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tv   BBC News  BBC News  September 2, 2018 7:00pm-7:30pm BST

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this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at seven... gordon brown urges labour to act on anti—semitism — saying it goes to the soul of the party. the international holocaust remembrance alliance definition of semitism is something that we should support unanimously, unequivocally and immediately. theresa may dismisses calls for a second eu referendum, and insists she won't make compromises on her brexit chequers plan that aren't in the national interest. phones, drugs and contraband — new figures show hundreds of prison staff caught smuggling into jails. video games which allow players to make in—game purchases are to get a warning icon on their packaging. good evening.
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the former prime minister gordon brown has said the fight against anti—semitism goes to the soul of labour, urging action on the issue that has dogged the party for weeks. he called for labour's governing body, which meets this week, to adopt an internationally recognised definition of anti—semitism in full. meanwhile the former chief rabbi lord sacks has again criticised jeremy corbyn, saying his speeches were part of the reason some britishjews were considering leaving the country. the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell said that mr corbyn has been misinterpreted. our political correspondent iain watson reports. as a former prime minister, gordon brown intervenes rarely in domestic politics. four years ago he spoke out over the future of the country in the scottish referendum. now, with the row over anti—semitism still raging, he says he's speaking out for the future of his party. it's about the soul of the labour party.
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labour's ruling national executive incorporated an internationally accepted definition of anti—semitism into a code of conduct injuly but didn't include word for word all the examples, angering manyjewish members. those close tojeremy corbyn were concerned that one example claiming the existence of the state of israel is a racist endeavour would restrict the free speech of palestinians. labour's national executive will now discuss the issue again on tuesday and this time gordon brown says there's only one way they can rebuild trust with thejewish community. the international holocaust remembrance alliance definition of semitism is something that we should support unanimously, unequivocally and immediately. jon lansman is close to the labour leadership. he founded momentum. he believes a compromise is possible
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which protects freedom speech and should have come sooner. we have an opportunity, we can trust the jewish committee and i hope we will take decisive steps on tuesday. the jewish labour movement held its conference here in north london and it says links between the community and the parties have been stretched to breaking point and prominent voices agree with them. jeremy corbyn must repent and recount as quickly as possible to regain the trust of the public. the shadow chancellor responded with an offer of peace talks. lord sacks, you have misinterpreted what's gone on, i have known jeremy 30 years, his life has been devoted to peace and justice, come and meet him and you will understand. but for this mp, something more dramatic is needed to rebuild trust. i don't thinkjeremy corbyn can't solve the problem
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because he is the problem. you think he should go? i think he should reflect on that but i have come to the view that he cannot solve the problem because he is the problem. senior labourfigures want to detoxify the anti—semitism issue but it is not yet clear if they have found a strong enough antidote. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are the entertainment journalist and broadcaster caroline frost, and the parliamentary journalist tony grew. the prime minister has restated her opposition to a second eu referendum and says she won't accept anything in a deal with brussels that's not in the national interest. writing in a sunday newspaper, ahead of mps returning to parliament this week, theresa may said she would not betray those who voted to leave two years ago. here's our political correspondent susana mendonca. when it comes to the prospect of a
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second referendum theresa may is standing firm and sticking to her chin. the prime minister told the sunday telegraph that two years ago any came out that the state and to ask them again would be a gross betrayal of our democracy. michel barnier has restated today he is strongly opposed to elements of the dealforged at chequers strongly opposed to elements of the deal forged at chequers but mrs may has insisted she wouldn't be pushed into accepting compromises accepted the national trust. for brexit secretary said that the play opened to concessions. that is an incredible open sesame. you will not turning around and say i agreed this but that wasn't in the national interest. as parliament prepares to
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gearupfora new interest. as parliament prepares to gear up for a new term interest. as parliament prepares to gear up for a new term rumours interest. as parliament prepares to gear up for a new term rumours of impending leadership chances continued as do the divisions among those who have stayed inside the government tent. inside the government tent, with the international trade secretary slapping down the chancellor's gloomy predictions about economic growth in the event of a no—deal brexit. to say what a gdp figure would be 15 years ahead is not a predictive power that i've known the treasury to have in my time in politics. a series of events have been organised by a campaign that is pushing for a direct save on the final brexit skill. a liberal democrat leaders said that the thought of her minister were starting to accept the idea of a second referendum. she is rattled. until recently she didn't talk about having a referendum on the final deal. she now knows that opinion is
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moving in favour of it and she is arguing strongly against it. this week the cabinet will get back around the table here and theresa may will embark on the final stretch before a deal with eu does or doesn't get done. it is bound to be a tough road ahead. new figures show hundreds of prison staff have been caught smuggling drugs, weapons and other banned items into jails in england and wales over the last six year. the figures — obtained through a freedom of information request by the observer newspaper — show a 50% increase since 2012. ben ando reports. drugs, mobile phones, weapons, tobacco, all considered contraband in prison. friends, relatives, even drones used to be to blame but increasingly the smuggling is by prison staff. figures from the ministry ofjustice show that in the last six years the number of prison officers found taking contraband into prisons in england and wales has gone up by more than half. in 2012, 45 prison staff were caught smuggling. but five years later, in 2017, that figure had gone up to 71.
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and the number of drugs finds has trebled, now running at an average of 35 every day. since 2010 the overall prison workforce has fallen by more than 7000 — that's nearly a fifth — despite a recruitment drive to bring in 2,500 new prison officers. some say that has caused a perfect storm, overwork, demoralised staff and under occupied, vulnerable prisoners. the reduction in officer numbers means there are fewer people to interdict the supply of drugs and find out who's behind it, but secondly the way of life for prisoners has become more restricted, meaning you have a lot of bored and demoralised people for whom drugs offer a way out of the misery of the sentence. injuly prison inspectors found that wandsworth prison in london, the most overcrowded in britain,
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had stopped scanning visitors for drugs and other banned items due to a lack of staff. the same month a 25—year—old prison officer was jailed for smuggling contraband into forest bank prison in salford, greater manchester. prison bosses say these figures represent the actions of a tiny minority, and that most of their staff are ha rd—working and honest. but coupled with record levels of violence, drug seizures and suicides, this increases the impression of a prison service in crisis. ben ando, bbc news, at the ministry ofjustice. well, my colleague rebecca jones has been speaking to eric allison who is the prisons correspondent for the guardian and a former inmate himself, having spent a total of 16 years in prison. he gave this reaction to the smuggling of prohibited items by prison staff. it does not surprise me at all. i have known there has been a massive increase for the last four, five, six years. but even those figures and the figures quoted
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about the increase in the number of staff caught smuggling does not present the true picture because for every parcel of drugs that gets intercepted, you can guarantee that at least another ten get through because the drug dealers inside and outside factor in these losses. this is a multi—million pound industry. the price of drugs in prison is many more times the price of drugs on the street, so there is a huge profit, and it is very difficult to see how they will get to grips with it. is that why staff do it? because there is money to be made? of course, it is a huge temptation. you are talking about a small parcel of heroin fetching thousands and thousands of pounds. someone could offer a prison officer £1000, £500. the chance of detection is slight because they cannot search prison officers coming in, well, they cannot search them coming in en masse because it
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would disrupt the whole day. the temptation is huge and you have got a lot of young, inexperienced prison staff and the temptations are huge. the prison service said the figures reflect the actions of a tiny minority. would you agree with that? yes, without a doubt. most prisoners are customers if you like. it is a small minority of people who are professional criminals and professional drug dealers outside and they carry on when they get inside. it is a multi—million pound industry. just to clarify, i was saying the prison service reflect a tiny minority being the prison officers? without a doubt. the vast majority of prison officers are straight, but it does not take many. how do the authorities try to stem this tide of contraband that is going into prisons?
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should prison governors be doing more? i don't see what they can do without the staff. if you had huge dedicated drug search teams in every prison, including dogs and devices, then that would make a difference and inroads, but they are not doing that. they are not replacing the staff that are leaving and the staff they are replacing them with are new and they don't have the experience or the confidence sometimes to challenge prisoners. it is a real mess. the prison system is in a huge mess. what's his name, chris grayling had the great idea to stop smoking in prison. a packet of tobacco in prison is £150 and they are getting £150. wherever you have the deprivation of something that people want, you will get smuggling and it will take a massive effort to combat it. from what you are saying the main problem appears to be drugs. why is there such a huge
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demand for them in prison? well, above all else prisons are places of acute boredom, they really are. unemployment is rife in prison, education gets stopped, there is nothing for prisoners to do. if there is nothing for them to do and they have got the opportunity to get out of it in their heads by taking drugs, they will take them. let's take a brief look at some of the day's other news... a 16—year—old boy has suffered serious and potentially life—changing injuries after being sprayed in the face with an unknown substance. police say the attack at the cribbs causeway shopping centre in bristol yesterday evening happened while the teenager was having a dispute with someone. a 17—year—old boy suffered a cardiac arrest when he was tasered by police officers. the incident took place
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in coventry yesterday evening. west midlands police say the boy is in a serious but stable condition in hospital. four other teenagers were arrested in the incident, which has been referred to the independent office for police conduct. the united states says it is cancelling 300 million dollars of military aid to pakistan. it says the government there is failing to deal adequately with militant groups in the country. the us secretary of state is due to meet the new pakistani prime minister, imran khan, this week. video games which allow players to buy extra items or features while they're playing — so called in—game purchases — will have to carry a warning on their packaging from christmas. it follows concerns about children racking up debts while playing — as angus crawford explains. gaming and spending. matthew, who doesn't want to be identified, used to play 12 hours a day and paid out thousands of pounds. he worries about the effect on children. a lot of game companies will tell
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you this game is to be enjoyed but actually behind it is a very stringent business that's there to make lots of money so they will target people young, get them into a game and then make them want to spend money to progress, and if they feel left behind, it then starts to affect them emotionally and psychologically. many games allow players to buy things like better guns, new characters or extra features, using real, not digital money. children can run up big bills, and some parents don't find out until it's too late. and now the european ratings body, pegi, has decided to act. from christmas, video game boxes will carry this new warning logo, but will it make any difference? if you have to buy the game and within the game to actually play the game and make the most fun out of that game, you have to spend a lot more money, i think the customer should be informed about that,
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so yeah, i agree. all the games these days, everything comes with add—ons, you know, and in—app purchases, so it's a good idea to warn people but at the same time people should probably expect it anyway i think. gaming can seem more like gambling. and with regulators circling, this new warning is perhaps a sign of the industry taking action before it's forced to. angus crawford, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... the former prime minister, gordon brown, says the "soul" of the labour party is at stake in the dispute over anti—semitism. theresa may dismisses calls for a second eu referendum, and insists she won't make compromises on her brexit chequers plan that aren't in the national interest. hundreds of prison staff are caught smuggling drugs, weapons and other banned items into jails in england and wales. let's get more now on our top story...
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and as we've been hearing, the former labour prime minister gordon brown has weighed into his party's anti—semitism row, saying it should adopt an internationally agreed definition of anti—semitism. well, the labour mp dame margaret hodge had a confrontation withjeremy corbyn over the issue and continues to criticise the party's failure to adopt the internationally recognised definition of anti—semitism. i think trust has broken down to such an extent between thejewish community and the labour party that if the labour party tries to at this point amend or add on some clauses, it will simply fail in its attempts to start to rebuild trust, it is a terrible arrogance that here is a code that has been accepted by countless countries, that has been accepted by most of the institutions here in the uk, and yet the labour party knows better and it knows better at a time when confidence between thejewish community and the labour party
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is at the lowest it has ever been. i have never, ever dreamt that in my lifetime i would be facing this sort of anti—semitism that i have experienced over the last year, and i know that my colleagues, like luciana berger and ruth smeeth and louise ellman have been been experiencing it. i don't think jeremy corbyn can solve the problem because he is the problem. you think he should go? i think he should reflect on that but i have sincerely come to the view that he cannot solve the problem because he is the problem. some people would say you wanted rid of him in 2016, you wrote that letter, you are up to the same strategy again. that makes me really angry because that belittles my commitment to antiracism and my commitment
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to getting rid of anti—semitism in the party. this isn't aboutjeremy corbyn as an individual, this is about my party that i have been a member of for over five decades, it is a party that has been in existence for over 100 years, a party that is the natural home for antiracism and was the natural home forjews and it is a party as gordon brown said this morning, it is about the soul of our party. (speaking to the bbc‘s andrew marr earlier, the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell said he was confident that the row over the recognised definition of anti—semitism would be resolvd by labour when the national executive committee meets this week. i don't want to pre—empt the nec, but from what i have heard it will be resolved and there will be a balance of that acceptance as people want, but also exactly
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what others have said as well, and lord sacks himself, that freedom of speech is important as well. the ability to criticise policies that you disagree with. sorry to jump in. you are a big voice in the labour movement and people will be watching you and listening to you. if you yourself say that you think that definition should be accepted, that will have an effect. do you think it should be accepted? i do not want to interfere in the nec because anything i say could jeopardise what i think will be an historic agreement. let me put it as straightforward as i can. i think all sides will be satisfied with the proposal that will be discussed. that means acceptance on the one hand and acceptance overall and i think also the commitment to freedom of speech and a recognition of the rights of palestinians. i think the nec are wise enough
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to come to that understanding. and then we can get on with the serious business of engagement with the jewish community, tackling anti—semitism in our society and as best we can bringing people together. we will resolve this matter and i hope we do it quickly and move on. the islamist militant group al shabab says it carried out a car bomb attack in somalia that killed at least three people. the attack happened in the capital mogadishu when a car containing explosives was driven towards a local government building. three soldiers who stopped the vehicle from entering the compound died in the explosion, which also caused a nearby school to collapse. six children were among the 1a people injured. our africa regional editor, will ross reports. this was a powerful explosion that reduced buildings to rubble. a car wired up with explosives was driven towards the administration offices as employees
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were working inside. officials say three soldiers stopped the vehicle from entering the compound prompting the driver to trigger the explosion on the street. the soldiers who died, may well have saved many lives. but across the road the mosque was badly damaged, homes were destroyed and several children at a nearby school were caught up in the blast and rushed to hospital. translation: we were in the middle of our usual work when the explosion happened in front of our district office where the building was destroyed, i hid under the table. there was a lot of gunfire at the gate. someone called me to check if we were safe but when i came out i saw many people lying on the ground injured while others were dead. the islamist militant group al—shabab said it carried out the bombing. one of its most devastating attacks was last october, a truck bomb near the entrance to a hotel in mogadishu left more
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than 500 people dead. thejihadist group has been pushed out of somalia's urban areas but still carries out frequent bomb blasts especially in the capital. it often targets local officials in its effort to overthrow the internationally backed somali government. more than 20,000 african union peacekeepers are in somalia helping the government in the fight against al—shabab. by now those troops are meant to be scaling back and moving towards handing over the security of the country to somalia's own army, but after delays the handover is at least three years away. the bomb attacks showed just how serious the jihadist threat still is in somalia. you might think one lorry is as bad as the next when it comes to causing pollution, but refrigerated trucks are a particular problem. many have a second diesel engine to power the fridges and that's often working harder than the one moving the vehicle.
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now, a british inventor has come up with an environmentally—friendly idea that's being trialled by several multinational food companies. dougal shaw went to meet him. hard at work in his garage, inventor peter dearman has been tinkering with an idea for the past 20 years. he thinks it could revolutionise the haulage industry, specifically, refrigerated lorries. supermarkets around the world rely on these to transport fresh produce from warehouses to shops. his idea involves liquid nitrogen, which boils at minus 196 celsius. this demonstrates the pressure that is created by boiling liquid nitrogen. and how that pressure can be used to run an expansion engine. and here is what his invention looks like on a working lorry. the liquid nitrogen slowly turned into gas as it warms up. this is used to cool air
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which refrigerate the lorry. the expanding liquid nitrogen is also powering fans which circulate the cool air around the lorry. so what problem is this designed to fix? fridge units on lorries usually use diesel. they are powered by a second diesel engine on board. these are often more polluting than the main diesel engine that drives the lorry. using liquid nitrogen means the refrigerated lorry can lose that second diesel engine. that's giving off no pollution. liquid nitrogen, liquid air isjust the atmosphere itself. several multinational food supplies are trialling the technology. i think liquid nitrogen is a good step forward. it is something that we will look at more closely. filling up the lorry with liquid nitrogen looks a bit different to filling it with normal fuel. unlike fossil fuels, there are plentiful supplies of nitrogen in the world, although it does require energy to cool the nitrogen down
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into liquid form in the first place. however, if the technology takes off, it could reduce our reliance on diesel, and cut air pollution. not bad work for a man tinkering in his garage. dougal shaw, bbc news. the irish rock band u2 was forced to abandon a concert in berlin after the lead singer bono suddenly lost his voice on stage. cheering elope. so sorry. in a statement, the band apologized for cancelling last night's show. it went on to say that after a few songs, bono suffered a complete loss of voice. it's unclear why — but he's seeking medical advice. the band says that those in the audience last night will be able to return for another u2 concert at a future date.
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a second world war veteran has broken his own world record as the world's oldest scuba diver. he was examining a shipwreck off the coast of cyprus. they say you only get better with practice, that must be true. a former radio operator during the war, he has been scuba diving for 58 years. this latest excursion the crystal clear waters of the mediterranean. cheered on as he took the plunge, heading down, it is have macro his age this was a cargo vessel that sank on its maiden voyage in 1980. ray and the two
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dozen divers who accompanied him took time out for a group photo. then after checking the watch to see how long they had been down there they headed back to their boat. more cheers and more applause for this most modest of men. we did that! we managed to get 406 metres! 44 managed to get 40.6 metres! 44 minutes. lovely to break my record again andl minutes. lovely to break my record again and i hope i will break it again and i hope i will break it again next year. and somehow you believe he will. time for a look at the weather. the weekend warmth is
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about to disappear as the weather front about to disappear as the weather fro nt ta kes about to disappear as the weather front takes cooler air southwards across the uk. that is producing rain in northern ireland and scotla nd rain in northern ireland and scotland and it will clear from northern ireland and north—west scotla nd northern ireland and north—west scotland or night. chilly in clear skies. outbreaks of rain in the morning from southern and eastern scotla nd morning from southern and eastern scotland with north—west england and moving into wales as well. easter that some clear spells in east anglia and the south—east saw some spots into single figures with mist and fog. a warm night underneath the cloud. heavy rain for parts of eastern scotland and north east england in the morning and some patchy rain elsewhere in northern england, midlands, wales and is at that. still dry with sunny spells in eastern and south east england. sunny spells in northern ireland and north—west scotland. light winds and whenever you see sunshine it will be a pleasant but the warmth confined into east anglia and south—east england. a cooler day elsewhere as we go through the week with cooler airwinning we go through the week with cooler air winning across all parts. hello this is bbc news with
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