Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At One 20240714

Against no deal. Its just been announced the house of commons will vote again on holding a general election on monday. Ill have the latest from westminster as the Prime Ministers travails get personal. And the other main stories this lunchtime. Urgent help desperately needed for over 70,000 people in the bahamas, after Hurricane Dorian devastates their homes. The biggest slavery gang ever to be prosecuted in the uk they held hundreds captive under threat of death. And Australias Steve Smith leads the charge in the second day of the fourth test at old trafford. And coming up on bbc news. Rafa nadal is the hot favourite to win the final tennis major of the year the us open. And with it, a 19th grand slam title. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one live from westminster. The tensions at the heart of government have been laid bare after borisjohnsons brother, jo, quit the government and announced hes stepping down as a conservative mp. He says hes been torn between family loyalty and the National Interest. This afternoon, the Prime Minister will accuse Jeremy Corbyn of a cowardly insult to democracy for not backing a general election. Labour have suggested that they might not agree to a poll until after the Prime Minister has been forced to agree another brexit delay. In the past few minutes, its been announced that mps will vote again on an early election on monday. It all comes as the government says a bill to stop a no deal brexit will pass through the house of lords tomorrow. 0ur Political Correspondent chris mason reports. Point at the man who is Prime Minister and you completely disagree with on brexit. This isjojohnson with on brexit. This isjojohnson with his brother, boris. He is also an mp but not for much longer. Take an mp but not for much longer. Take a look at this tweet, hes packing it in because he says he is torn between family loyalty and the National Interest. 0uch. Between family loyalty and the National Interest. Ouchi between family loyalty and the National Interest. Ouch. I knowjo and this will have been a difficult decision for him but done without malice. He did say he was putting National Interest ahead of family loyalty so that means he believes his own brother, the Prime Minister, is not acting in the best interests for this country. Every mp will have their own individual view. The collective view of our party is clear, we want to leave the European Union with or without a deal by the end of october. The big row now is when a general election happens. As soon as possible says the government, but some within labour are tempted to put it off. Give mea are tempted to put it off. Give me a date, is it in october or november . My view later rather than sooner. November . My view later rather than sooner. So after the date of the sist sooner. So after the date of the 31st of october . Possibly. Why the disagreement over timings . Some want to make the Prime Minister sweat and have to ask brussels for a delay to brexit, the very thing he has said he will not do. Others within labour say lets get on with it. Once the plan to block a no deal brexit is the law of the land. Meanwhile the government says it will try again to push for a general election. Everywhere you look at westminster, something is moving today. The other day the lib dems recruited a former conservative mp, now former labour mp Luciana Berger has signed up. We find ourselves at a moment of National Emergency those words lightly but you see whats going on around us, and we need to do Everything Possible to make sure the country when the election might come has a proper choice, and something to vote for rather than choosing between terrible options ofjohnson versus corbyn. With an election in the offing, look who else is surveying the political landscape. Nigel farage is offering a deal with Boris Johnson if the conservatives commit toa johnson if the conservatives commit to a no deal brexit but whatever happens, he says, bring it on. Prime minister who cannot come and support in parliament, he is calling for a general election and unbelievably the Labour Party Want to stop brexit and want to stop us having a vote. Whats going on in parliament right now, people are disgusted by. Westminster might look serene disgusted by. Westminster might look serene today but it feels very different. Nobody knows exactly what on earth is going to happen next. Chris mason, bbc news. Lets speak to our assistant Political Editor norman smith. I was just walking here and a member of the public came up to me and said it is just like of the public came up to me and said it isjust like cain of the public came up to me and said it is just like cain and abel. It really is personal now. We dont know what goes on in thejohnson family but most of us from our own families know that if you have a dispute you keep it in the family, you do not wash your dirty linen in public, and yet that is precisely whatjojohnson public, and yet that is precisely whatjo johnson has public, and yet that is precisely whatjojohnson has chosen to do. It is hard not to think he has done so to cause his brother maximum political damage, by both going public in this way, and the timing of his decision when his brother has suffered a series of blows over his Brexit Strategy and defeats in parliament, added to which he has raised the character question. People will think, well, if Boris Johnsons brother has doubts about him, how can we trust him . Those close to the Prime Minister say there is no animosity between the brothers. Jojohnson is a long standing remainer, passionate opponent of brexit, but it reminds you so much of the miliband brothers. Before i came here, i was looking at an old cutting and Boris Johnson was if you could ever see him andjo johnson was if you could ever see him and jo ending up like the miliband brothers, and he said no, jo would never shaft me. Thats what looks like has happened. In the last few minutes it has been announced another attempt at a vote on an election on monday. Boris johnson has clearly decided to call the bluff ofJeremy Corbyn because mr corbyn has said as soon as he gets legislation rolling out no deal he is prepared to back an early snap general election. That legislation we know is going to be through parliament by monday. Mrjohnson will bring back another vote for a general election, say to Jeremy Corbyn, right, you have got your bill, back my election. Norman, thank you. Well, meanwhile, the eus chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, is reported to have told european diplomats that negotiations with the uk are in a state of paralysis. The statement is in stark contrast with claims by the government that progress has been made. 0ur correspondent Damian Grammaticas is in brussels. They will know if there is an early election any discussions going on will stop anyway. Yes, absolutely. This is all coming from michel barnier, who was briefing both the Member States and members of the European Parliament yesterday, and we have been hearing from one of those members of the European Parliament, there Brexit Committee. He was saying basically the veal ways, from what they are hearing, they believe the uk government is not coming here in good faith, not presenting any proposals on the table, not negotiating, and he says the reason for that is their view is the reason for that is their view is the uk government is trying to create the impression negotiations are going on here while it really wa nts to are going on here while it really wants to force no deal to happen by default. This is what the green mep on the Brexit Committee said about the dog is going on here. Well, window dressing, so he must send someone to brussels to give an appearance of negotiations so that he can claim that something is going on. You know when, in biarritz, he said that the g7, that tremendous progress was achieved . He wasjust lying. I mean, no progress had been achieved, simply because the British Government has failed so far to come up with alternatives to the irish backstop that provide, of course, the same solidity as the backstop. In fact what mr lambert said was the eu view, he believes, is what would be the best thing now is for if an election is to take place, then for there to be an extension because he believes may be borisjohnsons plan is to have an election in the aftermath of that. If there is no clear outcome in the uk, the uk can tumble out by default at the end of 0ctober so he says an extension is necessary to get clarity and to have a clear outcome of the whole process. Damian grammaticas in brussels, thank you. Over the past couple of days borisjohnson has seen his narrow majority wiped out in the commons. First, former tory mp phillip lee defected to the liberal democrats, then a further 21 mps were booted out of the party after voting against the government. Christian fraser looks at how the numbers now stack up in the house of commons. So, lets take a look at the make up of the house of commons now that Boris Johnson has followed through on his threat to remove the whip from those conservatives who voted against him. It means hes gone from being a Prime Minister with a working majority of one to the leader of a minority government. The conservatives now have 288 mps. They still have the support of the ten dup mps, which means altogether there are 298 mps who would, in theory, back the government in the commons. 0n the opposite benches, there are 216 labour mps. The snp currently have 35. There are, as of today, 16 liberal democrats, there are 14 declared independents, plus five more who belong to the independent group for change. Plaid cymru have four mps and theres one green, so, in total, the opposition parties have 320 mps, 22 more than the conservatives and the dup. But, on top of that, there are now 21 conservatives who no longer have the whip and have shown themselves ready to vote against the government, which is why people are saying the government now has a majority of minus a3. Or, to put it another way, borisjohnson is 22 short of a working majority. Just in case youre keeping count, there are, of course, some other mps in the house of commons who dont vote the speaker and his deputies by convention dont vote. Sinn fein dont take their seats. But, looking at the big picture, what is clear from these benches is that with 341 mps who arent with him, the Prime Minister who promised to take back control has lost control of the commons, at least until a general election. And even that is not within his gift. Thats christian fraser. So, a dramatic week here at westminster, but what are people across the uk making of it all . And particularly young people . Leigh milner has been speaking to a group of sixth form politics students at a college in colchester. Yes, it is their first week back this week, they all study politics. What do you make of whats going on in westminster at the moment . think it is disappointing our mps and especially our Prime Minister who is leading the country are behaving in a way that makes me uncomfortable to call these people my mp5 and my Prime Minister. Boris johnson is challenging the sovereignty of parliament in my eyes. Parliament is challenging the will of the people, parliament is trying to stop brexit and Boris Johnson is trying to deliver what we asked for in 2016. I feel the way borisjohnson is going about asked for in 2016. I feel the way Boris Johnson is going about what hes doing is wrong. We will never getan hes doing is wrong. We will never get an answer from you politics student holly, you are 17 years old. If a general election is called, you wont be able to vote. How do you feel about that . called, you wont be able to vote. How do you feel about that . I would be gutted i dont get a chance to express my voice, however i feel personally that the time is right for a general election. Nobody knows what the National Interest is. That was from three years ago, the referendum, we need to find out now what the interest is. You have protested in the past, why did you protested in the past, why did you protest a nd protested in the past, why did you protest and why did you feel it was so protest and why did you feel it was so important to do that . protest and why did you feel it was so important to do that . I was at the peoples vote march and i thought it was important to express my opinion and make sure my voice was heard on issues that affect me but i cannot have a say on. Do you think it has made a difference . but i cannot have a say on. Do you think it has made a difference . I do think it has made a difference . I do think it has made a difference . I do think it has made a difference to mps in parliament who have stood up for what they clearly believe when they wouldnt have done so before. Do you think we need more young people in politics . Definitely, it is important for young people to stand up and have their say on what will affect them for the rest of their lives. How easy has this been for you to follow . It has been difficult but we talk about it in lessons, we catch each other up, but times are changing so rapidly that you just have to keep watching the news. Have you guys got class this afternoon . All right, more come on. We will leave these guys to go to class. A lot will be happening in the next couple of days in terms of brexit, stay tuned. Another legal challenge to Boris Johnsons decision to suspend parliament is being heard, this time at the high court in london. Its being led by the campaigner gina miller and is being supported by the former Prime Minister, sirjohn major. 0ur Legal Correspondent Clive Coleman is at the high court. Talk us through it. This challenge centres on whether the advice given by borisjohnson to the queen to Prorogue Parliament for five weeks, the longest in a0 years, was lawful, forgina the longest in a0 years, was lawful, for gina miller, in court this morning, it was argued this was an unlawful breach of power, because it breached the lawful principle of parliamentary sovereignty because it had the effect of shutting down parliament for that critical five weeks in the lead up to the 31st of 0ctober, meaning that mps could not enact legislation, could not react to offers from the eu, and so forth. Lord pannick said that it was critical for the rule of law that a Prime Minister did not have u nfettered Prime Minister did not have unfettered discretion, in other words, total freedom, to unfettered discretion, in other words, totalfreedom, to suspend parliament, otherwise an autocratic Prime Minister could do that for six months, for a year. He pointed to a handwritten memo from the Prime Minister which refer to the september sitting of parliament as a rigmarole. To illustrate the fact that he said the Prime Minister did not understand the constitutional significance of pa rliaments not understand the constitutional significance of parliaments roll over the next five weeks. The government lawyers have just got onto their feet, they will be arguing that this is not a proper matter for the courts to decide at all, and we will hear more from them this afternoon. Much more coverage here from westminster throughout the afternoon on the bbc news channel. And you can also follow all the Political Developments on the bbc news website and app. Boris johnsons love borisjohnsons love of latin is well known, he might now be thinking, et tu, brother . For now, back to reeta in the studio. The top story this lunchtime borisjohnson is dealt a major blow as his own brother quits as a government minister and consevative mp, saying hes torn between family and the National Interest. And coming up, myth of the monster, a possible new explanation for sightings of nessie. Coming up on bbc news england make an early breakthrough on the second day of the fourth ashes test against australia, can they stop the visitors from building a big first innings lead at old trafford . The United Nations says 72,000 people in the bahamas are in immediate need of food, shelter and medical aid in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian. Twenty people are known to have died, but that figure is expected to rise. In the us, north and South Carolina are being lashed by 100 mile an hour winds and by torrential rain, as the strengthening storm nears the coast. The National Hurricane centre has issued warnings of life threatening rises in sea levels. Richard galpin has the latest. The relief effort is ramping up, this is the United States coast guard, coming into the worst affected area, the islands which bore the brunt of Hurricane Dorian. The devastation he continues for mile after mile. Homes, shops, a hospital, and the port, all damaged or destroyed. Many who were injured in the winds of 200 mph and the rapid storm surges are being flown to the capital nassau for treatment. This is what the hurricane did to the home of ramon. With his mother had had to run from their car into the house when the storm hit. He also saw his neighbors house lifted up by the winds. My island is finished. Everything is gone. No banks, no stores, no nothing. Itll take at least four to five years to complete only myjob. I dont know how long it takes for the rest of the island but nothing is here. Nothing at all. Everything is gone. Just bodies. A british ship the rfa mounts bay is also helping with the relief effort getting urgently needed supplies including shelter and hygiene kits to the tens of thousands of people on the abacha islands who now have nothing. The needs are great, from clean water to medicines and generators. But while the situation here is dire, theres better news about the neighboring island of grand bahama and its main city freeport which also lay on the hurricanes path. As we moved into the freeport area, i can report that the flooding had recedee and most homes in grand bahama appeared to have received minor damage free i can report that the flooding had receded and most homes in grand bahama appeared to have received minor damage. Freeport, infrastructurally, had done well. For those caught up in this disaster. One of the most traumatic parts has been losing contact with family members and friends. These are the lucky ones reunited but there are many people who are missing. And meanwhile people on the east coast of the United States are bracing themselves as Hurricane Dorian moves into the area. There are warnings of hurricane conditions and life threatening storm surges. Richard galpin bbc news. 0ur correspondent gary 0donoghue is in charleston. Conditions where you are already look very rough. Yes, the storm is about 70 mph south east of where i am in charleston, it is coming ever closer, due to pass by in the next few hours, also expecting a foot of rain, here, in the next few hours, and that, combined with a high tide early this afternoon is causing real concern about significant flooding in what is a low lying area anyway. 185,000 people in South Carolina and georgia without power, as we speak, several hundred thousand did evacuate, but a lot of people did stay as well, they are bracing themselves for some serious flooding right along this coast. There is a chance, still, that the hurricane could make land and with winds of 115 mph, combined with that rain, that could prove devastating, either here, orfurther up that could prove devastating, either here, or further up the coast. 0rganised criminal networks are bringing thousands of slaves into the uk, according to West Midlands police who recently prosecuted eight members of the biggest slavery gang ever to be caught in the uk. The gang held hundreds of people captive and threatened to kill them if they tried to escape. The bbcs panorama followed the police for two years as they worked to bring down the gang. Simonjones reports. Five men and three women were jailed earlier this year, following the uks biggest ever modern slavery prosecution. They are believed to have enslaved hundreds of desperate and vulnerable people. Some of their victims have waived their lifelong right to anonymity, so they can share their experience. Translation people need to know that in the 21st century, people can be used for money and treated like animals. That story needs to be told. The evidence, given by more than 60 victims in court, was crucial to the prosecution, led by top anti slavery barrister and government adviser, caroline hockey you see. It is the largest case in britain ever, being tried under the modern slavery act, and it is taking down a very large organised crime group and gouging out its heart. The slaves were living in overcrowded and squalid conditions. Translation it was like we were animals, it was terrible conditions, we slept on mattresses that were possibly dragged from the street, just like that, on the floor. The slave going lewd victims to the uk with promises of free travel, accommodation and jobs paying £300 a week. Lured. That did not happen. The gang, called by operation fault, will be behind bars for years, but police do not believe they have solved the problem. Operation fort. It is a crime in plain sight, it is everywhere, we probably touch, receive, by something that has gone through the victims of Human Trafficking every day. Do you think you will ever be free of it . Translation i hope so. But it is stuck in my mind. I would love to just put an end to this. An end to just put an end to this. An end to the Human Trafficking. The slaves who testified in court, may now be physically free, but they cannot escape the memory of what happened to them. And you can watch the full panorama special, the hunt for britains slave gangs, on bbc one tonight at 9pm, and 11. 30pm in scotland. You can also watch it via the iplayer. The Us State Department has confirmed it offered millions of dollars in cash to the captain of an Iranian Oil Tanker if he steered the vessel to a port where it could be seized. The adrienne terrier one has changed course more than one since release by the authorities injabari gibraltar last month, american officials are concerned it could off load its cargo in syria. Its that man again. Australian star batsman steve smith has continued to frustrate englands bowlers on the second morning of the fourth ashes test at old trafford. Dubbed the best since bradman, smith missed the last match with with concussion. But clearly there were no lasting effects as he compiled yet another hundred. Andy swiss watched the action. After yesterdays rainfall, something resembling cricket whether at old trafford, but while conditions had improved, but infa nts chances . Conditions had improved, but infants chances . After a frustrating first day, the england fa ns frustrating first day, the england fans here will be desperate for some early wickets, but they know that standing in their way is a very familiar obstacle. Australias star batsmen, steve smith, and after resuming on 60, he promptly slipped through englands fingers, jofra archer spurning a difficult catch, but it was a chance and he knew it. The wait for a breakthrough went on, finally, stuart broad struck, travis head, gone, for england, sorely needed celebrations. Suddenly they we re needed celebrations. Suddenly they were causing problems, a decidedly edgy start for matthew wade, close toa edgy start for matthew wade, close to a catch but agonisingly short. Still, they could not shift smith, was this a chance . Confusion, so nearly a run out, not quite. Englands pressure paid off, wait misgiving somewhere into the stratosphere, all eyes onjoe root. Wade. And wade was gone for 16, england kept chipping away but smith would not budge, the world number one batsmen lived up to his billing, just before lunch, he completed his third century of this ashes, a remarkable feat from a remarkable talent, but for england, but will not be much consolation. The existence of the loch ness monster is one of scotlands oldest myths. Now Scientists Say the creatures behind repeated sightings could be giant eels. Researchers from new zealand have tried to catalogue all living species in the loch by extracting dna from water samples. Our correspondent Iain Macinnes is on the shores of loch ness for us. This has been a long awaited announcement, to an even longer running mystery, the First Sighting of that strange creature, in the lock here, back in the sixth century, and we are still talking about it. Loch. Today, science made myth in the search for nessie. Science met myth. Its a mystery which endures just what exactly lies beneath the murky waters of loch ness . And thats what you actually saw . Yes. From here, to the tail. It was as big as a bus. As long as a bus . The sightings of nessie stretch back hundreds of years, but as yet, no definitive explanation has been found. A team of scientists, led by new zealands otago university, has been testing water samples and collecting environmental dna from all forms of life in the loch, including plants, insects, fish and mammals. You basically take a litre or two of water, and you filter it out and then, in the stuff that is filtered out will be dna, and using that dna, you can then sequence it, and on the basis of the sequence identify the types of organisms that are present in the water. This morning, the worlds media gathered at the loch site to hear exactly what they had found. This idea of a giant extinct reptile, well, we did not find any reptilian dna, so we dont think that sounds very plausible based on the samples and the analysis that we have undertaken. And we also went looking for another idea, which is a giant eel. Well, we dont know if the eel is a giant or not, but we certainly found an awful lot of eel dna, i guess more than we expected. But one long time nessie hunter is unconvinced by todays news. Eels in loch ness . Personally, i think a 12 year old boy could tell you that. There could be some massive eels in there. That could be the explanation. But, to say, we have found evidence of eels, is like saying we have found evidence of fish in a scottish loch. Well done the sense of mystery here at the loch, though, remains. More than 20 of the dna found was unidentified, meaning the search for nessie goes on. Scientists say that they are not disappointed with what they have found, they say they have achieved their goal, nessie was used as bait to get people talking about environmental dna and science and they certainly did that. But they did leave the door open to the possibility that there was something out there. Princess charlotte has begun her first day at school. The four year old arrived at Thomass Battersea in south west london, with her parents the duke and duchess of cambridge, and her brother, prince george. Prince william told reporters his daughter was very excited about her first day. Time for a look at the weather. Back to school this week, weather turning colder, we have some sunshine around today, not as windy as it was yesterday, and four southern parts of england and south wales, likely to stay dry as well with some sunshine. High pressure to the south west, and around the top, we have these weather fronts bringing in the cloud, first weather front is quite weak but it brings cloud into northern parts of the uk, you can see northern parts of the uk, you can see that a little bit earlier on in aberdeenshire, also seeing some patchy rain and showers pushing across eastern parts of scotland, one or two across eastern parts of scotland, one or two showers across eastern parts of scotland, one or two showers east across northern england, perhaps the north midlands