Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714 : vimarsana.com

BBCNEWS BBC News July 14, 2024

And tests out new fingerprint based Contactless Cards thats in half an hour. Good afternoon. Ten people, aged between 13 and 30 years old are being questioned on suspicion of murdering a Police Officer in berkshire, who was dragged along a road by a vehicle. Pc Andrew Harper, who was 28, died on thursday evening while responding to reports of a burglary. Flags have been flying at half mast across the Thames Valley force area, in memory of the officer, who married only four weeks ago. Our correspondent, simonjones reports. Married just a month ago, pc Andrew Harper was looking forward to his honeymoon. Now though, his death is the subject of a murder investigation. Dragged along the road by a vehicle. Among those to visit the scene today, the Deputy Police commissioner for Thames Valley. Ive heard from people coming forward from across the country, Police Officers who worked with andy but also victims of crime he has supported in the past. I think thats one of the most fitting memorials to him, is those people whose lives he touched have been coming forward to say how much they appreciated what he has done for them. Pc harpers death has been described as mindless and brutal by the Prime Minister. Ten people are being questioned on suspicion of murder. Officers have been searching a nearby caravan site as part of the investigation. Theres been a steady stream of people throughout the morning bringing flowers. Some who were colleagues of pc harper, visibly upset. Others who didnt know him but wanted to express their own shock and sadness about what happened here. For police, its a difficult task investigating the death of one of their own. The pain is shared among the emergency services. A lot of people say we have sort of a dangerousjob but most of our opinions of ourjob is its nowhere near as dangerous or difficult as the police and the ambulance service. The police say they are still trying to establish the exact chain of events after a routine call out to a burglary ended in tragedy. The police have shut this section of the a4 near to where pc harper was killed. They have been carrying out forensic examinations. We are not clear what exactly they have been looking for, in fact the police have given very few detail so far of their investigation. They are asking people not to speculate about what happened while their enquiries continue. We are hoping to get an update from them during the course of the afternoon. Now fortunately, Police Officers being killed in the line of duty remains a very rare event. There have been around ten over the past decade. Whats happened here has really shaken the community. There has also been further debate about whether more Police Officers should be armed and whether police cuts have influenced increasing levels of violence against Police Officers. Those are perhaps debates for a further day, but at the moment the focus for the police is trying to establish what exactly happened here to cause an officer to lose his life. That was simonjones that was simon jones reporting. Pro democracy demonstrators in hong kong have been taking part in a rally in an area popular with tourists from mainland china. The organisers have been using loudhailers to appeal for the event to remain peaceful after violent scenes during protests at the airport on monday and tuesday. Anti government protests have been going on now for 11 weeks. Our correspondent Stephen Mcdonell watched as police confronted protesters in the city. Here we are, another saturday night in hong kong, another Police Station siege, or at least the stand off. Here we have the police in formation with their shields. They have been having various things thrown at them from across the road and they are backing up. They are not in their full kits, so its not as serious as it sometimes gets but well move around here and ill try and show you where the protesters are. They are on the other side of the road where traffic is still actually coming through. Every now and then they are running up and throwing tins and things like that, nothing too heavy it seems at the moment, at the police. But across the other side here, are the protesters. You could possibly hear these warning signs and im seeing people running frantically. Ah, it looks like we do have the normal riot police now in place. They have come out to try and clear them away from here it seems. Just moving quickly down to this main road here. Where the riot police are moving very quickly. This is their new method. They come in fast, this is what they told us about in the briefing this week. They move quickly and try and seize protesters when they can. There is the line of riot police in front. They are holding up a sign telling people to clear away. Werejust running to catch up with them. So this is in mongkok, for people who know hong kong, across on the kowloon side of the harbour. And the police are now moving through very quickly and with intent. The idea is to move protesters on very rapidly. Its not the days of the long stand off have gone. The days when we saw protesters having pitched battles with police. We are not having that any more. You can see the police here giving instructions to people to clear out and i can tell you, the protesters, they are also moving very fast, they dont want to get arrested either. Its the speed of the running, you see. Riot police, they are not walking any more, they are running in. They are running because they want to try and make arrests. They dont just want to control the situation, they are thinking long term now. If they are going to arrest enough of these protesters, they hope to take the wind out of, the more radicalised element of this pro democracy movement. The senior conservative mp, sir Oliver Letwin, has said he could not support a plan to prevent a no deal brexit that would result in Jeremy Corbyn appointed as a caretaker Prime Minister. Its another blow for the labour leaders plan to form a time limited government of national unity. Our political correspondent, tony bonsignore, explained what this could mean for the labour leaders hopes. You had the liberal democrats come out this week saying they didnt want to be part of it if it was Jeremy Corbyn being caretaker Prime Minister. Yesterday we had dominic grieve, senior tory, ardent remainer saying he didnt want, he wouldnt vote against his government if it meantJeremy Corbyn being in number ten and today, another senior tory, sir Oliver Letwin and these are exactly the sort of people that Jeremy Corbyn needs to attract if hes going to get his plan through the commons. He was speaking on the today programme, sir Oliver Letwin about what this prospect of him voting against his own government for labours plan, a temporary, time limited Labour Governments time limited Labour Government withJeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister, heres what had to say. Id much prefer it at the moment to try to get to something that will actually get us a substance of alternative we can agree on without going through all of that and finding out whether people are, in the end, willing to do that or not. You are prepared to rule it out at this stage . I would rule it out if it led to Jeremy Corbyn being in downing street. Im not at all convinced there is any solution that involves such a mechanism as you are describing, that wouldnt have that result. So i think we are talking there are about very there about very distant possibilities. Id much prefer to focus on the question, how do we get there . So that was sir Oliver Letwin. Of course the lib dems have been talking about alternative possible interim leaders, harriet harman, ken clarke being floated. But labour is standing firm, it saying no, if this plan is going to succeed and they want to avoid a no deal, as some mps, plenty of mps do, they say no, it has to beJeremy Corbyn. Here is the labour leader himself talking this morning. I suspect all those people that are now making lots of noises in the media will realise that the option that will be put to parliament, of supporting a motion of no confidence against the government in order to prevent a no deal brexit, is the most important vote they will ever do in parliament because theyll prevent this country being brought to a great problem by a no deal exit and i suggest they should think about that and support the motion i will put forward. The clock is ticking, how much time do they have to sort it out . Very little. It is just over two weeks until mps return to the commons. Those few weeks will be absolutely crucial because if they are going to put through legislation or put this plan in place, it needs to happen soon because the real date is october the 31st, which is 75 days away. If they are going to agree on something, no sign of it yet, but if they are going to agree on something, they need to do it soon. Crowds have gathered in the sudanese capital to celebrate the signing of a power sharing deal between the ruling military and the civilian opposition alliance. Sudans dominant military figure, general dagalo figure, general dagalo, better known as hemetti told the bbc that the council would abide by every letter of the deal. The agreement is intended to bring to an end to months of pro democracy protests during which the long serving president , Omar Al Bashir was toppled. My colleague Zeinab Badawi is in khartoum. There is doubt, a lack of confidence on the part of the civilians that this deal will hold in time. That is the key question. Yesterday a lot of euphoria, optimism and hope but for the first 21 months of that transitional period the military is still in the driving seat. After 18 months of the handover to civilians as being the ones who are in control. So it is what happens down the line that is important. The man you see signing there, general hemetti is widely regarded by some as the most powerful man in sedan, he is signing on behalf of the military. He is the person i have been talking to for our Hardtalk Programme and he has given me his own personal assurances that the military will not slip or slide and they will implement this constitutional agreement to the letter. So as things stand, what can you do but give the military the benefit of the doubt. Before i came here to talk to you on the banks of the beautiful river nile in the scorching heat, iwas the beautiful river nile in the scorching heat, i was inside the friendship hole where that signing ceremony was taking place and just managed to grab a few words with people in there and just kind of soak up the atmosphere a bit. There we re soak up the atmosphere a bit. There were journalists there, some of whom i knew and i think one can say categorically, that the sense of optimism is absolutely genuine. The chancellor, sajid javid, has said he wants to simplify the tax system when he sets out his first budget in the autumn. In an interview with the times, mrjavid said he was considering a number of reforms, including possible changes to stamp duty, making it payable on property sales, rather than purchases. Earlier i spoke to the property expert henry pryor and asked him what he thought about the suggestion. This would be revolutionary. There are this would be revolutionary. There a re lots of this would be revolutionary. There are lots of calls, there have been lots of calls for the stamp duty system to be changed and George Osborne made significant changes in 2014 and then in 2016. It is cheaper for 95 of all buyers but these proposals would be revolutionary and they will, im afraid in the way they will, im afraid in the way they have been framed today cause considerable consternation in the Housing Market in general because buyers, sellers and their agents will sit on their hands and wait until there is some clarity. Also, in terms of simplifying it, wouldnt the stamp duty just in terms of simplifying it, wouldnt the stamp dutyjust be added on by the stamp dutyjust be added on by the sellers to make it up, a bit like vat . For many, it will be a zero sum game. Many will say the bible no longer put the stamp duty bill therefore now that ive got to, iam going bill therefore now that ive got to, i am going to put it on to the price. Some buyers who get a mortgage, roughly 65 of people who buy a home get a mortgage, they will put it on their mortgage, which a lot of people are uncomfortable about. It is going to affect revenue, stamp duty is starting to dwindle because the market is tougher. Fully make a difference for those people trying to scramble on the lower rungs of the housing ladder. First time buyers dont pay stamp duty up to £300,000. And the government have been trying to free up government have been trying to free upfamily government have been trying to free up family homes and encourage older people to downsize, are they going to be able to afford this extra cost and will they be prepared to take that on the chin . It is a bigger tax bill for people downsizing. What sort of shape is the Housing Market in . It is not sick but it is not the frothy market of two or three years ago. We will get numbers from rightmove, the big web portal, on monday looking at asking prices and we got numbers last week telling us about sales across the united kingdom. Sales are holding up along their long term average but what has changed is that for most people they are unable to get the prices they might have expected to get several years ago, but there is still a market if you want to buy and sell, you can still do so. But what the chancellor has hinted at today is very much going to put a lid on the market for the foreseeable future. It is a possibility that he mentioned in an interview, like we said. A recent survey commissioned by santander said that 70 of young people said there is no chance were going to get a foot on the housing ladder. What is the solution to get the Housing Market kick started, besides brexit uncertainty being sorted out . I have heard you talk about Capital Gains tax and the extension of the exemption for first time buyers. There are lots of things that the government could do and quite a few things that government are being encouraged to do but there is nothing that they must do. One of the things that the Housing Market reacts badly to is uncertainty and so this news today will cause some consternation. I am often asked, what can young people do in order to get onto the housing ladder, to have a chance of buying their first home. My advice is rather cynical, be lucky and choose your parents well. Without the benefit of the bank of mum and dad, without your parents owning a property, it becomes harder for young people to do that, statistically. The government has spoken about making changes, increasing house building, and changes will come down the line in the autumn, wrapped up in the budget when the chancellor makes it, but i do not think stamp duty will be the single solution and we have more work to do to provide the homes that people want to rent and to buy. The headlines on bbc news ten men, aged between 13 and 30, are being questioned on suspicion of murdering pc Andrew Harper in berkshire. Pro democracy protesters take to the streets of hong kong once more. Theyve been supported by thousands of teachers. Jeremy corbyns proposal to be installed as a caretaker Prime Minister, to prevent a no deal brexit, is rejected by another senior conservative mp. And in sport, in the premier league its back to back wins at the start of the season for the first time in ten years for arsenal as they beat burnley 2 1 in the early kick off. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored the winner. On day four of the second ashes test, steve smith left the field injured after being hit by a delivery byjofra archer, with australia closing in on englands first innings total of 248. Australia are 218 6. And in the Rugby Union World cup warm up games, wales have a 10 0 lead over england. Scotland face france later. Ill be back with more on those stories at around 5 30. 454 pedestrians died on britains roads last year. The number killed has remained broadly stable for the last decade with no big strides in cutting deaths. Road safety campaigners say more needs to be done. Simon browning reports. Stop, look, listen well done. It is a phrase we all had drilled into us at school, and it is still crucial. A pedestrian is killed every single day in britain. This school in Sutton Coldfield has a busy main road running straight past the school gates. It is a bit dangerous. Not really safe. It is busy. There are lots of cars. And do you think walking to school helps with road safety . And those fears are not unfounded as the head teacher has had to deal with some nasty accidents on this road. We have also had a child with a broken collarbone, a couple of years ago, when he was knocked down outside school. In 2017, 65 pedestrians per day were injured in road traffic accidents. And a quarter of those were children. And the biggest problem we now face is being distracted by these, both at the wheel and on the pavement. The head at walmley infants is so concerned about her pupils safety on this road, she has tried to make the school a mobile free zone. There are a number of parents who are on their phones looking at them, not paying attention to their child and as they are walking out of the gates, they are straight onto a busy road, looking at their phones. Obviously the impact could be devastating. Surely a school can only do so

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