Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20180107

With planting planned over the next 25 years. The bbcs china editor Carrie Gracie is stepping down from the role, citing pay gap differentials with male colleagues. The final preparations are made for the Golden Globes, the first major ceremony since hollywood was hit by Sexual Harassment scandals. Good evening and welcome to bbc news. Theresa may has been setting out her plans for the year ahead, and shes confirmed therell be a Cabinet Reshuffle. Its expected tomorrow in whats seen as an attempt to reassert her authority. In a bbc interview, she defended the governments record on the nhs, saying problems in the Health Service werent simply due to a lack of funding. Labour has called the planned reshuffle little more than a desperate pr exercise. Heres our political correspondent, eleanor garnier. A new year, perhaps a fresh start after a torrid 2017, in which theresa may lost her majority in the general election, faced a rebellion from some of her own mps, was forced to deal with cabinet resignations and even had to sack her second in command. It means she starts the year with a reshuffle. Well, no prizes for guessing, andrew, that obviously, damian greens departure before christmas means some changes do have to be made. Speaking exclusively to the bbc, the Prime Minister has made clear that she wants her government to be about more than just brexit, insisting she is in listening mode. One of the clear messages we got was a number of areas which people of areas in which people were concerned about what we were proposing. So just as we have looked at issues on school funding, tuition fees, on housing and we are taking forward approaches in relation to that, on this issue of fox hunting, what i can say is there wont be a vote during this parliament. And on the environment, plans for 50 million more trees, a push to win over new voters and those whove drifted away. But the new year has already brought in old problems. Under pressure on rising train fares, and claims that this winter crisis is the toughest yet for the nhs. The nhs has actually been better prepared for this winter pressure than it has been before. You mentioned operations being postponed. That was part of the plan. Of course, we want to ensure that those operations can be reinstated as soon as possible, but its about making sure that those who most urgently need care are able to get that treatment when they need it. Labours blamed government cuts for the problems in the nhs and warned the Prime Minister against promoting the Health Secretary in this weeks reshuffle. She hasnt got a plan to get those people off the trolleys in corridors. Those elderly people, this freezing january, being treated in ambulances. Shes got no plan for them. Her only plan, apparently, is to promote this Health Secretary. She should be demoting this Health Secretary. If she promotes this Health Secretary tomorrow, it is a betrayal of the 75,000 people in the back of ambulances. The Prime Minister said today shes not a quitter, and shell want and need the best possible team around her to get her through what many predict will be a tough year ahead. Eleanor garnier, bbc news, westminster. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 30 and 11 30 this evening in the papers. Our guests joining me tonight are the parliamentaryjournalist, tony grew and the entertainment journalist, caroline frost. Funding is at the heart of the debate over the problems facing the Health Service. Labour insists it needs more money, but the government says the nhs is now better prepared for winter pressures. Our Health Editor hugh pym reports. There are 73 outstanding ambulances right now. It was a striking image from a week of intense pressure. Leah butler smiths video of ambulances at a hospital with her mother waiting, even though she was having a stroke. Big questions are now being asked about the nhs and its funding. Health spending needs to keep rising to pay for new medicines and meet the sometimes complex needs of a population which is living longer. The percentage of the population aged over 65 in the uk was under 15 in the 1970s and is projected to get close to 25 by 20114. Health spending across the uk has grown a lot since the 1950s, shown here after adjusting for inflation, and has now reached more than £140 billion per year. Average annual Government Spending on health since the 1950s has gone up around 4 a year in real terms. But under the Coalition Government from 2010, the average increase in england was onlyjust over 1 a year. Under the conservatives in the last couple of years, the average increases have been over 2 , but most in the health world argue that it hasnt been enough to keep up with patient demand. The pressures, as we have seen over the last few weeks, are becoming intolerable. So it is now time to have an objective assessment about what we need over the next ten or 15 years and for us as a society to decide whether we are willing or not willing to put in the funds that are required. There are now growing calls for a cross Party Approach to working out what the nhs needs and how it should be paid for. Hugh pym, bbc news. More than 30 people are missing after a collision between an oil tanker and a cargo ship off the east coast of china. The tanker is on fire and 136,000 barrels of oil are burning and spilling into the sea. The collision happened 160 miles from shanghai, as the tanker was en route to south korea from iran. Andy moore reports still burning fiercely many hours after the original collision, and still no confirmed news about the fate of its 32 crew. 30 were iranian and two were from bangladesh. The tanker is more than 270 metres long and was carrying just under 1 Million Barrels of oil. If the car underpin the ocean, that will be in the top ten oil spills in the world ever. It has a huge potential for environmental damage. The tanker set off from the persian gulf on its journey to south korea. It sailed through the Malacca Strait before colliding with a chinese freight ship in the East China Sea about 160 nautical miles off the port city of shanghai. Major oil spills from tankers are becoming less common. One of the most serious in recent years was the sinking of the prestige off the coast of spain in 2002. More than 60,000 tonnes of oil came ashore over a long stretch of coastline. Specialist clean up vessels have been sent to the scene of the tanker fire. Chinese authorities have confirmed there is an oil slick, but they cannot confirm how big it is. Andy moore, bbc news. Some of the uks biggest retailers have agreed to stop selling acids and corrosive substances to people under 18. The aim is to cut the number of acid attacks until legislation is introduced to ban such sales. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Dominic Casciani has more. Arthur collins, jailed for 20 years for an appalling nightclub attack. Watch this cctv. You can see him throwing acid on his victims, 22 people left with burns, a crime involving a household product that has been growing, year on year. Police recorded more than 500 attacks involving corrosive substances in england and wales in the year to last april. Officials think the true figure could be twice as high. Ministers have launched an action plan to cut attacks. Today, the first part of that plan, a voluntary ban by diy chains including b q on selling harmful chemicals to under 18s. Supermarkets are also involved, agreeing to challenge underage customersjust like they would if they were buying alcohol. Acid attacks are just the most horrific crimes and what we want to do is to make sure that we restrict access, that we support victims, that we police these attacks really effectively. Jabad hussain was attacked last year. Police officers poured water into his eyes to save his sight. So what does he think of the plan . I would like to give welcome and thanks to the government for what they are trying to do. But this is not the right way to do that and handle this problem. There is not enough police on the streets to chase them. This is my home city. I should not tolerate that. You should not tolerate that. No one should tolerate that. Thousands of independent hardware shops selling household chemicals are also being asked to sign up to the ban. But its not clear how online sales will be controlled. This former senior prosecutor is sceptical. Only one in five attacks are carried out by under 18s, so four in five adults will still be able to get hold of acid and use them as they have been doing over the last year or two. These voluntary measures can only go so far. Ministers want to ultimately create a new offence of carrying over the counter chemicals in public without good reason. But so much of this type of crime remains unknown. Some academics are now looking at what motivates a criminal to turn a household product like drain cleaner into a weapon, one that has lifelong consequences. Dominic casciani, bbc news at the home office in central london. The bbcs china editor Carrie Gracie has resigned from her post, citing an apparent pay gap with male colleagues. In an open letter, ms gracie who has been at the bbc for more than 30 years accused the corporation of having a secretive and illegal pay culture. She said the bbc was facing a crisis over a gender pay gap, after it was revealed that two thirds of its stars earning more than £150,000 were male. The bbc said there was no systemic discrimination against women. On the line is our media editor amol rajan. What does carrie say in the letter . This is an explosive letter, because what Carrie Gracie says in her letter is that institutionally, the bbc has failed to take this hugely important issue sufficiently seriously. And it is not, just, as she sees it, the injustice of when those figures of people paid over £500,000 were made public last year. It is not just £500,000 were made public last year. It is notjust that £500,000 were made public last year. It is not just that those £500,000 were made public last year. It is notjust that those injustices we re it is notjust that those injustices were revealed, it is the fact that the bbc resisted publication of those figures beforehand and as she sees it, subsequently, the whole process of trying to get gender equality on pay has been mired in bureaucracy. It is worth saying that Carrie Gracie is one of the bbcs most senior correspondents, widely regarded as an Outstanding International editor. 30 years at the bbc including a tough posting in china. She has said she is not demanding a huge pay rise, she was to be paid the same as other men who as she sees it are doing the same job. In response, the bbc says it has undertaken three separate reviews. There is a gender pay reviews. There is a gender pay review and also an audit of equal pay across the whole organisation and a review of on air talent. But this is potentially a big problem for the bbc. I understand it is going on the front pages, including that of the times, tomorrow morning. There is a real danger that with 200 female staff who have complained to the bbc that Carrie Gracie mentions in her letter, some of them could end up taking legal action. The real threat to the bbc is not whether or not people are getting more pay, it is whether an outbreak of legal action against the bbc could expose this Public Organisation for not sticking to the principles it said it would uphold. How likely is it that the bbc will use this as an opportunity to address those criticisms that Carrie Gracie levies, such as that the pay system isnt transparent so that people dont know what their colleagues are earning . For context, it is worth saying that the bbc did resist any of these figures being made public in the first base. Their argument was that this would prove inflationary and that in the words of tony hall, the director, this would be a poachers charter. So having resisted making these figures transparent in the past, the chance of the bbc going further on transparency in the future is pretty unlikely. But we dont know whether 01 unlikely. But we dont know whether or not this very public letter and the fact that we now know there are at least 200 female staff who have complained, whether or not the momentum behind that could build in a way that does force the bbc into more aggressive action. The Corporation Says it is taking this issue seriously and that goes further than other organisations on this front. Compared to many organisations in the private sector, it is doing well on this issue. That Carrie Gracies explosive charge is that the bbcs words are hollow on this subject, that it is not taking this subject, that it is not taking this seriously and it does not care as much as it says it does. The bbc would dispute that, but the very fa ct would dispute that, but the very fact that that claim from a senior correspondent, 30 years at the bbc, is now public and will be on the front pages tomorrow, is a big headache for the corporation. We must stress that carrie has not resigned from the bbc entirely. She intends to work back in london. It is that particular role she has been infor is that particular role she has been in for the last four years that she is stepping down from. But she goes on to stress the point that the bbc admits it has a gender pay gap. The difference between the average salary organisation of a man compared with a woman, she says that is not her concern. About equal pay for the work, isnt it . Yes. I should have clarified. As you say, she is resigning as china editor, a particular post, rather than from the organisation as a whole. She contends that there are other men who are International Editors who do, as she sees it, and equaljob. China is of course a very hard posting. She speaks fluent mandarin, but it is not the easiest place to operate as a journalist, to put it mildly. She says she is not asking for a big pay rise, cos she is open about the fact that she is well paid for a job that she considers herself lucky to be doing. It is the fact that other men in similar or equal positions are paid more. So it is that issue of equality which she saysis that issue of equality which she says is a fundamental injustice which she once addressed. Its a strange old thing, talking about the bbc when we work for it, but thank you very much. Amol rajan, our media editor. The headlines on bbc news theresa may defends the governments record on the nhs, insisting it is properly funded for coping with the winter pressures. The Prime Minister will carry out a Cabinet Reshuffle tomorrow. There are reports that several minister could either lose theirjobs or be moved. 32 people are missing after a collision between an oil tanker and a cargo ship in the East China Sea. The missing sailors, mostly iranians, are all from the tanker. The 21 crew of the freighter have all been rescued. Time for a check on the sport. The fa cup has thrown up another shock result. Holders arsenal soundly beaten in the third round by championship side Nottingham Forest, in a six goal classic at the city ground. The last time these two sides met in an fa cup tie, Nottingham Forest legend brian clough was in charge at the city ground. Fast forward 25 yea rs the city ground. Fast forward 25 years and you will find arsenal boss Arsene Wenger in the stands, starting his touchline ban. The gunners boss have the perfect view of the opening goal. The forest defender breached the defence under the crossbar. But he did not last long, three minutes, to be exact. Mertesacker was the first to the rebound. Then before half time, a moment of fa cup brilliance. And then rob holding gave the championship side a penalty with a clu msy championship side a penalty with a clumsy challenge. Step up 18 year old ben, a cup shot in the making. And while arsenal managed to get another goal through Danny Welbeck to reduce the arrears, more drama was to follow. Forrest, through again on goal, debussy this time with the foul and another penalty. This one converted by on loa n eve rto n penalty. This one converted by on loan everton youngster kieran dowle, not without controversy, arsenal incensed. Did he kick the ball twice . It mattered not. Managerless forest were the winners, sending last seasons winners home packing. A victory that would make the one and only brian clough proud. There we re and only brian clough proud. There were a couple more surprises. There was a shock at rodney parade where league 2 Newport County knocked out leeds united, the championship side took the lead early on thanks to a deflected Gaetano Berardi strike. That looked to have won it until a conor shaunghnessy own goal leveleed the match in the last 15 minutes. And into the final minute, Shawn Mccoulsky rose above everyone else from the corner to get the winner and put the welsh side into the fourth round for the first time in almost a0 years. Over in shropshire, league ones shrewsbury town earned themselves a replay against west ham. Joe hart returned to his boyhood club and denied them a couple of times in the first half. But in a pretty toothless performance from david moyess side, a tooth did actually go missing for the premier league club josh cullen being kicked in the face. The tooth was recovered, though. The shrews almost won it late on, but missed their chance. Theyll go back to the london stadium for the replay. Leaders Manchester City maintained their 100 record in Womens Super League one as they scored five times in an entertaining game at reading. City led 3 2 at half time, before two goals in two minutes from jill scott early in the second half secured victory for nick cushings side. This goal from jill scott causing some confusion at first, before being judged to have crossed the line. The victory means city remain two points clear at the top of the table. Chelsea beat arsenal in todays other game. Premiership leaders exeter lost for the first time in eight League Matches as they were beaten 28 20 by newcastle. Saracens taking advantage of that slip up, three tries inside half hour gave sarries an early lead including this try from alex goode. But wasps fought back, scoring one penalty try and then Willie Le Roux crossing just before half time. Sarries, though, pulled away in the second half, scoring 20 points with no reply that bonus point win leaves them just five points behind exeter at the top of the league. Englands cricketers are on the brink of defeat in the final ashes test in sydney. Theyll resume their second innings on 93 11 still 210 runs behind the aussies, although they have captain joe root and Jonny Bairstow at the crease. Theyll need to bat out the final day in sydney to salvage a draw. Thats after australia declared their first innings on 649 7. Thats all the sport for now. Well have more for you on bbc news throughout the evening. Police in sweden have said that an explosion outside an underground station that killed a 60 year old man was most likely caused by a hand grenade. The incident happened at the varby gard metro station in stockholm. A woman nearby was also hurt. A Police Spokesman said an object exploded when he picked it up. The incident is not believed to be terrorism related. At least 18 people are reported to have been killed and Dozens Injured including civilians in an explosion in syrias northwestern city of idlib. The syrian observatory for human rights said the explosion targeted the headquarters of a minor rebel faction in the city. The syrian army has been advancing on the region, which is the largest remaining rebel held area in the north of the country. Thejustice secretary David Lidington says he intends to begin work on reforming the transparency of parole decisions following the controversial decision by a parole board to release the serial sex attacker, john worboys, from prison. Mr lidington said it was right that parole boards remained independent, but he wants to consider how to allow greater openness about the Decision Making process. He added that arrangements should be made to ensure victims are both heard and, if they wish, kept informed about their case. Mr lidington said he had spoken to the victims commissioner, baroness newlove, and the chair of the parole board, nick hardwick. Victims groups will be also be consulted. The german chancellor, Angela Merkel, says shes optimistic shell be able to form a new Coalition Government, but admits there is still a lot of work ahead. Shes entering a new round of talks in a bid to end months of political stalemate. No new government has been formed since the election in september. Damien mcguinness reports from berlin. A key moment for the leader of europes most powerful country. These talks could be Angela Merkels last chance to form a stable government, otherwise germany might face the uncertainty of fresh elections. But mrs merkel is optimistic that a deal can be reached. Translation i think we can succeed. We intend to work very swiftly and intensively, always keeping in mind what the people of germany expect from their politicians to solve their problems and create the conditions so that people can really get involved in our country. Im entering these talks optimistically, though its clear to me that we have a lot of work to do in the coming days. But we are willing to take on this work to get a good result. In november, talks with the greens and liberals unexpectedly collapsed, leaving mrs merkels centre right bloc no option but to try and form a government with the centre left social democrats. But left wing voters are not keen. They feel badly burned by the last four years as Angela Merkels Junior Coalition partners, and Party Members say have lost their left wing identity. So the partys leader, martin schulz, has to somehow reach a compromise with the conservatives, while at the same time convincing grass roots supporters that he is sticking to the partys core values. Translation whatever the new German Government might look like, however it might be structured, it is certainly my hope that its challenge will be finding new policies for the new time we are living in. We can all agree on that. In this spirit, we will be conducting negotiations here constructively and with an open mind. As social democrats, we are happy to be able to host the cdu and csu here today, but one thing is clear for the social Democratic Party we wont be drawing any red lines, but we want to push through as much red politics as possible in germany. This is the longest period of Coalition Building germany has ever known. Its not a crisis. The economy is strong and germanys caretaker government can keep things ticking over in the short term. But no long term decisions can be made, whether about the future of germany or over europe. So pressure is growing on Angela Merkel to form a government. If talks succeed, a new administration could be in place by easter. If they fail, mrs merkel would be weakened and voters may be asked to go back to the polls. Plans to create a new northern forest stretching across rural areas from liverpool to hull have been announced by the government. The Woodland Trust is running the project, which will cost £500 million over 25 years. Most of the money will need to be raised by the charity. The government is providing £5. 7 million to Cover Woodland spanning manchester, leeds and bradford. Our correspondent Roger Harrabin has more. The bare hills of the north, one of the most denuded parts of a country that itself has less woodland than almost anywhere in europe. The land stripped over centuries fortimberand farming, scarred by industry, overgrazed by sheep farming. At smithils near manchester, things will be different. Planting has begun for what will be known as the northern forest. We think the northern forest will be a pathfinder for extending forest and woodland right across country. We think trees and woods can add value in many different landscapes. We just want to do it here first and do it big. It isnt really a forest. The project will create new woods near towns, and plant River Valleys liable to flooding. But money is tight, and many of these hills will look just as bleak in 25 years. Whats more, the Woodland Trust expects some of their cash to come from environmental funds linked to the hs2 rail line. That infuriates environmentalists. The supreme irony is that the government is giving with one hand and taking with the other, and im referring to the route of h52 north of birmingham, to manchester and to leeds, threatening ancient forests. Why cant the government give with both hands and stop threatening ancient forests . But here is what some ambitious planting can do. This is the National Forest in the midlands, begun in the 1990s, now delighting local people. Acorns grow. President macron of france has led tributes to the 16 people who were killed in islamist attacks in paris three years ago. Commemorations were held at the offices of the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, to remember the 12 people who died when two gunmen burst into an editorial meeting. The president also visited the plaque honouring a policeman who was shot dead outside the Charlie Hebdo building. He then laid a wreath at a jewish supermarket in the east of the city where four hostages were killed in another attack two days later. At least eight people have drowned and dozens more are feared missing after a dinghy carrying migrants sank off the libyan coast. The italian coastguard says 84 people were rescued on saturday in what is thought to have been the first migrant shipwreck of 2018. The first major awards ceremony in hollywood since the Harvey Weinstein scandal gets under way in los angeles tonight. Stars attending the Golden Globes are planning to dress in black, in a show of support for women whove suffered Sexual Harassment in the film industry. From los angeles, james cook reports. This year, the red carpet will host a protest, not a party. The downfall of movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, exposed decades of sexual abuse and harassment in hollywood, and now scores of stars are wearing black to the Golden Globes in solidarity. People will be in black, but i dont think it will be funereal, i think it will be a celebration of all of us saying its time to deal with this. So much darkness is creating unity and people are standing together. Unfortunately, tragic times bring unity. The cleansing has already begun. Accused of sexual assault, kevin spacey was cut from this film and replaced with christopher plummer. Co star Michelle Williams told me she shot her scenes again for free. Films, because they are larger than life, they glorify people and i could not bear the thought of being in a movie that glorified somebody who had hurt people. Is what is happening a permanent and significant change . Everyone is working day and night to create the kind of change that will be permanent. Our hope is to hand our daughters a different world. Hollywood is gathering to pat itself on the back, but everything has changed. A few months ago, the Entertainment Industry was thrown into turmoil and everyone here is onlyjust beginning to work out what that means for the future. James cook, bbc news, los angeles. Troy look at the weather. Sunday was a cold day. This lowers the down there. Ill be cold and frosty to start on monday, especially across the north. More cloud in the south, creeping northward across southern england into south wales, through to write. Further north is the clear skies with light winds and lowest