17/01/2018 BBC News at Ten

Thousands of workers facing

uncertainty after the collapse

of Carillion are told they'll

continue to be paid.

But ministers confirm that

Carillion's directors have not been

paid since the business

went into liquidation.

Labour says the Government's

handling has been deficient.

It looks like the Government

was handing Carillion public

contracts, either to keep

the company afloat,

which clearly hasn't worked,

or it was just deeply negligent.

We were a customer of Carillion,

not the manager of Carillion, and

that's a very important difference.

We'll be reporting from Liverpool,

where a major hospital building

project is one of many put on hold

around the UK.

We'll have the latest on the fallout

from Carillion's collapse

and the questions still being asked

about the Government's approach.

Also tonight:

Warnings of more heavy snow

overnight for southern Scotland

and the north-east of England,

with a Met Office amber

alert now in place.

A court hears that Gary Speed -

the former Wales football manager -

was one of four men who took

their own lives, having been coached

at one point by Barry Bennell,

who's on trial on sex abuse charges.

The challenge of recruiting and

retaining nurses in NHS England -

more people are now leaving

the profession than joining it.

And for the first time

in nearly a thousand years,

the Bayeux Tapestry could be

on display in Britain.

And coming up on

Sportsday on BBC News:

We'll show you what happened

in the last of the FA Cup

third-round replays.

Good evening.

And we start with the continued

fallout from the collapse

of Carillion, the major construction

group, which has put thousands

of jobs and companies at risk.

There are hopes today that many

workers working on private-sector

service contracts such as cleaning

and catering will

continue to be paid.

That was the message

from the Insolvency Service,

which also confirmed that severance

pay-outs to former executives

would not be made.

Labour has urged Theresa May to end

what it called the 'costly racket'

of contracting out public services

to private firms, as our business

editor Simon Jack reports.

After shutting up shop yesterday,

work at Highfields Park

in Nottingham resumed today,

a government promise to keep paying

for work on Carillion's public

sector contract was good enough

for one stonemason's company.

We've held the project for a day,

pulled off the project,

but now we're actually back

on the project.

But our main concerns is making sure

that those payments are made

because small contractors and other

people's livelihoods are the biggest

thing in all of this is,

is they're going to suffer from this

obviously impact of this

severe problem that's been

caused by Carillion.

Private sector customers,

like Nationwide, were given just 48

hours to decide if they wanted

to keep paying for services

Carillion was providing.

Nationwide was among 90%

of customers who said yes, for now.

Great news for thousands of workers

- not according to union leaders.

I'm encouraged that these clients

want the work to continue,

but I think it's just a stay

of execution for the people

that I represent.

We're not looking for short-termism.

We're not looking

for protection today.

We're looking for

protection long-term.

This is a stay of execution and,

frankly, that's not good enough.

The banking industry promised today

it would extend overdrafts,

waive fees and give payment holidays

to firms owed money by Carillion

to help limit the knock-on damage

down the supply chain.

Tonight, then, a reprieve

for thousands of private

sector service workers,

and the banks are promising

to help limit the fallout.

But here at this Carillion

construction site in King's Cross,

activity has come to a standstill

and I'm told workers are disgruntled

because they can't get onsite

to get their tools so they can get

on with other jobs.

I'm also hearing tonight that talks

are advanced on the creation

of a task force across industry

and government to help

limit the damage done

by this construction bust.

The pressure on Transport Secretary

Chris Grayling didn't let up today.

Why did Carillion land big contracts

after multiple profit warnings?

When HS2 awarded the contract

last summer, a lot of work was done

to make sure that if Carillion ran

into problems, then

the contract was covered,

and that's what's happened.

Over the years, there have been many

UK construction firms that have had

ups and downs and issued profit

warnings, and they've come

through those and continued

to deliver excellent work.

Deep ideological differences

on the role of private companies

in the public sector frothed over

at Prime Minister's Questions today.

As the ruins of Carillion lie

around her, will the Prime Minister

act to end this costly racket

of the relationship

between government and some

of these companies?

Theresa May reminded Jeremy Corbyn

that a third of Carillion's public

contracts were awarded under Labour

and that the model was still valid.

What we want is to provide good

quality public services,

delivered at best value

to the taxpayer.

We're making sure in this case

that public services

continue to be provided,

that the workers in those public

services are supported

and taxpayers are protected.

There was also outrage expressed

that the owner of this chalet,

former Carillion boss

Richard Howson, was due

to collect his £660,000

salary till October.

All severance payments to former

directors will now be stopped.

That may not be enough to cool

tempers back in the UK.

Simon Jack, BBC News.

The collapse of Carillion has

led to many projects

across the UK to be put on hold.

One project run by Carillion

was the £335 million contract

to build the new Royal Liverpool

Hospital.

It was one of the firm's biggest

deals, and it first ran

into difficulties last March,

as our correspondent

Judith Moritz explains.

Brick by brick, floor by floor,

the new £335 million

Royal Liverpool Hospital has been

taking shape, building work ongoing.

Until this week.

Since Carillion's collapse,

subcontractors here

have stopped work.

Some are owed money and have

downed tools for now.

Meanwhile, next door at the hospital

it's due to replace,

there's frustration for staff,

who are waiting for the new

building to be ready.

But until things are clearer,

hospital bosses know it'll be

difficult to get the builders

back to work.

I would say to contractors,

please come on site,

you will get paid for the work

you're doing now.

We recognise there is an issue with

the money you are owed by Carillion,

but there are guarantees

about future payments.

We will work with the hospital

company and with the receivers

to try and ensure that there is some

compensation for the work that

you've done up to now.

Is there anger about this?

I wouldn't say it's anger

because obviously we feel

sorry for the staff

and the subcontractors of Carillion.

So it's not anger.

It's empathy with the situation

they're in, really.

The old hospital was

built in the '70s,

and is showing its age -

crumbling concrete

and rusting pipework.

The new building was privately

financed, but its progress was slow

for various structural reasons,

and it was cited at the time of

Carillion's first profits warning.

The new hospital should have been

completed last March,

but Carillion missed that deadline

and for every month

it was delayed, the company faced

a bill of £1.5 million.

Despite the Carillion chaos,

the Trust says it's confident that

work will restart soon.

Although it can't say

exactly when the city

will get its new hospital.

Judith Moritz, BBC News, Liverpool.

Our deputy political editor,

John Pienaar, is at Westminster.

John, how has this collapse changed

the shape of the political debate

fair Britain under attack for being

part of Tory Government that was

been talk that may be future

margins of the type that Carillion

had to deal with are good value for

the taxpayer. Otherwise, the

said may be upon us, he may be right

about. It could be a turning point

and a big setback for the

There are warnings of more heavy

snow tonight for southern Scotland

and the north-east of England --

with a Met Office amber

alert now in place.

Police Scotland is advising drivers

in much of the southern and central

belt areas to avoid travelling.

The alert came after hundreds

of drivers were stranded

overnight on the M74 -

the main west coast route

between Scotland and England.

Our correspondent Lorna

Gordon is in Lanarkshire

with the latest tonight.

to a halt. The snow is falling once

again, but so far, the traffic here

is still moving. The Scottish

a number of years.

Out in force and preparing

for the worst.

There were fewer cars on the road

this evening in the areas

where the worst of the snow

is forecast to fall.

It's definitely challenging,

and if we need to plough, we plough.

If we need to grit, we grit.

The most important thing

is for motorists to stay off.

If they don't have to travel,

don't travel and we'll try and get

it cleared soon we can.

--as soon as we can.

Last night, conditions on this

stretch of the M74 were treacherous.

Traffic ground to a halt,

hundreds of drivers were stranded.

You just think, in this day and age,

that these things shouldn't happen.

Just cars, lorries everywhere.

Five hours I was stuck on the M74,

then I eventually got here.

Lots of idiots on the third

lane going too fast.

Steady, but it was getting worse,

so I chose to stop here.,

and now I'm going up to Glasgow.

These pictures show just how

dangerous driving in the snow can

be, a runaway lorry smashing

into a car and then a van

after the driver got out

to help clear the road.

It was incredible

that no one was hurt.

Mountain rescue teams turned

from the hills to the roads,

checking that those trapped

overnight were warm

and had supplies.

A lot of vehicles were basically

struggling to get grip on the snow

etc, so the issue was,

there were a lot of lorries

jackknifing, which was obviously

blocking the motorway behind,

so we were called in by

Police Scotland to basically go

and check the welfare for the people

that were in the vehicles.

The difficult weather breached

into parts of England, too.

In Halifax, in Yorkshire,

the public helping out

after an ambulance responding

to a 999 call got stuck.

In Northern Ireland,

some of those missing classes took

to their sledges instead.

Nearly 300 schools there were shut.

A similar number in Scotland

were also closed for the day.

Some areas have already had more

than a foot of snow,

a white blanket is now covering much

of the land.

But with warnings of extreme

conditions, more snow to come,

the message for drivers is clear -

do not travel weather worst

of the weather is expected to hit.

--where the worst

of the weather is expected to hit.

Lorna Gordon, BBC News, Abington.

The challenge of recruiting

and retaining nursing staff in NHS

England has been underlined

by figures obtained

exclusively by the BBC.

One in ten nurses are leaving

the NHS in England every year,

and the gap between those leaving

and joining has widened to 3000.

The Royal College of Nursing says

it's a crisis, but ministers say

they have plans to boost

recruitment, as our health

editor Hugh Pym reports.

Voices from the front line,

nurses on the challenges

of their jobs in the 70th year

of the NHS.

No one does it for the money,

the power or the prestige.

They do it because

it's in their bones.

Just having a lot of patients to

look after per one member of staff.

So, patient to staff

ratio is quite high.

Much of the work that nurses carry

out today is the type of work

the doctors were carrying out

when I initially trained.

But for some like Mary,

the pressures are so great

they feel they have to quit.

She qualified two years ago,

but she found the strain

was affecting her health,

so decided to leave.

I was so excited at my graduation

to finally become a nurse

and really make a difference.

There's just so much

pressure, so much paperwork,

so much bureaucracy,

so many little things that

all add up to take up

so much time in our days.

Even those with decades

of experience say the stress

is almost too much.

Sally joined the NHS in 1979,

she says the role has expanded

and the demands are greater.

Never, when I started nursing,

did I imagine that I would be doing

anything like the role I'm doing.

I don't think it was even heard of.

The Government says the number

of nurses on the wards in England

has gone up by nearly 12,000

since 2010, but when you look

at all nurses, including

community and mental health,

the figure has barely

increased over that time.

The pay cap may have been a factor.

Fewer EU nationals are

coming into the NHS.

Last year, Wales, like England, saw

more nurses leaving than joining.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland,

it was the reverse.

Filling vacancies is certainly

a challenge, but for the NHS,

what's just as important

is retaining existing staff.

At a time of concern about pressure

on the future of the service

and what future pay deals might be,

it's important for employers to do

everything that they can to persuade

people to stick with their careers.

Anything I can help you with today?

I'm OK at the moment.

There's a mentoring scheme at this

hospital in Romford.

Megan was encouraged to stay thanks

to support from Bev.

In my other Trust that I've

worked in, you didn't

have someone like Bev,

you didn't have someone

to turn to and make sure

you was in the right

environment for you.

So, she's been amazing.

NHS England wants to see that

approach adopted more widely.

We want to work with front

line staff to understand

what matters to them,

and then to listen to try

and do something about that.

Clearly, it's difficult

at the moment.

The Government says there

are more new nurse training

places in the pipeline,

but in the short term

the pressure is on.

Hugh Pym, BBC News.

The EU Withdrawal Bill that

will transfer all European Union

legislation into UK law has cleared

the House of Commons.

The legislation will now go

to the House of Lords,

where it will be debated

for the first time and face new

amendments at the end of the month.

A former CIA agent has been arrested

in New York on suspicion of helping

China to identify American

spies and informants.

Jerry Chun Shing Lee was detained

after the FBI found notebooks

containing classified information

while searching his luggage.

More than a dozen CIA

informants have been killed

or imprisoned by the Chinese

government since 2012.

A man who was abused by the former

football coach Barry Bennell has

told a court that the former Wales

manager, Gary Speed,

was one of four men who were coached

by Bennell who then went

on to take their own lives.

Bennell, who's 64, is on trial

at Liverpool Crown Court

where he denies 48 counts of sexual

abuse, against 11 boys,

between 1979 and 1990.

Our sports editor,

Dan Roan, reports.

Back in the 1980s, Barry Bennell

worked with some of the most

promising young footballers

in the north-west of England.

But today, Liverpool Crown Court

heard evidence from a victim

who the defendant, now known

as Richard Jones, had admitted

sexually abusing in 1998,

when he was jailed for nine years.

The man told the jury

that the former Wales manager,

Gary Speed, who hanged himself

in 2011, aged 42, was one of four

players coached by Bennell in youth

teams who took their own lives.

He said, "whether they have

taken their own lives

due to Barry solely,

I don't know, but all I know is how

it's had an impact on me,

and how it could impact

on other people."

The victim claimed that he had

wanted to contact Speed's family

after he had read they'd been unable

to get closure because they had no

explanation for his death.

The man told the court he knew

of other youth team players

who had become destitute

and had alcohol problems.

When asked about claiming

compensation, he said,

"I know personally for me,

it's about justice.

I'm sick to death of this

being a part of my life,

and I just want to put it to bed

once and for all."

Earlier today, a complainant

in the case told the jury he had

played for one of Manchester City's

youth teams and been

molested by Bennell more

than 100 times in the 1980s.

He said he believed that two

officials at the club,

including former player and chief

scout Ken Barnes, who died in 2010,

had known about the abuse,

but did nothing about it.

And he told the jury he wanted

an apology from Manchester City.

Bennell denies 48 offences of child

sexual abuse against the 11

complaints between 1979 and 1991.

The trial continues.

Dan Roan, BBC News, Liverpool.

This week marks the first

anniversary of Donald Trump's

inauguration as US President.

It's been a rather turbulent 12

months with repeated controversies

about the President's

words and actions.

In the first of two reports,

our North America editor, Jon Sopel,

analyses the wider impact

of the Trump presidency on the world

of US politics and the economy.

BELL RINGING

To some it might sound

like a warning alarm,

to the President this

clanging is music.

150 off of that now.

For all the noise and scandal

since Donald Trump came to office,

the Dow Jones is up roughly 30%.

Every day seems to bring

another eye watering high,

and just look at these happy faces.

And if you're an investor,

if your pension is in the stock

market, you're going to forgive

an awful lot from this President.

But what goes up must come down, no?

Are you worried there is a bubble?

I'm not worried that

there's a bubble per se.

Is there a correction

that could happen?

Certainly, but there's

certainly enough money

out there that could,

you know, fill and back stop any

kind of correction lower.

They say that success has

many parents and that

failure is an orphan.

Well, on the success

of the stock exchange,

Donald Trump wants to be

the only parent.

Take that alongside the tax cuts

that have been recently introduced

and there's a growing sense

of optimism in the US economy, and

what politician doesn't like that.

But does this sentiment

stretch beyond Wall Street

in downtown Manhattan?

Well, it seems to.

This is Wall Street

in a town called Newnan,

in the southern state of Georgia.

In November 2016, it voted

overwhelmingly for Trump

and if there is buyers remorse,

it's hard to find here.

Daniel Lichty owns a building firm

in the area and says he can't

remember a time when business

was so good.

I'm excited for 2018

and what's coming ahead of us.

The calls, like I said,

are just out there and trying

to figure out how to get all this

work done is our next stage.

So that means it's going

to be a strong year.

But does this optimism stretch

beyond construction?

Is it anything to do

with Donald Trump?

Newnan is an attractive town,

built around the historic

courthouse in the town centre.

So what's the verdict of voters?

We brought together Trump

supporters and opponents.

The thing that I do

like about Trump, what you see

is what he is and he's not putting

on a show for the public.

I think what he's done is absolutely

phenomenal and for our economy it's

exceedingly growing.

Donald Trump inherited a great

economy from Barack Obama.

Recent acts, like the tax cut act,

are going to do long-term

damage to the economy.

But what do they think

of his behaviour, particularly it

seemed on matters of race?

After neo-Nazis clashed

with anti-racism protesters

in Charlottesville, the President

equivocated on who was responsible.

But you also had people

that were very fine

people, on both sides.

When black American

footballers protested, this.

Get that son of a bitch off

the field right now.

Then there were the tweet storms.

US media described as

the enemies of the people.

He boasted that his button

was bigger than the Kim Jong-un's.

And of course declaring himself

a very stable genius.

I think he's a buffoon.

Why?

He doesn't seem to have a full

grasp of world politics.

He doesn't seem to have a full grasp

of how government works.

Even though he might be saying

certain things that I may not like,

he's putting America first,

and that's what we need in America.

The biggest threat to the President

still lies in the Russia

investigation and whether there

was collusion with

the Trump campaign.

So is it fake news,

as the President insists,

or something more real?

Oh, absolutely it's real.

Since he fired Director Comey,

having the Russians in his office.

There just seems to be something

there that's not coming out yet.

There has been no evidence that I've

heard that there is collusion.

What Donald Trump has done

brilliantly is keep his base largely

supportive, but he needs more

than just a core.

If he doesn't get the support

of reluctant Republicans

and independents in November's

midterms, then it could all turn

very ugly indeed for him,

and the Trump agenda could ground

to a halt.

Jon Sopel, BBC News,

Newnan, Georgia.

Jon on the report of the first 12

months of the Trump presidency.

Tomorrow, Jon will be exploring

the impact of President Trump's

first year in office

on the global stage.

That is his second report tomorrow

night.

The England cricketer, Ben Stokes,

will be available for selection

for England's tour of New Zealand

despite being charged with affray

following a fight outside

a nightclub in Bristol last year.

The England and Wales Cricket Board

said that Stokes, who hasn't played

for England since the incident,

is expected to join

the squad in February.

North and South Korea have agreed

to march together under a single

flag at the Opening Ceremony

of the Winter Olympics next month.

The two countries have also

announced they will field

their first ever joint team

for the women's ice hockey

event at the Games being

hosted by the South.

It's the result of the first

diplomatic talks between

the neighbours for more

than two years.

Our correspondent,

Sophie Long, is in Seoul.

Sophie, what is your reading of the

significance of what's been

announced?

Well, Huw, they are

sending a large delegation, some 550

people. There will be 230

cheerleaders. 140 artistic

performers and 30 strong taekwondo

squad. The most significant

importance is this announcement that

they will have a joint ice hockey

team. That will be the first time

athletes from both Koreas will

compete together in the same teem at

an Olympic Games. They will re-open

the cross-border road for the first

time in nearly two years. There

seems to be some improvement in

relations in a sporting context,

it's important to remember that the

fundamental issues dividing the two

countries remain and the South

Korean Foreign Minister has been

speaking in Vancouver and said there

can be no sustained improvement to

relations unless there are efforts

to deal with the North Korea nuclear

issue, and that will be difficult.

Sophie many thanks once again.

Sophie Long for threws in Seoul. --

for us there in Seoul.

In northern Syria fighting

is intensifying in Idlib, the last

province still in rebel hands.

But as this devastating conflict

enters its eighth year all the main

Syrian cities are in the hands

of President Assad's forces,

including the city of Aleppo.

The battle in Syria's former

industrial heartland ended just over

a year ago when all of eastern

Aleppo was recaptured

from a range of rebel forces.

Our chief international

correspondent, Lyse Doucet,

reported from the ancient city

in the last days of the fighting

and she's returned to see

what's changed since then.

Dawn holds little fear now

for the city of Aleppo.

Gone are the warplanes,

at least from here, and a train now

runs from east to west.

Aleppo is back in government hands,

its tallest building

leaves you in no doubt.

Nor do the songs school children

sing in praise of their president,

in the area once held by rebels.

Not just education, re-education.

A daily rhythm returns

for 12-year-old Rayan,

her school was controlled by hard

line Islamist groups.

TRANSLATION:

I didn't go

to school during the war

because of the shelling

and there were men in the building.

We didn't learn anything at all.

This is what with we saw

here in the last days of battle.

The smell of explosives

still in the air, buildings

flattened by Syrian air strikes,

now safe enough for people

to start coming back.

This woman is one of

the first on her street

to bring her family home.

Like many others, she's returning

from a government area to this small

flat with no electricity,

no running water.

"It was so hard to see

the damage", she tells me.

"We're rebuilding bit by bit

whenever we earn a little money."

Her husband's face says it all,

the life he knew is gone,

that they all knew.

Life is slowly returning

to these streets, you see

the signs of it everywhere,

but the destruction

here is overwhelming.

With time, money, some

of this will be rebuilt,

but so many lives have been

shattered too, and

possibly beyond repair.

This is all that's left

of the industrial zone

at the edge of the city,

once Syria's economic heartland.

There's still fighting here,

the front-line only a few

hundred meters away.

Bassel Nasri's factory was damaged

and looted by rebel forces.

My families lives is destroyed.

It's terrible.

All the factories here were,

more than 1,000, all except a very

few still lie silent.

It will take many billions

to rebuild Syria.

How can a broken country do that?

It will take a lot of money.

We must say we need all

the countries release the sanctions.

You want the sanctions

lifted on Syria?

Yes, lifted on Syria.

The West says that won't happen

until the war is over.

Now we are going to finish it.

We are going to finish it.

The end of battle in this ancient

city turned the tide of war

in President Assad's favour.

One year on, it's not over yet

and so many lost so much.

This great city may

never be the same.

Lyse Doucet, BBC News, Aleppo.

The Bayeux Tapestry,

the medieval work of art

which depicts the Norman conquest

of England, is set to leave France

for the first time in almost

1,000 years to be loaned

for display in Britain.

It's thought that President Macron

will confirm the offer tomorrow

when he meets Theresa May,

but some experts are already raising

concerns about the very

fragile state of the

tapestry and whether it's

wise to move it.

Our correspondent,

Lucy Williamson, reports.

If anything puts current

Anglo-French relations

in context, it's this -

the Bayeux Tapestry,

almost 1,000 years old,

telling the story of the Norman

conquest of England and the victory

of William the Conqueror

at the Battle of Hastings.

A very different kind

of Anglo-French summit.

Now the French President has given

approval for the 50-meter

Bayeux Tapestry to leave French

territory for the first time.

But moving something this big

and this old is no simple matter.

It's difficult to imagine

all the practical to put it

in a case and show and to put it

in a train or...

No, we don't know.

President Macron's gesture

highlights France's deep ties

and long history with Britain.

Though cynics might say it also

highlights a crucial French victory

over its Anglo-Saxon neighbour.

Art experts say it's a benign

telling of the tale with moments

of comedy and artistic influences

from both sides of the Channel.

Even if tests confirm

the move is possible,

it's unlikely to happen for several

years, but there's a lot

of excitement in British museums.

The opportunity to get really close

to the Bayeux Tapestry and explore

it and look at it is what's

fascinating to all of us who have

studied the Bayeux Tapestry.

The exact location of

the tapestry's famous battle has

long been in dispute.

But, in Hastings today,

locals said the artwork

should be displayed there.

I think a lot of people in Hastings

are quite proud of Hastings

and if it's returning

to Hastings, even better.

Because it, you know,

it comes from Hastings.

I mean, you know, the Battle

of Hastings and all

the rest of it, yeah.

Yeah, a good tourist attraction.

The battle happened here

and there's not enough displays

of what happened in Hastings.

So I think it should come here.

Britain has twice requested

the tapestry on loan.

The first time for

the Queen's Coronation,

but has always been refused.

This initiative has the backing

of President Macron,

part of the cultural exchanges

he promised in his

election campaign.

But the deep ties with Britain have

often been tinged with rivalry,

and one French official was joking

today about whether Britain

would find anything of similar merit

to send them in return.

Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Bayeux.

That's all from me,

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