18/02/2018 BBC News at Ten

This is BBC News.

I'm Martine Croxall.

The headlines at 10:

Brendan Cox has stepped down

from two charities set up

in memory of his wife,

the late MP Jo Cox,

after allegations of sexual assault

were made public.

I think the right thing to do

is to resign, and to look

at his behaviour in the past and try

and make a change in the future.

Could the cost of university courses

vary, depending on their content?

The Government prepares

to launch a a review

of tuition fees in England.

Ministers reject pleas to issue

a medical cannabis licence

for a six-year-old boy whose rare

form of epilepsy improves

after taking the drug.

The best of film-making

talent has been honoured

in the BAFTA awards this evening

at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The film Three Billboards Outside

Ebbing, Missouri was the biggest

success of the night,

taking a total five awards -

including Best Film,

Best Supporting Actor

and Best Leading Actress.

Gary Oldman won the award for his

betrayal of Winston Churchill in the

Darkest Hour and the director won

The Shape Of Water. We round up the

day's sports news, highlights of the

FA Cup and from the Winter Olympics.

Good evening and

welcome to BBC News.

The family of the murdered Labour MP

Jo Cox, have pledged

to support her husband,

after he resigned from charity roles

following allegations

of sexual misconduct.

Brendan Cox denies assaulting a

woman in the United States in 2015,

but admits to "inappropriate"

behaviour while working

for Save the Children.

The charity has confirmed

that he was suspended

from his role there,

and says he resigned

before a disciplinary

process was completed.

Robert Hall reports.

Jo Cox, Labour MP and mother of two,

was murdered in her constituency

during the run-up to the 2016 EU

referendum, shot and stabbed

by a far right extremist.

In the months after her death,

the public rallied in support

of her family and in particular,

her husband, Brendan,

who set up two charities,

the Jo Cox Foundation

and More in Common.

Today he announced his

resignation from both of them,

following allegations

of inappropriate behaviour a year

before his wife's murder.

The claims are reported

in a Sunday paper.

They're linked to alleged incidents

at Harvard University

in Massachusetts, and whilst Mr Cox

was working for Save the Children.

In this case, he's said to have

pinned a staff member to a wall

while making sexual comments.

Mr Cox says the claims

are a massive exaggeration.

His statement continues...

Labour backbencher Jess Phillips,

a friend of Jo Cox, said her widower

was right to stand back

from the charities.

I'm not defending his actions,

I am trying to think

about this person who I know,

and my friend, who isn't here,

and make sure that there

is a change in the future.

I don't defend any

of this behaviour.

Jo Cox's sister, Kim Leadbeater,

stood with Brendan Cox at the end

of the murder trial.

Today she said it had been another

very difficult day for the family

but they would support Brendan Cox

and they respected him

for admitting past mistakes.

No one from Save the Children

was available to speak to us today,

but in a statement the charity said

staff safety and welfare

were priorities and that

all complaints were dealt

with in accordance with its

internal procedures.

That was what had happened in 2015,

when Mr Cox was suspended

and the disciplinary process began.

He had resigned before that

process was complete.

Another senior Labour figure linked

Brendan Cox's decision to wider

changes in attitude.

Hopefully we are seeing a change now

in the climate and the culture,

where people are recognising

that those in positions of power

should not abuse positions of power,

those who end up becoming victims

of harassment should have

support to speak out.

Tonight, Jo Cox's family say

they are supporting each

other and are unwavering

in their determination that nothing

will cloud her legacy.

Robert Hall, BBC News.

The Education Secretary Damian Hinds

has said there should be more

variation in the cost of university

courses, with each degree

reflecting their value

to "society as a whole".

He was speaking as the Prime

Minister prepares to outline a wide

ranging review into higher education

funding in England.

Labour, who have pledged to scrap

tuition fees, say another

review isn't the solution.

Here's our education

editor Branwen Jeffreys.

This is one of two jobs

Myra Kesh is holding down.

She's in her first

year of university.

The loan for living

costs isn't enough.

Throughout the process of applying

to uni I was thinking this

is so unfair, I'm getting a lower

maintenance allowance and I'm

going to have to work several

jobs in order to live.

Sheffield Hallam has lots

of students from ordinary families.

For Alice, that means she worries

less about tuition fees and more

about just getting by.

Last year, I budgeted for about £50

a week and that was still too much

to live on, so I had to bring that

down to about £30 and that

is still not enough.

Every so often I might have

to ask my parents for help.

If they can just give me £20

for food, for basic food.

Up to 6.1% interest

is charged on student debt.

An average £5,800 of interest

charges before leaving university.

In total, it's about £57,000 of

borrowing for the poorest students.

After 30 years, any unpaid

loan is written off.

But by 2021, there could be £160

billion of outstanding student debt.

It's the poorest students in England

who end up borrowing the most.

Because they can't rely on the Bank

of Mum and Dad for living costs.

So altering the system isn't simple.

If you just lower tuition fees,

you help the richest,

unless you also put more money

into maintenance support.

In his first interview,

the new Education Secretary

gave little away.

Only one thing is certain.

They expect graduates to help

pay for universities.

We think it is right that

if you benefit from a university

degree, you should make

a contribution and that is what this

current system does.

What we're doing in the review

is looking at how that

system works, making sure there

are alternatives, more variety.

The Government wants more short

degrees, more part-time study.

There's been little

appetite for either so far.

Universities say making studying

affordable is the key.

You need to reintroduce maintenance

grants at a level which genuinely

offers students a basic

level of subsistence.

Universities want a secure future.

Students, a fairer deal.

But with economic uncertainty ahead,

the Government's review has

little wriggle room.

Branwen Jeffreys,

BBC News, Sheffield.

Our Political Correspondent

Alex Forsyth has been

explaining why the Government

is launching its review

into higher education.

I think the Government has been

feeling pressure on this

front for some time.

That is in part because of that

Labour pledge made during last

year's election to scrap tuition

fees entirely for all

students in England.

That was largely credited

for Labour's popularity

with younger voters.

The Conservatives, I think,

are conscious that on this front

they need to gain some ground,

hence this review

of higher education.

The real question is,

what can they do on this

issue of fees, because,

as you heard there, they remain

committed to the principle that it's

those who go to university,

who benefit for a degree,

who should pay for it,

rather than everybody.

So they're not going

to match Labour's offer

and scrap fees altogether.

The risk is that whatever they do

in place, whether that is trying

to encourage different fees

for different courses or shorter

courses, that could be seen as just

tinkering around the edges.

In fact today Justin Greening,

who was the former

Education Secretary,

who's only very recently

left the Government,

she said the issue of student

finance should not be kicked around

like a political football.

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

evening in The Papers.

Our guests joining me

tonight are he former

Conservative Adviser,

Giles Kenningham and Torcuil

Crichton, Political Editor

at The Daily Record.

More than 60 people are feared

dead after a passenger

plane crashed in Iran.

The flight, which took off

from the capital, Tehran,

came down in the Zagros mountains,

in the south-west of the country,

on its way to the city of Yasuj.

It was operated by Aseman Airlines.

Families have been gathering

at a mosque close to an airport

in Tehran to get information

about their loved ones.

Bad weather, including fog and heavy

snow, has hampered rescue efforts

and the search has been called off

for the night.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu has launched

a scathing attack on Iran,

calling it the "greatest

threat to our world".

He was speaking at the international

security conference in Munich.

Mr Netanyahu also held up

what he said was a piece

of an Iranian drone shot down over

Israel.

He warned Iran not to "test

Israel's resolve".

Here's a piece of that Iranian

drone, or what's left of it after we

shot it down.

I brought it here so you could

see it for yourself.

Mr Zarif, do you recognise this?

You should - it's yours.

You can take back with

you a message to the

tyrants of Tehran -

do not test Israel's resolve.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad

Javad Zarif said Mr Netanyahu's

speech was an attempt to undermine

the international nuclear deal.

I can assure you that

if Iran's interests are not

secured, Iran will respond.

We'll respond seriously

and I believe it would be a response

that people will be sorry for taking

the erroneous actions they did.

We will not be the first ones

to violate an agreement

for which all of us tried,

in spite of Netanyahu's

attempts, to achieve.

We achieved it in spite of him,

we implemented it in spite of him,

and the world will maintain that

agreement, in spite of his

delusional attempts.

Kasra Naji from BBC Persian

is in Munich and he explained more

about the tensions between Israel

and Iran.

It's very real, actually.

And what we've seen in the last

three days in this conference,

in this hotel behind me...

In fact, a lot of people who did

speak, some of the leaders

of the countries, top officials,

strategists who spoke,

they spoke about the real danger

of a conflict breaking out in that

region, particularly

because of the worrying

developments in Syria.

There are people here who believe

Syria today poses the greatest

threat to world peace,

in effect, and what has happened

eight days ago between Iran

and Israel lends itself to that.

A group of American teenagers

who survived a school shooting

in Florida earlier this week have

announced a national march

on Washington to demand political

action on gun control.

They say they're determined

that the mass shooting,

in which fourteen pupils and three

staff members were killed,

will be a turning point

in the national debate on guns.

We can speak to our Washington

Correspondent, David Willis.

When is this March due to take

place?

It is interesting. Next month

is the simple answer to your

question. It seemed for a while

after the Florida shooting last week

that the response might be pretty

typical. Outrage, calls for some

sort of action, followed by complete

inertia that there are signs that

this might be different this time

around. For example, the Columbine

massacre, going back nearly two

decades, there was a lot of sadness,

a lot of outrage but no activism

that stemmed from it. Now we CPAP

signs that there might be some sort

of activism, that young people are

keen to take up this issue. In many

cases, these are people who weren't

even born when the Columbine

massacre took place, yet they've

grown up quite used to so-called

active shooter drills in their

schools. Now it seems they are

starting to mobilise, to speak out

against the National Rifle

Association and to speak out against

politicians who take contributions

from them. So we have this national,

this rally in the capital here next

month. We've also got a school walk

out which is planned for the 20th of

April, the 19th anniversary of the

Columbine massacre and there is also

a big rally planned this week in the

Florida capital, Tallahassee. So

some are saying this could be a

turning point, but of course there

is a long way to go.

Briefly,

President Obama tried to tackle the

issue of gun control and didn't

succeed. Any sign that the political

landscape is any different now?

Not

really, I have do so. Donald Trump

accepted about $30 million from the

National Rifle Association when he

ran for president and he has said he

has no plans to tinker with the

right to bear arms. But I have to

say today the Ohio Governor, John

sick, called for the president to

take the call lead on this issue

with small incremental reforms of

the gun-control laws here and there

is interesting to note that this

week the president is due to sit

down in the White House for what is

called a listening session with some

high school students. We will be

watching to see what comes out of

that, of course.

David Willey since

Washington, thank you very much.

Police in Leeds have been called

to one of Yorkshire's busiest

shopping streets after an attempted

ram raid took place.

As you can see, men in two cars

drove onto a pedestrianised street

in the centre of Leeds and attempted

to rob a high end watch shop.

The men in balaclavas didn't succeed

in gaining entry and escaped before

the police arrived.

The Home Office has said it can't

issue a medical cannabis licence

for a six-year-old epileptic chid,

despite calls from a group

of MPs and his family.

Alfie Dingley, who's

from Warwickshire, regularly

suffers violent seizures.

A cannabis based treatment

he received in the Netherlands

improved his condition,

but it's illegal in the UK.

Charlotte Gallagher has the story.

Six-year-old Alfie Dingley has

a rare form of epilepsy and suffers

up to 30 violent seizures every day.

To go through that once

would be traumatising,

but we're going through it sometimes

every 7-10 days, and it's just

absolutely horrendous.

Last September, the family moved

to the Netherlands so Alfie could be

prescribed medical cannabis oil.

His parents say he went 24 days

without having a seizure.

They've now moved back to the UK,

but cannabis oil is illegal

in Britain, so they want

the Home Secretary Amber Rudd

to give Alfie a license to use it.

It is thought this drug works with

nerve receptors in the brain to help

control the seizures.

But the Home Office

has ruled it out.

They say...

A group of MPs want

the Home Secretary to make

an exception for Alfie.

If we can find a way for her around

the regulations that exist,

and we believe that we can,

she can issue a license to make sure

that Alfie can get this medicine.

Alfie's family have vowed

to continue their battle,

saying you've got to fight,

"for your kids and we want to know

that we've done everything we can".

Charlotte Gallagher, BBC News.

The family of murdered MP Jo Cox

have pledged to support her widow

after he admitted behaving

inappropriately to women in 2015.

The Education Secretary says

university tuition fees should

reflect the economic benefit

graduates will have two the country

ahead of a review of higher

education funding in England.

Sport now, and time for a full

round up, from the BBC Sport Centre.

Good evening.

There was a shock in

today's only FA cup tie.

League One's bottom team Rochdale

came from behind to earn

a replay with Tottenham.

Harry Kane had given

the Premier League side a 2-1 lead

from the penalty spot in the last

two minutes but Rochdale conjured

a dramatic equaliser deep

into injury time at Spotland.

Steve Davis was their hero

and they will face each other again

at Wembley for a place

in the quarter-finals.

It was an amazing game, an amazing

event for us. It was a real

pleasure. We took the opponents on.

We know how good they are, but we

tried to take them on. Sacrificial

behaviour at times from the players,

but every one of the players I

thought were magnificent. We knew

having gone 1-0 up in the first

half, we almost slipped the bomb, if

you like. We knew what was going to

come in the second half was that I

thought the players, they responded

superbly, their heads could have

gone down but they didn't after the

penalty. I feel as though we got a

deserved equaliser.

Rangers are up to second

in the Scottish Premiership on goal

difference after an eight goal

thriller at Hamilton.

Accies actually took the lead

after only five minutes

at New Douglas Park, but Rangers

equalised and then went ahead

after a Josh Windass shot

was spilled by Hamilton keeper

Gary Woods.

The home side made it 2-2,

but Rangers scored two

quick-fire goals and then Windass

scored his third to make it 5-2.

Hamilton pulled one back

in the closing minutes, but the 5-3

win means Rangers move

above Aberdeen.

Celtic drew 0-0 at home

to St Johnstone in the day's

other fixture, but have

still increased their lead

at the top to nine points.

British slope-style skier

James Woods desribed his fourth

place finish as "minging"

as he narrowly missed

out on a bronze medal.

Britain needed just one more

to make it a record five

at a Winter Olympics but failed

to add to their tally today.

At least Lizzie Yarnold

and Laura Deas received their medals

after yesterday's sliding success,

but Great Britains women have lost

again in the curling.

From Pyeongchang, here's our sports

correspondent, Andy Swiss.

From a dry ski slope in Sheffield

to an Olympic final.

James Woods has long made

the extraordinary seem effortless,

and once again how he rose

to the occasion, as he tricked,

flipped and leapt his way

right into contention.

COMMENTATOR:

What's he got for us?

CHEERING.

You can hear what the

crowd think of that.

What a run by James Woods!

He came here with such

high hopes for a medal,

will that be enough?

Well, it seemed it might be.

Second place for Woodsy...

And with just a few left to go

he was still in bronze,

before America's Nick Goepper

snatched away his medal.

So close.

It's a game of perfection,

and it's not just that,

you've got to go above

and beyond technical difficulty.

That was insane.

Controversy meanwhile

at the curling.

The woman's captain

Eve Muirhead penalised for not

releasing her stone in time.

Muirhead felt she had

let go before the line,

but curling does not

use video technology.

The incident handed victory

to opponents Sweden.

Meanwhile, it's emerged speed skater

Elise Christie suffered soft tissue

damage in her crash yesterday.

Her boyfriend posted this...

With her next event on Tuesday,

it's a race against time.

But for others,

there was celebration.

Lizzy Yarnold receiving her

skeleton gold medal.

Her historic success, she told me,

was still sinking in.

It was a big goal four years ago

to try and be the first

British Winter Olympian

to retain my title.

It was scary to say it,

but now it's rolling off

the tongue a bit more.

I'm just so proud that it

all came together.

And with team-mate Laura Deas

collecting her bronze,

a picture-perfect podium

for British sport.

Andy Swiss, BBC News, Pyeongchang.

That's all the sport for now.

More sport on the BBC News Channel

throughout the evening.

Thank you very much.

A committee of MPs has warned that

a hard Brexit could mean higher food

prices for consumers.

A report by the Commons Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs Committee

also said failure to get

a free-trade deal with the EU

could be devastating for farmers.

Our business correspondent

Joe Lynam reports.

The peace and bucolic splendour

of UK farmlands could be

dramatically upset if Britain fails

to get a comments

of free post Brexit.

A key group of MPs says consumers

might also end up paying more

for food if the UK reverts

to World Trade Organisation rules.

The Environment Food and Rural

Affairs committee of MPs says

a so-called hard Brexit

would have a devastating effect

on rural communities.

That's because 60% of UK food

exports go to the EU,

and they could face

much higher tariffs.

The committee also said that Britain

should not dilute its own high food

standards in order to sign

new global trade deals,

such as one with the US.

If we go into a sort of WTO

situation where there

are tariffs on imported food,

that will actually

drive food prices up.

Now, for some commodities,

that will actually suit farming,

but perhaps not the consumer,

if they have to pay

more for their food.

The Government has sought

to soothe those concerns.

It said that leaving the EU gave

the UK a golden opportunity

to secure ambitious free-trade deals

while supporting our

farmers and producers.

It said it would not compromise

on the UK's high environmental

or welfare standards.

Joe Lynam, BBC News.

The stars have been out

for this year's BAFTAS.

And there was celebrations

all round for Three Billboards

Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

The dark-comedy drama

scooped the Best Film prize

as well as a host of other awards.

And the film's star,

Frances McDormond, won best Actress

for her performance of a mother

seeking justice for her

daughter's murder.

It was Gary Oldman's portrayal

of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour

which landed him the BAFTA for Best

Actor.

He said the awards was a "tremendous

honour", and used his acceptance

speech to pay tribute to his ex-wife

Lesley Manville, who was nominated

for best supporting actress.

London-born Daniel Kaluuya scooped

the Rising Star Award

for his leading role in the thriller

Get Out.

Accepting the award,

the 28-year-old paid

tribute to his family

And I'd like to thank my mum.

My mum is the reason...

Levels...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Mum, mum,

you're the reason why I started,

the reason why I'm here and you're

the reason why

I keep going.

Do you understand?

Thank you for everything,

and I'd like to

thank this award...

This is yours.

Love, peace, let's get it.

We have been racking our brains and

we can't remember a time where this

same film wins those two categories,

a big winner.

Very unusual. They

invented that format so the British

film didn't miss out and they had

their own category. Sky fall has won

best British... The main film goes

to a more Hollywood film, if you

like. Unusually today, a film that

is about small-time America,

produced here by British producers

and by an Irish director has taken

best film. I think it is extremely

unusual. I'm slightly surprised

because I thought it was a film that

divided people but it united the

BAFTAs. It is a film that is very

divisive and away, deliberately so,

controversial, but not controversial

enough to put off the BAFTA voters.

One of the edgiest films they have

ever voted as their best picture.

We

said we were surprised if Francis

McDonald hadn't come away with that

prize, the same with Gary Oldman.

He

did, for Winston Churchill in

Darkest Hour. He ended up thanking

Sir Winston Churchill in his

acceptance speech but the standard

he took -- stand he took, this stand

against the march of Hitler and the

speeches he gave in that movie have

been so well received by everyone. I

hear he has been getting a standing

ovation is up and down the land for

those speeches. I suppose it really

struck a chord this year. There's a

freedom there, a unity that those

speeches are brought together. Let's

face it, it's a fantastic

performance from Gary Oldman. I

always think doing Churchill is a

bit of a turn. Brian Cox had a go,

Hardy, everyone has their favourite

Churchill and the casting of Gary

Oldman when it was announced a few

years ago, people were

flabbergasted. How could this guy

who has been Dracula, the guy in

Lyon and was a punk in Sid vicious,

how could he played Winston

Churchill? He prays him with the

same spirit he put towards all

those, a maverick defiant spirit. I

think of all the actors in the last

30 years from that generation that

came up from the 80s, he is flying

the flag for working-class actors in

Britain and always has done. I think

he is a very inspirational winner.

His first BAFTA.

The weather now.

The weather now.

The sunshine was more limited today.

A lot of cloud spinning in from the

west, bringing some rain and

drizzle. Upstream, we do see if you

breaks in the cloud. Those could

emerge across and western parts of

the UK tomorrow. A change of

fortunes, perhaps. In those breaks

in the cloud, we have this milder

air and those temperatures could

push up towards 13 degrees or so. A

mild night tonight. Still one or two

breaks towards East Anglia, but this

cloud is continuing to push slowly

eastwards. Still some more rain and

drizzle. There becomes lighter and

more patchy.

Quite a bit of mist and hill fog in

that rain and typical temperatures,

5-7d. No frost by Monday morning.

Instead, two weather fronts getting

close to the UK. Most of the rain

coming on the first one. It is

between those two weather fronts we

will get the breaks in the cloud and

a milder air. A change of fortunes

because eastern Scotland and eastern

England likely to be dull and rap

with some rain and drizzle. Further

west, a little sunshine possible,

particularly around coastal areas

and perhaps in Northern Ireland

ahead of the next weather front

bringing the next band of rain later

on. But a mild day. 10-13d, cooler

in the east where we have that rain

and drizzle. That will still be

around overnight tomorrow night. You

see the two main areas of rain

converging, the cloud breaks later

in Northern Ireland and across

western Scotland, perhaps North

Wales in north-west England. Turning

a little chilly, not too cold

because there will be a breeze.

Milder underneath the cloud as we

head into Tuesday. Probably a chilly

wind blowing across the Midlands and

East Anglia. Some outbreaks of rain

Tuesday afternoon, that tends to

slowly Peter out. In the West, more

likely to see some sunshine at

times. Still some decent

temperatures, 10-11d, but colder in

eastern England. Things will be

drying up because high pressure is

building in across the UK. It will

keep these weather fronts at bay.

This is quite a change of type. We

haven't seen much high pressure over

the past few weeks. It does mean

after a mild start to the week,

it'll gradually turn a little

colder, but with the high building

on it should become dry in most

areas. Goodbye.