:00:00. > :00:07.George Osborne surprises some MPs and outrages others by taking a job
:00:08. > :00:10.as editor of a daily London newspaper.
:00:11. > :00:16.He claims he can run the London Evening Standard and stay
:00:17. > :00:18.on as MP for Tatton, along with his four other jobs.
:00:19. > :00:20.I'm thrilled and excited to be the new editor
:00:21. > :00:26.And, you know, with so many big issues in our world,
:00:27. > :00:29.what people want are authoritative facts, good analysis.
:00:30. > :00:34.How can you edit a daily newspaper, the Evening Standard,
:00:35. > :00:37.which is for London, represent a Cheshire constituency,
:00:38. > :00:42.and be a director of a bank all at the same time?
:00:43. > :00:45.There have been calls for Mr Osborne to quit as an MP and accusations
:00:46. > :00:53.The White House backs down over a claim GCHQ bugged Donald Trump.
:00:54. > :00:59.And uncomfortable body language as Mr Trump meets
:01:00. > :01:03.the German Chancellor for the first time.
:01:04. > :01:07.Nicola Sturgeon hints that she might be prepared to look at a later date
:01:08. > :01:13.And can Ireland spoil England's party at the Six Nations
:01:14. > :01:19.And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News...
:01:20. > :01:22.Jockey Robbie Power rides 7/1 shot Sizing John to victory
:01:23. > :01:52.In a move that's astonished some MPs and outraged others,
:01:53. > :01:54.the former Chancellor George Osborne has been appointed the editor
:01:55. > :01:57.of a daily newspaper - the London Evening Standard.
:01:58. > :02:03.He's also staying on as MP for Tatton and insists he will be
:02:04. > :02:07.able to balance the demands of both jobs - as well as do his four other
:02:08. > :02:09.jobs, which include working for an investment company.
:02:10. > :02:11.Concerns have been raised about potential conflicts
:02:12. > :02:14.of interest and there have been calls for Mr Osborne to be denied
:02:15. > :02:18.access to confidential political briefings from now on.
:02:19. > :02:20.Our media editor Amol Rajan broke the story,
:02:21. > :02:24.This is the George Osborne known to Britain.
:02:25. > :02:28.Austerity Chancellor, loyal lieutenant to David Cameron
:02:29. > :02:30.and backbench MP ruthlessly sacked by Theresa May.
:02:31. > :02:33.But, stop press, today he made a career change,
:02:34. > :02:39.In a shock announcement, Osborne has been appointed editor
:02:40. > :02:41.of the London Evening Standard, a job he will do while
:02:42. > :02:45.I'm thrilled and excited to be the new editor
:02:46. > :02:48.And, you know, with so many big issues in our world,
:02:49. > :02:52.what people want are authoritative facts, good analysis.
:02:53. > :02:56.It's a really important time for good journalism,
:02:57. > :03:00.and the Evening Standard is going to provide it.
:03:01. > :03:02.In a few weeks' time George Osborne will take the editor's
:03:03. > :03:05.He will arrive at 5am and leave around midday.
:03:06. > :03:08.But I spent years here, too, when I was editor
:03:09. > :03:12.And I can tell you that there are managerial and commercial
:03:13. > :03:17.Some editors have been known to work up to 100 hours a week.
:03:18. > :03:20.So the question that Standard staff are asking,
:03:21. > :03:22.is how do you reconcile being a hard-working editor with being
:03:23. > :03:27.In his Tatton constituency in Cheshire today, this is how
:03:28. > :03:29.Obviously thrilled for George, and remaining
:03:30. > :03:37.I guess one just hopes that he will continue his constituency duties.
:03:38. > :03:40.To me he should either be that one or that one.
:03:41. > :03:44.I don't have a problem with George Osborne doing that.
:03:45. > :03:46.I thought he was an amazing Chancellor.
:03:47. > :03:48.Mr Osborne will be paid substantially less than his
:03:49. > :03:52.predecessor, but then perhaps he doesn't need the money.
:03:53. > :03:56.The 45-year-old already earns nearly ?75,000 as an MP.
:03:57. > :04:00.He took home over ?750,000 in the last year for speeches.
:04:01. > :04:03.And he makes ?650,000 a year for four days' work each month
:04:04. > :04:14.I thought it was fake news when I heard it to begin with.
:04:15. > :04:17.It's not for the money, because he has plenty
:04:18. > :04:21.I can only conclude that he wants to build the Standard
:04:22. > :04:23.into an alternative power base to Theresa May.
:04:24. > :04:25.And in the event of Brexit all going pear-shaped,
:04:26. > :04:28.he will use this power base to launch his attack.
:04:29. > :04:30.Some have said there's a clear conflict of interest here.
:04:31. > :04:32.Others have questioned George Osborne's commitment to Parliament.
:04:33. > :04:35.He's very clever, and he's very able, but this is ridiculous.
:04:36. > :04:39.How can you edit a daily newspaper, the Evening Standard,
:04:40. > :04:42.which is for London, represent a Cheshire constituency,
:04:43. > :04:46.and be a director of a bank all at the same time?
:04:47. > :04:49.He may be no stranger to the headlines, but George Osborne
:04:50. > :04:54.has limited journalistic experience and credentials.
:04:55. > :04:55.This surprise appointment will intrigue Westminster
:04:56. > :05:00.The likelihood is that he will be a newspaper editor long
:05:01. > :05:11.Our deputy political editor, John Pienaar is in Westminster.
:05:12. > :05:13.Concerns have been raised by MPs and journalists
:05:14. > :05:20.about conflicts of interest, but Mr Osborne seems untroubled.
:05:21. > :05:26.As Chancellor, George Osborne used to love springing surprises, and
:05:27. > :05:29.this one was certainly Big Ang controversial, not just combining
:05:30. > :05:34.the full-time job of MP with a full-time job of being the editor,
:05:35. > :05:39.there's also championing the policy of the northern powerhouse while
:05:40. > :05:45.running on London newspaper. Supervising the coverage of Europe's
:05:46. > :05:49.biggest financial centre. At Westminster he will have access to
:05:50. > :05:52.private meetings from which journalists are always excluded.
:05:53. > :05:55.Somehow these things will have to be reconciled. Some of those around
:05:56. > :05:59.Theresa May will be grinding their teeth tonight for another reason.
:06:00. > :06:04.George Osborne has managed to design and build himself a powerful new
:06:05. > :06:08.role in public life after front line politics. His constituency could
:06:09. > :06:12.disappear after boundary changes. The old saying, you don't pick an
:06:13. > :06:15.argument with somebody who buys their ink by the gallon. George
:06:16. > :06:20.Osborne has his differences with Theresa May and her approach to
:06:21. > :06:24.Brexit, and she and her team can look forward to plenty, gallons of
:06:25. > :06:25.arguments, from George Osborne's friends in Fleet Street in the
:06:26. > :06:28.future. The US government has backed down
:06:29. > :06:30.over claims that British intelligence bugged Donald Trump
:06:31. > :06:32.during the presidential campaign. His press spokesman claimed
:06:33. > :06:35.Britain's GCHQ had conducted surveillance on Mr Trump
:06:36. > :06:38.at the request of President Obama. When GCHQ responded
:06:39. > :06:40.that it was nonsense and utterly ridiculous,
:06:41. > :06:43.the White house said it was only repeating a report on Fox News
:06:44. > :06:47.and assured Number Ten the allegations won't
:06:48. > :06:49.be mentioned again. Gordon Corera reports
:06:50. > :06:56.from Washington. Britain's GCHQ, caught up
:06:57. > :07:00.in an extraordinary claim, that it spied on Donald Trump,
:07:01. > :07:09.listening to his phone calls. As so often, it began
:07:10. > :07:12.with a tweet, Donald Trump alleging Barack Obama had
:07:13. > :07:14.wiretapped him during the campaign. Then came the allegation
:07:15. > :07:20.from a Fox News commentator that Britain's intelligence agency may
:07:21. > :07:22.have done the tapping. The probable culprit
:07:23. > :07:25.here is called GCHQ. The White House spokesperson
:07:26. > :07:27.yesterday cited the story Three intelligence sources have
:07:28. > :07:30.informed Fox News that President Obama went outside
:07:31. > :07:35.the chain of command. He did not use the NSA,
:07:36. > :07:38.the CIA, the FBI, or GCHQ hit back, saying
:07:39. > :07:42.it was ridiculous. At least we have something
:07:43. > :07:49.in common, perhaps. But meeting Angela Merkel, whose
:07:50. > :07:52.phone calls America did intercept, Donald Trump did not appear
:07:53. > :07:55.to accept that his team had All we did was quote a certain very
:07:56. > :08:05.talented legal mind, who was the one responsible
:08:06. > :08:08.for saying that on television. The NSA is America's communications
:08:09. > :08:11.intelligence agency, Today, I went inside to speak
:08:12. > :08:20.exclusively to its deputy director and asked him
:08:21. > :08:22.about the GCHQ allegation. No.
:08:23. > :08:26.That's utter nonsense. The genesis of that is someone
:08:27. > :08:30.who completely does not understand the relationship between the US
:08:31. > :08:32.and the UK and the calculus What would be the advantage
:08:33. > :08:37.to the UK Government of doing The cost would be immense
:08:38. > :08:42.in comparison to any value, All of this stems from one serious
:08:43. > :08:54.allegation that Donald Trump cannot shake - the assessment of American
:08:55. > :08:56.spies that Russia interfered in the presidential
:08:57. > :08:58.election to support him. How strong is the evidence for that
:08:59. > :09:02.Russian interference? In the unclassified intelligence
:09:03. > :09:09.community assessment, it basically says that it was Russia
:09:10. > :09:14.that did the hacks and here is the assessed reason
:09:15. > :09:16.behind what they did. That is irrefutable, and the NSA
:09:17. > :09:22.played a key role in that. Are you able to give any more sense
:09:23. > :09:25.about how confident you are, Donald Trump's White House
:09:26. > :09:38.managed today to only partially diffuse a row
:09:39. > :09:40.with Britain's spies that it started, but next week sees
:09:41. > :09:42.a new challenge when the heads of the FBI and NSA testify before
:09:43. > :09:45.Congress about Russian Meanwhile President Trump
:09:46. > :09:53.has been holding talks with the German Chancellor,
:09:54. > :09:56.Angela Merkel, at the White House. It's the first time the two have met
:09:57. > :10:00.and it could have a significant impact on relations between Europe
:10:01. > :10:03.and the US - but the two leaders Mr Trump has called Mrs Merkel's
:10:04. > :10:07.policy of welcoming refugees a "catastrophic mistake",
:10:08. > :10:09.while she has criticised From Washington, here's our north
:10:10. > :10:16.America editor, Jon Sopel. The classic Oval Office image,
:10:17. > :10:18.designed to portray two world No eye contact, no chat,
:10:19. > :10:29.in a decidedly chilly encounter. The photographers ask
:10:30. > :10:31.if there is going to be a handshake. But President Trump's
:10:32. > :10:40.hands don't move. Ladies and gentlemen,
:10:41. > :10:43.the President of the United States and the Chancellor of
:10:44. > :10:49.the Federal Republic of Germany. At their joint news conference
:10:50. > :10:52.a little later, it was clear where the two agree to disagree
:10:53. > :10:54.and for all the politesse, there was this thinly disguised
:10:55. > :11:03.barb from Mrs Merkel. TRANSLATION: It is much,
:11:04. > :11:06.much better to talk to one another, and not about one another
:11:07. > :11:08.and I think our This is a riposte to an endless
:11:09. > :11:14.stream of attacks from Donald Trump over the past year, variously
:11:15. > :11:18.describing the German leader as "catastrophic",
:11:19. > :11:19."following insane policies" But the president wasn't
:11:20. > :11:25.going to give up on pursuing European nations over
:11:26. > :11:28.their Nato contributions. I reiterated to Chancellor Merkel my
:11:29. > :11:34.strong support for Nato, as well as the need for our Nato
:11:35. > :11:38.allies to pay their fair share On this, the president won
:11:39. > :11:44.concessions that Germany would increase its defence spending
:11:45. > :11:46.but on immigration and policies towards refugees,
:11:47. > :11:53.they were far apart. We also recognise that immigration
:11:54. > :11:56.security is national security. We must protect our citizens
:11:57. > :11:59.from those who seek to spread TRANSLATION: Migration,
:12:00. > :12:04.immigration and integration Traffickers have to be stopped,
:12:05. > :12:13.but this has to be done by looking at the refugees as well,
:12:14. > :12:15.giving them opportunities to shape And Mrs Merkel said she hoped
:12:16. > :12:21.they'd be able to revive the Europe-US trade deal,
:12:22. > :12:23.but there seems zero There's no doubt that
:12:24. > :12:27.US-German relations are going When Barack Obama was President,
:12:28. > :12:32.he spoke about Angela Merkel With Donald Trump, there seems to be
:12:33. > :12:38.a good deal more wariness, although the stand-out moment
:12:39. > :12:41.of the news conference came when the President said
:12:42. > :12:43.there is something we have But at least with Angela Merkel,
:12:44. > :12:50.it was proved that the NSA Jon Sopel, BBC News,
:12:51. > :12:59.at the White House. Nicola Sturgeon has hinted she may
:13:00. > :13:02.be prepared to delay the timing of a second referendum
:13:03. > :13:05.on Scottish independence. Scotland's First Minister says
:13:06. > :13:12.she is up for continued discussion about the matter with Theresa May
:13:13. > :13:15.as long as the Prime Minister But Mrs May has repeated again that
:13:16. > :13:19.a referendum would be bad Here's our Scotland
:13:20. > :13:25.Correspondent Sarah Smith. Cheering and clapping -
:13:26. > :13:28.the SNP do not look like a party whose referendum hopes
:13:29. > :13:29.have been dashed. Let there be no doubt,
:13:30. > :13:32.Scotland will have its referendum and the people of this country
:13:33. > :13:34.will have their choice. Fighting talk, readying
:13:35. > :13:42.the troops for battle. They are eager to engage,
:13:43. > :13:45.but how can the SNP promise a referendum when the Prime Minister
:13:46. > :13:49.has said no? How can you say you definitely
:13:50. > :13:52.will have a Scottish referendum when the Prime Minister says
:13:53. > :13:55.she is not prepared to discuss it? There comes a point where just
:13:56. > :13:59.because a Prime Minister, who remember, with the greatest
:14:00. > :14:05.of respect, is a Prime Minister that has one MP in Scotland,
:14:06. > :14:08.just because she says she wants to stand in the way of the Scottish
:14:09. > :14:11.parliament, it does not mean There is nothing
:14:12. > :14:15.you can do about it. We have seen this week already,
:14:16. > :14:18.that when the Prime Minister realises she is in an unsustainable
:14:19. > :14:20.position, she is quick It appears things have
:14:21. > :14:25.got acrimonious this week, with you tweeting
:14:26. > :14:28.about the Prime Minister Would you say relations
:14:29. > :14:32.between you and Theresa May What I am saying today is, let's try
:14:33. > :14:40.and work through that disagreement. What the Prime Minister has done
:14:41. > :14:43.is not put herself in opposition She is absolutely within her rights
:14:44. > :14:47.to argue against independence. She seems to be putting herself
:14:48. > :14:52.in opposition to the democratic I don't think that's
:14:53. > :14:56.a sustainable position. Nicola Sturgeon is telling her
:14:57. > :14:59.delegates she thinks she can force She told me she might
:15:00. > :15:05.be able to compromise on the date of any referendum,
:15:06. > :15:09.but the Prime Minister ruled out even talking about one
:15:10. > :15:11.for at least two years, and you can't negotiate with someone
:15:12. > :15:15.who will not speak to you. Theresa May, in Cardiff today,
:15:16. > :15:18.certainly does not sound as though It is now clear that using Brexit
:15:19. > :15:26.as the pretext to engineer a second independence referendum has been
:15:27. > :15:28.the SNP's sole objective But it would be bad for Scotland,
:15:29. > :15:36.bad for the United Kingdom In Scotland, there are plenty
:15:37. > :15:42.of people who do not Unionists, protesting
:15:43. > :15:47.outside the SNP conference, hope the UK Government
:15:48. > :15:50.will not give in. Inside, activists believe
:15:51. > :15:53.they will get to vote again for an independent Scotland,
:15:54. > :15:57.even though it is not a fight Nato and EU leaders are calling
:15:58. > :16:09.for an end to the bitter row between President Erdogan of Turkey
:16:10. > :16:12.and a number of European countries. Erdogan has branded the leaders
:16:13. > :16:15.of Germany and Holland "Nazis" after they banned political rallies
:16:16. > :16:18.by Turks in their countries. The rallies had been planned
:16:19. > :16:21.in support of a constitutional referendum in Turkey next month
:16:22. > :16:25.about whether to grant Mr Erdogan If he wins, he would scrap
:16:26. > :16:32.the position of Prime Minister, concentrating power in his
:16:33. > :16:35.hands as President. He'd also be able to
:16:36. > :16:37.appoint ministers, set His opponents say it would be
:16:38. > :16:43.a huge blow to democracy, Few democratically elected leaders
:16:44. > :16:55.command such devotion. This is President Erdogan's
:16:56. > :16:59.conservative religious heartland. For decades under Turkey's
:17:00. > :17:02.old secular regime, Now it is as if they owe their very
:17:03. > :17:14.survival to one man. Some European leaders may
:17:15. > :17:16.recoil at his tirades, but his supporters love the Turkish
:17:17. > :17:21.strongman standing up for national Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspires
:17:22. > :17:31.an almost divine reverence among his followers,
:17:32. > :17:34.his fiery rhetoric entirely focused For them, he is their voice,
:17:35. > :17:45.and he cannot put a foot wrong. Security is tight after last year's
:17:46. > :17:48.failed coup, which made him His target this week,
:17:49. > :17:52.the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, for blocking Turkish
:17:53. > :17:55.politicians from Hey, Rutte, you might have won
:17:56. > :18:06.the election but you have With a referendum next month
:18:07. > :18:16.on expanding his powers, the President unites his voters
:18:17. > :18:22.by hitting out at enemies. Even calling the Dutch and Germans
:18:23. > :18:27.Nazis doesn't put off his fans. "I condemn those countries, too",
:18:28. > :18:29.she says, "they don't The row with Europe was fuelled
:18:30. > :18:39.as Turkish protesters in Rotterdam were violently dispersed
:18:40. > :18:42.and ministers barred Turkey's pro-government media pumps
:18:43. > :18:47.out the President's message. Opponents in the referendum taking
:18:48. > :18:53.to graffiti as official outlets are dominated
:18:54. > :18:57.by the Erdogan campaign. A Nato member and EU candidate
:18:58. > :19:00.where space for free speech TRANSLATION: Turkey
:19:01. > :19:05.is becoming a laughing stock. In foreign policy, you have
:19:06. > :19:08.to think before you speak. Foreign policy cannot be misused
:19:09. > :19:14.for domestic politics. President Erdogan is moulding
:19:15. > :19:18.Turkey in his image, and a crucial but deeply polarised
:19:19. > :19:22.country is drifting ever Concern is growing about the impact
:19:23. > :19:32.of government funding on schools in England,
:19:33. > :19:35.with teachers and now even some The Education Policy Institute,
:19:36. > :19:40.a think-tank, is warning that secondary schools
:19:41. > :19:43.could see their funding drop by nearly ?300,000
:19:44. > :19:47.on average by 2020. But the Government,
:19:48. > :19:49.which is changing the way it funds schools, insists it's spending more
:19:50. > :19:52.than ever - some ?40 billion. Here's our Education Editor,
:19:53. > :20:02.Branwen Jeffreys. In 20 years as an inner-city head,
:20:03. > :20:05.Ian Fenn has seen it all. Shootings, stabbings, drugs,
:20:06. > :20:15.deprivation and disability. Almost half his pupils have
:20:16. > :20:17.learning difficulties. But funding is not keeping up
:20:18. > :20:23.with the needs of his school. Three quarters of the children
:20:24. > :20:26.coming into the school They will be two, three,
:20:27. > :20:29.four, five years behind On top of that, a similar
:20:30. > :20:32.number have English We have a large number of children
:20:33. > :20:36.with special educational needs, so they could have speech
:20:37. > :20:38.and language problems, It's not just teachers,
:20:39. > :20:48.but extra teaching assistants. The school employs
:20:49. > :20:51.social workers too. Financial pressures
:20:52. > :20:56.mean jobs at risk. Schools carry all the costs
:20:57. > :21:00.of an employer, pay, pensions, National Insurance,
:21:01. > :21:04.all going up. Ministers argue funding is at record
:21:05. > :21:08.levels in England but rising bills How am I going to care for the most
:21:09. > :21:14.vulnerable in society I have kids who are under
:21:15. > :21:19.resourced at the moment, and yet they are going to give
:21:20. > :21:26.me substantially less. The new formula will mean big cities
:21:27. > :21:28.like Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and London get
:21:29. > :21:31.a smaller share. While Somerset, Derby, Lincolnshire
:21:32. > :21:36.would get a bigger slice. Tonight, a warning from
:21:37. > :21:38.a senior Tory, adding Some big Conservative counties say
:21:39. > :21:45.the plans don't go far enough. One secondary school will be getting
:21:46. > :21:48.?2 million less than another Accepting that one is in an area
:21:49. > :21:55.of high deprivation and one is in more of a leafy lane location,
:21:56. > :22:00.but that 2 million differential between one secondary school
:22:01. > :22:03.with the same pupil numbers, the need might be slightly different
:22:04. > :22:08.in one, cannot amount to ?2 million. Could the funding formula become
:22:09. > :22:12.the next U-turn for the Government? There is certainly a lot
:22:13. > :22:14.of pressure from Tory grass But they are the ones
:22:15. > :22:19.that also really want If you give more money
:22:20. > :22:26.to the counties and shires, it means taking even more
:22:27. > :22:30.from inner-city schools like this. Schools in England have had 20 years
:22:31. > :22:35.of funding increases. But as cost pressures rise,
:22:36. > :22:39.no one feels like a winner. Branwen Jeffreys,
:22:40. > :22:43.BBC News, Manchester. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
:22:44. > :22:45.have arrived in Paris In a speech, the Duke
:22:46. > :22:50.said that despite Brexit Britain's relationship
:22:51. > :22:53.with France wouldn't change. It's the first time he's been seen
:22:54. > :22:56.on official duty since facing criticism from some newspapers
:22:57. > :22:58.for missing a Commonwealth Day One of the biggest horse
:22:59. > :23:05.races of the year, the Cheltenham Gold Cup,
:23:06. > :23:07.has been won by Sizing John, He comfortably beat the favourite
:23:08. > :23:12.after 22 gruelling fences. It was the first time the Irish
:23:13. > :23:15.trainer Jessica Harrington had The Six Nations comes
:23:16. > :23:21.to a climax this weekend. England have already retained
:23:22. > :23:25.the title, but are bidding to set a new world record of 19
:23:26. > :23:29.consecutive international victories. A win tomorrow would also seal
:23:30. > :23:32.a second consecutive Grand Slam. Our sports editor Dan Roan
:23:33. > :23:40.reports from Dublin. It's the biggest weekend
:23:41. > :23:42.of the year here in Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day a perfect excuse
:23:43. > :23:45.for a party, and rugby But it's England who stand
:23:46. > :23:50.on the verge of history. Already crowned Six Nations
:23:51. > :23:53.champions, win once more and they'll The man who has masterminded this
:23:54. > :23:58.team's revival, however, We know how much the Irish
:23:59. > :24:04.dislike the English. We know how much they
:24:05. > :24:10.like spoiling the party. We know how much they
:24:11. > :24:14.like winning at home. So we know all those
:24:15. > :24:17.things, but we'll be good It's been a quarter of a century
:24:18. > :24:22.since England won back-to-back grand slams, the Five Nations
:24:23. > :24:25.as it was then, and the man who led that even says their achievement
:24:26. > :24:28.is about to be surpassed. This run from this team
:24:29. > :24:30.would eclipse ours. They've gone to Australia,
:24:31. > :24:32.they've won 3-0. That's never been done
:24:33. > :24:35.before by an English team. They've put together back-to-back
:24:36. > :24:38.grand slams, a world record run. Win here in Dublin tomorrow
:24:39. > :24:49.and England will have done something that no other international rugby
:24:50. > :24:52.side has ever achieved. But a 19th victory in a row could
:24:53. > :24:57.prove to be their toughest yet. Last year, Ireland put an end
:24:58. > :25:00.to New Zealand's world record run, and despite a disappointing
:25:01. > :25:02.Six Nations, they are intent on preventing England from going one
:25:03. > :25:07.better than the All Blacks. We are well aware of everything that
:25:08. > :25:10.England are going for tomorrow. But for us, I suppose it's Saint
:25:11. > :25:14.Paddy's weekend, we are at home. We've a very proud record
:25:15. > :25:17.at home and we take huge Grand slams are rare in Rugby,
:25:18. > :25:23.England denied one here in 2011, but for the current team,
:25:24. > :25:26.defeat is becoming a distant memory. The Nobel laureate poet
:25:27. > :25:36.Derek Walcott has died at home on the Caribbean island
:25:37. > :25:38.of St Lucia, aged 87. He won the Nobel Prize
:25:39. > :25:43.for Literature in 1992 for works including his poem Omeros,
:25:44. > :25:46.which is widely considered Here's our arts editor,
:25:47. > :25:52.Will Gompertz. Derek Walcott found he was often
:25:53. > :25:55.defined as a black writer, He was, he said, first
:25:56. > :26:03.and foremost a Caribbean writer. I think the elation that is always
:26:04. > :26:06.there in the Caribbean morning, the elegiac elation that is there
:26:07. > :26:09.in the Caribbean sunset, is part of the rhythm of the feel
:26:10. > :26:14.of the Caribbean people. Dante, Shakespeare, Chaucer
:26:15. > :26:18.and Yates were all addressed and reassessed through his literary
:26:19. > :26:22.lens, as was Homer in 1990 when he wrote his epic poem Omeros,
:26:23. > :26:25.in which Achilles is relocated and living among the fishermen
:26:26. > :26:29.of the West Indies. Then a black fisherman,
:26:30. > :26:32.his stubbled chin coarse as a dry sea urchin's,
:26:33. > :26:35.hoisted his flour sack Two years later he was awarded
:26:36. > :26:42.the Nobel Prize for Literature. His international
:26:43. > :26:48.reputation was sealed. He said, "You and I
:26:49. > :26:54.are on the same road". To hear that from somebody like him,
:26:55. > :26:57.five years before he won I still feel that I just
:26:58. > :27:01.followed him down the road. OK, he's gone over the horizon
:27:02. > :27:07.today, but I'm still following. Derek Walcott's life was not
:27:08. > :27:10.without controversy. An accusation of sexual harassment
:27:11. > :27:13.by female students in the US led to him being very publicly
:27:14. > :27:15.overlooked for the Oxford Professor He continued to write,
:27:16. > :27:22.and in 2011 was awarded the TS He had kind of an all-consuming
:27:23. > :27:35.passion for poetry. Derek Walcott used his unique poetic
:27:36. > :27:47.voice to explore and explain the world from a largely unseen
:27:48. > :27:52.perspective, and in so doing illuminated the immediate
:27:53. > :27:59.and the universal. Derek Walcott, who has died
:28:00. > :28:06.at the of age of 87. Now on BBC One, it's time
:28:07. > :28:10.for the news where you are.