Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

Messages of support for former wales rugby captain, gareth thomas, who has revealed he is hiv positive saying he wants to help reduce the stigma around the condition. And in sport australia struggle chasing 399, as england look to level the ashes. The liberal democrats say they will cancel brexit altogether if they form the next government. Theyve voted at their annual conference in bournmouth to revoke article 50 the legislation which allows the uk to leave the eu without having a referendum first. Party leaderjo swinson says voters must be give the chance to stop what she called the brexit chaos. Our Political Correspondent Jonathan Blakes report from bournemouth contains flash photography. Pro europe and proud, the liberal democrats are clear they want to stop brexit. The question for members here this weekend is how. So far, its been all about another referendum. But the party leader wants to go further and campaign to pull the plug on leaving the eu if it wins a general election. The policy that we are debating at Conference Today is very clear. If the liberal democrats at the next election win a majority, if people put into government as a majority government the stop brexit party, then, stopping brexit is exactly what people will get. Yes, we will revoke article 50. Its an easy sell to most members here who see stopping brexit as their mission. We will put an end there and then to the brexit nightmare that is dragging the whole country down, and tearing us apart. But there is some uneasiness at overturning the result of a referendum without putting the question to the public again. If we end up in a coalition it could happen we arent going to be pushing through revoking article 50. I mean, i hope well get a peoples vote, but i dont want to be in a position again where the liberal democrats have promised something and done something else. I think theres a real danger of that with revoking article 50. Life is not bad for lib dems right now. Record membership, signs from opinion polls and the european elections that their anti brexit message is winning them support. And yet another mp from elsewhere coming on board. The former conservative sam gyimah, who briefly ran for the tory leadership, is the latest to jump ship, but he represents a safe conservative seat in surrey. Winning there as a lib dem will be tough. He wasnt the only star turn here last night. The european parliaments brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt flew in from brussels to give the lib dems some love. And then what . Do you. Although the liberal democrats are at odds with the referendum result to leave the eu, they seem determined to turn that to their advantage and go further than ever their stop brexit stance. Lets go live to our Political Correspondent Jonathan Blake whos at the conference. No surprises really . No, not really. An easy sell to the liberal Democrat Party faithful, the policy of if the liberal democrats were to win a majority in the general election they would revoke article 50 and Council Brexit altogether, without holding a further referendum might cancel brexit. It was overwhelmingly carried by Party Members after a debate in the conference hall. There were some dissenting voices and as you can hear it is a popular policy especially with protesters here in bournemouth. There were voices suggesting it would allow the liberal democrats to be seen as extreme and a promise that the party could not deliver and also opened it up could not deliver and also opened it up to criticism that it was being anti democratic. But they knew liberal democrat leaders intention is to set them as far apart as possible from the labour party and others in terms of their brexit policy as far as they can in being the party of remain. Now the policy has been, the liberal democrats m essa 9 es has been, the liberal democrats messages simple. If you vote for them, they will stop brexit outright. When they return to parliament along with other mps, they may have criticism for this, a party with democrat in its name could be described as being anti democratic but they clearly feel it is the way to go. We heard earlierfrom jo swinson, feel it is the way to go. We heard earlier from jo swinson, she feel it is the way to go. We heard earlierfrom jo swinson, she is expected to speak later this afternoon. We are waiting for that. What can we expect to hear from her . It will be a friendly crowd, she is hosting a question and answer session here this afternoon. That is something the Party Members get the chance to do to quiz Party Leaders every year. I am sure she will be asked about the move. And, whether it is the right policy for the liberal democrats to adopt. So far she has set out her reasons for adopting the policy along the lines of if people vote for a party with a clear stop brexit message, that is what people get. If the liberal democrats are elected into government. In answer to the question they will be overturning the result of the referendum without asking the public again in a further referendum, she clearly believes the party will have a mandate to do that. There will be questions on other areas of policy as well, the liberal democrats have been talking about education, universal and equal marriage across the uk, eliminating plastic waste, may be other areas of policy will come up as well but brexit is the defining issue of the party conference, as it will be for labour. And conservatives and others, gathering ahead of what they expect to be a general Election Campaign before the end of the year. The liberal democrats are gearing up for a fight and trying to make the most of the fact that their party policy is at odds with the decision taken in the 2016 referendum to leave the eu. Jonathan blake in bournemouth, thank you. Asjonathan was saying. And well be going back to bournemouth later in this half hour when the Party Leader Jo Swinson will be answering questions fro the audience stay with us for that. David cameron has accused Prime Minister borisjohnson of not believing in brexit when hejoined the leave campaign in the run up to the referendum. An an extract from the former Prime Ministers memoir, published in the sunday times, says mrjohnson backed leave because it would help his political career. Heres our Political Correspondent peter saull. Johnson how do you do . Cameron are we going to do blue team . Do you want to go in goal or upfront . Ill go here. They once stood side by side. Two men with similar backgrounds, both in high office, playing for the same team. That was until the eu referendum. As his memoirs serialised in the sunday times testify, the then Prime Minister tried to persuade his old chum to back remain. David cameron writes this, the conclusion i am left with is he risked an outcome he did not believe in because it would help his political career. You could not accuse us of being anti european. Nor little englanders. There have long been questions about what motivated the poster boy of brexit. But is he really a true believer in the cause . His cabinet colleagues certainly think so. Remain would have been the easier career choice, borisjohnson led the campaign because he believes in brexit and is committed to delivering it. David cameron is disappointed with borisjohnson, but with other brexiteers, hes not pulling any punches. On michael gove, he writes. Michael gove, the liberal minded, carefully considered conservative intellectual, had become a foam flecked faragist, warning that the entire turkish population was about to come to britain. But today, michael gove was keeping his feelings to himself. He has accused you of being a faragist, of becoming a populist. How do you feel about that . Others, too, are in the firing line. David cameron says he was most shocked by claims from the then employment minister, now home secretary, priti patel. I was a minister in David Camerons government, it was a privilege to serve in that government, and i enjoyed working with him and many of my colleagues. Obviously, the referendum has happened, we have all moved on and the fact is we are now working to deliver that referendum mandate. That is so important. There is no point going over the past. More than three years after he resigned, David Cameron has broken his silence at a crucial time for both brexit and number tens current incumbent. Peter saull, bbc news. Iran has dismissed claims by the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, that it was responsible for two drone attacks on major oil plants in saudi arabia. Houthi rebels in neighbouring yemen had said they carried them out in revenge for saudi arabias Bombing Campaign against them. The attacks have badly hit the saudis Oil Production capacity and led to the a selling off of shares in Oil Companies on the Stock Exchange there this morning. Nina nanji reports. An increasingly bitter war of words between iran and the United States over who is to blame for the attacks on the heart of saudi arabias economy. The saudis say half of their Oil Production has been knocked out after drone strikes on two oilfacilities. Houthi rebels in yemen say they were behind the attacks. But the us secretary of state dismissed this, saying there was no evidence the drones came from yemen. In a tweet, he said that tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on saudi arabia, while irans president rouhani and foreign minister zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy. Iran immediately hit back, scathing of trump administrations methods. Foreign media reports say the attacks could have a Significant Impact on world oil prices. The strikes hit the abqaiq and khurais Oil Processing plants, run by state owned aramco one of the worlds biggest Oil Companies. The smoke visible from space, caught by a nasa satellite. Khurais produces around 1 of the worlds oil, and abqaiq is capable of processing 7 of global supply. Even a brief or partial disruption could affect the company and the oil supply given their size. Nina nanji, bbc news. Police have fired tear gas and water cannon, to disperse pro democracy protesters whove gathered in central hong kong, as three months of demonstrations show no sign of ending. Activists threw petrol bombs, built barricades and damaged a subway station. Tens of thousands of people joined the protest, even though it had been banned. Our reporter, nick beake, sent this update from the very noisy protests. This is the 15th consecutive weekend of protests in hong kong. Look at this. If you thought things were dying down, theyre simply not. This is the main government headquarters here and you can see a hardcore of protesters all dressed in black. They are attacking it once again wth bricks, with molotov cocktails. The police have been responding with tear gas. And this is what happens. We have seen it time and again. There was a big rally early on with lots of families involved that was very peaceful, but then it descends into this. You get the feeling this will go on for a few more hours to come as they continue to attack the police, who so far have been holding back. The clear up operation is continuing, after parts of Southern Spain experienced some of the heaviest rainfall on record. Six people have lost their lives. The spanish Prime Minister, on a visit to the area, promised to do everything he could to help those affected. Simonjones reports. We will now return to bournemouth where the leader of the liberal democrats, jo swinson, is hosting a question and answer session. We have had a numberof question and answer session. We have had a number of questions in, i will move through them at some pace. What i will do is ask the question and invite jo to answer and take supplementary questions from the floor on the same kind of topic that has arisen. We will get through as many as we can. Our has arisen. We will get through as many as we can. Our first question is from lisa smart appraisal grove and she asks this. David cameron said that some people will never forgive him for calling the referendum, do you forgive him . |j think referendum, do you forgive him . think there are quite a lot of people in that category in this hall right now no, i dont forgive David Cameron for calling the referendum. I think so much of the problems that we are facing right now stem from David Camerons shocking misjudgement in putting the interests of the conservative party ahead of the national interest. He did that when he first announced his plan for a referendum, he did that once he won the majority in 2015 and fast tracked the referendum. He did that when there was a campaign of a short space of time and it is a pattern that we have seen since by conservative Prime Ministers. All of this has been about how the conservative party could be held together on the issue of europe, when it is the future of our country thatis when it is the future of our country that is at stake. And whether that is people who are facing losing theirjobs or it is the impact of theirjobs or it is the impact of the falling pound, or people worried about what will happen to their Public Services with 5000 fewer nurses from other eu countries, with the people who are fellow european citizens from the other eu 27, 3 million of them living in our country, living with uncertainty. In an environment where we have seen a spike in hate crime. People like alexandra who made a powerful speech earlier today on so many grounds. David cameron cannot be forgiven. Jo, thank you. This question gives rise to brexit obviously, lets take some questions from the floor. There are some rolling microphones, please raise your hand if you would like to ask a question. Anyone want to ask something about brexit . A gentleman at the front, lets take two to start. In the middle of the first block of the microphone is available. The gentleman with his hand up in front of me there. I will come after that. Hand up in front of me there. I will come after that. We will see who comes afterwards, ask your question first. Revoking article 50, making that a liberal democrat policy in the next general election, there was some concern about how that may affect the people who did vote to leave, what specific policy actions do the liberal democrats have or will they develop to try and build those bridges. I will they develop to try and build those bridges. Lam will they develop to try and build those bridges. I am gary burke, from medway. And another question on brexit . Right at the back. Thank you. What is your name and local party . I you. What is your name and local party . Lam you. What is your name and local party . I am Gerry Robinson from ludgrove. Ive not been in the liberal democrats long and this is my first conference. It is eye opening. My tutor once said to me years ago that if you really believe in something, no matter how difficult it is, you will make it happen. Lets just assume we difficult it is, you will make it happen. Letsjust assume we are going to stop brexit, so the question for you, jo, is. We stop it. What is our position when we are remaining in the eu . Surely we should be up there with the leave countries reforming it . Shaping and driving it forward . Absolutely. And thank you very much for those questions, jeremy, welcome to the liberal democrats. You are among friends here. Clapping in terms of the leave voters that gary mentioned, there is no doubt that our country is in a very divided place at the moment. And i sure that we are all concerned about that. I think we cannot bridge the divide by lacking clarity on our position. We must be straightforward and honest about our strong belief that our best future is within the European Union, and that we set that out very clearly. I recognise that there will be people who genuinely disagree with that but i find that many of them at least appreciate how we are straightforward about our position. It is also important that we are very clear that people can ta ke we are very clear that people can take a different view to us, that does not make them bad people. People can genuinely believe that leaving the eu is going to be good for the country. We can say why we disagree with that but i believe it is possible to conduct debate in a culture of respect and a way in which we can meet people with arguments in a constructive fashion. Then, i think it is about digging underneath. What lay behind that vote . Underneath. What lay behind that vote . One cross on a ballot paper, millions of people taking part, that isa millions of people taking part, that is a complex set of factors. No doubt about it. But, we do know that for many people, for far too doubt about it. But, we do know that for many people, forfar too many people, life has been tough. They feel that if they work hard, there is no guarantee that they will get on. That is the fundamental failure of our social contract, that i believe we need to address. We do have strong policies for that. We have strong policies for that. We have passed some and debated them at this conference here this week. So, having that communication about those wider issues, and indeed we do that at a national level. The liberal democrats are doing this across the country at a local level too. Yes, many people are worried about brexit but they also care about brexit but they also care about their local schools and health services, and what is happening to local transport. Liberal Democrat Councils and councillors are delivering for local communities day m, delivering for local communities day in, day out. Right across the country. So, we then come to the issue of stopping brexit. Jeremy is absolutely spot on, that if you believe in something, you can make it happen. I think that is about us as liberal democrats. We have believed from the beginning that this is a fight that we must carry on, because we can win it. And, the future European Union . Of course, we wa nt to future European Union . Of course, we want to reform that European Union. There is a whole range of ways in which this can be done from the regularjaunt to which this can be done from the regular jaunt to strasbourg, which this can be done from the regularjaunt to strasbourg, and i think in terms of how we can connect more easily with people about what the European Union does. I think the population now, given the debate in the last three years since the referendum, has much more exposure to the types of things the eu does. I also think if we find ourselves in that position, where we have stopped brexit, that there will be a big chunk of the population who are keen, already keen, for the government to get on with making their lives better, with the big issues that have not been addressed, whether it is the technological revolution or the changes it creates Committee Peoples jobs, and revolution or the changes it creates Committee Peoplesjobs, and looking ahead to the future. Whether it is the Climate Emergency which is urgent and now and we must be acting, we must be getting so much less it will be getting so much less it will be getting so much less attention than it ought to because of brexit. Theres plenty beyond this and beyond europe. One more question on brexit before we move onto the next. There is a gentleman over there. Left hand side, shirt. Thank you. John ennis, carmarthenshire and pembrokeshire. How are you concerned that brexit will lead to a break up of the United Kingdom, possibly first through a united ireland, then spurring on to Scottish Independence and then even eventually in the last of the four nations, wales coming to the conclusion that maybe they are better out too . I thought it was interesting to hear sam, our wonderful new liberal democrat mp, sam gyimah, talking about how he sees the liberal Democrat Party how he sees the party playing to nationalism, that force of nationalism, that force of nationalism represents a threat to the United Kingdom. I am absolutely determined that we keep our United Kingdom together, because it is a partnership, it is a family of nations that has worked well and is pa rt nations that has worked well and is part of who we are. We are so much stronger together. The same arguments, the same reasons why we wa nt to arguments, the same reasons why we want to stay in the eu are the same arguments as to why we should Stay Together in our United Kingdom. If there is anything that we can learn from the brexit mess that we are in, it is breaking up is hard to do. We are talking about tearing apart a union which is a few decades old. If you think about the complexity of breaking upa you think about the complexity of breaking up a union that is hundreds of years old, it is so much more difficult and complex. I think it is the last thing that any of those nations need. But i am worried. I do not think the Prime Minister cares about the United Kingdom. He has not even bothered to go to the border in Northern Ireland and listen to communities there. I did that last month. You can read people stories and read reports, but sitting and listening to people is so powerful. There are a lot of people dismissing arguments in the debate now. Brexiteer s will say that it is project fear and scaremongering. Let me tell you, when you listen to people in Northern Ireland who live near the border and talk about the border that will be created as a physical structure if we have brexit, a hard nosed deal brexit which borisjohnson brexit, a hard nosed deal brexit which Boris Johnson is brexit, a hard nosed deal brexit which borisjohnson is going for. There is genuine fear. They are not making it up. They lived through the troubles, and are genuinely worried. It is something which was hardly discussed in 2016, and has been so dismissed by people on that side of the Brexit Debate since then. As a scot, i want a united the Brexit Debate since then. As a scot, iwant a United Kingdom together. I want the. The thought of us breaking apart fills me with dismay and i was elected on a strong promise to fight for scotlands place in the uk and the uks place in the eu. Ive made that promise to my constituents and it is a promise i intend to keep. I believe that we can save our United Kingdom and we can save our United Kingdom and we can stop brexit and we shouldnt have to choose between them. Applause jo, thank you. It is interesting that that question related to the constitution of our union, that is what the second question is about. Carl cox asks, should we have a written constitution, and when . Given the current Public Perception of politicians, is that a way forward in the Current Crisis . Yes, we should have a written constitution. Ideally, several years ago, before all of this mess it is pa rt ago, before all of this mess it is part of why we are in a position, we have this very british unwritten constitution. But, that creates confusion. And a lack of clarity. What we have seen in recent weeks creates the opportunity for an abuse of our constitution. That is what the Prime Minister has been prepared to do. Normally our unwritten constitution works on the basis of convention and on the basis that this is how things are done. And mostly, politicians, those people in positions of power, abide by that. We have now seen somebody who is prepared to Shutdown Parliament at a time of National Crisis and deep uncertainty. To do that, by sending four members of the privy council to bow moral, to place that instruction to the queen bow moral. Left with no choice but to accede to it, i think that hurts the queen in an impossible position which, a responsible Prime Minister would not have done. And to argue for this five week shutdown, in total contrast to the convention where even when a queens speech happens we talk more about five days, usually. Then, we have a government, a Prime Minister who will stand with a Prime Minister who will stand with a straight face in front of a group of Police Officers and when asked if he would obey the law that parliament has passed, basically say that he will die in a ditch rather than do so. It is dangerous times