Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

Boris johnson has hailed the conservatives resounding election victory as extraordinary and urged people across the uk to heal their divisions over brexit. Speaking in downing street, mrjohnson said he would repay the trust of labour supporters, who had voted conservative for the first time. The labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn says he will stand down, but he hasnt said when. And in scotland the Scottish Nationalists made further gains. Lets hear first from boris johnson. Iam forming i am forming a new government and on monday mps will. Mps will set out from constituencies that have never returned conservative mps for 100 yea rs. Returned conservative mps for 100 years. They will have an overwhelming mandate to get brexit done and we will honour that mandate late january 31st. The National Executive will have to meet in the near future and it is up to them they will make that decision not me. I hope there will be a period of good discussion within the party and i think that is healthy and to be very welcomed. I hope that you were inspired by the manifesto willjoin and you were inspired by the manifesto will join and take you were inspired by the manifesto willjoin and take part in that discussion and it is up to them for when the election will take place. It will be in the early part of the year. This is a catastrophic defeat, many people would expect you to step down straightaway. many people would expect you to step down straightaway. I was elected to leave the party. The responsible thing to do is not to walk away from the whole thing and i wont do that. I will stay here until there has been somebody elected to succeed me and then i will step down at that point. The Scottish Nationalists made sweeping gains across scotland. First minister Nicola Sturgeon says she will ask next week for the power to hold an independence referendum. the stunning election when for the snp renews, reinforces and strengthens the mandate we have had from previous elections to offer the people of scotland a choice over the future. That mandate says that it is for the scottish parliament, not a westminster government to decide whether and when that should be a new referendum on independence. Given the verdict of the people of scotla nd given the verdict of the people of scotland last night, the Scottish Government will next week publish the detail, democratic case for a tra nsfer of the detail, democratic case for a transfer of power to enable a referendum to be put beyond legal challenge. World leaders have been reacting to the conservatives victory. President trump hasnt made a secret of his support for borisjohnson. And in welcoming the result, he seemed to hope the tories success would rub off on his own re election campaign. I want to congratulate borisjohnson on a terrific victory. I think that might be a harbinger of what is to come in our country. It was last time. Im sure people will be thrilled to hear that. But a lot of people will be actually, a very big percentage of people will because this was a tremendous victory last night. It is very interesting. The final votes are being tallied right now, but the numbers are tremendous. I want to congratulate he is a friend of mine. Its going to be a great thing for the United States also, because it means a lot of trade, tremendous amount of trade. They want to do business with us so badly. Under the European Union it was very hard for them to do business with us. Lets get some of the days other news President Trump has dismissed the impeachment charges against him approved by the House Judiciary Committee as a sham and a hoax. Mr trump said the move would benefit him politically. The house of representatives will vote next week on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. The United States and china have hailed their preliminary trade agreement as a breakthrough. Under the deal, they will cancel further penalty tariffs that were due to be implemented this weekend. Police in new zealand have resumed their Recovery Mission for one of the remaining victims of mondays volcanic eruption on white island. Dive teams are searching in waters off the island to retrieve a body that had been spotted not far from the shore. The other victim still missing is believed to be on the island itself. The United Nations has accused chiles Security Forces of committing serious human rights violations, including unlawful killings and torture, in their response to recent mass protests. Demonstrators are seeking social reforms and changes to the constitution. So lets get more on the election. As weve been hearing borisjohnson said he hopes his partys extraordinary election win will bring closure to the Brexit Debate and let the healing begin. 0ur Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg looks back at a dramatic day and night for british politics. Applause and cheering. The power of surprise. Applause and cheering. The power of victory. Well, we did it. We did it. We pulled it off, didnt we . The power of a Prime Minister with authority firmly in his hands. With this mandate and this majority, we will at last be able to do what . All get brexit done you paid attention. Youve been paying attention. Jubilation here they can keep the promise to leave the eu next month. The will we, wont we fundamental tussle of brexit almost at an end. This election means that getting brexit done is now the irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable decision of the british people. But it didnt happen just because of traditional tories but because of labour voters going over. The majority he craved, the start of the change. In winning this election, we have won votes and the trust of people who have never voted conservative before. Those people want change. We cannot, must not must not let them down. And in delivering change, we must change too. Lets get brexit done. But first, my friends, lets get breakfast done too. Thank you all thank you all very much for coming. Thank you all very much. Chanting boris, Boris Borisjohnson has pulled off what is a genuinely a historic victory, notjust because it is the biggest conservative majority since the 1980s, but because, for the first time, as hes reminded his party, people who had never before considered voting for conservative, have turned to them. He has won the right to call this home for five years now. Reporter are you going to resign, mr corbyn . Woman we love you, Jeremy Corbyn forJeremy Corbyn, its the end of his ambition to move the few short miles to westminster from his north london home. Do you think you misread the mood, mr corbyn . Labour were swamped in this election. He is off by the spring, if not before. I did everything i could. Of course, i take responsibility for putting the manifesto forward. But i have to say, the manifesto was universally supported throughout our party and throughout our movement. So as i said in my own count result last night, we dont give up on the eternal hopes of a more decent society. Reporter have you lost your seat, ms swinson . The lib dems had a crushing night too. Just a few weeks ago, jo swinson claimed she could be Prime Minister. In the middle of the night, though, she even lost her own place in parliament and closed the day neither an mp nor a party leader. All of us who share an alternative vision for society have a responsibility to learn from this result and find new answers. They lost at the hands of the tories and the snp too, who cleaned up. Look at the first minister, unable to hide her glee as news ofjo swinsons defeat came through. Scotland yellow, england now largely blue. The union uneasy another demand for a vote on independence on the way. The map moved in Northern Ireland too. The dup leader at westminster, nigel dodds, lost his seat, and for the first time more nationalists than unionists were chosen by voters, pulling at the unions thread. The brexit party scooped up votes but didnt cross the bar for any seats of their own. All these falling pieces created one clear picture one man securely in charge, even though his journey gave discomfort to many voters. But, with this victory, borisjohnson has secured at least a major chapter in the kind of history books he likes to write. He wont be a footnote now. His first task to finish what they started, but with an appeal to the 48 and the 52. To those who did not vote for us or for me, and who wanted and perhaps still want to remain in the eu, i want you to know that we in this one nation conservative government will never ignore your good and positive feelings of warmth and sympathy towards the other nations of europe. Then an unlikely claim, perhaps, a post election promise of peace and goodwill. This country deserves a break from wrangling, a breakfrom politics, and a permanent break from talking about brexit. Thank you all very much, and happy christmas. Thank you. Yet this politician now swears he will govern for us all. With five years and a convincing majority, he has time to succeed or to stumble. He who dared did win. Jeremy corbyn insisted he was proud of his partys manifesto, and defended his record as party leader. Mr corbyn who was elected labour leader in 2015, announced he would stand down after what he called a period of relection although some of his mps have called on him to resign immediately. 0ur deputy Political Editor john pienaar looks now at labours future and a warning that there are some flashing images in his report. Here comes the leader. And there goes the leader. After last night, the media was keen to catchJeremy Corbyns thoughts in defeat, one cameraman, who took a nasty tumble, especially. Are you going to say sorry . What about all the mp5 who lost their seats . A lot keener than he was to talk to them. It was a car crash, labours election, and this trip didnt go too well either. Now, mr corbyns not rushing the next leaders election. What i hope is there will be a period where we can have a good discussion within the party, and i think thats healthy and thats to be very welcome. And i hope those that were inspired by my manifesto will actuallyjoin the party and take part in that discussion. Its up to them to set a programme for when an election will take place. It will be in the early part of next year. Jeremy corbyn didnt put it like this, but he failed badly, and now he and his team are looking for someone theyd like to carry on what theyve always described as the socialist struggle. There is no clear sign who that person might be, so they want time to plan and prepare for the succession. Labours hurt wont heal quickly, remainers and leavers blaming each other or the leader for pleasing no one, centrists raged at devoted corbyn followers for turning off traditional supporters. Corbyn was a disaster on the doorstep. Everyone knew that he couldnt lead the working class out of a paper bag. Now jon has developed this momentum group, this party within a party. I want him out of the party. I want momentum gone. Go back to your student politics. Momentum has captured the energy and enthusiasm of the hundreds of thousands of people who have joined the labour party in support of precisely. The partys splitting ahead of a new year leadership contest those who embraced politics the corbyn way, and blame brexit for defeat, and those who say labour and its leader got it wrong. So many people said to me on the doorstep, phil, if you had a different leader, id vote for you, youd walk it, there would be no problem, youd probably form the next government. So they thought that and the one thing that was holding them back from voting labour was the current leadership of the labour party. Unfortunately, our labour heartlands, working class heartlands in the north and the midlands that voted leave, they undoubtedly felt that labour had let them down. So who could join the race to lead labour . There is rebecca long bailey, but does she want the job . Angela rayners been mentioned, perhaps as deputy leader though. Kier starmera a Centre Ground pro european, which could put some off. Emily thornberry is a strong performer and looks ambitious. Then lisa nandy, young, left leaning, looks like another contender. And jess phillips, outspoken, combative, may be the wild card of the contest. Jeremy corbyns heading for a quieter life to his admirers, a heroic loser, to critics, the man who consigned labour to a fourth term out of office. They will all be fighting over labours future before Jeremy Corbyns even out of sight. John pienaar, bbc news. As the Scottish National party swept to victory across scotland, taking 48 out of 59 seats, the future of the union is again in sharp focus, with Nicola Sturgeon asserting that borisjohnson has no right to stand in the way of another referendum on scottish independence. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith looks at what the snps victory posing with some schoolkids this morning, Nicola Sturgeon has one clear demand that their political future be decided by scottish voters. She believes that winning 80 of the seats in scotland means she must now be allowed to hold another independence referendum, but legally she needs borisjohnson to agree. So, to the Prime Minister, let me be very clear. This is not simply a demand that i or the snp are making, it is the right of the people of scotland, and you, as the leader of a defeated party in scotland, have no right to stand in the way. The prospect of another independence referendum is not imminent. Borisjohnson will refuse permission. But that will put his government on a constitutional collision course with the party that dominates scotland. And that risks further increasing support for scottish independence. The conservative campaign focused almost entirely on rejecting another referendum. But its the tories who were rejected in over half of their scottish seats. The people who gave us that vote, who voted for us last night, did so on the basis that we would stand up for scotlands place in the united kingdom. And im simply not prepared to betray the votes of those people for us last night. The lib dem leader, jo swinson, was defeated by the snp landslide. But scottish labour suffered the greatest humiliation. They were even beaten by a candidate whod been suspended from the snp and have only one surviving scottish mp. Im sick of standing at lecterns during general election campaigns and saying, its been a difficult night for the labour party. This party must listen, and this party must respond or this party will die. The entire city of glasgow is now represented by the snp and ready for another referendum. I definitely think we should be allowed to have an independence referendum, and i think that steps should be taken, if possible, to force them to make this happen, to let this happen. Ijust think that. Englands going one way, scotlands going another, so we should be able to decide for ourselves. If they are there, obviously, we get the go ahead from westminster, it will happen again, obviously, we have to make our choice again. Ill be voting no again. Chanting Boris Johnsons got to go hundreds of demonstrators marched through glasgows city centre tonight, protesting against the tory government they say scotland did not vote for. As this country moves in a different political direction, it will inevitably test the endurance of the whole united kingdom. This is bbc news. The headlines borisjohnson says he hopes his election victory will bring closure to the Brexit Debate. His conservative party won an 80 seat majority in thursdays vote, meaning brexit is likely to happen at the end of january. It was a terrible night for the liberal democrats who now have just 11 members of palriament. Jo swinson was elected leader injuly this year, but lost her own seat in dunbartonshire east. 0ur chief Political Correspondent vicki young assesses the future of the liberal democrats as an electoral force. Applause. Her leadership over, it didnt even last five months. Jo swinsons decision to push for this election backfired. Some blame herfor hardening the partys anti brexit message and for claiming she could be Prime Minister, which few took seriously. Im proud that liberal democrats have been the unapologetic voice of remain in this election, giving people the chance to choose to stop brexit. Obviously, it hasnt worked and i, like you, am devastated about that, but i dont regret trying. And she spoke about the personal criticism thats come her way. Being myself, whether people attacked my vision or my voice, my ideas or my earrings, one of the realities of smashing glass ceilings is that a lot of broken glass comes down on your head. Once again, Party Workers left distraught, after a dismal general election performance. Many blame a shift in policy in september, when the lib dems said theyd cancel brexit if they won the election. It was distinctive, but undemocratic, according to some. I think weve, in a way, become more extreme, and we came across as a party with an extreme position on brexit, and we gave people a positive reason to vote against us, including many traditional supporters. For most lib dem candidates today, there were messages of commiseration, not congratulation. Thanks so much. Thank you. In wimbledon, paul kohler narrowly lost out. He thinks its time for labour and the lib dems to work together. We need to learn some lessons. We have to give credit to our opponents, but learn the lesson. They combined. The brexit party and the conservatives formed an alliance, thats why we lost. Progressive liberals didnt. We formed an alliance with the greens, but progressive liberals in the labour party werent on board. There were some huge increases in the lib dem vote almost four million backed them this time but in many places, it wasnt enough. Wimbledon was a typical liberal democrat target seat, held by the conservatives, an area that voted heavily to remain in the eu. The party ran an energetic local campaign, but so did labour. The remain vote was split and the conservative re elected, with a majority ofjust over 600. This election was a huge opportunity for the lib dems, but their dreams of stopping brexit have fallen by the wayside. Vicki young, bbc news, wimbledon. In Northern Ireland theres been political change too. Nationalist mps, whose political goal is a united ireland, outnumber unionist mps for the first time. The big result of the night was the defeat of nigel dodds the democratic unionist leader at westminster. But both the dup and sinn fein saw their vote significantly reduced after three years of failure to restore power sharing at the Northern Ireland assembly. Emma vardys report on the result in Northern Ireland contains some flash photography. Applause. A major player leaving the stage. Nigel dodds, so influential for the dup at westminster and in the campaign to leave the eu leverage over the Brexit Process at an end, for the party and for him. I am absolutely very disappointed not just for north belfast but, actually, for Northern Ireland that theyre losing such a great advocate in nigel dodds. Cheering. John finucanes win highly significant for republicans, the son of a solicitor, murdered by loyalists during the troubles. This is a watershed moment for Northern Ireland. North belfast now with a nationalist mp for the first time, ousting a veteran politician, in a night of bitter blows for the democratic unionists. I do want to acknowledge the fact that everybody who voted for me tonight arent necessarily sinn fein supporters, they do have issues with some of our policies. They stretched themselves on this, but they did so because of the nature of the threat that brexit is. It is a threat that transcended party politics. And in a place marked by division, a remarkable win for the Centre Ground the Cross Community Alliance Party taking only its second ever westminster seat. And a return to westminster for the sdlp moderate nationalists, who want to see a united ireland, attracting voters in londonderry away from the more uncompromising sinn fein, who dont take their seats in parliament. You want someone to go to westminster to fight your case, to stand up to borisjohnson, to protect us from brexit, but you also want us to get back to work in stormont. But none of the Northern Ireland parties back borisjohnsons brexit deal, and big differences must be overcome for a devolved government to return to stormont. The conservatives victory saw them advance into areas of the country that had previously been out of range. That was the prime factor in achieving a substantial commons majority which should now see the Brexit Process speeding up. 0ur correspondentjon kay has been to three former labour seats in the north east of england. Ian levy, the conservative party candidate, 17,000. Cheering. Would you believe it . Blyth valley, in northumberland, woke up with a conservative mp for the first time ever. So, how are you feeling this morning . Good. Walking her dog by the north sea, we meet allison labour born and bred but, this time, tory. And i know a lot of people are saying, oh, well, i was brought up labour and me dad voted labour and me mam. Those days are long gone. The labour party then, in its day, was great, but things have changed now. But what has changed . Whats different this time . I think its all around brexit, yeah. People have voted to leave, but Jeremy Corbyn wanted to hold another referendum. Until last night, blyth was a brick in labours red wall, a block of supposedly safe seats, stretching for miles across the country. But not any more. We head under the tyne, to sedgefield. This was tony blairs house when he was the local mp. In the days of new labour, he had a majority of 20,000 here. Now, all change. This constituency went conservative. Yeah. I dont believe it. We meet care worker andrea, at the end of her night shift. She stuck with labour, and thought others would in this old mining community. How big a shift is this, that sedgefield is now conservative . Its unbelievable. Itsjust totally, 100 , mad. Its the biggest change ive ever seen in my life. Are you going to change the colour of your car . No. He laughs. But derek has changed the way he votes. A retired pit worker, hes been labourfor 70 years. How did you feel voting conservative for the first time . I didnt feel anything. I thought it was the right thing to do. And thats why i did it. And do you now consider yourself to be a conservative . No. No, i dont. I voted againstJeremy Corbyn. Thats what i voted against. It was a vote against labour, not necessarily for conservatives . No. We heard that a lot today. As we headed west, through newly blue bishop auckland, former labour voters saying they just hadnt trusted Jeremy Corbyn on brexit, security, or the economy. 0urfinalstop, cumbria. Bringing together the whole of this united kingdom. Where workington man was supposed to be the typical vote voter the parties needed to woo. The conservatives won here as well. So, what now . How much do you trust borisjohnson to deliver what you voted for . Boris, boris himself, i dont know, er, but the party in general, id like to think there is some truth. Trusts a big thing in politics, isnt it . Because theres many an amount of them that tell a lot of lies, but fingers crossed. From the north sea to the irish sea, labours red wall reduced to rubble. Jon kay, bbc news. Lets leave you with some of the memorable words and images of the general election which changed electoral map of the uk. 0ur exit polls suggesting that there will be a conservative majority. Getting brexit done is now the irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable decision of the british people. I will not leave the party in any future general election campaign. Corbyn was a disaster on the doorstep. Everyone knew he could not lead the working class out of a paper bag. For me this is about whether the later matt party even has any right to exist. |j whether the later matt party even has any right to exist. I still believe that we, as a country, can believe that we, as a country, can be warm and generous. The Scottish National party, 17,000. Im dreaming ofa national party, 17,000. Im dreaming of a white christmas. Good afternoon, everybody. Isay dreaming of a white christmas. Good afternoon, everybody. I say thank you for the trust you have placed in us you for the trust you have placed in us and in me. I urge everyone to find closure and to let the healing begin. And happy christmas. Hello. It may be a windy, showery, and quite cold weekend to come but at least there will be some sunshine occasionally. Here is the picture, low pressure dominating the scene, these disturbances moving on through, with drier, brighter gaps and the isobars quite close together. It is going to be blustery out there. Too much wind, really, to allow too much in the way of frost to start the day on saturday. Just a few pockets in scotland, maybe one or two icy patches around as well. For many of us there will be sunny spells from the word go. But showers are coming. This area moving north and east across england and wales. Throughout the day, a feed of showers coming into Northern Ireland, wintery on hills. And into scotland, particularly in the west, frequent showers here. Heavy downpours at lower levels. Some heavy snow to some of the hills here. So walkers take note of that. It is going to be a blustery day. These are some of the wind gusts and the winds will get stronger again later in the day, down towards the south west of england, in particular, as another batch of wet weather starts to move in. And as for those temperatures, most of us in single figures, many of us just into mid single figures. Now, lets just run on through saturday night and follow this area of wet weather feeding north across more of england and wales. Could well be seeing some hill snow out of that through wales, parts of northern england, even into the midlands, to relatively low hills at that. Northern ireland and scotland still seeing some snow falling in some of the hills here. It looks a bit colder across Northern Britain to start off on sunday morning. Icy in places. And again, dont be surprised, if its fairly wintry on fairly modest hills through parts of wales, northern england, perhaps the midlands, as we start off on sunday morning. But then on sunday there is a little bit of a gap between weather systems, where more of us will be dry and get to see the sunshine before this comes in later in the day. Still a bit of uncertainty about timing. But, yes, it does look quieter for a time on sunday, with some sunshine. Perhaps a bit more widespread than it during saturday. Still a few of these showers delivering snow to the hills of scotland, mind you. And then as we go on through the afternoon, its across parts of southern england and wales well start to see this next system moving in with outbreaks of showery rain, just putting the wind gusts on again. Maybe not as windy for some of us but the winds really strengthening down towards others and South West England again. Later today, eventually because it gusts around 60 mph. Similar temperatures. It is going to be chilly. Then again occasionally we will find ourselves in the sunshine. So to sum up the weekend then, there will be sunshine occasionally. It is going to be windy. It will be wet at times. And some of us will see some snow. And maybe not just on the high hills