09/03/2017 BBC News at One

The Chancellor Philip Hammond defends raising taxes

Mr Hammond said the government was facing new spending challenges

What I did yesterday was address the basic continuing unfairness

in the current system, the benefits available

to the self-employed have significantly improved.

This is not the time to do it when consumer spending is just dipping

and at the front line are the effects of the sole traders, the

self-employed. We'll be asking just how

much political pressure Jeremy Hunt says the NHS has

to improve its performance now that social care is being given

an extra ?2 billion. John Lewis cuts its staff bonuses

in the face of what it calls A university lecturer has been

arrested in Australia on child sex abuse charges after he impersonated

the pop star Justin Bieber online. Made this memorial can read the

lives in service of all who took part in the operations in Iraq and

Afghanistan. And the Queen unveils a memorial

dedicated to those who served in conflicts in Iraq,

Afghanistan, and in the Gulf War. And the Queen unveils a memorial

dedicated to those who served And coming up in the

sport on BBC News. England and Scotland

name their teams for Saturday's Calcutta Cup match

in the Six Nations, with Billy Vunipola on the bench

for Eddie Jone's side at Twickenham. Good afternoon and welcome

to the BBC News at One. The Chancellor Philip Hammond has

defended his plan to raise National Insurance Contributions

for the self-employed, saying the government

faces "new challenges." Mr Hammond is facing criticism

of the Budget announcement for apparently going against a 2015

manifesto pledge on tax rises. The change, due to come in next

year, will mean 1.6 million self-employed people paying

on average ?240 more every year. Labour has accused the government

of breaking its promise. Here's our political

correspondent Eleanor Garnier. Learning to solve technical problems

at a college in Dudley in the West Midlands this morning, and after

yesterday's budget, the Chancellor is the one looking for answers after

criticism over his plans to hike up national insurance. I think the

decision we have made is a fair decision. To ask self-employed

people to pay just a little more contribution for the services they

receive. This is not in any way an attack on business, hugely

supportive of business, I want people to have choices about the way

they work, but I want them to make those choices on the basis of what's

right, not on the basis of what tax advantages they bring. But this is

the row he woke up to. Accusations the Tories had broken a manifesto

promise made by Mr Cameron back in 2015. If you elect me as your Prime

Minister there will be no increase in VAT, no increase in National

insurance, no increase in income tax. And there is criticism from

some Conservative MPs. My leave iPod through people's doors who voted for

me said we will not put up VAT, income tax and national insurance

contributions and it didn't say only class one or anything else, it

didn't say that. That's what people believed in an I don't think we

should break that promise. The government says the policy will make

the system fairer. The new changes plus others already planned mean 2.6

million people will gain around ?115 a year. At 1.6 million will have to

pay more, on average ?240 a year. Labour is hoping Tory rebels will

help them oppose the plans. And represent the constituency with a

large number of self-employed and I'd tell you, at the moment, they

are on the edge because the dip in consumer spending, what's happening

in the economy at the moment. This is not a time to be penalising them.

We want a fair system so let the planet so those self-employed are

treated fairly, but also lets end this exploitation. But others are

clear the change will make things fairer. The world of work is

changing, 45% of the increase in employment in the last few years has

been done by self-employment and he's realised more people are

self-employed, the less taxi is getting in because the self-employed

pay significantly less and he's right to adjust that. The Treasury

say Philip Hammond is privately bullish about the changes. But they

do admit privately the initial explanation of the measures may have

fallen short. The government insists its plans are fair. But Philip

Hammond said no Chancellor can rule out future tax changes. Adding that

the golden rule. The independent economics

think tank, the Institute of Fiscal Studies, has been looking

through the Chancellor's Budget and has been giving its initial

analysis of it to our economics correspondent Andy Verity

who's in central London. What do they say? As well as

analysing the National Insurance changes we've talked about, they've

also looked about earnings, and that's a very concerning picture

because they have identified official recognition that we are not

now going to get back all the economic growth that we lost after

the financial crash. Here is what Paul Johnson said to me. What really

struck me was that we have got confirmation that we are in the

middle of the worst decade for earnings growth in more than 100

years and yet the Office for Budget Responsibility things the economy is

above trend, in other words doing better than it can continue to do

into the future, so all of that growth we have lost over the last

few years, we're not going to get back again. We are still getting

used to this idea. The Autumn Statement in 2016. But actually,

normally after recession you do expect a recovery, you expect to get

back that productive capacity. The fact we are now not going to get it

back and with it the pay rises which would have gone with it, means this

is a decade without precedent in modern times. The worst pay rises in

a decade for more than a century. OK, Andy, thank you.

Our Assistant Political Editor Norman Smith is in Westminster.

Norman, the ISS with a gloomy assessment of pay rises and this row

going on with National Insurance contributions. How much pressure

does this mean Philip Hammond is now under? He is under huge humongous

pressure to climb down because for many Conservative MPs there is tax

rise goes against everything they believe it is to be a conservative,

involving in the first place putting up taxes on people's basic income,

something which is anathema to many Tories, but more than that, they

view it as an attack on their people, people who go out on their

own, take a risk, start a business, grow a company, and, yes, they do

accept it is a breach of their party 's election manifesto. And the

difficulty for Philip Hammond is there is going to have to be a vote

on this, they will have to be legislation to bring about these tax

rises. This morning the Treasury were not running up the white flag

and say Mr Hammond is bullish and are confident they can make a better

job of selling the policies for the basing your argument is about

fairness will gain traction. My sense is at the end of the day, Mr

Hammond may yet be saved by Brexit and the reason for that is real Tory

MPs, do they want to inflict more hardship and difficulty on the

government when they are already having to navigate the fraud to

reign of Brexit? So we may not get a climb-down. It could be a review

and, significantly, Downing Street this morning repeatedly not ruling

out a review of the tax rises. Norman, many thanks.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said it is essential that A

departments in England hit their target for waiting times

now that extra money has been put into social care,

If we are leaving people too long in A departments,

if we're not getting the flow right through hospitals, it

is bad for patient safety, and that's why it's absolutely

essential that we do get back to the 95% target.

This one is critical for patient safety, and that's why,

yesterday, you saw the Chancellor announcing a ?2 billion short-term

Well, 95% of patients should be dealt with in four hours,

but the latest figures for January show a new record low,

with only 85% of people being seen in that time.

Our health correspondent Nick Triggle is here.

The Health Secretary wants to get back to this 95% target, how?

Clearly it's a big ask, but he is hoping the investment announced in

the budget for social care will have a knock-on impact for hospitals for

the best winter one of the big problems we have seen is the large

numbers of patients who finished their treatment but have been unable

to be discharged from hospital because care is not available in the

community. If councils are in charge of social care and are able to

provide more help in the home tasks whitewashing and dressing, more care

home faces, those delays in theory should reduce and the NHS has issued

guidance this morning saying that they hope the investment will free

up between 2000-3000 bed to reduce the delays by a half and expectation

now is the NHS will hit target by March next year but hospital bosses

I have spoken to have said that if unrealistic. OK, Nick, thank you.

John Lewis has cut its staff bonus to 6% this year,

John Lewis has cut its staff bonus to 6% this year,

Despite rising profits, the partnership, which also owns

Waitrose, is warning of an "increasingly

It comes after John Lewis announced it was cutting

Our Business Correspondent Emma Simpson reports.

These were the good old days, a stonking

John Lewis is owned by its staff, and they cherish

This year, a different story, just 6%, the lowest

for 63 years, despite reporting healthy pre-tax profits.

The reason we've done that is because it gives

us more firepower to accelerate our plans for the future.

It basically means we can maintain our investment

this year and absorb the cost of change, even if the market gets

tougher in the year ahead, and that's very

The reason we've done that is because it gives

A revolution in shopping habits is under way.

Nearly half of all John Lewis's sales are now online, but

they still have to pay the costs of all the stores.

How to make money and give the customers what they

want - it's something all retailers are trying to figure out.

Now matter how good a retailer you are, you are

not immune to the challenges that all retailers face now.

Costs are rising in the supply chain because

You also have higher costs for staff because wages

are rising, and then, of course, there's business rates on top of

And then you have to invest heavily in the business to keep

But as the spring season gets under way, what

the chairman of this business is worried

about is the impact of the

falling pound, and how that could affect prices and profits.

The main uncertainty in the market this year

I said in January that it was the dog

that hadn't barked, and I think what we can

now see is, or hear, is the

sort of low rumble of a bit of a growl.

And will consumers start to rein back as a result?

John Lewis is preparing itself for a tough year

The founder of a charity which supports people

who as children were forcibly sent abroad without their parents has

been giving evidence at the independent inquiry

Margaret Humphreys said the deportation of thousands

of children was the most catastrophic child abuse legacy

Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent, Tom Symonds.

Margaret Humphreys has worked most of her life

Her offices are covered with the pictures of those she's helped.

Today, 30 years after founding the Child Migrants Trust,

she finally got to give evidence to a British public inquiry,

Without doubt this is the most catastrophic child-abuse legacy

Kidnapping, sexual abuse in the UK before they were sent -

Between 1945 and 1974 Britain accelerated the migration of poor

children, in particular to Australia.

The idea - to reduce the impact on British

social services, and bring what was called "good white stock"

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

says, "Your mother's dead, you know, so how'd

The story of Margaret Humphreys' fight for the migrants was made

She was particularly horrified about the way it stripped them of their

It is a chilling fact of the scandal that many were told they

That was in my view I think the greatest betrayal of all,

because it took so much hope from them.

The inquiry has heard seven days of evidence,

from migrants in their later years, remembering their lives.

Deprived of good education, love and support.

Once in Australia I walked with no shoes, and dare I

say it, I no underwear and believe me - you need to do that

walk to know how it feels to be nobody.

When your feet hurt and they bleed, and nobody, but nobody,

The British Government has apologised

for what happened, but this inquiry is looking at the legacy it has

left, and former child migrants have told me they want more compensation

to ease the impact it is still having so late in their lives.

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

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, defends raising National Insurance

on the self-employed, saying there are new spending challenges that

have to be faced. And coming up: Was this the greatest

comeback in sporting history? We'll have all the reaction to that

amazing Barcelona fightback Coming up in sport at

1.30: Arsene Wenger says the opinion of Arsenal fans

will influence his decision over whether to remain in charge next

season, but he says he hasn't made up his mind yet, or told

the players his plan. The Queen has unveiled a memorial

honouring the British military personnel and civilians who served

in Afghanistan and Iraq since 1990. The deployments to three wars over

a 24-year period were the longest and most intense since World War

Two. In total, 682 British service men

and women lost their lives. Members of the public donated

more than ?1 million Yes, Rita, many of the invited

guests, about 2000 of them, queueing up to have their pictures taken by

the new memorial. Twin pillars of stone linked by a bronze medallion,

which captures the beauty and service of all those who took part

in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over that very long

period. This is a day that many people have waited for a very long

time. There have been many accounts of

individual sacrifice during the longest continuous period of combat

operations since the Second World War, but today's ceremonies had at

their heart stories that weren't told, stories of the duty and

service shown by thousands, in and out of uniform. Mark Stone likened

his wife Donna had travelled from Cornwall. Mark rebuilt his life

after losing a leg to a roadside bomb. He was here to remember all of

those who serve. It symbolises the hard work that the British forces

have done in the Gulf region, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everyone has

their own unique take on the war and what happened, but it is nice to

share with people that been through similar situations to myself. We

meet in the presence of God to commemorate and give thanks for all

those civilians and members of the military who have served on

operations in the Gulf region, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The operations being commemorated today divided public opinion as to

their merit. No one ever doubted the dedication of every man and every

woman who travelled to that troubled region. Tony O'Donnell lost her

husband Gary in Afghanistan. It is definitely not just about widows. I

am happy to be here and I have seen some of the other widows, so there

are a few of us here. It is a pity we couldn't all come, but this is

about everybody, not just those who died. This unveiling might not have

been possible without the generosity of the public. The Queen was the

first to inspect a structure which captures the complexity of the

events spanning a quarter of a century. The memorial itself is

left, and in a way, there is an unfinished site, which is a nod to

the fact that we live in an ongoing situation in both of those

countries. One day, this Sergeant and his wife will pass on their Iraq

experiences to their son, Alfie, not on his best behaviour this morning.

Now, he and generations to come will have a permanent reminder of a

chapter in our history that remains unfinished business.

I wanted to show you some of the detail on the reverse side of the

medallion, this idea then with charities, Government agencies. You

can see a water pump in the top right. Young girls at school, and

supplies being delivered. From people we are speaking to, the signs

are that they are well pleased with all this work.

Robert, many thanks. Theresa May is in Brussels this

lunchtime to attend what's expected to be her final EU summit before

triggering the UK's departure But on the agenda is whether to

extend the term of Donald Tusk as President of the European

Council. Our political correspondent

Ben Wright is there. Are they talking about Brexit

at all, and if not, why not? Rita, EU leaders are arriving here

for their summit now, and even though Brexit is one of the biggest

challenges facing the EU, the issue is not on the formal agenda at all,

and it is not expected to be talked about in the margins of these

meetings. It will not be chewed on over dinner tonight. The reason is

that the EU is emphatic that there can be no negotiations of any sort

until the UK has formally asked to leave the EU, triggered Article 50

of the Lisbon Treaty. Until that happens, until that notification is

given, there can be no talks, so it is quite a bizarre situation, that

it is the big issue here, but it will not be talked about. Theresa

May has insisted for many months that she will trigger that,

beginning Brexit, by the end of March, a couple of weeks. Despite

the need for Parliamentary approval, number ten insist that timetable

remains in place. In the meantime, the EU continues to discuss other

things, including the future of the union, and that is a discussion that

Theresa May will not be at tomorrow. She is leaving tonight. The other

thing you mention, the re-elections of Donald Tusk, the president of the

European Council, a big job, his election was thought to be a

formality, but Poland seems to be agitating for a vote, saying that

Donald Tusk, they think, is meddling in politics. They don't think he

should be in the job. We will see this afternoon if they succeed in

causing a rumpus over this and getting a vote. My hunch is, he will

be re-elected for another two and a half year term.

Ben, many thanks. A man who allegedly posed online

as Justin Bieber to solicit explicit images from children has been

charged with more than 900 sex Gordon Chalmers - a 42-year-old

university law lecturer - faces charges dating back

a decade, including rape. 20 of the 157 victims are thought

to have been British. Our correspondent

Anisa Kadri reports. An idol to millions, Justin Bieber,

the pop star with an adoring young But now, a 42-year-old

law professor in Brisbane is accused of sexually

abusing children by pretending to be Gordon Douglas Chalmers

allegedly used social media to win the trust of Bieber fans,

including up to 20 in the UK, and got them to send him

explicit images. He was already facing charges

of grooming children, but after police went through his

computer, more than 900 new charges They include three of rape,

five of indecent treatment of children, and hundreds of making

child exploitation material. Justin Bieber is

touring Australia, and some of his teenage fans,

like Priscilla Hadad, say they can understand why young people may be

tempted to speak with a fake Sometimes, maybe their

excitement might get them I'm going to go with it and I'm

going to keep talking. Queensland police say

the arrest was made after tip-offs from the US

and German authorities, and they are warning parents

to protect their children It's my rules, it's my house

and there's a lot out there. And for me, I really,

really want to be on top A United Nations report is to call

for an independent investigation into the potential health impact

of the UK's largest Residents living near

the Ffos-y-Fran site in South Wales have led a long campaign against air

and noise pollution. The mine's operator, Miller Argent,

says the company has a 'proud record Our Wales environment correspondent

Stefan Messenger reports. It's taken over his living

room, and he says, it's Campaigning against the giant

coalmine on his doorstep. So, this is the back

of your car, basically, Yes, you think, well,

you know, that's going in my mouth, like, that's

going up my nose. Outside, there's more coal

dust on his windowsills. Terry Evans claims it's

being blown from just beyond this ridge, 37 metres

from his front door. From the air, you can see why -

cut into the side of the valley, east of the town

of Merthyr Tydfil, this is the UK's largest opencast mine,

Ffos-y-Fran, the size of some 400 Since 2007, a private

company's been digging here, turning old industrial land back

to open moorland as they go. That's why it was allowed

to happen so close to The community were told that

modern mining methods would protect them from pollution,

but ten years on, some here say All of us were well aware

of people's concerns and real problems of washing

being dirty, of kids being disturbed because they couldn't

get to sleep at night. Since then, the mine has got

a bit deeper, the noise pollution has got less, but nobody

believes that the air pollution has For more than a decade,

there have been protests and petitions, attempted

legal action, complaints to the local council,

the Now, BBC News has

learned that the United Nations is set to make

a surprising intervention. A report by its Special

Rapporteur on the human rights of communities at risk

of pollution will call for an independent investigation into

claims this mine could be harming He had met local

campaigners as part of an I came across a number

of pressing issues, but this was definitely

at I heard allegations

of very high rates of childhood asthma, cancer clusters

among the community. I didn't hear any

evidence of a strong intervention by the

Government to investigate. Merthyr Tydfil Council

said its findings were based on unsubstantiated claims

by the community. The mine's operator, Miller Argent,

said he'd been taken in by fake news,

accusing him of being biased and a disgrace

to his The Welsh Government said

it was supporting local authorities The UK Government

will respond after Mr Tuncak's official report has been

published in September. The British artist Sir Howard

Hodgkin has died, aged 84. He was widely regarded as a central figure

in contemporary art for over half a century and served as a trustee of

the Tate and National Gallery during his long career. Our arts editor

joins us. Sum up his importance for us. I think he was a vital component

in modern and contemporary art in the second part of the 20th century,

not just from a British point of view but from a global one. He

bought together the inventions of Matisse and Degas with the

innovations of the abstract expressionist in America. He brought

colour, form and expression into these beautiful paintings, normally

on a wood panel, highly colourful. He always said that for him, a

painting was a way of remembering something. He never made any

sketches and painted directly onto the panel. He took ages in doing it,

but when he eventually produced a result, they were always very

moving. You could sense the emotion he was trying to present to you,

whether that was anger or sadness, but always this sense of deep

empathy, and those paintings, for me, are some of the most beautiful

paintings created in Britain in the second half of the 20th century.

Many thanks. Now, was this the greatest comeback

in football history? Barcelona produced a stunning

victory in the Champions League to knock out Paris St Germain

to reach the quarter finals. They secured a 6-1 win on the night

to overturn a 4-0 deficit, Our sports correspondent

Olly Foster reports. There's extraordinary about

Barcelona reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but last

night's celebrations were the biggest giveaway that something

extraordinary had happened at the Nou. When substitute Roberto scooped

the ball past the Paris St Germain keeper, their sixth on the night

with seconds to spare, there was delirium. A comeback to rival any

other in the history of European football. It was a joyous riot on

the Ramblas. The supporters never saw this coming. They needed at

least four goals last night. There was a debatable Messi penalty early

in the secondary half -- the second half. This strike silence them.

Barcelona needed at least three. The odds lengthened, the clock was

ticking. Neymar curled a beauty, but there were only two minutes left.

Neymar was no less from the spot. -- had no nerves from the spot. That is

the coach Tom Luis Enrique, who had joked before the game that they

could score six. TRANSLATION: It was a difficult night to describe with

words. It had a spectacular ending in the Nou Camp. The ability of

sport to amaze has been proved many times. It was true of Ian Botham's

ashes in the 80s, Rory McIlroy winning five years ago. Barcelona

won no trophy last night, just a match and a place in the record

books, but don't tell them that's not worth shouting about.

Here is a nice picture from Cambridgeshire. A very different

story off the tip of Cornwall, look at that. Land 's end looks like the

end of the world - grey skies, very gloomy. It is really just the

south-west where we have the cloud. The rest of us are enjoying this

beautiful spring weather. It is quite warm as well, temperatures

already getting up to 17 Celsius in London. For most of us, typically

around 10-15dC. It is sunny, but there is a bit of a breeze, so it

feels a bit on the cool side, a bit fresh in one or two mac places. 11

Celsius in Sheffield. There is that warm spot, as it often is, in

London, 15 Celsius, then we swing down to the tip of Cornwall, to

where the pirates are. This cloud stretches from the Channel Islands

into Cornwall, stall for the day, then later on in the evening, the

clouds roll in the Atlantic and bring some damp weather, relatively

mild to, -- relatively mild, to western parts. Eastern areas will be

free of club at Chile. Tomorrow, mist and drizzle rolling in, nothing

like what we have got today. Thicker cloud tomorrow. In one or two

locations, the client will break, so you will get a little bit of

brightness. The temperatures are lower. At the weekend, the weather

fronts line-up in the Atlantic. There is a whole trail of them, and

that will introduce some fresh air. Things will cool off a little bit

will stop at least across some of these northern and western areas.

Saturday, some spots of rain across the North, temperatures in the low

teens, 12-13dC. Sunday, it looks like some of that rainbow push

across more southern areas as well, so a bit of a mixture this weekend.

In the south this weekend, particularly Saturday, if the clouds

do break, you could see 17 Celsius. In summary, some sunny spells, rain

at times, and turning a little bit cooler. Not bad.

That's all from the BBC News at One, so it's goodbye from me.