this is bbc news. the headlines at midday. an investigation claims hm revenue & customs blocks people from receiving honours, if they're found to be avoiding tax. they are going after schemes of this time and individuals who benefited from them are being held to account. a man has appeared in court, charged with the murder of a mother and daughter, who were stabbed outside their home in solihull. more misery for northern rail passengers, as more than two thirds of services are cancelled, in a dispute over driver—only operated trains. in halfan in half an hour click looks at new technology for home security. good afternoon.

government documents obtained by the times newspaper, have shown that prominent figures who use tax avoidance schemes are apparently being blocked from receiving honours. a document, which was drawn up between hm revenue and customs and the cabinet office, is said to feature a system which rates people's tax affairs. in recent years, a number of celebrities who've been involved in lawful tax schemes have seemingly been overlooked for honours. sir vince cable is the leader of the liberal democrats. he says he welcomes more transparency in the tax affairs of high profile personalities being considered for honours. i think we already know, as a result of revelations today, that there is a traffic light system. people's tax

behaviour is considered, i think the government should make a virtue of it. when i was in the government we passed legislation outlawing abusive tax avoidance, practices that looked legal but were designed to frustrate the will of parliament. the maude is known about the toughness of the inland revenue, the better. i think people are pretty fed up with rich individuals, and companies avoiding taxes that ordinary people pray, we should make a of toughness. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent jonathan blake and asked him if it comes as a surprise that the government may get advice from hmrc on who should be honoured or not. they have, for some time, giving details online of exactly how the honour system works. after accusations about the process is not being particularly transparent. there was a document available on

the government website which said that hmrc had input and would advise the committee. indeed, they would be a three stage rating system with reference to low, medium or high, about potential nominees to minimise the risk of bringing the system into disrepute. what is new in the document that the times has obtained, after what it describes as a seven—month legal battle with the government, is the wording and nature of the system. the idea of a traffic light system, green for low risk, amber for those whose behaviour could cause potential for offence, and high risk, those in the red category. those whose tax affairs are clearly deemed to be particularly problematic. the potential issue here, is that people are, potentially, being blocked from receiving honours on the advice of hmrc. for tax affairs which may be lawful. they haven't necessarily

done anything against the law. the way they are avoiding paying tax is, in the eyes of hmrc, unsatisfactory. a lot of those systems are challenged in court on a regular basis. that is one criticism that can be made, instead of hmrc shutting down schemes and constructing tax legislation that makes it impossible to have these schemes, which it doesn't like, instead, it's penalising people after the event. yes, this idea of the taxman getting involved and having a say in who should be given honours and who shouldn't, based on how they arrange their taxes. some made their point this morning, they've said that many of the high honours candidates, some of the high honours candidates, some of them celebrities, may not even know that they are caught up in these tax avoidance schemes, because they leave affairs to the a ccou nta nts they leave affairs to the accountants and don't necessarily know exactly what is going on there.

they may not have done anything unlawful. just to tell you what the government has said, they say honours are given to reward outstanding service, each nomination is rigourously assessed, and this is a long—standing policy to protect the integrity of the system that hmrc has a role and are invited to contribute their views during the process. that was jonathan blake, i talk now to a qc director of the good law project and a specialist in tax. thank you for being with us this lunchtime. on the surface this looks like a prudent thing for the government to do, to check there isn't going to be any embarrassment. the old problem of government being a big institution and the left—hand not knowing what the right—hand nose, to fair. i think this criticism that tax avoidance or dodging, if you prefer, is not

illegal rather miss conceives the nature of the honours system. the honours system rewards people who have made a contribution to society. that is a much, much higher bar than asking whether somebody has broken the law. it's not the case that everybody who has avoided breaking the law gets an honour. we are looking for positive contribution and a positive contribution looked at in the round. it seems to me that if you deliberately shrugged off obligations of the democratically elected government based on using the tax system to contribute to society, that should weigh in the moral balance when it comes to considering whether or not you or to be recognised by society with an honour. what about the argument that people who are involved in these tax avoidance schemes, which are legal and dh mrc has not made illegal or legislate to make illegal, often they don't know the details of them.

they are simply told by their a ccou nta nts they are simply told by their accou nta nts we they are simply told by their accountants we will manage your affairs in the way that best protect your interests. and effectively, leave it at that? i think there is a lot of force in that point. we know that different individuals have different degrees of financial sophistication. they are more and less a ble sophistication. they are more and less able to assess the quality, the technical quality of their behaviour and the moral consequences of that behaviour. so, if you are financially sophisticated, you work in the city, or have engaged in artificial behaviours, that certainly carries a much higher moral taint, it seems to me, than somebody who comes from a working—class background, without support structures around them to enable them to process the moral quality of the paper on which there

are engaging. as somebody who has litigated these schemes over several decades, they can be very difficult to assess. we know that some types of behaviour that is described as tax avoidance is behaviour encouraged by the government because it wishes people behave in the ways of tax release too. i haven't seen any evidence to suggest that the government is getting this profoundly wrong. and i absolutely do think that in principle, it is right to look at tax behaviour in deciding whether or not somebody ought to be awarded an honour. your point is perfectly reasonable. one could argue that if a individual puts money into a nicer they are avoiding tax, they probably wouldn't see themselves as somebody dodging their responsibilities. the government encourages that kind of

behaviour. that aside, what about the argument that hmrc effectively as penalising people for something that it as penalising people for something thatitis as penalising people for something that it is allowing to happen. it is saying you can be part of these schemes, we don't like them, but they are legal, in other words we will clobber you in another way, get you in another way. it seems almost vindictive. we need to unpack that carefully. parliament sets the rules, hmrc applies the rules. and very often, at the time when you enter into a tax avoidance transaction, you don't actually know whether that transaction is going to work. certainly, an awful lot of transactions that are entered into in the late 90s and the naughties, right up to the financial crisis with thought, at the time, to be plain vanilla. it's only now that they are appreciated as transactions

that didn't deliver. they didn't deliver the tax advantage that those we re deliver the tax advantage that those were promised they would deliver. that isn't the acid test. the acid test has got to be looking at your behaviour, at that moment in time, was that behaviour, what was the moral quality of that behaviour. you can't assess that question by looking ten years later at what the supreme court decided in relation to that transaction. did it work, did not work? that isn't how you assess moral quality. it seems to me that in weighing one's tax behaviour and balancing it with whether to award an honour is basically that that you are looking for. looking to identify the moral quality of the behaviour at the time. behind your question, i suppose, is an assertion that if tax

avoidance is lawful, it follows that it must be morally acceptable. i think that's a fundamental basic confusion. there are an awful lot of things that are lawful, and still immoral. adultery, to trigger an obvious example. white knuckle but you wouldn't necessarily deny someone an honour you wouldn't necessarily deny someone an honour because they were an adulterer. i'm not sure that's right, actually. these questions of morality, are finely tuned. they are finely balanced, there are easy cases and there are difficult cases. certainly, if we look around at old roads and colleagues. —— at our friends and colleagues we have new views about moral quality and behaviour. it is legitimate to

wonder whether hmrc is an agency that does that well, certainly, hmrc‘s views on what constitutes a cce pta ble hmrc‘s views on what constitutes acceptable tax avoidance have changed over time. there are certain insta nces changed over time. there are certain instances where hmrc has condoned behaviour as fine, and then ten yea rs later behaviour as fine, and then ten years later changed its mind. and people have been punished as a result. these are difficult nuanced relationships, and complex questions, but the basic principle, the basic principle that tax avoidance behaviour carries with it avoidance behaviour carries with it a moral quality, ithink avoidance behaviour carries with it a moral quality, i think is beyond sensible. the director of the good law project, thank you for being with us this lunchtime. a man has appeared in court charged with the murders of a mother and daughter in solihull. janbaz tarin is accused of stabbing

to death his former partner raneem oudeh and her mother khaola saleem. (read on) janbaz tarin appeared this morning, he was only in court for around 90 seconds, as is often the case when a first court appearance takes place. he confirmed his name, date of birth and address. then he was remanded in custody having been told that the case against him is so serious, the charge of double murder, that it must be transferred to a crown court. the next hearing will take place on tuesday. there was a large search for him on thursday, and last night he was charged leading to today's appearance. his former partner and her mother were found dead outside their home in solihull in the early hours of monday morning. the family have issued a

statement in which they frankly local community for their support, particularly people in birmingham, for the help in delivering since the deaths. they thank the police and say to members of the family have been tragically cut short. police issued a statement where they thank the public for a fantastic response to their appealfor the public for a fantastic response to their appeal for information. they say they have been keeping the family up to date on what has been a very difficult time for them. thank you, simonjones very difficult time for them. thank you, simon jones outside very difficult time for them. thank you, simonjones outside birmingham crown court. the us is ending. the state department says the organisation is irredeemably flawed. a spokesperson says that rejects criticism and was disappointed by the decision. we

crossed now royal corresponded. in some ways it's not surprising given the years of criticism the us has made office agency, but why now? we saw at the start of this year that the us was freezing $300 million that it had plans to give to the area, it passed overjust 16 million. it is said the agency needed to make unspecified reforms, also that it was trying to press the palestinians to return to peace talks with israel. of course, at the end of last year, after the us announced it was recognising jerusalem as is real's capital, the palestinian leadership cut off its relations with the us. so this is really confirming what many had suspected for quite a while, because this issue had not been resolved through the year the agency was

struggling to fill this gap, the us was which largest donor in recent yea rs. was which largest donor in recent years. supports around the region more than 700 schools, there are about half a million palestinian refugee children who attend these schools. it was in doubtjust a few weeks ago whether the new school term would be able to start. we have seen term would be able to start. we have seen pupils going back to school in recent days, but unrwa is saying that it isn't sure if they will be able to keep the schools open beyond the end of the month. on top of that it provides services such as health care, and food aid. many of the 1.3 million palestinian refugees in gaza, the majority of the 2 million population is reliant on food aid and other assistance. thank you. let's ta ke let's take a look at the headlines.

an investigation claims hm revenue & customs blocks people from receiving honours — if they're found to be avoiding tax. a man has appeared in court, charged with the murder of a mother and daughter, who were stabbed outside their home in solihull. more than two thirds of northern rail services have been cancelled today, in a dispute over driver—only operated trains fewer than one third of real services provided in northern england are running today. the district has been going on for more than a year. the union says passenger safety is being put at risk by extending driver only services. fans of britney spears may face difficulties getting to her concert later today. it also coincides with the first weekend of the blackpool illuminations. a short time ago we looked at the impact the

disruption is causing. it's difficult to get to, but plenty of people try to get to blackpool this weekend, mainly to see you the blackpool illuminations which were switched on last night. that's an enormous event for the town and brings a lot of income. it sustains them through the winter. and britney spears is playing tonight, so people are spears is playing tonight, so people a re really spears is playing tonight, so people are really making an effort to get here. they are likely to struggle because of the strike. they will also struggle to get home, there are practically no trains after 6pm. i'm joined by darren island from the rmt union. there's a lot of anger here about what's happening. why have you chosen, i know it is a string of strikes, but why this weekend, to hit blackpool? we have two strike over these coming weekends because

ofa over these coming weekends because of a lack of genuine negotiation with the employer. if you recollect we suspended our previous action on the 21st ofjuly, to allow for a meaningful and genuine negotiation to take place. you must feel some sympathy for the commuters you are hitting. people coming to see the lights and britney? it is unfortunate they are being disrupted but we've got no choice. what we don't want to see are safely critical guards removed. they looked after passengers who travel to seaside towns like blackpool. they, the passengers who travel, want guards maintained an services. i think the vast majority of the travelling public understand, you know, that they want a safety critical person on the train, they don't want trains operating without a second person don't want trains operating without a second person on don't want trains operating without a second person on board. '5

don't want trains operating without a second person on boardm that's your point, they want a second guard on board for safety? the trains running today, around 30% don't have a guard. they are run by poorly trained managers. we seen this time and time again. the three months straining that it takes is underwritten, we've had a number of safety incidents already over the course of these poorly trained managers such as despatching against red signals, you know, on a number of occasions. i would have said the trains are less safe today. darren ireland, thank you very much. nor is not trying to carry on with talks, and an apologetic for disruption. they say they are doing their best to get as many people to places as they can. that's all for now. the

concert is on later and we will have updates throughout the day. that was sharon in blackpool for us. russian forces are beginning a week long naval exercise in the mediterranean sea. (00v) the kremlin says the operation is justified, he operation is justified, due to a failure by the west to deal with militants in syria's idlib province. there are signs that the syrian government is preparing an offensive against the last remaining rebel stronghold. a national memorial service celebrating the life of us senatorjohn mccain will take place in washington later today. his body is lying in state at the national cathedral in the city. family, friends, as well as us and international leaders have been invited to attend. the former presidents, george w. bush and barack obama, will give eulogies. president trump has not been invited. the case of the jailed british—iranian charity worker, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, will be raised by a foreign office minister today, during a two day visit to tehran. alistair burt says he will push for a resolution of all cases of british dual nationals detained in iran, as tom burridge reports. the moment nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe

was briefly reunited with her daughter last week. she was released from jail in iran forjust three precious days before the regime there locked her up again. and this is nazanin with gabriella a week before she was arrested in the spring of 2016. they have been separated ever since, with iran accusing nazanin of spying — something she strenuously denies. the foreign office minister alistair burt is now in iran. he will meet his counterpart and push for nazanin's release. his boss, the foreign secretary, expressed frustration on twitter, calling iran "an incredibly difficult regime to deal with." jeremy hunt said nazanin's hopes had been raised and then dashed when she was returned to prison. he promised to redouble efforts to get her home. last week he raised her plight at the united nations. every day that she is in prison is a reminder to the whole world of a gross injustice.

nazanin's husband, richard ratcliffe, has praised the foreign secretary for his efforts. she suffered panic attacks after being locked up again. who calls the shots in iran is often not straightforward, and nazanin's predicament is complicated by tehran's deteriorating relationship with our key ally, the united states. london mayor sadiq khan wearing a bright yellow bikini — is flying over westminster. organisers raised more than 58,000 pounds for the 29 foot blimp as part of a campaign seeking to remove mr khan from his post. it comes after the london mayor defended the flying of a donald trump ‘blimp' over the capital during the us president's visit last month. i'm not sure why he has a yellow bikini. pape someone will explain

that to us. pape someone will explain that to us. the queen is due to open a new highland games centre at the braemar gathering in scotland today. the centre will be named after her son prince charles, using his scottish title —— the duke of rothesay. everything is in full swing. the games are under behind us. all sorts of events taking place. the pipes of course, dancing. and james young who is involved in some of the most exciting heavy events. what are you doing? pk bay is my last event, that's at 12 o'clock. —— the caber. i didn't get 12 o'clock. you can see over there, the weight of the bar. i'm missing out, because i'm talking to you guys. it's really busy. that caber is huge. it's a 16 foot long and £120, quite heavy. it's about

balance and all that. these events look extremely difficult, in some ways they are the sort of things you see nowhere else, are you. yes, the equipment to train with, you know, what we do is throwing the summer, train in the winter. weight training, to get more power. power and speed, that's the key. you are good athletes. it's good fun. we are going to let you get back to your competition. thank you so much for talking to was. the queen and duke of rothesay are due later today to open a new pavilion which is full of all sorts of things related to the games. it's time for a look at the weather now. some very warm this weekend for many

of us, despite the fact we have entered meteorological autumn. largely dry thanks to high pressure and spells of sunshine. the best of that we'll always be across central, southern and eastern parts of the uk. further north and west, some wea k uk. further north and west, some weak whether friends, light rain across western hills. a warm feel to things, 19 to 21 degrees further north and west. overnight, a largely dry one, still a few showers over western hills, quite a bit of cloud around. a much warmer starts to sunday morning. temperature is no lower than 1a to 16 celsius. sunday, largely dry with variable cloud. the best of the sunshine across first dig was central, southern and eastern areas. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. an investigation claims hm revenue & customs blocks people from receiving honours — if they're found to be avoiding tax. a man has appeared in court,

charged with the murder of a mother and daughter, who were stabbed outside their home in solihull. more than two—thirds of northern rail services have been cancelled today, in a dispute over driver—only operated trains. the united states has ended its funding for the un's palestinian refugee agency, deeming it irredeemably flawed. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's mike bushell. england have lost two quick wickets at the start of the second innings. england are 61 a2. liverpool have

started well with three winds from three so far. jamie vardy is serving the last match of his suspension. his style of play was on the edge and going on behind. that makes him different to nearly all other strikers in the premier league. it is good for him but that changed of course. a few moments in a game maybe in a very good strikers well. they're just about to kick off at the king power in that one. staying with the premier league, and today marks 10 yeas since, sheikh mansour, bought manchester city and changed the course of the club's history... (00v) the sheikh's, abu dhabi, united group, bought city for £200 million on 1st september

2008...and in the decade since then they've spent almost 1.5 billion on players, won three premier league titles and become established as one of europe's superpowers. one man who's been there throughout, is captain vincent komapny. they already had a state—of—the—art stadium and it was a big club already did not have a big club mentality. i think the progress was tremendous in how we always had the basics from one day to the other. we had no excuse environment that was created with everything there to focus on football and be successful. england's women have a world cup to look forward to... they beat wales in their ‘winner takes all' qualifiying match in newport last night. toni duggan opened the scoring,

before jill scott added a second. nikita parris wrapped it up with a third to send england through to the finals in france next year. much to the delight of england manager phil neville.