14/02/2017 Victoria Derbyshire

I'm Joanna Gosling, welcome to the programme.

The Ministry of Defence wants to scrap its legal duty of care

to servicemen and women in combat so it can assess cases of negligence

The changes would mean that injured soldiers would no

longer be able to sue the Government for negligence.

We will be assessing the full impact of the proposals for our servicemen

The Fire Brigade, police, Ambulance Service, they all have to have

equipment that works, and the right equipment. That should be for the

soldier. Just 24 days into the Trump

Presidency, it has been hit by a high-profile resignation,

that of national-security adviser Michael Flynn,

who has been forced to quit after it was revealed that he misled

White House officials But questions are being asked

about who in the White House And, new research suggests over half

of disabled people feel they're at risk of losing their jobs

because of their impairments. We'll talk to some disabled workers

about their experiences This Valentine's Day we're

asking, are you single We will be talking to some

of the singletons who say Or are you longing to find

that special person? Do get in touch with your thoughts

and experiences on that and any If you text, you will be charged

at the standard network rate. In a severe blow to President

Trump's new administration, his national-security adviser

General Michael Flynn has Mr Flynn is accused of illegally

discussing US sanctions with the Russian ambassador

to the United States. But the conversation

about sanctions happened before Under US law, private individuals

cannot carry out official Barely three weeks into his

presidency, Donald Trump has lost Retired army general Michael Flynn,

a man renowned for his close ties to Russia, resigned amid allegations

that he misled senior officials about conversations between him

and the Russian ambassador a few weeks before the Trump

administration took office. In his resignation letter,

Mr Flynn said that as the incoming National Security Advisor he held

numerous phone calls with foreign counterparts,

ministers and ambassadors. "Unfortunately," he goes on,

"because of the fast pace of events I inadvertently briefed

the Vice President-elect and others with incomplete

information regarding my calls Missing, it appears,

from Mr Flynn's account was a discussion of sanctions

imposed by the outgoing Obama administration in response

to Russia's meddling Any offer to lift such sanctions

by a member of the incoming administration would be a breach

of American law. Meanwhile, it has emerged

that the US Justice Department warned the Trump administration

several weeks ago that Mr Flynn's account of the conversation differed

from that of intelligence officials, The department also advised

the President that Mr Flynn had potentially left himself open

to blackmail by the Russians. All of which prompts

the broader question, what did the President himself know

about Michael Flynn's activities Ben Brown is in the BBC

Newsroom with a summary A ten-year-old boy has died

after suffering serious head injuries at a shopping

centre in Reading. The boy was taken to hospital

after what's being described by police as an "incident involving

store furniture" at Topshop Police say the death

is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious, and officers

are continuing to make inquiries. Local authorities in England have

paid out more than ?35 million in compensation and legal fees

to tenants who are living Research by the BBC has discovered

around 11,000 claims have been brought in the last five years,

for issues such as damp, leaking drains and holes

in front doors or walls. The Local Government Association

said councils were doing a "great A new national centre designed

to improve the UK's resilience to cyberattacks will be officially

opened by the Queen this morning. The Government claims the new

National Cyber Security Centre in central London will make the UK

the safest place to Russian involvement in efforts

to hack information... The worst case is that

all of our customers' China's activities in cyberspace

is a significant source of concern. Hacking that could

hamper vote counting. Cyber attacks are,

it seems, everywhere. Hackers targeting governments,

businesses, ordinary people. Now, a new organisation

is being formally launched. At its new headquarters,

the head of the National Cyber Security Centre told me

the threat is real. We've had significant

losses of personal data, significant intrusions by hostile

state actors, significant reconnaissance against critical

national infrastructure. And our job is to make sure we deal

with that in the most So what we've done here is create

a room of the near future and we've got some devices that

are all connected to the internet. The new centre is not just

there to protect Government, Its technical director showed me how

internet-connected items like lamps and coffee makers could be

vulnerable, even a child's toy doll. More and more of our

life is moving online. The UK's one of the most

digitally-dependent A strength, but also

a vulnerability. And protecting it online

in the future will be vital for economic as well as national

security. An Afghan interpreter who served

with British forces says the Government has committed a great

injustice by not Javed Hokta is applying for asylum

for the second time after receiving death threats from the Taliban

and fears for his life if the Home Office sends him

back to Afghanistan. The former Liberal Democrat leader

Lord Ashdown has described the treatment of armed-forces

interpreters as a shame And we'll have more on this story

later in the programme, where we'll be hearing

from the Afghan interpreter. Rolls Royce has reported a record

loss of ?4.6 billion in the last year, the worst in the history

of the British engineering giant. The firm was forced to pay around

?700 million in fines after being found guilty of bribery

and corruption in 12 countries, in offences dating back

more than 25 years. But the business has also suffered

due to the weakening of the pound. Playboy magazine has announced

it is bringing back nudity, The new chief creative officer

Cooper Hefner said the magazine Playboy's circulation

dropped from a peak of more than five million in the 1970s

to below 700,000 last year. Disney has cut ties with YouTube

star PewDiePie over The decision came after some of his

videos contained Nazi references. PewDiePie, whose real

name is Felix Kjellberg, accepted the material was offensive,

but said he did not support "any He's reported to have

made around ?12 million through the video-sharing website

last year and has more Rail enthusiasts and commuters

are getting the chance this morning to ride on the first timetabled

mainline steam-engine service The Tornado will pull 12

Northern Train services on the Settle-to-Carlisle line over

three consecutive days. It's part of celebrations to mark

the reopening of the line Passengers will pay the regular fare

as it is a timetabled service. That's a summary of the latest BBC

News, more at 9:30am. We will discuss the MoD plans to

bring decisions on negligence cases in-house. They say it will lead to

greater compensation but campaigners say it will deny access to justice

and stifle debate. And, if you are disabled and in

work, as he feared losing your job? More than half of disabled people do

have that concern. Let us know your thoughts.

If you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate.

Let's get some sport with Will Perry.

We're going to focus on football, and it was a good night

Happy Valentine's day as well! Same to you! Manchester City moving from

fifth to second, it was a big jump. I am the only madman who thinks the

title race is still on. There is an 8-point gap, 13 games to play, that

is highly unlikely that they can do it. But they have done it before, in

2012. Manchester United had the same gap, and they did it with six games

to play. But Chelsea would have to lose at least three games and

Manchester City win all of their games, and they have Champions

League games to come. It was not ideal for them last night, they lost

their main man Jesus to an injury, but Sergio Aguero came on. Raheem

Sterling got the opener from close range. What a season he is having,

what a contrast to last season. He set up their second. Tyrone Menkes

getting the final touch to turn it past his own goalkeeper, slightly

harsh on Sergio Aguero. Pep Guardiola playing down their title

chances. They have to lose three games,

because the goal average is in front of them. You have to win all of the

games. You know how difficult it is to win all the games in the Premier

League. Game by game, now the cup, and after we will see. We are happy

to be second and to reduce the lead. But still, the gap is massive.

So, Manchester City up to second, Will, and there was also a nice

touch from Pep Guardiola at the end of the game?

A really nice touch last night from the manager. Have a look at this,

this is him at full time going over to Harry Arter. He had the

devastating loss of a stillborn child in December. You might be up

to work out what Pep Guardiola is saying, I wish you all the best, and

Harry Arter said, he came over and wished us all the best, they are

accepting -- expecting a new arrival. Showing their are more

important things than football. The Ministry of Defence is proposing

to change the law to scrap its legal duty of care to servicemen and women

in the course of combat. Under the proposed scheme

they will not be able to sue the MoD in the courts for negligence,

and compensation will be taken in-house and be awarded

by an MOD-appointed assessor. The MoD says the proposals

are about better compensation and will save injured service

personnel and families of those But the family of one soldier killed

in a lightly-armoured Snatch Land Rover in Iraq has told

the BBC the proposed How old was he when he first

started playing the drums? In 2007 Colin Redpath's son,

Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath, a keen drummer in the Irish Guards, died

when a roadside bomb exploded next to his lightly-armoured

Snatch Land Rover in Iraq. I deal with it because I want

to be strong for his I mean, some people could literally

pull the curtains and And people say to me, "We don't

like to mention him," I say, "No, I'll talk about him,

I'm proud of him. Kirk was one of some 37

servicemen and women killed in the so-called Snatch Land Rovers

in Afghanistan and Iraq. Colin fought a six-year

legal battle against the Ministry of Defence, eventually

winning the right at the Supreme Court to bring an action

against the Government Three years later, that case is only

now coming to a close. In July 2016, Sir John Chilcot's

Iraq inquiry report identified numerous MoD failings

in preparing for the Iraq campaign. The planning and

preparations for Iraq The MoD's new proposals cover battle

and the preparations for it. They include stopping legal claims

for negligence, like those arising from the Snatch Land Rovers

against the MoD in the courts. A no-fault compensation scheme

for injured service personnel and families of those killed,

meaning negligence does Assessors to value injuries

and loss, based on expert And compensation to be at the same

level, as if the MoD had been No one disputes that it is a really

good idea for service personnel injured in the cause of combat

and the families of those who have been killed to be spared long

and frustrating legal battles through the courts, but there

are real concerns about the Ministry of Defence scrapping the duty

of care that it owes to soldiers and taking the system

for compensating them in-house. At the end of the day

they are an employer. You know, the fire brigade,

the police, the ambulance service, they all have to go out

with equipment that works. Well, that should be

the same for a soldier. I mean, if not, what the MoD

are saying is, we could send our boys and girls out with broomsticks,

it wouldn't matter. Lawyers worried that by-passing

the courts creates unfairness. You've suffered injury,

you think that the employer, the organisation, the MoD

is at fault, and yet you are asked to rely upon the MoD to assess

the compensation that it should pay you for the damage

that it has caused you. The proposed scheme assumes service

personnel will not need and so will not receive any

paid legal representation. Inevitably there will be trauma,

grieving families involved, and the sort of client care that

legal representatives provide is absolutely essential in ensuring

that those victims are not further In a statement, the Ministry

of Defence said: "This is about better compensation,

and regardless of legal action, we already prioritise learning

lessons from any incidents involving the safety of our personnel

will stop where there have been serious injuries or fatalities

we have robust systems and processes in place that allow us to record

and investigate these accordingly. Obviously, the problem

of what to do with his ashes, I didn't want to split them

and I did not know where I would spread them, so I thought,

well, he loved the drums, let's put them in his

cabinet in a drum. So his ashes are with me in his

cabinet with all his belongings. I couldn't think of

anything better, really. The MOD's consultation

on its proposals ends Colin Redpath hopes that

for the injured and the families of the fallen the new system ensures

maximum safety and fairness. Let's talk now to the President

of the Law Society Robert Bourns, who doesn't support these proposed

changes to compensation, the Labour MP Madeleine Moon,

who is on the MPs Defence Select Conservative MP and former

Army Officer, Iain-Duncan Smith Madeleine Moon you've said

previously you believe the MoD is the most unaccountable Department of

Government. How do you see these changes? I'm very worried about the

changes. It's a very short report. It doesn't tell you very much which

is the Government's way of doing things now. Tell you as little as

possible and then legislate for as much as possible. So that you can't

prepare your case in advance. I think it is very worrying that given

the cuts that we've had in our armed force over the last few years, the

quality of the equipment is deeply worrying and now they're going to

give themselves immunity from failing to provide the quality of

equipment and the quality of training that they should provide

before people go into combat. I'm worried about that. Iain Duncan

Smith for the immunity for failing is how Madeleine Moon sees it? There

is a balance in these things, it is not all perfect by any means. I have

historically been concerned about the growing nature of the use of

courts when it comes to combat issues. It doesn't seem to me like

the courts are the right place to be. Issues surrounding combat are

often very difficult to judge against the standard common-law

process so I think there is and there are grounds for changing the

process to try and make the thing much simpler, less costly to those

who are engaged in it and costly in human terms. But at the same time,

also making sure that the right outcomes are derived and therefore,

whilst I am in general supportive of the idea of making this simpler and

better in many senses for those concerned, of course, I would want

to see that this is open as possible, the assessor's role is

therefore, very critical and the linkage with the Select Committee

would be, I would like to see bound in on this. So in other words, I

think it would be a very strong role for the MoD, for the Select

Committee to be able to consent stant interrogate and be open to all

the documents that are necessary to be able to figure whether or not the

assessors judgements are balanced and fair and whether or not the MoD

is hiding anything. But I think dragging things through the courts

satisfies only lawyers. At the end of the day it makes things worse. I

would like to see the MoD come clean much more often early on when

they've made mistakes and got it wrong and if the assessors could

then judge it. We will put the issue of lawyers being satisfied to the

lawyer in the studio. Madeleine Moon, the point that Iain Duncan

Smith was saying about the committee having powerful oversight? That's

fine in practise, but what are we talking about? Are we talking about

the Select Committee looking at individual cases? I don't think

we're equipped for that. We don't have the capability to do that. But

also, you know, a Select Committee should be there to challenge

Government. And I have to tell you just in a recent case we challenged

the Secretary of State to close down the IHAT inquiry and he told us it

wasn't possible. He didn't have the right to do that. That the cases

that were before them were the most complex and difficult that they had

to deal with. And then the day before we were releasing our report,

he announced he was closing the inquiry down. He had suddenly found

powers. Now, you can't trust the Ministry of Defence I'm afraid to

tell you the truth. If it's better for servicemen and women and their

families in that it streamlines a process that when someone has been

through a trauma and they have to fight through the courts, that's not

good for anybody. It it makes that better and they get compensation at

the level in a simpler process. Is that the right thing? In terms of

the personal trauma, that's fine. Whether or not you're going to get

the understanding and the lessons learnt and quite honestly, expose

the failures of preparation and equipment, is another issue

altogether. So, there is also and I think the father that you spoke to

earlier said it absolutely wonderfully, there is also that

feeling of justice. Now is the Ministry of Defence really going to

use this as a way of buring its failures? They're very good at doing

it and I just worry this is just another opportunity to do so.

Robert, you're the president Law Society. Just picking up on what

Iain Duncan Smith said, the only people that the court process

satisfies in the inis lawyers? The situation here actually, we're

concerned for the service personnel and clearly, there will be some

cases where a compensation that operates quickly is fine, but what

is really concerning is the proposal is it is in very vague terms within

the consultation document that combat immunity should be extended.

Nobody is suggesting that decisions taken in the heat of battle should

be subject to scrutiny in court alelging negligence. What we are

concerned about is the extension of combat immunity to include

preparation and training and that would mean that people could not

then allege negligence and this is more than just compensation. You

heard from Mr Redpath in relation to his sonment he wasn't so much

interested in come pen sags, what he wanted to know was that somebody,

independent, was looking at this issue and making a decision and it

is shutting people out of that justice process, forcing them into a

compensation system and actually denying them the opportunity to say,

"This was negligent." As I say, people want time and time again the

cases that have come before the courts are about things other than

what happened in combat. It's the preparation. It's the training. It's

the equipment. And people should be entitled, shouldn't they, service

personnel? Iain Duncan Smith why should it be extended to just not

what happens on the battlefield, but the preparation? Well, in answer to

Madeleine's point and I don't disagree with her. Historically the

MoD has never had a great record of admitting its own failures and

faults. I served in the Army. My father, told me about what happened

in the aftermath of the Second World War. And yet with all of this

process of kind of court cases going on, Madeleine is still complaining

about their failure to open up. If anything, I think sometimes what

happens with Government and having served in it, when you come under

pressure about people taking legal action, governments shut up. They

actually get worse about hiding stuff. So the key things to me are

this. I do want to see when Government and when the military

make a mistake, that is something they should not have made, in other

words rectify a problem that they had arrived at through training or

through bad decisions over equipment, I wot want to see that

publicly come out and I think therefore the two roles here are

really important. That's why I don't give this a blank cheque I say in

principle, I am supportive of it. The two roles are an independent

assessor... Sorry to interrupt. I hear what you're saying about your

hope that without a fear of legal action and accepting liability and

therefore, losing through the courts, the Government, the MoD may

open up more, but that's a hope, isn't it? There is no guarantee on

that and when you look at situations in the past like with the Snatch

Land Rovers, if there wasn't transparency and openness on that

forced through legal action, what might have happened? Well, there are

lots of issues and you can debate about the use of those Land

Roversment they were used in Northern Ireland when I served in

Northern Ireland. The point I'm making the key element of this is

the role and choice of the assessor, how public are? How accountable? And

how independent? It is very, very important that the coroner's role in

this is constantly upheld. In other words they don't override the idea

so the coroner has full power still, that's what I want to see, to be

able to point the finger during the course of that process and then that

kicks the assessor into action. If you lose the coroner I would not

support this. It is a good point. The coroner's courts are still

there? The coroner's courts are still there and honestly have been

pretty critical in exposing many of the failures of the Ministry of

Defence in relation to equipment. But there are being asked to extend

their role and responsibility outside of their technical

competence. So why would you do this? I agree with the point of

making it a simpler process. That you shouldn't always have to be

getting yourself lawyered up to seek your rightful compensation. What

worries me is that this is skewed towards the Ministry of Defence and

I question the impartiality of the people who are going to be set-up to

do the assessments. The Ministry of Defence is a very seductive place.

You can get sucked into seeing everything from their prospective if

you're not careful. They do dislike telling you even the most simple of

information and they hide behind official secrets all the time. Might

that evaporate if there is no fear of legal action as Iain Duncan Smith

was saying potentially? A colleague asked twice why the Queen Elizabeth

carrier was not going to go for sea trials in the spring and the date

had been changed to the summer. Twice he was fobbed off. So I had

the minister in front of me in the Select Committee and I asked her the

same question. And she said, "It is a misunderstanding of when spring

was. Spring could actually be in June." Now, I pushed and I pushed

and I pushed and I was told eventually there is a technical

problem. After the meeting, someone came to see me and said, "It's a bit

of IT that's gone wrong. That's all it is." They won't tell you

anything. They are the great hiders of problems.

Robert, do you think that the fear of litigation does kind of lead to

situations escalating potentially? It is unfortunate when people make

the claimant fight every inch of the way. In 1987 the definition of

combat immunity was limited to the battlefield post Falklands and one

of the things that's said in one of the reports that leads to the

consultation paper, a report from 2013 by one of Iain Duncan Smith's

colleagues said at that time there were concerns that compensation was

inadequate, that's without the threat of litigation, it was

inadequate and there were concerns coming through to in the way service

personnel had been put in harm's way in relation to nuclear testing in

the 1950s and it was thought appropriate to give them the right

to pursue claims for negligence and we don't want to see that right now

restricted. And yes, we would like an open environment where people are

prepared to admit their mistakes, absolutely. In certain

circumstances, compensation schemes will work in favour of the service

personnel, but if you think you have been injured or your family member

has been lost, suffered, has been killed, as a consequence of some

fallure back up the line, you will have a right to pursue that and you

should have a right to pursue that. That's our point. Iain Duncan Smith,

you wanted to come in. I am by no means at ease with

everything here. As I said earlier, I understand the principles, and I

think the whole idea of constantly going to court does not satisfy

people who have to do it, because it forces the MoD and most other

Government departments to become defensive. Two things are important,

first, that this process is more swift and satisfactory in that

people can get what they need done and the compensation is paid out

quickly, and secondly, the checks and balances that exist through the

coroner and the independent assessor mean this is what has to happen,

therefore there is earlier acceptance of fault, and therefore

that stops the heartache that goes on for soldiers sailors and NN and

their families in the event of a problem. If that does not get

satisfied, these processes should not continue, but I believe there is

scope for that. These processes should not continue, you say it goes

back to as it is? The checks that they talk about, the ability and

willingness to admit early that there has been a mistake, that is

critical if this consultation then is to work. If those are not there,

it will not work, so that is the key test. Therefore, we will see how

they intend to make the assessor's position all-powerful. It is open to

the MoD to admit fault in a litigation at an early stage if they

want to, rather than putting the personnel through years of

litigation through an independent court. You said they would not do

that? Wants legal cases begin, they shut up like everybody does, because

they worry about the effect it has in different numbers of people, and

therefore the ability to control the way in which that process works. It

is an instinctive thing, you have seen it many times. If this process

allows us to get to early identification of the problem, if

there is fault, where default lies, and therefore what competition sport

is there for the families, it has to be in the interests of families and

service personnel. If it does not work like that, it should not go

ahead. Coroners have been increasingly dragged into looking at

issues of deaths in relation to the MoD. There are whole question is,

and it'll be interesting to see what the chief coroner says, about the

competence, the training and the understanding of military equipped

and an personnel and the training they require to be able to protect

the MoD from combating -- combat in unity. That is a different area of

expertise that currently does not lie with coroners.

Do let us know your thoughts. We will talk about it later a game, so

it will be good to hear your thoughts, and with some of them into

our conversation. Breaking news about inflation, the

ONS putting out the latest statistics. The rate of consumer

price index inflation rose to 1.8% in January, from 1.6% in December,

so still below the Government target, but it is quite a jump.

From 1.6% in December to 1.8% in January. We will talk to our

business correspondent for more on that.

We'll have more on the resignation of Donald Trump's top

national security adviser, Michael Flynn over his

contacts with Russia - and what did the President know

And we find out what it's like to be a disabled worker -

following research that suggests over half of workers

with impairments feel like their job is at risk.

Ben Brown is in the BBC Newsroom with a summary

Donald Trump's national-security adviser Michael Flynn has resigned

General Flynn discussed American sanctions with the Russian

ambassador before Mr Trump took office, and is accused

of misleading the Vice President about what happened.

A senior Democrat politician has said General Flynn's departure

would not end questions about any contacts between the Trump

A ten-year-old boy has died after suffering serious head

injuries at the high street store Topshop in Reading.

The boy was taken to hospital after what's being described

by police as an "incident involving store furniture" at Topshop

Police say the death is being treated as unexplained

but not suspicious, and officers are continuing to make inquiries.

The chairman of the Japanese electronics conglomerate Toshiba has

resigned following the news that the company suffered a net loss

Shigenori Shiga announced he was stepping down shortly

after the company delayed an announcement of its

It had been widely expected to write off billions of dollars due

to its problematic nuclear energy business, and to admit that

Local authorities in England have paid out more than ?35 million

in compensation and legal fees to tenants who are living

Research by the BBC has discovered around 11,000 claims have been

brought in the last five years, for issues such as damp,

leaking drains and holes in front doors or walls.

The Local Government Association said councils were doing a "great

An Afghan interpreter who served with British forces says

the Government has committed a great injustice by not

Javed Hotak is applying for asylum for the second time after receiving

death threats from the Taliban and fears for his life

if the Home Office sends him back to Afghanistan.

The former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown has described

the treatment of armed-forces interpreters as a shame

That's a summary of the latest BBC News, more at 10am.

Here's the sport headlines now with Will Perry.

Manchester City moved up to second in the Premier League with a 2-0

victory at Bournemouth. This goal from 13 Stirling was their opener,

the cross from Leroy Sunday. This was after half an hour. High roaming

is then turned on Sergio Aguero's shot to make it two. They are now

eight points behind Chelsea with 13 games to play.

Anthony Watson is in the training squad for England's match against

Italy next Sunday. He missed the victories over France and Wales with

a hamstring injury. Lance Armstrong has lost his bid to

block a ?79 million lawsuit by the US Government. It is alleged he

defrauded the Government while doping, riding for the publicly

funded team. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and

banned for life in 2012. It clears for the way -- it clears the way for

the case to go to trial. The price we pay for goods and

services went up last month, inflation was 1.8% in January,

compared to 1.6% in December. Is that a significant jump? It is more

significant that we have seen for nearly three years. 1.8% for a long

time -- 1.8%. For a long time it was around zero, so 1.8% is more

substantial for quite a long time. It is driven partly because of the

increases in the prices of petrol. That is driven partly because of the

weakness of the pound. Oil is priced in dollars, so beget less oil for

our pounds, so the cost is passed on to us at the pumps, which drives up

the prices of other goods. How concerned should we be? It is still

below the Government target. There is one reason to not be concerned.

Our earnings are going up by more than inflation. At the last count,

excluding bonuses, the average pay packet went up 2.7%. That is a lot

more than the 1.8% inflation we have just seen. If that keeps up, it is

fine. There is a view that says we need more inflation, we have had too

little. We have a situation where we have huge debt. The thing with debt,

the amount you owe is not grow with inflation, so if your earnings are

growing with inflation and your debts are not, they are getting more

affordable. 2.7% increase in earnings, does that show a change,

our earnings starting to increase? It is better than people thought. We

have the data last month, we get more tomorrow. If there is still a

gap between earnings and inflation, not only are we not getting

squeezed, we are getting better off, but within that, you have to break

it down. If you look at food and non-alcoholic beverages, they still

getting cheaper, but if you cut transport, up by 5.7%, that'll be

the season tickets that kick in in January. Goods are going up by 1.1%,

so not that much inflation. Services are way you have high Labour costs,

he cuts to restaurant meals to broadcasting, they are costing more,

because we have to pay people more to do them. In terms of policy

levers, to try to adjust inflation, there's anything happen as a result

of this? What will the policymakers be thinking when they look at these

figures? The main instrument of policy is interest rates. I don't

think this means that we are going to see any immediate rise in

interest rates. Not least because the target for inflation is 2%. So

long as it is within 1% of that, the Bank of England to stop have to

write a letter to apologise for not doing its job. That is quite a room

at prospect. Some people think it will get up above 3% later this

year, but that is a minority view. The man appointed by Donald Trump

to advise him on national security has resigned less than a month

into the job. It's after it emerged

that he misled officials at the White House about his

contacts with the It's emerged Michael Flynn had

discussed US sanctions with the Russian envoy before

Mr Trump took office. In his resignation letter,

he admitted giving incomplete With me now is Scott Lucas,

a professor of American Politics from the University of Birmingham,

and Dr Jacob Parakilas, assistant head of the US

and Americas Programme at the international-affairs

think tank Chatham House. 24 days into the presidency, a

high-profile adviser has gone. This is big, both because of the specific

issue, the extent of Russian interference in the US process,

including during the troubled campaign, and how much this might

have shaped,'s affinity for Russian leader not a Nir Bitton. Because

Michael Frame was courted by Moscow, he was invited to a high-profile

ceremony, said the idea that he was talking about lifting sanctions on

Russia is significant. The wider issue, the Trump administration is

being seen to have had a chaotic foreign policy, with division

between fire breathers, hard right ideologues, and pragmatists. Will

that continue, or will they learn how to steer a more cautious course?

Tell us more about the man and the background, because there have been

questions asked repeatedly since he got the job about his links with

Russia. He had a very long and decorated career in the American

military, culminating with a stint as the head of the defence

intelligence agency, the organisation that collates and

disseminate all of the intelligence gathered by the various military

arms of the US Government. He left that position over a disagreement

with the Barack Obama administration, and not too long

afterwards became an adviser to the Trump campaign. He was vocal in his

condemnation of Hillary Clinton, for her handling of classified

information. From profiles of him, he is largely seen as a very

intelligent man, but he often draws connections where other people do

not see them, including in places where those connections are somewhat

shady. He is linked to various conspiracy theories. His son, who

has advised him, was released from the Trump transition team after

talking about the Peter Pawlett that supposedly hosted a paedophilia ring

-- the pizza parlour. He is linked to that establishment, but he has

one foot in this conspiratorial world. He is gone because of having

had conversations with the Russian ambassador before Donald Trump took

office on American sanctions. The Big Questions now is, who else might

have known what was going on, and when? Would the president have

known? What would your thoughts be about whether somebody would have

conversations like that without them being sanctioned at a higher level?

It is highly unlikely that he spoke to the Russian ambassador on

December the 29th, the day that Barack Obama imposed additional

sanctions on Russia, without somebody else on the Trump team

knowing, possibly Steve Bannon, possibly another official. The

President claimed last Friday that this was the first he had heard of

the affair. That is highly unlikely. Last month Michael Flynn was asked

about the stories I M p, and he insisted he had not discussed

sanctions. For Trump to not know that conversation would be

extraordinary. I think there are others who are probably tied into

this, and this may not be the end of this immediate story.

Jacob, is it going to be the end of story? No, I don't think. The story

about Russia and Trump has ebbed and flowed. There are a lot of other

strands around the Trump administration going on right now.

So inevitably, you know, the amount of attention paid to it hasn't been

consistent, but this brings it right back up to the top of the headlines

and while I think the Trump administration will be hoping that

Flynn's resignation will tie the story off, I think the record of

contacts or the record of sympathy for Trump, from Trump and for Putin

and for his style of governance predates Flynn and it is outside of

Flynn and so it will bring that story back to the top. There are

calls from the Democrats for there to be an investigation into Mike

Flynn's ties with Russia. Do you hold out much hope that that will

happen, Jacob? I don't think that there will be an independent

investigation. I think there will be a Congressional investigation. I

don't know how aggressive that will be. It's possible that there will be

an investigation which will sort of look at Flynn and keep the scope of

the investigation somewhat limited. I think if there are additional

revelations that might compel an independent investigation which

would be absented from partisan concerns. Scott Lucas, come in. I

was going to add to Jacob's statement. There are already two

investigations going on. The first is there is an investigation of the

Russian hacking that took place last year that assisted the Trump

campaign and there is an investigation going on over an

intelligence dossier which was gathered by a private intelligence

firm, but it has been checked out by US intelligence agencies that Trump

may have been compromised by Moscow because of sexual and financial

affairs. Those investigations should not be forgotten as part of this

wider context with this story going on and on. Thank you both very much,

thank you. It can't have escaped

you that it's Valentine's Day. We're asking are you single

and proud out of choice? We'll be talking to some singletons

who say they're happy Are you looking for love or are you

happy to be single this Valentine's Day?

More than half of disabled people in work feel at risk

of losing their jobs and one in two have experienced

bullying or harassment because of their impairments.

That's according to new research by disability charity, Scope.

Ahead of the closing of the Government consultation

on work, health and disability, this survey highlights the issues

Despite the Conservative Government promising in their manifesto

to halve the disability employment deficit, the employment gap

between disabled people and non-disabled has remained static

So why has so little progress been made?

Let's talk now to some disabled workers who say they have

all experienced discrimination in the workplace -

Storme Toolis, Samantha Renke, Madeleine Close and Paul Wilson.

Thank you very much for coming in to join us. Storme, I know when you go

for an interview don't actually reveal that you're in a wheelchair

before you go, do you? Why is that? No, I don't disclose my disability

on my CV or any application that I give for a job. I think partly it's

because I feel like it's my prerogative to want to share that

information, but also I think that it could have an impact on the kind

of work that I'm offered. I work as an actor, but I'm a freelance

education worker and I work in schools and various other short-term

roles so finding short-term sort of, not long placement work is very

difficult because I can't work in a bar or a restaurant, but I don't

disclose I'm disabled because I feel like it might impede the view of me

to a certain degree. Have you directly experienced it? Is it a

fear? I have gone to an interview where it was never explained why I

didn't get the job. You're entitled to get feedback from interviews and

I went to a particular interview and I asked for feedback and I was never

given it. No employer is going to tell you directly to your face,

"We're not going to employ you because you're in a wheelchair." I

have been refused feedback from interviews. I have been told I can't

run off naughty children so therefore, I can't be a Teaching

Assistant. I've been told that I don't have the capability to travel

on the Tube so I can't do short-term work and various things like that.

Madeleine, you're visually impaired and you try to keep that hidden,

don't you. How do you try to keep that hidden? If I go to an

interview, I won't take my guide dog. I've got enough resitual sight

to make people think and I will only disclose towards the end of the

interview that I have a disability. Why is it that you do that? Well, I

feel that if you can get your foot in the door, demonstrate that you

look normal, whatever, they don't pick up on your disability and then

you're more likely to get the job. Have you been concerned that you

have been directly discriminated against because of your visual

impairment? Yes, I have had situations whereas soon as I've told

them into I'm visually impaired the atmosphere changed completely and

I'm sure I lost the job because of that. Samantha, what difficulties

have you encountered because of your disability? I'm not surprised by the

statistics brought out by Scope. I used to be a high school teacher and

now I'm an actress. Now I'm working with a lot of people on a big set,

tile is money, you can physically see my disability, I do not hide

that. What I do hide is the fact that I have chronic pain on a daily

basis and the last big TV appearance or what I was doing, I had chronic

back ache and I thought I can't stop all these people. There were over

100 people on set, you know, if I stop now, time is money. And I

didn't want to disclose that, but I did because I had to and I asked for

a pillow to be put at my back and I felt it's about communication.

Nobody made me feel uncomfortable, the fact that I stopped the

production, they were more concerned about my well-being. I'm not

surprised that a lot of people want to hide their disability for fear

because of possibly losing their job or being seen as a, I hate the word,

but being seen as a burden. So yeah, I have experienced that. Even

recently when I go for auditions. I ask is it 100% accessible? Yes, I'm

told, it is accessible. I get there and there is a step. So, you know,

it's about learning. It's about talking with people, it is about us

coming on TV shows like this and educating. Madeleine, from what

you're saying, it sounds like you're concerned there is always a

prospective and from what you're saying as well Storme that people

are looking at you and thinking what can't you do? They imagine barriers

to be there. There is ways round them. You've got the solutions. For

example, I travel as part of my job. You will get on application forms do

you have a driving licence? Do you have use of your own car? You can

use public transport and you can use taxis, you don't need to be able to

drive to move around. Paul Wilson is joining us now from one of our

outside studios. You have got rheumatoid arthritis Paul and you

need a power wheelchair to get around. What difficulties does that

bring? Good morning. Yes, so just for instance getting around so I use

a wheelchair full-time and just getting here this morning was a real

mission because my local area wasn't able to provide any wheelchair

accessible taxis. So the company that picked me up had to come from

at least 35 miles away. So that poses a problem straightaway. Sure.

For anyone wanting to go to work. So I mean in a work context, have you

ever felt that you've actually directly been discriminated against

because of your disability? I think in terms of discrimination there has

been instances throughout my working life where I've had to take time off

for hospital appointments and when you're disabled you have a lot more

general doctors appointments, consultants appointments than the

average person and unfortunately, when you work for a business that's

not always, it's not always the done thing to do. You feel under pressure

not to go to a lot of doctors appointments or consultants or have

time off with your disability. What about the rest of you on that? When

you had to put your hand up and say, "I need extra appointments." Have

you had experiences along these lines Even things like your

wheelchair breaking. Sometimes parts break and I use a power wheelchair.

So if I can't leave my house to go outside and travel independently on

my own... You're stuck? I'm stuck and I can't go into work. There is

not a lot I can do about that. Do you feel you can be open and say

that or do you feel you have to make excuses? I feel like you can't

apologise for it. I mean at the same time, there is, you don't feel good

saying it, but at the same time you can't apologise for it. This is the

situation. Because Samantha you said when you had that bad back and you

actually spoke up, people wanted to help. Yes, most definitely. However

I have got a bad experience, I have got brittle bones and I fracture

easily. When I was a teacher, I didn't tell anyone, I went to work

with a fracture because I didn't want to take too much time off work

because when you're educating children you can't afford to do

that. So I have hidden in the past when I've been quite severely

injured and that's a shame. There should be more of a support network

for people to be able to say, "Look, I might have to take two weeks off."

I think you have a higher wall to climb if you want to be seen as

professional and conduct yourself well and you want to be seen in a

positive and an asset to a workforce. If you're disabled you

have a higher wall to climb. You need to constantly prove it on an

every day basis by turning up on time every day. Don't be late. Don't

like make sure your chair is working fine. Don't do anything that will

make you look like more of a burden than you should be. That's a good

way to put it, a higher wall to climb. All of you facing challenges.

We were hearing from Paul, just the challenge of getting somewhere. Do

you feel that's recognised? You have got to sort of be better at your

jobment you're constantly trying to make up or to sort of prove

yourself. So you've got that pressure on all the time. Paul, have

you ever felt that it is recognised by those around you that instead of

being something that they might, they maybe should be feel concerned

about in a workplace in terms of it having a negative impact, actually

it underlines the strength and resilience in you that you have to

encounter these things on a daily basis and you get on and you do it?

I think depending on your line manager or supervisor and dependant

on job as well. I think sometimes you get some very good managers,

people managers, who are very good. They understand their staff and the

problems and they'll manage everyone's problems to, you know,

within the business. Whereas you'll get, unfortunately, you'll get other

managers that don't necessarily have the background on employment or

people management who will not be as caring or as understanding within a

working environment. Thank you all very much. Thank you for coming in.

Let us know your thoughts on that. Let's get the latest weather

update with Jay Wynne. Of course, it's Valentine's Day day

today. Some of us got the cold somehoweder this morning. A touch of

frost there. One of our Weather Watchers made the most of it!

A different story in the south and the west. We've got cloud and patchy

rain drifting northwards and eastwards. But it will brighten in

the far south-west. We will get 11 or 12 Celsius but for many places it

is in single figures. Sixes and sevens typical. Overnight, we will

see patchy rain working its way northwards and eastwards and another

band of rain gets into the south-west by the end of the night.

In between the two, a lot of cloud. It will be a mild night, frost-free

across-the-board. Five to seven or eight Celsius. A lot of cloud to

start the day on Wednesday. There will be some breaks here and there,

particularly towards the north-east and later on in the south-west, but

with showers, but generally a fairly cloudy day with rain moving ever

northwards and eastwards, but notably through tomorrow,

temperatures are up by a good few degrees. We're into double figures

widely. He was an Afghan interpreter

who fought alongside British troops, but now he's unable to live

in the UK because his asylum Javed Hokta tells us why he'll be

killed if he's deported They use us and leave us. We save

your heroes, now I feel ashamed, and I regret my time being with them.

Disney drops a huge ship store after several videos were found to find

anti-Semitic imagery. We will talk to a social media expert about the

potential fallout. And, love is in the air,

for some of us, at least. It's Valentine's Day,

and we're asking, are you single We'll be talking to some singletons

who say they're happy Here's the BBC Newsroom

with a summary of today's news. Donald Trump's national-security

adviser Michael Flynn has resigned General Flynn discussed American

sanctions with the Russian ambassador before Mr Trump took

office, and is accused of misleading the Vice President

about what happened. A senior Democrat politician has

said General Flynn's departure would not end questions about any

contacts between the Trump A ten-year-old boy has died

after suffering serious head injuries at the high street store

Topshop in Reading. The boy was taken to hospital

after what's being described by police as an "incident involving

store furniture" at Topshop Police say the death

is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious, and officers

are continuing to make inquiries. Lawyers have criticised a plan to

scrap the legal duty of care the MoD owes to service personnel in the

course of combat. Injured soldiers and the families of those who have

died would no longer be able to sue the Government for negligence. The

MoD says they will get more compensation.

UK inflation has risen at its fastest pace in the past

The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices rose

1.8% in January compared with a year earlier.

It was the event by higher fuel prices and a fall in the value of

the pound. The engineering giant Rolls-Royce

has reported the biggest loss in its history,

of ?4.6 billion. It reflects almost ?700 million

in fines it agreed to pay authorities after being found guilty

of bribery and corruption in 12 countries, in offences dating

back more than 25 years. The weakening of the pound has also

hit the firm's profitability. The chairman of the Japanese

electronics conglomerate Toshiba has resigned following the news

that the company suffered a net loss Shigenori Shiga announced

he was stepping down shortly after the company delayed

an announcement of its It had been widely expected to write

off billions of dollars due to its problematic nuclear-energy

business, and to admit that That's a summary of

the latest BBC News. Do get in touch with us

throughout the morning. If you are disabled and in work and

fear you are being disconnected against, let us know. Samuel says,

people should be encouraged and supported. Christine says, I became

disabled six years ago, on return to work they were supportive, my

manager helped a lot, but when he left, the new manager was uncaring

and gave me no support, she ignored the arrangement we had set up and

would not reply to my e-mails. The stress made me worse and I took

early retirement. Keep your thoughts coming in.

If you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate.

It is Valentine's Day, we will talk about love, tell us if you are

happily single, or not. Will Perry's here again now

with a round-up of the sport. Manchester City moved up to second

in the Premier League, beating Bournemouth 2-0. They lost Jesus to

a foot injury early on. Raheem Sterling got the opener from close

range with nearly half an hour played. In the second half, he set

up the second. Eventually, Mings getting the final touch, to turn it

past his own goalkeeper. They are now eight points behind Chelsea with

13 games to play, but their manager is playing down their title chances.

They have to lose three games, because the goal average

You know how difficult it is to win all the games in the Premier League.

Game by game, now the Cup, and after we will see.

We are happy to be second and to reduce the lead.

This game is all about winning and getting results. We changed the team

and formations, we are always looking for new ways to get results.

We are not judged by tonight, our season will be defined by what

happened from this point. They have not won a game in 2017.

Anthony Watson has been included in England's 25-man training squad

for their Six Nations match against Italy next Sunday.

The Bath wing missed the wins over France and Wales

Eddie Jones is confident he will feature against Italy at Twickenham

as they try to make it three victories out of three.

The band cyclist Lance Armstrong has lost his bid to block a ?79 million

lawsuit by the US Government. It is alleged he defrauded the Government

while doping while riding for the publicly funded postal Service team.

He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life in

2012. It clears the way for this case to go to a trial.

Michael Vaughan has backed Joe Root to make a success of the test

captaincy. He succeeds Alastair Cook, and Michael Vaughan believes

the enormity of the job is unlikely to faze him.

In terms of personality, mentality, he is ready, driven. You look at how

he has improved his game, by being dedicated, he is trying to get

better every day. That is what he will demand from the team. The team

had better get ready for long, hard training sessions. He will prop them

regularly to make sure they are improving every day.

The headlines at 10:30am. The Ministry of Defence is proposing

to change the law to scrap its legal duty of care to servicemen and women

in the course of combat. Under the proposed scheme

they will not be able to sue the MoD in the courts for negligence,

and compensation will be taken in-house and be

awarded by an assessor. The family of one soldier killed

in a lightly-armoured Snatch Land Rover in Iraq has told

the BBC the proposed The MoD says the proposals

are about better compensation and will save injured service

personnel and families of those How old was he when he first

started playing the drums? In 2007 Colin Redpath's son,

Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath, a keen drummer in the Irish Guards,

died when a roadside bomb exploded next to his lightly armoured

Snatch Land Rover in Iraq. I deal with it because I want to be

strong for his memory. I mean, some people could literally

pull the curtains and never go out And people say to me, "We don't

like to mention him," I say, "No, I'll talk about him,

I'm proud of him. Kirk was one of some 37

servicemen and women killed in the so-called Snatch Land Rovers

in Afghanistan and Iraq. Colin fought a six-year legal battle

against the Ministry of Defence, eventually winning the right

at the Supreme Court to bring an action against the Government

under human-rights law. Three years later, that case is only

now coming to a close. In July 2016, Sir John Chilcot's

Iraq inquiry report identified numerous MoD failings,

in preparing for the Iraq campaign. The planning and preparations

for Iraq after Saddam Hussain The report found the military

delayed replacing the The MoD's new proposals cover battle

and the preparations for it. They include stopping legal claims

for negligence, like those arising from the Snatch Land Rovers

against the MOD in the courts. A no-fault compensation scheme

for injured service personnel and families of those killed,

meaning negligence does Assessors to value injuries

and loss, based on expert And compensation to be at the same

level, as if the MoD had been No one disputes that it is a really

good idea for service personnel injured in the cause of combat

and the families of those who have been killed to be spared long

and frustrating legal battles through the courts, but there

are real concerns about the Ministry of Defence scrapping the duty

of care that it owes to soldiers and taking the system

for compensating them in-house. At the end of the day,

they are an employer. You know, the fire brigade,

the police, the ambulance service, they all have to go out

with equipment that works. Well, that should be

the same for a soldier. I mean, if not, what the MoD

are saying is, we could send our boys and girls out with broomsticks,

it wouldn't matter. Lawyers worry that bypassing

the courts creates unfairness. You've suffered injury,

you think that the employer, the organisation, the MoD

is at fault, and yet you are asked to rely upon the MoD to assess

the compensation that it should pay you for the damage

that it has caused you. The proposed scheme assumes service

personnel will not need and so will not receive any

paid legal representation. Inevitably, there will be trauma,

grieving families involved, and the sort of client care that

legal representatives provide is absolutely essential in ensuring

that those victims are not further In a statement, the Ministry

of Defence said this. Obviously, the problem

of what to do with his ashes, I didn't want to split them

and I did not know where I would spread them, so I thought,

"Well, he loved the drums, let's put them in his

cabinet in a drum." So his ashes are with me in his

cabinet with all his belongings. I could not think of

anything better, really. The MoD's consultation

on its proposals ends Colin Redpath hopes that

for the injuries and the families of the fallen, the new system

ensures maximum safety and fairness. Let's get some reaction now

to these proposed changes. Patrick Hennessey is a barrister

and former army captain who thinks this will make

the MoD less accountable. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon,

who spent 23 years in the military, thinks this is good thing

for veterans and the MoD. Her son Kris was killed in 2007,

while serving in Iraq as part Also, Simon Harmer, who lost both

legs in Afghanistan in 2009. Tell us what happened for your

family after Chris was killed in terms of compensation. It was

quickly dealt with, but not as well as it could be. I am more interested

in the duty of care. He was killed in a warrior. In the Chilcott

report, in 2003 it was condemned for not having protection. He was killed

in 2007, and still it had no protection, even though in 2003 the

MoD were putting protection underneath. Therefore,... We are

struggling to hear a bit because of a bad line, so I will move away from

you for a moment. Let me bring in Simon, you lost out of your legs in

Afghanistan in 2009. What is your view on duty of care, compensation,

and whether people should have the right to go through the courts to

get redress? There needs to be an independent body that looks after

us. When I was initially injured, I had to go through the process

myself, I have the support of the veterans charity. Fit. For them, I

would have struggled. I know that things were missed from my

compensation. Did you feel you had to fight? The support that I had

around me, from the charity, it had not been there, I would have

struggled. If I had been on my own I would have struggled. Now these

changes are being proposed, what did you think? Would it be better for

soldiers or not? I am worried. I think that taking away outside

influence, or an independent body, is not a positive move. I also think

that if there is no appeal process, it could leave service men and women

short-changed. Hamish you have lengthy experience

in the military. You think it is a good idea. Why do you think that?

Well, I think anything that improves the lot of the men and the women in

the scoop forces who go to war is to be something that we should

appreciate and go forward. I mean, not only did I do 23 years in the

British military, forth last five years I have been in northern Iraq

and worked in Syrian hospitals entirely of my own choice, but

without that military backing. I think when a soldier, when he or she

goes into combat and you really have to have been in combat to understand

it properly. Number one, you want to have the best medical facilities

available to sort you out if you get injured and I think we do probably

have that British military. Number two, you want to make sure if you're

killed, your family and friends are looked after properly and some of

the store jis that people had to go through, about people having to go

through a long and lengthy legal process to get money is disgraceful.

If this gives money to the people that require it at the very highest

levels, then I think it is to be encouraged and look, it is a

consultation, but I think further the Chill chat inquiry that we've

mentioned and also the IHAT, the Iraq historic abuse inquiry has

broken in somewhat the covenant, the Army covenant that deal with

civilians and politicians in this country have with the British

military and that needs to be enhanced and I am concerned that MPs

and I have met a lot recently with my activities in Syria are stymied

by the desire to make sure that legally everything is right before

they commit us to military action which at the end of the day is what

our British Armed Forces are for. Patrick, if it stops somebody who

has been through a trauma, whether they have been injured or the

families of somebody that they have lost, if it stops them having to go

through a lengthy legal process and they get compensation at the level

they would have done? That can happen speedily now if the MoD isn't

fighting the claim. I think it is a really important to acknowledge that

there is a problem here. There is a problem here that needs to be

addressed and it was said in one of your reports that the MoD is an

employer like any other and the problem, it's not because ultimately

when you go to war, there is an enemy and then me is trying to kill

and injure you and that's what is different about soldiering to any

other walk of life. I recognise there is a problem and this is the

MoD trying to address it, but my concern is in the detail. So for

example, it is said in the consultation there maybe an

independent assessor for eligibility, but that might be done

in house. So that could mean the MoD is entitled to look at the claim and

say, "We don't think you have a claim at all." Where is the right of

appeal to that? If the MoD allows your claim, it is said we imagine,

the MoD will normally agree with an independent assessor on the value of

your claim. Well, it's quite conceivable that the MoD won't agree

and there is very little detail currently on what would happen if

that circumstances. You might have a 19-year-old soldier who has been

terribly injured and who maybe doesn't have the background,

sophistication, family resources to challenge what the MoD is saying. He

may have a right of appeal to an appeals tribunal, but you can see

how these things will spiral into the same delay that is happening now

without the independent scrutiny. Everybody mentioned the importance

of independence because you can't be your own judge and jury. Val you

were talking about the concerns with your situation with your son, the

vehicle that he was travelling in and the importance of lessons being

learnt. The Ministry of Defence says it is good at learning lessons from

any incident involving safety of personnel. Does that reassure you?

No, it doesn't because four years down the line and the Warrior

vehicle was still the same as they were saying in 2003. How can that

reassure you when four years later the vehicle is still in the same

condition it was and is still as dangerous?

What do you feel is the best way to hold the MoD o to account on things

like that? Is it the courts? Is it something else? There is the

coroners's court? There is the coroner's court and at Chris'

inquest the coroner asked the question - why there was no

protection on the under billiony? I've asked repeatedly of the MoD for

proof that protection has been put underneath the Warrior vehicles, but

they have never replied to me. So where was their duty of care then

when it was recommended in 2003 that this be done and in 2007 it still

hadn't been done. On the issue of lessons being learned, Patrick, you

are a barrister and you have got a vested interest in legal claims

being pursued, but do you believe that the courts process does mean

accountability, there is greater accountability or is it possible

that accountability is had through greater MPs scrut thee and the

coroner's courts? This is really interesting because I don't

necessarily either the court process or the proposed compensation process

deal with the sorts of issues being raised there. There is a difference

between the compensation that should be awarded to servicemen who are

killed and injured and what I would characterise as kit issues and the

duty of care to individual servicemen may not be the same thing

as operational effectiveness and this is a great example of one of

the really difficult decisions that militaries have to make sometimes

the most important thing when looking at a vehicle for example

might not be the level of protection it affords. It might be its

mobility. It might be its fire power and it doesn't seem to me that

either the courts process currently or this proposed scheme would deal

with that aspect. That is something that's more properly dealt with by

politicians. Thank you all very much for joining us, thank you.

PewDiePie was the highest paid star on YouTube last year,

His real name is Felix Kjellberg and he had a lucrative

But Disney has just cut ties with the internet celebrity over

The decision came after several videos he released over the past few

months were found to contain Nazi references or anti-Semitic imagery.

Let's talk now to someone who knows a thing or two about social media

and how important these relationships can be for businesses.

Steve Kuncewicz is a social media expert at the law

Thank you very much indeed for joining us. So the relationship has

now been severed. What is your prospective on the importance of

that relationship? Well, I think it is an object lesson really in

YouTube celebrities getting mainstream attention. PewDiePie for

quite sometime was the most subscribed channel on YouTube. He

beat out E MI Music to become one of the most viewed YouTube channels

there was and he had a number of criticisms over the course of the

past few years in relation to the content that he put up. Like a lot

of YouTube influences PewDiePie has been forced to grow up in public.

And that corporate master got in touch with him because they liked

his reverence, they liked his humour, they liked the genuine

nature, the authenticity of the way he communicated with the followers,

however, it looks as if that sense of humour hasn't travelled well and

if you're a corporate giant like Disney the last thing you want is

anything to do with anti-semitism. The YouTube stars are really young.

Earning that amount of money. The vast number of followers at the age

of 27. In terms of fall-out and damage, how do you see it? Well,

it's trillioning that the agreement that was part of Disney, noticed

that PewDiePie was a gamer and vast majority of his content was about

gaming, but it was non gaming content that got him into trouble.

There will be some disrepute clause in there, but it will be a message

to a lot of other YouTube influences to show them that they are going to

be expected to be that bit more corporate if they do intend to turn

this into a thriving career and having some old-fashioned input on

how you present yourself, strategy, the journalistic training that some

of the influences don't have might be a good idea if they want this to

be a sustainable business. He made a good business out of it. No one is

going to regulate are they in the way you're talking about having the

journalistic or legal training or whatever? No, that's right. There is

a lot of regulation around advertising law where we have seen

YouTube influences fall foul along with brands at the same time. There

is regulation the issue is a sense of humour doesn't trasm. Local laws

don't travel across the internet and running their business, like a

business and treating it in that way, thinking about the effects of

what they say may have upon the various stakeholders will be

essential for the YouTubers of the future. It was a mutual

relationship. It has ended. Is that it? Any lasting damage? Well, I

think PewDiePie has done a fair bit to damage himself over the past six

months. He suggested when he hit 50 million subscribers on YouTube he

may walk away from the platform. He had a rant about the fact that he

lost followers. The mainstream media pounced on him and saw it as a

temper tantrum. He retweeted a joke about Islamic State. He has done a

fair bit to damage his own success before now, but certainly other big

advertisers and other big brands will think twice about engaging with

YouTube influences going forward. Thank you very much, indeed.

One of the most powerful men in President Trump's

Michael Flynn quit as National Security adviser after details

emerged of his contact with Russian officials.

He's admitted inadvertently giving misleading information by saying

he didn't discuss US sanctions with the Russian

The Kremlin has been giving its response. Let's get more from Steve

Rosenberg. What is the reaction there, Steve?

Yes, a few minutes ago the Kremlin made some comments about this which

you could sum up in two words as no comment. The representative told

journalists on a telephone conference call this was the

internal affair of the Americans. He said it was the internal affair of

the Trump administration and had nothing to do with Moscow. He zwant

to make anymore comment about it. At which point I said to him on the

call well, he was happy to comment yesterday about this and yesterday

he had said once again there would be no conversations between US and

Russian officials before Donald Trump became president. No

conversations about sanctions. And when you said to him today, he said,

"I have said it before, I'm not going to make anymore comment about

this." The Kremlin not saying very much, but some other Russian

politicians with angry responses this morning. We have heard from two

senators, from the upper house of the Russian Parliament. One has

tweeted that this this is about paranoia and a witch-hunt and

another who heads the upper House of Parliament's Foreign Affairs

Committee said that this resignation either meant that Donald Trump had

been driven into a corner or that Russiaphobia had permeated the new

administration from top to bottom. Strong words there. I saw another

Russian lawmaker saying it is another signal for Russian-US

relationsment how would you describe rush-US relations right now? Well,

Russian-US relations have been bad, very bad and the Russians have big

hopes for Donald Trump and they believe that with Donald Trump they

can turn things around and get sanctions removed and allow Russia

to come in from the cold. But certainly this is a blow to that and

from the comments we have seen from Russian politicians this morning I

think it is clear now how Moscow is going to portray Michael Flynn's

resignation, they will try and portray it as an attempt by Donald

Trump's opponents and his enemies in the United States to derail attempts

for a new relationship between the United States and Russia. I have

been following the state media a lot, the TV and the newspapers and

you see it almost every day. The pro-Kremlin media talking about how

Donald Trump has enemies in the Democratic Party and in the Republic

Party and in the intelligence services and in the American media,

not blaming him for anything that's happening, the United States right

now, but blaming those around him and I'm pretty sure that's how the

state media here will play this. Steve, thank you very much.

The British Army interpreter who says he will be killed if he returns

to Afghanistan. We'll talk to some singletons

about how they don't need a significant other this Valentine's

Day. John says, happily single, never

been happier, able to do what I want with my life. Let us know your

thoughts on being single. Ben Brown is in the BBC

Newsroom with a summary Donald Trump's national-security

adviser Michael Flynn has resigned General Flynn discussed American

sanctions with the Russian ambassador before Mr Trump took

office, and is accused of misleading the Vice President

about what happened. A senior Democrat politician has

said General Flynn's departure would not end questions about any

contacts between the Trump A ten-year-old boy has died

after suffering serious head injuries at the high-street store

Topshop in Reading. The boy was taken to hospital

after what's being described by police as an "incident involving

store furniture" at Topshop Police say the death

is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious, and officers

are continuing to make inquiries. Duncan Kennedy is in Reading,

where the incident happened. I have just been inside the building

behind me to the third floor, top shop is currently shuttered up,

although the lights are on. A couple of security men standing outside,

plus members of the public. I suspect the shop will not be opened,

at least for a few hours, whilst this investigation continues. It

follows this incident at 4pm yesterday, when this boy was in the

shop, we don't know who with. He was somehow involved in an incident with

what the police called shop furniture. He sustained head

injuries, three ambulances were called, plus other medical services.

He was looked at in the shop and was taken to hospital, where he later

died of those injuries. The police tell as his next of kin had been

informed. We have no other details about what this involved, what kind

of shop furniture. We are expect think a statement of the owners of

the shop later, they say they are preparing a statement. The local

council so they are working with the police on this, although the Health

and Safety Executive tell us they are not currently involved with this

investigation. UK inflation has risen

at its highest rate The Office for National Statistics

said consumer prices rose 1.8% last month,

up from 1.6% in December. The increase was driven by higher

fuel prices and the fall Join me for BBC

Newsroom Live at 11am. Here's the sport headlines

now with Will Perry. Manchester City moved up to second

in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory at Bournemouth. This goal

from Raheem Sterling gave them a 1-0 lead. That just before the half-hour

mark. Mings got the final touch in the second half to make it 2-0, they

are now eight points behind Chelsea, with 13 to play.

Anthony Watson is in England's squad for their six Nations match against

Italy. He missed the victories over France and Wales with a hamstring

injury. Lance Armstrong has lost his bid to

block a ?79 million lawsuit by the US Government. It is alleged he

devoted the Government by doping while riding for the publicly funded

US Postal Service team. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France

titles. It clears the way for the case to go to trial.

We have just heard that the Fed Cup team will be a way to Romania in

their play-off tie in April. More on the BBC News channel through

the day. An Afghan interpreter who fought

alongside British troops says if the Government sends him home,

it will be a death sentence. Javed Hokta is applying

for asylum here in the UK. He says he was sent death

threats by the Taliban He's currently living illegally

in Birmingham while he makes He's already had one claim rejected

because the threatening letters he received hadn't been signed

or dated by the Taliban. Javed has been talking

to BBC Midlands Today. Now I feel ashamed and I regret my

time being with them. This wasn't the life that

Javed Hokta imagined after spending two years fighting alongside

British Armed Forces in Afghanistan. I was working as a soldier

and interpreter as well, with the SPS and SAS,

the British special forces. Our base was in our province,

south of Afghanistan, but we had operations specially

in dangerous parts of Afghanistan like Kandahar, Helmand,

Farrar, Herat, these areas. So we were quick reaction force,

we attacked attacked the Taliban compounds,

daytime but the most operations Javed also worked for the Afghan

special narcotics force, disrupting His reward, death threats

from the Taliban. They say me to leave the job

and join the Taliban, they asked me, "Come and join

us, otherwise you are I didn't want to be

a part of terrorists. So he fled to Britain in 2008,

hoping to find asylum in return Javed handed in these death threats

he received from the Taliban In this one for example it says,

"You will be in hell very soon." Here, they accuse him of being a spy

for the Crusaders and sentence him Now the Home Office refused

to accept that these letters were genuine and they turned

down his claim for asylum. Last week, the Commons Defence

Select Committee heard The perception all over the country

for them is that they have served with the infidel forces there,

the eyes and ears of Something dreadful will happen

and you will have no If he is sent back that will be

an appalling act by our government and there will be one

person to blame. The Ministers of the Crown

and the Government. In what is, I think, an act

as shameful as any I can remember We're going to refer to the fact

that all these other foreign governments have

changed their opinion, lifted the interpreters out

of Afghanistan and given them Javed is making a renewed asylum

application later this month. I think it's really unimaginable

to put yourself in a position like him, and being really let down

by a Government that is supported by working in the most

dangerous circumstances. For now he finds himself living

illegally in the West Midlands relying on friends for a roof

over his head. But the people who work with the US

and the European countries, they fully support those people

who worked for them in Afghanistan and they welcome

them to their countries If you can't take

the responsibility, Maybe if we had worked for somebody

else now we would be safe. Let's talk now to Colonel Simon

Diggins, who was the British defence What does this country over him? I

believe what we need to be able to do for him and all of the

interpreters is to give them a safe and secure place to come to. They

put themselves at extraordinary risk to work for us and for the

Government of Afghanistan, and now that they are under threat, able to

continue to work in Afghanistan, live there, we should have no

hesitation in bringing them here. What is the threat to interpreters

in Afghanistan? Exactly as your previous article said. The Taliban

regard them as traitors, people who worked for the so-called crusaders,

that is ours, and therefore they are the Summit targets in the eyes of

the Taliban and also now you have got Islamic State in Afghanistan,

and they regard them as targets. And not just them, but their families.

If they cannot get the individual, they will try to get the families.

Wendy where defence cachet in Kabul you had particular experience of

dealing with the case of one Afghan interpreter who had three limbs

blown off while he was on patrol, he wanted him brought to this country

for medical treatment. Tell us what your experiences were of Government

approach and the Home Office approach on it. Extraordinarily

disappointing. This individual had been on patrol with British forces

in Helmand, there had been an IED attack, he was evacuated to our

medical base in Helmand, where he received first-class treatment by

the brilliant medics we had working for us in Afghanistan, but there

came a point where he needed to move on to further treatment, and if he

had been a British soldier, he would have been evacuated back here, where

he could have been looked after properly. When the subject was

raised and I discussed it with an official from the Government, the

only thing they were interested in was he should not come back here. He

might claim asylum and that might set a precedent. That was appalling.

In the end, for that individual, we evacuated him to India, where he

received excellent treatment, but the attitude was wrong, it was that

we were concerned for him not to be an asylum seeker. That has prevailed

throughout the policies which have been in place since then to look

after our Internet has. The Home Office has given us a statement. It

says, while we cannot comment on this case, or claims are carefully

considered on their merits and based on evidence provided by the

applicant. We know that he has had one claim rejected because the

threatening letters that he's admitted as evidence were not signed

or dated by the Taliban. How do you respond? If it was not so awful and

serious, it is almost laughable. The idea that the pilot and will sit

down and write in a nice headed bit of notepaper, properly signed and

dated, with a nice stamp on, saying we will kill this individual, and

only then will be Home Office accepted, is beyond absurd. What

would your fears be if he is forced to leave this country? That either

he or his family will be killed. Worse than that, that behaviour will

be completely shameful. I cannot believe there is a worse

circumstance, we deport somebody, who has worked for us, and we find

ourselves in a situation where he is killed. That would be shameful. He

said he regrets his time spent with the British Army, because of the way

he is being treated. What message do you think it sends to people in

other countries who are relied on for services like being a

translator? It sends a negative message. It is sadly inevitable we

will be to work in countries where we do not have the language skills

ourselves, so we will need interpreters in the future, but if

the message we send to them is that we will use you and then we will

dump you, that sends a very poor message indeed.

Valentine's Day is renowned for being the most

And many of us use it as an opportunity to show affection

for our loved ones with cards, flowers or chocolates.

In the UK an average of 25 million cards are given on Valentine's,

Day but not everyone is looking for love.

Many people are single and proud out of choice and are enjoying

discovering themselves and what the world has to offer.

Let's talk to some people who are all single and proud to be so.

June Whittle, Stefan-Pierre Tomlin and Lauren Crouch.

You have been single for 11 years. What happened? Why did you decide to

be single? It was a choice, because of relationship issues in the past.

I just wanted to find out who I was, because most of my life I jump from

one relationship to another, and I went through abuse. I met somebody

in 2005, it did not work out, and I thought, this is it. You could only

be yourself not in a relationship? Yes. Do you ever have a twinge on

Valentine's Day? I am happy being single, it is just another day to

me. What is your view on being a singleton? There is nothing wrong

with it. I would like to meet somebody one day. You have been

single for four years? It is not a priority. There is pressure put on

women, I am approaching 30, there is a thing where you see family and

they say, when are you going to settle down? Actually, I prefer to

prioritise my career and things like that. It is different now, one of

the days when women need to be married and have kids by 25. It does

not mean I don't want to meet someone, but I will not put myself