14/04/2016 BBC News at Six

Labour and the EU referendum, Jeremy Corbyn officially backs the Remain

He says EU membership is best for workers' rights but admits

It's perfectly possible to be critical and still be convinced

We'll be looking at how important Labour voters

Does BP's boss really deserve a ?14 million pay package?

The Lancashire hospital that plans to close its A

department temporarily because of a shortage of doctors.

The migrants who used this dinghy to cross the Channel.

Kate gets the giggles after trying her hand

And coming up in spot on BBC News: Liverpool look to make it through to

the Europa League semifinals, but they will have to get past

tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund first.

Hello and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

In his first major speech on the EU referendum Jeremy Corbyn has said

that the Labour Party will be backing the Remain Campaign.

Despite his own past record of opposing the EU, Mr Corbyn said

there would be nothing half-hearted about Labour's support.

He warned that a referendum vote to leave the EU would lead

to what he called a bonfire of workers' rights.

Here's our political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

Jeremy Corbyn has taken a while to work out exactly where he is going

in the European Union. But now he is officially in the in crowd and

taking his place on its platform. The Labour Party is overwhelmingly

for staying in because we believe the European Union has brought

investment, jobs and protection for workers, consumers and the

environment. The European Union, many warts and all, has proved

itself to be a crucial international framework to do that. If it does not

sound that enthusiastic it is because he is not. For years he has

had public doubts about the EU. We have a European bureaucracy totally

unaccountable to anybody, powers have gone to the commission and the

Council of Ministers and these are serious matters. Before today you

branded some of its policy is crazy and immoral, would you now describe

yourself as a pro-European? This is a decision about whether we stay in

and argue for the kind of socially just Europe that I want, that our

party once, that the vast majority of trade unions and ordinary people

of this country want, or we walk away from it. Does it mean I recant

on everything I have ever said or done, absolutely not, I am sorry.

But what about EU immigration that tops so many people's concerns? Do

you think too many other people from other parts of the EU have come to

live and work in the UK? I do not think too many have come, the issue

has to be wages and regulations. There is nothing wrong about people

migrating to work, but there has to be a level playing field on pay and

conditions and we have unscrupulous employers doing that. Jeremy Corbyn

says there is nothing half-hearted about Labour's decision to stay in

the European Union, but it sounds somewhat grudging. We will have to

see how he tries to persuade the Labour voters to back the Remain

Campaign. 9 million people voted Labour last May. In Middleton the

seat stayed that way as it has done for decades, but Ukip has nibbled

away at the party's support. Can Jeremy Corbyn bring vital votes for

the EU? I am a fan of Corbin, his opinions and policies, so I think

so. I looked at the lad we had before and I voted for the common

market. I have no problems with being friendly with Europe, but I do

not see what another country says we have to live a certain way. But

there is a lot of trading sides in this referendum. Jeremy Corbyn is on

the same side as him and him, the Lib Dems, the SNP and others trying

to persuade you to vote to stay in. Only a clutch of Labour MPs will

argue against all these politicians. But one of them says Mr Corbett is

going through the motions. I feel Jeromy was trying to look like he

really meant it and he did well at that, but deep down I know that

Germany does not believe that the EU can be reformed. In the country

there are millions of Labour supporters and voters who just

cannot wait to vote to leave. At midnight this whole campaign

officially begins. Jeremy Corbyn's EU journey might have taken some

time, but his position and the date is now set.

Can we assume this is a good day for the Remain Campaign? It has been a

decent day at the office for those who are trying to persuade all of us

to stay in the European Union. Jeremy Corbyn has been at their

trying to urge his supporters to come on board and Unison one of the

biggest unions in the country say they will campaign to stay. Lloyds

bank, the biggest high-street back in the country, has been warning of

the economic risks if we decide to leave. One of the interesting things

is although Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for his support be a bit

lukewarm and being in the room it really did feel like that, there are

not very many high profile figures arguing to stay in the EU who do so

with very much affection for the institution itself. Nobody in the

course of the next couple of months, or certainly very few people, will

say to the public I love the European Union and you should as

well. In what will probably be a brutal campaign, it is based much

more on the pragmatic decision in front of us. That might be something

they will find quite challenging in the next ten weeks.

Shareholders in the oil company BP have voted against a ?14 million pay

deal for it's chief executive, Bob Dudley.

Almost 60% rejected the package, but it doesn't mean Mr Dudley

The Institute of Directors said the pay rise, at a time

when the company is in the red, could send the wrong message.

Here's our Business Editor Simon Jack.

The chief executive of BP, Bob Dudley, was awarded pay

and bonuses of ?14 million for his work last year.

And today, the shareholders arrived at their annual meeting to mount one

of the biggest revolts in UK corporate history.

I think our friend's salary is just a bit over the top.

I think he probably earns it and deserves it.

It is easy to see why the majority are upset.

Over the last year, the value of the company fell

It reported losses of ?3.6 billion, and yet Bob Dudley's pay went

A falling oil price has seen profits slump at all oil companies,

and BP have the additional cost of settling claims resulting

from the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010.

The chairman of the board said this today:

Bob Dudley's pay today by saying that the oil price crash

wasn't his fault, the Deepwater Horizon explosion wasn't his fault,

these were cards he was dealt and under the circumstances,

he played them pretty well and deserved the big bucks.

Today, shareholders overwhelmingly rejected that rationale.

That 20% increase gives the wrong message to the market,

the country as a whole and the employees, some of whom have

Remember, today's vote is just a protest.

Like this environmental one outside the AGM, it has no power

That doesn't mean it won't be noticed in other boardrooms.

I think this is a watershed moment for British business,

and I am sure other companies will be looking very closely, will be

What will investors make of Sir Martin Sorrell's pay cheque

Shareholders last rose up in 2012, costing several bosses their job.

Is this the beginning of another shareholder spring?

The union Unite says the Royal Bank of Scotland is to cut another 600

RBS has not confirmed the numbers, but in a statement said

banking had changed significantly in the last few years.

The redundancies mean RBS has cut around 1500 UK jobs

The entertainer Rolf Harris has pleaded not guilty to seven charges

of indecent assault and one of sexual assault

The allegations date from 1971 to 2004 and relate to girls and

women who were aged between 12 and 27.

A hospital in Lancashire is to temporarily shut its Accident

and Emergency department because it says it can't find enough

Chorley Hospital will instead run an urgent care unit between 8

Emergency patients will be taken to Preston, 14 miles away.

Here's our Health Correspondent Dominic Hughes.

Chorley's small district general hospital is finding it

Too many gaps in rotas means the hospital can't

We cannot safely staff our rotas, and that's because we have

a shortage of doctors who are able to lead an emergency

department overnight without the backing of consultants.

This hospital is not alone in struggling to recruit doctors,

particularly junior doctors, to come and work in its A

Those gaps in the rota were being filled by locums,

but now those locums are choosing to work elsewhere.

Between April and December last year, the NHS in England spent

more than ?2.7 billion on locum and agency staff,

A new cap on fees for hiring locums was introduced in November,

so a registrar should cost ?43.17 an hour at most.

While a consultant should cost no more than ?101.46.

The shortage of doctors willing to work in A

is being felt across England, hence the heavy reliance

Anecdotal evidence suggests many are now moving to Scotland or Wales,

And the body that represents the agencies that supply locum

doctors, says many hospitals are ignoring the cap anyway.

The caps are being broken, we think 50% of NHS trusts

are paying more, and that's because they are recognising

that they need staff to cover shifts in A and across the wards.

And they are quite rightly making the decision that it's better to pay

staff a little bit more than they should be in relation

to the caps, so they can protect patients' safety.

I've had to go here myself quite a few times recently,

And back in Chorley, patients like Riley Gretton

are concerned about the implications of losing their local A

The nearest one other than this would be Preston.

In practical terms it could mean the difference

A statement from the NHS said patient safety was the priority

and it would support efforts to recruit more staff at Chorley.

But other hospitals across England are also under extreme pressure,

and this may not be the last town where NHS services are curtailed.

Dominic Hughes, BBC News, Chorley.

Well, those problems in Lancashire appear to be part of a much wider

Delays at accident and emergency departments in England

are at their worst levels since targets were

Figures for February show fewer than 88% of patients

With me now is our Health Editor Hugh Pymn.

Just how serious that these problems got? Certainly the February figure

that you reported was worse than January with no obvious reason. The

weather did not suddenly get worse and the percentage of patients seen

or treated within A units in England in terms of the four ours

was the worst since 2004. England was behind Scotland although

slightly ahead of Wales and Northern Ireland. Another key missed target,

response times for less urgent calls, the worst since records began

in 2012. A key cancer targets from GP referral to treatment was missed

yet again. If you look at the numbers coming through the front

door into A comic you see the pressure. They were up 13% year on

year and that is a huge interest increase. The government says

hospitals are coping reasonably well given that pressure, but Labour are

quick to say there are huge financial pressures on NHS hospitals

and the NHS in his view is in a real sense of crisis.

Jeremy Corbyn gives Labour's backing for the Remain campaign

in the EU referendum - though he admits he's critical

And still to come, all present and correct -

from an estate in Tottenham, to the highest accolade

Coming up on Sportsday, West Ham will pay just ?2.5 million a year to

read the Olympic Stadium from next season. It cost ?272 million to be

converted to a football ground. It's two years since more than 200

girls were kidnapped by the Islamist rebels,

Boko Haram, in NIgeria. Their abduction sparked a worldwide

campaign with the slogan Now video footage has emerged

which appears to show some of the schoolgirls who were captured

in Chibok, in the North Despite a big military search,

219 girls are still missing. And it doesn't end there -

at least 300 students were abducted Today, families of the Chibok girls

have been marching in the capital Abuja to demand the government

does more to find them. From there, our Nigeria

correspondent Martin This is the first time any

of the kidnapped Chibok girls have Shown in a proof of life video sent

to the Nigerian government, it's likely negotiations were

underway to secure their release. The girls state their

names for the camera. And despite captivity,

they appear healthy. For the relatives of the girls,

stunned disbelief and renewed hope To bring some hope to people,

this case is truly still alive. Today in the capital,

the young and old protested on behalf

of those who could not. We are marching towards

the presidential villas. They want answers

from their government. In two years, not a single one

of the girls has been rescued. But they were stonewalled,

a ring of security stopping them Not two weeks, not two months,

but two years. It's unfair, if they put in more

effort the girls would be This is the school where the girls

were kidnapped two years ago. A month later they appeared in a

Boko Haram propaganda video. It sparked a social media campaign

supported by high profile figures. Despite international military

assistance, including from the UK, the Nigerian army has failed to find

the girls. The Chibok kidnapping might have captured worldwide

attention, but for every girl shown here, there are many more who have

been killed, rates, or even forced to be a suicide bomber by Boko

Haram. Martin Patience, BBC News, Abuja.

A powerful earthquake has hit southern Japan, causing several

Around 40 people were injured when the quake -

with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 - struck near the city of Kumamoto.

The quake also caused a fire in a neighbouring town,

but does not appear to have harmed the region's nuclear power plants.

Two migrants have been rescued from a small inflatable dinghy

a mile off the Kent coast attempting to reach the UK.

The men - who are from Iran - had been at sea for about eight

hours in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

With increased security around Calais there are fears that

smugglers are now trying to reach quieter ports on the English coast.

If it wasn't for this lifeboat and the light of a mobile phone, we

could have been looking at a double tragedy in the channel today. As it

was, this lifeboat got to the two men just in time. But these migrants

are not alone. The National Crime Agency this week said that hundreds

of people smugglers were working to try to bring migrants into British

ports around our coast. Yet two men risked their lives

in this tiny dinghy to cross one of the world's

busiest shipping lanes. The two Iranians had dialled 999,

but were only spotted when the captain of a passing ferry

saw the light from Very cold, fully soaking wet,

all their clothes, and the boat We took them onboard

and administered first-aid. 400 commercial vessels use

the Dover Straits every day, yet the two men made it

to within a mile No-one knows exactly how many

migrants are using small vessels like these to try

to get into Britain. But just this week,

the National Crime Agency warned of smugglers operating right around

Britain's coast. Two years ago, this Frenchman

was arrested on suspicion of people smuggling,

after he broke down Here, two migrants were picked up

in this child's dinghy near Dover. In this case, the fisherman who took

these pictures sped after the yacht that dropped off the dinghy,

and found the skipper We know it happens,

we have examples of that, and we are the shortest point

from here to France, on most place, just from here and up to ten milesle

up the shore is the closest point. The authorities say with fencing

in Calais now so strong, migrants are looking for other ways

to cross the Channel. The Home Office said today

the security of Britain's borders was paramount,

but recent incidents show the resourcefulness

of the smugglers and the risk A brief look at some of the day's

other other news stories. A drunk lorry driver has been jailed

for six months after CCTV cameras showed him trying to reverse

the wrong way up the M6 The driver, from the Czech republic,

was nearly three times over Some of the 17 schools closed

on safety grounds in Edinburgh could be shut in the "longer term"

according to the leader Hundreds more pupils returned

to classes today, and thousands more will have to attend different

schools The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

have arrived in the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan

for a two day visit. They've met the country's

young King and Queen and tried their hand at archery,

the national sport. Our Royal Correspondent Nicholas

Witchell is travelling with them. This is a country that

proudly proclaims that it It is Bhutan, until quite recently

it was known as the hermit A small nation, strongly influenced

by its Buddhist faith, They even have a national

happiness index here. So a place with a difference

for William and Catherine to visit. But a destination that's hardly

a priority when it comes They normally have to

have a very clear purpose. So you might ask, why,

other than to imbibe some happiness and contentment,

why have William and Catherine come to this small country

in the Himalayas? King Jigme, with his wife

Queen Jetsun, two royals of a similar age to William

and Catherine, and here's He's Bhutan's first constitutional

as opposed to absolute monarch, presiding over a democratic nation

which happens to be sandwiched It's also, of course,

a pretty amazing experience for the visitor, of

whom there still aren't that many. The king and queen escorted

their guests to a Buddhist temple, And here's another part

of the experience. Which, as Kate discovered,

is not as easy as it looks. Bhutan has some of the best

archers in the world. Come to think of it,

not a lot of people know Bhutan. Nicholas Witchell, BBC

News, Thimpu, Bhutan. Tomorrow at Sandhurst -

the elite academy where British Army officers are trained -

a black cadet who's worked his way up through the ranks will be awarded

the Sword of Honour, Kidane Cousland's family and friends

told him not sign up, saying the army was just

for white people. Our defence correspondent

Jonathan Beale has met Kidane, who's been talking about how

different life at Sandhurst Brought up in Tottenham,

I didn't know my dad. Single mum, lot of conflict racially

- there is always is in those kind of areas where there is a low level

of, kind of opportunity, and personally a really poor level

of schooling when I was there. I was illiterate till

roughly the age of 11, is when I can actually remember

being able to read a book The grand surroundings of Sandhurst,

where the British Army A place where old, sometimes curious

traditions continue. But also where Kidani Cousland,

Danny to his friends, is fulfilling Danny joined the army seven years

ago as a private, against the advice of friends and family,

who said it was for white people. He served in Afghanistan,

and the army spotted his potential. Now he is preparing for his passing

out parade, in which he will receive the Sword of Honour,

a first for someone like him. I have had racism

everywhere the world. I come to the army, and I've had it

from individuals, but as an institution,

it is not about that, and as an institution

it isn't racist. For me, with my few GCSEs at a C

grade, you know, to rub together, I didn't expect to be

where I was, to be honest. But when people speak

to you about how well you did academic schools and all that stuff,

you realise, I am probably saying to myself, sure I'm a little bit

better than I think I am. Watching him tomorrow

receive the sword of honour He too has broken down barriers

as the first British black male It is something, for getting

something so huge, it is amazing, something to be proud of,

but seeing his being there, seeing his journey as well,

it is just inspiring to see him kind The British army is still

overwhelmingly white - just over 4% of its soldiers come

from Britain's ethnic minorities. But the army insists Danny's award

is not about tokenism, Time for a look at the weather with

Sarah. It's been a day of sun sign and

showers. Some pictures from our weather watchers today, including

this from Berkshire. You can see blue skies but showers around, and

we have had showers and thunderstorms. Stretching from East

Wales, through the Midlands towards East Anglia, still seeing heavy

downpours with the rumble of thunder and hail over the next few hours.

Then our attention will turn to more persistent rain moving to the south.

Through the north, a of the weather front heading to the north of

Scotland to bring outbreaks of rain and snow, even through fairly

moderate hills. Across the North of Scotland we have colder air

filtering in from the north, wintry showers and sunny spells across the

North of Scotland. Further south the band of rain until snow will work

its way south across southern Scotland and Northern Ireland, a

cloudy start in Northern Ireland with a few spots of light rain.

Further south there will be more outbreaks of rain across southern

England, south Wales and heavy bursts of shower rerating moving up

from being this channel as we had through the morning. A lot going on

with the weather, a messy picture. Rain, heavy and sundry at times

across the south and east of England. Further north the band of

rain and hills know will work south across Northern Ireland and

Scotland. Temperatures of only six or seven across Scotland, but more

like 14 of 15 further south. Looking ahead through Saturday and Sunday,

for the capital cities, a lot of dry weather over the course of the

weekend but temperatures will be down on what to expect at the time

of year. Through the weekend, turning dry with showers easing.

Some sunshine, but for all of us it will turn colder through the

weekend. Jeremy Corbyn gives Labour's backing

for the remain campaign in the EU referendum -

though he admits he's critical That's all from the BBC News at Six

- so it's goodbye from me - and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.