11/06/2013 BBC Oxford News

from Oxford. In tonight's programme: Chinese investment in the Thames

valley. Also: Where the wild things are, and

the campaign to save these meadows from development. And hoping to

eradicate rabies, the mobile surgery firm Huawei has officially opened

new UK headquarters in the Thames Valley. But the move, which has been

hailed as good news for the region, has been overshadowed by fears that

its technology could be used to undermine national security. The

company's little known about, high-security operation in Banbury,

is at the centre of concerns. Some politicians want the cyber centre to

be taken over by British surveillance experts. Here's our

business correspondent Alastair Fee. There was one message at the launch

of the Huawei headquarters in Redding, jobs and investment. Its

move is good news for the town but that is only part of the story.

Viewed with suspicion in the US, there is a news here too that the

technology can be exploited by the Chinese. That was the last thing

they wanted to talk about. It is good news for jobs in this area.

There has been talk about cyber security. Should the UK be worried?

Absolutely not. Security and cyber security is critically important.

Huawei recess macro job is to sell equipment to our customers which is

secure. The deal has given Huawei a huge role in the telecoms structure.

That has given concerns there could be a threat to national security. An

allegation Huawei denies. Last week, the government 's and Security

Committee warned of the involvement of Chinese telecoms fans and singled

out Huawei as a risk. In particular, that ministers were not

told about the deal in advance. We looked the decision of allowing a

Chinese company to become part of our critical infrastructure and

discovered the decision was taken by Cabinet officials who didn't even

inform ministers never mind asked about the decision which was very

bad and must never happen again. Another worry is the Huawei cyber

Security Centre set up in Banbury in 2010 where checks are made on

high-tech kit, controversially done by Huawei staff.

The Intelligence and Security Committee says they should be done

by the government. That controversy was far from the agenda of the

employment minister who was happy to mingle with staff. They left their

previous site last year. Waiting has pledged �1.3 billion into the UK

economy over five years and create 700 new jobs.

It is a good opportunity, the company is offering good, skilled

jobs within the Thames Valley and the UK. It is a good opportunity.

Today's events suggest job security may be more important than national

security. I spoke to Alistair earlier.

The employment minister was their welcoming investment but not keen to

talk about cyber security fears. A similar story when the deal was made

between BT in -- because it was cheaper to use Huawei kit.

Should we be worried about Huawei? The Americans clearly think so, they

have kept Huawei out of the infrastructure. A different story in

the UK where Huawei have been part of the telecoms infrastructure for a

decade, providing equipment. Huawei has stressed it is an independent

company from the government and it would not be in their interest to do

any work on behalf of the Chinese state. What is being done to manage

the risk? That is where the top-secret

facility comes in, where they check on their own equipment.

Crucially, the people doing the checking our Huawei staff, employed

and paid for by the Chinese firm. The Intelligence and Security

Committee says it is not independent enough and it wants the government

to step in and do the checking on its behalf. Away from the intrigue,

there is no denying that Huawei is good for the Thames Valley, good for

the local economy and good for employment.

Thames Water has defended its use of a government tax break allowing it

to delay paying tax. The UK's biggest water firm paid no

corporation tax this financial year despite making a �145 million

pre-tax profit. The figures come in the wake of criticism by the water

regulator Ofwat which said tax-reducing corporate structures of

some water companies were "morally questionable.'' But Thames Water

says it makes no apology for taking advantage of a government incentive.

There is no tax George going on here. The government offers us a

mechanism by which we can delay, not avoid corporation tax payments into

the future based on how much we invest. We are currently investing

�1 billion a year, more than anyone has, replacing old pipes and

sewers, improving treatment works. For that reason we can delay our

corporate tax payments into the future. If this mechanism did not

exist, our customer bills would be higher or we would invest less.

A man who sexually abused a 10-year-old girl in Abingdon has

been jailed for 20 months. Jason Roberts, formerly of Abingdon,

pleaded guilty to five counts of sexually assaulting a child. The

36-year-old was also put on the sex offenders register.

An inquest has concluded that a Honda test driver is most likely to

have crashed and died because of "excess speed". A jury heard that

David Allan was trying out a new CRV model on a test track in Bedford

when it spun out of control last July There were four other Honda

employees in the car. Scott Ellis has just sent us this from Honda's

A campaign has been launched to raise more than three quarters of �1

million to buy a series of wildflower meadows in Oxfordshire.

The county's wildlife trust wants to take over the land to protect the

rare plants and flowers there. The group are hoping to raise money

from the Heritage Lottery fund, and public donations, as Emma Vardy

reports. Once a common sight in the British

countryside. Now, experts say most of our wildflower meadows have been

lost. But, at Meadow Farm near Bicester, for centuries rare flowers

and plants have grown undisturbed. Ever since the Second World War,

farmers have been improving and increasing the productivity of feels

like this. But, in doing so, they lose an awful lot of the wildflower

species associated with these ancient meadows. It is really by

pure chance that this has survived. You can still see the lines of the

furrows, ploughed out by farmers in medieval times. At the moment, the

public has no access to these meadows and there is no right of way

through here. If the trust can buy this land, they will open it up to

visitors and invites schools along to study the wildlife.

The natural beauty of the British meadow has inspired gardeners. A

striking feature of London's Olympic Park were the wildflower beds

surrounding the iconic venues, and as Prince Charles opened a new

wildflower meadow at Highgrove, he announced a new scheme to preserve

more of them in every county. The river running alongside Meadow Farm

is also home to once threatened species.

We know that otters are using the River as a feeding habitat and

potentially breeding. This rare piece of land is history in itself.

Now the work begins to raise the money to protect it for centuries to

come. The BBC is running a season of

programming celebrating the UK's unique and extraordinary wildlife.

To find out more, visit the Summer of Wildlife website.

An international Scrabble player is trying to break a world record in

Oxford. Chris May is right now in the middle of playing 28 games

simultaneously, each against a different opponent. If he wins 21 or

more, he will break a Guinness world record. Pausing briefly between

moves to speak to us, he said he was feeling the pressure.

It is very challenging. It is something even as an experienced

player I have never tried before. I am certainly feeling the tension a