Transcripts For BBCNEWS Newscast 20240922

Now on Bbc News, newscast. Newscast. Newscast from the bbc. Newscast. Newscast from the bbc. Hello, its patty in the studio. And its laura in the newsroom in lovely liverpool. Why are you there, he asks . I am here because the Labour Party Conference isjust getting going, which should be for the Labour Party, newly into government after 1a years in the wilderness, a massive Victory Lap with lots of Hugging And Cheering and being genuinely delighted about being in government. However, they have had a very, very difficult week and there are lots of people really worried and wondering what, my goodness, is going on. Could we say that there wasnt really a honeymoon and that actually theyre gathering in conference with the main message being distracted from by some unforced errors . We can absolutely say that without doubt. We can say that labour has ended up with a messy problem about donations to them. About donations to them of freebies of clothes, of Football Tickets, of all sorts of other things, of Holiday Accommodation in manhattan, of all places. And these are not things that anybody made them do. Theyre completely separate to what the government genuinely talks about, the big problems that they want to fix in the country, whether Thats Infrastructure or housing or those big things that make a difference to peoples lives. But they have ended up with a pretty unsavoury row over money that theyve been taking and declaring. Taking and declaring we should say very clearly, rules havent been broken but it does for many members of the public have a very nasty whiff about it. And having stood by what had gone on all week, Keir Starmer defended it in interview after interview after interview. But then late on friday, suddenly came the announcement. But then late on friday, suddenly came the announcement and i think because there was more coming out in the newspapers that Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, who emerged, had also taken thousands of Pounds Worth of donations in clothes, would not be accepting any more free clothes. Labour hopes, is the conference begins that the sun is coming out, and they hope that the conference will sweep away all of this embarrassment. But im not so sure thats true. Well, its been a very fast moving week fast moving week because even i stumbled onto a political interview of interest when Harriet Harman came before me on newsnight saying that the labour leader, the Prime Minister, will not take free gifts in the future. She was saying to me, should not. She was announcing as a former Acting Leader as in fact she was briefly leader. You ought to put me right. Im sure she was. Yeah, he will not. It sounded like the grandees, the people who remembered 97 were coming in and giving them a stiff talking and guess what happened the next day . He said, were not going to take any more freebies. But this is where i think the problem comes in, because Keir Starmer is hoping to draw a line with that announcement late last night. Well, it was late in the day last night, rather than in midnight. I made it sound like it was very exciting. Somehow, at 11pm, it suddenly was snuck out. Theyve said theyre not going to take any more free clothes, and only three of the cabinet are not going to take any more free clothes. Theyve said nothing about Football Tickets in his corporate box at arsenal. Theyve said nothing about Holiday Accommodation. Tickets to taylor swift. What about Oasis Tickets that are going to be pretty hard to get hold of this year . So, theyve done a partial, heres a new rule that were going to stick to, but theres still all sorts of loopholes. And its going to be interesting to see how that develops in the next few days, because its not that coherent to say we wont take these things, but well still take all of these, and also to just say, oh, these three people at the top of Government Wont take any more clothes, but what about Everything Else . So, i still think this is unfinished business, not least because its quite clear that a lot of members of the public take an incredibly dim view of this. Do you remember on sunday when we had David Lammy on the show and i read out an Emailfrom A Viewer Whod got in touch, apoplectic that this had gone on, and just furious at how David Lammy tried to explain it away. Theres been plenty more of that this week, and our friends at the Research Group more in common, shared some information from a Focus Group they had on thursday night, and they asked labour voters about this. And the words that were coming back were things like outrageous, ridiculous, hes clearly loaded, why are they taking free gifts anyway . And this, i think, has had that elusive thing in politics called Cut Through. So, in the next couple of days, labour is going to be wanting to talk about all sorts of things devolution, housing, nhs reform, whats going on with the Police Yvette Cooper gave a big interview today, but this has Cut Through to the public and its exactly the kind of wrong headline that any party of government just doesnt want. And for that reason, when he was doing these famous regional political interviews which have tripped up rishi sunak, in fact, and Liz Truss in the past or some of our colleagues from around the uk, he used the language of his critics questioning who was the boss. And lets just have a little listen to him attempting to reclaim the wheel of the Driving Force of the government as he spoke to our colleagues from bbc south east. Im completely in control, im focussed, and every day, the message from me to the team is exactly the same, which is we have to deliver. We were elected on a big mandate to deliver change. Im determined that were going to do that. So, laura, thats quite a brief snippet, but theres been a lot been a lot more else happening, hasnt there . Because theres been the Sue Gray leaks. People leaked her pay to the bbc� s Chris Mason and henry zeifman, and that implies that theres a lack of discipline in number ten. I think thats right. And it is very surprising that at this early stage in a government only ten weeks in at this early stage, theres already a level of unhappiness on display. Theres already a level of leaking that might be more normal with a government, the Sort Of, the Sort Of, halfway through. Youve already heard what should be a jubilant Prime Minister completely at the top of his game, saying, yes, i am in control. And Theres Nothing that says youre not actually really quite on top of things. On top of things, then saying, oh, i am, i am, i am. And this already feels like a government that is having a tough time and has been in charge for a while. The other thing about this, which im hearing this Sort Of Faint Whisper in labour circles and to me, actually, this is really the really interesting Growing Question is theres real Alarm Bells ringing among some people who are part of this new operation, and also some people who are watching on people like Harriet Harman and other veterans of the party, people whove been around the block. And theyre looking at this and kind of whispering a bit to themselves and to each other, and occasionally to people who do my kind ofjob. And the question is this and theres a creeping doubt about it, is they won this huge majority, but actually, are they going to be very good at this . Is Keir Starmer really going to be able to run an effective government . Is he really going to turn out to be a very good Prime Minister . And you can just sense, as the Labour Tribes are coming together for this conference, that Question Mark is being held in many peoples minds and the Sort Ofjubilation among their ranks. And that morning of the 5th ofjuly, that big event at the Tate Modern on the banks of the thames here we go, heres the bright morning. On we go to glory. Theres a real Doubt Setting in about whether or not this is actually going to turn out to be an administration that can govern with confidence and can govern convincingly, and that they actually know what theyre doing. And some peoples answer to that right now is notjust im not sure, but it doesnt look like it. Because heres the case for what they have been doing after the riots. They used the experience of the of the pm, who had been the dpp, because obviously being the bbc We Love a series of letters that confuse everyone. So, he brought in a series of wildly serious sentencing obviously with the police arresting people, and that was seen to have been a swift crackdown on social unrest. Then theyve sorted out a series of strikes in the Public Sector the train drivers, the doctors and also other problems that were going on, slowing the country down. Now, noise is off about that, but thats not the same as being criticised for taking a box to watch arsenal. And also, of course, whats unfair, say supporters of sir keir, is that what happened to him . Declaring gifts is not at all comparable to breaking the law. Rishi sunak was fined by the police twice. Boris johnson was found to have lied to parliament by a committee of his peers, and was disgraced in the eyes of the country. These things are not the same. But of course, if theyre not the same, why on earth are they distracting from what could be said to be one, i sorted out social unrest, two, ive ended the strikes. Yes, theres an argument over if ive paid too much. Thats what politics is. But instead theres loads of arguments about glasses, dresses, tickets, schmickets i think thats right. And there is definitely a sense when you talk to ministers about this, there is a bit of a sense of indignation. That its unfair . Yeah, that its unfair. You know, one of them said to me, the headlines are all the same size. You know, the headlines about somebody� s frock is the same size as the headline was about borisjohnson spending tens and tens and tens of thousands of pounds doing the flat up in Downing Street and also never opening up about who was really paying it. You know, these are apples and pears, except that they talk to the same thing, which is that members of the public look at it and think, well, hang on a minute, why are you getting stuff that i dont . And i think this is also where the problem comes in for Keir Starmer, because he and his colleagues very carefully and very successfully crafted a narrative around tory sleaze, accusations of dodgy cash, accusations of doing favour for their mates. That has meant that they are being held to a very high standard. And if you like this might sound a bit pompous, but i suppose they put morality on the table. Does that make sense . Yeah. And therefore theyre being judged in a Sort Of moral way. And i think there is actually a bit of a Blind Spot. It was described to me a few times by people this week about around starmer� s team. There is a bit of a Blind Spot because they are in the words of One Seniorfigure in the party, said to me, wow. And that was said to me in quite a Sort Of acid way. Now, this is somebody who backs them, somebody whos an important figure in the Labour Movement said this to me. But they Sort Of suggested, because starmer� s team are so sure that they are doing the right Thing And Theyve worked so hard to get there, theres this kind of, well, we cant be baddies because were not baddies, because we make the tories baddies so successfully. And everybody agreed at The End, which of Course Everybody didnt. But the country, a vast majority of people agreed that the tories were well past their sell by date. And theres a sense that somehow theyre not that good at looking in the mirror. And anything to do with money in politics can be absolutely toxic. It doesnt really necessarily matter even what the intention was, but it can prove absolutely toxic, and especially at a time when people are still in their millions struggling to pay the bills. Struggling to pay the bills, especially when the biggest, most Standout Thing the governments done so far is actually decide to take Winter Fuel Allowance away from the vast majority of pensioners. You know, our inbox is full of those kinds of emails from people saying, why did they think they should get any free stuff at all . And i think that its a Sort Of failure to see that that is problematic for them. Were going to move on from this. And i think newscasters who love the Labour Party will want me to say two words Liz Truss. Inevitably, this may be a bad beginning, but its not a 49 Day Catastrophe that takes the country onto skid row, is it . And the thing is, you know, there are, you said, apples and pears. Its just the way theres a rule of perception, isnt there . Crosstalk and maybe we should have said apples and lettuces. But the perception of this is not good, and we will only see in time, look, is this a kind of early wobble . And actually they get a grip of whats going on. They move on. Theyll have difficult days on all sorts of things that are much more important. You know, what is Rachel Reeves going to put forward at the budget, put forward at the budget . How on earth are they going to get the economy going . What are they going to do to get people building houses . About this very long list of problems that the country faces, that weve talked so much and they went on to say, for gods sake, weve just nationalised the railways, and yet this has been allowed to become the story. And someone else has said its completely breathtaking that number ten have allowed them to get themselves into this position to allow a story to run for seven days and then on the friday night, put out something that is only a Sort Of partial fix if it needs a fix to try to move on. Ok, so we will move on to some policy areas. One of them is the budget, as youve discussed, and the criticism thats come from some business leaders, that the Doom Message has been very successful at Driving Doom into the public� s message box. And in fact, i spoke to entrepreneur lukejohnson, who said this is directly responsible for a fall in confidence. Its not easy to be confident about the economy and sell it around the world if the people who run it say its a pile of spanners. And also, he doesnt like the plan to encourage more Working From Home. He thinks, like amazon did, if you want growth, youre not going to get it by everyone being at home obviously, thats not the labour policy, but lets just have a listen to lukejohnson, whos one of his entrepreneurs, talking about policy now looking ahead to the October The 30th budget. What i am not in favour of isl the idea that the government are going to say thati people, for example, can insist upon Working From Home and that, l you know, theres law to back them up on this. I dont think thats right. I think it should be a negotiated thing| between the employer and the employee. Do you think much will come out about the budget . Lets just say, about lukejohnson, sensible people will disagree about how much hybrid working there should be, so were just having a policy discussion. Will there be much revealed about the budget . Policy discussion . Im not sure theres going to be much revealed about the budget, but there will be a big speech from Rachel Reeves. The Chancellors Speech is a very important Set Piece of any Party Conference. Theres lots of pressure on her, as well as this big pressure on Keir Starmer to come out, pressure on Keir Starmer to come out all guns blazing really, really terribly mixed my metaphors knock it Out Of The Park this week on the on the platform. But there is likely to be behind the scenes, as there has been quite a lot of vigorous discussion over how far their reforms to Working Practices should go so things exactly like flexible working, things like the so called right to switch off, where, you know, you can say, oh, im not going to read my emails when im not in the office. Things like, at what point do new Employment Rates actually kick in . So, Angela Rayner used to say, oh, Theyll Start on day one, but now theres a discussion between the unions, the treasury, the Business Department and Angela Rayner� s team about when to bring in the new Employment Rights that they want to start off with. And theres no decision on that and its one of the things thats a bit tricky behind the scenes. But its interesting to hear lukejohnson saying that because there are people inside the Labour Camp who also do worry about the Doom And Gloom being a bit overdone, and theres been some prominent economists talking about that this Week Radio four this week saying there is a cost to talking the economy down politically. Theyre trying to set the expectation of the public about how quickly theres going to be a Sort Of feel good factor, where they hope to create a feel good factor in the country. But from an economic and a Business Point of view, theres a risk. Theres definitely a risk, and people have said this to me. People have said, all ive said to number ten, they need to cheer up a bit because its putting Business People off. Coming to the uk when getting the Economy Growing is meant to be top of the list. Ok, so we have going to were going to move on to another conference, and heresjust the Book End of it. Did the public punish the conservative party . Yes, they did. Did labour win a historic victory . Yes, it did. Has it had a few rocky days starting in government . Yes, it has. And one of the other big takeaways from the 2024 4th Ofjuly Election was what happened to reform. And guess what . Theyve hoofed up again to birmingham to have their conference. Keir starmer, saying, i bought these myself and then he admitted that his party had been unprofessional and needed all these changes. And lets just have a listen to Nigel Farage at the reform Party Conference in birmingham. We had the teenage tantrums, which were those that caused us harm in the general election, harm in the general election, but were now at a different point. The party is an adult and this weekend, this weekend is when Reform Uk comes of age. Laura, another speech by one of our longest standing politicians. A lot of people have left the stage and, whatever newscasters think about Nigel Farage, hes hes been around a long time changing what happens. He has been and he certainly has been a change maker. I mean, hes somebody who certainly encourages very different responses in people. Some people cannot stand him. Some people think hes the only politician whos brave enough to say what they really think. And newscasters, im sure, have all shades in between. But theres No Doubt whatsoever that hes had a huge impact, particularly on the tory party. Particularly on the tory party. But theres an interesting argument about whether or not if Nigel Farage hadnt existed, would we have ended up having a European Referendum . Quite possibly not. Quite possibly not, if, therefore, all the events that flowed from that. But its interesting to hear him then say his ambition is very, very high for reform. You know, he is determined and they are determined as an outfit to grow, to become a bigger and bigger and biggerforce. Now theyre Sort Of, oh, were the real opposition now, or we could be the real opposition. At this stage, that is not a claim that you can take seriously because of their size and their scale, but they have mps in parliament now. If youd gone back a few years, you would have thought that was completely unlikely. You know, Sort Of had one mp here and one mp there normally through by elections. And they do believe that theyre in a different Phase And Labour is very aware of that, too. Labour lost lots and lots of votes to the Reform Party as well. And they are very conscious of the challenge from that party and their appeal to people who look at politics, who look at politicians with cynicism, with real disaffection. And i have to say, one of the things that one said to me in frustration about Frog Gate and Freebie Gate is that it contributes to the sense of cynicism that they have publicly vowed to try to to try to get rid of. You know, we heard Keir Starmer so many times say during the campaign, weve got to return politics to the service of the people. People must be able to believe once again that politics can be a force for good. Nigel farage has made huge inroads because millions of people dont feel that way. And to neatly go all the way around to where we began, the saga over donations and then distress inside Downing Street with briefing against different staff factions. Those are exactly the kinds of things that make lots of newscasters and people watching and listening to the news or reading the headlines and just think, you know what . What a bunch. I dont want anything to do with them. Politics doesnt work. Can i take my vote elsewhere or not vote at all . So, Party Conference season, weve seen the tails wagging at the reform conference. Also, of course, the Lib Dems. Ed davey arrived on a Jet Ski there. Its quite easy to be the Lib Dems and reform. Reform would say theyd like the same number of mps, like the same number of mps of course, 72. And its quite hard to be labour and its going to be quite hard to pull off a confident Tory Conference as well. But obviously, were not here to talk about it, but we remind newscasters that if youve heard things about the party you love, the party of government, youre going to hear all this again as as everyone assembles for the conservative conference. So, we know that were putting under the focus labour, and guess whats coming . This extraordinary Basket Case of politics, which is heading in way of the conservative party punished at the polls. Its going to be their turn. Yeah, well, it will and that will be a very, very, very different kind of gathering. Just also in terms of scale, the Labour Conference this year is absolutely enormous. People want to be there. And its always a very good barometer of whats going on in politics is how many people are at the conference, how many people who have got nothing to do with the party turn up. So, last years Labour Conference was massive because there was a real sense among the business community, and charities and ngos and all sorts of campaigners. The sense was that labour was on the way back to power, and therefore it was worthwhile for all these people and Hangers On as well as, you know. I was going to say journalists Hangers On, an outrageous suggestion but it was well worthwhile people, you know, buying into the conference because it costs a fortune for businesses and other people to, you know, have a stand in the halls or to be here at all. And the Tory Conference last year already felt like it was Sort Of thinning out a bit. This year, i think the contrast will be even greater. But its always been, you know, quite a barometerfor me, for the really big picture. So, when conferences looking a bit sad and sparse and people are Sort Of looking at their shoes or, you know, Party Staff are frantically trying to move the audience to the front of the auditorium so that the shots, the Camera Shots dont look like theres no one there and the seats are empty, or when theres genuinely Standing Room only or queues to see speeches. And the bars are all crammed and people are all delighted, then you think that, thats a party . Whos star is on the rise . So, this year will be very different for the Labour Party. It will be very different for the conservatives. But ill be able to tell you. Well, tomorrow and then next sunday ill be able to tell. Maybe ill be able to do, i dont know, do a head count. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can count the number of feet and divide by two. Laura, what is whats on tomorrow on the tv. So, were talking to Angela Rayner in the morning, which is really interesting. Its the first time shes ever done the Sunday Morning interview with us since our show has been on air. Since our show has been on air, so that is interesting in and of itself. So, shell be with us tomorrow morning, and shes one of the people whos been caught up in, you know, taking freebies. So, well see what she has to say about that. And i will also give a completely shameless plug for an interview that i recorded yesterday with a couple who you might remember us talking about. So, evgenia kara murza, who is the wife of a russian opposition politician, spoke to us on the programme a couple of times over the years and i think we talked about it on Newscast Campaigning for her husband vladimir� s release. He was a political prisoner who was locked up by vladimir putin. He was then one of the prisoners who was released in the Prisoner Exchange at the beginning of august. Hugely dramatic event 16 russian political prisoners 16 russian political prisoners were freed, eight russians on the other side, including one of putins assassins, were exchanged and went back to russia. So, it was a huge story, a real kind of sensational story in the summer. And im pleased to say we were able to do the first joint interview with the couple yesterday, since theyve been reunited and hearing about the drama of his release, and also talking to her about when she knew that he was going to be freed, and hearing her children talk to him on the phone once he was free, and how they were reunited as a family was incredibly moving. And well be playing that interview tomorrow. And i think, podcasters, there will be a full special episode of the whole interview, so i will shamelessly plug it because its very emotional. I find it incredibly moving and really, really, really well worth listening. Who have you got tomorrow . Well, we have on the politics, well have the Education Secretary also addressing the interview with lukejohnson, from which we gave a little snippet, dont talk the economy down. Shell be reacting to that. Were also in lifestyle news, hearing about the shock thats been caused to some Pub Drinkers from People Queuing in single file at the bar instead of approaching the bar in a sense of slightly stressful crush, without knowing whos going to be served next, which is the british way. Where has that been happening . Its been happening in ambleside, in the pub that has put up a sign saying please approach the bar, do not come in single file to our bar to be served. Thats the Talking Point that has the nation talking, laura. Well, its got me wondering now. Newscast. Newscast from the bbc. Hello there. Weve had a lot of stubborn fog around the North Sea Coast today, but also some big thunderstorms, Torrential Downpours really nasty if youre caught in one of those. They will continue through this evening, overnight, and indeed, theyll be around through sunday and monday. There are met office warnings because were expecting quite a lot of wet weather to come along a Months Worth of rain potentially in places. So, notably, weve had those big storms through the midlands, to name, but a few areas those continue through this evening, meandering around an area of low pressure, and actually becoming more widespread, we think, as they move up from the south. Whilst further north, A Little Bit of Mist And Fog a fresher night here, so quite warm and close in the south but the return of the mist and low cloud off the North Sea Coast. Lets focus on some of that wetter weather this is what the Computer Model thinks of the rainfall amounts in the next 2 3 days. So you can see were edging towards a Months Worth of rain in some parts of england and wales. It really could be quite wet, so theres a concern for flooding, clearly. And once again, as we come into Sunday Morning, as i say, of rain with embedded thunderstorms in them, lightning, certainly, theyre around as we go into Sunday Morning. Rather grey and misty again near the North Sea Coast, and damp, damp and drizzly but further west, under the clearing skies overnight, we may have had A Little Bit of Mist And Fog to clear away, as well, and that does linger till mid morning at this time of year, as well. But once it clears, good spells of sunshine again hopeful that that cloud will also break for the Central Belt where it didnt during the day today. But look at this further south because weve got more extensive outbreaks of rain, Thundery Rain, therell be more cloud, so temperatures wont be quite as high. But once again, if youre caught in those Torrential Downpours, where there is spray and standing water, really quite treacherous on the roads. Now, that low pressure eventually moves out of the way, but not till The End of monday. Weve got A Little Bit of rain towards the north, but weve got another low pressure rushing in midweek this time, more rain again in the south and perhaps strong winds. But lets get back to monday still that band of slow moving, heavy, Thundery Rain with us again, mostly across england and wales, not for all, but more widely, as ive said, than weve seen today. Theres just uncertainty as to how far north its going to drift. By tuesday, A Little Bit of rain also for the far north of the country, but some brighter weather in between. But, as that brighter weather comes down from the north later, it will see the temperatures tumbling away, but theres more wet and windy weather to come midweek on, as i say. Live from london. This is Bbc News israel says its using dozens of aircraft to attack hezbollah in southern lebanon, as the us says its worried about an escalation. 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