Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240713

Dozens of former thomas cook employees say theyre struggling to access benefits and pay bills three months after the travel chain collapsed. Also this hour, catch up on all the latest gadgets, games and computer Industry News with click. There are calls for a government inquiry into racism within football after the Chelsea Player Antonio Rudiger complained of hearing monkey noises from the crowd during yesterdays premier league match at tottenham. The professional Footballers Association said it was disgusted by the reports and insisted urgent action was needed. Heres our sports correspondent, andy swiss. It was a day english football was once again overshadowed by racism. Chelseas Antonio Rudiger clearly showing hed heard abuse from the crowd an hour into his teams game against tottenham. He informed his captain, who in turn told the referee, and after he spoke to both managers, for the first time in the premier league, a warning was made over the public address system, twice repeated. Announcer racist behaviour amongst spectators is interfering with the game. Please remember that in football, there is no place for racism. At the end of the match, the chelsea skipper explained what happened. Toni came to me and he told me that he was listening in the crowd monkey noises, and obviously my job as a captain is to come straight to the ref and to report it. Now its under investigation, and we have to work all together towards eradication of the problem. Its an issue in the life and in football unfortunately, and we need to keep working hard. Its been confirmed that the three warnings to the fans all related to a single incident. Tottenham have launched an investigation. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is a very proud club in relation to these situations. We also deal internally with that, but i think the protocol was followed. This is just the latest allegation of racist abuse to hit the english game. Two weeks ago, a man was arrested after manchester citys game against manchester united, while an fa cup match between haringey and yeovil had to be abandoned. Yesterdays match was also marred by a missile being thrown onto the pitch near chelseas goalkeeper, but it is once again the issue of racism thats put english football under the sternest scrutiny. Andy swiss, bbc news. After the match Antonio Rudiger tweeted, it is really sad to see racism again at a football match, but i think its very important to talk about it in public. If not, it will be forgotten again in a couple of days as always. The professional Footballers Association released a statement on twitter. It said, we are disgusted and dismayed that once again, a premier League Fixture has been tainted by abuse from the stands towards players. It has become clear that Football Players are on the receiving end of the blatant racism that is currently rife in the uk, but they are not alone. We will continue to fight on their behalf to combat this issue for good. The pfa calls for a government inquiry into racism within football and encourage the establishment of an all party group at the department for digital, culture, media and sport. The sports minister nigel adams has also tweeted about the incident. He said, depressing to see today s events at white hart lane. I welcome spurs investigation and will be speaking with the club s directors tomorrow. There is no place for racism or any kind of discrimination in football or anywhere else. Iffy onuora is from the pfa and explained why they are calling for a full inquiry into racism in the game. Football is a reflection of society, so we are football is a reflection of society, so we are not saying there is an isolated problem in football. Football is a national game, it is why we are here, we are all talking about it, you can use football as a vehicle to look beyond football. What has happened in football is a manifestation of what is happening in society. We can address some of those core issues and that is the starting point, otherwise we will come back to the same old thing and an incident happens and we wave our hands and we move onto the next thing and in the meanwhile the players are on the front line and they keep getting the abuse. Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison has again defended the coal industry, despite conceding yesterday that Climate Change has helped fuel the countrys bushfires. He said there was no need to impose new carbon targets. Meanwhile, the leader of New South Wales says catastrophic fire conditions have almost completely destroyed the community of a small town thats home to around 400 people. Balmoral, south west of sydney, has been engulfed by flames, as emergency crews struggle to contain the situation. From there, Shaimaa Khalil reports. It feels like a deserted war zone, but this is the aftermath of the catastrophic bushfires that have ravaged New South Wales. And in the village of balmoral, the devastation is everywhere. Russell scholes has been a volunteer firefighter for six years. He was out with his team trying to control the blaze in the village when his own house was burned to the ground. So many of the brigade are tired. Thats the mental side of it when youre continually battling something you cant beat. The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, appearing for the first time today after fierce criticism of his holiday in hawaii, conceded that more needed to be done to tackle global warming, with scientists saying that drier conditions brought about by Climate Change have worsened the impact of bushfires. The catastrophic fires have subsided but the situation is still extremely dangerous here. The roads remain closed off. Balmoral was one of the worst hit areas by saturdays fires and the community is still very much in shock. Many havent returned to see what happened to their homes and what happened to their village. Just opposite the road from russells shattered house is a very different picture. Craig hurley stayed to defend his home during the fires, using up all the water reserves he had. Flames like a five or six storey building and just roaring all around you. Just scared as hell, you dont know what to do. Australias bracing itself for a scorching summer, and many are wondering where the next big fire is going to hit. Shaimaa khalil, bbc news, balmoral, New South Wales. We can speak now to our sydney correspondent phil mercer. This has been going on for several weeks now, what has the reaction been to the comments of Scott Morrison . Many of his supporters will be cheered by the news that Scott Morrison is not about to divert away from his charted course on Climate Change. He won an election here in may, promising to support the coal industry. Scott morrison says that australia is being responsible and its emissions are falling, that this country is meeting its international obligations. Mr morrison is saying that to change course now would be reckless and would destroyjobs. At the heart of this is the coal industry. The coal industry is extremely powerful in this country. Coal generates the lions share of australias electricity and it also comes billions of pounds into the australian economy. As with all these things there is a shark, political dimension to this as well. In may when mr morrison when the federal election he was supported by coal mining communities. Here we have an economic comparative up againstan have an economic comparative up against an environmental necessity. The Prime Minister says he is being environmentally responsible, while protecting australias jobs. Many australians will be looking at the severity of these bushfires, the bushfire season has started earlier than normal and these fires are far more intense than usual at this time of the year. Many australians will be thinking that on this occasion mr morrison is choosing the economy over the environment. Meanwhile, 100 fires continue to burn in New South Wales, and also fires burning in the states of australia and at the moment the weather is fairly benign, helping firefighters in the east of the country, but this is a before more dangerous conditions return. We do not know when that will be. What we do know is that they will come back. Have opponents of Scott Morrison suggested a tangible way to cut back on the coal industry without endangering too manyjobs . And also what about the Carbon Emissions targets . There are calls for that to be changed . Scott morrison was criticised for going on holiday to hawaii during this national crisis. Criticism started before he got on the plane to the united states. We have seen mass protests in this country by recent months by people worried by Climate Change. The bushfires have sharpened those concerns. What climate protesters have consistently said that those demonstrations we have seen all around australia is that they want a phasing out of the coal industry for coal miners and those coal areas to be looked after economically, transitioned into new jobs, perhaps in renewable energy. What protesters are calling for is for australia to be weaned off its dependence on coal in favour of Renewable Supplies of energy. The Prime Minister is not likely to budge. He says that australias emissions are falling more than they we re emissions are falling more than they were under the previous government. I think it is safe to say that these fires are likely to go on for weeks, if not months. The debate over Climate Change and the role it is playing in australias bushfire crisis is likely to last a lot longer. Phil mercer, thank you very much. The death toll from new zealands white island eruption has risen to 19. Police have confirmed that another victim died in hospital in auckland. There were 47 people, mainly australian tourists, on the island when it erupted earlier this month. 25 people remain in hospital, many still in a critical condition. The duke of edinburgh has spent a third night in hospital receiving treatment for what royal officials have described as a pre existing condition. Buckingham palace says Prince Philip, whos 98, was admitted on friday as a precautionary measure on the advice of his doctor. Rich preston is outside the hospital in central london. What is the latest there . Nnoo latest really. As you say, a third night in hospital for the latest really. As you say, a third night in hospitalfor the duke of edinburgh, arriving on friday for this pre existing condition on the advice of his doctor. The princes stoical, famously does not like first to be made. There have been no visits from other members of the royalfamily, visits from other members of the royal family, perhaps a sign that there is nothing to be too worried about. The queen attended a Carol Concert in sandringham yesterday with other members of the royal family. We are yet to receive any official word from the hospital here in west london as to whether the duke of edinburgh will be released from hospital in time to see the rest of the family on christmas day. Thank you very much. Richard preston outside the hospital where Prince Philip is at the moment, receiving some precautionary treatment. There are growing indications that the so called Islamic State group is re organising in iraq, two years after losing the last of its territory in the country. Kurdish and western intelligence officials have told the bbc that the is presence in iraq is a sophisticated insurgency, and is attacks are increasing. Lahur talibany is a Kurdish Counter Terrorism official and director of one of the two intelligence agencies in iraq. He told 0rla guerin that a different kind of is has emerged. The dispute between arg and the Central Government has left a lot of land unmanned and iis is taking advantage of the situation. This stretches from the Iranian Border going all the way up to mosul and the syrian border. They have easy access of travel through these areas. We see now the activity increasing and we think that the reorganisation stage is over now. There is a major security vacuum in these no go areas between the iraqi forces and the pressure margot forces . Forces and the pressure margot forces . Nobody is dealing with the Security Threat in these areas . Is is patrolling it, unfortunately. Is this the same phase as 2012 when they were starting to become a serious threat . I think it is more stronger than 2012 to be honest. This will feed into the future of is. This is christmas come early for is. This is christmas come early for is. Do you think it is a new beginning for them . I would say it would be a different type of isis. No longer will they want to control land or cities, i think they will go back to the warfare of alqaeda with more experience and techniques and tactics that alqaeda did not have. I think it is an issue for us to be worried about. Not only as, i think the International Community should be worried about the re emergence of isis, because in the past a problem in iraq became a global problem. The kind of rebuilding they have managed to do in the last 12 months, has that been a surprise to you that they have been able to do this so quickly . They have techniques and tactics and they have a lot more finances at their disposal. I dont know if this money was money that they saved in the past from the oil trade, but they seem to have a lot more money than alqaeda had in the old days. They are able to buy vehicles, weaponry, Food Supplies and equipment. Like i said, they are like alqaeda on steroids. They have picked up a lot of experience in the past three or four years. Technologically they are more savvy, it is more difficult to flush them out or to find them. They are like alqaeda on steroids, these guys. They are like alqaeda on steroids, these guys. Lahur talabany, the head of the kurdish zanyari intelligence agency, speaking to our international correspondent, 0rla guerin. The headlines on bbc news. Calls for a government inquiry into racism in football, after a premier league match is stopped for the first time because of allegations of abuse from the stands. As australias bushfire crisis continues the countrys Prime Minister defends the coal industry and defies calls for new carbon targets. A comeback for Islamic State in iraq. A kurdish intelligence chief tells the bbc the jihadist groups reorganising and getting stronger. Sports minister nigel adams says he will speak to tottenhams directors after some fans were alleged to have racially abused Antonio Rudiger. For the first time in the premier league an announcement was made asking fans to stop racist behaviour. Everton to stop racist behaviour. Eve rto n fa ns to stop racist behaviour. Everton fa ns ca n to stop racist behaviour. Everton fans can see the finished plans for their proposed new stadium. The club has sent off for planning permission. The estimated cost will be £500 million. The defending champion is through to the fourth round of the world darts championship after beating ricky eva ns. Championship after beating ricky evans. I will be back with more on all of those stories after half past. Chinas Foreign Ministry has denied allegations that prisoners are being used forforced labour after tesco suspended production of christmas cards at a factory in shanghai while it investigates claims. Six year old Florence Widdicombe found a plea for help in one of the cards, apparently written by a foreign prisoner in qingpu prison. The supermarket says it was shocked and would never allow the use of prison labour in its supply chain. William nee is a business and human rights analyst at Amnesty International and joins me now from hong kong. Thank you for your time today. Do we know how extensive prison labour is . Is it used across a number of industries . Yes, what we do know is that prison labour is very common in china and it is used obviously in prisons, but it is even sometimes used in detention facilities, where people have not been sentenced through a court. Also in a big region in the north west of china, it is three times larger than france, there are many predominantly muslim people, uighurs, who are being detained in this area, and many of those people have been in re education camps and they are coming out of those camps and having to do forced labour as well. This is something that Companies Need to be alert about when they are looking to do business with china, to ensure that none of their supply chains involve forced labour. Companies need to do Due Diligence and i am glad to hear that tesco has stopped and they are going to do an investigation. How difficult is it to do those checks . Presumably much of this is hidden . You are right, it is difficult. Doing business in china presents challenges, but it is possible if you go through and you look at your supply chain. You try to dig through and you do notjust give it to a Consultant Company to doa give it to a Consultant Company to do a perfunctory look. All companies, regardless of where they are operating in the world, according to international standards, need to do human rights Due Diligence. Companies should be on guard that in china there is the possibility of forced labour. It is not to say that the majority of the supply chain in china there are workers engaged in forced labour, but there is that risk and Companies Need to take it seriously. Can you give us an idea of the percentage of goods that we all buy made in china that might have this risk attached . I dont think i have the exact numbers to hand, but china has been known as the factory of the world, where so much of the worlds products are made. The vast majority of that is not made under conditions of that is not made under conditions of forced labour. There can be other Labour Rights problem is that Companies Need to be on guard against. Within the last year there have been over 100 labour leaders who have been detained in china for trying to get benefits for workers according to the law. There was one person this week, a Labour Rights activist, who was detained. The issue goes bigger than just forced labour. We are looking at a relatively small percentage in terms of forced labour. But given that this mail was given to this girl florence, and it specifically asked for peter humphreys, a well known investigator, i think it has a degree of credibility and it is worthy of taking seriously. These claims have not been verified so far. We heard about thisjust recently and it is difficult, if not impossible, for groups like Amnesty International to do human rights work on the ground in china. In this case it will be incumbent upon the company to do their Due Diligence, do their investigation, to dig deep and to ensure that they can guarantee the human rights of all people in the supply chain and that they are being respected. That is their obligation and every companys obligation under international standards. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Gerald 0ppenheim is the chief executive of the fundraising regulator. He said he would work with the Charities Involved to make sure this doesnt happen again. They will be doing that and there are already arrangements in place to make sure that charities in the contracts they have with Third Party Suppliers do make it clear that things happen to be produced ethically. Tesco will want to satisfy themselves that they were told the truth by the suppliers, that there was no forced labour involved. Clearly something has gone very wrong there. Tesco, like all retailers producing goods overseas, it will do inspections of the places where these things are made and they will want to check up on all of that. The charities will want to know the outcome as we will. The charities will want to know the outcome as we will. As the decade draws to a close, statisticians have released a summary of the numbers that illustrate how life has changed over the 2010s. The Royal Statistical Society competition results show concerns over deforestation, and closer to home, slow productivity growth in the uk. The Winning International statistic was 8. 4 million thats the number of football pitches you could fit in the area lost to deforestation in the amazon during the past ten years. The british stat of the decade was 0. 3 , the estimated average annual increase in uk productivity since the financial crisis. Another noteable number 27 . Thats the percentage of young adults in the uk, aged 20 to sa, who are now estimated to live with their parents. Im joined now by professorjennifer rogers, Vice President for external affairs, at the Royal Statistical Society. Shes also head of Statistical Research at phastar, which is a Global Contract Research 0rganisation. Thank you for coming in. Lets start with the Amazon Deforestation number because that has hit the headlines in recent months. But it has been going on for years. What struck us about this is the number is so huge. 8. 4 million football pitches we have lost due to deforestation. We felt this statistic was a really powerful visualisation of a really serious issue. The amazon rainforest is the lungs of the world and it takes Carbon Dioxide and air pollution out of the atmosphere and we are losing so much of it at such an alarming rate. How was the winning statistic chosen . We receive loads of nominations and we sat down as a judging panel and we try to think about the key issues facing the uk and the globe over the last ten yea rs. We and the globe over the last ten years. We try to pick out statistics that capture that spirit and also statistics that shocked. The uk figure that you picked out was productivity, which might seem a bit dry to some. It might seem a bit of a dull statistic, but Thejudging Panel felt it was the most important uk statistic over the last decade. Productivity before the financial crisis was around 2 and the more productive we are, the more prosperous we are. If we can increase productivity, pay will increase productivity, pay will increase and the government will have more money to spend on Public Services such as the nhs. You were highlighting that to show there is a little bit of growth but more needs to be done . We were highlighting this, but it has pretty much halted, the growth has not been much over the growth has not been much over the last ten years and may be more needs to be done to try and improve that. It is all about skills and training in part. Another interesting when we picked out that nearly a third of young adults, who you define as aged 20 to 34, are living at home with mum and dad. We felt this captured Housing Affordability and it was one that shocked me. Iam affordability and it was one that shocked me. I am 34 and to think that over one in four of young adults, including my age category, i still living at home with mum and dad. We have heard this boomerang generation being coin where young individuals are going to university or college and then they move back to their parents because housing rents a re to their parents because housing rents are too high. 0r to their parents because housing rents are too high. Or they cannot afford a deposit. Women hold more than 10 of places on boards. Afford a deposit. Women hold more than 10 of places on boardsm afford a deposit. Women hold more than 1096 of places on boards. It has gone up over the last decade. We had a lot of nominations that showed work still needed to be done, like the gender pay gap. There are very few Women Holding executive board positions. In the last decade gender and equality has been a hugely debated topic and that showed progress had been done. We cannot change this overnight, but hopefully we are going in the right direction and on the right trajectory. There is more on the website. There is. There is. The former labour leader ed miliband is to take part in a review examining the partys heavy defeat in the general election. The activist group Labour Together is setting up a commission tasked with mapping out a route back to power. The review will be led by the former shadow education secretary lucy powell. Heavy fog and icy roads led to a 69 car pile up in virginia in the east of the united states. The crash, about 50 miles east of richmond, closed both sides of the motorway. 51 people were taken to hospital for treatment but no one has been killed. In some spots, vehicles were so squeezed together that firefighters and Emergency Responders had to step from car to car to pull people out. Now its time for a look at the weather with simon king. Good morning. It is christmas week and there is more rain in the forecast. For many of us through the first couple of days it will be largely dry and there will be sunshine today for most of us. A few showers in scotland today, Northern Ireland and england and wales, but for most of us it will be dry with sunshine. Maximum temperatures up to 611. Sunshine. Maximum temperatures up to 6 11. Tonight we will see a bit more cloud moving in from the south west and that will bring in some outbreaks of rain as we go into christmas eve. Still a few showers across scotland tonight. In southern areas temperatures up to about 810d. Areas temperatures up to about 8 10d. Further north they could be a touch of frost. The rain will gradually clear. As for christmas day, plenty of dry and sunny weather. Goodbye. Hello, this is bbc news the headlines. Calls for a government inquiry into racism in football, after a premier league match is stopped for the first time because of allegations of abuse from the stands. As australias bushfire crisis continues the countrys Prime Minister defends the coal industry and defies calls for new carbon targets. There is no argument about the links between, in my view and the governments view, and any governments view, and any government in this country, about the links between broader issues of global Climate Change and weather events around the world. A comeback for Islamic State in iraq. A kurdish intelligence chief tells the bbc the jihadist groups reorganising and getting stronger. Dozens of former thomas cook employees say theyre struggling to access benefits and pay bills three months after the travel chain collapsed. Also this hour catch up on all the latest gadgets, games and computer Industry News with click. Sport and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre heres jane dougall. Good morning. As youve been hearing, the pfa have called for a government investigation into racism in football after the Chelsea Player Antonio Rudiger was allegedly abused by fans at tottenhams stadium. The first step of fifas protocol was invoked with a stadium announcement asking fans to cease racist behaviour. The sports minister nigel adams has said hell speak to tottenhams directors today. Rudigers manager, Frank Lampard says hell support his defender as much as he needs. All i know is that toni rudiger has said that he heard some racist chanting, or comments. I havent had an individual conversation with toni, ive only addressed the group and a couple of lads who are in doping. Of course, ill support toni, as we would support any of our players, in fact any opposition players, whenever this happens, whatever stadium this happens at, it needs to be dealt with. As i dont know any more than that, well wait for the process to happen. Match of the day pundit and former tottenham player danny murphy said he wanted to see stronger action from the footballing bodies in this country. Its ignorant, disgusting behaviour from a minority and im sad and we are sat here talking about it again. The psa are billing statements, theyve had plenty of time to do more with the funds theyve had available to help with this within football, and some of the organisation is trying to do their best and working on a shoestring. It is disgusting and something needs to happen quickly because this is becoming too regular. Manchester uniteds six game unbeaten run in the premier league is over after a moment to forget for their goalkeeper david de gea. He gifted watford the lead after letting ismaila sarrs strike slip through his hands not something hell want to watch again. Then a penalty from troy deeney moments later secured watfords first home win of the season. They stay bottom six points from safety. They deserved it more than us. They took the chances. Fair play to them, good luck, and we didnt take our chances. We were too slow. Youve got to earn every little inch, every little point, in this league matter who you play against. Images of evertons final design for their new stadium at Bramley Moore dock on liverpools waterfront have been made available to fans. The club will submit a Detailed Planning application for the 52,000 capacity venue today, which will cost an estimated £500 million. Everton hope to move to the new stadium by 2023, and plan to redevelop their current goodison park home for the community. Liverpool have arrived back in england with another trophy to add to their cabinet. The clubs captainjordan henderson proudly held the Club World Cup a trophy they won after beating brazilian side flamengo in the final on saturday evening. Theyll now turn their focus back to the premier league when they travel to second placed leicester on boxing day. Michael van gerwen is a step closer to successfully defending his title at the world darts championship. Hes through to the fourth round after beating englands ricky evans 4 0 at alexandra palace. Van gerwen will face another englishman, stephen bunting, in the last 16. And finally, the weathers not been great here for sporting events, but spare a thought for the riders in the cyclo cross world cup in belgium. Its rained so much that the course isjust like a tough mudder the conditions caused chaos for the riders almost impossible to get up to any speed. Plenty of spills weve carefully picked out for you. But several did manage to complete the course the winners, triumphantly crossing the line covered in mud thats all the sport for now. Dozens of former thomas cook employees say theyre struggling to access benefits and pay their bills, three months after the travel chain collapsed. Some of those affected say theyve received just £50 in 12 weeks. The government has apologised, saying its dedicated staff have helped thousands of people. Simon browning reports. Disbelief. Pilots and cabin crew, their dreams over. The collapse of thomas cook has left a devastating legacy than three months on, many still cant comprehend. Being a stewardess for thomas cook defined me, and thats gone now. That feeling of loss, you know, wheres my career gone . I couldnt even get dressed. I couldnt face the world. Now, as christmas approaches, scores of former staff like betty and ian, whove waited months for benefits, say theyve been badly let down. You realise youre just a number. It doesnt matter what you have contributed or done. You are made to feel that it all doesnt matter, these are the rules, thats what they do and that is the end of it. Ex employees say they were given conflicting advice as to whether they were entitled to jobseekers allowance or universal credit. Mistakes led to their cases being closed and some have still not received £50 in 12 weeks. I had to wait five weeks for my first payment to come through, which was fine, but the day before the payment was due they closed my claim and basically told me because ive made too much money, but the money i had was my redundancy money from thomas cook but i havent claimed anything so im living off savings now. The job centre there. Ian, a pilot for four decades, admits hes had a better time at hisjob centre in chorley. We were looked after and given a lot of help, but speaking to my colleagues, i know some of them were treated pretty appallingly. Within the last week, i have speaking to dozens of former thomas cook employees from across the country. While some have managed to find work, others have had a much tougher time and they claim its because thejob centre has poorly advised them and many are not willing to speak on camera in case it damages their prospects even further. I spoke to my friends a few days ago and they havent got any otherjob yet because they cant face going to an interview, cant face going out of the house and theyre still really struggling. One of our friends, she ended up with her partner using her redundancy to live in a hotel, in a b8b, and she was declared homeless. The government has apologised if some people have experienced delays to claims. They told us their dedicated staff have helped thousands and they urge people to stay in contact with theirjob centres so they can urgently fix their claims. For almost two centuries, thomas cook brought holiday makers sunshine and fun but its demise continues to cast a shadow over its former staff. Simon browning, bbc news. In india Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has tried to calm anger over a controversial new citizenship law, saying Indian Muslims have nothing to fear from it. At least 20 people have been killed in days of protests over the law with the police accused of using excessive force. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini Vaidya Nathan reports. Days of deadly violence has indians continue to oppose a law they say is an assault on the rights of the country is 200 million muslims. Cu rfews were imposed country is 200 million muslims. Curfews were imposed on the internet was blocked in indias largest acla re largest state, was blocked in indias largest aclare largest state, uttar pradesh. Aclare largest state, uttar pradesh. A say they have been brutally silenced. As the death toll rises, reports that some victims were shot by police which authorities deny. At a rally today, the indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed support for the countrys police but failed to mention the civilian deaths. The hindu nationalist leader of the bjp blamed the opposition for the current unrest and defended his citizenship Amendment Act which offers only non muslim Illegal Immigrants from certain countries fast track nationality. Immigrants from certain countries fasttrack nationality. Muslims born on indian soil should not be concerned by the bill. The nrc, the National Register of citizens, would introduce citizenship checks for eve ryo ne introduce citizenship checks for everyone in the country. Something many protesters fear could target muslims. Today the Prime Minister said his government hadnt discussed this proposal since he came to power in 2014. But his close ally and it sure has repeatedly promised to introduce these checks. While the status of this is unclear, experts say the partys a wider agenda isnt. There is no question that the bjp government is moving india in the direction of becoming a hindu state. When you introduce a law that brings religion into determining who is an indian, all indians become vulnerable. Indians from all backgrounds are taking to the streets as the movement against the citizenship law and the Narendra Modi government grows stronger. The country is united like never before and we will continue to fight for as long as it takes stop leaf if they wa nt long as it takes stop leaf if they want us to go home and call of the protest, just step back and acknowledge your mistake. Protesters say they are fighting for the future of indias secular constitution. They believe the government is trying to divide this country and say that the show of unity is the only way to stop that happening. Rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. Remember Harry Billinge . Hes the d day veteran who inspired us all after raising tens of thousands of pounds for a memorial to his fallen comrades in normandy. Harrys made a quite an impact this year and his fellow Armed Service veterans wanted to throw him a party to say thank you. Tim muffett went along to join them. Music well meet again by vera lynn. Please welcome harry applause. Hello, sir. Nice to see you, old boy. Thank you for your service, sweetheart. Without people like harry, we wouldnt be here today. He is an absolute hero in my eyes. Music well meet again by vera lynn. Harry set out to raise just over £22,000 for a memorial in normandy. £1 for every soldier under british command killed there during the d day landings. Hes exceeded his target. When he appeared on breakfast, the impact was huge. Dont say im a hero, im no hero. I was lucky im here. All the heroes are dead, and ill never forget them as long as i live. Have you been surprised by how much money youve raised . I have. Ive been deeply moved to tears sometimes with people. If you look at this big screen over here, we can show you whats been done so far. You came into the studio, didnt you, and you saw the work that had already been done. What was that like . Oh my god, i choked for once in my life, i was speechless. Marvellous. Im very grateful to everybody thats been so kind in giving a donation, even to the kids. They saved their pocket money, believe it or not. So will you please say hello. Thank you for your service. If it wasnt for people like you, i wouldnt been able tojoin up myself. Sheila, whats it been like this year seeing harry become globally famous and raise lots of money . Very hectic. How proud have you felt seeing harry raise all that money . Tremendously proud of him. Its marvellous. He sat down monday and said, i know what im going to do collect the money for the boys. Weve been married 65, years believe it or not. Were one person. Shes lovely. I cant describe her any different from that. Wed like to give this to you and sheila just as a little token. Thats very kind of you, im overwhelmed. Thats very good of you. Christmas is a very important time for the armed forces a nd vetera ns brea kfast clu bs. There are now more than 300 of them. A lot of banter, friendships are formed. If theres anyone on their own, they know theres somewhere to come. In our eyes, its a brotherhood and harry is one of those brothers. We are brothers in arms. The new year, 2020, are you going to carry on fundraising . Ill keep going on until i drop, because if you stop, you rust. On behalf of the breakfast club, we thank you and we salute you. Thank you very much, most kind. 0verwhelmed. An extraordinary year for a remarkable man. Tim muffett, bbc news. Now on bbc news, its time to catch up with all the latest in tech, in click. 0h christmas tree, oh christmas tree. Your leaves are so unchanging. 0h christmas tree, oh christmas tree. Your leaves are so unchanging. Youve finally arrived, welcome