Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At One 20240714

Shocked thomas cook staff have been leaving the compa nys shops for the last time 9,000 jobs in the uk could go. It is deeply distressing to me that it has not been possible to save one of the most loved brands in travel. Well have the latest from our correspondents at thomas cook destinations and analysing why the firm collapsed. Also this lunchtime. Labour promises a four day working week with no loss of pay, but the party faces a showdown over its brexit divisions. Wales thrash georgia in their first game of the Rugby World Cup. And harry, meghan and archie touch in south africa for their first overseas tour as a family. And coming up on bbc news, essex and somerset go head to head in crickets county championship as the domestic game boils down to a thrilling climax. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. Its called 0peration matterhorn and its the biggest Peacetime Operation to repatriate britons stranded abroad after the collapse of thomas cook. The Civil Aviation authority has chartered a fleet of jets to bring home more than 150,000 british holidaymakers. Thomas cook britains oldest package tour company went into compulsory liquidation at two oclock this morning. Its collapse puts at risk 22,000 jobs around the world, 9,000 of them here in the uk. Our Business Correspondent Simon Gompertz reports. Flying back for the last time, the final thomas cook flights are bringing home holiday makers early today. The passengers lucky enough today. The passengers lucky enough to get on these being brought by staff expecting to lose theirjobs. As soon as we landed, they were all crying. It is devastating, it is a legacy that has gone. As i say, i worked for them for ten years and i got loads of friends who, it is their livelihood, it is tragic. Emotional, very emotional. The cabin ciew emotional, very emotional. The cabin crew were all crying. A bit sombre, to be honest. For a company that big to be honest. For a company that big to be honest. For a company that big to be going that long, to be going down, it is devastating. Thomas cooks planes are now stuck on the ground, impounded as part of the liquidation. Most not available to help with the rescue after frantic negotiations to win extra backing failed early this morning. It is deeply distressing to me that it has not been possible to save one of the most loved brands in travel. People we re most loved brands in travel. People were still turning up at uk airports, only to find their holiday is cancelled. If they brought bought a package, they will get a refu nd bought a package, they will get a refund but the money might not be enough or arrive in time to book something else. This is the scene that greeted travellers at manchester. Not much good if it is your honeymoon. We are absolutely gutted, we have looked forward to this for a long time. Had the wedding injuly, this for a long time. Had the wedding in july, so this for a long time. Had the wedding injuly, so its been another couple of months waiting for this. Yeah, absolutely, just totally gutted. I had a bit of a sixth sense at two oclock this morning, got up and checked the website and that is when it hit the fan, basically. The shops are closed today. That is more than 500 of them, so real gaps on the high streets and the people who work in shops like this make up a big share of the 9,000 or sojobs and livelihoods which are affected by the collapse. In nottingham, they came in to be told the grim news. Then the door was locked for the last time. One family in pathos felt abandoned by the company. Thomas cook has not paid the hotel yet, they have warned us they have not been paid. We are left in the dark, there is no thomas cook representative helping or anything like that as they have just walked out. No contact. Now the emergency effort to get people back. This is new york last night, and this is minorca today. Passengers who bought just a flight and not a package will be included for free, just a flight and not a package will be included forfree, but just a flight and not a package will be included for free, but not if they return it after the 6th of 0ctober. They return it after the 6th of october. We have got about 40 aircraft we brought in from around the world and we will, over the next two weeks, run about 1,000 flights. This covers 18 countries and 55 airports. With thomas cooks planes 110w airports. With thomas cooks planes now out of the picture, the first rescue flights provided by easyjet, ba, virgin and other carriers are due in soon. It is a massive evacuation. The aim, to get the holiday makers back, then count the cost. Simon gompertz, bbc news. Thomas cook founded his travel Company Almost two centuries ago, offering short railwayjourneys in the east midlands for a shilling. His company went on to become one of the biggest names in the travel industry, with millions of customers every year. Now its collapsed with debts of £1. 7 billion. So, what went wrong . Emma simpson reports. Venice, a popular holiday destination, even back in 1898. And in the corner of this famous square, there is thomas cook, already doing business. And the shop front there in the background survived the war yea rs in the background survived the war years too. Go to place for travel. And then came the boom, large numbers of brits started to have enough money to go abroad and thomas cook rode the wave. Dontjust book it, thomas cook it. Becoming one of the worlds best known holiday brands, opening hundreds of high street shops. It merged with the owner of this brand in 2007 to create a european travel giant, but its finances soon became stretched. Thomas cook was a business with a huge amount of debt, it almost went bustin huge amount of debt, it almost went bust in 2011 and it has not had the Financial Resilience to weather the huge changes in the market, with a low caste curry is coming along, people booking online rather than through traditional high street agents and more recent factors, we have had brexit, Consumer Confidence has been knocked, weather conditions, all sorts going on and it has added up to a perfect storm for thomas cook. By may this year, the warning lights were flashing, thomas cook slumping to a 1 5p loss. Last month, a £900 million rescue plan was hatched. It planned to sell large parts of its business to its largest shareholder, Chinese Company fosun and then a last minute demand from the banks for 200 million to keep it going. That went up to 250 million over the weekend. The government was as for help but it seems it would only have been a temporary fix. There were real systemic problems there that we felt that if money was put into it, which is not something the government would normally do for a travel company, we would end up with it back and spending more money to repatriate people back and spending more money to re patriate people so back and spending more money to repatriate people so it wasnt a goer. The government is now looking into how thomas cook collapsed and how it was managed. Executives were paid more than £20 million in bonuses over the last five years. The fallout looks set to be enormous. But who knows what the future will bring . Emma simpson, bbc news. So more than 150,000 british thomas cook holidaymakers are facing an anxious wait to find out how and when theyll get home. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee is in palma, mallorca, one of the companys most popular destinations. Holiday over, now the problems start for passengers arriving at Palma Airport, unsure of how theyll get home. The yellow jacketed Civil Aviation authority and Foreign Office staff man the isles to offer reassurance but cant offer an easy solution of how to get back to the uk. Well, this is 0peration matterhorn in action on the ground at Palma Airport. What were being told is that 1,500 uk passengers are trying to get back today. They will be returning today, were told, not necessarily to the airport they flew out from. Weve been told so far, as far as we know, were going to manchester at 7 40pm this evening, so weve got quite a long day ahead of us. Were going to birmingham, which is a bit of a kick, but were going to get home, so its not the end of world. Where is home . Glasgow. We understand now we are flying to manchester at 7 40pm tonight and then theres a bus to newcastle. Theyve told us we are going to birmingham and then a coach trip for six hours from birmingham up to glasgow. I mean, its really not suitable at all for me. With my disabilities and that, sitting for, like, 12 hours. Part of the departures terminal is now a waiting room for those left here by the collapse. The staff at thomas cook are working, too, maintaining professionalism despite losing theirjobs. And there is another concern, not just for the thousands of thomas cook travellers here and still in the middle of their holidays, but also for those reliant on the money from thomas cooks once reliable income. Well, this is the main thomas cook run hotel in palma and were being told by staff everything is ok, but the management wont speak to us. And if you look, theyve got security here for the first time. Theyre quite nervous. This is one of a number of hotels that we understand are waiting still to be paid in arrears from thomas cook and in the meantime, they re still having to look after the customers, too. Reception dont know whats happening, theyjust said, yes, the hotel is open at the moment. We just feel like at any moment, we feel like we are vulnerable and we could be asked to leave. Back at Palma Airport, only one scheduled flight has left for the uk so far. The rest are due to leave tonight. Its calm here. Contemplation for a once loved airline for later, for now, contemplation for the loss of a once loved airline for later, for now, the priority is on getting home. And gavin is in palma now. It looks pretty edie league where you are right now, but a nightmare for many thomas cook customers there it looks pretty idyllic. This scene is illustrative of the Bigger Picture and the impact thomas cook will have on this island and the rest of the balearics and the canary islands. We are a stones throw from Palma Airport and this beach, there are dozens of hotels affiliated with thomas cook all around here and as you heard me say, it is sometimes 69 you heard me say, it is sometimes 6 9 weeks that hotels get paid in arrears from thomas cook and the reality from officials we have been speaking to, this whole beach now, at this time of year, it would be half the population it is. It is only because there are so many people on thomas cook packages, 3. 6 million every year and over 3 million every year and over 3 million to the islands alone. Authorities in spain are calling this the single biggest tourism disaster that this country will ever face, and that gives you a bigger sense of the Ripple Effect here. There is one head of tourism for the island saying the government will need to come up with £800 million to actually prop up what will be a huge loss in hotel starting to disappear, so that gives a sense of the scale. Meanwhile, the immediate focus is on getting those from the airport tonight, people on these beaches right now and staying for a couple of weeks, he will have to follow as a part of operation matterhorn to get them home. Gavin, thank you very much. Our Business Correspondent Simon Gompertz is here. We heard in gavins report, some people not being told they are not what is going on and what is the advice to thomas cook customers . Lets ta ke advice to thomas cook customers . Lets take those on holiday at the moment and according to 0peration matterhorn, which is backed by the atol guarantee that you have a package holidays, if you are on a package holidays, if you are on a package then you would be brought back on a plane roughly at the same time as was originally intended but it is likely to be a different plane, so that is ok. You will probably be worried about your hotel stay because of what gavin was outlining, but that should be paid for and if there is a problem, then you should get in touch with the Civil Aviation authority to try to sort it out. Now, the difficulty is with people who have bought a flight only deal, they have only paid for the flight and are not covered by the flight and are not covered by the package travel regulations. They will be brought back over the next couple of weeks as part of this operation but, after this time, from and including 0ctober operation but, after this time, from and including october the 7th, then they wont be covered and it will be up they wont be covered and it will be up to them to fall back on their travel insurance or the Credit Card Company to make a claim against them. Now, for the people here who have got a booking and that is perhaps as many as a million, they are also covered by the package travel regulations, they should get their money back. It may not be in time to get an alternative booking, it might not be for 60 days, we are told and those who have got flight only deals are faced with trying to get their money back from elsewhere. Simon, thank you. Labour has promised to reduce the average working week to 32 hours with no loss of pay, if it wins power. The shadow chancellor also told delegates at the Party Conference he would ban zero hours contracts. It comes as the partys leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is facing a revolt over his brexit strategy. Nick eardley reports. Cani can i ask you to behave with respect to our members and our conference . Canjeremy to our members and our conference . Can Jeremy Corbyn to our members and our conference . CanJeremy Corbyn control his party . 0n brexit, possibly not. He wants to stay neutral until after a general election but some members and key unions are trying to force his hand. Are you confident the party will back you want brexit . He might not be in control of the destination soon. Labour delegates will decide whether to backJeremy Corbyn or pledged to campaign to stay in the european union. Some key figures back remain and, this morning, a big Union Supporter broke ra nks morning, a big Union Supporter broke ranks to say it would, too. There are very different views in the party. Surely if you have negotiations, you dont determine your position beforehand, you wait to see what is negotiated and the deal on the table, the devil that is in the detail, and then you would make that decision. That is the rational way forward. Having to decide to be ambiguous now would be a mistake, frankly. The one argument used tojustify it is a mistake, frankly. The one argument used to justify it is to say when you negotiate with the eu, you have to be ambiguous. That is not true. Jeremy corbyn has pledged to go along with what members decide but losing a key policy is not what the leadership wants. Jeremy corbyn has been trying to keep everyone on site and some have run out of patience. Labour would much rather be talking about its plans for power. The shadow chancellor is pledging big changes to the economy, like a shorter working week. Their next Labour Government will reduce the average full working week to 32 hours within the next decade. It will be a shorter working week with iio will be a shorter working week with no loss of pay. And a pledge to spend £6 billion a year providing free personal care to over 65s in england. Expensive policies but labour says tax will pay for it. But the road to power is complicated. Jeremy corbyn needs to keep his own party on side and the last few days have shown that is often not easy. Nick eardley, bbc news. A 20 year old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two Police Officers were hit by a car in west sussex. The officers had been carrying out a routine drugs check in littlehampton when they and another man were deliberately struck. All three people are being treated in hospital for their injuries which are not said to be life threatening. The time is 1 17pm. Our top story this lunchtime. A huge operation to bring home 150,000 british holiday makers after thomas cook goes bust. And coming up the trauma suffered by witnesses of knife crime. Coming up on bbc news, wales are off to a flying start at the Rugby World Cup against georgia. They are looking to make a dominant start in their pool. The United Nations says more than 70 Million People were forced from their homes through war, violence and persecution last year. In the second of his series on the displaced people of the world, our correpsondent ashleyjohn baptsite reports now from uganda which has one of the biggest refugee populations on earth. This is naomi, shes a refugee who fled civil war in south sudan in 2016. Translation when i look back home, i know i am now free because theres no sound of guns. Naomi now lives in bidi bidi, in uganda, one of the most unusual refugee camps in the world. Spanning 250 square kilometres, its home to around 230,000 south sudanese refugees. And it wants to become its very own city. This is your land . Yeah. Like all refugees in rural parts of uganda, naomi has been given a plot of land to build and farm on. It offers some stability after a troubled past. After a troubling past. Translation in the night, people would come and knock on your door. And when you opened the door, theyd cut you with a knife, slaughter you and go. Naomis brother was killed in front of her. She managed to escape with her husband and children. Uganda is renowned for its refugee friendly policies. As well as getting land, refugees are allowed to work, set up businesses and move freely around the country. In the bidi bidi settlement, you have markets. Now, whats really interesting about these markets is that the locals do business with the refugees. Singing. Translation this part of the marketplace is given to us and we also pay for it. Most of the goods you see, we buy them from the ugandans and resell them for a small profit. Local ugandans actually lobbied the government to have a refugee settlement built and the land was all donated by private individuals. This is our second or third time of requesting refugees here. When war broke out in our place here, we also went to their place, so receiving them is not bad. Today, uganda has the largest refugee population in all of africa and the Third Largest globally. The country has been widely praised for supporting so many refugees, but the government has recently begun to vet refugees much more rigorously, because of security concerns. And the numbers mean bidi bidi still faces challenges. How often do they come for food . They come every month. Most refugees still rely on food hand outs to survive and funding targets havent been met. For naomi, competition over resources presents another problem. Translation here, where were collecting now is safe. But when we cross over there, the Host Community hear us chopping, then they come and start chasing us. No one who lives or works in bidi bidi would claim its perfect, but uganda is offering a semblance of normal life for refugees like naomi and herfamily. Ashleyjohn baptiste, bbc news. Here there are calls for more to be done to support young people who witness Violent Crime. A charity in london claims hundreds of children suffer trauma as a result of what theyve seen on the capitals streets and are themselves at risk of being lured into gangs. Stephaine thomas from a group of volunteers called peace in the streets has been investigating for us. Ive lived in hackney all my life. Its a wonderful place to live. Its an area deeply affected by knife crime. And, as a mother, its very concerning. Scenes like this are all too common here and across the capital. When it comes to Violent Crime, theres lots of help for grieving relatives, and rightly so, but what about the young bystanders to knife and gun crime . Three years ago, when she was just 16, jades life was turned upside down. My ex boyfriend at the time, he got involved in a fight, and at that point, things just went from one extreme to another. It was like knives just got pulled out of, like, bags. And in the corner, my friend was literally, like, bleeding, like, he had loads of stab wounds and stuff and i didnt realise it was that bad until he actually, like, fell in my arms. I dont think i got a lot of support with mentally understanding, like, what happened. Jades friend was pronounced dead a few hours later. No child who has witnessed such tragedy should end up as isolated as jade was. How are we going to manage that . Its the main reason i set up peace in the streets. Its a collective of individuals and businesses dedicated to helping kids whose lives have been damaged by Violent Crime. Caleb spent much of his childhood on a south london estate, on the fringes of a gang he never really signed up to. The violence he experienced left him scarred. Seeing someone getting stabbed, it was another day kind of thing, it would be a shock, but at the same time, its like life moves. Now, looking back to it, ive seen the effect its had on people. A lot of people from the area have ptsd. I know the effect it has on me. There is growing evidence that child witnesses of Violent Crime are at risk of becoming the perpetrators of violence themselves. The mindset is, take one of mine and im going to take one of yours. It definitely causes perpetual violence. A lot of young people dont want to be living the lifestyle theyre living, but they feel like theyre forced to live it. Caleb avoided the cycle of brutality and chose a different path. Our support is aimed at actually supporting survivors, going into schools, helping children. They get depressed, they stop planning. Most of the young boys i speak to tell you if they live to 18 and 21, thats. Its a big deal now. Recently, the ministry ofjustice announced a trial project that will provide free specialist support to children who witness serious violence. Im pleased that the government is finally acknowledging and supporting these hidden victims but my experiences show that much more needs to be done. You can see more of Stephanie Thomas report on inside out tonight, on bbc one in london and everywhere else on the bbc iplayer. At the Rugby World Cup, wales have defeated georgia 43 14 in their opening match in pool d. They have gone level at the top of the group with australia, who are wales next opponents in the tournament on sunday. From toyota city, our Sports Correspondent Katie Gornall reports. In japan, the railways are an institution. In wales, rugby is like a religion and these fans making their pilgrimage to the world cup were letting the train take the strain. They arrived here, as they seem to do at every tournament, brimming with confidence and national pride. These wales fans have enjoyed a smootherjourney here than their team. Its been a difficult build up for Warren Gatlands side after assistant rob howley was sent home for allegedly breaking rugbys betting laws, but this is wales most experienced team yet in a world cup and its unlikely to knock them off course. With a record equalling 129 caps, alun wynjones is well versed in harnessing the passion of an occasion like this and, after two minutes, the welsh fans were singing again. Jonathan davies allowed to saunter over the line. Dan biggar usually finishes these in his sleep, but he would have plenty of chances to make amends, as georgia were sent one way, then the next. Justin tipuric with the second. Wales a well oiled machine. A third try followed before Liam Williams secured a bonus point with a flourish before half time. Georgia 29 points down at the break. Georgias strength is in their pack, but only in the second half did they show it, with a textbook drive to cut wales lead. It proved to be no more than a consolation, as wales wrestled back control. Warren gatlands side are up and running, a step closer to the prize they crave more than anything else. Katy gornall, bbc news in toyota. All this week, the bbcs we are stoke on trent series is focusing on stories from there, hearing what matters to people in the city, and bringing those issues to a wider audience. The stories will be reported across television and radio and on digital. 0ur correspondent becky wood is there. Becky. Welcome to stoke on trent city centre, this is handling and this is where the bbc is facing it for the next five days. Theres loads going on, this is a huge bbc project, we are stoke on trent and we want to hear the stories that matter to this community at a time when brexit is dominating the headlines. It is fair to say that some parts of the community feel they dont often get the story is told they would like to hear across the National News and local news. Ive grown up in this city and there is often a perception that sandwiched between manchester in the north and birmingham in the south, we dont quite get the representation we deserve. We are quite often in the headlines for stories like brexit, as i mentioned, poverty and the drug, monkey dust which is hitting the headlines more and more. We spoke to some people about that and how they feel that as representing them but behind them in this pod, you can give your story ideas, we want to hear the stories that matter to the people that live in this city. 0ne that matter to the people that live in this city. One area that is co nsta ntly in this city. One area that is constantly coming up at the moment is the work that charities are doing, the micro charities that dont often make the National Headlines but do outstanding work in the community. You can hear more on that across our digital platforms and a bit later in the news with me. That is an area we have heard about a lot today. Already 200 e mails have been sent into us you can follow us bbcwearestoke on trent and get involved, we want to hear from you. Thank you. The duke and duchess of sussex have arrived in Southern Africa with their four month old son archie. Its their First Official tour as a family. During the trip, prince harry will pay tribute to his mother princess dianas campaign against landmines. The tour starts in cape town, and from there our royal correspondent, Nick Witchell reports. Cheering and applause. They have some ground to make up. The goodwill after their wedding has been dissipated somewhat in recent months by a series of missteps. Negative stories about private jet flights, a badly handled birth announcement for baby archie, a large bill for the renovation of their new home in windsor, and rumours of a falling out with the cambridges. All in all, the visit to Southern Africa gives the sussexes a chance to re establish their credentials. The tour began a short time ago in a township. Its one of the oldest black townships in cape town with one of the highest murder rates in south africa. After the first few daysin south africa. After the first few days in cape town to harry will set off alone to botswana, angola and malawi. Itll be a chance for him to highlight some of the issues in which he has a particular interest. Harry will follow in his late mother dianas that stepped in and go the way he will be shown the work done to deal with landmines. It was one of the last causes taken up by diana before her death. Then in malawi he will see the efforts being made towards the combating of big game poaching efforts are supported by the british military. Back to johannesburg for the final few days of the visit with meghan and four month old baby archie. Will he make an appearance at any point . The sussexis make an appearance at any point . The sussex is officials are unable to say. Nicholas witchell, bbc news, cape town. Time for a look at the weather. Heres stav. Good afternoon, it is the autumn equinox and it will feel pretty autumnal as we head through this week. Unsettled thanks to low pressure that will always be anchored to the west of the uk. A big difference to last week, the sunny and dry conditions thanks to higher pressure. This is the area of low pressure which will bring us the first batch of wind and rain as the day wears