04/11/2017 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon.

The Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell

has called on all the main political

parties to agree a new,

independent system to tackle sexual

harassment at Westminster.

Mr McDonnell said the recent

claims of misconduct

by MPs were distressing,

and undermined public confidence

in the political system.

Last night, the Conservative

MP Charlie Elphicke

was suspended by his party,

following what they called

"serious allegations"

which were referred to the police.

Mr Elphicke said he'd

done nothing wrong.

Our Political Correspondent

Iain Watson reports.

This is the week when politicians'

private lives became very public.

Past actions by some MPs have had

serious consequences.

There have been accusations,

resignations, investigations.

And it is clear the current crisis

at Westminster will continue

to fill the front pages.

And now Conservative MP

Charlie Elphicke has been suspended

from his parliamentary party

and reported to the police.

He says he does not know

what he has been accused

of and denies any wrongdoing.

The Conservatives have

toughened their code of conduct

for MPs and party members

and the Shadow Chancellor said that

Labour has learnt

from a past scandal.

The party will now allow complaints

of harassment to be made

to an independent body,

free from political control.

The lesson from the MPs expenses

scandal is act quickly,

gets an independent system in place

which people can then

have confidence in.

It is distressing for all of us,

it is distressing to hear some

of these concerns and reports

of what has gone on.

So we have to act and be

decisive and ruthless.

But Jeremy Corbyn is still facing

questions about why he hardly acted

ruthlessly against this MP.

Kelvin Hopkins was promoted

to the Shadow Cabinet

after being reprimanded

for past behaviour.

Mr Hopkins denies wrongdoing.

The physical structures

of Parliament are being made fit

for the 21st century.

And on Monday Theresa May wants

to do much the same thing

with the wider culture

here at Westminster.

She is holding cross-party talks

to try to get broad agreement

on tackling harassment

and inappropriate behaviour.

But some MPs are worried that

political careers could be ended

on the basis of rumour

and the settling of old scores.

There is a febrile atmosphere

and there is a feeding frenzy.

That some have described I think

probably rightly as a witchhunt.

Yes this may sell tomorrow's

chip wrappings, but this

is more serious than that.

And I believe that my colleagues,

Members of Parliament,

have a right to the same natural

justice as anybody else

and they're not getting it.

Party leaders want to be

seen to be taking tough

action against harassment.

But they know, perhaps even fear,

that they're not entirely

in control of events.

Iain Watson, BBC News, Westminster.

And Iain is with me now.

This has been compared to the

expenses scandal.

How similar is it?

Similar in a couple of ways, day

after day we had newspaper stories

which must lead to even further

erosion of public confidence in

politicians similar to the expenses

scandal. And secondly and perhaps

more significantly, as with the

expenses scandal I think the culture

Westminster will change. So for

example already Labour has a sexual

harassment policy just four or five

months old and they have changed

that under pressure from some MPs to

make sure that people can make

complaints to an independent body.

The Prime Minister herself once more

independent in the system and so

those cross-party talks on Monday,

that will be the focus, to try to

get more independence and less party

political control of the process.

But with the expenses scandal you

are clear evidence, a paper trail of

what the MPs had done wrong way,

what they had done at all. What we

have here sometimes are rumours,

gossip and some people do not want

to be put on trial in the court of

public opinion on the basis of

studies -- unsubstantiated claims.

A seven-year-old girl who suffered

critical injuries in an incident

at a house in south west London

yesterday, has died.

55-year-old Robert Peters,

who officers say was known

to the victim, appeared in court

today charged with attempted murder.

He's been remanded in

custody until December.

Lebanon's Prime Minister,

Saad al-Hariri, has

announced his resignation,

saying that he fears for his life.

He also heavily criticised Iran,

accusing the country of sowing 'fear

and destruction' in several

countries including his own.

Mr Hariri's father,

who was also prime minister,

was assassinated in 2005.

New figures suggest that only half

of fixed speed cameras

in the UK are switched on -

and some forces have turned

all their cameras off.

The information is based on 36

of the UK's 45 police forces.

Road safety campaigners say

the situation is "concerning" -

and they've blamed budget cuts

for so many cameras

being turned off.

Campaigners are warning

of the growing threat to marine

and wildlife in the UK

from the increasing number of helium

balloons and sky lanterns

being released into the air.

They say they can be

deadly for animals -

both on land and in the sea -

as they can become entangled

in them, or swallow them -

and they fear their warnings

are not being heard.

Dan Johnson reports.

The litter in our seas,

an issue largely hidden.

And how it gets there

isn't always clear.

So look at this and think about it.

Where do they land?

What goes up must come down.

And the result is trouble at sea.

It hurts wildlife,

it entangles them.

It is very unsightly...

Campaigns have been running

for years but the message

isn't getting through.

Most people think oh,

we're having a great time, you know,

we'll let the balloons off,

there's not really

much of a problem.

But again it is when you bring that

visual impact to something

that is ingested, marine litter,

it is dead sea birds again wrapped

up with bits of string

and bits of balloon out

of their mouth as well.

And it could be internal we find out

when we do a postmortem.

The amount of plastic in the ocean

is already a threat to marine

ecosystems and sea life.

And the truth is this is impossible

to tell how much balloons

are adding to the problem.

Because the impact is out there,

offshore, unseen and unmeasured.

So balloons get released

without consideration

of the consequences.

It has landed in the field and being

curious she has swallowed it.

And they can be just

as deadly online.

Jennifer's horse died

after choking and panicking.

Right through here it was

tangled in the back leg.

Crashed into this, broke

all of this and broke her neck.

And then she lay dying horrendously

for what seemed like an eternity.

Feisty was heading to

be a top showjumper.

Just like her sister here.

They do not understand, they're

releasing litter into the air.

Airborne litter.

And if anyone dropped that

on a pavement they would get

heavily fined for it.

And it is causing untold suffering

for animals that are eating them

in the fields and either becoming

very injured or killing them.

The call is for a wider ban

on balloons being released

and for people to keep their impact

in mind before they drift

off out of sight.

Dan Johnson, BBC News,

on the south coast.

Football - and Celtic have set

a new British record

after beating St Johnstone 4-nil.

They now haven't lost a domestic

game in 63 matches -

breaking their own record,

which had stood for 100 years.

Chris McLaughlin reports.

A century ago and in the month the

United States entered the First

World War a the Celtic players set a

record. Today is those who fell in

that conflict and others were Birnam

Wood, the current crop were out to

better it. It was never really in

doubt. The class of 2017 has been

swatting aside all in their path in

Scotland. Scott Sinclair put them on

their way in Perth. The signal for

the party to start came after was to

Bally doubled the lead in the second

half. -- Mousa Dembele. St Johnstone

just wanted it to end. By the time

the fourth goal came the record had

been well and truly smashed.

It is

an incredible feat by the players

and a wonderful example of

professionalism. Of playing and

creating high standards every single

day. And they have faced everything

as football players.

Domestic games

unbeaten 63, the Celtic history

makers March on.

Now, there are many ways to send

a message these days -

but a mysterious one the size

of a field in Oxfordshire has

caused some bafflement.

The name "Sue" with a kiss in giant

letters was spotted by a police

helicopter near Thame.

A farmer, Murray Graham has now

admitted he used his GPS-operated

tractor to spray the crops

in the shape of his wife's name -

to apologise for being moody.