Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At One 20240714

It is not a political question. Also on the programme this lunchtime. Four people have been arrested on suspicion of murdering Police Officer Andrew Harper who was killed while investigating a burglary. Wanted more nurses. Figures reveal the rise in hospital nurses in england has been dwarfed by a jump in the number of patients. Going the distance after a gruelling 5a hours sarah thomas becomes the first person to swim across the English Channel four times in a row. Well, hopefully, i can sleep the rest of the day. I am really out of it and tired right now for sure. Later in the hour on the bbc news channel the latest reports, results and interviews and features for the bbc sports centre. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. In one of the most dramatic days of the brexit drama 11 Supreme Court judges have begun hearing to appeals to determine whether the Prime Minister acted unlawfully when he suspended parliament. Scotlands highest civil court and the high court in london have given different rulings on the shutdown. The Prime Minister says he will wait and see what the judges say before deciding whether to recall parliament. Lets have a look at how this week will pan out. This morning the Supreme Court has heard from the appellants for campaigner gina miller, who had lost her case. This afternoon it will be the appellants for the scottish case, where its highest court found mr johnsons actions unlawful. Tomorrow, its the turn of the respondents the uk government in the gina miller case and advocate general. And on thursday there will be interventions from former Prime Minister sirjohn major, whose lawyers will makes his submission to the Supreme Court. Lets go to ben brown who is at the Supreme Court. Demonstrators from both sides of the brexit divide are here outside the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. The decision made by the ii judges here could have profound implications legally, constitutionally and politically. This morning the court heard claims that borisjohnson sees parliament as an obstacle and potential threat, and he suspended it in order to silence it. Richard lister reports. The suspension of parliament by a new government is usually a routine affair, but not last week. As conservatives filed out to shouts of shame on you, the opposition stayed in their seats, convinced parliament was being denied its voice on the eve of brexit. Thousands of pages of legal arguments were brought to the Supreme Court so the justices could consider whether the proroguing of parliament was done lawfully. The businesswoman gina miller believes it was not but she was asked, is it right for the courts to intervene . If it is an overarching power yes. She is appealing the ruling at the high court that judges she is appealing the ruling at the high court thatjudges should not get involved because the suspension of parliament is a political decision. But in edinburgh, the court of session ruled unanimously this was an issue for the court and said borisjohnson this was an issue for the court and said Boris Johnson misled this was an issue for the court and said borisjohnson misled the queen by not telling her his real reason for ending the session was to stymie parliamentary scrutiny of government action, in other words to stop mps blocking brexit. The court said the Prime Ministers advised to the queen and the prorogation was unlawful. Now the Supreme Court will have to decide which ruling was correct. It is important to emphasise we are not concerned with the wider political issues that form the wider political issues that form the context of this legal issue. As will be apparent when we hear the legal arguments the determination of this legal issue will not determine when and how the United Kingdom leaves the european union. Good morning. The court heard first from those arguing the Prime Minister had abused his power. The executive to use a prerogative power to seek to evade control by parliament stands the basic principles of constitutional law. On their head. And where he asked was the Prime Ministers justification for suspending parliament for five weeks . It is we say a remarkable feature of these proceedings that the Prime Minister has not made a witness statement. Outside the language has been less measured but when asked whether he would abide by the final decision of the Supreme Court the Prime Minister was noncommittal. I have the greatest respect with the judiciary and the independence of the judiciary is admired around the world. The best thing i can say is to wait and see what they say. Government lawyers will speak later. This uneasy balance between court, government, parliament and people is under fierce scrutiny. Lets look more closely at the political implications of what is going on here with norman smith at westminster. If the judges find the Prime Minister acted unlawfully, how damaging is that what would he do . The short answer, we do not know what mrjohnson will do. It was discussed at cabinet today but we do not know if he would recall parliament or whether recall parliament or whether recall parliament and then suspended again. What we do know is the stakes are enormous for mrjohnson because were he to lose, symbolically, in terms of the standing, it would be the first time in modern history a Prime Minister had beenjudged to have misled parliament. It would almost certainly prompt contempt of Parliament Proceedings against him by mps seeking to secure more documents to prove he lied and to prove he lied to the queen, which in turn would refuel demands that he should quit. There would be fresh pressure on him to disclose more details about his brexit negotiating strategy, about his planning for no deal. It would make it harderfor him to defy mps a second time as he has threatened to do over this bill backbenchers past seeking to block a no deal brexit. Those around mr johnson are confident they are going to win. They say this is a matter for the politicians, not forjudges. Surely the one thing we have learned about Boris Johnsons premiership surely the one thing we have learned about borisjohnsons premiership is to expect the unexpected, prepare to be dumbfounded because frankly the normal political rule book seems to have gone out the window. Norman, thank you. Norman smith. How will the Supreme Court hearings exactly work and what are the legal implications . Our Legal Correspondent Clive Coleman has been taking a look. A Prime Minister accused of misleading the queen and undermining parliament. Its all ended up here at the highest court in the land. Two contradictory rulings have been appealed. One from the scottish courts, which ruled that the Prime Ministers advised to the queen to prorogue or suspend parliament for five weeks was unlawful, and one from the high court in london, which ruled that the entire matter, the proroguing of parliament, was political and not a matter for the courts at all. Its not really like the kind of criminal court you see in tv dramas. There are no witnesses, juries or cross examination. Its all more like an academic seminar with brilliant lawyers arguing points of law in front of some of the best legal minds in the country. There are 12 justices, but they normally sit here in panels of five, seven, nine. But, for this case on the suspension of parliament, for only the second time ever, they are sitting as 11, so that no one can say, well, if there had been a different panel, it would have been a different result. The Prime Minister said the suspension of parliament was needed to prepare a queens speech setting out a new government agenda. The businesswoman gina miller argues it was to silence parliament during critical weeks in the lead up to brexit. This is where the government lawyers appealing the decision from the scottish courts will seek to persuade the justices that the proroguing of parliament is really a matter of politics and not one for the court to interfere with at all. At the end of this case, the justices sitting here will give a definitive ruling on whether the advice given by the Prime Minister to the queen to suspend parliament for five weeks was unlawful or not. And that will determine whether parliament can sit again in the days leading up to the 14th of october, when the suspension was due to be lifted, and during that period, therefore, whether they can legislate and consider brexit issues. Well our correspondent Dominic Casciani is with me. He has been inside the Supreme Court listening to the proceedings. The 11 judges i suppose exploring the grey area between politics and the law. The atmosphere in court is very calm, despite the size of the constitutional question, in contrast to this atmosphere out here where we have seen Shami Chakrabarti being accused of some of being a traitor. Inside because it comes down to who is supreme to the Prime Minister or polymer . The qc for gina miller effectively says that either by his intention or the effect, the Prime Minister has silenced parliament and its ability to scrutinise the executive and that is a huge breach of the uk constitution. The great big invisible elephant in the room as the Prime Minister himself because we learned this morning he has not prepared a witness statement for the ii justices explaining why he advised the queen the way he did. Lord pannick for gina miller says in the absence of that witness statement, it speaks volumes and shows the Prime Minister was trying to hide what he was really up to. Thank you. There will be three days of hearings at the Supreme Court. In front of the ii justices, eight men and three women. We may have to wait until next week to get their judgment. Simon. The trial has got under way of four people accused of murdering girl scoutjodie chesney. The 17 year old was fatally stabbed while playing music in a park with friends in east london in march. Danjohnson is at the old bailey. What happened in court today . The prosecution has onlyjust started outlining its case in front of the jury. Thejury was outlining its case in front of the jury. The jury was told jody szczes ny was jury. The jury was told jody szczesny was sat in the park on a friday night in early march with a group of friends, they have been listening to music and smoking cannabis. The prosecutors said out of the blue, two men ran across the field towards the park and one jumped the fence and came through a gate and walked up tojodie and without a word, a knife was plunged into her back. Despite the efforts of her friends and neighbours into her back. Despite the efforts of herfriends and neighbours near the park, despite the fact paramedics, police and ambulance we re paramedics, police and ambulance were on the scene quickly, she could not be saved. The prosecution says there were four defendants involved, too stayed in the car that dropped off the two who went across the field. Two men involved are Manuel Petrovic who is 20 and 19 year old svenson ong a kwie. There is a 16 and 17 year old young man involved who we cannot name because of their ages. The prosecutor told thejury in his beliefjodie was a blameless individual who was caught up in a quarrel between drug dealers. He said it was the terrible but predictable consequence of an all too casual approach to the carrying and using of knives. Jodies family we re and using of knives. Jodies family were in court, in tears listening to this detail. It will be a long case and thejury this detail. It will be a long case and the jury is warned to expect evidence for six to eight weeks. A 21 year old man has been arrested along with three teenagers who have been re arrested over the death of pc Andrew Harper. The Police Officer died after he was dragged along a road by a vehicle in sulhamstead in berkshire last month. Another man, 20 year old jed foster from burghfield has already appeared in court having been charged with murder. Patient safety is at risk because of a shortage of nurses in england thats according to a new study. The Royal College of nursing found that the number of patients admitted to hospitals has grown nearly three times faster than the workforce. Its calling on the government to follow scotland and wales in safe staffing laws as katharine da costa reports. Understaffed and overworked, a new campaign plans to highlight what the Nursing Union calls a national crisis. Every week, short staffing affects how we work on the ward, the ca re we can affects how we work on the ward, the care we can give and puts extra pressure on staff who are trying their best, but eventually it can ta ke their best, but eventually it can take a toll and affect the quality of care. 11 blank cutouts to represent the ii vacancy rate, a shortfall of nearly 40,000 nurses. In fact, the number of nurses working in hospitals in england has increased by nearly 10,000 over the last five years, but the figure is dwarfed by the jump last five years, but the figure is dwarfed by thejump in last five years, but the figure is dwarfed by the jump in the last five years, but the figure is dwarfed by thejump in the number of patients, up by 1. 5 million, meaning admissions are rising nearly three times faster. The royal of nursing is calling for £1 billion of investment to boost student numbers and a new law for england. We need regulation and legislation to make specific people and organisations accountable for the situation, whether that be the secretary of state for the numbers in the system, or down to a local employer for making sure there is enough nursing staff per shift each day. But the Nuffield Trust think tank says introducing new laws does not go far enough. The nhs needs to do more to recruit more nurses, we think the nhs needs to increase the number of nurses we train within the uk by about 5000 every year, and we also think we need to be able to recruit around 5000 overseas nurses every year, on top of doing more work to retain the nurses we already have. The government says Patient Safety is paramount and all hospitals are already required by law to have the right staff in the right place. It says it is already providing more training, flexibility and pay rises to help recruit and retain a dedicated workforce. It is just after quarter past one. Our top story this lunchtime high drama at the Supreme Court, as judges decide whether Boris Johnson acted unlawfully when he suspended parliament for five weeks. Coming up. England cricketer ben stokes hits back at the Sun Newspaper accusing them of despicable behaviour disguised as journalism in a front page story about his family. Netballs about his family. New competition, the nations netballs new competition, the nations league, is due to take place with england back in action in home soil. The french authorities have begun evacuating around 1,000 migrants from a camp on the outskirts of dunkirk, to try to reduce the number of people trying to reach the uk illegally. Record numbers are making the dangerous journey in small boats across the channel, the worlds busiest shipping lane. Last week 86 migrants were picked up by rescue services in a single day day. Our correspondent Lesley Ashmall has sent this report from the camp. The Police Arrived before dawn and migrants were told to pack up their belongings and leave the place some have called home for months. They have hardly had anything here. Makeshift tents, open fires to cook on, but they saw it as a gateway to britain. People smugglers often operated here, trying to persuade them onto their boats. Families and Young Children were the first to board the buses, taking them to immigration centres all around france. Translation it is a tough day because we are dealing with the towns entire refugee population. We are notjust shutting down a sports hall, this place is home to 250 people, plus nearly a thousand more in the surrounding area. They have been living in really dire conditions. It will take much of the day to clear this camp. About 700 people, mostly from iraq, had been living here in the most basic conditions, but even though they are being moved on today, most say they will be back. They are determined to reach britain. My family paid. We dont know this. Because my family is in the uk. We have to. We dont have any choice. I want to go to uk because good country. How will you try to go . I will try for truck and boat, all. But no chance. We want to go to uk. We dont want to stay here. We dont have a life here. Some of them want to cross and think they will have a better life in the uk because their community or their families are there. Some of them are not aware they could cross legally and some of them are just not aware they could apply for asylum here in france. The clearance comes after a Record Number of migrants have reached the uk in small boats and dinghies this summer. 29 arrived yesterday. Last week, 86 arrived in one day. The french authorities hope todays actions will reduce that, at least in the short term. Lesley ashmall, bbc news. Leslie from radio 5 live, with that reported. An average of 74 men, women and children were killed every day in afghanistan throughout august. A bbc team has attempted to record every instance of conflict related death in the country for the last month. Our chief International Correspondent lyse doucet is in kabulfor us now. 74 days . The numbers are just staggering, simon. 74 each day . Many viewers will think, i did not know that was happening in afghanistan. You will remember after the september 11 attacks, it was just about 18 years ago, afghanistan never left the headlines, and now it only reaches the headlines when there is a spectacular attack, and sadly there are too many. But when bbc teams across the country recorded the daily casualty figures across afghanistan, we realised people were dying every single day in afghanistan. Every single day in afghanistan there is an attack somewhere. When we added up the figures, the staggering reality is when you add up the casualty figures for august they are more than the casualty figures. And yemen combined, two other wars we report on often on the bbc, making afghanistan the deadliest conflict in the world, a title no country would want. What makes it particularly agonising for afghans is this comes at a time when there has never been more talk of peace, the state said the taliban were on the state said the taliban were on the brink of a deal and afghan talks we re the brink of a deal and afghan talks were soon to start, but all afghans are getting is even more war. Thank you, leads to site. Victims of stalking, harassment and child Sexual Offences in england and wales will be able to challenge sentences they regard as soft under changes announced by the government. I4 offences are being added to the unduly lenient sentence scheme, which allows anyone to seek a review of a punishment if they think it should be tougher. Last year, nearly 100 sentences were increased as a result of the scheme. A medicine used to treat men with enlarged prostates may also slow down the progress of parkinsons disease. Israelis are voting in their second election in five months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a a Coalition Government earlier this year. Mr netanyahu has made hardline promises in the lead up to the vote including a pledge to annex part of the occupied west bank. His main challenger is the centrist blue and white party led by former military chief benny gantz. England cricketer ben stokes has hit out at the Sun Newspaper over a front page story in todays edition about his private life. With us now is david sillito. He is clearly very angry . Absolutely, anyone who saw the sun this morning would have seen his face on the front cover, the great ashes hero. However, the story is not about ben stokes, it is about his mother, a family tragedy going back more than 30 years. If you want to know how he feels, he issued a statement, i will reduce of it. Today the sun has seen fit to publish extremely painful, sensitive and personal details concerning events in the private lives of my family going back more than 31 yea rs. Family going back more than 31 years. It is hard to find words to adequately describe such low and despicable behaviour described as journalism. He described it as immoral, heartless, contemptuous of the feelings of his family that will have grave and lifelong consequences for his mother. This story goes back before he was even born. The response from the sun, certainly no apology, they are not saying sorry. A statement says the sun has the utmost sympathy for ben stokes and his mother but it is only right to point out the story was told with the cooperation of a family member. They say the tragedy as a matter of Public Record and they are at the sun has huge admiration for ben stokes and we were delighted to celebrate his sporting heroics this summer. The statement from ben stokes was issued on twitter this morning, if you want to take that as a barometer of Public Opinion it is pretty clear that most people are behind ben stokes and very angry about the sun. Thank you, david silitto. The new liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, will promise to revoke article 50 and stop brexit immediately if her party wins the next general election. In her speech at the partys annual conference in bournemouth this afternoon, shell present herself as a candidate for Prime Minister. Jonathan blake is there. She feels she is on a high at the moment . Yes, this is undoubtedly a big moment forjo swinson, herfirst speech to the liberal democrat conference as party leader, and she will present itself, as you say, as a candidate for Prime Minister. She will talk about relishing the prospect of taking on the forces of nationalism and populism in the shape of the other party leaders, jeremy corbyn, borisjohnson and nigel farage. She will promise to deliver the lib dems new policy of revoking article 50, cancelling brexit outright on day one in government. They will only do that if they win a general election, if not, they will campaign for a further referendum. There will be a direct appeal to scottish voters to reject the snp and join a bigger fight across the uk to cancel brexit. Expectations are high, with new mps coming on board to the lib dems, speculation that could be more before the conference finishes. But she will have to appeal to the public as well as her party. Thank you, jonathan. Swimming the English Channel once is no mean feat but a cancer survivor has become the first person to swim the English Channel four times nonstop. 37 year old sarah thomas from colorado began the epicjourney in the early hours of sunday, and completed the challenge this morning after 54 hours and ten minutes in the water. Robert hall is in sandgate in kent for us now. When matthew wade, the first man to swim across the switch of water, struggled sitejo assured, struggled sitejo assured, struggled ashore, nobody imagined somebody could do it four times. When sarah came ashore she could not quite believe it. It was a remarkable combination of personal stamina and determination, but as john stamina and determination, but as jothonathan stamina and determination, but as John Jonathan reports, sarah stamina and determination, but as jothonathan reports, sarah was a woman animation. As John Donaldson asJohn Donaldson reports, sarah was a woman on a mission. In the early others of monday morning, sarah thomas set off on her aquatic odyssey. To swim the channel once its hard enough, four times in a row, unheard of until now. Today, after 54 hours and ten minutes, she staggered out of the water, finally back on dry land. Sara, you must feel ecstatic . I feel a little sick. Iam not feel ecstatic . I feel a little sick. I am not surprised, but you are still eating. Exhausted and in need of chocolate, she described crawling ashore. I was reallyjust putting them, there were lots of people on them, there were lots of people on the beach wishing me well, that was really nice of them but i feel mostly stand right now, i cant believe we did it. Her achievement more remarkable given sarah had treatment for breast cancerjust last year. So how is she feeling . |j am last year. So how is she feeling . am really tired and losing my voice from all the saltwater. My crew was really great about helping me out and helping me stay strong. I knew what to expect from the currents and the weather and the cold, i was very prepared for the amount of time i was going to be in the water. That was going to be in the water. That was a long time. As the crow flies, the four legs of herjourney was a long time. As the crow flies, the four legs of her journey would total 84 miles, but pushed off course by strong tides and currents, she swam more than 130. It really was inspirational. She pushed the boundaries of insurance way, way, way beyond the normal limits. It could not have been physical, it must have been just a sheer act of will. She pushed the boundaries of endurance. Sarah thomas, an experienced endurance athlete, said she used swimming to cope with Cancer Treatment and dedicated her record breaking achievement to other survivors. Sarah, her mum and support team are taking it easy not too far from where we are on the seafront at sandgate. Nobody really knows what effect the swim will have on her, mentally and physically, that what is certain is she has won praise from around the world. One tweet from around the world. One tweet from endurance swimmer lewis pugh, who swam the length of the channel, he says, extraordinary, amazing, superhuman. Just when we think we have reached the limit of human endurance, somebody shatters the record. Studio thank you, robert hall. We are all on a high, louise . Orat hall. We are all on a high, louise . Or at least under one . Lots of dry, settled, sunny weather