Reports, courts and tests

Last Modified: 17 Jul 2008
By: Newsroom blogger

Inside the morning meeting.

Hope today for Equitable Life policyholders: the parliamentary ombudsman has said today that the government should compensate those who lost their retirement savings.

It's an important ruling, both for those involved, and also potentially for the taxpayer, who may have to foot the bill for compensation. But does it still have political resonance?

"For those of you who haven't been here for 25 years, it was one of our stories back in the 1830s," jokes the programme editor.

"The case against the government and the regulator, is that the regulator knew stuff and didn't tell us.

"But regulators will always know more than the consumer - the argument is that, if they went public every time there was any concern that a bank might go bankrupt, people would panic and it would be more likely to happen."

In the light of the Northern Rock fiasco, the report is a reminder that the government has also overseen other regulatory problems.

"Isn't the story that Ann Abraham also came out with the report that said the government must pay compensation to pensioners, which the government ignored?

"It set up the financial assistance scheme, which we've covered and said was not enough."

A judgment is expected today on whether sprinter and convicted drug cheat Dwain Chambers should be allowed to compete in the Olympics. We will be at the Royal Courts of Justice all day.

We have also tried to get athletes to talk to us about the issue, but so far all have been too busy training to chat.

The row rumbles on over ETS, the American company which has failed to return a million children's Sats results on time.

"It's a dramatic failure - kids not getting exam results - and it was originally our story."

We are also returning to the case of a mother with mental health problems who killed her two children, although their father had warned she shouldn't be given unsupervised access.

A report out today found that no single action by Hackney council could have saved the children's lives. Their father, Jim Ogunkowa, is furious.