06/03/2014 BBC News at One

A police officer who investigated the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence

is suspected of corruption. The Prime Minister and Home Secretary

say they are profoundly shocked at the findings of an independent

review into the killing. Given the gravity of what has now been

uncovered, I have decided that a public enquiry led by a judge is

necessary. We will be assessing the continuing fallout after the murder

of Stephen Lawrence, 21 years ago. Also this lunchtime, troops in

Ukraine remain blockaded as the tense military stand-off continues.

The Crimean parliament decides to join the Russian Federation and to

hold a referendum in ten days' time. EU leaders meet in Brussels to

discuss how they will respond to Russia's actions. I will reporting

from Crimea with the latest on the Russian military operations here.

Court is told how publicist Max Clifford allegedly used his

celebrity connections to bully and manipulate girls and women into sex

acts. At his murder trial, Oscar Pistorius breaks down in tears as

the court hears from a doctor who tried to save his shot girlfriend's

life, but said he could tell she was dying. Later on BBC London, why the

net's use of Tasers against London has risen dramatically in four years

and the trial into the murder of PC Blake Cox, the trial has been told

officers came under gunfire. Hello and welcome to the BBC News At

One. He was murdered 21 years ago, but the controversy surrounding

Stephen Lawrence's death continues. A review of the original

investigation has found reasonable grounds to suspect corruption by one

of the police officers involved. Mark Ellison QC said he found no

evidence of corruption by officers other than Det Sgt John Davidson,

but it said the lines of enquiry might be able to provide such

evidence. Two men are serving life terms for the murder. Home Secretary

to reason may describes the report findings as profoundly shocking and

ordered the judge-led public enquiry into the work of undercover police.

Matt Prodger reports. It is 20 years since the racist

murder of Stephen Lawrence, gears of allegations that police spied on

Justice campaigners it, investigators let down the family

and racism lay at the heart of the failures. Today, the publication of

another review and the launch of another enquiry. This time into the

role of undercover police officers. Given the gravity of what has now

been uncovered I have decided that a public enquiry led by a judge is

necessary to investigate undercover policing and the operation of the

STS. Only a public enquiry will be able to get to the full truth behind

the matters of huge concern expressed and contained in Mark

Ellison's report. That report found that this former undercover police

officer was right when he said that police had spied on the Lawrence

family campaign in the 1990s. It was completely improper, but the review

found no evidence that the police were trying to smear the family and

the protest groups around them. Stephen's father Neville wept as he

watched the Home Secretary's statement. He says he sees no end in

sight. I don't know how long this is going to take but as I said

earlier, I don't know whether I will be able to sit and listen to all of

this again. In the days that followed Stephen Lawrence's murder,

the police were watching the prime suspects but did too little, too

late. Gary Dobson and David Norris were not convicted until 2012. The

review has found reasonable grounds to suspect corruption of this man,

John Davidson, a detective on the original case. It says details of

corruption were withheld from the Macpherson enquiry at which the

murder suspects appeared. There was later mass shredding of a set of

police files. Ellison says that if the evidence of corruption was made

public at the time they could have been serious disorder on the

streets, maybe the Met has covered it up because they were concerned

about public safety but then the shredding of evidence later appears

to be trying to cover up Grossman. In a statement, the Met said that

the report had considered some very serious issues which may have a

negative impact on the confidence in policing.

Our chief political correspondent Norman Smith is in Westminster. The

Prime Minister has been tweeting and says he shares the Home Secretary's

profound shock. Indeed, I think the view across government is that we

may have reached a pivotal moment for the police in terms of their

integrity, their standing, how they are viewed by the public, how far

they can even be trusted, not just because of what is contained in this

report, which has examples of police withholding information from

official enquiries for the shredding information, possibly provide

presiding over miscarriages of justice, but because of the Home

Secretary's statement which was frankly a political bombshell. She

said at one point, I do not believe corruption is ended -- endemic in

the police, however there was an awfully big but after that phrase

and the butt came in the form of legislation Mrs May is now to

introduce some are introducing a new offence specific offence of police

corruption. You don't introduce such legislation unless you believe there

is a problem of corruption in the police. More than that, she

introduced measures to encourage police whistle-blowers to come

forward, a review of what police are doing to tackle corruption and all

this after previous scandals over Hillsborough, with suggestions the

police tampered with witness statements, the plebgate saga,

police officers having to come and apologise for their conduct in front

of MPs. My sense is we have reached really serious moment for the police

because today, the Home Secretary in effect held her hands up and said to

people, we may have a serious problem with our police force.

Norman, thank you very much, Norman Smith. The regional parliament in

Crimea has voted to leave Ukraine and become part of Russia. It says

it will put the decision to a referendum in ten days' time. A

government minister in Kiev said such a move would be

unconstitutional, for Crimea to join Russia. The move increases the

pressure on European union leaders, who are meeting in Brussels to agree

a response to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. Ben Brown

is in Sebastopol in Crimea now. Yes, the likelihood is that Crimea

in that referendum in ten days' time, will vote to become part of

Russia because quite simply the arithmetic shows that 58%, a clear

majority of the population here in Crimea, are ethnic Russians but the

reality on the ground is that Crimea is already de facto under Russian

control ever since its military intervention a few days ago. I have

been driving around Crimea this morning to get the latest picture.

At the Missile defence base, Russian troops are still making their

presence felt, all those there seems to be few of them today. An

indication that maybe they are relaxing just a little their

stranglehold on strategic Ukrainian installations here in Crimea. At

another base, Cape Fiolent, we discovered the Russian troops who

had been here for a week, had pulled out all together last night, much to

the relief of Ukrainian commanders. TRANSLATION:

At about midnight, the Russian troops who were in our base

apparently received a command. They gathered their things, got in their

vehicles and 15 minutes later they were gone. Right now there are only

Ukrainians here. It is difficult when there are foreign troops on

your base but we carried on doing our jobs, even though they were

better armed than we are. Ukrainian flag flies over the base, for now at

least, but the Ukrainian troops here don't know when or if the Russians

might come back and so they say that is why everywhere they go they carry

their guns with them. So what has happened here does seem to represent

a slight loosening of Russia's military grip in the Crimea and

perhaps an easing of tension. At sea, the Russian blockade of

Ukrainian naval vessels continues but again there are fewer Russian

troops visible. The flagship of the Ukrainian fleet is on her way back

from anti-piracy duties of Somalia. It is not yet clear if she will be

allowed to come into port here in Crimea. Meanwhile, Russia has

suffered one embarrassing setback. A news reader resigned on air in

protest at Russia's intervention in Crimea. After this newscast I am

resigning. As the crisis here continues there is no doubt the

decision to hold a referendum on whether Crimea should be Russian or

Ukrainian simply raises the stakes even higher.

Here in Sebastopol you can probably see over my left shoulder one of

those Russian naval vessels that is part of that brocade penning in

Ukrainian naval ships. My colleague Christian Fraser has managed to get

on board one of those blockaded Ukrainian vessels.

We are the first crew that has been abroad this ship, the control and

command vessel. It has been under blockade for a week and is sitting

next door to Ukrainian ship which is also under blockade and for these

officers who forced to make a choice between the new in Crimea or the new

government in Kiev, they are really between a rock and a hard place but

you can see behind me the bridge. They are watching the Russians, who

are watching the Ukrainians. They are out there with their binoculars,

or they have been, and behind me didactic Amanda alongside the

Marines. I have checked the magazines of those rifles that the

Marines are holding and I can tell you there are no rounds inside them,

no bullets. The only thing they have to defend this ship and we are on a

Navy warship is this hose pipe down here. So what they are basically

trying to show the Russians is that they want this to be a peaceful

stand-off. They put mattresses all on the railings of the ship over the

course of the week to try and stop Russians fixing grappling hooks and

ropes to the side of the ship and this man here, who is standing

guard, is effectively without any arms to defend the ship.

Christian Fraser there. All of this comes as European Union leaders are

meeting in Brussels today, to decide how best to respond to Russia's

military intervention here in Crimea. Let's go to Brussels and

join Matthew Price who was there for us now.

In the last hour or so the United States has announced that it is

going to impose sanctions on any individuals that it believes are

undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the question

in Brussels this lunchtime is whether or not the EU was about to

follow suit. Any minute now we expect in the room behind me the

current interim leader of Ukraine to pass through on his way to a press

conference. We might get some ideas from him. He is a man who here is

under deep pressure indeed. Ukraine's interim Prime Minister

strode in today, confident that Europe is on his side but knowing so

far it is Russia that is in control. Little he can do then than make yet

another request of Moscow. We urge the Russian president and the

Russian government immediately to pull back its forces and to stick to

international agreements that were signed between Ukraine and Russia,

because this is not the Ukrainian Russian conflict. This is the

conflict in Europe. That is what everyone wants the US included.

Everyone, that is, apart from Russia. After yesterday's difficult

talks in Paris involving the most senior foreign officials from the

two countries, today, John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov bet once more. So is

there anything the EU could do? Britain is among those including the

former Soviet states now in the EU that believes Europe must be firm.

We need to send a very clear message to the Russian government that what

has happened is unacceptable and should have consequences. Such

consequences could see talks to allow visa free travel between

Russia and the EU put on hold. They could see a new bilateral treaty

scuppered. Even a freeze of the assets of Kremlin officials. But

Germany, with its economic and energy ties to Russia, doesn't want

to go that far and already threatening economic retaliation

sanctions are brought in knows it. Europe's influences looking limited

for now. Certainly does look at this stage at

least as if the more cautious arguments from Germany are likely to

win out. We simply don't know how hard countries like Britain and

Poland would push for there to be some form of sanctions put in place

full stop certainly some of the eastern European states would like

that to happen today, immediately, to send a clear message. It doesn't

look likely as if that is going to happen at this stage, as I say. Here

in Crimea that decision to hold a referendum in ten days' time on the

peninsular's future status has been greeted as you might imagine with

delight by many Russians here but also with anger by Ukrainians here

and in Kiev they say it is constitutional and illegal and it is

a referendum that seems likely to raise tensions here just another

notch. The trial has begun of the publicist

Max Clifford, who faces charges of indecent assault over a period of

nearly 20 years. The prosecution has started its case by telling the

court that Mr Clifford, who's 70, thought he was untouchable and used

his celebrity connections to bully and manipulate girls and women into

sex acts. He denies the charges. Our correspondent Richard Lister is at

Southwark Crown Court. Simon, this is day one of a trial

which has been hanging over Max Clifford since he was arrested at

his home in Surrey in December 2012. He maintains his innocence but

today, the prosecution began outlining the case against him.

The decades he's managed the publicity surrounding others but

today the spotlight was firmly on Max Clifford himself. -- for

decades. In court, he sat impassively as the 11 indecent

assault charges were read out. They relate to seven women and girls,

aged 14 to 19. Prosecuting, Rosina Cottage QCs said:

The court heard that the first allegation against Max Clifford

dated back to 1966, when he would have been in his 20s. The

prosecution alleges that he met a 14-year-old girl at a bar near his

home in south London. He offered to take her home and showed her a

portfolio of celebrity photographs before jumping on her, fondling her

and saying, "this is what you've got to do if you want to hang out with

celebrities" . The prosecution says that established a pattern of abuse

that continued for 20 years. Max Clifford says he's innocent of all

charges and denies knowing any of the teenagers involved. The case is

expected to last five weeks. Those who may be allegations are now

women in their 40s and 60s and the prosecution said they came forward

in the wake of the publicity surrounding the Jimmy Savile abuse

allegations. As for Max Clifford, he will be given an opportunity to

testify later in the trial. Oscar Pistorius broke down in court

this morning when a neighbour of his described how he'd heard the

Paralympic star say he had shot his girlfriend after mistaking her for a

burglar. Johan Stipp, a qualified doctor, said he tried to revive

Reeva Steenkamp but could tell she was dying. Pistorius denies

intentionally killing her. Our correspondent Andrew Harding sent

this report from Pretoria. Powerful drama in the courtroom

today. One of Oscar Pistorius's closest neighbours on the witness

stand. Johan Stipp, who asked not to be filmed, told the court he was

woken late at night by the sound of gunshots. I remember that I was

awoken by three loud bangs and Ireland but my wife asking me, "what

was that?". He said he later heard what he thought were more gunshots.

I heard another three loud bangs. What do you think that was? I

thought whoever shot the first time was starting to shoot again and I

told my wife to get away from the window. Oscar Pistorius's lawyers

will leap on that, arguing that it must have been the athlete banging

the door with a bat. Then came the most dramatic testimony as Johan

Stipp rushed to Pistorius's house to see if he could help. There was a

man on his knees on the left side. He had his left hand on her right

groin and his right-hand, second and third fingers, in her mouth. I

remember the first thing he said when I got there was, "I shot her. I

thought she was a burglar and I shot her". As the doctor described the

scene, Oscar Pistorius slumped forward in his seat. This was by far

the most important evidence we've heard so far. A close neighbour who

not only heard shooting and screaming but also rushed round to

this story is's home to find Reeva Steenkamp's body and hear the

athlete, in a highly emotional state, confessed to killing her by

accident. Our top story this lunchtime: A

police officer who investigated the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence is

suspected of corruption - the home secretary orders a judge-led public

inquiry. And still to come: Prince Harry

launches a sporting championship for injured members of the Armed Forces.

Later on BBC London: Kicking up a stink - the Surrey residents

concerned the stench of local landfill could be damaging their

health. And celebrating British song writing

- we take a look at photographs of some of music's greats on show for

the first time. Age UK is warning that hundreds of

thousands of elderly people in England are unable to carry out

simple day-to-day tasks - such as getting out of bed or feeding

themselves - because they aren't getting the help they need from the

social-care system. The charity claims that rising demand and

falling budgets have led to what it is describing as a care crisis. Our

social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan reports.

Bill needs via the's support for everything. Move around further.

Alzheimer's means she has to wash, dress and feed him. He rarely talks

but can lash out through frustration. He called Viv's black

eye. Caring for him is gruelling. You don't get a break. You wake in

the night and you have to get up and see what he wants and calm him down.

You've got to get him showered and dressed, and the same again in the

evening, getting him into his pyjamas and into bed. You never get

a break. It's 24 hours a day. Having spent all their savings, the local

authority finally told the couple this week they would provide some

support. But many others are not so lucky. Today's report from Age UK

estimates that at least 800,000 people in England are going without

vital help to wash or dress themselves. Nearly ?800 million has

been cut from social care budgets since 2010 but the number of over

85-year-olds - the group most likely to need help - has increased by 30%

since 2005. Social care is in crisis in this country for older people.

The numbers of older people are going up, the amount of money for

social care is going down, and its older people and their families who

suffer. People pay to attend this day centre but local government cuts

mean it is still under threat of closure. Coming here for a couple of

days a week is the only opportunity some of these people have to leave

their homes in any one week. Closing the centre will increase their sense

of isolation and loneliness, severely impacting their quality of

life. The department of health so they are going to set aside more

than ?1 billion of NHS funding this year to pay for social care, with

more NHS money to come next year. A new report out today says there's

relatively little evidence to suggest that immigrants take jobs

from British people when the economy is strong. But it says that migrant

workers do displace local people during periods of recession. The

findings come as Government ministers set out opposing views on

the pros and cons of immigration. Our political correspondent Gary

O'Donoghue is at Westminster. Does this report help heal the rifts that

have urged? No, it doesn't. This was the report that Downing Street was

accused of suppressing, if you remember, because, it was claimed,

it undermines the Home Secretary's claim that for every 100 non-EU

migrants coming to Britain, 200 Britons would lose their job.

Downing Street said that it was not that it was being withheld but it

was that they had finished with it today and that it supported both

outcomes. It does say there was relatively little impact on jobs for

British people when people come here from outside the country but it also

says that when there's an economic downturn and things are tight, there

can be some of impact on jobs here. So those who are arguing, like Vince

Cable, that immigration is a good thing and is positive for this

country, they can say that it's fine, where's James Brokenshire, the

Conservative Home Office minister, who says there is an impact on

British jobs, he can say that there is an impact when things are bad.

You pay your money and take your choice.

The Bank of England has announced interest rates will be kept at 0.5%

for another month. It's now been five years since they were set at

the record low. It's had a profound effect on Britain's economy and in

that time there have been winners and losers. Simon Gompertz assesses

the impact. The Bank of England started this in

March 2009, with interest rates of 0.5%, the lowest ever, causing a

divide within families across the land - between those who gained and

those who have lost. Families like this one from the Wirral. Charlotte

and her children have managed to move to a bigger house with two more

bedrooms because mortgages are cheaper but her husband's dad Barry,

whose 65, has struggled to get a decent return on his retirement

savings. I feel that the money I've worked hard for over the years

should at the very least be getting me something more than inflation.

But we like it because it means that we can enjoy more things in life and

it gives us the breathing space, more than anything. Before the

financial crisis, Charlotte was paying more than 5% in mortgage

interest a year. When war rates were slashed, that fell to 2.5%, allowing

them to save the money to move. But Barry was getting 6.7% interest on

his savings. That's plummeted so he's having to make do with 1.5%

now. That's an issue taken up by protesters outside the Bank of

England today, who say it has been the death knell for savers. The huge

split in the fortunes of savers and borrowers has lasted longer than

anyone expected but the Bank of England, and many economists, say

that not keeping interest rates so low might have been much worse.

Growth would have been worse, unemployment would have been

higher, wages would have been weaker. I think the cost of living

crisis would have been worse than it has been. Low interest rates have

been absolutely vital. The economy would have done a lot worse without

low interest rates. Rock bottom rates meant the borrowers in this

family could afford to have children. Signs are that it will be

at least another year before the Bank of England puts them up.

The oil giant Shell has become the latest company to say it wants

Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom. Let's speak to our

Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon. We are going to get a lot of this

over the next few months from both sides. Yes but the comments today

are aimed at two constitutional issues, the first being Scotland's

place within the UK, the second being the UK's place within Europe

because we are talking about two referendums. One will deathly take

place in Scotland in September and the other might take place a couple

of years hence, in which voters in the UK might get a chance to take

part in, to see whether the UK wants to remain part of the EU. The Chief

Executive of Shell said that the UK's national interest is served

better by a close relationship with Europe. There is no surprise we are

seeing this raft of comments today. We had a company saying it,

independence would create additional cost. The Scottish Goverment say

that the in - outvote on EU membership presents the real risks

to economic prosperity and have offered to meet with Shell.

Prince Harry has today officially launched a Paralympic-style sporting

championship for injured servicemen and women. Called the Invictus

Games, the event, inspired by a similar competition in America, will

take place at the Olympic Park and will involve 300 veterans from 13

nations. Our Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell sent this report.

The welfare of wounded servicemen and women has become one of his top

priorities. Nearly 12 months ago, Harry visited the Warrior Games in

the United States, an annual event in which young men and women who

suffered life changing injuries in the course of their monetary duties

compete. He made it his mission to bring the games to Britain. That

mission has been accomplished. Rebranded the Invictus Games, it

will take place in September at several of the venues built for the

London Olympics. I wanted to bring this inspirational event to a

broader and more international audience, to increase the

opportunity for others to participate and to inspire many more

who have suffered life changing injuries, either by taking part in

the games or simply by watching it at home. It is expected that 300

wounded athletes from 13 different countries will attend, taking part

in eight different sports. Harry says it is harnessing the power of

competitive sport to inspire recovery. Sport is proven to have a

hugely positive effect on the rehabilitation of these guys. They

finally get a chance to set their mind to a task. Bear in mind, these

are military people who have been cut down in their prime, as such.

The name means unconquered in Latin and Harry believes this one word

sums up the spirit of the athletes and the spirit of these games. The

Invictus Games will open in London on September the 10th.

A look at the weather. Some cloudy looking weather for the

British Isles for the rest of today. Somewhat weather as well. Rain more

persistent towards the north-west and patchy and glider across

northern England, the Midlands and the south-west and Wales. Sticking

out like a sore thumb on the satellite picture are East Anglia

and the south-east, which have had the best of the sunshine today and

are likely to through this afternoon. Elsewhere, cloudy weather

persists and a band of more persistent rain across Scotland and

Northern Ireland will slowly work its way south eastwards. For

Dumfries and Galloway and Cumbria, rainfall totals could start to prove

problematic. Further south, head of the front, a mild start of the day

on Friday but a cloudy one. The front sitting across northern

England first thing we'll bring rainfall wash our. Some grey skies,

Misty and murky in the south-east and East Anglia. For the south-west

of England, the weather front brings persistent rain and I think things

will be murky across the moors, the Salisbury Plain and for south Wales.

Further north, behind the front, income is clear air, slightly chilly

air, as well. Sunshine from Northern Ireland in the morning, a few

showers as well. A chilly start in Scotland and some showers to come

through the course of the day. The weather front is moving away

south-east with. Not much on it by the time it gets East Anglia and the

south-east so brighter skies in the afternoon. For Scotland, showers

keep on coming and they will be wintry as low as 200 metres. We

could see two to five centimetres of snow. Further south, a mild day with

15 in the south-east. On Saturday, weather front affecting the far

north-west with windier and wetter weather. Further south, mild and

springlike. For Sunday, a similar picture. Rain around for Scotland

but for the south-east, highs of 16 or 17, five or six degrees above

average. By next week, high-pressure pushes its way far enough north to

hold the weather front at bay for Scotland and Northern Ireland, so

the pattern evens out across the British Isles. Dry weather for all

others. With high-pressure, there could be some fog and some frosty

start but there should be a reasonable amount of sunshine, too,

and it looks like there will be increasing sunshine next week with

temperatures into the mid or even high teens by the end of the week.

Some good news at last! Now a reminder of our top story this

lunchtime: A police officer who investigated the 1993 murder of

Stephen Lawrence is suspected of corruption - the home secretary

orders a judge-led public