tv BBC News BBC News September 15, 2021 8:00pm-9:01pm BST
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this is bbc news, i'm clive myrie. the prime minister has made major changes to his top team in afar reaching cabinet reshuffle. dominic raab is demoted from foreign secretary to justice secretary and replaced by liz truss. the education secretary gavin williamson is sacked — nadim zahawi is stepping into hisjob. robert buckland and robertjenrick also lost their posts ofjustice and housing secretaries. while michael gove moved from the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster to become the new housing secretary. much more on all those changes in the next hour. in our other news...
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the rising cost of eating out helps inflation hit its highest level in almost a decade. after two years in a syrian refugee camp — shamima begum — who left the uk as a teenager to join the islamic state group — begs to be allowed to return home. facebook is accused of keeping secret internal research which shows that using instagram can damage the mental health of teenage girls. and the amateur astronauts — how four civilians who've never been to space are about to blast off on their own for a 3 day trip around earth. good evening and welcome to bbc news. borisjohnson has been carrying out a major — and far—reaching — reshuffle of his cabinet. the dramatic changes have seen some of the cabinet�*s mainplayers removed — among them the foreign secretary, domnic raab, who has been demoted.
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he is being replaced by liz truss. she's only the second woman to hold the post of foreign secretary. gavin williamson has been sacked as education secretary and is leaving the government. he is being replaced by the vaccines minister nadhim zahawi. downing street said the prime minister wanted to put in place a strong and united team to build back better from the pandemic. let's get the latest now on all the comings and goings from our political editor laura kuenssberg. nerves all round. who is out and who is in, prime minister? . reshuffles matter, who the boss wants in, and who the boss wants out. prime minister's questions came first. we now come to prime ministers question. eager to congratulate a sporting victor. i know the whole house will want to join me in congratulating emma raducanu. but today's real query, who would be a winner and who would lose one of their front row seats? to start, where would he end up.
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which way? th eblack belt brexiteer foreign secretary who was in charge from his grecian holiday during the fall of kabul. dominic raab, down but not out. after lengthy conversations, perhaps a dollop of confrontation... have you still got a job, sir? the former lawyer takes charge of the courts and prisons at the justice department. it is not clear if number ten had bargained on giving him the bauble of deputy prime minister, too, but he emerged with that, a title that has not been held since 2015. are you expecting a promotion? his replacement, liz truss, much loved by tory members, moving up into herfifthjob at the cabinet table. but time waits for no minister. for a quartet of the cabinet, the clock ran down on their time in office. robert was an unlucky name today, robertjenrick from housing and robert buckland from justice bows out, but spared the shame of a sacking in downing street, their own statements on social media sufficed.
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along with the predicted departure of the now former education secretary, gavin williamson. i sort of have to do quite a few tests. who many would claim failed rather a lot of those tests, in charge of confusion over exam grades and millions of school pupils during the pandemic. taking his place, nadim zahawi, a huge thumbs up from downing street after overseeing the vaccine programme. promotion for him to the education department. and another borisjohnson loyalist leased the dean darius, a bestselling author and inhabitant of the tv celebrityjungle, has triumphed in this wild terrain, promoted to look after culture and sport. a grinning michael gove, with a job technically less senior, now in charge of housing, councils and the union. but downing street wants this to be a day for the doers. the top ranked around here, who number ten hopes can get things done. a day of many moves, a day when political fortunes rise in full.
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--fall. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. the prime minister has tweeted in the last few minutes or so... that it was few minutes. let's get the latest with our political correspondent helen catt, who's in downing street. i'm just wondering why this reshuffle is taking place now? at least we now know this reshuffle is over. i think i have been expectation that he would freshen up his team for a while. the question is always what is the best time to do that? conservative party conference in a couple of weeks are usually the role is to either go before you have to wait until the following year. so there have been expectation that there would be a reshuffle. it is not committed a
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surprise for that the scale has probably taken people a bit by surprise was up i'm not sure people thought it would be quite this wide ranging. we have signed in an awful lot of movement and some big figures go. the sacking of gavin williamson as educations secretary while widely expected that is a figure that is familiar not familiar to many people who is now gone. and the free movement of dominic raab from foreign secretary, one of the biggest that is a step down. even though he has also got this title of deputy prime minister to go with it. there was speculation for gavin williamson, no about that. was it afghanistan that did it for dominic raab? , ., , ., ., ., raab? yes, there was a huge amount of criticism for _ raab? yes, there was a huge amount of criticism for dominic _ raab? yes, there was a huge amount of criticism for dominic raab - raab? yes, there was a huge amount of criticism for dominic raab get - of criticism for dominic raab get tickly his decision to stay in holiday in crete when kabul was falling. that has meant that they would be a lot more questions but i
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don't think the questions from mps had stopped on that. it's been quite tricky going if dominic raab had stayed in the role. an intriguing detail about this is we understand that when boris johnson first spoke to dominic raab this morning, that position of deputy prime minister was not to be on offer, it was to talked about. after a lengthy conversation and it'd did it emerge that it was offered as his other position. some had suggested that dominic raab was pretty angry about this, sources have denied it. it is to be understood that he is upset at some of the ways his actions around afghanistan look afghanistan. joining me now is the former conservative education secretary, justine greening. thanks very much indeed for being with us. a prime minister tweeted in the last few seconds that this is the last few seconds that this is the cabinet i've appointed which will work tirelessly to unite and
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level up the country. is there a sense, given the pandemic, given afghanistan, given national insurance, tax rises and so on that that whole leveling up the agenda has been slightly derailed and he's got to try and bring it back? i think partly that's what this reshuffle is about. he has a choice about whether he's going to allow his time as prime minister to be dominated entirely by covid or is he going to shift away from a covid cabinet to wand that is really going to be able to focus on leveling out. that's in the prime ministers kit. this is a of reset notjust for the government but also for the country. i think with the prime minister is doing quite rightly in my view is bringing in a cabinet that he thinks can rise to the challenge of what comes after covid and getting on with that leveling up agenda, which he absolutely doesn't need to do.
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you've been a strong advocate for social mobility and very critical of the lack of it in this country over many, many years. is there a sense do you believe now that the figures who are at the top of government are able to help with that agenda? time will tell. i able to help with that agenda? time will tell- i do — able to help with that agenda? time will tell. i do think— able to help with that agenda? time will tell. i do think it's _ able to help with that agenda? t he: will tell. i do think it's important to have a strong secretary for education, i got a letter respect for nadim zahawi. i hope that as inexperienced minister and obviously someone who's been at the forefront the vaccination effort that's largely been able to get out of covid and we are still not out of it yet but obviously it's made it crucial. i think hopefully he will be able to have a level of risk within the dmv to get that apartment back on track. because education clearly is going to be at the heart of any leveling up strategy boris johnson brings forward. 50 of any leveling up strategy boris johnson brings forward.- of any leveling up strategy boris johnson brings forward. so what did ou make johnson brings forward. so what did you make of — johnson brings forward. so what did you make of gavin _ johnson brings forward. so what did you make of gavin williamson? -
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johnson brings forward. so what did you make of gavin williamson? i i you make of gavin williamson? i don't think that gavin williamson will be surprised that he's no longer in that role to live. i think even he would accept that there were a number of mistakes while she was at the department for education that were very costly. i think he had overtime lost the trust of not only teachers but also parents, unfortunately. i think that's just a fact. and therefore in terms of how the government now needs to get education back on track and when that trust back up teachers and parents crucially. clearly there was a need to have a fresh face at the department. we will see whether they're going to be more changes in ministerial race in the next day or so. but i think that borisjohnson is right, the reshuffling his team to get the people he wants in those crucial roles that will either make or break whether his government is able to deliver on this promise of leveling up. able to deliver on this promise of leveling um—
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able to deliver on this promise of levelin: u. , ., , , leveling up. yes housing communities in local government _ leveling up. yes housing communities in local government that _ leveling up. yes housing communities in local government that is _ leveling up. yes housing communities in local government that is an - leveling up. yes housing communities in local government that is an entry i in local government that is an entry in local government that is an entry in the local government. michael gove is in a position out. that suggests the prime minister means business when it comes to planning changes, comes to dealing with all kinds of issues, the bread—and—butter of how we all live in this country. i bread-and-butter of how we all live in this country-— in this country. i think there is also an indication _ in this country. i think there is also an indication that - in this country. i think there is also an indication that the - in this country. i think there is - also an indication that the leveling up also an indication that the leveling up agenda is very place based. and my work through the pledge work, working with businesses and universities and the public sector, we've developed the leveling up goals for that they talk about the gap in education, access to opportunity, other gaps around the digital divide, infrastructure but those priorities will be different in different places. they have different leveling up challenges. i think michael gove is now in this community and housing roles in a sense because actually, the leveling up sense because actually, the leveling up challenge has to be tackled at a
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very grassroots level and local councils and have a fundamental role to play in ensuring it can genuinely happen. i think that's the decision that borisjohnson has quite rightly made tonight. it's not i—size—fits—all of leveling up. obviously it michael gove he has a very experienced cabinet minister who can get things done. and is put him on that leveling up agenda for them and very much carrying it in a way from the cabinet office role that he had had before where leveling up really had been put in that one place, a cabinet office. but gove was leading the cabinet office at that time, he now takes that leveling up strategy in a sense to deliver it on the ground through his new role. to deliver it on the ground through his new role-— his new role. yes. finally one erson his new role. yes. finally one person who — his new role. yes. finally one person who is _ his new role. yes. finally one person who is staying - his new role. yes. finally one person who is staying in - his new role. yes. finally one person who is staying in post | person who is staying in post is priti patel as a home secretary. what are your thoughts on that? i think people would not have been surprised if she had been reshuffled or indeed if she stayed she has a very close relationship with the prime minister and it may well be
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that his conclusion was simply that he was satisfied to leave her in that role. ultimately that's a decision for him. this has been a relatively wide reshuffle. i think there will be further movements tomorrow it the ministerial ranks. i think for any prime minister there is a judgment notjust about having the right people in the right roles but also wider party stability and making sure that you don't have too many different franchise x cabinet ministers sat on the back benches. indeed. good to talk to you. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers my my guess on tonight show will be mo saying, should be interesting. stay tuned for that. stay
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there has been a sharp rise in the cost of living. the soaring costs of transport and eating out in august helped push inflation to its highest level in nearly a decade. it rose from two % injuly to 3.2 % last month. here's our economics editor, faisal islam not since 2012 has the rate of price increases reached this level, and the month—to—month increase is unprecedented. yet, for the traders at this manchester market, it comes as no surprise at all. it's no wonder it's a hike in inflation, the import costs and the cost of bringing containers through is massive. petrol has jumped, diesel prices. so it's costing hundreds of pounds extra a week to transport the goods, and the public are the people that will suffer. it's the fact that food costs in restaurants and pubs are much higher now than last august — when that chancellor's "eat out to help out" scheme halved some meal prices — that pushed today's inflation number above 3%. on top of that, now pub landlords say prices will go up further, reflecting the need to pay staff more. they need to have a decent living
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wage, which is what we as a business have started to do. and of course that is going to have a knock—on effect on how profitable our business is. and whereas we are happy to take a slice of the pie, our slice, and give it away and share it with our staff, at some point some of that pie is going to have to come from the customer as well. beyond restaurant meals, prices rose at the petrol pump, up 17.7% on the year. second—hand car prices are up 18.3% as demand for cars surges. and furniture prices, affected by blockages to global supply chains, up 8%. cooking oil prices are up 5.4%, meaning overall food prices are now rising, after falling for most of the pandemic. well, there clearly are many one—off factors coming from the lifting of lockdown. the turn in food prices up, the coming rise in energy prices next month, and the increase in taxation, means that the squeeze on living standards in households is very real indeed. that is one of the reasons why
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the assumption here at the bank of england that the inflation rise is going to be temporary, well, that is being tested. that rise in cooking oil prices puts it at a 30—year high and, alongside surges in cardboard and plastic prices, will feed through to ordinary consumers, says this distributor. clearly we can't keep absorbing them for ever. so i anticipate that there will be some price increases before christmas, but it will really hit after christmas. yeah, so that's when it's going to really take effect on oui’ customers, anyway. but i do know of some competitors that have increased prices right across the board already. if forecasts are right, this hike in prices will be reversed next year. but the squeeze on the cost of living this winter is very real. faisal islam, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... dominic raab is demoted from his role as foreign secretary in the first cabinet reshuffle since the general election —
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he becomesjustice secretary , lord chancellor and deputy prime minister. mr raab is replaced as foreign secretary by liz truss — a promotion from her previous role as trade secretary. earlier, gavin williamson was sacked as education secretary while robert buckland and robertjenrick lost their posts asjustice and housing secretary. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good, evening. its another busy night of champions league ties with two english clubs amongst the 16 in action. here are all those latest scores. both the english teams have goals and matches. liveable and city are a goal up. liverpool goal inside the first ten minute but most all i had a penalty save so they could been
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you up there. manchester city goal up you up there. manchester city goal up at leipzig for the burner make his first darfur city. a score for them, they are one go to the good. lionel messi is making his first champions league start for bsg. they are away at bruges at the moment. the friends i have taken the lead through herrera. the friends i have taken the lead through herrera. a couple of matches that have already finished. in group c, jude bellingham scored one and set up another as borrussia dortmund beat besiktas 2—0. whilst in group d, newcomes sherrif tiraspol beat shaktar donetsk. european qualifying for the 2023 fifa women's world cup gets going this week, with all the home nations in action. scotland are away to hungary in their opening group game whilst wales' are at home to kazakhstan. england meanwhile are preparing to face north macedonia at st mary's on friday. beth mead was left out of hege rise's lionesses squad earlier this year and overlooked for the olympics too, but after scoring three goals in arsenal's first two wsl games she's been named in sarina wiegman's
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first england squad. she says they won't be underestimating north macedonia, despite being overwhelming favourites to win. i think these teams are always difficult to play against, they make it very hard and give us strikers minimal space. so you've got to be creative in these types of games and you want to be on the scoresheet every game but there is perhaps a little bit of added pressure against these lower teams to do that. but i'm sure we will work on what we can of them and try and exploit their weaknesses individually and as a team. so, hopefully, that'll come off and we'll give a good performance on friday. us gymnast simone biles has given an emotional testimony before the senate about abuse she suffered at the hands of disgraced former team doctor, larry nassar. former teammates also appeared before the committee, along with fbi director christopher wray. the hearing is examining shortcomings in the fbi's investigation into nassar, who was later convicted
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of sexually abusing girls and sentenced to life in prison. i don't want another young gymnast, olympic athlete or any individual to experience the horror that i and hundreds of others have endured before, during and continuing to this day in the wake. ..of the larry nassar abuse. to be clear. to be clear, i blame larry nassar and i also blame. ..an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. the 2006 as his fifth and final vice captain for the the 2006 as his fifth and final vice captain for the contest the 2006 as his fifth and final vice captain for the contest which the 2006 as his fifth and final vice captain for the contest which begins on friday at whistling straits in wisconsin. stenson is played in five cups winning three times in his last outing in paris three years ago. he went three matches out of three. he
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joins us hello team—mates and the role. he said he accepted straightaway when he got the call. that's all the support from us. support from us. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc. c0. uk/sport. mps have been debating government proposals to scrap the 20 pound a week increase to universal credit that was introduced last march to help during the pandemic, even though they can't halt the move. ministers say the benefit increase was only ever temporary, but labour says it should stay, arguing that those in employment could face working up to nine hours extra per week to make up for the shortfall. michael buchanan reports. i've only had the heating on in my flat three times since august 2016. i won't be able to get my son on the bus to school every single day. to reduce that money any more, when it's incredibly low anyway, | it feels like a betrayal. £20 a week is a fortune for those on a low income, like caroline.
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a child minderfrom county fermanagh, she says there is little left for her to cut from her weekly outgoings. i'm just living from one payment to the next payment. if my washing machine breaks down, i have nothing to repair it. if my car breaks down, i have nothing to repair it. potentially i could run out of oil and i don't have a surplus, i have no savings. the mother of one says she can't earn more. the law limits how many children she can care for, and she can't make the parents she works with pay for hours they don't need. the reality is that it is a lifeline for so many people, and there's quite a high proportion of us are working people, you know? and it keeps me going, it keeps my child fed. i'd like to see the government live, you know, the life that we live. to strengthen the safety net, said the chancellor,
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an extra £20 a week was added to universal credit in march 2020. it costs £6 billion a year. the number of people on universal credit almost doubled during the pandemic, peaking atjust under 6 million. despite the economy improving, the latest statistics show that nearly 5.9 million people are still on the benefit. in the commons today, the government's decision to cut what they always said was a temporary increase led to some pointed exchanges. a single parent could be a constituent, working on the minimum wage, already working full—time, would need to work over nine hours a week on top of their full—time job just to get the money back that the prime minister is taking away from them. under this government, for the first time in decades, wages are rising. wages across the board are rising.
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they are four up on where they were before the pandemic. ternet�*s debate change the mind and the government abstain so next month, 6 million people will see their income fall by £20 a week, just as energy prices are set to rise. michael buchanan, bbc news. the uk's latest coronavirus figures, show there were 30,597 new infections recorded, in the latest 24—hour period, which means an average ofjust under 32,000 new cases per day in the last week. there were 8,340 people in hospital yesterday. 201 deaths were reported in the last 2a hours. people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, and avg deaths graph so the average number of deaths per day in the last week is now 139, 89.2% of people aged 16 or over, have had their first jab. and 81.3 % are now double vaccinated. well hospital admissions are currently at levels not seen
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since the start of march. and there've been warnings today that there could be a sharp rise in hospitalisations in the next few weeks. the health secretary, sajid javid, says it's the amount of pressure on the nhs that will be the main factor in deciding whether to tighten covid restrictions in england over the coming months. here's our health editor, hugh pym. back to school, back to college and back to the workplace. september's seen increased movement of people. that may be a welcome development for pupils, workers and employers, but experts on infectious diseases advising ministers and health officials are worried that it will fuel the spread of the virus. one of them explained his concerns. when you move into that more of a return to work scenario, there is a risk of more sustained transmission occurring indoors. and, of course, respiratory viruses do tend to spread more in colder climates anyway. and he said there are still gaps in the vaccine roll—out. what worries me a little bit
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is the around about five million adults who have not yet had a first dose of vaccine, and i think there is the danger that even if cases are not going up significantly, they could be sustained in those communities where uptake is not significant. up until last weekend, hospital admissions in september in england had been running at between 600 and 900 a day. scientific modelers have looked at a range of scenarios. they say the figure could get to 2,000 even with some measures in place. in a more extreme scenario, they say the figure could even be 7,000 a day, but this would assume no interventions, and a lot would depend on people's behaviour. the warnings of rising hospital covid cases come as the nhs is already facing intense pressure. there are record patient numbers, with a range of conditions and not just virus—related. emergency departments and acute units are really struggling, so our concern is, if there is another increase in the number of covid patients
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coming in, that we really will not be able to do the things that we've hoped, which is keep normal care going and obviously do some of the catch—up of the backlog. more protection will come from boosterjabs. some in this walking group in cambridgeshire will get them next week. i think it's a good thing, and ifeel that everybody should take it. you know, if they're at the age to have it, they should take it. no ifs or buts, have it. i do get annoyed with people that are in hospital, taking up hospital beds, and they haven't had anyjabs. the government's plan a for england is to push on with vaccinations. plan b, involving new measures, would only kick in if the nhs came under extreme pressure. some argue that might happen sooner rather than later. hugh pym, bbc news. much more coming up including more analysis on today's wide—ranging reshuffle. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell.
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hello. in the coming days, the weather will continue with a rather gentle slide into autumn. the days are becoming shorter, the leaves are beginning to show something of a tint, but there's nothing too dramatic to come in terms of strong winds to start taking them off the trees just yet or any especially heavy rain in the short term. if anything, i think some decent spells of sunshine in the next few days. but one taste of autumn i think that we will see is some early fog. overnight, we've got this ridge of high pressure building up from the southwest of the uk. that means very light winds and clear skies. and as we move into autumn, that is the perfect set up for us to see some fog developing, potentially in areas very similar to those we saw it developing last night, parts of northern england, down into the welsh marches and down towards the west country. but overall, it's a mild, actually slightly humid night, with temperatures in the low teens for some. and then we look at thursday daytime, and our ridgejust slowly continues to keep pushing its way across the uk. that will mean a lot of fine
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weather for thursday. perhaps some showers initially across the northeast of scotland, but we should see those clearing as the hours go by. some fairly widespread sunshine. could take a while to get the clearest of the skies where any mist and fog lingers, but come the afternoon, the story will start to lean to the cloudier side for northern ireland as we begin to see a weather front approaching. and it's that weather front, then, that's our biggest question mark on our weather story for friday. it looks like the eastern side of the uk will be clear with some spells of sunshine. this weather front at the moment looks like it could bring some quite persistent rain into northern ireland and into western scotland. later on in the day, some heavier rain getting into the southwest of england and wales. it could also be accompanied by some quite gusty winds. pretty slow to move its way eastwards, though, that weather front, so a real east—west split — temperatures 16, 17 in the rain, perhaps 21, 22 degrees towards the east of the uk. it does try and make its way
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eastwards through the small hours of friday, into the early hours of saturday, and then leave a legacy of perhaps best referred to as showers across the southern half of the uk for the first half of the weekend. of the two days, i think perhaps sunday offering up the driest and brightest weather, but still some showers possible through sunday for southern england.
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hello this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines... borisjohnson has carried out his first cabinet reshuffle since the general election saying let's get on with the job of building back better. he demotes dominic raab from foreign secretary to justice secretary, replacing him with liz trost, the education secretary, gavin williamson is sacked, a record jump gavin williamson is sacked, a record jump in
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inflation to 3.2%. the highest level inflation to 3.2%. the highest level in almost a decade as the price of food and transportation goes up. after two years in a syrian refugee camp, begging to be allowed to return home. a spec is accused of keeping secret internal research showing how instagram damages the mental health of teenage girls. it's been a day of big changes at the top of the government, with borisjohnson carrying out a wide—ranging reshuffle of his cabinet. let's take a look at the day's events. gavin williamson has been sacked as the education secretary and has left the government. replacing him... robertjanik has left his job and is replaced by michael gove, who will have additional responsibilities for the union and the government's leading up agenda. robert buckland
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has been removed from his post as just a secretary. dominic raab has been demoted from foreign secretary ofjustice of the additional role of deputy prime minister and lord chancellor. liz trust becomes just the second female to be involved in the second female to be involved in the foreign office. replacing her at the foreign office. replacing her at the department for international trade is and reach rebellion. nadine joins the cabinet as the new culture secretary, she replaces oliver dabney becomes conservative party co—chair. those are all the changes. joining me now is lauren mcevatt, a former special adviser to the conservative government during david cameron's administration. hello to you. thank you for being with us. i was speaking tojustine, the former education secretary little bit earlier, saying that what brycejohnson seems to be doing is replacing a co. that cabinet with a leveling up cabinet. does that make sense? i leveling up cabinet. does that make sense? ~ . ., sense? i think gavin williamson was an appointment _ sense? i think gavin williamson was an appointment that _ sense? i think gavin williamson was an appointment that predated - sense? i think gavin williamson was | an appointment that predated covid. it took a lot of his failures happen during the covid era, and i think
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that's part of the reason why he has been moved. but i think his appointment at the education department is a very good one. it certainly will help the prime minister's leveling up agenda, but i am not entirely certain that that is they full crux of what this reshuffle was about. what is the full cracks? _ reshuffle was about. what is the full cracks? i— reshuffle was about. what is the full cracks? i think an _ reshuffle was about. what is the full cracks? i think an awful - reshuffle was about. what is the full cracks? i think an awful lot l reshuffle was about. what is the | full cracks? i think an awful lot of us was moving on _ full cracks? i think an awful lot of us was moving on deadwood - full cracks? i think an awful lot of| us was moving on deadwood from departments who are struggling. i think that that is particularly apparent in the case of dominic raab, the foreign secretary. there is some is nothing i can point you in the last year within the foreign office that has gone according to plan as much as would be required for dominic to have kept hisjob. i think that nigel adams who has been moved from minister of state with responsibility for the middle east has been moved into the minister preferably a row and the cabinet office. it needed a big shake—up. sure. what is the most eye—popping
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change for you, lauren? sure. what is the most eye—popping change foryou, lauren? i sure. what is the most eye-popping change for you, lauren?— change for you, lauren? i think outriuht change for you, lauren? i think outright sagging _ change for you, lauren? i think outright sagging gavin - change for you, lauren? i think i outright sagging gavin williamson change for you, lauren? i think - outright sagging gavin williamson is pretty impressive. he is someone who did not impress people at the ministry of defence, and being demoted out of the cabinet entirely at that point didn't happen for him. he was retained at the 2019 election, so dumping him entirely from the cabinet now is certainly a very big step. i'm also surprised by the outright removal of ananda mehling, the party chairman, though, i think oliver dabney is a tremendous appointment because he used to work for him and i think it's fantastic. the outright sacking of amanda from the cabinet was surprising to me, and it's surprising to me, and it's surprising to me that dan elliott retained his position as the cochairmen. it is an awful lot written about him in the financial times, particularly over the course of the last 3—4 months about various issues that i think haven't been fully dealt with in relation to his business dealings. so i am surprised that this wasn't used as an
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opportunity to move him on from that position. opportunity to move him on from that osition. ~ . ., , opportunity to move him on from that position-— that i position. what about me being? that would certainly _ position. what about me being? that would certainly appear— position. what about me being? that would certainly appear to _ position. what about me being? that would certainly appear to be - would certainly appear to be something that i believe an anonymous backbencher this evening referred to as turning up the culture were two culture were to 11. she will be an interesting culture media and spread secretary, certainly not cut from the same cloth as many of her predecessors. she is of course a published novelist, so this is not exactly a new foray for her. she's also a star of reality tv if you remember from i'm a celebrity getting out of several years ago, but it is going to be a very interesting appointment, and i think that there will be several people in the media and culture industry who will be particularly concerned about that a plane and. particularly concerned about that a lane and. ~ , ., particularly concerned about that a lane and. ~ plane and. when you say turning the culture were — plane and. when you say turning the culture were to _ plane and. when you say turning the culture were to 11, _ plane and. when you say turning the culture were to 11, what _ plane and. when you say turning the culture were to 11, what you - culture were to 11, what you expecting? culture were to 11, what you “petting?— culture were to 11, what you exectin: ? ~ . , ., expecting? well, there are several tweets that — expecting? well, there are several tweets that have surfaced - expecting? well, there are several tweets that have surfaced today i expecting? well, there are several i tweets that have surfaced today from her from about 2079 where it's about various issues in relation to woke
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and i think that is something that means that she is going to be a particularly strident culture secretary in relation to some of those issues, and i think that we might see that pop out, perhaps in conflict at the mayor of london in relation to some of the work he is doing on statues and some of the work on decolonisation of various parts of british history and teaching a british history that counsels up and on the contract considering doing work on at the moment. ,, ., considering doing work on at the moment. ,, . ,., considering doing work on at the moment. ,, ., ,., . moment. sure, he made the point that he was appointed _ moment. sure, he made the point that he was appointed before _ moment. sure, he made the point that he was appointed before covid - moment. sure, he made the point that he was appointed before covid heads, l he was appointed before covid heads, but it —— the handling of coping skills and so on that has perhaps done for him. is there a sense that perhaps the leveling up agenda which the prime minister has been very, very big on you know, it has been derailed, some would say obviously as a result of co—that, but now is the time with the vaccine are allowed going on and as we enter this winter period, now is a time to make it clear to voters and to the
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public at large that he is getting that train back on the rails. i think it certainly goes hand in hand with his view of the lock down in the united kingdom is the very last measure that should ever be employed. i think by changing the conversation about what comes next from a purely covid related stuff into how we as a nation move forward into how we as a nation move forward into a new economic reality after the covid era, i think this is certainly a prime opportunity for them to do that, and i think it does go hand—in—hand with some of the announcements that they need about how to deal with covid in the winter months as we come into winter, because this government is one that really does want to do everything possible to avoid lockdown ever again, and this would seem to be a good way to change the conversation at the same time.— at the same time. indeed. it's good to net at the same time. indeed. it's good to get your — at the same time. indeed. it's good to get your perspective, _ at the same time. indeed. it's good to get your perspective, former - to get your perspective, former conservative special adviser. thank you, lauren.
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conservative special adviser. thank you. lauren-— conservative special adviser. thank you, lauren._ downing l you, lauren. thank you. downing street has— you, lauren. thank you. downing street has confirmed _ you, lauren. thank you. downing street has confirmed that - you, lauren. thank you. downing street has confirmed that the - you, lauren. thank you. downing i street has confirmed that the prime minister will be joined street has confirmed that the prime minister will bejoined by street has confirmed that the prime minister will be joined by other world leaders to make a televised address this evening. brycejohnson will speak beside the american president and the australian prime minister. they are expected to make what is described as a strategic security announcement. shamima begum, who left the uk as a teenager tojoin the islamic state group in syria, has begged to be allowed to return to the uk. the 22—year—old — who has been living in a syrian refugee camp for the past two years since her british citizenship was revoked — claimed she had been groomed to flee to syria as a "dumb" and impressionable child. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, has more. this was shamima begum in february 2019, as she emerged from the collapse of the islamic state group's brutal rule in syria. she told bbc news that weekend that she could see justification for the manchester arena bombing, as retaliation for the deaths of children in is territory. this is shamima begum in her latest bbc interview,
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her hair uncovered and asking for forgiveness for joining islamic state. isis ruined people's lives. isis ruined my life, my family's life, and i will have to live with that. i mean, when you think back to being part of a group that did commit genocide, that did murder, that did carry out attacks around the world, how does that feel? it makes me sick to my stomach, really. it makes me hate myself. shamima begum had left home in east london, aged 15, with two school friends. they travelled through turkey to syria and married islamic state fighters. at the time, is were beheading hostages and throwing gay men from high buildings. she was stripped of her uk citizenship because of intelligence about what she'd done during her time with is. the decision to take away shamima begum's british citizenship
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was made by sajid javid when he was in charge here at the home office. today, he said of the intelligence that he saw at the time, "if you knew what i knew, you would've made exactly the same decision." shamima! but shamima begum, who's still in a camp in kurdish—held territory, now says she wants to help to prevent other girls being groomed by extremists. i could advise people who are in counterterrorism the tactics that groups like isis use to persuade people to come here and ways to speak to people who may be potentially radicalised and ways to speak to them to persuade them not to go and to not be radical. presenting the image of a modern british woman, she wants to win her citizenship back, but the current home secretary is still vigorously opposing that in the courts. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the home office.
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the photo sharing app instagram could be having —— the photo sharing app — instagram could be having a harmful effect on many teenagers — particularly girls — according to internal research carried out by facebook — the company that owns it. an investigation by the wall street journal found that facebook had conducted in—depth studies showing the dangers of the photo—sharing app — while playing down the issue in public. angus crawford reports. a girl with so much to live for, bright and talented. molly russell took her own life in 2017. she was just 1a. after her death, on her instagram account, her family found a stream of dark, depressing content and, in part, blame it for her death. now, the wall streetjournal has published internal facebook research labelled "a teen mental health deep dive". itfound... it admitted... and...
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i don't know, i was sick to the pit of my stomach. it was dreadful... molly's father ian is appalled. if they know more about it and they're not doing something about it, then they're culpable in a really dreadful way, because this potentially could cost lives. no—one at facebook hq in london was available to talk about instagram, which it also owns, but it did release a blog. the company said it stood by the research, even though it claimed that the wall streetjournal had focused on a "limited set of findings". it also claimed that "wider research on the effects of social media on people's well—being" was "mixed". and finally, it claimed that it was doing extensive work to make instagram "a safe and supportive place". instagram sells itself as a place forfun, friendship, but the company's known for years, for some young people, it's a much, much darker place. angus crawford, bbc news.
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it is exactly a month since the taliban swept to power in afghanistan and declared the country an islamic emirate. as the international community grapples with the enormity of the change — how are things changing in afghanistan under taliban rule? secunder kermani and camera journalist malik mudassir report from afghanistan's fourth largest city — mazari sharif. crossing into the islamic emirate, a cargo train from uzbekistan. this is now passport control. the taliban even have own stamps. and hour's drive away, the city of mazar—i—sharif. on the surface, life appears to be continuing as normal, though many are suffering with a shortage of cash in banks. this was the blue mosque, the city's cultural heart, shortly before the taliban takeover last month.
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now the group have allocated separate visiting times for men and women. some are still coming, but there seem significantly fewer than before. my host here is a leading local taliban figure. your critics would say you are killing off the cultural life in this country. and why do you need to change the culture? what's wrong about the culture that was already here? everyone was muslim... we literallyjust came out
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of the blue mosque and saw a crowd gathered in the city centre. we made our way to the middle of it and there are four dead bodies laid out here. one of them has a note on top of it saying, "these men were kidnappers — anyone who wants to do the same, this is going to be their punishment." all around me, is a huge crowd of people trying to push their way forward to have a look at the site. a group of young children were rescued by the taliban from the kidnappers. many praised the group for tackling violent crime that had plagued major cities. but many others here don't feel safe. private universities like this one have reopened. female and male students are separated by a curtain, as per new taliban rules. but with money tight in the future unclear, only a handful are turning up.
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how does it feel, studying but not knowing whether you will be able to work or not in the future? the last time the taliban were in power, they imposed even more restrictions. but however they may have evolved since then, afghan cities have changed much more. the taliban control the country, but still need to win hearts and minds. secunder kermani, bbc news, mazar—i—sharif. the headlines on bbc news... brycejohnson has carried out his first cabinet reshuffle since the general election saying let's get on with the job of leveling up the country. —— borisjohnson. rebecca
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jump country. —— borisjohnson. rebecca jump in inflation to 3.2%, the highest level and almost a decade. the price and food of transportation helped that rise. after two years in a syrian refugee camp, shimmy my bag and pulled out the uk as a teenage tojoin the islamic and pulled out the uk as a teenage to join the islamic staker begs to be allowed to return home. relatives of the four men who died in a mining disaster in the swansea valley ten years ago are pressing for a full inquest into their deaths. no—one has been held responsible for the gleision colliery disaster and the two surviving miners say they feel the tragedy and subsequent investigation have been "swept under the carpet". wyre davies reports. ten years ago, there were just a handful of underground mines left in wales. small and privately owned, working conditions were often tough, cramped and dangerous. one such colliery was the gleision drift mine in the swansea valley.
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on 15th september 2011, the unthinkable happened — a deliberate explosion, intended to ultimately expand the mine, instead sent a torrent of water down narrow shafts, where seven men were working. jake wyatt was one of them. we heard the blast, obviously, then... then seconds in, you could hear... well, i'd describe it as a jet engine, and you can't... you can't describe it as anything else. jake, boy. nige, how you keeping, son? reunited for the first time in several years, jake and fellow survivor nigel evans recall those terrifying events for the first time. that's when the water pushed me up against the wall. i was gasping for breath, my body was screaming. i said, "they're dead down there." i said, "they're not coming from there." another man, mine manager malcolm fyfield, also escaped. but despite the efforts of rescue teams working around the clock to pump water out of the flooded mine, there was no hope
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for the otherfour men trapped underground. charles breslin, david powell, phillip hill and garryjenkins all died in the worst welsh mining disaster for more than a0 years. the mine manager and its owners were later found not guilty on manslaughter charges after a trial that survivors and their families felt never explored the full facts of what happened. these marks demarcate a safe distance... lee reynolds, a former surveyor for the gleision mine, gave evidence at the trial. he raised concerns about alleged illegal mining at gleision when it was under different ownership ten years prior to the 2011 accident. they were making it extremely hard for me to be able to actually survey the mine. there are safety concerns because the plan is inaccurate, and there are so many recorded accidents where people have been hurt by inaccurate plans. as it stands, now, nobody has been blamed, have they? nobody has had the blame at all.
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somebody must take responsibility for four bodies — four men, four lives, you know? bricked up and abandoned just weeks after the tragedy, the gleision mine is out of sight, but not out of mind. a decade on, the survivors and the families of those who died are still looking for answers. wyre davies, bbc news, in the swansea valley. parent groups are warning of soaring numbers of crippling school anxiety cases — made worse by the pandemic. some children are suffering physical symptoms such as stomach pain and headaches and others have experienced panic attacks. the department for education says it's investing more than 17 million pounds to build on the mental health support in schools. emma glasbey reports. matty has struggled with anxiety in his teenage years. he's 16 year and he's autistic. when he moved to a large secondary school in wakefield, he began having panic attacks. ijust didn't want to go in. just, like, dread almost of going in. yeah.
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the problem with my school was that it was so big, and the sen area and staff, there was quite a bit of understaffing and it wasn't, there wasn't enough people to help and just too many kids to deal with. in total, matty missed around 18 months of school. his mum saw his mental health gradually deteriorate. having panic attacks, unable to get in the car, unable to go to school, it was really tough for both of us, for all of us, really. because he was desperate to go to school. he really wanted to be in school and he kept saying, "i'lltry again, mum, i'll try really hard." but i think maybe people just don't understand about mental health and anxiety in particular is that it's like any health problem. if you cannot do something, you cannot do something and no amount of trying to think yourself out of it is going to make any difference to that. there are no official figures for how many children are missing
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school because of anxiety and other mental health problems. but those who are supporting families say more and more pupils are struggling. i think it's increasing, i because the system has become less flexible, - it has become overly academic, which does not suit all children. parents are made more anxious because they are worried, - they are threatened with fines, they are told you you must, . you must force attendance. you must push through this. hugely damaging. one special educational needs solicitor says he is now being contacted by around seven families every day. school anxiety, and generally, the mental health of our children, has been a massive issue for many years, but particularly more pronounced since the pandemic. this really is a particular crisis. in my view, we are facing an unprecedented crisis of proportions we have never seen. for matty, things are better. he has moved to a specialist school,
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where his needs are being met. after the lockdowns, many schools are now prioritising attendance for this new academic year. but the department for education says schools and families should work together to agree a plan for attendance, with fines only used as a last resort. a little bit more now on the wide—ranging reshuffle of the prime minister's cabinet. leigh's trust has been appointed the new foreign secretary, only the second ever female in the role. she's been speaking in the last few minutes. the prime minister has put in place a strong and united team, which is going to deliverfor the a strong and united team, which is going to deliver for the united kingdom. we are determined to deliver on the people's priorities and to help level up the country. and i am delighted to be appointed foreign secretary, to promote a positive outward vision of global britain, which is going to deliver for people right across the uk. i am focused on getting on with the job, and i am absolutely delighted to
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have been appointed. thank you. the new foreign secretary there. the bbc has confirmed jess brammar has been appointed as executive news editor of the bbc�*s news channels. ms brammar was previously in charge of the huffington post uk and has worked at the bbc and itn. the bbc�*s head of news fran unsworth said the appointment was made through a fair and open process. four people who have never been to space before are about to make history when they blast off from cape canaveral in florida. they'll spend three days in a space capsule — all paid for by a 38 year old billionaire who'll be on board as rebecca morelle reports. since the earliest launches, fewer than 600 people have made the journey into space. and most were military trained personnel. but now, four amateur astronauts are about to head into orbit. their mission has been paid for by billionaire businessman jared isaacman. he says the aim is to raise money for charity, so he has given three
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other seats on the spacex capsule to people with inspirational stories. sian proctor is a geoscientist who once came close to being selected as a nasa astronaut. and hayley arceneaux overcame bone cancer as a child and now works for the hospital that treated her. i remember getting off the phone and my hands were shaking. it was just so exhilarating. this is definitely not something i ever imagined would happen but i think that is what makes it so fun for me. the team has had just six months of training but computers will do most of the work during the flight. none of the crew, though, has been in space before, and no professional astronauts will bejoining them on board. you have got these four people who will be in a very hostile environment in space, trusting their lives on the technology, on the automation and on the knowledge of people in mission control. with the rocket ready to launch in a few hours,
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the amateur astronauts will spend three days orbiting the earth. the price of the mission has not been disclosed but it is likely to be tens of millions of dollars. for now, flights like these remain the preserve of the super—rich, even if they take a few people along for the ride. rebecca morelle, bbc news. good luck to them. now time for a look at the weather. here is season. hello. in the coming days, the weather will continue with a rather gentle slide into autumn. the days are becoming shorter, the leaves are beginning to show something of a tint, but there's nothing too dramatic to come in terms of strong winds to start taking them off the trees just yet or any especially heavy rain in the short term. if anything, i think some decent spells of sunshine in the next few days. but one taste of autumn i think that we will see is some early fog. overnight, we've got this ridge of high pressure building up from the southwest of the uk. that means very light winds and clear skies.
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and as we move into autumn, that is the perfect set up for us to see some fog developing, potentially in areas very similar to those we saw it developing last night, parts of northern england, down into the welsh marches and down towards the west country. but overall, it's a mild, actually slightly humid night, with temperatures in the low teens for some. and then we look at thursday daytime, and our ridgejust slowly continues to keep pushing its way across the uk. that will mean a lot of fine weather for thursday. perhaps some showers initially across the northeast of scotland, but we should see those clearing as the hours go by. some fairly widespread sunshine. could take a while to get the clearest of the skies where any mist and fog lingers, but come the afternoon, the story will start to lean to the cloudier side for northern ireland as we begin to see a weather front approaching. and it's that weather front, then, that's our biggest question mark on our weather story for friday. it looks like the eastern side of the uk will be clear with some spells of sunshine. this weather front at the moment looks like it could bring some quite persistent rain into northern ireland and into western scotland.
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later on in the day, some heavier rain getting into the southwest of england and wales. it could also be accompanied by some quite gusty winds. pretty slow to move its way eastwards, though, that weather front, so a real east—west split — temperatures 16, 17 in the rain, perhaps 21, 22 degrees towards the east of the uk. it does try and make its way eastwards through the small hours of friday, into the early hours of saturday, and then leave a legacy of perhaps best referred to as showers across the southern half of the uk for the first half of the weekend. of the two days, i think perhaps sunday offering up the driest and brightest weather, but still some showers possible through sunday for southern england.
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this is bbc news with me christian fraser. after weeks of fevered speculation, boris johnson has finally pulled the trigger on a cabinet reshuffle. there's a new foreign secretary — liz truss — her predessor was demoted after widespread critisicm of his handling of the withdrawal from afghanistan. it's a month since the fall of kabul — we have a special report from mazari sharif in the north on what life is like under the taliban. there are four dead bodies laid out here. one of them has a note on top of it saying "these men were kidnappers, anyone who wants to do the same, this is going to be thier punishment." and the amateur astronauts, for civilians who've never been to space
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