17/01/2018 BBC News at One

Labour accuses the government

of negligence following the collapse

of the construction giant Carillion.

There were angry exchanges

in the Commons, as it emerges

the company owed more

than £1 billion.

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?

I might first of all remind

the right honourable gentleman that

a third of the Carillion contracts

with the government were let

by the Labour government.

As the scale of Carillion's

debts become clear, we'll

hear from businesses

and have the latest

from Westminster.

Also this lunchtime.

More than one in ten nurses

is leaving the NHS in England every

year and more people are now leaving

the profession than joining it.

Clearing a path through

the winter weather.

Heavy snow causes traffic disruption

in many parts of the UK.

The cricketer Ben Stokes will be

considered for selection

for England's Twenty20 series next

month even though he's been

charged with affray.

The Bayeux Tapestry could leave

France for the first time

in nearly 1,000 years and be

loaned to Britain.

And coming up in the sport on BBC

News, British number two Kyle Edmund

hails his new-found confidence

as he breezes into the third

round of the Australian Open

for the first time in his career.

Good afternoon and welcome

to the BBC News at One.

Theresa May has come under pressure

in Parliament this lunchtime over

the future of the collapsed services

and construction giant Carillion.

The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

accused the government

of being negligent.

The Prime Minister said

she understood it's a difficult time

for people worried about their jobs.

Documents seen by the BBC show

Carillion had £29 million in cash

but owed more than £1.3 billion

to its banks.

Here's our business

correspondent Simon Gompertz.

Prime Minister, while the contract

awarded to Carillion despite the

warnings? As people depending on

Carillion await anxiously to hear

about their jobs, the Prime Minister

was being put under pressure over

the government's role in the

collapse.

These corporations, Mr Speaker,

need to be shown the door.

We need our public services

provided by public employees

with a public service ethos

and a strong public oversight.

As the ruins of Carillion lie

around her, will the Prime Minister

act to end of this costly

racket of the relationship

between government and some

of these companies?

I might first of all remind

the Right Honourable gentleman that

a third of the Carillion contracts

with the government were let

by the Labour government.

What we want...

What we want is to provide

good quality public

services, delivered at best

value to the taxpayer.

We are 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.

With the blame game kicking off,

more detail has emerged about the

dire financial state that Carillion

was in. This multi-billion pound

business had just £29 million in

cash when it went under on Monday.

Set against that was £1.3 billion of

debt, a figure which rises above 2

billion when other money owed to

banks are taken into account. This

senior insolvency expert says

dealing with the Carillion mess is

an unprecedented challenge.

If

someone is owed money by Carillion,

and is hoping they would get that

back from the official receiver,

what hope do they have?

This is one

of the biggest insolvencies I've

come across in my career. I can't

stress enough how terrible the whole

situation is because actually

individual subcontractors will

probably have to wait years before

they will even know definitively

whether they will see that may

receive anything or not.

The jitters

as budding. This morning the share

price of in server dropped sharply

sharply and as cleaning and other

service contract with government and

later the Cabinet Office said it

wasn't in a com bubble position.

This flooring business in Hampshire

told today how it had narrowly

avoided being taken down by

Carillion by deciding to refuse work

without being paid upfront.

Eventually it does become the

principal thing. When it's your own

business and your own money, it

kicks in the principle of no, you

won't to does like this. We'd jump

through hoops to do your work and

the work is done to a good standard.

So pay me when you need to pay me.

One positive sign for phones is nine

in ten of Carillion's private sector

customers have indicated to the

insolvency service they will provide

funding so workers can continue to

be paid.

Our Assistant political editor

Norman Smith is in Westminster.

Do you think anyone employed by

Carillion or associated, watching

PMQs today, will feel any more

reassured?

I'm afraid I think they

will have felt pretty frustrated by

PMQs, because we didn't really get

much more clarity or detail in

particular about the plight of those

9000 or so Carillion occurs who

worked in the private sector and of

course those many thousands who work

in smaller companies in the supply

chain whose jobs are not guaranteed

and, at times, it became a fairly

predictable political slugfest

between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa

May. Jeremy Corbyn citing the

collapse of Carillion as evidence of

what he said was a broken system

whereby public services had been

contracted out to these huge private

sector companies, saying that

companies like capita, the virgin

Stagecoach, which runs the East

Coast line, they should be shown the

door and under a Labour government

public services would be run by

public employees with a public

service ethos and under public

oversight. Theresa May said he is

just anti-private sector and citing

the example of previous Labour

governments who had given Carillion

contracts. So you are left with the

sense that for many, many Carillion

workers, really the anxiety and the

sheer uncertainty I'm afraid

continues.

Norman, thank you.

More than one in ten nurses

is leaving the NHS in England every

year and significantly more people

are quitting the profession

than joining it.

That's according to figures

provided by NHS Digital,

as part of an in-depth look

at nursing by the BBC

in the year the NHS turns 70.

Nursing leaders are calling

the numbers a dangerous

and downward spiral,

but the government says

measures are being taken

to retain experienced staff.

Our Health Correspondent

Dominic Hughes is at

Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Yes, good afternoon a full service

becoming increasingly clear that

nursing is a profession under

pressure, not just the difficulties

in managing what looks like quite a

hard winter for the health service,

but in the longer term a more

fundamental issue of trying to

persuade experienced nurses to stay

in what is, at times, quite a

demanding role and as we can see,

for some, everyday stresses and

strains have proved just too much.

She became a nurse to help people,

excited at the prospect

of making a difference,

but in the end, the job

overwhelmed Mary Trevelyan.

I would still often end up

in tears during a shift

because there was just so much

pressure and stress.

A never-ending list of things to do,

guilt over not having enough time

to care for patients.

Stress led to depression, and Mary

has had to leave the job she loved.

I want to be a great

nurse and I want to give

my patients my best,

but I feel that I can't

do that at the moment

because we're just too

short-staffed, too busy.

There's far too many

things for us to be doing.

We've analysed the number of nurses

working in the NHS in England.

Last year, more than

33,000 nurses walked away

from their health-service jobs.

That's a 20% rise, compared to four

years ago, and leavers

outnumber new-joiners.

And almost one in four

of those leavers

are relatively young

- under 30.

All of this has potentially serious

implications for a sustainable

nursing profession.

Well, this is incredibly worrying

because this is a time when we're

meant to be recruiting extra nurses

because of the vacancies

we've already got.

As well as planning really

for increased demand

on health care in the future,

we should really be training many,

many more nurses, and so we should

have been for the last few years.

Many nurses are thinking about,

or have already left the profession,

and that's just one reason why

so many hospitals are struggling

to recruit properly trained staff.

And yet, the Government tells us

that thousands more nurses

are working in the NHS today

than there were in 2010.

In order to retain staff,

to keep them on the books, they need

to give them new opportunities.

And that's what nurses like

Sarah Dalby are making the most of.

She's now able to perform surgery,

thanks to specialist training -

developing new skills that

are taking her a long way

from the traditional nursing role.

I think it's always nice

to have an option to develop

into another pathway,

or another opportunity,

if that's what you want to do.

It's not for everyone.

Because nursing's so varied.

And it is a real

privilege to be a nurse.

We care for patients at such

a vulnerable time in their lives.

And it's challenging,

certainly challenging at the moment,

but that doesn't deviate from how

rewarding it is as a career.

Mary has not turned her back

on nursing altogether.

Like some of her friends, she's now

thinking of working abroad.

But today's NHS is not for her,

and many other nurses appear to be

reaching a similar conclusion.

Big as one

dog in

place to

promote

Drivers are promote

being warned to avoid

some sections of the M74 in Dumfries

and Galloway after heavy snow forced

hundreds of motorists to spend

the night in their cars.

Mountain rescue teams were sent

to help people who were stuck;

Traffic Scotland say gritters had

been working to clear routes,

but efforts were hampered

by jack-knifed lorries.

Our Scotland Correspondent

Lorna Gordon is in

Abington in Lanarkshire.

Motorists faced treacherous

conditions. The line of traffic here

slowing to a standstill. Stranding

drivers. Some were stuck for hours.

Well, I've been on the go from half

past one yesterday. But not a what

you can do about it. But you just

think in this day and age that these

things shouldn't happen.

A lot of

idiots going too fast. Steady, but

it was getting worse. So I chose to

stop here and now I am going to

Glasgow.

Mountain rescue teams were

turned from the hills to the roads,

checking that drivers were safe.

We

were called in by Police Scotland is

to go and check the welfare for the

people in the vehicles that had been

their book quite a serious period of

time. So it was our job to go and

check the welfare, make sure they

were OK.

With the conditions so bad

overnight, those that could got off

the motorway and parked up where it

was safe. This stretch of the 74 is,

for now, open once again. But the

weather is deteriorating and the

snow is continuing to fall. These

pictures from North Lanarkshire show

just how challenging driving in the

snow and ice can be. One lorry

driver struggling to maintain

control. Throughout the country, the

critters were out, clearing routes.

But all the schools in the Borders,

and many elsewhere throughout

Scotland, were closed because of the

snow. Many schoolchildren in

Northern Ireland are also missing

classes, where nearly 300 schools

had been shot for the day. Hundreds

of homes there remain without power.

Some places have had more than a

foot of snow. The views are

stunning. But there are warnings of

more bad weather, snow and ice to

come. Well, while we have been on

air, the police have been down this

stretch of road, checking on drivers

here. The police further South in

Dumfries and Galloway say without

further weather warning, they expect

to be at full stretch again tonight.

Lauder, thank you very much. Lorna

Gordon.

A court has heard that

a man kidnapped two women

and cut their throats,

before leaving one of

them dead in a freezer

in a disused house.

Mujahid Arshid, from

Kingston in South London,

is facing multiple charges,

including the rape and murder

of 20-year-old Celine

Dookhran, which he denies.

Jon Donnison is following

the case at the Old Bailey.

Very distressing case, what has the

jury been told.

20-year-old Celine

Dookhran was the niece. The

prosecution alleged that in July

last year, he kidnapped Selena and

another young woman who cannot be

named for legal reasons. They were

bound and gagged, allegedly, and he

took them to a vacant property he

had been working on as a builder in

south-west London and the

prosecution alleged that there, he

raped and he slit their throats.

Salim died, the second woman was

able to talk Mujahid Arshid into

letting her go -- three died. She

then went on to alert police. A

second man also appeared in court.

28 years old. He is accused of

assisting M Arshid in initial

kidnapping. Both men denied the

charges.

Thank you.

The time is 13:16.

Our top story this lunchtime:

Labour accuses the Government of

negligence, following the collapse

of the construction giant Carillion.

The Prime Minister says

it's a 'difficult time'

And still to come:

As the Royal Air Force

celebrates its centenary, we hear

from one of the last surviving

Dambusters.

Had I had my time over again, I

would do the same again.

Coming up in the sport: Eddie Jones

signs a new deal to stay

as England's rugby union

Head Coach until 2021,

but no longer.

The RFU says a successor will be

named a year prior to his departure.

The Catalan Parliament has

opened for the first time

since the regional separatist

government was dismissed

in October, for attempting

to break away from Spain.

Three separatist parties

are now trying to re-form

a coalition government,

following the snap

elections in December.

But there's controversy

around plans to re-install

Carles Puigdemont as President,

if he remains in self-imposed

exile in Brussels.

Our Europe reporter,

Gavin Lee, is in Barcelona.

Well, the separatist parties who'd

just gave you months ago were

dismissed from government, about to

reshape, forming a coalition, but we

are hearing today is that the

opening of Parliament, Carles

Puigdemont is about to be put

forward to be the potential leader

again. From 800,000 weight in

Oldham. I spent the last few days

working out where the Catalan crisis

is going next. -- from 800 miles

away in Belgium.

The Catalan Parliament,

where the only official business

for the last two months has been

clearing the cobwebs.

Standing empty since being shut down

by the Spanish Government,

following the attempt of separatist

regional leaders here to break away.

And in the snap elections

in December, no party

gained a majority.

Today is the opening of Parliament,

and separatist parties

are being given the formal mandate

to try to form a coalition.

And they're also expected to propose

the ex-President, Carles Puigdemont,

as their leader again.

Only, he won't be sitting

here as usual, because he's

in self-imposed exile in Belgium.

But his party says he can lead,

even if he's 800 miles away.

It can work, as it works

in any other country.

I mean, the President

of the United States does not lead

from each and every city and every

village of the United States.

Critics of Carles Puigdemont

say that he's putting

himself above the law.

He's wanted, to face allegations

of sedition and rebellion.

Wouldn't it be better for the party,

for him, to come to Spain,

to Catalonia, and face

what he has to face?

He already faced justice.

He went to Brussels as a free man,

because when he went to Belgium,

or he travelled to Belgium,

no charges were made against him.

And that's why they remain

in Belgium, because the Spanish

justice cannot grant them

a fair trial.

The Catalan region is still

being ruled by Madrid,

using emergency powers they enforced

after the separatists' illegal

declaration of independence.

The Spanish Government says those

measures will stay in place

if Carles Puigdemont tries

to rule from afar.

The question is so serious

that we cannot take that as a joke.

But unfortunately,

it looks like a joke.

It looks like a hologram,

a political hologram will take

a place in politics.

And this is affecting

the life of people.

So I think there is no possibility -

out of normal and real politics -

to have a virtual President

of any institution at all.

CROWD CHANTS.

The Catalan Parliament has two weeks

to propose the next leader.

And in contrast to the sound

and fury of the recent months

of protest and political discontent,

there's now a visible -

if temporary - period of calm,

as the next, more formal stage

of the crisis plays out.

And the obvious question is, can

Carles Puigdemont rule from Belgium?

He has said today he would be in a

position to do so. But he has kept a

very low profile, avoiding all major

interviews.

Thank you.

Hundreds of the most vulnerable

victims of crime are being prevented

from testifying in court in England

and Wales because of a shortage

of experts to help them give

evidence, according to a report

from the Victims' Commissioner,

Baroness Newlove.

Here's our legal affairs

correspondent, Clive Coleman.

Giving evidence in criminal

cases can be intimidating

for ordinary adults,

but for the young

and the vulnerable,

it can be truly daunting.

That's where registered

intermediaries come in.

They're specialists

in communication, who work in some

of the most distressing cases

involving vulnerable

victims and witnesses.

We worked with a boy who was really

reluctant to speak, but loved anime.

And so we made body maps

that were anime figures.

And he was able to show different

parts of his body that had been

touched, using those drawings.

And I don't think he would have

done that verbally,

or without that preparation.

A report by the Victims'

Commissioner, Lady Newlove,

has uncovered deep concerns

about the intermediaries scheme.

It found in 250 cases a year,

vulnerable people were not

getting an intermediary.

Provision's inconsistent

across England and Wales.

Getting an intermediary

is five times more likely

in Cumbria than in London,

risking a postcode Lottery.

And there are delays averaging four

weeks in matching victims

with intermediaries.

Registered intermediaries can make

the difference between justice

delivered and justice denied.

That's why some believe that

what has thus far been

a scheme should now be built

into the criminal justice system

as a full-blown national service.

For me, this is professionalising

their role, and if we had a national

lead who would gain all that

information, would match them,

we wouldn't find that inconsistency

that this review is finding.

And actually, then they could put

a report into Parliament,

recognise the role even further.

And of course, if they need more,

there is one unit that would say,

we need more, and we've got the data

to prove it.

The Government says intermediaries

are vital in helping vulnerable

victims and witnesses,

and that's why it recently doubled

the size of the registered

intermediaries scheme.

But it welcomes the report, which it

says it will carefully consider.

Clive Coleman, BBC News.

Ben Stokes will be considered

for England selection,

after being charged with affray,

following a fight outside a Bristol

nightclub last year.

Our sports correspondent,

Joe Wilson, is at Lord's.

What are people saying about this

announcement?

Well, in some ways, I

think this is a surprise. A lot of

people, I had assumed that the ECB

would allow for the criminal

proceedings to unfold to reach a

conclusion before they considered

Ben Stokes to be available for

selection for England. We know that

he has been charged by the CPS with

affray so he will appear before

magistrates, it is likely there will

be some for -- sort of trial. The

ECB is saying nobody knows how long

the criminal the seedings will take

to reach their proceedings. They say

it is not fair or proportionate to

stop Ben Stokes playing for England,

so he will fly out to New Zealand to

be available for Twenty20

International is next month. He has

already been in New Zealand playing

domestic cricket in Canterbury and

the ECB have said they have no

objection to him potentially playing

cricket in the IPL in India in the

spring. I think the ECB are thinking

in that context, can we wait a long

period before Ben Stokes is

available to us? And in terms of

practicality, it Ben Stokes had gone

out of the Ashes, he would have

faced so much media scrutiny and

attention in New Zealand, and that

level will be far less there.

Thank

you. Jo Wilson, at Lord's.

It's one of the most famous flying

teams in British history.

75 years after carrying out

the daring Dambusters raid,

the RAF's 617 Squadron

is being reformed,

as the Royal Air Force

celebrates its centenary.

Sophie Raworth has been to meet

a veteran who played a major part

in the Dambusters raid.

Amazing aircraft, that, isn't it?

Absolutely.

George Johnny Johnson -

he's 96 years old and the last

surviving British member

of World War II's

famous Dambusters raid.

He joined the RAF in 1940,

one of many teenagers who signed up

to fight for their country.

He says it was thrilling.

I felt I was actually doing

something useful, and doing it well.

It was 75 years ago this May that

617 Squadron took off

in their Lancaster bombers,

on their mission immortalised

in the Dambusters film,

to attack dams in Germany's

industrial heartland

using Barnes Wallis' bouncing bombs.

The planes Johnny Johnson flew

are a world away from the aircraft

used by the RAF nowadays and he's

fascinated, not just

by the technology on board,

but also, by the pilots learning

to fly them.

I can't understand any of it.

I wouldn't know where to begin.

It's a complete stranger.

But, er, it's not a Lancaster.

I've always wanted to do it

since the age of four...

Flying Officer Stephanie Searle

is one of the RAF's newest pilots,

in awe of the stories from the past.

I hope I can measure up

to it, to be honest.

Where I've been lucky enough

to choose this role for myself,

they were thrusted into it,

and they just took to it and did

the best they could.

Johnny Johnson was one

of 133 men who took part

in the Dambusters raid.

53 of them never came home.

He still remembers

that night vividly.

I shall never forget that Dams raid.

The highlight of that trip, for me,

was as we came home,

our route was over what had been

the Mohne Dam, and we knew by radio

broadcast that it had been breached.

There was water everywhere.

It's gone, we've done it!

That raid remains, to this day,

one of the most famous

in the Air Force's history.

So, as the RAF celebrates

its centenary, his advice

to the next generation?

Whatever you do, do it

to the best of your ability.

You'll find it makes you happy.

Had I had my time over again,

I would do the same again,

and hope to get the same happiness

and enjoyment out of it that I did

for those 22 years I served.

I have to say thank

you to the Royal Air Force

for providing that life for me.

It was a wonderful

life, it really was.

What a remarkable man!

For the first time in

nearly a thousand years,

the Bayeux Tapestry could be

displayed in Britain.

The French President,

Emmanuel Macron, is expected

to confirm the loan of the famous

work - which depicts

the Norman Conquest of England

in the 11th Century -

when he meets Theresa May tomorrow.

Tests will need to be carried out

to ensure the fragile roll

of embroidered linen can be safely

moved from the museum

in northern France where

it is currently housed.

Robert Hall has the details.

It is 70 metres long, it shows one

of the most important periods in our

history and yet, this is the closest

that most of us can get to the

Bayeux Tapestry. Occupying an entire

floor of Reading city Museum is an

exact replica of the original,

painstakingly created Elizabeth Ward

all and 35 ladies of the leak

embroidery society in the 1880s. It

took them a year, probably the same

time as the leaving of the real

tapestry in Canterbury in the 11th

century. It tells the story leading

up to William the Conqueror's

invasion of England in 1066. We save

this 600 people, 700 animals and

famously, the death of King Harold

at Hastings. When French rule ended,

it went back to France and there, it

stayed. But now with the museum in

Bayeux scheduled for a major

renovation, there is an opportunity

for the French government to make a

gesture of friendship by breaking a

sentry's old tradition. This is

about formalising a really important

collaboration with institutions like

the British Museum.

The British

Library and English Heritage. In

order to study and participate in

the renovation of our museum.

Although the loan may be two years

away, discussions have already taken

place as to how this delicate and

priceless exhibit can be transported

and displayed.

Bayeux museum is

being refurbished. It is hoped to

exhibit the Bayeux Tapestry in a

different way, so there is a window

of opportunity, the tapestry will be

conserved and during that window in

about 2022, there is an opportunity

for the tapestry to leave France and

to come to the United Kingdom to be

displayed here.

There will

undoubtedly be fierce competition

over whether tapestry will be shown.

Should it be London, or Canterbury,

the city where the Norman Bishop Odo

first commissioned it? A lot to

agree, but the significance of this

gesture cannot be under estimated.

We were hearing plenty about the

weather earlier. A forecast now

wherever you are in the country.

Here's Susan Powell.

School has been out for many and

that has been an excuse for some for

fun, a gorgeous snowman built here.

For many, the situation is serious

and snow and ice continue to be a

hazard across parts of Scotland and

Northern England. The weather itself

becomes, in the next few hours.

Showers easing, some coming in and

the wind becoming lighter and many

areas seeing the afternoon sunshine.

Despite that, with the wind, it

still feels cold. This is the calm

before the storm, I am afraid. A

deep area of low pressure across the

British Isles later this evening and

overnight. Bringing widespread

gales. But also perhaps more

concerning Greek, further snow.

Rain, sleet and snow for Northern

Ireland into the small hours and a

focus for Southern Scotland and

Northern England once again. The Met

Office had issued an amber warning

for the weather. Perhaps the worst

of it is a way for the morning rush

hour. This is six a:m., before many

get up and about, still very

difficult weather across the North

East. Blizzard conditions

potentially and drifting snow.

Further South, a windy start and a

fine start across the South East and

East Anglia. The south-west of

England, strong winds and high tides

could get problems on Thursday.

Particularly with a risk of coastal

flooding. Scattered showers first

thing in Wales, in risk of ice as

temperatures dipped through the

small hours. A risk of ice in

Northern Ireland and Scotland first

thing on Thursday and wintry showers

for Northern Ireland. 6am in

Scotland, clear skies, like winds

across the Northern half and a very

different story to what we have seen

in recent days. That low moves

through and by the time the majority

are up by eight a:m., it it is into

Germany. And Thursday, back to

square one, a chilly wind, a little

lighter, still showers, but a chilly

quite a lot of winter sunshine.

Temperature is deceptive, these are

the thermometer values and with the

wind, it feels closer to freezing.

Ryder, similar story, chilly wind

and a decent amount of winter

sunshine. The outlook for the next

couple of days, remains distinctly

wintry, but the flag up that risk of

severe weather later on this evening

and overnight. Strong winds across a

large portion of the British Isles

and that snow in Southern Scotland

and Northern England once again.

and that snow in Southern Scotland

and Northern England once again.

Thank you.

A reminder of our main

story this lunchtime:

Angry exchanges in the Commons as it

emerges that build construction

company Carillion owed more than £1

billion. Labour accuses the

Government of negligence.

As the

ruins of Carillion lie around her,

will the Prime Minister acted to end

this costly racket of the

relationship between government and

some of these companies?

I might

first of all remind the Right

Honourable gentleman that a third of

the Carillion contracts with that

comment were created by the Labour

government.

That's all from the BBC News at One.

So it's goodbye from me.