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tv   BBC News at Five  BBC News  April 19, 2018 5:00pm-6:00pm BST

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today at 5 — the queen tells dozens of world leaders that she'd like prince charles to succeed her as head of the commonwealth. her majesty was welcoming commonwealth heads of government to buckingham palace for their biennial conference, and she spoke of her honour at serving the commonwealth as she looked to the future. it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity forfuture generations. and will decide that one day the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949. the 53 leaders will make that decision about the succession tomorrow — and consider issues such as ocean conservation, cyber security, and trade. we'll be back with ben at buckingham palace, and we'll have more reaction. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... the windrush controversy —
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new calls for an investigation into why thousands of landing cards were destroyed. an attempt to clean up plastic pollution as the government sets out plans to ban billions of plastic straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers. here is the start of the show. —— star. more tributes today to the entertainer and television presenter dale winton who has died at the age of 62. and it's the hottest april for nearly 70 years as temperatures reach 28 degrees celsius in london. it's 5:00. our main story is that the queen has welcomed commonwealth leaders to buckingham palace
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for the formal opening of the commonwealth heads of government meeting, which involves representatives from 53 countries and territories. looking to the future — her majesty, who'll be 92 this weekend, told the leaders that it's her "sincere wish" that prince charles will succeed her one day as head of the commonwealth. the summit is happening amid intense controversy about the government's mistreatement of caribbean migrants who settled in the uk. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has the latest. it has its origins in the days of the empire and there was an echo of imperial grandeur in the welcome london laid on for the leaders of today's commonwealth of nations. the prime minister of the united kingdom. in the ballroom of buckingham palace where empire transitioned to commonwealth nearly 70 years ago with the signing of the london declaration, the leaders of 53 nations gathered to witness another future transition.
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from elizabeth, head of the commonwealth throughout her long reign, to charles who's been hoping to be endorsed in the role for some time. commonwealth leaders are keenly aware of the queen's commitment. the commonwealth has been her passion. they are aware that this will almost certainly be the last conference over which she will preside. change is coming. and charles reminded the commonwealth of his long—standing involvement in their affairs. for my part, the commonwealth has been a fundamental feature of my life for as long as i can remember. i pray that this commonwealth heads of government meeting will not only revitalise the bonds between our countries, but will also give the commonwealth a renewed relevance to all its citizens. from britain's prime minister, theresa may,
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a reminder of the incredible opportunities offered by the commonwealth, important of course in the post—brexit world, but then to the topic that bound them all emotionally today, a tribute to the queen. you have seen us through some of our most serious challenges and we commit to sustaining this commonwealth which you have so carefully nurtured. and then it was the turn of the queen to speak. she had committed her life to the commonwealth at the age of 21, now two days from her 92nd birthday, she was keen to prepare the ground for the leadership of the commonwealth after her death. it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity forfuture generations. and will decide that one day the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949. by continuing to treasure
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and reinvigorate our associations and activities, i believe we will secure a safer, more prosperous and sustainable world for those who follow us. commonwealth leaders have big issues for discussion, preserving the oceans, security, democracy and trade, but the significance of today was that for the first time publicly, through the medium of the commonwealth, elizabeth ii referred to the time after her reign is over. my colleague ben brown has spent the day outside buckingham palace. over to you. it has been glorious sunshine for the first day of this commonwealth summit. huge affection at the opening ceremony inside buckingham palace for the queen. she
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really is as many member states call her the glue that holds this family of 53 nations together. 53 nations representing 2.4 billion people. it is not set in stone that when the time comes, we don't know who would be the head of the commonwealth, so that's why we heard from her, because this is not a hereditary position. that is why we heard from her that it was her sincere wish that her son and heir prince charles the prince of wales should take over and we heard from prince charles and so and we heard from prince charles and so pretty much a picture of the job saying it had always been such a huge part of his life. they will, or are expected to make a decision on the succession tomorrow. let's talk to our diplomatic correspondent who has been watching the summit as it unfolded. james, with more than a hint from the queen that she wants prince charles to take over the job in the time comes. when nothing is absolutely certain. i spoke to a diplomat who said it is not over until the fat lady sings, but the expectation is this is not a done deal. that a deliberate strategy.
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this has been a sensitive issue to discuss behind closed doors for a long time. it has now become public, deliberately so and the attempt is essentially to say to the commonwealth there's no alternative. this is the face, prince charles is the only candidate there. when you are surrounded by the grandeur of buckingham palace, can you really resist the host us like the queen when she says i want my son to replace me? what is really interesting about this is although it seems like the commonwealth are falling behind the prince of wales as the next symbolic leader, it seems to be a decision that would be takenjust seems to be a decision that would be taken just for the prince seems to be a decision that would be takenjust for the prince of seems to be a decision that would be taken just for the prince of wales. leaders will not be getting a blank check to the world at dutch royal family so in perpetuity it would always be the british head of state. in other words as the duke of cambridge would subsequently was to ta ke cambridge would subsequently was to take this up in the future he would probably have to work for a just like his father has because the prince of wales has paid a huge amount of time going to commonwealth countries, cultivating their
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leaders, being really engaging. saying look, when the time comes he would be a suitable candidate. it appears that strategy has worked. very briefly, there have been alternative suggestions. jeremy corbyn suggested a rotating head of the commonwealth shared out amongst member states. that debate has been there for sometime within the perhaps make it less anglo centric, rotating leaders elected, but to reason, one is this organisation spends enough time for scrapping over who the secretariat, where it should be led, where summit should ta ke should be led, where summit should take place. they did not really want to have another set of elections. this group of 53 nations is diverse, divided by culture, wealth and size. the british royal family is one of the small bits that unites it and they have decided to keep hold of that tie which binds them. for the moment, thank you very much indeed. our diplomatic correspondent. critics of the commonwealth will say it's really a relic of the british empire, that it is not relevant in today's world, but supporters say
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it's a family of nations big and small, ranging from india, 1.2 billion people, to somewhere like the seychelles, about 90,000, and all of those individual nations have an equal voice and it certainly gives the smaller nations in the commonwealth and important voice on the world stage, on the global stage and they see it as important for tackling issues like climate change. let's talk to a former pakistani education minister. thank you for being with us. how does pakistan see the commonwealth? is it important to you? do you feel really that this is an important institution for your country and for the world? as we say, is part of the family. 53 countries together. it is something traditional, historically. it feels very good to be part of it, and specifically when you have occasions like this, when everybody gets together and sit down together, discusses issues which could be
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common or otherwise universal, or may be different in the deborah. common or otherwise universal, or may be different in the deborahm was an example of maybe how this helps you in pakistan? what has the commonwealth done for the people of pakistan? the commonwealth and specifically the uk through the department for international development has been a lot of support in education, because i was there nearly five years, and in my time in ten year we had a lot of whether we call a technical assistance, when we went into setting up our new reforms and the implementation of those reforms in education. or otherwise, also in supporting financially, through the civil society organizations, to supplement the government itself, to strengthen the programmes that the government has put in place itself. very good to talk to you. thank you for being with us. a former pakistan education minister. plenty to be discussed here at this summit. there
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isa discussed here at this summit. there is a session going on right now at lancaster house. more tomorrow, when the road show moves over there. they're discussing notjust that issue about succession but cyber security, protection of the oceans and trade. trade very important particularly to the uk in the post brexit world. that is the latest from here at buckingham palace. back to you. many thanks. thank you to the guest as well. a former head of the civil service — lord kerslake — has called for an investigation into the destruction of thousands of documents which could have been used to prove the rights of commonwealth citizens to remain in the uk. it's thought dozens of people from the caribbean who've lived here for decades have been threatened with deportation. it's emerged that two internal home office documents warned that policies designed to create a "hostile environment" for illegal immigrants could affect british citizens and older people born overseas. our home affairs correspondent leila nathoo reports. unlike his favourite reggae singer, jamaica was never home
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for winston walker. he came to the uk as a baby more than 50 years ago, but like many others who also arrived from commonwealth countries, he's now struggling to prove he's in the country legally. it was frightening, very frightening, because i've been schooled here and educated, i've worked here, i've had the same national insurance number since i was 16. then to suddenly find that you don't exist, it's completely overwhelming. some of those from the so—called windrush generation have been caught out by changes to immigration rules in recent years. with a crack down on illegal immigration, many couldn't produce the paperwork that showed how long they'd been here and some were told they would be deported. the government has apologised, but critics say the policies put in place were too blunt.
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you created an environment in which action was going to be taken and there was a risk, it was obvious to everyone, that you would take the rough with the smooth. i think it would be quite wrong to land this on the civil service, basically. this was a conscious policy in order to hold onto a strong policy position that was proving very difficult to implement. it's also emerged that the landing cards which registered the arrival of thousands of windrush migrants were destroyed in 2010 by the uk border agency. there are now calls for an investigation into who authorised the decision, but some say the documents are not that crucial for people trying to prove their status. they may be no more than a note on a back of a bit of paper with a name which might not be right, the date of birth may be. but all of this blame culture about whether these landing cards would have made a difference is a complete red herring to me. it's about being able to talk to people sensibly with a degree
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of expertise and come to a sensible conclusion. the home office says 113 people have now called a helpline set up for those in difficulty, people like winston who remain in limbo in the country they settled in long ago. the pilot of a jet which crashed during the shoreham airshow has appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of 11 people. 54—year—old andrew hill was flying there's no doubt the cold weather hit debenhams' sales hard, just like it hit other retailers, but debenhams' problems run deeper and go back further than a few snowy days in march. while retail sales overall were down by 1.2% in march, debenhams' were down over six months by 2.2% and its profits dropped over the same time by 84%. the department store warned injanuary it wouldn't make as much money as had been expected after poor christmas sales. in february it announced job cuts, and today, it warned again of weak profits in the coming months.
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i'm afraid that retail is an incredibly tough environment to trade in at the moment and debenhams are particularly suffering. they sit in the middle market, where we've seen a lot of brands reporting on really challenging times, and that's born out of the fact that people are either buying discount or at the niche and more luxury side of the equation. unfortunately that middle market tends to be where the prices aren't as good, there's no excitement around the retail, the pace of it isn't as fast, and consumers just want so much more these days. debenhams says it's investing heavily to turn itself around, revamping its stores to try and draw the shoppers inside, but analysts say it's been trying to compete too hard on price without keeping a healthy profit margin. they remain to be convinced that the turnaround plan isn't too little, too late. andy verity, bbc news. the time is 16 minutes past five. a
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look at the headlines. the queen tells dozens of world leaders that she'd like prince charles to succeed her as head of the commonwealth. the windrush controversy — new calls for an investigation into why thousands of landing cards were destroyed. an attempt to clean up plastic pollution — as the government sets out plans to ban billions of plastic straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers. in support the england and wales cricket board wants to introduce a new 100 ball format into its new 18 city —based tournament which starts in 2020. beef is that replays of incidents reviewed by the video assistant referees will be shown on big screens —— fifa says. novak djokovic's return to fitness continues buddies out of the monte carlo masters at the last 16 stage after losing to austria's dominic thiem. i'll be back with more on those stories after half past. sir cliff richard is continuing his legal
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action against the bbc, alleging a serious invasion of his privacy when the bbc provided live coverage of a police raid on one of his homes in 2014 following an allegation of sexual assault. the bbcjournalist who broke the story told the high court that editors did consider privacy issues when making decisions about coverage. dan johnson also said the story had not been about the singer being "guilty," but about him being "investigated." sir cliff was never arrested or charged. the bbc says its coverage was in the public interest. our correspondent helena lee is at the high court. with the latest on today's evidence. sir cliff richard left work here in the last 15 minutes or so. he was with the television presenter gloria hannaford who has been in court today listening to proceedings, supporting her loyal friend as she described him in a witness statement that she produced to court earlier
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this week. today we have been hearing more evidence from the reporter at the bbc, danjohnson, who broke the story about the investigation into sir cliff richard. as you mentioned there, the issue of privacy came up, and he defended the media's right to broadcast details of the early stages of a police investigation, and he also said in court that there we re and he also said in court that there were issues he understood, there we re were issues he understood, there were issues he understood, there were issues around privacy, but thoseissues were issues around privacy, but those issues have been looked at by senior bbc editors, and that was not a concern of his. in terms of the story. there was an exchange in court between surf cliff richard's barrister and dan johnson about the damage caused to sir cliff richard, and in that exchange, justin said there is... danjohnson
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dan johnson replied: the exchange continued in court. sir cliff richard's barrister then said to dan johnson, you cliff richard's barrister then said to danjohnson, you don't have to be sherlock holmes to conclude this looks potentially like a pretty flimsy complaint. dan johnson replied: dan johnson is flimsy complaint. dan johnson replied: danjohnson is going to continue being cross examined tomorrow here at the high court. court will resume at 10:30am tomorrow morning. thank you very much again for the update at the high court. theresa may has said she is rallying commonwealth countries to join the fight against plastic pollution
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in the oceans by making it central to the agenda at this week's summit. the environment secretary, michael gove, said the government would act by the end of the year to ban the sale of disposable plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers in england. scotland has already announced plans to ban plastic cotton buds. our science correspondent victoria gill reports. this cheap, ubiquitous throwaway material has become a visible scourge on our marine environment. the bbc series blue planet shocked viewers with scenes showing how ocean wildlife now has to share its world with this debris. and among the marine litter, single use straws and sticks, that the government says it now wants to ban. there are environmentally friendly alternatives that we can all use and of course there is more we need to do. getting rid of straws, stirrers and cotton buds is one aspect of making sure we all use less plastic. before any ban can happen, a consultation to explore
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alternatives and any exemptions has to be carried out which will begin later this year, and any new measures would only apply in england. the government says this is part of a mission to protect our oceans from plastic. it's already banned plastic micro beads in personal care products and recently announced a deposit return scheme to encourage recycling of plastic bottles. in samples of mud from a uk riverbed, i saw for myself how plastic, even when it breaks down, can remain in the environment as microscopic pieces small enough to enter the food chain. and environmentalists say the government is lagging behind. the deposit return scheme just announced has been in place in many other countries for a number of years. the uk government acting for england was well behind the curve on introducing charges for plastic bags for example. it is welcome, what's happening now. but it's not ground—breaking — in fact they're playing catch up. evidence of the harm caused by plastic is still emerging
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but this proposal will aim to stop it being thrown away in such high volumes, to prevent it floating into our rivers and oceans. let's talk about this with karuna rana from mauritius, who runs the commonwealth youth climate change network. indeed also a one young world ambassador. thank you. can we talk about plastic in your experience indeedin about plastic in your experience indeed in your home country of the kind of damage that it is done giving the outstanding beauty in your part of the world as well. how do you assess the fight against plastics? are we making good progress or not? if i had to take the example of mauritius i would say i'm very concerned. over the past few years we have been working on this issue and we have seen that plastics end up on our land, they end up in water bodies, they are even ending up in our dams and reservoirs where our water comes
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from and that the water we drink. i'll be sleeping or ending up in our ocea ns i'll be sleeping or ending up in our oceans and the smaller the plastic, the easier it is for it to get into the easier it is for it to get into the environment and stay there for so long. obviously talking about the oceanit so long. obviously talking about the ocean it ends up in the ocean, it is ingested by food as fish and former issues, our oceans mean a lot to us. economically, socially, even environmentally. this is where we get our livelihood from, so we are very concerned about plastics and i can give you figures which will be staggering. something i did personally a few months ago, in our group we cleaned up a parking lot right outside our office for 30 minutes and we gathered 42 kilograms of waste. that is amazing. most of it is plastic. the other thing is recently a drain system was cleaned in mauritius and they took out a truckload of plastic bottle waste. are we at the point given all of that, are we at the point where you
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think that there is much greater awareness, at least of the threat and danger posed by plastic, even if the action is not being taken at the level you would like it to be taken? are people much more aware of it at least, and are ready for action to be taken? i would say people are aware but when it comes to plastic theissueis aware but when it comes to plastic the issue is convenience. plastics are very convenient, but they end up in the environment for so long that is it really worth the convenience? i think we have reached a point where we cannotjust rely on awareness, we need radical action. u nless awareness, we need radical action. unless an incentive is not given or we don't have punitive measures, or even better we don't apply a whole band, things are not going to change. in mauritius and the seychelles we managed to get plastic bags band, very inconvenient in the beginning for people do now they are used to a. we have seen other exa m ples of used to a. we have seen other examples of that closer to home. he said radical measures. does the kind of thing announced by theresa may today count as radical measures,? i
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think it is very radical. it's radical in the way that this is a great role model and example for other countries to follow, and we are starting with this and soon we will move to plastic bottles because this is an area i work in, and mauritius we're getting people to shift from bottled water to tap water. examples like these are what we can take back home and take that to other countries in the commonwealth and pay them —— tell them this is what the uk is doing and you should follow them. is obviously the week of the commonwealth heads meeting and let's talk about the youth forum of the commonwealth summit as well because thatis commonwealth summit as well because that is something you know very well. i understand you met prince harry and meghan markle this week and they are clearly doing a lot of work in this area. if i were to ask you about the goals you have, wider goals, you mentioned climate change in the environment. what are the other goals you think the forum can realistically try to achieve? let's say in the next 5—10 years. realistically try to achieve? let's say in the next 5-10 years. in the
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youth forum we had a declaration that came out from young people and those are policy recommendations, but also action plans and these are divided into the areas of sustainability, prosecuted —— prosperity, these are 40 or eight —— four key areas we are looking at. what is so special about that as young people are notjust telling government this is policy recommendations but they've taken these policy recommendations and transform them into action plans that young people are going to do. you're telling governments this is what we brought you to do, but this is what we are going to do to help you and i think this is tremendous. and the response you get? notjust from government but commercial entities for example, big commercial bodies who clearly need to play a pa rt bodies who clearly need to play a part as well in all of this. how would you characterize the response? ifi would you characterize the response? if i have to give the example of mauritius where we have a project called the tap water revolution, the response they got is very positive because we received funding to install drinking water dispensers. we have been lobbying to have
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drinking water dispensers installed across public places in mauritius so that people could move to tap water, but when things have been delayed we took things on hand and have been installing them ourselves so we have installed two so far. i think we have had support from local indices, but also from businesses, and i think this is really, really helpful —— local embassy is. think this is really, really helpful -- local embassy is. any stew happen ona -- local embassy is. any stew happen on a global scale? it needs to happen globally. very nice to talk to you. enjoy the rest of the sunshine. 28 minutes past five. a cross—party group of mps is to force a commons vote next week on the uk staying in a customs union with the eu. the liaison committee — made up of chairs of some select committees — has tabled a motion calling for "an effective customs union" after brexit. theresa may has ruled out the idea. our chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. this goes to the very heart of what
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kind of brexit we are heading for. the government made it very clear they want to leave the customs union. the question is do they have the parliamentary support to make sure that happens. yesterday in the house of lords there was a crushing defeat for the government inflicted by peers on this very issue and it looks like mps are gearing up to try and do the same in the house of commons. the mechanism by which they do it is still a little uncertain. what is happening here is senior mps from all parties are forcing the issue onto the floor of the house of commons next week. it is not a binding vote, it will not make ministers have to go and negotiate to try and stay in the customs union. a little earlier i asked yvette cooper, chair of the home affairs select committee what exactly they were trying to achieve. this is the chance for the house of commons to have a say and to steer the negotiations before it's too late. rather than waiting till the end of the process, we think the commons should have a voice
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at the beginning — and be able to say this is what's important. and i think that a customs union is about manufacturing industry across the country. it makes a huge difference for manufacturing industry and also about northern ireland peace. at the moment, because the legislation votes keep being delayed, there's no chance for parliament to actually have that as a proper debate and express its view on a vote, and that's what we want to make sure can happen. next thursday it may not be a binding vote, but it will be a very important signal, i think, of the strength of feeling in the house of commons. particularly on the conservative side. how many of those mps who we know do want to stay in the customs union? will they decide they can vote against their own government and on this occasion and the real question is there will be meaningful votes to come in next week it will not make theresa may feel any more comfortable about whether she's going to be able to get this crucial policy through eventually. indeed. thank you very much again. the time is 530, the
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headlights moment and we will catch up headlights moment and we will catch up with the sport as well but ben is with me with the weather. what a day has been. that was not spring, but summer. some exceptionally high temperatures, beautiful blue skies over the capital a little earlier. how high did the temperatures get? it looks like we got up to 29.1 degrees in central london, making it the warmest april day since 1949. this really is exceptional. such exceptional heat will not fade quickly as we go into the evening. seven o'clock, still 26 degrees in london, but coolerfurther seven o'clock, still 26 degrees in london, but cooler further north and west where he had a bit more cloud west where he had a bit more cloud we will stick with a bit more clout into northern ireland and scotland through the night. further south where we have clear skies if the mist and fog patches forming and probably won't be quite as mild as it was last night, but tomorrow another very promising day for england and wales particularly, any fog clears, stole the sunshine. northern ireland and scotland with more clout at times and shower into
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northwest talent and temperatures in western areas dropping back a little but down toward the south east still looking at highs of around 27 degrees. into the weekend can it last? not really because things are going to progressively turned a little bit less warm and yes, you read that right, the chance of thunderstorms. are likely this is bbc news, the headlines. the queen tells dozens of world leaders that she'd like prince charles to succeed her as head of the commonwealth. the windrush controversy — new calls for an investigation into why thousands of landing cards were destroyed. an attempt to clean up plastic pollution, as the government sets out plans to ban billions of plastic straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers. and more tributes are being paid to dale winton, the tv presenter well—known for hosting gameshow supermarket sweep, at 5:33pm, we'll catch up with the
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sport, hugh woozencroft is at the bbc sport centre. the ecb have announced a new format of 100 balls into its new eight team, city based tournament, which is due to start in 2020. an innings will consist of 15 traditional six—ball overs and a final ten—ball over. so it's 20 balls shorter than your traditional t20 matches. it was presented by the ecb to the chairmen and chief executives of the first—class counties and mcc earlier today. it will take place alongside the existing t20 blast. replays of incidents reviewed by video assistant referees will be shown on big screens at this summer's world cup in russia. it's the first time that var will be used at a world cup and comes despite criticism of its use in domestic competition. one issue has been that fans haven't been able to see the same replays on tv that referees use to make their decision,
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leading to confusion. but this summer the crowd will also be told when a decision is being reviewed and why a decision has been reached. we heard from the efl chairman shaun harvey earlier this week, saying he'll keep fighting to have safe standing at english football grounds just like celtic have in scotland. arsenal boss arsene wenger has given his 100% backing to the proposals. the government says there are no plans to change the all—seater policy, though, after a pilot was rejected. and the premier league has said more evidence is needed before safe standing can be allowed at top—flight stadiums. the closer you are to the position of the player, the more supportive you are, you know? and we imagine if people were lying in the bed and watching the game, they could fall asleep sometimes. so it is better they stand up, and i think as well it is tradition of english football
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to have that. overall, i must say it is much better. the safety reasons why they don't do it, i can understand that, but if the safety is right, it is my 100% backing. chelsea defender marcos alonso will miss sunday's fa cup semifinal against southampton. the spaniard's been given a three—match ban for violent conduct for his tackle on southampton striker shane long. it means he'll also miss tonight's premier league game against burnley and the trip to swansea next week. alonso denied the charge after the fa took retrospective action, with the officials failing to see the incident. tonight's other match sees struggling southampton go to leicester. with his side in the bottom three, manager mark hughes is desperate for the points. a win this evening would leave them just two from safety with four games to play. bradley wood has been banned from football for six years after being
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found guilty of two match fixing offences. an fa tribunalfound he was intentionally booked in two games, including this one against ipswich town last year, in order to influence a football betting market. betting firm said there had been unusual bets placed on him being cautioned in both games, and he has now been banned until march of 2024. bath centre jonathan joseph is set to miss england's summer tour of south africa. he needs surgery on his left foot after being injured in bath's heavy loss at saracens on sunday. after finishing fifth in this year's six nations, england play the springbok‘s three test matches injune. novak djokovic is out of the monte carlo masters at the last—16 stage after losing to austrian dominic thiem. the former world number one won the first set on a tie break, but thiem fought back, taking the remaining two sets 6—2, 6—3. thiem could face rafael nadal if he beats russia's karen khachanov. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. let's talk about the events of this
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weekend. this sunday marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of the black teenager stephen lawrence in south—east london. the 18—year—old was stabbed to death in a racially motivated attack by a gang of white youths. what followed was a catalogue of failings by the metropolitan police. two men were jailed for life in 2012, but last week the police said its inquiry was "unlikely to progress". the macpherson report into the murder investigation widely criticised the met and branded them "institutionally racist". but have lessons been learnt from stephen's death on how police investigate the deaths of young black men and women? and indeed lessons notjust for
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london but other major areas in the uk. so we will discuss these important issues 25 years on. i'm joined by two former senior officers in the met. victor olisa was borough commander in haringey. and lord paddick was deputy assistant commissioner. it is difficult to believe that a quarter of a century has elapsed since the events that we remember so clearly. i suppose, to start with you, victor, what happened after the murder shattered people's confidence in the met for lots of reasons. yes. do you think that confidence, 25 yea rs do you think that confidence, 25 years on, has been significantly rebuilt, or where the areas of wea kness rebuilt, or where the areas of weakness still? i think the confidence has been rebuilt in comparison to the aftermath of the investigation into the murder of stephen, but it has been a fluctuating process, pea ks
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stephen, but it has been a fluctuating process, peaks and troughs over the years. it has improved, incidents happen, confidence drops again. we can pick out the landmark incidents, mark duggan, cases of findings against police, so it has been a fluctuating movement. the trend has been in the right direction, which is good, but the legacy still remains. you know, there are certain things the police do really well, in comparison to what we did then, the investigation of hate crime, the use of family liaison officers, which is now more attuned to looking after the families, rather than collecting evidence. so those things have improved and build confidence, but there are certain things that are still contentious, stop and searches delay contentious issue, you know. but the difficulty is the ability to talk to certain communities, as well as they do to others, to explain, to give information, and to engage. i know that is a much used phrase, but
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to engage in a way that is meaningful so that people feel they can make contact with the institution. that has not improved enough. a range of factors, the loose word culture, the culture of the metropolitan police — how would you characterise the changes that have happened in the last 25 years? well, before, it was openly racist as an organisation. the one that i joined, 35—40 years ago now. and that no longer applies. but i would still wonder whether some police office rs still wonder whether some police officers wrongly equate blackness with criminality. they do not think they are being racist, they think they are being racist, they think they are being racist, they think they are stopping and searching criminals, but they run we equate blackness with criminality. if you stop and search somebody at random in brixton, a young black man is more likely to be the victim of crime than a perpetrator, but that is not the mindset. some of the things even senior officer said back in the day help to reinforce the fa ct in the day help to reinforce the fact about the number of street robberies being committed by black
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men in those days, for example. just extending that, then, what are the lessons for the way that the murder was investigated which can shed more light on the attitudes that you have just mentioned there? well, in the immediate aftermath of the murder, resources we re not immediate aftermath of the murder, resources were not applied to the investigation of the murder in the way they should have been. there was a team of surveillance officers that could have been put behind the suspects, instead they were put after a black person. you would not find that decision being made today. you say that with confidence. find that decision being made today. you say that with confidencelj find that decision being made today. you say that with confidence. i do. any murder that happens in london, and we have had too many of them, will be very seriously investigated. but if somebody is the victim of a racist crime, or a homophobic crime at the moment, you can't guarantee that the officer who turns up initially is going to be very sympathetic, is going to know exactly the right approach to that individual. it is a bit hit and miss, yes, there are specialist
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units to a very good at that sort of thing, but is every police officer in london completely attuned to delivering the greatest possible service to people from different backgrounds? i would say that is a bit hit and miss. we have heard quite a lot from stephen's mother, doreen lawrence, indeed she is in the house of lords, has been for a few years. the think the contribution she has made, even though she has been understandably angry and critical times, that it has been of help to the police in helping to get through the issues? yes, enormous, unquestionably. regardless of what some police officers may have thought then and some may still think now, her persistence to get answers, her son was murdered, and any parent would do was murdered, and any parent would d o exa ctly was murdered, and any parent would do exactly what she did, to find out what happened to him, and ensure herself that the investigation was being carried out diligently, any pa rent being carried out diligently, any parent would do that. but the outcome of the macpherson report, it
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was a landmark for the police, there we re was a landmark for the police, there were certain things that they were nowhere near good at, even the procedural stuff, we lacked, you know, confidence in doing those. that has helped the police as an organisation, as an institution, enormously. and then behavioural factors, learning about how we deliver a service. we are good at enforcement, we like enforcement, it is part of police culture — but delivering the service has been really difficult. and now it is still difficult, but she has helped us to embrace that, and to put into places leaders who believe in that and actually drive that through. enormously helpful. a question to you both, 25 years after the dreadful events in 1993, when you look at the outcome of the legal process , look at the outcome of the legal process, the investigation, the process, the investigation, the process which drew on for a very long time, the convictions, but a sense still among lots of people
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that, you know, that process has not been completed to people's satisfaction, and that the police say they can't make more progress on it for whatever reason, that is something that makes people incredibly angry. is there any way around that? victor first. if you look at the people who have been involved in the investigation, incredibly talented, humble, wonderful man, a police officer who did his best to try and get a resolution, but the legacy will a lwa ys resolution, but the legacy will always remain, and when you see the footage, there has been the programme on the television of stephen, when you see the early stages... one of the things that the police say is that communities do not talk to us, we cannot get the intelligence. that is a classic, people were writing notes, phoning in. those are the things that will make it really difficult in the future, because people were saying, we gave you that information but you did not use it. if that is repeated in other investigations, very difficult to get away from, you
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know, but the police are working at it, they need to continue working at it, they need to continue working at it, but i take a long time to build any form of trust anywhere near what it might have been before the murder of stephen. legacy. he came up with this idea of the golden hour, the hour immediately after the event, and what happens or what doesn't happen in that our will determine the outcome at the end. we saw a surveillance officer taking photographs of some of the suspects disposing of items in a plastic bag, and that was never seen again. those mistakes you cannot make up for, but what we need to do is get to a situation where all communities and the police believe that they are on the police believe that they are on the same side against the bad guys, rather than fighting each other. and we are not there yet. a thought about future generations working in the police, talking specifically
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about london and the challenges faced by the met, the kind of pressure there is for the police to reflect society in terms of its own make—up. what is your reading of the way the met is able to reach out to different parts of a very diverse community in london to get people to be ready to be part of a police force that is properly reflective of a city's population? well, the met have done a whole range of really innovative things, which has increased the number of people who wa nt to increased the number of people who want to apply, but two things for me. there is talk about people of certain communities who want to join the police. i think that is a lie. if you look at the people who have expressed an interest, people from underrepresented groups, black, asian, apply to the police force, because the institutional police they respect, the work of policing they respect, the work of policing they respect, the work of policing they respect, and they want to do it. but we have a terrible attrition rate in actually people not going through from the application, joining, progressing through. why is
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that? it is a difficult problem that police have not sorted out, why is there such a falloff rate? if you look at progression, it is woefully inadequate, and i think race is a key issue. let me give you an example. of the 43 chief officers of the 43 forces in england and wales, six women. so by any standard, we have made significant progress in theissue have made significant progress in the issue of gender, but not one of the issue of gender, but not one of the women are black. so when you add the women are black. so when you add the element of race, there seems to bea the element of race, there seems to be a really difficult problem. so when people see that, you think, well, i want tojoin when people see that, you think, well, i want to join and flourish. i don'tjust want well, i want to join and flourish. i don't just want to have the well, i want to join and flourish. i don'tjust want to have the target is how many you havejoining, the target should be, you know, i want to realise my potential. when the police start thinking about employing people and actually looking at nurturing them to progress, the measure of the su ccesses progress, the measure of the successes of far they have progressed in relation to their talent, enthusiasm, knowledge, then we will have a change in mindset,
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and not just employing we will have a change in mindset, and notjust employing people with targets. go buy the difficulty at the moment, huw, police budgets are being cut the number of police officers nationally is being reduced, so the police are not recruiting our people, so the opportunity to change the make—up of the police service is limited in those circumstances. one of the best ways to change the culture of an organisation is to have a lot of turnover of staff, bringing new people in, fresh ideas, so that you don't get the old stale ideas being perpetuated. but that is being restricted, plus community policing is at the heart of building relationships between black and minority ethnic communities and the police, and that is the first thing that goes whenever there is real pressure on the police service. very valuable to talk to both, thank you both for coming in, brian paddick and victor olisa, good to see you. let's move onto another of the day's
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news stories. tributes have been paid to the television and radio presenter dale winton, who's died at the age of 62. dale winton found fame in the ‘90s as the host of the daytime game show supermarket sweep, before going on to present the national lottery show. police say his death is unexplained, but they're not treating it as suspicious. here's our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba. and here's the star of the show... dale winton! thank you, thank you... the shows weren't highbrow, but for millions of viewers... hello, gorgeous shoppers. hello, dale! ..their entertainment factor was huge. dale winton was one of the reasons for that popularity. the aim of the game is to shop smart... supermarket sweep burst onto our screens 25 years ago and gave us a new tv star. it's pets win prizes, and here's everyone's cuddly
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companion, dale winton. .. dale winton had the gift of making the unlikeliest concepts unmissable viewing. so paul is a flying beetle because he's with wings. pets win prizes, which he presented for two series, saw owners competing in games involving their pets. release your beetles! and he was rarely off our screens for the next two decades. i can't believe they're so easily pleased. he was such a lively man, oozing joie de vivre, he adored life. he liked whizzing round london in an open topped sports car, sitting and holding court in west end cafes. if any fans came up to him, he couldn't have been more thrilled. his close friend david walliams said... you have lost your mojo?
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he had spoken about the lows of his life. i should have taken myself off the tv, but i didn't. and actually i was going to the studio, coming home... listen, there are worse things in the world, but i had health issues, and i have depression. he was last seen on tv in familiar territory. as i used to say, let's check them out. so i've got tea bags, marmalade... in a channel 5 show that saw him leaving the uk to explore america. his easy—going charm still as evident as ever. a presenter who will be remembered for being funny, friendly and fabulous. more tributes today to dale winton, who has died at the age of 62. well, a new era of planet—hunting is under way. the us space agency's tess
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satellite has launched from cape canaveral in florida on a mission to find new worlds beyond our solar system. it will survey a great swathe of stars, hoping to catch the dips in brightness that occur when orbiting planets cross their faces. our science correspondent pallab ghosh sent this report from florida. all set and ready to go. nasa's new mission to discover whether the stars we see at night have planets around them. the spacex falcon 9... once in space, the tess spacecraft will start scanning nearly the entire sky. as it looks for stars, it will also detect any tiny decrease in the light that comes from them. that small dip is a sign that there is a planet in orbit. the big question is whether there are any like our own earth and support life. the space telescope will spend the next two years searching for stars to find thousands of new worlds, and when we look up at the night sky, we'll know which ones have planets
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around them, and those that might be home to life. this spacecraft will spend the next two years searching the stars to find thousands of new worlds. nasa says it hopes to discover thousands of new worlds, hundreds of which will be similar in size to the earth, a handful of those the right distance away from their start to be capable of supporting life. we looked at the stars in the sky and wondered if there were planets around it. today we look at the start in the sky and it would be crazy to have no planet around it. the space telescope will spend the next two we are searching., to find thousands of new worlds. when we look up at the night sky, we will know which ones have planets around them and those that might be home to life. pallab ghosh, bbc news, at the kennedy space centre in florida. temperatures have soared to over 28 degrees in parts of london,
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making it the warmest april day for nearly 70 years. the unusually warm weather across the uk is the result of low pressure over the atlantic and high pressure over western europe, drawing in warm air. ben will tell us more about that in a few minutes' time. let's join our news correspondent alison freeman now in hyde park. yes, it's been a really glorious day, and people have been out in their droves to make the most of it after that hard winter we have been experiencing. people out on pad —— pedalos, and sales of ice cream is must have gone through the roof today. when you think, at this time of year, the temperature is normally between 11 and 12 degrees, this has been a bit of welcome warmth, the highest temperature recorded today in london was more than 28 degrees. yesterday in london and kent, we got to 25, and it will drop down to that
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again by tomorrow, but we have been having a chat with people in central london, asking what they have been making of this glorious weather. it is fantastic, get out of the house, you don't have to spend any money, just lie down. very hard, not like ireland! absolutely lovely. just like an excuse to get outside. she checked me out the library today! this is wonderful, that is all i say. temperatures are going to start dropping now towards the weekend, around 21 or 22 degrees for the london marathon runners on sunday, and talking to the royal parks charities, we were told that the weather is going to be equally welcomed by the wildlife who are finally getting the food and habitats that spring brings to them. allison, thank you very much again, lovely day in hyde park. i had a bit
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ofago lovely day in hyde park. i had a bit of a go with that low pressure, high pressure thing, i kind of said with a bit of confidence, but i didn't really understand it! ben does... i may as welljust leave now! i will feel the next two and a half minutes with more pictures of sunshine, what a beautiful day it was, that was not spring, it was summary lee, the scene across the capital earlier today, and those temperatures got all the way up to 29 degrees at st james' park, making it the warmest april day since 1949. london was not the only place by any means, this was, then sure, beautiful sunny start, but not everywhere. this was the isle of man,, and some north—western areas have struggled a little bit. you might have been thinking, where were our blue skies? where we have had sunshine, down towards the south—east, the heat is not going to drain away very quickly
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at all this evening, still plenty of time to get out and about over the next couple of hours. through this evening and night, clear spells tonight, roll cloud into scotland and ireland, perhaps a little cooler thanit and ireland, perhaps a little cooler than it was last night, or the big towns and cities will stay up in double digits. tomorrow, mist and fog to start, but then another cracking day, blue skies and sunshine, fog close to the coasts, who let here as well. for northern ireland and scotland, areas of cloud floating around, showers in north—west scotland, and with the winds slightly changing direction to more of a westerly, bringing cooler atla ntic more of a westerly, bringing cooler atlantic air into western areas. so here temperatures may be a touch lower than they have been for today, but for the midlands, eastern england and the south—east, another very england and the south—east, another very warm england and the south—east, another very warm day on the cards, 27 degrees easily achievable in london. that could just spawn the odd late shower across the south, but the majority will be dry through friday
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night. but then we get to the weekend, can the warmth last? well, this area of low pressure pushing from the atlantic is going to try to spoil the party. saturday should start innocuous enough with spells of sunshine, but then it looks like heavy, thundery showers drifting in from the south—west, bear that in mind if you have barbecue plans. still some warmth to drive the downpours in the south, but cool and fresh further north, and on sunday more of us getting into that cool air, a little cold front, not much left on it by the time it gets to the south—east in terms of rainfall, but behind it we all get into cooler, fresh air. still some warmth across the south—east for the marathon runners. so to sum things up, into the weekend it does change a bit, turning less warm with the risk of thunderstorms. the queen appeals to commonwealth leaders to appoint prince charles to succeed her as head of the organisation. she opened the meeting of the leaders of the 53 commonwealth countries at buckingham palace.
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it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity forfuture generations, and will decide that, one day, the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949. the role of head of the commonwealth is not hereditary — the leaders are expected to make a decision by the end of the week. also tonight... debenhams reports a big drops in profits. other retailers are hit too with falling sales. tributes are paid to the tv and radio presenter dale winton
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