Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

A week out, because he wants it. Much of france is brought to a standstill by one of the biggest Public Sector strikes for years over Pension Reforms. Fast cars and cybercrime charges are filed against two russian nationals alleged to have used Malicious Software to steal millions of pounds across a0 countries, including the uk. Everton sack manager marco silva after only 18 months in charge. The club dropped into the relegation zone following last nights Merseyside Derby defeat. Two british pilots land back in the uk after flying around the world in a newly restored spitfire. And at 11 30pm, well be taking an in depth look at the papers with our reviewers broadcaster david davies and Political Correspondent for the daily mirror, nicola bartlet. A very good evening to you and welcome to bbc news. In a weeks time, next thursday night, the polls will have closed, the ballot boxes will be on their way to the counting centres and the first indications will emerge of the likely outcome of this Election Campaign. No surprise then that the parties have stepped up their campaigning today. Borisjohnson was promising to pass his brexit deal and hold a budget within 100 days if elected. Those plans are pure fantasty according to the lib dems, while labour promised to recruit 20,000 extra teachers to make up for what it calls a decade of tory failure. And the snp have told voters there is one week to stop brexit. 0ur Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg reports. A small group, but a big noise. Theres not much thats been pretty about this campaign. These protestors were lying in wait for borisjohnson in derbyshire. Inside, he was vowing to take us out of the eu by the end of next month, to cut taxes on your pay and to relax the years long squeeze on public spending. Its definitely on. Its on, its on, its on but he has only a week to make those arguments to you. Has the pattern been set . So we have seven days to do it. Seven days to get brexit done, seven days to end the deadlock, seven days to get out of this three and a half year pit stop we have been in and the pits is the word, believe me. A few months ago i did send you an e mail. Oh my god. Yes. The audience challenged him on the floods, the Health Service and brexit too. But promises are easy to make in campaigns harder to keep. If were lucky enough to win, you would have a budget in february that would cut taxes for people. 0verall, your manifesto would raise tax. When you say every time get brexit done, you could do it by the end of january, actually it would just open months, if not years more negotiations. What can we actually believe from you . Laura, were cutting taxes on business rates, we are Cutting National Insurance contributions for everybody in the country, and as for the, everybody paying. As for your point about getting brexit done, the advantage of the deal we have ready to go is it takes us out of the eu on january 31st. It means we are no longer part of the legal empire of the eu. His manifesto would mean that business pay more tax, but individuals would get a modest cut. But one threat is diminished, if not disappeared for the tories. Several Brexit Party Meps quit at their own press conference today. I only stood in may to fight for brexit. So theyre backing the tories, what about their leader . Theyjoined the brexit party. And you paraded then. Theyjoined the coalition that i put together. Now they were clearly disaffected with mrs may as leader, and were not the conservative party. And the others are determined to make life as difficult as possible for the conservatives, trying to hang on to a clutch of mps in scotland. Whereas come together next week to vote in a way that locks the tories out of government, that allows scotland to escape the mess of brexit. Although theres not much cheer for the liberal democrats. The surgejo swinson hoped for isnt much in evidence, but the message stays the same. People have power in their hands when they cast their vote, when they walk into that polling station and they get the pencil and they decide where to put their cross, and they can choose to put that cross next to the liberal democrat logo, and to vote to stop brexit, and to hope for a brighterfuture and to stop conservatives winning that majority. They have all been on the trail for weeks now, right round the country, but time is running out for all sides in this campaign. The big picture suggests the tories are on course to be the biggest party, but home and dry . Back in government . Dont be so sure. Next mp for peterborough. Jeremy corbyns big hope, of course, is to move into number 10 himself, to spend a lot more taxpayers cash on schools and public service, with a much bigger role for the state, and another referendum on brexit. What are your hopes for the future . A country where all children get a real chance. Elect the tories, you carry on with austerity, you carry on with increasing gaps between the richest and the poorest. We are very clear. We have a totally funded and costed manifesto, the only party that has in this election, and it will give real hope and opportunity to everyone in this country. Only a week left to roll up the sleeves to change the course of this campaign. The result, a week tomorrow, will change the country, whoever wins. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, derbyshire. The Bbcs Andrew Neil has urged borisjohnson to take part in a one to one leaders interview ahead of polling day. The presenter, who has held interviews with the leaders of labour, the liberal democrats, the snp and brexit party, issued this challenge to the Prime Minister we have been asking him for weeks 110w we have been asking him for weeks now to give us a date, a time, a venue. As of now, none has been forthcoming. No broadcaster can compel a politician to be interviewed, but leaders interviews have been a keep out of the bbcs prime time election coverage for decades. We do them on your behalf to scrutinise and hold account those who would govern us. That is democracy. Weve always receded in good faith with the assumption that leaders would participate, and in every election they have, all of them, until this one. Every election they have, all of them, untilthis one. It every election they have, all of them, until this one. It is not too late. We have an interview prepared, oven ready as mrjohnson would like to say. The theme running through oui to say. The theme running through our questions is trust and why so many times in his career in politics and journalism, critics and those sometimes close to him have deemed him to be untrustworthy. There is no law, no Supreme Court ruling that can law, no Supreme Court ruling that ca n force law, no Supreme Court ruling that can force mrjohnson to participate ina can force mrjohnson to participate in a bbcs Leaders Group s interview, but the Prime Minister of oui interview, but the Prime Minister of our nation well, at times, have to stand up to president donald trump, president putin, president xi of china, so were surely not expecting too much to spend half an hour standing up to me. Andrew neils challenge to Boris Johnson comes as the labour party escalated their complaint about bias in the bbcs election coverage. The party said the broadcaster has allowed the Prime Minister to pick and choose his interviewer, going against the agreements made by each party. Earlier i spoke to our Political Correspondent jonathan blake. I started by asking if andrew neils approach makes it more or less likely borisjohnson will take part. I think less likely. It was already looking very unlikely that Boris Johnson would be interviewed by andrew neil and i get the impression from the conservative Campaign Sources that ive had contact with in the last half an hour or so since it went out that it doesnt change anything. It was a direct on air challenge, as you say, from andrew neil, spelling out why he and the bbc believes that borisjohnson should agree to do this interview before polling day, explaining that there was, of course, no legal obligation for him to do it. The bbc 01 obligation for him to do it. The bbc or anyone else couldnt compel the Prime Minister to be interviewed but setting out the leaders of other parties have been interviewed in that timeslot, in that format by andrew neil during the Election Campaign and that it was reasonable to expect the Prime Minister and leader of the conservative party to do so as well. He set out also a flavour of the line of questioning that he would take with Boris Johnson, centring, andrew said, along the theme of trust and also setting out questions that he would ask him regarding his brexit deal, regarding his claim that the nhs would not play a part in future trade talks. So, if you like, as you say, he has thrown down the gauntlet with seven days to go nowjust until the election, it still looks unlikely that Boris Johnson will do that interview with the conservatives and the other main parties now really honing and focusing on their key messages and not looking for any upset at all before election day. Jonathan, id be interested in your thoughts, though, as you say, it was a direct on air challenge, which watching it you would imagine would be shared quite a lot on social media, if nothing else, and i suppose theres a question, is there not, for the conservatives about whether the risk of borisjohnson sitting down with andrew neil is starting to be outweighed by the impression that perhaps Boris Johnson has got something to hide. What do you think about that . Lol, thats the flipside of the conservatives a strategy to avoid this particular platform and this particular interview format. A half hour grilling from the presenter, andrew neil, who has taken a tough line of questioning with the other Party Leaders that in taking the view that it is perhaps too risky to put borisjohnson view that it is perhaps too risky to put Boris Johnson into view that it is perhaps too risky to put borisjohnson into that arena, they do, as you say, leave themselves open to the criticism that theyre running scared and borisjohnson that theyre running scared and Boris Johnson perhaps that theyre running scared and borisjohnson perhaps has something to hide or doesnt want to offer himself up to that level of scrutiny. Clearly, though, to this point, and this will continue, the conservatives and the people around borisjohnson conservatives and the people around Boris Johnson have taken conservatives and the people around borisjohnson have taken the view that they would rather take the risk of some people thinking that he doesnt want to face the questions, that he might have something to hide, versus the safety first strategy of sticking to their message and not opening himself up to that level of questioning in the first place. So it is a calculated risk but i think for the time being, theyre risk but i think for the time being, they re clearly comfortable risk but i think for the time being, theyre clearly comfortable with playing it safe. Thats interesting, jonathan. Turning to labour, they themselves this evening are writing to the bbc about bias. What more can you tell us about bias. What more can you tell us about that . This is a letter weve just seen in the last hour or so that labour have put out, written by the partys election co ordinator andrew nguyen, addressed to the director general of the bbc, tony hall. It is a complaint oran the bbc, tony hall. It is a complaint or an escalation if you like of the continued complaint that labour have against the bbc for what they describe as biased coverage during the general Election Campaign. I will read you a couple of q u otes campaign. I will read you a couple of quotes to tell you what andrew has to say. They take issue with the andrew neil interview specifically, saying the bbc is allowing Boris Johnson to pick and choose his bbc platform and they say despite the bbc giving labour a clear understanding that Boris Johnson bbc giving labour a clear understanding that borisjohnson had agreed to the same terms, those that Jeremy Corbyn had agreed to when he took part in that interview with andrew neil. They point out the bbc does not have a role as a protagonist in the general election and they suggest the conservatives have been allowed to play the bbc. He also says in this letter that the election coverage to date has demonstrated a worrying failure to meet the bbcs obligations to fairness and impartiality and demands this unfairness is urgently corrected. So labour clearly not happy at all with the bbcs coverage in general and looking for some sort of redress to that. No response as yet to that letter from the bbc. Thats our Political Correspondent jonathan blake. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 11 30pm this evening in the papers. Our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster david davies and nicola bartlett, Political Correspondent for the daily mirror. A man has been charged with murder and dangerous driving over the death of 12 year old Harley Watson outside a school in essex. Harley died after being struck by a car near cyclone debbie Park High School in lout and on monday. 51 year old Terence Glover has been charged with murder, ten counts of attempted murder and dangerous driving. The ten charges of attempted murder relate to a woman, six boys and three girls, who we re woman, six boys and three girls, who were also injured in the collision stop he will appear before magistrates in chelmsford on friday. Donald trump is to face impeachment charges following a decision by democratic members of the house of representatives. They allege the president has abused his power by trying to force the government of ukraine to investigate the business dealings ofjoe biden, a potential rival in next years president ial election. Mr trump said democrats had gone crazy. Earlier, i spoke to our washington correspondent chris buckler. He gave us his analysis on how the impeachment proceedings will go. Yeah, soa yeah, so a hoax and a witch hunt is what President Trump calls it but ultimately what were doing is moving towards the impeachment of the president. Now that is a serious thing, its only happened, as you mention, two times before and the last time was in the case of president bill clinton and then he tried to remain silent and pretty stoic during the impeachment process. Do not expect President Trump to remain silent, youve already got a sense of that, and what was announced today by the speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, was this idea she wants these articles of impeachment drawn up, these charges against the president essentially saying hes abused his powers while in office. They say he tried to put pressure on ukraine in order to launch investigations into his own personal political opponents and used his office to do that by, for example, withholding military aid. All of that is denied by President Trump but it seems that we are going to get those questions tested in a trial inside the us senate. You say, chris, but what were hearing is that it wont mean he will be removed from office. So how come . Yeah, so basically the us house of representatives is controlled by the democrats. A have a majority there, therefore they can, if you like, sort of sharp and say, right, were going to take this battle to you and were going to have these charges but to you, President Trump, but ultimately it is tried inside the and in that upper house of congress, mr trumps party, the republicans, they have control and its the senators that decide whether or not a president is guilty and should be removed from office. Now, of those 100 senators, the majority are republican and it needs a two thirds majority to convey a president , so its highly, highly unlikely that thats going to happen in the case of donald trump, but what it does do is set up a bitter election for november, 2020. Remember, its likely the senate trial is going to happen perhaps as early as january in that election year, and if you thought 2016 was a pretty fractious election in america, just you wait until 2020. Thats what i wanted you to elaborate on, i wonder what impact you think these proceedings might have on the 2020 election . Well, it must be stated that one of the people who is hoping to become the people who is hoping to become the democratic candidate in 2020 is joe biden. Now, some of these investigations that President Trump wa nted investigations that President Trump wanted ukraine to launch were specifically into joe biden wanted ukraine to launch were specifically intojoe biden and his son, hunter, who had business dealings in the ukraine. Theres already been suggestions from some in President Trumps camp and the Republican Party that perhaps they could try to turn this trial on its head, start to ask questions about joe biden and his son, hunter, who the president has openly accused of corruption in the country without offering any evidence and these are unsubstantiated allegations, but it does give you the idea that if it turned out to bejoe biden and President Trump fighting it out to become president in november, then you could get a real taste of how nasty and dirty that could become. And of course theres the danger it overs ha d ows and of course theres the danger it overshadows the democrats loop zone process of selecting their own candidate, which is due to happen in february. Its going to be busy months in washington and it will only emphasise an increase the divides that exist in this city. Chris buckler, our correspondent in washington. Much of france has been brought to a standstill today as a result of one of the biggest Public Sector strikes for years. The strikes have been called in opposition to president emanuel macrons plans to reform pensions. Lucy williamson reports. Tear gas today masked the real danger facing president macron. Not the risk of a vehicle on fire in central paris, but the risk of a silent majority, set alight by opposition to his Pension Reforms. Most marched peacefully against the offer of longer working lives and smaller pensions, their quiet anger directed more at politicians than police. Translation they sit in the National Assembly and sleep most of the time, and they earn 5,000 euros a month. Were in the street, breaking our backs, working overtime. Ask them how much a baguette costs, they dont know. The big question is whether anger over Pension Reforms will ignite into wider discontent, both with the Economic Situation and with president macron himself. The biggest threat to mr macron is the country uniting against him. This battle is likely to be his toughest yet. Tonight in paris, major scuffles between radical groups and police, but the government says it can no longerjustify paying billions of euros to subsidise special pension rights for Public Sector workers. The new system will be more equal, it says. But protesters say its the workers who will pay, and that in mr macrons france, some parts of society are more equal than others. Well, earlier i spoke to Pierre Antoine gailly. Hes the Vice President of the committee of economic and social affairs in france. The Committee Advises the french government on economic and social issues, and represents the interests of both employers and employees. I started by asking him why the french government wanted to change the Pension System. The difficulty is that nobody knows today what the reform will be because the law has not been published or exposed. It is still under negotiation between unions, government and employees. But mainly unions and government because it is most of the time a Public Sector which is affected, more than the private sector. So when you dont know you are anxious and when you are anxious you wish to demonstrate because we do not like the uncertainty. My understanding is that that is the basic reason but you have many people who are not demonstrating. Even if you had a significant amount of crowds in paris and the bigger cities, the vast country of the majority of the french people did not protest because if that were the case you would have a couple of million of citizens on the streets of paris. In 1995, president ial rack had to abandon what were less ambitious reforms to the pension since them. President chirac. Had to abandon what were less ambitious reforms to the Pension System. What is the difference now . Mr chirac wanted to reform the Pension System and the Social Security system which were two big fields of anxiety for everybody and also much more than today for the private sector. Today there is one topic on the table and only one, that is big enough if i may say so, which is the pension fund. There is no other subject. In 1995, mr chirac withdrew his pension plan but he maintained Social Security and he succeeded. So it was half in half. Today we have only one topic and i am confident it will succeed. Possibly with amendments, possibly with delay and application of some rules. Maybe with more of a transition period. It is still open for discussion from what i understand but i am not a member of the government. Three men who were jailed in the 1970s on the evidence of a corrupt metropolitan Police Officer have finally had their convictions quashed. Winston trew, sterling christie, George Griffiths and another man were accused of stealing handbags in south london back in 1972. The officer who framed them was later jailed, dying in prison. Our Home Affairs Correspondent katharine carpenter has the story. Smiles of happiness and relief that justice has been done after 47 long yea rs. Justice has been done after 47 long years. Words dont exist for me to explain how much this means. I am thrilled. Happy. I must sayi explain how much this means. I am thrilled. Happy. I must say i cannot believe it. Winston was one of the 0valfor, believe it. Winston was one of the 0val for, arrested by believe it. Winston was one of the 0valfor, arrested by a group known as the mugging squad and convicted of crimes they did not commit. They we re of crimes they did not commit. They were framed by detective Sergeant Derek ridge well who was in prison for theft a few fears years later. He had a fantastic record of arresting people and getting convictions and i knew he had a reputation of not being too careful about how he achieve those results. 0ther about how he achieve those results. Other than that, he clearly did not go around telling others he fitted them up. The fact that noone thought to go back and look at the cases despite the concerns raised in the 1970s is alarming. The corrupt Police Officer to go to prison for a serious offence and get for no one to do nothing at all, this is a grave concern. But last year, Stephen Simmons who had also been framed had his conviction quashed. That paved the way for the three members of the oval for who could be traced to make their own appeal. Stirlings mother told me she cried and cried when her son was convicted and cried when her son was convicted and it has taken too long to clear his name. The judge and it has taken too long to clear his name. Thejudge said he regretted it had taken so long for this injustice to be remedied. The criminal cases review Commission Says it urges anyone else who thinks they may have been affected by evidence given by ds ridge well to come forward. It has haunted me. And i have drained. It is occupied my thoughts, my dreams, it been be angry. It has been a third person in our relationship now i can go to back and i promise i will never mention his name again after today. I will sleep very easy tonight. A Major International investigation involving british and American Police has uncovered one of the largest cases of cyber theft ever detected. Charges have been filed against two russian nationals who are alleged to have used software to steal millions of pounds in more than a0 countries, including the uk. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Daniel Sandford reports. On one of the main boulevards in central moscow, an audi r8 blocking traffic, while it does a series of doughnuts. Police say these High Performance and highly expensive cars belong to members of a Cybercrime Group known as evil corp. A Group Responsible for two of the worst computer hacking and Bank Fraud Schemes of the last ten years. This is 32 year old Maksim Yakubets, with his Lamborghini Huracan and his personalised number plate, which in russian reads, thief. Today, the fbi charged him with being the leader of evil corp, which is suspected of stealing more than £75 million from customers all over the world. Yakubets is a true 21st century criminal, who, with a stroke of a key and a click of a mouse committed cyber crimes across the globe. Hes earned his place on the fbis list of the worlds most wanted cyber criminals. The group seems to be able to operate without punishment in russia. The us says Maksim Yakubets helps the russian intelligence agency, the fsb, with its malicious cyber programme, so that might be why. Yakobets spent a quarter of a Million Pounds on his wedding. The National Crime agency says evil corps poses the most significant cybercrime threat to the uk. And some members were identified through social media boasting. The fundamental weakness that organised crime has is they are driven by money and they are driven by greed. And we have been able to gain evidence in the uk of a real world footprint of people seeking to draw down the funds from these offenses, and also people who are exhibiting a very extravagant lifestyle online. Evil corp even had its own lion cub. Its two leaders have now been charged in america, but as long as they dont leave russia, theres no chance of them standing trial. Daniel sanford, bbc news. Two british pilots have landed back in the uk after flying around the world in a newly restored spitfire. Theirjourney in a plane originally built in 1943 started and finished at goodwood aerodrome in west sussex. Robert hall reports. The green grass of home. The silver spitfire and her team have created flying history, a flight around the globe marking British Engineering prowess a nd globe marking British Engineering prowess and a partnership of man and machine that serve the cause of freedom during world war ii. No wonder emotions were running high at goodwood today, particularly for the pilot mattjones who is child, arthur, was born during the journey. As we came across the channel and saw the white cliffs it was another emotional moment and we had trouble keeping control with tears running down my face over what we had done and we were coming home and how it must have felt in the day for those quys must have felt in the day for those guys doing the same thing. Two greatest symbols of freedom in the world. Flying in carefully planned stages, the silver spitfire covered well over 23,000 miles above some of the worlds most iconic landscapes. It defied typhoons and mechanical issues to become a star wherever it landed. The longest leg was a 3. 5 hour 830 mile trip across the Saudi Arabian desert. It is quite noisy, the cockpit is exceedingly noisy and there is no heating or cooling so in there is no heating or cooling so in the desert it got pretty hot and over the alps it got very, very cold. The flight is finally over that its legacy is another spitfire legend. Cup of tea