you said you started seeing months? you said you started seeing activity november _ months? you said you started seeing activity november and _ months? you said you started seeing activity november and i _ months? you said you started seeing activity november and i became - activity november and i became premised at the end of october sol can talk to you in detail about the government i am responsible for, i became a prime minister on the 25th october, that first set of meetings you described happened in november and then i believe half a dozen meetings since then at ministerial level which is almost one a month which is a significant amount of activity for cross ministerial work i would say in my experience, as well as further meetings with appg chairs and those affected as well, so taken together, i think that is a significant body of work since i became prime minister and that is what i can best speak to and i'm responsible for. obviously i am not responsible for. obviously i am not responsible for. obviously i am not responsible for the preceding two to three years of how government organised its time, but i am sure you will have and take evidence from those who were at the time and they can probably answer better so that

then i can. the can probably answer better so that then i can. , t, can probably answer better so that then i can. h, ,,,, t, then i can. the government position of waitinu then i can. the government position of waiting until— then i can. the government position of waiting until it _ then i can. the government position of waiting until it receives _ then i can. the government position of waiting until it receives the - of waiting until it receives the final— of waiting until it receives the final report is the next matter i wanted — final report is the next matter i wanted to— final report is the next matter i wanted to ask you about, prime minister — wanted to ask you about, prime minister. mr quin told us in terms that is_ minister. mr quin told us in terms that is the — minister. mr quin told us in terms that is the government position to wait for— that is the government position to wait for this inquiry's final reports _ wait for this inquiry's final reports before it responds to the question— reports before it responds to the question of compensation. does the government acknowledge and accept that this _ government acknowledge and accept that this inquiry's second interim report, _ that this inquiry's second interim report, the — that this inquiry's second interim report, the reports published on the 5th of— report, the reports published on the 5th of april— report, the reports published on the 5th of april of this year, constitutes the chair's complete recommendation on compensation, that is his final— recommendation on compensation, that is his final report on the question of what _ is his final report on the question of what compensation should be paid? does the _ of what compensation should be paid? does the government understand that? the government does understand that but as it is entirely normal and precedented, the government would wait for the conclusion of inquiry findings so it has the full context and understanding of everything that is brought to this situation before

making final decisions, that is the long—standing convention and precedent and advice we recommend following and that is the process being undertaken here. having said that, not mean that work does not begin beforehand and as we have just been told shortly about, work has been told shortly about, work has been ongoing... studio: we have been listening back tojenni richards kc, counsel to the inquiry putting questions to rishi sunak who is giving evidence there at the infected blood inquiry regarding the comment response to the use of infected blood and blood products and the question of compensation in that case. let's speak to our correspondence he was listening in with me. we have heard quite a lot there from rishi sunak but sometimes we were hearing in the room at pretty audible responses of frustration it seems because he did

not answer some questions to satisfaction?— not answer some questions to satisfaction? . , ,, . satisfaction? that is right. several times during _ satisfaction? that is right. several times during his _ satisfaction? that is right. several times during his testimony, - satisfaction? that is right. several times during his testimony, we . satisfaction? that is right. several| times during his testimony, we had heckling from the families of those who were infected with contaminated blood products and at one point the chair of the inquiry, sir brian langstaff, actually said he wanted to be witness to be heard in silence and that they needed to respect that, but the reason why they were annoyed was because it goes back to the speed of the compensation package and how quickly it will be delivered. the central thrust of rishi sunak�*s argument is he believes it is right to wait for the final report from the infected blood inquiry. he says he would like this to happen as quickly as possible but he said there are complex and sensitive issues here and he went on, it is reasonable to allow the inquiry to conclude its work. he did make the point that in whitehall,

parallel work is ongoing to look at how compensation might be framed, what it might look like, who it would go to, but he is nevertheless sticking to that view that he thinks the inquiry should report first rather than the government pre—empted the inquiry and the start announcing what compensation will look like now.— look like now. rishi sunak said his government _ look like now. rishi sunak said his government where _ look like now. rishi sunak said his government where the _ look like now. rishi sunak said his government where the first - look like now. rishi sunak said his government where the first to - look like now. rishi sunak said his i government where the first to accept the moral case for compensation and jenni richards kc pointed out there have been three and a half months since the inquiry second interim report recommending compensation, so there were two very different viewpoints in terms of the speed at which this is going?— which this is going? absolutely and at times jenni _ which this is going? absolutely and at times jenni richards _ which this is going? absolutely and at times jenni richards kc - which this is going? absolutely and at times jenni richards kc got - which this is going? absolutely and | at times jenni richards kc got quite at timesjenni richards kc got quite firm with him and said yes or no, is this good enough? that again is one area where people in the room were

quite annoyed because he refused to give a yes, no answer as to whether it was good enough those delays had happened. as you say, he said to be moral case for compensation has been accepted, that is something that matt hancock had accepted before the blood inquiry and he also made great play of the fact these interim payments have now been made to a500 individuals and rishi sunak said that happened a matter of weeks after he came into government as prime minister. find after he came into government as prime minister.— after he came into government as prime minister. and of course this all started with _ prime minister. and of course this all started with the _ prime minister. and of course this all started with the reading - prime minister. and of course this all started with the reading of- prime minister. and of course this all started with the reading of a i all started with the reading of a letter that had been sent to rishi sunak by then general paymaster penny mordaunt and quite a few questions revolved around that letter? ., , , letter? that is right. penny mordaunt _ letter? that is right. penny mordaunt was _ letter? that is right. penny mordaunt was very - letter? that is right. penny mordaunt was very much . letter? that is right. penny mordaunt was very much a | letter? that is right. penny _ mordaunt was very much a proponent of getting a move on to set up compensation, a framework for compensation, a framework for compensation, as soon as possible and the reason was that she was worried about the number of people

dying while delays existed. whereas on the other hand, rishi sunak was very much in favour of waiting and the reason that the inquiry wants to know about the letters that penny mordaunt wrote to him was because there were no replies so this was when he was at the treasury in 2020 and penny mordaunt wrote twice, once injuly and once in september, but rishi sunak did not reply. he pointed out this was dealt with at official level but he never saw those letters.— official level but he never saw those letters. . ,, , ., . those letters. thank you. we will come back _ those letters. thank you. we will come back to _ those letters. thank you. we will come back to you. _ those letters. thank you. we will come back to you. you _ those letters. thank you. we will come back to you. you are - those letters. thank you. we will i come back to you. you are watching bbc news. let's bring you more now on tottenham hotspurjoe lewis. new york prosecutors have accused him of not only tipping our friends, associates and employees as well but

with nonpublic information about companies that he had business links to. we will bring you more on that in a moment because i understand joe lewis in the past few minutes is expected to appear in court, he has surrendered to the authorities to face those charges which is coming to us from a spokesperson for the us attorney office in manhattan. the british billionairejoe lewis has surrendered to us authorities in manhattan and will appear in court later on wednesday. and other developing story to bring you here in the uk. we understand the verdicts are happening right now in the trial of the actor and director kevin spacey. we can take you live to southwark crown court. thank you. just in the last couple of minutes we have been getting information from my colleagues inside court. this is the trial of kevin spacey, the a—list celebrity hollywood actor who won micro two

macro oscars is a fake series of films and he has been on trial here for the last month facing sex offence allegations, nine in total from a four different men and what we have it so far as he has been found not guilty on eight of those charges and guilty on the final charge. so i'm just going to run through that for you just very briefly. the charges, there are seven charges of sexual assault which are that kevin spacey intentionally touched one of the complainants, the touching was sexual and nonconsensual. as i say, he has been found not guilty of eight of those charges, but my colleagues inside court are saying that he has been found guilty of the final charge, sol that he has been found guilty of the final charge, so i am just going to give you the details of that final charge. it relates to one of the

complainants who was a barman at a rural pub in oxfordshire and mr spaceyis rural pub in oxfordshire and mr spacey is alleged to have kissed the complainant twice on the neck and then grabbed his crotch and the man pushed him away and said, i do not bat for that team... i'm terribly sorry, as i say, i am getting information from my colleagues in court as it is coming through in real time and i'm now been told he has been found not guilty on that charge as well. so a significant correction, he is not guilty on all of the charges that he has faced. not guilty. here we are, this is a trial that has gone on for a month and the court has heard from a four different men who have all alleged very similar things against mr spacey. they say that he was aggressive to them, but he was

vulgar, rude, that he grabbed their crotch, that that was called his trademark. the prosecution in this case said this was a famous man abusing his power, that he was a sexual bully who delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable. mr spacey has always denied the charges. he said two of the relationships were consensual, the relationships were consensual, the other men were lying, they were making these allegations to get money, that his world exploded when these allegations first came to light in 2017, that he lost his reputation, hisjob, his money and you have to say that at the end of this, thejury, having deliberated since monday afternoon, that he has been vindicated and he will leave court today a free man, so just to clarify once again, he has been found not guilty on all of the nine charges, sex offence charges he has faced. it has been a very difficult

i think case for all concerned. we have seen mr spacey come into court every day, he has been here for this trail and been very public, he has walked past the cameras, smile that members of the public you have been here. he has been determined to be very public in this trial, seeing as he has nothing to hide, and you can imagine the difficulty for the men who made these allegations, they have never been identified, anyone and some of the detail has been hard to hear, but all the way through, mr spacey has maintained steadfastly he was either in romantic consensual relationships with these men or they were simply lying. i should say that mr spacey�*s

defence team have said that even though mr spacey may be promiscuous, but what he was doing was not a crime. he said it is not a crime, this is his defence barrister, it is not a crime to like sex, even if you are famous, it is not a crime to have casual sex, hejust are famous, it is not a crime to have casual sex, he just wanted to be a normal guy, the court was told, to drink beer, laugh, smoke weed and spend time with younger people who he is attracted to. and in the end, the jury clearly decided that even though there was a good deal of casual sex going on here, that none of it constituted a crime. these allegations first surfaced in 2017 in america and there have been separate proceedings in the united states, one that ended at the end of last year were again mr spacey was

cleared of any wrongdoing, so they have not been a number of different cases against kevin spacey and in every one so far, he has been cleared. we heard evidence through this trial from ten character witnesses, including chris lemmon, jack lemmon's son, jack lemmon a very famous actor he was in a film with kevin spacey, a remarkable cult classic of a film, and those ten personal character witness statements described mr spacey as a dedicated, kind, hard—working man, his niece described how he had given excellent treatment for his mother when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour and i should say today is mr spacey�*s 6ath birthday. the prosecution case had always been there was a power imbalance here, that mr spacey was significantly older than the men he was having these relationships with when he was

these relationships with when he was the creative director of the old vic and they said this was a case about power, the use of power. they described mr spacey as slippery, sneaky, difficult and that his alleged assault left people ashamed, embarrassed and shocked, but all of that has gone today and mr spacey leaves court here in london a free man. with that, it is back to you. graham satchel there at southwark crown courts, thank you very much and we will return it straightaway to graham in the next few moments. those verdicts arejust to graham in the next few moments. those verdicts are just coming in the last few seconds. we will have continuing coverage of that case from southwark. you are watching bbc news. we start with that breaking news thatis we start with that breaking news that is just happened at southwark crown court, news that kevin spacey has been found not guilty of nine

sex offences at that trial at southwark crown court, the hollywood star who is 6a had been accused of sexually assaulting four men in the period between 2001 and 2013. those verdicts just coming in period between 2001 and 2013. those verdictsjust coming in on period between 2001 and 2013. those verdicts just coming in on the last few minutes clearing kevin spacey of all the charges, these are some of the pictures of the actor arriving for proceedings. let's go straight back to graham satchell who was there and reporters inside the courthouse saying there were tears in his eyes as he was cleared of all of those charges. yes that's right. we're hearing from our colleagues in court that you can imagine mr stacey was very pensive when thejury imagine mr stacey was very pensive when the jury was called back in but he had the jury say not guilty nine times on nine separate sex offence charges and he started crying in the

dock and then he hugged his manager and legal teams,