tv BBC News BBC News March 28, 2019 11:00pm-11:31pm GMT
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this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. seve n seven oi’ seven or 11 at temperatures around seven or 11 degrees. we could also the headlines at 11 o'clock: see 13 theresa may's brexit deal returns degrees. we could also see 13 degrees in the south to parliament tomorrow, but this time mps will only get west. bye—bye. to vote on part of it — the withdrawal deal. we are not prepared to support the prime minister on this. we want to see a discussion about both the issues and in particular, the crucial future arrangement. also coming up... a record number of children from working families are living in poverty in the uk because of rapidly rising living costs. nearly 3 million children are in poverty despite their parents working, according to latest figures. in mozambique, tens of thousands of people are still waiting for help, two weeks after the tropical cyclone. the aftermath of grenfell. dust and debris found near the tower contain toxic chemicals, which could cause cancer. ole gunnar solskjaer achieves his "ultimate dream", signing a three year
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contract to manage manchester united. and coming up at 11:30pm, we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, the chief executive of the association of chartered certified accountants, helen brand, and a broadcaster and author, john kampfner. stay with us for that. hello, good evening. mps are to be given another vote on the prime minister's brexit plans tomorrow. but this time, only on one half of the agreement made with the eu. they'll be asked to give their backing to the withdrawal deal, which concerns the divorce bill, the rights of citizens, and that controversial matter
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of the irish backstop. it needs to get through parliament tomorrow to guarantee brexit can be delayed until 22nd may. the other part of the deal, the political declaration — which concerns britain's future relations with the eu — would still need to be backed by mps in the coming weeks. labour has criticised the move, calling it a blindfold brexit. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports from westminster. they won'tjust be talked into it. still too many quarrels about what to do. mark is in a real minority here because he's voted... me and 17.4 million people. no, no. ministers still want to move forward theresa may's compromise with the eu to end all the noise. politicians of all political parties have a duty to put the national interest first, so that we can put this controversy behind us and move on to a brighter future for the british people. but conversations are over for now with the allies they need
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— the dup, who won't back the deal, together with a core of brexiteers who are still holding out. one thing i would like to see is i think us go back to the eu again, keep the arm of friendship open, explain that there's still time for an exchange of letters providing a legally binding exit from the backstop. there's a trickle of brexiteers who'll back theresa may's deal now she's promised to leave. and they're urging colleagues tojoin them. you also want to leave the eu. guys and girls, it's up to you. if only it were that simple for theresa may. tomorrow, she will have another go at getting this place behind her deal. but it's not a third attempt at getting the whole package through, which has already failed twice. you might want to call tomorrow the day of meaningful vote 2.5, because mps will only be asked to vote on the divorce deal with the european union. they won't be asked to give another judgement on the whole package,
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which includes a plan for the long term. number ten says it's the last chance to be sure of avoiding a long delay to brexit. mr speaker, may i say the proposal the government is making, when the house listens to the rationale behind it, when it hears the full context of it, i'm sure the house will accept it's not only perfectly lawful, perfectly sensible, and is designed to give this house an opportunity of availing itself of a right that the european union has given to us to avail ourselves of an extension until may the 22nd. what the prime minister is trying to do is do something that she denied she would do on the 14th ofjanuary, and that is separate the withdrawal agreement from the political declaration, from the future arrangements. well, you cannot separate them, because otherwise you move into a blindfold brexit on the basis of the withdrawal agreement. even with tories, number ten's latest wheeze simply might not work. we're all sharing it, that deal that's on the table has all of our names on it... even those who
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didn't back brexit can't agree. we've been in the eu for 45 years, we would hope that the settlement that we decide on would last us for another 50 years. it should not be one that we are held to vote for at gunpoint. and you can't easily get people to support different options. because they take us to a different place. a second referendum... that's not the point. the point is we can't support that deal... the second referendum doesn't settle all of the difficult choices and trade—offs that need to be made in any kind of deal that we're talking about. so saying, well, my answer to the problem of complexity is to pass a binary choice back to the people, doesn't settle that one bit. how is your party going to sort this out? you've been having this argument for nearly three years. i think the solution to this lies in looking beyond the party, to parliament as a whole. and we needed a process that reached across the other side of the house of commons and worked with the other tribes and factions and the other parties. there are so many doubts, though, about the prime minister's deal getting through, whether in two
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halves or at the same time, that behind closed doors, mp5 from all parties are hunting for solutions. well, i won't be voting for this half deal and it's another outrage by the prime minister trying to circumvent parliament, attempting to bash us all over the head yet again. and i don't think it will work. and that's why i'm working very closely with colleagues across parties to try and find solutions because we need a way out of this crisis. and number ten is trying — still trying — to find an escape out of the dark hole they're in. tomorrow, they'll ask parliament to allow them to take another step. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. to get her withdrawal agreement through tomorrow, the prime minister needs the support of the dup, but so far, there's no sign at all of the dup changing its position. our ireland correspondent emma vardy is in stormont for us. well, tonight as things stand, there simply isn't. over the last
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two weeks, there have been many avenues explored intensively between the dup and the government try to make this deal more palatable but all those avenues just keep seeming to lead to dead ends. now, if the backstop were to kick in, that could mean northern ireland being treated differently to the rest of the uk. this place alone having to follow eu rules. there has been something discussed called the stormont lock, that would mean this place having a role in whether to accept new eu rules and promises that if northern ireland had to remain closer than the rest of the uk to the eu, then the uk would do something similar, would stand by them but there is distrust and suspicion in the dup about whether those promises would be further down the line. make no mistake, there are many remain voters here in northern ireland who would like to see that deal go through only to end all the uncertainty, but i can tell you
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this, that pressure alone is not going to force the dup‘s hand because as long as they believe that this deal could chip away at northern ireland's position within the united kingdom, they're going to find it extremely hard to back it because that belief in the union is the most fundamental thing that the dup is all about. meanwhile, there has been a furious reaction from business leaders today to the ongoing deadlock over brexit. the head of the british chambers of commerce said mps needed to stop "chasing rainbows". he told the group's annual conference that uncertainty is causing "real world damage" to the uk economy. our business editor simon jack looks now at the daily pressure on british companies. where do you go to escape from brexit? how about this caravan and camping site in dorset? hello. hi there. pat and john headed back from spain in time for the original brexit date because they had so many unanswered questions.
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insurance, motor home travelling insurance, our private medical. a big thing for us is our mobile phone roaming charges, because that's the only communications we have when we are abroad. there's also the delays on the other side of the channel. there's also things like our driving licences. we don't know if they stack up. and the dogs? we don't know about how their passports stack up. we don't know about blood testing, the rabies jab. real questions affecting real life choices, and creating some business winners and losers. all the quality ones are german. campsite owner dave is one of the few winners. we're having a fabulous year so far. we were 300 bookings up in february on last year and march is following suit. there's a lot of uncertainty with the economic climate and the brexit situation. the pound is very weak against the euro. are the ferries going to be congested with extra freight coming in if there's a no—deal situation? it is perhaps incredible that we don't know what kind of brexit we're going to get yet, and when. but for businesses, the effects
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of it are very real and it's creating winners, like this camping and caravan park in dorset, but it's creating many, many more losers. for most businesses, it's that combination of caution, confusion and frustration at the political impasse that is causing real—world damage, for businesses like this one here in portsmouth. jayne mugridge makes fruit cordials and vinegars. last year, she sold nearly 30,000 bottles, until bottles became one of her biggest brexit problems. these are our cordial bottles. the french have decided they're not going to make or supply them any more because of the uncertainties with brexit. that's 50% of our business out of the window straight away. can't you get them from somewhere in the uk? no, the british don't make pretty bottles. they make bog—standard, plain bottles. what do you think politicians think about business? do you think they recognise the needs of business? well, politicians don't listen to small businesses. they don't really care, i don't think.
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businesses big and small, from all around the country, came to westminster today. the message was simple. get the deal done. remove uncertainty and lean in to investing in what is a great economy. finding a neat way to decouple from europe is the key to getting business moving again. simon jack, bbc news. so, the latest vote on brexit is expected to take place tomorrow afternoon. can the prime minister finally get the support she needs — at least for this part of her brexit deal? and if she doesn't, what happens next? here's our deputy political editor, john pienaar. for theresa may, parliament's become a hostile environment. every pm admits there's something scary about the commons. theresa may could be forgiven for hating this place. her brexit deal has been blocked twice, so the plan now — try again to win the house and buy time to get her deal through. tomorrow is about the eu divorce, and the fight over britain's future relationship with europe
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still comes later. and it still looks tough. promising to go failed to do the trick. as someone put it, she fell on her sword and missed. so, how's the search for more votes going? not very well. the fight over the future's just warming up. agreeing the so—called withdrawal agreement easily hard enough on its own. the democratic unionists, led by nigel dodds, just aren't buying promises to safeguard the union when britain leaves. that's made it harder to win round rebels like jacob rees—mogg, who won't back the deal unless the dup‘s on board. others say the same. even with potential leadership candidates like boris johnson, and like david davis on side, mrs may needs more. her offer to resign has made it harder to win round leave—accepting labour mps. they don't want to see a more brexiteer pm. as for the post—brexit future, well, mps couldn't agree an alternative plan yesterday. but a so—called softer brexit —
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sticking with eu customs rules — came close. a new referendum wasn't far off, either. and that's frightened some brexiteers, who are coming to see mrs may's deal as the best brexit on offer — just not enough. so, britain may end up back in brussels seeking more time. the eu gave mrs may until tomorrow to agree a deal, if it wants a brexit extension to may the 22nd to fix the details. or, if her dealfails, face a tighter deadline on april the 12th. that, on paper, could mean a no—deal brexit in a fortnight. now, team may is hoping they can at least get mps behind the terms of divorce, the withdrawal agreement, and that would be enough to get past april the 12th and give britain till the third week in may to get the whole brexit deal passed. otherwise, there'd be two weeks to agree something else — a softer brexit, a referendum, even, some say, a snap general election. and that would mean asking for more time, maybe a much longer extension. the eu could well agree,
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though it's the last thing brexiteers in and outside the government want, let alone theresa may. so, the prime minister's still trying to beat the odds again tomorrow, hoping to keep her plan alive, to pass on a legacy, to be the pm who settles brexit. until the next big row, that is, under new management at number ten. and we'll bring you a special programme covering tomorrow's brexit vote on bbc one and the bbc news channel. that's from 2.15pm tomorrow afternoon. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may's brexit deal returns to parliament tomorrow — but this time mps will only get to vote on part of it, the withdrawal deal. spiralling living costs mean a record number of children from working families are living in poverty in the uk according to the latest figures.
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in mozambique — tens of thousands of people remain desperately in need of aid two weeks after the tropical cyclone. an independent study analysing soil and dust found around grenfell tower in west london has revealed concentrations of toxic chemicals that could cause long term health problems including asthma and cancer. samples were gathered six months after the fire in the tower block that claimed the lives of 72 people. tom symonds reports. i would say that this stuff is definitely not good for touching, professor anna stec gathered this six months after the grenfell fire. lots of burnt insulation but also soil and scrapings from window blinds. some of it found just over a kilometre from the tower. we found a number of chemicals that are categorised as, for example, respiratory sensitisers that might potentially lead, for example, to asthma. but also more focused
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on the carcinogens, or the chemicals that are classified as carcinogens. she says there is a higher risk of cancer and asthma, but further research is needed to determine how high. monitoring has found no evidence of contaminated air, but this is the first study of the wider environment. the government has welcomed the professor stec‘s research, but has also said that the risks are generally very low. the problem is that people living this close simply don't believe it. vassilika stavrou keeps cleaning this strange black muck from her flat. that's off your... ? furniture, yes. it's like black... this is 21 months on. and then there's what local people call the grenfell cough. following grenfell, it all started with a hot sensation in the throat and chest, and then gradually it propagated coughing, a dry, dry cough, very
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unpleasant. it's as if someone is scratching you on the lungs. has the fire made health here worse? people feel they've had to force the authorities to address that question. we have children who cannot put their hands in the soil. it's almost two years after the fire. there has, apart from professor stec‘s sampling, there has been none taken. nobody came in. where is the duty of care? the government was warned about professor stec‘s early findings last february. it has now finally commissioned a wider study. no samples have yet been gathered. tom symonds, bbc news. almost three million children from working families were living in poverty last year — that's a record number. and nearly 4 million children were living in what's called absolute poverty, which is defined as families living off less than £247 per week after housing costs. the national housing federation blames spiralling rents and mortgage costs for putting a third more children into poverty since 2010. our social
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affairs correspondent michael buchanan has more. i am working at the minute, and ifeel like i'm not much better off in work than i was without work. hazel radcliffe is a part—time carer, part time student and full—time mother. to two teenage boys. her entire monthly salary, £700, goes on rent. she relies on her student loan and benefits for everyday essentials. i promised myself i wouldn't be the single mum living on benefits. although i am working now, i still feel like i am chasing my tail, just meeting the cost of living, the cost of housing, especially for myself, housing and fuel bills, my gas, electricity and council taxes increase in quite a
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bit each year. but the wage, the income‘s not increasing to match that. though more people are finding a job, work is farfrom a guarantee of avoiding poverty. record numbers of children are living in households where at least one parent is employed. 4 million children in poverty, three quarters of their parents are working. wages are stagnant. people making really difficult choices every day about how to keep their lives on track. and no plan to get that fixed. increasing housing costs and inflation rising faster than income last year contributed to more children living in absolute poverty. but so did the government's ongoing four year benefit freeze, which costs families with children an average of £2110 a year. the benefit freeze had an impact on some families, but that benefit freeze is coming to an end next year, and there is more that we can do and are doing to make sure that families that
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are in work to keep more of their money. for tracy and her children, the stress of being poor is a daily challenge. a single mum, dependent on benefits, each spending decision needs careful thought. it can be a struggle at times. we don't get to go on family days out or holidays, we just live with what we have, food, being able to put heating on, electric. that's our priority. the success of the government's promised to eliminate child poverty by 2020, with a year to go, millions of children are still living below the breadline. michael buchanan, bbc news. a man has died after being stabbed in central london this evening. armed police sealed off london central mosque, near regent's park, following reports of a man being attacked on a nearby road. the victim was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital where he later died. police say the incident is not terror—related. the chinese telecoms giant huawei
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has been strongly criticised over the security of its technology in the uk. the national cyber security centre has identified what it calls "significant" issues in huawei's engineering processes which it says pose "new risks" to britain's telecommunications. tens of thousands of survivors of the tropical cyclone idai are still waiting for help two weeks after large parts of southern africa were hit. the un children's agency, unicef, says three million people, half of them children, need emergency food aid. more than 750 people died across mozambique, zimbabwe and malawi in the worst weather—related disaster to ever hit the region. the bbc‘s senior africa correspondent anne soy reports from the region surrounding beira. utter desperation.
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food has just been dropped off, but it wasn't enough. these people are displaced, hungry and increasingly angry. antonia left empty—handed. she lost everything in the cyclone. translation: i had a big farm of rice, maize and peanuts, but all of it was swept away. charities deliver aid however they can. this food is being taken to a community that hasn't been reached before. word has gone out that help is finally on the way. here, you have to show up to get something. elisa's granddaughter was only a week old when disaster struck. translation: we hid in
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the ceiling. that's how we survived. anyone who fell in the water died. but many are still unreached. both bridges into this community were washed away. the people here improvise. the water is receding now, but then there are communities that have still not been reached. we're going to find one of them now. it's completely cut off more than two weeks later, and it's still not received any help. the local school is now a shelter. i'm told 160 people live here. they try and salvage their crops, but hopes are fading. the harvest is rotting, leaving them without food and seeds. and now more fears, as a child suspected to have cholera dies. unless conditions improve quickly, more lives could be lost. anne soy, bbc news,
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beira. you are watching bbc news. imagine a world in which you feel no pain? that's what it's like for 71—year—old jo cameron, it's all she knows. the pensionerfrom inverness has a genetic mutation which means she feels virtually no pain and never feels anxious or afraid. she didn't realise she was different until doctors were astonished that she didn't need painkillers following a serious operation. our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, reports. she's had teeth knocked out, broken her arm, suffered serious burns, and felt nothing, becausejo cameron simply doesn't sense pain. i put my arm on something and only realise it's burning when i can smell flesh burning. so, it's not clumsiness. the normal reaction is, you cut yourself or burn yourself, once, maybe twice, then you avoid
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that because your brain says, don't do that. my brain doesn't say don't do that. as for giving birth to her two children, again, painless. before i realised it, i've had the children, so it wasn't a case of, i'm a martyr, i don't feel pain. it was, i'm prepared to take anything because they tell me it's going to be awful. i felt things, i felt my body stretching, i felt peculiar feelings, but nothing to make me... no pain. the chilli challenge. 0k? right, 1, 2, 3. this isjo with her husband and doctor eating super hot chillies — a breeze for her. scientists at university college london have analysed her dna and found she has two gene mutations. one shuts down the pain pathway from the brain. what we hope is to be able to exploit the mechanism to manipulate pain thresholds in people that have chronic pain, and there's a vast problem of around about 6% or 7% of the population who have ongoing excruciating pain,
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so we really do need some new therapies. we have our pinprick box. the team showed me some of the instruments they tested onjo. no matter how hard the needle was pushed, it didn't hurt her. yeah. yeah? i can't stop being happy and i do forget things. jo's gene mutation also boosts her mood, and she's never anxious, but it also affects her memory, and she often loses things. however, it's her inability to feel pain which may ultimately help others. fergus walsh, bbc news. back to brexit, because tomorrow the 29th march was meant to be the day that britain left the european union. but that — as we know, isn't happening, at least for now. our special correspondent ed thomas has been to weston—super—mare in north somerset, where, like the uk as a whole, they voted 52 to 48 in favour of leaving. so what do voters there,
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make of the delay to brexit? theresa may: we will be leaving the eu on the 29th of march, 2019, at 11pm. tomorrow was meant to be the day that changed everything. i was hoping for the start of a new future. brexit, a government's promise to a nation. i want to wake up and find it's all been a bad dream. yeah, i do too. i don't want it to happen. how do you feel right now? let down. democratic vote doesn't count, does it? weston—super—mare in north somerset, which voted leave — but only just. it's been going on so long, just fed up with it. nearly three years on, like everyone else, steve and theresa are still waiting... what were we voting for? for certainty. so, what do you want to happen? anything. a decision one way or another,
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so we know where we're going. so you would take anything, no matter what? yeah, at the moment, yeah. you'd take leave, go? yeah, yeah. you'd take no deal, go? yeah. you'd take remain? yeah. i'd take anything, just to get it out of the way. i'm just fed up with it. all it is is about brexit. did you vote on the 2015 election? no. 2010? no. but the referendum, you did? yes. dave says life hasn't been the same since the last recession. i feel completely disenfranchised. he wanted brexit this weekend. the start of a new era, where we can have the schools performing, the law, police performing, not overworked. the hospitals not under as much pressure from people coming in. and why do you think those issues are the fault of the european union? i didn't say they're the fault of the european union. it's the fault of our own politicians for allowing it to happen. forget about all of it, because i don't think we should be leaving. i don't know how a country as small as us will be able
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to survive on our own. because we're not great britain any more. we're just britain. at the bridge club, a sense of real disillusionment. what's a word you'd use to sum it up? betrayal. whether you voted for or against it, i think democracy died. it's been killed off by the self—seeking elite. brexit? lost all interest in it. at raddy‘s, it's cup final night. brexit? laughter. a word they don't want to hear. go away! not a good subject! i reckon we should stay where we are, in the eu. what about the 17 million people who voted to leave? it worked before, didn't it? why change something that doesn't need to be changed? as we wait for a brexit compromise, it's unclear when or who will find a way out, as both sides here become increasingly frustrated. ed thomas, bbc news, weston—super—mare.
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now it's time for the weather with sarah keith—lucas. the month of march came in like a lion and it will certainly be going out more like a lamb. we have had some fine, settled spring weather over the past few days. on thursday, we reached 17 in aberdeenshire. over the next seven days or so, a typical city, oxford, a few more days of sunshine but then a dip in the temperature. a cooler theme as we look through the first week of april. what we have out there at the moment, high pressure sitting towards the south keeping the weather settled. a cold front moving in from the north—west. it brings more cloud and patchy rain to northern and western scotland. although —— also fairly cloudy for northern ireland. windy in the north but further south, with that sunshine, after the chilly start, a pleasa nt sunshine, after the chilly start, a
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