Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20170104 : compare

The diplodocus. Good morning. Its the 4th of january. Welcome to bbc Newsroom Live. Britains outgoing ambassador to the European Union, sir ivan rogers, has strongly criticised the governments preparations for brexit. In his Resignation Letter he said he didnt know what ministers Negotiating Objectives were and called on his colleagues to challenge what he called Muddled Thinking. Our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports. Sir ivan rogers has been britains ambassador to the eu for three yea rs, ambassador to the eu for three years, and his criticisms about the governments preparations for brexit will be hard to ignore. In his Resignation E Mail he said there is a short supply of Serious Multilateral Negotiating Experience in whitehall and he said the structure of the uks Negotiating Tea M Structure of the uks Negotiating Team need rapid resolution. He reveals that even he does not know what the governments Negotiating Objectives for brexit will be. But it is sir ivans implicit in thinly veiled criticism of ministers that is most telling. He urges his fellow officials never to be afraid to speak truth to power and to challenge what he called Muddled Thinking and Ill Founded Arguments. He said he should support each other in difficult moments when they have to deliver messages that are disagreeable to those who need to hear them. So sir ivans charge is a serious one, that the government is not ready for brexit and it is ignoring the advice of its total mass. ignoring the advice of its total mass. Diplomats. John whittingdale said he is disappointed that the remarks became public but he said he thinks it is supported that the devil that involved are committed to achieving the best outcome for the uk. In disappointing im outcome for the uk. In disappointing im disappointed that these remarks were made public. These remarks were made public. These remarks should be made in private. I also think it makes sense that as people into what is an incredible that an incredibly important negotiation we should have some reading for the uk that clearly believes that the outcome can be beneficial for the uk and believes that the outcome can be Beneficialfor The Uk and i think it is apparent that it was not so ivan rogerss view. Lets get more from oui rogerss view. Lets get more from our chief political id get more from vicky young. This is clearly difficult for Downing Street, they appear to be on the back foot yesterday when the resignation came as the leaked letter is not helping matters. There have been lots of questions from Opposition Mps and some conservatives about a vacuum, the idea that the government does not know what its Negotiating Objectives will be and of course this resignation and that letter leads into all of that. Lets discuss and more, i am joined leads into all of that. Lets discuss and more, iam joined by leads into all of that. Lets discuss and more, i am joined by sir simon fraser, who was a very senior Civil Servant at the Foreign Office. What do you make of the resignation and the letter . I think his resignation at this point before the tackling of article 50 is a shame because hes a man of great experience and expertise and knowledge it would be very useful for the government and the country in that causation. The latter, what it shows to me theres two things, first that he has decided that if he does not want to be happy person who will conduct the negotiation it is right him to leave and there is a logic to that but also clearly in the letter there is an undertone of concern and frustration about the way the Negotiation Positions of the uk are being coordinated in particular and a desire for more clarity. Id make you happy that the half of the Civil Service for many yea rs, half of the Civil Service for many years, are eugene concerns from collea g u es years, are eugene concerns from colleagues about the scale of the task, that the government is not ready in the Civil Service is not ready . Is clear that the government and Civil Service are not yet ready and Civil Service are not yet ready and they would say that themselves, they have not yet integrated all the advice and information they have been gathering into a Negotiating Position. I believe that the Prime Minister had senior negotiators need to make clear in the weeks ahead before we try to article 51 position is going to be, more generally of course it is a big task for the Civil Service. David davies the minister responsible themselves has said that this is perhaps the most coveted negotiation has ever been. Those people who say that Civil Serva Nts those people who say that Civil Servants are making a Mountain Out Ofa servants are making a mountain out of a molehill and that this can be done simply, i think are wrong because this is going to be a considerable challenge for the government and the Civil Service. Are you concerned about some of the talk that the next ambassador would have to be a Brexit Proponent if you like . The role of the Civil Service, they are often painted as people who are not willing to do what the government wants or that they have to have a particular personal view in order to do the job. People need to be clear that british Civil Serva Nts to be clear that british Civil Servants are very loyal and dedicated and do what the government want, they give objective advice as best they can to ministers at the recogniser administers Big Decisions and then Civil Servants execute those decisions and that is a very important part of our system. When you appoint senior Civil Servants like the person who will replace ivan rogers i think what you should be looking for is not what they believe but what they know, very experience and the value that they can add to make sure that this country achieves the best possible outcome in the negotiation. The criticism, the Visit Criticism seems to be that sir ivan was almost too close to those he was working with in brussels and that he was not able to be objective if you like and he had gone native. I think ivan has a long record of negotiating hard for this country, he has worked in a number of Prime Ministers in europe and he has won the respect of Prime Ministers. He has a very clear understanding of what is achievable and what isnt and i think he felt it was incumbent upon him to give his views on those things and that involved and sometimes giving advice which perhaps sometimes people do not necessarily want to hear and thatis not necessarily want to hear and that is a difficult position to be in and he has been out there doing that for quite a long time. Thank you. No word from Downing Street yet about a possible replacement, eve ryo ne about a possible replacement, everyone will of course be looking at this crucialfigure everyone will of course be looking at this crucial figure at this crucial time very closely. Thank you very much. And if you want to see the full Resignation Letter you can see it in the bbc news app, it is the letter that he said his staff, it starts saying dear all, Happy New Year, i hope you have all had or are still having a great break, the usual format to start with. Then it goes on into much more detail and has the comments we have been talking about, talking about models thinking and speaking truth to power. You can see that the litter on the bbc news app. An israeli soldier has been convicted of manslaughter for stabbing another soldier. It is a case that has divided israel. Footage shows the Knife Attacker on the ground. You can hear the shot being fired. Sergeant elor azaria filing the shot that killed them. The man, abdul fata h that killed them. The man, Abdul Fatah Al Sharif, was stabbed and wounded during a wave of knife and cut running attacks. The correspondence is in tel aviv for us. Tell us more about the background to this case. Sergeant elor azaria was based in hebron, he was somebody who was a medic in the israeli army, serving the, he had actually treated the wounded soldier who was hurt in that knife attack on the 24th Of March Last Year but then there is that disturbing video that shows him some 15 minutes after that initial attack when both palestinian men, both attackers lying on the floor, one of them instead, the other one, Abdul Fatah Al Sharif, is a p pa re ntly other one, Abdul Fatah Al Sharif, is apparently incapacitated lying on his back when the young soldier, he was 19 at the time, coxes gunman fires a single bullet into his head. This became an almost unprecedented public trial for an israeli soldier for killing a palestinian, and it has taken place over several months, it has been extremely divisive in israel. We have only now heard the threejudges, militaryjudges in a panel delivering the verdict, they said it was a unanimous verdict that he was guilty of manslaughter. And over the course of two and a half hours they went through the defence argument saying why they found against them. Basically sergeant elor azaria made the case in court that he believed that Abdul Fatah Al Sharif continued to pose a threat on the ground because he was still moving, and he worried that he might have had a Suicide Belts underneath his jacket. Thejudges have had a Suicide Belts underneath his jacket. The judges said that these claims were made late during these claims were made late during the trial, the actor from his Commanding Officers in the field who questioned him shortly after the shooting and said he did not express such concerns. They also said that the accepted the findings of the postmortem examination that said that it was the single bullet to the head of Abdul Fatah Al Sharif that had killed him. As you said this has been a case that has divided the country. What reaction has there been to these events in this verdict . Already there are some small demonstrations taking place, we are actually in a location that was chosen for Security Reasons within the Ministry Of Defence headquarters, that is where the military court is located. Just outside there were scuffles as protesters with signs saying the nation is behind you gathered here to show that they supported sergeant elor azaria actions, some people say he was a hero, already the israeli politicians who have come out saying that they believe he should be pardoned. All of this has caused a lot of tensions with the army which has made clear that it takes any breaches of Military Regulations and ethical code extremely seriously. Of course palestinians and israeli human Rights Groups have also commented on this case saying that they feel it shows that Excessive Force was being used to try and stop palestinian attacks. Thank you. The clothes Retailer Next has warned that this year will be challenging as it reported worse than expected sales in the run up to christmas. The company said it would be a tough year ahead, with rising costs from the falling pound forcing an increase in its clothes prices. Next said full price sales fell by 0. 4 per cent in the 5a days to christmas eve, with annual profits now set to be at the low end of expectations. The firm forecast full year profits would be £792 million compared with previous guidance of profits up to £825 million. Shares in the Clothing Retailer fell by 12 per cent at the start of trading in london this morning, but have been recovering. With me is our Business Presenter. We are talking about next but this is being seen in the wider context, our next a barometer of what is going on . Next in a bellwether, the Audi First Retailer to issue the christmas results so people have been anticipating these figures and they are especially bad because next did badly last christmas so there was a thought that even though the salesman be down this year, when you compare them to last year we might have seen an uptick but we saw quite a serious fall in sales. Next to a gamble this year, in an environment where consumers are used to heavy discounting and black friday, next stuck fast and well other stores have serious salesman in December Next have serious salesman in december n Ext Ke Pt Have Serious Salesman in December Next kept things phil price and held onto The Legend Eddie Post Christmas sales. It was christmas sales fell by 7 so that didnt work. The are facing trend where we see less spending on clothing and footwear and more on going out and attack and as you mention Inflation Prices are rising and that is a difficult issue for all retailers. Even something very interesting to bring in because we havejust had figures from john lewis which is written is Biggest Department store chain, talking about its sales in the week before christmas, up 36 . Thosejohn the week before christmas, up 36 . Those john lewis figures, the week before christmas, up 36 . Thosejohn lewis figures, i think we kind of sort, i saw federer saying it was down 9. 4 year on year to convert last yea r, it was down 9. 4 year on year to convert last year, we just need to sit check those figures from the website. Any figures they have will have been affected by store closures and any Bank Holidays. The figures for the second half of the year, i did see up 4. 2 suffering better than next, next struggling in that middle bracket of stores like Marks Spencer there will also be issuing the figures next week. Well have them and morrisons, primer and debenhams, the recovery is coming out next year next week. We will see where the headwinds like next year for this year for the major retailers. Former drivers for a private Ambulance Firm that provides Emergency Cover for the nhs, say they were given just an hours training to drive under blue lights. A Company Based in essex called the private Ambulance Service is contracted to respond to emergencies during busy times. The company says the level of training of its staff exceeds the required standards. More on that in the next half hour. And the headlights, britains ambassador to the eu who resigned unexpectedly yesterday criticises Muddled Thinking over brexit. An israeli soldier has been convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a Wounded Palestinian Knife Attacker. And shares in next tumble as the high street chain warns of a tough year ahead. And in sport marcos silver is the odds on favourite to take over from mike phelan as the manager of hull city, mike phelan was sacked last Night Afterjust city, mike phelan was sacked last night after just three months city, mike phelan was sacked last Night Afterjust three months in charge. Chelsea chasing a record 14 straight win in the english top flight straight win in the english top flight in one season when they travel to topple the night, a win for the blues would extend the elite to eight points. And Great Britain blues to france in the team event in pairs after Heather Watson and then heavens were beaten in the singles matches. I will be back with more of those stories just after half past. Senior military and civilian medical experts are urging people