tv News RT March 23, 2020 12:00pm-12:30pm EDT
12:00 pm
welcoming all our viewers from around the world live from central london this is. our t.v. host and for the 1st minister of scotland alex summoned has been found not guilty of all 14 sexual offenses against 9 women. the government accuses the public of ignoring the advice about social distancing to combat the coronavirus reports claim the author of his good order a tough are looking down similar to italy or france i'll be talking to a g.p. . but you also have faces pressure to do more for britain's 5000000 self employed to bailing out both businesses and permanent staff we hear from
12:01 pm
a welfare reform expert. and rex it is say the u.k. should push ahead with trade talks and cut ties with the e.u. in december despite the ongoing virus crisis. good afternoon we start with our breaking news story that archie host and former 1st minister of scotland alex salmond has been acquitted of all 14 sexual offense charges on 2 u.k. cæsar joins me now with the latest. on their research so take us through the verdict. well alex salmond has been cleared up for a 2 week trial at the high court in edinburgh now mr summit was originally charged with 14 sexual offenses against 9 women midway through the trial the prosecution
12:02 pm
could do one of the cases one of those charges that he was found not guilty of 12 others and it a unique situation under scott's issue albeit with the 14th charge he was found with the case was found at have been not true then so mr samad innocent in the eyes of the law and all 14 of those charges now before a court in edinburgh to around 6 hours to make its decision and that following that mr summers stepped outside the court to address the media to give his reaction. the assassin evidence i would have liked to see the lead. in this trial but for a variety of reasons we were not able to do so at some point that information that facts and that evidence will see the light of day but it wouldn't be the stay in a moment i stay for a very good reason and that is why have a nightmare i've been in over these last 2 years as us often nothing compared to the nightly of every single one of us is company living proof people are dying many
12:03 pm
more are going to die but we have done this now and i know of you've got a job to do it is not safe i don't have a job but it is safe and my strong strong advice to you is to go home those who cannot be able to take care of your families. and god help us all. now following that there have been calls for example by the s.n.p. n.p.a. joanna cherry for both the party and the scottish government to have a good look at themselves and really investigate and have an inquiry into how they should deal with these kinds of accusations and to really of the whole the procedures when dealing with these types of very sensitive actually zation also in the court when summing up mr summers lawyer suggested that the charges could have been orchestrated for political reasons and both are sound as we have that and others saying that there are questions to answer but that the fight against the
12:04 pm
coronavirus comes 1st and that those will have to be put on while the country did as this last. yes and he said thank you very much for joining us thank you. well the government has pleaded with the public to follow their advice on social distancing after this weekend saw a significant portion of the public ignoring the guidelines but despite hinting that tougher sanctions could be around the corner there's no announcement just yet on to u.k. shouted ebers daschle joins me now with the latest on the shadows so bring us up to speed with what's been happening well certainly the situation will change it really is just a question of exactly where and of course the prime minister clearly expressed his reservations just yesterday we know he's somewhat reluctant reluctant to go down an authoritarian route but listening to the house secretary i just a month hancock it seems that the government is certainly edging closer to that eventuality of a lockdown scenario it really seems to be the fact that this weekend saw some remarkable antics remember of course essentially the advice was to stop going about
12:05 pm
your daily lives boris johnson with all the weekend closing down restaurants pubs and shops with the london further saying to the public do not go out despite all of that there's been some serious concerns about whether people listen to that message it really does seem as though the message has been somewhat ignored in fact the parks were essentially full there were scenes that could only be likened to that at the height of summer time people playing football rugby even having picnics some of that could of course be attributed to the fact that it was indeed mothering sunday just yesterday so that too could have played a part but as a result today said the government is prepared to go a step further and introduce further measures and the home secretary as well has spoken out free to tell she said that the government social distancing measures are really put in place to save lives. the government also being clear that in order to save lives and to protect the public during this public health emergency it is
12:06 pm
right that we practice social distancing in the way in which the government as our kind of government is reinforcing the chief medical officer and many others are reinforcing day in day out that we asked the public to take responsibility and of course our enforcement measures now in place in the next side that was put in place over the weekend when it comes to places of social gatherings and pops and cups and cafes for example the public happiness served in those but also the police local authorities trading standards are working together now to make sure that those measures of been put in place and my final comment mr speaker is that the guidance that is coming from the government and from public health england is there to protect lives and to save lives. any senior labor m.p.'s are coming out to say that we need more restrictions tougher measures including secure starmer and john ashworth the shadow health secretary both throwing their weight behind this argument of tough tough of measures just ahead of that press briefing that we're
12:07 pm
expecting later this afternoon to try and urge the prime minister to go a step further of course the latest press briefing saw mixed messages coming from boris johnson on the one hand he was saying don't think that you can go out into the fresh air and be immune to such a virus but on the other hand saying that going out into the open air will be good for your mental wellbeing so not exactly the clearest message but what he did stress is that 2 metres apart is essentially the same advice you have to stay 2 metres apart you have to follow the social distancing advice and even if you think that you are personally. invulnerable there are plenty of people that you could infect and whose lives will then be put at risk and. i see the snow. on sunday afternoon sunday evening and i take this advice seriously follow it
12:08 pm
because it's absolutely crucial now this afternoon afternoon the government are looking at data collected just to see how many cars are on the boat and how many people are on the streets and the results are quite dramatic we've seen a 81 percent drop off of those using the troops this morning in comparison to any normal monday plus a 60 percent fall in blockbusters as well so quite big changes the question is is that enough for the government to go a step forward and announce an official lockdown the sense is that it could very well be because of course measures are being put in place we're seeing many things moving in that direction already if you take into consideration numerous individual businesses and local authorities already taking matters into their own hands and closing their doors for instance instance costa coffee mcdonald's and even national parks across the country so it almost feels like a lockdown by default so whether or not we'll see the government officially do that remains to be seen but of course across europe we've seen full scale lockdowns in
12:09 pm
various other countries globally 1000000000 people have been told to stay at home but here the information is much more advisory it's more of a request meant to people to stay in their homes but today really could be the day that we see this advice become in post policy or wait and see on that one shot here thank you very much well for more on this on are joined by medical professional dr amir khan. dr gone thank you very much indeed for joining us could you tell us just how much pressure does not sticking to social distancing that to me to get up could front line stuff under. i can't really emphasize how much pressure it puts those and watching those scenes on the weekend was really disappointing is someone and i know i speak for a lot of health care professionals when i say this you know we're coming to work risking our lives and our well being to you to to look after those who need it is and or where asking people to do it in response to that really is just to stay at
12:10 pm
home it's not a lot to ask it doesn't matter whether the sun shining it doesn't matter whether you haven't seen your friend for as the days you know you putting yourself at risk of getting to and you putting out risk and you know i'm a daring to not advice i'm only coming to work i'm going straight home i don't go out anywhere you know i didn't go see my mom yesterday oh mother mother's day and he's hard but it's very very necessary for everybody's sake and days of sound advice there but isn't enforce the law down the. it might have to be because people simply are not listening and and when he's a bit like. disciplining a naughty child you know e.g. if you just say well if you do that again i'll say it if you do that again i'll see sometimes you have to take the toy away if they're not behaving themselves unfortunately a significant proportion of the public behaving like naughty children they let's also look at the stuff as well why don't we actually testing stuff i mean it does
12:11 pm
seem bizarre that a doctor with a cold has to isolate when a test would mean that he's actually eligible for vital walk yet these 2 things to worry about when it comes to stop testing sending you know where a large touches but already we've got 5 doctors all self isolating because other people in their households have got temperatures a cough that could cripple a smaller surgery but we can continue where bigger but 5 doctors also imagine how you know how much pressure that puts on the rest of us and yes we need to be tested because if we can get tested we can have the results back within a day or 2 and we could potentially come back to work and start working on people who are poorly the other thing staff need and this is really really important is adequate protective the movement has stepped up and down the country we're hearing reports of a skier arriving somewhere out yet to see any evidence of it we don't have adequate protectively and we're expected to see patients who potentially have caught this karuna virus and you know we know we have to do it because it's our job and that's
12:12 pm
what we've been trained to do but again we stick aprons people are making a criminals plastic bags makeshift masks and viruses you know it's just not fair that the government are asking us to. risk but on willing to invest in the adequate . just so you know it really is enough to make you cry really. to heaven i have to say in the meantime that we also know about london samia to the epicenter of this outbreak as well but other regions particular where you are they coping. well we we know this but that the you know the high density of people in london so that's why there's an epicenter there however there are cases here you know where you we've got cases in our local hospital we've got people die in our local hospital so it's not just center did london there might be more cases there but they reason an area of the u.k. that will escape this virus and that's really important to say because you you see people going off to the lake district or going off to the scottish highlands
12:13 pm
thinking oh great open spaces the people who leave the area you are then putting at risk do go just stay at home there isn't a part of the country that is safe and don't to confound you very briefly if you don't mind and do you favor the personal safety of n.h.s. staff by the general public. 100 percent i do i really need we really need the public to get on our side in the way they can do that is just stay at home and sound advice dr i'm a constant you very much indeed thank you. well in france official figures say there are now more than 16000 cases of coronavirus of the 674 people who died most were over 70 years old well the french parliament declared a health emergency yesterday which will last for at least 2 months this gives the government more powers to the outbreak such as implementing restrictive measures support for struggling businesses and to requisition of goods and services or france went into lockdown last week with people only allowed to leave their homes
12:14 pm
for essential trips but officials are still being accused of negligence in their response to the crisis artie's children do bensky reports from paris death rate rises the infection rate goes up but here in france we are hearing from french medics that they're unhappy that they feel that not enough was done early enough to stop the pandemic here in france they've actually filed a legal complaint against some of france's top officials including the prime minister and the former health minister who's ill what they say is that these officials knew as early as january how bad things were going to get and yet they didn't do enough some of the evidence for their complaint comes a real interview with the former health minister herself who had talked about france holding the 1st round of municipal elections just over a week ago and saying it was a masquerade and saying as she stepped down from her job as health minister she did
12:15 pm
so crying because she knew that a tsunami was coming maurya of the medics has told r.t. that the government was simply lying nothing the google doodle we're dealing with a government that's lying to us they say we'll be taking measures and they'll say again we need to do this we need to do that the truth is we've lost the advantage and struggle to catch back up if you want an example you must remember the president stark speeches last week when he used his warlike trainers come on. in chief convinces them. because most of the main tools in this may help medical work we're all those. while the french government says it's doing all it current to handle the crisis in regards to those shortages we have heard from the french prime minister edward phillipe requisitions have been made and requested be made to manufacture some researches to come up with new prototypes for things such as
12:16 pm
mosques well another accusation from the medics told us about was the lack of testing for code 19 they think that this is problematic now from isn't the only country that's been experiencing shortages for the kits to test for the virus many of the countries are experiencing the same shortages that the other medical supplies as well we've been hearing about this over the past few weeks and that is why the current health minister says that it's just not possible to test everyone. today we don't test automatically so far we made the choice like most countries and as per the european recommendation to reserve the priority members of the public the targeted people just like in neighboring european countries those who are most at risk well covered 19 is course panic across the world and each country is handling the crisis in the way that it feels is best and it could of course be
12:17 pm
months before we see a fax developed and a vaccine usable on humans and what governments including the one here from calling for is a sense of togetherness that we are all in this together this is a sense of unity so perhaps it would feel at the moment a legal complaint like this is particularly unwelcome. still to come this hour the chancellor faces calls to do more for the self employed by helping businesses start we hear from the welfare reform expert. is your media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe.
12:18 pm
tyson nation community. are you going the right way or are you being led. directly. what is true what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or a made in the shallowness. or a little bit messed up by our d.n.a. in something way or another look at the i'm bored now surely isn't such a great thing you know i'm sure you look better now than when he had hair come on it's nice of you to say so but i do i went down when i was 25 and wasn't so great then.
12:19 pm
welcome back the chancellor is under pressure to help self-employed workers through the coronavirus crisis with a decision expected very soon unions and business groups say really soon that should do more for creative contract as in free lunches after he took action to bail out both businesses and those in pub and employment. so far the chances bailout only supports those in permanent employment but cannot work because of the outbreak they will have 80 percent of their salaries covered or up to $2500.00 pounds a month with the rest to be negotiated between workers and employers but those who are self employed on a contract or in the creative industry have no such support and can only claim $94.00 pounds a week. well meanwhile london's footsie 100 opened almost 5 percent down dropping 242 points in early morning trading and it rotted by this afternoon but is still
12:20 pm
below today's opening high of just under 5200 points or to discuss all of this i'm now joined by dr sun. much of that we thank you very much for joining us the chancellor has to take some action for the self employed doesn't. absolutely although i think it's interesting the framing this is not just the self employed is really about everybody i think that we've been involved in a call for an emergency basic income with u.p.i. lap sheffield and a whole range of organizations across the country to petition for that hit the necessary threshold 900000 just today after being you know in new york for one week and i think you have to be very careful about making strong claims about the effectiveness of the announcements on friday so i don't think this is just about self employed and i actually think that the announcements on friday are being overhyped i had a colleague look at them in detail today and she's telling me that's actually it's just covering is really more like an effects of sickness right lots of businesses
12:21 pm
are going to fail and they're not going to be claiming anything else of income is going to disappear this is an economic catastrophe here which is not going to be halted by the measures announced on friday what we need is to guarantee economic security for everybody but don't add up that's what's going to sites about timing is i mean when to be a massive expensive that is the universal basic income and a credit of mine trying to long term because of this crisis last more than a few months i think this is i think what's interesting about this crisis in a way is certainly it reveals the bankruptcy of the economic model those who are working then suddenly it soon is out that an economy is not based on facts nobody's talking about saving the banks the moment so early bankers don't look like workers today. because our citizens families moans doubts workers in hospitals all of the independent people providing social care services
12:22 pm
all the people making sure we get fed. and all of these people many of them at least are going to find that their incomes certainly disappear and that they go into personal trauma he says at a time when they need to be offered security there's no problem in our society if we're well organized and providing people with invasive knees and as eating housing food all of the things that we need there isn't a fundamental economic crisis if we choose to organise our society in a sensible way that is that up to death when it comes to the self gets tied up but when it comes to the self employed when it comes to trying to help them with there's a problem in the fact that an income can differ wildly from deity or even months month week to week for the self employed so how do would you assess it how would you help them if you provide a basic income you wouldn't do it on the basis of their incomes and in fact doing it on the better economic protections that are related to income are inherently unfair in life we only live in a highly illegal society what we need to do is provide an economic she law for
12:23 pm
everybody and they adopted i think also the one thing i was going to point out as well in terms of the self employed because they if they're seen as having tax breaks also the fact that they can claim expenses is there a case that some could argue that the financial ups and downs of being self-employed is just something that freelancers are you staying. i don't know what people are imagining i think maybe they have a very high faluting vision of the self employed up always remains ordinary people many of whom have the facts of the last security and don't want to go anywhere near the toxic benefits system and survive on very low incomes and declare themselves self-employed when talking about people with nice houses in the city doing i don't know who sources see on lots into someone is holding up people doing every day work from window cleaners to yet look clean as all these people become self employed it is the only way of surviving in our economy they do not have secure incomes this is not some kind of tax at all they're just trying to survive that's how we look at
12:24 pm
relating our survival level and i got to talk to someone and other experts in welfare reform thank you very much indeed for joining us. now a prominent rex it is claimed the country's departure from the e.u. should go ahead as planned despite the coronavirus crisis they argue by pushing ahead the u.k. economy will be in a better position to recover from the pandemic it is not in our interest to see a precipitous collapse we must however put as much distance between us and the eurozone as possible it would not be wise to be in the same room but with an explosion the period of recovery could be long but the countries which emerge the strongest will be those which can manage their own laws and affairs to suit their own circumstances. well that call comes as free trade negotiations between westminster and brussels stalled because of the pandemic the u.k.'s david frost and to self isolation on friday after showing mild symptoms of coronavirus negotiate and michelle body has already tested positive however boris johnson has already
12:25 pm
said the u.k. will leave the transition period on december 31st as planned. it's been done. if b. if b. is b. if it did i think i had to sort of stop it it's being regulated discussed i can tell you in downing street of the moment and we're getting on with. the there are. midges there's legislation in place that i have no intention of changing. of former bracks it party m.e.p. andrew kearse thinks the pandemic shouldn't affect the government's breck 6 tragedy we should certainly be pushing ahead with bret so there are real dangers for the u.k. being tied into the e.u. and most importantly to all the counties it's a bit like rather us being asked to guarantee a company that's not be to collapse you wouldn't do it and we should be doing it here because if we no longer we leave it the grace of the guarantees will be and the euro in particular was always destined to fail even the chief economist that
12:26 pm
tripped up the euro as predicted it's very well under the problem is they both chief negotiators are self isolating we don't know where they're going to be back at work. number one there was quite a few calls when i was sitting in parliament for barnet to be replaced because people were not happy with these areas conducting matters but i've long been arguing this is not to get the heads of agreement the broad base of agreement was not unduly difficult sued lord bamford came out a few months ago and agree with me you know if those were real willingness to get a deal it could be done but the trouble is and i have said it over and over again. you is fighting for it so i will even before this bar is broke out why and why such an urgency when we have clearly an issue of national emergency and national health it is quite separate and there are many who predict it will not be untruly
12:27 pm
difficult to obtain a fair deal if parties were really willing we have common we have a common trading terms we have common standards and it is far more in the e.u. is benefit to have a deal than for us because they export far more but it is really the political shenanigans that are stopping the problem tuna fish and deal and i think we must be drawn down you know down this this part of this rabbit hole. up so that university has banned the society that cancelled a speech by the former home secretary with just 30 minutes to spare and a rudd speech to the un women oxford u.k. was stopped following a vote of the committee's society's committee which some claimed was due to her role in the wind draft scandal in 2018 or some of the wind rush generation who came from the caribbean to help rebuild post-war britain where branded in legal immigrants despite having lived and worked in the u.k. for decades but the former home secretary said her treatment by the society was
12:28 pm
crude and athlete judged and called students to stop hiding and starting gauging. well in response commons leader jacob reese marks at oxford was being snowflake central and education secretary gavin williamson urged the university to take action well later oxford proctors in charge of university discipline rules but the cancellation breached their guidelines we have determined that the cancellation of this event was not carried out in accordance with the university procedures codes of practice and policies in particular of the freedom of speech therefore the society will be deregistered with the proctors in addition the proctors have directed the society to issue an apology to amber rudd a lawyer and free speech advocate gets tossed told me the university his reaction to the situation should have been different. well look i think ny platforming out to rob was a mistake and i think it's right to raise it as a free speech issue and it's right that this is now been recognized recognized as
12:29 pm
such but i don't think that the response should be to limit the activities at this particular student society i think the response of the proctors arguably speaks of a kind of legalism around free speech you know the objection that they've raised is that this breach certain procedures with regards to cancellations and things like that you know free speech on campus is a real systemic problem amongst young people it's a problem which means that these events happen more and more these cancellations happen more and more it's a cultural problem that can't be fixed by simply appealing to procedure i think the real issue here is that students out of work for it you know there was a justified outrage against the invitation you know against imitation being canceled because the best way to deal with someone with whom you disagree someone like amber argue i disagree with on all sorts of matters is to have gotten to university and challenge them if anything the university is the perfect place in
12:30 pm
order to do that so i think it was a mistake for the invitation to be rescinded by and slightly concerned that what we are moving towards now is a kind of forcing freedom of speech through the lord for through dick tatton through punishment and i don't think that's necessarily the best way to do it what we need to do is to encourage students to believe in freedom of speech and to recognize its value. when you suggest on behalf of.
44 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on