Harassment allegations. Well have the latest. Its five oclock. Our main story is that the Foreign Office has confirmed that a british missionary who was kidnapped in nigeria has been killed. Ian squire was seized by gunmen last month. Three other british hostages have been freed and have returned home after nigerian authorities negotiated their release. The circumstances surrounding mr squires death three weeks after his kidnap are not clear. It is understood that mr squire and three fellow Christian Charity workers were abducted on october 13th from their accommodation in delta state in the south of the country as our correspondent anisa kadri reports. Ian squire died as he tried to improve lives. Its believed he was taken by improve lives. Its believed he was ta ken by militants improve lives. Its believed he was taken by militants along with three other Christian Charity workers. He frequently left the uk where he practised as an optician to give free medical aid in africa. The uk Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to parts of southern nigeria, saying there is a high threat of kidnap throughout the country. The people abducted knew the risks. One of them, david oliver news to work as a gp in cambridgeshire, his wife shirley and another woman Alaina Carson have been safely returned home. They spoke of their shock. They were lovely people doing the right thing at their own cost and their own risk. Its really upsetting. All others are devastated by it. This video is from the medical charity founded by the donovan s. In this part of nigeria kidnapping for ransom is a common problem. A statement on behalf of the charity thanked the british and Nigerian Authority for their support. Their thoughts are now with the family and friends of ian squire. Our reporterjo black is in march in cambridgeshire, where two of the former hostages david and Shirley Donovan came from. What is being said there about the circumstances of their return and whether they were fully aware of the risks when they undertook this mission. Weve been speaking to staff here at this gp surgery, the surgery staff here at this gp surgery, the surgery where doctor David Donovan worked, for about five years, he handed his notice in about two weeks before going to nigeria. The staff here are hugely relieved that doctor David Donovan and his wife shirley have been returned safe and hopefully well. They are very pleased the news has come through today even though they didnt want today even though they didnt want to speak on camera. Doctor donovan does knows the risks in nigeria but it didnt stop him going there. Hed been going for many years to do charity work there, with his wife, they have set up a charity and went there very often. They went three or four times a year there very often. They went three or fourtimesa yearand there very often. They went three or four times a year and they did know the risks. One friend of the donovan said that he had said that there are risks and because of that no one will go out there and so somebody has too. Just looking further into this story, a statement has been released from the families of david and Shirley Donovan and Alaina Carson and ian squire. They are grateful for the support from the British Commission and the nigerian authorities and they are delighted that alana, david and surely our home safe but their thoughts are turning to friends and family of ian squire. As they come to terms with his very sad death. Many thanks for the update. The International Development secretary, priti patel, has apologised after admitting meeting the israeli Prime Minister, benjamin netanyahu, and other senior figures during an unofficial visit to israel this summer. The bbc revealed on friday that ms patel had held a series of undisclosed meetings during her holiday in august. Lets cross to our diplomatic correspondent, James Landale in the newsroom. How unusual is it to be in this position . Just wondering what downing street and whitehall make of what priti patel was up to. Its extremely unusual. On official business, politicians bring civil serva nts business, politicians bring Civil Servants with them and they tell the Foreign Office. They dont have secret meetings, i2 Foreign Office. They dont have secret meetings, 12 separate meeting she had, including one with the head of the government in israel. It is very unusual. It matters because there is a risk of policy, fusion and mix up. There are also clear rules about this. The ministerial code of conduct says that ministers must avoid perceived conflicts of interests between their personal business and their public duty. Lord pollock, friends of the conservative friends of the israel, a lobby group, was with her. This was a meeting where it was made clear to priti patel that the roles of the mysterious code are the size about this and priti patel apologise to the premier stand everybody else in the premier stand everybody else in the state she made today. Given the seriousness, is there any suggestion of her not continuing in the post . Its a very interesting question. Ive spoken to ministers today who have said she is toast. In normal circumstances you would be in very serious trouble but we are not in usual circumstances at the moment. We have a very fragile government that has recently lost a cabinet minister. Mrs may will not want to lose another, certainly one who is a very strong brexiteer who would change the balance of the cabinet. The fact that there is so much focus on the harassment scandal at the moment and all the other news on the Paradise Papers, it means that priti patel has taken at it here but whether there is the sustained political focus on her to go remains to be seen. James, thank you very much. The latest today on the apology from priti patel. Todays other main news is the mass leak of secret papers shedding new light on how the rich and powerful invest millions of pounds in offshore tax havens. The documents called the Paradise Papers have been examined by the International Consortium of investigativejournalists, which includes the bbcs Panorama Programme and the guardian newspaper. They have already revealed that the queen has some of her personal fortune invested in offshore trusts by the duchy of lancaster. The us commerce secretary, wilbur ross, has denied Misleading Congress over his involvement with a shipping company that allegedly has links to the kremlin. Hes told the bbc today there is nothing improper about his investments. The latest revelations involve actors from the bbcs hit comedy show mrs browns boys. Some of them diverted more than two Million Pounds into an offshore tax avoidance scheme according to the papers. Theres no suggestion that those involved have acted illegally as our correspondent Angus Crawford reports. Do you want a cup of tea. Yes, please. Whats up . Foul mouthed and very funny. Brendan ocarroll, alias mrs brown. His company produces one of the most popular comedy shows on tv. At bbc news has learned, three actors have been getting their fees sent offshore. Patrick hoolahan, who plays wayward son dermot. Do you not think you couldve stayed in bed a little bit longer, marie . Yeah, restless night. Brendan ocarrolls real life daughter Fiona Delaney. Morning, mammy. Good morning, trevor, son. And her husband, martin delaney. This is how it works, the actors get their fees sent offshore tax free to a series of trust funds based in mauritius. The cash then comes back to the actors, now as a loan, so avoiding tax. Take Fiona Delaney. Injust 16 months, the Mauritian Company lent her more than £360,000. It looks like whats called disguised remuneration. We wanted to ask her about it, but she didnt want to talk. Can you tell me about your tax, you get paid in mauritius, dont you . Whats that about . And then the loans, do you pay those loans back . I dont think you pay them back, is it a tax dodge. You a tax dodgeer . I dont even know who you are. Im from panorama. Youre from mrs browns boys, and youre tax dodger. Thats not very funny at all, is it . None of the actors have broken the law. But the chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee is concerned. I do stand understand why people may go to such lengths to set up complicated tax arrangements to avoid paying tax in real time. Even if they say they are going to pay it at a later date, we need that money now, and whats the issue . Sometimes these sums of money were talking about is plenty of money. You know, people can certainly live on that, and even if they were paying tax on it, they would be earning a lot more than most of my constituents. This kind of scheme isnt new. It caught out comedian jimmy carr five years ago, forcing a public apology. And a tongue lashing from the then Prime Minister. Some of these schemes where people are parking huge amounts of money offshore, and taking loans back to minimise their tax rates, it is not morally acceptable. As for the creator and star of mrs browns boys, brendan ocarroll, he denies any wrongdoing. In a statement, he said, the actors wages were paid into a uk company bank account. And, i have never been involved with any tax avoidance scheme. Patrick hoola han and martin and Fiona Delaney have so far made no comment. Angus crawford, bbc news. The Paradise Papers also include revelations that the queens private estate invested offshore and that president trumps commerce secretary, wilbur ross, has business links to russian figures who are currently under us sanctions. But earlier today mr ross said there was nothing improper about his investments as our economics correspondent andy verity reports. Demut, where the law firm at the heart of the biggest leak in offshore history appleby, has its head office. The queen is head of state here but until now, we didnt know that some of her money was invested in tax havens like this. Her private estate invested £10 million offshore in 2004 and 2005. 5 million offshore in 2004 and 2005. 5 million went to a fund in bermuda with another 5 million, 7. 5 million, to a Cayman Islands fund. A small part of that investment help to purchase the controversial retailer bright house and 75 of the company that owned the off licence chain wretches which went bust owing millions in tax. Britos has been accused of exploiting low income families and the financial authorities ordered it to pay nearly £50 million in compensation. The duchy says it is now only a small sta ke duchy says it is now only a small stake now only worth £3208. The dodgy told as. The duchy told mars. Politicians are already getting involved in the information coming from the leaked papers. Involved in the information coming from the leaked papersm involved in the information coming from the leaked papers. If a wealthy person wants to avoid taxation in britain and poured money into a tax haven somewhere, who loses . Schools, hospitals, housing, all those Public Services lose. The rest of the population have to pay to cover up the deficit created by that. The document so also revealed that Donald Trumps commerce secretary has links with a shipping Company Involved with president putin. A putin associate is a shareholder of the company that was sanctioned by the company that was sanctioned by the Us Government in 2014. The company that is our client was not then sanctioned, is not now sanctioned, and never was sanctioned in between. There is nothing whatsoever in proper about navigator having a relationship with sibor. I have never met any of those individuals or had any commercial dealings with them. Former conservative Party Deputy Chairman and treasurer Lord Ashcroft has been confronted with developments saying that he misled the public about giving up his statement as a non dom, allowing him to avoid tax on overseas earnings. He put hundreds of millions into a bermuda trust in which 200 million was paid out. Trustees were concerned about the rules guaranteeing its tax free status were being broken. This afternoon, Lord Ashcroft issued a statement in response to the allegation that he ignored rules. He said. He adds. More relevant revelations from the Paradise Papers including in Multinational Companies and sports stars are expected this evening. Its important to say tax avoidance is not unlawful but it is controversial. Critics say that inevitably offshore havens promote secrecy; actually though its only tax evasion thats illegal. Well, the Paradise Papers show how world leaders, the super rich and celebrities protect their cash offshore but how exactly does it work . Ben brown explains. If you want to invest your money offshore, there are a few steps to take. Create a Shell Company, based in offshore, with low or zero tax levels and plenty of sequencing. Places like the Cayman Islands, bermuda, or the isle of man all guernseyjersey. Paid nominees to run the business to avoid your name appearing on documents. Open a bank account in another offshore location for extra anonymity. The Shell Company makes payments into this account. Spend the money on Company Assets or loans, that will never be paid back. That isjust assets or loans, that will never be paid back. That is just one way to do it. According to one estimate, the amount held in offshore financial centres is 10 trillion. Put it another way, roughly the combine and economic output of japan, the uk, and france. That was ben with his explanation. Joining me now is finnouola lynch a tax lawyer, at Mccarthy Denning llp. The main issue for me is that hackers have targeted one of the best offshore law firms in the world. Its highly regarded and it is known to give top, gold plated and thighs. For me, the fact is no law firm is immune from this kind of attack on confidential information. What is being done about that then . Obviously, the information is out there in the public arena and people are trawling through it. There are some headline points about people investing in offshore tax havens, avoiding tax, youve got to realise that a lot of Pension Funds in the uk will be investing in, for example, a Cayman Islands fund. Ordinary people on the street will be benefiting from these facilities because they will be increasing their pension fund, more money for them into retirement. Your message is that some people who feel resentful about this, we had David Cameron saying it wasnt morally acceptable, even though it is lawful, people may not have a lot of sympathy with the fact that they have been hacked but you are saying it affects more people than you might think . Im saying there is a lot of information in the Public Domain but some aspects are very risky and probably not morally correct whereas others, for example, the queen investing in a cayman fund and then another fund is something that a lot of people in the street will be doing through their Pension Funds every day. Will you have a clear view about what is morally a cce pta ble clear view about what is morally acceptable if it is all lawful . Where do you draw the line. A firm like appleby, the one i was referring to, and a good law firm, will always guide its clients to do what is legally correct and not too risky. Most of what has come out is quite low risk and definitely within guidelines at the time. There is nothing i seem which is not illegal. To what extent will pension firms in the uk the exposed in this area . |j would the uk the exposed in this area . would say that the majority of Pension Funds in the uk will have an investment in an offshore fund or structure such as a cayman is structure, its very common for uk Pension Funds to have that element to their portfolio and quite frankly they would be negligible if they didnt. They have to have asset allocation, spreading their risks across different geographical areas and into different Asset Classes and u nless and into different Asset Classes and unless they do that, for example if there is a major Hurricane Irma in one part of the world, it would mean they would lose all their investment, therefore they have geographical spread, investment, therefore they have geographicalspread, investment investment, therefore they have geographical spread, investment in another geographical region and type of structure. Is that the main incentive or is it tax avoidance . Where is the balance ofjudgment . wouldnt say that a pension manager wouldnt say that a pension manager would be able to do something which is pure tax avoidance because they are subject to regulation, su