24/04/2012 BBC News at Six

Calls for the Culture Secretary to resign as the close links between

the Murdoch empire and the Government are revealed. James

Murdoch, the former boss of News International is questioned at

length at the Leveson Inquiry about his family's influence. In

particular, an e-mail trail linking Jeremy Hunt to the Murdochs' during

a controversial bid to takeover BSkyB.

Do you think it is appropriate Mr Murdoch that here you are getting

confidential information as to what is going on at a high level in

Government? I think - I think - what I was

concerned here was the substance with what was being communicated.

Tonight, Downing Street says it has full confidence in the Culture

Secretary. We'll have the latest. Also on tonight's programme: The

MI6 spy found dead in a sports holdall. The inquest is shown a

police reconstruction of the scene. Accused of "social cleansing", the

London council trying to re-house families 160 miles away.

The best opportunity to solve the mystery of Madeleine McCann. The

man leading the British investigation says he will find out

what happened. make a difference and of course, we

are here to try and bring closure for the familiar lip.

And heading towards �500,000, the charity donations just keep pouring

in for Claire Squires, the woman who died running the London

No fear in the Nou Camp. Chelsea will attack Barcelona tonight as

they bid to reach the Champions Good evening.

Welcome to the BBC News at Six. The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt,

is facing calls to resign tonight after links between the Murdoch

empire and the Government came under intense scrutiny today at the

Leveson Inquiry into press standards. James Murdoch, the

former chairman of News International, has been repeatedly

asked about his dealings with Jeremy Hunt who was responsible for

the final decision on the controversial BSkyB takeover that

News Corp was so keen to win. Tonight though Downing Street says

it has full confidence in the Culture Secretary. Nick Witchell

reports. This report contains flash photography.

The company which he once led has been accuse. Accuse. Ed of having

too close a relationship with individuals. The suggestion is that

there was too close a relationship with the office of a Cabinet

Minister. In court at the the Royal Courts of

Justice, Mr Murdoch stepped forward to give evidence under oath.

I swear by almighty god that the evidence I shall give give shall be

the hole truth and nothing but the truth.

He was taken to phone hacking and time and again, he claimed

ignorance of scale of wrongdoing at the company he headed. This isn't

was not what I was told at the time. That is not what they communicated

to me. And that was it on phone hacking.

The former executive chairman either couldn't remember or claimed

ignorance. And then to the question of News International's political

political links and to the company's bid in 2010 to take

control of BSkyB television. It should have been the crowning

moment of James Murdoch's career and it seemed to be going so well.

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, had been relieved of responsibility

for the decision after making unguarded remarks. Two days after

that, Mr Murdoch found himself at a pre-Christmas dinner at the home of

of brooks of Rebekah Brooks. One of the guests was David Cameron. So

had he discussed the BSkyB bid with the Prime Minister? I hoped that

things would be dealt with in a way that was appropriate and judicial.

The crucial figure now for News International was Jeremy Hunt, the

Culture Secretary. He had a legal obligation to act impartially. The

picture that emerged at the inquiry was of of a ministerial office that

was in contact with News International. Counsel quoted from

e-mails from the the office of Jeremy Hunt. JH believed we were in

about the Secretary of State's current view, aren't you? Listen, I

think this - I think - it is a private view. I think they are just

saying calm down. Yet counsel pointed out that Jeremy

Hunt was acting in a judicial capacity, deciding whether the News

International bid could proceed. He was a judge. This judge arguably I

will put it as low as I can, was in contact through his special adviser.

So you were having covert interactions with him.

I never saw them as covert and I would have expected his advisers

were communicating with other parties around this transaction as

well. In another e-mail, the News

International executive, Frederic Michel, said he obtained a copy of

what Mr Hunt would be telling the House of Commons the following day.

Managed to get some infoe on the plans for tomorrow. Brackets, but

absolutely illegal. What do you make of that? I thought

it was a joke. I thought the greater than and the exclamation

mark is a wink. Tonight as James Murdoch departed

from the High Court, Downing Street said the Prime Minister had full

confidence in Jeremy Hunt. For his part, Mr Hunt declined to comment.

Sorry, I am not going to say In the past hour the Labour leader,

Ed Miliband, has said that the Culture Secretary must resign.

Jeremy Hunt should have been standing up for the interests of

the British people. It turns out that he was standing up for the

interests of the mur docks. He should resign. He said his duty was

to be transparent and impartial and fair. Now we know he was providing

advice, guidance and privileged access to News Corporation. He was

being a back channel for the Murdochs. He cannot stay in his

post and if he refuses to resign, the Prime Minister must show

leadership and fire him. Robert Peston is at the Royal

Courts of Justice where the Leveson Inquiry is being held and our

political editor Nick Robinson is in Westminster for us tonight,

first Robert. Now damaging is it? Well, look in all my years of

reporting on the relationship between business and Government, I

what we saw at the Leveson Inquiry this afternoon because the veil was

drawn back on how what was then and arguably still is the most powerful

media organisation in the UK was lobbying to get what it wanted

which was full control of BSkyB. Now the the reason this is mine

might for the Government is because Jeremy Hunt was supposed to be

playing a judicial role in adjudicating on that bid. He was

supposed, as Nick Witchell said, to be completely impartial and yet, e-

mail after e-mail from the director of public affairs at News

Corporation, is suggesting the Government is giving lots of help

to BSkyB in the form of very valuable and frankly confidential

information which at one stage Mr Frederic Michel describes as

illegal in terms of the fact that they have got it. It is an

astonishing thing for him to say and e-mail after e-mail which

suggests Mr Hunt is very supportive. The e-mails are backed up by text

from Mr Hunt's special adviser, a man called Adam Smith. That's why

many people believe if Mr Hunt is going to survive, his special

adviser, Adam Smith, may have to quit.

Nick Robinson, what is your Secretary stands tonight? Well, it

is clear where he thinks he stands and it is clear clear where the

Prime Minister thinks he stands. Jeremy Hunt told the Prime Minister

and has his backing we're told, that he and his his political

adviser have done nothing wrong. They say the evidence presented

before the Leveson Inquiry is inaccurate. That it reports

situations, it reports contexts that simply did not take place. And

Mr Hunt, the Culture Secretary, is approaching the Leveson Inquiry in

saying that he wants to give his side of the story on oath, in front

of the judge and to do it as soon as possible. Politicians were due

to be called before this inquiry, but not for a few weeks. Mr Hunt is

give a detailed account of the way that he behaved in front of the

inquiry. And what he will say, I'm told, is simple - that at every

stage he followed independent advice so however bad those e-mails

and texts look, however much of a smell people allege there is, Mr

The inquest into the death of a spy working for MI6 has been shown a

video of the crime scene taken of the bathroom where the body of

Gareth Williams was found locked inside a red sports bag which was

lying in the bath. Our security correspondent, Gordon Corera,

The first police pictures from inside Gareth Williams' flat taken

soon after he died in August 2010. They show the room where a woman's

wig was found, also discovered there was a newspaper story he kept

featuring regrets people expressed just before they died. Gareth

Williams was a brilliant mathematician who worked for the

communications intelligence agency, GCHQ before being seconded to MI6.

This police computer model moves through the building, showing the

spare room where 20,000 worth of top bathroom. In the bath is the

red sports bag found by police. They said Gareth Williams' naked

body was inside the bag. There was no sign he had struggled to get out.

Underneath him was a set of keys for the lock, but the lag's zips

were pad padlocked on the outside. Police say they did find find

traces of someone else's DNA on the lock. The coroner went so far as

taking hold of a replica sports bag to see just how difficult it would

be to manipulate and lock it from the inside and the senior police

officer in charge of the investigation said that from early

on, she thought someone else was involved.

Also released today were new CCTV pictures showing Gareth Williams

out shopping the day before he died. Police say there is no sign he was

being followed. One of Gareth Williams' oldest friends hold the

inquest today she did not think he dressed up in woman's clothes and

thought they were gifts. The coming days will see further forensic

evidence and testimony from Gareth Williams' former colleagues in the

A council in London says it can no longer afford to provide social

housing for some of its poorest residents because of a new cap on

housing benefit. Newham Council says it has contacted other parts

of the UK to see if they can find homes for 500 families. The

Government has accused the Labour run authority of "playing politics".

Our Government housing policies forcing thousands of families to

pack up and move out of the capital?

Amid accusations of social cleansing, it emerge that had

Newham Council is one among a number of London boroughs looking

to re-house residents hundreds of miles away because soaring rents

and a cap on housing benefit will mean they can't afford to keep them

in the city. We have approached lots and lots of

housing associations across the country because the truth is that

there are few aword football properties -- affordable properties

for people here on benefit because of changes.

The squeeze on payments are seeking home seekers move to areas like

Newham putting additional pressure on a borough where Olympic

regeneration is already said to be pushing up rents.

I'm thinking of moving out because it is getting expensive every day.

REPORTER: You are thinking of moving out? I may have to.

It will have to be capped because a lot of people are claiming that

shouldn't be claiming. The Government insists by making

essential cuts to a housing benefit bill that topped �20 billion, rents

are being forced down and there is no need for councils to uproot

families. Newham need to think again. They need to stop

frightening tenants and stop publishing those politically

motivated press releases. Cap on housing benefit puts a limit

on how much the State will fund. In Newham, rents in the borough are

advertised between �800 and �1500 a month, apparently within the cap.

Critics say it is not that simple. The evidence is that private rents

here in Newham are rising faster than inflation and a lot faster

than local wages. Demand outstrips supply for affordable homes and

even if there are properties that fall below the housing benefit cap,

that doesn't mean that landlords will be prepared to offer them to

welfare claimants. The issue that we are seeing now is the impact of

Government cuts coming through meaning that the number of people

having to be housed is larger, and also meaning that what can be

afforded with the money that is there is less.

in London, the Government is hoping to kick start a massive building

programme, but many experts warn thousands of hard-working families

Methodical, rigorous and a man who doesn't make promises he can't keep.

That is how the Labour leader Ed Miliband described himself today.

He conceded he had a long way to go before people see him as Prime

Minister but said his party now had the chance to be heard. In the

second of three interviews with the main parties in Westminster ahead

of the local elections in England, Nick Robinson went to talk to Ed

Miliband. Wow! How fantastic! It is not hard

to see why Ed Miliband might be so excited. A few weeks ago, many were

writing him off. Now some are beginning to wonder whether he

might just be our next Prime Minister. Today he told me he had

learned to ignore the ups and downs of being opposition leader. On a

visit to Reading College, he told me he knew he still had a long way

to go. Let me ask your what I've call the serious serial Prime

Minister -- -- but as packet question. What will Ed Miliband do

as Prime Minister? He will make the economy work for working people,

not just the people at the top. Before the elections next week, he

is highlighting what Labour could do without spending more money.

Like reversing the planned freeze in pensioners' allowances. Shell a

positive view? What is her name? Is that your daughter? Jenny, how are

you? It is Ed Miliband! These two are hand-picked Labour voters. So I

asked him, is he really ready to tell the public anything difficult

that they do not already know? of people want us to promise that

we would reverse the cuts this Government has made. We cannot do

that. Why? Because we can only make promises we can afford, and I think

that is a fairer nothing for us to say. What are you going to reverse?

I will tell you at the election on what we can or cannot reverse.

you give us one thing where, you might not give a toss straight away

but you can say, we will do this. That is something we have to talk

about at the election. Ed Miliband believes voters have had enough of

politicians and their promises. It makes him hard to be exciting. I

asked him why he did not now pledged increased taxes on the

which? Of course we set out our tax plans but the right time to do it...

Maybe this is something about me as a person. Methodical, rigorous, not

making promises I cannot keep. Talking about the big issues that

matter to our country. The danger of that is it is not very exciting,

so people see the French presidential candidate saying, tax

the wealthy, it is moral. But Ed Miliband says, I cannot tell you

now. I am not saying that. Labour leader believes this is his

moment of opportunity but he is still dogged by one problem. Which

is he? Could we get a photo with David? Hello, Ed Miliband. Nice to

meet you! You have been in the Doctor Who years. Should people not

know which brother you are? happens to both of us! Should Ed

Miliband be to head to Number Ten, this is that year he must make a

clear impression on the electorate. Our top story: Calls for the

Culture Secretary to resign as the close links between the Murdoch

empire and the Government are revealed.

And coming up, we are live in Greenwich in London because five

years after fire swept through her, the Cutty Sark has been reborn.

Later on the BBC News Channel, we look at the latest public sector

borrowing figures and what they mean for the economy.

And Tesco fight back, reclaiming some of the market share it lost to

The man leading the British investigation into the

disappearance of Madeleine McCann five years ago says he has the best

opportunity yet of solving the mystery of what happened to Ravel

stop Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood has spoken for the first

time to Panorama about his review of the case. His team is made up of

35 people who are sifting through 40,000 pieces of evidence, and so

far it has cost the taxpayer �2 million.

Next week, Madeleine McCann will have been missing for five years.

The facts have not changed. She went to bed in this holiday

apartment. Her parents say when they went to check on her, she was

gone. But now a new police team is searching for her and it is British.

This is the first time the lead investigator has spoken publicly.

We are here in terms of seeking to bring closure to this case. That

would be the ultimate objective for us and is our ultimate objective.

What does that mean? That means establishing what happened to

Madeleine McCann. Solving it? of course. Madeleine's parents, who

continued to campaign for missing people, have wanted a campaign for

years. It has taken the pressure off knowing the police are involved.

It is a great step for us. By there is a problem. Only the Portuguese

police can reopen the case and in Portugal, the view is less

supportive of the McCann family. Four months after the disappearance

of their daughter, Kate and Gerry McCann were made suspect's or

arguidos. They have no case to answer. But the detective leading

the case has now left the force and makes his living writing and

broadcasting his view of the case. That Madeleine died in the

apartment. Are you comfortable with making money out of a missing girl

and a case that actually you have failed to solve?

TRANSLATION: When I left, the police force, it was to write a

book to clear my name. They are now suing him but his lawyers say his

book has had an effect. Public opinion has now hardened against

the McCanns. Everybody believes sound defending a father and mother

who have killed a daughter and got rid of the corpse. This sensitive

situation in Portugal makes the work of the British police team

complicated. Do you think this case will be solved one day? I really,

really hope we can make a difference, and of course, we are

here to try to bring closure for a family. Out of season, Praia da Luz

is cold and MP. This place will forever be associated with a lost

little girl. It now falls to the British to succeed where the

Portuguese have failed, and solve the mystery of Madeleine McCann.

And you can see the full Panorama programme Mac tomorrow night at

7:30pm on BBC One. -- Madeleine: The Last Hope?.

Five men have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism. They were

arrested at separate homes in Luton and of being questioned in London.

Officers have described the arrests as significant.

Almost half a million pounds has now been raised for charity after a

30-year-old woman died during the London Marathon on Sunday. Claire

Squires had set out to raise �500 for The Samaritans as she ran the

marathon for the second time but she collapsed and died just before

she reached the mouth. Today, her family described her as an

incredible and inspirational person. In the words of her family today,

what an incredible, inspirational, beautiful and driven person she was.

She was loved by so many. This photo was taken last year when she

climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with one of her best friends. Nicholas said

she thrived on raising money for charity. -- Nicola Short. Claire

was like a shining light to me. I just cannot think of my life

without her in it. For as long as I can remember, she has been there.

The scale of the giving has been remarkable. Each minute, thousands

of pounds are being pledged or Claire's chosen charity through the

JustGiving website. We thought, we will wave our fees because this is

exceptional. We have never done this before. She is the last member

of our community to died before doing something she loved most.

This was the second time Claire had run the London Marathon. Since it

started in 1981, 11 participants have died. This is where she felt.

Just a mile from the finishing line. She was the first woman to die.

Today, in the small village just outside Market Harborough, where

Claire and her boyfriend lived, more flowers were being laid. You

can see what people thought of Claire by the incredibly warm

messages being left here. It is not the first tragedy to hit the family.

Back in 2001, Claire's brother died. She was young and fit. It is not

known yet how she died. The results of a postmortem are expected within

the next few days. Five years ago, the Cutty Sark was

nearly destroyed by fire but this week, the world-famous ship will

reopen to the public after being painstakingly restored. Visitors

will now be able to go underneath as well as on board the three-

masted sailing ship. When the Cutty Sark was launched at

Dumbarton on the River Clyde, who then owned a John Willis print of

building the most beautiful and farthest clipper ship in the world.

-- her then oh no John Willis. -- fastest clipper ship. Much of the

ship was destroyed during the fire in 2007. Fortunately, fittings and

fixtures had been taken off. They form part of a jigsaw that the team

have put together. These are the crew quarters on the weather deck

to the Carter deep below, which would have been packed with tea

chests with tea from China and general cargo from around the world.

Where I am now is the tween deck. It is just below where I was before.

Which of them, you have seen the project from pretty much the start?

The ship was supported by a forest of Shaw's and props, distorting the

very shape that was significant about the Cutty Sark. We -- what we

have done is given it a frame to lift it up to reveal the board has

lines of this very narrow, sleek hull. The lines that make the ship

so fast and so famous. You must be so proud? Yes. It is a ship fit for

the Queen. And Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, will be coming

to reopen it for us. Thank you. A real transformation which will see

this survivor to an even longer life. Back to you.

Thank you. Let's have a look at the More stormy waters to come for the

Cutty Sark and, indeed, anything else heading out across the Channel,

because more what weather is forecast and it will be accompanied,

especially in the South, by some gusty winds. Make the most of the

sunshine this evening if you have got it, because it will not last!

Here comes the rain, spreading into the south-west of England and South

Wales and into central England by the early hours. Some gusts of up

to 60 miles an hour along the coast are possible. A dry start in places,

particularly across northern England and Scotland. The rain

across the South will gradually edged its way north, reaching into

the far north of Northern Ireland. Some dry spells in between but only

in between the intense showers. The wind could ease through the

afternoon but generally a blustery day with heavy, thundery showers of

becoming widespread. Northern England hands wet and it will feel

pretty chilly in northern England. -- it turns wet. Some drier,

brighter spells across Western Scotland but even here, a strong

wind. That continues to spiral around during Wednesday night,

through Thursday, bringing another blustery day across north-east

England and eastern Scotland with further heavy, thundery showers

unlike anywhere else. Temperatures may be a bit higher, but again, not