:00:00. > :00:00.between environmentalists and the oil industry. At 10pm we will have a
:00:00. > :00:00.full round-up of the news today. Now on BBC News, it is time for
:00:00. > :00:08.Newswatch. Hello and welcome to Newswatch,
:00:09. > :00:10.with me Samira Ahmed. The annual scrutiny of who wears
:00:11. > :00:17.a poppy on BBC News and when. What are
:00:18. > :00:22.the rules governing presenters First, though, the crash last
:00:23. > :00:29.Saturday of a Russian aircraft flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St
:00:30. > :00:32.Petersburg, which killed all of the 224 people on board, has dominated
:00:33. > :00:35.the news agenda this week, with the emphasis midweek shifting to
:00:36. > :00:37.the fate of British holiday-makers Their plight was described
:00:38. > :00:47.on Thursday's News at 6 as follows: British tourists remain stranded
:00:48. > :00:49.in Sharm el-Sheikh, as the Prime Minister points towards
:00:50. > :00:52.a terror attack having brought One word in that headline, also used
:00:53. > :00:58.widely elsewhere, was picked up on And Leslie Carter
:00:59. > :01:32.from Suffolk had this to say: Reporting
:01:33. > :01:43.from Sharm el-Sheikh airport on Thursday evening, was Mark, who was
:01:44. > :01:49.filming himself on a mobile phone. This is the scene today from Sharm
:01:50. > :01:54.el-Sheikh International Airport. The flight behind me, people waiting
:01:55. > :01:56.to go through security We are filming fairly discreetly
:01:57. > :02:02.because the authorities don't want We saw one journalist team have
:02:03. > :02:07.their cameras for over an hour while police
:02:08. > :02:18.checked our phones documents. Well, having watched that, Rob
:02:19. > :02:40.Robinson e-mailed us as follows: One of the difficult issues
:02:41. > :02:43.in covering such a distressing story is the use of photographs posted
:02:44. > :02:46.on social media, often only hours before the moment of death and early
:02:47. > :02:49.on in the week the focus of some Newswatch viewers was on
:02:50. > :02:53.the pictures used in the aftermath of the plane crash, with Constance
:02:54. > :02:57.objecting to the use of photographs of two children taken just
:02:58. > :03:20.before they boarded the flight: Pam Young's concern was about the
:03:21. > :03:23.shot of one particular image seen We put those points to BBC News
:03:24. > :04:05.and they told us: Elsewhere this week, we
:04:06. > :04:09.heard criticism of this. You are talking about the Burberry
:04:10. > :04:11.campaign, which is their Christmas The item on Wednesday's Breakfast on
:04:12. > :04:27.BBC One was described by Michael as: We put that point to Breakfast
:04:28. > :04:44.and they told us: On the same programme, there was
:04:45. > :04:47.a discussion about pancreatic cancer I am sorry we are right out of time,
:04:48. > :04:55.thank you. The Victoria Derbyshire programme is
:04:56. > :05:00.on at 9.15am this morning and Richard from Salisbury reacted
:05:01. > :05:26.as follows: This is the response to
:05:27. > :05:49.that point from Breakfast: As we approach Remembrance Sunday
:05:50. > :05:51.this weekend, the question of who does, or does
:05:52. > :05:54.not, wear a poppy to commemorate soldiers who have died in war is
:05:55. > :05:57.creating its annual controversy. This year, politicians have come
:05:58. > :06:01.under particular scrutiny. Just after he was elected Labour
:06:02. > :06:04.leader, Jeremy Corbyn found himself in a row over whether he would wear
:06:05. > :06:08.a red or a pacifist white poppy This week David Cameron was
:06:09. > :06:13.ridiculed after his office admitted it had photoshopped an image of
:06:14. > :06:16.a poppy onto the Prime Minister's Those appearing on television come
:06:17. > :06:23.under particular scrutiny with the actress Serena Miller facing
:06:24. > :06:25.criticism on social media after featuring poppyless as a guest
:06:26. > :06:32.on last week's Graham Norton show. Nearly all BBC News presenters and
:06:33. > :06:34.reporters and most interviewees wear poppies on air and when they don't
:06:35. > :06:38.viewers are quick to complain. But others, such as Grant Buckley,
:06:39. > :06:56.object to what they see as To explain and discuss the BBC's
:06:57. > :07:20.policy on poppies, I am joined by the corporation's
:07:21. > :07:22.director of editorial policy Anyone may wear a poppy if they wish
:07:23. > :07:33.to, but we denote a time during which poppies can be worn because we
:07:34. > :07:38.noticed a few years ago that people were beginning to wear poppies
:07:39. > :07:43.earlier in the year and in order to control that we decided that we
:07:44. > :07:46.would set dates during which poppies can be worn and it is to two to two
:07:47. > :07:49.and a half weeks before Is there a requirement or
:07:50. > :07:54.an expectation that presenters and guests should wear a poppy on
:07:55. > :07:57.air? There is no requirement,
:07:58. > :08:00.no one is required to wear one, no one who works for
:08:01. > :08:03.the BBC is required to wear one and Expectations depend on the
:08:04. > :08:08.individuals concerned and what they feel are the expectations on them,
:08:09. > :08:12.but no one is told in the BBC that If you are relaxed about poppies,
:08:13. > :08:17.which some people say are a political statement,
:08:18. > :08:20.where is the line on things like AIDS ribbons or charity wristbands
:08:21. > :08:27.or even something like a CND badge? I don't think we would agree that
:08:28. > :08:30.these are a political statement. The reason why the BBC allows
:08:31. > :08:33.poppies to be worn and has since the 1920s is because they are an act
:08:34. > :08:39.of remembrance for those who died initially in the First World War and
:08:40. > :08:42.those who've died in subsequent wars or sacrificed in some way
:08:43. > :08:45.in those world wars. At the same time, because of our
:08:46. > :08:48.partnership with the Royal British L it means the money donated
:08:49. > :08:51.for the purchase of poppies is used to support service men and women who
:08:52. > :08:55.may have fallen on hard times or may need support in some other way or
:08:56. > :08:56.form. I don't think we can say it is
:08:57. > :08:59.a political statement, We have certain partner charities in
:09:00. > :09:05.the BBC, like Children in Need or Comic Relief or the Royal British
:09:06. > :09:08.Legion, who we permit to be promoted on our airwaves and a lot of others
:09:09. > :09:12.that we don't, simply because if we allowed everybody to wear charitable
:09:13. > :09:16.insignia and to promote their charities on-air we would
:09:17. > :09:19.have unfairness developing between charities and we try to sponsor
:09:20. > :09:25.charities, by and large, they make donations to other charities in
:09:26. > :09:28.grants and so forth, like Children in Need, so we support as broad a
:09:29. > :09:32.range of charities as possible, Some viewers say that you could be
:09:33. > :09:38.forgiven for thinking there is a rule on wearing poppies because how
:09:39. > :09:42.often do we ever see a presenter or a guest without one and indeed in
:09:43. > :09:45.every studio, including this one, we have a box with poppies in case
:09:46. > :09:49.you have forgotten to buy one. That is part of our partnership with
:09:50. > :09:52.the British Royal Legion and we allow poppies to be sold on our
:09:53. > :09:56.premises and we do not allow that to We do allow them to be sold but it
:09:57. > :10:02.still is an individual decision. These days, people get very
:10:03. > :10:04.exercised about the details, like which side you pin it on
:10:05. > :10:08.and how you wear it, even the angle of it, left or right for women,
:10:09. > :10:11.does the BBC worry about that? We have never issued any
:10:12. > :10:15.instructions about how to do it, it is up to each individual how
:10:16. > :10:18.they wear the poppy. I think the important thing,
:10:19. > :10:21.and everyone would agree on this, is that if you are wearing one you
:10:22. > :10:24.are showing respect to people who have made the ultimate sacrifice
:10:25. > :10:27.in defence of this country or have suffered in some other way in doing
:10:28. > :10:31.that and that is what it is about. Precisely how you wear it,
:10:32. > :10:34.I suspect, for most people is not Finally, the BBC assistant political
:10:35. > :10:41.editor, Norman Smith, sometimes has a colourful turn of phrase and he
:10:42. > :10:44.deployed it on Wednesday after what he saw as a successful statement
:10:45. > :10:47.from the Home Secretary, Theresa May, on the Government's draft
:10:48. > :10:53.Investigatory Powers Bill. The Home Secretary can properly
:10:54. > :10:56.afford to go back to her office, kick off her kitten heels, pour
:10:57. > :10:59.yourself a large cup of tea and maybe help herself to a Jammy Dodger
:11:00. > :11:03.or something, because she seemed to fairly successfully diffuse what was
:11:04. > :11:08.potentially going to be an extraordinarily difficult
:11:09. > :11:11.parliamentary moment. Do is tell us your thoughts
:11:12. > :11:33.about that and all you heard We would also welcome your views
:11:34. > :11:41.on BBC News and current affairs output and volunteers to appear
:11:42. > :11:43.on the programme. Our telephone number
:11:44. > :11:47.and email address are on screen. You can find us on Twitter
:11:48. > :11:53.and do look at our website. That is all from us, we will be back
:11:54. > :12:08.to hear your thoughts about BBC News We will have tonight's FA Cup
:12:09. > :12:12.opening tie result between