This is bbc news. The headlines. Prime minister borisjohnson says its an important first step, as iran admits shooting down the ukranian passenger plane killing all 176 people on board. They say they mistook it for a cruise missile. In ukraine, questions over why the plane was allowed to take off from tehran, anger over irans initial denials. The iran representative instructed our crew in clear words to take off and the crew followed the orders. In the current climate it would be stupid to try to hide something. Back to business in stormont. The Northern Ireland assembly has resumed for the First Time Since the collapse of power sharing
three years ago. Keir starmer the shadow brexit secretary officially launches his bid to become the next leader of the labour party. And coming up, the worlds biggest tech conference in las vegas. A bike that glides on water is among the latest advancements, in our tech show click thats at 3. 30. Borisjohnson has said that irans admission that it shot down by mistake a ukrainian passenger plane over tehran is an important first step. Four britons were among the 176 People Killed in wednesdays crash. A Senior Iranian military official said the airliner was misidentified as a cruise missile. Irans president rouhani has called
the downing of the jet an unforgiveable mista ke. Our Diplomatic CorrespondentCaroline Hawley has more this is the moment iran made a catastrophic error, firing a missile into a passenger plane, killing everyone on board. For three days in the face of mounting evidence, iran adamantly denied it was responsible. But this morning brought an extraordinary about face. On state run television, a Senior Commander of the powerful revolutionary guard came out on the orders of the Supreme Leader to come clean. He explained that irans air defences had been on alert. They thought american cruise missiles had been fired. A quick decision was taken and it was wrong. Translation in these difficult circumstances, i am here before you to explain what happened. But before that, i have to say that we accept all the responsibility for the accident and we lay our fate into our higher officials hands. Theres anger that the plane
was allowed to take offjust after iran had fired missiles at american bases in iraq, and when the country was braced for a response. The disaster has piled pressure on the regime both from within iran and from the outside world. It clearly calculated that it could no longer hide the truth. Ukrainian investigators on the ground in tehran had discovered damage from shrapnel. Translation if youre playing war, you can play whatever you want, but there are normal people around who you should preserve and save and if theyre hitting any kinds of targets, they have to close the airport. They should have closed the airport. Canada, mourning its 57 dead, says it now expects full co operation from tehran and has warned that the world is watching. Caroline hawley, bbc news, beirut. In the past few minutes, the Prime Minister borisjohnson has
released a statement. Our correspondent in kyiv, jonah fisher, has been talking me through the ukrainian reaction there were similar words this morning from the ukrainian president , president zelensky, talking in similar ways to borisjohnson, talking about a legal requirement thatjustice be done for the 176 people who were on board, and that compensation should be paid, and that those responsible should be brought tojustice. More interesting, this morning
i spent time with a top security official in the ukraine and he basically laid out the evidence with which the team of ukrainian investigators had been gathering in tehran, pretty comprehensive stuff, pictures of the cockpit with the bottom half having been blown away. Parts of the side of the aircraft with pockmarks which suggest an anti aircraft hit and basically he said we had effectively gathered enough evidence that prove it was a missile that brought down this plane and quite possibly that was the reason that iran made the u turn, saying initially it was a tactical mistake, but then saying and admitting that their guys had shut it down. Interesting line in the statement about accepting full responsibility. Do you feel that ukraine is developing a stiffer resolve now around this . Yes, for the last few days, the ukraine has been very careful not to say anything that might upset the iranians. With the benefit of hindsight, that is because they had their team on the ground and they wanted them to have a chance to gather a decent amount of evidence and they were worried that if they seemed to take any sort of position it mightjeopardise the work they were doing on the ground. When they talk about full responsibility and iran taking full responsibility which is what president zelensky said this morning, that is a reference to what iran said overnight in part blaming the United States for creating a tense atmosphere in which this happened. Ukraine is signalling that iran have accept responsibility but that they need to take full responsibility and they will not shift the blame elsewhere. What about the question of why this plane was flying in this part of the world at a time of such tension . This is something the ukraine
will have to address, it is dealing with now, there were emotional scenes at press conferences held by Ukrainian International airlines, it is a valid question as to why on a night when iran was launching Ballistic Missiles at military bases across the border into iraq, when tensions were extremely high in relation to the United States, and iran was possibly anticipating retaliation from the United States, why passenger jets were flying . This was not the only plane leaving in the early hours of wednesday morning and there were others but with the benefit of hindsight it was a pretty catastrophic decision for that plane to fly. Thanks forjoining us. It isa it is a mountain to climb and we are focusing on the last general
election. Studio we are now at the launch of Keir StarmersLabour Leadership Campaign. If we lose that we will have the longest period of the labour party out of power since the labour party out of power since the second world war. We have a mountain to climb. But ive never known a time when a radical Labour Government was so known a time when a radical Labour Government was so needed. Look at the inequality around you, look at what has happened over the last ten yea rs, what has happened over the last ten years, whether we measure it in homelessness, lack of affordable homes, securejobs, insecurejobs, the decimation of Public Services, ive never known a time when we so need a radical Labour Government. The immoral fight against injustice and poverty and homelessness isjust as big a immoralfight as it was in
the election the moralfight. We need to be up for that fight, the fight for economicjustice, need to be up for that fight, the fight for economic justice, social justice, and climate justice. Fight for economic justice, social justice, and climatejustice. We need to be up for the fight, and in that fight, and the first thing we need to do is be united. United as a party and movement. Applause we cannot fight the tories if we are fighting each other. Factionalism has got to go. Applause the question should not be which side are you on . It should be, what are you saying . We have a huge talent and passionate and dedication
and commitment in the Labour Movement, we need to draw on that, draw it together as a united force for good, united force for change. If that is going to happen it has to be modelled from the top. The top of the organisation, from the leader and the leadership, you cant ask for unity in the labour party if you dont demonstrate it yourself as a leader of the labour party, every day, and thats what i would do from the first day. Model that unity in oui the first day. Model that unity in our party, channel our energies, so we are focused on the tories are not on ourselves. And not on ourselves. We also need to be a very effective opposition. We have johnson as the Prime Minister. Boris johnson as the Prime Minister. Boris johnson as the Prime Minister. Boris johnson as the Prime Minister. Takes some getting used to. Boris johnson. The man of no principles,
no moral compass, who will go anywhere to stay in power and his party is going to the right, and he will go to the right. He has a majority but he doesnt have a licence to do damage to our communities and damage to our country and it is ourjob to hold him to account and to be a very effective opposition. Applause and that means we need our strongest talent and our strongest applicants out there all the time, in parliament, winning the argument. On the media, winning the argument, demonstrating we are winning the argument, so people say, labour is right about this, johnson is wrong about this, we may not win the votes but we can win the argument. The public know right from wrong and we need to show him up for what he is
by being a very effective opposition. It is our duty to do that. Millions of people are relying on us that. Millions of people are relying on us to do that. We need to evidence it. The next general election may be 11 5 years away but the next test is in may in the local elections and we need to be showing that by these elections, and the mayoral elections, and there will be elections in wales and across the country in a few years time as well. We need to be winning and showing that we are winning in those elections. And then, of course, the huge task, forging a way forward to victory and success, forging a way forward to victory and success, and we need to. A labour party in opposition is not changing lives. We
can say we are a shadow of this and that and the other, but you are in opposition therefore you are losing. When i was first elected as an mp in the first year as an mp i voted hundred and 72 times and i lost 171. That is not changing lives. That is not what i came into politics to do, to vote to lose, to lose. We are all here in the labour party and the Labour Movement because we want to change lives and you only do that by winning elections, so we need to forge that path to victory. So lets get some founding principles. We are not going to trash the last Labour Government. Applause
but nor are we going to trash the last four years. They have been some important moves. Jeremy corbyn made oui important moves. Jeremy corbyn made our party the party of anti austerity and he was right to do so, the party to fight cuts to Public Services. He made us the party that wanted to invest more heavily on Public Services and he was right to do so. We must retain that. We build on that and we dont trash it. As we go forward. We should treat the 2070 manifesto as oui should treat the 2070 manifesto as our foundational document if you like, the radicalism and the hope that inspired across the country was real 2017. Anyone who knocked on a door knows that was real. So we have got to hang onto that as we go
forward , have got to hang onto that as we go forward, but the test for us is not what was in the 2017 or the 2019 ma nifesto, what was in the 2017 or the 2019 manifesto, it is the next manifesto, and we need to make that relevant for the future. It has to address what is going to happen in the second half of the 2020s and 2030s and it has to give hope to people that the next 20 years can be better with a Labour Government. Radical and relevant. We need to show that we are the party that stands up for the vulnerable and we dont discriminate against the vulnerable. Applause we have to show we other party of the new deal. Where we no longer have the question or the debate, well, its good for the economy but bad for the environment. We are the party of the green new deal. If it is bad for the environment it is bad for the economy. We have to be
bold enough to say the free market model does not produce and doesnt work, the trickle down effect did not happen. And we have to rebuild an economic model that reduces inequality and protects working people. We have to be bold enough to say that our place in the world is one of peace and justice. With the human rights based foreign policy. We have to be brave enough to say that we will empower all of our communities in a way we havent envisaged yet. What came through this election and through the referendum and on the door is loud and clear is that people want more influence over their lives and they wa nt influence over their lives and they want decisions taken closer to them. And so it cant be in westminster and whitehall, it needs to be closer to people, we need to turn the political model upside down and start on the basis that decisions
taken as close to people as they possibly can be, and they should be oui possibly can be, and they should be ourguiding possibly can be, and they should be our guiding principle so we can glimpse the future, persuade people if you vote labour you can have a better future. We are going to leave keir starmer there, the shadow brexit secretary, launching his Labour Leadership Campaign there in manchester. Our Political Correspondent nick eardleyjoins me now. He did not underestimate the challenge ahead. It is an obvious thing to say they have a lot of soul searching to do but keir starmer thinks the reasons for the election defeat need to be looked at honesty, but what is interesting about his campaign and the reason why he is the man to beat at the moment is not shying away from being radical. There was the assumption he
would be a fairly middle of the road candidate and in some respects may be he will prove to be, but his message is fairly radical. You heard him sayjeremy corbyn was right to make labour the anti Austerity Party and he said it would not be right to trash what happened in the last four yea rs trash what happened in the last four years and use it as a foundation but he said 2017s manifesto should be the foundation and that was a lot less radical than the 2019 ma nifesto. Less radical than the 2019 manifesto. Many in the labour party felt 2019 offered far too much far too quickly and people did not believe it. You can get back to listening to his speech now, nick. Thanks forjoining us. Stormonts first and deputy first ministers have been appointed after powersharing returned to Northern Ireland. Dup leader Arlene Foster resumes the first minister role she lost when the last Coalition Executive collapsed in 2017. Sinn feins stormont leader Michelle Oneill has become deputy first minister. Our correspondent, richard morgan, is at stormont. Those appointments being made in the last hour or so as the assembly meets for the first time in three yea rs, meets for the first time in three years, since its collapse in 2017. The dup and sinn fein decided to go back into power sharing after the deal which was presented by the british and irish governments which promised a lot of funding for Public Services and infrastructure and just to get Northern Irelands economy back up and running. Before they entered the chamber for the first time in three years we were still waiting to hear whether or not the Ulster Unionist Party would re enter power sharing and just before one oclock they came here to the great hall and their leaders said they would enter the executive. There are elements of the deal we remain opposed to,
in particular the implementation of the stormont house legacy provisions and the Irish Language act. We are very disappointed that our well thought out and reasoned ideas about making the executive more accountable, responsible and transparent have either been watered down or significantly diminished. However, it is very clear that the mood of the people is to get effective Government Back and the best way to hold sinn fein and the dup to account is by the Ulster Unionist Party being in the executive. Steve aitken saying he would like to get back into power sharing in order to hold the dup and sinn fein to account. The reference to the public mood, because politicians here are under immense pressure to get back to work because the Public Services have struggled in the last three yea rs have struggled in the last three years as there has not been ministers in place to take decisions and allocate appropriate funding especially to the health service. The sdlp also had to weigh up whether it would enter an executive and shortly before one oclock they confirmed they would. We are here to do business. We dont think this is a day for celebration this is a day for getting back to work and a day that the people have asked for. Politicians havent done this we have waited about for three years. Now we have an opportunity to do what the people have asked us to do for all that time so lets get on with it. We are going to take our place in the executive and we will deliver what we can deliver and we will hold others to account, to make sure all of the promises that have been made to the public are delivered on their behalf. Thank you. At the minute after a short suspension you politicians are in the chamber once again and they are nominating various ministers and the speaker was nominated just after one oclock. Arlene foster is the first
minister of Northern Ireland and Michelle Oneill of sinn fein is the deputy first minister. One of the ministerial posts which is controversial is that ofjustice because it requires Cross Community support, from both main parties. The decision was given to the Alliance Party leader naomi long. Our ambition for this place is to have sustainable government and that we would be able to have a fit for purpose executive and that it would deliver for all of the people of Northern Ireland. The deal was put to us, and whilst imperfect as any deal would be, we believe it can be the basis for delivery for the people of Northern Ireland, if it is implemented with good will. Naomi longs position asjustice minister has been confirmed. One of the key positions that will be is in
education, the Education System has been under immense pressure, and we are joined been under immense pressure, and we arejoined by a representative been under immense pressure, and we are joined by a representative of the largest Teaching Union in Northern Ireland, what is your First Priority . We will say to a new minister that they need to rectify the situation around teaching pay, because teachers have not had anything more than a 1 pay rise since 2011 and this is far from good enough, but we have spent the last couple of years negotiating with the department for education and in june we agreed an agreement in principle and we were waiting on funding from the department of finance and we are 110w the department of finance and we are now calling on them to bring forward that offer. It is on offer of 4. 25 over two years and we want to hear what people have got to say about that. Your members have been on strike . We went on strike in 2015 and 16 but we have also been short
of strike action and our members have not cooperated with the Inspection System in Northern Ireland, refusing to intend article meetings including Parent Teacher meetings including Parent Teacher meetings and we have been refusing to bring in any new initiative brought in by the department for education. Major funding is needed to plug the gap . Absolutely, we need at least £300 million to plug the gap and we need 80 millionjust to find the last two years of pay, and teachers are owed this pay rise back to september 2017 and that needs to be brought forward quickly and we also now need to sit down and talk about teachers pay for 2019 and beyond. We hope that reading between the lines of the draft text, that the lines of the draft text, that the parties have been setting that money aside and that together with the pressing needs at school level that they are going to come up with the money. Justin, thanks for
joining us. Big gaps in the funding for education, health also in need of money, as is the department for infrastructure, and at the moment Assembly Members are in the chamber nominating ministers for those key posts. Richard morgan, thanks for joining us. One of the biggest sellers of train tickets in britain is the latest to offer its customers whats called split ticketing. The trainline says using this method, rail travellers could between them save more than £300 million this year. Split ticketing is when travellers buy multiple tickets for a journey instead of a single end to end ticket. It can be used to lower the overall cost, sometimes by more than half the originaljourney cost. With split ticketing, your tickets must cover the whole journey and the train must stop at every station where your tickets are split but you dont have to get off. The Rail Industry is calling for tickets to be simplified and a government review is underway. He is our travel writer simon calder. What we are seeing today is the whole thing moving from the niche, lots of us who have got used to the various splits, to a company through which millions of people buy tickets saying we are going to give you the best deal and that might involve one of these crafty ticket splitting. Let me give you another example, if you walk up to the Ticket Office in perth in scotland and so you want to go to swansea, they will say, that is £235, thank you. But if you are going onto one of the many ticket splitting websites, they could split this into seven 01 websites, they could split this into seven or eight separate sections and you would still get on the same trains and still have a degree of flexibility but you would save £100. That sort of money, you mention £300 million that travellers will save according to train line, we will see about that, but that is 3 of the actual total revenue of the railway just gone on a return to the customers, and many governments have a lwa ys customers, and many governments have always said we are going to reform the railfare always said we are going to reform the rail fare system and that is terrific, except that when you put fa res terrific, except that when you put fares up, some fares down and you make everything simpler, some people end up paying more, and they have a lwa ys end up paying more, and they have always stopped at that point, saying, well, actually, it is not politically perceptible some people might pay ten, 15 more so were not going do it. Joining us now is robert nisbet, director for nations and regions for the rail delivery group. We are grateful for your time. We are gratefulfor your time. Simon calder there outlining how much money can be saved by this split ticketing, do you accept that rail
companies have been ripping off customers by not charging them a split fare if that was the lowest fare . I would not accept that. In effect what happens at the moment is that fare levels are set by the government primarily, half of the tickets are regulated fares so that is 45 , and they set the level and at the moment that is set according to the rpi level of emplacement and the rest is set by the Railway Companies but dependent on how much they pay into government. We have said that we understand that the system is creaking at the seams and there are 55 million different fair combinations in the fair computer which means it is confusing and it allows for these kind of anomalies that split ticketing is taking advantage of, so we welcome this in that it advantage of, so we welcome this in thatitis advantage of, so we welcome this in that it is an innovation and it makes it easier for people to travel on the trains, so that is great, but we think in effect this is applying
polyfilla when the entire wall needs plastering and we need to change the fa re system plastering and we need to change the fare system in this country. Making it easierfor passengers fare system in this country. Making it easier for passengers to travel is not the same as making it cheaper andi is not the same as making it cheaper and ijust is not the same as making it cheaper and i just wonder, is not the same as making it cheaper and ijust wonder, if you get is not the same as making it cheaper and i just wonder, if you get what you say you want which is a simpler ticketing and fares structure, will that necessarily mean that prices will fall . Again that is a question for government because that is about fa re levels for government because that is about fare levels and what has happened with successive governments is that they have swung at the responsibility of paying for the ra i lwa ys responsibility of paying for the railways onto the passenger and away from the taxpayer, so we are the least subsidised railway in western europe, but we want more people to travel, 5 Million People are travelling every date since the 90s, the number of people using trains has doubled, but we think they still more and there is more capacity in the network and to make peoples journeys more comfortable and more enjoyable, so what we would like to see is working with the government
to make the system easier, so instead of regulating these fair bundles, you are creating or regulating fare levels and we think thatis regulating fare levels and we think that is much better, and it will allow for say pay as you go, that london commuters benefit from, with a weekly cap, but also season tickets, not everyone lives a monday friday nine to five life, but the ticketing system does not accept that. We think it needs to be broken down and built back up again and we are very encouraged that the government has started fares trials on one network, and has set up a fund to pay for these trials and also on gtr in the south east, looking at part time working, so we need to rebuild the system rather than apply a sticking plaster when it needs major surgery. If it is broken down, who will win and lose . Somebody has to subsidise someone somewhere. And lose . Somebody has to subsidise someone somewhere. That is