Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

Of a difficult week to come from the catastrophic bushfire threat to sydney and surrounding areas. Three people are known to have lost their lives. Voters in spain return to the polls for the countrys fourth general election in as many years. And find out how your vote could affect the planets future, in new show this matters. Thats in half an hour. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. The conservatives have claimed labour would cause an economic crisis within months of winning the general election. The tories say a Jeremy Corbyn led government would spend over a trillion pounds in office. Labour has dismissed the figure as an absolute work of fiction. Heres our Political Correspondent helen catt. Labour has said it wants to spend big, if it wins this election, to bring about what it calls a programme of radical change. But the conservatives are keen to suggest it would spend too much recklessly so. Theyve calculated what they are calling the cost of corbyn £1. 2 trillion. Speaking to andrew marr, the chancellor of the exchequer defended how the party had done its maths. Every single costing in this dossier, that we have published today, has either come from labours own figures most of them actually over 50 of the costings are from labours own figures, the rest of them have either come from independent external sources, and in some cases, yes, we have had to work them out ourselves, but we have done that in a reasonable way and weve set out exactly in the document how weve done this. But, while labour is on the road campaigning, like the other parties, it hasnt yet published its manifesto for this election, so the tories cant know exactly which policies will make it in. Theyve included £35 billion for abolishing private schools, which labour conference voted for, but which may find its way into the manifesto in a different form. The £196 billion figure theyve used to renationalise Industries Like the railways has already been criticised. And the calculations assume that all policies including things like a four day working week at a cost of £85 billion would come in immediately. This is an absolute work of fiction by the conservatives. You cant trust a word that johnson and his ministers say on this issue. We will have a fully costed manifesto, in due course, when we launch that. And, you know, the challenge is actually for the conservatives to fully cost their own manifesto, something they didnt do in 2017. The tories have also said they would increase spending, although by less than labour. Its a bit as if you had come to me ten years ago and taken my raincoat away, and ive spent ten years cold and wet, and then youve tapped me on the shoulder now and said, great news, ive found you a raincoat. Well, lets. Its worth recalling, back in 2010, where our economy was. We just had gone through the deepest recession in almost 100 years. We had a budget deficit that was equal to 10 of gdp, the highest of any industrialised economy. So whats going on . Jeremy corbyn and his party do have some big spending pledges but until all the parties final offerings are clear, the costs can only be guesswork. Helen catt, bbc news. And i asked helen what we really know about the various parties Spending Plans. Until we get those manifestos over the course of the next few weeeks, we are not going to get the full picture. What we can say with certainty is that both labour and the conservatives are planning to spend more. They are both pledging to spend more. We also know labour is planning to spend more than the conservatives, we know that both those parties intend to do it, at least in part, by more borrowing, take advantage of historically low, historic low borrowing rates. So that is what we can say for certain. Once you get into scale, thats when it becomes more uncertain. At the moment, the liberal democrats have said they think that these manifesto pledges should end up being independently assessed. They are suggesting labour, the conservatives and themselves should submit their manifestos to the office for budget responsibility, which is an independent body funded by the treasury which comes up with economic forecasting, so they can be independently assessed and scrutinised so the public can be confident that flagship policies can be delivered. Because that is what it is all about, when we talk about costings etc, it is are the promises being made to the voter realistically able to be delivered and what is the impact if they are . We talked a bit about this, on friday talking about crossrail being further delayed, the difficulty in saying we will spend, for example John Mcdonnell said, a big commitment in infrastructure, we will spend money on infrastructure, but actually that depends on getting the right skills and the right people to come and do the work and all the rest of it, which has proved difficult, so you can promise to spend money but the money might. That might only be one part of it. The money is very big part of it and it sets out whether your base programme is feasible, but you are right, when it comes to actually delivering some of these policies, there are more factors that become apparent, once whichever party who wins gets into government. This is an unusual day of the campaign, because it is remembrance sunday, by convention they do not campaign and apart from first thing in the morning interviews we have heard very little from the parties, a relief for people watching and listening possibly, during the course of the campaign, what sort of week has it been . How has it panned out this week . It has been fairly frenetic. If you think about it, we are only five days into the official campaign, although it seems that it has going on for a very long time. This time last week, parliament was still sitting, it was not dissolved until tuesday night, wednesday morning, so we have onlyjust started the campaign proper. We have already seen launches from a number of parties, an absolute slew of pledges and promises, that will only continue over the next few weeks and probably ramp up more as we move towards the 12th of december polling date. We still dont actually know who is standing in these elections because nominations have not closed yet. I will try and remember the date, i think it will be the 14th of november nominations must be in. So we have seen again in recent days a lot of stories about different candidates and that is because, because this is a snap general election, a lot of places candidates where are not in place so they had to select them quickly, all parties quite quickly. Some of those were still being selected last night. So it is ongoing and we will not have the full picture until the final lists are in unpublished in november. And if you find some of the language used during the election is confusing, log on to the bbc website, and youll find an election jargon buster, to translate those political terms in to plain english. The royal family and senior politicians have joined military veterans and religious leaders at the cenotaph in Central London to remember the fallen in conflicts over the last two centuries. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. It is that morning of the year when we pause, when the matters which seem so pressing on other days, are set in a broader perspective. As the nation comes together, to remember those who lost their lives in the world wars, and other more recent conflicts. The leaders of the main Political Parties took their places at the cenotaph, with their wreaths of red poppies. Watching from a balcony, her majesty the queen with the duchess of cornwall and the duchess of cambridge. The prince of wales led the other principal members of the royal family to their positions, in front of the cenotaphs northern face, in readiness for the National Two Minute Silence at 11 oclock. Big ben chimes the hour. Music last post. After the two minute silence, the prince of wales placed the queens wreath at the cenotaph, in tribute to all those from britain and the commonwealth, who lost their lives in the service of their country. Wreaths were also laid by the dukes of york, sussex and cambridge. And then, after the official wreath laying by political leaders, military chiefs and high commissioners, it was the turn of the former servicemen and women who attend the parade, year after year. They come with their own memories of colleagues who were lost in war. Nicholas witchell, bbc news. As part of the commemorations, a spectacular 750,000 poppies cascaded over the white cliffs of dover. They were carried in a Second World War dakota, dropped from an altitude of 500 feet over the battle of britain memorial. Five veterans, including former raf servicemen, were on board the aircraft. The poppies were all purchased from Royal British legion for nearly £11,000. Well, our correspondent Sarah Campbell has more on the poppy appeal and the events marking Remembrance Day at the cenotaph. A very moving ceremony. The pavements absolutely packed with people that had been here for a couple of hours, waiting to observe the two minute silence. And now you can probably hear the bands behind me. Because it is the march of the veterans. Up to 10,000 veterans, who are marching past the cenotaph, organised by the Royal British legion. And from there, i have alex 0wen. This is a really important event for veterans to be involved with, isnt it . Yeah, it is hugely important. For the veterans you see here today, but also the 6. 7 million members of the Armed Forces Community up and down the country, and this is just one event that happens in the nations capital. But in towns, villages and cities across the county, today, we will see similar things and it is really important that we come out and remember those who defended our freedom and liberty that we enjoy today. The poppy appeal, this year, what have been the themes, what is the message you are trying to emphasise this year . Anyone that saw the commemorations, down at portsmouth for d day 75 this year, will know that it has been a Pivotal Moment for the battles that took place 75 years ago, in 19114 during the Second World War, when the tide turned and our military people, our serving people, made those amazing sacrifices, alongside our commonwealth allies, to be able to bring us the freedoms we enjoy now. This year, i personally have been thinking about veterans that i spoke to recently, who fought in monte cassino. A chap called boycie who is 98 years old now, i spoke to him and he said if it wasnt for the polish soldiers that he fought shoulder to shoulder with, he would still be in monte cassino. And i think that sense of comradeship really is spread both across the generation that fought 75 years ago, and also the generation today. My troop in afghanistan, i had two fijians serving with me, i had a nigerian, a south african, i was commanded by a ghanaian, and we handed over to americans at the end of the tour. We wouldnt have been able to do that without the help of those guys. I would like to bring in Patrick Jackson from the royal yeomanry. You were here today. How important is it to come and be a part of this ceremony . And of course that are happening, all the memorials all across the country. I found it, as usual here, very poignant. There is a lot of formality to this event, and rightly so. I suppose the other memorials and ceremonies, taking place across the country that you mentioned, can be perhaps a little bit more affecting. But the two minute silence always makes one, as one should do, reflect. I suppose the main things one remembers or recalls are people, friends, who sacrificed their lives over the last campaigns. And the friends i knew but also my forebears. You were in several tours of afghanistan, so like you say, this will remind you of people you have known. Yes, it always does. I suppose during that two minutes, you probably see a sea of faces passing through ones mind. And considering what they did and the sacrifices they have made. Freedom doesnt come cheap. And every year, for these two minutes, we are reminded of that. Alex, the poppy appeal this year is asking people, is this directly aimed at young people . To put down devices for two minutes, both today and tomorrow. Is there a concern that, as the distance between the two world wars gets further away, that perhaps events like this may mean less to younger people . Im not sure that it means less. I think that tomorrow, on armistice day, it marks 100 years of us marking the end of the First World War with two minutes silence, it now means much more than that. We mark the fallen from all conflicts. But tomorrow, 100 years on, we have got that chance now to look at society and how society is acting and get them to put down those laptops, close those phones, turn off technology and just reflect for two minutes. They gave their lives, the least we can do is give them two minutes of our time. Gentlemen, thank you very much indeed. Not really a lot more to say than that, is there . Allowing people to take two minutes to reflect on the people who gave their lives in service of their country. Lord mawhinney, the conservative politician who was a prominent member of government throughout the 1980s and 1990s, has died. He was 79. A committed christian, brian mawhinney, was an mp for more than 25 years. He was a Northern Ireland minister, secretary of state for transport and conservative party chairman. Lord mawhinney was also chairman of the football league. The headlines on bbc news. The chancellor defends conservative Party Analysis of labours Spending Plans, as labour says they are a complete work of fiction. The royal family lead tributes to those who lost their lives in conflict as the uk marks remembrance sunday. The Environment Agency continues to warn theres a danger to life from high river levels in South Yorkshire, with seven severe warnings still in place. Sport now on bbc news. Hello plenty of action to bring you from this afternoons football. Not long to go now till the huge top of the table clash, in the premier league, between liverpool in one of the days earlier games, Manchester United gained a vaulable three points, with a win over brighton. Andreas perriera and a davy propper own goal put 0le Gunnar Solskjaers side two up by half time. Lewis dunk pulled one back for brighton. But united hit back straightaway, Marcus Rashford restoring their two goal advantage. The victory moves them up to 7th. Just one point behind arsenal in 6th. All eyes will be at anfield in the next few minutes, as liverpool host manchester city. A packed crowd turned out to see the city bus arrive. No ederson for the visiting side today, the goalkeeper misses out with injury, so Claudio Bravo will be in goal for pep guardiolas team. A must win game for them today, with liverpool 6 points ahead in the title race already. Wolves moved into the top half of the table for the First Time Since the opening weekend. After beating aston villa, in the West Midlands derby. It was their first victory over villa, in the top flight, since 1978. Jim lumsden reports. Apologies, there we go. Unbeaten in six games and in, pretty good the understandable. The Energy Levels seemed unaffected. Aston villa co nsta ntly seemed unaffected. Aston villa constantly on the back foot. As the half hour approached, wolves should have had the lead. A much rehearsed free kick finished in style. 11 of his 1a goals scored from outside the penalty area. Aston villa made a game of it before wolves regained control. Aston villa got a lifeline with a late strike but it finished 21. With a late strike but it finished 2 1. Aston villa dropping towards the drop zone. Two matches in the scottish premiership to tell you about and the involve rangers and celtic. Celtic are 2 0 against motherwell. 0dsonne edouard with his 13th of the season, motherwell score an own goal. And rangers, away at livingston are two goals up. Joe aribo, 30 mins, gave rangers the lead. Alfredo morelos scored just after half time. Both old firm rivals were level on points at the top of the table ahead of kick off, celtic with the better goal difference, by a single goal. History repeats itself for the england cricket team. Theyre beat new zealand, in a thrilling final twenty20, to take the series 3 2. And they did thanks to another dramatic super over, just like they did against the same opponents, to win julys world cup final. Adam wild has more. They say lightning never strikes twice. But in auckland, the conditions were an owner must sign. When the rain finally stopped and cricket got started, the thunderous blows soon followed. New zealand with a lightning fast start. Batting lighting up those grey skies. 146 on the board, Jonny Bairstow took charge of the reply. But of englands one day world cup winning side that so narrowly beat new zealand in the summer. Surely it could not get so close this time . Yet here was chrisjordan, four needed off the final ball to tie the scores. A boundary did just that. Few could believe it happened again. So to the super 0ver few could believe it happened again. So to the super over and jonny ba i rstow once so to the super over and Jonny Bairstow once more going up and over, the target set. New zealand could not quite get there. And when eoin morgan did, the series was one. England once more winners in the most dramatic way. Thats all the sport for now. You can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. Including the latest from the world pa ra athletics championships where Hannah Cockroft has set a new world record to win her fifth consecutive t34100m title. Her fellow briton Kare Adenegan took silver. Thats bbc. Co. Uk sport thank you very much, interesting prospects with some medals. More later. Thousands of people are having to deal with a third day of chaos from severe flooding in parts of england with damaged homes, disrupted businesses and travel disruption. Seven severe flood warnings are in place on the river don in yorkshire, meaning theres a danger to life. Theres also concern that water levels are rising on sections of the river trent near newark. Doncaster council has advised residents to leave fishlake. Those still in the village should contact the council to organise immediate evacuation with the council saying it can only offer dedicated support to people who are not in an area where there is a threat to life. Jenny kumar reports. People here in the village of fishlake are marooned. The only way in or out is by tractor or boat. Some 700 people live here. Many of the houses are locked up and dark following yesterdays evacuation. Some people have decided to stay and for them, today it is a welfare situation. Emergency situations are checking to see the are all right. But what is striking is the volunteer effort. This pub is planning to cook hot meals for around 40 people. All thanks to food donated by people in surrounding villages. The first night, everyone was devastated. We had grown men crying which was horrific. But spirits have now lifted, havent they. Yeah. Everybody is pulling together. We have coffee and tea. They can have whatever they want in there. Camp beds. It is warm and comfortable for now. We have not run out of gas yet. But frustration is mounting among some residents in fishlake. The owner of this luxury spa, devastated by the damage to her property and the village. We have been failed on a level of significant magnitude by doncaster council. The lack of communication to this village has been terrible, and i dont know how they can possibly say that they have given us any support. The lack of communication is quite incredible. Doncaster council says it is working with its partners around the clock to provide support and resources for people affected by the flooding. Absolutely devastating. And this was the view from inside one of the flooded homes, wading through the cold, dirty floodwater. This is the kitchen. Brand new kitchen. Derbyshire and the town of matlock have also been hit hard by the floods. The woman who died, after being swept away by the water near darley dale, has been named as a former high sheriff, annie hall. She was described as a special person and an inspirational force for good. For some, the flood levels are falling, and the clean up can begin. For others, the misery is likely to continue for days to come. Voters in spain are returning to the polls for the countrys second general election injust over six months. The socialists, led by the acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, won the most seats in the last ballot in april but were unable to form a government. Spain has been struggling to put stable governments together since 2015 and this years vote has also been overshadowed by fresh unrest in catalonia. 0ur correspondent, guy hedgecoe has more from madrid. Five or six years ago, spain had a 2 party system. The socialists and the conservative popular party, who had dominated the Political Landscape for over three decades. And then, suddenly, new parties started arriving. Podemos on the left, ciudadanos further to the right. And then, more recently, the far right vox party. So now we have five parties vying for power, in the political the mainstream. And that makes it much more difficult to form a parliamentary majority and therefore much more difficult to form a government. And we saw that in aprils election, which Pedro Sanchez won, but he wasnt able to form a leftist majority with podemos, and that triggered this new vote today. There has been a huge amount of focus on the catalan issue overall the catalan crisis, how to resolve it on the campaign trail. And this has been an issue which has really dominated politics for the last few months. There is a lot of pressure from the right, on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, to take a much tougher line against the Pro Independence catalan government, against the Independence Movement overall. There are being calls for example from the far right vox party, for him to declare a state of emergency. Now, so far, he has resisted such calls. He says he wants to take a moderate line in catalonia, but in catalonia itself, the Independence Movement says he has been anything but moderate and that he is part of this repressive state apparatus. So, it has been very difficult for Pedro Sanchez, but it has been a dominant issue, throughout this campaign, and the feeling is that its going to be crucialfor spain, if it wants to resolve the catalan crisis, to have a stable government in place, after this election. Lets discuss this further with sara canals a journalist based in barcelona. We heard a little earlier about the impact of the catalonia dispute on the general election. How big a discussion point has it been with politicians during the campaign . M has been a huge topic. The central topic on this campaign. A lot has happened since the last general election took place back in april. 0n the one hand, the Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned the catalan leaders who organised the referendum of independence two years ago which triggered mass protests are across catalonia. A week of violent episodes also. The Supreme Court new wa rra nts episodes also. The Supreme Court new warrants of arrest for the leaders after this failed attempt to declare independence and are now living in belgium, scotland and switzerland. It has been a lot in this last few weeks and months. So it has been the main topic and there has even been little discussion on other issues like economy, health care or education or climate so the campaign has been mainly focused on how to approach this crisis. Is there any indication that the election itself will offer any kind of hope for resolving it, given that the parties in madrid are saying they will uphold the constitution by opposing a move towards independence and the Pro Independence parties who have said it is about democracy. Exactly. This election will be another opportunity for the catalan coen independence parties to evaluate the momentum of the Independence Movement. They got more than 20 seats in the last election and we will see what happens tonight. But if the Pro Independence parties achieve a good result, this could be used as a bargaining chip, two maybe negotiate or achieve some dialogue or make some moves. 0n the other hand, we have seen how the far right groups have adopted a cover tensed tougher stance on independence. We wa nt tougher stance on independence. We want to ban parties who are for independence. So definitely all the parties that support independence in catalonia are really looking forward to getting a rise in representation in congress so they can maybe take further steps for a potential dialogue or even a potential referendum. We have to remember that the catalan president had stated after the verdict came out that he would organise a second referendum of independence which also triggered some division amongst the Pro Independence parties because there is division among the catalan parties even though we have seen in the streets the social movement on independence is more united than what we see in the political arena. If this Election Results in a similarly fracture parliament, is there much hope that there will be moves towards developing a kind of consensus solution to some of these problems . That is what a lot of sources are hoping could happen but it is very uncertain, it is difficult to tell because the Political Landscape is so fragmented and both in spain and catalonia, we have to wait and see how the congress will look and how the Pro Independence catalan parties, which result will be achieved in congress because according to the votes, the main party to support independence could get around 16 seats. We will see what can happen. It will be interesting but might bea happen. It will be interesting but might be a difficult one to read. Thank you very much forjoining us. Talking to us they are from barcelona about the spanish general election. Now its time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. There are still several severe flood warnings in force, many flood warnings and a couple of met Office Warnings for more rain to come in the coming weeks. If you have concerns, please do head to the website, there are more details here. It has been drier today for most of us, however, the rain is now marching into the west of ireland as we go into this evening and overnight. Not only rain but some sleet over the hills here, some wet snow for the pennines and southern uplands. But our first significant fall of snow over the hills of scotland, relatively low hills as well, about 200 metres. There are warnings out from the met office out for this particular area of rain moving through those areas sensitive to further rainfall. Because we have the wind as well as that cloud, rain and snow, temperatures should just about hold above freezing. It will be a very windy drive to work in the morning in the south, the rain slow to clear from the north east of scotland, then heavy and blustery showers will come in behind, feeling chilly again with that strong north westerly wind. Bye bye. Hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. The headlines the chancellor defends conservative Party Analysis of labours Spending Plans as labour says they are a complete work of fiction. Ceremonies take place across the uk to mark remembrance sunday to commemorate those who lost their lives in conflict. A world war ii dakota plane dropped 750,000 poppies over the white cliffs of dover to remember the fallen. The Environment Agency continues to warn theres a danger to life from high river levels in South Yorkshire with seven severe warnings still in place. Weve had no sleep for two days. We keep getting calls coming in. People have got no supplies, no drinks, no food. Australias Prime Minister warns of a difficult week to come from the catastrophic bushfire threat to sydney and surrounding areas. Three people are known to have lost their lives. Voters in spain return to the polls for the countrys fourth general election in as many years. Time now to find out how your vote could affect the planets future, in the new show this matters. Now on bbc news click. In towns and cities across the uk, a Tech Revolution is slowly being born, one antenna at a time. Bit by bit, 56 is becoming a thing, and while all the infrastructure might look a bit dull, take a look at this. This is a speed test to this phone, which right now is getting data to speeds of 390mbps. Not bad yeah, this new network is going to be so fast that well be able to download in a heartbeat and stream video to multiple devices at once. In order to allow this to properly take off with high speed and minimal delay, were going to see lots of new antennas, each serving small areas, and some of them may use much higher frequency radio waves than previous mobile networks. But having these antennas everywhere has given some people pause for thought. They believe that 56 radio waves can cause Health Problems and theyre campaigning for the rollout to be halted. Now, this protest group is small but vocal, and it does seem to be growing, so paul carter went to brighton to meet some of the anti sg movement. Chanting prove that its safe hove, near brighton. Chanting say no to 5g say no to sg it may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of the front line of protest. Chanting prove that its safe . But campaigners here are making theirfeelings known about plans to introduce sg masts in the area. Chanting what do we want . A ban when do we want it . Now the world health organization, Public Health england, and the nhs all say there is no sufficient evidence to say 56 poses a risk to health. However, that has done little to placate campaigners. Earlier this year, one parliamentary petition calling for more research into 56 attracted more than 29,000 signatures. So what are their concerns . Public Health England and the government say that 56 and electromagnetic frequencies are safe because they all fall underneath the level of the International Safety guidelines. However, there are huge issues with the safety guidelines. Theres a great big gaping black hole. What the safety guidelines will tell you is whether your mast will burn or heat you, but what it wont tell you is all of these Health Effects that are known by science to be linked to electromagnetic frequency radiation. Who decides who is guinea pigs . Who is deciding to, you know, to roll this out, and test it on who . Who are going to be the lab rats, the lab mice, whatever you want to call us, because its not safety tested . If someone said to me, fact, 56 is safe. If our government came to me and said, fact, 56 is safe. Fact, its been tested by the telecoms industry, i probably wouldnt have the concerns that i have. But to me, theres no fact there from them. The industry, however, have a very different view. Campaigners will say sg hasnt been tested, and if its not been tested, it shouldnt be rolled out. What do you say to that . I hear that line a lot and it fundamentally misunderstands what 56 is. 56 uses technologies that have been in use in all countries for decades now. The type of frequencies that are used, the radio waves that they are using, theyre the same ballpark of radio waves that have been used and tested, tested and tested, for decades. The technology that goes into the antennas doesnt fundamentally change the way that those radio waves behave. So whilst it looks and feels like a Brand New Technology from a marketing perspective, its roots are actually, you know, inherent mobile Radio Technology thats been tested and used for decades now. What is happening here is very similar to the smoking. The actual Health Effects, the actual science, were hidden. And this is exactly what is happening here. 56 is highly, highly unlikely to cause more cancers than 2 4g, and there isnt much evidence of an increased risk for2 46 ifany. It is not the new tobacco. It is not the new asbestos. That just simply isnt true. But despite the weight of scientific evidence, the anti 56 movement is growing. Similar groups have been popping up in other areas around the world, fuelled by social media and the internet. Back in hove, the campaigners had the opportunity to present their concerns to counsellors. Exposure to 56 radiation will be 24 7, 365 days a year, without our informed consent. Nationally, Public Health england provide the expert advice on Public Health matters associated with radiofrequency electromagnetic fields or radio waves used in telecommunications. The implementation and regulation of 56 technology is a national responsibility. Chanting save our children is there anything from this point that they could say that will convince you this is safe . Yeah, they could put their case. But the independent scientists and the actual science needs to be properly heard as well. Ultimately, is this a battle you can actually win . There will always be a small number of individuals who do not want to hear from large corporations like us. And there will always be a huge group of people who dont have any concerns about this technology. There might be a group in the middle who could be swayed, and i think thats the group that where, yeah, there is a battle to be won, if you like, we do need to make sure those people have access to the right information, but they can make an informed decision and not be misled by what is some pretty aggressive scaremongering. That was howard jones talking to paul carter. And to try and address the concerns of those who may still be undecided, we have come to this rooftop in london to take some measurements from a 56 transmitter. And we have drafted in some independent experts to help. Dr Richard Findlay is an electromagnetic field safety specialist, and hes going to be measuring the strength and frequency of the radio waves at different distances from the mast. So, first, were going to put the probe right up on the middle of the transmitter. Yes. 0k. Lets go. The middle, coming down. And your maximum reading was. . 550. 551. 6 . So basically, if you were to strap yourself to that transmitter, three metres up there, youd be getting five times the guidelines. Yes, youd be overexposed. Ok, but nobodys going to do that. No. Ok, so shall we go over there . What would you say, two or three metres in that direction, and see how the signal drops off . Yep. There we go. Oh, wow 14. 5. So even over that distance, weve gone from weve gone down by a factor of, what is that . Thats more than 50 times . Yeah, 550 down to 14. 5, so. 0k, down to less than a fifth of the government safety guidelines. Yes. Right, time to try and make sense of those readings with physicist and cancer researcher david grimes. So, we have seen there that the power drops off really, really quickly as you move away from the transmitter. Absolutely, and that is what you would expect. As you get further and further away from a source of light, which, of course, radiofrequency really is even if we cant see it the drop off is really, really rapid. And by the time you are even at an appreciable distance away from any kind of transmitter, it is way more likely that your phone itself is going to be emitting a lot more than any of these transmitters are. Do you think one of the worries about 56 is that there is talk of using higher frequency radio waves . I think absolutely. I think people have an intuitive understanding that higher frequency is higher energy. But i think what people need to be aware of is that this kind of radiation is still very, very non ionising. What that means is it doesnt have the fundamental energy to liberate an electron and cause damage. If you want to cause, say, cancers and things like that, you typically need to cause that kind of dna damage. And the new 56 spectrum is very low energy. It is much lower energy than, say, visible light. But more than that, the biophysics itself, the mechanics of how you might develop a cancer or something, we know that this kind of radiation is not ionising. It cannot cause the level of dna damage that you typically expect or need to cause a cancer. And so, for that reason, the combination of epidemiological evidence and biophysical evidence, we dont have any current cause for concern. That being said, it is always good to observe and keep an eye on trends to see what might emerge, but we dont expect anything will. So there you go, some real science which i hope has helped you to understand how safe 56 signals are. And just for extra information, were now taking a reading at head level here on the roof, right next to the 56 transmitter. And the number is kind of bouncing around the 2 mark. So even if you were walking on a rooftop next to a 56 transmitter, as we are, you are still 50 times below the recommended safety level. Thats it, though, for the short cut of click this week. The full length version is up on iplayer right now, and dont forget, we live on social media on youtube, instagram, facebook and twitter, bbcclick. Thanks for watching, and well see you soon. It has been, thankfully, much drier today. However, there are still several severe flood warnings in force, currently, and numerous flood warnings across parts of england. There are now met Office Warnings out for more rain, more details on the website. Already, that rain is marching in across Northern Ireland, it will turn a little bit wintry across the cooler was we are looking at our first significant fall of snow across the hills of scotland, mainly north of the central belt but playing around with the strong winds. More weighing in the areas where we already seen such devastating floods, a cause for concern. This rain down should move fairly steadily overnight, it will be blown along by a very strong wind, still around in southern areas and at the north east first thing on monday morning to stop and not a particularly pleasant morning rush with all the spray and standing water on the roads, out of the snow across the highlands of scotland. Through the course of monday, that with a front is still with us across the north east of scotland in particular, it should clear elsewhere. By no means a dry, that strong north westerly wind will blow ina strong north westerly wind will blow in a showers, giving on the strength of the win, they will be blowing further eastwards as well. Because it is cold air from the north west, we will see sleet across the hills of scotland, not necessarily further south but there could be a smattering across the pennines. It will feel cold on a tuesday, the low pressure still with us, showers and longer spells of rain meandering around that area of low pressure. Again, some areas where we have seen that fighting, we are expecting more rainfall, hence a met Office Warning for some areas. Still a brisk wind coming down from a new north, it really chilly feeling, temperatures below par this week. A cold tuesday night into wednesday, it does look as though we will have a brief window of dry weather, but by the end of wednesday, the next with a front comes in. I widespread frost could be quite icy on wednesday morning giving up the amount of rainfall we have seen recently, there will be more rain rolling into there will be more rain rolling into the western side of the uk, there could become an issue for central park through the course of thursday. Bye bye. A political row over spending after the conservatives attack what they claim are labours plans. The tories say a Jeremy Corbyn government could cause an economic crisis within months of coming to power. With labours plans, they will be spending hundreds of billions more and this would all come through borrowing and debt would be totally of control. This is an absolute work of fiction by the conservatives. You cant trust a word that johnson and his ministers say on this issue. With neither partys manifesto yet published, well be analysing what we do know of their plans. Also on the programme marooned by floodwaters the community advised to take up the offer to evacuate them. Music last post remembering the fallen of the world wars and the conflicts since. How sydney is facing catastrophic risk, as bushfires spread in australia. And another super over success for england as they win in new zealand. Oh, what a catch what a brilliant catch from morgan good afternoon. The conservatives and labour have clashed over their Spending Plans with the tories claiming a Jeremy Corbyn led government would bring an economic crisis within months. The chancellor, sajid javid, said today that labour would spend over £1 trillion in office a figure dismissed by labour as bad maths and an absolute work of fiction. Heres our Political Correspondentjessica parker. The two men competing to run the countrys finances. The conservatives claim that labours plans amount to an unaffordable splurge. That is there maths up to scratch . Every single costing in this dossier that weve published today has either come from labours own figures and most of the match over 50 of the costings from labours own figures and the best of them have either come from independent external sources and in some cases, yes, we have had to work them out ourselves. But weve done that in a reasonable way and we have set out exactly in the document how weve done this. Set out exactly in the document how weve done this. Theyve even set up a website, listing some contentious claims about the so called cost of corbyn. £196 billion to renationalise Industries Like the railway is already a disputed figure. 85 billion to bring in a four day working week. The conservative dossier assumes that such plans would all quickly come into force. 35 billion to abolish private schools . Labour conference voted on the idea, but the partys actual election policy hasnt been confirmed. This is an absolute work of fiction by the conservatives, you cant trust a word that johnson and his ministers say on this issue. We will have a fully costed manifesto in due course, when we launch that. And, you know, the challenge is actually for the conservatives to fully cost their own manifesto, something they didnt do in 2017. The Purse Strings are loosening in this place, whichever way you look at it. The parties believe that there is an appetite for more public spending. So, the debate is likely to range around whose plans to strike the right balance between being responsible, but also truly radical. Economic crisis. The tories increase in spending would be less than labours but the conservatives are trying to shake off the age of austerity. Its a bit as if youd come to me ten years ago and taken my raincoat away and ive spent ten years cold and wet and then youve tapped me on the shoulder and said, great news, then youve tapped me on the shoulderand said, great news, i found you a rain coat. Well, its worth recalling, back in 2010, where our economy was. We had just gone from deepest reception recession in almost 100 years. Until manifestos had actually unveiled things are a little bit up in the air. Liberal democrats say that the parties should submit their plans for independent analysis. The arguments over what this country can afford are onlyjust beginning. Jessica parker, bbc news. 0ur deputy Political Editor john pienaar is here lots of claims and allegations flying around today, john. How much will trust be an issue in this election . A very big issue. There is nothing new, of course, that politicians making crowd pleasing promises and people not trusting politicians. When westminster caught fire in 1834, big crowd turned up to cheer on the fire. But this time, the scale of promises and depth of mistrust and the evidence that the allegiance of people to particular parties is as loose as its ever been. Thats arguably driving on ever more extravagant promises. What is certainly true is that the tories are promising spending on a scale not seen since before the financial crash and labour borrowing on a scale not seen since the 1970s. A big factor in this election could arguably be who is trusted least as much as who is trusted more. Its not just about the economy. There much as who is trusted more. Its notjust about the economy. There is a lot of controversy about a report by the house of commons Intelligence Committee into russian influence and the fact it hasnt been published yet. 0ne influence and the fact it hasnt been published yet. One report says the report discusses the ins and outs of donations to the conservative party by wealthy russians, not about illegality but its about influence and that sort of thing. One senior official at mi6 from the past i spoke to