Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20171106

Introduce new procedures for staff in westminster, following a series of allegations of abuse and harassment. Good evening and welcome to bbc news. Tonight we bring you more revelations from millions of leaked documents dubbed the Paradise Papers which show how the rich and powerful try to avoid paying their taxes. Whether its a Multi National corporation or household names here in britain, they are all accused of using tax havens to dodge paying their fair share to the inland revenue. The papers show how Lewis Hamilton avoided vat on a private jet. Three of the stars in the popular sitcom mrs browns boys have their wages paid offshore. And documents show how hard the tech giant apple works to keep its tax bill as low as possible. After ireland banned an arrangement which meant it paid very little tax apple has moved billions tojersey. What its done is legal. Our Business Editor simonjack reports. A rapturous reception for the latest iphone. Its the most popular and profitable Consumer Product of all time. Its generated hundreds of millions in profits for apple since it was introduced ten years ago. What these papers show is just how determined apple has been to keep the tax on those profits as low as possible. And how keen some governments, lawyers, and advisers have been to help them do it. For many years, apple sent profits made outside the americas to ireland where an elaborate Corporate Structure meant it paid nearly no tax on the billions it was making. Taxes that would have been due to the United States where politicians started applying pressure to a defiant apple ceo tim cook. We pay all the taxes we owe, every single dollar. We not only comply with the laws but we comply with the spirit of the laws. We dont depend on depend on tax gimmicks. So, no more fiendishly complicated tax arrangements, right . Documents obtained from the Law Firm Appleby based in bermuda show that when ireland shut that scheme down, the company went shopping for a new way to keep their tax bills low. A questionnaire was sent to applebys offices in seven tax havens, all british, including questions that made their intention clear. Can you confirm that an irish company, meaning apple subsidiary, can conduct management activities without being subject to taxation in yourjurisdiction . After this offshore beauty parade, apple plumped forjersey and in Company Accounts published since, show theres been no discernible increase in the rate of tax paid worldwide. Now, lets be clear, apple has done nothing illegal but hundreds of billions of dollars remain entangled in a web of low tax jurisdictions, seemingly beyond the reach of any government. The tax equivalent of outer space. And, as these documents show, this is a system that has continually elufed international attempts to reform it. The boss of the International Organisation trying to fix this problem at that its a work in progress. Problem admits its a work in progress. Changing the rules that make it legal means that very of these companies today pay very little or no tax at all. This is what its about. This is what is happening and this is what were working on. Apple actually pays a lot of tax, more than any other company in the world, but not as much as many think it should. Its also not alone. Other multinationals use similar structures and us companies alone are estimated to have over 2 trillion stashed offshore. The Paradise Papers showed the lengths to which they and their advisers are prepared to go to keep their tax bills low. Simon jack, bbc news. Joining me now from outside apple headquarters is our north America Technology reporter dave lee. What has the reaction been there . Well, the reaction from apple has been this lengthy statement they put out, they go into how they are the worlds biggest taxpayer, they say they have contributed almost 3a billion over the last three year, they justify their spread of billion over the last three year, theyjustify their spread of how theyjustify their spread of how they pay tax by saying in the places where they create the most value, as in here in the us, particularly in california, that is where they pay the most tax. Interestingly as you go further down the statement, they point out they say at apple we follow the laws. What we are perhaps about to see is more pressure perhaps put on the on the run administration to introduce laws about bringing tax back in to the us, which apple has been backed in the past. As for other Silicon Valley com pa ny, the past. As for other Silicon Valley company, it has been very quiet. One potential reason for that as you can probably guess s that several companies in this industry, in this state, have similarly interesting tax arrangement, so little reaction from them so far but apple are defending their regime and saying if the laws change they will change as well. Until then this is what they will continue to do. Until then this is what they will continue to do. The Paradise Papers were obtained by the german newspaper su Deutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of investigativejournalists including the Guardian Newspaper and bbcs panorama programme. Tonight, panorama has revealed that the formula one champion, Lewis Hamilton, avoided tax on a luxuryjet he purchased by importing it to the isle of man. Evidence in the documents suggests a leasing deal for the jet was artificial, enabling the racing driver to collect a vat refund of three point three million pounds. Mr hamiltons lawyers insist the arrangement was lawful. Panoramas Richard Bilton reports. When you hear tax haven you might think palm trees. Theyre not all like that. We have arrived in a little place between belfast and liverpool, this is the isle of man, it is a British Crown dependency and its an important tax haven. We have found that the island offers a special service that the rich and famous love. Hamilton is World Champion. Take formula i World Champion Lewis Hamilton. In 2013 he made a dream purchase, a £60 million jet. The isle of man gave him back 3. 3 million as a vat refund. Lewis hamilton had to fly his jet here to the isle of man just once. He came here in 2012 with his then girlfriend, pop star nicole scherzinger. Documents show that customs and excise and there were happy to come in early at 6am in the morning to sign off on the deal. There are nearly 1000 jets registered here. We believe they come here because the isle of man dont properly apply the European Union and uk rules. Now, those rules are very complicated. But if you use your plane for fun you cant get vat refunds. I cant believe i have my own plane still after all these years. Look at this post, Lewis Hamilton is open about using it for fun. He shouldnt have got a full refund. If they are using it for private purposes, the fact that all this money is being refunded is quite shocking. You should not be getting vat back if it is private usage. Lewis hamiltons lawyers told us he had a set of professionals in place who run most aspects of his business operations. They said isle of man customs gave informed approval to the scheme. In total the isle of man has handed out more than £790 million in vat refunds to jet leasing companies. Isle of man customs has admitted it has given refunds for personal use ofjets as long as its mainly used for business. That shouldnt happen. As a result of our investigation they have called in the British Government to review its procedures. The Paradise Papers show there are other secrets on this island. We have found evidence that shows just how far the isle of Man Government has been prepared to go to help tax dodgers. The european savings directive was an attempt to stop tax evasion across europe. We have found evidence that the isle of man changed one of their laws to help people dodge the new tax. Now, you might think getting approvalfor something that could help tax evaders would prove difficult but not on the isle of man. We have letters from lawyers to the islands regulator. If you believe it would be helpful for us to provide you with ideas as to how to amend the regulations, please let simon and myself know. In switzerland i tracked down the man who drew up that scheme to help tax dodgers. I want to show you something. The one that needed the isle of man to change the law. Its actually changing the laws, the isle of man changing their own laws so this scheme to help tax evaders can work, isnt it . I would agree with you, yes. That is amazing to me, thats amazing. The isle of mans top politician, the chief minister, promised to investigate allegations and apologised if the law was changed for tax dodgers. But what about the regulator himself . Did you change the law to help tax dodgers . He is retired now, i tracked him down. No, i think you should help us with this, it was the european savings directive and you changed the law. I have nothing to say. What would you say to our viewers who pay their tax . You should contact the Financial Services authority. But the Paradise Papers have more than faceless financial deals. Hello, love, do you want a cup of tea . We think three actors in mrs browns boys are involved in a tax dodge. I could do with some money to get as a place. Patrick hoolahan who plays mrs browns son dermot. Could have stayed in bed a bit longer . Fiona delaney, the real life daughter of mrs brown star brendan ocarroll. Good morning, trevor. And her husband, martin delaney. The dodge involves their wages, orfees, going from the Production Company to a uk company, then offshore to a company each has in mauritius. Those companies then loaned money to the actors personal accounts tax free. Take fiona delaney. In 16 months her Mauritian Company lent her over £360,000. None of the actors answered our questions. I caught up with fiona delaney. It is Richard Bilton from panorama, can i grab a quick word . She arrived for filming in glasgow. You get paid in mauritius, dont you . What is that all about . And do you pay the loan is back . I dont think you pay them back, are you a tax dodger . I dont know who you are. I am from panorama, you are from mrs browns boys and you are a tax dodger, thats not very funny, is it . More names from the Paradise Papers, more revelations still to come. Richard bilton, bbc news. Our business correspondent, jonty bloom, joins us. None of what we are reporting is illegal, so remine us of the laws sui illegal, so remine us of the laws surrounding illegal, so remine us of the laws sur rounding tax havens. One persons tax haven is other persons offshore Financial Centre so people move money round, take it and bank the profits so where where they wont pay very much tax, many people have their tax affairs managed in places liarjersey or bermuda, are they just avoiding tax places liarjersey or bermuda, are theyjust avoiding tax in the same we you or i or are they breaking the law and evading tax they know they should be pay, in a sense it comes down to this. Many of us can afford to put some Monetary Policy in premium bonds but setting up a trust fund and paying little tax is complicated and expensive to set up, only the wealthy can afford to do it. So even though everything is legal, is it is moral, because it is one thing that the rich can only afford do and the poor cant. So all these revelations we have heard, they are new but we have heard stories like this before, for example, about apple so has anything changed . It was only last year we herd the panama papers, which was a revelation about tax affairs from panama, itself. And the Tax Collector at hmrc were giving evidence today in committee. They said things have actually changed recently, they have better information to work on now, the uk has a register of the owners of overseas trust, that started in july, they also have access to region registers of people using overseas territories and it has requested access to the Paradise Papers and it did obtain a copy of the panama paper last year, that has led to several investigations and resulted in 69 criminal and civil tax investigations but when people see apple moving from one island to another, jersey, where they pay no corporation tax, they may think that is not fair, apple on the other hand insist it obeys notjust the law but the spirit of the laws, it says the debate about taxes is not what we owe but where we owe it. We have when people see apple moving from one island to another, jersey, where they pay no corporation tax, they may think that is not fair, apple on the other hand insist it obeys not just the law but the spirit of the laws, it says the debate about taxes is not what we owe but where we owe it. We have paid nearly 3a billion 5, it. We have paid nearly 3a billion s, plus billions more, property tax, payroll tax, vat and so on, we believe every company has a responsibility to pay the taxes we owe, we are proud of our Economic Contribution we make to communities and countries where we do bids. Thank you. From a a business owned by bono is under investigation. Our arts correspondent David Sillito joins under investigation. Our arts correspondent David Sillitojoins me now, tell us more about this. This is about a Shopping Mall in the tiny town, only 26,000 people, in lithuania, now, it was revealed in the paradise paper, that paul david hewson, known to you and i as bono, the singer of u2 was a part owner of that firm. It has come to light that there was an issue about the value of that property. It went down dramatically 2010 which meant it didnt pay tax for the next two or three year, all together around, it is believed round 117,000 euros in tax was not paid. Now, the lithuanian state tax inspectorate said they will look into this as a possible tax breach. Now, in response, known says that he is distressed if even as a passive minority investor, anything less than exemplary was done with name. He adds he was told the firm was fully tax compliant but says if that is not the case, i want to know as much as the tax office does, because he has been very much a campaigner about the issues of transparency and tax evasion, with his foundation the one foundation. Also the director of the Lithuanian Company involved, denies any wrongdoing, says if it has underpaid tax, it will make up the shortfall. Thank you. And you can watch panoramas second report which includes a series of further revelations from the Paradise Papers tonight, on bbc one and the bbc news channel at nine oclock. Flags are flying at half mast across the United States, after 26 people were killed in a mass shooting during a Church Service in texas yesterday. Its emerged that the gunman identified as devin kelley had been discharged from the us air force for domestic abuse. It happened in the small town of sutherland springs. From there, james cook reports. Yet again it is a time for mourning in america. The masked gunmen was inside the church for a long time, say police. Moving around freely, firing with an assault rifle. Once he started firing rounds on the outside, what could people do . Are there too many guns in the us . Guns dont kill people, it is the people among the dead was an 18 month old child. Annabel, the 14 year old daughter of the Church Pastor also died and one family alone lost at least five people leaving their neighbour in shock. I have heard two different stories, i heard that dad was killed and that the mum and daughters were killed. Nobody has come to the house yet since last night. Police say the killer devin kelley had set threatening texts to his mother in law. He had been thrown out of the us air force for assaulting his wife and child. Very deranged individual, a lot of problems. We have a lot of Mental Health problems in our country as do the killer was tackled by a citizen with a gun who jumped in this mans truck to give chase. I did what i thought i needed to do which was they said there was a shooting, i pursued and ijust did what i thought was the right thing. Nowhere it seems americans safe from bullets. The answer . Here they say it is more prayer and more weapons. Guns and god. Political Party Leaders have agreed to introduce a new grievance procedure for parliamentary staff after a meeting hosted by the Prime Minister. It comes as both the conservatives and labour have announced investigations into mps over concerns about their behaviour. Im joined now by our Political Correspondent leila nathoo, who is in westminster. Tonights meeting was convened by theresa may, all political Party Leaders to come up with some sort of response to the allegations that have been swirling round westminster, all the parties are dealing with claims themselves, but there has been agreement among the parties, there needs to be an independent mechanism for all parliamentary staff, to be able to approach some independent body outside of their party structure, in place of existing mechanisms so tonights meeting was really to agree on the way forward and theresa may said there was agreement on a new grievance procedure that would come in in the new year and there would be a working degree figuring out the details over the next month. Here is what the Prime Minister had to say shortly after the meeting. This hasnt happened to you it is difficult to appreciate the impact that being on a victim of this sort of behaviour can have. It simply has a Lasting Impact on people. We are going to ensure that there is an upgrade to the existing phone line for staff, so that staff in future will be able to get face to face hr support and for that to be in place by the end of the month, and we have agreed we need a completely new grievance procedure for staff working here, for everybody working here, it is important that we get this right, and i am sorry that we have seen these abuses of power, too many taking place over too many year, the fact we have taken place here at our seat of democracy should bea here at our seat of democracy should be a matter of shame for us all. There is agreement that this could bea there is agreement that this could be a moment, i think all Party Leaders accept they want to use the fa ct leaders accept they want to use the fact these allegations have come to the foreas a chance to really change the foreas a chance to really change the culture in westminster, the labour Leaderjeremy Corbyn said had, some progress had been made and he wanted to see an enhanced role for trade unions in westminster. I think the proof of the pudding is going to be in the eating here, we have agreed to meet, we have agreed to set up this urgent group, to represent all staff who work in this building. It is notjust mps and their staff. It is employees of political party, it is cleaner, catering worker, it is fishes, agency staff, it is all people who work in this building, deserve the knowledge they are in a same working environment where there will be zero tolerance of bullying or harassment it isa tolerance of bullying or harassment it is a place that is very grand. Very important and very exciting. But it is also a place of work. I think there might be disappointment in some quarters there werent more concrete measures announced, there were going to be details to be figured out. There is broad agreement that there will be plenty still to hammer out, what powers new new grievance body will have, to issue sanctions to mps or parliamentary staff, who i have been complained about, how much money this new body will need to have, and when it will be up and running and when it will be up and running and when it will be up and running and when it will be able to consider historical cases, where there has been broad agreement in the promise to introduce measure as soon as possible, we will have to wait and see where the parties can agree between them on much of the detail. A british man who was kidnapped with three other people in nigeria in mid october has been killed. Ian squire was seized by gunmen last month. Three other hostages, Alanna Carson and david and shirley donovan, have been freed and returned home safely. Stephanie hegarty reports. They were taken from this remote water side town. Over three weeks ago. Two men and two women, all british. They were held somewhere deepin british. They were held somewhere deep in the creeks of the niger delta. Now, three of them have returned home safely, but one man didnt make it. Ian squire was an optician who had gone to assess locals for free eye surgery, it is not clear how he died. He visited nigeria three times, carrying out work for a charity he started. Called mission for vision. I find it shocks to believe that for someone who has gone out to do good in a community, overseas, that that action has cost him dearly, cost him his life. This time he and an optometrist came to work ina time he and an optometrist came to work in a clinic set up by missionary, it is the only medical facile any the area and for now it is closed. If you can look round we are sleepless. The doctor and, we are sleepless. The doctor and, we are very happy that because if you look, there is no Government Hospital in this community. This is the only source of medical treatment, you understand. The donovans were planning hundreds of cataract operations injanuary, but a criminal gang had other ideas. Many in the middle of the night armed men broke into this house, they broke through this door, and they broke through this door, and they took their hostages away by boat. They took them deep into the creek. In the main suspect are a group called the cara way, they are a criminal gang operating here for close to a year. Locals we spoke to said the cara way area locals we spoke to said the cara way are a petty criminal group and not ideologically motivated. The victims families thanked the nigerian authorities in a statement for helping to negotiate the release. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of ian they said, as we come to terms with his sad death. Ian will be remembered here too. A man who took great risks to help people here, but ended up paying the ultimate price. Her local mp has criticised the comments made by borisjohnson which suggested she was teaching journalism in the country. He says the foreign secretarys comments could result in a longer sentence. I am joined by could result in a longer sentence. I amjoined by our could result in a longer sentence. I am joined by our correspondentjohn donnison. The woman was detained in 2016, some 19 months ago on this trip today ran in which she insists is she was visiting her parents there, introducing her young daughter to her parent, she ended up being charged by the iranians of trying to overthrow the government and jailed for five year, Boris Johnson was addressing this case to, in front of a Parliamentary Committee a few days ago, and he was critical of the iranian government, for what they had done, but he did say as he understood it all she was doing was simply teaching journalism. Now, he didnt say that is what he thought she was doing in iran, or whether that is elsewhere, in the past she has worked for the bbc, and also for Thompson Reuters but certainly, her family are not happy and also, her mp, the labour mp, urged mrjohnson to retract those comments straightaway. This is notjust a gav, this is a gaffe, this is a serious mistake needs to retract it immediately because this is about life or death. This is not a sillyjoke, i dont know if the foreign secretary realises how damaging his comments are, but the truth is, that nazanin and her daughter were on holiday in iran. Briefly has there been any reaction to that from the foreign secretary . Certainly borisjohnson hasnt said anything publicly, he has not retracted the remark, we have spoken to the Foreign Office and they said he will speak to his rain where iranian counterpart to make sure he wasnt misunderstood. The day after, or several days after he made the comment, mrs radcliffe was summoned to another Court Hearing with more charges laid against her, and the fear, i think, charges laid against her, and the fear, ithink, is charges laid against her, and the fear, i think, is she could have her sentence extended. Thank you john. There wasnt a lot of cloud in the sky last night, as a consequence the temperatures really dipped away. Tonight there will be a good deal more in the way of cloud round, so there you see the comparison between there you see the comparison between the temperatures. What a difference that cloud makes, what is bringing much of that cloud is a weather front spilling into northern and western parts of the British Isles and bringing wind and rain into northern and western parts of scotland, down through northern ireland, the western side of wales, maybe into the far south west. Ahead of that the skies maybe clear for enough of the time, for the temperatures to dribble away to five or six degree, under the cloud and rain some wont get below double figure, here is the new day, that front taking a real age to spread its rain over to east anglia and the far south east. Brighter skies following on. Not the warmest of days by any means at all. Come wednesday, another chilly start with the skies clear, the old weather front, a new one to the north and west. Hello, this is bbc news. The headlines. More revelations from the leaked Paradise Papers suggest tech giant apple has tens of billions of pounds injersey where it pays no tax. British formula one driver Lewis Hamilton avoided vat when he bought a privatejet by using the isle of man tax haven. And three actors in the bbcs mrs browns boys are accused of diverting their fees through mauritius and cutting their income tax. In other news, officials in texas say the gunman who killed 26 people in a rural church sent threatening Text Messages to his mother in law in the days before yesterdays attack. A British Charity worker is killed in nigeria three weeks after he was kidnapped by militants. Three others have been freed. A man is found guilty of murdering his 18 month old daughter, just two weeks after formally adopting her. And, Party Leaders agree to introduce new procedures for staff in westminster following a series of allegations of abuse and harassment. Lets return to our lead story and the revelations from the Paradise Papers. The labour party has renewed its demand for a Public Inquiry into tax avoidance which is legal and tax evasion, which is not. The Prime Minister theresa may said in response to the revelations that people should pay the tax that is due. Our Political Correspondent vicky young reports. Once again the secrets held in offshore tax havens are raising questions closer to home. Have governments done enough to make sure everyone pays their share of tax and wealthy individuals including the queen have been dragged into the affair. There is no suggestion she has avoided tax but today the labour leader was asked whether the queen should apologise for her private estate using offshore trusts. Anyone that is putting money into tax havens in order to avoid taxation in britain, and obviously investigations have to take place, should do two things, not just apologise for it, but also recognise what it does to our society. Who loses . Schools, hospitals, housing, all those Public Services lose. Later a spokesman for mr corbyn insisted he wasnt calling for the queen to apologise. The Prime Minister insists she is continuing the work of her predecessor david cameron. So we have seen more revenues coming to hmrc over the last few years since 2010, £160 billion extra that they have been able to raise. But there is already work thats being done to ensure we see Greater Transparency in our dependencies and british overseas territories. Speaker order. The leaks prompted an emergency debate in the commons where labour called for a full inquiry and public lists of company ownership. Why will the government not insist that our overseas territories that our tax havens have to have Public Registers of Beneficial Ownership . Why will they not do that now . Ministers insist that this information is available to the tax authorities who can see who the true owners of offshore companies are. Every extra pound that is paid in tax is good news for the treasury as they wrestle with the countrys debt and increasing claims for more funding for Public Services. But ministers know that this is a question of fairness too. That the idea of one rule for the rich and one for everyone else is extremely divisive. Vicki young, bbc news, westminster. And you can watch panoramas second report which includes a series of further revelations from the Paradise Papers tonight here on the bbc news channel at 9pm. Lets return now to the mass shooting in texas where 26 people were killed during a Church Service yesterday. Its emerged that the gunman, identified as devin kelley, had been discharged from the us air force for domestic abuse. Our north america correspondent rajini vaidyanathan, clearly details emerging about the gunman. What more do we know about him and the motive . Well, police did update us a couple of hours ago and they did say, as you say, they believe that the motive was a domestic, a family dispute. I was talking to the local sheriff here earlier this morning and he told me that the suspect in laws, or ex in laws, its not clear, used to worship at the attack behind me from time to time. They werent at the service on sunday when the attack took place, although when they found out what had happened they did actually come here afterwards and they were from the small town of sutherland springs, the suspect was not. Officials said later there was some dispute between the suspect and his mother in law and that he sent threatening texts to her and also had arguments with her. Thats the line of inquiry that they are pursuing now. We have seen a lot of fbi officials here combing the area, taking photographs, this is still very much an active crime scene. One thing that could be crucial in the Ongoing Investigation is that the Weekly Sunday Service here was a lwa ys Weekly Sunday Service here was always videotaped, often churches here in america video their services, sometimes they sell the dvds, iam not services, sometimes they sell the dvds, i am not sure if they do here, but certainly all that service on sunday is on tape and police say they have it and of course that will be crucial when it comes to piecing together what happened. Once again, this atrocity does not seem to have triggered any debate on gun control. Well, it depends how you look at it, ina way well, it depends how you look at it, in a way its triggered a debate. Not long ago, about ten minutes ago, senator ted cruz who ran for the republican nomination was here, he isa republican nomination was here, he is a senatorfor republican nomination was here, he is a senator for the state of texas, he was answering questions and giving a statement and one journalist said is now the time for gun control and he accused the media of politicising the issue. What emerged from this story here is that the gunman as you may have heard, escaped from the church, left his weapon here and ran out of here and there were two locals who basically chased him down. One of them chased him on the road and then he ran into a passing truck. The two men chased the gunman as he was driving off and the gunman as he was driving off and the gunman as he was driving off and the gunman careered into a ditch. Thenifs the gunman careered into a ditch. Then its thought he killed himself. These two men are being hailed as local heros. The crucial thing about these two men is that they both had firearms and so people like senator ted cruz, even President Trump are saying if you have guns that means you are able to protect yourself. There is one side of the gun debate here in america that believes that more guns save here in america that believes that more guns save lives and of course the other side of the debate thats also being vocal in the wake of this shooting says actually this is another example, another reason to have more restrictions on who has access to guns and we are learning this afternoon that the gunman bought a number of weapons locally. Its bought a number of weapons locally. Its unclear whether he bought them legally or not. He had been dishonourably discharged. As you say, it does reignite the debate but whether it will change anything, well, thats highly unlikely. Whether it will change anything, well, thats highly unlikely. Thank you. A man has been convicted of murdering his toddler daughter in cardiff, just two weeks after formally adopting her. Matthew scully hicks, whos 31, inflicted numerous injuries on 18 month old elsie over an eight month period. Heres our wales correspondent sian lloyd. Ba by elsie, described as tiny and delicate but with a big personality. At ten months she was placed in the care of a couple with one child who wanted to adopt. Within hours of Matthew Scully hicks arriving at court this morning the jury had found the part time Fitness Instructor guilty of her murder. The 31 year old had covered up months of abuse to social workers, doctors and to his husband. Our thoughts today are with little elsie and those who knew and loved her. Her untimely death atjust 18 months old has had a devastating effect, first and foremost on her family who remain at most in our thoughts. This was the 999 call Matthew Scully hicks made when elsie stopped breathing. I wasjust changing my daughter for bed and then she went all floppy and limp, and now shes just not doing anything. Shes lying on the floor. 0k, is she awake . No. Is she breathing . No. 0k, are you right by her now . Yeah, im trying to do cpr. Elsies injuries included a fractured skull, several broken ribs and a broken leg. There was evidence of recent and older bleeding in her brain, consistent with having been shaken and her head struck by a hard object. The prosecution said Matthew Scully hicks was struggling to cope with elsie. In texts to his husband craig, who worked away, he called her a psycho and satan dressed up in a baby grow. Matthew and Craig Scully Hicks had applied to adopt elsie through the vale of glamorgan council. But matthew had in fact been abusing the little girl while social services were supervising the adoption process. The actions of social workers together with the other agencies who were involved with the family will now be scrutinised by an independent review. Matthew scully hicks will be brought back to Court Tomorrow to be sentenced for the murder of his adopted daughter. Sian lloyd, bbc news, Cardiff Crown court. Joining me now is drjohn simmonds, director of policy, research and development at corambaaf, an independent organisation which supports agencies and professionals who work with children in care. Thank you very much forjoining us this evening. Such a distressing case this. How rare are cases such as these . Very rare indeed. I cant think of another case where a child has actually is murdered by their adopters, maybe back until the early 20005, adopters, maybe back until the early 2000s, although we ne a lot about the challenge of adoption for Something Like this to happen is a profound shock. So when you are looking to adopt, a couple comes to an organisation, looking to adopt, how strict are the vetting processes surrounding that . Theyre very strict. Theyre set out in law and in regulations. So people can expect to have an enhanced criminal records check. They will have a report written by their gp or a medical advisor. There will be references taken up with people that know them. The local authority will look to see whether any records which indicate that people have had problems with children or safeguarding issues in the past. Social workers will come to know and talk to the prospective adopters over a long period of time to get to know them well, their life experiences, their motivation to adopt, the process is a very thorough one. At the end of that, a report is written, subs standings report, and again it tests both whether there is information about concerns that people might be safe and caring, identifies their motivation to adopt and their readiness to adopt. So that report is signed off, it then goes to a panel. Its a very rigorous process. Could there still be more safeguards to protect children . Its very difficult to identify what those safeguards might be in the current process. I suppose one of the things that always comes across to me that is hugely significant is that the relationship that prospective adopters have with their social worker, expecting regular visits, being able to talk things through, making sure that relationship develops into something which honest, straightforward and gives opportunity to think about issues which are difficult, thats a really, really important issue. There are many social workers under a significant degree of pressure, everything that we know about Public Services, where that issue may be sometimes not as robust as it might be. But i think thats an issue about process, rather than and relationship, rather than about amending the regulations. But there will be something to be learned from the investigation that will now go on. And how damaging a case how damaging are cases like these to the adoption sector . Well, in many ways i think the adoption sector has a lot to be proud of. It is effective. Its lot to be proud of. It is effective. Its thorough. We have a lot of evidence about what works. I dont think whenever Something Like this happens, and particularly social work profession and other professions a re work profession and other professions are at the heart of this, and that includes the courts, that people will doubt the robustness of the decisions we mcand the work that we actually do. So, there will be a wave of concern and i think thats understandable and appropriate, but i also hope that we recognise the very great challenges that we have met over the years to actually come up with something which is child centred and appropriate and safe. Many thanks. The headlines on bbc news. More revelations from the leaked Paradise Papers, including how british formula one driver Lewis Hamilton avoided vat when he bought a privatejet by using the isle of man tax haven. A British Charity worker is killed in nigeria three weeks after he was kidnapped by militants. Three others have been freed. And, Party Leaders agree to introduce new procedures for staff in westminster following a series of allegations of abuse and harassment. An update on the market numbers now. Heres how london and frankfurt ended the day. In the United States, this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. The International Development secretary, priti patel, has apologised after admitting meeting the israeli Prime Minister, binyamin netanyahu, and other senior figures during an unofficial visit to israel this summer. The bbc revealed on friday that ms patel had held a series of undisclosed meetings during her holiday in august. Earlier, our Diplomatic Correspondent gave us some more details of what has emerged about those meetings. Last week i reported she had some meetings during her holiday in israel. We know there were 12, including extraordinarily, with the israeli Prime Minister. All these meetings there were no civil servants, but there was a pro israel conservative lobbyist. Now this matters, not just conservative lobbyist. Now this matters, notjust because there is a lwa ys matters, notjust because there is always a risk of policy confusion if ministers are off having secret meetings, but it also matters because there is a risk that she broke the ministerial code of conduct. This says that ministers must ensure there is no perceived risk of a conflict of interest between their public duties and private interests. Today, she was summoned to downing street and told by the Prime Minister these were the rules and she should follow them. Ms patel apologised. Labour says she should resign. One minister said she was toast. I think downing street will be hoping this disclosure and apology will be enough for her to survive. James landale there. As weve been hearing, the Foreign Office says that a british man who was kidnapped in nigeria last month has been killed. Ian squire was an optician giving free medical aid to a Rural Community in the niger delta. Three other people, who were also kidnapped, have been released. Dr Vincent Magombe from africa inform internationaljoins me now. Thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. How risky is the delta state and particularly for british people . Well, its extremely risky and not just for british people, but for many other people. I know a number of friends of mine, nigerians, who now have had time going back to niger delta and some parts fearing to be kidnapped for money. But here in particular is a very dangerous place. More so because in recent times the whole Peace Process has broken down. Although this particular problem of people kidnapped for money, many times theyre not killed, theyre usually kidnapped for money, its something thats been going on father a long time but within i think the wider context of the breakdown of the political situation in that area. Because people tend to think of the north as being more dangerous in nigeria because of bbcing. But this area nigeria because of bbcing. But this area because of boko haram. But this area is known as being risky . We have had some peace within the place in terms of dialogue between the Nigerian Government and the liberation groups there that want freedom for the area. Now the only problem is that even if we have had that type of sort of some semblance of peace, the problems themselves have remained and this is why one of the big issues that one has got to question is why do we have these criminal elements, why do we have youths taking up arms or kidnapping people and so on . Its basically because if you went to niger delta today you wont believe it. These are people who produce nigerias wealth in terms of oil. But they live in abject poverty, the majority of them and all the promises that have been made for quite some years now from the former government to this current government here have not been delivered. So you have all these youths, theyre unemployed. Extreme anger because theyve been just left there. And they say, well, we will try to kidnap a few people, ask for ransom, no money, just ask for ransom, unfortunately this time theyve taken the life of someone. Briefly, how unusual is it for a foreigner to be killed in that region . As i say, its taken sometime now. We havent heard of many foreigners killed in the area after being kidnapped. But one knows very well that if then you are kidnapped, and they ask for money and you sort of show that you may not be able to pay that money quickly, anything can happen. All i wa nt to quickly, anything can happen. All i want to say is we now have to really focus, because recently political talks, dialogue has broken down again and unless the fundamental problems are addressed and these are issues to do with the dialogue, whether those people can share in the wealth of the oil of the niger delta, but also included within the wider nigerian society, unless those problems are resolved we will have a lot of these issues continuing. Many thanks. Many of the most seriously wounded victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in may had to wait for more than an hour before they got expert medical help. The bbcs inside out programme has also learnt of delays in paramedics and specialist firecrews getting into the scene of the attack. 22 people were killed and more than 500 were injured. Clare fallon reports. May 22nd, the night of the bomb attack in manchester. The night 22 people were killed. Speaking to the bbcs inside out programme, one couple there on the night have described the desperation. The armed police came running in. Normal police, the armed police and, you know, shouting and i kept shouting we need paramedics now. And they said, just, making sure there is no more bombs. It was 10. 30pm when the bomb was detonated. More than 350 people were in the immediate area. 22 were killed. Hundreds more were hurt. Some suffered paralysis and lost limbs. The area was locked down as police checked for more bombs or further attackers. There were just three paramedics in the foyer area where the bomb had gone off. Treating dozen who had suffered horrific injuries. The longer it went on, the more silent it became. It was really eerie. Yeah. People who i had seen a little earlier who we re who i had seen a little earlier who were severely injured, were now dead. This is a Training Exercise at the Trafford Centre last year. A Specialist Fire Service unit equipped to deal with a terror attack took part in a run of this through. But on the night of the bomb that Specialist Team wasnt sent. Firefighters were held at their fire stations until 12. 18am. Almost two hours after the explosion. We just sat there waiting. Waiting for the get go. In hindsight, which is a wonderful thing, i should hindsight, which is a wonderful thing, ishould have hindsight, which is a wonderful thing, i should have picked up a first aid bag and jumped in the back ofan ambulance, first aid bag and jumped in the back of an ambulance, i am nowhere trained to the standard of a paramedics but i have a better understanding of first aid than the lehmann. Now an independent review is looking at the Emergency Response layman. Commissioned by andy burnham. He told me fears there could be more attackers working with the suicide bomber had to be considered but he does have concerns. There was a worry that this was a marauding attack in the early moments and as people may remember on that night there were other rumours circulating about somebody in oldham and a lot of confusion. There were but i was outside that arena by 12. 18am. The firefighters were still at the fire stations then. Thats why i commissioned the review. There was a feeling at the time that the wrong call was made in those moments. It seems there is some substance to that. It was one of the reasons why the independent review was set up. Fears of another bomb or another attacker were part of the reason why the response happened as it did. But the response happened as it did. But the concerns it could have been quicker, that perhaps more could have been done will now need to be addressed. Lets return to that news that a charity fears a british iranian woman held in iran could have her prison sentence doubled following remarks made by the foreign secretary. Borisjohnson said that Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe had been training journalists. Tonight her husband talked about the effect the comments had. When the foreign secretary spoke at the Foreign Affairs committee i was pleased straight away afterwards, he said three things that were new. One was that he said that he condemned iran so he said that her case was a mockery of justice. We iran so he said that her case was a mockery ofjustice. We spent a long time pushing for the foreign secretary to say that. So i was pleased. He also offered to visit nazanin in iran in prison, again we hadnt dared asked for that but that was a great thing. The third he said, when he was explaining it was a mockery of justice, said, when he was explaining it was a mockery ofjustice, he said as far as he knew she was arrested for training journalists and the implication was training journalists in iran. I thought thats not right. She was there on holiday. But at the time the two good things were what i took away. So, we put opt a statement clarifying at the time and her boss said, she was on holiday, put out a statement herself but no more. It was only on saturday morning i got a phone call from nazanin and she had been taken to court, saturday morning is the first working day since the Foreign Affairs committee on the wednesday evening iran time. She had been taken to court to the revolutionary court 15, the one where the judge presides over and he is the toughest of the revolutionaryjudges. He was the one that tried her first time around and is famous for giving maximum sentences around and is famous for giving maximum sentences and not listening to any defence or anything. Again yeah, she had been brought before him, hadnt been allowed to speak, she asked to make a statement and he said he hadnt time to listen and throw her out. Obviously, that was a bad sign. She was told that she was going to be taken to court on a charge of propgating, spreading propaganda against a regime. And the evidence was a big file of evidence which was based on the stuff from before which is she worked for a charity, had done stuff with bbc journalists, evidently some eight yea rs journalists, evidently some eight years ago she had been to visit a friend on a demonstration. Typically on the previous trials they also talked about the Media Coverage of her, our campaigning talked about the Media Coverage of her, ourcampaigning and talked about the Media Coverage of her, our campaigning and so on. So, she came away, she was obviously distraught. Again we were, you know, it was all bad news, in fairness, about three or four weeks ago suddenly she was threatened with new charges so it wasnt a complete surprise, ex cept, we met with the minister on monday and he said the minister on monday and he said the minister of Foreign Affairs in iran said she didnt expect her to be taken to court. So, it felt like mixed signals and obviously, suddenly, not mixed signals, a very clear signal. Richard ratcliffe there talking about his wife. This year is likely to be one of the warmest on record, thats according to the world metrelogical organisation. Its report was released as the Un Climate Change Conference began in the german city of bonn. Its the first major meeting since President Trump announced plans to take the us out of the paris pact. Our environment correspondent matt mcgrath has been looking at the report. Delegates from all over the world have come here to bonn for the start of un climate talks and, today, the World Meteorological organisation has released their state of the climate report, based on data from january and october. But the wmo said its likely that 2017 will be one of the top three warmest years on record. And they said that without the influence of el nino, it would be the warmest on record. And over the past five years, that period is the warmest since records began. The wmo is also pointing out that 2017 has been a record year for extreme events. Weve had hurricanes in the caribbean that have been devastating, weve had hurricanes in the United States, floods in many parts of asia and india and china and nepal and bangladesh, and wildfires in europe and the United States. Devastating wildfires. The wmo isnt saying that all these events are caused by climate change. Scientists would say its very difficult to attribute any single events to climate change, but the wmo says clearly, the tell tale signs of the human influence on the climate are evident in these events. The human influence, they say, is the continued use of fossil fuels, the burning of fossil fuels by humans. That report may not be a big surprise to the meeting here, but its likely to increase their sense of urgency, to get on with their business here and put the framework in place for the paris climate agreement agreed two years ago. Now ina now in a moment we willjoin viewers on bbc one for a special edition of panorama bringing us more on our investigation into how the wealthy and powerful invest offshore. First the main news. We start with that story. More revelations from the leaked Paradise Papers suggest apple has tens of billions of pounds injersey where it pays no tax. British formula one driver Lewis Hamilton avoided vat when he bought a private jet by using the isle of man tax haven. In other news, officials in texas say the gunman who killed 26 people ina rural say the gunman who killed 26 people in a rural church sent threatening Text Messages to his mother in law in the days before yesterdays attack. A British Charity worker is killed in nigeria, three weeks after he was kidnapped by militants. Three others taken hostage kidnapped by militants. Three others ta ken hostage have kidnapped by militants. Three others taken hostage have been freed. The mp for taken hostage have been freed. The mpfora taken hostage have been freed. The mp for a british iranian woman imprisoned in iran has accused the foreign secretary borisjohnson of making comments that could double her sentence. She was jailed after taking her daughter on holiday to meet her pa rents. Huw edwards will be back in an hour with the news at 10. First a special edition of panorama. Tonight on panorama more revelations from the leak thats shocking the world, the Paradise Papers. What do you to our viewers who pay their tax . The secrets of the rich and wealthy laid bare. Who pay their tax . The secrets of the rich and wealthy laid barelj dont know how they havent been