12/04/2016 BBC News at Six

A new warning on the economic costs of Britain leaving

says it could cause severe damage to the global economy.

This is the clearest independent warning of the taste of things to

come if we leave the youth. I think we are much better off if we stay in

the UN we make written stronger, safer and better off.

Leave campaigners say the organisation has

This is a matter of opinion, the IMF is often wrong, as it has been in

the past, in the opinions it has offered.

We'll be looking at just how credible the IMF warning is.

a memorial service for the British nationals killed in last year's

British steel for British defence, MPs debate one idea for saving the

Reaching for the stars - why Stephen Hawking is backing a journey to

another solar system. Kate leaves the pomp and ceremony

of the Royal tour to spend time And coming up in the

sport on BBC News. England cricketer James Taylor

is forced to retire because of a previously

undetected heart condition. He says it's been the toughest

week of his life. Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six. The International Monetary Fund

is warning that there would be severe damage to the global economy

and uncertainty here if UK left George Osborne described the IMF

report as a stark warning. But those campaigning for Britain

to leave the EU says the organisation's forecasts

have been wrong before Here's our economics editor

Kamal Ahmed. VOICEOVER: It is certainly a gloomy

cocktail, weakening global growth, economic outlook diminished, further

financial turmoil on the markets and for the UK, an extra risk, the

decision to leave the European Union could do severe regional and global

damage. The IMF is not pulling its punches. It would create a lot of

uncertainty, we already see the uncertainty about the referendum

result, weighing upon the UK economy. And vote to leave would set

off a process of a lengthy divorce, two years, with very uncertain

settlement at the end. Despite the IMF downgrading the UK growth

forecast, the government welcomed today's report, the worse the

economic news, the better chance the government believes it has in

persuading voters to stick with the European Union. Today we have a

stark warning from the IMF, for the first time they are saying that

threat of Britain leaving the is having an impact on the economy and

they have cut growth forecast as a result, they say that if we were to

leave the EU, short-term impact on stability, and a long-term cost to

the economy. It is the clearest independent warning of the taste of

things to come if we leave the EU, we are much better off staying in

the EU, that would make Britain stronger, safer and better off. The

Treasury certainly thinks this is a key moment. The IMF warning comes in

three major parts: it warns that sterling could lose its value, that

is not so good for holidays, but could be good for exports. It warns

that there could be a return of market volatility, which could mean

that pensions and savings investments are affected. It also

warns that trade could be disrupted, and of course, the EU is our most

important trading partner. Whatever the IMF warns, there is plenty of

people who disagree fundamentally with their analysis. The IMF is an

important organisation but it is very closely connected to the

European Union, its managing director, former French finance

minister. Bound to reflect their views. At the end of the day this is

a matter of opinion, the IMF is often, like other institutions,

wrong in the forecasts and the opinions it has offered. Don't

forget, just a couple of years ago, George Osborne had a spat with the

IMF over his gloomy forecasts for the UK economy. -- it's gloomy

forecasts. He demanded that they revise them and rethink them. They

are not they are not always right. Would economic uncertainty give way

to a brighter future? Those who support exit believe that it would.

There would be a fairly short period of uncertainty, some things will

change, there will be losers and winners, but before very long, that

will give way to a very different world indeed, in which Britain can

take advantage of being outside of the European Union, this is what the

IMF does not seem to have focused upon. Next week sees the arrival in

Britain of this man, president Barack Obama, likely to deliver

another warning on leaving the EU. He should be well aware of the views

of the IMF, its chief economist used to be his key economic adviser.

STUDIO: We can speak to our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg in

Downing Street. We have heard this before, does this matter anymore? It

is what has been anticipated and hope for here for some time, an

official thumbs down to the idea of leaving the EU, from a group of

independent August number crunchers, with a respected organisation. All

of the choice of leaving or staying in the European Union to be about

hops, according to this, and the terms of the warning are not just

sounding bells about jitters and uncertainty but of potentially

severe damage, and it is a warning that we will hear again and again

and again. What effect will this morning have on the entire campaign.

Those trying to persuade us to leave the EU say it is another instalment

in the horror movie of "Project Fear", put forward by Downing Street

to try to scare us into staying, it is much more difficult to them to

chuck that accusation at the IMF then it is for them to chuck it out

fellow politicians. By the same token, the IMF has been wrong

before, and about rather a lot, and not all voters like being told what

to do, not least by a group of remote academics, making

pronouncements about the world economies. The terms of this

morning, how severe it is, is something that the in campaign is

very pleased about, and a challenge that those that want to persuade us

to go for British exit are going to find it difficult to counter.

And there's more about the EU referendum,

and the facts behind the arguments on both sides,

A memorial service has been held at Westminster Abbey to remember

the British tourists killed in last year's terror attacks in Tunisia.

Thirty Britons died when a gunman opened fire at the beach resort

of Sousse while another person was killed in the earlier attack

Our Special Correspondent Lucy Manning reports.

They are mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands, and wives,

many on the beach sunbathing, when they were murdered. They had just

been on holiday. -- there are mothers, fathers, brothers and

sisters, husbands and wives. I remember them everyday, now, today,

the families who have lost so much joined together. Rinse Harry, with

the Prime Minister watching, laid a wreath at the memorial for innocent

victims, and one by one, the names of those who did not come home

echoed around the Abbey. Scott Alexander Chalkley.

Colin Fulford was at the Memorial, to represent his mother, Sue Davy.

Do my mother proud, walk down with a candle, dress up, look smart, be a

representation of her, because that is what she would have wanted us to

do. I had a little cry, it was a lovely service, but I was wondering,

how can a candle represent my mother, such a big personality, such

a strong character. Nearly one year on, it is so clear that you still

really miss your mother. Some nights I sit there and I think, why? Why is

it my mother. I'm never going to speak with her again. My mother is

never going to walk through the door and say, good morning... It is hard

sometimes when you are at home and people are saying, you see Brussels,

you see Paris, it brings it all back, but really, when they ask

that, it doesn't bring anything back because it is already there, it has

never really gone, forming. Those who were injured and those who

escape from the beach were also at the service, to friends who ran

after the shooting started. We were so lucky to have come home, and for

us to be able to be there, and think about those that did not come home.

That was lovely, for us, to be able to do that. The family who lost

three generations, the couple enjoying their wedding anniversary,

the mother celebrating her 50th birthday. Families destroyed by

terror. Large multi-national companies

could be forced to be more transparent about their tax affairs

under draft legislation The new rules would require large

companies to open their accounts to greater public scrutiny

as part of a drive to Our Political Correspondent Alex

Forsyth is in Brussels. What is driving this, at the EU

level? The thinking behind this is that if big businesses must open

their books to the public, they will be less inclined to move profits

around to avoid tax, so if the law is passed, it

will mean any company which operates in the EU, and has annual sales of

more than ?600 million will have to publish details of activities in

each EU country, along with profits that it makes and tax that it pays

and it will have to do the same if it operates in tax havens.

Campaigners say it is a good idea but does not go far enough, some

businesses say that publishing too much information could be

commercially damaging. In the wake of a leaked Panama papers, which

exposed tax avoidance on a big scale, EU leaders want to be seen to

be doing something, they say that shining a spotlight on big

businesses makes them more accountable to the public.

The rate of inflation rose unexpectedly last month

to its highest level in more than a year.

The increase has been partly driven by higher air fares over

The Office of National Statistics said the annual inflation rate

rose to 0.5% last month, up from 0.3% in February.

The Business Secretary Sajid Javid says he's looking at a series

of options to help save the steel industry,

including the possibility that British-made steel could be used

He was speaking during a three-hour emergency debate on the crisis

It accuses the government of incompetence.

Our Wales Correspondent Hywel Griffith is at Port Talbot.

Yes, there is a storm blowing in over the steelworks tonight, for a

fortnight, workers have been bracing themselves for what the future might

bring, today they were told that there is reason is to be cheerful,

government will come invest with any buyer, and some buyers have been

sending text messages to ministers. What workers tell me here is that

they want an awful lot more detail, they are concerned some of the ideas

being floated may turn out to be no more than hot air.

VOICEOVER: After two full weeks of watching and waiting, are some of

the clouds over Britain's steel industry beginning to lift? At Port

Talbot docs cafe, they know all about seeing life Sunnyside up,

there is optimism after the government said that they could come

invest in the nearby works, even take on some of the debt. -- Docks

Cafe. Watching today's emergency debate, this steelworker, Matthew,

was hoping for more detail, there was a hint that the MoD would buy

more British Steel, but it was the government under attack. There has

been what can only be described as an ideological lead driven

reluctance to get involved as the crisis has deepened, a mixture of

indifference and incompetence. I am fighting for Britain's steel workers

every hour of the day, I was fighting for them long before the

crisis hit the headlines, I will go on fighting as long as it takes. Was

Matthew convinced? For me there is more of a glimmer of hope now, than

there was before. But if suppliers lose confidence in our ability to

pay the bills, we will not get raw materials, and then the coca ovens

will stop, and the furnaces. Four. And that will be the end. -- coke

ovens. If production will bind to a halt, it would not just be Tata

workers out of a job. -- and the furnaces will stop. This haulier has

already cut 30 staff and 150 are on the line. It is the uncertainty of

everything at this moment in time, as weeks blamed to the lads, we

cannot look them in the eye and say, there is going to be a takeover and

everything will find... -- as we explained to the lads. There is no

doubt that having a huge steelworks in south Wales has the created

decades of dependency, some question whether the government should keep

that going. At the moment the plant is not making any money without even

thinking about the pension deficit and cleaning costs, factor those

elements into the rescue plan, it is very hard to see what kind of steel

price, what kind of wages can be paid, to make the plan viable. So

much hangs on the next few weeks of negotiations, the worrying and the

waiting go on. The international monetary fund says

UK leaving the European Union could cause severe damage

to the global economy. That's what one

council is debating. It's a massive night

for Manchester city, a record crowd at the Etihad

will hope their side can reach the Champions League

semi-finals for a first time. It's the stuff of science fiction -

a mission to a distant star, It may seem far-fetched,

but the idea has the backing of none other than Professor Stephen

Hawking. The key seems to be

the size of the spacecraft. The smaller they are,

the faster they could travel. The new project could see craft that

are whittled down to the size Here's our science

correspondent, Pallab Ghosh. For thousands of years, people have

dreamed of one day travelling to distant stars.

The world's most famous scientist Stephen Hawking, thinks that that

day will come very soon. Astronomers believe there is a chance of an

earth-like planet orbiting one of the stars in the Alpha Centauri

system. There are no greater heights to aspire to than the stars.

Technological developments in the last two decades and in the future

make it in principle possible within a generation.

So what are the sort of distances we are talking about? Already, a probe

has been sent to Pluto. That is seven-and-a-half billion miles away.

And Voyager I has reached the edge of the solar system, that is 18

billion miles away. The plan is to send spacecraft to a star in another

solar system. That is a staggering 25 trillion miles from earth. Using

current technology, it would take a spacecraft 30,000 years to get to

our closest star, but by making them smaller it could take 30. Over the

years the size of spacecraft have shrunk, in the '80s this micro

satellite was used for earth observation, in the '90s, this

nano-satellite was launched for communications. The ultimate aim of

the new research programme is to make them even smaller. To cram all

the cameras and instruments you have in these, on to a single chip. The

idea is to launch these mini-spacecraft into the earth's

orbit. Each would have a solar sail. A giant laser on earth would give

each one a powerful push, sending them on their way. Life on earth

facings danger from astronomical events likes a roads or super Novas.

If we are to survive that, we must ultimately go to stars. Here in

Surrey where they pioneered the development of mini satellites 30

years ago scientists believe it will be possible What we did back in the

'80s was considered very whacky, maul satellites now are all the

fashion. This is currently a whacky sounding idea but technologies have

moved on. Now it is not just whacky, it is difficult. There is still a

lot of work needed to develop the technology. But scientists believe

that although it will be difficult, it won't be impossible. What was

once a distant dream, could very soon become reality.

For years now, health campaigners have been encouraging us to get off

Jogging is one way, and organisations like Parkrun have

got thousands of people to join timed runs around the park -

Stoke Gifford Council in Gloucestershire is thinking

Duncan Kennedy is at Little Stoke Park now.

George, this is the park at the centre of this parkrun controversy.

It has joggers upin arm, that is because the council is thinking

about charging people for running round here. This place attracts

round 300 people every weekend, 80,000 across the country, in 500

location, this is the route locally and it is this that the council are

considering charging people to run round. But parkrun say if you do

that, it will kill this stone dead. They say parkrun is all about

freedoms, volunteering, community, and if you bring in money and start

charging people for it, it will disappear and all those 80,000

people will put their trainers away and stay away. The council itself,

the local council, which is Stoke Gifford says it has to charge people

because non-runners are having to pay for the maintenance of the park,

of the grass and it is not fair on them. The whole thing is voted on

later on this evening and we will have an update later on BBC News as

to which way it goes. It's just over three

weeks until the elections The Labour Party was once

the dominant force, but for a decade now it has been overshadowed

by the SNP in the That's something its new leader,

Kezia Dugdale, has vowed to change. In the first of our pieces ahead

of the elections our Scotland Editor, Sarah Smith,

has been talking to voters. ? No political candidates have come

to disturb the practice sessions here, in years gone by Labour could

have assumed the support of most people here, now, even people who

voted Labour for generations say they are undecided. I was very very

much in favour of the Labour Party at one time but Labour was for the

working man. I don't know what it is nowadays, I mean, I feel it has got

so mixed up. That is why Labour have come up with eye-catching policies

that are obviously to the left of the SNP. A bold pledge to increase

income taxes in Scotland is designed to try and win back traditional

supporters. Would you be happy for somebody who would ask you to pay

more tax? They should try and recoup some money from the people who can

afford to pay it. I think so too. So policies do appeal. But people vote

with their hearts as well as their heads. Perceptions matter as much as

policies. And that is Labour's problem. Because the SNP were

pushing forward Scotland, Scotland, Scotland, there was a lot of people

got behind it. Because they felt patriotic to Scotland. Yet there is

a desire to see a Labour resurgence, to challenge the SNP's dominance. I

have faith in Labour and hope they will come back, because I think the

SNP are making a lot of promises they will not be able to keep.

In towns like Coatbridge in central Scotland plenty of voters do believe

the SNP. It has an SNP MP. Where once this was the definition of a

Labour heartland. The heavy string, coal and steel,

that once dominated this part of Scotland, has been consigned to the

museum of industrial heritage. Now, the fear from many in the Labour

Party is that the days of Labour rule in Scotland could also be

relegated to the history books. The party have moved significantly to

the left, to try and win back some of their traditional supporters, but

the independence referendum still casts a long shadow.

Labour did not handle the whole constitutional question well. It

took a rather sour, a rather approach to saying no to

independence. And that is what I don't think voters remember. Not the

decades of Labour dominance. In Scotland now, 16 and 17-year-olds

can vote, which suits the SNP. Younger voters are far more likely

to support them. Do you think you know what Labour stand for? No. Not

at all. They spend a lot of time talking about what the SNP are doing

and what their policies are and how it is bad, but I don't understand

what Labour's policies are. Scottish Labour want people to

understand they have changed. Quite substantially. But they won't win

over young hearts or old heads if voters aren't listening to their

promises. England and Nottinghamshire batsman

James Taylor has been forced to retire at the age of 26

after discovering he has a very Scans revealed his condition

is similar to that of the former Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba,

who collapsed on the pitch in 2012. James Taylor says his world has

been turned upside down. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

have visited a charity working with street children in India

on the third day of They saw how the Salaam Baalak Trust

provides support for Our Royal Correspondent Nicholas

Witchell reports. This contains some flash

photography. My name is Catherine. Hay had come to see some of India's

most vulnerable. The street children. In Delhi there are

thousands of them. Children who have run away from home or been

abandoned. At risk of abuse and exploitation.

Is it dangerous for them? Can you ask what are they hoping for? They

met doctors and psychiatrists who treat the children, mental health

among young people is an issue the couple are keen to highlight so from

William, a question. What can people like us do to help? Spread the word

about street children. They have a right to being in a safe space. The

couple joined some of the children in a hostel run by a charity. Kate

sat on the ground, and did some sketching.

The thing that many of the children drew was a house, a thing that none

of them has. That is what Kate drew too, a rather English Home Counties

sort of house, whether you are a Duchess or street kid it seems the

instinct is much the same. It was time to go. William and Catherine

had an appointment to see India's Prime Minister, from the powerless

to powerful. Their journey through India's extremes continues. This

week is an intense immersion in the many sides of India. Tonight they

are in the east, tomorrow, a nature conservation.

That bridges us to the weather. Not as warm as in India but today we

registered the warmest day of the year so far, glorious skies to go

with it, captured at Cobham in Surrey, but that same moments we

registering 18 degrees in Kent, on the east coast of northern England

in North Yorkshire it was 8 C. Misty, foggy, damp and drizzly

Filey. Over the rest of this week cold air

will be there in northern areas and it will be a battle between the two.

Which one will win? In the warm air with have seen thunderstorms. Some

clearing away from East Anglia, some in South Wales, they will fizzle

out. Turns drier in southern areas, with mist and fog, and temperatures

even out, not as much contrast as far as temperatures are concerned

into the morning but again, cloudy, damp start in Scotland, Northern

Ireland and the far north of England. Improvement across parts of

Merseyside, greater match to Yorkshire, feeling Waehler, more

sunshine here, mist and fog in the far south to start your day for the

commute, but some showers in Devon and Cornwall, and through the day,

like today we will see a few scattered thunderstorms develop.

Some heavy with hail and thunder. Stick in the sunshine, another warm

one, temperatures up to 1, in the cloud and rain further north,

another cool day. 0 degrees cooler. Into Thursday, we will have the

temperature contrast but in the northern half, a bit brighter,

drier, a bit more sunshine round, although still gloomy and cold.

England and Wales, misty, foggy to ebegin with, sunshine breaking

through, a few heavy showers and again, we could see temperatures

into the high teen, by the end of the week we start to see low

pressure push in, bringing rain more generally, still holding on with the

warmer air to the south, but slowly and surely colder air will work

southwards later on Friday and slowly through the weekend.

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me,