:00:07. > :00:08.It didn't take long for military action to start,
:00:09. > :00:12.57 minutes after the vote in the Commons.
:00:13. > :00:15.Yesterday MPs showed their inclination for air strikes.
:00:16. > :00:25.But do we have the ability for a sustained and effective campaign?
:00:26. > :00:33.The Syria operation will plays another great burden on the royal
:00:34. > :00:37.air force, I'm confident they will be ready for that, but there is
:00:38. > :00:38.always the possibility of overstretching an already stretched
:00:39. > :00:41.military. he has a ground force ready to
:00:42. > :00:45.attack IS, but there's a snag. Also tonight,
:00:46. > :00:47.they're counting the votes in the Oldham by-election, but meanwhile
:00:48. > :00:49.Labour MPs are preoccupied by We'll hear from an MP complaining
:00:50. > :00:53.of online attacks and ask what the party leadership
:00:54. > :00:58.plans to do about it. I am worried that social media may
:00:59. > :01:04.be poisoning politics, people who are spilling abuse, bile, bullying,
:01:05. > :01:06.it is not conducive to the way that we should do politics in this
:01:07. > :01:37.country. This is like an episode of Bake Off
:01:38. > :01:45.that I missed Chris Arquin LAUGHTER -- that I missed (!) LAUGHTER
:01:46. > :01:48.So, the first British sorties into Syria were described as successful.
:01:49. > :01:52.But what about day 100, or day 1,000?
:01:53. > :01:55.We have, after all, been told to expect a long campaign.
:01:56. > :01:57.Will we be out in three years? There are no guarantees.
:01:58. > :01:59.Our diplomatic editor Mark Urban looks at how effective
:02:00. > :02:01.and how sustained our military effort might be.
:02:02. > :02:04.VOICEOVER: Britain is moving its campaign against the self-proclaimed
:02:05. > :02:11.Islamic State into a different gear, doubling the number of jets flying
:02:12. > :02:17.from Cyprus, and leaving many wondering how role this will go on
:02:18. > :02:22.and how it will end. Let's be clear, I do not think there is any military
:02:23. > :02:26.solution to the region, but the military can provide the time and
:02:27. > :02:30.space for a political solution to grow roots, and I have no doubt,
:02:31. > :02:35.that my military colleagues will tackle that challenge with great
:02:36. > :02:41.courage, professionalism and determination, I just hope that is
:02:42. > :02:45.matched by political masters over the long-term. Last night's strike
:02:46. > :02:50.by four Tornados in an oilfield in eastern Syria has upped Britain's
:02:51. > :02:59.role, in what is a large coalition. The US-led effort has conducted a
:03:00. > :03:06.total of 8573 strikes in Iraq and Syria, since it all began. By
:03:07. > :03:10.comparison, the UK has carried out 380 strikes, in Iraq, with the
:03:11. > :03:16.tornadoes and Reaper drones that it is already operating, just over 4%
:03:17. > :03:21.of the total, 7% of the strikes in Iraq. Russia, since its dramatic
:03:22. > :03:27.entry into the conflict two months ago, has managed over 2300 strikes
:03:28. > :03:33.but there is some dispute about how they count them, far more common in
:03:34. > :03:36.any case, than Britain can do. Then we will have some token aircraft
:03:37. > :03:42.over there from the British, they will drop a few bombs, we will say
:03:43. > :03:46.thank you very much, and we will... The president will be able to say, "
:03:47. > :03:52.now we have the British helping us! " And that is good. Not achieve
:03:53. > :03:56.nothing, they will achieve a little something, but air strikes alone
:03:57. > :04:02.will not win a conflict. In truth, with the RAF at its current size,
:04:03. > :04:07.all it can hope to be is a junior, if effective member of an
:04:08. > :04:12.international coalition. And now that 16 jets have been committed to
:04:13. > :04:17.this operation, there really is no more slack in the system. With the
:04:18. > :04:19.Defence Secretary saying that they may have two bomb for years, if
:04:20. > :04:23.necessary, the cabinet must be may have two bomb for years, if
:04:24. > :04:33.hoping that there are no other crises that emerge anywhere else.
:04:34. > :04:38.How much will the new typhoons contribute to degrading I S? They
:04:39. > :04:45.can drop bombs but a smaller variety of them than the tornado, some
:04:46. > :04:52.experts argue that Typhoon's best role maybe as a fighter in dangerous
:04:53. > :04:57.skies. With the tornado having an optimised air to ground radar, and
:04:58. > :05:02.heavily laden with weapons and sensors, it may well be that the
:05:03. > :05:06.typhoon, because of the enhanced air to air threat, possibly, they are
:05:07. > :05:14.putting out the typhoon as an escort. It may be that the packages
:05:15. > :05:20.that go in will go in with four Tornados and two typhoons. Five
:05:21. > :05:25.front line typhoons woodlands, 12 jets each. -- squadrons. 12 are
:05:26. > :05:28.required to defend the UK, then there is Baltic air policing and the
:05:29. > :05:34.defence of the Falklands, leaving around to squadrons spare, which
:05:35. > :05:39.will be needed to sustain the six playing the poignant in Cyprus. The
:05:40. > :05:44.only other aircraft the RAF has that can bomb, the ageing tornado, and
:05:45. > :05:48.that is also now fully committed. All of that is in the future, there
:05:49. > :05:53.is no doubt that over the short-term, the commitment to the
:05:54. > :05:56.Syria operation is going to place another greater burden on the royal
:05:57. > :06:01.air force. I'm confident they will be ready for that, but there is
:06:02. > :06:07.always implications of overstretching an already stretched
:06:08. > :06:10.military. Russia, America, France and the UK are all now bombing
:06:11. > :06:14.Islamic State in Syria, the organisation is under intense
:06:15. > :06:20.pressure. For Britain, upping and sustaining involvement will not be
:06:21. > :06:21.easy, but in its own way, that is evidence of a significant national
:06:22. > :06:39.commitment. STUDIO: Mark Urban reporting
:06:40. > :06:41.with some military maths. The air strikes are just one part
:06:42. > :06:44.of what we are told is the British The other is some kind
:06:45. > :06:47.of settlement for the future of Syria, that might provide
:06:48. > :06:50.an army and an alternative to IS. Lyse Doucet is the BBC's Chief
:06:51. > :06:56.International Correspondent Last night we spoke with you, for
:06:57. > :06:59.the immediate response, but you have spoken with the Syrian government is
:07:00. > :07:04.now, what is their take on this British intervention? The tape is in
:07:05. > :07:07.two parts, first, the information minister, all of the senior
:07:08. > :07:10.officials, say that Britain is basically breaking international
:07:11. > :07:16.law, violating Syrian airspace by not doing what Russia has done, and
:07:17. > :07:20.request informal position to enter the skies. Secondly, most
:07:21. > :07:24.importantly, he insisted that the air campaign was, as he put it, a
:07:25. > :07:28.show of bravado for the benefit of the British public and Parliament,
:07:29. > :07:33.that it would not have any impact, because it was not coordinated with
:07:34. > :07:38.the Syrian army, and that, he said, was the path to success, and Britain
:07:39. > :07:47.was doomed to fail in the air campaign, against the presence of
:07:48. > :07:52.Islamic State. The talks, Vienna talks, that are the great hope for
:07:53. > :08:01.getting there, give us your view, the realism, of delivering very
:08:02. > :08:05.much, very quickly? There are two phrases that government officials
:08:06. > :08:12.used often in the debate in the British Parliament, and after it
:08:13. > :08:15.ended, the first was the Vienna process, the second was winning the
:08:16. > :08:22.peace. There was a significant breakthrough in in recent months,
:08:23. > :08:25.only significant because of the very low bar in Syria, where there has
:08:26. > :08:28.been deadlocked for five years, and that is that all of the main outside
:08:29. > :08:32.players involved in one way or another on one side or another in
:08:33. > :08:38.this war, all sat together around one table in Vienna. If the 1 table
:08:39. > :08:41.was the only point of unity, that recess, they have come up with what
:08:42. > :08:45.they call a transition plan, which would take place over two years, but
:08:46. > :08:51.there is still vast gaps, most importantly of all, the question of
:08:52. > :08:55.president Bashar al-Assad, arid states are now saying, this is a
:08:56. > :08:59.concession, the process of transition, going to a totally new
:09:00. > :09:01.order of power here, both in security terms and terms of
:09:02. > :09:07.political institutions, can start with Bashar al-Assad, to avoid total
:09:08. > :09:10.collapse, as we have seen in neighbouring states, but it must end
:09:11. > :09:19.without him, Iran and Russia ironclad doubly opposed. -- and
:09:20. > :09:24.Russia are implacable in their opposition. Golf states have blamed
:09:25. > :09:28.each other for the continuing the stable as Asia not just in Syria but
:09:29. > :09:33.across the region. The other one is winning the peace, bear in mind that
:09:34. > :09:36.Syrian talks in Vienna did not have any Syrians around the table, that
:09:37. > :09:40.is supposed to be the next step, the Syrians themselves will sit
:09:41. > :09:44.together. There is no sense at all that there is any thing, on their
:09:45. > :09:50.agenda, they are literally opposed, still speaking with contempt. There
:09:51. > :09:54.is no sense that the optimistic statements we have heard today, from
:09:55. > :09:58.senior government officials in Britain, political transition, would
:09:59. > :10:03.be under way in any time soon. -- Gulf states. It is going to be a
:10:04. > :10:06.long haul and a very messy long haul.
:10:07. > :10:09.Now, in the complex web of different groups fighting IS
:10:10. > :10:12.in Syria, there is one that has been seen as a more reliable ally
:10:13. > :10:24.Their fighters, the Peshmerga in Iraq and the YPG in Syria,
:10:25. > :10:26.have not been counted in the 70,000 troops
:10:27. > :10:30.The snag is that this army is not, at the moment,
:10:31. > :10:40.A little earlier, I spoke to the Kurdish foreign minister,
:10:41. > :10:42.Falah Mustafa Bakir, who's based in Erbil,
:10:43. > :10:48.I asked him how effective air strikes have been where the British
:10:49. > :10:54.have already been involved. The air strikes have been effective,
:10:55. > :10:57.helpful and useful, and have paved the way for the reliable forces on
:10:58. > :11:00.the ground, which are the Peshmerga forces, to achieve a lot of victory,
:11:01. > :11:03.the last of which has been retaking In addition to over 25,000 square
:11:04. > :11:10.kilometres that have been liberated since last
:11:11. > :11:14.year. where Kurdish Peshmerga forces went
:11:15. > :11:18.there together with the Kurdish with the help of the US air strikes,
:11:19. > :11:24.and helped to bring about There's more that you would like
:11:25. > :11:30.the West to do, though, as well? You could do with more weapons,
:11:31. > :11:32.for example, correct? We have been asking
:11:33. > :11:39.for more weapons, ammunition, equipment,
:11:40. > :11:42.training and capacity-building, because this has been a tough war
:11:43. > :11:45.and a costly war. Since last year,
:11:46. > :11:47.sustaining this war has been costly in terms of human lives,
:11:48. > :11:50.but also in terms of resources. That's why we have been asking
:11:51. > :11:52.for heavy weaponry, ammunition and equipment
:11:53. > :11:54.for the Peshmerga forces and lethal and non-lethal equipment to be
:11:55. > :11:56.provided for the Peshmerga forces. One of the things we've been told
:11:57. > :11:59.in our debate here, and everybody seems to agree
:12:00. > :12:02.on this, is that for air strikes to work, there has to be a ground force
:12:03. > :12:05.that can finish the job. Now, there's a dilemma here,
:12:06. > :12:11.because actually, the Kurds, the YPG, the Syrian Kurds,
:12:12. > :12:20.not far from Raqqa. The head of the snake,
:12:21. > :12:26.if you like, of Isis. many people say it's the best army
:12:27. > :12:30.nearby. And yet many people in Raqqa, the
:12:31. > :12:33.Sunni Muslims, will not welcome the If, for example, the Syrian
:12:34. > :12:49.opposition forces said, we would welcome some kind of
:12:50. > :12:55.military help from the Kurds, you put up, if you like, forces to
:12:56. > :13:01.go outside your areas, and to help take that
:13:02. > :13:05.town out of Isis's hands? We have played a major role
:13:06. > :13:08.in defeating Isis, and we have For non-Kurdish areas,
:13:09. > :13:11.we have been talking to the US-led coalition as well as Iraqis
:13:12. > :13:14.in order to prepare the ground. The same way that Raqqa is important
:13:15. > :13:17.for Syria, Mosul is important for Iraq, so we talk about
:13:18. > :13:20.the Iraqi battlefront, we are ready to play our role having stated very
:13:21. > :13:23.clearly who does what and where the in going further towards
:13:24. > :13:25.these non-Kurdish areas. It's doable, but there needs to be
:13:26. > :13:28.an understanding, and a political understanding
:13:29. > :13:30.and an agreement between the forces We have got some Peshmerga,
:13:31. > :13:35.the Kurdish Peshmerga, They will be ready to play a role
:13:36. > :13:40.in the fight in Syria as well, and there would be cooperation with
:13:41. > :13:42.the Syrian democratic forces There has to be an effort
:13:43. > :13:48.on the ground in order to bring all
:13:49. > :13:51.these forces who are against Isis Minister Bakir, thank you
:13:52. > :13:55.very much for talking to us. Yesterday's drama continues to have
:13:56. > :14:04.reverberations within the Labour Party, where the new kinder, gentler
:14:05. > :14:09.politics is having a rough week. While some suggest that party
:14:10. > :14:13.politics is a distraction from the real issue of military
:14:14. > :14:16.action, Labour MPs themselves keep talking about bullying
:14:17. > :14:20.and the threat of de-selection. The Corbynite Shadow Chancellor,
:14:21. > :14:23.John McDonnell, suggested on the Radio 4 Today programme this morning
:14:24. > :14:28.that there was unpleasantness from some on both sides of the argument,
:14:29. > :14:33.but most attention is on the tactics of those who've been against war
:14:34. > :14:38.directed at those in favour. John Sweeney went to visit
:14:39. > :14:40.Walthamstow, the constituency of Stella Creasy - one of the MPs
:14:41. > :14:55.who says she's been targeted. Where does Democratic arguments stop
:14:56. > :14:58.and intimidation begin? Labour MPs who voted for bombing so-called
:14:59. > :15:06.Islamic State in Syria are asking that question. If Hilary Benn
:15:07. > :15:07.wonders what the strange whirring noise is, it's his father turning in
:15:08. > :15:29.his grave. Well done, murderer. So why is Sweeney standing in the
:15:30. > :15:32.middle of a roadworks in Walthamstow, you may well ask? As
:15:33. > :15:36.well as the vote on bombing Syria this week, something else happened,
:15:37. > :15:40.it happened here, and it is a potential sign of trouble ahead not
:15:41. > :15:47.just for the Labour Party but the British politics as a whole.
:15:48. > :15:51.Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy is right in the line of fire. Her north
:15:52. > :15:56.London constituency has a lot of ethnic minority voters and far left
:15:57. > :16:03.activist. They came to her Labour Party office on Tuesday night. They
:16:04. > :16:08.said, to stage a vigil. From what I saw, it was very much a peaceful and
:16:09. > :16:13.respectful protest. It was a free vote, so she has a right to follow
:16:14. > :16:19.her conscience? She has a right to do that, absolutely, but we live in
:16:20. > :16:22.her constituency, and her constituents are disappointed to see
:16:23. > :16:26.Gucci isn't representing our views in Parliament. If there was a vote
:16:27. > :16:30.to deselect her, would you deselect? I believe she doesn't
:16:31. > :16:35.represent views of her constituents and the local Labour Party. After
:16:36. > :16:41.Stella Creasy voted for bombing, local councillor Azema mood
:16:42. > :16:50.suggested that any MP who supported the killing of innocents should face
:16:51. > :16:53.reselection. I have spoken to the counsellor and he said he couldn't
:16:54. > :16:58.talk to us as he was at Heathrow, Eddie Gunter recommend anyone else.
:16:59. > :17:07.He said the people who are against the vote to bomb IS in Syria are
:17:08. > :17:12.lying low right now. -- he couldn't recommend anywhere cars. As the RAF
:17:13. > :17:19.began striking Syria today, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MPT Tom
:17:20. > :17:27.Watson is issued a statement together. One senior figure is
:17:28. > :17:32.calling for a new code of conduct. I am worried that social media may be
:17:33. > :17:37.poisoning politics as people who are spelling abuse and bile, bullying,
:17:38. > :17:40.it is just not conducive to the way we should do politics in this
:17:41. > :17:47.country. Because people are sitting behind a keyboard, they think it is
:17:48. > :17:50.OK to add extra vitriol to the political point they want to make.
:17:51. > :17:55.In the end it will just deter people from becoming part of politics.
:17:56. > :17:57.There needs to be a code of conduct, clear roles
:17:58. > :18:02.There needs to be a code of conduct, bullying and abuse will just not be
:18:03. > :18:11.tolerated. The Labour MP for Bermondsey received a tweet showing
:18:12. > :18:16.three knives. They thought they could compel me to act in a
:18:17. > :18:20.particular way, and that was very unfortunate, and it did lead to some
:18:21. > :18:24.level of intimidation. That undermines democracy. Stop the
:18:25. > :18:43.Warsaw and poor power sees things differently. -- stop the war
:18:44. > :18:47.spokesman Paul power. It is not tweet that kill people, it is bombs.
:18:48. > :18:55.It is not e-mails that kill people, it is missiles, and that is the real
:18:56. > :19:05.issue here. There isn't a stop the war office in Raqqa. Obama himself
:19:06. > :19:14.said Russian bombs will free terrorism. I don't think British
:19:15. > :19:17.bombs are any different. What is at stake here is freedom of conscience
:19:18. > :19:20.in British political life. Ashworth.
:19:21. > :19:32.Shadow Cabinet minister Jonathan First, though, let's talk to one MP,
:19:33. > :19:34.Diana Johnson, She was sent an e-mail which claimed
:19:35. > :19:42.she would lose her seat if she voted You did vote against air strikes.
:19:43. > :19:47.Where you bullied? How do you know that you were not influenced by
:19:48. > :19:50.those kinds of threats? I was in the middle of a consultation with my
:19:51. > :19:54.constituents, and I received that e-mail saying that if I didn't vote
:19:55. > :20:00.the right way, as they saw it, they would have a vote of no-confidence
:20:01. > :20:03.and to deselect me. I wanted to call that out immediately, because I
:20:04. > :20:07.didn't want that kind of leading e-mail but I received, and other
:20:08. > :20:12.e-mails that went to other MPs, to be kept quiet. I wanted to get it
:20:13. > :20:17.out there to say this is not a tactic that will influence me. I am
:20:18. > :20:22.going to look at the evidence and what the Government are saying and
:20:23. > :20:26.come to a judgment. It seems to me in tenures as an MP, I have never
:20:27. > :20:31.had an e-mail like that before, and I have never seen the level of
:20:32. > :20:36.vitriol and abuse that is an social media, but also as you were just
:20:37. > :20:42.describing with Stella, that level, that attempt to bully MPs, this is
:20:43. > :20:47.something that has happened recently. Have you had insults or
:20:48. > :20:53.threats from the other side, from the pro-war lobby saying that now
:20:54. > :20:58.you have voted against, you will be deselected? No. When I consulted my
:20:59. > :21:02.constituents, I had a balanced response, people with views on
:21:03. > :21:06.either side. But in a sensible, reasonable way. And one other
:21:07. > :21:11.thing, I think there is a particular issue about the way women MPs are
:21:12. > :21:14.being targeted. Some of the offensive language use, words I
:21:15. > :21:29.cannot repeat on the television, but also words like hang and which --
:21:30. > :21:32.hag and witch, and this has been building for some time, and Jeremy
:21:33. > :21:38.Corbyn himself has said it is not acceptable. We need more than words,
:21:39. > :21:42.we need action now. Andy Burnham's talk about a code of conduct is one
:21:43. > :21:45.thing, but we need a leader to be very clear to stand by the
:21:46. > :21:50.Parliamentary Labour Party to say he gave us a free vote, and whichever
:21:51. > :21:54.way you voted, it was done in principle. People step by their
:21:55. > :21:59.principles, and the leader needs to reiterate that he is proud of the
:22:00. > :22:07.PLP. Diana Johnson, thank you very much indeed. Jon Ashworth, what is
:22:08. > :22:11.the party going to do about this? This evening, Jeremy has put out an
:22:12. > :22:14.important statement saying he will have no truck with this kind of
:22:15. > :22:25.intimidation and bullying that Diana is quite rightly calling out. Also
:22:26. > :22:28.Tom Watson our deputy leader is looking at producing a code of
:22:29. > :22:33.conduct, and I think that is an important step, so let's take it to
:22:34. > :22:36.the NEC and discuss what that means. When you look at the three pillars
:22:37. > :22:40.that Jeremy Kyle bin got elected upon, his mandate, one of the most
:22:41. > :22:44.important ones was that he wanted a kinder style of latex, a more
:22:45. > :22:53.engaging style of politics and a democratic kind. But you must be
:22:54. > :22:57.even having to mention it, because frankly are those who will say that
:22:58. > :23:01.while he talks of gentle politics, he has attracted in a lot of people
:23:02. > :23:08.who didn't get the memo about kinder and gentler. I think a lot of the
:23:09. > :23:14.people on Twitter are not in the party, but if they are, I think that
:23:15. > :23:20.type of leading, nasty, abusive social media behaviour, this Twitter
:23:21. > :23:24.pitchfork mob is unacceptable. We should be debating issues in the
:23:25. > :23:26.party. I want a more democratic party, I don't want people feeling
:23:27. > :23:32.bullied and pressured into adopting a position because of the abuse they
:23:33. > :23:36.have been getting an social media. Let's talk about deselection. What
:23:37. > :23:41.Diana Johnson had was a threat of deselection. We have used the word
:23:42. > :23:48.allaying and just seamlessly gone from deselection to Twitter insults.
:23:49. > :23:53.Is it illegitimate for a local party to say if you vote against the way
:23:54. > :23:59.we would like to vote, we will deselect you? We have A.D. Selection
:24:00. > :24:05.process already. So why is it unreasonable?
:24:06. > :24:11.When your constituency party selected to be the candidate, they
:24:12. > :24:17.are asking you to form judgments on complex, big issues. They want
:24:18. > :24:22.someone whose judgment they like. Indeed. All Labour MPs take these
:24:23. > :24:29.issues very seriously, such as whether to extend air strikes to
:24:30. > :24:32.Isil in Syria. They listen to their electorate and they way up the ante
:24:33. > :24:38.must carefully. I think this kind of idea that you don't do a certain
:24:39. > :24:42.thing, we will push you off a cliff approach to politics is not the way
:24:43. > :24:47.of doing things. That is not an in gauging way of doing things. What
:24:48. > :24:51.all of this just tells us, this party is just absolutely
:24:52. > :24:57.dysfunctional at the moment. It is completely split, and not just over
:24:58. > :25:01.a disagreement, it is a visceral disagreement in which one lot
:25:02. > :25:06.actually hate the other lot. I don't know if people hate each other in
:25:07. > :25:12.the Parliamentary Labour Party. We have had a debate this week on
:25:13. > :25:17.whether to extend air strikes in Syria, and clearly there was a
:25:18. > :25:20.division, but the economic policy of John McDonnell, there is consensus,
:25:21. > :25:26.and on the welfare policy, there is consensus. On the health policy of
:25:27. > :25:29.Heidi Alexander, there is consensus. There have been split some foreign
:25:30. > :25:33.policy this week, but when you look at domestic policy, the Shadow
:25:34. > :25:35.Cabinet and shadow ministers are broadly united. Stay there a moment.
:25:36. > :25:39.Voting ended about an hour ago in the much anticipated by-election
:25:40. > :25:41.in Oldham West and Royton, triggered after the death
:25:42. > :25:46.It is Labour's first electoral test since choosing Jeremy Corbyn
:25:47. > :25:51.The party is defending a majority of over 14,000 - so surely it's
:25:52. > :25:57.Joining us from the count is BBC North West's political editor,
:25:58. > :26:10.We are going to wake up tomorrow morning to the result of this
:26:11. > :26:17.by-election. Tell us what we might expect in terms of what would be a
:26:18. > :26:22.good result or bad? What I can do is tell you what Labour is predicting,
:26:23. > :26:26.and that is that they will win tonight, because they have described
:26:27. > :26:31.themselves as confident of that. You can see behind me that the county
:26:32. > :26:33.still going on. It will go on probably until about half past one
:26:34. > :26:39.in the morning when we expect results. Ukip say that they also
:26:40. > :26:45.believe they have done very well, but not enough, they think, to cross
:26:46. > :26:49.the line. We waited to see. As you say, the majority here is almost
:26:50. > :26:54.15,000, so the question is the extent to which Ukip is able to
:26:55. > :26:59.narrow that gap, close the majority. As I see it, there are two
:27:00. > :27:03.challenges here. The ones Ukip is to prove not that they can do well in
:27:04. > :27:06.seats like this, they have proven that, but that they can actually win
:27:07. > :27:13.them. And the challenge Labour is that with Jeremy Corbyn as leader,
:27:14. > :27:18.can he appealed to seats like this? Old Western writing is primarily a
:27:19. > :27:24.working-class constituency. -- Oldham West and
:27:25. > :27:25.working-class constituency. -- working class constituency, and if
:27:26. > :27:31.he can't succeed here, we working class constituency, and if
:27:32. > :27:33.Thank you very much. It is extraordinary that the main
:27:34. > :27:35.Thank you very much. It is that the main political affected to
:27:36. > :27:39.resuscitate elliptical trouble of their own.
:27:40. > :27:43.They did well at the general election, they didn't take seats but
:27:44. > :27:48.they did take votes. We need to think about how we take that on. Our
:27:49. > :27:52.candidate is brilliant, think about how we take that on. Our
:27:53. > :27:55.be a superb MP if he gets elected. If Ukip take votes of Labour,
:27:56. > :27:58.be a superb MP if he gets elected. they seem likely to take some of,
:27:59. > :28:03.what do you mean when you say you have to look into that? C what the
:28:04. > :28:09.result is, first of all. In a town like Oldham, it is a Labour town so
:28:10. > :28:12.I don't want to see Ukip doing well. If the reports come in that they are
:28:13. > :28:15.doing better-than-expected, we will have to decide how to bond to them.
:28:16. > :28:18.John Ashworth, thank you very much. One of the BBC's best-known
:28:19. > :28:20.and long-serving executives, Alan Yentob, is to step down
:28:21. > :28:24.from his post as Creative Director. He's been in the news as he was
:28:25. > :28:27.chairman of the collapsed charity Kids Company and he'd been accused
:28:28. > :28:30.of trying to influence BBC coverage of its affairs -
:28:31. > :28:32.a potential conflict of interest. Our policy editor Chris Cook has
:28:33. > :28:35.been reporting on the problems of Kids Company
:28:36. > :28:40.and its senior team this year. And then, just like that,
:28:41. > :28:44.the man himself emerges. Alan Yentob is best known
:28:45. > :29:00.for his televised documentaries. He has chats with grand arts
:29:01. > :29:07.figures. My first meeting with Jay Z, short but sweet. Isn't that Diana
:29:08. > :29:13.Ross? But today, he resigned as creative director of the BBC because
:29:14. > :29:15.the youth work charity he chaired collapsed in August,
:29:16. > :29:20.the youth work charity he chaired receiving a ?3 million public
:29:21. > :29:25.bailout. During nearly 50 years at the BBC, he made classic films like
:29:26. > :29:26.this one on David Bowie, and served as a controller of BBC
:29:27. > :29:32.this one on David Bowie, and served and head of television. So it is
:29:33. > :29:34.perhaps a little surprising that it is the collapse of a charity he
:29:35. > :29:37.supported in his spare time that is the collapse of a charity he
:29:38. > :29:42.caused the end of his career as an executive here at the BBC. But the
:29:43. > :29:49.collapse of Kids Company was a national scandal. The charity
:29:50. > :29:52.received more than ?40 million of government funding, including ?7
:29:53. > :29:56.million this year, and an official report looking into the case has
:29:57. > :29:57.found that taxpayers have no idea what value they actually got for all
:29:58. > :30:05.that cash. He was not a token trustee, he was
:30:06. > :30:09.intimately involved in getting public funds, this summer he wrote
:30:10. > :30:13.to ministers with a letter which included some ordinary claims, the
:30:14. > :30:16.sample, he said that if Kids Company closed, there would be a high risk
:30:17. > :30:21.of arson attacks on government buildings. And communities served by
:30:22. > :30:27.the charity could descend into savagery. It was his efforts to
:30:28. > :30:32.defend the charity in the BBC which have ultimately been his undoing. He
:30:33. > :30:35.spoke with Newsnight to try to affect our output, unsuccessfully,
:30:36. > :30:41.and the world at one, and there is something about this interview with
:30:42. > :30:47.the Chief Executive, on Radio 4's today. It is not true, and I will
:30:48. > :30:52.tell why, we have had audits in the last 19 years, and all of them have
:30:53. > :30:57.been clear. Here is something you cannot see in that footage, that
:30:58. > :31:00.interview took place in that room there, the studio where the today
:31:01. > :31:03.programme is being broadcast, and this is the cubicle, where the
:31:04. > :31:09.producers and editors in control of the programmes it, they control the
:31:10. > :31:13.length of interviews, for example. Alyn Yentob came in and stood in
:31:14. > :31:16.this cubicle, he did not say anything, he waited until he went
:31:17. > :31:22.outside again to do that. -- Alan Yentob. MPs think that this was an
:31:23. > :31:27.abuse of his position at the BBC and when he was asked about that, he did
:31:28. > :31:31.not -- they did not feel his answers were straightforward. You position
:31:32. > :31:37.yourself with the producer in the box... I'm sorry, I do not know why
:31:38. > :31:41.you heard that, she was being interviewed, I was outside, I was
:31:42. > :31:44.not with the producer in the box. Allegation is that you are not in
:31:45. > :31:50.the studio with her but you were the other side of the glass with the
:31:51. > :31:54.producers. Yes, I was. So you inhibited the producer! You have
:31:55. > :32:01.been giving a very misleading answer... Alan Yentob will stay on
:32:02. > :32:06.as a presenter of the art show, Imagine, and as the chair of BBC
:32:07. > :32:09.films, he is stepping down as an executive, and the BBC trust, the
:32:10. > :32:12.governing body, feel enough is enough, they do not need to look
:32:13. > :32:20.into his behaviour any further, they have asked for a senior member of
:32:21. > :32:23.staff to look into outside interests among BBC staff. He says he resigned
:32:24. > :32:33.for the sake of the BBC, and so this is quite a moment, he has been
:32:34. > :32:39.integral enough to merit a joke in W1A... See what happens in here...
:32:40. > :32:44.No, that is something else. Even resigning from a ?180,000 a year
:32:45. > :32:48.executive job will not end the saga, for one thing, that select committee
:32:49. > :32:50.report is going to come out early next year, and it is expected to be
:32:51. > :32:57.savage. STUDIO: Here me is Steve Hewlett,
:32:58. > :33:06.media journalist and presenter Why has this happened now? Nobody
:33:07. > :33:09.understood, there has been mounting incredulity, I had a cabinet
:33:10. > :33:16.minister say to me, why is that man still there, why has he got a job? !
:33:17. > :33:18.Once he intervened with the today programme and Newsnight, the
:33:19. > :33:22.conflict-of-interest, which you might think was latent, became
:33:23. > :33:27.apparent. There has been mounting incredulity. The reason for today,
:33:28. > :33:31.we discover this afternoon, the BBC trust has an editorial standards
:33:32. > :33:35.committee, there has been a formal complaint about Alan Yentob, from
:33:36. > :33:40.somebody, we do not know who, this person has appealed to the trust to
:33:41. > :33:46.look at this, and the first part of the process is to say, is this an
:33:47. > :33:50.appeal that we will hear? They have decided not to, because they think
:33:51. > :33:53.it is not worth it. One of the key reasons they say they are not going
:33:54. > :33:58.to hear the appeal, there are a number, they say the editorial
:33:59. > :34:02.integrity of the BBC was not impacted, they see no basic
:34:03. > :34:06.contradiction between being the chair of Kids Company and involved
:34:07. > :34:14.with the BBC in that way. The key thing is, since he has never stood
:34:15. > :34:19.down, it is not worth the trouble. You do not have to be some kind of
:34:20. > :34:24.criminal on the to think that he has stood because otherwise there was
:34:25. > :34:31.concern is about the trust enquiring and coming to a conclusion that
:34:32. > :34:34.would be unfavourable for him. -- Kremlinologist.
:34:35. > :34:37.With us all so preoccupied by Syria in recent weeks,
:34:38. > :34:40.there has barely been a moment for the media to enjoy the annual
:34:41. > :34:42.ritual of gleeful mocking of the Turner Prize nominees, and asking
:34:43. > :34:47.There's little time left now, as this year's prize will be awarded
:34:48. > :34:50.Among the nominees for the first time is one that is
:34:51. > :34:55.It's a group of young architects and designers called Assemble,
:34:56. > :34:58.whose work includes a cinema in a petrol station, a theatre under a
:34:59. > :35:00.flyover, a collection of barbecued doorknobs and a renovated street
:35:01. > :35:08.Steve Smith headed to Toxteth to make a barbecue and find out more.
:35:09. > :35:25."Neither use nor ornament", according to some.
:35:26. > :35:32.# Yet you're my favourite work of art... #
:35:33. > :35:36.Whatever else the critics might say about this year's entry
:35:37. > :35:42.from a young architects' collective called Assemble, it ain't useless.
:35:43. > :36:01.This is like an edition of Bake Off I missed.
:36:02. > :36:04.What are you doing? It's not edible.
:36:05. > :36:09.With a timely austerity of aesthetic,
:36:10. > :36:11.Assemble and volunteer helpers are making household fittings out
:36:12. > :36:16.I'll put another doorknob in here, and we will put leaves in here,
:36:17. > :36:18.because when the actual burning process takes place,
:36:19. > :36:21.you get these wonderful patinas of the veins of the leaf on the ceramic
:36:22. > :36:41.Did you ever think you'd be doing this? No!
:36:42. > :36:44.We tried banana skins, we tried feathers.
:36:45. > :36:45.We've tried salt, coffee, tea leaves...
:36:46. > :36:46.Here's one Assemble made earlier. Different.
:36:47. > :36:49.Assemble's bespoke fixtures and appurtenances have ended up here
:36:50. > :36:52.in a Glasgow gallery awaiting the judges' verdict in the Turner Prize.
:36:53. > :36:55.Their products are also available to buy online, with the proceeds
:36:56. > :36:57.supporting Assemble's work back in Liverpool, where they have so far
:36:58. > :37:15.And you can see their handiwork all around here.
:37:16. > :37:29.including the doorknobs on the cupboards.
:37:30. > :37:31.Not to mention the new fireplace, the pride and joy,
:37:32. > :37:35.made out of crushed bricks and aggregate rescued from a skip.
:37:36. > :37:39.When I opened the front door and saw this contemporary,
:37:40. > :37:44.I was just very happy. Very happy with what they've done.
:37:45. > :37:46.And it's been done with a lot of thought.
:37:47. > :38:08.It's aesthetically, to me, attractive.
:38:09. > :38:11.also suffered from ill-conceived housing policies, say people here.
:38:12. > :38:16.Families were uprooted and their homes demolished.
:38:17. > :38:22.because I feel as though I've returned.
:38:23. > :38:25.Val Young lives in another part of the city now,
:38:26. > :38:35.my parents were the only mixed-race couple.
:38:36. > :38:39.When you moved out? When we moved into New Park.
:38:40. > :38:41.My mum always wanted to come back into Liverpool,
:38:42. > :38:44.and she died and she never got back to Toxteth.
:38:45. > :38:47.But I think there was always a sense of loss that she couldn't come back
:38:48. > :38:53.to the area and the friends that she had met during her time here.
:38:54. > :39:02.for Assemble's efforts to cheer up tiles
:39:03. > :39:04.and otherwise help restore this community.
:39:05. > :39:08.Where do we see the value of creativity in our society, and is
:39:09. > :39:12.that inside a gallery or can it be really embedded in everyday life?
:39:13. > :39:14.And we definitely believe in the latter.
:39:15. > :39:17.Whether you call that art or design or craft or anything,
:39:18. > :39:27.But some art critics are unconvinced.
:39:28. > :39:38.and when you start going around saying, "This is not art",
:39:39. > :39:45.It works very well as architecture. Why bring it in as art?
:39:46. > :39:48.I think if you are looking for stuff that isn't pretentious
:39:49. > :39:50.and it is useful, why don't you nominate B or Oxfam?
:39:51. > :39:55.Apparently one of the judges is very keen to push the idea of useful art.
:39:56. > :39:57.I think it is great if art can be useful.
:39:58. > :40:01.But just because it is useful doesn't make it art.
:40:02. > :40:09.But as the Turner Prize-givers mull their difficult decision,
:40:10. > :40:11.let's leave the last word on Assemble's efforts
:40:12. > :40:14.It is recognising the politics in art,
:40:15. > :40:23.that goes into some rich person's warehouse.
:40:24. > :40:26.This is something that you live with, and it's art for the people.
:40:27. > :40:39.And if art isn't about people and humanity, then what is it about?
:40:40. > :40:48.we should say there's been a development
:40:49. > :40:50.in the Tory bullying scandal tonight.
:40:51. > :40:58.Newsnight has obtained a memo that was sent to senior Conservative
:40:59. > :41:00.Party officials in August by a then party worker,
:41:01. > :41:06.of the scandal -- was "sociopathic" "dangerous" and a "bully". It also
:41:07. > :41:09.urged officials to keep Mr Clarke away from the party's youth wing and
:41:10. > :41:13.not to do so would be "devastating". You can read all the details of this
:41:14. > :41:17.Now, the British Museum has announced a major exhibition
:41:18. > :41:21.scheduled for next year which will gather together artefacts discovered
:41:22. > :41:26.Here's a taste of what will be on display.