Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20171005

Small matter of wanting to knock the World Champion off their perch. Parrot whistles. Natalie pirks, bbc news, belfast. Time for a look at the weather. Heres ben rich. The weather gave some others are short, sharp shock, eight heavy burst of rain. You can see on the radar picture this band of rain was very narrow, a heavy burst which disrupted the rush hour in places, or made for a soggyjourney to work. That has now cleared away. We are left with some pretty strong winds and rough seas close to the east coast. That was how it looks for one of our weather watchers in cromer. Although the winds will continue to slowly ease through the afternoon of the seas will state quite rough, big waves close to the east coast. However, quite a lot of sunshine to come through the rest of the day. Some showers exposed to the north westerly breeze, for example the north coast of Northern Ireland, northern and western scotland and trickling across north west england perhaps into the west midlands, but for much of eastern scotland, north east england, avoiding most of the showers, staying mainly fine and dry. Some sunny spells across many mid and southern parts of wales and also southern and central portions of england and temperatures around 1617 at of england and temperatures around 16 17 at best. Those winds will continue to ease down as we head on into the evening, so for those world cup qualifying matches many places will be dry, wembley should be dry for the england match. Just a chance ofa for the england match. Just a chance of a showerfor the for the england match. Just a chance of a shower for the matches in the belfast and glasgow. As we head through the night as the winds continued to ease, the showers continued to ease, the showers continued to ease, the showers continued to fade, well be left with clear skies. There could be some fog patches and its going to turn into a decidedly chilly night. One of the coldest of the autumn so far. Towns and cities in Single Digits but in the countryside, particularly northern england, Northern Ireland, scotland, some places could get the freezing or a touch below. Frost for some others tomorrow morning. A chilly start but a bright start and tomorrow, with light winds and a fair amount of sunshine, is looking like a nice day. More cloud spreading from the west. Some rain into the far north west later on with strengthening winds. Highs of 12 15. Things go downhill as we head into the weekend. This area of High Pressure retreats. Frontal systems pushing from the west. Nothing quite as sharp and the rain will not be quite as heavy as this morning but still, some heavy bursts of rain thinking south and east, brightening up a bit out west late in the day. Highs of 13 17. Sunday isa in the day. Highs of 13 17. Sunday is a quieter day, a fair amount of cloud, some spells of sunshine. An odd shower in the north west and highs of 14 17. A reminder of our main story this lunchtime. Police investigating claims of sexual abuse against the late Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath say he would have been questioned over seven allegations if he were alive. Thats all from the bbc news at one so thats all from the bbc news at one so its goodbye from me and on bbc we nowjoin the bbcs news teams where you are. Good afternoon, goodbye. First, some news reaching us in the last half an hour or so. The castleford full back zak hardaker will miss saturdays grand final against his old club leeds, due to a breach of club rules. The club havent given any details about the breach bulitsfleally players for the biggest game in their history. The Football Association could bid to host the Champions League final in 2023, according to confidential uk sport documents obtained by the bbc. This years final was staged in cardiff where real madrid were crowned champions. The game is one of a number of targets for uk sport which is investing almost £30 million of the next eight years. Other ambitions include staging parts of the Tour De France in 2021 and athletics World Championships in 2027 or 2029. A busy night of World Cup Qualifiers with england, Northern Ireland and scotland in action. For england, talk now of who should wear the number one shirt next year and former goalkeeper Peter Shilton says jack butland should be considered. The stoke keepers been putting pressure onjoe hart of late. Butland has five senior caps for england but he was out of action for over a year after breaking his ankle against germany in march 2016. Hart is expected to keep his place in goalfor the match against slovenia tonight. Now, england can secure their place in russia next year with a win at wembley. Scotland know theyll have no chance of making it if they lose at home to slovakia tonight. Theres a big ask for Northern Ireland too they take on World Champions, germany later. A point should be enough to earn a place in the play offs, as they bid to make their first world cup since 1986. Manager Michael Oneill says his side need to adopt a more conservative approach to tonights game. We have a group of players that enjoy being together. We have had three, three and a half years where there has been constant progression and you know, were enjoying where we are at this minute in time. We still have a lot to play for. A lot of football has to be played, but to be in this position with something, i wouldnt say we would have dreamt of, but it was something that we believed we were capable of achieving off the back of the euros, but we knew how difficult that was going to be, but we are in a great position coming into this game. With the ashes nowjust seven weeks away, James Anderson has said englands players need to focus on their own preparations, as the fall out from the ben stokes incident continues. Anderson has been involved in series wins and defeats down under, so he knows more than most about what it takes to beat australia. Before you go to australia, there is generally some distractions and you obviously dont want them, you want the perfect preparation. Thats the world as it is. There is always going to be distractions there and asa going to be distractions there and as a team all we can do is focus on ourjob. As players, focus on how we are going to contribute to england winning over australia. Thats my job is to go away and work on my fitness and work on my bowling as much as i can and try and help england win when we get there. Great britains amy tinkler is through to the all around final at the world gymnastics championships in montreal. The olympic floor bronze medallist amy tinkler only resumed training alongside alice kinsella. The final gets under way at midnight tomorrow and its live on bbc two. Tonight, you can see nile wilson in the mens all around final. Johanna konta could be losing her grip on the eighth and final qualifying sport for the tour ending wta finals in singapore. Caroline garcia is the only real threat. Shell overtake konta if she wins the china open in beijing and shes through to the quarterfinals after beating alize cornet. Thats all the sport for now. You can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. Thats bbc. Co. Uk sport. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Bye. Thank you, holly. Police have said the former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath would have been questioned about allegations of raping an 11 year old boy and indecently assaulting six other people if he was still alive. Friends of sir edward have insisted the claims are groundless. Wiltshire police chief constable Michael Veale said it would have been a dereliction of his duty if he had not investigated the former Prime Minister. I believe this was the right thing to do. It was the right moral, ethical and professional thing to do. But i appreciate that every case needs to bejudged on its own merits. I am satisfied, satisfied, there are compelling and obvious reasons to investigate allegations made against sir ted heath. As i have said, Sir Edward Heath was an extremely prominent, influential and high profile person who was arguably one of the most powerful people in the world commensurate with the Public Office and Political Office he held. The allegations against him were of the utmost seriousness and from a significant number of people. I hope people will understand that given these circumstances it would be an indefensible dereliction of the chief constables duty not to have investigated the allegations against the former Prime Minister, even though he is deceased. I have made it clearfrom the i have made it clear from the outset at the end of this investigation, in line with our investigation to be as transparent and open as possible we will publish a summary report and thatis will publish a summary report and that is what we have done today. The publication of this report is also in line with advice issued by operation hydrant. The report has been scrutinised by a number of stakeholders and contributors to ensure complete balance, complete a ccu ra cy ensure complete balance, complete accuracy and measure and only makes findings that can legitimately and realistically be made. The report provides a factual account of the context for this investigation. What the investigation focussed upon, and how the investigation was conducted. Operation conifer, by its very nature, was complex, politically sensitive, and unique. Due to these unprecedented circumstances, i have sought advice, counsel, and support throughout this investigation. From a number of people. That confidentiality between me and those individuals will remain intact. The role of the Police Service is very clear in the criminaljustice process. The police have a duty to investigate and go where the evidence takes us. It is not our role to prove the innocence or guilt, but to simply present the fa cts. Guilt, but to simply present the facts. Therefore, this report does not apportion guilt. It does not suggest or conclude guilt. And no inference should be taken from the investigative decisions or conclusions being made by the police. That was the chief constable of wiltshire police. After the police statement, Sir Edward Heaths Godson Lincoln seligman, gave his reaction to the report. I dont believe any of the allegations from what i know and have known of the man for 50 years. Im in an almost unique position in that i knew him as a child from an age when one is conscious of being able tojudge age when one is conscious of being able to judge adults at all. Early on he wasjust able to judge adults at all. Early on he was just a friend of my pa rents on he was just a friend of my parents and i treated him as that. He was not a well known politician. I think he had just become an mp. He was really just one i think he had just become an mp. He was reallyjust one of the people who was around in our lives. From a fairly early point he used to come on holiday with our family and i and my siblings had every opportunity to observe him at close hand and children being children, are not unaware of the sort of things that are being talked about and we would have noticed anything and there was nothing. When i grew up, i had probably a closer relationship with him andi probably a closer relationship with him and i knew him to be a man of great integrity and also, just not so great integrity and also, just not so idiotic to go and jeopardise his career so idiotic to go and jeopardise his career and the things he wanted to achieve for himself and for the country by indulging in anything so dangerous and pointless. Im here really not to criticise the police because i think we know what we all think about the inquiry. I think i would reiterate the point that the inquiry got off on the wrong foot with the broadcast for victims because that guaranteed that people calling themselves victims would come forward. Im surprised it was not 10,000 people rather than come forward. Im surprised it was not 10 , 000 people rather than 112 and from one of point of view im grateful to the police to witling it down from 42 to six and its the remaining six that concern me and my family andi remaining six that concern me and my family and i think a judge led review that would look at that objectively because there has been no assessment of the evidence. These are still just allegations. No assessment of the evidence. These are stilljust allegations. To have somebody look at the quality and the context somebody look at the quality and the co ntext a nd somebody look at the quality and the context and come to some sensible conclusions in an area where a lot of non centre has been talked, i think, thats what we need. So, thats really what i want to talk about, where we go from here. I think the report is obviously they extensive and i dont quibble with the length that the police have gone to. Im not sure they have always gonein to. Im not sure they have always gone in the right direction and i think the directions that they should have gone in that they havent which rather surprised me, but i think we are where we are, we have six algags left. Wed like to have six algags left. Wed like to have those cleared up and to leave the mans name completely clear and innocent. 7 innocent. . That innocent. 7 that was sir ted heaths godson. In a moment a summary of the Business News this hour but first the headlines on Bbc News Police say the former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath would have been questioned about allegations of child sexual abuse if he was still alive. Senior conservatives have urged the party to remain cool headed despite reports that some mps are asking theresa may to step down as Prime Minister. The girlfriend of the las vegas gunman who shot dead 58 people says she had no idea he was planning the attack. Hello. Im ben bland. Sales of new cars in the uk are stalling. They fell in september, for the sixth month in a row. Demand for diesel cars slumped more than a fifth. According to the society of Motor Manufacturers and traders new car registrations last month came in atjust over 426,000. More rail strikes across england for the second time this week. Rmt Union Members at southern, merseyrail, Arriva Rail North and Greater Anglia have begun a 24 hour walk out. The industrial action is over plans to remove guards from trains, making them driver only operated. Critics say safety would be compromised. The government has hinted that a cap on gas and electricity prices could come in by this winter. Parliament is likely to give the Energy Regulator ofgem the Legal Backing it needs to limit prices. But the boss of centrica which owns british gas has warned that price caps could mean the end of cheap deals for customers. The furniture retailer dfs has warned that the market remains challenging after reporting a 22 fall in pre tax profits, coming in atjust over £50 million. The firm blamed a weak pound for the fall in profits and a slowdown in consumer demand. But the firm says it still had excellent long term prospects. Lets talk to neil wilson, Senior Market analyst, etx capital. Neil, good to see you. So they talk about things looking brighter in the long term, i suppose, about things looking brighter in the long term, isuppose, what about things looking brighter in the long term, i suppose, what exactly do they mean by that . long term, i suppose, what exactly do they mean by that . I think what we have seen with dfs in the past it is able to weather these storms. The economy has been through down turns and dfs come out good. Whilst there isa and dfs come out good. Whilst there is a slackening in scunler demand as people put off the big ticket purchases that ultimately dfs, its scale and its integration of its outlets and so on, means it is capable of weathering any downturn for a long time. I suppose, much of the bad news was already known, but the bad news was already known, but the share price has taken a hit. Why do you think investors reacted like that . Well, i think probably the market maybe expected there might be some good news in the results. Whilst we knew the bad news as they updated us about this over the summer, there wasnt really an awful lot for investors to really see as positive and i think really we have seen positive and i think really we have seen the Share Price Rise a little bit over the last few months as it came back a little bit. People probably thinking that it is maybe, it has got some more challenges ahead and it is not out of the woods just yet. If anyone watching this is thinking at the moment of buying a sofa, do you think maybe if they hold off, they might see dfs slash their prices . Thats always the sort of outlet for consumers is expecting retailers might cut prices. Thats maybe not something that they should be pinning their hopes on a lot though. I think dfs might expect an u pta ke though. I think dfs might expect an uptake as we approach christmas and thats usually a good time for them. But i do think that people are putting off big tiblet purchases. We see that across the diy sector and we have seen profits warnings from other companies as well. So i think this is a symptom of consumers really holding back and putting off the bigger purchases. Neil, really good to get your thoughts. In other Business News airfares have increased by up to 43 since ryanair began cancelling thousands of flights two weeks ago, according to a new study by travel website skyscanner. The average price of return economy flights, across all airlines, were most expensive from britain to milan increasing by 43 , while the price of tickets to malaga rose by 30 and to dublin by 25 . The uk based theme park firm which runs legoland and Madame Tussauds has reportedly approached seaworld in orlando about a potential deal. Merlin is said to have made a bid for part of seaworld, but its thought the us based firm would prefer to sell itself whole. Shares in seaworld and merlin were both up. The queen and Prince Philip are appearing on a coin together for the very first time. Hattons of london has released a limited edition 22 carat gold sovereign coin featuring portraits of the royal couple to celebrate their platinum wedding anniversary. Thats 70 years of marriage. The rare coin maker says that pre order demand for the coin has been so high that the firm has been forced to limit purchases to one per household. Lets look at the markets. Londons ftse100 is higher. But the pound has fallen in value against both the dollar and the euro. Now some analysts say thats because of the speculation over theresa mays future as Prime Minister. When sterling falls, the ftse often rises. A lot of firms on there trade abroad and the weaker currency means their foreign earnings are worth more when they are converted back into pounds. Two shares ive picked out for you sofa firm dfs is down. Meanwhile that potential deal with seaworld seems to be working its magic for merlin. I will be back with more in an hour. Thank you, ben. Instagram is trying to crack down on people posting animal selfies that may lead to wild animals being mistreated. Campaigners believe the growing trend for tourists taking shots alongside wildlife means more and more animals are being snatched from their natural habitat by irresponsible tour operators. Luxmy gopal reports. Snping a selfie, the charity is warning that the craze for posing for wildlife selfies is fuelling animal cruelty. World Animal Protection says the number of such pictures on the social media site instagram quadrupled in the past four years. It says behind the scenes, many of these creatures have been snatched from the wild by tour operators, are kept in poor conditions, and are harmed by tourist interaction. It is a particular problem in the Amazon Region with the most common selfie targets being the pink River Dolphin and kay mens such as these. Instagram says it is working with experts to clamp down on wildlife selfies that involve cruelty to ensure that animals arent being put at risk by this photo fad. Plastic waste has become a major environmental problem. Latest statistics suggest more than eight Million Tonnes of plastic ends up in the sea every year. John maguire has been to sweden, where currents and winds mean a great deal of it accumulates. Reducing the eight million tons of plastic dumped in the worlds oceans every year is now a priority around the globe and closing the loop by recycling is one answer. Commonplace across sweden and possibly coming to a town near you, first in scotland with england and wales watching closely. These are deposit return or reverse vending machines. You put used plastic bottles in and they pay out. It scans the barcode on the label and offers the chance to make a donation to charity or credit in this supermarket. Its not exactly a money spinner ten bottles are worth around 1p. Theyre ten a penny, if you like. Collections are made across sweden and brought here, to this plant, 90 minutes south of stockholm. They handle plastic and glass bottles as well as aluminium cans. Recycling rates are above 90 so here, what is next . The boss tells me technology will mean less plastic and smarter bottles. Bottles need to be made for recycling. I think about design so there is very much more to do. The swedes have been using this type of system since the mid 80s, but it is not a stranger to the scourge of plastic pollution, especially in the sea. Its a major problem here, but one the environment minister insists is solvable. There are many really interesting new materials coming up from research and innovation and i see that once we have knowledge on really sustainable materials, we can enter them into market rather quickly because there is a public demand and we have legal tools to use if needed. So, yes, i am optimistic, if we Work Together policy and industry. And people too, as plastics breakdown to microlevel and enter the food chain in our oceans, it is notjust an issue for coastal communities, its a problem that affects all of us and can only be solved by all of us. Time for a look at the weather. The weather story today is a calming down story, slowly but surely. We have had windy weather through the night and for some, a sharp, short shock of wet weather. The radar picture shows this narrow band of heavy downpours which pushed across southern areas. Still gusty winds around particularly to the east coast, but generally speaking today has turned into a decent day. That was the scene at loch lomond for one of our weather watchers. We will see showers continuing especialfully spots exposed to the north westerly wind. So for example, the north and the west of scotland will see showers along with the northern isles. Some perhaps clipping into the far north east where it will stay blustery. Some for the north cores of Northern Ireland and then just drifting across merseyside and north west epg and into the west mid land and north wales as well. Through south wales and into the scwes, dry this afternoon. The winds listening to ease down slowly. Temperatures around 15 or 16 les. Just some patchy cloud and temperatures of 15 or 16 celsius. Still blustery close to the east coast. The skies will clear for many at wembley for example. The world cup qualifier should be clear. There could be the odd shower for glasgow and belfast. As we go through tonight, the showers continue to fade. The winds continue to fall light. And with clear skies overhead, there could be the odd fog patch and it will turn chilly, especially away from the towns and the cities. Some spots could get a touch below freezing in prone areas. So tomorrow, a cold start, a frosty start, a but a bright start and it is looking like a decent day. Spells of sunshine, but we will see cloud rolling in from the west and later, some rain and wind into parts of Northern Ireland and western scotland, 12 to 15 celsius. The weekend starts with atlantic frontal systems pushing southwards and eastwards. A band of rain, much of it light and patchy. Showers following on behind. But with brighter spells as well. Sunday is another qi thor day. Till perhaps a few drizzly showers in northern and western areas. A fair amount of cloud. Where the sun breaks through, it wont feel too bad with light winds and highs of 13 to 17 celsius. Plenty of ups and downs in our forecast. You can get a full local forecast. You can get a full local forecast for where you are on the bbc weather website. This is bbc news, im ben brown. The headlines at 2pm. Police say the late former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath would have been questioned over seven allegations of indecent assault and rape if he were alive. If Sir Edward Heath had been alive. If Sir Edward Heath had been alive today it has been concluded he would have been interviewed under caution in order to obtain his account in relation to the allegations made against him. Account in relation to the allegations made against himlj account in relation to the allegations made against him. I and my siblings had every opportunity to observe him at close hand and children, being children, are not unaware of the sort of things that are being talked about. We would have noticed anything. And there was nothing. A downing street source insists resignation is not an issue for theresa may. As ministers