Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20180124

A sign Language Interpreter for two support acts. Also, the former cabinet minister baroness tessa jowell, who has brain cancer, calls for innovative cancer treatments to be made available on the nhs. I feel every single ifeel every single bit i feel every single bit of my determination to go on creating better opportunities for people managing cancer. And more success for ant and dec as they claim the best presenters award for the 17th time at the National Television awards. Good morning. Its wednesday 24th january. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Lets start with some breaking news coming in on that story we were telling you about, the organisers of a men only Charity Dinner saying they are appalled by allegations of Sexual Harassment, and we are hearing that, in the wake of that, great ormond street hospital said they will return previous donations from the president s club after those allegations of Sexual Harassment at allegations of Sexual Harassment at a fundraiser, and also that there will be an urgent question on this from labour mp jess phillips, will be an urgent question on this from labour mpjess phillips, an david miller remaining a nonexecutive director of the department for education following the revelations about what happened at that men only president s dinner. More on that come this hour. Maria miller chairs the Parliamentary Committee on women and equality. She suggested the equalities act might need to be strengthened. suggested the equalities act might need to be strengthened. I think, at a time when hollywood and westminster are getting their act in order, tackling harassment, to see so order, tackling harassment, to see so many members of the top establishment of British Business in bold in an event like this, think it gives cause for concern, and it has to bring into question whether or not the laws are Strong Enough in this area. Maria miller, chair of the Parliamentary Committee on women and equalities. The number of prosecutions which have collapsed because police or prosecutors didnt follow rules about disclosing evidence has risen by 70 in england and wales over the past two years. Proceedings were dropped against more than 900 people in the 12 months to last april, because of problems with evidence. Our Home Affairs Correspondent, danny shaw, reports. I was relieved not only for myself but also everyone thats been with me every step of the way. Under investigation for rape for two years, liam allens life was on hold. Then, three days into his trial, his legal team received crucial information and the prosecution was halted. The case highlighted problems with disclosure, the duty on police and prosecutors to pass on material which might assist the defence case or undermine the prosecutions. Bbc news has obtained figures on how many people have been cleared or had allegations dropped against them because of disclosure failings. In 2014 15, proceedings were halted against 537 people. By last year, that number had risen to 916. Thats a 70 increase in two years in the number of defendants cleared after disclosure failings emerged. The entire criminalJustice System has to run on the public trusting and having confidence in it. Its seen as a very serious issue now at all levels and rightly so because unless the defence can have confidence, unless the public can have confidence in the disclosure regime, were going to have problems. The Crown Prosecution Service pointed out that the number of cases which failed because of disclosure issues represented only a fraction, 0. 15 of all prosecutions. But the cps said that was still too many and it would take a collective effort across the criminalJustice System to bring about an improvement. Danny shaw, bbc news. As danny mentioned in his report, one of the cases dropped was that of liam allan, who faced 12 counts of rape and Sexual Assault before new evidence came to light. His lawyer isjulia smart, from furnival chambers, who joins us from outside the old bailey. Thank you for being with us. Just start by reminding us what happened in liams case, and why that was such a dramatic development, really. Well, in liams case, we, the defence, were not aware the police had taken a telephone download from the complainant. We only became aware at the beginning of the trial and then we asked for it to be disclosed to us, and we were told it couldnt be disclosed and it contained only personal chat. Thankfully, thejudge contained only personal chat. Thankfully, the judge ordered disclosure, and i took away with overnight and i discovered the sort of m essa g es overnight and i discovered the sort of messages that completely undermined the case for the prosecution and assisted the defence. That material should have been looked at as part of the investigation, when it was seized from the complainant and, had it been, liam allan wouldnt have been on bailfor two years been, liam allan wouldnt have been on bail for two years facing rape allegations. So your view at what appears to be the case from the evidence we are hearing is that this wasnt a one off, that the number of prosecutions which have collapsed because of police or prosecutors not following the rules on evidence has risen by 70 in england and wales. What is that down to . Im not surprised by the figures that have come out of this morning. Myself and my colleagues in chambers have discovered within very many cases, not just rape cases discovered within very many cases, notjust rape cases and certainly notjust rape cases and certainly not just the metropolitan notjust rape cases and certainly notjust the metropolitan police, that objective investigation is not happening, and full and proper disclosure by the cps simply doesnt occui disclosure by the cps simply doesnt occur in many disclosure by the cps simply doesnt occui in many cases disclosure by the cps simply doesnt occur in many cases that we cover. So you are saying this is deliberate failure to disclose evidence, or is this just police and prosecutors being overworked . Well, its difficult to put one cause up on this. One issue, of course, is resources , this. One issue, of course, is resources, but also from an early stage and investigation needs to consider all possible lines of enquiry which leads towards or away from a suspect. It isnt the case that police should simply be investigating in order to build up their case and make it stronger, and it certainly isnt the case the cps should be holding on to any material if it undermines their case or assists the defence. So it may be partly a cultural position at the moment, but there may well be some resource elements to it as well for. So partly more resources, but also a new frame of mind, is that what youre saying . Thats what i believe needs to happen. I think we need root and Branch Reform to ensure that investigations are not objective. There may have to be a com pletely objective. There may have to be a completely independent body dealing with disclosure, or we will end up with disclosure, or we will end up with miscarriages ofjustice. Thank you very much indeed for being with us. In around half an hour, we will be talking to the prosecutor in liams case jerry hayes, the barrister and former mp about the importance of disclosure. Uk unemployment fell by 3,000 to 1. 41; million in the three months to november. The number of people in work has reached a record high of 32. 2 million, according to figures from the office for national statistics. But the growth in wages, at 2. 4 , remained below inflation, at 3. 1 . Brexit secretary david davis appeared in front of a Commons Committee this morning to get more evidence on the governments preparations for leaving the eu. Our assistant political editor, norman smith, is in westminster and has been listening. We know that the future of the city is increasingly looming as a key Battle Ground in the trade talks ahead over brexit, with the eu chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, saying in recent weeks, look, you cant expect a special dealfor the look, you cant expect a special deal for the city. If you leave the eu and the Single Market, tough, you are out, and there will not be any special treatment for the city, you will not be able to continue with so called sporting rights, which has led some bags to suggest they might have to relocate staff and headquarters to the eu. So called pas sporting rights. One option that has been suggested is that the eu could pay for special access to the city, but today david davis firmly closed the door on the idea that we might pay the eu for access to the Single Market. That leaves a question over how the city will be able to operate, but david daviss view was that it would be eu companies that lost out as they tried to iraq barriers with the city of london, and he suggested that if we we re of london, and he suggested that if we were to pay the eu, it would be like danegeld, what the anglo saxons used to pay the vikings not to, terrorise them. Not to come and terrorise them. Not to come and terrorise them. Not to come and terrorise them. We may be involved in Scientific Research issues where we will make a contribution. Erasmus, things like that. Why . Its in our interest. But i dont see us paying for access. Bear in mind, i could turn around to Michel Barnier and say, ok, ill pay you for access, ill pay you a pound for every thousand pounds of business we sell to you as long as you pay me a pound for every £1000 of business the other way. I dont think this will be necessary, and in any event it would be. The other thing about this as we are a very proud country and we have a fantastic future ahead of us, as well as a fantastic part. I dont think it would be a good position for us to be paying some sort of danegeld. The author suggested he didnt think there would be a negative impact on the british economy from leaving the Single Market and customs union. He also suggested. He suggested the two year transition period, which he expected to be agreed by marc scott, would be a period where the uk mimicked the Single Market, which led to a spat with jacob rees mogg, the conservative eurosceptic, who said we were going to carry on taking judgments from the European Court ofjustice that make us a vassal state. You get a sense of the tensions on the tory side about this transition period and the that we will still be taking rules and judgments from the European Court in that period. The possibility that we will still be taking rules. Not often that we discussed the vikings and danegeld on bbc news some medieval history two National Newspapers have threatened legal action if the parole board does not publish its reasons for agreeing to release the convicted rapistjohn worboys. The sun and the daily mail have written to the board and thejustice secretary, david gauke, demanding the report within seven days, or they will apply for a judicial review. But both the parole board and the ministry ofjustice said they are legally prohibited from disclosing such decisions. Officials in eastern afghanistan say Security Forces have driven militants from the office of the International Charity save the children, after a battle lasting nearly three hours. Heavily armed gunmen stormed the building in the city ofjalalabad on wednesday morning after detonating an explosion outside. At least three people are thought to have been killed. The headlines on bbc newsroom live after allegations of Sexual Harassment at a men only fundraiser, great ormond street hospital says it will return previous donations. A number of court cases in england and wales collapsing because of failures by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence is our 70 in two years. The number of people in work reaches a record high, but wage remains below inflation. The number is up 70 below inflation. The number is up 7096 in below inflation. The number is up 70 in two years. Now all the sport with holly. Well we ll start well start with the news of the appointment of the new england womens manager, which has received mixed reactions, many concerned that phil neville simply doesnt have enough managerial experience. Former Manchester United and england defender signed a three and a half year deal with the lionesses with the hope he will bring new interest to the womens game is its most high profile england manager, but this morning the womens sport trust it is disappointed at the apparent lack of transparency and processed in the appointment, and saddened by his historical tweets. The charity was referring to comments that have been circulating on social media, including around a tweet, including this one from 2012, where phil neville wrote he has since deleted his account. Defending champion Roger Federer is through to the semi final of the australian open. The swiss overcame an early wobble to beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets. After losing the opening three games, he had been trailing 5 2 in the first set but he hit back to take it to a tie breaker, and is yet to lose a single set in this tournament. Federer will face south koreas hyeon chung in their semifinal on friday. He beat american Tennys Sandgren in straight sets earlier. The 21 year old is the youngest grand slam semi finalist for eight years. World number one simona halep beat Karolina Pliskova to reach the womens semi finals. Halep went 3 0 down in the first set but fought back after saving a second break point. She won nine games in a row on her way to winning in straight sets. Halep will face Angelique Kerber in the last four after the german thrashed madison keys. Kerber has won all 1a singles matches she has played so far this season. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more after the lunchtime news at half past one. A deaf woman is suing the promoter of a concert by the pop group little mix for failing to provide a sign Language Interpreter for two support acts. Sally reynolds and two deaf friends took their daughters to the concert last september where, after repeated requests, the promoter provided an interpreterfor the main act, but not the support artists. Our Legal Correspondent Clive Coleman reports. Kate, mary and herfriend megan are massive little mix fans. Last year, kates mum sally bought tickets to see the band in concert. Sallys deaf and booked for her and to their friends to go with her daughters. She asked the organisers, lhg live, to provide a british sign Language Interpreter. We asked two or three times initially, please can you provide the interpreter for us. The explanation we got back was just a no, we didnt have any reason behind it. Eventually we became so frustrated and i wanted to share the same experience my daughter had and my friends were there too, they just wanted access to the songs. Under the equality act, any organisation providing a service to the public is under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled peoples experience is as close as possible to those without a disability. With just days to go before the concert and no interpreter in place, sally took an unprecedented legal step. She instructed lawyers to apply for a Court Injunction to force lhg live to provide a british sign Language Interpreter, and it worked. The girls and their mums got to go to the concert and when little mix took to the stage, their lyrics were interpreted for sally and her friends. But earlier on there were two supporting acts. An interpreter hadnt been booked to cover them. I felt we were really part of the little mix experience and because it was so good i realised wed missed out on the first two acts. It was very much a disparitive experience to everyone else, we got only access to the last act. If you went to see a film can you imagine only having access to the last 20 minutes . The music promoters for venues have to be aware that weve paid for our ticket the same as everyone else. In a statement lhg live told the bbc for kate and mary, theres only one thing that matters. Because i really love my mum and i really want her to come to the concerts with me. Clive coleman, bbc news. One in every 11 patients in england is being prescribed medication which could be addictive or difficult to stop taking, according to new nhs data. Public Health England is launching a year long review into what it calls the growing problem of Prescription Drug addiction. Alexandra mackenzie has more. Routine Prescription Drugs. Most of us use them and suffer no ill effects. But for some, powerful and commonly prescribed the drugs like codeine, morphine or tramadol can lead to a crippling and potentially fatal addiction. Tabatha was ta batha was prescribed tabatha was prescribed in 2014 but she suffered severe withdrawal symptoms and is still dependent on the medication and reducing doses. Symptoms and is still dependent on the medication and reducing doseslj had crushing head pressure in my forehead, which felt like i had been smashed by a brick, which lasted every day for six months. I still wa ke every day for six months. I still wake up with head pressure. Chronic fatigue, which i still have now, two yea rs fatigue, which i still have now, two years later, a sugary sensation in my forehead, almost like feeling the chemical moving. Prescriptions for addictive medicines have risen 3 in five years. The use of antidepressants has more than doubled in the past decade. And 8. 9 , or one in 11 of all patients, have been prescribed a potentially addictive drug. Dependence on Prescription Drugs, particularly opioids, has become a massive problem in the United States. This new review by public Health England will last a year. Its aim is to establish just how serious an issue it is here and what needs to be done to prevent more lives being ruined by addiction. Alexander mackenzie, bbc news. Alexandra. Talks aimed at restoring the Coalition Government in Northern Ireland are due to start today. Newly appointed Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley will attend the talks at stormont, along with representatives from the regions five main parties. There hasnt been a functioning power sharing executive for over a year. The coalition between the democratic unionists and sinn fein collapsed last january. The former labour cabinet minister Dame Tessa Jowell has spoken about her diagnosis of a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma. In herfirst interview since being told she had the illness, the former culture secretary has been speaking to the today programmes Nick Robinson about how shes determined it will not diminish her sense of hope. I was diagnosed with an acute and very serious form of brain cancer. It came with absolutely no expectation. No warning . Absolutely none at all. I had not a single apparent symptoms. But youve decided to speak in the house of lords about your illness, and what you think needs to be done to help others. Was it a difficult decision . And why is it important to you to go to the lords to speak out . It hasnt been a difficult decision at all, because this is something that i feel a tremendous sense of mission about. One change you want is a change to the way medical research is carried out, and the phrase that is carried out, and the phrase that is used is adaptive trials. What do you mean by that . The important fact about an adaptive trial means that it can start not. Not achieve what you want, and then move on to the next version. You dont have to simply wait for a set number of weeks or months . Exactly. And it allows you to trial more than one thing . Yes, and thats how we get the pace of change is happening quickly. So a patient might try, ill take the risk, ill try one, two, three things, whatever the side effects, because i want to take my thats exactly the kind of risk that patients should be free to take. Anybody who has had cancer knows that, particularly for people like you, maybe people like me, is that the hardest thing to get used to is not being in control. I dont think id immediately let to the inevitability let to the inevitability let to the inevitability of cancer. I think that to begin with i felt i would have this tumour, that it would be operated on, and then that would be it. Its actually much harder now, because now my life is day by day affected by tumour. Ive been lucky enough to read the speech you will give to the house of lords, and you end with some words from seamus heaney, the poet. He said, im not afraid, iam heaney, the poet. He said, im not afraid, i am not afraid. Heaney, the poet. He said, im not afraid, iam not afraid. Ifeel very clear about my sense of purpose and what i want to do, and how do i know how long its going to last . Im certainly going to do everything i can to make it a very long time. The former labour cabinet minister dame tessa gel. The health secretary, jeremy hunt, as announced on twitter that he will be looking at cancer ca re that he will be looking at cancer care suggestions made by baroness tessa gel, following that interview this morning on radio 4. Tessa jowell. The bbc has learned that three men from britain are among volu nteers three men from britain are among volunteersjoining three men from britain are among volunteers joining turkish fighters in syria. Many western volunteers have been due daly fighting with the kurds against so called islamic state, despite warnings from the british government. England and the United States have opted out of a new International Test which will measure how much teenagers respect other cultures and whether they can spot fake news. Subjects are being added to the International Pisa tests, which rank Education Systems around the world. An 11 year old from wales is set to be one of the youngest ever competitors to take part in the commonwealth games. Despite only just starting secondary school, anna hursey will compete in the table tennis on australias gold coast in april. I started when i was five, and my dad used to play table tennis. Thats how i started. I practised practice 21 hours a week. I practice at sport wales and cardiff city. They built a little room in our garden so, as they built a little room in our garden so, as soon as they built a little room in our garden so, as soon as that goes up, im going to be practising there. I think i beat my dad when i was eight. And. And my mum doesnt really play, but my brother does as well. Do you beat your brother . Yeah, andi well. Do you beat your brother . Yeah, and i think it was about when i was eight as well. 11yearold anna hursey. Good luck to her. Sir eltonjohn is set to make an announcement about his future career ata announcement about his future career at a joint press conference in london and new york. The star is expected to reveal plans for a new pension after his Las Vegas Residency comes to an end in march after six months but media reports in the uk have been speculating that hes going to announce his final world tour. Elton john hes going to announce his final world tour. Eltonjohn has sold more than 300 million records over his career. Headlines coming up, but first lets get the weather prospects. Some very strong winds today, courtesy of the next named storm, storm georgina. Severe gales for parts of the uk and very heavy rain, so parts of the uk and very heavy rain, so localised flooding and tricky driving conditions. This is storm georgina in the north, with a cold front passing its way slowly south east, bringing heavy rain and squally winds behind it. Starting to see brighter conditions behind, a mix of sunny spells and showers, but in strong Winds Continuing in the north with gales. Temperatures cooler than they started in some places, a maximum of ten. Tonight, that front players to the south east, some showers in the west, some of them falling as snow the hills and feeling colder and last night. A fresh start tomorrow, with a mixture of sunny spells and showers. Northern scotland and south east england perhaps escaping the majority, but feeling colder than today, with highs of ten. Headlines the Childrens Hospital great ormond street has said that it will return all previous donations collected from the president s club Charity Dinner after allegations of Sexual Misconduct at this years event. Around 900 court cases have collapsed in the ast two years because police and prosecutors have failed to disclose evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service says the Justice System has systemic problems. Last. A Record Number of people are in work with unemployment figures falling to 144 million. Wage growth struggles to keep up. David davis says that the uk are prepared for clashes with the eu over plans to strike trade deals around the world post brexit. Baroness tessa jowell is calling for Cancer Patients to be free to undergo different innovative treatments on the nhs. Baroness jowell has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. In the last hour, great ormond street hospital say they will be returning all previous donations from the president s club following revelations about their annual dinner. Financial times journalists working undercover as hostesses claim they were groped and propositioned at the men only Charity Dinner at londons dorchester hotel. The organisers of the president s Club Annual Fundraiser have said theyre appalled by allegations of Sexual Harassment at the event, and have launched a full investigation. The guest list for the dinner included bankers, entrepreneurs and celebrities. Madison marriage is one of the undercover Financial Times reporters and described what happened to her as she was working as a hostess. Numerous hostesses told me that they had been groped on the night, several had been propositioned, asked to go upstairs to peoples bedrooms. One woman was asked directly whether she was a prostitute. It was a kind of incessa nt strea m of prostitute. It was a kind of incessant stream of harassment. Did it happen to you as well . Yes. In the house of commons this lunchtime there will be an urgent question from labours jess lunchtime there will be an urgent question from laboursjess phillips on david meller remaining a nonexecutive director of the department for education following revelations about the president s clu b revelations about the president s club fundraiser. Serious questions to be asked about david mel, the man who organised this, chair of the trustees, of this group, who organised the event, and he is a nonexecutive director of the department for education, serious questions to be asked of the secretary of state for education about whether this man is appropriate, considering, for example, how high the level of Sexual Harassment in our schools is. I have read both statements, you have been given permission by text, from the speaker, you will ask an urgent question in the commons today. Yes, iwill urgent question in the commons today. Yes, i will be asking the new secretary of state for education and urgent question about the suitability of david mellor as a nonexecutive director. David mellor. But also, questions to be asked about ministers from the department for education, the Financial Times have claimed were invited to the event, it has been admitted that one has attended. The number of prosecutions in england and wales that collapse because of a failure by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence increased by 70 in the last two years. Last year, 916 people had charges dropped over a failure to disclose evidence, up from 537 in the year before. Recent collapsed cases have highlighted a failure to share evidence with defence solicitors. Im joined by the barrister and former conservative mp. Jerry hayes, who was the prosecutor in the case of liam allan, who faced 12 counts of rape and Sexual Assault before new evidence came to light and the case was dropped. Remind us what happened, you were the prosecution, you blew the whole thing absolutely, we hadjust started the case, the defence counsel said, have we a download of the girl. The prosecution cps have not heard them, spoke to the officer, does it exist, yes, but you cannot disclose it. Private matters, apparently, i said, cannot disclose it. Private matters, apparently, isaid, assure cannot disclose it. Private matters, apparently, i said, assure me one thing, is it capable of undermining the defence all the prosecution or assisting the defence, he said, no, is not happy with that, i had not seen is not happy with that, i had not seen it, 60,000 text messages. You know what happened when i gave it to the defence, terrible. As a prosecutor, that was not in your interest but in the interest of justice, you had to reveal that. That is what we do at the independent bar, i am not in house, myjob is to be fair. Thank goodness you will on the ball, there were clearly hundreds and hundreds of other cases. Where there has been a failure to disclose evidence. 900, before this leah mallon case, 70 increase, before liam allen, we have been warning about this for years. The difficulty is, there is a cultural and systematic failing with the police, they think they are there to build a case, but they are not, they are not there to decide what is relevant, and prosecution lawyers are. There must be a retraining of the police and two, cps must be given more money. You are saying the police are not being objective. They are too wound up in getting a prosecution, getting a conviction, being too subjective. Some of them are that they need to be retrained. We are governed under a 1996 act, there was no e mails, certainly no social media, now there is an awful lot of stuff to trawl through if you are going to have a free trial. In certain cases is actually is being done. I have done a drugs case, 200,000 pages. It can be sifted through. To what extent is some of this due to lack of resources and overwork by police and prosecutors, and to what extent is it the wrong attitude. It is the wrong attitude, there was a report by the inspectorate warning of this systemic and cultural difficulties with the police on disclosure, there was another report from the ccr sea, which deals with miscarriages of justice after the court of appeal, and they warned that there is a problem with disclosure. Ccrc. Some of us have been saying it for yea rs, some of us have been saying it for years, thank heavens something is going to be done about it. Is it inevitable in a sense, if the police and detectives involved in a case catch someone they think is guilty, they have a personal interest in seeing that through, the prosecution and the conviction, that is what they want. It may be what they want but legally it is not what they are meant to do, they are meant to collate evidence, it is the three rs recalled, retain, and then reveal, it is not for the police to decide the relevance, it has got to be a lawyer. It is a case for re education, you are saying . Lawyer. It is a case for reeducation, you are saying . Yes, and some more money for the cps. A former doctor for the usa gymnastics team, who admitted sexually abusing dozens of girls, is due to be sentenced later today. Larry nassar is already facing 60 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. Rajini vaidyanathan has more. Larry nassar has already pleaded guilty to ten counts of sex abuse. As part of his sentencing, the judge invited any other of his victims to come forward. More than 150 did. Eighteen year old Emily Morales was one of them. I still believed in you and had sympathy for you, how could i have been so naive . How could a person that i thought to be so genuine and kind and caring be in fact the opposite . I will never understand. But now that ive said that, i want you to look at me, i believe in forgiveness, larry. Larry nassars due to be sentenced today. Many of the women also want him to show remorse. I want you to apologise to me right here. I want to forgive you but i also want to hear you tell me you regret all of the hurt you caused. Thank you. The judge has described the women whove shared their stories as sister survivors. Their testimony has been harrowing but also inspiring. It takes a lot for a survivor of sex abuse to relive their ordeal. Its even harder to do that in front of their attacker in court. Rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, lansing, michigan. A new inquest is due to open into the death of a soldier at deepcut barracks in 1995. Private sean benton was the first of four young soldiers found dead at the barracks in surrey over a seven year period. A coroner has previously ruled that he took his own life. The new hearing was ordered after Family Lawyers got access to thousands of documents relating to his case. Our Home Affairs Correspondent june kelly reports. Sean benton passed out from his basic Army Training in the autumn of 1994. He had fulfilled his boyhood dream. He was sent to deepcut barracks in surrey to finish his training. Nine months after he arrived here, he was dead. He was found with a rifle at his side and five Bullet Wounds to his chest. Seans sister, tracy, remembers how he changed in the army. Thats you and him at pirbright . Yeah. Shes clear on what she wants from the new inquest. To find out what happened, what were his last moments. Like, the bullying and the culture in that camp, why do they let it go on. Sean benton, he was found shot. Seans parents, harry and linda, didnt live to see this new inquest. I promised my mum i would carry on for her, but i feel sad theyre not there because they should be fighting to get some sort ofjustice for him. Sean benton was the first of four young soldiers to die at deepcut over a seven year period to be all suffered shotgun wounds. A fresh inquest on one of the four, private cheryl james, concluded she had taken her own life. Like cheryl, sean died 23 years ago. Now, for the first time, his days at deepcut will be examined in detail in public. June kelly, bbc news. For the second time this month, thousands of tourists have been stranded in the swiss ski resort of zermatt because of heavy snow. The extreme weather has also affected parts of austria and italy. Officials have raised the avalanche risk to maximum and stopped road and rail traffic in the alps. From switzerland, Imogen Foulkes reports. A hundred years ago, zermatt was cut off every winter, all winter. To keep this resort accessible and above all safe today requires some behind the scenes very high technology. The mountainsides are monitored and risk mapped. Zermatt is protected by over 60 avalanche towers. Each avalanche tower consists of a metallic tower installed in the avalanche starting zone and there is a deployment box placed on that tower. In there, there are 12 explosive charges, electronic controls, solar panels to supply the system with power. The towers are best seen from the air. When monitors detect a snow build up, the explosives are detonated remotely from down in the valley. The air burst creates a controlled snow slide. Exploding towers on every mountainside may sound alarming but today, although more people are coming to the alps, there are fewer avalanche victims. Thirty three years ago, 11 people died in an avalanche on the road to zermatt. Such accidents should now be prevented. Translation nowadays with new technology we can guarantee to a very large extent people are safe. The accidents we used to have wont happen but of course, there is no such thing as 100 safety. Alpine road and rail lines do still sometimes close, but for shorter periods. Winter visitors may occasionally suffer a little delay but whenever they arrive, the view is certainly worth it. Ina in a moment, a summary of the business news, but first, the latest headlines after allegations of Sexual Harassment at a men only fundraiser, great ormond street hospital says it will return previous donations. The number of court cases in england and wales collapsing because of failures by police or prosecutors to disclose evidence is up 70 per cent in two yea rs. Evidence is up 70 per cent in two years. 70 . The number of people in work reaches a record high, but wage growth remains below inflation. Work and wages story, interesting aspects to that. Hello, im ben bland, with aspects to that. Hello, im ben with the business news. Wages rose at their fastest rate in almost a year, but are still failing to keep up with rising average prices. Excluding bonuses, pay packets rose by 2. 4 in the three months to november according to official statistics. Thats still substantially below the average rising cost of goods and services, which remains at 3 . More on that later. Your round or mine . Well it seems like we were both feeling generous. The pub chainjd wetherspoon says its sales and profits were better than expected towards the end of last year into the start of 2018. The owner of more than 900 pubs in britain and ireland said like for like sales were up 6 . But the firm warned it would face significant costs relating to Business Rates and sugar tax in the near future. Wh smiths sales on the high street have continued to fall, but are up once again at its travel outlets such as those in stations and airports, especially the new branches at gatwick and stansted. The company said sales in its high Street Stores were down 5 , as per expectations. It put that down to fewer spoof humour books being sold. Clearly no laughing matter. However, total sales in travel branches were up 7 . The number of people in work is at a record high, according to the office for national statistics. Employment rose by 102,000 in the three months to november to a record 32. 2 million. The Unemployment Rate was 4. 3 , a record low. Average wages rose by 2. 4 if you exclude bonuses. But wage growth remains below inflation which stands at 3 . Some analysts say the creation of newjobs and falling unemployment suggests that the uk economy is on a firmer footing than many had anticipated after the brexit vote. Lets get more on this now from lee hopley. Shes the chief economist at eef, thats an organisation that champions manufacturing and engineering. If there is a greater demand for workers, morejobs created, surely that increased demand should mean workers can command higher wages, so why is that not happening . This is quite a complex picture, if only there was a simple answer. What we have seen is a much more resilient Labour Market over the last year than many were expecting and much stronger trading conditions particularly through the latter part of 2017. Much more hiring across the private sector. We see a range of sectors weighing down on the Bargaining Power of employees. Weak productivity growth, that has been a real feature of the economy since the financial crisis. Without that, pay increases are really unsustainable for businesses. In terms of Bargaining Power that individuals have, that weakens over that period as well. Things could be about to change, certainly the bank of england thinks that might be the case, so of england thinks that might be the case, so we of england thinks that might be the case, so we have of england thinks that might be the case, so we have seen a of england thinks that might be the case, so we have seen a gradual u pwa rd case, so we have seen a gradual upward drift in earnings growth, in the latter part of last year, and i think that may continue when it comes to the big pay bargaining rising in january. It must be quite ha rd rising in january. It must be quite hard for workers to swallow that pill because some of them will be thinking, hang on, if the firm is getting in another orders to increase jobs, why can they afford to give me a more generous pay rise . I think it is not a simple matter of we are doing well, on the short term basis, and this translates into higher earnings growth, the range of other considerations that Companies Must look at in terms of the cost environment, the Pricing Power they have in markets, and also the long term nature of the pick up that we have seen long term nature of the pick up that we have seen over long term nature of the pick up that we have seen over the last six or nine months, there are still quite a lot of uncertainty out there, particularly related to what happens with brexit negotiations and future trading conditions, which could put a brake on that confidence around ongoing business performance. Whenever we get data like this, they a lwa ys whenever we get data like this, they always do a survey beforehand of economists and one survey was predicting that actually there will bea predicting that actually there will be a fall in the number of newjobs. So, this was a lot better than expected, what were the factors then that took people by surprise . think that is true, we have seen a little bit of his come out of the Labour Market last year, a couple of months we have seen a bit of a softening in the pace of employment growth, and it has clearly got back its mojo in november. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we have seen has to do with the fact that we have seen Global Growth picked up, external facing sectors, have seen their performance certainly improve towards the end of 2017. That is translating into quite a sharp pick up in the number of vacancies across the economy and that is broad based across a whole range of sectors including manufacturing. Ok, chief economist at eef, thank you very much. The European Commission has fined chip firm oualcomm £873m for making payments to apple so it would only use its chips. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said qualcomm paid billions of us dollars to a key customer, apple, so that it would not buy from rivals. She added that this denied customers and other companies more choice and innovation and is illegal under eu rules. Wpp, the worlds biggest advertising agency, is withdrawing support for the president s club Charity Dinner after allegations of Sexual Misconduct at this years event. It sponsored a table at last weeks dinner, at which a Financial Times undercover reporter alleges hostesses were groped and sexually harassed. Wpp boss sir Martin Sorrell told the bbc his guests did not see such behaviour. The entertainment giant walt disney says its giving 125,000 of its us staff a one off bonus of a thousand dollars. Its because of the tax reforms that President Trump signed into law just before christmas. The company also says its launching a 50 Million Education Fund for staff on hourly conditions to help them earn degrees and other qualifications. Presumably, to live happily ever after. heres how the european markets look. Like frankfurt and paris, the ftse 100 in london is lower. Partly thats due to the strengthening pound against the weakening dollar. Sterling is above above 1. 41, rising further after those positive unemployment figures. Thats its highest level since it tumbled after the brexit vote. That is of course good news if youre buying dollars for a trip to the us. Less good for exporters and International Firms on the ftse100 whose prices become more expensive to foreign buyers. Generally, tech stocks are providing a downward pull today, while precious Metal Mining Companies are leading the risers. And we see a rise in the price of gold. Presenters ant and dec were the biggest winners at this years National Television awards, taking home three awards. Surannejones, star of the bbc series doctor foster, won best drama performance. The most watched programme of 2017, sir David Attenboroughs blue planet 2, received a special impact award. Our entertainment correspondent, lizo mzimba, reports. Its the night when the uk celebrates its most popular shows. One of the nights big winners, revenge drama doctor foster. It took home best drama and its star Suranne Jones took home best drama performance. Wow, thank you so much, what a night, we are so thrilled. And the National Television awards goes to. The best comedy award went to