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tv   BBC News at One  BBC News  November 11, 2019 1:00pm-1:31pm GMT

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nigel farage says his brexit party will not stand in conservative—held seats at next month's election. in what's being seen as a boost for borisjohnson, mr farage says his party will instead concentrate all its efforts on labour—held seats. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the conservatives won at the last election. but what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party. we'll be analysing what impact the announcement might have on the election. also this lunchtime... hopes that thousands ofjobs at british steel will be saved with a rescue deal this afternoon by a chinese industrial giant.
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the cannabis—based medicines to help children like indy rose are approved for use by the nhs in england. australian authorities say the threat from bushfires is catastrophic. a state of emergency is declared in queensland and new south wales. and britain falls silent to mark armistice day and remember the fallen. last post plays. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news... can anyone stop liverpool? they are now eight points clear at the top of the premier league, after beating manchester city 3—1.
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good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. nigel farage has said his brexit party won't now contest conservative—held seats in next month's elections. in what is being seen as a boost for borisjohnson, mr farage said he doesn't want anti—brexit parties to win the election. he's standing down candidates in more than 300 consitutences in more than 300 consituencies where the tories won at the last election. instead, the brexit party say they'll concentrate all their efforts on labour—held seats. 0ur political correspondent tom barton is in hartlepool, where mr farage made the announcement in the last hour. just tell us more about what he has been saying? well, and, this is
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significant. nigel farage had been asking the conservatives to agree to an electoral pact, not to stand against the brexit party in seats where they thought they could defeat labour, but the conservatives had said no to this. welcome this afternoon, nigel farage has announced that the brexit party will unilaterally stand down its candidates in the 317 seats which are currently held by the conservatives. this is what he had to say just a little conservatives. this is what he had to sayjust a little while ago. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the conservatives won at the last election. but what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party, who have completely broken their manifesto pledge in 2017 to respect the result of the referendum, and we will also take on the rest of the remainer parties. we will stand up and we will fight them all.
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now, this is significant for the conservatives, because they were worried that the brexit party could split the vote in those seats that the tories are hoping to defend at this election. nigel farage, standing his candidates down, will give borisjohnson a clear run at those seats which they are defending. for the brexit party, it allows them, as you heard nigel farage saying, to concentrate their effo rts farage saying, to concentrate their efforts on labour held, brexit supporting seats like here in hartlepool, where there was a 70% vote for brexit in the referendum in 2016. nigel farage said today that his worry was that standing on conservative seats would split the brexit vote and would also lead to a second referendum. borisjohnson might be breathing a big sigh of relief this afternoon, in a tweet a few minutes ago, he said he welcomes the recognition that a hung parliament would be the biggest threat to brexit. tom barton, our political correspondent, thank you.
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labour and the conservatives are both making election promises to improve the lives of uk military personnel. the tories say they would change the law to protect veterans from what they call "vexatious" legal action, and they're also promising extra childcare for sevice families. labour says it will give military personnel better wages and improve support for their children. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. last post plays. pausing to remember. a brief break in the election campaign this morning, to reflect on armistice day. but as well as paying tribute to those who have died serving their country, the parties have taken today to make pledges to the men and women serving now in the uk's armed forces. the conservatives are promising to end repeated unsuccessful prosecutions of servicemen and women by changing the law to stop them facing unfair legal action relating to armed conflict.
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lawyers have often been able to go back to inquests, for example in northern ireland, and say, my client — who more often than not was actually a terrorist who was killed in the act of terror — was harmed by the state and that has meant we have had continued, repeated inquests going round and round in circles, unfair to men and women in the armed forces, with no clear solution in the end. in addition, the conservatives are saying they would guarantee job interviews for veterans in public sector roles, offer extended childcare to the children of servicemen and women before and after school, and give a tax break to employers taking on former members of the armed forces. labour are promising to increase pay for servicemen and women by scrapping the public sector pay cap. they would also improve housing by ending reliance on private rented accommodation and, if in government, the party would consult on a representative body for service personnel. in lifting the public sector pay cap, we think that we will be able to pay service personnel
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a proper wage. we ask them to make the ultimate sacrifice, and the least we can do is to give them some decent pay. they have effectively had a pay cut over the last few years, and we think that's wrong. armistice day falling in the run—up to polling day is another reminder that this is an unusual election. the day's campaigning may feel muted, but the parties will still try to win votes. jonathan blake, bbc news. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale is here. jonathan, we have heard promises before about protecting veterans from legal action? yeah, it is easier said than done. the last four conservative defence secretaries have promised to address this, to end what they call vexatious claims against soldiers. ben wallace, the defence secretary, things he has come up with a solution which involves the human rights act, which would he thinks protect soldiers who served in the troubles in northern
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ireland being repeatedly investigated. the trouble is, you have got to have the same law for soldiers as you have the paramilitaries, and already, this proposal has run into trouble. we have heard from the irish foreign minister, who said, this proposal is very concerning, the law must apply to all, without exception. so, easier said than done. what is your analysis about what labour are promising? it is interesting, labour is focusing on welfare and there is room for manoeuvre here, because morale has been hit, retention and recruitment problems, both the tories and labour are promising to do something about that, as we have heard. the reason why labour is focusing on welfare is interesting, because, look at its wider defence policy, you have a party which says it is committed to renewing the trident nuclear weapons system, and membership of nato, but you have a leader of the labour party, jeremy corbyn, who in the past, certainly, has contradicted that policy. so i think it is fair to say that both parties have vulnerabilities on defence, labour's are more obvious.
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jonathan beale, our defence correspondent, thank you. and throughout the election campaign, we will be looking closely at the places where the final result could be won and lost, and asking people in those places what questions they may have. tomorrow, we will be reporting from bishop auckland in county durham, all day, on tv, radio and online. it is expected a rescue deal will be announced this lunchtime that would save up to 4,000 jobs at british steel. a chinese manufacturing group has agreed to buy the company for £70 million, securing the future of firm's plants in scunthorpe and teesside. british steel went into liquidation in may and another proposed rescue deal with a turkish firm collapsed last month. our business correspondent theo leggett reports. this is british steel's plant in scu nthorpe. the beating heart of an industrial town. its future had been in deep doubt after the company went into liquidation earlier this year. but today, news of a lifeline.
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the chinese firm jingye is expected to buy the business for £70 million. it's been a big concern, hasn't it? nobody knowing what's going to be happening, whether they've got a job, pay their mortgages, feed their families. it's great news. you don't know if you're batting or bowling, do you? once it gets sorted, we can get on with it better, can't we? it's finally something positive, it's good. what are your thoughts aboutjingye? anything is better than nothing, i suppose. yeah, it's getting better. british steel employs 4,000 people in britain, at scunthorpe and at other sites in the north—east. 20,000 more are employed in the supply chain. unions sayjingye can protect those jobs. their passion and enthusiasm for steel making really comes through in the conversations that we've had with them. that's what we've said all the way along, that we want a buyer that's going to sustain employment and steel—making for scu nthorpe and the towns that have got british steel there for years and years to come. but british steel has been here before.
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three years ago, the business was sold for £1 to private equity group greybull capital. there were promises of a new dawn and major new investment. butjust three years later, it was on the brink once again as high costs, fierce competition and economic uncertainty took their toll. the steel industry's trade body says it is essential things are different this time. scunthorpe makes a third of the steel that the uk makes. it's massively significant, it's critical notjust to that area, as you say, but also actually to the whole of the manufacturing sector in the uk, i believe — and ultimately to the uk economy. so, the government could not let this go out of business. jingye is a powerful company with more than 23,000 employees and annual sales worth £10 billion. it is expected to invest cash and cut costs in an effort to boost production. but people within the industry say if wide action isn't taken to help by cutting energy costs and business
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rates, for example, then for british steel, this could end up being just another false dawn. theo leggett, bbc news. colletta smith is at the british steel plant in scunthorpe. it has been a really difficult few months for the workers there? yeah, it has, ben. it was six months ago that we were here outside these gates and staff had just learned that the company had gone into liquidation. that meant a very uncertain future for them. but as you can see, the furnaces have been kept burning behind me over the last six months, the government effectively running this company while they were looking for a buyer. it was thought it could be the turkish company but that fell through last month. so, a big sigh of relief from the workforce here, 3000 people based at this plant here in scunthorpe, 3000 people based at this plant here in scu nthorpe, another 3000 people based at this plant here in scunthorpe, another 1000 in teesside, all breathing a sigh of relief. the company has been bought. we are expecting the official announcement within the next hour
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from the company, staff are coming infor from the company, staff are coming in for shifts and they have already been told by their line managers that it been told by their line managers thatitis been told by their line managers that it is good news for the company. of course, it is still nerve—racking when any company takes over a big, significant, nerve—racking when any company takes overa big, significant, uk manufacturer, as to what the long—term future will be. as i say, there is 4000 directly employed staff here in the uk but there are 20,000 in the wider supply chain. so, this is an extremely significant company here, which makes long steel products and it is hoped that that workforce will be kept safe and here in scunthorpe. colletta smith in scunthorpe, in scunthorpe. colletta smith in scu nthorpe, thank you in scunthorpe. colletta smith in scunthorpe, thank you very much. the uk economy recovered in the third quarter of the year, growing by 0.3% to reverse a contraction earlier in the year. but the growth was modest and the figures showed economy has slowed to its lowest rate in almost a decade. here's our economics correspondent andy verity. in peterborough, this is the biggest
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tyre distribution centre in the country. it is the sort of service business which does well when consumers are not ready to invest in a new car but are ready to buy new tires to keep the old motor going. in the third quarter of the year, that pattern was repeated across the economy. business in services picking up but weak investment not helped by brexit uncertainty. picking up but weak investment not helped by brexit uncertaintym makes it difficult to plan for the future in terms of our cost base and what selling price we need to make the money that the company needs to return. but also in terms of planning and investment for the future, it makes it harder to put that plan in place in a way that you can rely on. you can see on this chart, the most recent figures are not as bad as the ones before, and it means we have avoided the technical definition of recession, where you have two quarters of negative economic growth. but if you look back over the past year, according to the office for national statistics, it is actually the wea kest statistics, it is actually the weakest growth we've had since the
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beginning of 2010. in this election campaign, the government is portraying it as a bounce back. in the global context, it is a strong number. if you look at what has been happening with some of our biggest competitors around the world, germany, italy and france, we are growing faster than most of our g7 competitors, and of course we are exposed to what happens across the world, but the biggest issue right here in ourown world, but the biggest issue right here in our own economy, the big domestic issue, is the uncertainty. to opposition parties, the ongoing wea kness to opposition parties, the ongoing weakness of the economy suggests a slow puncture which could spell trouble down the road. everything we predicted is coming unfortunately true. two problems, one is nine yea rs of true. two problems, one is nine years of austerity, lack of investment in the every economist divides advised against this policy full stops, complete mismanagement of brexit. and it has produced an economy now where i thinkjobs are at risk. look more closely at the numbers and it is a mixed picture. the economy grew well injuly, but
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in august, the estimates suggest it shrank, and also contracted in september. productivity has ground toa september. productivity has ground to a halt and we can see that according to bdo's research, business confidence is now at zero. so it is not a good picture at all, no matter what kind of spin the tories try to put on this, this is a terrible picture of wilful mismanagement, and it is affecting people in their homes and it is affecting people's livelihoods. people in their homes and it is affecting people's livelihoodsm is notjust that affecting people's livelihoodsm is not just that the economy is growing slowly, international investors are losing confidence in the british economy, based on boris johnson's brexit plans. there was one way that brexit uncertainty helped the economy. it meant a weak pound, which made uk goods cheaper forforeign buyers. pound, which made uk goods cheaper for foreign buyers. exports, pound, which made uk goods cheaper forforeign buyers. exports, notably of cars, were up. but whether this economic pickup is sustained will depend very much on the political road ahead. andy verity, bbc news.
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two cannabis—based medicines have been approved for use on the nhs in england for the first time. the drugs advisory body nice says the medicines will help people with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. charities have welcomed the decision, but said thousands of other people who could benefit from cannabis—based medicines have been left in limbo. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. this treatment comes from cannabis. have your medicine, look? indy rose has severe epilepsy. but her seizures have reduced dramatically since she's been on the drug. her parents are deeply disappointed as her drug will still not be available on the nhs. the epilepsy drug, which has been approved, is called epidyolex. doctors will be able to prescribe it in england, wales and northern ireland for two hard—to—treat forms of epilepsy, dravet and lennox gastaut syndromes. scotland may follow later. it contains cbd or cannabidiol, but no thc, the main psychoactive
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component of cannabis. it's working well for tj. his seizures are now under control and his parents are delighted the medicine will be available on the nhs. but other families say their children need cannabis medicines which contain thc and none of these has been approved. two—year—old charlie has severe epilepsy. his father spends £1500 per month bringing the medicine in from the netherlands. there is overwhelming evidence that it is a safe product, it does work and we should be prescribing it here in the uk. it's 2019 and we are so far behind other countries in the world. but experts in epilepsy say until thc —containing medicines have undergone medical trials they will be
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relu cta nt to medical trials they will be reluctant to prescribe them. we need to go through the appropriate regulatory framework and make sure what we are using is the appropriate medications in individuals, that we have evidence based, that it is not only effective, but safe. the other approved treatment is for multiple sclerosis. as a mouth spray it's been available on the nhs in wales since 2014. it contains a mix of thc and cbd. doctors will be allowed to prescribe it to treat muscle spasms but not pain, which has disappointed ms patient groups. both of the medicines approved are grown in the uk, but the row over the availability of products from overseas is set to continue. fergus walsh, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime. nigel farage says his brexit party will not stand in conservative held seats at next month's election and his party will instead concentrate all its efforts
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on labour seats. and still to come, british airways launches a review into a controversial practice called "fuel tankering" after a bbc investigation. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, roger federer suffers a shock defeat to dominic thiem in his first match at the atp finals in london. two states in australia have declared an emergency with raging bushfires bringing death and destruction. at least three people have been killed and thousands have been forced out of their homes in new south wales and queensland. there's also a warning that lives and homes in sydney and the surrounding area will be at risk. phil mercer reports from sydney. fire authorities have been given emergency powers, as eastern australia prepares
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for a horror day of bushfires. brutal conditions are forecast on tuesday. fire crews have come from around australia and from new zealand to help. it's a military—style operation. boots on the ground are supported by water bombing aircraft, as firefighters prepare for the onslaught. given what we saw yesterday and the expected weather conditions again today, we can expect to see the alert levels increase on a number of these fires up in northern new south wales. the conditions are still extremely dry, the fire behaviour is still quite volatile and there are still lots of communities in the north—east of the state that remain at risk today. sydney and regions to the north, south and west are on edge. you can already smell the smoke in the air, and the winds have really started to pick up. a long drought has made the ground bone—dry, and firefighters could well be facing horrific conditions.
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australia is a land well—used to nature's extremes, but officials say this fire emergency is unprecedented. residents in bushfire—prone regions near sydney have been advised to leave. more than 350 schools and colleges will also be closed, as communities prepare for the worst. three people have died in the fires, and so far more than 150 homes have been destroyed. we've got our family and we've got our lives, and we've got great neighbours and great friends, and they'll all rally together. since the start of this year's fire season, more than 2 million acres of land in new south wales have been scorched. parts of queensland are also preparing for more dangerous conditions in the coming days. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. british airways has launched
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a review into a controversial practice called "fuel tankering" — which increases the greenhouse gas emissions from flights — following a bbc panorama investigation. 0ur chief environment correspondent justin rowlatt is here. what have british airways and other airlines been doing? last night we rana airlines been doing? last night we ran a story from tonight's panorama revealing that british airways and indeed virtually all airlines operating in europe sometimes take on additionalfuel to operating in europe sometimes take on additional fuel to save money when it's more expensive than the destination they are going to. it cuts costs but heavy planes take more fuel to fly through the air and therefore create more greenhouse gas emissions and the practice appears to be at odds with the commitments of british airways and other airlines to cut their emissions. it seems that willie walsh, the chief executive of the company that owns british airways agrees. we have got hold of a recording, an address he gave to investors on friday in which
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he talks about our story and says the company will review the practice. this is what he said. but maybe that's the wrong thing to do and the wrong issue to incentivise, so we want to make sure we have our incentives aligned to the right activities to ensure financial sustainability, but also to ensure environmental sustainability. it's tricky, we want cheap flights, which is why airlines try to save costs wherever they can, but clearly sometimes those cost savings have a negative impact and across europe this fuel tankering creates a lot of additional emissions, estimated at 900,000 tonnes. justin rowlatt, thank you. and you can watch that full panorama programme, that's on bbc one tonight at 8:30pm and then on the iplayer. two people are in critical condition after a day of violent demonstrations in hong kong.
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one was injured when he was shot by a police officer and later a pro—china supporter was doused in flammable liquid and set alight after arguing with protesters, who are demanding greater democracy and police accountability. more rain is set to hit parts of yorkshire and the midlands already suffering from the effects of flooding. the environment agency has issued dozens of flood warnings across the country, including five severe warnings on the river don in south yorkshire. many homes have flooded in fishlake near doncaster, while hundreds more properties have been evacuated. military helicopters have also been used to help flood defences. luxmy gopal reports. a community cut off. the only way to get around some parts of fishlake is by tractor. 0r boat. even the emergency services have had to abandon the odd vehicle. a few miles upstream along the river don, the town of bentley called in the military.
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the raf chinook was dropping tonnes of aggregate to shore up flood defences until the early hours of this morning. in fishlake at 11 o'clock, people had gathered for remembrance outside the church where some flooded residents had been sleeping overnight. claire holling is lucky. she has a relative to stay with, but she's been away from her own home for days. just emotional. it's how i can describe it. my elder daughter and son, they haven't been able to get to see us, so when i speak to them, they are upset as well. some villagers are angry at the local authorities are. they haven't been very helpful and now what they are saying is if we don't evacuate they won't give us any help, but we don't want to evacuate. we've got pets at home and there have also been looters going around so people are concerned. south yorkshire police says it's had no reports of looting and is carrying out round—the—clock patrols to reassure residents. this local farmer remembers when it flooded this badly 12 years ago. he says not enough was done to stop it happening again. they haven't done a lot, have they?
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they've raised it a little bit where they've took levels on top of the bank and put soil on top, but nowhere near enough. but the environment agency says it isn't that straightforward. we will, obviously, as we always do, review what's happened in this event, talk to our partners, look at our investment plans and see what more we might need to do in the future. the water levels have dropped a lot but with more rain forecast later this week, it will be a while before people can go back home. luxmy gopal, bbc news, fishlake. the uk has fallen silent for those who died in two world wars and all conflicts since on armistice day. it is exactly 100 years since the first two—minute silence was held to commemorate the 15 million military personnel and civilians who died in world war one. daniela relph reports. last post plays. the national memorial arboretum
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in staffordshire, where remembrance happens daily all year round. but today is different. honouring the armistice, those lost and those saved, marked with a service of remembrance, and then silence. 0n the 11th november 1919, the first two—minute silence was observed. 100 years on, wherever you are, it remains a moment to stop, to reflect, and to remember. the first two—minute silence
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was introduced by king george v. thousands packed onto whitehall after he said the country should stop to honour those who never came home. the silence remains at the centre of remembrance a century later. but in 2019, the royal british legion didn't just ask for a pause and a silence. it said we should all mute our phones, switch off tvs and close our laptops to honour those who defended our freedoms and way of life. daniela relph, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. it's been decent weather for the armistice day commemorations. very respectful, i'm pleased to say, and it's good news when you see what's coming this week. low pressure is what's coming this week. low pressure is never what's coming this week. low pressure is never too far away i'm afraid and it stays pretty cold as well so we will see a real rash of
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showers with one area of low pressure moving off to the north sea only to be replaced in the middle of the week by another area of low pressure so if you have outdoor plans it's worth bearing in mind, keep abreast of the forecast because we will continue to see rain and as it stays cold it means with elevation we will see snow on higher ground as well. the story so far today, overnight rain moving off to the near continent and this shower clout to the far north—west, where most showers are. it means a sheltered south and eastern areas are not too bad, as you can see from this lovely weather watcher picture sentin this lovely weather watcher picture sent in across east sussex, a beautiful afternoon. but if you dodge the showers it is still on the chilly side. showers widespread across the north—west accompanied by gusts of wind up to 50 or 60 mph so far. coming in across north and west scotland, northern ireland and north—west england and wales. the wind will ease a touch into the afternoon but it will still be a blustery afternoon and the best of
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any shelter and drier weather

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