Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20200304

Taking an in depth look at the papers with our reviewers, dawn foster and matt dathan. Stay with us for that. Good evening. Flybe, britains biggest Regional Airline, is on the verge of collapse tonight going into administration, putting thousands ofjobs at risk and having an Immediate Impact on the travel plans of many thousands of passengers. The company had asked government for a crucial loan of £100 million to stay in business. But concerns over coronavirus have also affected bookings in recent weeks. Flybe is a leading carrier at airports including belfast, glasgow, southampton, manchester, and birmingham. 0ur correspondentjon kay reports from flybes headquarters in exeter. Touching down in exeter, one of flybes last flights of the day. But what will be taking off tomorrow . These are not passengers with luggage. But mechanics taking their tools home from the companys headquarters at the end of the runway. Theyd come in especially to collect their kit, even before any official announcement. We are not allowed to tell you anything. Nothing. Have you been told whats happening . No. It has been an anxious few weeks for the 400 staff here, and tonight theyve been arriving, desperate for news. I dont know anything either way, so. Have you been given any indication whats going on . None. Sorry, guys. We literally dont know. We know as much as you do on the news. So where does that leave you . Who knows . Questions also for flybe passengers arriving into exeter tonight. They told us the Company Provides vital roots and is an important part of this regions economy and beyond. Tonights speculation is unsettling. Its not great. It is handy having it here. I work in greenwich and it cuts two hours of the travelling time by being able to fly. It will be detrimental to the whole of the south west if we cant get from plymouth and have to drive to exeter. The next stop is bristol. Meanwhile as more staff turn up to find out what is happening, a delivery of pizzas. A long night ahead after a difficultjourney for flybe. John kay, bbc news, exeter. So what are the factors that have contributed to the expected collapse of flybe . Our Business Editor simon jack looks at the numbers behind it and the implications for the economy. Flybe has been surviving on a wing and a prayer for decade. Flybe has been surviving on a wing and a prayerfor decade. It may be yours largest Regional Airline, but has made a losses in eight of the last ten years. It is the biggest operator in many Regional Airports and carries 8 Million People to and from the eu and within the uk. Tonight, those flights were grounded for good when a flybe told the bbc the game is up. Grim news for passengers and connections between regions is popular with the loss of flybe for the uk regions airports is disastrous. It is small in the uk market as a whole, but if you are flying out of exit or, uk, or specifically southampton, it really is one of the only other choices. For southampton it counts of 95 of the activity in the airport. A number of regional routes will risk not being served. Flybe almost collapsed in january not being served. Flybe almost collapsed injanuary but not being served. Flybe almost collapsed in january but was not being served. Flybe almost collapsed injanuary but was handed a reprieve when its opus, which included Virgin Atlantic, agreed to put in £30 million of their own money. In return, the government promised to review, or lower air passion duty, a tax of £13 per person on short haul flights ludovic leaving uk airports air passenger duty. Flight be hope to see that cut in half. However, the government has said it cannot do that until eu rules cease to apply injanuary that until eu rules cease to apply in january 2021, meaning that until eu rules cease to apply injanuary 202i, meaning any talk of a potential government loan of up to £100 million to tide the airline over would be seen as throwing good money after bad. Even healthy, Profitable Airlines are struggling to cope with the impact of coronavirus. Ba has slashed hundreds of flights, and Virgin Atlantic has asked staff to take unpaid leave. An airman dashed an airline like flybe, already in poor financial health, has been finished off by a virus whose Economic Impacts continue to spread. 0ur sports presenter, holly hamilton, has been on a flybe plain and earlier told us what she knew from terminal three at manchester airport. Weep boarded the flight earlier from manchester to belfast. We heard there were problems with flybe and talk about going into administration, but we didnt really think it would affect the flight tonight. We started to taxi away from the gates and we thought, even though we could see on social media that there were some flights being cancelled, in glasgow, etc u nfortu nately we cancelled, in glasgow, etc unfortunately we did feel the taxiing was taking a little longer than normal, then we realised it was indeed heading back to the gate again. So unfortunately that is where we are at the moment, that was about 15 minutes ago. Weve not been told anything other than the pilot telling us of admin problems. Few of us are aware telling us of admin problems. Few of us are aware of what has been happening with flybe, we have a fair idea that we wont be going anywhere tonight. But to be honest, a lot of us tonight. But to be honest, a lot of us just tonight. But to be honest, a lot of usjust are thinking tonight. But to be honest, a lot of us just are thinking really about the situation with the staff because it is an inconvenience for us, but for them. Dont know much how much you heard, but basically all the pilots being told we just heard from the pilot that theres been an issue with take off in manchester. Thats all theyre being told, the staff know very little as well, so theres no point in even trying to ask them whats going on. So lots of concern right now. Holly hasjust taken off, concern right now. Holly hasjust ta ken off, weve concern right now. Holly hasjust taken off, weve been told, but obviously we will try and have another word with her when shes back on the ground, lets see whats been happening. The independents travel editor simon calder is with us in the studio. A bit of context here in terms of others that have struggled and where this one stands in all that . It is a terrible, terrible night, of course, if the failure is confirmed, and im expecting it to be confirmed as soon as hollys flight touches down in belfast, which will probably be the very last flight. It is the fourth colla pse very last flight. It is the fourth collapse of a significant British Airline infouryears, collapse of a significant British Airline in four years, in october 2017 we saw one collapse, then in february last year, flight bmi, another Regional Airline collapsed. Of course thomas cook was the huge operator that collapsed that took its airline with it last year. But this is not the same in terms of scale as some of those. However in terms of what it means for communities, it is extremely significant. Belfast city absolutely depends on flybe and tens of thousands of people in Northern Ireland will use it to connect to a dozen british airports. 0ther airports, like southampton, are very, very dependent on flybe, and it is the biggest airline, including aberdeen, very important in manchester in terms of passenger numbers, and birmingham where it has its largest base outside its headquarters in exeter. It is a real loss for people in exeter, that is where nearly 1000 of the staff were employed. While the departures board still showed at 6 30am flight from exeter to paris, i would be very surprised if that were to take office. Because it appears to be beyond rescue it, and financial terms . The owners have pumped £100 million in the past year. They believed they could turn around and turn into an airline called a version connected, very much using the virgin brand. However at a time when the expected it to be great, it wasnt, it was terrible. They thought they would make some money then and theyve just gone into absolutely another miserable winter. And in the past week, sales because of the coronavirus have absolutely collapsed. They were just pouring money away. I was about to mention the virus. If this is the end, it was the final straw, the coronavirus . Yes, they had been talking to the government about the cut, as we heard from simonjack and air passengerjudy. But ultimately Many Airlines are very, very reporting very heavy losses. And flybe effectively have no money coming in, lots of money going out, and three owners who had already lost tens of millions of pounds each and were simply not prepared to sustain any more losses. Simon, thank you very much, i think we can show you their website, flybes website, which weve just been looking at. Unsurprisingly the website is down, a further indication. Until recently they we re indication. Until recently they were selling tickets. I managed to buy a test ticket shortly before 10pm but since then it has u nfortu nately 10pm but since then it has unfortunately been showing that very ominous sign. That is what you will see if you try to access their website as it stands. Thank you very much, simon. The chief medical adviser has warned that a coronavirus epidemic is now likely in the uk but not yet certain. Professor chris whittys warning was made as the latest figures showed the biggest 24 hour rise in the number of people infected 36 new cases across the uk, two of which are in scotland and two in Northern Ireland. It brings the total number of people with the virus in the uk to 87. Of the new cases, three do not seem to have any connection to travel abroad thats called community transmission. That is called community transmission. Boris johnson announced a change to the rule on sick pay for those who have to self isolate. As a result of the coronavirus. First, heres our Health Editor hugh pym. The message the government wants us to see. A new Campaign Launched on a day when case numbers rose sharply and Health Chiefs warned of a wider spread. Were now getting quite a lot of cases coming into the uk. Small numbers at this point in time but we anticipate they will continue to rise, and we do expect there to be some onward transmission here in the uk and at this point in time we think it is likely, not definite, that we will move into onward transmission and an epidemic here in the uk. Theres been a four fold increase in cases here since last week but the figures are much higher in some other european countries. In italy, there have been more than 2,500 cases. The german figure is now at 240 while in france, its over 200. Its in demand. Some shops have run out of hand sanitiser, so this production line is running at full speed. They used to turn out 100,000 bottles a month. Now theyre aiming for that every day. Having a significant birthday this year, im not singing happy birthday to myself a moment earlier than i have to and scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon was demonstrating how to use it. What time did you start . She was visiting a call centre with a coronavirus helpline. So, after thisjump in case numbers, how worried should people be . On an individual basis, i dont think people should be especially worried. We know that this illness is quite catching. It has a high infectivity rate, and i think we were expecting that now, over the next week or two, we would see a rapid rise in numbers of people being diagnosed with covid 19. But the big question now is when the government might move to the next phase of its strategy and introduce new measures to try to slow the spread of the virus. There was better news from a school in gloucestershire, which reopened today after a deep clean, following a staff member testing positive. The schools probably the cleanest its ever been now. Theyve given it a thorough clean. It came at short notice. So, to have two of them in the house to look after for two days has been quite a handful. My sons being kept off until next week until i know full well its all clear and theres no chance of anybody catching anything. Its been a busy day for ministers and officials, leaving a meeting of the cobra emergency committee. Earlier, sick pay changes were announced, so anyone self isolating because of an infection risk will be paid from day one rather than waiting longer. It seems there will be many more days like it, with more cases and more decisions needed. As coronavirus spreads across the world more than 70 countries have reported cases so far, we can assess the measures different governments are taking. In italy, with the biggest outbreak in europe, the authorities have closed all schools and universities for two weeks. It has over 3,000 cases and more than 100 people have died. 0ur correspondent mark lowen reports from rome. An early easter break for pupils across italy. Every school and university will now close from tonight in a bid to halt the virus. Europes worst hit country stepping up its response. Its a problem because we have to stop the exams, we have to stop almost all the activities in the classroom. Maybe we can do something from home. But its not the same, of course. Parents and children are taking in the news. For some, the disruption is a price worth paying. Its not a question of panicking, but taking necessary measures to avoid the virus spreading out. Her nine year old, ernesto, says hes happy because it means no studying and no homework. Italy was the first in europe to ban all flights to china, the first to cordon off whole towns, now the first to close all schools. A dramatic response to a deepening crisis. And perhaps an example of how other countries too may respond if their outbreaks continue to worsen. As cases and deaths rise, more towns in the north may be quarantined. Cinemas and theatres could close. And the government is even set to advise tactile italians not to greet by kissing. So how many rooms here are occupied . No one. None of them . Empty. Coronavirus fear is battering italys economy, with hotels empty. 0wner Giuseppe Roscioli says hes had 90 cancellations and its the biggest crisis in his 35 years. And if this situation gets worse, what will happen . We have the key, we can close the door. Italy is now facing an unprecedented challenge and a desperate search for a remedy for the virus and for this countrys suffering. Mark lowen, bbc news, rome. And a reminder, you can keep up to date with all the developments around the coronavirus outbreak and the symptoms to watch out for and what it means for you on the bbc news app and on our website. Thats bbc. Co. Uk news. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at the papers with our reviewers, dawn foster, whos a columnist for the guardian, and matt dathan, the deputy Political Editor at the sun. Thats coming up after the headlines at 11 30pm. The headlines on bbc news. Britains biggest Regional Airline flybe is on the verge of collapse, putting 2000 jobs at risk. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the ukjumps to 87, as a Public Health Campaign Urges people to wash their hands regularly. And the greek island that is fast becoming a new market flashpoint. Aid workers say residents are turning on them. The former us Vice President joe biden has emerged as the new frontrunner in the race to be the democatic partys challenger to donald trump in the president ial election later this year. Mr biden defeated the veteran senator Bernie Sanders in nine of the 1a states which voted yesterday on whats known as super tuesday. The result prompted the billionaire Mike Bloomberg the former mayor of new york to end his campaign for the nomination. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has the latest. Tonight, cbs news projects biden has won in virginia. Hell get the biggest share of the 99 delegates there. Well, no one predicted that. Joe bidens campaign, which a week ago was seen as holed below the waterline and sinking without trace, was suddenly skipping along the waves. He notched up win after win in the most dramatic turnaround of political fortunes. We are very much alive cheering. And make no mistake about it. This campaign will send donald trump packing. This campaign is taking off join us. At Bernie Sanders rally in vermont, they were hoping for and had been predicted a much better night. It saw the 78 year old senator turning his fire onjoe biden. We are not only taking on the corporate establishment, were taking on the political establishment. Cheering. His supporters watched with anxiety and some paranoia. Is Bernie Sanders going to be the Democratic Party nominee . Yes, he is, definitely. Im not so sure. I think the democrats are conspiring to make sure he gets locked out. Bernie or nobody, 100 . Bernie or nobody . Yeah. Even if that lets donald trump in for another four years . Ooh. Thats a tough one, but yes. The billionaire Mike Bloomberg last night discovered that money cant buy love and cant buy votes. Hes out. But hes throwing his weight, and more significantly his fortune, behind joe biden. And elizabeth warren, who has consistently underperformed, must decide what shes going to do. This now becomes a toe to toe slugfest between two old, very old, heavyweights, joe biden and Bernie Sanders. Bernie sanders has the grassroots organisation, butjoe biden has momentum, orjoe mentum, as theyre calling it, and that counts for a lot. Jon sopel, bbc news, burlington, vermont. The greek island of lesbos has become the latest flashpoint in the new migrant crisis affecting parts of europe. Aid agencies have complained that their staff have been assaulted and intimidated as they try to cope with refugees coming by boat from turkey. The governor of lesbos has apologised for the violent actions of some residents. Hundreds of migrants have arrived on the island since friday when turkey opened its borders following an influx of refugees from syria. 0ur correspondentjean mackenzie reports from lesbos. Where are you from . Congo. How old are you . Ten. Ten . These are lesbos newest arrivals, trapped on the island, now behind bars. Ive been here for three days. Three days . Yeah. Whats it like in here . Not enough food, no sleeping. We want to go to a better place, not here. Hundreds of migrants from afghanistan, syria and the congo have made it across the sea since turkey opened its borders last week. Most have been kept in this holding pen. Can they leave or are they detained . They can leave . No, so they are detained . For years, this island has been overcrowded. More than 20,000 refugees now live in a camp that was meant for far, farfewer, stuck here while europe struggles to agree on what to do with them. Thousands make their way from the camp to the port, desperate to leave. These flare ups have angered locals, and that anger has turned to violence. Migrants and journalists have been attacked. And an aid centre has been set on fire. Some aid workers are now leaving the island. The medical clinics, which treat hundreds every day, have been closed. Why are you locking up . Because we have a lot of problems on the island with ngos. Were having a lot of riots with the ngos. It looks like we are dealing in a war zone and this unpredictable security situation is something that we never experienced before. Recent videos show the greek coastguard firing at people trying to cross the sea. We show these to the islands governor. They have received such orders to shoot, but in the air, not on the people. Look, look. Thats the migrants being hit on the head by the coastguard. Yes. What do you think about that . I reject. I dont like it. I dont like this behaviour. It doesnt represent me. As greece scrambles to secure its borders, european leaders have offered hundreds of millions of pounds to help. We dont want money, we want not to have a problem. The point is not to get money. The point is not to have a problem. Lets spare their money. Lets send the money back. A navy ship arrives to take the new arrivals to the mainland, but thousands are left behind, on this island that no longer wants them. Jean mckenzie, bbc news. A week today, Boris Johnsons government will set out its first budget. The Prime Minister has promised investment in infrastructure notably transport he says its the way to unite and level up the united kingdom. The strategy might well have to be adjusted in the light of the expected collapse of flybe. Theres been much focus on the midlands and the north of england, where the conservatives won new seats at the election. In the south west of england, local political leaders are warning they musnt be overlooked in the plans as our Political Correspondent alex forsyth reports from somerset. Just a few key roads are crucial in keeping the south west connected. Fine when they are flowing, frustrating when they are not. For this family run haulage firm, traffic costs money and congestion on some of somersets main routes is, they say, getting worse. Its absolute chaos to us. If we can get some cars off the road, that obviously would help, and the only way were going to do that is for the public transport to be better, so that would help drastically. Some of somerset is well connected, but away from the Main Transport routes, roads are rural and rail limited. This site near bridgwater is earmarked for 4,000 newjobs in green energy. The firm behind it says transport links are crucial. The whole of the uk need support from central government, especially when it comes to infrastructure and mobility and bringing sites like this forward is critically important. The governments pledged investment in transport across the country. Here, there is hope the focus wontjust be on new conservative seats in the midlands and north, but the south west too, where people can feel isolated. You depend on the bus, dont you, to get out shopping and whatever you have to do. In minehead, buses are vital to many. Theres been recent Council Investment that the services can be sporadic. Weve got one bus every couple of hours, and other than that, theres nothing. In this coastal town, social mobility is poor. Bandmates ethan, jack and greg all plan to move away after college because, they say, local opportunities are limited and local travel often impractical. I know people who do an hour and a halfjourney to taunton because because they want to do, they cant do it here. Its not particularly easy. Ive been looking for a job recently, theres not too many vacancies for them. I think you need to move away into bigger cities to find the opportunities there. These three are regulars at mineheads youth club. Here they focus on improving chances but say the area need support. I think that we are completely forgotten, as far as transport links. Everyones talking about hs2 and all of this, which is great, but nothing is coming down to the south west. The young people in this area are brilliant. I just want them to be able to achieve whatever it is that they want to, but they need a bit of support from the people higher up. Thats what the government has promised. Here theyre waiting to see exactly how that plays out. Alex forsyth, bbc news, somerset. Thank you listening to music and watching films and Television Programmes by using streaming services is hugely popular, but there are warnings that this way of enjoying content is harming environment. To store all the data, there are hundreds of thousands of data centres around the world many of them using electricity generated by burning fossil fuels. Figures suggest that the needs of it now create the same volume of Carbon Emissions as flying. 0ur environment correspondent Claire Marshall has the story. When we post a video or a photo or save something to the cloud, it leaves our device and travels through different networks. Maybe through cables under the ocean to a building called a data centre, where its stored. When we want to see it, this data is exploded into thousands of pieces, each one travelling a different route. When they get to a device, they put themselves back in the right order. So the internet, or the cloud, isntjust in the air. It exists in buildings like this one. Im in londons docklands, where fruit and veg used to be traded on these streets. Now its data, huge amounts of it. In this building, thousands of servers and theyre capturing and storing and sending all our data. There are now hundreds of thousands of these Energy Hungry data centres. The problem is that many are powered by fossilfuels. This is that us state of northern virginia, known as the internet capital of the world. This is one of the coal fired power stations supplying it with electricity, belching carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. It belongs to dominion energy, the largest provider, which generates much of its power by burning fossilfuels. Microsoft and google are here. Amazon has built 55 data centres. We think of amazon as a giant online supermarket but actually the Company Makes far more money building and renting data centres. Most of them are pretty clueless as to what is right here. Alex is campaigning for the Tech Companies to use green energy. Processing large amounts of data on a daily basis. These data centres are consuming large amounts of energy to process that data to stay operational in a 24 7 environment. Dominion energy told us they were committed to net zero carbon and methane emissions by 2050. Amazon said they were working towards 80 Renewable Energy by 2024, and 100 by 2030. Technology is adapting quickly. Data centres are more efficient than ever but there is a whole new challenge sg. 5g will generate much more traffic and demand much more power, which is not good for climate change. Weve all got to change. I think the internets got the power to help us control and reduce climate change, but we need to change some of our more frivolous behaviour before we get there. Streaming videos and standard definition rather than hd saves four times the emissions, and using wi fi rather than 3 4g uses a third of the energy. Claire bbc news. And well be taking an in depth look at the papers with our reviewers, dawn foster, whos a columnist for the guardian, and matt dathan, the deputy Political Editor at the sun. Thats coming up after the headlines at 11 30pm. Now its time for the weather. Somebodys going to tell me, heres darren. Hello there. Wednesday saw some rain affecting many parts of england and wales