27/04/2016 BBC News at Six

The South Yorkshire Police chief is suspended over his role. His apology

wasn't enough. He's been accused of dragging the families through hell.

In Parliament, mounting anger about the police. Now those responsible

must be held to account for 96 unlawful deaths and year cover-up.

We'll be hearing from the families of the

Labour's Bradford MP accused of anti-Semitism over

comments on social media - she's been suspended.

New figures show the UK economy's growth slowed down in the last three

months. Just a hundred days to Rio

and British cycling's top coach resigns over

allegations of discrimination. And in sport on BBC news,

the rugby league legend Currently with union side

Yorkshire Carnegie, he's going to Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six. The Chief Constable

of South Yorkshire Police, David Crompton, has been suspended

over his force's behaviour It follows a day of mounting anger

over what the inquests revealed about the role of the police

throughout the 27 years In Parliament, Labour accused

the police of a cover-up. Tonight in Liverpool this

is the scene as thousands gather Our Home Editor Mark Easton

is there now. Another extraordinary day for the

Hillsborough families. Emotional tributes paid to them by the Home

Secretary and others in the Houses of Parliament today. But also

there's been tributes paid right across the country to the people

here. And of course we've heard today that the Chief Constable of

South Yorkshire has been suspended from office. It really does feel as

though power has shifted, and it's shifted here to the people of

Liverpool. A city pauses to reflect

and to remember. After yesterday's dramatic inquest

decision, this evening Liverpool is preparing to give thanks

for the progress the Hillsborough Campaign has made in

its search for justice. There is satisfaction

that the record now states the 96 But there's also still deep anger

here among campaigners who say that South Yorkshire Police

dragged out their agony It was extremely upsetting,

distressing. Frustration doesn't really cover it. I can't explain how

angry at makes you feel because you know it is not the truth. You know

it is a pack of absolute lies. I would wish to profoundly

apologise. South Yorkshire Police made this

public apology in 2012 after the government's independent

enquiry into Hillsborough exonerated the fans and said the main cause

was the force's failures. Today, as I have said before,

I want to apologise unreservedly. Yesterday South Yorkshire's Chief

Constable repeated the apology, but in between, throughout

the two-year-long inquest, the force's lawyers repeatedly

suggested drunk and noncompliant Liverpool fans were partly

responsible. Millions of pounds of public money

were spent retelling discredited Lawyers for retired officers threw

disgusting slurs around. In the Commons today

the Shadow Home Secretary said South Yorkshire Police had gone

back on their apology. If the police had chosen

to maintain its apology this inquest would have been much shorter,

but they didn't, and they put the families

through hell once again. Those who died in the disaster

were unlawfully killed, yes. Earlier the Home Secretary,

her voice cracking with emotion, paid tribute

to the Hillsborough campaigners. No one should have to

endure what the families No one should have to suffer

the loss of their loved ones through And no one should have

to fight year after year, decade after decade,

in search of the truth. South Yorkshire Police today issued

yet another apology, We've never sought at any stage

to defend the failures of South Yorkshire Police

or its officers. Nevertheless these failures had

to be put in the context of other In other words where do the failings

of South Yorkshire Police stand We are sorry if our approach has

been perceived as at odds This was certainly

not our intention." Shortly afterwards Chief Constable

David Crompton was suspended. Decrying commissioner is standing

for election himself next week. Our decision is based on the erosion of

public confidence referenced in statements in the House of Commons

this lunchtime as well with public cause for the Chief Constable's

resignation from a number of quarters including local MPs.

After yesterday's unlawful killing decision at the Hillsborough

inquest, pressure is mounting on prosecutors to pursue

criminal charges against police officers and others.

Ongoing criminal investigations have already gathered huge amounts

of evidence amid allegations South Yorkshire officers

We know that a number of statements were altered.

What we are looking at is, why were they altered?

There is a way to go before prosecutions.

And despite the unlawful killing decision yesterday,

But this is a fight that's never been easy.

And after 27 years you can be sure the Hillsborough campaigners

Ed Thomas is outside South Yorkshire Police Headquarters -

Ed, there's been mounting pressure all day, what tipped it?

In the past 24 hours this force has been accused all over again of

deceit and lies, and those calls for David Crompton to go have been

getting louder by the minute. All led by the family of the 96 who

died. They accused him directly of using these Hillsborough inquests to

once again blame the fans for what happened inside the stadium. This is

because David Compton, the Chief Constable, had a direct line to the

South Yorkshire Police, his barrister, at those inquests. She

talked about fans rushing the gates, causing the crash. She talked about

fans being drunk. She talked about fans assaulting police officers.

Then there was this devastating attack in the Commons by Andy

Burnham MP. He accused David Crompton of putting those

Hillsborough families through hell. Within hours of that statement David

Crompton had been suspended with immediate effect. The Police and

Crime Panel is here said he no longer commanded public trust in

South Yorkshire. As we heard earlier, the focus

is now turning to whether criminal prosecutions should follow

in the wake of yesterday's Two inquiries into the disaster and

its aftermath are already underway - and could finish by the end

of this year. Our Correspondent Judith Moritz has

been looking at what's next It's so important because that was

what Chris was wearing. That's what he was sadly wearing when he lost

his life. Barry Devon side has little left to remind him of his

son. They went together but Harry returned without 18-year-old

Christopher, who died in the crash. His last moments alive were caught

on video. We filmed Barry as he watched it with his lawyer for the

first time. Footage like this has been painstakingly gathered as

evidence. But Barry says he has little faith in the criminal

investigators working towards prosecution. When we've asked

specific questions like how many people do you consider to be

suspects, for example, no information whatsoever. So then you

try other questions, and gained no information whatsoever. You can ask

me anything you want to and I'll answer. We were allowed behind the

scenes to see Barry and other families meeting with the former

Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones. Did people just want to come to this

end? He helped them during the inquests and will continue to

support them now. It's never been done before but I think the families

expectation is that the state will learn from this experience, because

very often when there's an enquiry the aggrieved, the families, the

victims, however you want to describe them, can feel pushed out.

I think the expectation is that people will learn from this

experience, and this might change things for the future. Although the

huge amount of evidence about Hillsborough emerged for the

inquests, investigators considering possible criminal charges like

manslaughter say there is still much more work to do. We can't afford to

make mistakes here. We cannot afford to rush this. The last thing in the

world I want to do is fall at the last hurdle. We will do this

absolutely properly, as quickly as we can, but making sure we don't cut

any unsafe corners and. The secrets of Hillsborough are contained in

this room which holds thousands of artefacts from long defined floppy

disks like this one to more than 5000 police notebooks. They've been

on Earth for the first time from sheds, lofts and garages. They were

looked at for the inquests. They could also provide evidence for any

future prosecutions. Our back gate is just a little bit further down.

The car turned the corner and parked here. Julie Fallon, whose brother

Andrew died at Hillsborough, says her family was put under police

surveillance after the disaster. Officers and sitting outside their

house. Her complaint is one of those which is now under criminal

investigation. We used to joke within the family about it, but it

never entered our heads to report it, because who would you report to?

You would reported to the police, and it had been the police sat

outside the house, so there didn't seem an awful lot of point in that.

It wasn't until BIP sees he started their extended investigations and

there had been rumblings of surveillance with other people, and

they said we could complaint -- the IPCC started extended investigation.

Today Liverpool feels like a different place. The families may

have a long time to wait for criminal prosecutions but perhaps,

at last, the city is starting to heal after Hillsborough.

A Labour MP at the centre of an anti-semitism row has been

Naz Shah has apologised for remarks she made about Israel on social

David Cameron said the Bradford West MP's comments amounted to "racism".

Our deputy political editor John Pienaar reports.

Has anti-Jewish bigotry taken root in the Labour Party?

For Naz Shah, beating George Galloway was tough.

Doing it as a Muslim woman in a Muslim area fighting

old attitudes to a woman's proper place, maybe toughest of all.

And some old prejudices, like hostility toward Israel, run deep.

And Naz Shah crossed the line into anti-Semitism

a year before on social media, saying Israel should be relocated

to America, and even comparing Israel's treatment

of the Palestinians with Hitler's treatment of the Jews.

I accept and understand that the words I used caused upset

and hurt to the Jewish community, and I deeply regret that.

Too late - her offending remarks had already been condemned,

We've got a Labour Member of Parliament with the Labour whip

who made remarks about the transportation of the people

from Israel to America and talked about a solution

and is still in receipt of the Labour whip,

The Labour leader was the true target, he's now

dogged by the charge he's done too little

Colleagues want more action, and today one said so.

There has to be a suspension and an investigation

when something like this occurs, because it is so serious,

and it does have such a knock-on effect on people outside

Labour may pride itself on being a party of tolerance,

but accusations of anti-Semitism have clung to sections,

including on the hard left, who help provide

I know of lifelong Jewish members, including some prominent names,

who say they won't vote Labour again while he's in charge.

For Jeremy Corbyn, turning that around won't be easy.

The UK economy's growth slowed down in the first three

months of this year, hit by a drop in manufacturing

The value of goods and services produced, known as GDP,

grew by 0.4% between January and March this year,

according to the Office for National Statistics.

That's 0.2% less than the last three months of 2015.

has been looking at what the numbers mean.

Building up a picture of our nation's economic performance.

Today's GDP figures show that growth has slowed,

as manufacturers delayed investment decisions and construction slumped.

For the Chancellor, visiting a communications firm,

fixing the economy has become a little harder.

He linked the weaker figures to uncertainty over

It's good news that the British economy continues to grow,

but there are warnings today that the threat of leaving the EU

Buildings and investments are being delayed.

Isn't this just diversionary tactics from the real

problems in the UK economy, which are around productivity,

around our lack of manufacturing, around poor exports?

Well, I'm the first to say there are some big issues we need

to fix in the British economy, but the biggest economic

decision facing the country, and facing everyone watching

this programme, is the decision about whether we remain

Manufacturing in Birmingham, Brandaeur is so good at what it

does, its components are found in 85% of all the

Its chief executive told me that referendum risk

was affecting his business and he's looking outside the EU

For the first time in the last month, I've had a customer ask me,

what do I think is going to happen on Brexit, and what do you think

And they're making a big decision over more business

Uncertainty is real, and it's being driven by Brexit.

George Osborne wants one message to come through loud and clear

about these growth figures, and that's that fears

about the European Union referendum are having a negative effect

on the performance of the UK economy.

He wants to repeat that message time and again, repeat the warnings

of the International Monetary Fund, repeat the warnings of the Bank

of England, really turning the screw on those who believe that leaving

the European Union would be good for the economy.

For Mr Osborne's critics, such dire warnings were

Are they then saying that the fact that world growth forecasts

have been downgraded are also due to fears of Brexit?

I mean, it's nonsense, you can say everything,

the weather is down to fears of Brexit - it doesn't make it true.

What is true is that Mr Osborne knows he is in the political battle

of his career and any evidence that might encourage voters

to back remaining in the EU is worth communicating loud and clear.

The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police

is suspended over his force's role during the Hillsborough inquests.

And still to come, they went that way -

praise for the children who found a novel way to help the police

Fury mocks Klitschko ahead of the world-title rematch.

He says he could turn up as a 30 stone fat pig

British cycling, one of our most successful sports, is in turmoil.

With just 100 days to go before the Rio Olympics,

Shane Sutton, the cycling team's technical director,

has resigned after allegations of discrimination.

Sutton is alleged to have used offensive language

when referring to members of the para-cycling team.

These claims follow allegations made by sprint cyclist Jess Varnish

after she was dropped from the Olympic squad.

Our sports editor, Dan Roan, has more.

It's known as Britain's medal factory.

For almost a decade, cycling has been Team GB's

most successful Olympic sport, winning gold after gold

and producing a host of household names.

But the coach credited with much of that glory has now

thrown preparations for Rio 2016 into disarray,

technical director Shane Sutton resigning over allegations

he made discriminatory comments about a female rider

In a statement, the Australian said, the developments over the past

few days have clearly become a distraction.

It's in the best interests of British Cycling for me to step down.

I reject the specific claims that have been made against me,

and I look forward to taking a full part in the review process.

This afternoon, the man who runs the sport told me there would be

Did he jump before he was pushed? Not at all.

Shane wanted the athletes to succeed,

so it's the right decision for him to kind of step back, and

he's made that decision in the best interests of the team, really.

And the important thing for us now is to really focus on Rio.

We've got a great team of coaches, we've got a great team of athletes,

we are 100 days away, and we really need to make sure

that we continue that British Cycling success.

The controversy started when sprint cyclist Jess Varnish alleged

that Sutton had told her to go and have a baby

But it got worse. One of Britain's most decorated Paralympians claimed

that Sutton referred to Paralympic cyclist as gimps. And today more

allegations, this time from a former BMX world champion. There was one

point when I felt like stepping out into the road and ending it all,

because that is how bad it got me. It is something that will live with

me for the rest of my life. It is something that will always be in the

back of my mind. Yeah, that man has got a lot to answer for, I am sure I

am not the only person he has affected. In the high pressure world

of elite sport, with athletes being pushed to their limits, emotions can

run high. But what beats to be decided now is whether there needs

to be a change in culture at British Cycling, an organisation that

receives more public funding than any other Olympic sport.

Today marked 100 days to go until the start of the Rio Games,

Team GB's unveiling of their official kit

Sutton has received the support of current team members,

like double Olympic champion Laura Trott.

The question now, whether the departure of British Cycling's

top coach costs the country success in Rio.

In the latest in our series looking at elections across the UK,

where parties are campaigning to win seats at the Stormont Assembly.

The Democratic Unionists have warned that if Sinn Fein was to overtake

it would lead to a former IRA man, Martin McGuinness,

Here's our Ireland correspondent, Chris Buckler.

The battle lines of elections in Northern Ireland were drawn

a long time ago, yet power-sharing relies on traditional enemies

World-renowned artist Colin Davidson painted this portrait

It's to be a pair with a painting of Martin McGuinness to commemorate

the time they spent as First and Deputy First Minister.

But the potential of a former IRA leader taking the top job

is worrying the party that Dr Paisley founded.

The choice is between myself or Martin McGuinness.

What I'm saying to people is you should make the right choice

and make sure that I'm the First Minister,

But by throwing out that question, you put out the possibility

of Martin McGuinness being First Minister.

That is a possibility that I haven't put across my mind yet,

because I'm going to win this election.

that the political landscape here hasn't changed.

Even though they worked together in government, Republicans

and Unionists couldn't be called faithful friends.

There are some very positive and reasonable and constructive

politicians within the DUP, but there are also others

within the DUP who are sectarian, who are anti-Irish.

But only months after it looked like Stormont was melting down,

from the other nationalist party, the SDLP.

there is any uncertainty at Stormont.

If it survived last year and all the messing about,

People have now accepted that were going to have

What I want is one that actually works.

This isn't an election where the focus has been

on questions of national identity, and perhaps it's a sign

that Northern Ireland's politics is maturing that the debate

has instead been about education, the economy, and the health service.

The divides between the parties have been most obvious

on what are sometimes called the moral issues.

The Ulster Unionists are aiming to take votes from the DUP

by appearing more liberal on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

I've used previously the phrase, if you are against

same-sex marriage, you are on the wrong side of history.

That doesn't mean you are wrong to hold that belief,

that same-sex marriage will come to Northern Ireland.

The challenge for the Alliance, the only cross-community party

in the Stormont Executive, is to get households

to break the pattern of voting for unionists or nationalists.

There is a consistent 10 or 11% of the population

vote for parties other than unionism or nationalism.

When you look at the divisions that this society has had

and compare it with other societies in the world,

that's actually relatively significant.

But the colours of orange and green that represent

unionism and nationalism still dominate politics here.

And that means power-sharing requires some unlikely alliances.

It was like something from an Enid Blyton story.

A group of quick-thinking children helped a police helicopter

pointing to where they thought two suspected burglars had gone.

In the past hour the children, who are from Surrey,

have been thanked by the police at Redhill Aerodrome,

For information, we have two persons hiding beneath a tree... It began

with police hunting two suspected burglars near Redhill, but the men

split up, so who to follow? It was then that police saw this, a group

of children on an Easter egg Hunt pointing the way with a human arrow.

The Chaplow follows their directions, they then lead officers

on the ground to the first suspect, and not far away the second. The

second one is in custody, good work. Today, all the children involved

recreated their amazing police pointer. Whose idea was it? I said,

come on, let's get in an arrow so they can see us, Phoebe got

everybody together, she got us all on the floor. It was everyone,

wasn't it? You got everyone together. The police say they had

never seen anything like it. Some people have likened it to an Enid

Blyton story, Famous Five. It was very, very clever, and it served the

purpose in the end. Made the difference? Certainly did. Denied,

they all received a special award from the police. -- tonight. Two men

arrested on suspicion of burglary have since been released on bail.

The children are just happy there arrow was of assistance. Duncan

Kennedy, BBC News, in Surrey. Back to our main story, have a look

at this, this is the scene in Liverpool this evening, where

thousands of people have gathered to remember the Hillsborough victims.

Remember, there were 96 of them, Liverpool fans, and there they are,

gathered outside St George's hall, and there were banners earlier which

we saw that said truth and justice. The people of Liverpool now, after

the conclusions of the inquests, they have got the truth. Now, they

say, they are just waiting for justice. Judith Moritz, our

correspondent, was telling us how, really, today, if you walk around

Liverpool, if you were standing in that crowd, you would be witnessing

a very different city, a changed city. That is Liverpool this

evening. Time for a look at the weather now with Jay Wynne.

Another chilly day with sunshine and some pretty big showers, this

picture sums it up, a really wintry mix, and that will rumble on any

next few hours over the eastern side of England, for many places it is

dry with clear skies overnight, and there it will turn cold. Major towns

and cities just above freezing, in rural spots a couple of degrees

below freezing. So another late-season sharp frost. Some rain

lurking to the west of Northern Ireland, but dry and bright weather

after that, wintry showers over the north-west of England and Wales,

some sunshine as well, showers in the south-west. Ahead of that, a

good deal of sunshine, cold, patchy cloud, so mist and fog as well.

Tomorrow, showers across England and Wales, mostly rain, but the wetter

and windier weather pushing across Northern Ireland, eventually

crossing the Irish Sea, the South and west of Scotland, turning to

snow over the hills. As we get onto Thursday evening, there will be

wintry weather for Northern Ireland, northern England, southern Scotland,

but this area of snow in the north-east of Scotland is of some

concern. 20 centimetres of high ground blowing around in strong

winds, transport disruption, it looks like that is more than likely.

Elsewhere, there will be wintry showers in the north-west of

England, wetter weather along the south coast. George.

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.