23/05/2014 BBC News at One

Big gains for UKIP in local council elections - Nigel Farage says

his party will be serious players in next year's general election.

UKIP's biggest gains are in Essex, Rotherham, and Sunderland.

"The UKIP fox is in the Westminster hen house."

There are areas across the country where we now have in print in local

government. UKIP's gains come at the expense

of the Tories - who lose control of A mixed night for Labour outside

London - not bringing the gains they had hoped for

in their traditional heartlands. A bad night for the

Liberal Democrats, they lose councils, and more than

a third of their council seats We'll be talking to our political

editor Nick Robinson about Serious failures in Birmingham's

Children's Services - the cases of 146 children were closed because

there weren?t enough social workers. Dallas beneath the Downs -

scientists say there's billions of gallons of oil under southern

England waiting to be extracted A final lifeline -

the search in the Atlantic for four missing British sailors is extended

into early tomorrow morning. Labour gain the most

in local elections, one of David Cameron's favourite

councils. And the Conservatives lose control

of four councils in Essex Good afternoon

and welcome to the BBC News at One. It has been a good night for the UK

Independence Party. For Labour, it was a mixed night. It

suffered some setbacks in its heartlands in the north-east. The

Tories lost control of some of their councils while the Lib Dems have

lost a third of the councillors who stood for them. With about a third

of the results and, UKIP have picked up a quarter of the vote. It has

gained 93 seats, making significant gains in Essex. In Basildon, the

party won 11 of the 15 seats available. In terms of councils,

Labour have gained five, the Conservatives are down nine and the

Liberal Democrats have lost two. The number of councils well no party is

in overall control is up six. Iain Watson reports. He promised a

political earthquake and even though Nigel Farage's party has not won

control of a council, they have sent shock waves through the more

established parties. They caused upsets from Essex to Yorkshire,

depriving the Conservatives over overall control in Basildon and

labour in Thurrock. It is just a protest vote is what they said. They

said it in 2009, they said it East league, they it last year and after

this result. It looks like a fairly permanent protest. There were calls

from some conservatives for a pact that the general election but the

Prime Minister dismissed this. We do not do pacts and deals. We are

fighting for an all-out win at the next election. Last night, we lost

some good councillors but our vote share was up from last year. One of

the Council is the Conservatives lost was Croydon. They blamed UKIP.

If you look at the Labour vote, it has not moved dramatically. What has

happened is UKIP have taken votes of hours. I think there will be a lot

of people waking up in Croydon today and finding they have got a Labour

council because they voted UKIP. The clear winner of the council

elections so far has been Labour. They performed particularly well in

areas where UKIP are weak such as Cambridge and London. They

recognised -- the Labour leader recognised UKIP posed a challenge.

They have made a change happen from Croydon, to Hastings and Cambridge.

We have seen some people turning to UKIP and I'm determined that over

the next year we persuade them that we can change their lives for the

better. So far, Labour's vote is only up three points. The

Conservatives have lost more than 100 councillors. They have some

consolation, seeing Labour off in Lipton -- Swindon. It is never easy

to see dedicated hard-working Liberal Democrat councillors lose

ground. In the areas where we have MPs, where we have good

organisational Underground, we can get our message across, we're

actually doing well. Based on their performance in the council

elections, UKIP are confident of doing well when the results of the

European election are announced on Sunday night. If they send more

tremors through the political establishment then the more

traditional parties will have to decide how to respond. Should they

move closer to UKIP's territory on Europe and immigration or should

they stand their ground? After their successes, the UKIP

leader Nigel Farage said the party was now a serious player in next

year's general election. Our local government correspondent Mike

Sergeant is in South Ockenden in Essex. Nigel Farage was here a few

hours ago. He has gone a few miles up the road for that standard UKIP

celebration, a pint in the local pub. UKIP's gains in Essex and other

parts of the country have shown the problem is that UKIP is starting to

cause for the Conservatives and for Labour.

In parts of Essex, UKIP stunned the established parties, 11 new seats in

Basildon. One of the scalps they took was that of Tory council leader

Tony Ball. He rose to national prominence in the struggle to evict

travellers from Dale farm. What is your message to the Conservative

Party leadership now? I think they have got to take UKIP seriously and

tackle what Nigel Farage and UKIP are saying. There is no doubt that

all the main political parties have not tackled UKIP at all well.

Basildon is half an hour from London on the train that a world away from

the politics of Westminster. I think basically England should be for the

English. That is why you have voted for UKIP? Yes, there are too many

foreigners here. We should shut the doors. Enough is enough. I think

they have got too much to say about this country, the EU. That is the

big issue in Basildon? It is the big issue for me, anyway, and of course,

the immigrants. Say no more on that one. The performance of UKIP is

starting to alter the political balance of local government in

England. It used to be said the party talked the talk but did not

deliver in council elections. Not any more. Political times are

changing, not just in Basildon. From here, out across Essex and well

beyond, there are places where the UKIP message seems to have had

resonance. There was success in Thurrock as well. That is where

Nigel Farage headed to celebrate. In Rotherham, the party took several

feet of Labour and the Tories. But the UKIP story has not been without

its arms and glitches. There was an overnight debate in Basingstoke

between two UKIP representatives over whether one is actually a

candidate. Refreshingly open party of straight talkers or a shaky

alliance of the angry and disaffected? UKIP is certainly

shaking up politics. UKIP is not popular everywhere. It

still does not have outright control of any councils. In local elections

last year and this year, it is starting to build up a significant

number of councillors in some areas. If the parties to advance further,

these new local bases of power will be very significant. Back to you.

Labour have had their biggest success in London. Our correspondent

Tim Donovan is in Barnet. This was a prime target for the party?

It was indeed. Labour have had an incredible night for them in London.

It is not a new trend. They did well in the general election in 2010.

David Cameron said he won in London. In 2012 day ran ahead of

their candidate Ken Livingstone. There are a number of factors about

why this has happened, concern at austerity, protest that benefit

changes, there is a lack of affordable housing in London. And

perhaps wider than that, something more intangible which is a gradual

democratic shift in London. Younger, perhaps more diverse and we will see

later whether they have managed to take their final big target of

Barnet where I am. But perhaps those reasons are the kind of reasons

which explain why UKIP have not got much further than the boundaries of

London. Thank you. We can speak now to Jeremy Vine who

has been taking a closer look at the numbers.

Welcome to our election studio. We have been looking at the council

results coming in. We have had about half of them now. I will colour my

map in. What is the situation at this point? I can tell you, Labour

are leading. Here they are. Their percentage, 33 we reckon. The

Conservatives in second place on 27%. 16% for the Lib Dems. In fourth

place, a really strong performance from UKIP as you have been hearing,

15%. The Green Party on 7% and then the others. We will look at the

change since 2010. Labour did very badly under Gordon Brown. They are

only up 3%. The Conservatives are down on that collection

performance. The Lib Dems are badly down. UKIP again surging through

powerfully. Maybe more telling if I show you change since 2012. Labour

and Ed Miliband were really starting to motor. What is the difference?

Since that year, two years on, they have gone down. Labour seem to be

going backwards on some measures. The Conservatives are static. That

is not much good for them. The Liberal Democrats are down and once

again the purple column shows UKIP surging up 11%. There is one ray of

light for Labour in these local elections. You can see this map. It

is England but also the 32 London boroughs over here and there, Labour

are doing very well. I will flash the gains. This is where control has

changed. Croydon and Merton and Hammersmith and Fulham are going to

read. Redbridge, appropriately, also turning red-macro. If you look at

London, it is better news for Labour. Overall, nothing for them to

write home about. Nothing for the Conservatives. It is all UKIP in

lots and lots of places. Thank you. We can speak to our political editor

Nick Robinson. Nigel Farage promised an earthquake. Is that what we are

seeing? We are certainly seeing the ground shaking under the feet of the

big parties. The Tories find themselves losing votes, losing

councillors and council is because people they often regarded as like

them, part of the wider Conservative family. We will see the result of

the European vote on Sunday night, Monday morning. Labour are feeling

the pain. They are having to lick wounds with UKIP challenging them in

their northern heartlands. UKIP denying them victories in the

crucial battle ground of the West Midlands. Voters are disaffected

with the coalition and bypassing them all together and going straight

to UKIP in places like Essex. All the Liberal Democrats can do is sit

and stare and say, those were our protest votes. Now, it is not asked

that is a party of protest, it is not us who are on the rise, and the

threat to the established order, it is Nigel Farage. There are still

results to come. How do you think the parties will react? Listen hard

to the interviews and you can hear the beginning of great debates in

both parties, about how to react. The Tories will insist they simply

have to deliver what they have already promised, tougher

immigration control, European reform and on the economy as well. You

heard the Basildon Council leader in the report a few minutes ago saying,

we have got to do more. We cannot simply repeat what we are all doing.

Equally, in the Labour Party, while they have stressed that they have to

convince UKIP voters that they are the change, they can make the

change. You heard the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls stress they need

a credible plan on reforming Europe, a credible plan on reducing

immigration. As these results sink in, expect fractures to develop

within the parties about what on earth they do. Thank you.

And you can find all the results from your local area by going to the

BBC News website. If you click on the lake to the latest news and

results from your area, you will find update from councils across

England. Social workers in Birmingham have closed cases.

Between October and January the City Council closed the cases because of

a lack of staff. It says that as of last month more than 400 Children in

Need had still not had their case investigated. Our social affairs

correspondent Michael Buchanan reports.

All these children died after being let down by Birmingham Children's

Services. Today's report shows they continued to fail. The latest

indictment in a decade of failure. Osterloh, say the child protection

in the city is inadequate. -- Ofsted say child protection is inadequate.

The council closed 145 cases without assessing the risk children faced,

due to a lack of social workers. 400 of the children had not had their

cases looked at. Children were left at risk of significant harm for too

long. The Ofsted report confirms what we were clear about. We are an

inadequate council when it comes to child safeguarding. We have been for

too long. There is nothing Ofsted presented we were not already aware

of and when we they came to see as we raise some of those issues

ourselves. More than a quarter of the population here are under 18,

the highest proportion in Europe. But many are living in poverty. More

than 800 children are on child protection plans. There are many

entrenched problems in Birmingham that mailed child protection

difficult. This area, for instance, has one of the highest levels of

child poverty in England. But officials here should be doing

better and they know that. The council are therefore investing

nearly ?10 million this year, mainly to recruit social workers. Vacancy

rates are high and many simply don't want to work in the city. There are

challenges in terms of creating the right environment for social workers

in Birmingham and we want to work in partnership to make sure that there

are good working conditions. The priority is the children and

families of this city and we need to make it work. The long-standing

problems in Birmingham have already led to ministries sending a team of

advisers to the city over three improvements. They say there are

some positive signs and are clear -- under three year action plan has

been drawn up. Birmingham will finally have to prove it is big to

succeed when it comes to protecting its children.

There have been big gains for UKIP in council elections. Nigel Farage

says his party will be serious players in next year's general

election. His remains were found

in a Leicester car park but where will the last of the Plantagenet

kings finally be buried? Scientists unveil the latest

generation of drones designed to And QPR go for promotion

and a return to the Premier League It is one

of the world's biggest killers - resulting in the deaths more than

600,000 people last year alone - and The researchers writing

in the journal Science developed an experimental vaccine

for mice after studying a group Our science correspondent

Rebecca Morelle has more. This is a common sight in hospitals

in Africa. Where every minute a child dies from malaria. But

scientists have found that some children are naturally resistant to

the disease and they could hold the key to developing an effective

vaccine. Tests have revealed that their immune system attacks the

malaria, causing parasite. They produce an antibody that traps the

tiny organism inside red blood cells, preventing it from bursting

out and spreading throughout the body. Only about 6% of the children

had this antibody and were resistant to severe malaria. They develop it

naturally, through being exposed to parasites over the course of their

lifetime, over the course of the two years of their life. Some of these

children develop this protective response and the trick was finding

what was the target of the antibody response. The team found that

injecting a form of this antibody into mice protected the animals from

malaria. It is early days, but a vaccine is much needed. Half of the

world's population, that is 3.4 billion people, are at risk from

malaria. There are more than 200 million cases reported each year.

Which result in 600,000 deaths. 90% of these are in sub-Saharan Africa.

But experts say they are optimistic. We have made incredible progress

against malaria. We have seen child deaths from malaria cut by half over

the last decade. With the current tools we have and the potential new

tools like a vaccine in the pipeline, the possibility of being

able to end malaria in my lifetime. That would be an amazing

achievement. This latest study is one of many avenues being explored.

The hope is that harnessing natural immunity could be a powerful weapon

against this deadly disease. There are billions of barrels

of oil trapped in shale rock beneath parts of Sussex, Hampshire

and Kent in Southern England. Getting to it would mean using the

controversial process of fracking. Our environment analyst

Roger Harrabin reports. Imagine fracking rigs like this,

dotted across southern England. Much of the Home Counties lies on

oil-bearing shale rocks, suitable for fracking. This map, released by

the British Geological Survey today, shows the extent of possible shale

oil deposits stretching south of London, across the wheels basin of

Kent and Sussex. Coaxing oil or gas from shale involves pumping water

and sand to fracture rocks deep underground. We have a better

estimate of how much oil is down there and it would be wrong in the

interests of national energy security to ignore the potential for

extracting more home-grown energy here, rather than importing oil from

unreliable parts of the world. In the Home Counties and across the UK,

house owners have been able to delay fracking until now through the law

of Christmas. The government announced today that it will change

that -- the law of trespass. But how safe is that technology? Stories of

water taps polluted and as cakes have alarmed -- and earthquakes have

alarmed the public. This protest influenced opinion. Several reports

have said fracking will cause a nuisance but will not cause

pollution or earthquakes if it is done right. It can even slow climate

change in the short term if it substitutes gas for coal. But up

poll shows 50% of people are not convinced. Instead of pursuing a

shale bubble, we should be investing in tried and tested alternatives.

Tests show that Britain's rocks do contain useful gas and oil. But the

scientists don't know how much we can extract. The biggest barriers to

a boom in fuels from shale in the UK are likely to be technical,

financial and is today's report will prove, political.

The search for four British sailors who've been missing in the Atlantic

for a week will be called off in the early hours of tomorrow

The US Coast Guard has told the families.

Our correspondent Duncan Kennedy is in Southampton.

This has been a difficult week for the families and the news that came

in last night from the coastguard that they are to call off their

searchlight will have come as something extremely painful but

perhaps understandable. I have been speaking to a few of them today.

They say they know why that decision has been taken and that while there

is a search going on, there is still some hope.

This new picture is the last known image of the four men taken just a

few hours before they set sail one week ago today. They were heading

home on this yacht, the Cheeki Rafiki, but managed trouble and lost

contact. -- but ran into trouble. Late last night the US Coast Guard

said the search would be suspended at the end of today. We have put our

utmost efforts to find and rescue those in peril at sea. It is only

after deepest consideration that we suspend active search efforts. The

men's families say they appreciate the huge search operation that --

and they understand it cannot be open-ended. We know they can't

search for ever and we know they cannot survive forever but we have

not given up hope yet. So while they are still searching, there is hope.

Andrew Bridge, James Male, Paul Goslin and Steve Warren have been

returning to Southampton. These BBC pictures show how calm conditions

were yesterday and the weather is said to be good again today. But

veteran seafarers save the end of the search is now in sight. I hope

someone will stumble on them, I still hope we will, but I cannot

blame the US Coast Guard for saying that is it, we have done all we can.

This possible sighting of the's Keel came last weekend. There has been

nothing since. This search operation now appears to be in its countdown

face. So what will happen now is that

American led search will continue for the rest of today, but if

nothing is found it will come to an end in the early hours of our

morning tomorrow morning. And RAF Hercules will continue for several

hours after that and if then nothing is found, well, really this will be

the sad end to the search for the men of the Cheeki Rafiki.

The former BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has been sentenced to

an extra two years and six months in jail for two counts

Hall, who's 84 and from Wilmslow in Cheshire, was found guilty

of one count of indecent assault on 16 May in a majority jury

At the beginning of the trial he admitted indecently assaulting

The jury at the Hillsborough inquests have been taken to the

Let's speak to our correspondent, Ed Thomas.

In many ways the court room left Warrington and came to Sheffield

Wednesday. The jurors have been on the pitch, opposite the West stand.

They have been shown around pens three and four in the West Terrace,

where Liverpool fans were crushed. They have been taken to the police

box, where the match commander was that today, in 1989. They have been

shown the gymnasium on the other side of this stadium, where

Liverpool fans were taken, the injured and the dead, before that

they came to this place by coach. When the coroner got onto the coach,

he said this court is now in session. He has been speaking into a

microphone. Every word he says is relayed into headphones that the

jurors are wearing. They walked down the lane just outside the stadium.

The coroner said, this is what the Liverpool fans did 25 years ago.

Because this stadium has changed so much the perimeter fences and gates

that were here in 1989 have now been marked out with these yellow cones

and orange tape. It is important that the jurors understand this

stadium, because is -- because it is the jurors themselves who will have

to decide how the 96 fans died. Our correspondent Sian Lloyd has more.

The result of the judicial review into the decision that King Richard

III should be reinterred hearing Leicester Cathedral, the result is

that it has gone Leicester's way. It is the result that the team in

Leicester had waited 15 months for. They had found a king but risked

losing him again after a group of distant relatives called the

Plantagenet Alliance argued they should have a say on whether remains

should be buried. But three High Court judges today dismissed the

claim. The drama has been heightened. The tension has been

raised. The joy and the relief is, well, what you would expect after

waiting this long. This was the moment archaeologists found the

remains of the last Plantagenet King beneath a car park in Leicester.

They intended to rebury him at the cathedral nearby, but costly legal

challenge but those plans on hold. Leicester really had everything to

lose. They have already invested substantial amount of money

preparing this Cathedral and the grounds for reinterred at. Befitting

a former King of England. A sense of relief here is palpable. The

ceremony is expected to take place next spring. Let's have a look at

the weather. ceremony is expected to take place

next spring. Let's have a look the weather.

The weather forecast was never going to be straightforward. Showers for

some of us, more sunshine for some others. The worst of the showers are

clinging to the south coast. This afternoon it should brighten and

quite considerably. Showers will target the south-west, Wales and

Northern Ireland later in the day. Improved compared to yesterday for

the Southeast and East Anglia and Scotland. This afternoon we have

heavy, thundery downpours in prospect across parts of the

south-west. A focus on the North Devon coast through the afternoon.

For Wales, a lot of clout in general. Perhaps a few brighter

spells. Still some heavy downpours and some of those fringing into

northern England with more persistent cloud and drizzly rain. A

largely fine afternoon in Northern Ireland, a bit of rain getting into

the East. A lot of cloud and cool across northern Scotland and

breezy. Much improved in the east after yesterday afternoon, with the

rain and the gusty winds. For the north-east of England, Sunshine

Coast to the coast and for the Southeast and East Anglia, I can't

rule out the prospect of seeing a shower this afternoon. Overall a lot

of dry weather. Sunny spells and highs of 19 - 20 Celsius. This

evening, the rain will pull away from the south-west. Showers

trailing over northern England and it is Northern Ireland where it will

end the night, quite heavy in the earliest hours of Saturday.

Elsewhere, a quieter story. But only briefly. From Northern Ireland the

rain will clear through the morning and not a bad day to come. For

England and Wales, if you are up first thing it could be. For you

because widespread showers are what we are talking about through

Saturday. A bit better in the south-east in the afternoon. I

heavy, thundery downpours possible anywhere. Scotland and Northern

Ireland are driest and brightest. For Sunday, everything pushes

north. The showers head towards Scotland and Northern Ireland. Drier

and brighter in England and Wales. For Bank Holiday Monday, hopefully

driest day of the three for many areas although we are keeping a

close eye on what could be heavy showers coming in from the east

through the day. A lot of variation unfortunately in the certainty of

the forecast as we get further into the Bank Holiday. It is worth

keeping up-to-date. A little bit of everything but just about all of us

in the coming days. Keep up-to-date online or by clicking on our app.

There will be