27/02/2014 BBC News at Six

of people coming to live in the UK. Net migration's risen to more than

200,000 - it's a blow to David Cameron's pledge to cut numbers

drastically. We came for a better life and a better job. I love the

UK. As net migration from the EU reaches

its highest level in history - we'll be asking what chance David Cameron

has of cutting the numbers. Also tonight: The first German chancellor

to address parliament in 40 years - Angela Merkel says she wants a

strong UK with a strong voice in Europe.

Standard Life says it's drawing up plans to move some of its operations

to England, if Scotland votes for independence.

Russian tanks on the border with Ukraine as the ousted president

Yanukovych resurfaces in Moscow. The plant on Merseyside dealing with

the aftermath of thousands of tonnes of chemical weapons from Syria.

And paying tribute to a football legend - the streets of Preston are

packed with people wanting to say goodbye to Sir Tom Finney.

On BBC London: An attack on bankers bonuses as RBS announces its paying

out ?600,000 despite big losses. And criticism over plans by the

Mayor to arm the Met with water cannon.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six. A surge in immigration

and a drop in people leaving the UK has dealt another blow to David

Cameron's pledge to slash net migration to the tens of thousands.

The latest net migration figures have risen by more than a third.

They went up from 154,000 in September 2012, to 212,000 people by

the same time last year. The rise was driven by a dramatic increase in

the number of people coming here from other EU countries. Here's our

home editor, Mark Easton. Just arrived from Romania,

passengers who represent two of the most incendiary issues for the

government, immigration and Europe. Today, figures show the UK has seen

more migrants arriving from the European Union than ever before.

Where have you come from? Romania. Have you come for work? Yes. Have

you got a job? Guests. Net migration from the EU has doubled in a year,

the highest level in history. An estimated 20,000 Romanians and

Bulgarians came to the UK last year. It looks almost impossible for the

government to hit its target of cutting net migration overall. The

current figure is twice that. That is wiry remain focused on dealing

with the abuse of free movement and also addressing some of the benefit

and welfare factors which may be a pull factor to attract people to

come to the UK. Six out of ten of the new European migrants have come

here to work, following in the footsteps of people from Spain and

Romania. It is a good place to have fun. Opportunities to learn new

things. Came for a better life and a better job. The foreign workers from

the EU outnumber those from the rest of the world put together. The

figures show the government's immigration policy is in tatters.

They are not doing enough to tackle immigration and they are putting off

university students. Trust is being undermined. The sharp increase in EU

migration began as the Olympics finished in 2012. The games were a

shop window for the UK but it is likely the improving state of the

British economy, compared to elsewhere in the EU, is what has

persuaded many Europeans to move here. We are at risk. If there is a

serious crisis in the euro zone, and migrate to re-wave of the likes we

have never seen before. With a general election in little over a

year, the government's chosen message of success in controlling

immigration is telling an unlikely story.

The latest immigration figures come as the German Chancellor, Angela

Merkel, was in London telling parliament she can't promise

fundamental reform of the EU. Mrs Merkel made it clear that she wants

Britain to remain a "strong voice" in Europe. Our political editor Nick

Robinson reports. They treated her like the queen of

Europe in Parliament today. The Prime Minister believes Angela

Merkel holds the key to his dream of forging a new relationship with the

EU. His allies briefed that today she would show that she is on his

side. I have been told that there are very special expectations of my

speech here today. Looking on, ever so nervously, the men who know that

her intentions will form the backdrop to their election

campaigns. Some expect my speech to pave the way for a fundamental

reform of the European architecture which will satisfy all kinds of

alleged or actual British wishes. I am afraid they are in for a

disappointment. She would, she swiftly added, also dashed the hopes

of those who thought she would rule out change, switching to German,

there was plenty of talk of reform but no promise to change your's

treaties. None to give powers back to Britain. We need a strong United

Kingdom with a strong voice inside the European Union. If we have that,

we will be able to make the necessary changes for the benefit of

all. Left unstated at the end of a well-received speech, what exactly

their business is very changes are. What the Prime Minister knows that

on his own, he can change nothing in Europe. It takes the votes of 27

other leaders. Some of course matter more than others. That is why

Germany's Chancellor got the red carpet treatment today. Angela

Merkel has the power to make or break David Cameron's dream of

reshaping the European Union. She said nothing today to convince his

sceptics that Germany is really on his side. After lunchtime talks,

David Cameron joked and teased and flirted with the woman who his aides

claim sees him like her naughty nephew. They were, he insisted, at

one. Angela and I both want to see change in Europe. We both believe

changes possible. I believe that what I am setting out, the changes

that Britain wants to see, to build confidence in the membership of this

organisation are doable. On cutting red tape and tackling so-called

benefit tourism, she signalled her agreement with Britain. As for

everything else, it would require all of us European compromise.

TRANSLATION:: It is not a piece of cake. It will be a lot of work. We

have already worked hard on other issues. If we want Britain to remain

in the European Union, which is what I want, one can find common

solutions. Who she will go shake those with, is of course, still a

matter for the British electorate, hence the talks with the man who may

become Prime Minister Miliband. Today has confirmed that David

Cameron's approach to Europe is not working. Chancellor Merkel will

leave the United Kingdom with a gap between what she is not working.

Chancellor Merkel will leave the United Kingdom with a gap between

what she's offering and what Eurosceptic backbenchers are

demanding as wide as ever. Angela Merkel's last stop was with the

woman she insisted was the only Queen in town today. She wore Royal

blue in her honour. As she left town, we are all being asked of any

clearer about what she might do? Nick Robinson is in Westminster for

us. As David Cameron got anything from this visit? It depends what

Angela Merkel view listen to. If you want fundamental change, you will be

disappointed. If you want treaties torn up and rewritten, you will be

very disappointed. If I'm the other hand, like the Prime Minister, you

heard Chancellor say change was doable, you will be happier. What

she was clear about was any change will only come about when all

European countries agree. The best bit of news she had for David

Cameron was that offered to change the rules on freedom of movement.

That was a principal, she said, but benefit tourism certainly was not.

We still do not know how that will change. If you want more than that

from a change in Europe, she made it pretty clear, you will probably have

to get out. Standard life has become the first

major Scottish business towards it might leave Scotland if there is a

yes vote for independence. The pension and savings firm, which is

based in Edinburgh, said in its annual report that it is putting in

place contingency plans to relocate. Standard life was founded

in 1825. It is one of six FTSE 100 companies with headquarters in

Scotland and employs 5000 people in Scotland. But 90% of the customers

live outside Scotland. Here is Lorna Gordon.

Edinburgh, for hundreds of years, a centre for banking and finance.

Among its institutions, standard life, successful and symbolically

important. Today warned it might move some of its headquarters if an

agreement is not reached. This intervention on business dominated

politics at Holyrood today. Standard life will find Scotland a good place

to do business. A Scottish government puts forward the concept

of a shared currency and regulatory framework which is exactly the sorts

of things which standard life has been calling for. The first

Minister's reassurances drew an angry response from the opposition.

No amount of bullying from Alex Salmond can change that fact. Now

all the first Minister admit that if Scotland leaves the United Kingdom,

people's jobs will leave Scotland. What is standard life saying? The

company's chairman stated: Scotland has been a good place to run our

business and compete around the world.

Standard Life is both important and iconic to Scotland's financial

services industry. What it says about the prospect of independence

matters. If the company were to move employees and funds out of Scotland

then it would cause real concern here. Is Standard Life did move then

obviously jobs and whatnot would be lost. You are an employee, this

statement may impact on you, what do you make of it? The company has

every right to its opinion like everybody else. They are driven by

fear and money. They are not part of the new Scottish vision. Realising

that vision, not impossible according to one credit ratings

industry. It is a company with deep domestic savings but there certainly

would be some significant challenges to going it alone, one of those

would be questions about what monetary arrangement, what currency

would the new country use. It is not just voters who have a stake in

Scotland's future, businesses do as well. And today, one very

significant company made its concerns known.

Our business editor Robert Peston joins us now. Are there any signs of

other companies drawing up contingency plans? We heard that

interesting comment from one of those famous rating agencies and he

pointed out that Scotland is a rich country and it would get the top

investment-grade rating but the other thing is that Scotland has

enormous financial companies. Lloyds and RBS are both domiciled there.

They have their headquarters there. It points out that the risks of

supporting those sorts of companies, those sorts of banks in a crisis

would be pretty challenging for such a small economy. It said it expects

those companies to move, to find a new home. And I have to say that

talking to bankers, I think that other banks do share Standard

Life's concerns and what Standard Life said may well be followed by

the big financial institutions. Thank you.

David Cameron has ordered an independent enquiry to assure that

no more letters have been wrongly sent to paramilitary suspects saying

they are no longer wanted men. It comes after the case of a man

arrested for the IRA Hyde Park bombing collapsed this week.

Northern Ireland's first Minister Peter Robinson who threatened to

resign, says he is happy with the enquiry.

The IRA's campaign of terror caused death and damage across the UK. From

Belfast to London, the years of bombings and shootings left many

victims. Yet in the case of an attack at Hyde Park, the main

suspect for murder will not face prosecution, and all because of a

letter wrongly sent to him by the government, assuring him that he

would not be prosecuted. There were scores of letters similar to the one

sent to John Downie and today the Prime Minister promised an enquiry

to make sure there were not mistakes. We will appoint an

independent judge to provide a full account into the administration of

the scheme to determine whether any other letters were sent in error.

Today, the government led crisis talks at Stormont, after the

Northern Ireland minister threatened to resign. I think the Prime

Minister and Secretary of State have been prompt, they have dealt with

the issue seriously and in the matter that is -- the manner that is

satisfactory to me. I do not intend to resign on the basis of if you get

what you want, why would you resign? But there are victims still

asking questions, including the families of those killed in the

Denis Gulin bombing. It is clear that Sinn Fein put forward the name

of one of the suspected this attack as part of the deal. I saw my dad's

decapitated body, for someone of only 18 years to witness that and

then 26 years later more or less told we will never get justice for

the people murdered in Enniskillen and countless other atrocities. The

issue of secret letters and deals still hangs over Stormont but for

the moment, the Prime Minister will be relieved that the Assembly seemed

secure. The time is 6:16pm. Our top story this evening: Net migration

has risen to more than 200,000, a blow David Cameron's pledge to cut

the numbers. And farewell to Sir Tom Finney. Thousands pay tribute to one

of the greats of English football. Later on BBC London: The Mayor's

accused of jeopardising hundreds of jobs after funding for a Science

Park in Dagenham is pulled. And the latest Olympic venue to be

transformed ready for public use. Hundreds of people have died in

chemical attacks in the Syrian conflict. A third of them were

children. Syria has 1,300 tonnes of substances including mustard gas and

the components of sarin and other agents. Syria agreed to an

international plan to rid itself of chemical weapons by the fifth

February this year. But so far only 13% have left the country. The

chemicals will be destroyed both at sea on board an American ship, and

at several sites in Europe, including Britain. Our Science

Editor David Shukman has been to a plant in Ellesmere Port which will

handle some of the chemicals. The waste disposal plant at

Ellesmere Port and the machinery that will help destroy the chemical

weapons of Syria. This place handles all kinds of hazardous stuff, but

soon there should be barrels from Damascus containing key ingredients

for the world's most dangerous nerve agents. A control room will monitor

the process. The Syrian chemicals will be treated like any industrial

waste. They are not weapons themselves, so-called precursors,

components about weapons and they will be fed into a giant incinerator

and burnt at 1150 Celsius. We accepted materials that are similar

over the last year. We take waste from the chemical sector and the

agrochemical sector. The chemicals brought here are standard industrial

products, and you need to mix them with something else to get a

chemical weapon. The real challenges that they are not here yet. Syria

was meant to have shipped out all of its chemicals by now. The whole is

way behind schedule. -- the whole programme. New footage shows the

extraordinary tension on a Norwegian ship as it approaches the Syrian

coast. This is the first we have seen of the nerve wracking task of

collecting chemicals from a war zone. This is something that never

been tried before, and so far, there have only been four deliveries. From

Syria's port, the chemicals are meant to be sent as far afield as

Germany, Finland as well as Britain. With an American ship specially

equipped to handle the most dangerous material, but only when

Syria releases all of its stockpile. We cannot afford any further delays.

What we have to see immediately is a pick-up in the tempo, and we have

two C regular, systematic predictable movement of the

chemicals -- we have two C. This is why chemical weapons matter. The

nerve agents are invisible, but potentially deadly. And their use in

Syria against civilians caused international outrage. So the

technology to destroy them is ready. Everyone is poised, but yet again,

Syria faces massive pressure to allow its chemicals to reach places

like this. The former News International Chief

Executive Rebekah Brooks has admitted paying public officials on

half a dozen occasions. She told the hacking trial at the Old Bailey that

she had sanctioned payments when she edited the News of the World and the

Sun newspaper, but denied knowing the name or position of the public

and officials involved. It's been another bad year for the RBS, the

bank which is mostly owned by the taxpayer has announced annual losses

of just over ?8 billion thanks to a combination of fines and

compensation payments. Five days after he was ousted as Ukraine's

former President, Viktor Yanukovych has resurfaced in Russia where he

has been granted protection. In a statement issued to Russian

television, he said he still considered himself Ukraine's

President. As the crisis deepens, military vehicles have been seen

today on the outskirts of the Crimean capital of Simferopol. It

comes after armed pro-Russia supporters stormed the regional

parliament there. Daniel Sandford is in Simferopol and has sent us this

report. This city is in Ukraine, but the

crowds were shouting for Russia today as they celebrated the

storming of the local parliament by men with guns. The building was

barricaded although MPs could come and go, and nobody knows who the

occupiers are. It shows how little control the new Ukrainian government

has in Crimea, peninsular in the south-east of the country. The

heavily armed men took over the parliament at about 4pm -- 4am this

morning. Witnesses say they were carrying rifles and rocket propelled

grenades. They forced their way in and throughout the police who had

been guarding the building. This morning's action by an armed group

is dangerous and irresponsible. I urge Russia not to take any action

that could escalate tension or create misunderstanding. But along

the border with Ukraine, Russia is conducting what it called military

preparedness exercises. The drills involved 150,000 men. Given the

Kremlin's particular interest in Crimea, which was historically a

Russian peninsulas, it has only exacerbated concerns in the West. We

expect other nations to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine and avoid

provocative actions. That is why I am closely watching the Russian

military exercises across the Ukrainian border. The alarm

increased when seven armoured personnel carriers, thought to be

Russian, briefly turned up on the outskirts of Simferopol, the city

where the occupied parliament is, although they were probably part of

a legitimate movement between bases. The new Ukrainian Prime Minister

begged other countries not to get involved militarily. My first

message, no boots on the ground. The Ukrainian Department of defence and

the Ukrainian Department of Homeland Security is capable of doing their

job. And we believe that we will definitely find a political

solution. Ukraine's deposed president Yacoub which -- President

Yanukovych has not been seen since Sunday night but he will give a

press conference in Russia tomorrow night, 70 miles from the Ukrainian

border. The captain of the Costa Concordia

cruise ship has returned to the vessel he was accused of abandoning

when it capsized in January of 2012 killing 32 people. His visit was

part of a court ordered inspection of the ship which still lies in the

shallows of the Italian island of Gio. The Football Association has

banned the West Bromwich Albion footballer, Nicholas Anelka, for

five matches for a a goal celebration that was judged to be

abusive and improper. Anelka has also been fined ?80,000 and ordered

to complete a compulsory education course. The player has a right of

appeal. Thousands of people lined the

streets of Preston today to mark the life of the footballer Sir Tom

Finney. He died two weeks ago, aged 91. Sir Tom won 76 England caps and

played his entire career at Preston North End. Our Sports Editor David

Bond reports. Even in his passing, Sir Tom Finney

can still draw a crowd. Arguably the greatest play England has ever

produced, he was devoted to this city. Today, Preston turned out to

say goodbye to its favourite son. Outside left Tom Finney makes it

1-0. A winger of rare talent, he played 76 times for England, scoring

30 goals. Nowadays he would been a multimillionaire. At Preston North

End, his only club, he earned ?14 per week. Those played with him for

England you exactly what he was worth. He was playing left wing and

I was in awe of him. He got the ball and took it to the dead ball line

and squared it back, and I could not miss. I could not miss, it was so

easy. And I thought, blimey, I could play with him every week. This was a

grand sendoff for such a humble man, and a very English service for

one of the country's finest. And they came from all over the game to

pay their respects. But this was never mournful, it was a celebration

of a player who seemed to unite football. He never won a

championship medal, he didn't win the cup winners medal, he won

something more important than that. He won the heart of his team-mates,

quite often his opponents, the supporters and of the nation. Many

footballers achieve fame, but few attain greatness. With Sir Tom

Finney's death, the game has not only lost one of its best, but the

link -- a link to its treasured past. Time for a look at the

weather. Here's Alex. Some wintry weather about.

Yes it's all been about the rain, but tonight 's ice across Northern

Ireland in south-west Scotland, and even a touch of snow over the hills

of Wales. There will be some snow in the showers across western

Scotland. The showers across England and Wales fade away to allow the

next system to arrive. Some snow over the hills of Wales, and the

winds could get lightly. The extreme south-west seeing gusts of 70 mph.

Further north, the winds are lighter which is why we might see a risk of

ice. In the south, staying above freezing, which is why at low levels

it will be mostly rain. There could be a bit of snow over the tops of

the Moors, particularly in parts of mid and South Wales. The Brecon

Beacons, the Black Mountains. The valley roads might be unpleasant in

the morning rush hour. A few flakes on the tops of the Cotswolds, and

maybe later across the Chilterns. But across East Anglia and the

south-east, maybe the wake but most people will see rain. A cold and wet

day. The rain will pull away from Wales and south-west England, skies

brightening though, and elsewhere there will be sunny spells, but some

showers for Northern Ireland and western Scotland. Temperatures

between six and eight degrees, but with the cold wind in the south it

will feel worse than that. Cold start to the weekend with a touch of

Frost, some ice and fog. Patchy rain clearing away from East Anglia and

the south-east. Some rain returning to the west later, but dry and

bright. On Saturday, highs of six up to nine Celsius. Similar on Sunday

with maybe patchy rain in the east, then rain returning to the west, but

again, in between, many places dry and bright. There could be ice and a

bit of snow on the hills of Wales tonight.