tv Afternoon Live BBC News May 1, 2019 2:00pm-5:01pm BST
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hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at two... a landmark ruling in the world of sport. south african athlete caster semenya loses an appeal against new rules restricting testosterone levels in female runners. 50 weeks in jail for the wikileaks founderjulian assange for breaching his bail by hiding in the ecuadoran embassy. after violent clashes in venezuela, president nicolas maduro goes on tv to say a coup attempt against him has failed. labour once again under the spotlight over anti—semitism as the party tries to put the focus on its climate—change policies. here's the house of commons wherejeremy corbyn has urged mps to declare a national
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climate emergency. researchers hail an ‘astonishing' reduction in obesity among some pre—school children in leeds. coming up on afternoon live all the sport — damianjohnson. we also have the weather. thank you, i will be down in the studio later to talk about a tornado which occurred in romania yesterday, but back home, we have got a mix of sunshine and showers before things turned colder briefly over the weekend. this had a devastating impact on fa ns this had a devastating impact on fans and grand prix racing as well.
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hello, everyone. iam hello, everyone. i am simon mccoy. i am simon mccoy. the south african athlete caster semenya has lost a landmark case against new rules restricting the amount of testosterone in female runners. semenya, a double olympic gold medallist, has a condition that means she has unusually high levels of the hormone. the governing body of world athletics has brought in rules forcing athletes like her to take medication, in order to lower their testosterone. caster semenya claimed that was unfair but now the court of arbitration for sport has ruled against her. here's our sports news correspondent richard conway. commentator: here comes caster semenya past the... caster semenya has controlled 800m running over the past decade like no one else. but that dominance is now in doubt following this landmark verdict. athletics world governing body, the iaaf, believes women with what is known as ‘differences in sexual development‘, or dsd as it's also known, hold an unfair advantage over their competitors.
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caster semenya argued she simply has a genetic gift, was born and raised a woman and shouldn't be discriminated against. however, the court disagreed. they found that the dst measures are not discriminatory but the panel found that on the basis of the evidence submitted by the parties in the procedure, such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of achieving the iaaf objective of preserving the integrity of athletics. the hormones, genes and reproductive organs of women with dsd may often be a mix of male and female characteristics. the science and the impact of testosterone on performance was a key factor in the case. she has a condition which may lead to her to have a slightly higher testosterone levels than the average female. now, lots of women have conditions
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like this and there are various conditions that might lead to someone having high testosterone levels. the crux of this argument is whether those high oestrone levels that occur naturally in women confer the same advantage that they would if it was man versus woman, where we see a 10—12% difference. athletics chiefs fear that if left unchecked, dst athletes could dominate the sport, pointing to over 100 records that have already been set at national, continental and world level. the core value for the iaaf is the empowerment of girls and women to athletics. the regulations we are introducing are there to protect the sanctity of fair and open competition. meanwhile, the woman at the centre of this case was left initially been used before issuing a defiant statement saying...
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caster semenya now faces a crucial decision. if she is to defend her world title, she must start taking the necessary medication next week. however, she may yet opt to run a longer distance not subject to the regulations. the iaaf has welcomed the decision but given the split verdict and the highly contentious nature of the decision, the issue looks like it will run on for some time. richard conway, bbc news. julian assange has been sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail. the wikileaks co—founder, who's a7, spent seven years avoiding court by staying in the ecuadorean embassy in london but he was removed from there last month. our correspondent andy moore is at southwark crown court. he has the latest. went did the judge have to say? well, the judge listened to the arguments put forward by mark summers qc for
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julian assange. he said thatjulian assange had gone into the emphasis like embassy because he feared to be extradited to the united states where she feared for his life. he said thatjulian assange suffered illnesses, he was depressed. it says that he should not be given the maximum sentence. that he should not be given the maximum sentence. the judge listened and basically threw that out. the maximum sentence was and basically threw that out. the maximum sentence was 52 weeks, he was sentenced to 50 weeks. the judge said this was a deliberate attempt to avoid justice and no one is above the law. and she said this is one of the law. and she said this is one of the most serious cases of breaching bail. outside court, supporters of julian assange said that the sentencing was an outrage, it was vindictive. they said for example of the speedboat killer who went to georgia to jump bail. the speedboat killer who went to georgia tojump bail. he was only
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sentenced to six months injail. so these proceedings are over and done with now. the sentencing. tomorrow julian assange will be appearing in court again via video link in connection with the extradition proceedings to the united states where he could face a jail sentence of up to five years. auntie mark, thank you very much. us secretary of state mike pompeo has said that the united states was prepared to take military action to stem the ongoing turmoil in venezuela. overnight, opposition leader jaun guaido called again for people to take to the streets, he promised the "largest demonstration" in the country's history. paul adams has the latest. was this a dress rehearsal or a failed uprising? yesterday's chaotic scenes in caracas never really looked like a regime in collapse. venezuela has had lots of this in recent years.
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but on the streets, some clearly believed this was a decisive moment. translation: the country is ours, we need to go out into the street. guaido is a leader in charge. he has a plan. translation: the streets are a way out of this. and with the armed forces taking action together with the political leadership in support of the people here, i think we can win. the opposition leader guaido began the day talking about a final phase in his effort to replace nicolas maduro. he seemed to have some support from elements of the national guard. soldiers wearing blue ribbons mingling with the crowd, but the army did not switch sides and at the end of the day, mr guaido had this plea. translation: i am calling on the armed forces to continue their march in operation freedom. in the rescue of the dignity of our people, our families. this is the challenge. but mr maduro's supporters were also on the streets answering a call to gather outside the presidential palace. and when their man
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finally appeared on camera, the picture seemed designed to show government and a military still holding firm. translation: with truth as a sword, as a shield, we faced so many attacks and so many lies and thanks to it, we have emerged victorious in every situation and we will continue to emerge victorious in any difficulty that we face from now on. but was there a moment amid the chaos when mr maduro was losing his grip, preparing to flee his own country? the trump administration wants everyone to think so. he was ready to go. he made a decision that we have been urging him to make for quite some time and then he was diverted from that action by the russians. we hope that he will reconsider and get back on that plane. russia says this is nonsense, but all eyes today will be on the streets. will the opposition feel emboldened by yesterday's scenes and come out in even bigger numbers? labour are calling for the government to declare a climate
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emrgency following the protests in london and around the country last month. we can go live to the parliamentary debate, being held in the house of commons now. and ate his working—class communities that suffer the worst effects of air pollution. those who are effects of air pollution. those who a re least effects of air pollution. those who are least able to rebuild their lives after flooding will be hit ha rd est by lives after flooding will be hit hardest by rising food prices while the better off who are sometimes more responsible for the most omissions can pay their way out. internationally, in a cruel twist of fate, it is the global south that is facing the greatest devastation at the hands of droughts and extreme weather. this feels —— feels poverty and warand weather. this feels —— feels poverty and war and creates refugees as many are forced to flee their homes. some of the refugees in this world now
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are in reality climate refugees. these people are paying the price of emission that did not come from the global south, overwhelmingly come from the global north and rapidly industrializing societies. answer david at recently said in his brilliant programme, i quote we now stand at a unique point in our planet's history. one where we must all share responsibility. both for oui’ all share responsibility. both for our present well—being and for the future of life on earth. that is the magnitude of what we are talking about. that future of life on earth. it is too late for token mystic policies or gimmicks. we have to do more. banning plastic, good, important. but individual action is not enough. we need a collective response which empowers people
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instead of just shaming response which empowers people instead ofjust shaming them. if they do not buy expensive recycled toilet paper or by that latest previous. if we are to declare an emergency, then it follows that radical and urgent action must be taken. according to the intergovernmental panel on climate change to avert disastrous effects of warming greater in 1.5 celsius, global emission must fall by about 45% by 2030 in order to reach net zero by 2050 at the absolute latest. isa zero by 2050 at the absolute latest. is a massive demand and a massive ask. it is not going to ask by its -- it is ask. it is not going to ask by its —— it is not going to happen by itself. we are going to have to free ourselves from some of the harmful beliefs have characterised our
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thinking. the hidden hand of the market is not going to save us. technological solutions are not going to magically appear. in an emergency of this magnitude requires large—scale intervention by the government to kick—start industries, to direct investment and to boost research and development in the green technologies of the future. that is jeremy green technologies of the future. that isjeremy corbyn in the house of commons. we are going to go to jessica parker whojoins us of commons. we are going to go to jessica parker who joins us from westminster. that is what labour is intending to folk a rts what labour is intending to folk arts to be on today. but the opposition has reared its head. yes, this is regarding a forward that jeremy corbyn wrote. it is called imperialism, a study the book elements of it have been described as anti—semitic. it suggests that...
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in the forward thatjeremy corbyn wrote, he described the book over all as a great book. it had seven correct and pressing observations. the labour party have responded about this. a spokesperson saying thatjeremy praised about this. a spokesperson saying that jeremy praised the about this. a spokesperson saying thatjeremy praised the study. hobson's work had outdated and offensive observations and jeremy rejects all of that analysis. you have a labour party saying that whilejeremy corbyn was praising elements of the book, he was not praising any anti—semitic elements of the book. some people question whether he should have written the forward at all. there has been a response from the jewish labour movement today. they say thatjeremy
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corbyn should consider his position. some have written tojeremy corbyn wanting a full explanation. campaigners trying to block a third runway at heathrow have lost a series of high court challenges against the expansion. a group of councils, residents, environmental charities and mayor of london sadiq khan brought four separate judicial reviews of the government's decision to approve the plans. they argued the plans would have "severe" consequences for londoners, but their case was dismissed this morning. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines... south african olympic champion caster semenya loses a landmark case against athletics‘ governing body over restricting testosterone the wikilea ks co—founder julian assange is sentenced to 50 weeks injail for breaching bail conditions. venezuelan opposition leader, juan guaido, calls for another massive protest to unseat the president, but nicolas maduro remains defiant. and coming up — why beavers are being made a protected species in scotland.
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and inspire criticism for allowing him back on the pitch after a head injury. they insist they follow the correct protocols. he has turned down place in the world marathon in october, raising speculation about a possible return to the track. and gary wilson is the first man through to the world snooker championships. i will be back with more on those stories. health experts claim there‘s been a significant reduction in obesity among pre—school children in leeds. they believe it‘s thanks to a project which shows parents how to encourage children to eat healthier meals and do more exercise. the improvements have been highest in the city among children from poorer backgrounds — a result that has been described as "astonishing" by researchers. our health correspondent
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sophie hutchinson reports. childhood obesity has proved extremely stubborn to shift. by the time children in england leave primary school, a third will be overweight or obese. one of the most difficult groups to help has been those from poorer backgrounds, but today‘s study from leeds seems to buck the trend. over a five—year period, the number of obese four—and five—year—olds has fallen by 6.4%. what‘s particularly interesting is that the number of obese children from deprived backgrounds has dropped even more, by an average of 8.7%. three—year—old libbyjoy used to only eat beans, sausages and mashed potato, but she was helped to try lots of different food as part of a scheme to tackle obesity in leeds. her mum now says she is fantastically healthy. her absolute favourite is broccoli, and she can eat loads of it. cucumbers, bananas, mangoes, peaches, strawberries, sweetcorn, loads of things now.
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the city of leeds has concentrated its efforts on tackling obesity, particularly among younger children and in deprived areas. one of the schemes there is called henry, and it runs nutrition workshops, some in children‘s centres. the programmes that henry's running really recognises that parents want the very best for their children, but actually there is a big difference between knowing what children should be eating and making that happen in practice, and so what henry's doing is really building parents' confidence and skills to establish a healthy, happy family life. a handful of other places in england have also seen reductions in childhood obesity, and it‘s hoped the trend will begin to turn. but for older children, weight problems are still proving a huge challenge. sophie hutchinson, bbc news.
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police in paris are clashing with protestors from the gillet jaune, also known as the yellow vest movement. we can now go live to pictures from paris, where the group are joining unions in protest across france. may the 1st is the traditional protest being carried out by a number of protest groups, but inevitably the focus is on the yellow vest movement. they have been bringing chaos to paris the past few saturdays. this is just bringing chaos to paris the past few saturdays. this isjust days bringing chaos to paris the past few saturdays. this is just days after president krohn outline policies with tax cuts. designed to bring the protest to an end, but already tear gas has been used to disperse a group. as you can see at the moment,
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large number of people are on the street, but it is a peaceful protest as far as the pictures we can see here. we will keep an eye on it. the court case has begun of a church warden accused of trying to murder two pensioners in the village of maids moreton in buckinghamshire. 28—year—old benjamin field is alledged to have plotted the deaths of peter farquhar and ann moore—martin in order to benefit from their will. mr field denies any involvement. he‘s gone on trial at oxford crown court along with his brother, tom field, and martyn smith, where they face a number of charged including conspiracy to murder and fraud. our reporterjo black is outside oxford crown court for us. what has the court been hearing? there is a third defendant, but i will come to him in a moment. ben fields is 2080 years old, he is the son of a baptist minister. the other defendant is a 32—year—old and he is
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a magician. both mr smith and mr field are accused of the murder of an english lecturer working at the university of buckingham. he was also a novelist. he died back in 2015. they both are accused of conspiracy to murder in regards to the neighbour. she died in 2017 around 18 months later. she died of natural causes. as you just pointed out, they both lived in a picturesque village outside of buckingham. and the two defendants lodged with the victim. it has been said that benfield had a project to get people to change their wells and make sure they died. the motive was
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the financial gain and he told the jury the financial gain and he told the jury that they would hear evidence of exit strategies which ben called them involving drugging, alcohol poisoning, suffocation while asleep 01’ poisoning, suffocation while asleep or sedated, attempts to cause heart failure, car crashes. the common theme, death made to look like an accident or suicide he said. and why? so ben could deceive those people into changing their wells to inherit their houses. he needed help and that came from mr martin smith. we were told that mr field was in a relationship with the victim. we we re relationship with the victim. we were told that the victims were deeply religious and intelligent people but they were lonely. a p pa re ntly people but they were lonely. apparently he was drawn to with sedatives and psychoactive drugs.
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when he died, and people thought it was because he was an alcoholic. the corner and many people thought it was due to his alcoholism. the younger brother of ben he is charged with fraud of £27,000. the three defendants alleged told her that he needed that money for a kidney analysis machine. all three deny the charges. jo thank you very much. the former black cab taxi driverjohn worboys, who has changed his name tojohn radford, has been charged with four sexual offences. the 62—year—old is accused of drugging four alleged victims with the intent of assaulting them between 2000 and 2008 in london. the ukip leader, gerard batten, has launched his party‘s campaign for the european elections. speaking to supporters in middlesbrough, he said ukip was the only party with a clear
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policy on how the uk will leave the european union. mr batten said he hoped the elections wouldn‘t take place, but inisted he was confident of success if they did. president trump‘s attorney general, william barr, is preparing to face questions from the senate‘sjudiciary committee, after us special counsel robert mueller wrote to him to express frustration at mr barr‘s summary of the investigation into links between russia and donald trump‘s election campaign. robert mueller, who conducted the investigation into alleged russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, said mr barr‘s four—page summary did not fully capture his report‘s "context, nature, and substance". he added it had caused "public confusion about critical aspects" of the results of the two—year investigation. i‘m joined now by our washington correspondent dan johnson. we really do not know how this is going to pan out, but we know he‘s going to pan out, but we know he‘s going to pan out, but we know he‘s going to be under pressure. yes,
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this is going to be a tough day for william barr. it is all about how he handled the mueller report when it was handed to him. how he presented it, whether he tried to put a positive gloss on it on behalf of the president. he was the first person to see it, read it and present a summary for the american people. he is accused by some democrats in his summary of saying nothing to look at here, move along, nothing to look at here, move along, no real evidence against the president. but in fact, as we got more detail and read more of it ourselves, there were more complicated things. there were insta nces complicated things. there were instances where mueller had said that president trump may have tried to influence in the investigation. and he is unhappy with how william barr interpreted his findings. it is
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worth mentioning that the centre front of senate committee which is controlled by republicans. he might have a tougher time tomorrow when he appears before a democratically controlled house. the man they want to hear from is controlled house. the man they want to hearfrom is the controlled house. the man they want to hear from is the special council himself. yes, indeed. we do not know if he will. he has been invited. he is still an employee and works under william barr. that is another question that the attorney general might face today, when are you going to let as speak to mueller to hear what he thinks? he did not draw conclusions about whether the president should face any action, that was william barr‘s decision. a decision that many democrats disagree with. there are issues and questions that mueller will face
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from congress when he does eventually appear. no sign when that will happen. the mueller report took two years. but this is really only begun. let's have a look at the weather. there is some trouble somewhere. yes, there is. we are going to focus in the southeast here. it developed in the balkans and romania yesterday. it picked up some warm airfrom and romania yesterday. it picked up some warm air from greece and bulgaria. we saw a tornado developing. and a thunderstorm spread across the country. temperatures dramatically dropped. it is pretty much like the set up we get in the united states. that is pretty dramatic. there you go. the tornado has injured about 12 people, no fatalities. a chest mist a village. it could have been worse.
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it is incredible to see a full tornado from the sky right down to the ground. you don't often see the bottom bit. now, but it is not rare, we get some tornadoes here but not as much as in the great plains of the united states. what is in store for our bank holiday weekend? the united states. what is in store for our bank holiday weekend7m the united states. what is in store for our bank holiday weekend? it is going to be cooler for for our bank holiday weekend? it is going to be coolerfor a bit. shower revisor today and tomorrow. sunshine and showers. we have had some sunshine across the eastern areas. this weather front has been slowly moving in across the west bringing more persistent rain. when it reaches the east, we could see some heavy showers. maybe with some thunder in the afternoon. they will fade away and we will see a few clear skies appearing across the country. it will be chilly out of
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town, but in town five to 10 degrees. tomorrow, and a cool start with some sunshine. some showers that might be happy with sunday. it will become more widespread as we go into the afternoon. temperatures reaching 15, 16 may be 17. signs that the changes are taking place across the far north of scotland with the cold front sinking south bringing all take air. notice the isobars. it will bring some strong wind. it will be very cold across northern scotland through friday. central areas is where the cold front will be. there might be some rain on that. to the south, that is where the last of the mild air is. 15 degrees. temperatures will be in single figures for most further north. friday night and saturday, the cold air is coming. gardeners
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and growers beware, saturday morning and growers beware, saturday morning and maybe sunday morning, we are likely to see a little bit of a light frost around. that could cause some issues. but on saturday and sunday quite a bit of sunshine around although it will be chilly. slowly the temperatures will begin to recover by the time we reached bank holiday monday. we are starting ona bank holiday monday. we are starting on a chilly start, it will be breezy, but it will be dry for most. by breezy, but it will be dry for most. by monday the temperatures will recover.
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this is bbc news. our latest headlines... south african olympic champion caster semenya has lost an appeal against the world‘s athletics governing body over its ruling to limit testosterone levels in female runners. venezuelan president nicolas maduro defiantly vows to stay on after calls for a military uprising by the opposition leader. the wikilea ks co—founder julian assange has been sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching bail conditions. labour leaderjeremy corbyn has once again come under the spotlight over anti—semitism as the party tries to put the focus on its climate—change policies. researchers hail an "astonishing" reduction in obesity among some
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pre—school children in leeds. also coming up, on the 25th anniversary of the death of formula 1 driver ayrton senna, i‘ll be talking to broadcaster steve rider about the lasting impact the tragedy has had on the sporting world. sport now on afternoon live with damien johnson. totte n ha m tottenham hotspur under some criticism for how they dealt with what looked to be a nasty head injury. this was in their 1—0 defeat to ajax in the first leg of their champions league semi—final last night. mid—way through the first half, vertonghen had a really nasty clash of heads with his team—mate toby alderweireld. the belgian was treated on the pitch, he briefly went off, but then moments after returning to the field, he signalled to the spurs bench that he couldn‘t carry on. vertonghen then looked visibly distressed as he left the pitch. well, uefa do have a policy in place for dealing with head injuries. they say the referee has to stop the game to allow the player to be assessed by the team doctor.
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they say that this can take up to three minutes, and a player isn‘t allowed to go back on to the pitch unless the doctor and the referee gives them permission. spurs say they followed this protocol and that vertonghen was later seen walking through the media area. but headway, a charity who deal with head injuries, aren‘t happy and say even the protocols in place still don‘t take the problem seriously enough. they can be delayed in their presentation, the symptoms, and they may not manifest until several hours ora may not manifest until several hours or a couple of days later so it is difficult to do that so therefore the treatment assessment on the pitch under the gaze of thousands of fa ns pitch under the gaze of thousands of fans is simply not effective in the time has come for football to introduce the concussion to deduce is to allow the players to be assessed off the pitch in a better environment by independent doctors —— concussion substitutions. spurs have their work cut out
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against ajax in amsterdam next wednesday. and so do liverpool against lionel messi and barcelona. the reds are aiming to reach their second final in a row. remember, they lost to real madrid last year. they take on a barca side who haven‘t lost at home in 31 champions league matches. bossjurgen klopp says they "will suffer" at the nou camp, but they‘ll have chances too. meanwhile, the club have condemned the behaviour of a man seen pushing people into the fountains in barcelona. two videos have been posted online, and the club say it‘s "totally u na cce pta ble". aaron ramsey has played his last match for arsenal. he‘s out for the rest of the season after injuring a hamstring in the europa league last month. ramsey‘s agreed to joinjuventus when his contract expires at the end of next month. mo farah has turned down a place in great britain‘s marathon team, for the world championships in doha this autumn, increasing speculation that he plans to make a return to the track. after finishing fifth in the london marathon on sunday, farah said his brain was "all over
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the place" and he‘s yet to decide which event to contest in qatar. he‘s won gold in the 10,000 metres at the last three world championships. to the world snooker championship in sheffield where gary wilson is the first man to make it through to the semi—finals. he beat two—time finalist ali carter by 13 frames to nine at the crucible, finishing it off with this brilliant long red from way back in the baulk area. wilson, who‘s from tyneside, is a qualifier, and has only ever made it as far as the first round before this. on the other table, john higgins leads neil robertson 9—11. the afternoon sessions are just getting under way — coverage continues on bbc two and the bbc sport website. that‘s all the sport for now. thank you very much. you‘re watching afternoon live.
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today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of brazil‘s three—time formula one champion, ayrton senna at the 1994 san marino grand prix in italy. his death, at the age of 3a, robbed brazil of one of its most famous sportsmen, and brought the country to a standstill. senna raced in 161 grands prix over ten years, and won 41 of them, becoming world champion in 1988, 1990 and 1991. i‘m joined by david brabham, who drove it the tragic race and was a team—mate of austrian driver roland ratzenberger who also died that weekend. it was probably one of the worst weekends in formula 1 history. what we re weekends in formula 1 history. what were your memories of it? it was an horrific weekend, it really was. it obviously shocked the world, to have two deaths like that, we haven‘t had that for so long. i know in my father‘s era it was probably more regular but the safety standards have increased a lot and had not been a death for some time and all
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ofa been a death for some time and all of a sudden in one weekend we had two. obviously with myself and roland ratzenberger, my tea may were a small team, it rocked formula 1 and us as a team decimate my team—mate. we went into the next day and we lose one of the biggest names in the sport. itjust sent this ripple effect around the world and in particular in brazil as you said, where ayrton was revered as a godlike figure. it rocked grand prix but the death of roland ratzenberger clearly had an effect on ayrton senna himself because anybody who saw the film, he is watching that event and he already raised concerns about the safety in formula 1? he had. he was very vocal at all the drivers‘ briefings i was involved m, drivers‘ briefings i was involved in, ithink drivers‘ briefings i was involved in, i think every one he would a lwa ys in, i think every one he would always say something and safety was a lwa ys always say something and safety was always on the back of his mind. all
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of the drivers down the paddock were affected by roland‘s death, obviously there was a lot of focus on ayrton and he was ruthless on the track but he had something about him off the track which come from a human spirit point of view and caring about others was extremely high so when roland had his accident he was deeply affected but at the timei he was deeply affected but at the time i was so consumed with what was happening in our garage and with roland that i‘m sure other people around ayrton might say that he was effected. don't go away, i'mjoined by steve rider. you were broadcasting that weekend and there was no worse weekend in formula 1. absolutely not. it will always be perceived to be a turning point in the history of modern formula 1. my own particularly memories and so much about weekend is surrounded by
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lynch —— legend and mystique and so on but i spent the saturday at wembley during the rugby league challenge cup. i got a phone kelp does make a phone call in the morning from simtek, david's team, you're going to come out. —— a phone call. it was delivered to the back of the wembley studio when we got the news of roland's accident. it was all so desperately ironic. you got out to imola on that sunday morning and obviously there was a dreadful atmosphere but no sense of the foreboding of the dreadful day that lay ahead with ayrton. and describe the impact that that particular accident has had on a sport which we should stress since that day, there have been no deaths. the haven't. there has been a radical effect on car design and
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circuit design and peoples attitude to the ratio between the safety if formula 1 and the challenge of formula 1 and the challenge of formula 1. it is a debate that continues. we should all rejoice in the fact that there has not been a weekend quite as tragic as we experienced 25 years ago. i think it is all largely down to the whole effect of that weekend really focusing peoples minds on safety issues and the direction that the sport was going in that respect. and david, one of the key aspects the role of the doctor who tended to ayrton senna, the professor, sid watkins, who is no longer with us, but he has been very important in changing aspects of safety in formula 1. absolutely. since that weekend in 1994 there have been massive advances in all areas of our
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sport. some would argue may be a little bit too far in some areas but as you said, we have had one fatality since then which wasjules bianchi at suzu ka, fatality since then which wasjules bianchi at suzuka, but until that point it had been a pretty safe sport and it continues to be the advance of the safety continues. there has been a massive drive for some time and a lot of that came from that weekend in 1994 and of course sid watkins, what an amazing man he was. and notjust him but the fia, bernie, they were pushing like crazy to make the changes necessary to make sure the drivers were safer. steve, i was working that weekend and broke the news on another channel and it was a shock. even right then you didn‘t understand what the impact was going to be, particularly in brazil, to the death of ayrton senna. you had a feeling
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about the long—term repercussions that were going to take place. at the time we all use by the size of the impact what the likely outcome was going to be. there was a certain caution around the circuit about releasing any news before everyone was in place to handle it. i think that was the right way to go also we were in the fortunate position, having taken grandstand out there, it was one of the first grand prix we had out there when we had our own separate camera so we could cut away from but rather gratuitous coverage of italian television and show other aspects of what was going on and it sounds callous at the time but this was what grandstand it was all about, we we re what grandstand it was all about, we were able to go to be world snooker for 15 minutes and things like that which you cannot do now. we were in a position to ease people towards the dreadful news rather than breaking it and a sensational way. bernie always used to say, and i
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think he is right, that nobody actually dies on a formula 1 circuit, the whole country is allowed to run and put to bed and then any dreadful news is imparted when everybody has left the circuit. but from about three or four o'clock we alljeff maggert we knew the worse. and what impact do you think the death of roland ratzenberger, and also the huge crash with rubens barrichello, had on items and on the day? i wouldn't say i really know, i didn‘t know him well enough at the time. i think it impacted every driver and i think everybody on the grid thought a bit differently about the game they were in, not that they wa nted the game they were in, not that they wanted to give up but your mind was drifting into areas it wouldn‘t have been before. i think ayrton, everybody says he was very emotional about it. he always had that sixth sense within him as well...|j
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about it. he always had that sixth sense within him as well... i think we may have lost the line with david so we may have lost the line with david soi we may have lost the line with david so i will thank him forjoining us. a final thought, steve, so i will thank him forjoining us. afinalthought, steve, because so i will thank him forjoining us. a final thought, steve, because what is often forgotten was that ayrton senna come at the time, was being chased by a young driver called michael schumacher. he was, and i have brought in a copy of auto sport from the week leading up to imola and it was full of the kind of pressure on ayrton senna at the time, if you could take the heat, andl time, if you could take the heat, and i have my notes from the day which shows how confusing it was. but it was notjust which shows how confusing it was. but it was not just a which shows how confusing it was. but it was notjust a routine race for ayrton, this was make or break of his reputation and his world championship challenge because schumacher was pushing him so hard. it alljust adds to the mystique of that weekend. a lot of things were said in the senna film and assumed to have ta ken said in the senna film and assumed to have taken place, certainly whether or not alan cross had that
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conversation with ayrton senna and they had that reconciliation, i don't know —— alain prost. one thing was, we did an interview with gerhard berger a few years ago and it gives an insight into ayrtonown feelings about the safety. gerhard berger had a big fiery accident in executive the same corner and ayrton was very preoccupied by this and he said to gerhard berger, i don't like that wall being there, i don't like that wall being there, i don't like that corner. let's walk out and see what can be done. and gerhard berger said they both walked out, this would be in about 1992, looked the wall and over it and there was a drop in the river and they both shrug that shoulders and said well, nothing can be done. and this was the wall where ayrton lost his life. very good to hear your memories of it. it is amazing, 25 years ago. you‘re looking exactly the same! thank you very much. and you are! an
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emotional day. steve ryder and david brabham, thank you very much. now, this week, in the build—up to the local elections we‘re visiting our newsrooms to hear more about the issues. our east midlands political editor tony roe is in nottingham. and i‘m alsojoined by our north east political editor, richard moss, who‘s in newcastle for us this afternoon. but first to tony in nottingham, and you travelled around the east midlands counties of leicestershire, derbyshire and nottinghamshire yesterday. what are you picking up in terms of the issues? i went on a 200 mile road trip through six areas where people are voting on the thing you noticed straightaway was that there are not many posters out, there does not seem to be much public engagement and people are not showing support. having spoken to labour and the conservatives who have been knocking on doors to not a great reception because of brexit. i have been told that it might well be a good election for those smaller parties, the independents
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independentjeff maggert in particular. in ashfield, where they took control from labour are defections. jeremy corbyn has been there in the last week to try and stir the labour troops to win that council back. the main problem is going to be a low turnout. i don‘t think there is going to be a turnout anywhere near 2015 in the general election and go back to 2015, the lib dems lost a council here. they would be expecting to try to take that back if they are to stand any chance in the future. thank you very much. richard is in newcastle. what is the key thing there? enthusiasm is the key thing there? enthusiasm is thin on the ground here as well. labour would like to fight on austerity, lot of north—east councils have faced big cuts and the alternative offered which is council tax rises to plug the gap rate is less here than it does in the south of england because the homes are not as big so you cannot charge as much. there other issues, local issues on
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the doorstep, a plan for a clean—air charge on drivers coming into tyneside which is causing controversy. £12 50 per day if your car isjudged to be controversy. £12 50 per day if your car is judged to be polluting that has caused some fuss in the election. couple big which could be interesting, the north of time, the first mayor, one of these metro mayors, a bit like andy burnham in manchester but with far less powers, they are the dash back of a leading candidate is a man called jamie driscoll who is a big supporter of jeremy corbyn and could be one of the first really big supporters of jeremy corbyn to take charge of one of these jobs and he wants to use it to exercise democratic socialism. his opponents have characterised it as treating venezuela on time. labour faces a big threat in somewhere like middlesbrough where they currently hold the mayoral office but are facing a challenge from independent businessmen which could be considerably tight. other big contest, carlisle, a big battle ground between conservatives and
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labour and we will see who wins. richard in newcastle and tony in nottingham, thank you very much. and full coverage of those results will be contained in a special programme on bbc one and the bbc news channel from 11:35pm tomorrow night. labour are calling for the government to declare a climate emrgency following the protests in london and around the country last month. michael gove is on his feet in that debate. has enabled us to make significant progress so far in meeting our obligations. but we all know that we need to do more. the intergovernmental panel on climate change last october made it clear that the paris target of 2% celsius temperature rise was one which was, as the science showed, not ambitious enough. and that we need to ensure that we slow the rate of greenhouse
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gas emissions and hopefully achieve net zero in greenhouse gas emissions but just one second, net zero in greenhouse gas emissions butjust one second, by 2050. and my right honourable friend immediately commissioned the climate change committee after they were put to tell us what we as a government and asa tell us what we as a government and as a society should do in order to meet that target. it was the case that that level of ambition has been endorsed by a range of different organisations, from the nfu that say we should try to have net zero in agriculture by 2040, to companies like tesco, our biggest single retailer, that have also committed to the net zero target. which is why iam to the net zero target. which is why i am delighted that today the leader of the opposition has also joined this government, the nfu, and tesco in committing to a net zero by 2050. as they say, every little helps. i will not give way for a second. because one of the things...
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will not give way for a second. because one of the things. .. we will not give way for a second. because one of the things... we will keep an eye on that debate for you which is scheduled to go on for quite a bit with michael gove still on his feet but we will keep an eye on his feet but we will keep an eye on it. suzanne it will bring us the business news in moment but first the headlines. south african olympic champion caster semenya loses a landmark case against athletics‘ governing body over restricting testosterone levels in female runners. the wikilea ks co—founder julian assange is sentenced to 50 weeks injail for breaching bail conditions. venezuelan opposition leader, juan guaido, calls for another massive protest to unseat the president, but nicolas maduro remains defiant. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. free—to—use cash machines have been disappearing at a rapid rate across the uk, according to a new study. nearly 1,700 machines started charging for withdrawals in the first three months of the year, with the majority starting to charge in march, according to the consumer lobby group which. it could mean the country losing
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13% of its free atms in only a few months. the failed bid to merge with rival asda cost sainsbury‘s £46 million, the supermarket giant has said. in april, a proposed merger between sainsbury‘s and asda was blocked by the uk‘s competition watchdog overfears it would raise prices for consumers. sainsbury‘s said that like—for—like sales growth slowed in the fourth quarter, especially over the christmas period. it added it would accelerate investment in its stores and technology. the guardian newspaper has posted a profit of £0.8 million for the financial year. it‘s the paper‘s first such profit in two decades, marking one of the most significant turna rounds in recent british media history. apple‘s results are out, and there‘s a big bite being taken out of iphone sales. yes, its sales in the most recent
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quarter are down 17% to $31 billion which is around £23 billion which is nothing to scoff at but it does show that it nothing to scoff at but it does show thatitis nothing to scoff at but it does show that it is an accelerated decline for the iphone in particular. it has long been the driver of their profits, particularly in greater china, for example, where the company has had quite a lot of difficulty pushing phones and it‘s sales were down from 13 billion down to 10 billion in the same period from last year. are they too expensive? they are, you look at the top of the range model, £1100 for that one. i believe that is the apple x. the boss, tim cook, says they are expensive because these gadgets can do everything that lots of other things did before and it is like a of other things did before and it is likea mini of other things did before and it is like a mini computer but there are plenty of other rivals, particular
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chinese rivals, in that market that apple wants to get a foothold in and also smartphone users are not upgrading so it does everything you need it and why change it frequently? also, there has been some disappointment among users about changes, getting rid of the headphone jack which disappointed some people but apple says its wea ra bles some people but apple says its wearables division is doing well so the watch and air pods and also its services division posted good figures, showing it is going in the right direction and most recently they launched their tv streaming service to rival netflix. what else are the markets looking at? there is a big meeting in washington at the federal reserve at the open markets commission will announce the latest policy decision and president trump has already tweeted, telling them what they should do, saying they should cut interest rates. will they? michelle
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is outside the federal reserve for us. is outside the federal reserve for us. what are we expecting given that president trump has intensified calls for a cut? i don't know if i'm disappointing you by saying this but i think we are expecting them to keep the rates on hold as they have signalled they would for much of this year. you are right to point out that it comes at a time of increased politicisation of what the federal reserve does with those inside who set policy on interest rates in america increasingly under pressure from the president who has tweeted monetary policy at them suggesting the cut rates by one full percentage point and adopt quantitative easing which is the policy that used in the wake of the financial crisis. it comes at a time when the us economy is doing much better, employment is looking good, the economy grew at 3.2% in the first quarter, much better than expected. we are waiting to hear from the man that runs this place, jerome powell, who will hold a press
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conference and say what he sees as the conditions to raise or lower rates. how much of a threat of the president to the independence of the federal reserve? past presidents have been critical of the federal reserve before so that aspect of this is not necessarily new but it is the public way in which donald trump is doing this that i think is different and raising eyebrows. the other thing is he is trying to stack the deck in terms of who he appoints the deck in terms of who he appoints the board of governors at the federal reserve with two nominees, people who he has been looking to put on the board. one is herman cain, who has dropped out, and the other is the economist stephen moore who has caused controversy over his comments about the economy but also about women. people are saying this isa about women. people are saying this is a real threat to the independence of the federal reserve and you even have people like mario draghi who ru ns have people like mario draghi who runs the european central bank saying it is important for the
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global economy given the significance of this place here to the rest of the world that it remains independent. thank you very much, michelle. perhaps there will be more tweets. let‘s look at the markets. the ftse 100 be more tweets. let‘s look at the markets. the ftse100 isjust about in negative territory. sainsbury is price went up. despite the hit by the failed bid to ta ke despite the hit by the failed bid to take over asda, the underlying profit did please investors and also plans for improvement in stores. nexfs plans for improvement in stores. next‘s share price was also up after it said it made around £10 million more than they expected to in the last quarter. thank you very much. and — good news for beavers.
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from today, beavers are a protected species in scotland, a move welcomed by wildlife organisations. the animals were reintroduced to waterways a decade ago, but some farmers were unhappy because of the damage their dams can do to agricultural land. let‘s have a look at the weather. thank you, a bit cloudier for many of us, we have a front moving in from the west introducing cloud and also outbreaks of rain. the best sunshine has been in eastern areas and there will be some heavy showers to end the day the ritual tend to become few and far between overnight with many areas turning dry with clear skies and light winds. quite chilly, certainly out of town, in central and northern areas. tomorrow is similarto central and northern areas. tomorrow is similar to debate, quite a bit of sunshine for the cloud and showers come into western areas and these could pep up to become heavy and even thundering in central and eastern parts by the afternoon as temperatures reach the mid—teens. signs of a change in the far north of the country, a cold front moving
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southwards and introducing arctic air. quitea southwards and introducing arctic air. quite a bit of sunshine but windy and over the bank holiday weekend and it will feel cold with temperatures just about making double figures in places. i‘m going to take you straight to westminster. the prime minister is meeting a liaison pier and she‘s facing questions from mps. obviously
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it is our policy to leave in an orderly fashion as soon as possible andi orderly fashion as soon as possible and i regret the fact. obviously everybody knows the house has rejected no deal. including the people‘s vote. and the legislation that was passed it compelled us to seek an extension and as you know, i sought that until the 30th ofjune. but the council gave the extensional — gave but the council gave the extensional —— gave the extension up to october. we can leave at any time before then. it is important because i want that to happen before the october deadline and i think that once a consensus is reached, members should look to pass necessary legislation. we have been making efforts to build on that. cross party discussions on
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rights. on the role of parliament and obviously we tried to get the house to ratify the withdrawal agreement which they chose not to do. however we found decided that the right thing to do was to reach out to the opposition to build a majority. i think that is unprecedented, but i am convinced it was the right thing to do because the public want to see us work together to deliver the results. we have been having constructive and meaningful talks. there are differences on issues and on many of the key areas there is common ground. we know that we need to end this uncertainty and as soon as possible. i hope that ideal can be done. we approach this with an open mind and if we are not able to do that, we will bring votes the house.
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we stand ready to abide by that decision if the opposition are willing to do so. i am sure they willing to do so. i am sure they will be lots of technical questions, but i think the choice before the house remains the same in relation to this issue which is we can form a majority to ratify and leave, or we can leave with no deal, we can go back to the people with a failure and asked them to vote again or we can fail. meanwhile, and asked them to vote again or we canfail. meanwhile, i and asked them to vote again or we can fail. meanwhile, i will continue to work and do everything i can in orderfor us to do to work and do everything i can in order for us to do that because i think that is what is in the national interest. meanwhile, we will continue our preparations. some of the preparations around no deal. i was just asked about that in the contracts. it could be the light of the extension i have referenced. we are reviewing contingency planning
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with regard to no deal. the contracts were of vital contingency measure ensuring that critical things like medicines could enter the uk in the event of disruption at the uk in the event of disruption at the ports. but they included early termination fees so we did not have to pay the full contract cost. cancel the contract? how much will it cost? less than it would to carry on writing. can you confirm i figure. i will write to the committee with figures. i think if we are talking about the question of costs the point ijust made is important. the combined termination because with the operators is substantially because with the operators is su bsta ntially lower because with the operators is substantially lower than the recent
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estimate, thanks to the decisions we took. it is lower than keeping the contracts on, i‘m sure you would agree that we have to take the decision that is best.|j agree that we have to take the decision that is best. i understand that, but does that mean that the government has now accepted that there will not be under no—deal brexit? in other words, there will not be under no—deal brexit? in otherwords, if there will not be under no—deal brexit? in other words, if you have accepted that, i can see why you would cancel the contracts, or might you have to stand them up again if we come to the 31st of october with no deal. what is the policy? the government‘s policy is we want to leave the european union with a deal. that is what we work for. it is not entirely in the hands of the government. parliament has to ratify an agreement that allows us to leave ata an agreement that allows us to leave at a deal. so far we have not been able to do that. but parliament is also not willing to accept a no
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deal. where we to get to the 31st of october without a deal meeting... i hope we don‘t come to that position. it will not just hope we don‘t come to that position. it will notjust be a decision for the government at that point. if they wanted to be a request for a further extension, that would be at the hands of the european members —— european union members. if he cannot reach an agreement, he will put a numberof reach an agreement, he will put a number of options. will that include for a customs union? we want to discuss with the opposition because we wa nt discuss with the opposition because we want this to be a process one that they would be willing to support, we would discuss with them the options. including a customs union? we would discuss... we would have thought that one would be happy to have that put to a vote. will
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there be a customs union?|j to have that put to a vote. will there be a customs union? i have said this publicly that the question for customs for the future, various terms used. sometime people use different terms to mean the same things. what i think would be important when we come to that process is that anything that is put before the house, customs unions has been put there previously and been rejected, we would want to agree with the opposition so everything would be done in concert. that has a different question. it is not a question of the substance of the deal that would be required to ratify the withdrawal agreement, thatis ratify the withdrawal agreement, that is about process in relation to an issue. as we know there are a difference of opinions as to a second referendum and neither we the
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party in government or the official opposition and have a policy of second referendum at all in all circumstances. he hasn't said to be a perfectly coherent proposition you agree? my view about a second referendum is that we should get on delivering the first referendum and thatis delivering the first referendum and that is what people want us to do that is what people want us to do thatis that is what people want us to do that is what people want us to do that is what they expect us to do and that is what the government at the time of the referendum said they would do can we turn to you what happens if a deal is agreed. who will leave those negotiations for the uk's side? we would have a different arrangement for the negotiations. i think it would be led by the secretary of state for exiting. if i could explain the next
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stage of negotiation include a wide range of issues and it will be necessary to draw across for expertise for all the elements that are involved. security aspects, obviously making sure that those who are expert and well versed in that are expert and well versed in that are going to be a part of those negotiations. what would be your role on the role of your success or if that is what happens? how will that be handled? the secretary of state would of course operate according to the policy set by the government. there would be notjust a row for the individual and the prime minister, but of role for the cabinet. is the government ready for the negotiations? iask cabinet. is the government ready for the negotiations? i ask because the secretary announced that the government was planning to set up an expert advisory group in trade and customs. has that been established? there are various pieces of work
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that had been done. some of the announcements that have been made have been in relation to work we will do at looking at alternative arrangements to the backstop. we would want to extend the input that we had on these matters in the second phase of negotiations and thatis second phase of negotiations and that is why we have referenced not just experts on trading customer hm customs, but beyond that. have any of them been established? it took the government a year and a half to decide what to ask for. i want to know if the government is ready for phase two of discussions. has this group been established? phase two of discussions. has this group been established ?m phase two of discussions. has this group been established? it did not ta ke group been established? it did not take the government a year and a half to decide what it was going to ask for. i set out a guideline in the house speech in early 2017. we
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flashed the letter triggering triggering article 50. we then went through discussions focusing on withdrawal agreement with the arrangements as we look at that declaration you will see that there has been a lot in there from the government‘s part of you, a lot of it was hard to follow to make sure we can have a situation going into the second phase that meets the requirements of the united kingdom as we go forward. obviously the whole question of what those objectives should be and we have seen objectives should be and we have seen the amendment that has been put down about parliament having a greater role, that whole issue is one that is further discussion. are you concerned at that time is being lost that with each munch of the extension of article 50, that is a month away back off of the transition. i would have far
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preferred for us to have left on the 29th of march. if the house of commons had voted the way i did, we would no longer be part of the european union. thank you, we are going to come onto the civil servants... the question is whether the civil service service is preparing for leaving without a deal. you have confirmed that that is still the default legal position. but what is the policy of the government? because as a matter of fa ct of government? because as a matter of fact of international law, the moment at which the 29th of march for the article 50 deadline was extended... sorry, the first extension? you were at the council,
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he accepted the extension. that is when it was extended. yes. it was not when parliament passed the si. for change was necessary to make sure that uk law was in line with international law. is the government's response into this... such motions lack statutory force and a mere motion cannot be used to change the law, compelled the government to legislate or tell the ministers how to perform a statutory function. whatever the political pressures may have been on you on the 29th of march, you were under no
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legally binding obligation to accept the extension, where you? the government took a decision that it was right and appropriate to accept that extension. it was as you know a limited extension. and that was done with the expectation, the intent of trying to ensure that in that further space of time we could ensure we would leave with a deal. it remains the government‘s thinking it is in our best option to leave a deal. you made the same choice without any legal obligation? there was a legal obligation at a second summons. because the parliament passed legislation. required the government to seek an extension, but not to accept any terms that were offered and that is what you did. there was a significant discussion,
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idid there was a significant discussion, i did accept the terms that were offered. they were a crucial element that we insisted on and made clear that we insisted on and made clear that we insisted on and made clear that we wanted to see and that was the term ability of time. i think that the fact that the house of commons had not just. .. that the fact that the house of commons had notjust... yourfirst question reference a motion of the house of commons, it was an act of parliament that was passed requiring the government to seek an extension and setting certain parameters for that. you were obliged to seek an exception to the mic extension, not acce pt exception to the mic extension, not accept it. if you are going to seek an exception then you should accept it. let me explain it because the indication of your question is that we said we were going to ask for an extension to the 30th ofjune. has
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confirmed that. if i asked for that and the eu came back with the extension of your implication is i should have said no, sorry. that is not how one behaves on the international stage. you are not underany international stage. you are not under any obligation to accept an extension, not to accept it. i want us to leave the european union, i have been working for us to leave the european union. i have voted consistently in parliament for us to leave the european union. had everybody in parliament voted in the same way, we would no longer be a member of the european union. same way, we would no longer be a member of the european unionlj same way, we would no longer be a member of the european union. i take that to mean that you're not going
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to contemplate leaving the european union of your own choice without a withdrawal agreement? i'm making a very simple point which is... that's not the question i'm asking. i'm answering the question in the way i choose to answer it. the point is very simple. i stand by the references i have made in the past that no deal is better than a bad deal but i actually happen to think we have a good deal. when i first made that reference i was talking in the abstract, it was at lancaster house. we are now no longer talking in the abstract were talking against a background of a negotiated deal, hard—fought, which i believe is a good dealfor the hard—fought, which i believe is a good deal for the united hard—fought, which i believe is a good dealfor the united kingdom. that is why i say it remains the government position that we will continue to work to leave with a deal. if the house of commons declined to approve the withdrawal
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agreement and declined to approve leaving without a deal your choice will be to remain in the european union indefinitely? no, i do not believe we should be remaining in the european union indefinitely. that is why i want to see the house of commons agreed... we will stay m, of commons agreed... we will stay in, won't we? we will only stay in if article 50 is revoked. i have been clear that i believe it is the best option for the united kingdom to leave with a deal. that is what we are continuing to work for. one final question. why haven't you helped house of commons already by publishing the withdrawal agreement bill? we are at... we will publish the withdrawal agreement bill when we have completed the work we are doing on it. the withdrawal agreement itself is not going to change so what is going to change in the bill? the bill has been the same since you are greeted at the end of la st since you are greeted at the end of last year. we have already seen a
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number of things that have changed that need to be reflected in the withdrawal agreement bill, from the withdrawal agreement bill, from the withdrawal agreement bill, from the withdrawal agreement that was signed in november. there are the issues that have been agreed, further legally binding issues agreed with the eu and there are commitment to the eu and there are commitment to the government is giving, for example i have referenced one in relation to the amendment from gareth snell and lisa nandy. there are commitments that we have given in the house of commons in relation to workers‘ rights. it is not the case that the withdrawal agreement bill that will be presented to parliament today will be the same. they have been changes, including in our negotiations with the eu. they have been changes, including in our negotiations with the sum they have been changes, including in our negotiations with the eu. it is not unusual for government to publish draft bills before producing a... introducing a billthat publish draft bills before producing a... introducing a bill that is different or amendment or introduce amendments in the passage of the bill. wouldn't it help the house to publish the withdrawal agreement now? i think it would be helpfulfor the house of commons, for us to publish the withdrawal agreement bill when we do so having considered
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all the issues that have changed since the withdrawal agreement in november last year. and when we are able to enable the house to have proper consideration of that bill. continuing the theme of legislative provisions, . .. thank you. you have just said i want to leave the eu, prime minister, so why don't you get on with it and bring in the commencement order for a start? that wouldn't be a bad way to begin. why do you claim you carried out the referendum vote in leaving the eu and our manifesto when the withdrawal agreement legally requires not a kingdom of citizens, businesses and workers to obey laws made by the majority of the other 27 member states going on for years without our involvement, gives the uk courts the right to override united kingdom acts of parliament undermines the constitutional status of northern ireland, and thereby undermines our national interest?
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why do you repeatedly and again today to say that what you're doing in the withdrawal agreement is in our national interest? it most obviously is not. you said at the beginning of your question that i had said, as i have, but i wanted to leave the european union and you thought i should get on with it. i have been trying to get on with it. i voted three times now for the withdrawal agreement that will enable us to ratify that so that we can leave the european union. i repeat that had the first meaningful vote gone through then we could have got the legislation through and be out already. but i do not accept the description you have given if the position the united kingdom will be in following... position the united kingdom will be infollowing... on position the united kingdom will be in following... on the basis of the withdrawal agreement and the future, proposed future relationship with negotiating, we will beat negotiating, we will beat negotiating phase two with the european union. i could go through the specific issues if you like but it is not the case, it is very clear that it it is not the case, it is very clear thatitis it is not the case, it is very clear that it is not the case that we are going to seem the continued remit of
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the european court ofjustice here in the united kingdom. prime minister, when i called on you to resign the other day in the house, you said that the withdrawal agreement was a good deal for the united kingdom. but how can it be so when it deliberately undermines the repeal of the european communities act 1972, and there is no commencement order as i mentioned. it shackled us to, if i may, it shackled us to all eu treaties and laws. your 108 promises not to extend the time had been overridden by what many regard as an unlawful statutory instrument which is now before thisjoint statutory instrument which is now before this joint committee statutory instrument which is now before thisjoint committee on statutory intimates. you gave instructions to conservative mps to defeat my amendment in the cooper letwin bill that would have stopped our taking part letwin bill that would have stopped ourtaking part in letwin bill that would have stopped our taking part in the european election —— elections. you passed the with drawl act and you know perfectly well and we agree about
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this, if nothing else, that i put enormous amount of time and effort, as we alldid, enormous amount of time and effort, as we all did, in getting that withdrawal act through on the 26th ofjune 2018. withdrawal act through on the 26th of june 2018. that withdrawal act through on the 26th ofjune 2018. that would have taken us out of the eu, not this withdrawal agreement. furthermore, why have you gone back on the repeal of the 1972 act? first of all, i would hope that we would also agree on both wanting to leave the european union... in the proper way. and wanting to ensure we can bring that about. we have had the exchange about the 1972 act on the floor of the house. of course, the act that has already been passed does repeal the 1972 act and does that at the point of it, but what we have negotiated within the withdrawal agreement is that implementation period or transition period as it is referred to in the documentation for a period of time up to the end of
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december 2020, and during that period of time, yes, we will be continuing to operate very much as we do today. we would not be a member but we would continue to operate as we do today and it would be necessary to reintroduce certain elements... we won't be there, prime minister. we will have laws passed upon us by 27 other member states without our involvement, taken behind closed doors without even a transcript. that is not anything less than castrating united kingdom parliament. first of all, if you look at the time tables that are taking place in relation to directives from the eu, actually come with your experience in the european scrutiny committee, i‘m sure you know that it is not the case that you suddenly get a lot of laws passed by european union within the period what would effectively be 12 months. accelerated procedures, bylaws. secondly, what were talking
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about is the implementation period. we are not talking about the future relationship with the european union. were talking about a transition period that enables people to be able have a smooth and orderly exit at the point at which we leave, that gives businesses an absolute certainty about the basis on which they will be operating at that point in time and gives them the time to prepare for the future relationship that would obviously be negotiated in that period.|j relationship that would obviously be negotiated in that period. i don't agree. we know! sir patrick. the european statutory insolence committee has recommended on 61 occasions that the government reverse its original proposals to go from a negative seeded to an affirmative procedure. the gonnet have accepted all of them and i'm grateful for that corporation i think it shows that when a committee of the house has said that it wants something to be changed, the
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government has been willing to change it. in your view now, as far as you are concerned following the cooper— letwin bill, is it your view that it cooper— letwin bill, is it your view thatitis cooper— letwin bill, is it your view that it is impossible for us to leave without a deal? what i think is that parliament will act to insist that the uk government is not willing to leave without a deal. as isaid, willing to leave without a deal. as i said, actually leaving without a deal is not entirely in the hands of the uk government because the issue of extensions to article 50 rests with the whole of the hot european union and sitting around that table. in the fact that the bill that was passed, i did not support, but the bill that was passed actually says a deal has to be done, your view as prime minister is that you have too, as prime minister, and any future
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prime minister, would have to ensure a deal to satisfy the house of commons? the house of commons has expressed its view. as it happens, the view that the house of commons has expressed, that it wants to leave with a deal, is the same view that the government has in terms of our policy. we believe that leaving with a deal, with this deal, is the best route for the uk.” with a deal, with this deal, is the best route for the uk. i take the point because you have said in the past that leaving with no deal is better than a bad deal, you believe the negotiated and came to an agreement after two years of hard negotiations is a deal in the best interests of the united kingdom as a whole. that is something that has been followed through by a lot of business leaders and industry as well. i would business leaders and industry as well. iwould pressure business leaders and industry as well. i would pressure you to reconsider the publication of the withdrawal agreement bill because it is not uncommon for governments to make lots of amendments during the passage of a bill so i think the
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fa ct passage of a bill so i think the fact that one could make, and they will need to be amendments, is not really a good reason not to publish it. i think i would ask you to reflect on whether to actually help parliament. the frustration that is felt not only across the house of commons but i also think across the country isjust commons but i also think across the country is just exactly where we are going and what is the direction of travel. that is something which is causing a lot of concern from people i speak causing a lot of concern from people ispeakto, causing a lot of concern from people i speak to, be they business leaders or individuals. i think one of the things i would ask you to consider it fairly quickly, hopefully we will know the outcome of the cross—party talks soon, they do seem to have been going on almost as long as the original discussions, but i realise thatis original discussions, but i realise that is a slight exaggeration. hopefully we will know those in the next week or so. thank you, prime minister. moving on to stephen mcpartland. thank you, prime minister. you mentioned workers
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right in the earlier statement, the government has put some tropical surround workers' rights. do you think they go far enough in terms of protecting and enhancing workers' rights? i think it is important that we have within our legislation the commitment we have given in the withdrawal agreement about non—regression in terms of workers‘ rights. as you will know, this government and this country has workers in many areas, workers‘ rights that are above those abided by the european union legislation. obviously the issue of workers‘ rights is one of those that has been raised with us by members across the house but particularly raised by the official opposition. it‘s one of the issues we will look at to see how we can ensure that commitments given by the government on workers‘ rights can be enshrined and clearfor the future. i think we can go much further and there are simple ways of
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tightening up. if you look at section one of the draft clauses that only a plastic relevant bills while section two is vaguely sickly which areas of legislation so who will decide what is relevant, parliament or the government? this is... one of the issues that we are trying to ensure is that there is sufficient capability and ability for parliament to be able to look at these issues. the question that when there is any change in the european union, government making obviously a statement as to whether or not we believe that is enhancement or not, and parliament then having the opportunity to give its opinion on that i think is important but it is getting that balance between government and parliament write that obviously will be one of the issues debated when we do come to be withdrawal agreement bill. building on that, my understanding of the d raft on that, my understanding of the draft clauses, it only commits the government to make a statement on
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new builds but does not say it has to make a statement on whether or not it removes any workers right or any protections. it is still quite wishy—washy. any protections. it is still quite wishy-washy. i think the. .. the intent is that government would be able... would be making clear to parliament whether it, in its view, any decisions that have been taken in the european union in relation to workers‘ rights were an enhancement of workers‘ rights or what the interaction with the uk legislation was in relation to this but i‘m happy to look at the specific point that you have raised about the language within the clause. and finally, i think no parliament is able to bind its successors and as the proposals are currently formatted, it does look as though there is not in the legal protection, it isjust consultations and report so i'm concerned that we can go much further if we tighten up the language.
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we are certainly looking at what would be appropriate to put legislation on this issue. once againi legislation on this issue. once again i am happy to take those points. can we move on to security and border issues and brexit.|j points. can we move on to security and border issues and brexit. i want to take you back to the issues of border checks which you discuss before. in light of your early answers about wanting to get an agreement on the way forward and particularly he talked about the potential for there being some common ground around customs. are you still ruling out being part of the tariff? the proposals that the government put forward would allow us to have trade policies but being independent as well. it is in —— it
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is very important. there are different elements. the ability to va ry different elements. the ability to vary tariffs in relation to that is an important part of that. does that mean you are ruling out being in a single... being in an external tariffs focus? there are certain elements with regard to the backstop, when i‘m saying is the proposals that the government has put forward would enable us that we put forward would enable us that we put forward would enable us that we put forward over last summer would enable us to ensure that we could operate a common external tariff and va ry operate a common external tariff and vary tariffs for our own trade agreements with other parts of the world. are you going back to chequers and the customs partnership
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where effectively we collect the eu's terrace but they don't collect hours and there is no way of collecting tariffs if we had to fill for the goods that arrive from spain? this is not something that has been agreed. there are certain benefits to an external customs union. the references to tarriff between us and so forth. this wider question is one that is referenced with the spectrum of actions. the government has put forward proposals that addresses this issue. there are negotiations to be had in relation to where we end up with the european union. that is the second phase of the negotiations. but the political declaration recognises the importance of the independent trade
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policy. this sounds like you are not shifting around customs. it sounds like you are still stuck on that same chequers partnership that nobody from any side could see how it is workable in any way. you are the one that has talked about compromise, i'm trying to see, has nothing changed? are we stuck? we are. if you are referencing the talks we have with the opposition, we are sitting down and talking about what we want to achieve in regards to customs. issues around friction at the border. we aren‘t talking about what is it that we both want to achieve in relation to these issues. —— will are talking about this. between ourselves and the opposition we have identified many common
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ground. actually looking at the balance of these issues is part of the discussion. can we come to an agreement on that? i hope so. but the discussions continue. there are only three ways put forward, one is the customs partnership, you called it chequers. everyone says it is unworkable because the eu will not collect our tarriffs. second is technology. and the home office policy has says the challenges of this work cannot be underestimated. and the third is being part of a single customs territory, effectively being part of the common external tariff. that is why i am trying to get this clear. if there is some potential for agreement on customs and getting the benefits of a customs union, and what is it you
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are going to do? you are still ruling out the common external tariff. you are ruling out the customs union and the technology is not going to arrive until 2030 and the custom partnershipjust does not exist. it falls apart. first of all, we are sitting down with the official opposition and discussing those matters with them. i do not accept the complete picture you have set out. i know the reference he made to technology. an awful lot of work has been done on technology at the borders. and i think there is an opportunity for the uk to introduce ways deal with issues at the border that could be world leading. one of the problems with the debate is that very often it is framed in terms of existing models. it is important for us to look at new models that are
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available and could be used. it is all too often framed in terms of existing language that people take to mean certain things. there is a legal definition in wto of lead a customs union is, but people will use that term and have in their mind different things as to what that achieves. which is why i say the important element of this is to actually be able to sit down and talk through what it is that we are all trying to achieve. key elements or common external tariff. it sounds to me you are absolutely running out being part of the common external tariff. am i wrong? if you look at what i put forward that are different elements. are you in or out of the common external tariff?
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what i am saying is that government has set out in the discussions with the european union on the political declaration the spectrum that is available in relation to these matters is for further negotiation. this is one of the issues that has been raised with the official opposition. there will be a point where we determine whether it is possible to have a landing zone or not. in which case we moved to what i was talking about earlier with the house make these decisions. i was talking about earlier with the house make these decisionsm sounds like we are still wary where we we re a sounds like we are still wary where we were a year ago, stop. and it sounds like you are not syncing any differently at all. you talked about compromises, but it sounds like your version of compromise is telling everybody else is that you were right all along. what is the evidence that you are going to shift position? resilience is a strength,
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but stubbornness is a weakness. what is the evidence that you are on to something, prepared to properly make something, prepared to properly make some changes? you ask what the evidence is on compromise, there are a number of areas. but not on this one? first of all, he accused me of not being willing to compromise. i pointed out that we have been. on this particular issue of customs, what is important is that we are able to sit down and tease out what the different elements of this is. it is not sufficient to say it is one thing and that is it. actually, there are different ways we can approach this issue. we have been exploring those as a government. we have not come to an agreement with the european union. we are sitting
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down and talking through with the official opposition what are the different elements of this and what is it that we are trying to achieve. we both want to ensure... i and my collea g u es we both want to ensure... i and my colleagues stood on a manifesto with a deep in close partnership with the european union and we are trying to achieve that. i feel like we are going around in circles and everyone is feeling paralysed and like nothing is changing. when we have got something as important as this that you know has been such a sore point of disagreement between people in disagreement, i guess ijust ask you a final time, are you ruling out any change to the government's position on customs? with due respect, i‘m trying to point out that we are having talks with the
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official opposition on a range of issues. i think actually we are trying to achieve in this area something very similar which is ensuring we protectjobs. and we wa nt to ensuring we protectjobs. and we want to protect jobs. ensuring we protectjobs. and we want to protectjobs. the government has negotiated and it was hard fought in the political declaration, a willingness to accept that we should come together to aim for a frictionless trade. how we achieve that has not been absolutely identified. first of all, we need to see what it is that we will agree in pa rt see what it is that we will agree in part parliament has had an opportunity to vote for various things. it has not voted for a customs union. we have to say what is it that we can achieve and will bea is it that we can achieve and will be a majority in parliament. i'm worried that if you don't shift on some of the stuff we are going to
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get stuck. we come to the irish border. prime minister, thank you for your herculean efforts in trying to ensure the uk is removed from the european union in a way that gives the people in this country most of what they want. he said that we should not leave at that juncture because he were concerned about the lack of preparation on the 20th of march. especially about what was going on in northern ireland and that may cause some embarrassment. what has been done since then to ensure what needed to be prepared for has been offset and what still remains to be done? we have published our proposals for the position in relation to tariffs if there were a no deal situation, but
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those could only be temporary and we would need to have further negotiation but the european commission and northern ireland. the whole question it —— the whole question of a no deal situation. the concern was that there would be decisions that would need to be made that would not be able to be taken by northern ireland civil servants. we have a situation now where i called on the parties and taoiseach to come together to talk. a date for talks have been set as well. i would
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hope that what we would be able to see would be the reinstatement of the executive and the ability of the assembly to operate in northern ireland so that the government‘s arrangements were in place. the question of there being a lack of government in northern ireland gave you concern in event we had no deal. the concern that i had at that point in time if we had gone to no deal what the government‘s arrangement would have been... in the event that the talks were not successful, we would be back in the same position. we would be unable to leave without a deal except by direct rule. is that correct? yes. obviously direct
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rule can come in different manners. ministerial decisions being taken here in westminster rather than in belfast. yes. michel barnier said in february that auk michel barnier said in february that a uk decision to leave the single market and leave the customs union make border checks unavoidable. given the enduring common travel area arrangements plus regulatory tariff alignment that exists, will exist between the two micro jurisdictions from day one, in the event that we left without a deal, can you say what you think michel
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barnier would be checking for at the irish border? what the european union have consistently said is that their rules in relation to border checks would need to be operated fully at the northern irish border with ireland in the event of no deal. that would be the same as the checks they would put in place elsewhere. the point is that a roundabout 1% of goods entering the republic of ireland from outside the european union are subject to checks. that includes from relatively high risk countries and an even smaller proportion are subject to physical checks. it would be bizarre, would it not, that in the event that we left without a deal, european union would be insisting on a rate of checking goods entering the republic of ireland beyond 1%. would that be
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your understanding as well?|j ireland beyond 1%. would that be your understanding as well? i think perhaps it might be helpful if i say what the commission itself said in their press notice on the 25th of march which was, in a no deal scenario uk would become a third country without any transition arrangements fault of the eu would be required to immediately imply —— a plate full comparison of the pot with uk which include checks and controls customs, cemetery and verification of yunos. uk citizens we re verification of yunos. uk citizens were no longer be said is that you, there would be subject to additional checks when crossing borders into the eu. despite the integral preparation to member states, customs authorities, these could cause delays at the border. i think the european union themselves were clear that there would obviously be checks taking place which currently do not take place at the border. you share my frustration and the frustration of many that the northern ireland border is being used as an excuse for our
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interlocutors to be difficult in relation to the brexit process since it seems to many of us that it would be inconceivable that, in the event of eight no—deal brexit, were it to happen, i sincerely hope it doesn't happen, i sincerely hope it doesn't happen, that checks of any magnitude would be insistent based upon a risk—based at the irish border, and that therefore the irish border is being used inappropriately by many of those that you have to deal with in brussels to achieve its wider aims? i won't comment on the approach taken by others in relation to the northern ireland border. what i would say is that i think it‘s on camp —— incumbent on us as uk government to recognise the importance of this issue. the way i look at it is that there is, at the heart of the belfast good friday agreement, an essential compromise. and it is that people irish
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heritage, citizenship, can live in northern ireland, they might have dual citizenship, they can be part of living in the uk, but to all intents and purposes, are able to operate across the island of ireland in their day to day activities and business activities without checks taking place. ithink business activities without checks taking place. i think it is that that we must recognise that lights are essentially at the heart of the belfast good friday agreement that is an important, important for us to consider that when we looking at these issues. thank you. we will come on now to the economy and trade starting with nicky morgan. good afternoon, promised. isense starting with nicky morgan. good afternoon, promised. i sense and share your frustration that the withdrawal agreement remains un—approved by parliament. are you concerned that one of the consequences of it not having been approved is the uncertainty created which is now costing the economy hundreds of millions of a week? obviously uncertainty as an impact on business. i think the reaction of
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business to the fact that an extension has been granted as being positive because they were concerned about the impact, the immediate impact ofa about the impact, the immediate impact of a no deal. but of course, as soon as we can try impact of a no deal. but of course, as soon as we can try to fight this deal, business will be any better position because they will have certainty about the future. i think it is clear that there are opportunities for business which would be, iwouldn‘t opportunities for business which would be, i wouldn‘t say unleashed, but would become available when they have that certainty. the latest data on uk business investment showed does fulham now for six consecutive quarters has been stagnant since 2016 -- quarters has been stagnant since 2016 —— shows it has fallen. do stand by that what you said that the principal reason is the uncertainty created by the continued purpose of working out how we exit the eu? as i say, uncertainty of any sort has an impact on business. they have the current uncertainty in relation to brexit. they welcomed the deal when
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we negotiated it. they welcome the fa ct we negotiated it. they welcome the fact that we had the implementation period in place which gave them that greater certainty for the future. i think there were real opportunities. first of all, our economy has remained resilient against a background in which many had predicted and some had thought that it would have quite a different outcome is. the way i would put it is that given the resilience and strength of our economy against this background of uncertainty, think how much better that could be if we ended it, ratify the deal, leave the eu with a deal in an orderly way.|j suppose what i'm asking is, is it your position that if possible you would like to get the withdrawal agreement through and was all but uncertainty as soon as possible, are you not to wait until the 31st of october but much sooner than that? definitely. that is why the element
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of term inability of the date was very important to me. as soon as we have ratified the withdrawal agreement, the agreement is that when we have ratified it, we leave at the end of the month at which the deal is ratified. do you have a date in mind that you can share with the committee that you're targeting for having another go?” committee that you're targeting for having another go? i tend to say that after the challenge i received earlier in relation to dates are given in the past and the approach the house has taken so far, i‘m relu cta nt to the house has taken so far, i‘m reluctant to put an actual date on it except to say i want to do it as soon as it except to say i want to do it as soon as possible. i have had several attem pts soon as possible. i have had several atte m pts to soon as possible. i have had several attempts to ensure that we could do it before the european parliamentary elections. we have a longer extension available but i want to ensure that we do it before and well before that extension late deadline comes into play. another area of uncertainty created is what the impact brexit or not having brexit is on the complaint of spending review which i think we can all agree is very important moment for
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any government. the chancellor said to the treasury committee last week that the spending review cannot be undertaken until there was a brexit deal so are you concerned about the implication of that probability of spending departments to plan ahead —— the ability. spending departments to plan ahead -- the ability. we have to look carefully at it. i think the chancellor shares my hope that we will be able to get this deal through within a timetable which enabled the preparation for a spending review and departments to be able to address that and the government to be able to address that fully and properly in a reasonable timetable. i think... that is another element. if it were the case that we were still in a position obviously where we had not agreed a deal, it would be necessary for us to take a decision in relation to the spending review and future spending determinations for departments. do you have a sense of what that position would be? would it have to be a settlement for one year only or would there be certain... of the nhs spending
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settlement was announced quite a long time ahead of the rest of the csr so do have a fallback position for the complaint spending review? that is a matter to be determined depending on the circumstances in which we find ourselves but we are working to get a deal through such that we can have a spending review in that normal way. and finally, one of the other things the treasury select committee ask for and was given by the government was a detailed economic analysis of various scenarios. you did not quite modelled the government's actual withdrawal agreement agreed with the eu but if there were to be success in the cross—party talks, and there we re in the cross—party talks, and there were to be some changes and yvette cooper has probed on where there might be an area for some change or agreement, would the government to prepare an updated economic analysis so prepare an updated economic analysis so that parliament had all that information before mps were asked to make a decision on a revised withdrawal agreement? as we have not yet determined whether or not there isa landing
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yet determined whether or not there is a landing zone that is going to be possible, and if there were not of course we would go to the folks from the house of commons and we would need to await the outcome of those votes. we want to ensure that the house of commons is well informed on any decision it is taking in relation to this matter. thank you. does that mean that you would publish a revised economic impact assessment? i didn't directly a nswer impact assessment? i didn't directly answer that question because i think we would need to look at what information... for parliament to be informed we would need to look at what information parliament should have in advance of that. the analysis that was given previously did of course, from recollection, it did of course, from recollection, it did already analyse the number of potential outcomes. and obviously
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one would need to look at that in the light of any decisions taken. to follow u p the light of any decisions taken. to follow up on the question, would your office, the government to be open toa your office, the government to be open to a discussion should there be a landing zone identified any proposal put back to parliament? is the government open to a discussion between government and parliament is to the updated analysis that is needed so that, as you say, mps have all the information they possibly can have to make a decision on behalf of constituents? we want to make sure that parliament does have as much information, the information that enabled it to be well—informed when it these decisions. obviously by definition the... any economic analysis can only go so far because it is about the future relationship and that‘s a matter for negotiation it so it‘s not an economic analysis that says this is definitely where you‘re going to end up, this will be the answer. because the negotiation result will not be known at that point. i appreciate that absolutely
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of course it is an impact and different scenarios will have different scenarios will have different impact on the economy according to the likelihood of future successful and how open the trade deals or trade relationship is between the uk and eu which i think is what the treasury were trying to get to in their first analysis. indeed. they did provide analysis on a variety of scenarios at that point. we look upon two jobs and skills and rachel. thank you very much. you sit in your answer to nicky morgan that you want to bring forward the withdrawal agreement and get it passed as soon as possible but certainly well before the 31st of october deadline. to do that you need to do something different from what you have done the last three times you have brought forward that withdrawal agreement. the chief whip apparently told cabinet yesterday that it apparently told cabinet yesterday thatitis apparently told cabinet yesterday that it is time to get real on brexit and the solution is either a customs union or a second referendum. would you agree with him on that? first of all, i don't
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comment on cabinet discussions or suppose it reports a cabinet discussions. but i referred to the a nswe rs discussions. but i referred to the answers i have been giving earlier. it is the case that we sit down... i think it‘s important not simply to see this in case of a discussion of going for this model or that model. it is actually about sitting out and saying what is it we are trying to achieve, what are the objectives we re achieve, what are the objectives were trying to achieve, what of the various means in which we can do that? and is there an agreement around the objectives and the means to achieve them? what were trying to explore its what are the parameters for some sort of compromise and what will different sides be willing to give. the foreign secretary warned yesterday against deal that includes a customs union that was on the record. do you agree with him, prime minister? i have been very clear... i come back to what i have said earlier because the trouble is that these traces of a customs union but
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. what is your definition of a customs union? it's what the foreign secretary said and presumably you know his definition. the point is that we are sitting down with the official opposition, we are discussing with the official opposition the elements of these issues, where we agree on them and where we don‘t agree on the elements of them. that is why the vidot it‘s not the first time i‘ve said this before this liaison committee, but i think it is important in the detail that we do that we do look at the detail. it is by looking at the detail. it is by looking at the detail that we will be able to identify whether there is a landing zone on which we can both agree. i wa nt zone on which we can both agree. i want a situation where we have a good, deep and close partnership with the european union and we ensure that we can have an independent trade policy. on a specific issue a policy detail, the uk benefits from the brightest and best students across the eu can get
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our great universities and young people from the uk benefit from being able to go to universities across the eu. do you think higher fees for students from the eu countries wishing to study here will mean more or less students coming to study here and would that be good or bad obviously we welcome overseas stu d e nts to obviously we welcome overseas students to the uk. we want to ensure where the uk and european countries can give students the chance to benefit from world universities as we leave —— after we leave. no further decisions have been made. we will make those into course. do you think that higher fees for eu students wishing to study in this country would mean more or less students coming and would that be good or bad? first of
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all i would say there are overseas stu d e nts all i would say there are overseas students who pay higher fees than we do. and we have seen increases in a number of those students coming from those country. the fees have not put the students off. what i hope a tt ra cts the students off. what i hope attracts them to come here is the quality of the education they will receive in our universities and i hope that would continues what ever we re hope that would continues what ever were to happen in the future. we spoke earlier about the burning injustices in society. if uk students are priced out of studying abroad and only rich students can afford to do that, do you think that would help to tackle or exacerbate the situation? i have spoken about a number of burning injustices. i want every young person to have the opportunity to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them whatever their background. i would
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argue that while there are students from the uk who choose to study at universities elsewhere, we are very fortu nate to universities elsewhere, we are very fortunate to have a number of our universities that are in the top 20 universities that are in the top 20 universities in the world. may be it is the top 20, if not for top ten. i think we have excellent universities here. you are quite relaxed about there being a higherfees here. you are quite relaxed about there being a higher fees for eu students coming to study here and uk students coming to study here and uk students going abroad. is that right? what i have said is that the important thing is the quality of education. this is not a matter of determination for the united kingdom about the fees given to fees for uk stu d e nts about the fees given to fees for uk students abroad. we will be coming to the decision on that for students coming here. i don't want to see a
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situation where only students from better off families are able to access the university of their choice, prime minister. the ability to access universities and exchange with other european countries is something we have been very clear what we want to see continuing through the erasmus programme. we wa nt through the erasmus programme. we want those opportunities to be available. finally on a different theme. there have been 120 different governors of the back of governor. —— the bank of england. they have all been men. people are encouraging for this person to be a woman. and what you look favourably on a woman to be the next governor of the bank of england? of course the decision will be important to take the
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decision who is the right person to be the governor. i would encourage applications from female applicants. now moving trade policy. thank you, chair. i think the last time i had the privilege of the press are of... borisjohnson was the privilege of the press are of... boris johnson was making the privilege of the press are of... borisjohnson was making his resignation. you have outwitted all of them. boris johnson resignation. you have outwitted all of them. borisjohnson has been outmaneuvered of them. borisjohnson has been outmaneuve red and your own of them. borisjohnson has been outmaneuvered and your own can kicking down the road has continued. you have told us today that we have three options for brexit, dl, no deal, or revoke. and now you are tacking on people's photoperiod how much should be read into your change on the people's vote? nothing
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whatsoever. those are the options. they want the options you gave before you gave dl, no deal or revoke. my position on the people's vote has not changed if that is what you are suggesting. parliament has raised the issue of the people‘s photoperiod there are those who are supporting that in the parliament. there are people who previously supported brexit and now they are supporting the people‘s referendum. i think we should deliver on the first referendum. he said that i have been kicking the can down the road, i have tried not to do that. i have tried to make sure they can is not kicked any further. you have
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managed to kick the can down the road further. to move on a little bit, the expectation was that the uk was going to leave on the 29th of march and that the trade deals would be rolled over. as far as it is at the moment, trade deals are at five and a half percent... what barriers will british exporters face is not and will you take the opportunity to make sure the people particularly in your own party is in fact a bad idea? we do trade around the world with countries on wto terms. we signed agreements with switzerland chile, south africa and others. we
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signed mutual recognitions with the us, australia and new zealand. and another set of agreements are at an advanced stage. we are working on getting people to have certainty in those deals. prime minister, the whole course that you have going around brexit, ian came to parliament at the later stage. you did not take parliament with you. parliament rejected your deal agreement. moving forward to future trade agreements, do you think there is anything to be
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learned from the process that went so badly wrong for you in the brexit process? obviously there are certain arrangements that are in place. in relation to the future relationship with the eu, as i indicated earlier, on the 29th of march debate, on the withdrawal agreement we accepted the amendment in relation to the role of parliament in the future on negotiation objectives. for trade agreements should parliament have a meaningful vote to help guide negotiators? if you look at the snail amendment that we said we would accept, that makes it clear that the role of parliament in the negotiating objectives. for the
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future. it said that mps would be empowered to set the negotiating objectives in phase two. and mps must approve signing the improvement of any negotiation with the european —— agreement with the european union. this is about the future relationship that we have at the european union. as you are aware, there are already arrangements in place in relation to the role that parliament takes and discussions in relation to trade agreements generally. there is a climate emergency being talked about and declared by various people. what do you feel about that? i think that climate change as i sat in the house and comments, is one of the biggest
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challenges that we face across the world. the term emergency has been used, the difficulty i have is that the term emergency is something that has just the term emergency is something that hasjust suddenly a the term emergency is something that has just suddenly a reason and that is not the case. you should haft —— you should look at the government‘s policy on this. we recognise there is more to do. since 2010 we have had —— we have been at the leading edge of working on this. a branch of your government set another possibility of connecting to some of the best wind resources in europe. would you undertake to look into the possibility of wind? in terms of
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wind turbine once again we have an excellent record. i know there are wind farms in relation to the scottish coast. i was in grimsby a number of weeks ago with a company there that is one of the leading providers of the equipment for wind farms. i think there is a lot we can be doing in relation to that. why can you not accept scotland having the same autonomy in the uk as the uk has in the referendum? why would you interfere with scotland in their referendum? scotland had a referendum? scotland had a referendum on its independent. we have had a referendum and i have been clear... we have had a referendum in the uk on membership
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of the eu and my view is we should abide by that. scotland had a referendum and my view is that scotla nd referendum and my view is that scotland should continue to abide by the result of that which is that it should be part of the united kingdom. we come now to david. is well prepared for a no—deal brexit? we have been in the preparations for no deal. we have been involving the devolved administrations. including the government in wales. representatives have sat around the table with uk ministers. the necessary preparations had they been made? i am confident from everything we have seen from the welsh government. if the intent of the
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question is that you are aware of various concerns we would want to hear that. and issue has been raised with land farmers who are heavily dependent on exports to the eu. are you confident that if we left with no deal, they would not suffer financially? and if they did, is there special support going to be put in place for them? one of the aspects we have been considering as aspects we have been considering as a government is looking at those areas which could be particularly affected in a no deal situation. and the extent to which he would be appropriate for government to act in those circumstances. that is a debate that continues. would you agree as members and parliaments are not going to get what we want exactly in terms of brexit, is that a fair suggestion? i think that is a
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fair comment. i agree with you. that being the case, if you don't get what you want, if we are unsuccessful in persuading our colleagues to support this, which your preference be for a no—deal brexit or to remain in the european union? my view is we should leave. we may have to choose between things we do not want. and i think we should leave the european union and myjob is to make sure that we leave as much as we want. as we just agreed, we want to necessarily get what we want to. if we don't get the withdrawl agreement to pass, would you be happy to support a no—deal brexit? as ijust said, i believe that the important thing for us is to deliver on the referendum,
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leaving the european union.” to deliver on the referendum, leaving the european union. i think this is important. idea packed a change in government policy here. cani change in government policy here. can i conclude from what you are saying that you would not support a no—deal brexit? —— i detect a change in government policy. the position of the government is that the best option for the united kingdom is to leave when atl. that is what i believe, what i am working for and what the government has been working for. i believe we should leave we are also in a set of circumstances where parliament has made it clear that in the circumstances where it looks like no deal was happening parliament look to ensure there was not a no situation. i would to ensure there was not a no situation. iwould have to ensure there was not a no situation. i would have hoped we could agree that we recognise, as you do, that the withdrawal
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agreement does not give anybody what they want. but that leaving with it is the best option for the uk. have you been undermined by members of your own cabinet who have suggested semi—publicly that we could not leave without a deal? parliament has said they don‘t want us to leave without a deal. members of your cabinet. do you think they have undermined you? i think what is important is that we work to deliver government policy, which is that the preference is to leave with a deal and we work to do that. it was government policy to lead by the 3ist government policy to lead by the 31st of march. the failure to leave, sorry, the 29th. the failure to lead by that date is a failure.” sorry, the 29th. the failure to lead by that date is a failure. i wanted to leave on the 29th of march. i voted to leave on the 29th of march. others voted to do that. sadly not sufficient numbers. it is a failure, isn't it? it is a failure. people
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wa nted isn't it? it is a failure. people wanted us to leave on the 29th of march and we were not able to achieve that. we have failed. we we re achieve that. we have failed. we were not able to achieve that. what were not able to achieve that. what we must not fail in is leaving the european union. we must make sure we deliver on leaving the european union and as we have said and you have indicated you agree with, it is better to do that with a deal. by minister, you have agreed that none of us are going to get what we want. more importantly, is it not the case that that applies to the british people as well? you have always talked about making sure you want to implement the will of the people. isn't it right now that we know what version of the brexit we may get, when you reach that landing zone, that you actually check it is what the people want, or whether they would rather stick with a deal they have? i'm afraid i haven't changed my view on this issue from the discussions we have had both
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privately and publicly on it. i continue to believe that, parliament had been overwhelmingly given the decision to the british people and said, do you want to stay in or leave the european union, the british people have been, in the biggest exercise in democracy are now history, said we want to leave the european union, government at the european union, government at the time having said it would abide by the result of the referendum, i believe it‘s important we do that. i don‘t believe it is right to effectively say to people might think again. sometimes people say, people didn‘t know what the deal was going to be, they didn‘t know what this was going to be like. actually, i trust the british people rather more. the british people rather more. the british people rather more. the british people had an instinct as to what it was they wanted to see and they voted... the point is that very many are deeply unhappy with the deal and one of the reasons it won't past the parliament is even the loudest voice for brexit won't vote
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for it so how can you be sure this is the will of the people unless you go back and ask them whether this particular deal is the will of the people? i think for most members of the public they just want to get on and do it. in any way? they want us to leave the european union, the sense they asked government to do that they want government to deliver on that. i think that is very debatable. the next question is, would you rather accept a compromise ona would you rather accept a compromise on a customs union with the leader of the opposition or get your deal through subject to a confirmatory vote? that through subject to a confirmatory vote ? that is through subject to a confirmatory vote? that is what it looks like it might come down to. because your deal would get through if you made it subject to a confirmatory vote.” think there are... there is an assumption underlying your question which i don‘t accept. we are sitting down with the opposition to see whether there is an agreement we can come together. i can‘t say
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whether. .. we have come together. i can‘t say whether... we have had constructive talks, we are having talks that are looking in detail at these issues. obviously in terms of getting not just... notjust but the legislation through the house of commons also i would hope we would be able to find an agreement that would enable us to have that stable majority because i genuinely still believe that is the best way for this country. but there area number of best way for this country. but there are a number of issues we are debating with the opposition.” think you are absolutely right to seek an extension but of course what had not been extended is the end of the transition phase which will still run out on the 31st of december next year. do you think that will leave you enough time to negotiate all the future arrangements and the deal? obviously the time has been reduced in relation to that. although it was a lwa ys relation to that. although it was always the case of course that with always the case of course that with a new commission coming into place there was going to be a period of time when the commission was not going to be able to be as fully
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engaged as otherwise in this issue. i think it is important, it is still possible to achieve it by the end of december 2020. so you will not be seeking an extension of the transition phase as well? as i say, it is possible to achieve it by the end of december 2020, the withdrawal agreement has it within it the possibility of extension of that period. when you think of any other major international trade deals that would be negotiated in such a short space of time? —— can you think. would be negotiated in such a short space of time? -- can you think. the average figure for a negotiating trade deals is actually a lot shorter than many people think. we are operating... we already have the basis for the future deal in terms of the political declaration. a considerable amount of work has already been done in relation to this. and finally, i think one thing that pulls people is how much of the domestic agenda has been sidelined -- it domestic agenda has been sidelined —— it appalls them. one particular example is the social care green
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paper we have an absolute crisis in social care and eight need to find a long—term sustainable solution. —— a need. could you set out, because i have asked repeatedly about this in the commons, when is the social care green papergoing to the commons, when is the social care green paper going to be published so that we can get on and start debating it? first of all, i reject the concept that we have simply set to one side or ignored the domestic agenda. there are many aspects of what we have been doing in the domestic agenda which perhaps are not hit the headlines in the way they might have done in different circumstances but which we have been getting on and delivering for people across the country. in relation to social care, of course there are a number of commitments that have been made in relation to extra funding that has gone into local authorities for social care. obviously part of the work that will be done is indicated in the house of commons in pmqs is about the interaction
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between the health service and social care and the long—term plan in the national health service is an important element of that and obviously that is now being put into place. do you feel you're being hampered by the failure to publish the social care green paper. i don't understand why, given the social ca re understand why, given the social care green paper has been written, why it cannot be published. today we had a presentation of a bill on wild animals in circuses. i would say that, with respect, what the public really wa nt that, with respect, what the public really want to say is the publication and debate of social ca re publication and debate of social care which has a profound impact on people across this country.” recognise the impact that social ca re recognise the impact that social care has on people across this country. i think what people want to know is that this is a government that has been dealing with these issues, that we have been, as i said, around £4 billion is more money available this year local councils in relation to adult social care. i think it is important we
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look at these other issues. it is not just. .. there is look at these other issues. it is notjust... there is a question about the long—term sustainability of social care and i have always said there is a short—term, medium—term and long—term issue and the medium term is also about the way in which we interact health service and social care ensuring that issues like delayed discharges from hospitals are being reduced, which is better notjust for hospitals but the individuals concerned. these are issues we are continuing to look at... with you but... we will bring forward a green paper on the social care at the earliest opportunity. with respect, you have not answered my question. i would like to know when. we are no it has been written at his ready to go. when will you publish it? i'm sorry, you‘re making this option there is a completely green paper on social care. as i say, we will bring a green paper on social care forward. we will do so as soon as possible. there are a number of aspects of social care we are looking at and that we will be
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continuing to look at. there is a long—term sustainable issue. also the medium term issues about how we ensure best practice is introduced. best practice as it is today but also looking at what we think it should be in the future. we were promised from the dispatch box it would be published before christmas. i'm afraidi would be published before christmas. i'm afraid i don't think that's good enough but i will move on now to doctor julian lewis. enough but i will move on now to doctorjulian lewis. notice the time for the easy stuff, prime minister! which is the more important? our intelligence relationship with the united states or our emotional relationship with communist china? —— our commercial relationship. relationship with communist china? -- our commercial relationship. we have a particular relationship with united states and we continue to work with the united states in that deep and a special way that we a lwa ys deep and a special way that we always have done. that relationship is the deepest relationship across both security and defence issues and
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we continue that relationship and maintain it. ok, i will draw the appropriate inference from that. do you agree that china is an oppressive one—party you agree that china is an oppressive one— party state you agree that china is an oppressive one—party state and are you aware of article 14 of china's national intelligence law, passed in june 2017, which empowered the agencies of the chinese state to, request relevant organs organisations and civilians to provide necessary support assistance and cooperation to those agencies? yes, iam and cooperation to those agencies? yes, i am aware of that, and i‘m also aware, to complete the first question that you asked me, that there are obviously commercial opportunities in relation to china. we have developed that relationship with china. i took a trip that business people to china which was successful in opening opportunities for british companies in exporting
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and british farmers in exporting to china. it is important as we look at the future of this country that we recognise the needs both for our security and prosperity. last december, our own foreign office issued a press release entitled uk and our allies reveal global scale of chinese cyber campaign. it blamed a group called aptio operating under the chinese ministry of state security for mounting what our foreign secretary described as, one of the most significant and widespread cyber intrusions against the uk and our allies to date targeting trade secrets and economies around the world. so, do you accept that the chinese regime does indeed engage... studio: we will pull away from that liaison with the questioning of the prime minister and keep an eye on it to see if anything more of the said.
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the latent committee chairwoman asking whether mrs may would consider a further referendum on the brexit deal and she said she had not changed her view on this fault of the british people said they wanted to leave the european union i don‘t get is right to say to people to think again. plenty of news to come out about and we will be looking at that and bringing more of it to later on but now the weather. it isa it is a cloudy day across the board, a little bit of sunshine in eastern areas tending to fade into the afternoon. heavy showers here. shelves across much of the country should die away this evening and overnight with lengthy clears got and with light winds it will be quite chilly in a few places. certainly out—of—town have low single digits but holding up to around six 10 degrees in towns. we start tomorrow largely dry with sunshine but like to date, another showery one with some developing in the afternoon and they could be heavy and sundry. a change taking place in the far north of the uk is
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colder air begins to sink south. further across the mainland it is looking like being another mild one with temperatures in the mid teens. on friday, the colder air begins to sink southwards possible it would be quite chilly to start the weekend, even a touch of frost during the overnight period but dry for most with son and by bank holiday monday it looks like it will turn warmer for most. —— with sunshine.
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this is bbc news. our latest headlines... south african olympic champion caster semenya has lost an appeal against the world‘s athletics governing body over its ruling to limit testosterone levels in female runners. venezuelan president nicolas maduro defiantly vows to stay on after calls for a military uprising by the opposition leader. the prime minister has told a committee of senior mps that the government shares similar aims with labour overfuture eu customs arrangements and that the brexit uncertainty needs to end as soon as possible. the wikilea ks co—founder julian assange has been sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching bail conditions. labour leaderjeremy corbyn has once again come under the spotlight
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over anti—semitism as the party tries to put the focus on its climate—change policies. researchers hail an ‘astonishing‘ reduction in obesity among some pre—school children in leeds. sport now on afternoon live with damien. and after disappointment for tottenham last night, tonight it is the turn of liverpool. that‘s right i really mouthwatering prospect. it‘s a clash of two european heavyweights at the nou camp tonight. liverpool are looking to make the champions league final for the second year in a row and barcelona are pursuing their own treble having already secured another domestic league title last weekend. andy swiss is in barcelona for us. this is a tough what is the atmosphere like? it says tough as i get. barcelona is the favourite snob to win. as he said, they have a certain line no
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lessee. ge scored his 46th goal of the season this weekend. on top of that, the likes of other members who played for liverpool. —— messi scored his 46th goal. they are battling it out with manchester city for the title. they have a pretty good record here in barcelona. they have played here four times and they have played here four times and they have never lost. if they can maintain that record, that would leave them in a good position going into the return next week. what is the atmosphere like there? certainly the atmosphere like there? certainly the atmosphere like there? certainly the atmosphere this afternoon from what we have seen is pretty relaxed. it is good—natured. fans from both sides are out in the street enjoying the sunshine. there were a few incidents yesterday, most notably a video doing the rounds on social
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media. showing a man pushing liverpool fans in the fountain. while others watch. that prompted an executive to to post a message let's treat this beautiful city as it deserves an act in a manner fitting for liverpool football club. the liverpool manager said he could not be more excited. it is fair to say that most the fans share that sentiment. andy, thank you. porto goalkeeper iker casillas has been taken to hospital after suffering heart problems at the club‘s training ground. the club say the 37—year—old is "stable" in hospital and remains under observation. casillas captained spain to world cup glory in 2010 and two years later to a european championship triumph. the south african athlete caster semenya has lost a landmark case against new rules restricting the amount of testosterone in female runners.
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semenya, who‘s a double olympic gold medallist, has a condition that means she has unusually high levels of the hormone. the court of arbitration for sport rejected her challenge against the iaaf‘s new rules. the 28—year—old olympic 800m champion claimed after the ruling that the iaaf have always targeted her specifically. to the world snooker championship in sheffield where gary wilson is the first man to make it through to the semi finals. he beat two—time finalist ali carter by 13 frames to nine at the crucible, finishing it off with this brilliant long red from way back in the baulk area. wilson, who‘s from tyneside, is a qualifier, and has only ever made it as far as the first round before this. on the other table, john higgins leads neil robertson 9—7. these are live pictures from the crucible, bookies favourite judd trump is in control of his quarter final — he leads scotland stephen maguire
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by 9 frames to 3 — it is best of 25. going smoothly so far. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. now on afternoon live. let‘s go nationwide and see what‘s happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let‘s go to emma gladby in leeds to tell us about a woman who was groomed whilst in care in bradford. and annabel tiffin is in manchester to tell us about a wi initiative to get a team of volunteers to monitor moorland fires. i , what more can you tell us? this is a story about a girl who says she
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was groomed by ed group of men more than a decade ago and a carry—on when she went into foster care and into a children‘s home. we have seen her care records. here is an example, alice, not her real name is going off in older lads. the records also go on to talk about an older boyfriend and how she does whatever he wants, but months later despite the concerns of a social worker, it is recommended that alice is allowed to live with this man and the family. the report shows that alice is pregnant and has had a marriage at the age of 15. i have spoken to bradford about her case and they say they are talking to the police about this case. and they say the way they deal with victims now in 2019 is
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very different to how they did back then. there has been because for some sorts of an inquiry inbred free —— and inquiry in bradford. some sorts of an inquiry inbred free -- and inquiry in bradford. yes, there are survivors crawling forward some kind of inquiry to look into how widespread this abuse might have beenin how widespread this abuse might have been in bradford. and they are getting the backing of the former chief prosecutor. victims or survivors had come to me, or organisations have come to me and tell me that they know of many more victims. at what point does it become an issue for an inquiry? is it ten, 100, 1000? it is wholesale, potentially industrial abuse.“ it ten, 100, 1000? it is wholesale, potentially industrial abuse. if you are watching in yorkshire, plenty more at 6:30pm.
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tell us about these fires, how bad we re tell us about these fires, how bad were they? they were very bad. they started on the 24th ofjune and lasted for weeks. they burned over a seven square lasted for weeks. they burned over a seven square miles. at the height, about 100 soldiers were drafted in to fight them as well as firefighters from 20 different stations. as i said they went on for weeks. the fire got really close to populated areas. about 150 people we re populated areas. about 150 people were evacuated. i can tell you they we re were evacuated. i can tell you they were so severe were evacuated. i can tell you they were so severe that at one point we could smell the smoke and media city and that is about 25 miles away. of course you will remember it was a scorching summer and very dry. it exacerbated the problem. even after some rain, some hotspots were smoldering into august. here in the
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northwest moorland fires are not uncommon. for wi, what are they going to be doing? the women's institute has always played a pivotal role in rural community. when they faced another fire a few weeks ago, when a marriage was an idea for a neighbourhood watch for the countryside. the members are standing ready to patrol the area in an attempt to guard against little pockets of fires that might spark up. they are also going to be spotting people using barbecues. people do like to light barbecues, but they have been blamed for starting previous blazes. so far more than 100 members have signed up to bea more than 100 members have signed up to be a fire marshal. they are going to be a fire marshal. they are going to be a fire marshal. they are going to bejoined by other
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to be a fire marshal. they are going to be joined by other people like regular walkers and bird walkers. the idea has been popular so far. but this is what the president has had to say. helplessness and frustration, all we need to do this. why is this happening? it became all—consuming and i sensed this from reading social media posts and i thought there is something we can do. tap into the power of positivity. yes, bring some biscuits, a bag of crisps, why do you need to bring a barbecue? the massive damage it is doing to wildlife is unprecedented and that for me is a massive problem. the patrols are likely to be in place by the end ofjune when the risk of more than mac fires are at their height. it is not for the wi to tackle or confront people, just to be the eyes and ears. you do not mess around with the w idea?
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be the eyes and ears. you do not mess around with the w idea? you do not, at your peril. thank you very much. both of you for your reports. and if you would like to see more on any of those stories you can access them by the bbc iplayer. we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm here. us attorney general william barr — donald‘s trump‘s top law official — is appearing before the senatejudiciary committee today to discuss his handling of the mueller report into 2016 russian election meddling. the hearing comes amid reports that special counsel robert mueller complained about barr‘s summary of the report which cleared president trump of obstruction ofjustice, and said there was no evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russia. in his opening remarks to the senate committee, attorney general william barr insisted that, after considering the evidence gathered by mueller,
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he and his team concluded there was not enough to prosecute the president on obstruction ofjustice. and we had made clear that the results of the investigation were going to be made public and the deputy and i felt that the evidence developed by the special counsel is not sufficient to establish that the president committed a crime, and therefore it would be irresponsible and unfair for the department to release a report without stating the department‘s conclusions. and thus leave it hanging as to whether the department considered there had been criminal conduct. so the deputy attorney general and i conducted a careful review of the report with our staff and legal advisers and while we disagreed with some of the legal theories and felt that many of the episodes discussed in the report would not constitute obstruction as a matter of law, we did not rest our decision on that. we took each of the ten episodes and we assessed them against the analytical framework that had been set forth by the special counsel
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and we concluded that the evidence developed during the special counsel‘s investigation was not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction ofjustice offence. our correspondent dan johnson is on capitol hill. william barr is on the defence. he certainly is. defending the decisions that he made in the days after he received that report and the way he presented the conclusion that robert mueller had reached. on one hand, he isjustifying the positions he took. he is a top legal officer here, he was content that the president had not committed no crimes. even though there were occasions where mueller had made attem pts occasions where mueller had made atte m pts to occasions where mueller had made attempts to interfere with the investigation, even to get mueller fired. there was controversy about the way the attorney general
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presented effectively a summary of the conclusions, those findings to congress and the american people. we know democrats have been raising questions about that asking whether william barr had been entirely honest and fair and how he summarised that report. but now we learned that mueller, the man himself who wrote the report, also raised concerns with william barr about how the investigation was being characterised, particularly in the press reports that surrounded the press reports that surrounded the release of the report last month. mueller wrote a letter to william barr and he responded with a phone call to mueller to try and ease the tension in there. they clearly have a bit of a disagreement about how that was represented. william barr says that is the position he was in, trying to get the information out to the public as fast as possible. mueller along with many feel that that was a attempt to play down the findings to protect
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the president. if you think he is getting a rough time in the senate, congress would like to have a word with him as well. yes, he is due to be back on capitol hill tomorrow and they could be even rougher. the committee he has in front of today is controlled by the republicans. when he becomes —— when he comes before the lower house, it will be a similar committee but made up of a majority of democrats. the questioning may be even more intense. and they both want to hear it from robert miller to answer questions. and we hear that he will appearand questions. and we hear that he will appear and the way that his findings have been presented. we do not know when that will happen. although it has been finished and handed in, there is still a lot of mark talking to go on in the days and weeks and months ahead. dan, thank you very much.
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we have the business news in a moment but first the headlines. south african olympic champion caster semenya has lost an appeal against the world‘s athletics governing body over its ruling to limit testosterone levels in female runners. venezuelan president nicolas maduro defiantly vows to stay on after calls for a military uprising by the opposition leader. the prime minister has told a committee of senior mps that the government shares similar aims with labour overfuture eu customs arrangements and that the brexit uncertainty needs to end as soon as possible. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. free—to—use cash machines have been disappearing at a rapid rate across the uk, according to a new study. nearly 1,700 machines started charging for withdrawals in the first three months of the year, with the majority starting to charge in march, according to the consumer lobby group which. it could mean the country losing 13% of its free atms in only a few months.
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the failed bid to merge with rival asda cost sainsbury‘s £46 million, the supermarket giant has said. in april, a proposed merger between sainsbury‘s and asda was blocked by the uk‘s competition watchdog overfears it would raise prices for consumers. sainsbury‘s said that like—for—like sales growth slowed in the fourth quarter, especially over the christmas period. it added it would accelerate investment in its stores and technology. the guardian newspaper has posted a profit of £0.8 million for the financial year. it‘s the paper‘s first such profit in two decades, marking one of the most significant turna rounds in recent british media history. the government‘s contracts for ferry services post brexit have already proved controversial. that is may be an understatement. what‘s happening now? the department of transport is cancelling more contracts which were in place with brittany ferries and dfds which could cost the taxpayer
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more than £50 million. the government bought £89 million worth of capacity from the two firms. at least they have ferries! there was a third company which the department for transport was forced to act. in february, the dft was forced to axe its £13.8 million contract with a third company, seaborne freight, which the bbc found had never sailed a vessel. that was the controversy you were alluding to. with these recent cancellations, there are fears that millions of pounds could be lost. earlier transport minister chris grayling called the contracts an "insurance policy". it was part of a £4 billion insurance package that the government put in place in case of a no—deal brexit. it is only 1% of that total commitment, a commitment around new systems, preparing forjams in kent, making sure agricultural
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checks can take place. people would expect a responsible government to take out an insurance policy, and that is what we have done, to make sure we can deal with all the challenges of a no—deal brexit. we never wanted it, we never worked for it but we surely need to be ready for it. and sainsbury‘s results are out. they have had a pretty difficult time. it‘s pretty resilient given the set backs its faced — not least its failed attempt to take over asda which cost it £46 million in fees. it was thrown out because of fears it would lead to higher prices for consumers. the supermarket chain is fighting hard on other fronts too — trying to compete against aggressive low—price rivals and a resurgent tesco, while at the same time finding the money to improve its stores, reduce debt and maintain dividend payments to shareholders. we heard about this roll—out of stores without any tills which is continuing after a pilot programme. once you include restructuring costs
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and the hit on the failed asda deal, statutory profits were down to £219 million for the year to march — but if you strip out those costs, underlying profits were better than the market expected. investors were quite reassured by it. earlier we spoke to sainbury‘s chief executive, mike coupe. we don‘t agree with the regulator, thatis we don‘t agree with the regulator, that is pretty clear. we believe we will be able to lower prices and we are ina will be able to lower prices and we are in a very competitive market. unlike most businesses come every morning we open our shops we have customers and they have a huge amount of choice and that is increasing over time and we have to adapt our business as we look forward to those changing customer habits. underlying our business results today we have seen our online business grow by 6.9%. we have seen our convenience business grow by 3.7%, our taste the difference ground growing by 2% and we re difference ground growing by 2% and were now delivering around 20% of
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our company sales through the online channels. i have the full support of the board and you will have the joy i‘m sure of talking to me again at some point in the not—too—distant future! i‘m committed to sainsbury‘s asa future! i‘m committed to sainsbury‘s as a business. it was an opportunity, undoubtedly, and we believe it is an opportunity that would ultimately have benefited customers, but you can see by the results today that there is still a huge amount of change going on in the organisation. putting a brave face on things there. sainsbury‘s sharesjumped 6%, their biggest intraday rise in a year. it is just under 4% now. the warmer weather over easter helped boost sales at retail giant next, sales in the 1st quarter were £10 million more than predicted. lots of people buying summer clothing a bit earlier than expected. the news comes as many other high street names continue to struggle.
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there is the pound against the dollar at the bottom of the board and the ftse100 pretty much in negative territory most of the day but not too bad. that‘s all the business news. health experts claim there‘s been a significant reduction in obesity among pre—school children in leeds. they believe it‘s thanks to a project which shows parents how to encourage children to eat healthier meals and do more exercise. the improvements have been highest in the city among children from poorer backgrounds — a result that has been described as "astonishing" by researchers. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. for hundreds of years, beavers were absent from scotland‘s rivers and streams. but now they‘re back, and it‘s not hard to spot the signs of where the animals have set up home. they‘re busy creatures, foraging here, taking down the trees, using it for theirfood, but also as construction materials. beavers are known as ecosystem engineers. their dams alter their watery landscape, catching silt and pollutants and helping support
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a web of life, of insects and birds. now beavers have been added to the list of protected species in scotland, making it an offence to kill them without a licence. it‘s significant in that it is showing the intent to allow beavers back into scotland. very significant as a means of saying, well, we have something here which can provide huge benefits for the environment. that is not the report on obesity, thatis that is not the report on obesity, that is the report on beavers and the fact that they are now a protected species in scotland. you have seen most about so you know about that but let‘s return to the issue of obesity because it is a result that has been described as astonishing by researchers which shows a significant reduction in preschool obesity in leeds. here is that report, i hope. childhood obesity has proved extremely stubborn to shift. by the time children in england leave primary school, a third will be overweight or obese. one of the most difficult groups to help has been those
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from poorer backgrounds, but today‘s study from leeds seems to buck the trend. over a five—year period, the number of obese four—and five—year—olds has fallen by 6.4%. what‘s particularly interesting is that the number of obese children from deprived backgrounds has dropped even more — by an average of 8.7%. three—year—old libbyjoy used to only eat beans, sausages and mashed potato, but she was helped to try lots of different food as part of a scheme to tackle obesity in leeds. her mum now says she is fantastically healthy. her absolute favourite is broccoli, and she can eat loads of it. cucumbers, bananas, mangoes, peaches, strawberries, sweetcorn, loads of things now. the city of leeds has concentrated its efforts on tackling obesity, particularly among younger children and in deprived areas.
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one of the schemes there is called henry, and it runs nutrition workshops, some in children‘s centres. the programmes that henry's running really recognises that parents want the very best for their children, but actually there is a big difference between knowing what children should be eating and making that happen in practice, and so what henry's doing is really building parents' confidence and skills to establish a healthy, happy family life. a handful of other places in england have also seen reductions in childhood obesity, and it‘s hoped the trend will begin to turn. but for older children, weight problems are still proving a huge challenge. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. thank you paul for tweeting that it is very worrying we have a piece beavers! we made a mistake and now you know about the obesity issues as well. it did not take long, one
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minute from the moment we made that mistake for you to point it out! that‘s it from your afternoon live team for today. next the bbc news at 5 with carrie. time for a look at the weather. here‘s stav. hello there. we have seen increasing amounts of cloud across the country today. a weather front is pushing in from the west and introducing this cloud and outbreaks of rain, but across the eastern side of the country, this is where we will see the sunny spells for the longest before the clouds build up here. some of them could be heavy across eastern england as they develop in some fairly warm air. 17,18 or 19 degrees. there is something a little bit fresher behind this weather front which is slowly pushing its way towards the east this evening. it will take the heavy showers with it and i think overnight, this front will die away to leave a lot of dry weather. there will be lengthy clear skies. where the skies will be clear, there will be light winds, it is going to be chilly tonight in places. central northern air out of town it is mostly low, single digits. most of the towns and cities further south 6—10 celsius. for thursday we start off on a cool note. quite a bit of sunshine around,
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but again we will see some cloud across the southwest with some showery outburst of rain. the big change will be taking place across scotland. certainly, northern scotland, first signs of that cold air moving towards the south out of the arctic. 7 degrees. elsewhere, generally around the mid—teens. this is the cold front i am talking about. moving south across the country, introducing a band of showery rain. some of it will be quite heavy and behind it, the arctic air will be very noticeable. it will be pouring right across scotland during friday, bringing some wintry showers with it, certainly to the high ground there. quite a strong wind making it feel pretty raw. this cold front will be reaching central areas with a few possibly heavy showers on it. into the south of it, friday afternoon, we are still in the mild air, 14, 15 degrees. behind it, though, you can see the green hue, indicating temperatures just in single digits. and it turns cold as we head to friday night into the start of the bank holiday weekend. you can see the blue hues right across the board. don‘t be surprised if you start saturday morning off with a touch of light frost out of town. but on the plus side, there should be quite a bit of sunshine.
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so a chilly start to the weekend. saturday temperatures just about making double figures, pretty much across the board. notice the temperature starts to climb slowly as we head through sunday and into the bank holiday monday. this bank holiday weekend is starting off pretty chilly with some early frost. gardeners, beware. it will be dry for most and plenty of sunshine. it is starting to turn warmer again by monday.
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today at five: a landmark ruling in sport that will force female athletes with unusually high levels of testosterone to take drugs to reduce it. double olympic gold medallist caster semenya says she has been targeted and she will not be slowed down. such discrimination is a necessary, reasonable, and proportionate means of achieving the iaaf‘s objective of preserving the integrity of female athletics. we‘ll talk to an expert witness for caster semenya and ask what the implications are for other competitors, including including trans—athletes. the other main stories on bbc news at five:
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