05/04/2017 BBC News at One

A service of hope has been held to remember those killed and injured

in the Westminster attack two weeks ago.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry joined relatives

of the victims and members of the emergency services

We weep for the violence and for the hatred and for the loss of life, for

all that divides and spoils our world.

More than 70 people are now known to have died in the suspected

Germany says Russia bears some responsibility.

The European Parliament votes on its position for Brexit talks -

as its chief negotiator describes Britain's decision to leave

A BBC investigation finds thousands of families affected by the benefit

cap now have only 50p a week to pay the rent.

And the first driverless vehicle to be tested

on Britain's roads - how will it fare on

And coming up in the sport on BBC News:

British Olympic showjumping champion Nick Skelton

announces his retirement, after more than 40

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One

from Westminster Abbey in the heart of London.

Members of the Royal family have just left A Service of Hope

following the terror attack on the Palace of Westminster

In the congregation, some of the first responders who were there to

attend those who were dying and injured on Westminster Bridge and

some of those injured were also in the church as well as some of the

relatives of those who died, just two weeks ago, their lives changed

for ever. Our correspondent

Nicholas Witchell reports. Two weeks ago the area around the

Westminster Abbey was caught up in the chaos of that afternoon. Nearby

on Westminster Bridge there were casualties. People moan down as they

enjoyed the sights of London, closer still just inside the gates of the

Houses of parliament, there were gunshots. And a murder of an unarmed

police officer, one of the four innocent people who died that day.

Two weeks later at Westminster Abbey, the service, quite

deliberately not a memorial service, it is felt to be too soon after the

event for that, but what the Abbey described as a service of hope, and

leaders of the different faith communities from across the UK were

joined in the congregation by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and

Prince Harry along with members of the emergency services, some of the

bereaved families and some of those who were injured. The violent

assault two weeks ago against Londoners and visitors to the city

from around the world and the killing of a police constable on

duty at the Palace of Westminster has shocked people everywhere. At a

time of sorrow, a time when we are tempted to despair, may we find

hope. The humanity of those who came to the aid of the injured and dying

was remembered. The Duke of Cambridge red for the parable of the

good Samaritan. -- read from. Which of these three do you think was a

neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? He said,

the one who showed him mercy. Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. In

the name of the Father... The Dean of Westminster record that amongst

those directly affected by the attack were people from Britain and

12 other nations and he post a question so many have asked, why?

What happened a fortnight ago leaves us bewildered. What could possibly

motivate a man to hire a car and take it from Birmingham to Brighton

to London and then drive it faster people he had never met, couldn't

possibly know, against whom he had no personal grudge and no reason to

hate them, and then ran at the gates of the Palace of Westminster to

cause another death? It seems likely that we shall never know. Candles

were lit as a symbol of the light which can never be extinguished by

the darkness of terror. And prayers were offered from across the

different faiths over pledging respect between different

communities. Nicholas Witchel, BBC News.

Prayers also offered to protect the nation from division and hatred. The

difficult Dave many people attending this service, a service which it is

sad will help them to come to terms in some way with what happened just

200 yards away from where I'm standing, just two weeks ago -- a

difficult day for many. The UN Security Council will meet

in emergency session later today to discuss the suspected gas attack

on a rebel-held town in Syria. The attack is believed to have

killed more than 70 people, Washington has accused the Assad

regime of barbarism - but it denies using

chemical weapons. Our correspondent Wyre Davies

reports - you may find some The reverberations of what happened

in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun are being felt

around the world. Distressing images of civilians,

many of them children, suffering from the appalling effects

of a gas or chemical attack. Unable to breathe, choking

and foaming at the mouth. Dozens were killed and for many it

marked a new low in the conflict that has already seen

so much suffering and depravity. What we've seen yesterday has

horrified all of us. I can say this is a politician,

but first of all as a mother. And the images we have seen

yesterday from Syria remind us all To unite for real with a serious

engagement, the international community, the regional players,

but also the Syrian Syrian opposition groups and Western

powers have unequivocally blamed the regime of Bashar al-Assad

for the attack that as these images show, continued even

as the victims are being treated This security guard said that

about an hour after the initial strike, government aircraft

deliberately bombed the hospital The Syrian government and its chief

ally, Russia, have been equally This was, says a Russian

military spokesman, the direct consequence of an air

strike on a militant weapons factory that must have included nerve gas

or chemical weapons. And for that, says the government,

the opposition bears That argument isn't

being bought in Western capitals and in a special conference

on Syria in Brussels where many accuse the Assad regime

of committing a war crime. All the evidence I have seen

suggests that this was the Assad regime who did it in the full

knowledge that they were using illegal weapons in a barbaric attack

on their own people. With rescuers frantically dousing

survivors in water to wash off chemicals, and graphic eyewitness

accounts of what happened, many experts conclude this can only have

been carried out by the regime. There is no indication

that the moderate Syrian rebels were involved in chemical

production, particularly something difficult

to do like sarin. As government air strikes

against rebel areas continue, some victims are being treated

in neighbouring Turkey. The Assad regime has been emboldened

by Russian military support and a reluctance by critics to take

meaningful action against it. Even after the horror of

what happened at Khan Sheikhoun, Our correspondent Lyse Doucet

is in Brussels, where a special conference about Syria

is being overshadowed by the news Completely overshadowed. When this

day of talks started this morning, one world leader after another

including Boris Johnson, were forced to respond to what has happened in

the past 24 hours in Syria, so yet again shone reworded condemnations

have called for an investigation and warnings they would because it

addresses for who carried out this attack -- strongly worded. And the

many Western leaders the blame clearly lies with the forces of

President Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies. This account is not

accepted by their side, but for Syrians who have lived through six

use and more of this absolutely devastating conflict, the question

is yet again, it is fine to say very strong words, but what about action

on the ground? -- six years. And what are the options? To use Boris

Johnson's phrase, price will be paid, but how big a price can there

be to bring Syria back to some kind of situation where they can... The

conference is still discussing about how to get humanitarian aid to

people and how to stop the suffering, including of children,

how to bring this war to an end. There is no answers to that yet and

there are not likely to be any answers from this conference and the

UN security meeting this evening. Thanks for joining us.

MEPs at the European Parliament have voted overwhelmingly in favour

of taking a tough stance on Brexit negotiations, setting so called "red

Earlier there were testy exchanges as the Parliament's Brexit

negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, told MEPs that Brexit

is a 'stupidity' which was caused by a catfight inside

the Conservative Party - and he said Britain will one day

Nigel Farage of Ukip accused politicians from other countries

Our Europe correspondent Damian Grammaticas sent this report.

A handshake offered from the EU's chief negotiator.

Smiles in return from the architect of Brexit.

But then harsh realities began to be laid out.

The UK told it cannot expect special access to the EU's Single Market.

I have to clarify, this will not happen.

A state outside the European Union cannot have the same or better

conditions than a state inside of the European Union.

What is expected is that the UK will pay its bills.

It's like moving house, said the leader of the Socialist group.

"The gas bill, the electricity, it all has to be settled", he said.

Just a week since Article 50 was triggered, this may be

Nigel Farage accused the EU of making impossible demands.

You think we're a hostage, we're not.

Groans at the Mafia comparison stopped him mid-flow.

Then this, from the parliament's Italian president.

"I'm sorry, Mr Farage", he interrupted, "But saying this

parliament is behaving like the Mafia is unacceptable".

Michel Barnier, the man who will have to keep negotiations

calm, said he will not seek to punish the UK, only

ask that it live up to its financial obligations.

And, he said, "It will have to agree the separation terms before

The sooner we agree to the principles of

an orderly withdrawal, the sooner we can prepare.

A different future was laid out, too, where a young

generation of Britons want to rejoin the EU.

A young generation that will see Brexit for what it really is -

a catfight in the Conservative Party that got out of hand.

A lot of time, a waste of energy, and, I think, stupidity.

But for now the EU is ready in what it says will be a tough

In a moment we'll hear from our political correspondent

But first let's speak to Damian who's in Strasbourg.

Quite some exchanges, tough talking all round. Yes on both sides and not

just on the issue of money. The issue of Gibraltar was again raised,

British MEPs, Ukip MEPs said Gibraltar would not be used as a

bargaining chip. A Spanish MEP said it was unacceptable in the 21st

century to have a colony in Europe. And I think that goes to the heart

of some of the concerns, but this is only one week into Brexit

negotiations, real negotiations had not even begun. Parties are just

laying out their stall and the concern is things could get heated

very quickly. And that could make negotiations harder. But in

substance of what just happened today, what we had is the resolution

now from the European Parliament adopting its position towards the

Brexit negotiations. And that is very close to what we already heard

from the European leaders, pretty tough, they are saying that there

has to be agreement in alkaline on the exit, the separation first. That

means settling the bill. Only then can you move onto trade talks. And

in terms of a future negotiation, some tough conditions as well. No

special access for the UK but also if the UK once a close relationship

with the EU in future MEP said that the UK will have to abide by EU

standards on things like climate change, things like labour law and

competition policy for the otherwise they would not approve any deal and

they will have a yes or no vote on any final deal reached with the UK.

Let's get the view from Westminster. Theresa May has been making a few

comments about immigration as well. You will remember immigration was

one of the big issues during the referendum campaign. And as Theresa

May goes into the Brexit negotiations the future policy that

the UK has around immigration is going to be one of the key

questions. That is why the Prime Minister was pushed on the issue by

journalists on a recent overseas trip. Theresa May has said that

curbs on freedom of movement when we leave the EU might not come in

straightaway. That there would need to be some kind of transition period

while the government and also businesses got used to the new

rules. She also emphasised that because of Brexit the UK would get

control of its borders and also its immigration policy. I think her

comments have left open the possibility that freedom of movement

could continue albeit for a short period. It has to be said there is

nothing new in this and the government. No new policy. I think

the tone is interesting, increasingly we are hearing

government ministers use caveats when talking about immigration.

Labour has said Theresa May has been playing down expectations and called

on the government to spell out what a potential transitional deal might

look like. We know that the two years of negotiations have now

started, many have said that the talks are going to be extremely

tough. What we are seeing as big as Theresa May and the government

preparing the ground, showing a bit of give and take, that that might be

needed if the government is to make a success of Brexit.

A "service of hope" has been held to remember those killed and injured

The first driverless vehicle to be tested on Britain's

roads, how will it fare on London's busy streets?

With just 24 hours to go until the Masters, Rory McIlroy

wants to make Augusta feel like his home course,

as he chases an historic grand slam of Major titles.

Thousands of families affected by the benefit cap have been left

with only 50p a week towards their rent, according

A Panorama survey of hundreds of local councils across Britain

discovered that more than 7,500 families had had their weekly

Charities say some families could end up losing their home.

The cuts are part of the government's drive to get

unemployed people into work by capping their benefit payments.

Maria is a single mum of three, she's been capped and her

You are entitled to less housing benefit because of the benefit cap

It just seems so wrong that they can give you the benefit.

Her housing benefit used to cover her rent, now it

has been reduced by ?65 and she is ?700 in arrears.

Her housing association wants to evict her.

Just don't know whether I'm going to have a house next month,

the stress, the worry, it's all hard.

Panorama has spoken to councils across Britain.

67,000 households have been capped so far.

11% have had their housing benefit reduced to just 50p.

The government says those families are still getting ?20,000

a year in other benefits, and that's as much as many

The benefit cap was introduced to try and level up the playing

field between families who are in work and those who are

And fundamentally what we sought to do was incentivise work

because we know the outcomes for children will be

better if they are in families that are working.

If Maria worked for 16 hours she would get her benefits back.

She says she can't because of health and her childcare responsibilities.

She has applied for emergency support and hopes

So you're not prepared to stop repossession proceedings

on the grounds that she paid no payments of the ?65?

Her landlord still plans to evict her.

Maria has an eviction hearing in May but hopes to keep her house.

Charity say other capped families will lose their homes

And you can see Richard's report - Benefits Cap: Is It Working?

- in full tonight on BBC One at 9 o'clock.

Labour's Deputy leader, Tom Watson, has called his party's decision not

to expel Ken Livingstone over his comments about Adolf Hitler

The former Mayor of London was yesterday

Mr Watson has suggested the party is indulging Mr Livingstone,

Let's speak to our correspondent Ellie Price who's at Westminster.

Strong language from Tom Watson, Watmore is he saying? Very strong

language from the deputy leader of the Labour Party. The official line

so far from the Labour Party has been just to acknowledge that the

ruling happened last night. But earlier Tom Watson spoke to the BBC

and had strong words to say. I feel ashamed that once again my party has

been dragged into a row about anti-Semitism and the way that Ken

Livingstone has handled this enquiry, he has showed no

contrition, he has not apologised, he seems to be drunk on his own

infamy. He is caused great offence to many members of the British

Jewish community and those members of the Labour Party who have been

fighting against racism in all its forms and it is unacceptable. Tom

Watson is not be any senior Labour Party member to share such views, we

also heard from the shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer and the

former leader Ed Miliband has said the strength of our response goes

directly to the ability of the Labour Party to be a credible

vehicle to tackle prejudice and hate. In all of its forms. Kelly

gets done is unrepentant, we know he is considering appealing against the

decision. I should say some in the Jewish community have backed Ken

Livingstone and say it is a matter of freedom of speech was not so far

we have not heard anything from Jeremy Corbyn, apart from that

official line from the Labour Party. I think there are fingers pointing

this morning towards Jeremy Corbyn that they want a strong response

from him. He has always said the Labour Party has no place for

anti-Semitism but a strong response I think is required from him and a

suggestion we be that more needs to be done in the party to root out

anti-Semitism. Theresa May says ministers will take

into account the encouragement given by past governments for drivers

to buy diesel cars. Her comments come as more details

emerge about plans to tackle the environmental damage caused

by some diesel engines. Owners of diesel cars have

expressed anger and confusion Our business correspondent

Theo Leggett is with me. A number of cities proposing higher

charges, but many people bought Absolutely. Diesel cars have some

advantages, they are economical, cheap to run and produce less carbon

dioxide than petrol cars. So 15 years ago when the priority was

climate change targets and reducing CO2 it seemed a great idea to

encourage people to buy diesel cars. Tax rates willing to the amount of

CO2 they produced an diesel cars were therefore cheaper. Nowadays the

emphasis is change, we know diesel cars produce a lot of nitrogen

oxides which are bad for health and many particular which also do damage

was that the government has to come amount of CO2 they produced an

diesel cars were therefore cheaper. Nowadays the emphasis has changed,

we know diesel cars produce a lot of nitrogen oxides which are bad for

health and many particulars which also do damage was that the

government has to, but the clean air planned before the end of the month,

to show how it is going to tackle pollution in cities. A great target

would be to reduce the number of diesel cars on the roads. The

problem is how to do that when the government on one hand encouraged

people to buy these cars and now suggesting they should be penalised

for doing so through daily charges and so on. There's been a lot of

talk that the government could mitigate this by introducing some

kind of scrappage scheme, paying people to throw away their old --

the old diesel cars but that would be expensive and also another

problem is many people who own older diesel cars may not have the

financial resources to buy a new one even if it is discounted.

A toddler is in hospital with life-threatening injuries,

after being bitten by a dog in a park in Chatham in Kent.

Neighbours say the victim is a two-year-old girl.

The dog was shot dead by police last night.

How would you feel about about being in a driverless car making your way

Well about 100 people are being given the opportunity

to do just that - test a driverless vehicle for the first

They'll travel in a prototype shuttle along a two mile route,

Our correspondent Fiona Lamdin has been to Greenwich to find out more.

We have every mode of transport here you can imagine. Above us the cable

car, the planes keep going over my head from City Airport. We have

river buses, the tube, the train. And now if I could just show you,

this driverless part. You do not need a driver, basically it works on

sensors and a camera at the front. It is on trial for the next couple

of weeks. If we stop here hopefully the doors will open. Magic. And in

the get. Hello, Nick. Just explain to us, this obviously is a

driverless pods, it goes automatically. But how does it

actually work, seen the censors at the front? It uses a combination of

cameras and lasers to understand where it is and how it needs to

needs to move to get to its destination. Everyone wants to know

how safe it is, if a cat or dog or pedestrian just ran in front of us,

what would happen. We've done a programme test of street and in this

environment to make sure that it behaves

as we expect it to. The cameras and the lasers are picking up all

movement and the vehicle can stop safely that needs to. Well -- we

need to do this research to understand what the public feel

about the future of this technology and then if it is positive we will

see a roll-out of this technology. So you think by 2020 these kind of

vehicles will be everywhere? Maybe not everywhere but we will see them

emerging where it makes no sense and gradually see them flourish. Well

the statistics say that 95% of all car accidents are down to human

error. So the question is, is this a lot safer?

The showjumper Nick Skelton - who became Britain's second-oldest

Olympic gold medallist in Rio last year - is to retire.

Skelton was competing at his seventh Games -

16 years after a broken neck forced his initial retirement.

He will compete for the last time at Windsor next

month on Big Star - the horse with which

He said it was a difficult decision to make but that he wasnt

Returning now to the service of hub at Westminster Abbey two weeks after

the attacks at the Palace of Westminster. Back to Simon McCoy.

Just 200 yards away from where I'm standing, at 2:40pm on March the

22nd two weeks ago, the lives of so many people were changed one way or

another. The injured and those who died. Many of whom their families

were here today at the service of hope and reconciliation. Peter Hunt

is with me now. The fact it was only two weeks ago, it has very much

affected the mood of the service. This was not a memorial service, it

is too early for that, nor a service of remembrance as some funerals have

not yet taken place. It was billed as a service of hope, quite

difficult for some of those most directly affected. I think what it

was was a gathering of all those people most directly affected,

either of the injured or bereaved or indeed those who first responded to

what unfolded close by. The Royal Family, a new generation of the

Royals, very much at the height of the service. Yet inevitably we will

see more of this, the younger generation taking on more of the

load. The Queen or Prince Charles could not be here but this is what

we're going to see more and more with the monarchy. We will see

William, Harry and Kate representing them and indeed Charles and William

have seen some of the injured and responders in hospital for this.

What we are now seeing are these three young Royals meeting some of

those most directly affected. Thank you very much was that those who

lost their lives in the attack very much at the heart of peoples

thoughts at the ceremony. On Monday the funeral of the police officer

who was killed, Keith Palmer, will take place at Southwark Cathedral

and that will be a full police service. So once again the attacker

and what he did will be remembered and in the words of the Dean of

Westminster today, everyone has one question and the question that may

never be answered is, why. Changes in the weather will be slow

in the next few days and that means a lot more dry weather to come and

at times some sunshine. This was the view in Devon this morning, had for

blue skies. It was not like that every word, further north we had

more in the way of cloud and as we go through the next few days there

will be a fair amount of cloud but largely dry and some sunshine, slow

changes until the weekend when things warm up quite dramatically

for some. This is the satellite picture so far today, cloud coming

in from the north-west, the best of the sunshine across southern parts

of England. And that is where we keep the sunshine through the rest

of today, towards the south-east and Channel Islands. Temperatures up to

15 degrees. More cloud developing through the afternoon for East

Anglia and into the Midlands and parts of Wales. For Northern Ireland

the cloud perhaps just big enough for some rain along the north coast.

Similar for the West of Scotland. And where we have sunshine by day

across eastern Scotland, we will have clear spells overnight and also

across parts of Wales and the south-west. It could get cold enough

in these areas for some frost. But temperatures elsewhere are holding

up well. Tomorrow we start off cloudy, some bricks in the cloud,

and then as we go through the day some breaks elsewhere. So you could

see some sunshine but equally the odd shower for the West of Scotland

and Northern Isles. Friday, another largely dry day with spells of

sunshine in some places. Generally quite a lot of cloud but then we get

to the weekend. High pressure has been bringing us dry weather and

might make it a little bit chilly on Friday night. But into the weekend

we begin to draw in these southerly winds. That will waft warm air

across many parts of the country so temperatures are going to begin to

climb. A decent looking day on Saturday, some patchy cloud and

smell the sunshine with thick cloud and the odd spot of rain. Easily 15,

16 degrees. And then on Sunday a glorious sunny day across England

and Wales. Some cloud and rain in the north-west. And a little bit

cooler here but further south, high teens and no 20s, up to 23 in the

south-east. Slow changes initially and then warming up quite

dramatically for the weekend.