13/06/2017 BBC News at One

Theresa May is meeting leaders of the Democratic Unionist Party

in Downing Street, as she seeks a deal to enable the

The DUP's Arlene Foster and Nigel Dodds go into

Downing Street to discuss a deal, with the terms of

What price to keep Theresa May in power?

We'll be getting the latest from our Assistant Political Editor

Inflation hits a near four-year high, continuing the squeeze

on consumers as prices rise faster than wages.

An inquest opens into the deaths of the victims of the London Bridge

terror attack, and hears five of them were stabbed.

One of Donald Trump's top advisers, Jeff Sessions, will testify over

claims Russia tried to meddle in last November's election.

A year after her murder Jo Cox's parents speak for the first time

The phone rang. And it was Dan, one of Jo's aids, and he said, "Jo has

been shot, I think." And that was it.

And coming up in the sport on BBC News, another loss for the Lions -

a penalty with just six minutes left means Highlanders win

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

Talks are underway in Downing Street, as Theresa May

tries to strike a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party

which will enable the Conservatives to continue to govern.

The Prime Minister and Arlene Foster are discussing the detailed terms

of the DUP's backing for her minority government,

focussing on the upcoming Brexit negotiations and their particular

implications for Northern Ireland's border with the Republic

The Conservatives are having to rely on the support of ten DUP MPs,

after they fell eight seats short of winning an overall majority

Here's our political correspondent Chris Mason.

The sun is shining on Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.

Just ten MPs and their leader who now wield huge powers. Are we

looking at the real government? Big smiles and with good reason. The

Democratic Unionists are crucial in propping up Theresa May in

government. Look how excited they are. And listen carefully. The

future is bright. The future's bright, the future's orange. A

clever mash up of an advertising slogan and the colour traditionally

associated with unionism. As the Cabinet met this morning there was

an obvious question to ask. Are you up Freddie Woodward DUP? The answer

is yes because... We need a stable government governing international

interest in one of the ways to do that is talk to the largest party in

Northern Ireland in order to make sure we can have the support for a

Queen's Speech which will enable us to negotiate a good Brexit deal in

due course and have policies the country needs in order to make sure

our public services are working effectively and the economy grows

more sustainably. What might the DUP want in return for what is expected

to be an informal arrangement with the Conservatives, where they

promise to back them on the most important votes in Parliament quiz

Mac could involve money, extra money for roads. The DUP are against

limiting pensioners who can receive the winter fuel allowance. Other

parties sniff just how vulnerable the Tories are. Misses may promise

the electorate a strong and stable government but what we have got is a

shambles. She said we wouldn't have a coalition of chaos but that is

where we are heading. The truth is the country deserves a proper

government which will rule on behalf of the many not on behalf of the

few. Your party is used to bunking up with another outfit with which

you might not share every governing philosophy so what is wrong with

what the Tories are planning now? Theresa May is trying to use this

stitch up with the DUP in order to pretend nothing has changed when, in

fact, everything has changed. She's got to understand that in the House

of Commons everybody is a minority and nobody is going to get their own

way on everything all the time. And this was the scene in Downing Street

a few minutes ago. Are you ready to drive a hard bargain? What is your

price? Are you happy? What price to keep Mrs May in power? Here other

bouquets the Theresa May. Chin up, the message reads.

Our Assistant Political Editor Norman Smith is in Downing Street.

Assuming there is a deal, how stable will it be? I think in the short

term it probably will be quite stable and what we will see today is

smiles, handshakes, photo opportunities because both parties

have a mutual self interest in reaching some sort of accommodation,

they agree on many of the big issues like Brexit and virulent opposition

to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party. From Theresa May's perspective she

needs a deal to have a majority in the Commons and from the DUP's point

of view, they hope there is going to be money for Northern Ireland, funds

for economic regeneration and reconstruction. The difficulty is

down the line. One of the reasons is because this isn't a coalition, it

is a day by day arrangement, it means ministers have to put their

arms around DUP MPs and say, come on, you can join us today. It is a

much more wheeling dealing politics which isn't Mrs May's strong point.

It is also a very small majority, giving Mrs May a six seat majority.

David Cameron had a 17 majority and even then he suffered a whole load

of defeats on things like tax credits, personal independent

payments, Sunday trading. The real fear is once the DUP have got their

crowbar in, they start to exert the leveraged, they start to demand much

more contentious issues, possibly around things like the future of

parades in Northern Ireland or foreign funding for Sinn Fein. Then

it might be much harder to hold this deal together. Norman Smith, thank

you very much. But whatever deal is done

between the Conservatives With talks scheduled to get under

way to try to restore power-sharing in Stormont,

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has warned that no arrangement

between the Conservatives and the DUP would be good

for Northern Ireland. This is all very edgy. That's right.

Here in Northern Ireland, before the early hours of Friday morning nobody

thought they'd see what has just happened in Downing Street, the site

of Arlene Foster going through the door of Number Ten, holding the keys

to power, as it were. But that is now what has happened and ever since

it became clear that was going to be the situation, the DUP were going to

be in a position of influence, there's been a clamour of opinion as

to what the DUP should be asking for, everything from parading to

measure specific to Northern Ireland on Brexit. One thing that has come

up is that Northern Ireland should get more economic assistance, if not

cold, hard cash for infrastructure projects them for tax breaks to help

out businesses. Everyone watching to see what comes out of the talks this

afternoon but there is another Di mentioned to this. The DUP are

involved in two sets of negotiations, one in London, one in

Stormont, where discussions are continuing to restore the government

that collapsed in January. Sinn Fein have said they are not at all happy

of the prospect of a deal between the DUP and the Conservatives. Gerry

Adams has said it would not be good for the people of Northern Ireland.

The leader of the SDLP said that if there is an economic package as a

result of the discussions in London then it should reflect economic need

not the DUP's political priorities. Both parties say it showed the

British government cannot be an impartial broker at Stormont. James

Brokenshire has says it could be separate to stabilising the

government in Stormont. A few months ago the mantra was that

"Brexit means Brexit." Now, though, it's increasingly

unclear what that means, and the EU is beginning to show

signs of impatience. The EU's chief negotiator

Michel Barnier urged London to start talks "very quickly" and appoint

a negotiating team that is "stable, The European Parliament's Guy

Verhofstadt said the EU is growing impatient as it waits to learn

the UK government's Live now to Gavin Lee

in Strasbourg. The message from various we are

ready. It is. They are ready and becoming impatient, those were the

words of Guy Verhofstadt, the EU Parliament's Brexit negotiator, who

will have a say in the final part of the deal towards the end of the

process. Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator for Brexit, gave an

interview with a number of newspapers published this morning in

which she said he cannot negotiate with himself and said whilst he is

aware of the problems in the UK, what he wants is somebody who is

stable, accountable, and has a mandate to come to the table and

quickly. He doesn't see it at this stage to extend the deadline.

Interesting as well, the German finance minister today talking about

there being an open door if, for any reason, the British decided Brexit

wasn't something they were seeking. Absolutely not the case when you

speak to people here, including Guy Verhofstadt, he said he used to

think like that but now he is absolute. We are on a course of

Article 50. It has been triggered. The other reason why we have to

start hopefully next week is we have only a time frame of less than two

years. Everything has to be behind us on the 29th of March 20 19. Guy

Verhofstadt. Inflation in the UK has risen

to its highest rate for four years. Figures out from the Office

for National Statistics show it rising to 2.9% in May,

up from 2.7% the previous month, keeping inflation above the Bank

of England's 2% target. Here's our economics

correspondent Andy Verity. The weakness of the pound

since the referendum should have helped tourist towns

like Stratford-upon-Avon, but the businesses trying to attract

Chinese or American tourists import much of what they sell, and they're

being squeezed by higher costs. Business owners know they can't

always pass on those costs No profit grows where

no pleasure is taken. Certain items, for example

on the afternoon tea, the salmon - in six months now

it has gone over ?4 a kilo. Cocoa for the chocolate cake, again,

has gone up quite remarkably. These are things like butter -

August last year, Bought some yesterday,

?1.18 a packet. Fish, including salmon,

was one of the fastest risers, The average price of

all goods rose by 3%. That is the first time in years

that have gone up faster Competitive businesses like this one

don't want to raise their prices because of the risk that customers

get put off and go elsewhere, so they're trying to find other ways

to trim their costs. But, eventually, they'll be

faced with a choice - raise their prices or see

their profits wiped out. And the biggest upward pressure

on that cost is labour. The higher minimum wage is one

reason for the higher cost one of the biggest upward pressures

on inflation in recent weeks. But overall wages aren't keeping up

- prices are now rising Inflation probably hasn't

reached its peak, it could go I don't think that we're

going to see the Bank of England raising rates any time soon,

though, because we're seeing a slowdown in activity,

and they will be more conscious of the risks to the economy,

rather than the risks of inflation The Bank of England hadn't thought

inflation would get this Up until now, most members

of the committee at the bank that sets interest rates had been

convinced it's temporary, so there's no need to head it off

with an early rise in rates. A lucrative part of the City

of London's financial trading could be forced to move

to continental Europe, The European Commission is expected

to say later that it wants the EU to regulate the clearing

of Euro denominated transactions. At the moment, hundreds

of billions of euros move Our business correspondent

Jonty Bloom is here. We need to explain what this is. And

how big a deal it is if the city loses it. Clearing is just the same

as when you clear a check. If I pay you a check and you paid it into

your bank account you can take the money out until it clears. This is

that on a massive scale. It is every Euro transaction which has to be

cleared in the same way which accounts to hundreds of millions if

not billions of euros a day. 70% of that passes through London even

though we have never been in the Eurozone. There have been attempts

in the past by the eurozone to get that business done inside the euro

area. That failed, stopped in the courts. Because of Brexit, they are

trying again, the European commission saying they will want to

regulate those firms in London and if they don't like what they see or

if they don't like being regulated, they are happy to move to the

Eurozone, forcing them if they don't like what they see. That matters to

London because it is a big business input in tens of thousands of

people, involving vast amount of cash. More importantly, they see

this as the first attack on their strength. There are lots of cities

in the Eurozone, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, which would love the

business going on in London and the city sees this as an attempt to grab

the business and that will carry on for a long time.

Inquests have opened and been adjourned into the deaths

of five of the victims of the London terror attacks.

Eight people were killed, and dozens injured, when three

attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge,

then stabbed people in nearby Borough Market.

Our home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds reports

They were young, they'd come from around the world to make their lives

in London. Now a coroner will have to decide how they came to be

murdered by three young men with knives on a warm summer's night.

Sara Zelenak was 21, and no pair from Australia. The court heard she

was found with a stab wound in her neck. Graham-mac, 32, was an

entrepreneur from London. He was found in the street with a stab

wound in his chest. Kirsty Boden was 28, another Australian victim, a

staff nurse at a London hospital. She died from a chest wound.

Sebastien Belanger was the fourth victim, he was 36, French, a chef

who was stabbed in the chest. Ignacio Echeverria was 39, a Spanish

analyst for HSBC who is said to have fought back against the attackers.

He died stabbed in the back. The family of Sara Zelenak were in court

to hear the coroner offered his condolences. He said it was a

terrible time and he will consider in detail the causes of all eight

deaths. The police investigation is in full flow. The coroner, as is

normal in these cases, said he would suspend his inquiry until the police

had finished. But he said the families of the victims would be

given full details about how their loved ones died. Britain's most

senior counterterrorism officer today made a further call for help

in dealing with the threat. He told the Times...

We need communities to be more assertive and calling out extremists

and radicals among us, we need to be occasions and in the based based

companies to show more responsibility. The Government was

considering further powers to make them take more action. That is a

measure of last resort, what is more important is that we develop ever

greater co-operation between security and intelligence services

and tech companies within the confines of the Lord when sure that

this material never reaches the internet in the first place. Traders

hope to reopen Borough Market tomorrow, a show of defiance against

the man who brought terror here. Tom Symonds, BBC News, Southwark.

Theresa May is meeting the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party

in Downing Street, as she seeks a deal

to enable the Conservatives to govern.

We hear from the parents of a Muslim convert

who travelled to territory controlled by so-called

Islamic State about why they want the British Government

Coming up in sport, six-times Paralympic champion David Weir

has announced he'll retire from track racing

at the Anniversary Games next month.

after winning his seventh London Marathon in April.

The pressure on Donald Trump over alleged links between his campaign

In the latest appearance before US lawmakers,

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he's the most senior member

of President Trump's administration to testify before a Senate committee

looking into allegations that Russia had tried to meddle in last

It comes less than a week after the former

FBI chief James Comey appeared at a similar hearing.

Jeff Sessions is the highest-ranking member of the Trump administration

to face questions about Russia's alleged meddling

A one-time close adviser and loyal supporter of Donald Trump,

Mr Sessions' relationship with the President has become

At one point, he reportedly offered to resign.

Today, he'll face tough questions - and may refuse to answer.

He'll be asked to explain his role in the firing of James Comey,

the FBI chief, who gave evidence to the committee last week.

I was fired because of the Russia investigation,

why was the Attorney General involved in that chain?

I don't know, and so I don't have an answer for the question.

Mr Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation

following media reports about meetings he'd had

meetings that he'd earlier failed to acknowledge.

The stakes are high, because Democrats on the committee

will be pressing Mr Sessions to clarify on-the-record statements

he made during his confirmation hearing in January.

He said then that, as an adviser to Donald Trump,

he didn't communicate with Russian officials

during the presidential election campaign.

With the White House engulfed in scandal and much

hingeing on today's hearing, Donald Trump has been

In an unusual move, with the cameras rolling,

his most senior officials took the opportunity, one by one,

A somewhat surreal scene, as Washington braces itself

for yet another day of high drama and political intrigue.

Our correspondent Jane O'Brien is in Washington for us now.

High-stakes, as we were hearing, how nervous will Donald Trump be? Well,

Donald Trump has already tweeted this morning that fake news has

never been so wrong or so dirty. He wasn't specific about what he meant

by that, but we can intuit that he is pretty upset about the whole

thing. Now, of course, the whole testimony from James Comey last week

was supposed to lay all these issues to rest, and what we are now

discovering is that, far from doing that, it's raising even more

questions about Russian meddling in the presidential election, the Trump

campaign's possible involvement in that, and it is now embroiling

senior members of the Trump administration. It is how many

threads can continue to be pulled before we come to the end of this

saga, and of course that is what Donald Trump is desperately hoping

for. He tried to lift the cloud of the Russia investigation by firing

James Comey, we now know that that decision has come back to bite him

in the backside with ferocity of a swarm of hornets. So yes, he is

upset, yes, he is worried, but more to the point, how worried are

Republicans? Because while this is going on and we are all talking

about these endless hearings, they can't get their political agenda

under way, they can't concentrate on tax reform, health care reform,

lived the debt ceiling or put into place Mr Trump's infrastructure

plan. So there is a lot at stake here. Jane O'Brien, thank you very

much. The European Court of Human Rights

will rule later on whether doctors treating ten-month-old Charlie Gard,

who is terminally ill, It would be against

the wishes of his parents, who want to take their son

to the US for experimental treatment

for a rare genetic disorder. agreed with specialists

at Great Ormond Street Hospital that he should be allowed

to die with dignity. Our medical correspondent

Fergus Walsh reports. Charlie Gard cannot see, hear,

move, cry or swallow. and kept alive

with a mechanical ventilator. His parents, Chris Gard

and Connie Yates, have raised ?1.3 million

through crowdfunding for experimental treatment

in the United States. They say they simply want

the best for their son. We know that even if it doesn't

work, which I think it will, we know that we have done

everything that we can for him. But doctors,

including independent experts, say the treatment cannot

improve his condition. One concern is that Charlie

may experience pain while it had the utmost

sympathy for his parents, it was not in Charlie's interests

to subject him to futile treatment which might simply

prolong his suffering. Today, a panel of seven judges

at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg

will consider written If they decide to take on the issue,

a full hearing will be organised. If not, then the parents'

legal battle to take their son abroad will be over,

and from midnight, Great Ormond Street Hospital

will be free to switch off Charlie's ventilator and

provide only palliative care. The son of an Oxfordshire farmer

who travelled to territory controlled by so-called

Islamic State as an 18-year-old has turned up

almost three years later, in a prison run

by a Kurdish militia. Jack Letts told the BBC that

he walked across the front line, His parents are now asking

the British Government to find him and fly him back

to Britain. Here's our home affairs

correspondent Daniel Sandford. Jack Letts was the white

middle-class boy from Oxford, 80 news old and just out of school, who

ran off to live in territory controlled by so-called Islamic

State. -- 18 years old. That was more than two and a half years ago.

Since then, he claimed that the BBC, he has travelled all over IS

territory. Using the encrypted messaging app Telegram, he said he

had been injured in an explosion but that he was not fighting at the

time. He said he had fallen out with IS leadership and been put in

prison. He said five weeks ago he left, crossing the front line

through a minefield using a people smuggler. Supposedly, we were going

to go to Kurdish territories for a bit, then continue to Turkey, and

then as soon as we got here, got arrested and put in prison. In

prison for a few days, not sure how long exactly, around a week maybe,

and then after that I was in solitary confinement until now. He

told the BBC thought he was being held just outside a Syrian town on

the border with Turkey held by the YPG, the Kurdish militia fighting

Islamic State. It is about 150 miles from he is struck gold of Raqqa.

Jack Letts had an average middle-class childhood. All we have

wanted is getting to safety... They will stand trial later this year

accused of sending their son money for terrorist purposes, which they

deny, saying the money was to help them escape. They tell me now we use

a Kurdish prison, they want the British Government to intervene. We

suddenly got a message out of the blue, saying that he was in a safe

zone, and it was the news we have been waiting for for three years,

ever since he went out their plans. -- out there. And now we want to get

him home. He will have to account for himself, and I completely

understand that. If he has anything to do with IS, I want nothing to do

with him. I really despise any group that is extremists like that. The

Foreign Office said it would not comment on Jack Letts' case, saying

only it cannot provide consular support in Syria, but it is

understood officials have been trying to locate him. Neither the

BBC nor his parents have heard from him for 12 days. Daniel Sandford,

BBC News. On Friday, it will be exactly

a year since the murder She was stabbed and shot

in her constituency by a man who supported

the extreme right. Her family have since spoken

about their wish for her to be remembered for what she achieved

in life, and this weekend, they're encouraging people

to join together with neighbours, friends and their community

at events in her memory. Our correspondent Catherine Burns

has been speaking to Jo Cox's sister and parents

about their daughter's legacy. I still miss the sound

of her coming down the drive... Gordon and Jean Leadbeater say

they're private people, but as the anniversary

of their daughter's death approaches, they've agreed

to talk to us. What were you doing

when you got that call? We'd just sat down

about five minutes. And then the phone rang,

and it was Dan, one of Jo's aides. And he just said,

"Jo's been shot, I think." And we jumped in the car,

I remember us jumping in the car, and we couldn't get near,

and we set off running. And I don't know...

I don't know how we ran, how we managed to get there

into the middle of Birstall. In this case, it was a police

inspector, comes into the room, and he has to tell you.

And we know. In fact, he doesn't

have to tell you - And he said, "I'm sorry to say

she didn't make it." One of the things that Kim

said afterwards was, "Our family is broken now,

but we will mend over time." We'll always be broken,

because there's a piece missing. But, yeah, I think,

to the outside world, we do appear strong,

all of us. But there's a lot of days

when the bad is bad. The low times for us

are when we turn the television on and see terrorist acts -

Westminster Bridge, Manchester - because that's when

it brings everything back. For me, the ambulances, the sirens,

I'm back there again in Birstall. So this is not what you'd expect

your average MP to be like, is it? but this was Jo, just very,

very relaxed, very comfortable, and just embracing

the situation she was in. Jo's sister Kim tries to focus

on happier times. That is absolutely stunning,

isn't it? Yeah, that's the birthday karaoke,

with the Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson,

I Know Him So Well, which was our party piece

when we were kids. And it was re-enacted

for my birthday last year badly. # Looking back, I could have

made it differently... # I think there must be

a difference between denial and disbelief,

I can't believe it's happened. I just cannot believe it's happened.

Despite their grief, one year on, the family is keen to create a

legacy for Jo. Going forward, build the children, they won't go away,

but we have to be positive, and we are being. And Jo's children have

got so much of her, and Brendan, in them. That is a great legacy, and we

do have that. That was Catherine Burns speaking

to Jo Cox's parents and sister ahead of the anniversary this Friday

of her death. Time now for a look at the weather,

Nick Miller is here. Useless weather factor lead, June 13 has a rather

special place in UK weather history, it is the only summer day on record

in the UK where the temperature has not reached 30 Celsius. You know

what? It is not doing it again today, better luck next year!

Tomorrow some of the us will get quite close, but by no means all,

big weather contrasts across the UK at the moment. For some of us, it

feels and looks like summer, but look at the cloud in Scotland and

Northern Ireland, the best of the sunshine for part of England and

Wales. You can see that all in play on the satellite picture over the

past few hours. If you have got sunshine, you are closer to high

pressure, weather more settled as a result. Scotland and Northern

Ireland, closer to low pressure, breeze, cloud, and breaks of rain,

and that is the picture this afternoon. The best sunshine across

southern England, where you are closest to that area of high

pressure, so this is for a Clarke, a range of temperatures, high teens in

south-west England. -- Bora clock. Further north, some cloud around

parts of Wales and the Midlands, some sunny belles too. You may catch

a shower, most of us will not, but we have had showers already. Closer

to low pressure in Northern Ireland and Scotland, some outbreaks of

rain, brighter breaks in eastern Scotland, temperatures nearer 20

Celsius. This evening and tonight, lower temperatures in rural spots,

fog patches developing, but not lasting long in the morning. High

pressure exerted its influence a glass England and Wales tomorrow,

more sunshine, warm as a result, patchy cloud developing, isolated

showers in northern England, but closer to that low pressure, many of

us will be dry, but a weak weather system moving through with some

outbreaks of rain. A big contrast in temperature, warmer for England and

Wales, temperatures pegged back by cloud in Scotland and Northern

Ireland. The warmth comes with a price, high UV levels in places,

high and very high pollen as well, so take precautions. Wednesday

evening, away from the rain, most of us tomorrow evening will be dry, but

another weather system waiting in the winds in the Atlantic, and that

will bring outbreaks of rain to parts of Scotland and Northern

Ireland, pushing right through England and Wales with a few

showers, more breeze, more cloud, eventually feeling cool and fresher.

A reminder of our main story this lunchtime:

Theresa May is meeting the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party

in Downing Street, as she seeks a deal to enable

That's all from the BBC News At One, so it's goodbye from me,

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.