17/03/2017 BBC News at Ten

George Osborne surprises some MPs and outrages others by taking a job

as editor of a daily London newspaper.

He claims he can run the London Evening Standard and stay

on as MP for Tatton, along with his four other jobs.

I'm thrilled and excited to be the new editor

And, you know, with so many big issues in our world,

what people want are authoritative facts, good analysis.

How can you edit a daily newspaper, the Evening Standard,

which is for London, represent a Cheshire constituency,

and be a director of a bank all at the same time?

There have been calls for Mr Osborne to quit as an MP and accusations

The White House backs down over a claim GCHQ bugged Donald Trump.

And uncomfortable body language as Mr Trump meets

the German Chancellor for the first time.

Nicola Sturgeon hints that she might be prepared to look at a later date

And can Ireland spoil England's party at the Six Nations

And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News...

Jockey Robbie Power rides 7/1 shot Sizing John to victory

In a move that's astonished some MPs and outraged others,

the former Chancellor George Osborne has been appointed the editor

of a daily newspaper - the London Evening Standard.

He's also staying on as MP for Tatton and insists he will be

able to balance the demands of both jobs - as well as do his four other

jobs, which include working for an investment company.

Concerns have been raised about potential conflicts

of interest and there have been calls for Mr Osborne to be denied

access to confidential political briefings from now on.

Our media editor Amol Rajan broke the story,

This is the George Osborne known to Britain.

Austerity Chancellor, loyal lieutenant to David Cameron

and backbench MP ruthlessly sacked by Theresa May.

But, stop press, today he made a career change,

In a shock announcement, Osborne has been appointed editor

of the London Evening Standard, a job he will do while

I'm thrilled and excited to be the new editor

And, you know, with so many big issues in our world,

what people want are authoritative facts, good analysis.

It's a really important time for good journalism,

and the Evening Standard is going to provide it.

In a few weeks' time George Osborne will take the editor's

He will arrive at 5am and leave around midday.

But I spent years here, too, when I was editor

And I can tell you that there are managerial and commercial

Some editors have been known to work up to 100 hours a week.

So the question that Standard staff are asking,

is how do you reconcile being a hard-working editor with being

In his Tatton constituency in Cheshire today, this is how

Obviously thrilled for George, and remaining

I guess one just hopes that he will continue his constituency duties.

To me he should either be that one or that one.

I don't have a problem with George Osborne doing that.

I thought he was an amazing Chancellor.

Mr Osborne will be paid substantially less than his

predecessor, but then perhaps he doesn't need the money.

The 45-year-old already earns nearly ?75,000 as an MP.

He took home over ?750,000 in the last year for speeches.

And he makes ?650,000 a year for four days' work each month

I thought it was fake news when I heard it to begin with.

It's not for the money, because he has plenty

I can only conclude that he wants to build the Standard

into an alternative power base to Theresa May.

And in the event of Brexit all going pear-shaped,

he will use this power base to launch his attack.

Some have said there's a clear conflict of interest here.

Others have questioned George Osborne's commitment to Parliament.

He's very clever, and he's very able, but this is ridiculous.

How can you edit a daily newspaper, the Evening Standard,

which is for London, represent a Cheshire constituency,

and be a director of a bank all at the same time?

He may be no stranger to the headlines, but George Osborne

has limited journalistic experience and credentials.

This surprise appointment will intrigue Westminster

The likelihood is that he will be a newspaper editor long

Our deputy political editor, John Pienaar is in Westminster.

Concerns have been raised by MPs and journalists

about conflicts of interest, but Mr Osborne seems untroubled.

As Chancellor, George Osborne used to love springing surprises, and

this one was certainly Big Ang controversial, not just combining

the full-time job of MP with a full-time job of being the editor,

there's also championing the policy of the northern powerhouse while

running on London newspaper. Supervising the coverage of Europe's

biggest financial centre. At Westminster he will have access to

private meetings from which journalists are always excluded.

Somehow these things will have to be reconciled. Some of those around

Theresa May will be grinding their teeth tonight for another reason.

George Osborne has managed to design and build himself a powerful new

role in public life after front line politics. His constituency could

disappear after boundary changes. The old saying, you don't pick an

argument with somebody who buys their ink by the gallon. George

Osborne has his differences with Theresa May and her approach to

Brexit, and she and her team can look forward to plenty, gallons of

arguments, from George Osborne's friends in Fleet Street in the

future. The US government has backed down

over claims that British intelligence bugged Donald Trump

during the presidential campaign. His press spokesman claimed

Britain's GCHQ had conducted surveillance on Mr Trump

at the request of President Obama. When GCHQ responded

that it was nonsense and utterly ridiculous,

the White house said it was only repeating a report on Fox News

and assured Number Ten the allegations won't

be mentioned again. Gordon Corera reports

from Washington. Britain's GCHQ, caught up

in an extraordinary claim, that it spied on Donald Trump,

listening to his phone calls. As so often, it began

with a tweet, Donald Trump alleging Barack Obama had

wiretapped him during the campaign. Then came the allegation

from a Fox News commentator that Britain's intelligence agency may

have done the tapping. The probable culprit

here is called GCHQ. The White House spokesperson

yesterday cited the story Three intelligence sources have

informed Fox News that President Obama went outside

the chain of command. He did not use the NSA,

the CIA, the FBI, or GCHQ hit back, saying

it was ridiculous. At least we have something

in common, perhaps. But meeting Angela Merkel, whose

phone calls America did intercept, Donald Trump did not appear

to accept that his team had All we did was quote a certain very

talented legal mind, who was the one responsible

for saying that on television. The NSA is America's communications

intelligence agency, Today, I went inside to speak

exclusively to its deputy director and asked him

about the GCHQ allegation. No.

That's utter nonsense. The genesis of that is someone

who completely does not understand the relationship between the US

and the UK and the calculus What would be the advantage

to the UK Government of doing The cost would be immense

in comparison to any value, All of this stems from one serious

allegation that Donald Trump cannot shake - the assessment of American

spies that Russia interfered in the presidential

election to support him. How strong is the evidence for that

Russian interference? In the unclassified intelligence

community assessment, it basically says that it was Russia

that did the hacks and here is the assessed reason

behind what they did. That is irrefutable, and the NSA

played a key role in that. Are you able to give any more sense

about how confident you are, Donald Trump's White House

managed today to only partially diffuse a row

with Britain's spies that it started, but next week sees

a new challenge when the heads of the FBI and NSA testify before

Congress about Russian Meanwhile President Trump

has been holding talks with the German Chancellor,

Angela Merkel, at the White House. It's the first time the two have met

and it could have a significant impact on relations between Europe

and the US - but the two leaders Mr Trump has called Mrs Merkel's

policy of welcoming refugees a "catastrophic mistake",

while she has criticised From Washington, here's our north

America editor, Jon Sopel. The classic Oval Office image,

designed to portray two world No eye contact, no chat,

in a decidedly chilly encounter. The photographers ask

if there is going to be a handshake. But President Trump's

hands don't move. Ladies and gentlemen,

the President of the United States and the Chancellor of

the Federal Republic of Germany. At their joint news conference

a little later, it was clear where the two agree to disagree

and for all the politesse, there was this thinly disguised

barb from Mrs Merkel. TRANSLATION: It is much,

much better to talk to one another, and not about one another

and I think our This is a riposte to an endless

stream of attacks from Donald Trump over the past year, variously

describing the German leader as "catastrophic",

"following insane policies" But the president wasn't

going to give up on pursuing European nations over

their Nato contributions. I reiterated to Chancellor Merkel my

strong support for Nato, as well as the need for our Nato

allies to pay their fair share On this, the president won

concessions that Germany would increase its defence spending

but on immigration and policies towards refugees,

they were far apart. We also recognise that immigration

security is national security. We must protect our citizens

from those who seek to spread TRANSLATION: Migration,

immigration and integration Traffickers have to be stopped,

but this has to be done by looking at the refugees as well,

giving them opportunities to shape And Mrs Merkel said she hoped

they'd be able to revive the Europe-US trade deal,

but there seems zero There's no doubt that

US-German relations are going When Barack Obama was President,

he spoke about Angela Merkel With Donald Trump, there seems to be

a good deal more wariness, although the stand-out moment

of the news conference came when the President said

there is something we have But at least with Angela Merkel,

it was proved that the NSA Jon Sopel, BBC News,

at the White House. Nicola Sturgeon has hinted she may

be prepared to delay the timing of a second referendum

on Scottish independence. Scotland's First Minister says

she is up for continued discussion about the matter with Theresa May

as long as the Prime Minister But Mrs May has repeated again that

a referendum would be bad Here's our Scotland

Correspondent Sarah Smith. Cheering and clapping -

the SNP do not look like a party whose referendum hopes

have been dashed. Let there be no doubt,

Scotland will have its referendum and the people of this country

will have their choice. Fighting talk, readying

the troops for battle. They are eager to engage,

but how can the SNP promise a referendum when the Prime Minister

has said no? How can you say you definitely

will have a Scottish referendum when the Prime Minister says

she is not prepared to discuss it? There comes a point where just

because a Prime Minister, who remember, with the greatest

of respect, is a Prime Minister that has one MP in Scotland,

just because she says she wants to stand in the way of the Scottish

parliament, it does not mean There is nothing

you can do about it. We have seen this week already,

that when the Prime Minister realises she is in an unsustainable

position, she is quick It appears things have

got acrimonious this week, with you tweeting

about the Prime Minister Would you say relations

between you and Theresa May What I am saying today is, let's try

and work through that disagreement. What the Prime Minister has done

is not put herself in opposition She is absolutely within her rights

to argue against independence. She seems to be putting herself

in opposition to the democratic I don't think that's

a sustainable position. Nicola Sturgeon is telling her

delegates she thinks she can force She told me she might

be able to compromise on the date of any referendum,

but the Prime Minister ruled out even talking about one

for at least two years, and you can't negotiate with someone

who will not speak to you. Theresa May, in Cardiff today,

certainly does not sound as though It is now clear that using Brexit

as the pretext to engineer a second independence referendum has been

the SNP's sole objective But it would be bad for Scotland,

bad for the United Kingdom In Scotland, there are plenty

of people who do not Unionists, protesting

outside the SNP conference, hope the UK Government

will not give in. Inside, activists believe

they will get to vote again for an independent Scotland,

even though it is not a fight Nato and EU leaders are calling

for an end to the bitter row between President Erdogan of Turkey

and a number of European countries. Erdogan has branded the leaders

of Germany and Holland "Nazis" after they banned political rallies

by Turks in their countries. The rallies had been planned

in support of a constitutional referendum in Turkey next month

about whether to grant Mr Erdogan If he wins, he would scrap

the position of Prime Minister, concentrating power in his

hands as President. He'd also be able to

appoint ministers, set His opponents say it would be

a huge blow to democracy, Few democratically elected leaders

command such devotion. This is President Erdogan's

conservative religious heartland. For decades under Turkey's

old secular regime, Now it is as if they owe their very

survival to one man. Some European leaders may

recoil at his tirades, but his supporters love the Turkish

strongman standing up for national Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspires

an almost divine reverence among his followers,

his fiery rhetoric entirely focused For them, he is their voice,

and he cannot put a foot wrong. Security is tight after last year's

failed coup, which made him His target this week,

the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, for blocking Turkish

politicians from Hey, Rutte, you might have won

the election but you have With a referendum next month

on expanding his powers, the President unites his voters

by hitting out at enemies. Even calling the Dutch and Germans

Nazis doesn't put off his fans. "I condemn those countries, too",

she says, "they don't The row with Europe was fuelled

as Turkish protesters in Rotterdam were violently dispersed

and ministers barred Turkey's pro-government media pumps

out the President's message. Opponents in the referendum taking

to graffiti as official outlets are dominated

by the Erdogan campaign. A Nato member and EU candidate

where space for free speech TRANSLATION: Turkey

is becoming a laughing stock. In foreign policy, you have

to think before you speak. Foreign policy cannot be misused

for domestic politics. President Erdogan is moulding

Turkey in his image, and a crucial but deeply polarised

country is drifting ever Concern is growing about the impact

of government funding on schools in England,

with teachers and now even some The Education Policy Institute,

a think-tank, is warning that secondary schools

could see their funding drop by nearly ?300,000

on average by 2020. But the Government,

which is changing the way it funds schools, insists it's spending more

than ever - some ?40 billion. Here's our Education Editor,

Branwen Jeffreys. In 20 years as an inner-city head,

Ian Fenn has seen it all. Shootings, stabbings, drugs,

deprivation and disability. Almost half his pupils have

learning difficulties. But funding is not keeping up

with the needs of his school. Three quarters of the children

coming into the school They will be two, three,

four, five years behind On top of that, a similar

number have English We have a large number of children

with special educational needs, so they could have speech

and language problems, It's not just teachers,

but extra teaching assistants. The school employs

social workers too. Financial pressures

mean jobs at risk. Schools carry all the costs

of an employer, pay, pensions, National Insurance,

all going up. Ministers argue funding is at record

levels in England but rising bills How am I going to care for the most

vulnerable in society I have kids who are under

resourced at the moment, and yet they are going to give

me substantially less. The new formula will mean big cities

like Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and London get

a smaller share. While Somerset, Derby, Lincolnshire

would get a bigger slice. Tonight, a warning from

a senior Tory, adding Some big Conservative counties say

the plans don't go far enough. One secondary school will be getting

?2 million less than another Accepting that one is in an area

of high deprivation and one is in more of a leafy lane location,

but that 2 million differential between one secondary school

with the same pupil numbers, the need might be slightly different

in one, cannot amount to ?2 million. Could the funding formula become

the next U-turn for the Government? There is certainly a lot

of pressure from Tory grass But they are the ones

that also really want If you give more money

to the counties and shires, it means taking even more

from inner-city schools like this. Schools in England have had 20 years

of funding increases. But as cost pressures rise,

no one feels like a winner. Branwen Jeffreys,

BBC News, Manchester. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

have arrived in Paris In a speech, the Duke

said that despite Brexit Britain's relationship

with France wouldn't change. It's the first time he's been seen

on official duty since facing criticism from some newspapers

for missing a Commonwealth Day One of the biggest horse

races of the year, the Cheltenham Gold Cup,

has been won by Sizing John, He comfortably beat the favourite

after 22 gruelling fences. It was the first time the Irish

trainer Jessica Harrington had The Six Nations comes

to a climax this weekend. England have already retained

the title, but are bidding to set a new world record of 19

consecutive international victories. A win tomorrow would also seal

a second consecutive Grand Slam. Our sports editor Dan Roan

reports from Dublin. It's the biggest weekend

of the year here in Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day a perfect excuse

for a party, and rugby But it's England who stand

on the verge of history. Already crowned Six Nations

champions, win once more and they'll The man who has masterminded this

team's revival, however, We know how much the Irish

dislike the English. We know how much they

like spoiling the party. We know how much they

like winning at home. So we know all those

things, but we'll be good It's been a quarter of a century

since England won back-to-back grand slams, the Five Nations

as it was then, and the man who led that even says their achievement

is about to be surpassed. This run from this team

would eclipse ours. They've gone to Australia,

they've won 3-0. That's never been done

before by an English team. They've put together back-to-back

grand slams, a world record run. Win here in Dublin tomorrow

and England will have done something that no other international rugby

side has ever achieved. But a 19th victory in a row could

prove to be their toughest yet. Last year, Ireland put an end

to New Zealand's world record run, and despite a disappointing

Six Nations, they are intent on preventing England from going one

better than the All Blacks. We are well aware of everything that

England are going for tomorrow. But for us, I suppose it's Saint

Paddy's weekend, we are at home. We've a very proud record

at home and we take huge Grand slams are rare in Rugby,

England denied one here in 2011, but for the current team,

defeat is becoming a distant memory. The Nobel laureate poet

Derek Walcott has died at home on the Caribbean island

of St Lucia, aged 87. He won the Nobel Prize

for Literature in 1992 for works including his poem Omeros,

which is widely considered Here's our arts editor,

Will Gompertz. Derek Walcott found he was often

defined as a black writer, He was, he said, first

and foremost a Caribbean writer. I think the elation that is always

there in the Caribbean morning, the elegiac elation that is there

in the Caribbean sunset, is part of the rhythm of the feel

of the Caribbean people. Dante, Shakespeare, Chaucer

and Yates were all addressed and reassessed through his literary

lens, as was Homer in 1990 when he wrote his epic poem Omeros,

in which Achilles is relocated and living among the fishermen

of the West Indies. Then a black fisherman,

his stubbled chin coarse as a dry sea urchin's,

hoisted his flour sack Two years later he was awarded

the Nobel Prize for Literature. His international

reputation was sealed. He said, "You and I

are on the same road". To hear that from somebody like him,

five years before he won I still feel that I just

followed him down the road. OK, he's gone over the horizon

today, but I'm still following. Derek Walcott's life was not

without controversy. An accusation of sexual harassment

by female students in the US led to him being very publicly

overlooked for the Oxford Professor He continued to write,

and in 2011 was awarded the TS He had kind of an all-consuming

passion for poetry. Derek Walcott used his unique poetic

voice to explore and explain the world from a largely unseen

perspective, and in so doing illuminated the immediate

and the universal. Derek Walcott, who has died

at the of age of 87. Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.