Over tv because youre such an expert in ratings. And ill take over your job expert in ratings. And ill take over yourjob and people can finally sleep comfortably again. Coming up on sportsday. Two days to go until the start of the six nations and home nations teams have been announced. Good evening. Phil shiner a human rights lawyer who brought dozens of allegations of murder and torture against british soldiers who served in iraq has been struck off for dishonesty. Mr shiner, a former solicitor of the year, has paid thousands of pounds to a fixer to find iraqi clients. Hed already admitted acting without integrity and his firm, is no longer in business. The defence secretary, sir michael fallon, said mr shiner had brought great pain to soldiers and their families and should apologise. Our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has been following the case. Once an Award Winning human rights lawyer, tonight phil shiners reputation lies in tatters. He made his name at the expense of the british army and the taxpayer, in legal aid accusing soldiers of widespread abuse during the war in iraq. I dont know whether people were killed but i think something went wrong. We need to find out who was responsible and who in command knew what on earth was going on here. They were kept naked. They were sexually humiliated. Today a tribunal upheld 12 charges of misconduct against him, including five charges of acting dishonestly. He was ordered to pay £250,000. Hes been struck off and will never work as a lawyer again. The tribunal also heard shiner paid an iraqi agent more than £1. 5 million, to knock on doors, trawling for business. This was the aftermath of the incident that proved his undoing. The Battle Of Danny Boy in iraq in 200a. Coloneljames coote will never forget that day, when he and his men put their lives on the line. It culminated with soldiers in hand to hand combat, fixing bayonets and fighting through heavily defended enemy positions. Acts of bravery, though, were soon followed by allegations that they murdered, mutilated and tortured iraqis. A five year inquiry, costing £30 million found those claims were built on lies and without foundation. The process of going through the last ten years has put a great deal of stress on my family, particularly whove found it difficult to understand why the process was being applied in the way it was, and to my soldiers and their families as well. What do you want from phil shiner now . Id simply ask him to apologise to the soldiers and families that have been put through the stresses and strains over the last decade. There is proof of mistreatment by british soldiers. It was phil shiner who highlighted the case of baha mousa, an iraqi hotel worker, battered to death in british custody but it was just one of the hundreds of allegations he made. Hes made soldiers lives a misery over the last few years, i think the decent thing now would be for him to apologise properly to all those troops and their families who he falsely accused. The Prime Minister, too, has promised to end what she calls An Industry Of Vexatious Claims against british troops, though dozens of allegations of historic abuse are still intregted. Still still being investigated. But for phil shiner, this is the end of his career. A man who once sought the limelight but hes now gone to ground. Jonathan beale, bbc news. With me is is our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. The other cases there mentioned by jonathan. Where does this leave them . Well, i think this dramatically lightens the workload of investigators who have been looking over the years into more than 3,000 claims of abuse. Phil shiner himself brought over 2,000 claims of abuse against british soldiers. The vast bulk of them have already been dismissed by the iraq historic allegations team, the body set up by the government to look into the team. But what happened today has far reaching consequences for that investigation and into the remaining cases because the tribunal heard not only had phil shiner paid an agent to essentially tout for business but that agent had then paid iraqis to come forward with claims, so serious doubt has been cast on their credibility. I understand that any allegations made by phil shiners firm that dont have any corroborating evidence, will now be thrown out without further investigation. He is obviously no longer in business to bring any more claims but ive been told the investigators will still be left with a number of serious claims. We dont know the exact number. A fraction of the overall number. A fraction of the overall number brought but claims that are deemed to be credible and that do need to be properly investigated. 0k, thank you very much. The Bank Of England has made another significant change to its forecast for economic growth. It now estimates that Gross Domestic Product will rise by 2 year significantly higher than its previous prediction of i. 4 . But the bank is warning that there will be further substantial increases in inflation over coming months. 0ur Economics editor kamal ahmed reports. Were still spending. Employment is rising. The Bank Of England cuts Interest Rates. Borrowings become cheaper and today the governor even nodded to the new president and his plans to boost the us economy all reasons for the significant upgrade of britains growth forecast. The governor admitted that consumers had shrugged off any brexit gloom. Consumers have not been affected by any of the associated uncertainty around brexit. That, to a large degree is understandable. The Labour Market is Still Holding up. Wages are growing at roughly the same rate, modestly but roughly the same rate as they had in the past and in part because of our actions, credit is available and its cheap. These uk Growth Upgrades are some of the fastest the bank has ever published. Last november it said growth for 2017 would languish at i. 4 . That figure has been raised to 2 . For 2018, it originally said growth would be i. 5 . That has also been increased, more modestly, to 1. 6 . Mixed in with the good news, some caution. For this small food firm in kent, inflation is on the up, driven by the fall in the value of sterling. The price of Goods Nimisha raja buys have increased by 25 . For the moment were able to absorb the prices, were not passing it on to the retailer and therefore thats not being passed on to the end consumer. When we do need to pass on the price, i dont know whether it is going to reach the end consumer, depending on what the retailers views are. And as the pressures build, might the bank have to reach for that Cooling Button an Interest Rate rise . Is there more of a risk of an Interest Rate rise than there is of a further Interest Rate cut . If we do see a situation where there is faster growth in wages, than we anticipate, or that spending doesnt decelerate later on in the year, one could anticipate that there will be an adjustment on Interest Rates, an increase of Interest Rates. That is not a signal. Here at the Bank Of England, the governor struck a pretty upbeat note today but there are still warning lights flashing in this inflation report. The amount we are saving has fallen to historic lows. And that could be a problem if the economy does take a turn for the worse. I think the bank here is still nervous. Yes, there is better news, but, as the governor said, we have only just started ourjourney to brexit. 0n growth its been a Roller Coaster Ride for the bank. A sharp change in direction to positive. Consumer debts, though, are high and savings are low. That positive news will need to keep flowing if the uk is to keep prospering. Kamal ahmed, bbc news. The government has published a White Paper Setting out more details of its plans for the brexit negotiations. The brexit secretary, david davis, told mps that changes would be phased in gradually and that the uk would not find itself on the edge of a cliff. The paper promises a new Immigration Bill and says ministers will seek separate deals for Key Industries to retain access to the european single market. 0ur political correspondent, vicki young, has more details. Be ambitious, be positive about britains future outside the european union. Thats the message from ministers, who say theyre aiming for a strong new partnership with the eu. Secretary david davis. The man charged with achieving that told the commons that the referendum was not a vote to turn our back on europe. It was a vote of confidence in the uks ability to succeed in the world, an expression of optimism that our best days are still to come. Whatever the outcome of our negotiations, we seek a more open, outward looking, confident and fairer uk that works for everyone. Under pressure to reveal more, the governments published some brexit plans. Priorities include putting parliament in control of our laws, making Immigration Decisions in the uk with a new system thatll be phased in over time, continuing Security Cooperation with the eu, and establishing the freest possible Trading Relationship with eu countries. Theresa may has already announced that the uk will leave the single market, but todays document says shell seek a special arrangement for Key Industries, such as Car Manufacturers and financial services. Mps are demanding that parliament is regularly consulted when negotiations get under way. Theres no point in having a vote after hes already signed it off with the european union, treating parliament as some sort of afterthought. Mps are demanding a say on the deal that theresa may does with the european union. They want the power to order her back to brussels if they think its not good enough. But before labour can focus on that fight, theyre going to have to get over a few problems of their own. Is brexit splitting labour . The labour leader ordered his mps not to block the Brexit Process last night, but dozens disobeyed. Some resigning from his shadow cabinet. Jeremy corbyn couldnt even rely on one of his closest allies, diane abbott. She was taken ill, shortly after this debate, and just before the crucial vote, and had to go home. But some colleagues dont believe her. Its extraordinary that diane abbott sneaks off, saying that shes ill. You know, people who are well enough at five oclock to be in parliament are well enough to be there for the vote at seven oclock. I think we know whats going on here. She bottled the vote. Tonight, malta is preparing to host a summit of all 28 eu leaders. Theresa mays set out her intentions. Shell leave early so everyone else can discuss their brexit tactics. Vicki young, bbc news, westminster. The archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, says he was completely unaware of allegations of extreme violence and physical abuse made against a former colleague who worked at a christian summer camp for boys in the 1970s and 80s. Bbc news has spoken to the daughter of the man a barrister called john smyth who says her father must face justice if the claims are borne out. Hampshire police are investigating the allegations, as our religious affairs correspondent, martin bashir, reports. John smyth qc, now working in south africa, is at the centre of allegations involving the abuse of young boys, who were allegedly groomed, at a series of summer camps in dorset in the 1970s. People matter to us very much. The camps, which still take place every august, involved boys from the top 30 private schools in the country. They would engage in activities during the day and then hear talks about the Christian Faith during the evening. Weve spoken to an alleged victim, who would not appear on camera, but explained how he says the abuse would happen. Hed be invited tojohn smyths house in winchester, where hed be asked about his personal prayer life. He was then asked if he masturbated. Upon confession, hed be beaten with a cane. The iwerne trust, which oversaw the camps, was made aware of what victims say happened in winchester in 1982, but decided not to inform the police. One of smyths closest friends and part of the Leadership Team defended their decision not to report the abuse. We discussed telling the police. I wasnt part of that discussion. But the young men themselves didnt want to have their names mentioned. They had suffered enough atjohn smyths hands without wanting too the indignity of describing everything in court. At the time the Church Of England had no Safeguarding Policy in place. The archbishop of canterbury, who also worked alongside john smyth as a young leader, says he knew nothing of the alleged abuse until 2013. I was 19, 20 years old. I was a Junior Leader in a camp. These were the senior leaders. I wasnt part of the inner circle. The churches should be held to a higher standard than anyone else and we failed in that and thats a terrible, terrible thing. Late this afternoon one of mr smyths daughters gave the bbc an interview, in which she said that her father should be made to account for his actions. I will always love my father. However, if these allegations are true, i do think hell have to face justice and that will be painful for everyone involved. But i believe strongly in justice and i would want that for someone who had done that to my child. We approached mr smyth at his home in cape town, south africa. But he refused to answer our questions. Tonight, Hampshire Police announced theyre investigating these allegations of abuse and appealed to victims to come forward. Martin bashir, bbc news. A deal to end part of the long running dispute which has inconvenienced many thousands of passengers on Southern Rail has been now been reached. The company has been holding extended talks with the aslef union to resolve a disagreement about the role of guards on trains. But the rmt union is still involved in a dispute with southern, as our transport correspondent, richard westcott, reports. Its the bitter dispute thats been paralysing one of the countrys busiest lines. But tonight, Southern Rails finally reached an agreement with its drivers. Do you know that the Southern Rail strike, theyve come to a deal in the last hour or so, i was just wondering if you knew . No, i hadnt heard that, but thank you, thats terrific news. Its been absolute hell for the last 12 months. Its impacted on a lot of things and a lot of people. The row was over the role of staff on trains. Southern wants drivers, not conductors, closing the doors. The union says thats not safe. Neither sides giving details, but the companys hinting its changes will still go ahead. 0ur Modernisation plans that we introduced earlier in the year are intact, so well continue to work the reliability of the service up and improve and get back to the Service Standards weve achieved previously. But aslef says its secured significant concessions on safety and is confident members will vote for the deal. Well, after the past year and where weve been, we welcome that weve come to a consensus that weve got something to our membership that we believe will help deliver a safer railway. So it took two weeks of what im told was very intense negotiating inside this building, but Southern Rail does seem to have reached a deal with its drivers and both sides say theyre happy. Of course aslef wasnt the only union involved in this dispute, so it doesnt end here. The rmt union isnt part of this deal. It represents conductors and could still announce more strikes, knocking out a third of services each time. So the pain isnt quite over for southerns long suffering passengers. Richard westcott, bbc news. President trump has again defended his controversial travel ban on people from seven mainly muslim countries and insisted that america was being taken advantage of by every nation in the world. He said hed had a series of tough phone calls with various World Leaders including a less than Diplomatic Exchange with the australian Prime Minister over a deal to bring a group of mostly muslim refugees to the us. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, reports. The trappings of office are impressive, the reality is burdensome. Last night President Trump and daughter ivanka left the white house to fly to an airbase where the remains of a us navy seal were being returned, killed after a Military Operation in yemen. The first one ordered by americas new commander in chief. At a Prayer Breakfast this morning in washington, that experience seemed heavy. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life, for his friends. We will never forget the men and women, who wear the uniform. Believe me. But overwhelmingly, the tone on Foreign Policy is abrasive. When you hear about the tough phone calls im having, dont worry about it, just dont worry about it. They are tough, they have to be tough, it is time that we are tough, we are taken advantageof by every nation in the world, its not going to happen any more. In the past also we have seen a warning shot fired at iran. We are officially putting iran on notice, thank you. Details have emerged of what was apparently a Shouting Match between him and australias Prime Minister over an 0bama era agreement that the us would accept mainly muslim refugees that australia wouldnt take. And with mexico, a warning hed send troops across the border if the authorities there didnt deal with the bad hombres as he called them. The person who will be in charge of us Foreign Policy from now on, rex tillerson, took up his post today. What was striking was how much more conciliatory he was. No one will tolerate disrespect of anyone. Before we are employees of the state department, we are human beings first. Let us extend respect to each other, especially when we may disagree. It is too soon to say what a donald trump policy will look like. Yes, we have heard what he said but we have yet to see what he will do. What we do know is that he will continue to take aim at any thing, or anyone, who gets in his way. Even arnold schwarzenegger, his successor on the apprentice. And i want to just pray for arnold if we can, for those ratings 0k . And it brought a fairly Swift Response from the former governor and terminator. Donald, i have a great idea, why dont we switch jobs, you take over tv because youre such an expert in ratings and i take over yourjob and people can finally sleep comfortable again. Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Six people were sent to prison today for a majorfraud. Their crimes thought to have cost up to £1 billion destroyed many Small Businesses run by customers of halifax bank of scotland, now owned by Lloyds Banking group. The fraud was facilitated by two employees of the bank, which for years has refused to acknowledge responsibility for what happened, or offer to compensate the victims. 0ur Economics correspondent, andy verity, has uncovered evidence that in covering up the fraud, the bank also misled the police. Four greedy and devious consultants, who bribed two discouraged hbos bankers. In exchange the bank forced Small Business company is to pay for the consultants, who plundered the businesses to buy foreign holidays and yachts. This has been the longest and most compact casing Thames Valley police history. Lyndon schofield, struggling Small Companies would approach him for advice to turn their businesses around. Is of Offering Help that he should have done, he led them more and more of the banks money. He also referred them to his consultancy friends, who weeks charged him extortionate fees and stripped them of their assets. This family of 0xfordshire Farmers had a brush with the fraudsters that put them on a path to ruin that they estimate cost them £70 million. But worse than the money was the mental torture of fighting off a powerful bank. I hope that the bank do the right thing and compensate all victims, because i think the victims have lived Hell On Earth for the last 12 years full stop i know me and myfamily last 12 years full stop i know me and my family have. Former tory mp Sirjames Paice says Lloyds Banking group, which now owns hbos, told him thered been no wrongdoing. The bank said that they had carried out their own internal investigation they found, this is correct, they found no evidence that he had benefited from his association. Thats a pretty definitive statement that was clearly a nd pretty definitive statement that was clearly and utterly wrong. So either their internal investigation was a shambles and failed, or they were lying. Ive uncovered evidence that the bank misled the police. Thames Valley Police got in touch with the bank in march, 2008, to ask if accou nts bank in march, 2008, to ask if accounts managed by Lyndon Schofield we re accounts managed by Lyndon Schofield were under any sort of formal investigation. It took five weeks for the bank to come back and say, i cannot offer any information that would support or substantiate any allegations of wrongdoing. But we found out that by that point theyd done at least three internal reports into the lending. Lloyds told that couldnt interpret statements made nearly a decade ago because it couldnt know the context, but today, the victims were still waiting for the bank to acknowledge responsibility for its former employees actions. Andy verity, bbc news, Southwark Crown court. In france prosecutors are said to have widened their investigation into the Financial Affairs of Francois Fillon, the centre right president ial candidate. Hes been under increasing pressure to step down over allegations that he paid his wife a salary as a Parliamentary Assistant for work she did not do. As our correspondent Lucy Williamson reports, mr fillon was seen until recently as the favourite to win the president ial contest in may. Hes hoping to hear this on election day. But Francois Fillon staked his campaign on his personal life, family, Old Fashioned values, strong catholic faith. Now, the man who wa nted catholic faith. Now, the man who wanted to cut half a million public jobsis wanted to cut half a million public jobs is accused of falsely paying his wife £700,000 from public funds, claims hes called mudslinging, misogyny and an institutional coups detat. Translation its not just detat. Translation its notjust as they want, its to break me, and notjust me, its the right they want to break. Over the course of the Decade Penelope the young was allegedly employed as a parliamentary assista nt to employed as a Parliamentary Assistant to both her husband and his successor penelope fillon. Evidence that herjob actually existed is being sought. In an interview from that time, rebroadcast on French Television tonight, mrs fillon said she had never had an assistants role. Tonight, mrs fillon said she had never had an assistants role. Ive never had an assistants role. Ive never been actually his assistant. Mr fillon was seen as the front runnerfor the presidency. Mr fillon was seen as the front runner for the presidency. Now mr fillon was seen as the front runnerfor the presidency. Now polls suggesting he is losing support and might even struggle to make it to the second round of the election. That would increase the chances that far right Leader Marine Le Pen could end up in the elysee palace. This scandal has played into fears of rotten political establishment, with some saying that mr fillon himself has misjudged the mood. The mistake mr fillon made was to fight on the legal ground. He should have fought on the moral ground. We thought his values were strong and it appears that they are weak, so who is really Francois Fillon . Despite the backing of his party, some of mr fillons collea g u es of his party, some of mr fillons colleagues are questioning his position. But replacing him three months before polling day would be a gamble as well. Mr fillon won his nomination through an open primary contest nomination through an open primary co ntest a nd nomination through an open primary contest and the runner up, Alain Jupper Contest and the runner up, alain juppe, has so far said he would step in. A week ago Francois Fillon was a man tipped for president. Now a politician no longer fighting for election, but survival. The path to frances top job is already littered with casualties. He may be next. Lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. More than 100 works by black and asian artists from the 1980s onwards are to go on display in nottingham as part of a new exhibition highlighting their contribution to british art. One artist featured is sonia boyce, whose work explores the representation of race and identity in society. Shes been speaking to our correspondent elaine dunkley. This is a work by mobray odonkor. What we see here is an image, a painted and drawn image, shes making a relationship between ghana and the uk and that story of colonialism. What shes doing here is saying yes, i acknowledge that difficult and challenging history, but im here, and im here in a very way. A Creative Movement born out of Racial Division inequality and unrest in britain in the 1980s. This is a work by Eddie Chambers called destruction of the national front. Its seen as a work that announces black art. The images are powerful, this image a response to the appropriation of the british flag. The work of black and asian artists, raising questions that are as relevant now as they were back then. People often think of the 80s as being this very turbulent time of a lot of social changes happening, and of course artists were in the midst of all those social changes. Questions around race, around gender, around what constitutes britishness, is part and parcel of what theyre grappling with. Only a handful of artists who are black and asian have received wide recognition for their work. Why is that . These artists have come and challenged some of those ideas. Its because the system itself is still trying to get to grips with what is it, how can we come at this work . I dont really want to just say that artists have been the victim of racism, because of course they have formed strategies to combat, to challenge, to notjust be the receivers of a particular kind of opinion, but to actually make something out of that situation. Sonia boyces work confronts uncomfortable themes, but shes also interested in what is hidden. Trawling through British Public collections cataloguing diverse work. Theres a massive untold story about the ways in which african and asian artists have historically impacted british art and british culture, and its never been done before, to be able to chart where works are so that future researchers can go and find those works, that the public can get to know so an archive which could prove to be an important work of art. Elaine dunkley, bbc news. Newsnight is coming up on bbc two. Weve had more detail about our governments plans for brexit today, but its not just governments plans for brexit today, but its Notjust Up To us. Well get a
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