06/09/2016 BBC News at Six

The Labour MP, Keith Vaz, quits as head of an influential

Newspapers claimed he'd paid for two male prostitutes.

We all accepted that was the appropriate course of action

he has taken and we also appreciate the many challenges facing him

Mr Vaz said, "Those who hold others to account must

A British preacher who encouraged the support of so-called

Sports Direct promises to improve workers conditions -

How was a group of protestors able to occupy a runway

And on the eve of the Paralympics, Britain aims to beat

Coming up in the sport: Britain's Andy Murray is just two

matches away from another US Open final, after winning

through to the last eight in commanding style.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

The Labour MP, Keith Vaz, has resigned as head of the influential

It follows newspaper allegations that he paid for the services

The married father of two said, "Those who hold others to account

Mr Vaz is a prominent member of the House of Commons

and also Britain's longest serving British Asian MP.

Our deputy political editor, John Pienaar, reports.

Out of luck, out of friends and now out of one of the prestigious Jews

jobs and MP can do outside Government. Keith Vaz, who spent

years putting pressure on the powerful. Left home today to give

into the pressure on him to quit over tabloid allegation abouts his

sex life. The news he resigned was as big as the story that brought him

down was ugly to read. He was reportedly caught out using male

prostitutes. No laws broken, accept unwritten ones on reputation when in

authority. On those he pleaded guilty. In a statement he said:

His committee announced the penalty that he had accepted. The committee

listened, I think in sadness, to what Keith had to say and with a

good deal of respect. Keith has clearly acted in the best interests

of the Home Affairs Select Committee and the important work that we do.

And, with sadness, we all accepted that that was the appropriate course

of action that he has taken and we also appreciate the many challenges

facing him personally and his family. And, there was this tribute

to Mr Vaz's work. I think he has a reputation for getting the best out

of witnesses, for being a robust Chair, but also being a fair Chair

as well. Again, I don't think it is an underestimate to say that the

work of the committee under his Chairmanship has had a direct and

big impact on Government policy, on law and also on public opinion at

times as well. Keith Vaz's cutting style in the Home Affairs committee

Chair seems ironic looking back. Nobody is questioning our integrity,

it is your judgment we are questioning. Can I say on behalf of

the committee, we have found your evidence most unsatisfactory. Can I

just finish my question before. I know you are eager to give evidence

but you need to just calm down. This was the story twha brought Keith Vaz

down. The twael look set to run and run. Labour's leader was keen to

draw a line under it all. There has to be confidence in a democratic

process and therefore confidence in politicians, what they do. Keith has

made that decision to resign. I think we should respect that

decision. Thank him for his work of Chair of the Home Affairs Select

Committee and move on from there. Keith Vaz was elected in 1987, one

of a handful of ethnic minority MPs and rose to become Europe Minister

under Tony Blair but there was coninterest ofcy, about the way he'd

lobbied to get British passports for the which will yob air Hindu

gentleman brothers. His financial dealings have been questioned. Once

he was suspended for making be a accusations. Tonight he was in the

chamber, reduced living testimony to the fragility of a political career.

At Westminster the sympathy is mostly for his family. Suddenly

Keith Vaz seems a lonely figure. There have been plenty of salacious

details in the papers, but some people are questioning whether Mr

Vaz had to step down, given he hasn't broken any laws. That's so.

The reports were certainly lurid and the suggestion of a conflict of

interest from an MP whoes job involves scrutinising public policy

including prostitution. They were not easy to argue away but

ultimately Keith Vaz lacked the safety net of the support and

sympathy of his colleagues, including on his own side. One

Labour MP was saying if it had been another committee it might have been

different and someone other than Keith Vaz t might have been

different. Which sums up, if you like, the hopelessness of his

position which he might not have seen himself rearier in the day when

some colleagues thought he might try to cling on. Past allegations and

the likelihood of more to come, rightly or wrongly, they had sapped

that support. Britain s I think, in many cases more tolerate of private

morality than in past years but MPs, ultimately we see again, they are

bound by a code of conduct, hard it is to design but no more forgiving

than the law as they pass themselves in Westminster.

The radical preacher, Anjem Choudary, is beginning

jail sentence this evening, for encouraging support

-- for inviting support for so-called Islamic State.

Choudary has long been regarded as a key force in radicalising

young Muslims and several of his supporters went on to be

convicted of terrorism, including the murderers

As our Home Affairs Correspondent, June Kelly, reports, his influence

They say that is terrorism For 20 years he was Anjem Choudary, hate

preacher. Now he's Anjem Choudary, convicted terrorist. He could have

been jailed for up to ten years. He's been given five-and-a-half for

inviting support for so-called Islamic State. The same sentence was

passed on his co-defendant and close associate Mohammed Misanoraman. As

they stood together in the dock of the Old Bailey, some of their

supporters looked down. One shouted alieu Akbar, "God is great" as the

judge announced the jail terms The country is a bit safer. All the evil

they have been sowing, all their evil words and the dissent they have

tried to sow throughout society is over. They have paid the price and

going to jail. Skilless for so long on staying on the right side of the

law. He has been at the centre of a network of extremists in the UK and

beyond his former right-hand man was arrested with him but fled to Syria

while on bail and is now suspended of being the new Jihadi John.

Another follow up was Michael Adebolajo he and his foredisciple

were responsible for the savage street killing of Lee Rigby and

Chowdhury's influence extended across Europe. In Belgium, many

extremists linked to him have been prosecuted. We are here in Europe,

in Amsterdam. This was him in Holland, one of the countries where

his toxic message took root. The judge described Anjem Choudary as

calculating and dangerous and said he had shown no remorse. He now

follow many he once led into the prison system and at the age of 49,

this is his first jail term. Chowdhury, especially his

co-defendant, could become magnetic figures for other inmates These

individuals are going into prison for a substantial period of time

that. Will have to be managed jointly with the Prison Service. It

is a worry but it has to be managed going forward. The police say they

have to work with communities to keep people off the radical path.

Luton was one of Chowdhury's most fertile recruiting grounds. At this

mosque in the town, they are trying hard to counter the propaganda. Here

they think it is vital to have an open discussion so that young

Muslims are then equipped tochallenge extremists. You should

have an ideological battle with these people. This is what we are

doing, we are teaching young people how to intellectually debate in

dialogue with extremists and if they come to you, to say - I know what

the right path is, my teachers have taught me the right path. They are

tired of terrorists like Anjem Choudary, using Islam to justify

what they say and do. Choudary will begin his sentence in the high

security unit at Belmarsh jail. For the next few years his rare glimpses

of the outside world will be from inside a prison van.

The Government is considering opening new grammar schools

in England, according to a memo revealed accidentally

Photographers caught sight of the confidential paper,

which mentioned that expanding existing grammar schools

Our education editor, Branwen Jeffreys, is here.

Yet another person caught out with a confidential paper

You would think they have learned their lesson by now. Are we going to

see new grammar schools? Well, they are certainly on the menu. This is

the most significant glimpse we have had so far into the Government

thinking about how it might expand grammar were vision in England.

First of all, it said they could work with existing grammar schools

that want to expand. There are 160-odd already in England. And that

was, in the Conservative manifesto at the last election. Since then,

one school in Kent has been given permission to open up on another

site ten miles away on the grounds it is an annex but they say they

have to look at the impact on other schools. Grammar schools remain a

divisive and controversial issue for two main reasons. One, you take some

of the very bright children and put them in one school t makes the job

of the other surrounding schools that much harder and the second is,

we know if you look at who gets in, who ends up in grammar schools,

poor, bright children are less likely to end up in a grammar

school. So the second idea here, the confirmation that they could open

new grammar schools is highly conroer have. That would require a

change in the law that could meet very stiff resistance from within

the House of Lords. But that's not where the only criticism lies. Just

yesterday the Chief Inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw said it

was tosh and nonsense to say grammar schools helps people get a better

chance in life and there are reservations within the Conservative

Party, too. A boy and girl, aged 15 have pleaded

guilty to the manslaughter of a mother and her

daughter in Lincolnshire They're accused of killing

Elizabeth Edwards and her 13-year-old daughter, Katie,

at a house in Spalding in April. There's been a serious breach

of security at London's City Airport after activists managed to gain

access to a runway Flights were stopped for for six

hours, causing major The campaign group,

Black Lives Matter, said their action was to draw

attention to the environmental impact of climate change

on black people. On the runway at London's City

Airport just before six o'clock this morning,

nine protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement

grounded all flights. Police arrived to find

the group locked together It took officers nearly six hours

to remove them and make arrests. The anti-racism group says it's

highlighting the UK's environmental When we say Black Lives Matter,

we also mean the black lives and the families that live

in proximity to facilities like airports, like the busiest

roads, like power plants. And we're also talking

about the black lives that are far away from here,

in some of the countries that are the most affected

by climate change and It's not yet clear how

the protesters made their way onto the runway here,

but there are suggestions they used a dingy and crossed the water which,

in itself, has raised London City Airport is investigating

how this security breach happened, which left big delays

in a terminal used by around I'm trying to get home

to see my wife and I'm quite tired, And really, those nine protesters,

I mean, they may have a good cause, All these hundreds of

people are suffering. This isn't the first time

Black Lives Matter has caused disruption -

last month, blocking the M4 at Heathrow - and the group

say they will continue Labour MP, Keith Vaz,

quits as head of an influential parliamentary committee

after allegations he paid two in Britain and heading

to the developing world. We'll have more on one of Britain's

most decorated Paralympians, Lee Pearson, who's been selected

by his team-mates to carry the GB flag at Wednesday's opening

ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. Sports Direct has promised

to improve conditions for its workers after MPs criticised

conditions at its warehouse in Derbyshire for not

treating its staff like humans. The company - which has

been under pressure to overhaul the way it's run -

says it will offer to end zero-hours contracts for shop workers,

but more than 3,000 warehouse workers will not

qualify for the offer. Our business correspondent,

Emma Simpson, reports. Sports Direct's distribution centre,

in the Derbyshire countryside, a vast site, manned mostly

by thousands of temporary A place which MPs recently likened

to a Victorian workhouse. The company's own review today found

serious shortcomings. Earlier this year, this BBC

programme revealed a culture of fear, Stuart Young

was a security guard here. It feels like something out

of Dickens the way it's run. Finding urine in bottles

in the warehouse because they've been told they can't go

to the toilet. The company denied that claim,

but it is improving It's so-called six strikes

and you're out policy is being suspended, workers will be

paid above the National Minimum Wage and it'll trial a scheme to move 10

agency workers onto direct Taking 10 people a month will take

28 years to get those people, as they sit now, into permanent, decent

employment with Sports Direct. That's not good enough. We have a

long way to go. At the site today the view from workers. If they get

rid of the strike system, this place should be OK. Until they get rid of

that, mate, this place is abysmal. The conditions aren't perfect, but

I've worked in worse places. Away from the warehouse there are changes

for thousands of its shop workers. It's offering to move them from zero

hours contracts to permanent ones which guarantee at least 12-hours

work a week. I went home every night and said to my girlfriend, I don't

know when I will work, or when I can earn money, I stated I'm desperate

to work, they couldn't assure me of the minimum hours I was working

every week because of the casual contract they put me on. Mike Ashley

build the company from scratch, he owns most of the company as well as

Newcastle United. The share price has been going down as the

grievances pile up. This review comes a day before Sports Direct

faces the wrath of independent shareholders at its AGM. Pressure

from investors has been growing for changes to its top team and to how

this business is run. Sports Direct is promising more work on that, but

will today's concessions be enough to quell tomorrow's potential

shareholder rebellion? Emma Simpson, BBC News.

Boosting Scotland's economy and improving

education will be the focus for the Scottish Government

First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has been outlining the plans

as part of 14 new bills the SNP administration

Our Scotland editor, Sarah Smith, is there.

Nicola Sturgeon has been setting out her priorities today? Yes. Her first

priority she says is trying to tackle the attainment gap between

school pupils from richer and poorer backgrounds. She has staked her

personal reputation on that. She is making preparations just in case she

decides to call for a second referendum on Scottish independence.

I can't believe this is going to be a football pitch.

Nothing says - I'm getting on with the job better than a photo

So Nicola Sturgeon got suitably kited up for a visit

to a new school under construction in Edinburgh this morning.

But it will feel like it's outside up here.

These pictures carefully co-ordinated to deliver the message

that she plans to focus on both education and increased

The First Minister says it is time for the hard graft of turning

This programme for Government demonstrates how with an iron focus

on the business of Government we will create opportunity for all.

It outlines how we will support economic growth, invest in childcare

and schools, improve public services and empower our local communities.

As well as increased infrastructure spending, the First Minister

announced ?500,000,000 in support for private-sector businesses facing

Plans to send more Government funding direct to school head

teachers and reduce teachers' workload.

A child poverty bill which will include a baby

box containing clothes, bedding and books for every child

born in Scotland and draft legislation to allow another

referendum on Scottish independence if she decides to call for one.

The Tories are now the main opposition in the Scottish

Parliament, partly because of their opposition to Scottish independence.

The real dividing line in this country is between the SNP,

desperate to drag us back to a second independence referendum,

and the rest of us, who all just want to put it

Observers warn that Nicola Sturgeon can not afford

to be seen to be ignoring the business of Government

as she considers the possibility of independence.

She has to be seen to focus on those core issues that

that matter to citizens, that need to be dealt with.

If the SNP Government doesn't make a success of those,

within the context of devolution, then it will struggle to win

the argument for further constitutional change.

How well the Scottish Government use the powers they have

to address voters' currented concerns could determine

whether they will ever succeed in achieving independence.

Sarah Smith, BBC News, Edinburgh.

It's described as the world's first flat-pack van,

which can be assembled in hours and travel more than 600

The Ox, unveiled today, is the brainchild of

a British Formula One designer for use in remote areas

Our transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, has been

It doesn't look like it could tackle some of the worst roads on earth.

On the surface, the Ox could be any other truck,

It's two-wheel drive and yet I'm driving it over what could easily be

a dry riverbed in Africa, really rocky and, frankly,

it's doing it as well as a 4x4 would do it.

Believe it or not, the man who designed it also made this.

The McClaren F1 is a super car for the super rich.

Ox drivers have very different needs.

When we studied the requirements for where this vehicle's

going to end up, there is a requirement for

..loading livestock and barrels of fuel and water.

I know it's probably difficult to believe but, for me,

this ranks above everything else I've ever done.

Designing expensive sports cars, that reaches a few people.

if this goes into mass production, this will help thousands

Crucially, it flat-packs like furniture, so it's

Three semi-skilled people can build it under 12-hours with

Every part is designed to be easy to fix.

It could make a huge difference for rural farmers, according

Agriculture is the main driver of development and the poor farmers

are located in the very remote areas where it's difficult for them to,

kind of, transport their commodities to the market and also

They're now hoping to make 1,000 or so without making a profit.

The Paralympic Games get underway in Rio tomorrow and there are high

The team won 120 medals at London 2012 and, four years later,

it's hoped the athletes can improve on that tally, even though

Our sports correspondent, Andy Swiss, joins us now from Rio.

Andy. Yes, welcome back to Rio. It's just a few weeks of course since

Britain's Olympians enjoyed such success here. Now the Paralympians

are hoping to follow suit. At their Brazilian training base,

the British team are making their final push for Rio hoping

to turn graft into gold. Today though, the first big result

equestrian star, Lee Pearson, has won 10 Paralympic titles,

now he's been voted flag bearer It is the biggest honour

in the whole of the world. To carry the flag would be

an honour, but to be voted by my fellow Paralympic GB

athletes is surreal. London 2012 forged an array

of new stars, so will this be In recent Paralympics,

Britain's medal tally has risen In recent Paralympics, Britain's

medal tally has risen steadily. From 102 in Beijing,

eight years ago, to 120 in London. Here, in Rio, their target is to go

at least one better than that with what is a smaller team and,

of course, no home advantage. The absence of Russia here,

banned after their recent doping scandal, should

help Britain's cause, but the head of the British team

insists it's still a testing target. History tends to show that it's very

difficult to go to your next away Games and repeat that

level of performance. So it's a challenging target,

but I think that the results over the last couple of seasons

especially really point towards this It's a team with plenty

of new faces. 16-year-old Maria Lyle juggles

school work with sprinting, now she's among around half

the British athletes It's crazy to think,

four years ago, I was watching it and now I'm like in the training

camp with the whole team. But I think, even just being here,

is a great achievement, I'm enjoying every moment and I'm

looking forward to Of course, British athletes in Rio

haven't done too badly So could there now be

a second goldrush? On Copacabana, the Olympic

rings have been replaced The stage is set for yet

more sporting drama. Andy Swiss, BBC News,

Rio. In Rio as the week goes on

relatively cool for the time of year. There could be patchy rain

developing as well. I know it's a different season in Rio, we have

been giving Rio a run for its money in terms of warmth today, 26 in

Aberdeen and 27 in Hull. Those areas saw sunshine. Many of us stayed

under cloud, cloud or sunshine, warm, humid and a muggy night to

come. Poor visibility and patchy mist and fog developing. Most places

will be dry. Patchy rain to the western side of Scotland. Last night

set a new over night temperature record in September for Northern

Ireland. Tonight, again, look at this, we would be happy with this by

day at this time of year. A muggy start to the day tomorrow. Plenty of

Cloud, mist and fog. The process is getting jumped way during the day

across the Channel Islands into southern England, south Wales as

well breaking out into the sunshine, lifting those temperatures. We are

widely into the 20s. It's humid once more. If the washing on the clothes

line is taking time to dry that is why. Northern Ireland into Scotland

seeing some sunny spells. Most will be dry. The threat of the odd heavy

shower. Far north of Scotland and into the western isles. Fine

tomorrow evening on Thursday look at the wind arrows, a fresher direction

from Attapatu landic. Humidy coming down. Splash of rain in northern

England and Scotland. Most will have a dry afternoon with sunny spells.

Stronger weather system into Northern Ireland with heavy rain,

showers ahead of that. This weather system will sweep heavy rain from

west to east across the UK as we go through Friday night and into

Saturday morning. If you want to know more about what is happening

over the weekend you can go online, find a forecast for where you are or

where you're going at BBC weather. That's it. Thank you very much,

Nick. Just before we go, a look ahead

to tonight's News at Ten which has a special report on the spiralling

gun violence plaguing one The real tragedy of Chicago is just

how common things like this are. And, more often than not,the victims

are young, they're black and their cases

are largely ignored. That special report

on at 10.00pm tonight. From us here, on the BBC News

at Six, it's goodbye from me. On BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.