22/03/2017 Look North (Yorkshire)

Good evening and welcome to the late Look North.

Yorkshire's politicians tells us how they were caught up

And convictions for three brothers, a woman and another man for a string

of sexual offences against teenage girls in South Yorkshire.

After a miserable day for some us, it looks set to improve

Join me for a live, updated forecast shortly.

Tonight, the lockdown which has kept politicians incarcerated

in the Houses of Parliament is over, but a Yorkshire MP has described how

she witnessed at close hand today's terror attack.

Mary Creagh, the MP for Wakefield, told how events unfolded in front

of her before she ran to warn staff at the local tube station.

The incident also affected groups of schoolchildren

Our political editor Len Tingle has this report.

Virtually all our MPs were in Westminster today.

Mary Creagh, the Wakefield MP was on her way to vote

as shots were fired, we now know by the police.

She was in a tunnel leading to the voting chamber,

I saw people running towards me and I was kind of like why

are they coming this way when I'm going that way?

Penny Mordaunt, just ran up and said their shots

Penny Mordaunt, just ran up and said there's shots

being fired, we need to get out of this place now.

I turned round, the escalators were on the down, we

So we had no choice but to go out of the revolving doors one at a time

and that's when I sort of shouted to the security guard,

you've got to open these doors, we've got to get out

I'm now going to suspend the sitting of the House.

This House is now suspended, but please wait here.

MPs already in the chamber, found themselves locked

in for their own safety, including Huddersfield's

I've sent out some pictures just to reassure people know one's hurt,

Parliament has been totally disrupted by this terrorist incident

and we have got to make sure that we find out what

But it wasn't just MPs, there were at least two large groups

85 from Herring Thorpe Junior in Rotherham and another party from

They put on social media that all were safe and well.

Another party from Sheffield University found themselves locked

into the neighbouring MPs' office complex.

I'm not sure we're right in the middle of it,

there are hundreds, probably thousands, we don't really know how

The reaction of our students has been the reaction

of everybody down here, to respond calmly and carefully

to the excellent advice we have been receiving from all the security

staff down here in the parliamentary estate about where to go,

The security measures are still going on.

MPs, all determined to get back to business as soon as possible.

Protecting Parliament and MPs appears to have largely worked.

But that's no comfort for the tragic casualties among the many thousands

who come to see this historic building every single day.

Well our reporter Heidi Tomlinson joins me now.

We now know that five people died in this attack this afternoon. That

includes the police officer on duty outside the houses of parliament,

trying to protect the politicians. The number of people injured has

gone up from 20 to 40. Some are in hospital critically injured, some

are in a more stable condition. Quite a few of our political and is

where in London today. They were released from the lockdown a couple

of hours ago. They are all OK. We have had from a liberal back --

Liberal Democrat peer. Right from me hearing

the shouting and the gunshots, knowing there was something wrong,

through to the police appearing and we were told to stay

in our rooms and the armed police arrived, opened the doors and said

we had to go to the Central Lobby where the police kept us

safe and calm. It was eerie and it was a little bit

surreal, but we did feel the police were keeping us safe

and doing their jobs. What are the security forces

focusing on the night? Extra alarmed officers are being deployed across

London to reassure and protect people. An attack like this was

anticipated and we are all aware of the threat to MPs, after Jo Cox was

attacked and killed last year. My husband has treated saying, people

will be wanting us to be frightened and fear, let's be neither.

There's almost certainly a link to Isis group, we can't be sure,

but they're determined to bring the war against them,

which is being fought in Iraq and Syria, back to countries

And this is the terrible result we are seeing this

afternoon with people killed and people injured.

The Metropolitan Police said the response will be ongoing for some

time and it is important for them to gather the information and evidence

they need and public safety is their top priority. Thank you very much.

In other news, a shocking story of abuse.

Young teenage girls in Sheffield were groomed by three brothers

They were offered drink and drugs but then forced to have sex.

Tonight four men and one woman have been convicted.

South Yorkshire Police have praised the young people who were abused

Four men and a woman, they are the latest faces

In some cases their harrowing crimes date back more than a decade.

Shane Whiteley, 30 years old, guilty of conspiracy to rape.

His younger brother Matthew, guilty of the same charge.

And another brother, Christopher, just 23 years old and convicted

of three rapes of young people, sexual assault and

And Amanda Spencer, a woman in her 20s, convicted of four counts

She was already serving 12 years in prison after being convicted

We want them to put their trust in us and they've done that.

These very, very brave nine vulnerable women have come forward.

They've given their evidence, they've told their very

Not only that, the supporting family.

We can't forget the effect on the family, mums,

dads, their siblings, they've all come forward and told

the story and that's what we'd encourage all victims

Sentencing of those convicted is expected to take place

Tom Ingall, BBC Look North, Sheffield.

Headteachers in Yorkshire are warning that schools are facing

huge cuts to their budgets, even though the government

A consultation closes today on a new funding formula,

which ministers say will distribute money in a fairer way

Spending on Yorkshire schools will increase by nearly

?30 million a year but, as Dave Edwards reports, teachers

Across the region schools are struggling to make the sums add up.

York high school is one of the winners under the government's

It'll get about ?120,000 a year more, but that's

There are more young people in school than there

The costs of salaries and so on are higher

than they've ever been before, so in real terms, a school like mine

facing a court of between eight and 9% year on year,

Here are just some of the things that Yorkshire schools have

told me they have done or are considering

Cutting jobs, increasing class sizes, asking parents to give money,

shortening the school day or even introducing a four-day week.

What type of character is he going to be?

One part of the problem is that schools are having to pay more

than ever for teachers' pensions and National Insurance out

But another part of the problem is, in a sense, our fault.

The increase we've seen throughout the 2000s is due quite largely

So, women that were born in the 1960s and 1970s are having

Where as in the past they would have been having those

The government says schools are receiving more money than ever

and the new formula will end inconsistencies between different

But it doesn't matter how you divide up the cash,

if, as teachers say, there isn't enough

After dark day, thank goodness there is some good news with the weather.

Increasingly sunny after what could be a cloudy, damp start. It will be

windy as well. Low pressure in charge at the moment but a build of

high pressure tomorrow and through the weekend. The sunshine will be

pretty warm during Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

Chance of a bit of frost by night. Rain across northern areas. The

weather front that brought the rain today will be pushed back westwards

and we will be left with the odd spot of brain towards dawn with

temperatures down to four or 5 degrees. Thursday, damp in places

with an overhang of cloud but the cloud breaks up quickly and it will

be sunny into Thursday afternoon with very little in the wake of

cloud. A windy day, especially along the coast, top temperatures coming

in at 11 or 12 degrees. A fine and sunny end to Thursday, Thursday

night looks dry and clear. Might be patchy, low cloud towards the end of

the night and first like Friday morning, but that will clear and

Friday looks lovely day as the Saturday and Sunday. Some strong,

Spring sunshine with Frost at night. That is it, I will leave you with

the summary of tomorrow's