Hello, its monday, its ten oclock. Im victoria derbyshire, and were live from new broadcasting house. Our exclusive story today parents in this country are being wrongly arrested and their kids taken into care because of fears that they will carry out female genital mutilation. The police came to my house to remove our children. They arrested my wife, and they put our children into foster care. We did not know what the allegations were. Nobody asked anything, nobody said anything. It was just really a shock. Yousef and his family have since received an apology. Campaigners say families like his are being racially profiled. Showdown at sandringham the queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and prince harry are meeting together for the First Time Since harry and meghans bombshell announcement. How royal do they want to be . What paid employment will they get . This footage has emerged of harry telling the boss of disney that his wife was up for voiceover work. This author tells us meghan has been subject to racism from parts of the media. A very recent history of regarding africans as savage and primitive, based on their genetic inheritance. Where we are still exoticised as black women constantly in the way we are associated with music and sexuality. This is something that all little black girls in britain have to deal with growing up. And, well speak to
the singer behind this mask. Take it off he said he did the itv show because he wanted to prove to people hes still alive and his mum stil doesnt know he was on it i tried to speak to her this morning but she hasnt gotten back to me. So, she hasnt gone, oh, my god, son, you were on the masked singer. I dont think she knows. Are you joking me . She was probably watching emmerdale hi. Welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. On our exclusive story this morning. Hibo says, fgm is still taking place, we mustnt forget that for a minute. Mumble tweets, i cant see this is a racist thing at all, its more about personalities about meghan. Whereas nishat tweets, the uk is institutionally racist and its time we stopped the denial. The queen is holding talks at sandringham today to try to map out a future path for the duke and duchess of sussex following their announcement that they want to step back as senior royals. Prince charles, Prince William and prince harry will be at the meeting. Meghan is expected to take part by telephone from canada, where shes staying with the couples son. The Airline Flybe insists its business as usual despite reports that its in crisis talks to try to put together a rescue deal. Its understood the airline, which has already been bailed out once, has been struggling to secure fresh finance. The reports come a year after flybe was bought for £2. 2 million by a consortium
including Virgin Atlantic and the stobart group. Since then, the consortium has invested tens of millions of pounds in the airline but losses have continued. The economy shrank by 0. 3 in the month of november, according to the monthly estimate by the office for national statistics. Thats worse than most economists expected. However, the last quarterly figures showed the economy grew by 0. 1 between the start of september and the end of november better than expected. Labours leadership contenders have until this afternoon to secure enough nominations to get on the ballot paper. Sir keir starmer, rebecca long bailey, Jess Phillips and lisa nandy have secured the backing of 22 mps and meps leaving Emily Thornberry and clive lewis lobbying to get the support they require. Officials in the philippines have warned a volcano thats been spewing lava could erupt within hours. Schools in manila have been closed, flights have been grounded and thousands of homes have been evacuated. This years oscar nominations
will be announced later, with once upon a time in hollywood, 1917, and the irishman, expected to be among the frontrunners. Other contenders are likely to include joker, for which Joaquin Phoenix could win best actor, plus netflixs marriage story, and south korean hit parasite. All eyes will also be on how many minority actors and female directors make it on to the shortlists. I went to see 1917 yesterday, it was grant wrenching, tense and incredibly powerful, and many people we re incredibly powerful, and many people were in tears at the end. Bound to get some oscar nations, of course. Parents in the uk are wrongly being arrested and having their children taken into care 7 because of the stigma around female genital mutilation. That 5 according to some campaigners who say figures which suggest tens of thousands of girls are at risk of fgm in this country are completely inaccurate. Rachel stonehouse has this exclusive film. Its a hidden crime thats been illegal in the uk for 35 years. 2019 saw the First Successful prosecution for female genital mutilation in this country, but is the push for prosecutions wrongly persecuting innocent families . The social Services Never came to our house to, you know, inquire about the allegation, the police never came to my house asking anything about it. All of a sudden, theyjust came and removed the children. All ive known is wales my whole life. The Somali Community say theyre wrongly stigmatized by fgm safeguarding practices. I went through with it. I would never go through with my daughter something i experienced. These policies are having a massive impact. Were being victimized, being racially profiled and its affecting us. Arrested, children taken into foster care and separated from each other. Thats the reality this dad of five, who were calling yousef, faced following a safeguarding referral by the Childrens School. We had a meeting with the Childrens School to tell them that we were relocating to somalia to raise our children. Therefore, while the children can learn the language, they can meet their grandparents. We had a good meeting with the school. He and his wife say they were wrongly accused of planning to take their children abroad for fgm and were unprepared for what happened a couple of days after the meeting with the school. Social services with the police raided my house and removed our children. They arrested my wife and they put
our children into foster care. We didnt know what the allegations were. Nobody asked anything. Nobody said anything. It was just really a shock. At the time i was at work, i wasnt at home. When they removed my children from their mother, they arrested their mother, they called me as well, i couldnt answer because my job involves driving. I couldnt answer the phone and then eventually they texted me, saying that i have to come to the Police Station immediately. Yousefs five children were separated into different foster homes. He says he and his wife were not able to see them during the 12 days they were in care. Do you feel that the school were right to raise the flag to social services in the first place . We trusted our school with our children for five years. They knew us. I mean, children must be safeguarded when theres a danger. But if the danger is just assumed, you know, youre supposed to verify it or, you know, investigate it properly. Dont just assume somethings going to happen based on somebodys background. You know, somebodys ethnicity. Just because we are somalis, that doesnt mean all somalis support fgm, we dont. We dont. The case was closed by Thames Valley police with no further action. And the children were returned to their parents. Slough Childrens Services trust has now apologised to the family and upheld seven of their complaints. It has also agreed to withdraw an fgm protection order which restricts the family from leaving the country without seeking permission. The Services Trust and Thames Valley police told us they cant comment on individual cases, but safeguarding is always the number one priority. Female genital mutilation is the ritual cutting or removal
of some or all of the female genitalia and is practised in some african, asian and middle eastern countries. Unicef figures estimate 98 of women and girls in somalia have undergone fgm. But some somalis living in britain say these figures are out of date. Ive come to cardiff to speak to some mums who say they are racially profiled for something that previous generations did. I went through with it. I would never go through with my daughter something i experienced. So its sad. People are still accusing the family, theyre doing it with their daughters. And is that something that you ladies all feel that actually as a community, you are stigmatised and racially profiled . I think the message from the Education Department and the public and the media,
whats happened is theyve been told that theres a huge epidemic and 60,000 girls are at risk. That data, thats being represented, its all our daughters who are british born and bred are part of that data. So theyve basically racially profiled and said they are at risk of being cut, which really is not. Ive heard of cases from across the uk where parents say theyre wrongly being accused of planning to have fgm done to their children. They say theres very little evidence and that this has a long Lasting Impact on both them and their children. Fgm was done to me when i was about eight years old. And i became really, really sick, overbled, nearly died. Ive also spoken to women like nimo who say because theyve had fgm, Health Professionals sometimes jump to conclusions. I have a diabetic daughter. So she had this, and she had kind of an ear infection. The doctors say to me, did she have fgm done to her . My daughter didnt know anything about fgm. Shes never heard about it. Then he asked. So, yeah, those things do happen. And you get asked in front of the children. So just because youd had it done, there was an automatic assumption . Yeah, automatic. Exactly. And how did that make you feel . I was, i was. Oh, my god. It was because i havent spoken about fgm or had anybody, fgm done to in a long, long time. Come and sit down. The head teacher spoke to you about somalia, and having fgm . Nimo is part of a somali Parents Group in bristol which recently put on a play to highlight these type of issues. We thought about coming together and doing a play and showing the community, the social services, the police and the General Community how the fgm is affecting us, everyday life. The play followed a report by the university of bristol. Dr saffron karlson led the research and questions how many girls are really at risk of fgm in the uk. Increasingly, the evidence suggests that it isnt as big a problem as its assumed to be. Thats, you know, every case. You know, we dont. We want to see an end to fgm. But the way that the Current System is sort of set up appears to sort of criminalise and stigmatise innocent families and families that, you know, theres no evidence to suggest that theyre going to do, that their children are going to be exposed to fgm. The university is now looking to do more in Depth Research in this area, and the Somali Community says now is the time for their voices to be heard. What we have to do is brave enough now to use media to give our voices. So not those individual anti fgm
campaigners who are put on the media by big media platforms and they come speak on our behalf. They are not our voice. Their voice and their stories arent the same as ours. Rachel stonehouse with that report. Lets speak now to zainab nur from the hayaat women 5 trust who says the Somali Community is being racially profiled. Leethen bartholomew from the national fgm centre and janet fyle an anti fgm campaigner from the Royal College of midwives. Welcome, all of you. How many cases do you know of where children have been wrongly taken into care because someone has assumed the parents wanted to make their daughter undergo fgm . I know at least over a dozen cases of children being taken into k that and we would say hundreds of families have been referred to safeguarding and have had a social
services investigation. Women who have attended antenatal appointments over their Health Problems at the hospital and had been referred because they have children under 16. They are told by the Health Professional, midwife, we have to refer you to social services. Because of what reason . They are saying we have to do it because you area saying we have to do it because you are a risk indicator and we are following guidelines. Because you are somali . Because they are african, from a community that used to have a history of doing female circumcision, so, they say theyit female circumcision, so, they say they it is on their risk indicators. They have to do what they are told to do by the government. Does that matter as long as girls are being protected . It does matter, what i am saying is, you would not refer, we wouldnt
prefer girls who have been sexually abused and saying they are at risk of sexually abusing their children. What we are doing is racially profiling these families. They are being told because of something that happened to you as a non consenting child, you are at risk of cutting your child. Most of these women have had very traumatic experiences of what happened to them in this generation. They would not even dare think about doing that to their children. Do you accept racial profiling is happening . Cani happening . Can ijust happening . Can i just say happening . Can ijust say at the start that female gentle you to or fgm in this country is child abuse, and it is against the law, and the public would expect us to do our utmost to protect children who cannot make the choices or do not give their
consent. Of course they wont. Do you think racial profiling is happening . Ido racial profiling is happening . I do not. I believe that when midwives see women who are pregnant initially, one of the things they ask them about is fgm so that they are able to talk to the woman and offer her physical and psychological support. We have heard and it is weather you believe it or not but some women are presenting at surgeries or in hospital, who are somali and had fgm and the assumption is made their children is at risk, is that ok . I will say to you evidence such as ifa i will say to you evidence such as if a mother has had fgm, her child is at risk. A few look at unicef later and the later here and all the research, it is about 20 of children who are at risk of fgm if their mother has had fgm. It is a
risk indicator rather than profiling. These risk indicators are discriminatory and we have equality laws. They need to be removed from the guidelines. If evidence suggests the woman has undergone fgm, there is a risk for the child, why should that risk indicator be removed . In the late 19805 when i was involved in anti fgm campaigns, this information, a few had asked me then, they would have been a risk indicator. There has been lots of awareness, education, we have a fourth generation girls in our community who have never had female circumcision. What is the accurate picture in term5 what is the accurate picture in terms of risk indicators . The truth is if a mother has had fgm, there is a possible indicator
and that should be the starting point of being able to ask questions ina way point of being able to ask questions in a way that does not traumatise the woman again. Risk is a dynamic thing. The mother might have moved oii thing. The mother might have moved on and there is a great possibility she would not want to perform any violence towards her child. When we look at fgm it affects the wider community. You also need to think in terms of does the risk present elsewhere within that family . What do you mean . The mother might have moved on but not the grandparents on either side. And who will hold 5way. You need to ask that. We need to think about the family system where the elders are the ones who hold sway. Cani
sway. Can i ask you about the five children in our example, five children in our example, five children removed from one family, put into five separate foster homes for 12 days, 5imply put into five separate foster homes for 12 days, simply because the family said they were taking their kid5 family said they were taking their kids on holiday to somaliland. Is that 0k . Kids on holiday to somaliland. Is that ok . I am not aware of that case. We have just described case. We haveju5t described it case. We have just described it in our film. It would be inappropriate for me to comment because i dont know about the case. That is what happened. That, 0k, what i want to say is we have a variety of tools to protect children and safeguard children and we would wa nt and safeguard children and we would want to do that. The whole idea of fgm is to prevent it happening to a girl. Ifa fgm is to prevent it happening to a girl. If a Health Professional is going to take out a protection order, there are various stages they need to go through. Do you think that is ok . First of all, i take the position like janet, i dont know the details of the case and cannot comment. Putting myself in those childrens shoes and being removed from the pa re nt shoes and being removed from the parent is never a comfortable thing, not a nice thing at all. The local authority apologised and seven complaints were upheld. That something in that case was not correct. The police as one took the position they would not investigate the case any longer. Based on that i would say it was unfortunate that happened to the children. Going on holiday to somaliland doe5 not strike me as evidence of your children are necessarily under threat, unle55 children are necessarily under threat, unless i am being very naive . You are smiling at me. The issue here is, we do not want to go back to the times when children were
turning up asking us for help in a different way and we were not noticing it. We persuaded the government, we Campaign Together with survivors, to make sure the law is clarified and to protect children and that is what we are doing. And sometimes, along the way in the system, it fails, it falls down. But we do not want to fail another child. One child failed is enough, it is too many. Would you agree . Perhaps it is worth being overcautious . No, later, if we look at later, later doe5 no, later, if we look at later, later does not state there is a high incidence of girls being cut in the uk. Basically, a few are saying something and making blanket state m e nts something and making blanket statements about our communities, when our Community Say it does not happen and later doe5 when our Community Say it does not happen and later does not support that. The later recorded of a woman
who has had fgm. The5e who has had fgm. These are our messages, a survivor has tweeted this, at the moment, there is panic and immediate protection orders are being applied and many are wrongfully given. Fgm i5 and many are wrongfully given. Fgm is still taking place, we must not forget that. I relate my concerns at a home office at the meeting and said, afew a home office at the meeting and said, a few do not set a body to look at how protection orders are u5ed,it look at how protection orders are used, it will come back to haunt you. They are the perfect tool if used properly but we need a body to oversee how they are being applied. Doctor laura tweet this, we heard concerns from survivors and their familie5 about social Services Taking children away, this fear can prevent 5urvivor5 taking children away, this fear can prevent survivors acce55ing taking children away, this fear can prevent survivors accessing care. Joseph says prevent 5urvivor5 accessing care. Joseph says it is a precautionary principle, if the children had been
mutilated, the authorities could be rightly condemned for their negligence. Thank you for coming on the programme. More comments are welcome. Coming up later in the programme. To let them show your true colours. Well talk to the latest contestant to be revealed in itv5 bizarre but addictive masked singer 5how. Justin hawkins from the darkness. And the uk5 first newly qualified Airline Pilot to have hiv tells us why its taken so long to get the rules changed to allow him to fly and why hes revealing his true identity now. The queen has summoned senior royals to sandringham today for face to face talks this afternoon to discuss the future roles of the duke and duchess of sussex. Prince harry, Prince William and Prince Charles are all
there, while meghan who returned to canada last week is expected to join on the phone. Theyll discuss a range of options for the future status of harry and meghan. Author and professor ofjournalism at the university of Southern California afua hirsch believes meghan has been subject to racism from the parts of the press and the establishment. I think ever since she announced her relationship with harry there has been a very racialised undertone if not over turn to a lot of the media narrative. Ido narrative. I do not think this is about the reaction of british people or senior members of the royal family. Reaction of british people or senior members of the royalfamily. I have no evidence to say people in general feel ho5tile towards her. I think it i5 feel ho5tile towards her. I think it is the tabloid pre55 who have taken a particular tone with Meghan Markle and have wanted to allude to the fa ct and have wanted to allude to the fact she had an African Heritage and
this was something that threatened continuity within the royal family. When they decided they did not like her, the constant attacking of her asa her, the constant attacking of her as a very her, the constant attacking of her a5 a very visible minority, the only person in my lifetime of African Heritage to occupy that position in the royalfamily, heritage to occupy that position in the royal family, embodied heritage to occupy that position in the royalfamily, embodied so much of the subconscious racism, weaponising ideas about crime, about her having ca5t weaponising ideas about crime, about her having cast a spell over prince harry, even the way this is discussed, 5he harry, even the way this is discussed, she is dragging him away. I hear discussed, she is dragging him away. Iheara discussed, she is dragging him away. I hear a history of black women being regarded as having dark magic powers. Let us bring in our audience. Both from the daily mail, november 2016. Explain the significance of that . Meghan markle grew up in crenshaw in South Central los angeles, an area known for multiple things, on the one hand, home to some of the famous gangs from los angeles, on the other hand, home to one of the best universities. A community with a historic academic community, an African American community, it used to be very middle class, and has also suffered from crime, like many inner city areas all over the world. Why would someone pick out the gang side of it bearing in mind she is not white. There is no suggestion she has anything to do with gangs. This was the tabloid press alluding to the fa ct the tabloid press alluding to the fact she has is someone of African American heritage part of the same heritage as others who happen to come from the same part of the city involved in gang violence. And that film is about gang
violence. I would challenge any tabloid where they have taken a white person from South Central los angeles and describe them in the same way. It is a gusts lighting by running these racialised stories and denying there is anything racist. It characterises the tabloid press. She is from crenshaw, not compton. Another example from the daily mail written by racheljohnson about Meghan Markle. It is the use of the word, exotic. I spoke to racheljohnson and this is not an example of something that was intended to be hostile. She was trying to say it is good to diversify the gene pool of the royal family. It is deeply uncomfortable
when we have such a recent history of categorising people as different species based on their race and dna. Of regarding africans as savage and primitive based on their genetic inheritance. We are associated with music and sexuality, something all little black girls in britain have to deal with growing up. Is that racist . It is inseparable from a history of racism. I have expensed that and it is sad for me to see this, biracial women from entering a previously uninhabited space, and be singled out by these narratives and language which is why prince harry who has not got a history of particular antiracism stood out and said, this isa antiracism stood out and said, this is a racist language and it is not acceptable. It is reported that meghan was told a lot about what life would be like in the royal family, a lot about what life would be like in the royalfamily, not a lot about what life would be like in the royal family, not only in the family but the scrutiny you would be put under. Is that enough, she was warned about what it would be like . I dont think anyone could have told her what it would be like to be a biracial woman in the royalfamily, there hasnt been one in modern times. Its not just there hasnt been one in modern times. Its notjust her heritage, its the fact she has owned her heritage, she has not sought to downplay it, i dont see race, and pretending its not there, she says her mother is African American and she is proud of that. Herfeminism which i think its a big part the hostility she has experience, she says im a feminist and i want my activism to relate to who i am as a feminist and i think its that owning of her identity that is absolutely different from anything weve seen from senior royals before and thats what was inspiring and refreshing to me but i fear its whats been threatening to parts of
the british establishment. When people point out diana, camilla, kate, Sarah Ferguson had horrific press, not with racial tones as you have pointed out today, all subjected to horrible, horrible pieces in the british press. Is it any different for Meghan Markle . |j think there is a wider issue about the abrasive relationship we have at the abrasive relationship we have at the royals, this idea that we dont wa nt the royals, this idea that we dont want them to leave, clearly, as this tobacco is showing but we enjoy regularly abusing them very publicly. I think what megan because my experience has shown me, when you put a woman of colour into that space which has always been abusive, there are particular issues, she is more vulnerable because she is visibly different, with a different heritage. We have so much baggage around race in this country there is no way she can be abused in an un racialised way. Im not saying if the abuse were just regular abuse, that would be ok. I think in her case she is bringing to do for all of this denial, this baggage, and
theres nothing you can do to create a defensive reaction in britain than to accuse someone of being racist and the very media organisations, commentators, who had been using the most toxic language about Meghan Markle are the ones taking most defence that there is anything racist about it. You are talking about piers morgan in particular. He is obsessive about her, he has obsessively written about this woman, she hasnt cheated on anyone, deceived or lied, not broken any promises, there is no evidence she has committed any crime yet the media seems to think it is appropriate to single out this woman, even when she were pregnant for the first time, there is no more positioned more vulnerable than being a new mother, a new mother in the Public Domain and constantly attacking her. And in her case i dont think we can separate the pattern of behaviour from the clearly racialised thinking that exists towards her as weve just seen from the articles you have singled out. Thank you very much for talking to us. Lets talk about the
sandringham meeting. Our correspondent is here and emily nash, the royal editor at the hello magazine. What the atmosphere going to be like . Fairly odd, you wonder how much they were all altogether, harry and megan went there at christmas. Relationships within the palace are clearly rather strange. So when was the last time they were all sitting down with the intention to talk together . As they start talking, thrown into it are the possibilities that are around for the new relationship between the palace and the sussex household and there is a lot to talk about. Meghan, we are told, potentially joining them on the phone . Eight hours behind in british columbia, i guess thats going to work around the timings of this meeting, we are not being guided on at all. Im sure she will be very keen to be involved in discussions. What are the options in terms of paid employment and how much they take on royal duties in
the future . There are questions that have to be answered before any terms and conditions can be set and i think thats why theyve talked about having a range of possibilities in front of them because they need an answer to the question, i say they, the palace, needs an answer to the question what do you intend to do that is royal . And you probably start with that and you id be able to build on this series of options and possibilities together. If they want to spend half the time being royal and if they do, how will the relationship be mediated between the palace and the new household uncritically, will the palace have a say and a veto . So there is lots of interdependent parts when you ask about one thing in particular. Once you decide how much of the time is being royal, then you get to how much of their time can they legitimately come up without damaging the monarchy, secure when it comes to paid
employment and i want to play this clip, emily, and ouraudience, look at this. Harry chatting to the boss of disney. 0k, ok, as you can see there, meghan was chatting to beyonce and jay z one harry was basically saying his wife is upfor harry was basically saying his wife is up for voice over work. What do you think of that . Quite extraordinary this was caught on camera but it also shows how much theyve been thinking about this future for a very long time. This was back in the summer. We werent at that stage quite aware of how seriously they were thinking of moving on. And i think it really explains the difficulties the palace are now having to deal with, this very delicate balance they need to
strike between using their fame for good which is what members of the royal family traditionally do, and celebrity, which is unchartered waters and something harry has only said he doesnt want. Megan has done some voice over work for disney and the proceeds without going to an Elephant Charity but what does that clip say to you, if we look at it, knowing what we know now . Why do you think its so funny . Its so gauche its harry, we expect members of the royalfamily to its harry, we expect members of the royal family to talk to people in public ina royal family to talk to people in public in a certain way. And not gush like puppies over their white s abilities, which is another way of reading that, rather than reading it harry pitches for work with the boss of disney. Its just like, shes really good, so in love, he worships her and its really, really nice and he is, she is such an amazing communicator and once again, he is relegated back down to windsor
level communicator. The pc written on the bbc news site you say you dont buy into the meghan myth, explain what you mean. This is essentially, its all her fault. There she is, being really annoying because shes clever and beautiful and a woman and outspoken, you know. And all these reasons, along with the stuff you are talking about and its just driving people the stuff you are talking about and itsjust driving people insane. They forget, people forget, 28 months ago, she was the moderniser, brilliant, we were delighted, it was thrilling, complimentary, new chapter for the royal family, now she is like the devil. Your point is, harry has always wanted out, actually. Because of what happened to his mother. You have been doing this longer than me. Meghan is the facilitator. What you have written this morning, harry has made no secret in the past, i had a conversation with them once, he talked about going off to live in
africa, we were in new zealand at the time, he knew that scenario wouldnt work in a place like that because of the attention. He also talked about the fact his time in the army was a perfect opportunity to have the best of both worlds, he could be out of the spotlight, doing something useful while at the same time, representing his grandmother the queen. And fighting for the country. So, this is not a new departure in terms of his thinking but obviously, his circumstances have changed and he has a wife and child and wants to do his best by them. Thank you, we will see what emerges from the summit. Thank you both. And obviously, many of you will be commenting on that, many of you have already. I will find them, kim says i think the way theyve gone about it is disrespectful to the queen. I think there is consensus and that, to be honest. I have no issues if they want to leave but leave must mean leave, no half and half, and as taxpayers we shouldnt have to pay for it. Another viewer on Facebook Says they
are not two year olds, they can make their own decisions about their happiness and peace of mind. Keep those coming in. Its one of the most Bizarre Television shows to hit our screens. The masked singer is based on a south korean singing reality singing competition and started on itv at the beginning ofjanuary. It sees 12 celebrities in elaborate, over the top nature themed costumes sing classics to a panel of critics who try to work out whos behind the mask. The latest celebrity to be unmasked isjustin hawkins best known as the lead singer and guitarist from the darkness. Here he is in action on saturday night as chameleon. I see your true colours. And thats why i love you. So dont be afraid to let them show. Your true colours. True colours are beautiful like a rainbow. Chameleon. Who is behind the mask . Audience take it off my heart is beating so fast. Chanting take it off its justin from the darkness good morning. How was it for you . Exhilarating. Why do you say that. You are on your own, totally on your own, you cant, theres no connection to the outside world. You are in there, doing that stuff. You wa nt are in there, doing that stuff. You want lewis hamilton, anthonyjoshua. Is storm see one of the suggestions . Lewis hamilton, i can see that. People have often remarked how i have gained a dance style and its comparable. When they first approached you, what was your honest reaction about whether to take part in it . Honestly, i had reservations about it being a saturday night tv show. But i was comforted by the surreal nature of the format. And the fact it comes from korea. And its new. And fresh. And exciting. Because you can imagine its going to be easierfor the because you can imagine its going to be easier for the guestbook are in series two, we will have seen it, no one had seen it, everyone thought it was the most bizarre phenomenon. Everyone is talking about it but for you to actually go for it and say i wa nt to you to actually go for it and say i want to be part of this. |j you to actually go for it and say i want to be part of this. I was excited about it, spoke to the band about it, the timing couldnt be better, we had an album outjust before christmas, just after my recordings and we have a single coming out this week after i had been unveiled. They are all happy. You know, it didnt interfere with
anything. Or undermine anything. The only thing was, to do it properly, i needed to Pay Attention to the vocal coaches and things. When you are wearing a papier mache outfit, you cant see anybody. The experience of performing is completely different to what i am used to. I am used to interacting with audiences, reacting to rooms. And all i had was my, just darkness. Just actual darkness. When it comes to the moment of the reveal, you dont see that many people in the audience because theyve taken quite a lot of them out to keep the whole thing secret . How many people were left . I mean it was a few months ago when we filmed it, it felt about 20 other people, Something Like that. Theyve taken most of the audience out, theyve they took out the ones they
didnt trust, if my contract was anything to go by they would have had a really restrictive nondisclosure agreement in place for the people that remained. Nondisclosure agreement in place for the people that remainedm nondisclosure agreement in place for the people that remained. It was yea rs really the people that remained. It was years really strict . It has to be. What did it say . It said, i didnt read all of it, i dont speak legal terminology that well. But all i know, it was about that thick. And it was all stuff about what i wasnt allowed to do or say. I wasnt even allowed to do or say. I wasnt even allowed to do or say. I wasnt even allowed to mention the title of the television programme. In an e mail. Forfear television programme. In an e mail. For fear that somebody might hack an e mail account. Or it might get seen by the wrong eyes. So it was very clandestine to the point i wasnt even allowed to say the name of the programme. Which i think was brilliant. That was actually the strength of the whole production. Was how carefully they nurtured those secrets. You have to keep those secrets. You have to keep those secrets. You have to keep those secrets otherwise it blows it. Ididnt those secrets otherwise it blows it. I didnt tell my mum, i still havent spoken to her since it was
broadcast. Because my mum is one of those people you cannot tell anything to. Because the whole world would find out about it so i wasnt able to tell her and she watches tv. Have you not spoken to her since saturday night . I tried to call her this morning but i havent got through. She hasnt picked up the phone and said my god, son, you were on the masked singer. |j phone and said my god, son, you were on the masked singer. I dont think she knows, she was probably watching emmerdale. But it saturday night, the greatest dancer on bbc or the masked singer on itv. |j the greatest dancer on bbc or the masked singer on itv. I dont think she would be interested in either of them, she was probably watching a soap opera shes recorded during the week. She sounds like my mum in that respect. Did you know, do you know who the other celebrities are . No idea. Everybody was kept completely separate. You know, for coming onto the plot and getting to the hotel. Who do you think doug is . No idea. Who do you think doug is . No idea. Who do you think doug is . No idea. Who do you think it might be . Somebody who is very good at singing. It doesnt narrow it down. I dont want to regurgitate theories about there are theories all over twitter. But i didnt see anybody, if i had bumped into, you know, i bumped into one other singer that we were both wearing a balaclavas, welding masks and gloves. You want . The hoodie said, dont speak to me, which was a guide for the other production staff. And there was only, i think about four people in the whole organisation that i was allowed to talk to. So when you saw the other celebrity, was there i contact . No, because we both had welding masks, but there was a fist bump. Someone you can see where you are going . You can see, the welding mask, more or less, you can see to be able to move your feet. I had to be guided when i was wearing the chameleon hat. Is it
true you missed out on a friend 5 wedding to take part . |j true you missed out on a friend 5 wedding to take part . I was supposed to be best man at my friend 5 wedding. My god, what kind of a friend are you . An awful friend but he isa friend are you . An awful friend but he is a great friend. He forget me immediately. Did you have to explain what youre doing . I said to him, ive been asked to take part in spectacular, great opportunity to be on telly, great time for the band. But it involves recording when i was supposed to be in australia. And i reassured him that the financial remuneration was adequate and he said, i told him remuneration was adequate and he said, itold him how much remuneration was adequate and he said, i told him how much i was getting. How said, i told him how much i was getting how much are you getting paid . Plenty, he said if he was getting paid that much he wouldnt be getting married. Come on, tell us. I cannot do that, it is vulgar. You mentioned it. But it was a factor in terms of not being able to turnit factor in terms of not being able to turn it down. Another quick clip. Lets look. You are one of the best performers, you go upside down on your head, you do handstands, youre so energetic, no wonder you have that presence and i knew it and i felt a three year mask. I love your music, i think youre amazing. I really do. Ifelt it music, i think youre amazing. I really do. I felt it a three year mask. Im absolutely gone read, i cant do this. Been on a date with her yet . No, actually. Cant do this. Been on a date with heryet . No, actually. So cant do this. Been on a date with her yet . No, actually. So you are still single and you have a new single. The thing is, the single is out, we did a video, its got abbey cla ncy out, we did a video, its got abbey clancy in it, who is another of my paramours. Sorry. No, the thing with rita, iam paramours. Sorry. No, the thing with rita, i am sure, i feel like she paramours. Sorry. No, the thing with rita, i am sure, ifeel like she may have been slightly disappointed when the mask came. Why . I always feel
like my strength is from the neck down ok, fair enough, thank you very much for coming in the programme, really nice to meet you and good luck with the new music. Thank you. Justin hawkins from the darkness. Its coming up to 10 50am, thank you for watching us. The chief of police in the iranian capital tehran says officers are under orders to show restraint towards protesters furious over the shooting down of a ukrainian airliner. All 176 people on board were killed many of them iranians. Yesterday, demonstrators gathered at universities in tehran and at sites in other cities, calling for senior officials to go. Some videos on social media recorded gunshots and showed blood on the streets, although the chief of police has denied that live ammunition was used against the protesters. We can talk now to majid afshar, a senior presenter for bbc persian tv and nazar, not her real name, who is a teacher in tehran and took part in the protests against the Iranian Regime this weekend. Thank you for talking to is, how would you describe the mood in tehran . Good morning and thank you. Last night, i was in the front line, saturday night, the government has officially said they down the ukrainian aeroplane. Whatever, there we re ukrainian aeroplane. Whatever, there were people in the street, they do not want to hear any lies from the regime. They do not want anything about the government to be heard. They do not, they do not want the regime any more. They do not want
regime any more. They do not want regime any more. They do not want regime any more . Would you agree . The demonstrations came a week after we saw millions of people going to a funeral of the iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. He was assassinated by the americans. Now we see this. We see how the scene can change within a week. This tells us there is huge division, there is a deep division among iranian people and how they see the relationship to the establishment. That was probably with what we saw with Qasem Soleimani and his funeral, an external threat, and that led them to be unified but now, with the government s cover up of the fact they downed the ukrainian airliner, and the level of hypocrisy and the level of corruption within the establishment, the fact they tried to sweep under the floor, everything
and for three days, they didnt tell people what had really happened. While the new, although they were and are denying it at the moment. This has led to the people s outrage, the outrage at the way the government has handled this. How are you going to get rid of the regime that you dislike so much . First of all, its very difficult. They denounced what had happened. They denounced what had happened. The people who are in iran, they are firing on the people, they should the people. They do not understand
the people. They do not understand the grooving of the people. Understand the grieving. They are attacking us. We want to show the whole world. How long are these protests going to go on for, how do you think this is going to end . Protests going to go on for, how do you think this is going to end7m depends on the government response. The president has kept silent, they are saying that today he will talk to people, he will answer questions. But to answer this, we have to go back to november, when there were protests over the fuel price hike, we saw that. The government handle that quite badly. There was a huge crackdown on people. Still two months after those incidents, we still dont know how many people
have been killed. We are getting different numbers of figures. Rogers is saying and coating a number of officials inside iran, 1500 people we re officials inside iran, 1500 people were killed but the government has ke pt totally were killed but the government has kept totally silent on this, they dont say how many people were killed. So it depends, i mean, what we see today, is the reaction of what has been happening over the past few years, with the people, this rule that has existed. That is deepening of the time. And this time, probably government loyalists and establishment loyalists coming out and saying this is something that we cannot defend. 0k. Out and saying this is something that we cannot defend. Ok. We saw, something to add, a statement from the Journalists Union inside iran saying what happened was the funeral of public trust. Thank you both very much. Thank you for talking to us. The Airline Flybe is reported to be
on the verge of collapse theo leggett is here. Flybe has been in trouble for some time, it was rescued last year when it was close to liquidation by our consolidation led by Virgin Airways and snowbird. They promised to plough £100 million into the company, we dont know what has happened since, but it appears at some stage they have been struggling forfinancing. Some stage they have been struggling for financing. Rescue talks are under way. It could ring more money into the company and keep aircraft flying but if it doesnt happen, then theres a certain of uncertainty, flybe is a major regional airline, it lies across europe but also it accounts for a lot of domestic flights in the uk. If people buy their tickets as part ofa if people buy their tickets as part of a package holiday they are covered by the actual protection scheme but many people in this case want, people fly from one place to
another in the uk and if they buy their ticket on a credit card, they stand a chance of getting their money back. Atol scheme. We dont know what attitude the Civil Aviation authority would take on the circumstances, their attitude towards bringing people home, a lot remains very deeply uncertain. Stay tuned to bbc news, thank you for keeping us updated. In his first tv interview, the uks first newly qualified Airline Pilot living with hiv is today revealing his identity. James bushe who until now went under the pseudonym pilot anthony had been denied the chance to take up a training position as an Airline Pilot because of his hiv status. Now, the Civil Aviation authority, which controls Airline Pilot licences in the uk has changed the rules, allowing him to fly with a co pilot. After 18 months of traning, james made his first flight on saturday morning. James, how was it . It was fantastic, yeah, unbelievable feeling. Just so proud to finally
have god on there. You can only fly with someone else. Why . The limitation that is applied to my medical is due to the regulations that state actually the caa feels it was a risk of incapacitation, a person living with hiv. For that reason, i must fly with the co pilot. Reason, i must fly with the copilot. What do you think about that . Ultimately, it doesnt impact me right now because most airlines a lwa ys me right now because most airlines always have two planets in the flight always have two planets in the flight deck but what it does mean is that if i were to example apply for a Smaller Airline or do some of the routes in the shetland, orkneys or if somebody wants to become a helicopter pilot for example, they cant get there so although im absolutely over the moon that i can fly it now, theres still a lot of work to do. Sure. Why have you decided to go public now, james . The biggest thing for me that i have felt since i was diagnosed in 2014 was stigma. And i think its really
important to challenge that stigma. Hiv isnt what it was in the 805 and 905. In 2020, somebody who is living with hiv on successful treatment and is undetectable cannot pass that virus on to others and is not a risk to themselves and can live a normal, happy, healthy life so ive gone public today because i want to get that message out there to everyone. How did you feel initially when you we re how did you feel initially when you were told you couldnt be a commercial pilot if you were hiv positive . I was really frustrated. Confused. Because i knew in myself i was fit, healthy and id got the skills to do the job and you know, ive been offered training at the time. So, i knew that these rules need to be challenged. Thank you very much for talking to us and we wish you all the best. Thank you for coming on the programme. James in his First Television interview, revealing his identity and saying
how delighted he was to do that commercialflight how delighted he was to do that commercial flight on saturday, the first time, commercial flight, commercial flight on saturday, the first time, commercialflight, with the co pilot, since he got the rules changed on saturday morning. Thanks so much for your comments and thank you for watching. Back tomorrow at 10am. Good morning. For most of us, its been a dry and fairly bright start to the day. Weve got a Storm Brewing in the atlantic. Storm brendan is moving its way further towards the uk, you can see its quite an impressive feature here on
the satellite. This mass of cloud spreading eastwards, strengthening wind with some heavy rain moving from west to east across many parts of the uk. The rain particularly heavy this afternoon across northern ireland, eventually into scotland, england and wales but for eastern areas, apart from a few showers, it will stay largely dry and bright, the wind picking up into the afternoon, maximum temperature is around 8 11 degrees. Gusts could be 7580 around 8 11 degrees. Gusts could be 75 80 possibly 90 miles an hour in the west of scotland so if you are travelling this evening take care. I imagine there will be lots of travel restrictions and disruption today across those northern areas. And through this week staying very u nsettled through this week staying very unsettled with gales of severe gales, more windy weather for tomorrow and thursday. You re watching bbc newsroom live its11am and these are the main stories this morning the queen will hold emergency talks with senior royals later today about the future role of the duke and duchess of sussex. A volcano in the philippines has begun spewing lava, as authorities warn that a hazardous eruption is possible within hours or days. Now there is lava flowing from the volcano. A weak flow at the moment but that is causing this black smoke to billow out of the volcano. Regional Airline Flybe is understood to be in talks with the government in a bid to keep the company going. Borisjohnson and the irish Prime Minister will meet the new Northern Irish executive at stormont to mark the restoration of devolution. Nominations for the labour
leadership close at