06/09/2016 BBC News at Ten


06/09/2016

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a special report on the surge in gun violence

:00:00.:00:09.

In Chicago gun attacks have increased by nearly 50%

:00:10.:00:15.

in the past year - most of the incidents

:00:16.:00:17.

You can't make no mistakes. It can cost you your life, literally.

:00:18.:00:31.

The city's death toll from gun violence

:00:32.:00:33.

by the end of August, at more than 500,

:00:34.:00:35.

In reality most gun crime in America actually doesn't happen in the

:00:36.:00:43.

massacres that garner large scale media attention but take place in

:00:44.:00:46.

isolated spots like this, in inner-city America.

:00:47.:00:49.

We'll be asking if this surge in gun violence

:00:50.:00:51.

in President Obama's political home city

:00:52.:00:52.

The Labour MP Keith Vaz has resigned as chair of the Home

:00:53.:00:58.

Affairs Select Ccommittee, after claims that he

:00:59.:01:00.

The radical Muslim preacher, Anjem Choudary, has been jailed

:01:01.:01:07.

for five-and-a-half years for encouraging people to support

:01:08.:01:10.

In the Syrian city of Aleppo reports that government forces

:01:11.:01:22.

have used chlorine to attack rebel-held districts.

:01:23.:01:24.

And on the eve of the opening ceremony in Rio,

:01:25.:01:26.

we take a look at British hopes in the Paralympic Games.

:01:27.:01:32.

And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News. Manchester United's 18

:01:33.:01:39.

-year-old striker, Marcus Rashford hits a hat-trick for England's

:01:40.:01:41.

under-21s, just days after being overlooked for the senior side.

:01:42.:02:02.

We start tonight with evidence of a startling rise

:02:03.:02:07.

in levels of gun violence in parts of the United States,

:02:08.:02:09.

including President Obama's political home, the city

:02:10.:02:11.

known as Labor Day weekend, saw 65 shootings

:02:12.:02:19.

and 13 deaths, which means that Chicago's death toll from gun

:02:20.:02:21.

violence, by the end of August, at over 500 was more

:02:22.:02:24.

are young black men from some of the city's

:02:25.:02:29.

Our international correspondent, Ian Pannell, and cameraman

:02:30.:02:33.

Darren Conway, spent a week in Chicago and sent

:02:34.:02:36.

Bring me a wagon with a bodybag, also.

:02:37.:02:53.

Welcome to the Chicago they don't want you to see.

:02:54.:03:00.

In a city where some live in peace and prosperity, others

:03:01.:03:04.

# It was crazy growing up where I was raised.

:03:05.:03:11.

Duop is a rapper, a promoter and a gang member.

:03:12.:03:20.

He's also a father, and an Iraq war veteran.

:03:21.:03:24.

When I'm passing through certain neighbourhoods, if there's already

:03:25.:03:28.

a heightened alert of violence in that neighbourhood,

:03:29.:03:32.

you have got to hurry up and get from point A to point B.

:03:33.:03:36.

You can't just be cruising through no neighbourhood

:03:37.:03:39.

You know what I'm saying, nine times out of ten,

:03:40.:03:43.

they probably don't recognise the car you are in at a time

:03:44.:03:46.

and they could mistake you as a shooter from one

:03:47.:03:49.

of their rival gangs and they open fire on you.

:03:50.:03:51.

It would cost you your life, literally.

:03:52.:03:57.

Many in the gang are still at high school.

:03:58.:03:59.

Strict gun laws have made no difference here.

:04:00.:04:14.

The last day without a shooting or murder was February 2015.

:04:15.:04:20.

The sad fact is that for some, a life of drugs

:04:21.:04:26.

and violence has now become a way to get ahead.

:04:27.:04:30.

The real tragedy about Chicago is just how common

:04:31.:04:32.

In reality, most gun crime in America actually doesn't really

:04:33.:04:38.

happen in the massacres that garner large scale media attention.

:04:39.:04:40.

But they take place in isolated spots like this, in inner-city

:04:41.:04:43.

And more often than not, the victims are young,

:04:44.:04:49.

black and their cases are largely ignored.

:04:50.:04:52.

The violence swirls around west and southside Chicago.

:04:53.:04:55.

A few weeks ago, a six-year-old was wounded in a drive-by shooting.

:04:56.:05:05.

Some say they are forced into a life of violence.

:05:06.:05:07.

But even those who don't walk that path, like Ticara,

:05:08.:05:10.

How common is it that there is shooting around here?

:05:11.:05:13.

I tell you the truth, I'm really scared for my kids.

:05:14.:05:22.

Childhood ends early on the South Side.

:05:23.:05:25.

A party on Duop's block commemorates his best friend

:05:26.:05:27.

The residents meet to remember and also to forget.

:05:28.:05:35.

The Police Authority don't like exactly what we do

:05:36.:05:37.

We actually don't like the way that we live.

:05:38.:05:41.

But when you are pushed into a way of life, when you are forced

:05:42.:05:46.

into a way of life, how else can you live?

:05:47.:05:58.

Even though we know the hood, how sad looking in, looking

:05:59.:06:01.

like we glorify the hood, we want to be out of the hood.

:06:02.:06:04.

That's why we work so hard at showing our potential

:06:05.:06:06.

because we want to leave this place, man, for good.

:06:07.:06:08.

A place to record a music video and a place where drug addicts go

:06:09.:06:13.

In my neighbourhood they start young, man.

:06:14.:06:20.

When you read the news headlines that's the age frame

:06:21.:06:24.

they are all dying from, from gun violence.

:06:25.:06:27.

We have got to teach the kids how to defend themselves.

:06:28.:06:30.

It is senseless violence at the end of the day.

:06:31.:06:33.

But what do you do when you are caught in that moment?

:06:34.:06:36.

You rather be caught with protection, than without protection.

:06:37.:06:39.

We had a lot of guns but I have never seen so many

:06:40.:06:44.

Bodiel is a rapper from the West Side.

:06:45.:06:50.

Now the most violent part of Chicago.

:06:51.:06:54.

He's a member of the Vice Lords Gang.

:06:55.:06:57.

He's been in prison and even he is shocked by what is happening.

:06:58.:07:04.

Like somebody dropped off crates of guns in everybody's hood.

:07:05.:07:08.

It is like they were designed for the hood.

:07:09.:07:12.

But I think like a lot of guys need to die

:07:13.:07:15.

need to get killed to get them out of the way

:07:16.:07:20.

We have been stood here for like five minutes,

:07:21.:07:30.

I have seen two police cars, one ambulance go by.

:07:31.:07:32.

I mean it ain't safe over here at all.

:07:33.:07:35.

Suddenly we were told to leave the area as Bodiel

:07:36.:07:37.

Hey, what just happened, why did we have to leave so quickly?

:07:38.:08:01.

More people have been killed here since 2001

:08:02.:08:04.

than US deaths in Iraq, and Afghanistan combined.

:08:05.:08:10.

I do, to be honest, I have a son at seven and I've got

:08:11.:08:20.

I haven't taught neither one of them how to ride a bike yet.

:08:21.:08:24.

The environment they live in is not safe.

:08:25.:08:26.

I'm just trying to change the cycle and it is hard,

:08:27.:08:39.

when you don't really have help, you know what I'm saying.

:08:40.:08:43.

It's like we are put in a weird position.

:08:44.:08:45.

You know what I'm saying, because...

:08:46.:08:52.

That's why we do so many drugs because we are just

:08:53.:09:10.

We are human, we are just human, man.

:09:11.:09:26.

With so many guns and so little control, the murders will rise.

:09:27.:09:29.

The special report from Chicago by Ian Pannell. He joins us now from

:09:30.:09:46.

the city. Roughly two months until election day S there any sense of

:09:47.:09:51.

this issue of gun violence have any impact on this presidential

:09:52.:09:54.

campaign? - is there any sense? I don't think #i6 seen so many guns

:09:55.:09:58.

outside of what we would normally call a war zone. I don't know what

:09:59.:10:03.

to be more surprised of, the level of guns on the streets, the fact

:10:04.:10:09.

that a grandmother and mother were killed yesterday and barely an

:10:10.:10:13.

eyebrow was raised or that it hasn't been raised as an issue. It has been

:10:14.:10:19.

used, and the Republicans try to use it as a stick to beat the Democrats,

:10:20.:10:22.

in particular because this is President Obama's home town. Their

:10:23.:10:27.

argument is foremore tighter control over law and order in America and

:10:28.:10:30.

that gun legislation doesn't work. Overall, don't expect this to be a

:10:31.:10:34.

major political issue but do expect the level of crime and murderer in

:10:35.:10:38.

Chicago to go on, to continue to rise. Many thanks again, Ian.

:10:39.:10:43.

The senior Labour MP, Keith Vaz, one of Westminster's most

:10:44.:10:46.

high-profile politicians, has resigned as chair of the Home

:10:47.:10:48.

Affairs Select Committee, following claims that he paid

:10:49.:10:50.

for the services of two male sex workers.

:10:51.:10:53.

Mr Vaz has yet to comment in detail on the allegations

:10:54.:10:56.

but he said the work of the committee needed to be

:10:57.:10:59.

conducted without distractions and that those who held

:11:00.:11:01.

others to account, should themselves be accountable.

:11:02.:11:04.

Our deputy political editor, John Pienaar, has the story.

:11:05.:11:09.

Out of luck, out of friends and now out of one of the most prestigious

:11:10.:11:13.

jobs an MP can do outside Government.

:11:14.:11:16.

Keith Vaz, who spent years putting pressure on the powerful,

:11:17.:11:18.

left home today to give into the pressure on him,

:11:19.:11:22.

to quit over tabloid allegation abouts his sex life.

:11:23.:11:26.

The news he'd resigned was as big as the story that brought him

:11:27.:11:29.

An MP responsible for monitoring policy on prostitution,

:11:30.:11:33.

reportedly caught out using male prostitutes.

:11:34.:11:36.

No laws broken, except the unwritten ones about reputation and authority.

:11:37.:11:38.

His committee announced the penalty that he'd accepted.

:11:39.:12:12.

The committee listened, I think in sadness, to what Keith

:12:13.:12:18.

had to say and with a good deal of respect.

:12:19.:12:22.

Keith has clearly acted in the best interests

:12:23.:12:28.

of the Home Affairs Select Committee and the important work

:12:29.:12:43.

that we do and, with sadness, we all accepted that

:12:44.:12:46.

that was the appropriate course of action that he has taken

:12:47.:12:48.

and we also appreciate the many challenges facing him

:12:49.:12:51.

And there was this tribute to Mr Vaz's work.

:12:52.:12:54.

I think he has a reputation for getting the best out

:12:55.:12:56.

of witnesses, or being a robust Chair but also being

:12:57.:12:59.

Keith Vaz's cutting style in the Home Affairs committee Chair

:13:00.:13:06.

It is your judgment we are questioning.

:13:07.:13:10.

Can I say on behalf of this committee, we have found your

:13:11.:13:12.

Can I just finish my question before - I know you are eager to give

:13:13.:13:19.

evidence, but you need to just calm down.

:13:20.:13:21.

This was the story that brought Keith Vaz down,

:13:22.:13:23.

Labour's leader was keen to draw a line under it all.

:13:24.:13:28.

There has to be confidence in a democratic process

:13:29.:13:30.

and therefore confidence in politicians in what they do.

:13:31.:13:33.

Keith has made that decision to resign.

:13:34.:13:40.

I think we should respect that decision, thank him

:13:41.:13:42.

for his work in Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee

:13:43.:13:44.

Keith Vaz was elected in 1987, one of a handful of ethnic minority

:13:45.:13:49.

MPs and rose to become Europe Minister under Tony Blair

:13:50.:13:51.

but there was controversy, about the way he'd lobbied to get

:13:52.:13:54.

British passports for the billionaire Hinduja

:13:55.:13:55.

His financial dealings had been questioned.

:13:56.:13:59.

Once he was suspended for making exaggerated accusations.

:14:00.:14:01.

Finally, he took a risk in his private life and lost badly.

:14:02.:14:04.

committee's work and the safety net of colleague support

:14:05.:14:11.

People may be more forgiving about private morality than in past

:14:12.:14:16.

years but MPs are still bound by codes of conducts,

:14:17.:14:19.

harder to define, but no more forgiving than the laws they pass.

:14:20.:14:28.

Tonight Keith Vaz was in the Commons' Chamber, reduced, living

:14:29.:14:30.

testimony to the fragility of a political career.

:14:31.:14:32.

At Westminster the sympathies mostly for his family.

:14:33.:14:34.

Suddenly Keith Vaz seems a lonely figure.

:14:35.:14:36.

John Pienaar, BBC News, Westminister.

:14:37.:14:41.

The radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has been sentenced

:14:42.:14:44.

to five and a half years in prison for inviting support

:14:45.:14:46.

Police said Choudhary, who's 49, had stayed just

:14:47.:14:50.

within the law for years but was arrested in 2014

:14:51.:14:53.

The judge at the Old Bailey described him as a calculating

:14:54.:14:59.

and dangerous man, who'd shown no remorse, as our home affairs

:15:00.:15:02.

They arrest you for speaking the truth!

:15:03.:15:14.

For 20 years he was Anjem Choudary hate preacher.

:15:15.:15:16.

Now he is Anjem Choudary convicted terrorist.

:15:17.:15:18.

He could have been jailed for ten years.

:15:19.:15:19.

He was given five-and-a-half because the judge said his oath

:15:20.:15:22.

of allegiance to so-called Islamic State didn't lead to any

:15:23.:15:25.

The same sentence was passed on his co-defendant and close

:15:26.:15:31.

As they were side by side in the dock, their supporters looked

:15:32.:15:36.

One shouted, allahu akbar - God is great - as the judge

:15:37.:15:42.

All the evil they've been sowing, all the evil words and dissent

:15:43.:15:52.

they've tried to sow throughout society is over.

:15:53.:15:55.

They are paying the price and they are going to jail.

:15:56.:15:58.

The dominant and dogmatic Choudary has been at the centre of a network

:15:59.:16:01.

His former right-hand man Siddhartha Dhar was originally

:16:02.:16:09.

arrested with him but fled to Syria while on bail and is now suspected

:16:10.:16:13.

Another follower was Michael Adebolajo.

:16:14.:16:17.

He and a fellow Choudary disciple were responsible for the savage

:16:18.:16:19.

street killing of fusilier Lee Rigby.

:16:20.:16:29.

Choudary's influence extended across Europe.

:16:30.:16:30.

In Belgium, many extremists linked to him have been prosecuted.

:16:31.:16:33.

We are here in the heart of Europe, in Amsterdam.

:16:34.:16:36.

This was him in Holland, just one of the countries where his toxic

:16:37.:16:38.

This academic has studied how his reach grew over two decades.

:16:39.:16:42.

Anjem Choudary has been hugely influential over the last 20 years.

:16:43.:16:47.

It's almost hard to think of a significant terrorist plot

:16:48.:16:50.

either here or abroad that's involved a British individual that

:16:51.:16:57.

hasn't in some way connected back to him or his group and particularly

:16:58.:16:59.

American Jessie Morton, once an extremist, has now reformed

:17:00.:17:04.

He spoke to Choudary online and learned how he operated.

:17:05.:17:11.

Here is a man who looks like he is living in the 7th century, who

:17:12.:17:17.

speaks the words of the prophet Mohammed and the words of the koran,

:17:18.:17:22.

he may misinterpret them but for you he is offering you something that's

:17:23.:17:27.

powerful, something to cling on to. The judge described Anjem Choudary

:17:28.:17:30.

as calculating and dangerous and said he had shown no remorse. He now

:17:31.:17:36.

follows many he once led into the prison system. At the age of 49 this

:17:37.:17:42.

is his first jail term. Anjem Choudary begins his sentence in the

:17:43.:17:45.

high security unit of Belmarsh prison. Housed with a small number

:17:46.:17:49.

of other inmates. He was taken there today knowing he could be out in a

:17:50.:17:55.

couple of years. The challenge for the authorities is to stop this arch

:17:56.:17:58.

manipulator becoming a figure of influence behind bars.

:17:59.:18:04.

In Syria, rescue workers in the rebel-held part of Aleppo say

:18:05.:18:07.

that Government forces have used chlorine gas to attack civilians.

:18:08.:18:11.

President Assad's Government has always denied using chemical

:18:12.:18:13.

Our Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen reports from Syria.

:18:14.:18:20.

Civil defence volunteers were on the scene before the dust

:18:21.:18:22.

This was on the east side of Aleppo, held by rebels.

:18:23.:18:30.

The Syrian Government controls the west side.

:18:31.:18:34.

Dozens were taken to a hospital to be treated

:18:35.:18:36.

Local reports said the reason was that Government forces had

:18:37.:18:43.

dropped bombs containing poisonous chlorine gas.

:18:44.:18:48.

There were similar reports and pictures from east

:18:49.:18:50.

The casualties were washed, decontaminated to get traces

:18:51.:18:56.

Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the war,

:18:57.:19:02.

Rebels and government forces in Aleppo have fought

:19:03.:19:07.

The Syrian Government has always denied using chemical weapons.

:19:08.:19:13.

It was forced to give up its own chemical weapons arsenal

:19:14.:19:17.

after a deadly attack in the Damascus suburbs in 2013

:19:18.:19:20.

But since then there have been repeated reports of attacks

:19:21.:19:26.

using chlorine gas which isn't banned.

:19:27.:19:34.

Now the fighting all summer has been because the Government, Government

:19:35.:19:42.

forces backed by the Russians, have been trying to completely encircle

:19:43.:19:46.

the rebel-held eastern side of the city which has about 250,000 people

:19:47.:19:51.

in it, including 100,000 children. Now when this war started it always

:19:52.:19:56.

seemed complicated and diplomacy directed at it has up to now always

:19:57.:20:01.

failed. But it's getting much worse, much more tangled. I spoke to a

:20:02.:20:06.

senior Syrian general today and he said we are planning for a long war.

:20:07.:20:12.

I said hang on, it's already in year six. He was talking about perhaps

:20:13.:20:18.

another ten years of fighting. So we are going to be hearing a lot more

:20:19.:20:22.

over, I think, a much longer period from this country.

:20:23.:20:32.

Jeremy, thank you for the update there.

:20:33.:20:37.

The retailer Sports Direct says it will improve pay and conditions

:20:38.:20:40.

for thousands of its staff after heavy criticism by MPs.

:20:41.:20:42.

It will now offer shop staff guaranteed hours,

:20:43.:20:44.

instead of using controversial zero-hours contracts,

:20:45.:20:46.

and all warehouse staff will be paid above the National Minimum Wage.

:20:47.:20:48.

There will be a workers' representative appointed

:20:49.:20:50.

to the board, as our business correspondent Emma Simpson reports.

:20:51.:20:53.

Sports Direct's distribution centre in the Derbyshire countryside,

:20:54.:20:55.

a vast site, manned mostly by thousands of temporary

:20:56.:20:58.

A place which MPs recently likened to a Victorian workhouse.

:20:59.:21:06.

The company's own review today found serious shortcomings.

:21:07.:21:09.

Its so-called six strikes and you're out policy is being suspended.

:21:10.:21:19.

Workers will be paid above the national minimum wage

:21:20.:21:23.

and it will trial a scheme to move ten agency workers on to direct

:21:24.:21:26.

Taking ten people a month will take 28 years to get those people

:21:27.:21:31.

as they sit now into permanent, decent employment with Sports Direct

:21:32.:21:36.

and that's not good enough so we have a long way to go.

:21:37.:21:41.

In a surprise move this evening, Mike Ashley released a video

:21:42.:21:45.

statement promising a workers' representative on the board.

:21:46.:21:50.

It is very difficult sometimes when you're not involved

:21:51.:21:54.

with everything that's going on and you're therefore not

:21:55.:21:56.

That input is invaluable and I think it will be the one no-brainer future

:21:57.:22:04.

thing that Sports Direct should have been doing and,

:22:05.:22:07.

unlike zero hours, I want to leap on that opportunity now and be

:22:08.:22:10.

At the site today some workers had plenty to say.

:22:11.:22:17.

If they get rid of the strike system then this place should be OK.

:22:18.:22:21.

Until they get rid of that this place is abysmal.

:22:22.:22:23.

The conditions are not perfect, but I have worked in worst places.

:22:24.:22:26.

Away from the warehouse, there's change for thousands

:22:27.:22:29.

It's offering to move them from zero hours contracts to permanent ones

:22:30.:22:37.

which guarantee at least 12 hours' work a week.

:22:38.:22:40.

I used to go home every night and say to my girlfriend I don't

:22:41.:22:43.

know when I can next work, I don't know when I can next earn

:22:44.:22:46.

some money even though I stated to them that I am desperately

:22:47.:22:49.

willing to work as many hours as possible.

:22:50.:22:51.

Mike Ashley built Sports Direct from scratch.

:22:52.:22:53.

He still owns most of the company but the share price has been rapidly

:22:54.:22:56.

going down as the grievances pile up.

:22:57.:23:00.

This review comes just a day before Sports Direct faces the wrath

:23:01.:23:04.

of independent shareholders at its annual general meeting.

:23:05.:23:09.

Pressure from investors has been growing for changes to its top team

:23:10.:23:13.

Sports Direct is promising more work on that but will today's concessions

:23:14.:23:22.

be enough to quell tomorrow's potential shareholders rebellion?

:23:23.:23:25.

Unpublished papers suggesting the Government is considering plans

:23:26.:23:33.

for new grammar schools in England have been caught on camera

:23:34.:23:36.

The document, being carried into Number 10, says

:23:37.:23:40.

the Education Secretary, Justine Greening, wants

:23:41.:23:42.

the new grammars presented as an option.

:23:43.:23:44.

Our education editor Branwen Jeffreys is with me.

:23:45.:23:50.

I suppose the question is how realistic an option? Well, this

:23:51.:23:59.

careless slip has shown us they are looking seriously at expanding

:24:00.:24:01.

grammar provision in England, but they also know it could be tricky,

:24:02.:24:05.

it could be controversial, not least to get through parliament. So this

:24:06.:24:09.

memo suggests the first thing they would look at is to work with the

:24:10.:24:14.

existing 160-odd grammar schools in England to see if any want to

:24:15.:24:18.

expand. That was something that was in the Conservative manifesto at the

:24:19.:24:22.

last election. They've already given permission for a school in Kent to

:24:23.:24:25.

open up on a separate site ten miles down the road. So we could see a

:24:26.:24:29.

little bit more of that. Interestingly, as well, the word

:24:30.:24:33.

reform is used in here, the suggestion that perhaps grammars

:24:34.:24:36.

aren't doing as well as they should be. That's essentially code for

:24:37.:24:41.

making sure that they take pupils from every kind of background. Not

:24:42.:24:45.

all grammar schools have had a good record at making sure that poor

:24:46.:24:49.

bright children get places alongside middle class kids. So before any

:24:50.:24:54.

other moves could be imposed they would look at doing that because the

:24:55.:24:58.

next step for any new school would have to be to change the law, that's

:24:59.:25:01.

the only way that a new grammar school could be allowed. And there

:25:02.:25:06.

will be opposition from within the Conservative Party and some vocal

:25:07.:25:11.

critics outside, it's only yesterday that sir Michael Wilshaw the chief

:25:12.:25:14.

inspector said it was none cess to suggest that opening up more grammar

:25:15.:25:18.

schools could help poor bright children do well. Tonight the

:25:19.:25:21.

Government is saying it's not commenting, it's looking at options

:25:22.:25:24.

and it wants to provide opportunities for the many and not

:25:25.:25:26.

just the privileged few. Thank you.

:25:27.:25:34.

A boy and girl aged 15 have pleaded guilty to a man lawyer of a woman

:25:35.:25:48.

but denied murder. : There's been a serious breach of

:25:49.:25:51.

security at London's city airport after activists gained access to a

:25:52.:25:54.

runway there and staged a protest. Flights were stopped for six hours

:25:55.:25:58.

causing major disruption. The campaign group Black Lives Mat every

:25:59.:26:02.

said their action was to drawn attention to the environmental

:26:03.:26:04.

impact of climate change on black people.

:26:05.:26:09.

In Scotland, the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, says her Government

:26:10.:26:11.

will focus on boosting the economy, following the UK's vote

:26:12.:26:13.

She was setting out the SNP Government's legislative

:26:14.:26:17.

programme for the year ahead and promised to spend ?4 billion

:26:18.:26:19.

on infrastructure and to consult on a draft

:26:20.:26:21.

Our Scotland editor Sarah Smith reports.

:26:22.:26:25.

This is brilliant, I can't believe it's going to be a football pitch.

:26:26.:26:28.

Nothing says I'm getting on with the job better than a photo

:26:29.:26:31.

call in a high-vis jacket so Nicola Sturgeon got suitably

:26:32.:26:34.

kitted up for a visit to a new school under construction

:26:35.:26:38.

But it will feel like it's outside up here?

:26:39.:26:42.

These pictures carefully co-ordinated to deliver the message

:26:43.:26:45.

that she plans to focus on both education and increased

:26:46.:26:47.

This programme for Government demonstrates how, with an iron focus

:26:48.:26:54.

on the business of Government, we will create opportunity for all.

:26:55.:26:57.

It outlines how we will support economic growth, invest

:26:58.:26:59.

in child care and schools, improve public services

:27:00.:27:03.

As well as increased infrastructure spending, the First Minister

:27:04.:27:18.

announced ?500 million in support for private sector businesses facing

:27:19.:27:20.

Plans to send more Government funding direct to school head

:27:21.:27:24.

teachers and reduce teachers' workload.

:27:25.:27:25.

A child poverty bill which will include a baby

:27:26.:27:27.

box containing clothes, bedding and books for every

:27:28.:27:29.

child born in Scotland, and draft legislation to allow

:27:30.:27:31.

another referendum on Scottish independence

:27:32.:27:32.

The Tories are now the main opposition in the Scottish

:27:33.:27:40.

parliament, partly because of their trenchant opposition

:27:41.:27:41.

The real dividing line in this country is between the SNP,

:27:42.:27:49.

desperate to drag us back to a second independence referendum,

:27:50.:27:52.

and the rest of us who all just want to put it behind us and move on.

:27:53.:27:56.

Opposition parties accuse Nicola Sturgeon of being obsessed

:27:57.:27:58.

with Scottish independence and neglecting the day job.

:27:59.:28:00.

So it is important she's seen to be concentrating on governing

:28:01.:28:03.

Scotland while she's also considering whether to call

:28:04.:28:05.

She has to be seen to focus on those core issues that matter to voters

:28:06.:28:12.

that matter to citizens, and that need to be dealt

:28:13.:28:15.

with and if the SNP Government doesn't make a success of those

:28:16.:28:18.

within the context of devolution, then it will struggle to win

:28:19.:28:20.

the argument for further constitutional change.

:28:21.:28:26.

How well the Scottish Government use the powers they have to address

:28:27.:28:28.

voters current concerns could determine whether

:28:29.:28:30.

they will ever succeed in achieving independence.

:28:31.:28:32.

The opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games takes place

:28:33.:28:43.

tomorrow night and there are high hopes that Paralympics GB can match

:28:44.:28:45.

or even improve on the 120 medals they won at London 2012,

:28:46.:28:48.

despite having a smaller team this time.

:28:49.:28:51.

Our sports correspondent Andy Swiss is in Rio and he's been

:28:52.:28:54.

At their Brazilian training base, the British team are making

:28:55.:29:04.

their final push for Rio hoping to turn graft into gold.

:29:05.:29:11.

Today though, the first big result - equestrian star, Lee Pearson,

:29:12.:29:18.

has won 10 Paralympic titles, now he's been voted flag bearer

:29:19.:29:20.

It is the biggest honour in the whole of the world.

:29:21.:29:26.

To carry the flag would be an honour, but to be voted

:29:27.:29:32.

by my fellow Paralympic GB athletes is surreal.

:29:33.:29:34.

London 2012 forged an array of new stars, so will this be

:29:35.:29:40.

In recent Paralympics, Britain's medal tally has risen steadily.

:29:41.:29:48.

From 102 in Beijing, eight years ago, to 120 in London.

:29:49.:29:50.

Here, in Rio, their target is to go at least one better than that

:29:51.:29:56.

with what is a smaller team and, of course, no home advantage.

:29:57.:30:02.

The absence of Russia here, banned after their recent

:30:03.:30:04.

doping scandal, should help Britain's cause,

:30:05.:30:07.

but the head of the British team insists it's still a testing target.

:30:08.:30:11.

History tends to show that it's very difficult to go to your next away

:30:12.:30:15.

Games and repeat that level of performance.

:30:16.:30:18.

So it's a challenging target, but I think that the results over

:30:19.:30:23.

the last couple of seasons especially really point towards this

:30:24.:30:27.

It's a team with plenty of new faces.

:30:28.:30:32.

16-year-old Maria Lyle juggles school work with sprinting,

:30:33.:30:36.

now she's among around half the British athletes

:30:37.:30:38.

It's crazy to think, four years ago, I was watching it

:30:39.:30:45.

and now I'm like in the training camp with the whole team.

:30:46.:30:48.

But I think, even just being here, is a great achievement,

:30:49.:30:52.

I'm enjoying every moment and I'm looking forward to

:30:53.:30:54.

Of course, British athletes in Rio haven't done too badly

:30:55.:31:04.

So could there now be a second goldrush?

:31:05.:31:07.

On Copacabana, the Olympic rings have been replaced

:31:08.:31:11.

The stage is set for yet more sporting drama.

:31:12.:31:16.

Andy Swiss, BBC News, Rio.

:31:17.:31:22.

There is more talk of the Paralympics on Newsnight. On the Eve

:31:23.:31:32.

of the Paralympics we reveal confusion over the classification

:31:33.:31:35.

system used to select athletes to compete in the Games. Join me now on

:31:36.:31:40.

BBC Two. Here on

:31:41.:31:41.

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