10/12/2017 BBC Weekend News

Tonight at ten, it's been a day

of travel chaos as heavy snow falls,

causing disruption

across much of the UK.

Motorists are told to travel

only if absolutely necessary,

with accidents causing long

tailbacks on some motorways.

Hundreds of flights are cancelled

or delayed for several hours,

including at Heathrow and

Birmingham.

I left work early after a night

shift to get here because of the

snow, and then to find out my flight

has been cancelled.

They could have

told us before we left home when

they saw the weather.

The forecast for tomorrow morning

is treacherous icy conditions

on the roads.

We'll have the latest.

Also tonight...

Boris Johnson holds talks in Tehran

to try to get Britons released

from Iranian jails.

The disgraced publicist

Max Clifford has died

after suffering a heart

attack in prison.

And six months after

the Grenfell Tower disaster,

there are fresh concerns that not

enough local community

voices are being heard

in the official inquiry.

Good evening.

Heavy snow fell across much

of the UK today, causing

disruption on the roads,

to air travel, and on the railways.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled

or delayed at a number of airports,

including at Heathrow,

Stansted, and in Belfast.

There were problems for rail

passengers too, while the police

warned motorists to travel

only if absolutely necessary.

The Met Office says it's

the heaviest snowfall to hit parts

of the UK in four years.

Tomorrow, hundreds of schools

in the Midlands, Gloucestershire

and Shropshire will be closed.

The forecast is of

freezing conditions.

Our correspondent Richard Lister

is in Beaconsfield

in Buckinghamshire for us tonight.

Much of Britain looked

like a Christmas card today.

Scotland and northern England

had been expecting snow,

but this was Buckinghamshire,

and on the ground, it wasn't pretty.

Breakdowns and blizzards

on the M25 near Gerrards Cross

made for slow going,

in slippery conditions.

On the A34 near Newbury, two stuck

lorries meant the southbound

carriageway had to be closed.

But in Wales, some smaller

communities were cut off entirely

and thousands of people lost power.

This was Llangollen today.

This is by far the worst

I've ever seen.

It's probably the worst snow

I've ever seen, to be honest.

It's certainly about a foot deep.

In the Midlands, they'd hoped

gritters would be enough

to keep the roads safe,

but in Redditch, they

needed snowploughs.

It's been a long day for breakdown

services like the RAC,

which has been getting

five calls a minute.

I had problems starting it.

I tried starting it last

night and this morning.

It just won't have it.

Mark says everything he's dealt

with today has been weather-related.

Only travel if you really have to.

If you are going to travel,

make sure you have good things

on you like a fully charged

phone and warm clothing

in case you get stuck,

because you may get stuck

in traffic for hours.

This is just one of

an estimated 25,000 breakdowns

across the UK today.

That's 15% more than usual,

everything from flat

batteries to people stuck

in their drives because of snow.

And it's not just motorists who've

been having problems.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled.

Heathrow, Luton and Stansted

were among the airports affected.

And there were unhappy passengers

at East Midlands Airport too.

A bit frustrated.

A lot of wasted time this morning.

They could have told

us when we checked in

that the flight was cancelled.

We've been waiting around

for about six, seven hours.

A P&O ferry with 300 passengers

on board ran aground

in Calais due to high winds.

No one was hurt and it

was refloated, but this

was a day to stay at home...

And maybe do some of this -

skiing in Shropshire...

Snowmen, sledging and

snowballs in Nottingham.

But what looks like fun on Sunday

afternoon could look very different

on Monday morning at rush hour.

Gritters will be out

in force through the night,

preparing for another

difficult day to come.

Richard, the forecast for tomorrow

is not looking good for travellers?

It certainly isn't. This far south,

most people did not expect this

amount of snow. On the ground, much

of it is still here. The pavements

are slippery, the roads are

slippery. It will make for a

treacherous commute tomorrow. And

the temperatures are falling. The

Met Office has said that eyes will

be a major hazard until about

lunchtime tomorrow -- ice will be a

hazard. It has issued two yellow bee

aware warnings, one in Northern

Ireland and Scotland, the other for

Wales and central England. If you

are in those areas, you can expect a

lengthy commute tomorrow. And ice is

not just a problem on the roads. The

icing issues have caused delays in

many airports earlier today. So if

you have a flight tomorrow morning,

you might want to check that that is

going before you leave for the

airport. Ice means other problems

too. It can mean that trees fall

across power lines, and power cuts

are likely for many tomorrow. If you

are on the roads, Highways England

said just be a safe as you can,

dress warmly. Hundreds of schools

will close tomorrow. That will mean

more disruption. If you are taking

public transport, check your journey

before you leave the house.

Richard,

thank you. Richard Lister in

Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

has held talks with the Iranian

President in a bid to secure

the freedom of citizens with dual

nationality currently

being held in Iranian jails.

They include Nazanin

Zaghari-Ratcliffe,

who's accused of spying.

Mr Johnson described his visit

to Tehran as "worthwhile".

Today, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's

husband said he hoped his wife

would be home for Christmas.

Our Diplomatic Correspondent

James Robbins reports.

Boris Johnson spent nearly

an hour with

Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani,

that access itself seen as a good

sign as improving relations.

The Foreign Office says both sides

spoke forthrightly about obstacles

in the relationship and the need

to make progress.

Once again, Boris Johnson

raised the case of dual

nationals in Iranian prisons,

including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

We now know the Foreign Secretary

met some of Nazanin's

family in Tehran.

In London, her husband Richard

is much happier today,

showing me pictures of his Iranian

family and delighted by the fact

that Nazanin didn't have to face

a possible court appearance today.

He told me about the family

meeting with Boris Johnson.

The Foreign Secretary also met

with Nazanin's father

and had a long chat,

45 minutes, with him,

talked about it and he said "I have

raised her case with everyone

I have met.

This is important.

I will keep worrying

and battling for her.

Don't worry, we're caring

for her and we'll do what we can".

They came away pretty hopeful.

So if there has been progress

in these UK-Iran talks,

where might it have been made?

The Foreign Secretary has been

careful to say nothing

publicly while in Iran.

But a Foreign Office statement says

the two sides discussed

the full range of issues,

including banking matters

and our concerns about the consular

cases of dual nationals.

Those banking matters include two

major Iranian grievances.

one, that no UK bank

will open an account

for Iran's embassy in London,

fearful it could put them in trouble

put them in trouble

with US authorities.

There are signs that that

could be sorted soon.

Second, the Iranians want Britain

to repay a long-standing debt

of around £400 million.

A way to do that without breaching

sanctions also looks closer.

Both sides say these issues are not

linked to prisoner releases,

but giving one side something it

wants often helps the other

to give in return.

One gift to Britain would be

the reunion of Nazanin

with her three-year-old daughter,

Gabriella, seen here just before her

arrest in April last year.

The family is feeling

much more positive.

The Foreign Office delegation left

Iran sensing both sides wanted

to resolve the difficult issues

in the relationship.

James Robbins, BBC News.

The Brexit Secretary, David Davis,

says Britain won't pay a divorce

bill for leaving the European Union

if there's no final

trade deal with the EU.

But in a statement to MPs

tomorrow, the Prime Minister

will say a new sense

of optimism has been injected

into the talks.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party has

suggested that it may be

willing to pay for access

to the European single market

in order to retain its benefits.

Here's our political

correspondent Iain Watson.

Was the strain beginning to show?

This was the Prime Minister

on her early morning dash

to Brussels on Friday.

There was relief all round that

talks could now move on to trade,

but serious challenges lie ahead.

The EU has called for more clarity

about what kind of future

relationship Britain wants.

Today, the Brexit secretary

tried to give it.

Canada plus, plus, plus would be

one way of putting it.

So what on earth does that mean?

Well, Canada has negotiated

a wide-ranging trade deal which gets

rid of most tariffs on goods

exported to the EU, but it

doesn't cover everything.

A Canada plus deal would also

include financial services,

a vital part of the UK economy,

and could well cover

employment rights too.

If you look at any free-trade deal,

what you see is agreement on where

product standards normally comply.

That's what it comes down to.

Sometimes, you see other things.

In the free-trade deal

between Europe and Canada,

they say on labour standards,

they will not go below the ILO,

the International Labour

Organisation minimum.

But he made clear that paying

a divorce bill to the EU would be

dependent on getting a good deal.

I don't expect to see an awful lot

of seasonal goodwill when ministers

finally discuss what kind of deal

they want to do with the EU

just before Christmas.

Already, for example,

the Brexit secretary

and the Chancellor seem to disagree

over whether we should pay a divorce

bill under all circumstances.

But one thing has

become clearer today -

what Labour would do

if Jeremy Corbyn moved

in here to Number Ten.

The shadow Brexit secretary

signalled an unwillingness to move

too far away

from EU rules and regulations.

Do we see Europe as our major

trading partner in the future?

Or do we want to rip

ourselves apart from that?

And he suggested that like Norway,

Labour wanted to stay close

to the EU and may be prepared to pay

for access to its single market.

Norway pays money in.

They do it on a voluntary basis,

but there may be...

Would you accept it?

There may have to be payments,

that would have to be negotiated.

And the Shadow Foreign Secretary

would consider staying close

to the EU's customs union too,

which might restrict

the ability to do trade deals.

Most of our trade is

with the European Union.

We're just stating

a fact, and so we should

not be kiboshing that.

The political parties have contained

some of the disagreements in Europe

by being a bit ambiguous

about the future.

But with trade talks about to start,

difficult decisions can

no longer be deferred.

Iain Watson, BBC News.

The chairman of King's College

Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

in London has resigned.

Lord Kerslake accused the Government

and regulator of being "unrealistic"

about the challenges faced

by the health service.

It is understood that the hospital

was close to being put

into a financial special measures

regime in which NHS Improvement

staff would work alongside

hospital management.

The disgraced publicist

Max Clifford has died.

He was 74.

he was serving an eight-year

sentence for eight indecent

assaults against teenage

girls.

Danny Shaw reports.

He was the PR supremo who could make

or break a reputation.

But when Max Clifford's

past caught up with him,

his own career lay in ruins.

The last three years of his life

were spent in prison in failing

health and this morning,

after suffering a heart attack,

he died in hospital.

The allegations in respect

of which I have been charged

are completely false.

Max Clifford always denied

the claims of indecent assault that

eventually led to his downfall.

But his trial heard evidence

about his manipulative behaviour,

how he promised to boost

the careers of aspiring

models and actresses

in return for sexual favours.

He was found guilty of eight charges

against four women and girls.

The youngest victim was 15.

For 30 years, the publicist

provided sensational

stories for the tabloids.

He represented Faria Alam,

who worked at the Football

Association and had an affair

with the England manager,

Sven-Goran Eriksson.

It was Clifford who helped expose

a relationship between a former

Conservative MP David Mellor

and Antonia de Sancha,

though parts of it weren't true.

This story from Clifford was also

a fiction, but it made for a great

headline in the Sun.

Max Clifford's death leaves many

unresolved legal issues.

He was being sued by his

victims and appealing

against his convictions,

protesting his innocence to the end.

Danny Shaw, BBC News.

The Qatari government is buying 24

Typhoon jets from BAE systems.

Britain's Defence Secretary Gavin

Williamson signed the deal,

worth in the region

of £5 billion, in Doha.

Around 5,000 BAE employees are

involved in building the Typhoon,

mainly at Warton in Lancashire.

Two Devon teenagers who died

after a suspected drug-related

incident in a Plymouth nightclub

have been named.

Aaron Reilly, from Newton Abbot,

on the left here and Joshua Brock,

from Okehampton, both died

after collapsing in Pryzm nightclub

in Plymouth in the early hours

of yesterday morning.

An 18-year-old man arrested

in connection with the deaths has

been released under investigation.

It's six months since

the Grenfell Tower disaster,

in which 71 people lost their lives.

Today, the equalities

watchdog announced

that it's to launch its own review

into the causes behind the fire

after criticisms that

the current judge-led inquiry

is not broad enough.

Our correspondent Elaine Dunkley has

been spending time with the local

community to find out

about the issues affecting them.

Grenfell Tower is rarely out

of sight or out of mind

for the people of this community.

It's been six months

since one of Britain's

deadliest fires took the lives of 71

people and left hundreds

without homes.

Families are in such a bad place.

Karim Mussilhy lost his

uncle Hesham Rahman, who

lived on the 23rd floor.

Uncle Hesham was kind and generous.

In my eyes and in my family's

eyes, he was a hero.

This should never have happened.

These people never should have

lost their lives that night

in the way they did.

So we are extremely determined.

We will fight for as long

as it takes to make sure

that this never happens

again, our loved ones

are never forgotten,

and,

you know, the right

changes are made.

There have been funerals,

inquests and now the public inquiry.

people here are demanding

that they are on the panel.

The time for reflection

has been short.

You know, the people that

were out here helping

have witnessed a lot.

This group met for the first

time on the night of the

fire as they helped

organise donations.

They've remained friends,

a bond formed in the most tragic

of circumstances.

How has this changed the people that

you know, the people

that you used to see every

day, coming and going?

People are different.

You can see it, you can feel it.

The children, at first

the children

who visited where I work

were asking questions.

Why was there a fire?

What happened to those people?

And you're finding

yourself explaining

to two and three-year-olds why

people have perished in a fire.

For a long time, me

personally, I was in denial.

That didn't happen in my mind.

Until, like you said, you've had

a moment to stop and then you

realise it actually did.

There's no words to

describe it, honestly,

there's actually no

words to describe it.

There are people to talk

to and I have recently

been going to counselling.

But that's just only

happened five months on.

This is the Harrow Club.

For many children in

the area, this place is

at the centre of their lives.

Since the fire, it has become

even more important.

It's different when it's

in your area and it actually affects

you.

Many of the children here lost

friends and their homes.

We've been staying in

a hotel for six months.

Before, I used to have a space

where I could do my homework

and everything could

be nice and quiet.

And I could have my own time.

But now in the hotel,

because I've got a lot

of siblings and they

are all young, they run

around and you don't

have your own personal space.

118 families are still

in emergency accommodation.

The Royal Borough of Kensington

and Chelsea Council says

the process has been slow.

but they are beginning

to make progress.

Alison Moses has been rehoused.

Here is where I have

all my grandchildren

and my baby stuff.

And has also been reunited

with a memory box found

amongst the ashes of her

flat in Grenfell Tower.

She says families desperately

need stability in order

to rebuild their lives.

They cannot grieve normally.

That grieving probably

won't even take place now

until they have a home

and they are somewhat settled.

Then grieving can start.

This is so sad.

There's a lot of work to be done.

Christmas is just around the corner.

People should not still be

in hotels at this stage.

People here feel like the world

will move on

and forget what happened.

But this community is defiant

and say they will continue

to show strength in

the shadow of this tragedy.

Elaine Dunkley, BBC News.

With all the sport,

here's Karthi Gnanasegaram

at the BBC Sport Centre.

Clive, good evening.

It was an important derby day in

the Premier League, but it is time

to pop out of the room if you don't

want to know today's results

as Match of the Day 2

and Sportscene later in Scotland,

follow on BBC One.

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side

have set a new English top flight

record with their 14th successive

victory this season.

Nicolas Otamendi scored the winner

as they beat Manchester United

2-1 at Old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney scored for the first

time in a Merseyside derby,

his penalty conversion making sure

of a point for Everton as they drew

1-1 with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

Liverpool remain in fourth place.

While City's win

increases their lead at the top

of the table to 11 points,

a huge blow to their title rivals.

And Southampton and Arsenal drew

1-1 today after a late

Olivier Giroud header salvaged

a point for Arsenal,

who are in fifth place.

In the Scottish Premiership,

Hibernian scored twice in the final

15 minutes to come back from two

goals down to draw 2-2 with Celtic,

who are now unbeaten

in 68 domestic games.

In rugby union's European Champions

Cup, Exeter's year long unbeaten run

at home came to an end

with defeat to Leinster.

Harlequins' hopes of reaching

the quarter finals are over

after defeat to Ulster.

While Wasps lost for the second

time in their campaign,

beaten by an impressive

La Rochelle side by 49-29.

Adam Wild rounds up the action.

La Rochelle may be a new

name amongst Europe's

rugby elite, but theirs

is a side fast catching the eye

and turning the heads of the game's

more established order.

Teams like Wasps, history,

tradition on their side,

still Rob Miller's early try

was something of a surprise.

So too La Rochelle's

response, at least for

Danny Cipriani.

His kick charged down

and Wasps' good work

immediately on done.

As if to encapsulate

the French side's

this his first-ever

start in a professional game,

this his first try, putting

La Rochelle further ahead

from where they would

scarcely look back.

They ran in six tries

in all, another

formidable performance.

It may be their first time

in Europe's premier tournament,

yet they remain the side

setting the pace.

Behind them in the group, Ulster,

now up to second, 17-5 the

scoreline in this wintry

win over Harlequins.

For Saracens, it was

the weather that won.

Their match against

Clermont Auvergne lost

amidst the snow.

Whilst in Exeter, there

were plenty of hats, but not

all strictly designed for warmth.

The Chiefs were given

hope against Leinster

with this James Shaw try.

But the Irish side bundled

and barged their way back, 18-8.

They stay top of their group.

Adam Wild, BBC News.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has equalled

Steve Davis's record by winning

a sixth UK Snooker title.

O'Sullivan beat

Shaun Murphy by 10-5.

He has won two of snooker's three

Major titles this year.

And there's more on the BBC Sport

website, including the latest

from the Ashes tour with the third

Test starting on Thursday.

That's all for now, Clive.

You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel.