tv BBC News BBC News December 2, 2017 2:00pm-2:31pm GMT
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this is bbc news. the headlines at 2. criticism grows over the actions of two former police officers who revealed legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister damian green. the majority of police officers and chiefs of police realise it is very important that policing in our country important that policing in our cou ntry stays important that policing in our country stays out of party politics. donald trump's former national security adviser admits lying about his russian contacts and is prepared to give testimony that implicates the president's son—in—law — according to reports. the act as amended is past. republicans in the us celebrate getting their tax reforms through the senate — in their first major legislative success under president trump. barclays bank says it will no longer offer a russian antivirus software programme free to customers after warnings it could be exploited by the kremlin.
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coming up... it's already been a big sporting day down under. australia narrowly beat england in brisbane by six points to nil to lift the rugby league world cup. and it's honours even in adelaide, as england's cricketers make key breathroughs on the opening day of the second test, the first day—night match in the history of the ashes. in half an hour here on bbc news, one hundred women takes a look at the issue of harassment on public transport. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. criticism is growing over the actions of two former police officers accused of leaking allegations that legal pornographic images had been
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found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. the former chief constable of greater manchester, sir peter fahy, strongly rejected suggestions that it was in the public interest to disclose information allegedly found during the course of an unrelated investigation in 2008. he stressed that the officers were entering "dangerous territory". here's our political correspondent, tom barton. when police raided damian green's office in 2008, no—one would have imagined the implications would still be resonating nine years later. the raid was part of an inquiry into home office leaks, and no—one was charged. but unrelated allegations, denied by mr green, that legal pornography was found on a computer seized by police, have sparked a furious row. the allegations were originally made by former met assistant comissioner bob quick. while yesterday, retired met detective neil lewis said he had no doubt whatsoever that mr green
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had been viewing the material. it is ridiculous to suggest that anybody else could have done it. but today, the former chief constable of greater manchester police attacked their decision to speak out. most police officers would be very uncomfortable about the police getting involved in making judgments about whether a politician is lying or not. 0r breaching the duty of keeping matters confidential. this row matters, because damian green is theresa may's closest political ally and it pits his word against those of two former police officers. but conservative allies have come to his aid. brexit secretary david davis warning downing street not to fire him. while this former cabinet minister questioned the conduct of the officers making the allegations. if you think something's relevant, you do it by proper official means. you do not go freelancing,
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as these two officers have done, and it has the smack of the police state about it. i didn't download or look at pornography. damian green has consistently denied the allegations. he's waiting to hear the results of a cabinet office investigation into them. we're told that report could be on the prime minister's desk within days. and tom is with me now. why does this matter so much? this investigation into an incident that happened almost a decade ago. investigation into an incident that happened almost a decade agom matters partly because it is a distraction theresa may does not wa nt distraction theresa may does not want nor need. the government is in the middle of brexit negotiations. a crucial month ahead as they try to navigate through discussions around the brexit bill, the irish border. meanwhile the prime minister is in a weakened position, partly as a result of this year's disappointing
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election results but they few weeks ago she lost a key ally in the cabinet, michael fallon, and another ally underfire cabinet, michael fallon, and another ally under fire puts cabinet, michael fallon, and another ally underfire puts pressure on cabinet, michael fallon, and another ally under fire puts pressure on the government at the time they could do without it and as this cabinet 0ffice report lands on her desk, in the next few days, we will hear more about it. the row is not over. this is about bob quick confirming that this material had been found and in the case of the second officer, he said he wanted to take part in an enquiry and they did not approach me and therefore i am putting this information out. to what extent do politicians believe the police are acting inappropriately? former police officers. if you look at the response from damian green's conservative colleagues, almost to a person, they have argued along the lines similar to st peter fahy, the
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material is confidential and from a police operation and it should have remained private. it dates back to 2008. it was not years ago this happened and there is an enormous amount of bad feeling between the conservative party and police over the radon damian green's office, with damian green at the time the shadow home office minister. he had been leaked information by a home 0ffice civil servants that he used to embarrass the then labour government and the police were called in by the home office and raided his office and subsequently we re raided his office and subsequently were heavily criticised for getting involved in what was, they argued, the conservatives argued, essentially a political dispute. bob quick who brought this, these allegations forward, left the metropolitan police from his position as assistant police commissioner a few months later and
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the suspicion among conservatives is, and damian green has put this into words, that this is a vendetta bya into words, that this is a vendetta by a police officer who feels he has been badly treated by the conservative party. and something presumably bob quick denies? absolutely, he says it is information pertinent to other allegations, within the investigation carried out by the cabinet office, there are separate allegations damian green behaved inappropriately with a party activist, allegations he denies. and bob quick said he came forward because he thought these points he remembered from nine years ago would pertinent to that. i have a feeling we will be talking about this for some time to come. and you can see the rest of that interview with sir peter fahy shortlyjust after quarter past, here on the bbc news channel. us republicans are celebrating after the senate passed a sweeping tax reform bill, which is seen as the first big
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legislative achievement of donald trump's presidency. in a tweet, mr trump described the move as the biggest tax cut in history. but a senior democrat senator, chuck schumer, said the changes would "stuff even more money into the pockets of the wealthy while raising taxes on the middle class." my my republican friends will ultimately pay consequences for this bill in 2018 and beyond. the republican party will never again be the party of tax cuts, for middle—class people. with the passage of this tax bill today will be the first day of the new republican party. 0ne be the first day of the new republican party. one that raises taxes on the middle—class, abandoning its principles for political paymasters. that is the reaction to that vote in the senate. but the president's legislative success comes as us media are reporting that his son—in—law, jared kushner, has been implicated in the investigation into claims
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of collusion with russia. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bicker reports: within the past minutes donald trump, asked about the plea entered by general michael flynn, the former national security adviser, who is cooperating with the investigation into links alleged between the trump campaignfor into links alleged between the trump campaign for the presidency and russia, said there was absolutely no conclusion, though he did not engage with suggestions his son—in—law may be the subject of interest. donald trump saying there was no conclusion with russia in the course of his presidential campaign. more now from oui’ presidential campaign. more now from our correspondent in washington. michael flynn, a retired three—star general, left the court in washington to a familiar chant. in washington to a familiar chant, "lock him up." he'd once encouraged donald trump supporters to use a similar version against rival hillary clinton. the 58—year—old played a key part in mrtrump's campaign
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and often travelled with him. if i did a tenth, a tenth of what she did, i would be injail today. he was rewarded with the post of national security adviser, but was forced to resign afterjust 23 days, when his contacts with russia to discuss us sanctions were disclosed. 0n the 29th of december, michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador on the phone in the first of a series of calls. 0n the 15th of january, vice president mike pence said that sanctions were not discussed in those calls. only after the 9th of february, when a newspaper revealed general flynn did discuss sanctions, did pressure increase and michael flynn lost his job. as part of his guilty plea, prosecutors said mr flynn is now cooperating with the investigation. us media claims he will testify that senior members of the trump team, including mr trump's son—in—law jared kushner, encouraged jared kushner, directed him
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to make contact with russian officials. the white house is now trying to distance itself from flynn's actions and the lies he told to the fbi, but having reached a plea bargain to co—operate, what else has mr flynn told the enquiry and what further revelations are to come? i'm joined now by mallory factor, a commentator and senior visiting fellow at the university of oxford. good to have you with us. explain this tax change. why is it so important, if nothing else for the morale of republicans? notjust the morale, it is a major change and the change is not just morale, it is a major change and the change is notjust tax. in the senate bill they are repealing one of the cornerstones of the affordable care act, 0bamacare. that isa affordable care act, 0bamacare. that is a big deal and nobody has talked about that. that was known as the mandate, in other words the legal requirement you have to have some form of medical cover and that the federal government has the legal
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requirement to sign you up to scheme if you don't. absolutely. there is more to this bill than meets the eye. at the 11th hour, ted cruz, the senator, put forth a amendment that said you could use funds for higher education, to pay for religious school education, and private school, or as you call it public school. confusingly! this is a major change that is going to affect eve ryo ne change that is going to affect everyone but also this corporate tax rate everybody is screaming is being brought down, america has one of the highest in the world at 35%. the tax rate here is 19 for corporations. what has happened is corporations keep their money in other countries. something president trump has criticised them for saying that the money should be back in the country.
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and by bringing the rate danny has a shot at bringing some back. and by bringing the rate danny has a shot at bringing some backlj and by bringing the rate danny has a shot at bringing some back. i was talking to the former us network correspondent earlier and he was saying, it is fine to have the tax cut, but it is loaded towards wealthy americans and does not help middle americans are very much, and also there are clauses, so it will expire, whereas the corporate tax cut is for life. i do not believe you should have sunset clauses in taxes. it causes major dislocation in business and in what people are going to do. you need consistency. more important, a lot of people will benefit, including the middle—class. but earners will benefit also and that bothers a lot of the so—called socialists. the big benefit will come to the middle—class.
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socialists. the big benefit will come to the middle-class. let me ask you about the kind of cost because we are told it will add 1.4 trillion over ten yea rs we are told it will add 1.4 trillion over ten years to the 20 trillion national debt and we have a republican senator who would not vote for it because he said as a fiscal conservative... you are teasing me. all right, officially a republican. but he is a fiscal conservative and he is saying the figures do not add up. it is legitimate concern? more than a legitimate concern? more than a legitimate concern. that has been one of the cornerstones of the republican agenda, bringing the debt down. the trump administration said because of this tax cut, business will pick up and you will get more taxes. i think it will be negative and will increase the debt, which is and will increase the debt, which is a significant problem. we have to
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bring the debt down because we are putting the debt on the back of our children and grandchildren, as you are doing here. let me ask about the other subject. general michael flynn's confirmation first of all that he lied to the fbi and having already lied to the vice president and got sacked. now he said he was directed by someone senior in the transition team will stop almost a year ago. to actually make approaches to russia. it is widely reported that person was jared kushner, the president's son—in—law. should the president be worried? absolutely, but we are talking about a guy who continually lies. general flynn. he said he lied to the vice president and to the fbi, and now he will be fingering other people to save his own neck. i think robert mueller has to move forward. it has
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been a year. the only thing he has moved forward on these issues about ukraine and money—laundering that go way back before the campaign. when the president says there was no conclusion, can he stand behind those remarks? if you can't, there will be a constitutional crisis in america and i worry about america. tromp was elected by a significant majority by our way... through your electoral college. i hope for the sake of america, that is not the case there is collusion. i think it will be hard to prove. robert mueller has to wrap it up. it is starting to look bad, particular robert mueller has only been able to get michael flynn online. thank you. great to see you as always. barclays bank says it will no longer offer a russian anti virus software programme free to customers.
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it comes after officials recommended that government departments stop using kaspersky lab products because of fears it could be exploited by the kremlin. the national cyber security centre says the advice doesn't apply to domestic users. kaspersky lab denies any links to the russian government. jon donnison reports. cyber—security software like that provided by kaspersky lab requires extensive access to the files on a computer phone or network to look for viruses. our mission has always been to protect... kaspersky is used by consumers and businesses as well as some parts of government to protect systems from criminals and hackers. but now a new warning about russian anti—virus software, amid fears it could be used for spying. secrets of global significance... at britain's national cyber security centre, they say they've not seen actual proof of such espionage, but they've told government departments not to use kaspersky for systems containing sensitive data. this is specifically about entities
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that may be of interest to the russian government and so for us that's about national security systems in government, of which there are a very small number. kaspersky lab has already denied allegations that it's been used for espionage in america. we don't do anything wrong. they are just speculating about some rumours, opinions, and there is zero of the hard data. 400 million people use kaspersky products around the world, but officials say they're not telling the general public to stop using it. kaspersky lab denies any wrongdoing, but today's warning is another sign about growing fears over the risk posed by russia. our business correspondent joe lynam is here — why this advice from the national
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security centre? this is something that has to go deep into your computer to protect it and has to know where your files are and what is in the file so it is not attacked by viruses. the advice since last night by the national cyber security centre is that they worry anti—viral softwa re centre is that they worry anti—viral software divided by kaspersky could make your computer vulnerable. they think russian hackers could use kaspersky and its software network, they are based in moscow, to attack computers in the west. the us imposed this concern a few weeks ago and the british are nowjoining and today barclays and the british are nowjoining and today ba rclays bank, and the british are nowjoining and today barclays bank, one of the biggest retail banks, which gives this software for free to new current account holders say they will no longer give it out for free.
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it is not because kaspersky are necessarily a problem, it is other people could use them. the concern is it could be like a trojan horse into the computer. these guys are pretty bright. they are first class honours, brighter than anybody at this table. they suspect yes, there are holes in the kaspersky anti—viral system. we need to stress kaspersky said they have no links to the kremlin and have done nothing wrong. but, this could have a negative impact on kaspersky sales around the world. what should somebody do if they have had this free software from their bank. should they wipe it? definitely not. the message from the agency and kaspersky is not to uninstall this until you have a replacement,
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otherwise you are exposing yourself. thank you. the headlines on bbc news: reports in the us claim president trump's former national security adviser michael flynn — who has admitted lying to the fbi about his dealings with russia — is preparing to implicate donald trump's son in law jared kushner the us senate has passed a tax reform bill — president trump's first big legislative achievement. it will mean a significant reduction in corporation tax, and a lower rate for some individuals. ba rclays bank barclays bank will no longer offer a russian antivirus software programme free to customers after warnings it could be exploited by the kremlin. more now on the growing criticism of two former police officers who leaked allegations that legal pornographic images had been found on work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. he denies the allegations. earlier my colleague spoke with the former chief constable of greater manchester police sir peter
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fahy. he said that police have a duty of confidentiality. i think there are two issues here. the first thing is it is an important principle in our country that police stay out of politics and that is often very different from lots of other countries. the danger here is it is perceived the police have got involved in what is a political issue. and that damages the impartiality of british releasing, of british policing, which is so important. the second important principle is that of confidentiality. that often police officers, when carrying out an investigation, will come across material, when they are searching somebody‘s house, or searching someone's computer, which is not central to that investigation. and there is a duty of confidentiality that that is not breached. the alleged material on this computer was legal and therefore i think that duty of confidentiality, which i think is lifelong, is more important than any other political issue or any justification around public interest. so, if it wasn't central to the investigation, what are your thoughts on their motivations for speaking out?
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clearly some will see it related to an earlier case, which was a case that caused a lot of concern, whether the police were called in to investigate a suppose a leak in the home office. i think that was a big mistake. it obviously caused situation where police entered parliament and searched a politician's computer. now obviously some are seeing it related to that. but even just the perception it is related to that and it is some part of a vendetta, itself damages the confidence in the impartiality of policing and why this is a dangerous case. i do think it is reassuring that politicians of all parties have seen this danger and this risk and they themselves see it is important that there is impartiality in british policing and that policing is kept separate from party politics. there have been claims it smacks of a police state, but do you not think that this issue was in the public interest, or is in the public interest? i don't, and i don't think it is for the police to judge that. it is not for the police to make a judgment about
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whether a politician is lying. that ultimately is either a matterfor a court, or for public opinion. also this is about material that was legal and was the matter of a dispute between an employer and an employee. i think the duty of confidentiality and that important principle of the police staying out of politics is far more important than any supposed issue about public interest. it is not for the police, i think, to make a judgment. and it is not for the police, also, to makejudgments on the morality of people's lifestyles and what they choose to view, if that is legal. so how do you think this should have been handled? it is a matter that clearly has been handled by parliament. it has been handled by the employer and because it seems to be an employment issue and it is being dealt with by the media. and as i say there is the risk then of individual police officers, or retired police officers, seem to interfere with that. some have labelled this a sort of war between the police
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and a political party. i don't think absolutely that is not the case. it is about two particular retired officers and i think the majority of police officers and chiefs of police absolutely realise it is very important that policing in our country stays out of party politics. and as i said, that is notjust a duty on the police, it is also a duty on politicians to make sure that important principle is observed. principle is preserved. just coming on from that point, what is more important, the truthfulness of a cabinet minister or the ethics of the police? i think absolutely it is the ethics of the police and it is about the public having confidence that if they call the police in to investigate a matter and there is other material not central to that investigation, that that confidentiality will not be breached and they can rely on the integrity and professionalism of individual police officers and investigators. that was the former chief constable
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of greater manchester. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news this afternoon. a 14—year—old boy has died in hospital after being found unconscious on the hard shoulder of the m67 motorway in greater manchester yesterday afternoon. he was found nearjunction three of the motorway in hyde. it's thought the teenager was involved in a collision with a car. it's feared there could be hundreds ofjob losses at toys r us, after the retailer announced it would close around a quarter of its uk stores. the move, which would see the closure of 25 shops, is part of a deal by the owners to renegotiate debts with its landlords. it's thought christmas trading and gift vouchers will not be affected by the move. five men have been injured after a car hit a number of pedestrians in brixton, south london. police were called in the early hours to stockwell road. the car, a vw golf, was abandoned at the scene. officers believe the incident occurred shortly after an altercation between the occupants of the vehicle and a number of people. the men were taken to hospital, but are not in a critical condition. no arrests have been made.
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people are being asked to nominate events and people they feel should be commemorated as part of a new national memorial scheme. the heritage group historic england has already received a wealth of nominations, from battle sites to birthplaces, as david sillito reports. the site of the presentation of magna carta. the place where the pilgrim fathers set off for america. and here, the memorial to the landing of william iii at brixham, in the glorious revolution. there are some monuments to great moments in history, but historic england wants more. there are many plaques to where people were born or lived. it now wants suggestions about events and have already received a few. we've done our research and spoken to people across the country and we've found really passionate enthusiasts who want to see unknown histories marked out. we've had people in retford wanting to mark out where the pilgrim fathers set out
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to make that more well known. we've had people wanting to mark out the birthplace of grime music in east london, ska music in coventry, all sorts of people with different passions and interests who want to share their knowledge of the history that happened on their doorstep. so it doesn't have to be just the famous places in the history books — they are looking for sites that capture the whole of british life. quite what the memorials will look like hasn't yet been decided. the immediate job is to find the people who have a passion to honour the places where history was made. ido i do know if history will be made in the ashes but australia have just got the edge of turn the first day of the second ashes test in adelaide. 209—4 at the close thanks toa adelaide. 209—4 at the close thanks to a determined spell in the middle. khawaja was caught for 53 before craig 0verton took a huge wicket on
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his debut. we are happy. we bowled well all day. we had quite a lot of misses. we will come back tomorrow with a newborn and hopefully get a couple of early ones be on top. now the weather. do you wish you were in australia now? i don't know. it has been thundery in parts of south—eastern australia. some vicious thunderstorms and they will go through and it is looking cool in adelaide, as in 19 degrees. back home, something we have been used to recently. a lot of cloud. some blue sky. through the rest of the afternoon, generally cloudy, showers in the west and south—west and rain across scotland. as we head through tonight, cloud and rain and strong
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winds will move southwards. it will be misty and some drizzle as well but temperatures at the end of the night, higher than recently. tomorrow's starting with a lot of cloud and drizzle in the south, which will clear. we will see spells of sunshine. cool in the north—east. mild in the south and west. we stay with slightly higher temperatures on monday and tuesday. a lot of dry weather, but mostly cloudy. hello. this is bbc news. there's growing criticism over the actions of two former police officers who leaked allegations that legal pornographic images had been found on a work computer of the cabinet minister, damian green. reports in the us claim president trump's former national
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