21/02/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten - police forces

could face new legal action

by victims of major crime,

if the investigations

were "seriously defective".

Two women, who say they were

victims of John Worboys,

the serial six attacker,

have won compensation

from the Metropolitan Police,

setting a new legal precedent.

They had all the information there.

They should have caught him.

They could have stopped him.

They could have caught him the very

next day but they didn't,

they chose to not believe me.

Following the Warboys investigation

and this landmark ruling,

police warn they will have to set

money aside to cover

any future claims.

We now need to look at all of those

cases, look at how we balance

the challenge of resourcing those

against the many other

demands that we face.

We'll be considering the potentially

far-reaching impact,

of today's ruling

at the Supreme Court.

Also tonight:

The Brexit bus is back,

this time with a different message

as the government set out key

proposals for the transition

period after Brexit.

CHANTING

Students in Florida on the march,

demanding changes to gun laws

after the recent shooting

at their school.

A special report on the extreme food

shortage in Venezuela,

the country with the biggest oil

reserves in the world.

I want you to get a part

of your seat right now and say

I want you to get up out

of your seat right now and say

I want my sin forgiven...

And, Billy Graham, the preacher

who brought the Christian message

to many millions around

the world, has died.

And coming up on Sportsday

on BBC News...

David De Gea was at his brilliant

best as Manchester United looked

to avoid defeat against Sevilla

in the last 16 of

the Champions League.

Good evening.

Police forces could face new legal

action by victims of serious crime,

if the police investigations

are found to be

"seriously defective".

Judges at the Supreme Court gave

the ruling, under human rights law,

in a case brought by two women

who say they were victims of John

Worboys, the serial six attacker.

The police say the outcome means

they must set aside more

money to cover possible

claims for compensation.

Our legal affairs correspondent

Clive Coleman has more details.

If they'd have done their job

in 2003, there would be one victim.

What I can't deal with is 105

victims because I wasn't believed.

This woman, known for legal reasons

as DSD, was the first to report

being attacked by John Worboys

back in 2003.

Why do you think the police

simply didn't believe you?

Ad like to throw that

one back at the police

because all the evidence was there.

All the witnesses were there,

everything was there,

why didn't you believe me?

Why did you put me

through this for 15 years?

You get to the point

where you think, you are going mad.

From when that first report

was made, it took a further six

years for police to bring

Worboys to justice.

During that time, he continued

to cruise the streets

looking for women to dupe,

drug and sexually assault.

The police can't be sued

for negligence, so DSD and another

of Worboys' victims claimed police

failures to investigate

breached article three

of the Human Rights Act and amounted

to inhuman and degrading treatment.

The Metropolitan Police,

with the backing of two home

secretaries, fought them

to the Supreme Court.

But today, judges ruled

in the womens' favour.

We have held that failures

in the investigation of the crimes,

provided they are sufficiently

serious, will give rise to liability

on the part of the police.

Today's landmark ruling has huge

implications for both the victims

of violent crime and the police

who investigated it.

If they seriously fail

in an investigation,

they can face human rights actions

by the victim and had

to pay compensation.

This is the highest court

in the land, telling the police that

in the most serious of cases,

they have to do their job properly.

The police unreservedly apologised

to the victims they failed.

But suggested that today's ruling

could mean resources being taken

from less serious cases.

The court referred to it as those

cases involving serious violence

and it's clear the Worboys case fits

in that criteria.

We now need to look at all of those

cases, look at how we balance

the challenge of resourcing those

against the many other

demands we face.

CHANTING: Domestic violence...

Is a crime.

Today's judgment can't make up

for the police errors

in investigating John Worboys,

but it will put real pressure

on them to ensure that such

mistakes do happen again.

For years it has been impossible for

individuals to sue the police in the

civil courts for a negligent

investigation and that legal shield

the police enjoy has been resented

by victims. What is so extraordinary

about this ruling, it provides a

new, alternative route to hold the

police to account in the civil

courts under human rights law. As a

result of that, we have heard of

claims already been brought. Make no

mistake about it, in terms of police

accountability, today is a game

changer.

Clive Coleman, thank you

very much.

On the eve of the cabinet's key

meeting to settle its approach

to the Brexit proces,

Downing Street has published

proposals, for the transition period

after Britain leaves

the European Union.

The plans are being interpreted

by some Conservative MPs,

as opening the way for a longer

transition process than originally

set out, with Britain abiding

by any new European laws,

but not being able to sign trade

deals without the EU's permission.

This report from our political

editor Laura Kuenssberg contains

some flash photography.

No, not that red bus.

Campaigners who want Brexit

to get stuck brought

their own to Westminster.

The government is going to have more

difficulty getting Brexit

through the House of Lords than this

bus is having coming in here.

Under pressure, it's a big week

for the Prime Minister to show

she is making progress

with her plans.

SPEAKER:

Prime Minister.

We want to ensure this is a country

that can negotiate free-trade deals

around the rest of the world.

We want to ensure we have

a good trade agreement

with the European Union

and that is what we are

starting to negotiate.

We want to ensure we have a good

security partnership

with the European Union.

It isn't clear from today's

exchanges this government isn't

on the road to Brexit,

Mr Speaker, it's on

the road to nowhere.

But for all the arguing,

what matters to the government right

now is this, the guidelines

for the implementation

phase, or the transition.

That is the period of time

after we've left the European Union

when broadly, not very much

will change for quite some time.

The UK thinks it will take about two

years to make all the changes,

but Brexiteers are nervous

about this phrase, "that the time

frame could be shaped simply by how

long it will take to prepare

and implement the new

processes and systems."

Basically, it will be the EU status

quo, the rights and obligations

of the UK will continue,

but a joint committee should be set

up so the UK still has a say over

changes to any rules and on some

specific areas like fishing.

There is no mention in today's

text about immigration,

the core argument in the referendum.

Number Ten says the Prime Minister

will still insist that the system

changes as soon as we leave

the European Union.

But a government source told me

to expect the UK to back down

down on that in the face

of resistance from Brussels.

How bullish are ministers?

Are starting point has been

as the Prime Minister set out,

that we would allow people to come

and go and live out their lives

and live and work in the UK

during the implementation period

on the same basis as before but we

will need to have a conversation

about how they will continue

on after the implementation.

EU leaders and Theresa May aren't

a million miles apart

in the talks about transition,

but however friendly

the three-kiss greetings

with the Dutch PM were today,

ends have to be tied up and a lot

of discussion still to be had.

Discussion at this moment

is about two years and of course

the discussion will then be,

if things move smoothly,

at the end of the two

years you would allow

for a short extension.

That debate is still going on.

The Brexit secretary and his Cabinet

colleagues still have plenty

of convincing to do.

In European capitals

like in Athens today,

at home with their party

and of course, most

importantly, with you.

Laura Kuenssberg, BBC

News, Westminster.

Students in Florida have been

protesting in the state capital,

to demand stricter controls on gun

sales, after last week's school

shooting, when 17 students

and teachers were shot dead

by a former pupil.

It was the first organised

protest by a movement

led by young people,

calling itself "never again",

which was established

after last week's attack.

Our North America editor

Jon Sopel is in Tallahassee.

A school trip like no other. These

students from Marjory Stoneman

Douglas High School have not come to

the Florida State capitol to listen,

they have come to speak and the man

change after 17 of their classmates

and teachers were killed last week.

And they are determined to be heard.

No one needs these weapons that are

taking children's lives. They should

ban them because all they are used

for is destruction and they are just

not needed.

You should go to school

feeling safe and be confident you

are therefore an education and a

bright future, not worry about

getting shot.

The students were

joined by thousands of others from

across the state, noisy, determined

and emboldened. The streets are

literally echoing to the sound of

these young people demanding gun

control. But last night, state

legislators voted against even

opening a debate on semiautomatic

weapons. The fight for gun control

is going to be an uphill struggle.

But that decision, not even to

debate guns in the state assembly

has infuriated pupils, teachers and

community leaders alike.

I have

buried in the last four days, three

kids from my congregation. I watched

the father wanting to climb into the

mausoleum with his son. I watched

the mother climbing into a ball and

refusing to come out for the family.

Then they have the gall not even to

discuss the issue, I am very upset.

From the White House, small but

significant signs of improvement and

the president has been meeting

students and teachers, not just from

Florida, but from other shootings as

well.

We want to be strong on

background checks, very strong and

emphasis on the mental health of

somebody and we are going to do

plenty of other things.

This

heartfelt plea from one of the

parents.

Justin was text in me

hiding in a closet saying, if

something happens, I love you. If

something happens, I love you. You

cannot imagine what that is like as

a parent. It is not political, it is

a human issue, people are dying. We

have to stop this. If he is not old

enough to go and buy a drink, you

shouldn't be able to buy a gun at

18.

These students have captured

public attention with their demand

for change, but it is a tough

journey and winning support is a

different thing to winning reform.

That meeting at the White House is

still going on. A smart decision by

the president and also a risky one.

He has heard from one child saying I

turned 18 on the day after the

shooting and I could have bought a

weapon. Another one from Sandy Hook,

these deaths are preventable,

consider your own children, you

don't want to be me. A lot of the

time, Donald Trump was nodding

emphatically with what they were

saying. If he acts, he risks

offending the National Rifle

Association and some of his base. If

he doesn't, people will say, what

was the meeting for? Jon Sopel,

thank you very much with the latest

from the rally in Tallahassee.

Two young men have been stabbed

to death within the space of two

hours in Camden Town in north

London.

Police are investigating whether

the deaths of Abdikarim Hassan

and Sadiq Adan Mohamed are linked.

16 people have been stabbed to death

in London since January this year,

including five teenagers.

In Syria, the rebel-held enclave

of Eastern Ghouta has been turned

into "hell on earth"

for civilians there, according to

the UN Secretary-General.

Antonio Guterres called

for an immediate halt

in fighting in the suburb,

where a bombing campaign by Syrian

government forces has

resulted in the death of 300

people so far this week,

as our Middle East editor

Jeremy Bowen reports.

The Syrians deny targeting

civilians in Eastern Ghouta.

EXPLOSIONS.

These, they say, are precision

strikes against artillery

that has hit central

Damascus.

SCREAMING.

But the evidence from inside

the enclave is that civilians

are getting hurt and dying.

The suffering of civilians

could have a political effect,

putting pressure on the rebel groups

in Eastern Ghouta to make a deal.

The lives of their children

against strategic front line

territory near central Damascus

that the regime wants to get back.

This activist says, "helicopters

are hovering over us

here in Eastern Ghouta.

God help us, we are

being exterminated."

I was able to cross

from government-controlled Damascus

to Eastern Ghouta several times

at the beginning of the war.

Even then it was very badly

damaged by regime bombing.

Morale among the rebels was high

and dozens of young men were joining

what they believed was a revolution.

What do you think

will happen to Assad?

Killed.

Must be killed.

When the war started, the regime

was under severe pressure.

It lost control of a crescent

of suburbs around Damascus.

Eastern Ghouta is the last of them

that hasn't surrendered.

In 2013, Eastern Ghouta was hit

by a chemical attack

that killed hundreds.

The Americans threatened a military

strike against the regime

and then decided against it.

It was a turning point in the war,

after that the regime lost its fear

of Western intervention.

In September 2015 Russia intervened,

decisively on Assad's side.

Now he's more secure

and he 's emboldened,

more so than at any time

since the war started,

and the Russians are becoming

the dominant foreign power

in the Middle East.

In northern Syria, the president has

just sent in militia

men to join the fight

against the Turkish incursion.

He wouldn't have the confidence

to move against a Nato power

without the Russians.

And it suggests he won't listen

to foreign condemnation

of the attack on Eastern Ghouta.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC News.

The Government has ordered a review

into the way medical problems,

caused by NHS treatments,

are dealt with.

It follows three high-profile

campaigns related to

the the epilepsy drug

Sodium Valproate, the hormone

pregnancy test Primodos and the use

of vaginal mesh implants.

The UK has seen the strongest six

months of productivity growth

since the recession of 2008,

according to the latest

figures from the Office

for National Statistics.

There was also a better

than expected rise in wages

in the first three months

of the year.

But unemployment was also up

for the first time in two years,

as our economics editor,

Kamal Ahmed, explains.

Bring on the robots,

more efficient in helping this firm

in Hastings make electrical

equipment more quickly.

And the more quickly

you make things, the more

you make every hour,

and the more wealth you create.

That's productivity.

Since the financial crisis,

our productivity performance

has been pretty poor,

but over the last six months

there has been a jump

into positive territory,

the strongest since before 2008.

Global growth is helping firms.

We're seeing a huge opportunity

for us in the Chinese market that

we've been working on for the past

18 months, two years and that's

starting to come to fruition now,

and that's why we've found it's time

to reward the staff.

It's time to reward them in terms

of bringing in machinery,

like the robot behind me,

that will help them and help us

increase productivity.

And where productivity goes,

wages tend to follow,

up over the last three months

to 2.5% from 2.3%.

That's still below the rise

in prices, but that living

standard squeeze is easing.

We've just had a pay rise.

We haven't had it long enough yet

to really decide whether it does

make a difference or not.

I'm sure it will but, like you say,

it's still early stages.

Despite having a pay rise,

when you look at how things,

the cost of things is increasing,

then what you have fluid at the end

of each month after you've

done your essential,

utilities and things like that,

the difference is quite noticeable.

Quite a noticeable difference

for the Government as well,

the public finances are £7 billion

better off than they were last year.

Better growth means higher tax

revenues and less borrowing.

A lot of important figures

about the economy today.

Three of those figures

are better, one is a worry.

Lower levels of government borrowing

are good for the public finances.

Productivity is up, that's good

for the creation of wealth.

That leads to higher incomes,

and there is some evidence of that.

The one worry, unemployment,

which has risen slightly

for the first time in two years.

It's very hard to predict

whether unemployment's

going to carry on rising.

You can't read too much

into one month's figures.

The employment rate is still quite

high, but it's all going to depend

on the outlook for the economy

in the next few months.

It's that outlook that

really matters, for our

incomes, for our jobs.

Brexit uncertainty is still weighing

on the economy, government

debts are still high,

but today it was the better economic

figures that won out.

Kamal Ahmed, BBC News.

Venezuela, which has the largest oil

reserves in the world,

is nonetheless facing a humanitarian

crisis because of

a shortage of food.

Charities say the situation is out

of control, with no end in sight,

as the economy has collapsed,

bringing extreme

hardship for millions.

It's estimated that the rate

of inflation could increase

to 13,000% this year.

And the level of child malnutrition

now stands at almost 17%.

The BBC's Vladimir Hernandez is one

of the few international

journalists who's been able

to report from Venezuela.

SINGING

They sing, but they're hungry.

These are the faces of extreme

poverty in Venezuela.

Here, the economic collapse has left

an unsettling sight.

Extremely thin children, who don't

know when they'll eat next.

Kimberly has two young children,

she says it's never been

so hard to find food.

This is the medical report

for Kimberly's youngest son,

he was taken recently to hospital.

What it says here is

that he was suffering

from diarrhoea, asthma,

anaemia, but also from

acute malnutrition.

There's a whole list

of medicines here also for him.

I've just asked her and they haven't

been able to buy them.

Freddie, a father of five,

struggles to get by on the rare

government hand-out,

and he's often paid with fish

when he finds work.

This Catholic church-run centre

offers food to people

from these poor communities.

Feeding time here can be frantic,

some desperate to finally eat.

What we see here can be disturbing.

This young boy looks

like a newborn, but he's two.

Liliana, looks like she's

two, but she's five,

and Jose is almost eight.

Chronic malnutrition leads

to stunting, they just don't grow.

The government says this crisis

is the result of recently

imposed foreign sanctions,

promoted by the United States

against the socialist revolution,

but critics would just

call its mismanagement.

In the capital Caracas,

things are no different.

This is what a supermarket

looks like.

Just empty shelves, no food.

No food.

This Christian charity offers a free

lunch every day and a prayer.

Even some people with full-time jobs

have to come here to get a meal.

And that lack of food means people

here have lost an average of 11

kilos in the last year.

Venezuela today is an oil-rich

country of hunger and queues.

Vladimir Hernandez,

BBC News, Caracas.

The political leaders

of Northern Ireland have been

in Downing Street today,

for talks with the Prime Minister

on trying to restore

the power-sharing executive at

Stormont.

The president of Sinn Fein,

Mary Lou McDonald, accused

the Government of having no plan

for restoring devolved

government after a 13-month

political stalemate,

but the DUP's Arlene Foster said

the time had now come for ministers

at Westminster to set a budget

and make decisions

about public spending.

I believe, whether intentionally

or not, Theresa May is actually

facilitating the DUP blocking

advancement and resolution

on these core issues.

We're concerned about the fact

that we have this instability,

that we don't have proper governance

in Northern Ireland and it's

incumbent upon the UK

Government to come forward

and to fill that gap.

Our Ireland correspondent,

Chris Page, is at Stormont.

Where do we stand after today's

talks, Chris?

Well, Huw, the parties

at the centre of the Stormont

stalemate have continued to trade

blows even on the other side of the

Irish Sea. Sinn Fein's criticism of

the Government was particularly

strong, I thought. This was Mary Lou

McDonald's first trip to London

since she took over from Gerry Adams

as Sinn Fein president a few weeks

ago. She pointed at the Conservative

Party's reliance on DUP votes in

parliament as a major reason why

negotiations here had continually

stalled. The DUP though still blame

Sinn Fein for the deadlock and they

expect Westminster to pass a budget

for Northern Ireland in the coming

weeks. The Government still saying

tonight that it regards devolution

as the only way forward, but if

there was any hope that political

relationships here would start to

heal after last week's negotiations

break down. If anything, there are

signs that divisions are deepening.

Chris, many thanks again for latest

thoughts there at Stormont. Chris

Page our Ireland correspondent.

For the third time, the High Court

has ruled that ministers must to do

more to deal with air pollution

in towns and cities

in England and Wales.

It said existing plans were unlawful

because they won't bring pollution

levels within legal limits

in the "shortest possible time."

Ministers will now have to introduce

new measures in a further

33 towns and cities.

Our science editor,

David Shukman, reports.

The air we breathe.

In dozens of places,

it's dirtier than the law allows.

For years, an environmental

group has challenged

the Government to do more,

and today the High Court ordered

ministers to double the number

of areas where pollutions be cut.

What it means today is that in those

towns and cities that

were covered by this order,

the local authorities will have

to take measures to try and fix that

as soon as possible.

And the Government will have to help

those local authorities to do that.

This app shows that today in London

the air quality isn't that bad.

The problem is that, in towns

and cities across the country,

there are days when the air

pollution reaches illegal limits.

Now the judgment, here

at the High Court, acknowledges

that the Government is doing a great

deal to clean up, but also

says ministers need

to do a great deal more.

At Prime Minister's Questions

Theresa May was asked

about the court ruling.

They have asked us to go further

in areas with less severe

air-quality problems.

Where we thought a pragmatic

approach was appropriate,

we will now formalise that.

But actually, on two out

of the three counts, they found

in the Government's favour.

Wales will now see a new effort

to improve the air.

The Welsh Government

admitted to the High Court

that its plans weren't adequate.

Southampton is one of several major

cities where the Government recently

ordered a faster response.

So too in Leeds, another pollution

hotspot, where today we found

people are concerned.

I feel like it's slowly killing us

because it's bad air and I fell

like they should find a way to cut

down and sort it.

We can't let it go because

of our young people.

It's just not fair.

Local authorities in Leeds and other

cities are working on plans

to tackle pollution,

but they feel they're having to make

all the effort and they say national

government isn't helping enough.

We need to ensure that there's

proper funding and that they're

thinking for the country as a whole

and they're not just passporting

this responsibility down to already

stretched local authorities,

expecting us to do it

without that support in place.

The most obvious solution

is to charge the dirtiest vehicles

for coming into polluted areas,

but that's also the most

controversial option

and ministers aren't keen on it.

So what else can be

done to cut pollution?

Switching away from

diesels is one option.

So is encouraging people

onto public transport.

None of this is cheap,

but the Government now knows

that the courts are watching.

David Shukman, BBC News.

Tonight's Brit Awards is under way

at London's O2 Arena this evening.

Here's to more women on these

stages, more women winning awards

and more women taking over the

world. Thank you so much.

Dua Lipa won Best Female Solo

Artist and Best British

Breakthrough Act.

Stormzy picked up

the Best Male Award

And Best British Album of the Year.

Football now, and Manchester United

have been in action in the last 16

of the Champions League.

COMMENTATOR:

Sevilla

finishing the half strongly.

In it goes towards Muriel.

What a save, David de Gea.

Brilliant save.

Thanks in part to some great saves

from their goalkeeper, David De Gea,

they held on for a 0-0 draw

away to Sevilla.

The return leg in Manchester will be

in three weeks' time.

One of the most influential

Christian preachers of the past

century, Billy Graham,

has died at the age of 99.

The American evangelist devoted his

life to promoting Christianity,

holding mass rallies

across the world and he was

the first preacher to harness

the power of television

to broadcast his

message to millions.

He was a spiritual adviser

to every US President,

from Harry Truman to Barack Obama.

Our religion editor, Martin Bashir,

looks back at his life.

Problems that face us tonight that

never be solved unless we bring them

to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Charismatic and handsome,

Billy Graham preached a simple

message that he took around

the world, speaking to more than 220

million people, in 185 countries.

London first felt the force

of his evangelism in 1954.

We've come here at the invitation

of these churches to help lead

you in a crusade to win into Jesus

Christ.

I want you to get up out

you have your seat right now.

He would lead 417 crusades,

often in major sporting stadiums,

from New York to Nigeria.

I don't believe anybody

is here by accident.

He was God.

He was also man.

It was at an Earl's Court rally,

in 1966, that Cliff Richard publicly

declared his Christianity.

# He'll do for you #.

He was also a pastor to presidents,

from Nixon to Clinton,

but he never took sides.

He was even invited to preach before

the Queen and other members

of the Royal Family at Sandringham,

in 1984, and said afterwards

that he did not change his message,

but simply pointed to Jesus.

I don't actually think we've had

somebody who simply says -

the Bible says, the Bible says,

the Bible says and doesn't intrude

his own ideas into the message.

So he's being real on message

and I don't think we've seen

anybody of that character,

apart from Saint Paul.

In his hometown of Charlotte,

North Carolina, there

was shock and sadness.

We just loved him and it feels

like the world's going to fall apart

a little with him gone.

I think just leaving a legacy

of sharing the gospel,

no matter what role you've been

given, is the most important thing.

His son Franklin Graham,

who's also an evangelist,

described a recent conversation.

I said, "Daddy, what do

you want on your tombstone?"

He thought, he said,

"Just preacher."

That's it.

That's it.

God loves you.

Unlike so many American preachers,

Billy Graham was never caught up

in any kind of scandal and insisted

that his financial affairs were

transparent and audited by others.

It was the simplicity of his message

and the sincerity of his life

that will be his legacy.

The American preacher, Billy Graham,

who's died at the age of 99.

That's it.