tv BBC World News BBC News September 4, 2022 3:30pm-4:01pm BST
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heavy and thundery rain and turning quite windy again, particularly in western areas. it is a humid night. starting off tomorrow with some rain in north—east england, and scotland, gradually moving away northwards, and then a little gap with sunny spells, very warm again, with some thundery showers, very hit and miss, another batch of downpours reaching into south—west england and wales in the afternoon, as it turns windy once again, all of that feeding northwards overnight. on tuesday morning you can see it pushing into northern ireland during monday evening. it will not be a washout but there will be further rain or showers around during the week ahead, no doubt welcome in places. windy at times, slowly turning cooler and less humid. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... two men have been arrested
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in relation to the murder of nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel in liverpool. one of the suspects was arrested on suspicion of murder. the conservative leadership favourite, liz truss, pledges "immediate action" on energy bills during herfirst week in office, if she becomes prime minister. ukrainian families close to europe's largest nuclear power plant say they're living in fear despite the arrival of un monitors. donald trump calls president biden an "enemy of the state" at his first rally since the fbi searched his florida resort for sensitive files. the most vicious, hateful and divisive speech ever delivered by an american president. pope francis has beatified one of his predecessors, popejohn paul i, in a ceremony at the vatican. now on bbc news borisjohnson: departing downing street.
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looking back at boris johnson's time in no 10, from brexit to the coronavirus pandemic, partygate and the russian invasion of ukraine. a warning this programme contains flashing images. six weeks ago, typhoon fighter jet took off from raf base in lincolnshire. its co—pilot had just announced he was about to become britain's ex—prime minister. after three happy years in the cockpit and performing some pretty difficult, if not astonishing feats, i am now going to hand over the controls seamlessly to someone else. i don't know who. borisjohnson believes in the great man theory of history. and he thinks he is that great man, like his hero winston churchill.
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churchill, the guy made the most incredible series of mistakes. his early career was studied with disasters of one kind or another. but he always came back from them, and he always stuck by what he believed. whenjohnson became prime minister three years ago, churchill's grandson, sir nicholas soames, his friend and fellow etonian, told me the text he had sent. i said to him, when churchill became prime minister, on that day, he went back to his flat where he met my grandmother and his children, and they drank a bottle of champagne. he proposed a toast which i quoted to boris, of "here is to not beggar—in it up" and that's my hope for boris. and yourfear? that he could buggar it up.
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throughout his life, boris johnson's favoured mode of transport has been the seat of his pants. his roller—coaster premiership has been dominated by questions about his character, his integrity and the biggest puzzle of all, who is the real borisjohnson? get me a ladder! he is the people person that people want to see as their prime minister, someone they can relate to and they can relate to someone who gets stuck on a zip wire or who has his shirt hanging out because that's what they do every day of their lives. this is borisjohnson, aged five, paddling his own canoe. he grew up the eldest of four children in the hugely competitive johnson family. he knows that life is a competition. he always wants to be top. whenever anyone asked him what he wanted to be, he would answer world king, that is true. yes.
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he painted this self—portrait at the age of 12 and downgraded his ambition to become british prime minister. at the age of 13, johnson was off to eton college, the elite private school that has produced 20 british prime ministers. at eton he became a star of the school plays, and he discovered he could make people laugh. do you think you learned something for later life from acting in plays at eton, that you could get more laughs by looking as if you don't know your lines than actually remembering them? well, i certainly think that, as a general tactic in life, if that is what you are driving at, it is often useful to give the slight impression that
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you are deliberately pretending not to know what is going on because the reality may be that you don't know what is going on but people can't tell the difference. this is why he is dementing for other politicians because they are all playing the part assigned to them by the party. you have to be loyal, good tory. boris has realised quite early on that he would go further if he broke all those rules and people would love him even more. johnson was elected a member of eton�*s elite group which could wear its own fancy waistcoat and he was made captain of the school. it was at eton that the would—be world king learned to play by his own rules. martin hammond, his housemaster,�* who also taught him latin and greek, wrote in his report: "i think he honestly believes - that it is churlish of us not- to regard him as an exception, one who should be free - of the network of obligation which binds everyone else." that is 18 months away...
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his career, like churchill's, began as a controversialjournalist and he rose to become a tv celebrity. bonjour, it's me, boris johnson, mayor of london. by the time he was on the cusp of becoming prime minister, he was already a singular phenomenon because no figure probably ever in british politics but certainly in modern times had managed to combine so successfully politics with the entertainment industry. and he had a music hall comedian's sense of performance. he was the most striking performance politician of modern times. and it was almost as if he was knocking on the gates of number 10 downing st shouting, "i'm a celebrity, get me in there!"
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would you like to be prime minister? that's a very tough job. if that ball came loose from the back of the scrum, which it won't, of course would be a great thing to have a crack at it but it's not going to happen. the human bulldozer, who snatched the ball from the back of the tory scrum is a man of many contradictions. a classical scholar turned popular entertainer, a self—proclaimed liberal one nation tory, hand in glove with the hardline brexiteers. the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong again because we are going to restore trust in our democracy. johnson had become prime minister, promising to end the deadlock of brexit. he brought with him as his chief adviser dominic cummings, a mastermind of the leave campaign
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who believed in creative destruction. cummings and johnson worked out the only way to do brexit _ was to behave in a pretty outrageous fashion and then to get _ an election which would be . the people versus parliament. they really liked driving the remainers so mad. with rage that in many cases. they stopped thinking straight. with the slogan of get brexit done, johnson enhanced his reputation as a winner. he won the general election by a landslide, tearing down normally rock—solid labour seats in the so—called red wall of the north. the prime minister celebrated the chinese new year in january 2020. the year of the rat beginning with a far more deadly challenge than brexit,
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arriving in the form of covid—i9. prime minister, are you concerned about the coronavirus coming - to the united kingdom? in february, the prime minister regarded this as just a scare story don't worry about it, i'll get chris whitty to inject me live on tv with coronavirus and everyone realises it's nothing to be frightened of. i was at a hospital the other night where there were a few coronavirus patients and i shook hands with everybody, you'll be pleased to know, and i continue to shake hands. suddenly things became deadly serious asjohnson took the country into lockdown as the pandemic spread. ok, i will stop and then get further instructions. with his unerring knack of becoming the centre of the story, the prime minister himself tested positive for the virus and went into self—isolation. he didn't really believe in people falling ill. he didn't even have a gp.
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he didn't have a doctor. i had a conversation about who your gp is, we need a doctor now and he didn't have one, didn't know, no idea who his gp was. his advisers claimed he was doing well but when he held a zoom meeting with his cabinet, things seemed rather different. i remember being on a cabinet zoom call and saying, "the pm _ is clearly dreadfully unwell." looks and sounds awful and we need to bring this meeting to a halt. - it's like watching a car crash i and we should not be doing it. he needs to be in bed, he needs to be having proper treatment. i the prime minister was secretly driven to st thomas�* hospital, half a mile from number 10, and the next day he was moved into intensive care. suddenly we were facing a situation where the pm, arguably, _ could be dead by the morning. people like that are meant to be invincible, prime ministers-
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don't get ill or die. did you think he might die? idid, yes. what did you feel then? frightened, i think. frightened, frightened for carrie, his family, frightened for the country, the government, the party. it was alljust... from someone who had got to where he had got to suddenly being in intensive care with a once in a hundred years event that struck the country at the time, it was all very difficult to take in. borisjohnson said later it would be wrong to say that i thought, "oh my goodness, this is it. some terrible buoyancy in me kept convincing me that everything would almost certainly be all right in the end." i have today left hospital
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after a week in which the nhs has saved my life, no question. after a fortnight�*s convalescence at chequers, johnson returned to work. if this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which i can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor. in december 2021, he launched the tories�* war on crime, but media reports were emerging that johnson and his staff had been breaking lockdown rules by holding parties inside number 10. i can tell you that the guidelines were followed at all times. did you investigate that yourself, are you satisfied yourself? - i have satisfied myself that the guidelines were followed at all times. that evening, a remarkable video emerged showing
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johnson's press secretary, allegra stratton, in the briefing room at number 10 rehearsing with other aides how to deny reports of a wine and cheese party inside number 10. is this recording? this fictional party was a business meeting. and it was not socially distanced! i was also furious to see that clip. and mr speaker, i apologise unreservedly. it goes without saying that if those rules were broken, then there will be disciplinary action for all those involved. there were outraged calls forjohnson to resign. instead, allegra stratton took the bullet. this afternoon i am offering my resignation to the prime minister. thanks for your time. i thought she was very, very hard done by. - not least because the prime minister turned on her. -
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greater love hath no prime minister than to lay down the life _ of his friend for his own survival. as the new year of 2022 broke, any hopejohnson had that partygate would go away was quickly dashed. itv news came up with a leaked killer e—mail. it had been sent byjohnson�*s senior civil service adviser, martin reynolds, on the 20th of may 2020 when lockdown regulations were at their toughest. addressed to 100 downing st staff and marked "official, sensitive" the reynolds e—mail said... it wasn't the language
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sir humphrey would have used. the next day, the prime minister, after weeks of denials that there had been any lockdown parties in number 10, now admitted he had attended the reynolds event to thank his staff. i believed implicitly this was a work event. but mr speaker, with hindsight, i should have sent everyone back inside. i should have found some other way to thank them. it started with reports of boozy parties in downing street during lockdown. the prime minister pretended that he had been assured there were no parties. now it turns out at the parties all along. can't the prime minister see why the british public think he is lying through his teeth? things were going from bad to worse for the prime minister.
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it was then reported that in april 2021, on the eve of the funeral of the duke of edinburgh, there had been two parties in number 10 that had lasted into the small hours. was having to apologise to the queen about those parties the night before she put her husband of over 70 years, she laid him to rest, was that a moment of shame for you? i deeply and bitterly regret that that happened and i can only renew my apologies both to her majesty and to the country. for misjudgments that were made, and for which i take full responsibility. sirens. just when it seemed the pm's days were numbered, he was given a reprieve by an unlikely figure. vladimir putin invaded ukraine.
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the prime minister sought to organise the west's response. and became a hero in kyiv. this is ukraine's finest hour that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come. in april 2022, the metropolitan police, who had been investigating partygate, announced that the prime minister had broken covid rules. he had attended a surprise birthday party for himself in the cabinet room and was given a fixed penalty notice. let me say immediately that i've paid the fine and i once again offer a full apology. i never thought i would see the day where a british prime minister would be helping the police with their inquiries and be convicted of an offence and not go. that is the moment i realised he had none of the decencies,
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and that he had gone rogue. people think he is the first prime minister ever to have been found guilty of an offence, a crime. i i am sure there are a lot of primel ministers who have received a fixed penalty notices for lots of things. speeding? no? it's a fixed penalty notice, i've had two so, i'll- hold my hands up to them. sorry, i didn't havei them for partygate, they were for speeding. by now, many tory backbenchers have become so disillusioned by the prime minister that they triggered a vote of no—confidence. i can announce the parliamentary party does have confidence. although johnson survived the vote, 40% of his own mps voted against him. and the tories then lost two seats in by—elections caused by sexual scandals involving their mps.
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johnson, meanwhile, was in africa, at the start of a series of international meetings. i'm not going to pretend these are brilliant results, i think we have to listen and learn. when people are finding it tough, they send messages to politicians. meanwhile, at westminster, a cloud no bigger than a man's wandering hand was emerging. onjune 30, chris pincher, deputy tory chief whip, suddenly resigned. the sun reporting he had groped two men at the members only conservative carlton club in stjames�*. resignation letter to the pm open with the words... initially, number 10 said when he appointed pincher, johnson knew nothing about his reputation
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as a sexual predator. that line was dramatically upended on the morning ofjuly the 5th, by lord simon mcdonald, former head of the foreign office. he came out publicly and revealed thatjohnson had been briefed in person about pincher�*s previous predatory behaviour. i know that the senior official briefed the prime minister in person because that official told me so at the time. i think they need to come clean. that afternoon, having refused to answer questions about the pincher affair, the prime minister gave a mea culpa to the bbc. i think it was a bad mistake of mine to appoint chris pincher to the government and i regret it and ijust want to make it absolutely clear that there is no place in this government for anyone who abuses their position of power.
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minutes after the tv interview went out, two senior ministers resign from the cabinet in quick succession — health secretary sajid javid and chancellor rishi sunak. both said they no longer trusted the prime minister. we have to conclude that enough is enough. the number of departures from across government reached over 60 — a record. reporter: is it all. over, prime minister? how many resignations will it take? it was a bit like the armies of mordor charging upon us and we were still battling! it was surreal... it was surreal and ijust, i found it bizarre that people would be behaving in the way they were. i found it quite odd that people were not putting both their party and the country first
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above their own self interest. 0r their own ambition, their own personal ambition. it was surreal and we were fighting until the end really because itjust seemed the most stupid folly and the most, most ridiculous act of self— harm that could be inflicted on our party and government. reporter: are we reaching the end game for boris johnson? _ i'm late for a meeting in numberio... simon hart, the welsh secretary and long—term johnson loyalist, was torn about whether he should resign. i'd dithered like mad about it for ages and i had friends of mine said, what the bloody hell are you still doing? what's wrong with you? why are you still there? well, you know, if anyone can turn it around, boris can turn it around, and i hang on... as long as i possibly could. are you going to resign, mr hart? then he went to seejohnson
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in his office at number 10. my final conversation with boris about, whichever way you look, there is somebody pointing a gun at you. and i remember saying to boris, look, if the cabinet doesn't get you, the backbenchers, the 1922 committee, will probably get you, if not this week then next week. and being boris, typically, it was a case of, well, i've got a chance, i can still turn this around. i said i don't think even you can do this, prime minister. hart resigned, as did the prime minister. any regrets, prime minister? in his final appearance at pmqs, johnson offered words of advice for his successor. focus on the road ahead. focus on the road ahead, but always remember to check the rear view mirror. i have helped to get this country through a pandemic and helped save another country from barbarism.
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and frankly, that is enough to be going on with. mission largely accomplished. for now. i want to thank everybody here and hasta la vista, baby! johnson left the chamber to a standing ovation but only from his own side. he gets the big decisions absolutely right, whether it was ukraine, covid, vaccines, cost of living support, financial support — got all the big calls right. people out there, not in the westminster bubble, not in the media, not in politics, but actually the people out there who voted not for a conservative government, not for their local mp, but voted conservative for boris johnson, they don't understand what we've done. and i completely share their confusion. and i think we will regret removing him as our prime minister, one of our most successful, in fact, our most successful prime minister in a generation.
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when he uttered those farewell works, hasta la vista, baby, - that hinted that one day you will see me again. i i'm not written off yet. he has not written himself off in his own mind. - my god, boris, - spare us, you did a very considerable things but you blew it. you ignored the rulesl and the rules got you. when you say that he did some very considerable things, what are you thinking of? there are very few prime ministers who you are certain at the moment of their demise they will leave a deep trace on history. - borisjohnson is one because of brexit. l boris will always be i remembered, always, as the one who got us out. that is the bit where his legacy | is assured but that will not be | enough comfort for him - because he wants so much more. simon hart saw it very differently when he wrote his resignation letter. you will be remembered as a prime minister with energy, vision, determination and humour.
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there was never a dull moment as a minister in your government and i will be forever grateful to have been given a chance to be part of it. i realised i have a glaring typo in here! i sit upmost, not utmost points you want your generals to be optimistic and upbeat, nothing worse than serving under somebody was convinced we are going to lose. boris was always convinced, whether it was covid, ukraine, the economy or anything else that we were always going to win — always going to win. that is an infectious leadership quality. do you think we have not seen the last of him? i don't think you have ever not seen the last borisjohnson. he is like the silverback gorilla, isn't he? he dominates everything that he is part of. boris is a chancer, he is, - of the prime ministers have been. people would have said that churchill, that he was a bit. of a chancer in his day but boris is not churchill. _
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johnson himself was always concerned about his legacy. he once told me why he wanted to move from fleet street to westminster. as he put it, because no one puts up statues to journalists. hello. north—east scotland has seen the wettest weather this afternoon, whereas many other places have been fine, some warm rather humid feeling sunny spells out there. the next batch of wet weather is moving in from the south—west this evening and moving north—eastwards, with some heavy and thundery rain and turning quite windy again, particularly in western areas. it is a humid night. starting off tomorrow with some rain in north—east england, and scotland, gradually moving away northwards, and then a little gap with sunny spells, very warm again, with some thundery showers, very hit and miss, another batch of downpours reaching into south—west england and wales in the afternoon, as it turns windy once again, all of that feeding northwards overnight.
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this is bbc news, the headlines at four... two men have been arrested over the killing of nine—year—old olivia pratt—korbel in liverpool, one of them detained on suspicion of murder. the conservative leadership favourite, liz truss, pledges immediate action on energy bills during herfirst week in office if she becomes prime minister. ukrainian families close to europe's largest nuclear power plant say they're living in fear despite the arrival of un monitors. donald trump calls president biden an enemy of the state at his first rally since the fbi searched his florida resort for sensitive files. the most vicious, hateful and divisive speech ever delivered by an american president.
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