Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

Hello, good, welcome to bbc news. The bbc has learnt that chancellor, sajid javid, voiced his anger to borisjohnson over the abrupt sacking of one of his special advisers. Whitehall sources say sonia khan was questioned about government leaks by borisjohnsons senior adviser, Dominic Cummings. She was then dismissed from downing street, despite no evidence that she was behind the leak of sensitive material. Asked about the sacking on bbc radio 4s today programme, mrjavid said he would not talk about individuals and insisted that he had a fantastic relationship with mrjohnson. Lets get more on this from our political reporterjohn 0wen. Ina in a sense the fate of one individual who after all exists purely according to their political masters and mistresses might not seem important. Why is this row front page in the newspapers and headline the news because it goes to the heart of government. It speaks i suppose to that crucial relationship between number ten and ii, which has been so fraught in administrations past. The background is sonia charge, a special adviser to sajid javid, was escorted out in dramatic fashion, from downing street, on thursday evening, she had been questioned by Dominic Cummings, that is Boris Johnsons de questioned by Dominic Cummings, that is borisjohnsons de facto chief of staff. 0n suspicion she had been leaking confidential government information. Now it seems to be the case she wasnt leaking that information, but she hasjust case she wasnt leaking that information, but she has just the confidence of Dominic Cummings and was fired. Now what has emerged more recently, is that sajid javid and borisjohnson recently, is that sajid javid and Boris Johnson have recently, is that sajid javid and borisjohnson have exchanged cross words about this, because it seems that sajid javid was not aware in advance she was going to be fired. He clearly thought that he ought to have been entitled to know if this was going to happen, he wasnt made aware and it is the second member of his staff that has been fired just this month, so clearly he was upset about it. Let us hear what he had to say about it. I am i am not going to discuss personnel issue, its wouldnt be appropriate. My views are well understand, the relationship is fantastic with the Prime Minister, this is a Prime Minister that first before he was Prime Minister, someone i have always got on with incredibly well and it has been a real privilege for me to work with him so closely on delivering on these peoples priority, and that relationship is as strong as priority, and that relationship is as strong as ever, priority, and that relationship is as strong as ever, and what it does mean, by having that strong link, is that we can focus on all these things that matter so 0 so many people. What about your relationship with Dominic Cummingslj people. What about your relationship with Dominic Cummings i am not going to talk about pennel relationships, you asked me about the Prime Minister it is correct to do that, the Prime Minister is my boss and we work together, along with other cabinet colleagues to deliver, i i am not here to talk about particular individuals that are advisers in downing street. This is interesting in one sense because this row erupted because the former chancellor Philip Hammond sent a letter to Boris Johnson chancellor Philip Hammond sent a letter to borisjohnson saying someone letter to borisjohnson saying someone in downing street has. It is categorically not true and downing street has been forced to go into a process of finding out who may or may not be behind it, clearly sonia khan in this case not sonia khan in this case. It is a curious contrast. It is interest, it shows it is not essential to meet a predefined burden of proof, its a situation in whitehall where your bossis situation in whitehall where your boss is your boss. Dominic cummings has made it clear to special adviser round while they report to him, he is somebody who has made a concerted effort to sta m p is somebody who has made a concerted effort to stamp his authority across government. That is not saying we should exaggerate because he reports directly to Boris Johnson should exaggerate because he reports directly to borisjohnson but certainly he has made efforts to let it be known he wont tolerate any devolutionration from party line, from the governments agenda and certainly, not any leaking. From the governments agenda and certainly, notany leaking. So from the governments agenda and certainly, not any leaking. So it was just a case certainly, not any leaking. So it wasjust a case in certainly, not any leaking. So it was just a case in which she had clearly lost his confidence and he decided she had to go. Briefly, the headlines were supposed to be at least in the governments planning about funding for further education, and sajid javid did go on the talk about that. He did. He is anxious top correct the record as he sees it, to say that everything is going perfectly smoothly in the relationship between him and downing street. That crucial relationship between number 11 and ten, he wasnts to let us now it is fully intact. All of this row has overshadowed what he wants to be talking about which is additional funding, 400 million for fe colleges, that is following on from a fairly sizeable spending commitment to schools that came yesterday. This is the government trying to say they do have a domestic agenda, they are trying to implement policies is beyond brexit, and they are looking for a future after 31st october when we are scheduled to leave the eu. They are saying these are our priorities, we have the Spending Review on wednesday and he is trying to make clear that the government has a lot of work to do and he is trying to do a before meanwhile, £400 million of additional funding is to be given to colleges offering Vocational Training for 16 18 year olds in england. The treasury says the money will support the introduction of new t level qualifications next year. A government review earlier this year found that £1 billion of Capital Investment was needed for further education colleges. The education secretary, Gavin Williamson said todays announcement is a signficant boost. And its a significant increase in terms of the amount of funding that all six forms and further education establishments will be having, and it will be making sure that weve got the right skills for our young people, to equip britain for future generations. Lowell williams, chief executive officer of Dudley College of technologyjoins me now. Good to speak to you again, thanks for joining good to speak to you again, thanks forjoining us, what do you make of this announcement of funding, guaranteed for the next year, and the chancellor suggested on the radio this morning he will have more positive words to say about the sector in his spending announcement on wednesday. Well, it is very welcome and it is a great start, but you have to realise that we have had seven you have to realise that we have had seve n years you have to realise that we have had seven years of austerity, somewhere like an 18 real term cut in funding for the sector, so, this is a really welcome announcement, it will help us welcome announcement, it will help us begin to put things right but in itself it wont be enough, i dont think. What impact has had that, that cut, were you saying 18 in real terms . 18 over seven year, in real terms . 18 over seven year, in real terms. Well the impact has been a lack of invest. Into core facilities and teaching for Technical Skills so we need a workforce in the york that is technically skilled. We need young people to be taking the right careers so when they present themselves to industry they have the skills that will really drive Industry Forward and be productive, and to be able to do that we need investment on the same scale that is happening in europe and germany. So we need good facilities and resources and well trained teacher, u nfortu nately we have resources and well trained teacher, unfortunately we have had a deficit nearly, for ten years now, when that hasnt happened so we have slipped behind. That is not to say there arent brill yap things going on in specific colleges so the announcement today f that is the start of a Re Investment into technological teaching that is good news. It might be good news in the run up to a potential general election, it is what happens after that period of political focus has moved on to other things. Absolutely but it is still good news. I dont think it is my position to comment on the political nature, but we need a concerted strategic long Term Investment plan for technical education, and if this is the start of that that is fantastic. If it is just a one off as you say it is most welcome but wont have the impact we need. Let me ask you finally about t levels which is what this is tied m, t levels which is what this is tied in, to due to be launched next year, is there yet enough understanding of the public about what t levels are andindeed the public about what t levels are and indeed among potential employers of the equivalence that the government said it hopes will be given to them in relation to a levels and other qualifications. Probably the straight answer is no, there is not enough, but there is a fantastic amount of work going on there is a good dialogue between employers and the sec tore and the government on t levels, there is investment going in and there is every reason to be, i think confident that, that t levels can make the impact that is required, but it is very early day, the qualifications dont start in real terms until the next academic year, iam terms until the next academic year, i am reasonably confident the work is going on and they could have a fantastic impact. Thank you for speaking to us. Large crowds of protesters have gathered in hong kong, in spite of a police ban on a mass rally called to mark five years since beijing ruled out fully democratic elections in the territory. Yesterday, police launched a crackdown by arresting prominent pro democracy activists. 0vernight there have been arrests of more key figures in the movement. The authorities have closed key transport links and moved anti riot equipment into position as they prepare for a day of violent clashes. There have been mass protests in hong kong for the past 13 weeks now. Lets speak to the bbcs Stephen Mcdonnell in hong kong. The rain is coming down. The umbrellas are up, it is notjust about the rain. They are a very visible sign of the defiance of people of this order not to protest. There is an absolutely massive crowd turned out here, even though they we re turned out here, even though they were warned dont come or you face arrest. I will bring you up to speed what is happening here. This building here, there was a sign that is now being dismantled, in fact a banner along the the side of the building, celebrating the foundations of modern china, 70 yea rs foundations of modern china, 70 years ago. Some activists have climbed up on to that building and with every part of that banner, they have pulled down, they have punched another section out and thrown it to the ground, the crowd cheer, elsewhere, the beijing Government Liaison Office was to be the focus ofa Liaison Office was to be the focus of a protest today. That is because the central governments headquarters in hong kong, there are two water cannon trucks parked outside, all the streets round it are blocked and the underground train station has also been stopped there, to prevent these protestors in their tens of thousands from getting anywhere near it, today is an anniversary of a decision by the Chinese Government to deny the people of hong kong universal sufficient frank. It is why they applied to march today and it is why the authorities were also sufficiently worried about than march to make it illegal to i is a you don have permission. It hasnt worked. People have come out nevertheless and i will give you a look at the size of the crowd, you can see how many have prepared to risk arrest. Have prepared to risk potentially violence, we have seen violent clashes here in the past. But so far, today, it has just been a very large peaceful march and temperature overnight arrest of key figures in the pro democracy movement, especially members of the legislative council, has also upset people, and had the opposite effect if it was designed to scare people off turning up today, it hasnt work, it has made them more angry and more likely to turn out. Thank you very much. We will check in with you very much. We will check in with you as the day progresses. Thank you. Police scotland have described the behaviour of protestors, who took part in a counter demonstration against an irish unity parade in glasgow, as utterly unacceptable. Riot police and officers on horseback were sent to tackle what the force described as significant disorder. Witnesses say smoke bombs were used. There are no reports of injuries or damage to property. A 15 year old boy is in a Critical Condition in hospital after he was stabbed in tottenham in north london. Police think he may have been attacked by someone riding a bicycle on willan road on friday morning. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. A trial date has been set for the man accused of playing a leading role in plotting the september the eleventh terror attacks. Khalid sheikh mohammad, seen here before and after he was captured, will be tried at Guantanamo Bay, along with four other men, from january 2021. Hes already been detained for more than fifteen years. Lets speak now to imtiaz gul hes the head of the independent centre for research and Security Studies in islamabad and the author of book the alqaeda connection terror in tribal areas. Thank you for speaking to us today. Can you give us a brief summary of the significance of Khalid Sheikh mohammad . Well, Khalid Sheikh mohammad . Well, Khalid Sheikh mohammad as a student developed his liking for pakistans fundamentalist party, which has been close to the Muslim Brotherhood which originated in egypt. Because of this connection Khalid Sheikh mohammad also served in afghanistan as part of the anti soviet russian mujahideen, which had been funded and supported by the United States, and pakistan, as well as the rest of the world. From there, he went on the to, went on to become member of alqaeda, and then he was travelling all over the world, in philippines, in the United States, in africa, as part of his mission to, to recruit and mentor people who werejoining mission to, to recruit and mentor people who were joining alqaeda, so this is what made him prominent within the organisation, and eventually, what we saw that he was picked up on charges of having been the mastermind of the 9 11 attacks. Now people may be surprised to hear that in the sense they would have associated it with bin laden with the decision to organise and carry out the attack, the suggestion from the United States then is that actually there were other people involved at a planning level, not just those who carried out the attacks who died. What is their evidence for that . They have been holding him in Guantanamo Bay for a long time, have they been able to build upa long time, have they been able to build up a case, the trial is more than a year hence. I would say that the United States investigators and the United States investigators and the Intelligence Community have been beset by the lack of real evidence, real incriminating evidence against Khalid Sheikh mohammad Khalid Sheikh mohammad and many others, because if you look at the transcripts of his interrogation by the cia at various places, he has been a lot of of crimes have been attributed him, whether it was the bali bombing, the new York Trade Centre attack or the attacks in africa, that makes the entire thing suspect and complex, the fact they have announced a trial 15 years after his capture, itself wa nts to 15 years after his capture, itself wants to the complexity involved in the process, and it will be quite a feat by the us judiciary if they could take the case to a logical conclusion and through the complicity of Khalid Sheikh mohammad, as one of the major master minds of the 9 11 attacks. Thank you very much. The headlines on bbc news. The chancellor, sajid javid, insists his relationship with borisjohnson is fantastic, despite downing street abruptly firing one of his special advisers, sonia khan. Large crowds of protesters gather in hong kong in defiance of a ban on a pro democracy rally. A trial date is set for Khalid Sheikh mohammad, who is accused of playing a leading role in plotting the september 11th attack. Sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres jane. Johanna konta is the last british player after a win for her at flushing meadows. Dan evans is out of the mens events after he was beaten by five time champion roger federer. In one of the games greatest arenas this was dan evans for the first time. Intimidating enough, each more so when you are greeted by two of sports biggest superstar, basketball legend kobe bryant only stayed round for the coin toss. Roger federer seemed in no mood to hang about either. Starting on a charge taking him to the first set, evens unable to keep pace. Federer once described taking on evans like playing a mirror image, a compliment but no time to reflect. Here he was firmly in his shadow. Shadow. 0utplayed, outclass, dan evans is out. A comfortable victory in little over an hour. Commentator Just Brilliant through to the next round. She might now be the last briton left standing in the singles, butjohanna konta, it seems, is not slowing down. Adam wild, bbc news. Not how dan evans would have wanted ihe not how dan evans would have wanted i he won only five game, the british number two was not happy at having to play early on friday, less than a day after his second round match when federer had an extra days rest. Tough on me isnt it. But wouldnt be the first time the higher ranking player has had pull so to speak, but also these guys, they want the tournament obviously want roger, would rather roger be going through that match than me. Im sick and tired of it that apparently, i call the shots the tournament and the tv stations do. We can give our opinion. That is what we do. But im still going to walk out, even if they schedule me at 4 in the morning. Usual to see is a furious federer. Move tong football and arsenal defender hasjoined real move tong football and arsenal defender has joined real sociedad move tong football and arsenal defender hasjoined real sociedad on a two year deal, he has been ever present in the league this season for arsenal but tierney who joined in the summer is seen as his replace. Place. Melanie 0nn reel has made 250 appearances for arsenal and won three fa cups. Monday reel leaves the club ahead of the north london derby tomorrow, but this afternoon Manchester City play brighton and they can overtake liverpool for an hour or so, Jurgen Klopps side are three wins from three but face a difficult trip to burnley. Thats what we are prepared for. Its not planning a holiday when you go to burnley, its really planning the hardest work you can imagine, and thats what we try to be ready for. The big game in scot is tomorrow, when rangers take on celtic at ibrox and the old firm match. The rest of the fixtures are later today with livingston take on st mirren, last nigh it was the dundee derby, Dundee United thrashed their neighbours dundee 6 2 in the first League Meetings between the sides for more than three year, callum butcher was on target for the side who have a 100 record. Ken liddle has scored three hat tricks for her country before but this was her first for her country before but this was herfirst time getting for her country before but this was her first time getting five in one game. Congratulations to them. That is all the sport, we will protests are expected in towns and cities across the uk later against Boris Johnsons decision to Prorogue Parliament next month. Campaigners have described the suspension of parliament for up to five weeks as an attempt to shut down democracy. read 0n to shut down democracy. 0ur correspondent simonjones is at one of the protests the protest is due to get under way at midday and there are demonstrations in 34 different towns and cities across the uk, the organisers are hoping that tens of thousands of people will turn out to get their voices heard, now, the theme of the protest is about varying democracy, the title is stop the coup the organisers say that borisjohnson by deciding to suspend parliament for round five weeks is burying democracy. Now they say we cant rely on parliament, necessarily, to stop the protest, to stop the prorogue of parliament, cant rely on this going through the courts and that is why they want people to turn out in number, now they say ultimately the peoples voice needs. The counter. There will be plenty of time for this to be debated in parliament, despite the fact it will be suspended for round five weeks ahead of the queens speech. Not even is in favour of this, because the organisers are talking about democracy being buried but then some people on their facebook pages have been saying, well, actually it is the people who will attend the protest today that want to interfere with democracy because they are trying to stop brexit. So mixed opinions, but certainly, the majority are expecting problem with sound. Anti this idea of parliament with their view not having enough of a say. Simonjones at say. Simon jones at westminster. Say. Simonjones at westminster. Thank you. We will hear more from simon today. That protest due to begin at midday. The Charity Samaritans is being criticised for entering into a year Long Partnership with a gambling company. Staff at Paddy Power Betfair chose samaritans as their charity of the year and are supporting it through fundraising, corporate donations and volunteering. Critics say samaritans shouldnt work with the gambling industry. Lets talk to radio 4s money box reporter Dan Whitworth whos been looking into this story. It is your story and your programme covering it. Tell us how it came about . As you say shaun, what happens, the staff at Paddy Power Betfair, every yore they nominate a charity, thissier they nominated the samaritans which is a good thing to do, it is a charity, it relies on funding, so they chose it as their nominated charity and they will involve things like corporate donation, volunteering, fundraising, that kind of thing, on the flip side of that, Paddy Power Betfair is asking the samaritans to come in and help them build on its policy, develop policies to help them work pets it comes to working with vulnerable customers. Work better. I suppose the cynics will see it as a very useful thing for the gambling industry to show how sincere it is, how much it cares about the damage it is doing to Mental Health due to addiction to gambling, maybe on the samaritans side its a bit surprising they agreed to tie up. Very much so. We have spoken to several people who have spoken to several people who have expressed shock and dismay at the fact the samaritans have decided to ta ke the fact the samaritans have decided to take this money from the. Amling industry, a bit of context here, as well, there are more than 400,000 problem gamblers across britain, and thatis problem gamblers across britain, and that is people gambling more money than they can afford and it impacting their live, so a really damaging habit can be formed and is affecting so many people. So when a charity like the samaritans, which has a well established, well earned reputation for being such a good Charity Takes money from an industry thatis Charity Takes money from an industry that is associated with such harm, will obviously questions have been raised. We spoke to a couple of people, Carlin Harris mp, she is chair of the all Party Parliamentary group on gambling related harmful she says she is shocked. At best she describes it as distasteful, at worst appall, we spoke to a gentleman called john, he lost his 27 year old son ryan to gambling addiction, he took his own life after becoming addicted to gambling, he is horrified. He is very anti the gambling triindustry, doesnt think anything like the samaritans should be working with them in this way. What paddy power and samaritans are saying in response to this both of the organisations have defended this partnership, they have said if we are going to work together, we can try to work better for our vulnerable customers and the charity samaritan, it is a charity, it depends on funding. Samaritan, it is a charity, it depends on funding. And you can hear more on this story on bbc radio 4s money Box Programme at midday. You can find it on the iplayer and it is repeated gulf of mexico the use of foodbanks has become a common sight across the uk and rarely out of the headlines. But what about communities restricted by what they can eat based on their religion or diet . 0ne foodbank in east london, which provides halal and vegetarian food, says it has seen an increase in people from the Asian Community asking for help. It also says the fear ofjudgment often prevents many from accessing its services. The bbc Asian Networks Nalini Sivathasan reports. Forget baked beans and pasta. Humdum is not your typical food bank. Here, youre more likely to find vegetable rice and lamb curry. Volunteers provide home cooked asian food, with halal and vegetarian options. Everyone is welcome, but it caters in particular for barkings muslim, hindu and sikh communities. As well as taking donations, it needs to buy a lot of the food it needs, and for one of the founders, it means Shopping Trips need careful planning. The process does take a bit longer because we have to check the ingredients is this suitable for our vegetarian or halal clients as well as anyone else . Back at base it is nearly time to eat. Across the country, Food Bank Use has increased. The trusell trust, the uks biggest food bank network, gave away 1. 6 million packs of food in the past year. That is an increase of nearly 20 from 2018. Humdum has had around 30 people who have come to the food drive, but volunteers here say for some people in the Asian Community they may feel embarrassed coming to a food bank. They are very shy. They dont want to go out and beg. Ive dedicated my time to go out and deliver to their houses. Yasmin, which is not her real name, comes weekly. The food is very nice. I am muslim so i especially eat halal food. They can speak with me punjabi so i can explain what i want and they are giving me. But for some the stigma is too great. Nighat tries to encourage them in, not least for the social contact. They can come up here, they feel lonely, they feel they can come up to a place on a saturday, sit down, have lunch, talk to people. We are like their humdum family. And the volunteers here say they benefit from