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tv   BBC News  BBC News  February 8, 2019 7:00pm-7:45pm GMT

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this is bbc news. the headlines at 7. the daily telegraph will publish more allegations against billionaire sir philip green tonight — after he dropped an injuction against the paper. sir philip denies allegations of sexual and racial abuse. these gagging orders are being used to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct and racial abuse by wealthy, powerful name. —— men. the family of the footballer, emiliano sala, say they can now mourn, after his body was recovered from the english channel. after the death of four children in a house fire in stafford, two people are arrested, on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence. theresa may meets her irish counterpart shortly in dublin as she seeks changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. the star of stage and screen —
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albert finney — has died aged 82 after a short illness. good evening. the use of confidentiality, or non disclosure agreements, is in the spotlight again this evening, after sir philip green's legal action against the daily telegraph newspaper , was formally ended by a high courtjudge. the owner of topshop, who denies claims of unlawful sexual and racist behaviour made by the newspaper, has condemned it's reporting, and accused the telegraph of a "vendetta" against him. however his alleged victims, are still prevented from speaking out, because they signed non disclosure agreements. here's our special correspondent, lucy manning. sir philip green has the yacht, the business empire and the knighthood but his reputation has been damaged by allegations from former employees. he tried to block the telegraph publishing them but today
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dropped his injunction against the paper. the five former staff members alleging sexual harassment and racial abuse are still gagged and the paper failed to get their nondisclosure agreements overturned. this woman was not prevented from speaking out. she worked for sir philip in his las vegas store and claimed he sexually harassed her on numerous occasions. i do not think he thought he could get into this lawsuit with the telegraph and win and kind of buy and push his way through silencing people and it did not work out in his favour and i absolutely think that the former or current employees that have been restrained by these ndas in the uk should be able to speak out. the editor of the telegraph have been warned by sir philip that the paper might end up
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bankrupt if it printed the allegations about him. sir philip described the allegations as no more than banter and if that is so, then he could very easily lift those ndas and allow them to speak freely and that is what we urge him to do. what do you want the government to do? i would like parliament to take up this issue and i would like mrs may to act. she has spoken about being uneasy about the use of ndas after we have identified how they have been misused but so far she has only spoken about reviews and i would like to see action. sir philip green has denied allegations of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour but his lawyers conceded he was hot—headed, made comments about the clothes and weight of people and put his arms around them in a nonsexual way. sir philip green in a statement accused the telegraph of pursuing a vendetta against him, his company and of harassing staff. he called on them to do the decent thing and ndas, —— respect ndas, otherwise
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he warned of potential legal and financial consequences for his former employers. his view of the confidentiality agreements, that those who signed them did willingly after getting legal advice, but some mps think change is overdue. it cannot be right that wealthy, powerful businesses can use the law to silence victims. we have to make sure that we have got better protections in place and i think that the court ruling today has shown that parliament needs to look at this and look at it quickly. the businessman decided to drop his court case against the telegraph, calling it pointless, after his identity was revealed in the house of lords by peter hain. the fact that sir philip green withdrew his injunction and refused to proceed with it is a vindication of what i did. some of sir philip's former employees are still silenced but the telegraph no longer is, so the businessmen will be back
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on the front page tomorrow. lizzie manning, bbc news. theresa may is travelling to dublin tonight, to meet the irish prime minister leo varadkar. it's her latest attempt to resolve issues over the so called irish ‘backstop‘, the mechanism to prevent a hard border between northern ireland, and the republic after brexit. mr varadkar was himself in belfast earlier today, urging political leaders at stormont to restore the power—sharing executive, which collapsed more than two years ago. our ireland correspondent, emma vardy, has the latest... far from the noise of westminster. it is much quieter here. because this part of the uk has not had a government since the parties fell out over a green energy scheme. that is officially why the irish taoiseach came to belfast. but the tussle over the most controversial part of the brexit deal took centre stage. the decision that we have made as the european union
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is that the withdrawal agreement and the backstop are not up for negotiation, but we can talk about the joint political declaration and what changes might be made to that. but theresa may's partners in government are demanding more than ireland is willing to give. the important thing is that the backstop is the problem in the withdrawal agreement for most people in the house of commons who voted against it by an overwhelming majority and it is that that has got to be addressed. well, the dup are on the wrong side of the argument. the dup are actively working against citizens here in the north. the dup are saddling up with the tories. so, no sign of any quick resolution here. ticket to dublin, please. next up for leo varadkar is on down to dublin. the shuttle diplomacy continues. this train calls at dublin connolly... from belfast to dublin, you would hardly know you are crossing or become
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a new eu frontier. the backstop is a last—ditch measure to ensure no return to border checks in ireland, but both sides today showed they are still far from reaching a new compromise. i would congratulate leo varadkar on his stance. he isjust standing up for irish interest, both north and south. who do you think should give way? i think london should, really. why? because we want peace to continue and if there is any danger of that not continuing, that would be the worry. as theresa may heads to dublin, over dinner at the two prime ministers will again try to find common ground. knowing it could affect so many livelihoods if they do not. we rely heavily on the uk as a trading partner, an awful lot of products from around the world, especially in this business, come through the uk into ireland. we are quite a small market and we rely on our larger neighbour. how do you think people in ireland will view theresa may's visit here?
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diplomacy. a shell of diplomacy. the show of doing the utmost, is that the most that can come probably not. both sides have agreed to keep on talking, but hope for the concessions theresa may needs is in danger of being snuffed out. the family of the cardiff city footballer, emiliano sala, say they can now begin to mourn his death, after police confirmed his body was found in the wreckage of a plane in the english channel. the 28 year old was travelling to cardiff in a light aircraft piloted by david ibbotson, which went missing off guernsey last month. duncan kennedy reports the news that it was emiliano sala and not david ibbotson that had been found came from the dorset coroner. emiliano's family, seen here earlier said today, it is with infinite sadness that we confirmed the identity. their statement said,
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we would like to thank you for all your signs of affection and support in what is the most painful time of our lives. the statement added, our thoughts go to david ibbotson and his family, hoping that the authorities will do their best to find him. at cardiff city today, the colours on the ground stood out against the grey of the sky. and the confirmation that emiliano sala had been found brought renewed reflection. whilst everybody expects the worst, you know, when it happens, you know, i got a phone call last night, in the evening, and it was strange, really. obviously, it brings the family peace and i think that is it, the search for david ibbotson has been called off in the channel because of bad weather. for emiliano sala, whose speed often left defenders
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chasing his number nine shirt, the ultimate players' tribute. his club nantes say they will now retire that shirt in his memory. duncan kennedy, bbc news. the world's richest man, jeff bayzos, has accused the owners of the american celebrity magazine, the national enquirer, of extortion and blackmail. mr bezos, who founded the online retailer amazon, says the magazine's owners demanded he stop an investigation, into how the national enquirer, obtained private messages between him and a woman he was having an affair with. he claims he was told that if he didn't, the magazine would publish more intimate details. our north america editor jon sopel reports. when the celebrity magazine national enquirer published intimate texts and photographs between the owner of amazon, jeff bezos, and his lover, it looked like a classic tabloid sting against the world's richest man. i sell about $1 billion
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a year of amazon stock. butjeff bezos, who never needs to use the sentence, "i wonder if i can afford this", launched his own counter investigation into how the magazine got hold of them. this seems to have panicked the national enquirer. they now stand accused of trying to blackmail bezos into dropping his investigation. but the amazon owner didn't blink. last night he called their bluff, publishing himself what the threat was. the magazine has deeply personal and embarrassing photos of him and his lover in their possession. mr bezos wrote about the magazine's owners, ami... and this is where it gets murky.
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jeff bezos is also the owner of the washington post whose political coverage has infuriated donald trump. the owner of the national enquirer is david pecker, a close personalfriend of the president, who has done special ops for him in the past. so was this just a tabloid story, or was it a political hit job on a trump enemy? just before the election, a former playboy model, karen mcdougall, wanted to go public with long—standing allegations that she had had an affair with donald trump. the national enquirer bought the exclusive rights to her story for $150,000, and her silence, but never published it. a policy known as "catch and kill". ami have said they will launch an investigation into the claims by mr bezos. this famous magazine is on the defensive in a way it has not been before. it looks like they picked a fight with the wrong man. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. let's speak tojulia manchester —
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a reporter at the the hill. thank you forjoining us. tellers about these accusations byjeff bezos of extortion and blackmail by the owners of the national enquirer, what is going on with those claims? he has put all his cards on the table last night in a media post, saying he was being blackmailed by the media company and they had obtained copies of explicit text m essa 9 es obtained copies of explicit text messages and photos of him with his alleged girlfriend. that is when it started last night. today we thought that the company said the acted lawfully in highly handled jeff bezos. but we heard that federal
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prosecutors in new york have begun to investigate his clown —— my claims whether they violated unknown prosecution agreement. you have to remember that the company are under investigation into the harsh money payments need to make —— president trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, to playboy bunny that he had a relationship with before he was president, allegedly. so the company is already under investigation. you mentioned donald trump, there is talk about whether this is politically motivated in some way? looking at the history of donald trump and his relationship with this newspaper, it is something which could be looked into. for years, when donald trump is a real estate
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developer, he was all over the american tabloids and the most prominent one would be the national enquirer so he clearly has a tight relationship with them. we saw that during the 2016 campaign, the national enquirer ran a series of studies which were favourable to president trump. however, after ami and the national enquirer agreed to cooperate with the new york district court, there were reports that their relationship had soured and we have not seen many stories recently from the national enquirer. however, trump has a very shaky relationship with the washington post. he started going after them, immediately after the campaign. their slogan was democracy dies in darkness which is a clear hit at the trump administration so there is tension
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between trump and ami and the washington post and jeff bezos sewer could be a possibility this could be a political hitjob. so also the washington post reported last night, it does not appear thatjeff bezos's text messages were hacked so a government entity could be behind all this. very curious. how is this story playing in the us because it seems that these are twomac very big powerful entities who are now locking horns, jeff bezos the richest man in the world versus the national enquirer which carries a lot of cloud? absolutely. to give your viewers an idea how much clout the national enquire carries, in the
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grocery store, you will see the national enquirer at the grocery store placed prominently. it is widely circulated here. however anderson has a lot of clout as well. he owns the washington post. they are connected through he owns the washington post. they are connected throutheff bizos. he also acquired whole food grocery stores. the business is at play here. in the bubble of washington and the state of new york, this is probably more negative against trump than the national enquirer and more in favour of the washington post and jeff bezos. at least we jeff in favour of the washington post and jeff bezos. at least wejeff bezos put out the media post last night. from a us voter perspective, i do not know how much they will read into it. i do not think your average us voter will read into the story a lot. good to talk to you a lot. we
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have to leave it there, many thanks for your time. thank you. time for a look at the headlines. a high courtjudge allows the billionaire, sir philip green, to formally end his legal action against the daily telegraph. the family of cardiff city footballer emiliano sala say they can now mourn him — after police confirm it was his body recovered from the english channel. a man and a woman are arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence after four children died in a house fire in stafford. still to come — tributes to the acclaimed actor, albert finney, who has died aged 82. two people have been arrested, on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence, after the deaths of four children, in a house fire in staffordshire. 0ur correspondent sima kotecha has the latest. on tuesday morning at around 2:40am, a fire erupted in one
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of the houses behind me. it destroyed the upstairs of the house and part of the roof. four children died in that fire — riley holt who was eight, keegan unitt, six, tilly rose unitt, four, and ollie unitt, who was 3. staffordshire police said two people have been arrested in connection with the fire, a 24—year—old women and a 28—year—old man. they say they have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence. they also say they do not want people to rush to conclusions here and speculate. they say the two people arrested are currently in custody. two motions of no confidence in the labour mp, luciana berger — tabled by members of her local party in liverpool wavertree — have been withdrawn. a source withinjeremy corbyn's office said it was the right decision. ms berger, who isjewish, has criticised mr corbyn for his handling of the party's anti—semitism row but the shadow
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chancellor, john mcdonnell, suggested earlier today that the move to censure her was because of concern that she might join a breakaway party. joining me now is michael segalov — a journalist and labour party member. what is your reaction to this withdrawal? i think it is very bad timing. it is entirely reasonable for constituency members to hold. confidence in their mps. labour is a democratic organisation so in theory this is perfectly reasonable. whether it is directed against members on the left or right of the party. firstly, she has been in the midst of dealing with abuse, some of which is come from the labour party regarding maternity leave to have
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her second child. we are not in a position where labour party members... seems to me the premise is not a problem but the execution and timing are the basis for the problem. there have been calls for insta nce problem. there have been calls for instance from tom watson this evening... i was going to ask you, tom watson has called for the constituency labour party to be suspended, what you think?” constituency labour party to be suspended, what you think? i think it is bonkers. four people, a married couple by the looks of it and man called peter who tabled the motion is. the membership is hundreds of people strong and to punish that number is an absurdity. collective punishment for the action ofa collective punishment for the action of a few people. to table a bid
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motion is not a problem, it isjust pure timing and execution. it comes not just when the pure timing and execution. it comes notjust when the cian has those things going on but also she was in the press refusing tojoin a splinter party. she refused to say she wanted to seejeremy corbyn as prime minister... should there be a motion against her if she says something like that? does it not look intolerant if an mp cannotjust express their views? this is the nature of democracy whether we like it or not. you have to allow for live —— local members to dictate to their mps. there is no precedent in their mps. there is no precedent in the labour party for mps having to fall in line with the labour leadership. we have seen that with jeremy corbyn himself. it is
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entirely reasonable for local members to have their say. louise ellman, another neighbour mp has said the party has been shamed into she suggested putting pressure on the local party for the vote of no—confidence, dearthink this the local party for the vote of no—confidence, dear think this is what has happened? to reiterate, just for people... do you think they have been lent on by the national party? | have been lent on by the national party? i have no idea. this is all been criticism that jeremy party? i have no idea. this is all been criticism thatjeremy corbyn has not done enough as labour leader on anti—semitism. we saw the letter from the general secretary of the labour party this week, 1a bullet points of things the labour party are doing, including dealing with a backlog so i think that is constructive debate about the labour party and anti—semitism. there is a
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call for it mps and others to say that the labour party is not dealing with it is entirely unfounded. we have to leave it there. thank you. detectives investigating the disappearance of a twenty—one—year—old student in hull, have been granted an extra 36 hours to question a man. libby squire went missing just over a week ago. she was last seen outside her home, less than a mile from the suspect‘s house. a convicted killer, who murdered a vulnerable woman, and then dismembered her body, has been jailed for life. (00v) julie reilly, was killed in herflat in glasgow a year ago. parts of a leg have been found, but the rest of her body hasn't been recovered. (00v) julie reilly, was killed in herflat in glasgow a year ago. hasn't been recovered. andrew wallace who's 42, has been ordered to serve at least 28 years in prison. a 21—year—old cadet, has been found dead in an apparent suicide, at the army's officer training college at sandhurst in berkshire. the woman's body was believed to have been found
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in her room on wednesday. thames valley police says it's treating the death as unexplained, but not suspicious. the oscar—nominated actor albert finney, has died at the age of 82, after a short illness. he began his career at the royal shakespeare company, before forging a reputation as one of britain's leading screen actors, in films such as saturday night and sunday morning, tom jones, and erin brockovich. will gompertz looks back on his life. albert finney came to fame in the early ‘60s, one of a new breed of tough looking actors in gritty dramas about working—class life. he was a bookmaker‘s son from salford. i'd take a tip from the fishes. never bite unless the bait is good. i won't get married until i'm good and ready. he appeared in kitchen—sink dramas depicting the everyday drama and frustration of working—class life in post—war britain. they slashed my wages so they can get stuffed. he won a award for this performance. when among friends, he would parody
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laurence olivier. we were all walking around as sir lawrence walked around in the film, with a limp and a hump, and the kind of deformed strange left hand. and we used to be pressing the elevator button to get to class, saying, i must take the lift... to fencing! he turned down the lead role in lawrence of arabia, choosing instead of lead role in tom jones, an 18th century romantic adventure. albert finney had arrived, an international star of stage and screen with an eye for the ladies in the talent to take on a wide of roles. directing himself and starring in charlie bubbles to playing agatha christie hercule poirot. when people look back at the gallery of his roles, and don't
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forget he was a great stage actor too in the early days, i think people will always celebrate the versatility, the power, the humour, the humanity. a0 years after his film career began a new direction of film directors discovered his remarkable screen charisma, casting him as a gruff lawyer in erin brockovich and as a gruff winston churchill in the gathering storm. 37, first lord of the admiralty, then at the exchequer, doing pretty well, and now look at me. he neverforgot his roots, he refused a knighthood because he considered it snobby, but he was an actor who, if he was in something, you paid attention. now we have beenjoined by film critic richard fitzwilliams. did you meet albert finney? i did
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indeed. this was at the celebration of the life of his old chum peter 0'toole. they went back to 1953 when both were students rather together. albert finney was nominated for five 0scars albert finney was nominated for five oscars and never won, peter too was nominated for eight never won. he was actually apparently offered the pa rt was actually apparently offered the part of lawrence of arabia which peter to play to such a claim. extraordinary. what sort of man was he. he was someone who is very proud of his working—class roots in salford and his breakthrough role was saturday night sunday morning where he played a working—class part. he was someone who despised
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flummery, he turned down a knighthood. he was pleased to direct and act on charlie bubbles where he played a working—class character which was very important to him. he had such a long clear and such versatility, looking at the clips, he played so many roles. the versatility is extraordinary. he played churchill, he was unrecognisable and he won a bafta. also on stage, he was superb in a variety of characters. some of his creations, the lawyer and edinburgh coverage who supported julia roberts was marvellous. and as poirot and murder on the orient express. and best film in 1963, and as an
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alcoholic drinking himself to death in under the volcano. and he played a megalomaniac in the dresser, you could not be more versatile. he started on the stage but made his name on the screen, was he happy in each medium? i think he was. he acted in more films in the second pa rt acted in more films in the second part of his career. that is the way a younger audience will remember him. he was in skyfall, the last half—hour, a good performance somebody you never knew what he would get up to. he was fascinating for these different roles he inhabited. whether on the stage or screen, you could not beat his churchill, it was one of the best that has ever been done. he did not like award ceremonies and did not ca re like award ceremonies and did not care as like award ceremonies and did not ca re as we like award ceremonies and did not care as we mentioned four owners but he reads a lasting legacy of amazing
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rules. people will be able to see them again and again. he had tremendous presence, you can see that. it was phenomenal. he inhabited the rules he played. thank you very much. lovely to talk to you. now it's time for a look at the weather. good evening, the wet weather will persist in the north and west, for scotla nd persist in the north and west, for scotland and northern ireland in particular. this is storm erik. we will continue to be the brunt of powerful wind, gusts in excess of 50 miles and therefore many others. 60 or 70 miles and therefore many others. 60 or70 in miles and therefore many others. 60 or 70 in exposed areas and over the hills. some went to venice over the hills. some went to venice over the hills. those ones will continue to bring the risk of disruption. they will blow again through the course of saturday, especially for
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scotland, ireland and northern england. using a lot of that in the second half of the day. it will be a bit drier, there will be showers but most of the name of size. this is sunday, the potential for value most of the name of size. this is sunday, the potentialfor value it weather again, some went tennis over the hills, lots of showers in the north and it will feel colder. that is it for now. hello, this is bbc news with reeta chakrabarti. the headlines: the billionaire sir philip green has dropped an injunction that had stopped the daily telegraph publishing accusations against him of sexual and racial abuse, allegations he denies. the paper says it will publish more allegations tonight. the family of cardiff city footballer emiliano sala say they can now mourn him, after police confirmed yesterday that it was his body recovered from the english channel. after the death of four children in a house fire in stafford on tuesday, two people have been arrested
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on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence. theresa may will meet her irish counterpart, leo va radkar, shortly in dublin, as she continues to seek changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. the actor albert finney whose big film break came as the angry young man, has died at the age of 82. and coming up in the next half hour, the academic challenging brexiteerjacob rees—mogg to a ‘naked debate'. the giant drax power station in north yorkshire has become the first in the world to capture carbon dioxide by burning wood pellets. the company says the electricity it is producing during a trial at the plant near selby is carbon negative and helping to combat climate change on a very small scale. but environmentalists have expressed opposition. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. we humans owe trees a great debt.
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when they're growing, they absorb much of the carbon dioxide emissions that are overheating the planet. that is why the uk's biggest power station, drax in yorkshire, has largely shifted away from coal. the new fuel is in these giant domes. they're filled with wood pellets that will be burned to make electricity. when the pellets are burned, they will only release the c02 the growing trees captured in the first place. this is known as carbon neutral. now drax is going one step further. with this equipment, it is taking the exhaust gases from the wood burning, and it is stripping out the carbon dioxide. the flue gas comes in here, and these tanks use a special chemical to separate out the c02. the c02 will later be able to be sold for industrial purposes. capturing the carbon dioxide from wood is a radical step. it's known as going carbon negative. so we are piloting a technology that actually removes
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the carbon emissions when we use bioenergy to produce electricity. so actually becoming a carbon negative power station, which we believe is absolutely critical, if we are to hit our global warming targets, and keep temperatures below preindustrial levels. but what to do with that captured carbon dioxide? well, in nearby leeds, this firm is buying carbon dioxide, and mixing it with incinerator ash from these hoppers. blending the c02 with the ash creates artificial limestone pellets. you can see the heat from the chemical reaction. the pellets get turned into building blocks like these. it's ingenious to take a waste product like c02 and turn it into something useful like this. the problem is one of scale. one report suggests that, to solve our energy problems, we would need to be burning wood from forests three times the size of india. think of the impact. when wood is burnt, you take carbon
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that has been stored in forests, forests that have been growing often for hundreds of years, certainly for decades, you cut it down, you burn them. it will take new forests decades to grow back, if they are able to grow back at all. so the healthy climate relies on healthy forests. we need to have more of them. drax say there is plenty of timber for current levels of burning. they think they will be asked to expand their c02 capture experiment to help stabilise the climate. roger harrabin, bbc news, in yorkshire. iamjoined by
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i am joined by dr maria carvalho. there are clearly worries about it. what is your opinion? it is a good thing in terms of the carbon capture and storage technology. across all the reports, carbon capture and storage is a very necessary component to make sure we meet our paris targets. you can't avoid it. this is a pilot facility that shows their technological viability of enabling this and how you can get the stored carbon to be used for other products. it is interesting because it is using organic solvent which will then reduce the environmental toxicity and the energy intensity of the ccf itself. but what it does not mean is that we can take every coal power and natural gas plant and convert it to bio energy. why not? the scale. what could be done is using the residual timber to do that but that is not...
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we need to make sure this is not a reason for deforestation. it is important for biodiversity and preventing topsoil erosion and landslides which we have seen tragically around many places around the world where deforestation has occurred. so carbon capture and storage and then the reuse of that is to be welcomed. the issue then is how to do that in a sustainable way. exactly. and how would you do that? 0ne exactly. and how would you do that? one of the things that is interesting about this plant is that it is extremely expensive. it is... there are only 23 plants. this is going to be millions of tonnes of c02. what should be taken from drax is that it is an important learning
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facility for bringing the cost down. but how to social biomass and bioenergy away from sustainable timber, creating the supply chain for that is necessary. beyond that, converting every coal power and natural gas into a biomass plant is not the solution to go.|j natural gas into a biomass plant is not the solution to go. i get you in —— i get the impression that we are at the start of what will be an important technology. exactly. we have been talking about carbon ca ptu re have been talking about carbon capture and storage for years and yet it has been so expensive to bring down. the uk government has tried to put up $1 billion grants and it has never been enough to get the private sector to engage with this. this kind of short term pilot facility is very important. it is something that, in terms of the uk, coal power stations are going to be decommissioned by 2025. the lesson to learn from drax can be exported
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to learn from drax can be exported to other countries. learning how to convert your coal plants into bio energy and then enabling the capture storage. really interesting. thank you so much. let's get more on brexit now — and an unusual challenge from one campaigner that's caught the headlines. a cambridge academic has invited the prominent tory brexiteerjacob rees—mogg to debate her, in the nude. dr victoria bateman been trying to show that brexit leaves the uk, as she puts it, exposed, and in order to do that she's been taking her clothes off to argue her case. this is the moment she revealed all to radio four‘sjohn humphrey on the today programme this morning. good morning. i have brought my message to the studio today, as you can see, written across my body. brexit leaves britain naked. yes, and you are now naked as we speak.
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well, we're joined now and you are now naked as we speak. well, we'rejoined now by and you are now naked as we speak. well, we're joined now by victoria bateman. she an economic fellow at couege bateman. she an economic fellow at college cambridge. thank you for talking to us. you are welcome. i can see that you are dressed at the moment. have you had any reply from jacob rees—mogg? moment. have you had any reply from jacob rees-mogg? not yet. it is an open invitation so i am ready and waiting. it is an invitation that i extend to all of those high—profile brexiteers who have tried to sell britain the emperor's new clothes. they might say that they do not believe that the economy will be left exposed so they have no need to ta ke left exposed so they have no need to take their clothes off. left exposed so they have no need to take their clothes offlj left exposed so they have no need to take their clothes off. i think if we look at what is happening with their british economy right now, there are a series of problems, the nhs, housing, wage growth, and food banks in use up and down the country. many brexiteers tell us
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daily that all of these problems can impart to be reduced to the european union. my view is that the european union. my view is that the european union is not the cause of these problems and that brexit therefore cannot possibly provide a solution that brexiteers have sold brexit voters a false solution. you make these points very clearly and coherently while fully dressed, so why at other moments do you feel the need to take your clothes off to say these other things. it is that a nature that i have written thousands of words as to why brexit is bad for britain. i thought it would be helpful to condense those words down toa helpful to condense those words down to a single powerful neck fit that —— makea to a single powerful neck fit that —— make a single powerful message that brexit leaves britain naked. surely you can... why not demonstrate the fact deeds not words
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to make a point? i am comfortable in my to make a point? i am comfortable in d. to make a point? i am comfortable in my body. i suppose because it may detract from the actual words. number of people have suggested this to me but i think to suggest that a woman taking her clothes off is, for example, trashy, that she is stupid, that it results in a loss of respect is to reveal the way that as a society we falsely judge women, is to reveal the way that as a society we falselyjudge women, that we hang a woman's worse on what she does or does not choose to cover her body. if i am perfectly comfortable using my body, i am a modern day woman, i believe that it is up to me that i decide what to do with my body, then why not use that metaphor to try and convey what brexit will do to britain? maybe women would say that women have fought for a long time to be regarded as much more than what their bodies and what you
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are doing is counter to that. i'm not sure. we are quite used to seeing images of naked women in our society. we have lots of pornography for example available online, we see scantily clad women in advertising, we see lots of female nudes in art galleries, but what we rarely see is this female nude being given a voice. by taking to the stage, by putting forward an important political argument, by voicing my opinion, i would say that i am showing that behind every naked woman is a real thinking being. and that next time you look at a woman naked, don't assume that she is trashy or stupid. i was listening to you this morning when you are speaking on the today programme naked in front ofjohn humphrys and nick robinson. what was that like?” am perfectly comfortable. i don't
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think that women's bodies have to be associated with sex and babies alone. i am a modern day liberated woman. for centuries men and society in general have controlled what women can do with their bodies, so why not come as a modern day woman, use your body for your own purpose to deliver your own message? i think a lot of the outrage is in response to people being angry and frustrated bya to people being angry and frustrated by a woman actually doing something for herself with her own body, rather than something that is under the command of a man. is it anger or is it bewilderment? is it why can't you just say your message which you argue well, but say it to

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