Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20180209

Jane hill takes a look at all this weeks releases with mark kermode, including marvels black panther. Good evening and welcome to bbc news. The families of the victims of two british Islamic State members captured in syria, have called for them to face justice in court. Alexanda kotey and El Shafee El Sheikh were part of a team of four is members whose british accents earned them the nickname the beatles. Us Officials Say the group are accused of executing 27 hostages. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Daniel Sandford has more. They became the most infamous gang of foreign fighters in the self styled Islamic State, callous torturers and public executioners of hostages. Jihadijohn, his real name mohammed emwazi, now dead. Aine davis, in prison in turkey. And the two men captured last month, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh. The two were detained by american backed syrian kurd fighters. Kotey, the kurds said today, was trying to escape into turkey. The gang are suspected of beheading alan henning, the driver and aid worker from eccles, and david haines, seen here in croatia, a former raf engineer and long time aid workerfrom perth. This morning, his daughter, bethany, was finally contemplating what punishment two of his suspected killers should face. They should die a long, slow, painful death. And i think quite a lot of people will understand that, that they shouldnt be allowed to live. But realistically, thats not going to happen. And i have to come to terms with that. And the best thing for them is to be locked up and throw away the key. They should never be allowed back in society, because they willjust recruit people and they will just do this again. And for the sake of her father, if they end up in court, she will go to watch. If it goes to trial, i will certainly be there, i will certainly want to look them in the eye and let them know that i am who i am, and they have destroyed a big part of my life. And hopefully there will be some sort ofjustice. Some of the gangs hostages were freed, including former french reporter, nicolas henin. He wants them to have the fairest trial possible. I would not be happy if they were just sent to guantanamo bay, because this is denial ofjustice. If we wantjustice, we need to give them the trial that would satisfy them, but also the victims. Who arrived in syria from britain in 2012, and Alexanda Kotey, who left the uk on an aid convoy to gaza in 2009, and also ended up in syria. Their gang is accused by the us of beheading at least 27 hostages, including alan henning, david haines and americans james foley, peter kassig and steven sotloff. They are also accused of water boarding, mock executions, crucifixions and electric shock torture. Alexanda kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh grew up close to each other in quite a small area of west london, near to the a40 flyover. It became infamous as an is recruiting ground. As well as mohammed emwazi, jihadijohn, some half a dozen other men from these streets died fighting for is in either syria or iraq. At El Shafee Elsheikhs house, his parents, who had another son killed in syria, asked the media to leave. Theres nothing we can say, no comment whatsoever. Please, please, let us be in peace. Their son and Alexanda Kotey have had their british citizenship removed already. Now a trial, possibly in the United States, seems the most likely outcome. Daniel sandford, bbc news. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 40 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are michael booker, Deputy Editor of daily express and rachel shabi, journalist and broadcaster. The eus chief brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has issued a stark warning to the uk effectively telling the British Government, you cant have your cake and eat it. He said the uks decision to leave the eu Single Market and Customs Union meant border checks at the irish border were unavoidable something both the uk and the eu have said would be unacceptable. He also warned that without greater agreement on key issues Like Northern ireland, the two year transition period after brexit was not a given. The brexit secretary david davis said he was surprised by mr barniers remarks. 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaar, reports. Brexit is coming and time is running short. Just 13 months before britain is officially out of the European Union, and today the eu had a sharp warning. Sort out key sticking points, or there will be no deal and no transition. Britains brexit secretary met the eu chief negotiator in downing street on monday. Friendly enough, butjust weeks to thrash out the shape of a brexit transition. Today, with a big eu summit next month, Michel Barnier put a blunt message, in terms easy to understand. If these disagreements persist, the transition is not given. So much to sort out, and talks are getting prettily. So much to sort out, and talks are getting prickly. 0n the rights of migrants who arrive after the brexit date, will brussels block trade if britain breaks eu rules . The brexit secretary called it discourteous. Mr barnier disagreed. Translation throughout these negotiations, my attitude has not been in the least discourteous or vindictive. We have never wished to punish the uk. It is totally foreign to my state of mind. And how to leave the eu without bringing back a hard north south irish border. Nobody wants that but. It is important to tell the truth. A uk decision to leave the Single Market and to leave the Customs Union would make border checks unavoidable. It is notjust a political problem at this shoe shop in newry, Northern Ireland. These shoes are meant for walking, on both sides of the border. Customs and tariffs could mean a business like this running into trouble. We need easy access from the factory to our shop floor. If there is a hard border, there will be hold ups all the way along that we cannot predict. But the Unionist Party shoring up the government in Parliament Says that when britain leaves the Customs Union, Northern Ireland must leave, too. The bottom line is that Northern Ireland will leave the European Union with the rest of the United Kingdom. We would not countenance a situation where there would either be political constitutional barriers within the United Kingdom, and economic barriers within the United Kingdom internal market would be catastrophic for Northern Ireland. Brexiteer tories say ministers should take warnings from brussels in their stride and not give ground on the way out of the eu. We will not accept that we become rule takers from the eu when we have no say over it. Yes, business wants certainty and to know they have time to get ready for things like customs changes. That is what the implementation period is about. It is not about having the eu dictate to us in a way that would be unacceptable to us and to businesses as well. Tonight, the brexit secretary is saying he is surprised that mr barnier is not clear that britain wants to go on trading as now during a transition. The government is hoping for compromise in negotiations, but if there is no transition deal next month, ministers will have to prepare britain and British Business for the possibility of a cliff edge brexit. If there is a transition deal it is onto deciding the ambitions for brexit, which divide parliament, tory mps and the cabinet. One day, one crisis at a time. 0ur brussels reporter adam fleming explained why Michel Barnier had made his comments today. Michel barnier says the same thing every time. He is not doing the negotiations from that podium in that building. Some of that is tactics and putting pressure on the United Kingdom. But hes also saying things that the eu believes very strongly and fundamentally and they boil down to four key things. Number one, they do not want the Single Market to be messed with, the rules are the rules. Number two, they are quite worried about the idea of a United Kingdom on the outside still having influence on the inside. David davis the brexit secretary says it is ok for the eu to defend and protect its own interests, but the uk absolutely has to be allowed to do the same thing, and that is what this process is all about, finding a compromise between the two sides. That is the philosophical side. The practical things we learned are the negotiations about a transition period are going to happen. It will not be waved through oi happen. It will not be waved through or nodded through like some people thought it might be. And the issue of the Northern Ireland border was just parked in december, it was not solved. 0ur Political Correspondent chris mason joins me from westminster. Are we looking at a pretty big stand off here . Are we looking at a pretty big standoff here . It is looking pretty salty, the stand off between the two sides. There was another News Conference with Michel Barnier on the stage in brussels, but there was no david davis alongside him. All we have had from the Brexit Department was a written statement from david davis responding to the words from mr barnier in the News Conference. I think a lot of this we can slot into the category of the rhetoric that surrounds negotiation, that both sides are there to represent their own cause, and there are going to be disagreements. But it is a reminder that the part of this negotiation that the part of this negotiation that would seem to fall into the easy box, the transition period or implementation period, depending on the language you use, is not necessarily quite as easy as some had thought. Yes, there is broad agreement on about 99 of it, that pretty much nothing will change in the two years ish after the uk leaves the European Union at the end of march next year, but there are still some wrinkles to be ironed out. These areas of disagreement. The hope on both sides is that that will be sorted in the next five or six weeks before a big eu summit in the middle of next month, but there are still disagreements as we have heard, and that is before we get onto the far bigger question of what the end state like, what the long term relationship with the eu looks like the other side of the transition period. That is where there are huge disagreements within there are huge disagreements within the cabinet, within the conservative party and within the country, about the extent to which the uk should significantly diverged or not from eu rules and regulations. And Michel Barnier said today that britain is outside the Customs Union and Single Market, which theresa may said it will be once brexit has happened, but they border between Northern Ireland and the republic is unavoidable. That is something which is evenly the British Government will not accept . Quite. And it reminds us that yes, there was a degree of progress back in december with the progression from the first phase discussions around undertaking oui phase discussions around undertaking our relationship with the European Union, or that discussion about the divorce settlement, about Citizens Rights and the irish border, but remember the hurdle but had to be ove ico m e remember the hurdle but had to be ove rco m e to remember the hurdle but had to be overcome to reach the second stage of talking about a transition period, was sufficient progress as brussels to find it, not completing all of the issues and resolving everything. Today was a reminder that yes, there is a desire on all sides to ensure that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the republic of ireland, there is yet to be a definitive solution put on the table that all sides can agree to, that would secure that outcome. Mr barnier is making the argument that if the uk leads the Customs Union and Single Market, there will have to be some sort of hard border along the 300 miles or so along that line which separates Northern Ireland from the republic on the map. The democratic unionists, the Biggest Political Party as far as mps are concerned in Northern Ireland, they say there is no way there can be a ha rd say there is no way there can be a hard border. They continue to make the argument that the art and coming out of brussels is, ok them, but what is your solution to solve that . And we have not seen that. Chris, thank you. An 11 year old, named by police as jasmine forrester, has died in hospital after being stabbed in a house in wolverhampton. A 51 year old man was taken to hospital for treatment for a minor injury and has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police say they are working to establish what has happened. An elaborate Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics has been taking place in south korea. Among those attending was the sister of the north korean leader, kim jong un. Shes part of the most Senior North Korean delegation ever to visit the south. The british team is hoping to win ten medals as our seoul correspondent, laura bicker, reports from pyeongchang. Korea these athletes have been divided by a war that never truly ended. They carry the flag of a unified korea. And in one stadium for one night decades of rising tension and suspicion ebbed away. In the vip box a moment most thought theyd never see. A member of the kim dynasty, the sister of the north korean leader, shaking hands with the south korean president. The arrival of kim yo jung has surprised this tiny town just miles from the militarised border. Translation it is nice to have the high level delegates from the north and it also feels strange and wondrous. I have never seen a north korean. Translation of course i welcome them but i dont know why the south korean government is bending over backwards to appease them. I dont like seeing the south serving the north. Translation my heart is melting. The south and north have been divided and now it feels peace is coming to us. But america is beginning to wonder whose side south korea is on. The only moment the us Vice President looked comfortable was when he welcomed his team. He refused to acknowledge the north korean guests behind him. Its a note of caution many in the Diplomatic Community share. Theres a real sense of pragmatism. Nobody is over optimistic because we have seen too many false starts before. But, of course, we all hope that this will turn out for the good and that pyeongchang Winter Olympics will be remembered as the peace 0lympics. The Political Drama has loomed over these mountains, but soon attention will turn to the sport and the medal hopes of thousands. And we welcome Great Britain team gb is aiming for its most successful winter games, with a medal target of five or more. A challenge in this frigid climate. But some didnt seem to mind the cold. As many in the crowd bundled up in their heated seats they gave a warm welcome to the bare chested flag bearer from tonga. The dazzling displays were full of symbolism, but theres one team above all others that represent the hopes of this peninsular. Thejoint Korean Ice Hockey Team had a controversial start players from the north had to be integrated into the squad, forcing players from the south out. But the two sides now appear to have bonded. Looking at the bigger picture, i think that this is a very important moment in history and i think that its a privilege to be a part of it. Im happy about it so i think that everyone isjust embracing it. And so, to the moment of truth. As ice skating Gold Medalist yuna kim lights the flame, south korea has challenges ahead, including fears that its fallen victim to a fake Charm Offensive from the north. This is a Public Relations coup for north korea to have its athletes appear on this global stage. It gives whats been an isolated regime a human face, but critics also fear it will allow them to portray this image of a normal, peace loving nuclear power. As with all shows, this one must come to an end. The olympic flame will only burn in pyeongchang for two weeks. It will take more than warm sporting gestures to lead to permanent change on this korean peninsular. Laura bicker, bbc news, pyeongchang. With me now is Aidan Foster Carter a korea analyst. Hejoins us now on he joins us now on the line from exeter. Thank you for talking to us. We heard laura theyre saying this is something of a pr coup for north korea. Would you agree with that . am inclined to agree with that. I must say, that was a fantastic package. It was very well balanced. It draws attention to the different views from the South Koreans who we re views from the South Koreans who were interviewed, from the ones who we re very were interviewed, from the ones who were very emotional and you would be about a country which was tragically cut in half 70s ago, to the others saying while we giving the north koreans all this free publicity when we are supposed to be isolating them . I paraphrase. There is that controversy. The games are finite, they last a couple of weeks. Come mid march, ifear the they last a couple of weeks. Come mid march, i fear the crisis will all break out again because the issues which have created a crisis around the peninsula for months and months now, the norths Nuclear Missile tests, and the uss reaction, the tension with the war of words, whose button is bigger and all that, that is only on hold. None of this is addressed. I hate to be pessimistic but i hope something comes of it but i am sceptical. We have had those very provocative missile tests from north korea, some pretty aggressive language responded to by the United States, is this in any way a sign that north korea does wa nt to any way a sign that north korea does want to lower tensions, or do you think it is simply about trying to steal some positive headlines for a few weeks . The latter is certainly true but it is not necessarily either or. I think much hinges on the meeting tomorrow, the more formal businesslike meeting between the south korean president and the north korean guests. They are a wonderful old couple, one is three times older than the other. There is the 90 year old former head of state and the about 30 year old leader. I think it was four years ago that south korea hosted the asian games and the north at the last minute sent a very high level delegation to that. They sat there at the closing ceremony and they had absolutely no wider message at all for the south. The south was very disappointed about that. If that is the case again then were back to square one on the nuclear issue. We will have to see if kim yo jung has some kind of initiative but i am not very hopeful. Is this embarrassing for the United States which has been urging south korea to take a robust sta nce urging south korea to take a robust stance towards the north . It is very difficult. In an article just published i have a cough, sorry about that, i did suggest the south korean president is skating on thin ice. It is a very difficult balancing act. The us Vice President mike pence taking a very hard line insisting there is no thawing between the states but then he felt he could not greet the north korean leaders and it seemed the north koreans did not want to greet him either so that was that. But moon jae in gave a warm handshake to his guests. We will see if real daylight and policy opens up but it is awkward to say the least. Aidan foster clark, thank you for that. There is of course some significant sport going on at the olympics. Letsjoin sport going on at the olympics. Lets join Lizzie Greenwood sport going on at the olympics. Letsjoin Lizzie Greenwood hughes. Tea m team gb are hoping to break their record of four medals. The target is anywhere between four and ten. Lizzy yarnold flew the flag at the Opening Ceremony. She is hoping to become the first briton to successfully defend an olympic title but she has had a poor season. The team have lost snowboarder katie 0rmerod who potentially could have won two medals. She fractured her heel in training. But this is britains biggest ever Winter Olympic Team with 59 athletes in pyeongchang. The target is five and the middle range is four to ten so we have a lot of potential across different sports. She was one of our great medal contenders which is white as a loss for many reasons that she is not with us. But we still believe the rest of the team can perform. It is weak two of the six nations this weekend and a huge match at twickenham tomorrow between england and wales. Eddie jones twickenham tomorrow between england and wales. Eddiejones is back to his old tricks trying to get into the heads of the welsh setup questioning whether ries patch or has the bottle for the match. Earlier today the welsh captain had his say on the matter. People forget that rees has been in the squad for a few years now. He has experience of being around the camp. It is a step up, no one will deny that. But patch is ready for that and he is focused on the job at hand. There is some domestic rugby this evening. Bath is playing northampton. They are bath is playing northampton. They a re level bath is playing northampton. They are level at the moment, 6 6. If bath can win this they will move up to third in the table. There are four matches in the pro 14. Southern kings have so far lost every one of their matches which would be 14 defeats after this evening. It is weak two of the new Super League Season and there is one match tonight, it is wakefield against sa lfo rd. Tonight, it is wakefield against salford. It is 8 0 wakefield at the moment, so their season isnt going pretty well. We move on to football. Mike lineals contract extension as Northern Ireland manager has been formally announced. Michael oneill. I know that the job in hand is one that i will devote my life and soul too. The job is one that i will devote my life and soul too. Thejob i took on is one that i will devote my life and soul too. The job i took on six yea rs and soul too. The job i took on six years ago is still as appealing and exciting as it was then. The nature of football is now that it is a lucrative business. For me, the personal nature of this job has been a big factor in the decision to stay on. Meanwhile, walter smith will not ta ke meanwhile, walter smith will not take thejob meanwhile, walter smith will not take the job for a second time for scotland. Riyad mahrez says he will continue to give his all to leicester after training with the side for the First Time Since his transfer request to Manchester City was turned down last month. The winger has travelled with the team for their game tomorrow. Lester turned down an offer of 50 minim pounds to sell him to man city. There is one game in the championship tonight, millwall against cardiff. It is 1 1. Five minutes to go until half time. And finally, Great Britains womens tennis players are a step closer to great the fed cup world play offs. The british team face hungary tomorrow to try and secure a place in aprils worldgroup two play offs. That is all the sport for now. Thank you. The eiffel tower in paris has been shut for the second time this week because of snow and black ice. The french capital is covered in a heavy blanket of snow that has brought some parts of the transport system to a halt. But not everyone is complaining. Heres our correspondent, hugh schofield. For the second time this week, snowy weather has blown into paris from the west, setting off to good effect for tourists, some of the most popular landmarks. The city was just getting over the previous heavy fall on tuesday. That caused some disruption to transport on road and rail. Parks were shut as freezing temperatures overnight turned flush to ice. I love it. Im used to coming to paris when it is funny. I have never been here in the snow before. As a tourist i dont like it because lots of things are closed but it is beautiful. You cannot not enjoy it. Translation i think some roads should have been cleared quicker, but then that is the weather, nothing out of the ordinary. I think we should look at the positives. Snow is actually quite beautiful. At this airbase just west of the capital, snowploughs have been brought out to clear the runways. And one adventurous soul had a flaky a nswer to and one adventurous soul had a flaky answer to the transport problem. Now there is a skiing fan. Well, what about the weather closer to home . Lets get the details. Good evening. Tonight, it is all about the frost. We could see loads of 6 towards the east. We have a weather front pushing into western scotla nd weather front pushing into western scotland and Northern Ireland. We will see up to ten centimetres of snow over the hills of scotland. Temperatures will be on the rise in the west, and it will be a day of getting milder slowly through the day. The heaviest bursts of rain will be in western england and wales. Temperatures go up to ii degrees in the south west corner. Parts of scotland having a lot of sunshine through the afternoon. Into saturday night, there will be gales and severe gales across northern england, north wales and the north midlands. We could see a spell of snow for a time. Back into cold air on sunday. Strong westerly winds with frequent snow flurries. There will be a notable wind chill. Goodbye this is bbc news, our latest headlines. Victims families demand that two members of an Islamic State execution cell should face trial. Alexanda kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are said to have taken part in the torture and killing of several hostages. A warning from the eus chief brexit negotiatior that a transition period isnt a foregone conclusion, because of continuing disagreements. The handshake of history the sister of north Koreas Kim Jong un meets the south korean president at the stunning Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Is building on brownfield sites the answer to britains housing crisis . The mayor of Greater Manchester proposes a scheme to tackle the problem. Lets return to our main story families of some of the victims of two british Islamic State jihadists, whove been captured in syria, have called for the men to face justice in court. Alexanda kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were seized by Kurdish Forces last month. Earlier the bbc spoke to diane foley, whose son, the american journalist james foley, was abducted in North Western syria in 2012, and murdered by that is cell in 2014. Ijust want i just want to express thanks to scotla nd i just want to express thanks to Scotland Yard and to our fbi for being persistent and finding these two individuals. Two of many who have inflicted such pain on not only oui have inflicted such pain on not only our hostages including my son but on the people of syria and folks within europe. I am very grateful and i really hope thatjustice can be served, that they can be held accountable to a public trial and be held accountable for all theyve inflicted on so many. Does that mean a trial as far as youre concerned, and does that mean in america . That depends on. I would love to see them come to the United States, but of course theres people suffering in the uk. I think thats up to our governments to decide where they can get a governments to decide where they can getafair governments to decide where they can get a fair trial. But i think its vital to end this impunity. Theyve gotten away with so many atrocities and human rights violations. I hope this is the beginning of that ending. If the trial was held in the us, is that something that you and yourfamily would us, is that something that you and your family would feel able to attend, that you would want to attend . Yes. I feel that is attend, that you would want to attend . Yes. I feelthat is part of. We need to make sure that justice is served and this kind of hatred is stopped. So yes, definitely. What went through your mind when you were given the news that these two had been found and had been captured . To be honest, it gave me hope that may bejohn ca ntley ca n gave me hope that may bejohn ca ntley can be gave me hope that may bejohn cantley can be found and brought home. That the american austin tice can be found. It gave me hope that this can be the end of all of this. However i know the violence continues in syria in a huge way, but i still hope this is a step in the right direction. And your son, certainly those of us on the outside think of him as being extraordinarily brave for what he was doing, for the work he was carrying out in that region. How do you think of him, how do you reflect 110w you think of him, how do you reflect now on the work that he was endeavouring to do . Jim challenges me. He challenges us to have the courage to do the next right thing. To try to make things better in the future for other courageous journalists or humanitarian workers. We desperately need their work in the world, but we need to protect them and we need to make them a priority. Jims legacy continues through the james foley legacy foundation. Jim inspires me and certainly the good british citizens who also met the same fate, they bring much inspiration to the world. Theyve brought much good in the world. So we need these great people, but we need to protect them and make sure that they have a chance to come home, so im very, very grateful for the persistence of scotla nd very grateful for the persistence of Scotland Yard and the fbi to bringing apprehending these two. Meanwhile, the scale of suffering in syria has reached unprecedented levels according to the united nations. Yesterday, the Un Security Council failed to uphold an appeal from aid officials for a month long ceasefire. The war in syria has been raging for seven years, and in that time the un say over half of the population have been forced from their homes, with many people displaced multiple times. Neighbouring countries have restricted the passage of people fleeing syria leaving thousands stranded on borders in terrible conditions. And the un also say that more than 13 Million People currently require humanitarian assistance. Earlier i spoke to panos moumzis, the uns Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for syria about the deepening crisis. During the last two months, we have seen a dramatic deterioration in several locations. Theres about 2. 9 Million People inside syria in what we call hard to reach and besieged areas. East guta for example, a suburb of damascus, its been taking place since 2013. In the last two months weve not been able to take a single convoy with humanitarian systems insight east guta pro. Due to the military operation and the bombardment, theres a number of casualties. Theres about 700 people, women, children, elderly, in urgent need of being evacuated. This area is 30 minutes drive from damascus hospitals. 22 people have died in the meantime. We are seeing extreme situations. Also in idlib close to the border with turkey where over 300,000 people have become displaced in the last six weeks. Its cold, it rains, it is muddy. It has a potential of seeing much larger numbers of people piling up much larger numbers of people piling up orfinding much larger numbers of people piling up or finding themselves right at the borders with turkey, with further impact in turkey or europe. We see a deteriorating situation which is why we are calling for humanitarian ceasefire. We need to see a ceasefire for at least a month where we will be able to bring in humanitarian systems to all the areas in need, in particular areas which are besieged and hard to reach, and to take out the medically injured people for treatment. There must be real concern about these communities. In some places you havent been able to get any aid convoysin havent been able to get any aid convoys in four months. These people are trapped between what the Syrian Forces and daesh . East guta is besieged by the government with civilians inside. There are two other areas besieged by the opposition with Government People inside. 0ur appeal is to everybody to make sure that access is allowed, that we can bring humanitarian assistance. Also what is happening is there has been a lot of targeting from planes, in idlib for example or in east guta which have hit hospitals, ambulances, health infrastructure. Protection of civilians at the moment isnt respected. According to international law, you must respect civilians where they are. In idlib 1200 schools have closed, markets have been attacked. There was an incident this week where air raids took place in a market. The people who were injured, a number were killed but those injured were taken to hospital, yet to be attacked an hour later inside the hospital. Its outrageous, its unacceptable. The British Government says the charity 0xfam must provide all the evidence it has relating to the conduct of its staff in haiti in 2011. It follows allegations in the Times Newspaper that some 0xfam aid workers regularly used prostitutes when they were on a mission to haiti after a devastating earthquake. Prostitution is illegal in haiti, and the use of sex workers banned by the charitys code of conduct. Can the uk build the houses it needs without developing on the green belt . There have long been calls to build new homes on brownfield sites first that is, land thats been used for construction before and may be contaminated by chemicals but they are often less attractive to developers. In Greater Manchester, where there have been numerous protests against green belt development, the mayor has announced hell use his powers to encourage building on brownfield sites. But is it the answer . Our home editor mark easton reports. Could the old mill towns of Greater Manchester hold the answer to the housing crisis . Places like stalybridge, where the Industrial Revolution took root along the banks of the river tain. Instead of building on precious green belt, why not use brownfield sites in struggling town centres . Greater manchesters mayor, andy burnham, was elected on a promise to protect the green belt and now plans to promote brownfield hotspots in six rundown towns. We have had an approach where it has been developer led greenfield first, because it has been easier for developers to go over there and i am saying, no, lets come back to our town centres, breathe new life into them and build higher Density Residential Development there. Among sites identified in stalybridge, the former police station, an old pub, the pineapple inn and what was once a local shop. The plan is to turn these plots into luxury flats aimed at Young Professionals who can afford market prices. Some are already under construction, build to rent apartments with a coffee shop and gym, friends style loft living on the site of what was once an 18th century woollen mill. Jasmine and josh will be moving in this summer. It is our first home together, so. This is the perfect thing. It is brand new, it is modern, it is a big step for us. And we are really excited. In some cases, Housing Associations will sell the luxury homes and use the profits for Building Social and Affordable Homes elsewhere. Not everyone is convinced. I will believe it when i see it. At the end of the day, it is basically a slap in the face. I mean, on average, they want about 600 pounds per calendar month, i am on half that. Working class mill town, no one can afford things like that. The focus on brownfield sites is politically popular, but Small Projects in rundown town centres are not going to be that attractive to investors and even if every scrap of land was used to its full potential, the brownfield Land Register shows there is not nearly enough of it to fulfil Greater Manchesters housing needs. The brownfield register has identified a number of sites in stalybridge and almost 1250 in Greater Manchester, which could be used for housing, with a Maximum Capacity ofjust over 100,000 homes. But, Greater Manchester needs more than 227,000 homes to meet demand. Brownfield does not even get halfway there. Are you not deluding people, though, who believe that we can solve the housing crisis simply using brownfield . You cant and i would accept that. This is not about saying, no, we will never build on anywhere green again, but it is about saying, look, start with our towns, so that we minimise the take from the green belt. There are controversial plans to build homes on sidebottom fold, green belt on the edge of stalybridge, but when it comes to the general claim that brown should be the new green, here, as in elsewhere, the numbers do not quite add up. Mark easton, bbc news, stalybridge. He was the star who greeted visitors to the Natural History museum in london for over a century, but last year the skeleton cast of dippy the dinosaur was removed from the museums Entrance Hall to make way for hope the blue whale. Now dippy is on the road, visiting all four home nations. His first stop until may is the Dorset County Museum in dorchester. Duncan kennedy reports. Its ta ken about 150 million years. Dippy is here. I think were in business . And five days to bring dippy the dinosaur to dorset. 0k, dippys 292 bones may be made out of plaster, but this iconic replica of a real diplodocus is still palaeontology perfection right up to his head. Hurray a nice moment. It was touch and go as to whether it would fit in, but its absolutely perfect, so im happy. Dippy has been called the peoples dinosaur, 105 feet of prehistoric inspiration. Wow no wonder these slightly younger visitors were wowed today. Whats the best bit about him . His tail, because it can whack people around. Whats so great about dippy . That hes ginormous. Hes massive, isnt he . Dippy was in the Natural History museum since 1905, but the museum decided it was time for change and to reconstruct him outside london. Now that he is assembled he is embarking on a huge nationwide tour of england, scotland and wales. They reckon that over the course of the next three years about five Million People will engage with this project. And where better for dippys first stop than dorsetsJurassic Coast . If dippy was going to choose to go somewhere hed probably want to choose to come the Jurassic Coast to find out all about the fossils and all the other creatures living in what is now the British Isles at around the time that he was roaming what is now wyoming in america. Wherever dippy goes, it will be free to see him. A chance for older visitors to relive childhood memories, and for younger ones to create some