05/05/2013 BBC Weekend News

Nigel Evans, the deputyer of the House of Commons denies allegations

of rape and sexual assault. He was questioned about alleged attacks on

two men. The complaints are completely false and I can not

understand why they have been made, especially as I have continued to

socialise with one as recently as last week. Huge blasts in Syria, as

the ray geem says is -- regime says Israel has struck at a research

centre. Tragedy on the Cornish coast n a speedboat accident T UKIP

leader says he can work with the Conservatives but not David Cameron.

A win for Wiggins, as Sir Bradley and Team Sky celebrate in style at

Good evening. Nigel Evans, the Deputy Speaker of the House of

Commons has denied allegations of rape and sexual assault. Mr Evans,

a Conservative MP was released on bail last night and said he had

been through the worst 24 hours of his life. He insisted the claims,

by two men he considered friends, were completely false.

Stepping up to give his account. Conservative MP and Deputy Speaker,

Nigel Evans, emerged from his constituency home this morning to

defend himself against allegations of rape and sexual assault. Good

morning. Yesterday, I was interviewed by the police

concerning two complaints, one of which goes back four years, made by

two people who are well known to each other. Until yesterday I

regarded address friends. The complaints are completely -- as

friends. The complaints are completely false. I cannot

understand why they have been made, especially as I socialise with one

last week. He was questioned on suspicion of raping one man and

sexually assaulting another. He was bailed until 19th June. He was

elected as MP for Ribble Valley 21 years ago. In 2010, he came out as

gay. The same year he became one of the three Deputy Speakers of the

House. One member of the Cabinet says that job may be difficult to

fulfil with this investigation on- going. We should treat people as

innocent as -- until proven guilty. It is difficult to carry out his

role under this scrutiny. Since 2010 Deputy Speakers have been

appointed by MPs. He has no management role. Nigel Evans is

popular with MPs of all parties and his solicitor says he has no

intention of standing down, either as a Deputy Speaker or as an MP.

After lunch, Mr Evans admitted the last 24 hours had been among the

worst of his life. The support I have had - I am so grateful. It is

that that is helping me get through this. I would like to thank

everybody. Nigel Evans has been excused from chairing any of the

Queen's speech debates due in Parliament in the coming week.

Syria has called last night's attack by Israel on targets around

Damascus an act of war. It has accused Syria of giving support. It

is thought the targets were missiles bound for the militant

A series of huge explosions that were impossible to ignore. The

whole of Damascus shock as Israeli missiles hit military installations

on the edge of the Syrian capital. After downplaying a previous attack

two days ago, Syria condemned the strike as a deliberate attempt to

influence the conflict. The information minister accused

the Israelis of co-ordinating with opposition groups or terrorists and

said the attack had opened the door to all possibilities.

Exactly what was hit is not clear. Daylight images suggest weapons

dumps had exploded near this research centre, already targeted

by Israel back in January. The Israeli Government has neither

confirmed nor denied the attacks. Here, on the tense northern border

with Lebanon, Israel accuses the arch enemy, Hezbollah, of the

attacks. It is -- al-Assad is so reliant that he cannot say no to

any demand of Hezbollah to supply them weapon systems that are more

modern. This afternoon Israel confirmed seven Iron Domes.

Anticipating, if not expecting a Syrian response. Israel is taking a

calculated risk. On one hand it is determined to stop Hezbollah

getting hold of advanced weaponry. But on the other, it is now bombed

Syrian territory three times this year. That may push the Assad

regime into some form of retaliation. Israel's Prime

Minister left for a schedule trip to China. Given the crisis, many

leaders in his position might have chosen not to travel. In the short-

term, the Prime Minister is perhaps banking on a period of relative

calm. A father and his eight-year-old

daughter have been killed and four other members of their family

injured in a speedboat accident in Cornwall. A major Search and Rescue

was launched at the incident in Padstow Harbour. Our correspondent

has the latest. An eyewitness recorded the empty

speedboat out of control shortly after the fatal incident. It was

finally recovered and brought into Padstow Harbour this evening. The

south western ambulance service was told the boat collided with

kayakers before 4pm. All those injured had been thrown from the

speedboat itself. The rescue involved two local lifeboats,

coastguard teams and Search and Rescue helicopters. There was two

helicopters. One at first, a couple of minutes later another helicopter

came over. And then there were several ambulances, a few Land

Rovers. Then lots of paramedics running from all directions from

the harbour. It happened very quickly. Lots of people came over

to help. That was it. When you are from a distance and then the police

cordoned off the area. When ambulance crews arrived, they found

two people dead. Four others, children and adults were airlifted

to hospital in Plymouth with leg injuries. Some of them serious.

There were six people in the boat, all of whom appeared to end up in

the water. Wol wholing that there was inter-- following that there

was interaction which has resulted in a result of injuries which have

been taken to Derriford Hospital. Two people have sadly lost their

lives. Part of Padstow Harbour was closed off this evening, as an

investigation began into how this happened.

Police in Manchester say they have arbszed one of the two men who --

arrested one of the two men who escaped from a prison van.

Stevie McMullen was arrested today. The second man, Ryan McDonald, is

still on the run T leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage,

has said he would consider a deal with the Conservatives but could

not work with David Cameron as leader. Mr Cameron is under

pressure over the timing of a referendum on Britain's EU

membership n the wake of UKIP's success. This report now from Ian

Wattson. In the few days since UKIP have come to greater political

prominence, Nigel Farage now wants to influence who leads other

parties too. If David Cameron gets removed and I suppose given we have

a European election coming up before the next general election,

that's not impossible. If he was removed and somebody else was put

in place, who wanted to talk to us and say shall we find accommodation,

we would consider it. What most Conservatives are discussing is not

a deal with UKIP, but how to deal with them. There is a debate over

the timing of a referendum. There is a recognition that Nigel Farage

didn't just get votes from bashing Brussels. For his ability to reach

parts of the electorate which the main parties can't. The concern is

more, are they paying attention? Do they understand the things that I

face as an ordinary person? The fact I am having trouble making

ends meet - the fact I cannot afford the taxes, the growing cost

of food and so on. All those things, the public have got to believe the

Government understands. I think, at the moment, a fair chunk of them,

25-30% of them don't believe that. This is not just an issue for the

right-wing of British politics. This is one of the most tightly

contested pieces of turf in Britain. At the last general election, fewer

than 100 votes separated the Conservatives from Labour in

Thurrock. It is unlikely that UKIP will win here. Their impact could

determine who will become the next MP. So Labour councillors here say

they have begun to reassure those who might be tempted by UKIP. For

example, the housing policy was changed to give priority to long-

standing residents. I think something that we have missed a

trick on before is addressing the concerns of people. What do local

people say? What is important? It is local property and local houses

for local people. So, we looked at the allocations, one of the things

is you must have lived or worked in Thurrock for the past five years.

UKIP has not caused a sea change in British politics, but it is causing

the main parties to reflect on their policies.

There have been violent clashes in Bangladesh, with three killed in

protests in Dhaka. The protestors are campaigning for stricter

implication of Islamic values, including tougher blasphemy laws.

The BBC could face compensation claims from the victims of Stuart

Hall, according to the chairman of the BBC Trust. Hall admitted

Once a huge TV star, this week Stuart Hall was described as an

opportunistic predator. He admitted 14 charges of indecent assault

against girls, the youngest of whom was nine. Today, the chairman of

the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, was asked whether the corporation may

have to pay compensation to any of Hall's victims. I imagine so. That

will be a matter for the lawyers and for the courts. Have you

thought about how much? No. It would be incredible to do that now.

First, what needs to happen is we need to get a grip on what happened

and we need, of course, in the mean time, to co-operate fully with the

police. Hall abused girls between 1968 and 1986. Until the mid-1970s,

he worked at the BBC's old offices at Piccadilly in Manchester. It was

not alleged that any abuse took place here. Today, one former staff

member did say that a floor manager at the time, called Peter Barlow

helped Stuart Hall to bring women on to the premises. He would kind

of act as Stuart Hall's Batman. He used to, as far as I was concerned

go down to the door, pick up women and take them in to meet Stuart

Hall in what was the medical room. It has become translated as Stuart

Hall's dressing room in the newspapers. I have spoken to

several former colleagues and managers who all say that Stuart

Hall enjoyed the company of women and they visited him on the

premises. They have also consistently said that the women

they saw here were both above the age of consent and were here

willingly. The BBC has also said there will not be a separate review

into Stuart Hall's activities, but instead investigations will form

part of the on-going inquiry into the BBC's culture and practises

following the Savile scandal. Tonight, the BBC confirmed the

corporation was in conversation with the police on a number of

inquiries relating to Stuart Hall before he was arrested and says it

is offering its full assistance. Now, a look at all the day's sport.

Here's Olly Foster at the BBC Sports Centre. There were games in

the English and Scottish Premier Leagues today. Depending on where

you are watching Match of the Day 2 or Sportscene follows the news. If

you watch me you will find out the results. Chelsea have taken a very

big step towards securing Champions League football, after beating

Manchester United. They are up to third in the table after Juan

Mata's late, deflected strike gave them a 1-0 win. There were no goals

at Anfield n the Merseyside Derby. The point for Everton means they

should finish above Liverpool. Cardiff will of course be a Premier

League club next season. They had their victory parade today, as they

showed off their championship trophy. It is over 50 years since

they were last in the top division. There was an all-Welsh conference

playoff at Wembley. Newport County will be back after they beat

Wrexham. Dundee have been relegated from the Scottish Premier League,

after drawing 1-1 against Aberdeen. Celtic were held 1-1 at Ross County.

That was the at Rugby Park, when the match had to be abandoned

between Kilmarnock and Hibernian. The referee took the players off

five minutes into the second half after a mill mar knock supporter

chanced with a suspected heart attack and had to be treated on the

pitch. The man, in his 50s, later died in hospital. Sir Bradley

Wiggins is well placed at the Giro d'Italia. He helped his team win

the second stage - a time trail, on the island of Ischia. That has

moved him up to second overall. A bottle of chasm pang for Bradley

Wiggins and Team Sky. It is -- chasm pang for Bradley Wiggins and

Team Sky. They have been consistent in time trials over the past few

years. The island of Ischia provided the location. Their

performance means Wiggins is 14 second clear of the man expected to

be his rival to win the race out right. Cavindist's team finished in

17th place. The Italian is a team player though. Surely Wiggins will

be in the pink soon and Sky are bubbling along nicely.

Ronnie O'Sullivan leads Barry Hawkins by 10 frames to seven after

the first day of the World Championship final. It was closer

than many predicted. The defending and four-time champion O'Sullivan

pulled four frames clear. It is the first to 18. They will resumed at

2.30pm tomorrow afternoon. There was a thrilling Finnish the 200th

running of the 1,000 Guineas. Sky Lantern gave Richard Hughes his

first British classic success. The race is for three-year-old fillies