05/05/2017 Newswatch

That's it from me. At ten o'clock, and Fiona Bruce will be here with a

round-up of the day before the news. But first, it's time for Newswatch.

Hello, welcome to Newswatch with me, Paddy O'Connell

Coming up: Diane Abbott got her maths in a muddle but did

BBC News get their sums wrong too and make too much f it?

And Madeline McCann is a tragic case, but is the BBC

Brexit was always going to loom large over this election

campaign and this week, it took centre stage.

Theresa May describes the reports of a fractious

dinner with her and urban the European Union

She was reporting to use the kinds of sharp disagreements with Juncker

over how quickly a deal could be done.

Maxine Edmonds was one of the number of viewers are surprised

at the prominence being given to a second-hand anonymous

On Tuesday, the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg try to nail

that down with the Prime Minister on a campaign trip to Cornwall.

Did Juncker say Brexit cannot be the success?

I don't recall the account that is being given

I think a lot of this is Brussels gossip.

The account that I have seen, a lot of that is Brussels gossip.

Later in the week, that line changed, the Prime Minister attacked

European politicians and officials, who she said had issued threats

the book against Britain timed to affect the election result.

At a press conference hosted by Davis and Hammond,

Laura Kuenssberg tried again to get clarity on the state of discussions

Can I ask you not to hide behind the fact that there

will be with negotiations, in this election, don't voters

they are stumping up, is close to zero or 100 million

they are stumping up, is close to zero or 100 million or zero?

the BBC's political editor faced questions from viewers.

It's not just the Conservatives who have been under scrutiny in this

On Tuesday, the Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott

Labour's plans to recruit 10,000 more police officers and how

Among a round of interviews, one with Nick Ferrari on LBC

And later, Jo Coburn played it to her again

How much would 10,000 police officers cost?

Well, if we recruit the 10,000 policemen and women over a four-year

period, we believe it will be about ?300,000.

For 10,000 police officers, what are you paying them?

Diane Abbott, that is hugely embarrassing.

It's not just misspeaking, to quote you, a bit earlier,

you just don't know your figures and you're not on top of your brief?

If I didn't know my figures, why was I able to do six

other interviews and give the figures correctly?

Despite the defence, the blunder was replayed

and discussed all day on many BBC outlets, which displeased

He recorded this video on Thursday to explain his objection.

I was really concerned with the way this whole thing that Diane Abbott

actually got wrong yesterday, the way it actually

People make mistakes, she got the figures wrong at that point,

she was put on the spot, I believe people who have made

mistakes more than that, to the way it was taken

At the end of the day, everything will be clarified in the manifesto.

The views of our viewer Llewellyn Samuels.

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have made it clear that they won't take

part in any TV leaders debates during the campaign.

But the French presidential candidates have shown

Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen were slugging it out again this

week, in advance of Sunday's second round of voting.

TRANSLATION: Against terrorism we have to close our borders.

And that is what I will do the moment I take power.

TRANSLATION: Closing borders achieves nothing.

There are many countries outside the Schengen area that have been

hard hit as hard as us with terrorist attacks.

We heard what the candidates had to say, but not in a way that

Why oh why when the British so bad and foreign languages,

does the BBC appear to collude with this by dubbing

over any conversations that aren't in English,

French is taught in most of our schools and yet,

when a political debate is the lead story, children are

prevented from hearing this from native speakers.

I would love to have heard exactly what Emmanuel Macron

and Marine Le Pen said to one another.

And our children could have heard an emotional and relevant debate

instead of a supply teacher with an English accent.

Many of us will require these languages in future.

The BBC charter promises to promote education and learning.

It's not just election coverage that has attracted your

Wednesday marked ten years since Madeline McCann disappeared

from a holiday apartment in Portugal.

The BBC marked the anniversary with a Panorama special and another

of news reports with John K reporting live from Portugal

Since that night we don't know much more, we don't know despite,

despite everything written and said, all the money spent

on investigations, and that's the most extraordinary part

We don't know how Madeline left and who she was and was with,

the only thing we know for certain is that she is still missing.

Given the sad fact of any major developments in the search

for Madeline, some viewers were wondered whether

the anniversary and the case itself over the past decade had received

After all, 100,000 children go missing in the UK each year.

And around 40 have been missing now for more than ten years.

We've had not only constant repetition on the news,

but reporters sent to Portugal, interviews with celebrity

presenters, and to cap it all off, the whole Panorama episode

All for something that is really no more newsworthy than 100 other

stories of similar nature that we have never heard

We put that point to BBC News, and they told us:

News reported on someone who planted a bomb on a tube train.

Damon Smith was caught on CCTV leaving a bag with exposure

--exposure on one of the carriages, the train was evacuated minutes

This was Damon Smith in a police interview.

He has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.

When I was on the tube, I realise I was going to Stratford,

and I thought it would be a good time to leave my bag for a prank.

Colin Minto was one of several she was concerned about those

He recorded his thoughts for us on camera.

What does the BBC and other news agencies continuously impact

on the demonstrable progress made by attributing someone's proven

or potential mental or ill-health to criminal acts they have committed

or national security issues they have been involved in.

Is it absolutely necessary, has it been proven that they're mental

ill-health is relevant and a contributory

You would not accuse someone who was a woman or someone

who is black or someone who is homosexual or disabled

or sight impaired who has been arrested or charged for,

without any further detail around why it is potentially relevant.

BBC News gives us a statement in response.

Thanks very much to you if you sent us something on tape or your view

by e-mail on what you have seen on BBC News this week.

If you'd like to put your views across, show off your sofa

and appear on the programme, call this number or

You can also find us on twitter. And look at our website to.

Samira will be back next week with your thoughts

Coming up in a few minutes, the weather forecast.