21/03/2016 BBC News at Ten

The row over welfare cuts ? now, the Government says it has no plans

to make new cuts to welfare benefits AT ALL.

The Prime Minister moves to defuse the row over disability payments

We will continue with this approach because we are a modern,

compassionate, one-nation Conservative government.

We report from the most deprived town in Britain on how welfare

And we'll be looking at exactly what the Government means

by its sudden pledge of no new cuts to welfare benefits.

20 years for the teenage killer who ran down

PC Dave Phillips in a stolen car last October.

Scotland Yard closes down its controversial investigation

into historical allegations of a paedophile ring

The man who rescued a baby from a sinking car in which five

people drowned says its father sacrificed himself to save it.

And America's man in Havana - Barack Obama meets Cuba's leader

in the first visit by a US president since the Cuban revolution.

Coming up in Sportsday, England's women look for a second

win in the World Twenty20 tournament.

In an attempt to defuse the row over welfare spending, the Government has

announced it has no plans to make any new cuts to welfare

That is on top of ditching the ?4 billion of cuts to benefits

The Government has been under fire from its own backbenchers

and charities since the Work and Pensions Secretary,

Iain Duncan Smith, resigned over a planned reduction in some payments

Here is our political editor, Laura Kuenssberg.

Cleaning up the mess sounds simple, but this is more

In the last 48 hours, Numbers 10 and 11 have been accused

of putting the rich before the poor.

Letting down the most vulnerable for votes.

Brutal arguments over welfare spilled out into public and lead

Iain Duncan Smith to quit. David Cameron has never been

under pressure like this. But the new man he has put in charge

of welfare confirmed the changes to some disability benefits, which

caused so much trouble, have been ditched. We will not be going ahead

with the changes which had been put forward. I am absolutely clear, Mr

Speaker, that a compassionate and fair welfare system should not just

be about numbers. Behind every statistic, there is a

human being. And perhaps sometimes in government we forget that. But

there was more. Stephen Crabb suggested the welfare budget will

not be revisited. After discussions over the weekend with my right

honourable friends the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, we have

no further plans to make welfare savings beyond the substantial plans

legislated for by Parliament two weeks ago. In other words, no

further plans for benefit cuts. There was no sign of Iain Duncan

Smith to hear the announcement he might have longed to make. Despite

their bust up, David Cameron praised him. My right honourable friend

contributed an enormous amount to this government and he can be proud

of what he G8. But he rejected Iain Duncan Smith's most stinging attack,

that the Government is running out of compassion. We will go on without

plans to rebuild sink estates, to help those

with mental health conditions, to extend the family programme, to

reform the prisons and to tackle discrimination for those whose life

chances suffer because the colour of their skin. None

of this would be possible if it was not for the actions of this

government and the work of my right honourable friend the Chancellor in

turning our economy around. with a flourish, and a familiar

promise. We are a modern, compassionate, one-nation

Conservative government. thing a mess. The budget has a big

hole in it. It is up to the Prime Minister to persuade

his great friend the Chancellor either to come here to explain how

he is going to fill that hole, or perhaps he should

consider his position. A handful of Conservative backbenchers

were willing to keep the pressure up, praising

the departing cabinet minister. May I warmly welcome my right

honourable generous comments about my right

honourable friend the member for Chingford, who is so widely

respected on these benches. The British people

will not take kindly the idea that we must cut

benefits to vulnerable people in order to

revolt against the Prime Minister, but do not

that for overwhelming support. The spring budget leaves the

And the U-turn leaves them with a ?4 billion hole in the plans.

set of numbers which is meant to shape how government

spends and saves. But as David Cameron has failed to his cost, not

is in his control. Fiona, after this huge

spending, it sounds like there was a big political promise from the

Government today, this promise of no promise but with two practical

caveats. One, the commitment was to no new

planned cuts. That is not exactly the same as

ruling them out for ever. And of course, as many people around

the country been very significant cuts. So it is

not as if this is not something the Government has already done. But on

all of this, all roads lead back to George Osborne.

Tomorrow it is his turn in the House of Commons

after a couple of days of private and public

questioning of his ability and judgment by his colleagues and by

the opposition. Tomorrow, in the House of Commons,

he will have to front it up. One of the key criticisms

of George Osborne's budget Two big issues rolled up

to George Osborne's front door today - the major allegation

from Iain Duncan Smith that his Budget of last

week simply wasn't fair. And that the delay to disability

payment savings could leave a large black hole in the Chancellor's

Budget calculations. Let's consider that

fairness issue first. If we look at how people

are affected by the tax changes last week, this graph shows

the difference between the richest The poorest 10% are no better off,

according to the Institute They will see their household income

increase by around ?268 a year. And don't forget pensioner incomes

are also protected. Critics may say that is unfair,

but the change should be seen in the context

of the broader economy. This budget did very little for the

distribution of income. It gave away a little bit of money to income tax

payers, essentially. Over the longer period, we have seen significant

takeaways from people of working age on benefits, as promised by the

Conservative manifesto, and very significant take aways from the

people right at the top of the income distribution. People in the

middle, remarkably unaffected. The Treasury looks at the issue

of fairness differently. In 2010, the richest fifth

of all households paid Whereas the poorest fifth paid

around 6% of all taxes. By 2020, the proportion of tax paid

by the richest fifth will have It has stayed the same -

at around 6%. The Treasury says that shows

the cuts have been handled fairly. Finally, let's look at that issue

of the dreaded "fiscal black hole" Abandoning the personal independence

payment reforms for disabled people could cost the Government around

?1.3 billion by 2020. But consider - by then,

the Government will be spending ?810 billion a year

on public services. So ?1.3 billion is

relatively small change. It could easily be paid

for by better economic growth And we won't know about that

until the Autumn Statement towards the end of this year,

when my Treasury sources tell me any new areas for cuts -

if needed - will be made clear. So as we've heard,

the Government announced today there would be no further

planned cuts to welfare. Our home editor, Mark Easton,

has been to Oldham, the most deprived town in England,

to find out how the welfare system is working there and

what the challenges are. test-bed for the government 's's

welfare reform programme. Some 3000 people in this highly

deprived town have been moved onto Universal Credit, Iain Duncan

Smith's single benefit replacement which rolls the others into one. For

Iain Duncan Smith, welfare reform was not just about solving

mileage of you saw it as a tool for changing behaviour, far from

increasing hardship, reducing poverty, he was sure,

encouraging people off benefits and into work. So what has happened here

in Oldham? If the aim was to get people jobs, then the Government can

claim success. Before the introduction of Universal Credit,

unemployment in the town was 8300. Now, it is almost half that. But low

wages and in-work benefit cuts mean a job is no longer a

direct route out of poverty. At the local

Jobcentre they are proud to have piloted reforms they believe can be

tailored to individual circumstances. For people who might

have been out of work for a long time, maybe on

sickness benefit, maybe raising children, they might not be ready to

step big bang into the world of full-time employment. We now have

the opportunity to support them with some small

steps, moving into any job, then a better job and finally, a

career. Designing a system sensitive enough for vulnerable individuals to

navigate the changes is the great challenge of

welfare reform. Anne-Marie and Ryan are both

disabled. He has kidney problems and receives employment support

alliance. She has a twisted spine and is on Universal Credit.

Universal Credit is supposed to be everything rolled into one to make

your life easier - it doesn't. Have you experienced real hardship as a

result of this? Because of the automatic

payment system, it has left us without food and things.

We have had to resort to the food bank couple of times. This is where

they came, one of the busiest food banks in England. Many of those

stories of a welfare system they say has left them without enough money

to live on. For a lot of them, it is actually a good system. But for the

ones it goes wrong for, it is very difficult to sort out. What would

you say to the new Secretary of State who is in charge of the

welfare system now? Just sort it out, because it is a

good idea to have the benefits all rolled into one.

It should make it easier for a lot of people. So, if they try and sort

that out, it would make it easier for

everybody else. Welfare reform is not easy at the best of times, but

the benefits budget must lose billions. No further planned cuts,

maybe, but the immediate challenge for the new Welfare Secretary is

continuing his predecessor's radical change programme without damaging

the life chances of the most private.

A teenager who killed a police officer in Merseyside

after knocking him down in a stolen car has been sentenced to 20 years .

Clayton Williams, who is 19, was found guilty of manslaughter

after his car hit PC Dave Phillips in Wallasey last October.

The police officer's widow told his killer he had

The final moments of PC Dave Phillips's life. A chaotic chase,

recorded on a police camera. Through red lights, the stolen red truck

reaches, and. And then voice of PC Dave Phillips... You can see the

officer crouching down with a stinger. Seconds later, the truck

veers right, then left. Dave Phillips, the court heard, had no

chance to survive. He was 34 years old, married with

two children. Sat next to him, held his hand, quietly asking him to

fight. Saying, go on, Dave, do this for me, don't leave me. Today, his

widow and sister wanted everyone to know just what has been lost.

He is not just a man in a uniform. He is a father, a brother, a

husband, a son, just doing a job, as simple as that. My daddy does the

best kisses and cuddles. Abigail has her moments. She is scared of

monsters. She puts her worries in her teddy. Most of her worries is

that she is going to lose me. It was Clayton Williams who so cruelly took

Dave Phillips's life. A cannabis addict with 33 previous convictions,

he had only been out of jail for three weeks. Clayton Williams said

it was pitch black, he said he never saw PC Phillips until the final

moment. But by then, it was too late. After his arrest, while a

family grieved, he grinned. Today, he cried in court. The judge said

his remorse was false. He had the opportunity to stand up on the dock

and address us and tell us how sorry he is. The only times he cried in

the trial was when he wanted a cuddle.

What about Abigail and Sophie? Who do they get to

For PC Phillips's funeral, thousands came. A parade of black, support

which means as much today as it did then. We are in hell at the moment.

But having the amount of support and the cards and gifts, it is just

overwhelming and it is lovely. For taking a life, Clayton Williams

was given 20 years detention. In court, Clayton Williams's wife said

she had never hated anyone - until now.

Scotland Yard says it has closed a controversial inquiry

into historical claims about a Westminster paedophile ring.

The investigation, costing nearly ?2 million, examined allegations

boys were abused by a group of powerful men from politics,

the military and law enforcement agencies.

But this afternoon the Metropolitan Police said it doesn't have enough

Here's our home affairs correspondent, Tom Symonds.

Last year, when Harvey Proctor was named as an abuser and murderer

I am completely innocent of all these allegations.

His accuser, Nick, in his 40s, told police three boys were murdered

and others abused at locations including the Dolphin Square

apartments, the Carlton Club and even this abandoned village used

Nick named the former Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath,

the former Home Secretary, Lord Brittain and Labour peer,

This was the reaction from Scotland Yard detectives.

They and I believe what Nick is saying to be credible

There was insufficient evidence to allow prosecutors even

The Met can't apologise for investigating serious

It is right that we do that, it is right that we follow

the evidence, without fear or favour, and reach a conclusion

I do regret if anyone has been distressed by this investigation,

that it was right that the investigation took place.

Harvey Proctor today called for the resignations

of the Met Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe,

and other senior officers, for a public inquiry and for Nick

The only other person Nick accused, who is still alive,

was Field Marshal Lord Bramall, one of Britain's

Today, he told the BBC the police inquiry should have focussed not

I have never complained about being investigated.

It was only the heavy-handed and the very unintelligent way

I mean, they could have said, look...

If they had taken any trouble to put their effort

on to questioning the so-called victim, I think they would have

What is necessary is to look at the way that the police carried

out this inquiry and to see that they don't go about these sort

Today, the police insisted they had found no evidence Nick misled them.

But there are things he's not been able to explain.

How could such prominent men, their lives carefully controlled,

How could a boy suffer so badly with no-one,

not least his mother, raising the alarm?

And if it went on for so long, involved so many, then

There is one outstanding line of enquiry.

One of the boys Nick said was murdered resembled Martin Allen,

missing since 1979, and so now a new inquiry will begin.

Its task, to explain Martin's unsolved disappearance.

A four-month-old baby is the only survivor of a tragic accident

in which a car slid into the sea at County Donegal in Ireland.

Five people - including three other children -

died in front of horrified onlookers.

The man who managed to save the baby from the sinking car said

the infant's father chose to stay with his other children rather

Here's our Ireland correspondent, Chris Buckler.

At the edge of the ocean, families have been remembering

and mourning those who died in the water here.

Among those who came to Buncrana today were relatives of the five

people who died when their car slipped into the sea.

A four-month-old baby was the only survivor,

passed out of a car window by her father, to a man who jumped

He just said, "Save my baby" and then I just took the baby,

I held it above my head and I swam back to shore.

The father looked at me, and he had to make a decision.

He could have saved himself because he was out of the car

but he went back to his family and I couldn't do nothing else,

the car went down instantly and the whole lot of them went down

and then it was so fast and I took the baby infant back to shore.

They were trying to turn their car here on the slipway just

beside the pier, but they went too far down and because of all

the algae that is here at the bottom of the slipway,

A helicopter was deployed, coastguard boats arrived,

Ruth Daniels died along with her teenage daughter Jodie Lee.

They were on a family day out with her other daughter's husband,

He and his sons, 12-year-old Mark and 8-year-old Evan, also drowned.

He lived for them two kids, you know, lived for his wife,

Parents have been bringing their children to the pier today

Their thoughts with another family, who say they have

Chris Buckler, BBC News, Buncrana.

President Barack Obama has held talks with his Cuban counterpart,

Raul Castrol, on the second day of his visit to the

Mr Obama is the first US President to set foot on the island

since the Cuban Revolution in 1959, which began decades of hostility.

Our North America editor, Jon Sopel, is in Cuba.

An historic meeting between the two men. But there were big differences

between them? Yes, there are some real difficult issues, on both

sides. There is also undeniable, a change in that relationship that is

pretty profound, as you indicated. It's also been a day of

extraordinary firsts. It is the first time that President Raul

Castro has answered unscripted questions at a news conference.

Tomorrow, Obama will deliver his keynote speech which is being

broadcast live on Cuban television. No wonder Barack Obama described it

as a new day. Somewhere under this canopy

of umbrellas is the President of the United States, the First Lady

and their two daughters. This was meant to be

a walkabout to meet the people, A glimpse of them was caught

as they entered Then he spoke to

an American network. Obviously, our intention has always

been to get a ball rolling, knowing that change wasn't

going to happen overnight. But what we have already seen

is the re-opening of the Embassy and although we still have

significant differences around human rights and individual

liberties inside of Cuba, we felt that coming now

would maximise our ability But it's going to be

anything but plain sailing. It may only be 90 miles

from here to the US coast, but there is still a gulf

on a range of issues. Not that they were on show

as the two Presidents stood to attention, while a Cuban military

band played the US National Anthem But thorny issues remain,

on human rights and The Cubans demanding the trade

embargo be lifted in full. At their news conference,

there was no glossing TRANSLATION: There are profound

differences between our countries But I believe it will end

and the path that we are on will Large crowds have gathered

here in Old Havana to see the presidential motorcade go past

after his joint news It was an historic occasion,

where not only did they show the progress that's been made,

they also showed the profound differences that still remain

between Cuba and the United States. But this trip is also

about President Obama's legacy. With the Middle East in turmoil,

the normalisation of relations with Cuba, he will claim

as a foreign policy success. And that is why these images

will be for the scrapbook. A brief look at some

of the day's other news stories: New footage has emerged

of the moment a key suspect in last year's Paris terrorist attacks,

Salah Abdeslam, was captured and shot during an attempted escape

from a Brussels apartment The 26-year-old was hit in the leg

and is now being The ringleader of the ?14 million

Hatton Garden heist in London has Briar Reader, who is 77

and from Dartford in Kent, was the oldest member of the gang

who stole jewellery after drilling into the safety deposit

box last Easter. Male tennis players should earn more

money than their female counterparts, so says the world

number one Novak Djokovic. His comments followed claims

by a tournament organiser that the women's game rides

"on the coat-tails of the men". Here's our sports

correspondent, Andy Swiss. When Novak Djokovic

and Serena Williams won Wimbledon last year, they both took home

a cool ?1.9 million. But suddenly that equality

is being questioned. As Williams lost to Victoria

Azarenka at the weekend, the tournament's organiser described

the women's game in less They ride on the coat-tails

of the men, they don't make any decision and they are lucky,

they are very, very lucky. If I was a lady player,

I would go down every night on my knees and thank God that

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were born because they have

carried the sport. From that spark, the

controversy ignited. Novak Djokovic said

women players had fought Our men's tennis world should fight

for more because the stats are showing that we have much more

spectators on the men's Men's tennis does generally

attract more TV viewers. In Britain last year,

9.2 million watched the men's final at Wimbledon, compared to 4.3

million for the women's final. But the WTA says women's tennis

attracts 395 million viewers It's produced some of the biggest

stars in women's sport. And the biggest of all has hit back

at Raymond Moore's comments. I think those remarks are very much

mistaken and very, And experts believe that

financially, the women's game has There's been more investment

into women's sport, more interest in women's sport in the last year,

two years, than there ever has been. But for now, this traditionally

gentile sport is looking The question of equality

is proving one of controversy. 100 years ago this month military

conscription became all-but The First World War was going badly

- and it hadn't even Our special correspondent,

Allan Little, has this report on the fate of the

conscientious objectors. At the height of the conflict

opposing war was Here a group of pacifists

are meeting in a London church. But the prevailing public sentiment

is patriotic and they are set The Military Service Act brought

conscription to the country British society

mobilised for total war. And it created a new and

defiant category of man, 16,000 were to claim exemption

from war service on moral, In the Imperial War Museum

in London, there's a rare glimpse of the popular opprobrium

that those men faced. The white feather carried

the stigma of cowardice. The animosity, the sheer contempt

that was directed at conscientious objectors conveys itself

right down the decades. There is one letter here

that was written to a Mr EA Brookes. It says, "Seeing that you cannot be

a man not to join the Army, we offer you an invitation

to join our Girls' Scouts as washer-up," and it's signed

the Scout Mistress There could be moral convictions,

political convictions, particularly those from

an association with the independent Labour Party, or

left-wing politically. Also religious convictions as well,

particularly those from various Christian denominations,

Quakers, for example, who felt a natural

aversion to taking life. One of those Quakers

was Howard Martin, a 29-year-old He was refused exemption and was one

of dozens of men taken to France That was later commuted

to ten years hard labour. NEWSREEL: All the time

we were being threatened - I think you found that -

by various officials and officers that if you persist in this

attitude, you are going to be shot. We were much more concerned

that it was an attitude that we must take, that consequences

didn't enter into it. It was a line that we felt

was prescribed for us by our innermost conviction

and we got to keep... Friends House in Central London

is the home of British Quakerism. Its archive has an unpublished

memoir that Howard wrote in 1918. I think he was a very

courageous man. Also, probably quite

an obstinate man as well. You have to be, I think, to hold,

to be tenacious and hold to your belief through all that

physical and psychological abuse. The conscientious objectors

were a tiny minority of the millions One of their number wrote

at the time, "Never mind if you look like a fool,

those living in 2016 will be the best judges of whether you did

right or wrong at this time." Newsnight's about to begin over

on BBC2 in a few moments. Here on BBC1 it's time

for the news where you are.