20/09/2013 BBC News at Six

UKIP's leader, Nigel Farage, has his big day overshadowed as one of his

MEPs calls women "sluts". Nigel Farage was hoping his leader's

speech at UKIP's party conference would steal the headlines. Instead,

Godfrey Bloom did it for him. I made a joke and said, you are all sluts,

and everybody laughed, including the women. Do you think that is

acceptable? Godfrey's repeated We'll ask how damaging the remarks

are for UKIP. Also tonight: A warning that

hundreds of children are being blackmailed online by paedophiles

persuading them to take pictures of themselves.

Tracked down by vigilantes and jailed for grooming a child online,

but police warn parents not to take the law into their own hands. It

risks the loss of evidence, people panicking and possibly destroying

evidence. Theft at Barclays - police arrest

eight men after a gang stole over £1 million by taking control of a

bank's computer. And why our televisions just keep

getting bigger. 32 countries show an interest in

hosting Euro 2020 matches, including England, Scotland and Wales.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

It was supposed to be Nigel Farage's big day, with his leader's speech at

UKIP's party conference. But big day, with his leader's speech at

instead, he's found himself overshadowed by one of his MEPs who

referred to a group of women there as "sluts". Godfrey Bloom, who's

already been in trouble for saying Britain shouldn't be sending aid to

"Bongo Bongo Land", says he was joking when he used the term

"sluts". But this afternoon a furious Nigel Farrage called the MEP

"selfish", and the party has suspended him. Here's Robin Brant.

"selfish", and the party has This was not supposed to be the face

of UKIP, as it gathered for an annual conference aimed at

broadening its appeal, but tonight God -- Godfrey Bloom has done it

again. I said, you are all sluts, and everybody laughed, including the

women. That was his explanation of the moment at a conference meeting

where he was recorded apparently joking about house work. I have

never cleaned behind my fridge. You are all sluts. This place is full of

sluts, he said, claiming he meant untidy, the old-fashioned use of the

word. But one of the party's prominent women wants him to go. It

is demeaning to the person who made that comment and whoever they

consider the target. It is not language that is endorsed or used by

members of UKIP. Godfrey Bloom is a confident -- controversial character

but the party leader thinks he has gone too far. He has gone beyond the

pale, and I think we have no option but to remove the whip from him.

This problem will not surprise many of the members here but it will not

help UKIP shake off the claims that it is a party which has some extreme

tendencies within it. But look to some of its performance in recent

polls, and the evidence is that it is not damaging UKIP. Before his big

day was overshadowed, Nigel Farage was all smiles. He has good reason

to be cheerful. UKIP made big gains in the local elections in May,

almost causing a major upset in the Eastleigh by-election. They

consistently take third place in national opinion polls. We are going

to become established as the third party in British politics. We have

over 30,000 members, rising fast. By the next general election, we will

have the third highest membership of any party in this country. But now

the leader things UKIP is in the mainstream. On welfare, they want

tougher rules come on education, more grammar schools, and on

immigration... It is the most important question currently

urgently facing our country. It affects everybody. It affects the

National Health Service, our broader economy, primary school places,

public services. And yet the establishment have done everything

they can to close down debate on this issue. 20 years after it was

founded, Nigel Farage told members the party now has a serious

influence. He told them they are changing the face of politics. But

he has been forced to make a change himself tonight, kicking out one of

UKIP's most established politicians because his sense of humour was no

UKIP's most established politicians longer accept the ball.

Let's speak to Norman Smith. All of this on a day when UKIP was trying

to position itself as a serious third-party in British politics.

This was meant to be the day when Nigel Farage could resent UKIP is a

serious, credible political force, shaping the political agenda,

forcing the mainstream parties onto their to rain. That narrative has

now been swept to one side. But more damaging for UKIP is the fear that

they will fuel a perception, encouraged by the party's critics,

that UKIP contained within its ranks people who are reactionary, out of

touch, backward looking. That risks undermining Nigel Farage's attempts

to present UKIP as being in line with the mainstream British opinion.

Hundreds of children are being tricked into sharing sexual images

of themselves online and are then being blackmailed by paedophiles who

threaten to send the pictures to the child's family and friends.

Investigators say almost 200 children in Britain, some as young

as eight, have been targeted. Some of the victims have been driven to

self-harm, even suicide. The children's charity the NSPCC says it

believes the figures are just the tip of the iceberg. Here's Tom

Symonds. The role of Britain's child

protection agency, CEOP, is to spot emergent -- emerging threats to

young people. It is worried about this one - internet blackmail by

abusers posing as teenagers. 424 victims have been identified

worldwide, of which 184 were in the UK. There were six British suicide

attempts, and one was altered in death. Daniel Perry, 17, zero he was

having an online relationship with an American teenager. He sent

explicit images but he was communicating with a blackmailer

threatened to send the pictures to his friends and family. He fell to

his death from the Forth Road Bridge, the victim of an abuser he

never met. They are making out that they are the same age. If they are

speaking to a 14-year-old, they say, I am 14, 15, are you interested in

me? It is introduction through I am 14, 15, are you interested in

web, as they would introduce themselves at school, except they

are going straight for the sexual exploitation imagery. This is the

transcript of messages between an abuser and his victim. ASL means

age, sex, location. The victim thinks she is talking to

someone her own age, and she sends explicit video to the abuser, giving

him power over her. Next day he types, two times more, and then you

will be free forever. Her response, thanks for making me want to kill

myself. He ignores her distress. Remember, I have your video, so

don't do anything bad. Experts say often, child abuse results from a

troubled upbringing or poverty, but not in this case. In this form of

child sexual abuse, every young person is vulnerable simply because

they are a young person. Because they are an adolescent, they will be

exploring their sexuality and are more likely to take risks and be

impulsive than an adult. The message to young people, tell someone,

whatever you have shared online, because you are not to blame.

Well, despite reassurance from the police, some parents have been

taking matters into their own hands. A 24-year-old man who groomed a

child online was jailed for eight years today after he was tracked

down by amateur vigilantes. The girl's parents had turned to the

vigilante group for help. They used fake internet accounts to lure James

Stone to a meeting, though their evidence wasn't used in court, as

Jeremy Cooke reports. Caught in a sting, running for

cover. This was the moment when an amateur group describing themselves

as paedophile hunters confronted a man they believed had been grooming

children for sex. They are a new breed of vigilante, online and on

the lookout. Why would somebody in their 40s want to be friends with a

12-year-old boy or girl? They pose as underage girls and they watch

while innocent chat changes to grooming for sex. He will take on

permits, try and find out if there are any issues in our life. They

will not show their faces, and they only speak anonymously. We do not

encourage them to talk dirty, to talk about sexual acts, and we do

not encourage them to meet us. We just agree when they suggest things.

It was that this Nottingham pub that the group met and confronted

24-year-old our manager James Stone. Letzgo Hunting handed the footage to

the police, and to the BBC. Have you still got copies of the pic shows? I

believe so. I do not want to see them. At the time, you did realise

she was 15? I thought she was 16. She did tell you she was 15. The

group claims its footage started a process which ended here today at

Nottingham Crown Court, when James Stone was sentenced to eight years

for offences including child sex abuse. The police denied any link,

and there are warnings that actions of groups like Letzgo Hunting camp

for -- cause more harm than good. It risks people panicking, possibly

harming children as a result, destroying evidence, denying us the

chance to get a whole web of activity in which they are involved.

But also the risk of suicide among people whose activities of this

nature are suddenly exposed goes up dramatically. That is an issue in

sharp focus after a 29-year-old killed himself shortly after being

confronted by Letzgo Hunting. They offered sympathy to his family, but

there is no apology for their campaign to track down and expose

there is no apology for their child abusers.

Viewers in the East Midlands can see more on that story on BBC One at

7:30pm on Monday. Police investigating the theft of

more than £1 million from a branch of Barclays Bank in north London say

it may be linked to a larger plot to hack into banks' computer systems.

It's alleged that thieves used a special device to take control of

electronic networks. Eight men have been arrested in relation to the

Barclays theft, as our correspondent Richard Lister reports.

These days, nearly all of our money is digital, but it is only as secure

as the computers that storage, and in eight pro, Barclays Bank got a

shock. This branch in Swiss Cottage discovered that £1.3 million had

been stolen electronically, prompting a major covert operation

by the Metropolitan Police e-Crime Unit unit. Today, they announced the

arrest of eight men. They believe a flat in this central London block is

a base for cyber criminals. This premises, we would consider to be

the control room of, again I would use the term Mr Big of UK cybercrime

at us in. In there, the evidence, the setup and Logistics has

overwhelmed us. The robbers used a simple computer switching device.

Police believe it was installed in the network by a bogus IT repair

man, Alang someone to take control of the computers and divert the

money. -- allowing. Barclays Bank said today that most of the money

has been recovered and none of its customers have suffered financially,

but the case raises important questions about the security of our

bank accounts. Last week, cyber criminals also tried stealing from

this Santander branch in south-east London. Police believe the incidents

are linked, and can -- Security experts say it is a wake-up call for

British banks. Banks need to be better about human and physical

security, with more testing in place as to who is coming into the branch

security, with more testing in place and what they are doing if they are

meddling with computers. The banks are battling to stay ahead as

robbers swapped balaclavas for black boxes.

Labour leader Ed Miliband will scrap the housing benefit cut they call

the bedroom tax if he becomes the next Prime Minister. Mr Miliband

said the coalition's policy, which cuts benefits for social housing

tenants with spare rooms, is both unfair and does not work. Our

political correspondent is in Westminster.

This will certainly cheer up the Labour rank-and-file on the eve of

the party conference. We are talking about one of the government's most

controversial welfare changes. For months, Labour has said the policy

is unfair, penalises disabled people and should be scrapped. But the

attack has always been hampered by the fact that it would not say what

it would do if it was in power. Ed Miliband has now said if Labour wins

the next election, it will reverse the housing benefit cut, and it says

it can be paid for by scrapping a tax break for a hedge fund is, as

well as the government's shares for right scheme. The government has

quibbled with the figures and say they would actually end up taking

money from pension funds and not hedge fund 's. We will also hear the

government say the housing benefit bill is currently £23 billion each

year, and Labour have no ideas about how to bring that down. But it is

true that among many voters, cutting welfare is a popular cause. But what

Labour called the bedroom tax now symbolises the argument about what

is a fair benefit cut, and what is not. The top story... Eight UKIP MEP

has been suspended from the party after calling a group of women at

the party conference sluts. How are taste for televisions is

growing bigger and better. -- bigger.

In Sportsday... We go inside Formula One as Sebastian Vettel aims for a

hat-trick in Singapore, setting the fastest time in practice ahead of

Sunday's Grand Prix. It is four years since the swine flu

pandemic hit written and led to millions of people being vaccinated

against the virus. The government has admitted that the drug used is

linked to the sleep disorder, narcolepsy. In 2009, almost 6

million doses of the vaccine, Pandemrix, were given in the UK. It

was offered to those most at risk of developing a serious strain of the

virus, including children and the elderly, but researchers say the

risk of developing the risk is small at around one in 55,000 people. --

the risk of developing narcolepsy. This boy is taught at home because

he sleeps for up to 12 hours during the daytime. His mother claims his

condition, known as narcolepsy, started after he was given the swine

flu vaccine Pandemrix . She is glad they may now get compensation. All

of our lives have changed. It has broken my heart to see my child

change into something so dramatically overnight. It is

heartbreaking. Lucas was one of the 6 million people in Britain to be

given the Pandemrix vaccine at the height of the swine flu pandemic. It

is estimated at around 100 of them, including 20 children, may have

developed narcolepsy as a side-effect. Those people will be

able to apply for government compensation of up to £120,000 each.

As a disorder, narcolepsy is a really serious neurological disorder

which is incurable and seems to affect summary's whole life. It will

change their life and the way that they live their life. Four years

ago, the government bought large stocks of Pandemrix but across

Europe, it is no longer given to people under the age of 20. Today,

Glaxo Smith Kline, the company behind the vaccine, said it was

carrying out research to find out what it is about Pandemrix which

triggers narcolepsy in a small number of patients. They are asking

if there were other risk factors in those patients as well. The

government insists swine flu was a serious threat to global public

health. Its campaign to warn us about the dangers and vaccinate

children and other vulnerable groups, it says, was based on all

the evidence available at the time. Lucas and his family can apply for

compensation but getting money may Lucas and his family can apply for

be another battle. They still have to prove he has suffered a severe

disability as a result of the vaccine.

The Syrian government has started handing over details of its chemical

weapons to the international community's watchdog in the Hague.

Syria is believed to have around 1000 tonnes of chemical toxins.

Fighting with conventional weapons continues, and not just between

government forces and the opposition. Today, two Syrian rebel

groups who had been fighting each other agreed to a cease-fire,

proving just how come the kid of the picture has become. -- just how

complicated the picture has become. Stuck with no hope of going home -

these refugees in Turkey fled the Syrian regime, now they must also

worry about an emerging conflict between Al-Qaeda and other rebel

groups. Their menfolk are FSA fighters. They do not think the

cease-fire agreed today will make any difference in the end.

TRANSLATION: They are a creation of the regime and after we toppled the

regime, we will deal with them as well. Propaganda from the main

Al-Qaeda group in Syria. The Islamic state in Iraq and Syria is not very

subtle with its message, they say, we are on the march. The video

switches to what seems to be a camp for suicide bombers. The young men

are enjoying a last swim before martyrdom, this speaker explains.

Fill the car with explosives, he intones, embrace death, teach the

infidel a lesson. The Jihadi's black flag flew only briefly over the town

of Azaz, but influence continues to spread. The border with Turkey

remained closed today, meaning food and aid were not getting through. It

is too early to tell whether the cease-fire in Azaz will hold. There

have been skirmishes in many parts of northern Syria, between the

Jihadis Andy Free Syrian Army. What does it mean for the armed uprising

in Syria? In the long-term, it may help the FSA to get more assistance

from Western governments if they can put distance between themselves and

Al-Qaeda. In the short-term, the rebels are fighting each other and

not the regime. The trial of a mother accused of

starving her four-year-old son to death has heard how police were

called to her home eight times before he died. Amanda Hutton kept

the body of Hamzah Khan in a cot in her home in Bradford for nearly two

years before he was found. She denies manslaughter.

Our correspondent is outside Bradford Crown Court.

Details of Amanda Hutton's chaotic family life or revealed to the court

today. During one police visit, has back-up -- Hamzah Khan's father was

arrested. During the police interview he told officers he wanted

to keep an eye on the woman, get a doctor to check out Hamzah Khan, how

neglected and undernourished he was. He told the officers he would bring

social services but the court heard that no call was ever made to social

services. The jury heard from Hamzah Khan's brother, he said, in the

months before the child's death, he saw him sleeping in a Turing soaked

body and eating from a sword nappy. Amanda Hutton says her child died

from natural causes. A former member of the Scottish Parliament, Bill

Walker, has been jailed for 12 months for a string of attacks

against his three ex-wives and a stepdaughter over a 30 year period.

He was found guilty last month of 33 charges of domestic abuse. -- 23

charges. Bill Walker, a one-time elected

politician on his way to be sentenced as a convicted criminal.

Three ex-wives and a stepdaughter suffered a string of attacks at his

hand. This was his second wife. She had to be treated in hospital after

a beating. Her daughter try to protect her and she ended up with

injuries as well. Appalling, appalling. In one incident, he used

a frying pan to hit his stepdaughter. The handle broke. He

unplugged all of the films in the house and I had to get to the

nearest phone box to phone the police. This was in front of my

young children. Bill Walker gave no reaction as he was sentenced to the

maximum of 12 months. Sheriff Catherine Mackie took into account

that the effect on his victims remained vivid. She said he showed

no remorse for anyone or anything other than himself. After

sentencing, the 71-year-old's position has not changed. Kearney is

disappointed. He is mentioning his innocence. You cannot have author

something you did not do. He initially refused to stand down from

his seat. MSPs can only be expelled if they are jailed for more than a

year. There are now cause for this if they are jailed for more than a

to change. The man who took such pleasure in public office will have

time to contemplate his exit from politics in a prison cell.

Over the years, technology has shrunk most things in our lives, but

not televisions. The days of a family huddled around a tiny TV are

long gone. Far from shrinking, our screens keep on growing, with 40, 50

and even 60 inch screen is readily available. And now, TV manufacturers

are going even further. This is just team rodent and her

are going even further. daughter, Ruby. -- this is Justin. I

asked Ruby to show me the televisions. This is 55 inches.

Would you go bigger? Definitely, if I could get it in and I could afford

it, I would definitely go bigger. 70? 80? 95. Televisions are

definitely getting bigger. This television, corner to corner is...

85 inches, the equivalent of four 42 inch televisions. It is £35,000, but

prices have a habit of shrinking. We expect by the end of the decade, all

TV sets -- a third of all TV sets sold will be jumbo screens. This is

what is coming next, wallpaper television. This is basketball and

over here, you can compare yourself. They are tall, and they? ,

trolled by a tablet advice -- controlled by a tablet device, this

can put anything onto a screen. Friends and family can join you on

the virtual so far. You can read the paper or go for the full 130 inch

experience. The television as a box in your room, it

The travel news... I think so. What is it going to be?

It is going to blend into our environment.

Remember that in 1970, a television cost £300, around 7% of the value of

a house at the time. Today that would be £16,000.

A short-term look into the future. The weather is not scary. Remember

last week it was all about the wind? This weekend, it is all about

rising temperatures. It is not going to be sunny everywhere, far from it.

Quite a lot of cloud around. High pressure is moving in and keeping

things largely dry, sucking up the air from the south-west. It is warm

are coming across the sea, bringing moisture, which will provide the

cloud. Turning cloudy tonight with misty and murky conditions and

drizzle here and there. Light rain in north-west Scotland but for most,

a dry night. In eastern areas, clear skies and temperatures could drop to

single figures. For most places, double digits. We are seeing the

influence of the warmer air. It will be a drab start to the weekend with

cloud and drizzly conditions in Wales, the southern counties of

England. Elsewhere, the skies will brighten up and we will get some

sunshine. North-west Scotland looks rather dumb. To the east, some

brighter skies here and there. In Scotland, a hint of brightness. A

lot of cloud but in Northern Ireland, sunshine coming through in

the afternoon. The Midlands should be by and large sunny for the

afternoon. For the coast of Wales and south-west England, rather dull.

One or two spots of drizzle on Sunday. Elsewhere, dry. By Sunday,

where we get sunshine, temperatures 21 or 22.

Apologies for the interference on the sound.

That's all from the BBC News at Six.