helen catt at millbank, thank ou. week, a police inquiry known as 0peration kenova will reveal the secret war between the british state and the irish republican army, or ira. over the last seven years it has examined crimes such as murder and torture linked to the agent known as "stakeknife", and the role played by the british security services, including m15. 0peration kenova has now linked the agent to the murder of 17 alleged informers. some of them were also working for british intelligence. for the families of those killed by the ira, it's hoped this week's report will provide some answers. the bbc�*s peter taylor, who has been investigating the troubles for more than a0 years, has more. john dignam was murdered by the ira in 1992 and branded as a special branch informer. i personally can't see him working for the ruc. i couldn't believe it, knowing john, and living with him. i interviewed claire dignam 30 years ago. he was my husband and he was the father of my children, and i loved him. no matter what people sa

helen catt joins us. what do we know about this investigation?— about this investigation?investigation? earlier this month the guardian - about this investigation? earlier - this month the guardian newspaper reported that major conservative party donor frank hester, he has given £10 million to the party, told a meeting of his company in 2019 that the mp diane abbott made him want to hate all black women and should be shot. he apologised for what he said was being rude to diane abbott, the prime minister condemned the remarks as racist. the conservatives have been resisting pressure to hand back those donations. what we have this morning as a statement from west yorkshire police which says it is investigating what it describes as racist comments allegedly made at a meeting in leeds in 2019. it said a complaint was originally made to the met police's parliamentary investigations team in march the 11th but was passed to west yorkshire because of where the meeting took place in horse feather in leeds. it said officers had since worked to establish the facts and ultimately asce

i asked our political correspondent helen catt... lee anderson defected, we had the race...ted, we had the race... i asked her how much concern there is among conservative mps. frankly, there is a lot of unease and unhappiness among conservative mps, for all the reasons you just listed. they are looking at those polls, the same as everyone else is, and seeing them not starting to narrow or not starting to shift, as perhaps they might have expected or hoped that they would start to see them do, despite a lot of those big moments — like the budget, for example — didn't seem to move things forward, despite putting in that cut for national insurance. they see there is a bit of frustration from some about the way that things came out last week about lee anderson and his defection to reform, about how that was handled in the run—up to that, which led to him doing that, there has been unease about the way the frank hester situation was dealt with. and so, when you speak to conservative mps, they are certainly frustrated and certainly very down at the moment — a lot of them, i'm not

helen catt, bbc news.arlier, that customers at mcdonald's websites dominant venues in several countries have reported technical issues in ordering food. we have an update from mcdonald's. they say we are aware of a technology outage that impacted our restaurants. the issue has now been resolved in the uk and ireland. they then once again confirmed this is not a cybersecurity related issue. just as a reminder, issues were reported in japan, australia, new zealand, germany, austria, but now mcdonald's says the issue has been resolved in the uk and ireland. we will bring you more updates on that as they come through. at the end of another difficult week for the royal family, both the prince of wales and the duke of sussex took part in an event paying tribute to their late mother last night ? but did not appear together. prince william was at the diana legacy award ceremony in london, while harryjoined later via video call — after his brother had left. 0ur correspondent sophie long has more. there was a time o

helen catt reports.ania and life was looking very different. puppies of that age are very vulnerable in romania. the shelters aren't heated, they're not lighted. they don't have regular veterinary care. no dog over there receives prompt veterinary care, so it is significantly riskier. rachel's not—for—profit dog rescue has brought them to merseyside with their mum magda. she says all the dogs which she imports are jabbed and tested for diseases. she thinks the law does need tightening, but under proposed changes, these puppies wouldn't yet be able to be in the uk, and that worries her. i believe that there is a need for change. what i would hate is for hard—working, not—for—profit rescues who are desperately needed within the countries that they operate to fall foul of that, and those dogs to suffer. several major animal welfare charities do support raising the minimum age to six months and have been campaigning for it for years. this bill is really going to help to crack down on the age at which puppies

helen catt, bbc news.nd which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. record—breaking irish trainer willie mullins is hoping to win the showpiece event for the fourth time in six years. laura scott has the latest from cheltenham. a serene start to gold cup day for some, less so for others. after one of the wettest winters on record, it's been heavy going for the team in charge of the car parks this week, and on the course, some have been better suited by the mid—march mudbath. after irish—trained horses dominated the first two days, the home side fought back yesterday, with two winners owned by former manchester united manager sir alex ferguson. but there have been fewer people here to witness their winners, with crowd figures down by over 6%. we are still still talking here about nearly a quarter of a million people over the four days, but i don't think we can ignore the fact that we are now in a cost of living crisis in this country. from three day s to two or two days to one, which suggests it is not just

thank you, helen catt.ca's top diplomat, antony blinken, has arrived in israel to push for a truce in gaza. it comes amid growing diplomatic pressure on israel to abandon a planned ground assault on the southern gaza city of rafah, where more than a million displaced civilians are sheltering. later the united states — israel's closest ally — will for the first time put a resolution to the un security council calling for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in gaza. 0ur middle east correspondent, yolande knell, is injerusalem. lots of diplomatic pressure as we have been hearing, but do you think we are any closer to a ceasefire? the secretary of state has said that the gaps are narrowing between israel and hummus in these indirect talks currently ongoing in qatar with mediators that are in a possible sign of increased seriousness, as well as upgrading its delegation, said that had two main intelligence agencies —— the gaps are narrowing between israel and hamas. there is no sign of a breakthrough yet. you me

helen catt there in downing street, thank you very much.vative politicians broke broadcasting impartiality rules. 0fcom rules say a politician cannot be a newsreader, news interviewer or news reporter, unless there is editorial justification. it found that two episodes ofjacob rees—mogg's state of the nation, two episodes of friday morning with esther and phil, and one episode of saturday morning failed to comply with the broadcasting code. in response, gb news said that it was deeply concerned by the ruling and that it will raise it directly with the regulator "in the strongest possible terms". the media group called it a "chilling development" forfree speech, as it says 0fcom acknowledged the programmes were deemed impartial, but viewers might think otherwise. gb news says it will continue to feature serving politicians hosting programmes, "just as other 0fcom—regulated services have in the past and still do." with me is the broadcaster and former content regulator for 0fcom, stewart purvis. welcome here to the programme. your headline th

helen catt, bbc news, westminster. fuelling this latest leadership speculation? fear. i think fear among conservative mps of a general election defeat is what is fuelling the speculation. the mood among conservative mps this morning is really bleak. it has certainly got a lot bleaker really bleak. it has certainly got a lot blea ker last really bleak. it has certainly got a lot bleaker last week as well. why? well, there were a couple of big events last week, the decision from lee anderson, the former conservative mp, tojoin reform, the party where the conservatives are losing some votes to the right. also the big row over donations by frank hester to the conservative party. but underpinning all of that is a bigger concern for the conservative mps, which is the opinion polls, which poll after poll showed the conservatives going down to the labour party by a very large margin at that general election, whenever it comes. even some conservative mps who think that they are likely to lose to labour at that election had thou

earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent helen catt about chancellorjeremy hunts 2024 budget announcementchancellor announces it tomorrow. but there are a lot of guesses being made, if you like. and the idea that he is going to freeze fuel duty, continue to freeze fuel duty, i think is possibly one of the least surprising bits of speculation. no chancellor has raised that levy since 2011, so i think that one possibly is a pretty firm bed of speculation. the shirt famously worn by colin firth in his portrayal of mr darcy in the bbc�*s adaptation of pride and prejudice, is expected to fetch as much as £10,000 when it goes on sale in london later today. it's part of an auction of costumes from film and tv, in support of the bright foundation, an art education charity. our culture reporter noor nanji has the story. it was the image that set pulses racing — colin firth as mr darcy, emerging from a lake in a wet shirt... mr darcy! ..in the 1995 bbc adaptation of pride and prejudice. now that very shirt could be yours. it's one of more than 60 costumes to be auctioned in london, with all the pro

helen catt, bbc news.com report. the regulator is urging social media companies to strengthen child protection on their platforms. that's quite a lot. but when children are on their smartphones, their innocence can soon be compromised. ofcom say out of the 247 children it spoke to, all of them had encountered a range of violence, including gaming content, verbal disk democrats cremation and fighting. some as young as eight years old had seen these posts pop up years old had seen these posts pop up on social media, video sharing and messaging sites, many before the minimum age requirements.— minimum age requirements. children should not feel _ minimum age requirements. children should not feel that _ minimum age requirements. children should not feel that seriously - minimum age requirements. children should not feel that seriously harm i should not feel that seriously harm dutch seriously harmful content should be inevitable or unavoidable as part of their lives online. i think today's research really sets

helen catt, bbc news, westminster.ormer business secretary during the coalition government and lead of the liberal democrats. ~ . ., , government and lead of the liberal demente— government and lead of the liberal democrats. . ., democrats. what was your reaction? this was totally _ democrats. what was your reaction? this was totally expected, _ democrats. what was your reaction? this was totally expected, we - democrats. what was your reaction? this was totally expected, we knew i this was totally expected, we knew what was coming. the thing that worries me most is the big booby trap left behind a van public spending. they are allowing i% growth and that's got to accommodate pay awards, an ageing population, all kinds of pressures like defence. itjust isn't realistic and i think an honest statement by the opposition would have been to say, actually, we are going to need higher tax rates differ on that. mr hunt did say he could cost the reduction in national insurance, though, didn't he?— reduction in national insuranc

helen catt, bbc news.e forthcoming general election a "once in a generation" event. he accused both the tories and labour of "tinkering around the edges" of the challenges facing the country — and called for all parties to come together to tackle issues like social care for the sick and elderly. to finally forge the agreement has been kicked down the road for so long so that everyone can get the care they need when they need it, in their own homes if possible. so that no one is hit with catastrophic costs or forced to sell their home just because they or their loved ones need care. a state of emergency has been declared in south—west iceland after the fourth volcanic eruption in as many months. the village of grindavik has been evacuated again only a month after residents were allowed to return. sean dilley has the latest. it's a breathtaking sight. nearly two miles of lava spewing from the ground. an eruption so violent, it transformed the reykjanes peninsula sky. it's the fourth eruption here since decem

earlier, i spoke to our political correspondent, helen catt, about this latest investigation. guardian newspaper reported that frank hester, who, as you said, is a major donor to the conservative party, he has given £10 million to the party, had told a meeting of his company in 2019 that the mp diane abbott made him "want to hate all black women" and that she "should be shot". now, he apologised for what he said was being "rude" to diane abbott. the prime minister had condemned the remarks as racist. but the conservatives have been resisting pressure to hand back those donations. what we've got this morning is a statement from west yorkshire police, which says it is investigating what it describes as racist comments which were allegedly made at a meeting in leeds in 2019. it said that a complaint had originally been made to the met police's parliamentary and investigations team on the 11th of march, but had been passed to west yorkshire because of where the meeting took place, in horsforth, in leeds. now, it said that officers had since been working to establish the facts and

we were talking to helen catt a little earlier and a certain amount of surprise amongst political reporterssident arriving there at downing street, but no word about what exactly was discussed in that meeting. if we hear, we will obviously return. the european union has denounced russia's presidential election, which — according to official results — saw vladimir putin re—elected by alandslide. the eu said it took place in an ever shrinking political space, characterised by accelerating and systematic repression. it also described the vote in illegally occupied parts of ukraine as "null and void". the result�*s been welcomed by russia's allies, including iran, north korea, belarus and china. these are the live pictures coming to us from moscow, there are in the red square a huge celebration going on. we are expecting to hear from vladimir putin himself, so those are the pictures from the start of the celebrations. i suspect that is going to go on for hours, so as soon as we see vladimir putin we will be sleeping that shoe. —— we will bring that to you. ben noble is an associate fellow for t

let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt.. of an extension to the 5p cut to fuel du . ., , ., of an extension to the 5p cut to fuel duty-— of an extension to the 5p cut to fueldu . ., , ., ,,. ., ., ., fuel duty. lots of speculation and as ever we _ fuel duty. lots of speculation and as ever we should _ fuel duty. lots of speculation and as ever we should also _ fuel duty. lots of speculation and as ever we should also say - fuel duty. lots of speculation and as ever we should also say we - fuel duty. lots of speculation and as ever we should also say we do| fuel duty. lots of speculation and - as ever we should also say we do not

here's our political correspondent helen catt with more.e this is a security and intelligence incident. we don't have a lot more detail, really, that we're able to share with you. but we do know that, as you mentioned, there was that incident earlier in the week where mr shapps was travelling on a plane and the gps was jammed when he came near to russian territory. he went to ukraine. we know that he arrived in ukraine for a planned trip, but part of that trip was supposed to include a visit to 0desa and that was pulled. the ministry of defence has confirmed that — it said that he did not make a planned visit to 0desa for security reasons. now, the sunday times says that that is because there was intelligence that moscow had learnt about the detail of that, and the paper said that it was already on high alert because just a few hours earlier there had been a near miss in 0desa where a russian strike had almost hit president zelensky and the greek prime minister, who was then visiting. so that's what we know about this incident. grant shapps

our political correspondent helen catt has more details on the budget.get we expect this government to set before it calls an election. the next general election has to be held byjanuary next year. this will be the last budget but if they went very late they could be another financial statement. this does mean that the politics behind the decisions made in this budget are going to be important. we've had a lot of speculation in the last few days and thatis speculation in the last few days and that is normal in the run—up a budget. that field duty—free frees you spoke about, we will never know whether these things are going to happen until the chancellor stands up happen until the chancellor stands up and says it, but no chancellor has raised feel duty since 2011 so that one seems likely. then there is theissue that one seems likely. then there is the issue of personal tax cuts. we know that rishi sunak and jeremy hunt have been indicating for some time they want to cut personal taxes, they made that cut to national insurance back in the autumn statement.

our political correspondent helen catt has more on this. they are investigating the comments allegedly made by the conservative donor frank hester, i should be clear, the police did not name him, they said in a statement they were investigating what were described as racist comments that were allegedly made at a meeting in leeds in 2019, is the location of the meeting which is why west yorkshire is investigating, as it comes after an initial complaint had been made to metropolitan police's parliamentary investigation team, but because it took place in leeds, that's why they're investigating. the first that officers had been working to establish the facts and ultimately ascertain whether a crime has been committed. the statement also went on to say that it recognises the strong reaction to these allegations and appreciated everyone who had contacted us since the initial article in the guardian, which is where those comments were first reported, was published. find first reported, was published. and is it clear at _ first reported, was publish

helen catt, bbc news.t global warming has brought the date earlier and earlier with no sign of stopping. sofia bettiza reports. cherry blossoms are a symbol of spring — and the most famous cherry blossom spectacle in the world is undoubtedly in japan. now normally, peak season is at the end of march, beginning of april — but this year, they've started blooming sooner than ever before. and as you can see here, people are in the streets of tokyo admiring the flowers and taking lots of pictures. and this is a really big event in the country — the cherry blossoms only appear for 11 days. and, because of that, an estimated 63 million people travel to and withinjapan every year. and it's big business — it adds about $2.7 billion to the japanese economy every year. now unfortunately, the reason why the flowers are blooming so early is worrying, according to experts. japan has seen record—breaking high temperatures in february and march. the world is getting warmer because of climate change, and the climate crisis

let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt. —— hannah miller.ot like there's any clinical momentum within the conservative party or any appetite for another leader before a potential election, is there? that's the question. _ potential election, is there? that's the question, really _ potential election, is there? that's the question, really - _ potential election, is there? that's the question, really - would - potential election, is there? that's the question, really - would you i the question, really — would you rather carry on with rishi sunak if you are a conservative backbencher if you would like to have yet another change of leader? there have been rumours swirling over the weekend that there is a kind of well—developed plot to try to oust him. i think those rumours are in some cases quite wildly exaggerated, but that's not to say there is not really quite some discontent among some conservative backbenchers about the state of their party at the moment. and there are three reasons for that. the first is when you look at the polls, they ha

said was wrong and racist and he has rightfully apologised for it. 0ur political correspondent helen cattat said they are investigating the comments allegedly made by the conservative donor frank hester, actually, i should be cleared, the police did not name him. what they set in their statement was that they are investigating what they described as racist comments which were allegedly made at a meeting in leeds in 2019, and it's the location of the meeting which is why west yorkshire is investigating. it comes after an initial complaint had been made to the metropolitan police's parliamentary and investigation team. but because it took place in leeds, that's why they're investigating. the force said that officers had been working to establish the facts and ultimately ascertain whether a crime has been committed. the statement also went on to say that it recognises the strong reaction to these allegations and appreciated everyone who had contacted us since the initial article in the guardian, which is where those comments were first reported, was published. data obtained by bbc news shows

live to westminster now and our political correspondent helen catt.ave been hearing more from diane abbott? yes. i believe we have been hearing more from diane abbott?— from diane abbott? yes, you heard chris saying — from diane abbott? yes, you heard chris saying she _ from diane abbott? yes, you heard chris saying she appeared - from diane abbott? yes, you heard chris saying she appeared to - from diane abbott? yes, you heard chris saying she appeared to be - chris saying she appeared to be absolutely fuming she was not able to speak in prime minister's questions earlier. we have heard from her, she has written an article for the independent website in which she has criticised the leadership of both the conservative party and the labour party. diane abbott herself is currently suspended from the labour party over a letter she wrote, for which she has apologised, which is claimed was anti—semitic. she has apologised. she has criticised both leaderships. she took aim at the prime minister in number ten, saying the delay in calling out the abuse was un

our political correspondent helen catt has been looking back at his career.us answer is... george galloway is a — the obvious answer is... george galloway is a politician - the obvious answer is... george galloway is a politician with - the obvious answer is... george galloway is a politician with a i galloway is a politician with a knack for a spectacular win and for attracting controversy. a former trade unionist and head of a charity, he has been elected to parliament six times before. as a labour mp4 part of glasgow, he was an outspoken critic of war in iraq from the start.— from the start. sir, i salute your courage. — from the start. sir, i salute your courage. your— from the start. sir, i salute your courage, your strength, - from the start. sir, i salute your courage, your strength, your. from the start. sir, i salute your courage, your strength, your in | from the start. sir, i salute your i courage, your strength, your in the practicability. courage, your strength, your in the practicability-— practicability. these words to saddam hussein _ practica

our political correspondent helen catt reports.go lee anderson was a senior conservative, the deputy chair of the party. since then he has quit that post, been suspended and this morning was presented to the cameras as the first mp for reform uk. the cameras as the first mp for reform uk-_ the cameras as the first mp for reform ur— the cameras as the first mp for reform uk. ., , _ ., �* reform uk. people will say that i've took a gamble _ reform uk. people will say that i've took a gamble and _ reform uk. people will say that i've took a gamble and i'm _ reform uk. people will say that i've took a gamble and i'm prepared - reform uk. people will say that i've took a gamble and i'm prepared to l took a gamble and i'm prepared to gamble, as i know from my mail bag how many people support reform uk. like millions of people, all i want is my country back. he like millions of people, all i want is my country back.— like millions of people, all i want is my country back. he was suspended b the is my country back. he was suspended by the

let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt.tement issued this morning by west yorkshire police said they were investigating comments made by frank esther. the police did not name him, what they said in their statement was they were investigating what they described as racist comments which were allegedly made at a meeting in leeds in 2019. it is a location of the meeting which is white west yorkshire is investigating, it comes after an initial complaint was made to the metropolitan police's parliamentary and investigation team, but because it took place in leeds, that is why they are investigating. the officers were working to establish the and ultimately ascertain whether a crime has been committed. the statement also went on to say it recognised the strong reaction to these allegations and appreciated everyone who contacted them since the initial article in the guardian, which is where the comments were first reported, was published. i5 where the comments were first reported, was published. is it clear at this stage _ reporte

our political correspondent helen catt takes a closer look. the obvious answer is...ack for a spectacular win and for attracting controversy. a former trade unionist and head of a charity, he has been elected to parliament six times before. as a labour mp for part of glasgow, he was an outspoken critic of war in iraq from the start. sir, i salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability. these words to saddam hussein in the 1990s drew heavy criticism. mr galloway was expelled from labour in 2003 after he said british troops should not obey orders in iraq. is a very painful day for me to be placed in what is a show trial. two years later, he was back, beating a labour mp to win bethnal green and bow for the respect party. he lost it in 2010, but returned again in a by—election in 2012, this time for bradford west. some supporters feel his finest moment came in the us senate, when he took on accusations he had profited from illicit oil deals. i am here today, but last week you already found me guilty. you traduced my name around the world without ever having a

here's helen catt.ty. since then he has quit that post, been suspended and this morning was presented to the cameras as the first mp for reform uk. people will say that i've took a gamble and i'm prepared to gamble, as i know from my mail bag how many people support reform uk. like millions of people, all i want is my country back. he was suspended by the conservatives last month. he refused to apologise for claiming that the london mayor was controlled by islamists. i made some remarks about the london mayor. for which i was stripped of the whip from the conservative party. a let me be clear now, i will not apologise. reform's leading believes that he will win them voters who switched to the tories from labour. we are going to get lee re—elected as reform uk's mp and the second part of the dials lee will be a fantastic champion of the _ red wall and we will replace the tories as the alternative to keir starmer. elected in 2019 anderson has often hit the headlines for his opinions and built on that high

helen catt, bbc news, westminster. joining me now to discuss today's budget is martin lois. website money—saving expert .com for the welcome to bbc news. you watch the budget, what did you make of it?— you make of it? clearly the budget have us macroeconomics, - you make of it? clearly the budget have us macroeconomics, sc- you make of it? clearly the budget| have us macroeconomics, sc public spendings and the consumer finance. if you lookjust spendings and the consumer finance. if you look just at that third and i'm only looking at in isolation this is in electoral budget trying to put more money into consumers pockets. i think in general it has succeeded doing that. it's a big national insurance cut which means national insurance cut which means national insurance cut which means national insurance will drop 4% from the beginning ofjanuary national insurance will drop 4% from the beginning of january two where we're in april. it will drop two percentage points injanuary. and for me the big one had been campaigning on and delighted to see is about the changes to child benef

our political correspondent helen catt is in westminster. interest here? yes, this revolves around the _ conflict of interest here? yes, this revolves around the building i conflict of interest here? yes, this revolves around the building of. conflict of interest here? yes, this revolves around the building of an | revolves around the building of an incinerator in wisbech in north east cambridgeshire, the area that steve barclay represents as an mp. it would be one of europe's biggest incinerators of its type burning non—recyclable waste to converted to energy. he is very clearly opposed to it. he has spoken about it publicly. to get the go—ahead for this it has already had an initial go—ahead from one government department, the department for energy security and net zero. to be able to move ahead with the scheme it needs to get a permit from the environment agency. that is a public body sponsored by steve barclay�*s environment department. what has happened is that civil servants have raised concerns about steve barclay�*s relationship to t

helen catt, bbc news. day. mike is at cheltenham festival. mat was explaining the weather. you are probably not interested but it is absolutely tipping down in salford and we were asking as we came in, what will it be like for mike and all of the horses on this very special day in cheltenham? i know it was tipping down last night, i got rather wet, so my hair is a bit fuzzy this morning, but it has stopped in the last half hour. the sun is up, well, the daylight is up, no sunshine. but even if it does rain later, nothing can dampen the celebrated removed, 100 years of the gold cup. as you look at the course, you can appreciate it by it is so iconic, the natural and blood theatre which amplifies the cheltenham role as —— at the cheltenham role as —— at the cheltenham roaring. willie mullins has had a great week this week, will it continue? as you wander around, later on they will be 60,000 fans here and you will not be able to move it. but you can see so many golden moments there, the most successful chelte

well, let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt. ukraine this week and there had been a trip to odesa, the port city, planned, but that was pulled. the ministry of defence has confirmed that was for security reasons. that was because there was an intelligence assessment that suggested that russia had learnt of the plans. the paper says grant shapps was already on high alert when he arrived in ukraine because there had been a near miss shortly before what a russian strike narrowly missed the greek prime minister and president zelensky in odesa. grant shapps has told the sunday times that the impudent had shown himself to be reckless, ruthless, and careless, and said he hoped his visit would act as a wake—up call to push, persuade, and even embarrass the rest of the world into action. helen, thank you. sainsbury's has apologised to its customers after most online grocery deliveries could not be fulfilled, yesterday, due to technical issues. the supermarket said an overnight software update was to blame, but that the issues had been re