23/10/2013 BBC News at Six

A shutdown at Scotland's biggest industrial site. 800 jobs are lost

and more are under threat. The future of the refinery at

Grangemouth is also hanging in the balance but the petrochemical plant

is closed. Absolutely devastated by this. That is all I'm going to save.

It's an absolute disgrace, what they have done. It is just going to be

horrendous, trying to live after this. The Scottish Government says

it'll fight to keep Grangemouth in business. Also tonight: Tackling the

rising cost of energy bills - the Government says it will review green

taxes. The British connection - the BBC identifies 50 people with links

to the terror group behind the Kenyan shopping mall attack. The

spider invasion that's closed down a school in Gloucestershire. It's one

of the most dangerous species found in Britain. Prince George's

christening - a gathering of the royal family and the seven

god-parents. Coming up in sport, on BBC News,

another Premier League manager pays the price for poor performance. Ian

Holloway has left Crystal Palace after only eight games of the new

season. Good evening and welcome to the

BBC's News at Six. The Grangemouth petrochemical plant, part of

Scotland's biggest industrial site, is to be closed. 800 jobs will be

lost after the owner's shock decision to call in the liquidators.

It follows a bitter dispute over pay and pensions. Hundreds more jobs are

still under threat tonight at the site's oil refinery which has been

shut during the dispute. The company said it hasn't yet decided whether

to restart it or not. At 10am, they filed into the net

fate. They are called inane to dispute. They had been warned to

accept a pay freeze and poorer pension or get the sack. Absolutely

devastated, that is all I am going to say. It is a disgrace what they

have done here. Where does that leave you? Out of a job, like

everybody else. Harry has worked here for 37 years. Disappointed,

frustrated, angry. Yeah, really angry. But some contractors will

also lose work and they have a different take. It is terrible, folk

are losing their jobs because folk will not take a pension cut.

Everybody has had to tighten their belts. A lot of subcontractors will

lose their job, because INEOS will not take a pension cut. How did it

come to this? INEOS come which owns Grangemouth, said it wanted to

invest in petrochemicals, but only if it could cut staff costs. The

workers called a strike and the company pulled the plug. Does this

not look like vengeance? It is a sad day for everybody on the site. We

are certainly not punishing them. But we have got to the point where

the workers have not supported, through this ballot, the terms and

conditions changes we want to make, which are needed for the business to

survive and get that investment. This is the man that made the

decision, Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of one Mac. He

still controls Scotland's only refinery. It is a tangled, complex

business. It includes the petrochemical plant, which made

products including plastics and the refinery itself, which produces fuel

from crude oil. The site also provides steam, which drives

Northsea oil through the pipeline. So, what effect will the decision

have? In terms of the petrochemical plant, it is quite likely it will be

closed for good. There is the possibility that the liquidator

might be able to sell the physical assets to someone else. The Scottish

Government is leading the search for a buyer. Yes, we have been in talks

with a potential buyer and, yes, that would be a far better prospect

than closure of the plant. Our priority has been, right from the

start, to try to bring the sites together, allow the investment and

secure the future of the plant. That is what we are still doing and are

determined to do. For now, these workers face an uncertain future and

many of them are preparing for a long, late winter.

This is not just about jobs, the plant is a symbol of Scotland's

industrial muscle, isn't it? Yes, very much so. The union, Unite,

describes what has happened here as an act of economic and industrial

vandalism. That is the prism through which this is being seen. An

old-style dispute between management and workers, rather than a dispute

with a necessarily political dimension. That could change, if

Alex Salmond could secure a buyer for the petrochemicals plant.

Clearly, that would do him no harm at all. If, on the other hand, that

refinery, that is so important to Scotland, closes, and it is still

subject to negotiation, it would be a very different story. This dispute

is not over yet. David Cameron says he wants to roll

back the green tax is added to household energy bills. The

announcement came in a furious exchange between the Prime Minister

and Ed Miliband over the rising cost of gas and electricity. Mr Cameron

also said there will be a review into whether there is proper

competition between energy suppliers.

This was the day when soaring energy bills and mounting calls for

government action turned the heat up and David Cameron. And it is clear

that he is not enjoying it. Was John Major right on the windfall tax? For

weeks, he has dismissed calls from Labour to freeze energy bills. But

he could not have foreseen today's warning from a former occupant of

Number 10. Hence today's rushed and surprise announcement. We will be

having a proper competition test, carried out over the next year, to

get to the bottom of whether this market can be more competitive. I

want more companies, I want more, better regulation, I want better

deals for consumers. But, yes, we also need to roll back the green

charges he put in place as Energy Secretary. The government is

scrabbling to catch up with opponents. Boy, did Ed Miliband know

it. He really is changing his policy every day of the week. It is

extraordinary. His Energy Secretary says it has nothing to do with green

taxes. 60% of the green taxes were introduced by him. Who is the man

who said to vote blue to go green? It was him! John Major agreed with

him, the Labour leader said, that it was time to stand up to energy

companies. By this time, the Prime Minister was obviously losing his

cool. The difference is, John Major is a good man, the Right Honourable

gentleman is acting like a conman. That is what we are saying. He is

promising something he knows he can't deliver. Believe it or not,

there are some things you said we cannot say in the House of Commons

and that was one of them. The word conman is frankly unparliamentary.

The Prime Minister is a man of great use of language, it is a bit Soaring

Soaring energy prices are proving difficult to handle for David

Cameron. His mood will not have cooled down when he hears the

reaction of his Liberal Democrat partners. One source told me that

the Tories presented no properly worked policies on this. We will not

allow a panicky U-turn to dictate government policy. Ouch. So, has the

Government got a plan for cutting energy bills? The Prime Minister is

focusing on what he says is the green part of the average bill, the

?122 spent on green taxes. The Lib insist that is wrong and only ?50 of

that subsidises wind and solar power. The rest is help for

householders to fit things like new boilers and insulation. With the

Tories wanting green taxes cut and the Lib Dems resisting, the four

meant that run this coalition now face weeks of difficult

negotiations. We have been working hard to examine every aspect of

peoples energy bills. We are going to do so methodically. We're not

going to make announcements on the hoof. We want to make sure people

are not paying any more than they need to for their energy and that we

deliver the vital commitments to the environment and green energy. Today

we got a new prime ministerial promise to cut energy bills. Just

one thing we are waiting for, the news of when and by how much.

In the last half-hour the former broadcaster Stuart Hall has been

charged with 16 historic sexual offences, against two girls.

Lancashire Police has been investigating more allegations

against the 83-year-old made after he was jailed.

Russia says it is dropping piracy charges against Greenpeace activists

involved in the recent arctic protest. The 30 protesters, which

includes six from Britain, will instead face the lesser charge of

hooliganism. They were arrested last month after activist 's tried to

scale a Russian oil platform. The attack on a Kenyan shopping mall

last month was one of the worst terrorist incidents of recent years

and tonight the BBC has established that 50 people from Britain have

links to the organisation behind it. The group Al-Shabaab is based in

Somalia. Our Home Affairs correspondent June Kelly has this

exclusive report. Al-Shabab is a militant organisation

with links to Al-Qaeda. In a propaganda video released last week,

there was praise for jihadis said to have travelled from the UK to

Somalia to fight and die for Al-Shabab. Among them, this man,

named in the film and Talha. He speaks about his roots in Tower

Hamlets in east London. The Muslim people in Britain, especially of

Tower Hamlets, were at the Citadel this morning. The BBC have

established that Talha's real name is Taufail Ahmed and that he is of

Bangladeshi origin. In 2008 he left to travel to Somalia. He fought with

Al-Shabab for four years. In 2012, he was killed. His death has been

confirmed by the Foreign Office. In Tower Hamlets, we have spoken to a

former schoolmate of Taufail Ahmed. He was aware of his transition from

teenage gang member to political extremist and religious zealot. He

does not want to be identified. In gang culture, street cred is what

gives you self-worth. So, for somebody that has lots of religious

zeal and passion, for him to actually make the alternate

sacrifice, to go and fight on a battlefield, it would have been the

ultimate street cred. The circumstances of his death are

unclear. Lawyers for his family here are now investigating uncorroborated

claims that British military personnel were involved. There are

Somalis eyewitnesses that identified those involved as British personnel.

For those reasons, we think that further inquiries need to be made

and the family has quite legitimate questions that need to be answered.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment. Meanwhile, Taufail

Ahmed's former schoolmate is reflecting on his death. What did he

achieve? What did he get out of it at the end of the day? Some of us

certainly think he was used. Many Britons who go abroad as jihadis are

never heard of again. Now it has been established that Taufail Ahmed

is among those who have died fighting for an extremist cause.

A Chief Constable has told a committee of MPs that there is to be

a review of a decision not to bring misconduct proceedings against three

police official trips. They are accused of attending to discredit

Andrew Mitchell. It is the latest twist in the plebgate affair, as it

has become known, that has soured relations between politicians and

police. Three policeman, a detective, a

Sergeant and an inspector. All accused of lying to help bring down

a cabinet minister. Today, they came not to court but something similar,

Parliament, and insisted they had nothing to apologise for. I don't

think we can give an apology at the moment. I suggest you can give an

apology for spinning a yarn to the press to get some money out of high

public office, clearly what you were motivated to do. That is not what we

were motivated to do. You disagree with the IPCC and the Chief

Inspector of police who said you miss conducted yourself. You are

saying you are completely innocent of this matter? There was no

intention to mislead, I do not feel we lied about what went on in the

meeting. There was no conspiracy towards Mr Mitchell. They are

talking about a meeting last autumn, at Andrew Mitchell's office in the

West Midlands. The present state of the Police Federation asked for a

meeting after the then Tory Chief Whip was accused of calling offices

in Downing Street plebs, something he always denied. After the meeting,

the police said Mr Mitchell had not told them what he said. Mr Mitchell

recorded the meeting and proved he had. The police were asked if they

had used the case to campaign against spending cuts. You thought

that, collectively, you could bring down in a brother Government in

penalty for what you thought was bad policy? I absolutely refute that

suggestion. After all of the questions, MPs were not happy with

the answers. This is not a television game show, it is a

serious question about serious issues. Can I say on behalf of the

committee that we have found your evidence most unsatisfactory?

Throughout this saga, MPs at Westminster have been simply

incredulous that these three policeman had not face disciplinary

proceedings. Today, the Chief Constable that made that decision

told MPs that the case for misconduct proceedings would now be

reinvestigated. I have already written to Mr Mitchell. I wrote to

him on Monday. It has not been public domain, because I felt it was

a personal apology from me and he should receive it personally. I have

taken the decision that the decision-making process should be

revisited, independently. Apologies from some police today, but not all.

MPs will give their verdict next week and they are not expected to

pull punches. Our top story this evening.

800 jobs to go as one of Scotland's largest industrial plants closes.

And still to come. Five more minutes please, traffic

wardens are asked to give motorists a bit of leeway.

Coming up in sport day, after Sir Alex Ferguson's book launch

Manchester United's focus returns to football with a hugely important

night for David Moyes at Old Trafford.

A school in Gloucestershire has been forced to close after an invasion of

venomous spiders. They from from the false widow species and they have

been crawling their way across southern England. The bite can

cause, pain, swelling and nausea, it has long been established on the

south coasting, but now more and more of them are being found inland

and further north. Our correspondent has been finding

out more. Schools out for spiders. At the Dean

Academy no lessons today. The only uniforms have been worn by pest

total officers who have spent the day fumigating classrooms. This is

what they are trying to eradicate. The false widow spider, which has

been found in several areas of the school. A week before Hallowe'en,

this surprise day off school has been a reality check for poop

pupils. I was scared at first, because I didn't know what kind it

was, and I am not really a big fan of spiders. I was shocked to hear

she was having a day off school for spiders. I am not complaining. I

like the spiders now, but I wouldn't pick one up. You like them because

they have given you a day off? Yes. It was like someone had stabbed in

the the back. Steve doesn't like them. He was bitten by one in Devon

last week and had such an extreme reaction he needed an emergency

operation. By the fourth day it had gone black

on top. I was struggling to move. I had been to the doctor, antibiotics

weren't working. I got taken to hospital. In spider expert, who

lives near the school, says he has received more reports of false

widows but he thinks it is down to increased media coverage and some

sensational headlines. He says the spiders are not lethal and there is

no need to panic. It is not aggressive, and if you have got

bitten by it you are unlucky. . The school says it only closed after

taking expert advice. Tonight, we did find an eight legged visitor at

the entrance but we are told this is nothing to worry about.

They hope the school gates will re-open by tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, the check also go on for some time yet.

-- checks will. A court martial heard how a Royal

Marine on active duty in Afghanistan shot dead an injured Afghan two

years ago. The man was shot in the chest with a pistol at close range,

with the incident captured on a helmet mounted camera, the commander

and two other marines deny murder. Our defence correspondent was in

court. Give us the background to this case.

Well, the three Royal Marines on trial here for murder were first

discovered when a video was found on one of their computers by civilian

police and then the RMP looked into it. They are having their identities

conrevealed and the prosecution began with their video, it was

shown, the helmet camera which showed the three moving the Afghan

insurgent who lay injured and disarmed on the ground, one marine

suggests shooting him in the head. The other was seen by the court

saying that is too obvious. Then marine A was shown with a pistol in

his hands aiming at the chest. There is a shot. A says, there, shuffle

off your mortal coil, and obviously fella, this doesn't go anywhere, I

have broken the Gina convention. A pensioner who repeatedly raped a

deaf and mute girl he trafficked into the UK has been sentenced to 13

years in prison. Ilyas Ashar forced the young girl to work as a servant

in his home in Halford. His wife who was also jailed for five years for

trafficking and exploitation. Down these steps a child was kept

out of sight for nearly a decade. This cellar room is where the girl

slept and worked, and was subjected to repeated rapes.

She was attacked by Ilyas Ashar, who is 84 now, he trafficked the girl

from Pakistan, into Britain with his wife. The pensioners controlled girl

who couldn't hear or speak and whose date of birth is unknown. It is

thought she was as young as ten when she was brought to the house in

Salford. There they beat her h and used her for Forested labour. The

couple and their daughter used the girl's identity to fraudulently

claim more than ?35,000. Exploited her financially. Exploited her

sexually, physically abused her and used her as slave labour. The family

sold cars and used the girl to wash them. Neighbours said they had no

idea she was being forced to work. I may have seen her outside, you

know, because they were always washing cars outside. You know, I

may have seen her but I felt really sorry for her, a child of that age

being in there for so long. The judge described this as a deeply

disturbing case, sentencing the couple he told them you didn't treat

in girl as a human being. You took advantage of her sun radget. You

consigned her to a life of degradation.

Counciled in England shout not use parking to raise money for local

services according to a committee of MPs. The Transport Select Committee

says motorists whose parking tickets have run out should be given five

minutes grace. Leeds city centre. A social and

business hub, but for many, a parking nightmare. Joust got a

ticket mate. Here and across the country there is a choice. Pay and

display, or pay the fine. A pound for 20 minutes it is too

much. Five quid for two hours? Yes, if you nip off to go get change from

somewhere because you have no change you end up with a ?50 fine.

Traffic wardens were supposed to be the motorist's friends. But now

councils like Leeds make millions out of parking, every year.

Are today's drivers being used to subsidise local Government services?

In every case that surplus is ploughed back in to making sure

transport is subsidised, so young people, for the elderly, there is no

suggestion that the money raised from car parking is used for

anything other than for transport issues. The report says all councils

should say how much money traffic enforcement brings in and where it

goes. The drivers should get five minutes extra time before they get a

ticket. All of this we are told is having a negative impact on

business. Here we have Matt and Jordan getting on with their job.

They are doing so in a designated loading bay. That doesn't always

help They can be expensive. We have suffered some months, two or ?300 in

fines, which in my opinion aren't always justified. The Government

agrees there should be changes and warns councils that parking

enforcement should not be overzealous or unfair.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have christened their three month

old son in a private service at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace in

London. Prince George has seven godparents including Princess Anne's

daughter Zara Tindall. This report from our royal correspondent

contains flash photography. He is three months and one day old

now, and it was his big day. The first of so many. Not that he would

have known anything about it, around the third in line to the throne were

the second in line to the throne, his father, who was carrying him,

the first in line to the throne, otherwise known as his grandfather,

the Prince of Wales, and the throne herself, as it were, the Queen. A

proud great grandmother dressed for the day in blue. What else.

Catherine's family was also there, Michael and Carol with their two

other children Pippa and James. George's godparents had been named,

seven of them, though only one from William's family. Zara Tindall,

William's cousin who arrived with her husband Mike. Two significant

choice, the man on the right Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton a former SAS

officer who became William's Private Secretary in 2005 and has been a

source of advice and Julia Samuel. Founding patron of a Child

Bereavement Charity and a close friend of William's mother. A

connection which is important to him.

The choice of the Chapel Royal was another link with Diana, it was here

her coffin rested before her funeral, and it was to this intimate

setting William brought his son to be baptised: It is just there,

behind those stained glass window, the service which is now under way

is entirely private. There there will be no visual record of it at

all. After the service, the Queen led the

principle guests to another room so photographs could be taken. They

will be released tomorrow night. As for George, well, he seemed to be

taking its all very calmly. Dressed in a rap can of a Christening gown

used in the reign of Queen Victoria, a young prince who will take the

monarchy on to the 22nd century. Is -- replica.

It is time for the weather. . After the strong winds and the

heavy rain so far this week, the weather is putting its feet up for

the next 24 hours, we have seen things becoming calmer through the

day, and tomorrow looks like being a quiet day. By Friday we are back to

square one. Strong winds and heavy rain return. Still some showers in

the north, but they don't fizzle out, and the wind to the north will

die down as well. Then we are left with in contrast to recent nights, a

quiet night. Perhaps a few patches of mist and fog in England and

Wales, rather chilly in some rural spots, with temperatures as low as

three or four. So on we go into Thursday, a fine start to the day,

perhaps a bit more cloud drifting into the far south, giving the odd

light shower, but really not amounting to much. We are dominated

by fine weather. Slight change is the way things feel. It was so mild

earlier on. It is cooler for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Temperatures round 11 or 12, for northern England more sunshine,

similar highs, 12 or 13. Further south plenty of sunshine to take us

through the afternoon and feeling pleasantly mild, highs of 16 or 17.

Just notice towards the south-west, a fine day this week, the exception

is not the rule this is a ridge of high pressure that will be with us

for Thursday, but here is what that bit of cloud, it is the shield round

this area of low pressure. Some heavy rain to the south of the

British Isles, then it will concentrate on Scotland and Northern

Ireland, a wind away day throughout, perhaps not too bad, for example up

to 19 in London. It will stay windy. Sharper showers are possible towards

the far south-west. Then for the weekend, we stay unsettled. A fine

starred start to Saturday. On Sunday it looks like we are back to dodging

showers. Thank you. A reminder of the main

stories. 800 jobs to go as one of Scotland's largest industrial plants

closes.