalf. Away from the intrigue,
:05:21. > :05:25.there is no denying that Huawei is good for the Thames Valley, good for
:05:25. > :05:28.the local economy and good for employment.
:05:29. > :05:31.Thames Water has defended its use of a government tax break allowing it
:05:31. > :05:34.to delay paying tax. The UK's biggest water firm paid no
:05:34. > :05:37.corporation tax this financial year despite making a �145 million
:05:37. > :05:39.pre-tax profit. The figures come in the wake of criticism by the water
:05:39. > :05:41.regulator Ofwat which said tax-reducing corporate structures of
:05:41. > :05:51.some water companies were "morally questionable.'' But Thames Water
:05:51. > :05:57.
:05:57. > :06:02.says it makes no apology for taking advantage of a government incentive.
:06:02. > :06:07.There is no tax George going on here. The government offers us a
:06:07. > :06:12.mechanism by which we can delay, not avoid corporation tax payments into
:06:12. > :06:17.the future based on how much we invest. We are currently investing
:06:17. > :06:22.�1 billion a year, more than anyone has, replacing old pipes and
:06:22. > :06:26.sewers, improving treatment works. For that reason we can delay our
:06:26. > :06:32.corporate tax payments into the future. If this mechanism did not
:06:32. > :06:35.exist, our customer bills would be higher or we would invest less.
:06:35. > :06:37.A man who sexually abused a 10-year-old girl in Abingdon has
:06:38. > :06:40.been jailed for 20 months. Jason Roberts, formerly of Abingdon,
:06:40. > :06:42.pleaded guilty to five counts of sexually assaulting a child. The
:06:42. > :06:46.36-year-old was also put on the sex offenders register.
:06:46. > :06:49.An inquest has concluded that a Honda test driver is most likely to
:06:49. > :06:54.have crashed and died because of "excess speed". A jury heard that
:06:54. > :06:57.David Allan was trying out a new CRV model on a test track in Bedford
:06:57. > :07:00.when it spun out of control last July There were four other Honda
:07:00. > :07:10.employees in the car. Scott Ellis has just sent us this from Honda's
:07:10. > :07:13.
:07:14. > :07:17.A campaign has been launched to raise more than three quarters of �1
:07:17. > :07:20.million to buy a series of wildflower meadows in Oxfordshire.
:07:20. > :07:23.The county's wildlife trust wants to take over the land to protect the
:07:23. > :07:26.rare plants and flowers there. The group are hoping to raise money
:07:26. > :07:28.from the Heritage Lottery fund, and public donations, as Emma Vardy
:07:28. > :07:30.reports. Once a common sight in the British
:07:30. > :07:33.countryside. Now, experts say most of our wildflower meadows have been
:07:33. > :07:36.lost. But, at Meadow Farm near Bicester, for centuries rare flowers
:07:36. > :07:38.and plants have grown undisturbed. Ever since the Second World War,
:07:38. > :07:44.farmers have been improving and increasing the productivity of feels
:07:44. > :07:47.like this. But, in doing so, they lose an awful lot of the wildflower
:07:47. > :07:56.species associated with these ancient meadows. It is really by
:07:56. > :08:01.pure chance that this has survived. You can still see the lines of the
:08:01. > :08:06.furrows, ploughed out by farmers in medieval times. At the moment, the
:08:06. > :08:10.public has no access to these meadows and there is no right of way
:08:10. > :08:14.through here. If the trust can buy this land, they will open it up to
:08:14. > :08:17.visitors and invites schools along to study the wildlife.
:08:17. > :08:19.The natural beauty of the British meadow has inspired gardeners. A
:08:19. > :08:22.striking feature of London's Olympic Park were the wildflower beds
:08:22. > :08:24.surrounding the iconic venues, and as Prince Charles opened a new
:08:24. > :08:33.wildflower meadow at Highgrove, he announced a new scheme to preserve
:08:33. > :08:40.more of them in every county. The river running alongside Meadow Farm
:08:40. > :08:45.is also home to once threatened species.
:08:45. > :08:50.We know that otters are using the River as a feeding habitat and
:08:50. > :08:55.potentially breeding. This rare piece of land is history in itself.
:08:55. > :08:57.Now the work begins to raise the money to protect it for centuries to
:08:57. > :09:00.come. The BBC is running a season of
:09:00. > :09:05.programming celebrating the UK's unique and extraordinary wildlife.
:09:05. > :09:08.To find out more, visit the Summer of Wildlife website.
:09:08. > :09:12.An international Scrabble player is trying to break a world record in
:09:12. > :09:14.Oxford. Chris May is right now in the middle of playing 28 games
:09:14. > :09:20.simultaneously, each against a different opponent. If he wins 21 or
:09:20. > :09:29.more, he will break a Guinness world record. Pausing briefly between
:09:29. > :09:33.moves to speak to us, he said he was feeling the pressure.
:09:33. > :09:37.It is very challenging. It is something even as an experienced
:09:37. > :09:42.player I have never tried before. I am certainly feeling the tension a