27/02/2017 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten, the British people are being sold

an unrealistic vision of life after Brexit -

the warning from a former Prime Minister.

Sir John Major, in his first keynote speech since the referendum,

accused Theresa May's government of failing to spell out

the complexity and the risks of the Brexit process.

Obstacles are brushed aside as if of no consequence,

whilst opportunities are inflated beyond any reasonable expectation.

A little more charm and a lot less cheap rhetoric

would do much to protect the interests of the United Kingdom.

We'll have reaction to Sir John's speech, as Downing Street insists

the Government is determined to make a success of Brexit.

Also tonight, after a long delay, the Independent Inquiry

into Child Sexual Abuse finally starts hearing evidence in public.

This is not a joke, Moonlight has won best picture.

after the biggest mix-up ever seen at the Oscars ceremony.

A change to personal-injury compensation

will increase car insurance for millions of drivers.

their support for the manager sacked last week.

And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News, champions Leicester City

shows signs of survival - as life after Ranieri begins,

starting with Liverpool in the Premier League tonight.

For the second time in a fortnight, a former Prime Minister

has warned that the British people are being given

an unrealistic vision of life after Brexit.

Two weeks ago, it was Labour's Tony Blair.

This evening, it was the Conservative Sir John Major,

who said the costs of Brexit would be too much for most people.

And he warned that Theresa May's approach

could lead to a second independence referendum in Scotland.

Our political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, reports.

A warning from a former Tory Prime Minister to today's,

one whose time in office was tortured by Europe.

Sir John Major's message to Theresa May - get real.

The British people have been led to expect a future

that seems to be unreal and overoptimistic.

Obstacles are brushed aside as if of no consequence,

beyond any reasonable expectation of delivery.

He fears we'll be worse off, less tolerant, more divided,

and that the Prime Minister's attitude so far

A little more charm and a lot less cheap rhetoric

would do much to protect the interests of the United Kingdom.

You've accused the Government of misleading people

do you think that's deliberate, or is it naive?

I wouldn't charge my colleagues with a deliberate attempt

The British people voted to come out.

They will accept coming out, but I think they do wish to know,

and have an absolute right to know, what the difficulties will be,

the impediments will be, and how long it will take.

Sir John tried and failed to keep us in during the referendum.

On the basis of half-truths and untruths...

..but were, as he himself might have predicted,

It was a craven and defeated speech of a bitter man who was

heavily defeated by the electorate for his own failings in Europe

in 1987 and was defeated again last June and now wishes

With Theresa May determined to keep the Tory party together,

and Labour struggling to be united, the momentum has been

with those celebrating our journey to the exit door.

Privately, ministers are increasingly optimistic

about doing a deal, but Sir John Major's not the only

One senior figure who's been part of some of the talks told me -

behind closed doors - some discussions have been

shambolic, and raised concerns that the Government are yet

to understand the full implications of our decision to leave.

A good day for Britain and a good day for Europe.

And he knows all too painfully how the

implications of European ructions can pan out.

Forgive my language, but to use your phrase, will she

You might say that, I couldn't possibly comment.

"When the curtain falls, time to get off the stage," he once said.

But this former Prime Minister has found himself still willing to play

but first to Glasgow and our Scotland editor, Sarah Smith.

Sarah, Sir John warned that Theresa May's Brexit approach

could lead to a second independence referendum.

He said it was a real risk even if it seems improbable at the moment. I

have to say, from here, it doesn't seem improbable at all, it seems a

very definite possibility, and it appears that the Prime Minister and

now understands that too. The last cabinet meeting was largely

dominated by the discussion about avoiding Scottish independence, and

Theresa May will be in Glasgow addressing the Scottish Conservative

Party on Friday, and she will use her speech there to try to head off

demands for another independence referendum. But Nicola Sturgeon has

been clear, she will take another referendum off the table only if the

UK Government seriously engages with her over her proposals for a

different and separate Brexit deal for Scotland. A deal that would

allow Scotland to stay within the EU single market as a member of the

European Economic Area. But UK Government ministers I've spoken to

did they do not sound as though they are ready to meet any of the

Scottish Government demands on that before the triggering of Article 50,

so when that Article 50 letter is sent some time next month, you can

expect a very robust response from next. She'll be addressing her SNP

conference in the middle of March, and that could be when she announces

the next step towards another referendum on Scottish independence.

Sarah, thanks again. Laura, one of the big points made by Sir John

tonight was about the timescale, saying ministers needed to be

realistic about the Brexit timescale, because it is early days.

It is, but we are almost at the end of part one, because by the end of

next month Theresa May will have pushed the button on Article 50, the

legal mechanism by which we will actually leave. And as that trigger

approaches, there is a sense that the first episode post-referendum is

in its closing stages, and if you rewind and think, not that long ago

the Tory party was knocking lumps out of each other in all of this,

the fact that Theresa May has got to the end of part one relatively

unscathed is no mean political feat. But I think, you know, whether it is

Tony Blair or Sir John Major, there is now, at this stage, as we move

towards the first really critical junction, a sense that although she

has had a relatively unscathed time of it, the arguments are not over,

and whether it is the opposition parties or whether it is former

senior statesmen, people who have concerns about how the Government is

going about this will not be silenced - despite the climate that

there has been in Westminster. And I think as we move towards the end of

part one, if you're like, it is becoming clear that parts two,

three, four and five will be much harder than these first stages, not

least because, of course, 27 other parties get involved. Indeed, Laura,

thanks again, Laura Kuenssberg, our political editor.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

in England and Wales has finally started

hearing evidence, more than two and a half years

after it was set up by the Government.

The first public sessions are focusing on the abuse

of British children who were sent abroad

in the decades after the Second World War,

as our home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds reports.

It might be argued that this inquiry should concentrate

on protecting children now, but its first investigation

promises to lift the lid on a disturbing period in history,

which has resulted in what were described today as decades of pain,

still very real to Britain's child migrants in their later years.

Now an inquiry with many of the powers of a court

is sitting down to the job of understanding why it happened.

Child migration programmes were large-scale schemes,

in which thousands of children, many of them vulnerable, poor,

abandoned, illegitimate or in the care of the state,

were systematically and permanently migrated to remote parts

ARCHIVE: The liner Asturias arrives at Fremantle from Great Britain

with 931 new migrants for this country.

We anticipate that you will hear evidence that these children

were put on board ships departing from England and Wales without

being given any real understanding of where they were going,

what they were doing, or why they were being sent.

More than 4,000 ended up in farm schools

or remote religious institutions, mainly in Australia -

physical labour, poor food, mistreatment.

But sexual abuse, worst at religious institutions like this one,

is what this inquiry is really about.

That has never been examined in detail.

The inquiry will hear of a crushing catalogue of sexual abuse,

deprivation, violence and abusive institutional practices.

This man in a suit came to see me and said,

"Your mother's dead, you know, so how would

In 2011, the story of a Nottinghamshire social worker,

Margaret Humphreys' battle to uncover the scandal

She has campaigned for 30 years for today's hearings.

We want to know what's happened, we want to know who did it,

and we want to know who covered it up for so long.

There are consequences for children today.

But this is just the start of something bigger.

in Lambeth and Nottinghamshire children homes, schools in Rochdale,

custodial institutions, residential schools,

and both the Anglican and Catholic Churches.

Yet resignations and controversy have delayed this work.

And today there was another untimely embarrassment,

the inquiry sent out an e-mail in which it was possible

to read the e-mail addresses of everyone who received it,

including some people who have been sexually abused

The inquiry has had to report itself to the Information Commissioner.

These are the very people that we're supposed to be relying on

to keep our data safe, especially the details about our abuse.

And so it has made some survivors very worried.

And it distracts from the inquiry's real work...

with guilt, shame, diminished self-confidence,

Tom Symonds, BBC News, at the child abuse inquiry.

The accountancy firm responsible for overseeing

the results at the Oscars is investigating the mistake

which led to the wrong film being named as Best Picture.

The producers of the musical La La Land were already

delivering their acceptance speeches when the error was acknowledged

and Moonlight was revealed as the real winner.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has apologised for the mix-up.

Our arts editor, Will Gompertz, reports from Los Angeles.

It was supposed to be the grand finale of a wonderful Oscars night.

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, Bonnie and Clyde 50 years ago,

come on to present the prestigious Best Picture Academy Award.

The veteran actor opens the all-important envelope

and pulls out the card on which a winner's name is written.

The Academy Award... And then a bit perplexed.

The drums are rolling. ..for Best Picture.

Faye Dunaway thinks he's playing for laughs.

So it's hugs all round from the La La Land crew,

as the team behind the feel-good musical homage to Hollywood

An emotional Jordan Horowitz, the film's producer,

effusively thanks friends and family.

As the acceptance speeches continue, a small commotion develops.

Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture.

This is not a joke - Moonlight has won Best Picture.

The team from Moonlight, a coming-of-age drama

set in the mean streets of Miami, are delighted and bemused.

I opened the envelope, and it said, "Emma Stone, La La Land".

That's why I took such a long look at Faye and at you.

He had been given the wrong envelope.

You see, there are duplicate sets of winners' envelopes

produced by the two Oscar auditors from accountancy practice PwC,

a firm that has been overseeing the Academy Awards

Within hours, PwC released a statement,

you make a movie, a boom dips into the shot,

So whatever happened, I still don't know what happened, it happened,

We've all hugged it out, the two camps,

and we're good, we'll wake up tomorrow...

but tomorrow we'll figure out what happened.

The night was memorable for other, less calamitous reasons.

Moonlight's success wasn't just limited to Best Picture.

Mahershala Ali was recognised for his supporting role

and duly became the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.

La La Land might have rather publically missed

but Damien Chazelle won Best Director,

becoming the youngest person to win that category.

Casey Affleck picked up the leading actor Oscar for playing a broken man

in the film Manchester By The Sea - he was thrilled.

Denzel Washington, who had also been nominated,

One of the first people who taught me how to act

and I just met him tonight for the first time.

Viola Davis's supporting actress triumph

was another win that helped the Oscars

We can join will live in Los Angeles. Plenty of attention to the

mix-up. Tell us a bit more about what you thought about the winners

themselves and the awards? It's true, this will always be the

Oscars where there was a mix-up. There's a certain irony in La La

Land, a film that plays with the idea of two endings having a

situation like that at the Oscars. The truth of the matter is, I just

wonder if there's a shift in tone the Academy members about La La

Land. It was opposed to be the shoo-in, the record-breaking year

for this musical, this fantasy about Hollywood. But it was Moonlight that

won, about the tough streets of Miami, tells the story of the

coming-of-age of a young, black poor guy who's brought up, helped by a

drug dealer. A much harder tale. I just think the voters thought in

this time and space, this strange time in this country, La La Land was

too frivolous and Moonlight told the sort of important story Americans

feel needs to be highlighted at the moment. Will, thanks very much. Will

Lombaerts with the latest on the Oscars in Hollywood.

A brief look at some of the day's other other news stories...

The Government says there's no evidence that the safety of patients

has been put at risk, after more than 700,000

NHS documents were mistakenly put in storage,

instead of being sent to GPs or patients.

A private mail direction company was held responsible for the error.

The Government is facing calls from Conservative

MPs to scrap plans to limit access to a key

Changes to the rules on who qualifies for

Personal Independence Payments could affect more than

Downing Street has insisted that "nobody is losing out"

Crewe Alexandra's Director of Football, Dario Gradi,

is to appeal against his suspension from working in the game.

He was suspended by the FA in November, following claims he'd

"smoothed over" an allegation of sexual abuse involving a youth

team player while he was coaching at Chelsea in the 1970s.

Gradi has always denied any wrongdoing.

The BBC has ordered an investigation into the conduct of TV

licence fee collectors - the private company Capita -

following reports they targeted vulnerable people who hadn't paid.

The BBC's Director General Tony Hall, has written to the firm

Insurance premiums are set to rise, in some cases significantly,

as a result of a new government ruling.

A new formula for calculating payments for those who suffer

long-term injuries has been produced as a result of low interest rates.

The average car insurance policy could rise by ?75 a year,

as our personal finance correspondent Simon

Compensation is a lifeline for people like Tom,

awarded ?1.5 million after losing a leg in an accident at work.

Tom thinks it's right that victims should get more to pay

This prosthetic's amazing, but it's nowhere near a human leg.

These legs are top of the range legs at ?70,000 each.

Whether it's from an industrial accident or from a car accident,

insurers have been able to keep down the lump sum they pay

victims by saying, well, they can invest it and make

But now the Government's saying in these days

of very low interest rates, they'll have to assume that people

will make less than nothing from year to year out

of their compensation, and that means insurers having

They've known this was coming down the track.

They failed to put the money aside and anticipate that risk,

and they are now suffering the consequences of that.

Instead of putting the money to one side, they paid it out in dividends,

Insurers gave an example of a 30-year-old who needed to be

looked looked after permanently, who'd get a ?3.4 million payment

now - a sum which would more than double under

They warn to cover the cost, the typical comprehensive motor

policy of ?450 would rise by ?75, with bigger increases

Liz Truss, the Lord Chancellor, said by law she had to make the change,

but the Insurers' Association said it was a reckless move.

This is a crazy decision by the Lord Chancellor, Liz Truss,

which is likely to lead to significantly increased premiums

for motorists and businesses, through no fault of their own,

because of her use of a broken formula which needs

It will have to pay ?1 billion more each year in compensation

for medical negligence - a bill the Government

So, should drivers, hospitals and employers pay more so accident

Ministers have promised a consultation before Easter

on whether the rules should be reformed.

Children living in deprived areas are far more likely

to end up in care - that's the finding of new research

undertaken by seven British universities.

The study found that children in the most deprived neighbourhoods

in the UK are at least 10 times more likely to be in care, or viewed

as being at risk, than children in the most affluent areas.

In England, that means one child in every 60 in a deprived area

is in the child protection system - compared with one in

Our social affairs correspondent Alison Holt has this

A childhood where poverty is everyday, where family struggle

and sometimes fail to keep a roof over their heads.

According to today's study, in the UK's most deprived

neighbourhoods, a child is far more likely to end up in the care system,

with social workers focused on protecting them, having little

Annie had four of her five children taken into care after a breakdown.

She fought to get them back and now writes a blog to advise others.

She believes if she'd had helped to deal with the financial

pressures, it would have made a huge difference.

When you have to choose between putting gas on the meter

or eating, which I had to do, it's...

If you haven't been there, you can't possibly understand

If you then have somebody coming in, judging that action

or judging your parenting, it's like a pressure cooker,

The study says across the UK, children living in the most deprived

neighbourhoods are ten times more likely to be taken into care or be

put on child protection plans than those living

Despite that, the researchers found the impact of that poverty was often

The man who led the research says cuts to council budgets mean fewer

early intervention services, but authorities are facing

increasing demand from families needing help and more children

What's happened against the background of those cuts,

is that a larger proportion of the money that children's

services spend has gone on looked after children,

and that has eaten further into the money for supporting families.

So that balance between identifying children at risk and supporting

families, has tilted further under austerity.

To keep children with their families safely where ever they live,

the research underlines the importance of

Martin Dixon is from a church charity which works with families

Every family goes through times of crisis, but when poor

and socially isolated families go through crisis, it can very quickly

turn to chaos and for too many that chaos means the kids end up

To save families, amazing volunteers just get alongside families

at that point of crisis, it provides a very simple early

intervention, but it's very effective and the result is better

But councils warn ever-increasing demand and their financial pressures

are putting their ability to step in to prevent problems in jeopardy.

The Government says its strengthening laws to protect

children and working to reduce inequality.

President Trump has announced he wants to increase US defence

spending by $54 billion, in what he's calling "One

of the greatest military buildups in American history".

He told a gathering of state governors at the White House

that he wanted to "rebuild the depleted military

Live to the White House and our North America

Tell us more about these defence plans on what they could mean for

other spending? This would lead to the kind of sharp

increase in defence spending we saw at the beginning of the Reagan

presidency. Trump officials are saying that money would be spent on

increasing US ground troops, boosting the size of the US Navy,

giving America more robust presence in places like Iran and the South

China Sea, where Beijing is looking to protect its power, another

potential flash point. How are they going to pay for this? They are

saying they are going to slash State Department funding, international

aid and funding for government bodies like the environmental

protection Agency. The question is, can they get it through Congress?

These proposals will please Republican defence hawks who believe

the US military is badly depleted, but not Republican deficit hawks who

want to bring down the deficit. It sets up a showdown are many people

think that's a showdown that Donald Trump would lose. Thank you for the

latest there at the White House. In three weeks' time Dutch voters

will vote in a general election, and the controversial far-right

politician Geert Wilders says he's confident of making

significant progress. He launched his launched campaign

a few days ago and the latest polls suggest he's currently in the lead -

standing on an anti-immigrant, Our Europe correspondent

Damian Grammaticas has been Ringed by security because he's had

death threats - Geert Wilders, He was, as ever,

courting controversy. There is a lot of Moroccan scum

in Holland, who makes He's now suspended such public

events over safety fears, Still, he's monopolising

attention in this election. What Geert Wilders has managed to do

is to shift this election to be about issues he cares about,

populist ones; immigration, When he spoke to us,

his playbook echoed the Brexit Give the Netherlands back

to the Dutch people. Make sure that they

get the best deal. Don't spend billions

to people who come here. Surprisingly, among his

supporters we found Marianna, A lot of people call him a racist,

but he's not a racist, because he said if you're

a foreigner you can stay here, And traditional left-wing voters

are split about him. I really want to cry

out what I think. That's what I vote for,

and that's what it should be. He says he wants to make

the Netherlands great again. It's the same populist ideas,

the same fear, he tries to win votes So beneath the surface,

the Netherlands is changing. Wilders could win

perhaps 20% of the vote. The established parties under threat

are having to react. The most dramatic intervention

in the campaign so far, a newspaper advertisement

by the Prime Minister, telling immigrants here

to fit in or go home, It's shocked many

in the Netherlands. That's because Prime Minister Rutte

is a liberal, his instincts towards openness and tolerance now

giving way to something new. The election's only

about integration in this country and people coming

from outside and refugees. And the elections will

be about stability. So he's moving towards Wilders'

position, but says he'll At the same time, Dutch

politics is splintering - 28 different parties are out

competing for votes. What's certain is no one will win

an outright majority, and for most, Wilders is simply too toxic to go

into coalition with. They'd rather team

up to keep him out. So his populist surge may be rising,

but he may well find his Damian Grammaticus,

BBC News, The Hague. Leicester City were in action

against Liverpool tonight - their first match since the sacking

of Claudio Ranieri - and some fans made a point

of expressing their anger over Match of the Day is here on BBC One

later, so if you are trying to avoid the result,

you might want to avoid this He might have gone

but he was everywhere, a wealth of tributes

to Claudio Ranieri, but as the Leicester fans flocked

with songs and flags, the anger at their hero's sacking

was still plain to see. I feel let down by

the club, to be honest. I'm very sad he's gone,

and if he ever gets to see this, thank you Claudio, you'll be forever

in our hearts. There's no loyalty

in football any more. The man brought them the league,

a miracle, and they just dumped him. The fans' fury been aimed

at the club's Thai owners So the big question,

what reception would they get? No boos, just warm applause - some

loyalties were still very clear, but this was largely

a display of unity. Could it now inspire

them against Liverpool? Leicester took a 3-0 lead before,

as one, the fans rose Leicester duly held

on for a sorely needed win. After a tumultuous week,

at last, once again, Yes, Leicester ended up winning 3-1,

including two goals for Jamie Vardy. It is Leicester's first league win

of 2017 and lift them out of the relegation zone. As for the fans,

their affection for Claudio Ranieri is still very clear indeed, but the

owners, they will be breathing something of a sigh of relief. If

Leicester can now stay in the Premier League, Dell argue all the

turmoil of the last few days has been worth it. -- they will argue.

Thank you. Andy Swiss. Newsnight's about to begin over

on BBC Two in a few moments. On Newsnight tonight -

the political backlash to that Iain Duncan Smith tells me

the former Prime Minister sounds