03/04/2014 BBC News at Six

people. That makes it look like smoking is cool.

We'll be looking at the evidence for the ban. Also tonight... Pollution

levels reach record highs in many areas but relief is on the way. The

families of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough begin

giving personal tributes at the inquests. Teaching from two - why

nurseries and child minders should be doing more to educate

pre-schoolers. And, Her Majesty meets His Holiness. The Queen meets

Pope Francis for the first time at the Vatican. On BBC London: A

cyclist is killed after being hit by a lorry at the junction of six

previous accidents. A senior Net policeman said he did not

discriminate against a colleague because she was black or a woman.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. Branding on cigarette

packets is set to be banned across the UK and replaced by plain

packaging. The announcement follows an independent review which said the

move would help reduce smoking, and make cigarettes less attractive to

young people. A further consultation is due to be carried out on the

plans, but the law is expected to be approved before the next general

election. Our medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh, reports. It looks

revolting and that is the point. This is what is meant by plain

packaging, drab packs dominated by health warnings devoid of branding.

This is how cigarettes are sold in Australia. The packaging has two

change and the pictures have to change. And eminent paediatrician

does believe it will lead to a drop in the number of people smoking. You

will reduce the appeal of the products and increase the perception

of the health warning and you will make people think much more about

the risks of smoking. That is what the evidence shows. This is about

deterring children from taking up smoking. What do these pupils in

North London think of branded versus train packaging? It will put you off

it. Compared to this, it does not have much. People will think it is

cool and they will continue to smoke with this. Sky that makes it look

like smoking is cool. -- that makes it look like smoking is cool. If you

are looking for a cigarette and you are quite desperate to get one, the

packaging will not put you off too badly. The past decade has seen a

ban on smoking in public places and moves to strict tobacco displays in

shops. After several reviews and years of delay, it now seems certain

that plain packaging of tobacco and packs like these from Australia will

be introduced across the UK. The only questions are when and how it

will be done in a day that deters the tobacco industry from launching

a legal challenge. But, for the pro-smoking lobby, funded by the

tobacco industry, this is another example of the nanny state. Evidence

does not exist that justifies the legislation. David Cameron said he

wanted to cut down on excessive regulation. This is excessive and

unnecessary. The clean cigarette that is kind for your throat. This

is how cigarettes used to be marketed. One into long-term smokers

are killed by their habit. Plain packaging reflects the stark

reality. And Fergus is with me now. So what's the reasoning behind

today's announcement? More than 200,000 children under 16 take up

smoking every year. This independent review has concluded that about 2%

of those might be deterred by plain packaging. That may not sound very

much but it is 4000 child smokers a year. The review also found it will

not lead to an increase in illicit sales. That is what has convinced

the Government. The Government has blown hot and cold on this issue.

David Cameron was initially enthusiastic and then it was shelved

and missed out of the Queen's Speech and he was accused placing the

tobacco lobby before public health. This is a U-turn. Scotland is

committed to introducing plain packaging and we will see it across

the UK with firm proposals within a matter of months. Ambulance Services

say there's been a significant rise in 999 calls from people with

breathing problems, as large parts of the country continue to be

affected by air pollution. Earlier today, London and the south east of

England recorded very high levels of pollution - caused by a mix of

Saharan dust and emissions from here and the continent. Our science

editor, David Shukman, reports. An icon of the London skyline. Almost

lost in pollution which all day has ranked at the highest level of the

Government 's air quality index. The dark grey area is laden with an

unusual mix of pollution and dust that have come all the way from the

Sahara desert. This map released this afternoon shows how London has

enjoyed the worst conditions but also how the cloud has spread out,

though it is no longer so concentrated. Ambulance staff have

noticed an increase in workload because for the elderly and anyone

with asthma, air pollution can be a threat. It has been an incredibly

busy week this week. We have seen an increase in calls. Yesterday, there

was a 14% increase in patients ringing us with breathing problems.

I think we can tribute some of it to the change in the weather. When the

pollution is really bad, you can smell it and taste it. To get an

accurate measurement, scientists from King's College London use

devices like this, to measure exactly what the individual is

experiencing. This shows that one particular type of pollution is

above the World Health Organisation guideline. This level of pollution

can be managed safely but it is bad enough to have an impact on the most

vulnerable. I had to keep up all night, I could not sleep. I have to

come and get some medication. It is really debilitating me. This lab at

Manchester University is one of many that has been tracking what is

happening to the air. They are trying to identify how much of it is

dust from the Sahara aux pollution that has blown here from continental

Europe or pollution generated here. We cannot change the weather

patterns and we are stuck with what is happening now. We can lessen the

extra pollution added to the Sahara dust, using less and less energy and

things like that. When the wind picks up, the pollution will blow

away. This was Norwich this afternoon for the as in so many

parts of the country, the Hayes was still in place. The problem will

stay with us until tomorrow. Jurors at the new inquests into the

Hillsborough disaster have begun hearing about the 96 Liverpool fans

who lost their lives. The coroner invited relatives of fans who died

to read out short biographies in court. Some of the witnesses wept,

as they spoke of having to defend the name of their loved one against

accusations of hooliganism. Judith Moritz reports. The Hillsborough

disaster is said to having compassed many individual human tragedies.

Today, the relatives of those who died came to tell the jury about

their loved ones. The first was John, who was seven when his father

went to Hillsborough and did not come back. Arthur was a huge music

fan, he loved going to Liverpool 's famous cavern club. His widow wrote

the words to be read out in court. Arthur was born in January, 1948.

Afterwards, his son read them for our cameras. This has been the

hardest thing I have ever had to write but he was a wonderful husband

and best friend as well as a devoted dad, brother and friend and how much

we all miss him every day. As John spoke about his dad, the court was

silent. Later coming he told the BBC about his experience of speaking to

the jury. It is very important. The characters and personalities of

every one of the 96 Hillsborough victims will be described to the

court. It will take to the end of the month. The idea is to put those

who died at the heart of these inquests. 19-year-old Ian Whelan

left to red roses on the doorstep of his girlfriend 's house before going

to the match at Hillsborough. She never saw him again. His father said

that Ian was not a football hooligan. Our family feel they have

had to defend his good name for 25 years. I am not used to speaking but

it had to be done. My wife and I sat down and wrote what we needed to

say. We hope it came across the way we wanted it to. It was said that

today was one of many harrowing days to come as the 96 who died become

more than just a list of names, the hopes, dreams and stories told one

by one. The Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, has apologised to MPs after

a parliamentary committee said she hadn't fully co-operated with an

inquiry into her expenses. The Standards Committee also ordered her

to to repay nearly ?600,000, which she'd over-claimed for her mortgage

but she was cleared of deliberately fiddling her expenses. Let's speak

to our deputy political editor, James Landale, who's in Westminster.

Do you think this is the end of the matter? For now at least. She

survives. She has been cleared of the central allegation against her,

namely that she wrongly claimed public money to provide for her

disabled parents, who lived with her at the London home on which she

claimed her expenses. She has been ordered to repay just under ?600,000

or over claiming for her mortgage interest payments. Also, she has had

to apologise to the House of Commons for the way she responded to the

independent enquiry. The committee said she had inadequate responses

and lengthy procedural challenges. She has become the first serving

Cabinet minister to have to apologise in the House of Commons

over and expenses investigation. MPs took a dim view of that. Her brief

apology was greeted by near silence and some Labour MPs demanding her

head. David Cameron has thrown a blanket of support around her. He

does not want to lose one of his four female cabinet ministers. The

committee of MPs that judged Maria Miller also watered down her

potential punishment. The watchdog that investigated her said she

wanted the Cabinet minister to repay ?44,000. In the end, they agreed she

only had to repay just under ?6,000. So, Maria Miller survives

but the scandal of the expenses saga continues to cast a very long shadow

over Westminster. We have not escaped this yet. Should a

two-year-old be learning numbers and basic words at nursery or with their

child minder? The education watchdog thinks they should, in order to

better prepare children for primary school. Ofsted's chief inspector,

Sir Michael Wilshaw, says early years education needs a radical

shake up, particularly to help children from deprived backgrounds,

as Reeta Chakrabarti reports. At what age should children start

school? Foremost, it is four. If you join the nursery linked to a school,

it is probably three. The chief inspector of schools in England says

it should be too. At this school nursery in Portsmouth, they even

take babies. Structured learning in a school-based setting is this

nursery provides. It is what Ofsted wants more of. Errors here say it is

great preparation for school. It really has developed her social

skills. Her little friends that do not go to nursery, their speech is

not as good. She can count and it has really brought her on. Ofsted

says too many care providers, particularly in poor areas, leave

children unprepared for the demands of school with youngsters unable to

hold a pen or recognise numbers. We are concerned about the quality of

provision in any years. It is one of the most vital times in a child 's

life. If they do not have the basic social, emotional and learning

skills that are necessary before four and five, they do not start

school well. Ofsted investigated 18,000 childcare facilities.

Although 78% were found to be good or outstanding, it was concerned

about provision for poorer children, only a third of whom were found to

be school ready by the age of five. Nurseries linked to schools provide

the best start, says Ofsted. Poorer children who attend them should be

first in line for places at good primary schools. A former Children's

Minister says it is formal education to young. I despair at this also is

tied. We are robbing these children of their childhood. These children

need to develop strong attachments. The Government is broadly on the

same page as Ofsted, saying there should be more teacher led

nurseries. Formal learning for the under fives is clearly top of the

agenda. Our top story this evening: The Government looks set to

introduce plain packaging for cigarettes in an effort to put

people off smoking. And still to come: Making the Commonwealth Games

go with a bang - why demolition will feature in the opening ceremony. On

BBC London: The family of a woman shot by police in 1985 take their

legal battle to Downing Street. And how Chelsea pensioners are being

moved into the 21st-century. In another bleak milestone in the

Syria conflict, the United Nations Refugee Agency in Lebanon has

registered one million refugees and 2,500 are still coming in every day.

More than 2.5 million people have fled Syria in total. They have been

taken in by Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and other countries. But Lebanon is

bearing the biggest burden. Paul Wood has this report from Beirut.

Beirut's notorious Shatila refugee camp was built for Palestinians. Now

Syrians squeeze in here as well, refugees hosted by refugees. Here,

two families are forced to live ten people to a single room.

TRANSLATION: Life is harsh here. I used to find myself wishing I would

die, it would have been easier. Many of the people living here are

indivisible. They are not even registered for aid. That means

getting papers and they feared the long reach of the Syrian

authorities. TRANSLATION: I cannot pay the rent, nobody helps me, I am

exhausted. If I had any money, I would live anywhere but here.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians now measure their time as refugees not

in months, but in years, and with the war grinding on they have little

hope of going home. And for the Palestinians who built this place,

the Syrians in Lebanon are becoming a permanent refugee population.

Today the UN registered the 1,000,000th Syrian refugee in

Lebanon. It means an unwanted celebrity status for this

18-year-old. 2500 more Syrians arrive every day. TRANSLATION: We

have this message for the international community. Help

Lebanon carried the burden of the refugees before Lebanon becomes a

burden to you. That is a warning about stability in this country.

Troops have been deployed in the north because of sectarian

fighting. The refugee crisis makes it more likely that Syria's war will

become Lebanon's as well. Another seven players from Football

League clubs have been arrested in connection with alleged spot-fixing

during matches. Six footballers, including the Blackburn Rovers

player DJ Campbell, have also been rearrested in connection with the

allegations. A new top grade is to be awarded to

the 20,000 most talented GCSE pupils each year in proposals for a

shake-up of England's exam grades. The exam regulator, Ofqual, has

launched a consultation on a grading system that will rank from nine at

the top down to one for the lowest performers. The changes - to be

introduced from 2017 - will also link exam grades to international

tests. There's to be an investigation into

how credit card companies deal with vulnerable borrowers. The Financial

Conduct Authority will launch the probe into whether the market is

working for consumers. 30 million people, or around two-thirds of

adults in the UK, hold at least one credit card. The industry says it is

committed to responsible lending. Plans to roll out controversial

badger culls across England have been dropped by the Government after

an independent report found that the current culls weren't effective and

questioned how humane they were. Let's get more from our environment

correspondent in Dorchester in Dorset. What response to the

announcement? There has been a mixed response.

This is a huge Badger set. This is a passageway being used and this is

evidence of recent activity. If you are a farmer, the news today is

devastating. About 100 herds are affected, so the news that these

animals which carry TB are not going to be shot, has devastated the

farmers. The cull was all set to go ahead and it was suddenly stopped

and it was not going to roll out. They said the two pilots had not

work. You need to kill about 70% of animals in a certain area in order

to have an effect on TB and about 50% were killed in these two areas.

There was a question over the humaneness of this. A proportion of

badgers that were killed were still alive five minutes after being

shot. The Government said lessons have been learned and the pilots

will continue. If there is a difference, the decision will be

rethought. But one of the main focuses about the statement from

Owen Paterson as Paterson, is now a focus on the vaccinations. This is

being done in Wales and this is something experts have said all

along maybe this is what should have been done before to fight TB. The

Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled to Italy today and have

met Pope Francis for the first time. It is the Queen's first overseas

trip for more than two years. This visit was due to take place last

year, but was postponed when she fell ill. This report from our Royal

correspondent Nicholas Witchell contains some flash photography.

A day trip to Rome, the Queen's first journey outside the United

Kingdom for two and a half years, for a lunch with Italy's President,

President Napolitano, who is said to be an admirer of hers, and then a

meeting with Pope Francis. With a slight bow of the head the supreme

Pontiff greeted the defender of the faith who apologise for being a

little late. It was a deliberately informal meeting. They exchanged

gifts. From her to him a hamper of food from the Royal estate,

including something described as Grandad's chutney. A royal grandad

was on hand to check it out. Plus a haunch of venison, a dozen eggs and

some bottles of beer. From him to her and all of lap was lousy like

with a cross. It was a gift for Prince George. He will be thrilled,

said the Queen, when he is a little older. They sat down to talk on the

relationships between the Anglican and the Catholic churches. The

Argentine Government is hoping that he will push Arjun K's claim for the

Falkland islands. We will never know whether the Pope mentioned the

Falklands. It seems inconceivable that he would. A meeting like this

is not about substance, what matters is symbolism. The symbolism was very

clear, of two leaders at ease with each other and two churches in much

greater harmony. Now, it's not something we generally

associate with the opening ceremony of a major sporting event but the

demolition of high rise flats will be part of the launch of the

Commonwealth Games this summer. The Red Road Flats, a feature of the

Glasgow skyline for nearly 50 years, will be blown up and the images

beamed live during the opening ceremony. James Cook is in Glasgow

for us. This idea has not been universally

welcomed in Glasgow. Some people think it sends out the wrong

message, but organisers of the Commonwealth games think it will

show that the city is regenerating and it will showcase a better future

for this city. It was a city in the sky. These were once the highest

homes in Europe, but the Red Road flats have long since had their day

and now the world will watch their final moments. What a fitting end

for red roadblocks, to come down in a blaze of glory at the opening

ceremony of the Commonwealth games. It will be shown to over 1 billion

people. We have some idea of what they will see. Two of the blogs have

already been demolished. Bringing down fire at once will help the

Commonwealth Games compete with the Olympics on a smaller budget. We

want to have something that is appropriate for us in Glasgow and we

do not invite comparisons. This is about local people having a voice,

their wonderful stories, and their generosity and humour. It's living

room is empty, but this black and those around it were once home to

4000 people. Life here was not always easy and some people say they

will be glad to see these flats go. For others it will be a sad and

emotional moment. To be honest, I do not want to leave, I want to stay

until the last moment, but my priority will be to stay in the

area. I will live next to the memories. The flats have meant so

much to Glasgow and they have been part of the Glasgow skyline for so

many years. Not for much longer, a tonne of explosives will bring these

buildings down and in 15 seconds 50 years of history will turn to dust.

The weather is particularly important at the moment given the

pollution. It is on the way out, or at least it

will be by tomorrow. Cleaner air is coming in from the Atlantic and

there is less pollution around by the end of the week and there is

some rain in the mix and that will help to wash the particles out of

the air. The rain will work its way northwards overnight and it turns

white across northern England for a time and eventually Scotland and

eastern parts of Northern Ireland. The lowest temperatures are in

eastern Scotland where they have not been much higher than that over the

past few days. Tomorrow that rain will slowly Peter out across

northern parts of Scotland, otherwise it is a dry day for most.

Cloud lingering on the eastern side of Scotland. But a change of wind

direction brings something milder for the North East of England. A

fine afternoon for northern Ireland. As we go south into England and

Wales the key thing is the wind direction, which is coming in from

the South West. It brings the cleaner air from the Atlantic.

Another fairly pleasant day with temperatures getting up into the

mid-teens. The weekend is a bit mixed with showers on Saturday. But

it is good news as far as the pollution is concerned. More showers

perhaps into Sunday as well, but some showers moving in from the

west. It is still on the mild side and much milder across North East

England and eastern Scotland, but the pollution is on its way.

Our main story tonight: The Government looks set to introduce

plain packaging for cigarettes in an effort to put people off smoking.

That is all from the BBC News at Six. Have a lovely