12/02/2017 BBC News at Ten

President Trump says he'll strengthen links with allies

in the Pacific region following North Korea's

The House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow,

insists he's impartial - no matter how he voted

Labour's deputy leader, Tom Watson, denies the party has been

considering possible successors to Jeremy Corbyn.

A group of retired bishops accuses Church of England leaders

of suppressing the views of gay Christians.

Also in the next hour - La La Land is named best

Emma Stone won a best actress prize for her role in the musical,

which picked up a total of five awards.

And Caroline Frost, Entertainment Editor

at The Huffington Post UK, and Tony Grew, Parliamentary

journalist, are here to help me review the morning papers.

Good evening and welcome to BBC News.

America and Japan have strongly condemned North Korea,

for test-firing a ballistic missile, the first since Donald Trump

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was "intolerable,"

while Mr Trump said the US would back Japan 100%.

The missile flew for about 300 miles,

eventually falling into the Sea of Japan.

This report from our Tokyo Correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes

This is the launch of a Musudan ballistic missile, the same type

that was fired from North Korea into the Sea of Japan

Today's launch was almost certainly timed so that

North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-un, could crash

a weekend party taking place on the other side of the world.

President Donald Trump and Japan's Prime Minister,

Shinzo Abe, have been spending the weekend golfing in Florida.

Mr Abe was not amused by the North Korean intrusion.

TRANSLATION: North Korea's most recent missile launch

North Korea must fully comply with the relevant United Nations

In his response, President Trump seemed less certain.

Even neglecting to condemn the North Korean launch.

Thank you very much, Mr Prime Minister.

I just want everybody to understand and fully know

that the United States of America stands behind Japan,

Kim Jong-un recently promised to test a much more powerful

President Trump has vowed that will not happen,

but it's not clear how he intends to stop it.

North Korea already has short-range missiles capable

of hitting South Korea, and medium-range missiles

The Musudan is an intermediate range missile, which may be able

The ultimate goal is a so-called ICBM, able to hit parts

For more than 20 years, the outside world has been trying

to stop North Korea, with tighter and tighter sanctions.

The border with China remains open, and trade is flourishing.

The US and its allies will now move to tighten sanctions further,

and accelerate the deployment of new anti-missile systems

in South Korea and Japan, but no one seems to have any idea

how to stop North Korea from becoming a fully fledged

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC News, in Tokyo.

Graham Hutchings from the Oxford Analytica think tank has

written extensively on China and the Asia Pacific Rim.

He told me it was difficult to see how President Trump

And I think a fair conjecture that President Trump doesn't know

quite what to do yet - after all, the administration

Very noticeable, however, notable that new defence

Minister James Mattis went to Seoul as his first foreign visit last week

and spoke powerfully about the need to do something about North Korea.

And now we have, in the middle of the party that is currently

underway in Florida with the Japanese Prime Minister

and the US president, we have this move by North Korea.

Sanctions have achieved zero, as your report suggested.

There's a little bit of head room still for other measures,

perhaps squeezing the financial system of the dollar system, insofar

as that benefits North Korea, but it doesn't look as though

that is going to deliver what's required here.

What are North Korea's basic motives here, do you think?

And if there's one thing the North Korean state has done

I couldn't say it has prospered, although the economy does seem to be

in better shape as far as we can tell, than it has been for several

years, but its survival is very remarkable.

It's had famine, it's had succession problems and various other issues.

It wants to continue to survive, it wants respect.

It wants living space in the international arena and it

believes that pursuit of nuclear capacity capability

And what about China's role in all this?

Again, bearing in mind we have this new president, Mr Trump,

who has said various things about China.

China does not much like what has been happening in Pyongyang,

I'm sure, ever since Kim Jong-un took over there.

It's conspicuous that because either he hasn't been invited,

He hasn't made the customary visit to China.

Customary in the sense that his predecessors did.

China, however, does not want to see the collapse of that state.

It has a lot vested in the security and stability

It's going to be rather careful and cautious.

It will be happy to open up a conversation with the new

president of the United States to see what could be done,

but I think Mr Trump would be well advised not to expect too much,

And we'll find out how this story - and many others - are covered

in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening

in The Papers - our guests joining me tonight are Tony Grew,

the parliamentary journalist and Caroline Frost -

entertainment editor of the Huffington Post.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, insists he remains

impartial in performing his duties, despite saying that he supported

The revelation has led to repeated calls for him to stand down, as our

Political Correspondent Chris Mason reports.

The Speaker - a role with a history dating back

Sitting between the political parties, chairing debates, but,

for the second time in a week, it's John Bercow's opinions that

Talking to students at the University of Reading, he said

This may not be popular with some people in this audience,

I thought it was better to stay in the European Union than not.

Mr Bercow had already irritated some by accusing President Trump

I would not wish to issue an invitation to President Trump.

Some MPs loved that, but his critics are repeating

I'm incredibly surprised that the speaker now has expressed

views on a number of issues, on Brexit, on immigration,

He is incapable of impartially chairing debates in the House

An ally of the Speaker told me he didn't speak out

during the referendum campaign and is scrupulously fair

I'm confident that John Bercow has the numbers and support

across the parties to see off this attempt by a handful of crusty

And those in government remain supportive too.

I had more than six years as Europe minister under David Cameron,

and in that time I never found the Speaker was shy

of calling lots of people who were critical of the EU

The Speaker's job description is clear -

he is obliged to be politically impartial, but, for now at least,

he doesn't appear to be at much risk of being toppled.

Some of the biggest cinematic names in London, Hollywood and beyond came

together at the Royal Albert Hall for the Baftas. As predicted,

romantic musical La La Land won the greatest number of awards. With me

fresh from the Royal Albert Hall is the Huffington Post's UK's

entertainment editor Caroline Frost. You have recovered from the

excitement, but it was jolly chilly. That struck us. Every actress who

was wearing minimal clothing and smiling deserves some sort of

highfalutin award. It wasn't for the faint-hearted out there tonight.

Goodness me. Let's get started. We will start with Best actress. Emma

Stone. La La Land, best film and so on. We can have a little bit of the

song. # City of stars, are you shining

just for me # City of stars, there's so much

that I can't see. Not a bad song, I suppose. It got best film and

everybody thought it would. Not quite perhaps the success that was

expected. Every once in a while you get an enormous juggernauts like

Lord of the Rings or Titanic. You start to see them picking up

everything early in the morning. They get best cleaner who happen to

walk on the set. This didn't happen tonight with La La Land. All the

awards were going to rivals. Even the Jungle Book and best adapted

screenplay went to Lion. We thought La La Land wouldn't be so

universally celebrated. But Emma Stone got best actress in a leading

role. She was a very popular when. They had been sort of warned, not so

political this time around. It's the Baftas, don't go so heavy on the US

politics. But she talked about a time for creativity to be important

and celebrated in a world that needs a lot of love. She is a popular

when, a glowing actress and as time has come. -- a popular victory. Ryan

Gosling, very popular, but he didn't get best actor. Casey Affleck did in

a film to make you feel miserable! Ryan Gosling wasn't in the audience

tonight. He had been built to appear, so perhaps he got wind of

the fact it wouldn't go his way. Maybe he thought the trip was worth

his time, we don't know. Casey Affleck picked up the award tonight.

Very honest. A popular victory again. He hasn't been nominated in

awards seasons. His role in Manchester by the Sea, which picked

up the award for Best original screenplay for Kenneth Lonergan who

also directed. Not want to take the family along to on a Sunday

afternoon. More downbeat, but we know Hollywood loves a tear-jerker.

Something to make us feel bad about. Best supporting actor. Dev Patel.

Our Dev. It's looking good for the Oscars. He's nominated next month,

so perhaps this victory will make the American Academy wake up and

think, they need to take another look at the young man. The film he

was in was Lion, the true story of an Indian boy who got lost on the

trains in India, was adopted by an Australian couple, in the film they

are played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. He tries to make his

way back to the tiny village that he has dreams about still. And Dev

Patel had to learn to speak in Australian accent. It was remarkably

convincing and praised by natives. He said it's a family film about

mothers and sons. He was very emotional, thanking his family

tonight. Best supporting actress, Viola Davis. Arguably the strongest

field of the night. Nicole Kidman, Michelle Williams in Manchester by

the Sea. But Viola Davis triumphed. She's probably the shoo-in for the

Oscars now. She went back at the global -- she won at the Golden

globes as well. That film was in Fences as well. And the best British

film, it is the Baftas. I, Daniel Blake, directed by Ken Loach. It's

an unashamedly bleak film for all the right reasons. He won at the

Cannes Festival. He was the first win of the night, Ken Loach, and he

went in all guns blazing. He talks about the way the country is being

run, and that creativity... He said the Oscars and all the awards

seasons, the Baftas, there is room for glitz and glamour of the red

carpet, but there is room for the other stuff as well. By that, he

meant the film he has made, which isn't an easy film to watch, but is

certainly necessary. Caroline, thank you very much indeed. You will join

me again in about 15 minutes to talk about the newspapers, which will no

doubt have some Bafta pictures on the front pages.

Time to take a look at the headlines. The White House has

responded to North Korea's latest ballistic missile test by vowing to

stand by its allies in the region to deter what it calls the menace of

Kim Jong-un's regime. The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow,

has insisted he remained impartial in performing his duties, despite

saying he voted remain in the European Union referendum. We have

just been discussing, La La Land has been named best film at the Baftas.

Emma Stone won best actress for the musical, which picked up a total of

five awards. A busy day in sport. We will go

straight to the sport centre with John Watson.

Premier League champions Leicester City are facing a battle to remain

in the Premier League, one season on from lifting

the title, after being beaten 2-0 by Swansea City.

Claudio Ranieri's side are now just one point above the relegation zone

after slipping to their fifth straight league defeat.

Not much to smile about when faced with a relegation battle.

Claudio Ranieri's Leicester are one point above the bottom

three and so are Swansea, but they are revitalised

With so much riding on this game, it was all rather cagey.

That was until Alfie Mawson managed to break free,

the central defender showing his survival instincts.

He has now scored more Premier League goals this

When fighting at the bottom, timing your next move can be crucial.

In first-half injury time Swansea struck again,

Martin Olsson hammered in his first for the club, much to the delight

The champions have failed to score in the Premier League in 2017.

It took over an hour to register their first real chance.

Islam Slimani's effort smothered by Fabianski.

Leicester's turnaround in fortunes is baffling,

A huge victory for Swansea and Paul Clement, but Leicester

haven't won in the league since New Year's Eve.

This is a hangover they need to shift quickly.

Chelsea could've gone 12 points clear at the top.

As it is, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley thanks

to a fantastic free kick from Robbie Brady.

Chelsea extend their lead to ten points instead.

Rangers are into the last eight of the Scottish Cup after coming

Martyn Waghorn won it for Rangers in what was their first match

following the departure of manager Mark Warburton on Friday.

And Scottish Cup holders Hibernian will face a fifth-round replay

after a goalless draw with Edinburgh rivals, Hearts.

This weekend's Six Nations action culminated in defeat for Scotland

The Scots hadn't won there since 1999, and that losing

streak was extended to ten straight matches as they lost by 22-16.

Home of a rugby team built around a 150 stone pack.

When faced with such an obstacle, Scotland decided the best option

was to distract them and then sneak around.

In this battle, the French Goliath had the slingshot in the form

With France now ahead, the battering ram set to work.

With every charge, they knew the Scottish wall would weaken.

Eventually somewhere a crack would appear.

Gael Fickou spotted it, breathing space.

The gap began to seal up once more, two penalties for Finn Russell,

Scotland were back within two at the break and gave chase

Tommy Seymour took a punt, and his luck was in.

Now a chance for two easy extra points.

Finn Russell's kick would have been emphatic in football

France took their chance, 16-16, less than 15 minutes left.

The French urged to the line, they went to the brink, no try.

They kept on queueing up Lopez, who knocked them over.

In the land of the giants, Scotland's task was simply too big.

Ireland's women have seized control of the women's Six Nations

following a bonus point victory over Italy.

They won by 27 points to 3, Hannah Tyrrell scoring a superb solo

That secured the bonus point, which means they top the table

with two wins out of two, ahead of England who've also won

In the rest of the day's rugby, Wasps moved five points clear

at the top after a 35-35 draw with Exeter.

There was a total of ten tries scored, with Exeter down to 14 men.

In the Pro12, Treviso lost to Leinster and Connaught beat

Fourteen retired Anglican bishops, have accused the church of ignoring

In an open letter they said an official report into the Church

of England's position on homosexuality, didn't contain

"authentic voices" from the gay and lesbian community.

The letter comes ahead of a meeting of the General Synod,

later this week, the body which approves church law.

Here's our Religious Affairs Correspondent Martin Bashir.

If the Church of England was tempted to believe that its recent report

on same-sex marriage had settled the matter, then this letter

is an indication that the issue is still tearing at the heart

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

The letter says that the House of Bishops report, which maintains

that marriage is between a man and a woman, is not

"Our perception is that while the pain of LGBT people

is spoken about in your report, we do not hear its authentic voice."

One of the signatories says that members of the LGBT community have

Of the people that entered those conversations,

knowing that they would have to reveal themselves

in a circumstance in which that might carry a price,

in terms of their life and career, and they feel that what's come out

here is a betrayal in the specific sense, that their

For some attending morning worship in Leeds, it's time for same-sex

The community of LGBT people has not been fully heard.

I think that's a terrible sadness in terms of the broad

So long ago people could change their mind about slavery,

Why can't they realise that we are real people

But for evangelical Christians, even those who might

be same-sex attracted, the critical issue is not

inclusiveness, but obedience to scripture and tradition.

The teaching of the Bible is that we are all broken in different ways.

All of us are broken in our sexuality in fact, whether it's

We'll have sexual desires we need to say no to for the sake of our

The House of Bishops has called for a change

That will be put to the test on Wednesday when members

of General Synod will debate the issue.

Labour's deputy leader, Tom Watson, says the party's leadership

Speaking to the BBC this morning, Mr Watson played down reports that

Labour is using focus groups to gauge the popularity

of alternative candidates to Jeremy Corbyn.

He said this was "not the time" for another leadership election.

Earlier I spoke to Chris Mason about the reports.

Pretty much ever since he was first elected Labour leader,

the running theme has always been, how long will he last?

There was a conclusion, if you like, at the end of his first year

in office that he would last a little longer, because, yes,

he won again and won easily in the Labour leadership contest

Things then went a little quiet because the assumption was that

therefore he would be able to stay for as long as he chose to.

What we've now got is a discussion that's been going on at Westminster,

both privately and then occasionally in public, about whether he may

at some stage choose to stand down, rather than being toppled

But as you say, Tom Watson appearing on the Andrew Marr Show this

morning, insisted that the second leadership election win

for Mr Corbyn has cleared the issue and that he will stick around

We had a damaging second leadership election.

So we've got an uphill struggle ahead.

The polls aren't great for us, but I'm determined now that we've

got the leadership settled for this parliament, that we can focus

on developing a very positive, clear message to the British people

We could hear in Tom Watson's tone there the position that Labour

finds itself in as a party, talking about an uphill struggle.

Looking at the opinion polls, and we should always insert

the caveat that opinion polls so often recently have proven to be

spectacularly wrong, but Labour are a country mile behind

The polls could still be very wrong and they would still be behind.

Enter Ian Lavery, who is a Labour MP, who appeared on Radio

He is their new campaigns coordinator.

And he said something that didn't quite chime

So, in the context of these upcoming by-elections in Copeland in Cumbria

and in Stoke-on-Trent, he said the party was pretty

confident, but he talked about the potential loss of either

of those seats that Labour has held pretty much forever,

as potential hiccups, which is arguably to understate

the significance of a Labour loss for them there.

He then said, and it's a very interesting quote, this.

"There's plenty of leaders to pick from if and when Jeremy decides

of his own volition that it's not for him at the election.

That isn't the case at this point in time."

So he was floating publicly the idea that Jeremy Corbyn could choose,

as he says, of his own volition, that he might not want

And that is to articulate something publicly that occasionally Labour

This is a guy, by the way, who has been in post as the campaign

It's not usually the kind of language you would use publicly

to describe the potential shelf life of your boss.

And any names, a few names are around.

The names that tend to float to the surface, Angela Rayner,

Rebecca Long-Bailey, two Shadow Cabinet ministers.

They were the subject of some discussion in

It is the suggestion that there has been some internal

succession planning going on, and some focus groups,

where the party assembles a group of typical voters and shows them

videos of various people and says, what do you make of these people?

Labour have been pointedly saying that these focus groups were not

about succession planning, it was normal, conventional party

policy to do this kind of thing behind the scenes.

Clive Lewis is the other name that is mentioned.

He resigned from the Shadow Cabinet last week over those Brexit

So, yes, yet again, the speculation about who might be the next leader

of the Labour Party seems to be underway.

The award-winning jazz and pop singer Al Jarreau has died

in a Los Angeles hospital just days after announcing he was

Jarreau was acclaimed for his versatility,

winning seven Grammy Awards across jazz, pop and R categories.

It has been cold plate in most places. Will the weather cheer up in

the next few days? -- it has been cold of late.

I'm sure we are crying out for something more like spring. Good

news, we can wave goodbye to scenes and temperatures like this. Come the

middle of the week it will feel much more like it with sunshine and

milder weather. The message is, slowly but surely over the next few

days it will turn more mild. But we're not there yet. Another chilly

night out there, brisk easterly wind with dampness around, particularly

later in the night across northern England and eastern Scotland. Clear

skies emerging across southern counties as we end the night, cold,

but not as cold as it has been recently. Tubic as of four or 5

degrees, and a bracing start as you step out in the morning. --

temperatures off. Sunny but windy with gales out west in the south.

Further north, it will be a struggle to brighten things up, especially

across the more northern and eastern parts of England and Dublin to

Scotland as well. Some dampness holding temperatures down to four or

5 degrees across north-east ingot. A bit of a question over how quickly

it will brighten up through parts of Wales, the Midlands and eastern

counties. If it stays cloudy, it will stay chilly. Further south, a

transformation from the dole weekend conditions. But it will be windy.

You have to factor that in. Particularly windy across western

coasts and the headlands. 50 or 60 mph coming from the east and their

warnings from the Met office. Into Monday night it will stay windy. By

Tuesday morning, this chap appearing from the south-west, a front

bringing showery outbreaks of rain across south of England and

south-west Wales. For the rest of us, a dry day on Tuesday. How much

sunshine is open to doubt. It's a lot milder further south and west.

As we head towards the middle of the week, the front that saunters across

the country bringing the odd shower and another one that will bring

heavier and possibly thundery showers as well. Some showers around

through the middle of the week but sunshine as well and most of us will

turn dry by Thursday. For all of us it will be much milder than it is

right now.