it comes as the uk signs a new deal with iraq on border security as it battles to get people smuggling under control. our other headlines — our other headlines — the tv host gregg wallace the tv host gregg wallace is to step away from presenting is to step away from presenting masterchef while allegations masterchef while allegations of historical misconduct are investigated. of historical misconduct are investigated. a former soldier who escaped a former soldier who escaped from a london prison from a london prison has been found guilty has been found guilty of spying for iran. a "world first" social media ban for under—16s has been passed by the australian of spying for iran. senate. and how a "baby bouncer" helped and how a "baby bouncer" helped this tiny penguin walk again. this tiny penguin walk again. revealed net migration hello and welcome to bbc news. hello and welcome britain's prime minister, britain's prime minister, sir keir starmer, has accused sir keir starmer, has accused the last government of running the last government of running a "one nation experiment a "one nation experiment

in open borders", after it was in open borders", after it was revealed net migration to the uk in the year tojune 2023 exceeded 900,000. at a press conference in downing street, he accused the conservatives of deliberately liberalising immigration as part of a brexit plan to promote "global britain". this happened by design, not accident. policies were reformed deliberately to liberalise immigration. brexit was used for that purpose — to turn britain into a one nation experiment in open borders. global britain — remember that slogan? and which they then pretended wasn't happening. and now they want to

wave it away with a simple

and now they want to wave it away wit think nple and now they want to wave it away wit think this previously, but i think this don't act the figures are unusually high. they appear to be on a downward trajectory. that's because of the restrictions that the previous government brought in around, mostly towards the beginning of this year, but it is quite difficult to know where they will settle down once... the full impact of this policy changes are not visible in the statistics, they are expected to come down further, but not necessarily to particularly low levels under the current policy regime stop what those changes under the previous government you reference, that was around thesis white people coming in and their also the thresholds -- that was around visas. _ also the thresholds -- that was around visas. have _ also the thresholds -- that was around visas. have those - also the thresholds -- that was l around visas. have those worked in terms of bringing numbers down? ., ., , ., down? some of them do seem to have had a _ down? some of them do seem to have had a significant _ down? some of them do seem to have had a significant impact, - have had a significant impact, probably the largest impact was the result of the home office cracking down on sponsorship in the care sector. so the care

sector, the immigration system had been liberalised previously for the care sector, but there was quite a lot of evidence of exploitation of migrant workers and very large numbers of people coming in. the government then cracks down on that and the number of people coming in are not historically low but are much lower and we will start to see that more we get to the next set of statistics. the other big change that has had an impact on the numbers is international students being prevented from bringing theirfamily students being prevented from bringing their family members with them in most cases. where we have seen less of an impact on the numbers at least is the family, income requirements for british people wanting to bring their family to the uk. 0bviously their family to the uk. obviously very significant for those families themselves, although in terms of overall numbers and we don't currently see a huge impact. there was a modest decline in the number of families visas granted. fix, modest decline in the number of families visas granted.— families visas granted. a final auestion families visas granted. a final question because _ families visas granted. a final question because so - families visas granted. a final question because so much - families visas granted. a final question because so much of| families visas granted. a final. question because so much of the politics over the last 12, 18 months revolved around saul —— small boats. where does it

break down in terms of legal migration, illegal migration? the vast majority of people immigrating to the uk, more than 90%, are coming on visas that the government has issued. where people arrived illegally and then claim asylum, they will be included in the statistics, and that includes, that means the vast majority of people who arrive on small boats will be in the figures because most do claim asylum, but they make up a pretty small share of the total.— share of the total. madeleine sumption. — share of the total. madeleine sumption. we _ share of the total. madeleine sumption, we have _ share of the total. madeleine sumption, we have to - share of the total. madeleine sumption, we have to leave i share of the total. madeleine | sumption, we have to leave it there, but thank you. let's return to that news conference from the prime minister. let's speak to our political correspondent damian grammaticas. let's talk about the raw politics, because it was on full display in that news conference. in terms of what keir starmer said and where he said the root of the problem, take us through it.— take us through it. yes, i thinkthis — take us through it. yes, i think this was _ take us through it. yes, i think this was a - take us through it. yes, i think this was a very - take us through it. yes, i | think this was a very clear

intent, orstatement think this was a very clear intent, or statement of intent, by this prime minister to lay the blame for the ownership of these record migration figures at the door of his predecessors, at the conservatives and their time in downing street. these figures relate to that period before keir starmer and the labour party won the election and came into office, so the record high figure was for 2022 to 2023, more than 900,000 arrivals, and his press conference could not have been more obvious, him saying this was shocking, this was a deliberate policy enacted by the conservatives, so placing himself on the other side, if you like, of that, and he turned to that and said, my government would do things differently, we will turn the page and promised a set of measures he is go to lay out to tackle the immigration numbers

stop i think he is trying to inoculate himself from the political ownership of those figures and trying in no way to position himself, if those numbers, they have come down already, did come already during the conservatives, it takes to do to come down, track and claim the credit for that. he was pressed a couple of times any questions about the target numbers. he did not give a figure. your thoughts on that? and also, he has been talking about this new deal that has been signed with iraq around illegal migration, so tell me more about that as well. , , ., ., tell me more about that as well. , ., ., well. yes, so on the target, this has _ well. yes, so on the target, this has been _ well. yes, so on the target, this has been a _ well. yes, so on the target, this has been a running - well. yes, so on the target, i this has been a running theme through uk politics of the way back to before the brexit referendum, the conservatives did want to put —— put numbers on what they wanted to achieve, bringing the net figure two below 100,000 a year. the opposite has happened, it has gone up to 900,000, and that became a real

political problem for them, and he very clearly would not go there. he said those had been unhelpful and he did not want to, he said, resort to gimmicks, but graft, because in essence, he was tying this debate about immigration to his approach overall, saying the same for the economy, the conservatives had caused problems, he is going to sort it out with hard work, so safer immigration. that's his kind of pitch. part of the way he wants to do that is through these deals with other countries, and in trying to get partnerships, ticket british money, in this case with iraq, about £500 million, 300 million to the government of baghdad, 200 million to the authorities in the north, and that that is to increase their control measures, tackle smuggling, thatis measures, tackle smuggling, that is all about illegal immigration and the games that try and smuggle people to the

uk. the really big issue here is, as you are hearing from a madeleine sumption there, the legal migration, those people coming here to work, and what's your keir starmer says is his plans to try to bring that down by train people in the uk, by clamping down on the work visa system. the difficulty he may have their is that could well work against his even bigger priority, which is to grow the uk economy, to return it to growth, things like the care system, worries his tax policy is making a dispenser to hire entry—level workers. now he is talking about reducing the supply of those workers even more. . , ., ., more. damian grammaticas live there at westminster, - more. damian grammaticas live there at westminster, thank - there at westminster, thank you. to other news. a former british army soldier daniel khalife has been found guilty of spying for iran. khalife, who was 21 when he escaped prison while awaiting trial, collected information useful to an enemy and had a list

of special forces soldiers. he was cleared of being responsible for a bomb hoax at his army barracks. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. this was daniel khalife on the morning of his escape, working in the kitchen at wandsworth prison. 15 minutes later, he was driven out of the jail, clinging to the bottom of this food delivery truck, suspended by a makeshift sling made of kitchen trousers. the driver, unaware of the stowaway underneath, made his way through london's early morning traffic. the lorry, with daniel khalife clinging on underneath, stopped at these lights and a motorist following behind saw him drop to the ground, roll out, stand up, flick his fringe and casually walk off. it was the beginning of a massive nationwide manhunt. by five o'clock that afternoon, daniel khalife was six miles away in richmond, wearing shorts, checking the cctv cameras in mountain warehouse, before stealing

a baseball cap to hide his face. by the next morning, he'd got some cash from an unknown contact, which he used to buy more clothes in marks & spencer, before reading about his escape in the newspapers. the huge publicity meant people started to notice him and call the police. among them, frank noon, who saw him in a cemetery in chiswick. i actually felt a bit sorry for him. i thought, well, as somebody who's like most wanted, you don't look that sort of disarming. you don't look that kind of scary or anything. eventually, after three days on the run, daniel khalife was spotted riding a stolen bike along this canal towpath and was arrested by a plain clothes detective who he promptly congratulated. the son of a british—iranian single mother, daniel khalife had joined the army aged 16. 0ne fellow recruit, who didn't want to be identified, remembered him as an annoying attention seeker. how cocky he was,

how arrogant he came across and just how he seemed to want the spotlight. he always wanted to seem like he was the attention point and that no—one else could take it, everyone aware of him as a person and know his name. less than a year afterjoining the army, he was in a north london park collecting £1,500 in a dog poo bag from iranian agents. two years afterjoining, he was in a smart hotel in istanbul. he told his handler he wanted to be trained in iran. i wanted to have some training from you guys and i think the best training for me is inside of iran. i'm one of the most intelligent people. i won an award. i am better than everybody here. lam more intelligent than everybody here. in a message, he said he would work for them for 25—plus years. he sent the iranians pictures of communication equipment and official strategy documents that he upgraded to secret,

but misspelled the word. he contacted m15 anonymously, saying he wanted to be a double agent, but instead they had him arrested. iran is one of a number. of countries that present a real and present risk. to our national security. so, daniel khalife providing. information to them absolutely compromises ourj national security. particularly as he's a serving soldier? particularly as he was - a surgeon soldier that had access to sensitive material. a year after he was first arrested, he left a fake bomb on his desk at his barracks and ran off to live in a van where police found £18,000. when recaptured, he was charged under the terrorism act and the official secrets act, which is why he was being held in wandsworth prison when he escaped. daniel sandford, bbc news, at woolwich crown court. do stay with us, because coming up do stay with us, because coming up on the programme, a bbc investigation has led to greg

wallace stepping away from hosting masterchef while historic complaints of misconduct are looked into, and australia will become the first country in the world to ban social media for under six teens after passing a bill in the senate. —— under 16. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

to the middle east. the israeli military has renewed a night—time curfew for south lebanon, on day two of a ceasefire with hezbollah. any travel south of the litani river is banned, while those who are there should remain put. earlier, israeli tanks fired at several towns and villages near the border, as a warning to those trying to return before permission was given. a prominent hezbollah mp called it a violation of the ceasefire. 0ur correspondent hugo bachega is in southern lebanon and told us more about what people are returning home to. a lot of people are seeing the destruction caused by these air strikes for the first time. so i'm here in tyre, which is the largest city in the south of the country,

and let me show you the scene here, because this building has been heavily damaged, perhaps beyond repair. and there's a lot of destruction here. there's a banner that's been set up by hezbollah here saying "made in usa". so obviously, the message here is that the bombs and the missiles that have been used in lebanon were made in the us. and i remember coming to tyre before the conflict. this was, you know, a vibrant part of the city, and now it is heavily destroyed. now, the ceasefire is holding, but not far from here, israeli troops are still inside lebanese territory. now, this morning, hezbollah took journalists on a tour to show some of the destruction here. i think this shows you that they're still very much in control here in parts of the south. now, for the people who are returning to their homes, they face the challenge of rebuilding what's been destroyed. but nobody really knows how that will happen and who is going to pay for that. in gaza, satellite images

studied by bbc verify appear to show that israel is creating a new military dividing line, separating off the far north of the strip. it's a move that some experts say could be intended to stop palestinians returning there in the future. here's nick eardley. the israeli military has been carrying out operations in gaza for well over a year now, in response to the 7th of october attacks by hamas. and as part of that, the idf has been setting up military corridors where the israeli military has control of movement. we've covered these before. there's this one down here, the philadelphi corridor on the border with egypt. there's another one up here in the middle of the strip, netzarim corridor. but now there's evidence of a third, which could have important implications for the future of the gaza strip. have a look up here. this is it. it runs in the north of gaza, from the border with israel, all the way along to the mediterranean sea. and it matters because experts

we've spoken to, some of them think this could be a precursor to the israeli military cutting north gaza off completely, stopping people returning, possibly permanently. let me show you, first of all, what we found. this is satellite imagery from last year, showing — if you look in the circle there — a large group of buildings around this area here on either side of a big road. but if we slide this along, keep an eye on the area in the circle, you can see hundreds of buildings are gone. they've been destroyed by the idf. and there's a whole new section here that's been cleared. there's evidence of israeli troops being stationed right along this new corridor. they appear to be in control of the area from the border to the mediterranean coast. we've looked at a lot of footage of destruction in this area and geolocated these six examples where buildings have been brought down by controlled explosions. and if you lookjust in the background there

on the map, they're all very close to this new dividing line, significant infrastructure being destroyed. now, the reason all of this matters is there have been suggestions that israel could cut the north off from the rest of gaza, stopping residents from returning, creating a military—controlled buffer zone. we put all of these findings to a number of experts. and i just want to show you a selection of their responses. have a look here. dr hellyerfrom rusi, the prominent security think tank, said the images suggested israel was preparing to block residents returning to north gaza. he argued this evidence that we presented shows israel "digging in for the long term". dr eado hecht, you can see down here, is from a think tank based in israel, the begin—sadat centre for strategic studies.

he said this is evidence of a "new partition corridor", although he questioned whether it was designed to be permanent. now we've put all of this to the idf, and they told us that they were "currently targeting terrorist operatives and infrastructure in northern gaza." and they said this — that they have no intention of destroying civilian infrastructure without what they call without what they call "operational necessity". "operational necessity". but they didn't respond but they didn't respond directly to the question of whether people who had been directly to the question of whether people who had been displaced from the north displaced from the north of gaza would be allowed of gaza would be allowed to eventually return. to eventually return. nick eardley. nick eardley. gregg wallace has stepped away gregg wallace has stepped away from presenting masterchef, from presenting masterchef, while historical while historical complaints of misconduct are looked into. complaints of misconduct are looked into. the show�*s production company heard are from 13 people the show�*s production company says that individuals contacted says that individuals contacted the bbc about the host. the bbc about the host. his lawyers strongly denied his lawyers strongly denied that he engaged in behaviour that he engaged in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature. of a sexually harassing nature. noor nanji is noor nanji is our culture reporter. our culture reporter. she told us more. she told us more. gregg wallace is one gregg wallace is one of the most recognisable faces of the most recognisable faces on british television. on british television. but in the summer, myself but in the summer, myself and my team started and my team started investigating after hearing investigating after hearing allegations about him. allegations about him. now, we should just now, we should just say that bbc news is say that bbc news is editorially independent editorially independent

from the wider organisation and the claims that we have from the wider organisation and the claims that we have heard are from 13 people across five shows and over a 17—year period, from 2005 right up to 2022. allegations that we have heard include gregg wallace talking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a juniorfemale worker and also telling a female colleague that he wasn't wearing any boxers under his jeans. now, there is perhaps a wider significance to this story. i've discovered that gregg wallace was warned by the bbc back in 2018. that's after a complaint was raised about him on the bbc show impossible celebrities. now, a formal hr investigation took place, and in the outcome letter, which we have seen, the bbc concluded that aspects of his behaviour were both unacceptable and unprofessional. now, we sent a letter to gregg wallace's representatives on tuesday of this week, setting out the allegations that we have heard. today, we heard from masterchef�*s

production company that said that gregg wallace is to step back from presenting masterchef while allegations of historical misconduct are investigated.

while allegations of historical miscondu1 from investigated. while allegations of historical miscondu1 from using igated. while allegations of historical miscondu1 from using social. under—16s from using social media after the senate approved the world's strictest laws. the bankruptcy tech companies find 32.5 million australian dollars if they do not comply. —— the band could see tech companies. i spoke to dr fiona scott, lecturer in digital literacies at the university of sheffield. it's happened very quickly, and it's something that international experts as well as child safety experts and mental health groups, have spoken out against, and also without the consultation of children and young people. so, something that has come to pass very quickly. clearly there are a lot of anxieties about whether this could do more harm than good. there's obviously anxieties and quite a lot of support from parents and campaign groups when you listen to them. what have you heard in terms of the practicalities? can it work on things like age verification? well, what i'm hearing is that it's not quite clear the methods they are going to use. there's a lot of discussion about things like

facial recognition or perhaps requiring people to have some sort of digital id to sort of identify their age. in both cases, there are issues in terms of how much data is being collected about people. there are also issues in terms of these things, generally speaking, not working. so in france, they instigated a similar sort of ban, and it does seem to be the case that children are working their way around it. and in doing so, going to parts of the internet that are not regulated. isn't one of the important areas and reasons for doing it, at the moment, quite often, these tech companies will point to the various controls, the parental controls that could be applied, but in a sense, it is for the parents or the youngster to actually apply all of that? this puts the onus on the tech companies, and a lot of people think that is where the onus should be. yeah, i completely agree that the onus should be on the tech companies, and in the uk, the 0nline safety act has worked towards

this idea of the digital duty of care, which is a really useful principle. it does put the onus back on tech companies. unfortunately, doing this through an age ban is something that hasn't been proved to be effective. there are other ways. you can work on things like this, so, for example, targeting work at inappropriate content and working with technology companies to find ways of protecting children from that sort of harm, rather than this kind of blanket ban, which is a huge piece of work to implement on very little evidence that it will be effective. fiona scott. you are right up to date here on bbc news.

hello there. for most of us, it's been a dry but cold day today after that widespread frost. but things over the next few days are going to change. temperatures are going to be rising. the cold air that we've had underneath the high pressure is getting squeezed away, weather fronts just waiting to bring some rain in from the west. but this evening, there may well be an early frost across eastern scotland, the midlands and eastern parts of england, where we've got clearer skies and also lighter winds. but temperatures will rise overnight. in the west, we've got most of the cloud. the rain that was in northern ireland will head its way up towards northernmost parts of scotland, and temperatures by the end of the night in western areas may well be

in double figures, and further east, temperatures will have lifted above freezing by the morning. still a chilly start here, mind you, but for many central and eastern parts of england and perhaps eastern scotland, should be a dry day with some sunshine. stronger southerly breezes out to the west, where the cloud will thicken to bring rain back into northern ireland in the afternoon, western scotland and later over the irish sea. 1541 00:27:25,045 -->