Updated: 27 Jan 2021, 14:58
BBC BOSSES have been forced into a humiliating climbdown after labelling a dead IRA terrorist a “veteran” and grovelled for the “upset” it caused.
In coverage of the funeral of Eamon “Peggy” McCourt, BBC News described the republican gunman as a “veteran.”
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Police are probing possible Covid rule breaches at the gathering in Londonderry on Monday.
But the BBC’s description of the late McCourt as a veteran - giving equivalence between criminals and troops - sparked uproar.
Defence chiefs, MPs and former soldiers raged against the corporation, accusing it of besmirching the 1,400 British soldiers who laid down their lives during The Troubles.
The flick is packed with endorsements from Omega watches to Land Rover s Defender, which gets an off-road outing, and the brands had planned a tie-in marketing push.
Boris Johnson’s Government has been branded “simply petty” by a senior Tory MP after a controversial move to downgrade the status of European Union diplomats. The decision was also condemned as a “mistake” by Theresa May’s former chief of staff. The EU made a protest and foreign ministers of the 27 are due to debate it next week. The row erupted after the BBC revealed that the bloc's ambassador in London, Joao Vale de Almeida, is being refused.
NAO says £190bn Defence Equipment Plan 2020-30 is unaffordable 21 January 2021: The National Audit Office (NAO) says additional funding provided in the November 2020 Spending Review will still not be enough to plug shortfalls in the 10-year Defence Equipment Plan.
The NAO has issued a report on the £190bn Defence Equipment Plan for the 10 years from 2020 to 2030. For the fourth consecutive year, the NAO reports that the plan by the Ministry of Defence (MoD or the Department) to procure and support defence equipment is unaffordable.
The Equipment Plan is a rolling 10-year set of programmes that currently comprises £87bn in planned procurement, £97bn in support costs and £6bn for contingencies, with the total of £190bn representing a £9bn increase over the previous year’s plan. Excluding contingencies, the plan includes £44bn for the Defence Nuclear Organisation, £35bn for Air Command, £33bn for Army Command, £31bn for Navy Command, £29bn