14/12/2017 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten - a national service

of remembrance for the victims

of the Grenfell Tower disaster,

six months on.

More than 1500 people attended

the multi-faith service

at St Paul's Cathedral,

including members

of the Royal family.

Among those who took part

were relatives of those who died,

as others questioned

whether the deaths could

have been prevented.

Today, we ask why warnings were not

heeded, why a community

was left feeling neglected,

uncared for, not listened to.

And tonight, in the streets

of West London, a silent march

to involve more of the local

community in today's remembrance.

We'll be reporting on the service

at St Paul's and we'll be talking to

some of the families who attended.

Also tonight.

Theresa May is attending

the EU summit in Brussels,

insisting the government

is on course to deliver Brexit.

In one of the biggest

media deals for years,

Disney buys most of Rupert Murdoch's

business for £40 billion.

The Christmas spirit in Edinburgh,

as the Scottish Government

uses its powers to change income tax

for the first time.

And the plans for deep-ocean mining

off Papua New Guinea are condemned

by the world's leading

conservationists.

That humanity should just

plough on with no regard

for the consequences,

because they don't

know what they are.

And coming up on Sportsday on BBC

News, in a few hours England

resume their quest to keep

the Ashes Series alive

on 305-4, thanks to

a century from Dawid Malan.

Good evening.

Six months to the day

since the devastating

fire at Grenfell Tower,

a service of remembrance has been

held at St Paul's Cathedral for

the bereaved families and survivors.

For the first time since

the tragedy, those affected came

together to remember the 71 people

who lost their lives.

The congregation reflected

the multi-cultural community

in West London where

the disaster happened.

The Bishop of Kensington

told the congregation -

which included the Prince of Wales

and other members of the royal

family - that there were still many

unresolved questions after the fire.

Our home editor Mark Easton

reports from St Paul's.

They came to St Paul's to mourn

those who were lost,

to comfort those who still suffer.

And to thank those

who've worked to heal.

This is the family

we lost - five people.

On the 21st floor.

On the 21st floor.

So...

Yeah.

That's why we're here.

And how important

is this event to you?

Very important.

Very important.

Anything to remember

them is important to us.

Yeah.

Every strand of British

cultural life was woven

into a service of remembrance,

community and hope.

Grenfell survivors, families

and friends, politicians...

And royalty.

The Grenfell fire exposed deep

social divides in modern Britain.

This morning, here at the cathedral,

those destined to inherit

a kingdom stand beside those

who have lost everything.

From highness to homeless, together

beneath the dome of St Paul's.

So, now, together,

we remember and reflect...

Some politicians from the area

around Grenfell were

asked not to come today.

The emotions are still too raw.

Don't come and look

at taking selfies.

No, no, no, no.

This is not respectful.

We want people to know

what's happened.

Using voices from the time,

the lingering agony of the Grenfell

community was dropped into the calm

of the cathedral.

You need to feel what we felt...

They've let us down, this borough,

it's let us down, honest to God.

Look, this is my borough.

There's so many questions

and no answers.

Today, we ask why warnings were not

heeded, why a community

was left feeling neglected,

uncared for, not listened to.

In a service rich with imagery,

a commitment was made to turn

Grenfell from a symbol of sorrow

to a symbol of the time we learned

to listen and to love.

Schoolchildren scattered green

hearts at the feet of faith leaders.

Six months after that fateful day,

the powerful were once again forced

to look directly into the eyes

of those whose trust was betrayed.

It's like yesterday.

The pain's deep, and...

We shall not forget.

For three centuries and more,

St Paul's has marked the highs

and the lows of the capital.

Today, to that list

was added Grenfell -

a tragedy that awoke London

to the injustice

hidden in plain sight.

Mark Easton, BBC News,

St Paul's Cathedral.

Among those who died in the Grenfell

fire was Khadija Saye,

a promising young artist,

whose mother, Mary Mendy,

also lost her life in the disaster.

Today, members of their family

were among those who went

to St Paul's Cathedral to take part

in the memorial service.

Later they joined a silent

march by Grenfell Tower.

Our special correspondent Lucy

Manning spent the day with them.

They walked silently.

It's hard to speak of just how

much has been lost here.

The firefighters, who were the first

to Grenfell that night,

stood to honour those they rescued

and those whose relatives

they could not save.

They comforted each other.

So many families, the Mendys just

one of thousands walking.

The family had

gathered this morning.

While the months have passed,

their sadness hasn't.

They lost Mary Mendy

and her daughter Khadija Saye.

Some people wanted her to be

a doctor, but she didn't

want to be a doctor,

she wanted to be an artist.

Yeah.

I cry every day, every day.

It was the only thing I have,

I don't have nothing.

Nothing.

They took out the best

members of our family.

They did, yeah.

The best people in our families.

Especially Khadija.

From the youngest, just three months

old, they all came to St Paul's,

to stand with other families,

to remember with them,

to cry with them.

They talked to Prince William

about the art Khadija had produced,

the prolific artist

she would have become.

This was Khadija last year,

talking about a future

that was never hers.

I can't be struggling,

I need to, you know,

actually progress and see how...

How to make a career.

Because that is the dream, isn't it?

What was lost at Grenfell,

not just the talented artist

but the architecture graduate,

the engineering student,

the taxi driver, the teaching

assistant, the bride-to-be,

the girl taking her GCSEs, and,

of course, all the young children

with their lives in front of them.

It was very emotional.

Emotional.

Yes, very emotional.

And we felt that it was something

that she would have loved,

because she's very religious.

How would you like people

to think of Khadija?

I want people to remember

Khadija's smile.

Mmm.

The soft, kind-hearted,

brave young woman who would

have become somebody.

For now, we just want to know why.

Because they died needlessly -

they didn't have to die.

Marion lived with them in Grenfell

for a few years before the fire.

But her aunt, cousin and 69 others

weren't safe in their own homes.

They took the flowers from

the memorial to Mary Mendy's grave.

For one day, everyone

remembered Grenfell -

her family will never forget.

Lucy Manning, BBC News.

Some of the Grenfell families today

talking to my colleague, Lucy

Manning there.

The Prime Minister is in Brussels

attending an EU Summit

where she hopes fellow leaders

will give permission for the Brexit

negotiations to move

on to the next phase,

defining the relationship

between the UK and the

European Union after Brexit.

Mrs May insisted the Brexit process

was still on course,

despite her defeat in

a parliamentary vote last night

when MPs insisted on a legal

guarantee that they'd get a final

vote on the Brexit deal.

From Brussels, our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg reports.

Her job tonight - to get 27

countries of all political

colours onside, a day

after failing to line up

everyone in her own party.

Will Theresa May bend

to her rebels' will?

I'm disappointed with the amendment,

but, actually, the EU withdrawal

bill is making good progress

through the House of Commons,

and we are on course

to deliver on Brexit.

And remember last week,

President Juncker

said that significant progress had

been made to move on to phase two

of our negotiation.

Do you accept that as Prime

Minister, you are going to have

to make more compromises, not just

with the opposition parties,

but with your own side?

Well, let's look at the passage

of the EU Withdrawal Bill so far.

As I say, it has been

making good progress

through the House of Commons.

We've actually had 36 votes

on the EU Withdrawal Bill,

and we've won 35 of those votes.

Will you compromise more?

We have won 35 out of our 36 votes

on the EU Withdrawal Bill.

Good morning.

Give and take at home?

Not quite.

But abroad, where she HAS

had to compromise,

her cheery counterparts sent

a mixture of sympathy and demand.

This makes it even shorter

for Theresa May's government

to make proposals, because if,

after it, she needs to get

an agreement in London,

that doesn't help a lot.

I've absolute faith

and confidence in her,

that she speaks for the government

of the UK, and that as long as that

is the case, as long

as she is Prime Minister,

we will deal with her,

and treat her as though she had

an overall majority.

She's holding her cards close

to her heart at the moment,

which I understand,

on the next phase.

And this is probably

a wise negotiating tactic.

It is now for the UK to make

up its mind, and then together,

to collectively to see

where we can get to.

The closest friends may be

not quite convinced.

"We've made progress

with Great Britain,"

said the German leader,

"but some questions are still open."

Where Brexit is being brokered,

May's promises of "strong

and stable" seem long ago,

some Tories furious their colleagues

sent the Prime Minister

to her seat after defeat.

But for the rebels and their

newfound friends in the opposition,

listening would add authority.

She's caused this

problem for herself.

Actually

what she should now do is embrace

what happened last night and say,

"Yes, I will involve Parliament,

and then it would be obvious

in the negotiations that

I have the support of Parliament

in what I am doing."

Barring last-minute disaster,

the rest of the EU is to agree that

Britain can move onto the next phase

of our long goodbye, but Theresa May

will enter that

knowing that the other

countries provide 27 items

on her list of problems,

but parliament is perhaps the 28th,

and the trickiest of all.

Remember, tomorrow's

expected agreement is

only a promise to move onto talks

about the long-term relationship.

At home, and here,

there is still an awful

lot to be worked out.

Laura Kuenssberg,

BBC News, Brussels.

It might seem very surprising to

hear this at home, but in the last

hour Theresa May was applauded over

dinner by her EU counterparts, a

reminder of the profound highs and

lows of this whole process. Defeat

in the Commons last night, disaster

last Monday, when the DUP blocked

the deal, triumph on Friday, then

suddenly it was all back on. That

sends this Brexit process will be

without question a roller-coaster,

but tonight it seems Theresa May may

leave in the small hours with a

sense at least she has come this far

and nothing in this 24 hours has

gone wrong. Now that doesn't for one

second mean the contradictions of

all this have been solved. It

doesn't for one moment mean that the

next phase will be easy. But in the

last few months at moments it has

seemed almost impossible that the

Prime Minister would be able to make

it at this stage and four Number Ten

at least she will go home with a

profound sigh of relief.

Laura Kuenssberg with the latest at

the summit in Brussels.

In one of the biggest

media deals in history.

Disney is to buy 21st Century Fox

from Rupert Murdoch for £39 billion.

The deal means in effect that

Rupert Murdoch is dismantling his

media empire by selling the company

that owns Sky and one

of Hollywood's biggest studios.

But Mr Murdoch will keep control

of the Fox News channel in the US

and The Times and Sun

newspapers in Britain.

For Disney, the deal brings

an opportunity to break

into the entertainment streaming

industry, as media editor

Amol Rajan reports.

When Rupert Murdoch bought the News

of the World in 1968,

he was an outsider.

But this canny Australian with news

in his veins made his way

to the heart of the establishment

in both Britain and America,

wielding extraordinary influence.

From his base in tabloid newspapers,

he moved aggressively

into film and television,

only studios and networks that

into film and television,

owning studios and networks that

entertained hundreds

of millions of people.

Well, I'll always

have my crank calls.

But now, in a move foreseen

in The Simpsons, another Murdoch

product, Fox has become

a division of Disney.

For Murdoch, this is a chance to get

back to what he knows best.

I think this is returning

to our roots, which is news

and sports, and that's the chain

in which people watch

television these days.

Andrew Neil was at Murdoch's side as

an editor and executive for years.

For him, this is

the end of a dynasty.

He's been trying to do

that for 35, 40 years.

I used to sit with him

in restaurants in London

in the mid-1980s and he talked

about a Murdoch dynasty.

About putting his children into key

positions, letting them fight

for the top position and whoever

wins would take over and the Murdoch

name would go on for ever.

And here in a stroke,

he's unbundling the empire

and the dynastic ambitions are gone.

But what does this mean

for British viewers?

The implications for British

broadcasting are enormous

and largely unrealised by the people

who run British broadcasting.

If an $80 billion company like Fox

is not big enough to survive

in the new age of digital disrupters

like Netflix, then what chance does

Channel 4, Channel 5, even ITV,

even the BBC itself?

The deal still needs

regulatory approval,

but if it goes through,

it'll create a new media.

but if it goes through,

it'll create a new media superpower.

Mr Murdoch is selling his

world-famous film studio,

21st Century Fox, international TV

businesses like Sky

in Europe and Star in India.

Cable networks such as FX

and National Geographic.

And perhaps most strikingly,

a stake in Hulu, a streaming service

with access to millions of customers

which could rival Netflix.

And that's the key for Disney.

Streaming has changed

broadcasting for ever,

allowing you at home to watch

a seemingly infinite number

of shows how you want,

where you want and when you want.

OnDemand services like Hulu,

in which Disney will now

have a controlling stake,

cut out the middleman of domestic

television stations,

broadcasting directly

into millions of homes.

The Fox International footprint has

some extremely high-end technology

to deliver all this content

to consumers in more modern ways.

Sky in Europe is a good example

of that, Star in India, another one.

And so to the consumer,

not only will they be

getting more great content,

high-quality content,

but they will be getting it

in ways that they demand.

There are still many unanswered

questions about this deal.

But Sky News and Sky Sports

look set to continue,

while Fox says that its own bid

for full control of Sky, still

with regulators, remains in place.

Even with this acquisition,

Disney is playing catch-up with tech

giants like Facebook,

Amazon and Apple, who,

if they aren't there already,

are coming to a small

screen near you.

Amol is here with me.

What does this deal tell us about

the rapidly changing media world

that we are in?

If you had said this

time last year that Rupert Murdoch

was going to sell most of his

company, nobody would have believed

you, they would have said you are

mad. But it has happened because

there is a revolution going on in

the world of media which is

dominated I a few key players. Gone

are the days when you had to watch

scheduled TV and scheduled

programmes on television sets.

Nowadays you can watch what you

want, when you want, on a mobile

phone. So this is a golden age, an

amazing age in terms of choice. But

here is the rub - it is dominated by

a few big American companies -

Google, Apple, Amazon, and now

Disney, they want to be part of that

club. There has never been a better

time for people who love great shows

and content, but there has never

been a harder time for the media

industry. If even Rupert Murdoch

can't keep up with the big boys from

Silicon Valley, what hope, frankly,

for anyone else?

Four children have died

after a train crashed into a school

bus at a level crossing in southern

France.

19 others were injured,

seven seriously, in the accident

which happened near the city of

Perpignan.

The bus was carrying students

from the local secondary school,

aged between 11 and 15,

when it was struck.

Images from the scene show how

the bus was destroyed

by the force of the crash.

For the first time

the Scottish Government has

used its new tax-raising powers

to propose changes to rates

of income tax in Scotland.

Low earners would pay less tax

than they would in the rest

of the UK, but higher earners

would pay more.

Scotland's Finance Secretary Derek

Mackay said his budget would protect

Scotland from spending cuts

being imposed by the

government at Westminster.

Let's join our Scotland

editor, Sarah Smith, at

the Scottish Parliament

in Edinburgh.

This is a really significant moment

in the history of devolution,

because it is the first time the

Scottish Government have used their

powers to vary income tax rates, and

they've created a tax regime quite

different from that in the rest of

the UK. Here in Scotland we now have

five income tax bands with a

starting rate that's lower than in

the rest of the UK and a top rate

that's higher. The SNP hope that by

cutting taxes for more than half of

Scottish workers, they can increase

the revenues they bring in without

losing too much public support.

An early Christmas present

was delivered to many

Scottish taxpayers today,

as more than two thirds will pay

less income tax next year.

All of these MSPs posing

in their festive jumpers, though,

will have to pay higher taxes.

The Scottish Government

will increase NHS spending and give

public sector workers a 3% pay rise.

It overturns the Tory

cuts to our block grant,

it delivers an additional

£400 million to the health

service without damaging

other vital services.

It protects the vast

majority of taxpayers.

It is a budget for fairness

and a budget for growth.

A new starter rate of 19% mean those

earning less than £24,000 will be

£20 a year better off than taxpayers

in the rest of the UK.

A new intermediate rate of 21% means

somebody earning £33,000

will be £70 worse off.

Increasing the higher rate to 41%

means anybody earning £60,000

will be £755 worse off.

Putting the additional rate up

to 46% will see those earning over

£150,000 paying £1,774 more

than those outside Scotland.

Raising an extra £164 million

for the Scottish Government.

The new Scottish tax rates

create winners and losers.

As a public sector worker, John

will get a tax cut, and a pay rise.

We definitely do need to address

the crisis in public sector pay.

Wages in the civil service have

gone down by about 20%,

in terms of buying power.

Business owner Sharon wants

to know that higher taxes

will be spent wisely.

I think if we're confident and trust

that it will be used

for the purposes that the public

want, we need more money,

but there are so many needs

that it needs to go to,

and I'm not confident it's

all going to the right needs.

A lawyer, Alan is one

who will now be paying more.

Are you personally happy to be

paying higher tax rates?

Yes, I am.

I think that it's entirely

reasonable that I should

pay higher rates,

it is a question of how much

of a reasonable balance

for it, but yes, I would

certainly pay more tax.

While some people will pay much

more, the tax cut for lower earners

is worth just £20 a year.

Behind all the smoke and mirrors,

nearly half of Scotland's workers

are paying more than they would do

in the rest of UK and we've had

all of Scotland's business

organisations coming out saying

that raising taxes would damage

Scotland's economy and our growth.

Figures released today show

the Scottish economy is forecast

to grow more slowly than the rest

of the UK, but public

spending in Scotland will be

significantly higher.

Sarah Smith, BBC News, Edinburgh.

A brief look at some

of the day's other news stories.

The High Court has ruled

that the removal of EU citizens

sleeping rough in the UK is unlawful

and must stop.

The case was brought on behalf

of three men facing removal under

the government policy,

which was introduced last year.

A judge said the measure

was discriminatory.

Campaigners say the decision

will affect hundreds of people.

A third person has appeared in court

charged with the murder of four

children in a house fire

in Greater Manchester on Monday.

David Worrall, who's 25,

was remanded in custody.

He'll appear at Manchester

Crown Court tomorrow,

alongside two other people,

who've also been charged with

murder, attempted murder and arson.

The leader of the far-right group

Britain First has been

arrested in Belfast.

Paul Golding was with his

deputy Jayda Fransen

as she appeared in court.

Ms Fransen has been charged

with using threatening and abusive

language at a rally in the city

in the summer.

Detectives are now questioning

Mr Golding about the same event.

The Ministry of Defence has been

ordered to pay damages of up

to £30,000 to four Iraqi citizens.

The High Court has awarded

the compensation for their

ill-treatment and unlawful detention

by British Armed Forces

during the Iraq war.

Lawyers for the men say the judgment

could determine the outcome

of hundreds of other claims.

A mile underwater off the coast

of Papua New Guinea, preparations

are under way for the world's

first deep-ocean mine.

Rocks found on the ocean floor

are exceptionally rich in copper

and gold and could be worth

billions of pounds.

But scientists are warning

that mining the rock

will devastate marine life,

and Sir David Attenborough has

condemned the plans.

Our science editor, David Shukman,

has been given exclusive

access to the project.

In the brilliant tropical waters

of Papua New Guinea, a controversial

project is taking shape

that could have a huge

impact on the oceans.

A vast, lumbering machine

is going through final testing.

It looks like a cross between

something military and an invention

from science fiction.

Its whirling steel teeth

are designed to break up

the rocks of the sea bed.

This will be part of the world's

first deep sea mine.

This is the first time that anything

like this has ever been tried,

sending these massive machines

a mile down to the ocean

floor and there, well,

tearing it up to send valuable

metals up to the surface.

And because this is all so new,

no one really knows exactly

what the impact is going to be.

The company behind the mine portrays

it as a neat and efficient way

to get at rich deposits of gold

and copper, and it claims

there will be less disruption

than there is in mines on land.

The offshore alternative is in fact

from an environmental perspective

a far better way to provide

the world with the minerals

that it requires.

Offshore, there will be no

clearing of rainforests,

there will be no relocation

of communities, there will be

no large waste dumps.

But not everyone believes all that.

Fishing supports thousands of jobs

in Papua New Guinea, and some

here worry that important tuna

stocks will be at risk.

The UN development programme wants

the mining project stopped.

One sixth of the tuna in the whole

world comes from this, the Pacific,

and from this one country.

Huge numbers of people's lives

depend on fisheries,

and this project

potentially will jeopardise

all of that.

So, there's a difficult balance

for Papua New Guinea.

Millions here live

below the poverty line.

This is one of the poorest

countries on earth.

But mining projects on land have

often failed to improve conditions.

As a developing country,

Papua New Guinea is obviously

looking for new sources of income,

and deep sea mining may help provide

that, and if it works -

and it is a gamble -

there are dozens of other mining

projects around the world that

are likely to follow.

So, what happens here could really

usher in a whole new era

of what we do to the oceans.

The first project will target

deep hot springs known

as hydrothermal vents.

They're packed with minerals,

needed for electronics

and renewable energy,

so some scientists say

we'll have to mine them.

But others warn that teaming

communities of rare forms

of life could be wiped out.

It's heartbreaking.

We showed David Attenborough our

video of the ocean mining machines.

He's horrified at the idea

of the destruction

of hydrothermal vents.

That's where life began.

And that we should be destroying

these things is so deeply tragic,

that humanity should just plough

on with no regard

for the consequences -

because they don't know

what they are.

Back in Papua New Guinea,

testing continues.

One major concern among critics

is that the government

here is a shareholder in the mine,

raising doubts about its ability

to step in if things go wrong.

But staff here say they'll

try to minimise the impact.

We're not in an environment that we

can just do whatever we want.

People are watching,

there are regulations that we need

to abide by and modify to suit,

so that the environment

is the winner in the end.

One of the giant machines

is tested under water.

In the next two years,

it will be lowered to the sea

bed and put to work.

The start of a new gold

rush in the deep ocean.

David Shukman, BBC News,

in Papua New Guinea.

Cricket, and in Perth,

England have made a strong

start in the first day

of the crucial third Test

of the Ashes Series.

of the crucial third Test

of the Ashes series.

A century from Dawid Malan -

the first English batsman to score

a hundred this series -

left the visitors in the driving

seat, as our correspondent

Andy Swiss reports.

They've been waiting

a long time for this.

After watching collapses,

calamities and controversies,

at last, for England fans,

a bit of cricketing cheer.

Not that it necessarily

seemed that way at first -

England opted to bat,

but in Alastair Cook's

case, not for long.

Out for just seven, as Australia's

bowlers set about making life

decidedly uncomfortable.

They broke Mark Stoneman's

helmet, and soon, it

seemed, England's hopes.

Stoneman gone controversially

for 56, the video umpire deciding it

HAD just brushed his glove,

to England's frustration.

At 131-4, it seemed

another tale of what if.

But in the nick of time,

a centurion emerged from the ranks -

the unheralded Dawid Malan.

Yes, he rode his luck,

dropped on 92, but together

with Jonny Bairstow,

he made Australia pay.

What a time to score

your first Test hundred.

If the day belonged to England,

the moment was all his.

Magnificent effort!

It was so emotional.

You know, I didn't really know

what to do, when I got the hundred,

I was just so emotional,

I almost started crying,

to be honest, when it happened.

Just when they needed it, England's

best day of the series so far.

There's still a long way to go

in this match, but they've given

themselves a chance.

In a series so far defined

by disappointment, England will hope

this just might be a turning point.

Andy Swiss, BBC News, Perth.

Newsnight is on BBC Two. Tonight we

report from the primary school in