16/01/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten - after the collapse

of Carillion, mounting uncertainty

for thousands of workers

and many small firms.

As suppliers demand information

about whether they'll get paid,

a fast-track investigation

into Carillion's directors

is ordered by the government.

I know that the Business Secretary

Greg Clarke is going to make sure no

stone is left unturned

in order to establish just

where responsibility lies

for the collapse of the company.

There are growing concerns

for thousands of small firms,

whose contracts with Carillion

are worth about £1.7 billion.

We're a viable business,

but without some sort of help

from the government in the short

to medium term, it's unlikely

we'll trade out of this.

We'll be looking at those directly

affected by Carillion's

collapse, including more

than 1400 apprentices.

Also tonight...

A couple in California are charged

with torture and child endangerment,

after their 13 children

were allegedly held captive

in the family home.

The US Olympic gold gymnast,

Simone Biles, says she was sexually

abused by the USA team doctor,

Larry Nassar.

The 30-year plan to revolutionise

transport in the north of England -

but it gets a rather mixed

response.

Iceland becomes the first

supermarket to say that

plastic will be eliminated

from its own-brand products

within five years.

A new national Health Service

starts, providing hospital and

specialist services.

And the changing role

of nurses in the NHS -

we talk about the challenges

they face.

And coming up on Sportsday

on BBC News...

Could Leicester overcome

Jamie Vardy's former club, Fleetwood

Town, in tonight's FA

Cup third round replay?

Good evening.

Thousands of workers and small firms

facing an uncertain future,

are demanding answers from ministers

following the collapse

of Carillion, the construction giant

which went into

liquidation yesterday.

Ministers have ordered

a fast-track investigation

into the firm's directors,

but Labour wants an independent

assessment of the potential costs

facing the taxpayer.

Carillion, the UK's second

biggest construction firm,

employs 20,000 people in the UK,

but many small firms

are also linked to it.

One expert estimates

that 30,000 companies

are owed money by Carillion.

First tonight, Simon Jack reports

on the problems raised

by Carillion's collapse.

Just how many workers for Carillion

and its subcontractors will be

leaving their current jobs for good?

Carillion owes Andy Bradley

£1 million, £1 million

he doesn't expect to get paid.

Outside his office, two

chairs are now empty,

two of 11 staff he's already let go.

It's devastating.

These are people I've known

for years and years.

They've been loyal, hard

working individuals,

helped get the business

to where it is today.

One lady just, I don't know

if you just as you arrived,

she came in, we had to let her go.

She left in tears.

He says the Government's

decision to keep

faith with Carillion

after multiple profit warnings

sent the wrong message.

Contract after contract after

contract they awarded them billions

of pounds of public

sector contracts.

So the message that's given

the SME sector is the

Government must have

done its due diligence.

Carillion must be a sound

business to work for.

That confusion is turning

to anger, particularly at

former bosses, like Richard Howson,

who left Carillion after the first

profit warning in July 2017.

He took home

£1.5 million in 2016 and is due

to receive a £660,000 salary

until October.

Keith Cochrane took over

the reins in September on a

salary of 750,000.

And tough questions for the finance

director, who was looking

after the company's accounts

when the crisis hit.

It's gone under.

20,000 jobs are directly at risk.

A large number of supply

chain jobs are at risk,

those people who worked so hard over

Christmas on

Carillion-based rail contracts,

I'm not sure they've been paid.

The directors have

done very well out of

Carillion, and the chief executive

has had a massive payoff.

Some of the City's

accounting firms also

find their way into this story.

KPMG prepared the

financial reports the

directors used to give Carillion

a clean bill of health four months

before a massive profit warning.

We also find from this document

a witness statement from the acting

chief executive -

they were updating

on the financial condition

of the company

and by the end, PWC refused to

become administrators

for fear there wasn't enough

cash to pay their fees.

Earlier in the day, the Government

promised a fast track

investigation into

the company's collapse.

It's also vital that we look back

and find out what went wrong.

I know that the Business Secretary,

Greg Clarke, is going to

make sure that no stone is left

unturned in order to establish just

where responsibility lies

for the collapse of the company.

Union bosses met with

the Business Secretary

tonight to turn over a few

stones of their own,

so what did they find?

There are a lack of confidence not

only amongst workers,

indeed amongst many medium, small

family businesses, who rely on these

contracts and frankly, don't know

whether they're going to get paid

from one week to the next.

So we'll see where that takes us.

The cranes at this

Carillion site in Smethwick

were becalmed this evening,

but the construction

industry is in turmoil.

As we've heard, Carillion's collapse

has implications for thousands

of people across the UK.

Among those are the 1400

apprentices who've been

in training at its own centre,

and there are more than

12,000 retired workers

drawing their pensions.

They're all concerned

about their futures,

as Frankie McCamley

has been finding out.

Carillion's promise to make

tomorrow a better place.

Investors expect

a lot from Carillion.

We can provide not only the best

training, the best work

placements, access to good

opportunities for work.

For Kyle that's simply not the case.

This morning, after three years

as an apprentice for the company,

he was sent home from college

with no explanation.

Basically, I went into college

and we were about to start work.

My tutor went for a meeting.

When he come back, he said, we can

go and that they were about to come

and turn the electric off.

What, you can just go home?

We can go home, yeah.

He says the course has

had problem for month.

My tutor now, he's good to be fair.

He's trying to help me

through everything at the minute.

The previous ones that

were just there partime,

it's like they didn't really care

about the students there.

It was just a job to them.

Carillion is involved

in projects in towns

and cities across the UK,

including a handful

here in Manchester.

Earlier today, I spoke

to one site manager,

who didn't want to come on camera.

He said he'd turned up to work today

and was told he couldn't do anything

because the multimillion pound site

was no longer insured,

despite not being given any

information, he was adamant

he was losing his job.

But he said he would keep

coming to work in the hope

of getting redundancy.

It's not just people currently

in work with concerns.

Carillion operates 13 final salary

pension schemes in the UK,

with around 28,500 members,

more than 12,000 of whom are already

claiming a pension, including

Martin, who's owed tens

of thousands of pounds.

For a family, we've got three fairly

small boys, we don't -

we need the money basically.

I don't know what we're going to do.

It's an uncertainty shared

by thousands, as they wait to find

out how the demise of such a major

industry player will

affect their future lives.

Frankie McCamley, BBC News.

Simon, what were underlining is how

many people are affected by this

collapse. Other answers tonight?

What the government and the official

receiver and the official agencies

who are managing this liquidation

are saying, is that if you are

employed by Carillion or employed by

a company employed by Carillion, a

subcontractor, working on a public

sector project, then since this

liquidation you are effectively

employed by the government. You will

be paid and they encourage you to

keep working. However, if you are

working for a private sector

project, those payments may come to

an end as soon as tomorrow. What is

the great unknown, as we saw in the

piece earlier about the man owed £1

million, is how much, if anything,

people with backdated bills for

Carillion going back over previous

work, we'll actually get paid back.

In this document, this statement

from the acting chief executive,

there is so little cash left in the

business the chances of recovering

much of that money owed are very

slim indeed. And that is the big

worry, that that will set off shock

waves through the rest of the

industry.

Simon Jack. Thank you.

Our deputy political editor,

John Pienaar, is at Westminster.

John, this uncertainty, the fact

that ministers are under so much

pressure to deliver a clear answers,

what is your reading of things at

Westminster?

The government is

trying to keep track of these

services that ministers promised

would carry on. The Treasury has

offered an open line of credit to

the receiver to see that that

happens. But the pressure is on.

Westminster feels like a scalp on

right now, with demands for an

enquiry into Carillion coming thick

and fast, and promises of

parliamentary enquiries coming

almost as quickly. We have seen the

business secretary saying the

receivers look at whether there was

corporate misconduct that Carillion

and that should be done quickly. The

government wants to be seen as part

of the solution, not the problem.

Ministers would rather be seen as

hunters rather than prey. Expect

changes in the way the rules are

operated. I have been picking up

talk that companies would have to go

through stress tests to show they

are sound businesses before they get

contracts. Not enough for a Labour,

certainly not enough Jeremy Corbyn,

who is questioning the involvement

of private firms in public

contracts. If there is another

collapse, another failure, another

Carillion, and the fears are real in

Whitehall, that would light a fire

on this -- on this already hot

controversy involving private firms

and the state.

Many thanks, John Pienaar.

A couple in California have been

charged with torture

and child endangerment,

after their 13 children

were allegedly held captive

in the family home.

The brothers and sisters,

aged between two and 29,

were found to be dirty and

emaciated, with some chained to

their beds.

James Cook reports

from Southern California.

In public, they looked

like a big happy family.

Devoutly Christian.

Renewing their wedding vows in Las

Vegas, David and Louise Turpin

played the part of proud parents.

But in private, say police,

they had a dark secret.

Before dawn on Sunday,

a 17-year-old girl escaped

from this house through a window.

She had taken a deactivated mobile

phone and managed to use it to call

police.

Inside officers found her 12

brothers and sisters, dirty

and malnourished.

Three were shackled to their beds

with chains and padlocks.

The home was dark and foul smelling.

I wish I could come to you today

with information that would explain

why this happened.

But we do need to acknowledge

the courage of the young

girl who escaped from that residents

to bring attention, so they could

get the help they so needed.

Neighbours say the Turpins

were originally from West Virginia.

The father was an engineer on a good

salary but had twice

declared bankruptcy.

Neighbours admit there were signs

things were amiss.

I never saw a scooter,

I never saw a bike.

I saw the infant maybe three times.

Maybe.

I never saw the infant again.

How did they live when you saw them?

They were always pale,

like abnormally pale.

The children to look pale

in pictures posted on Facebook.

Here they are visiting Disneyland.

Police say the siblings

were so small they were shocked to

discover that seven

were actually adults.

The eldest, 29.

They are now being

treated in hospital.

They have gone through

a traumatic ordeal.

I can tell you that

they are very friendly.

They are very cooperative.

And I believe that there are hopeful

that life will get better for them

after this event.

This quiet Californian suburb is now

under intense scrutiny.

The authorities say they had no

prior contact with the family.

But neighbours are searching

their souls, wondering if

they could have saved

the siblings sooner.

As for David and Louise Turpin,

they are now under arrest,

charged with torture

and child endangerment.

With the media gathered outside the

house, we are getting a little more

detail about what might have

happened and what is now happening.

We are told that all 13 of these

siblings are the biological children

of David and Louise Turpin. We are

told there is no evidence at this

stage they were sexually abused.

What is happening now at the

hospital is that doctors are working

on trying to feed them, trying to

improve their physical condition,

and also offering them counselling

and other psychological help, to

help with their mental state as

well. They have obviously suffered

what was described were -- by one

doctor as a horrific ordeal. The

medical staff are concerned about

the potential for post-traumatic

stress disorder, and they know that

these 13 siblings will have a job

adjusting to their new lives.

James, many thanks. James Cook with

that story in Southern California.

The rate of inflation has fallen

for the first time in six months,

mainly because of the

impact of air fares.

The inflation rate dipped

to 3% in December -

down from November's

rate of 3.1% which

was a six-year high.

A teacher from East London has gone

on trial at the Old Bailey,

accused of planning terrorist

attacks on some of London's

best-known landmarks.

Prosecutors say Umar Haque,

seen here on the left, was inspired

by the Islamic State group.

He denies the charges.

Abuthaher Mamun and Nadeen Patel,

who also appeared in court, also

denied the charges against them.

President Macron of France has been

on a visit to Calais,

where he's declared that he will not

allow new migrant camps to be built.

He was visiting ahead of talks

with Theresa May this week,

when he's expected to ask Britain

to take in more migrants.

He's also expected to ask for more

funding for border security.

Live to Calais and our

correspondent, Lucy Williamson.

Well, it's hard to believe there are

people sleeping out in conditions

like this tonight. But there are

here in Calais, hundreds of them.

President Macron came here today to

highlight that issue and also to

urge the UK to do more to manage the

impact of having the UK border here

in Calais, in effect, I suppose you

could say, he's started presenting

his wish list to Theresa May before

he'd even arrived on British soil.

There are very few people here who

think the president actually wants

to move the border back to Dover,

but there's a lot to negotiate in

the post-Brexit relationship and Mr

Macron seems to have started the

bidding early.

Once the UK was a magnet for Juma,

today it was the French president.

After months of camping around

Calais, the Sudanese migrant

has decided to apply

for asylum in France.

Mr Macron's government has

promised a quicker welcome

for those it accepts,

a quicker rejection

for those it refuses.

Juma is still waiting

for his answer.

So you are our president, not

in front of you, but in my heart.

But hundreds of migrants around

Calais are avoiding asylum centres

like this in a bid to reach the UK

illegally, and Mr Macron wants more

help from Theresa May

in dealing with them.

TRANSLATION:

We need to better

manage the issue of isolated minors,

reinforce police co-operation

in Calais, with the departure

and transit countries and unblock

funds for the Calais region.

I will raise these points with our

British friends in 48 hours.

Despite big British investments

in security, migrants continue

to test border defences.

This petrol station,

its perimeter fence broken,

a new favourite for those trying

to board lorries bound for the UK.

We caught this man squeezing

through before being caught

by a police patrol.

Mr Macron is due to talk

to the Prime Minister on Thursday

about how to improve the joint

management of the border here.

France would like Britain to take

more migrants from Calais and to pay

more money towards security

and border checks.

Mr Macron has vowed to prevent

another Jungle taking root.

Police routinely demolish the small

camps that cling on,

but aid workers say that some here,

including families, have reached

the UK in the past few months.

Discomfort no match

for that renewal of hope.

Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Calais.

There's been a mixed

response to the announcement

of a £70 billion plan

to improve road and rail links

across the north of England.

Transport for the North,

which was set up to co-ordinate

improvements, says the scheme

will connect major cities and

reverse a long-term gap in funding.

Danny Savage reports from Leeds.

The hills of the North.

Beautiful, but a physical

barrier between the

conurbations either

side of the Pennines.

Travelling by car can be painful.

The few routes over the top

are often congested.

As for the trains,

they're frequent but

relatively slow, and

can be overcrowded.

Because there are always

delays on the train, we do

want the train service

to be a bit more quicker

than what it usually is.

Most of the trains between Halifax

and Bradford, and Halifax to

Leeds, like this,

are like an old bus -

draughty, hot, old.

Recent key infrastructure

projects have

included Crossrail in London,

with Crossrail 2 now been proposed.

And HS2 from London

to Birmingham and

beyond is still on the cards.

The strong feeling

in the North is that

it is time for some simultaneous

big projects there too.

Improving transport links

across the Pennines is nothing new.

This is the Leeds Liverpool Canal

built more than 200 years ago.

But instead of taking a few days

by water, the hope is, for

example, getting from Leeds

to Manchester by train down

to about half an hour.

After years of discussion about

improving things, there is now a

plan the northern cities agree on.

There used to be a train tunnel

between Sheffield and Manchester.

That's long gone.

But a new road tunnel,

like this one in Norway, is

proposed, and could halve

the current journey

between the cities.

And a new trans-Pennine railway

line will link Leeds

and Manchester by Bradford.

I think we also need to make

sure that we cover Hull,

Sheffield, Newcastle

and Manchester, of course -

so all our major city regions.

This is vitally

important for the North.

But remember, this is a 30 year plan

and is still only at the idea stage.

Former Transport Secretary John

Prescott walked out of the launch

in Hull today, unconvinced.

It will have no powers.

It can talk to the Treasury

along with the strategic

bodies, but it can't

make a decision.

It doesn't get any money.

It's a bloody fraud.

It is the government

that will have to be

convinced to stump up the money

for these ambitious projects,

to upgrade northern transport.

Danny Savage, BBC News, Leeds.

The Olympic champion gymnast,

Simone Biles, has said

she was sexually abused

by the former USA team

doctor, Larry Nassar.

He was jailed last month for 60

years, for possessing

images of child abuse,

and he's awaiting sentencing,

after admitting assaulting

other female gymnasts.

Nassar's many victims have

been making statements

to a court in Michigan, and

Rajini Vaidyanathan is there.

COMMENTATOR:

Absolutely amazing.

Her smile lit up the Olympics

and her performances won her four

gold medals and worldwide acclaim.

But through it all,

Simone Biles hid a dark secret.

Olympic champion, Simone Biles comes

forward to say she was also sexual

Olympic champion, Simone Biles comes

forward to say she was also sexually

sexually abused by former US

A gymnastic doctor, Larry Nassar.

Simone Biles is the most high

profile of Larry Nassar's victims.

He's alleged to have abused more

than 100 young girls.

Biles says she knows she's not

to blame for what happened and isn't

afraid to speak out now:

In court

today, Larry Nassar came

face to face with some

of the young women he abused,

at the start of

a sentencing hearing.

As they took their turn,

they bravely told the court

what he'd done to them.

Good morning, my name

is Kyle Stephens.

Kyle Stephens was first

abused by Nassar when she

was just six years old.

Perhaps you have figured it out

by now, but little girls don't

stay little forever.

They grow into strong women that

return to destroy your world.

I was 12 years old when I told my

parents, "When Larry

rubbed my feet, he uses his penis."

Sitting on my living room couch

I listened to you tell me,

"No-one should ever do that

and if they do, you

should tell someone."

Well, Larry, I'm here,

not to tell someone,

but to tell everyone.

Olivia Cowan suffered for years

from Nassar's abuse.

Now she's finally rebuilding her

life and is a mother.

I will educate my children

about monsters like you and pray

to God they will never experience

pain like this.

There will be a day where I look

into my soul and I will still see

the scars of this nightmare.

But I will no longer feel

the deepness of their pain.

For the young women who shared

their stories today here at court,

this is also about accountability.

How did Larry Nassar work

as the team doctor for USA

gymnastics for nearly two decades

and continue his abuse?

And what did top officials know?

One of those who wants answers

from the US gymnastics team

is Simone Biles' team-mate.

What did USA gymnastics do

and Larry Nassar do to manipulate

these girls so much that they're

so afraid to speak up?

As they performed before

millions around the world,

these young women were hiding

the pain and trauma of abuse.

After a day of emotional testimony,

the world of gymnastics is now

confronting its own me-too moment.

Donald Trump has been advised to eat

a lower fat diet and take more

exercise following a medical.

But the White House doctor,

Ronny Jackson, said the president

was generally in excellent health

and had performed well

on cognitive tests.

Dr Jackson said he expected

Mr Trump to remain healthy

for the duration of his presidency.

I had absolutely no concerns about

his cognitive ability or his, you

know, his neurological function. So

I was not going to do a cognitive

exam. I had no intention of doing

one. The reason we did the

assessment is plain and simple

because the president asked me to do

it. He came to me and said, is there

something we can do, a test or some

kind of screen we can do to assess

my cognitive ability?

Dr Ronny

Jackson.

Ministers have welcomed a decision

by the supermarket chain, Iceland,

to remove all plastic

from its own-brand

products within five years.

The company said it would use

paper packaging instead.

And the fast food chain,

McDonald's, says it intends

to make all its packaging

sustainable by 2025.

The annoucnements came as the EU

announced plans to make all plastic

packaging recyclable by 2023,

as Daniela Relph explains.

It is an ambitious target, from the

supermarket known for its frozen

foods. But across the full range of

Iceland's own-brand products,

plastic is on the way out. That's

the packaging on fruit and

vegetables, the dishes that hold a

ready meal, the plastic bags for

frozen goods, all to be replaced by

paper or other biodegradeable

containers by 2023.

These are our

ultimate steak burgers in a

cardboard box, which is good. But it

comes wrapped in a plastic bag.

There is no need for that plastic

bag. We have to recognise our

responsibility as retailers, because

we are a leading contributor of

plastic packaging. So today Iceland

are coming out and saying enough is

enough.

Iceland is about low prices

and budget shopping. But the company

says the cost of removing plastic

will not be passed on to shoppers.

Are you very aware of it when you

shop how much plastic there is?

I

am. I hate it.

Got to do something

about it. Eventually, like, there'll

be nowhere to put it.

This is a bold

decision by one retailer. Iceland

hopes it will now put pressure on

other supermarkets to do exactly the

same. That pressure to reduce

plastic waste is increasingly

global. Today the European Union

announced plans for all plastic

packaging to be recyclable by 2030.

We're going to turn our packaging

legislation inside out and review

what kind of plastic packaging can

be put on the market to enable easy

and cost effective recycling.

There

is now a momentum across business to

reduce plastics. Waitrose today

announced it will remove all plastic

straws and black plastic packaging

by the end of the year. McDonald's

says all of its packaging worldwide

will come from sustainable sources

by 2025. The plastic industry

supports increased recycling, but

it's concerned about what they see

as misinformation.

I've seen

recycling rates understated for

plastics. I've seen statements made

about plastics that can't be

recycled that we know can. I've also

seen statements made about all the

litter that's found in our ocean

that fails to tell the consumer that

the majority of that pollution comes

from the developing world not from

the West.

For Iceland, reducing

plastic waste has to be a group

effort, if it's to have serious

impact. It believes significant

change requires all of the main

supermarkets to collaborate.

This winter has already

brought its share of challenges

for the NHS, and tomorrow

will bring a renewed focus

on staffing levels,

with the latest BBC figures

on the recuitment of new nurses.

The role of nurses has changed

significantly over the years,

as they take on responsibilities

previously reserved for doctors.

Adina Campbell has been speaking

to some of the longest-serving

nurses in the NHS.

Combined they have nearly 150 years

of nursing experience.

Originally from the Philippines,

these women came over

to England in the 1970s,

during a time when the NHS was faced

with shortages and in desperate need

of support from overseas.

That's our badge from the hospital,

St Martin, it's the green one.

They've come to this exhibition,

at the Royal College

of Nursing in London,

to reminisce and reunite.

Just very, very nostalgic.

Out of 20 of us, there were only

three British nurses that

were in training and the rest

were all foreign.

Mostly from Malaysia,

India, Jamaica.

When we first started,

we just started for about a month

in the school and then straightaway

we were exposed to the wards,

and that's how our

training was based on.

Really, bed-side nursing.

ARCHIVE:

The new National Health

Service starts providing hospital

and specialist services.

Nurses were a crucial part

of the NHS from its inception,

but their role was often undervalued

and recognition came slowly.

ARCHIVE:

And this job needs doing

just as much as this.

Anyone that's interacted

with a nurse will know that

it's not a stereotype,

we're not in the Carry On films,

this is real-life.

And actually, most of the time,

whatever healthcare you're

receiving, you will spend your time

with a nurse.

I don't think in 1948 we even

took blood pressures.

You know, now we're

giving chemotherapy,

we're giving life-saving drugs,

we're monitoring conditions

and actually we are the glue.

That's why 86% of the

population trust nurses.

These are two of the faces of modern

nursing, as it filters

through the generations.

Ghislaine Stephenson has enjoyed

a 35-year career working

in hospitals across London,

while her daughter Grace

is at the beginning of hers.

I think 30 years ago, the nurses

were handmaidens to the doctors,

following their instructions.

Whereas nowadays, we're breeding

nurses now that are making those

decisions for patients and that,

to me, is the absolute,

the difference, the nurses

making those decisions.

A well-respected member

of the multi-disciplinary team.

And nurses are under so much

pressure these days in hospitals,

staffing levels, pay,

that hasn't put you off at all?

Definitely not.

There's always going to be sick

children and families that

need our help and no other job has

job satisfaction like that.

If there was one small bit of advice

that you'd give to Grace

about her starting her career,

that may stay with her

the whole way through,

what would it be, do you think?

Never stop caring.

Adina Campbell, BBC News.

By the way tomorrow, we will bring

you the latest figures that we have

on the problems of recruiting and

retaining nurses in the NHS.