09/04/2016 BBC Weekend News

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, says he's discovered

that he is the son of Sir Winston Churchill's

In a statement, he says a DNA test revealed that his biological father

was not, as he had always believed, Gavin Welby, but the late

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the man he now knows to

be his father, Sir Anthony Montague Browne. There is an extraordinary

resemblance and it led a journalist to investigate further. Sir Anthony

was Winston Churchill's private Secretary. He died three years ago.

He and the Archbishop's mother had a brief affair before she married

Gavin Welby. Justin Welby was born in 1956, both his parents were

alcoholics. The Archbishop said his upbringing was messy. Gavin Welby

died when his son was aged 21. Justin Welby had heard the rumours

about his parentage. In Lambeth Palace he agreed to a DNA test. So I

had this surreal thing of, first of all, getting hold of Sir Anthony

Montague Browne's hairbrushes because they had his hair in it,

from his widow who was content to let me take them. And to take a DNA

sample from the Archbishop which I did myself. Under canon law there is

no threat to the Archbishop's position. In a statement he said:

Although there are elements of sad nsz, and even tragedy in my father's

case, this is a story of redemption and hope from a place of tumultous

difficulty and despair in several lives. Justin Welby's mother, Lady

Jane Williams, now 86 and since remarried, said this news came as an

almost unbelievable shock. She admitted a brief affair fuelled by a

large amount of alcohol on both sides. The Archbishop is believed to

be away at the moment at a conference in Africa. But in a

statement released through Lambeth Palace he said his experience was

similar to many families. He added, I know that I find who I am in Jesus

Christ, not in genetics and my identity in him never changes.

There's been widespread praise for the way the Archbishop has responded

to the news. One commentator said he was an amazing man who had shown

grace, wisdom and openness. David Cameron has said

he could have handled the recent row about his family's

tax affairs better. On Thursday, the Prime Minister

admitted he did benefit from an offshore trust set up

by his late father. Addressing the Conservative

Spring Forum today he accepted full responsibility

for how the news was dealt with. I know that I should have

I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them.

Don't blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisors.

Our political correspondent Carole Walker is at

So has he managed to draw a line under this yet?

Has he succeeded, do you think? If you wanted to find the strength of

the feeling that there is on this issue amongst some people at least

we have just had a very noisy demonstration here from activists

who are unhappy at the Government's approach to tax and say they haven't

done enough to make sure that the wealthy pay their fair share. Labour

are saying this whole matter has raised questions about David

Cameron's personal integrity, the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is

accusing him of failing to be honest and misleading the public and indeed

saying that he must come before parliament on Monday to answer

further questions about this. David Cameron, I think, does recognise

that he should have handled this better. He's now saying he is going

to be open and transparent in future. And indeed he will very

shortly - we will see his tax returns and I think that is a

further effort from the Prime Minister to show that he doesn't

have anything to hide. Thank you.

North Korea claims it has successfully tested a new type

of engine designed for a missile that could hit the US mainland.

North Korean media said the test was personally supervised

by the country's leader, Kim Jong-un.

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have been rising

after the North's nuclear test and long range rocket

A fishing boat has sunk off the Western Isles

with three of the four crew members missing.

The Coastguard was alerted in the early hours of this morning

when the boat's emergency beacon was activated near

One crew member was rescued and a search is under

Our correspondent James Shaw is in Glasgow.

It was just about quarter to four this morning that the coastguard

received that alert, that distress call from the boat. We don't yet

know the name of the boat. We think it came from the Western Isles. They

scrambled a helicopter that managed to find one survivor. They have been

taken to hospital. We do not yet know their condition. Meanwhile,

another helicopter and a lifeboat are searching for three other people

missing in those waters at the very southern tip of the Western Isles.

Weather conditions we are told are reasonably good. Of course, it's

well known that fishing is an extremely dangerous job, people die

every year fishing around the waters of the UK. Eight people it was in

2014 the last figure that we have. Four people the year before that.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch will certainly be carrying

out an investigation into this latest accident. Thank you.

The Children's Commissioner for England has asked the French

government to help children living alone in a refugee camp in Calais

to be reunited with relatives in the UK.

Anne Longfield has written to the French authorities asking

them to speed up the claims of children believed to be

She said children living in the camp known as the Jungle

The American aerospace company SpaceX has successfully landed

a rocket on an ocean platform for the first time, after four

Part of the Falcon 9 rocket touched down after helping

to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

The breakthrough means the company will be able to re-use rocket parts

in the future instead of discarding them in the sea.

You can see more on all of today's stories on the BBC News Channel.

The next news on BBC One is at 5.50pm.

Good afternoon. A variety of weather on offer