18/02/2018 BBC Weekend News

Student funding in England -

the Government prepares to launch

a review into the entire system

for over 18s.

The cost of university courses -

and the way they're paid for -

will be looked at, amid calls

for maintenance grants

to be reintroduced.

They probably need to come back

on a means-tested basis

and they need to come back

at a level enough to allow students

to focus on their studies and pay

their way on a day-to-day basis.

We'll be looking at the political

battle over education

after Labour's election pledge

to scrap tuition fees.

Also on the programme tonight...

The family of the murdered MP Jo Cox

pledge to support her husband

Brendan after he admits to

inappropriate behaviour with women.

And the Bafta goes to... Three

Billboards.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,

Missouri is the big

winner at the Baftas.

And heading for Wembley -

Rochdale stun Spurs

with a last-minute FA Cup equaliser.

Good evening.

Theresa May says the government

will look at "the whole system

of student funding" as part

of a review into education

in England for those over 18.

In a speech tomorrow,

the Prime Minister will acknowledge

concerns over tuition fees and say

they leave many graduates

"questioning the return they get".

The focus on the cost and scope

of higher education comes

after Labour's election pledge last

year to scrap tuition

fees in England.

Our education editor,

Branwen Jeffreys, reports.

This is one of two jobs

Marrakesh 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 have 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.

This review will also cover higher

technical education.

Theresa May will warn

against an outdated attitude

which favours the academic

university route at the cost of some

of the skills the economy needs.

The government also wants more short

degrees, more part-time study.

But universities say grants

for living costs are the priority.

They probably need to come back

on a means tested basis

and they need to come back

at a level enough to allow students

to focus on their studies

and to pay their way

on a day-to-day basis.

In Wales, young people face

a different prospect.

They'll have to borrow

for £9,000 tuition fees

but from this autumn,

poorer students get

generous living support.

At least £8,000 a year

they won't have to repay.

Making their future debt look quite

different from England.

So for the poorest student

in England, the average level

of debt will be around £50,000.

In Wales, the average level of debt

will be closer to 27 to £30,000.

So about 60% of the same level

of debt across the two

Home Nations and that is

a very significant difference.

Universities in England

want a secure future.

Students, a fairer deal.

But with economic uncertainty ahead,

the government's review

has little wiggle room.

Branwen Jeffreys, BBC News.

Our political correspondent,

Alex Forsyth, is here with me.

We're in the middle of an intense

period of Brexit with these

speeches, why talk about education's

Theresa May is under pressure on two

France, the Labour pledged to scrap

fees which proved popular with

younger voters and facing criticism

from her own MPs about any lack of

domestic policy, not enough vision

beyond Brexit so tomorrow we get

this big speech about post-18

education and Theresa May will talk

about the need to improve vocational

and technical training but crucially

will announce a big review of the

whole system of student funding,

acknowledging serious concerns about

value for money and student debt.

She will admit the market between

universities is not working, most

charge maximum fees for all courses,

she will say this is creating the

most expensive system in the world

but what can the government do? It

will not match the Labour pledge to

scrap fees because it believes

graduates who benefit should pay

towards them instead of everybody so

whenever this review comes up with

something any year, shorter courses

or different fees, by comparison

that could end up looking like

tinkering.

Thank you.

The family of the murdered Labour MP

Jo Cox have pledged their support

for her husband after he admitted

behaving inappropriately with women

and stepped down from two roles

at organisations set up

in her memory.

Brendan Cox has denied assaulting

a woman in the United States in 2015

but admitted behaving in a way that

caused women 'hurt and offence'

when he worked for the charity

Save the Children.

It's confirmed that he was suspended

from his role there in 2015

and 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 following allegations

of inappropriate behaviour a year

before his wife's murder.

The claims in a Sunday paper

are linked to alleged incidents

at Harvard University

in Massachusetts and while Mr Cox

was working for the charity,

Save the Children.

In this case he is said to have

penned a staff member to a wall

while making sexual comments.

Mr Cox says the claims

are a massive exaggeration.

The 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 is not 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 Leadbetter,

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.

The statement does not say

whether Save the Children told

police about the assault claim.

This lawyer specialising in cases

of alleged abuse believes

things need to change.

There should be a legal requirement

on the part of any employer

to report allegations of a sexual

or indecent nature

to the authorities.

That way, matters can be properly

investigated and dealt with, rather

than having them short-circuited.

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.

Israel's prime minister,

Benjamin Netanyahu, has launched

a scathing attack on Iran,

calling it the 'greatest

threat to our world'.

In a speech in Munich he accused

the Iranians of seeking to dominate

the Middle East through terror

and warned that Israel would act

if Tehran tests its resolve.

Iran's foreign minister

dismissed the speech as not

worthy of a response.

Lyse Doucet reports.

In a volatile Middle East, hostility

between the Islamic Republic and the

state of Israel has long been a

dangerous fault line. Israel views

Iran as its greatest enemy,

denouncing its landmark nuclear deal

with world powers as neither -- the

stand-off runs along the border with

Syria, where Iran holds growing

sway. The Prime Minister came to

Munich to use this pre-eminent

security conference as his stage.

No

doubt, Mr 0-hours contract will deny

Iran's involvement in Syria. Iran

also denies it committed an act of

aggression against Israel last week,

that it sent into our airspace to

threaten our people. Well... Here is

a piece of that Iranian drone. What

is left of it after we shot it down.

These were the first images of the

drone Iran is accused of sending

into Israeli airspace. Israeli jets

retaliated. Targeting Iranian assets

in Syria for the first time. But

Syrian fire brought down an Israeli

warplanes. The first time in decades

its combat aircraft was shot down by

enemy fire. Today, and Iran's

Foreign Minister took the stage, he

did not mention the Israeli by name.

You were the audience for it

cartoonish circus.

Then he fired

back with barbs of his own.

Israel

uses aggression as a policy. Against

its neighbours. And once somebody,

the Syrians have the guts to dine

one of the planes, it is his -- it

is as if a disaster has happened.

This disaster marks a dangerous new

turn in Syria's destructive

conflict. Tensions have been

multiplying in recent weeks. Russia,

United States and Turkey all have

their own forces the ground, all

fighting on different front lines.

Even before this dramatic war of

words, this year 's security

conference was overshadowed by fears

there could be an all-out war in the

Middle East, drawing in powerful

players like Israel and Iran. Nobody

wants to see a confrontation but the

risks are clearly great and growing.

Survivors of Wednesday's shooting

at a Florida school are organising

a national march on Washington

to demand tighter restrictions

on gun ownership.

They say they're determined

that the shooting will be a turning

point in the US national

debate on guns.

14 students and three members

of staff were killed in the attack.

It was carried out by a 19-year-old

using a semi-automatic rifle

he'd bought legally.

Two cars drove into a pedestrianised

part of Leeds city centre today

during an attempted robbery.

One was used to ram the front

of a shop, believed to be part

of an attempt to steal

Rolex watches.

No-one was injured in the attack,

which was filmed by passers-by.

The suspects, wearing balaclavas,

did not manage to break

into the premises and drove

off shortly afterwards.

The Home Office has said it can't

issue a medical cannabis licence

for a six-year-old epileptic chid,

despite calls from his family

and a group of MPs.

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's thought this drug works

with nerve receptors in the brain to

help control 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.

With all the sport,

here's Ollie Foster

at the BBC Sport Centre.

Tottenham are the form team in the

Premier League and just a few days

ago drew against Juventus in the

Champions League, but today, in the

last 16 of the FA Cup, they were

held by the lowest ranked team left

in the competition, Rochdale. Holly

Hamilton reports. The life of a

Spurs fan, after the intensity of

Touraine and the wonder of Wembley,

the backdrop for their FA Cup fifth

round was Rochdale. By the did not

rule out the red carpet for the

meeting, they didn't rule out

rule out the red carpet for the

meeting, they didn't rule out a

brand-new pitch. The hosts were out

of the blocks quickly, the first

real chance from the captain, easily

gathered by the Spurs keeper.

Rochdale's top goal-scorer would not

miss the opportunity of getting a

goal against the Premier League

giants. 1-0! Putting his side 1-0 up

before half-time. After the break

Lucas Morrish showed we Spurs were

willing to part with £25 million for

him. He levelled the score line. A

draw would mean a replay but don't

let that ticket to Wembley yet. Step

up, who else, Harry Kane. The

Premier League's top goal-scorer

gave the visitors a few moments of

relief that this was not the end of

Rochdale's journey. With seconds

o'clock, Steven Davis scored the

equaliser. Would you believe it?

What was until a few days ago a

field of mud, today is a field of

dreams.

field of mud, today is a field of

dreams. England's cricketers have

finished their T20 tri-series with a

win against New Zealand but it

wasn't enough for them to reach

Wednesday's final against Australia.

It was a thriller in Hamilton as

they won by two runs but they needed

a bigger margin of victory. They

came close but there were no medals

won for the British team in South

Korea today, although Lizzy Yarnold

did receive her skeleton goal. 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?

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.

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.

Day ten starts in the next hour or

so, skating, sliding and skiing

across the BBC of course but the BBC

Sport website will guide you through

the night.

The best of British film-making

talent has been honoured

at the Baftas this evening,

with many of the stars

using the spotlight to highlight

the sexual harassment scandal

which has gripped the industry

in recent months.

The big winner of the night

was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,

Missouri, which won in five

categories, while Gary Oldman

was named best actor for his

portrayal of Winston Churchill

in Darkest Hour.

Here's our arts editor,

Will Gompertz.

This report contains flash

photography.

photography.

The Baftas 2018, part

awards ceremony. Part platform for

protest. The drag -- black dress

code represents a stand against

harassment and inequality the

workplace. Definitely a different

field this year, people are coming

to celebrate film-making at its

finest but this is a more sombre,

serious mood with the Time's Up

campaign and it changes the

emphasis, tonight is not just a case

of who will win what but who will

say what? Who will capture the

spirit of these times in the way

Oprah Winfrey did at the Golden

Globes? The answer was a winner of

the leading actress award, Francis

McDormand, they give a mischievous,

potent acceptance speech.

I have a

little trouble with compliance!

APPLAUSE.

But I want you to know that I stand

in full solidarity with my sisters

tonight in black. And I also want to

say that I appreciate how well

organised act of civil disobedience.

Power to the people.

She won for

playing Mildred Hayes, are furious

straight talking mother in Three

Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

I started a database, everyone is

born, stick him on it and as soon as

he did something wrong,

cross-reference, make sure it was a

match and then kill him.

The

American set British film was a big

winner with five Baftas including

Best Supporting Actor for Sam

Rockwell. Best original screenplay

for the London born Irish writer and

director, Martin McDonagh.

And the

top award- Best film. What most

proud of with this film in this

Time's Up year is this is a film

about a woman who refuses to take it

any more, and she has always refused

to take any.

Then the leading actor,

complete with a dig at the Oscars.

And the winner is... Francis

McDormand... Just kidding! The Bafta

goes to Gary Oldman.

Gary Oldman one

for his portrayal of Winston

Churchill in Darkest Hour.

You

cannot reason with a tiger when your

head is in its mouth!

I am so

grateful for this incredible honour.

Thank you. Allison Janney got Best

Supporting Actress as the

hard-bitten mother in the biopic, by

Tania.

How old are you?

She is a

soft four. TMO Del Toro won best

director for The Shape of Water on

what was a slightly disappointing

night for this hotly tipped movie.

Maybe it will be a different story

at the Oscars in a fortnight.

You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel.

Stay with us on BBC One - it's time

for the news where you are...