03/05/2017 BBC News at Six

A blistering attack on Brussels from Theresa May

on the day parliament is officially dissolved.

She accused EU politicians of hardening their positions

and said some in Brussels did not want Brexit talks to succeed.

Threats against Britain have been issued by European

All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect

the result of the general election that will take place on 8th June.

We won't threaten Europe on the way into Brexit,

and above all in this election campaign, we'll put forward

Her comments followed a warning from the EU's top negotiator -

you're wrong if you think Brexit is going to be painless.

that Brexit would have no material impact on our lives.

We'll be asking why the prime minister has

Ten years to the day since Madeleine disappeared,

we hear from a local resident about what she saw that evening.

The student who faces jail after leaving a home-made bomb

packed with ball bearings on the Tube.

The hidden camera that makes this bionic hand

Coming up in Sportsday later in the hour in BBC News,

there's much better news for Manchester United on the injury

front as they prepare for their Europa League semifinal.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

The Prime Minister has made an unparalleled attack

on EU politicians and officials, accusing them of trying to influence

Just minutes after she'd had an audience with the Queen

at Buckingham Palace, Theresa May said the EU's position

Her comments came after the European Union's chief

negotiator, Michel Barnier, warned that it was an illusion

to think the Brexit process could be painless.

Labour has accused Mrs May of using Brexit for political gain.

Here's our political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

What was on her mind with that raise the eyebrows? Not just the

formalities of revving up for an election... Which she, remember, was

not obliged to call. But Theresa May seems determined to play the Brexit

card for all it is worth. Setting her face against Brussels, she wants

you to believe she won't be messed around. Whoever wins on the 8th of

June and will face one overriding task - to get the best possible deal

for this United Kingdom from Brexit. And in the last few days, we have

seen just how tough these talks are likely to be. Britain's negotiating

position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental

press. The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened.

Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and

officials. All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect

the result of the general election that will take place on the 8th of

June. Yes, she did just accuse some in the EU of interfering in our

election. The events of the last few days have shown that whatever our

wishes and however reasonable the positions of Europe's other leaders,

there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed, who

do not want Britain to prosper. This Brexit negotiation is central to

everything. If we don't get the negotiation right, your economic

security and prosperity will be put at risk and the opportunity you seek

for your families simply not happen. If we do not stand up and get this

negotiation right, we risk the secure and well-paid jobs we want

for our children and our children's children too. If we don't get the

negotiation right, if we let the bureaucrats of Brussels run over us,

we will lose the chance to build a fairer society with real opportunity

for all. The last few days have seen the intensity of the jousting over

the EU become even more troublesome, but using all the trappings of

Downing Street, Theresa May has just upped the ante even further, even

accusing some in Brussels of trying to make trouble in the general

election. Just who could she have had in her sights? Chief negotiator

at the EU Commission? I give the floor to Michel Barnier. Days after

a tense Downing Street dinner, among suggestions that the UK would have

to pay 100 billion as we leave the EU. Some have created the illusion

that Brexit would have no material impact on our lives, or that

negotiations can be concluded quickly and painlessly. This is not

the case. More cryptically, less diplomatically, he said: just like

when hill walking, you have to learn the rules, or accidents happen. The

Government didn't start the day with a subtle message. The Tories were

eager to make disputed claims about Labour's plan for tax. The forget

that, every question was about the possible bill from Brussels, and

rather than ramp up the row, those two had tried to turn it down. Can I

ask you both not to hide behind the fact that there will be

negotiations? In this election, don't voters deserve to know how

much of that taxpayers cash they may be asked to stump up? Is that figure

closer to zero or 100 billion? The public want one thing. They want a

good outcome to this negotiation, the best possible outcome. We do

that in the negotiating room, not by negotiating with a megaphone. I am

not surprised people are manoeuvring for opening advantage in that

negotiation. That approach long gone by the afternoon, above all else, it

is election time. And Brexit creates opportunities and problems for every

party. I voted Leave, and I am proud to have voted Leave, and I knew what

I was voting for. The real message out of this spat between Juncker and

May is that this will watch -- this is what will happen over the next

two years. You and our children will have a deal with you have to live

with for the next several decades, and none of us will be given a say.

Theresa May have some formidable foes, and they all use this against

her. What we have seen today is her trying to make the EU bogeyman in

order to do that, but she's playing a dangerous game because by

poisoning the atmosphere of these negotiations, she risks getting a

bad Deal no deal. Her rivals wonder if she really means it. I don't

think anyone in Brussels really believes that Theresa May is

prepared to walk away without signing a comprehensive deal. But it

is labour that is vulnerable in a big way. Theresa May is after their

traditional support. We will negotiate a Brexit that works for

all, for the many, not the few. We won't threaten Europe on the way

into Brexit and above all in this election campaign, we will put

forward a proposal and a plan for Britain which is about dealing with

inequality and injustice. Behind the gates, Theresa May was never going

to be the kind of politician simply to agree. But even in the heat of an

election campaign, strong words cannot be unsaid. It was just a

couple of days ago that the Prime Minister was dismissing the idea of

a spat between her and Brussels as just gossip, and yet this afternoon

this full throated attack. It is not unusual for British Prime Minister

is to have a pop at officials or diplomats or bureaucrats across the

Channel. That is a political tactic as old as the hills. But for Theresa

May to do it right now, not just in a general election campaign but with

local elections tomorrow right around the country, that has some

political charge. And here is why. The Tories believe that there are

millions of votes that they could grab up from voters who chose Ukip

in the last couple of elections, or from ordinary Labour voters who were

really enthusiastic about leaving the European Union. Of course,

Theresa May has a reputation for being stubborn in talks, being

tough. She was never the kind of Prime Minister who was just going to

roll over in the face of Brussels opening gambit. But this is also

about political timing, and that is much of what explains this

extraordinary statement this afternoon. The difficulty for her

may well be, if she ends up back in power, that such strong accusations

like this don't necessarily melt away with the passage of time.

Laura, thank you. So while Theresa May has been

arguing that the election is all about who is more able

to handle tough Brexit talks, Labour turned

its attention to the NHS today. The party says it will suspend plans

for the health service in England which entail the closure

of some hospital services. The proposals from NHS England,

which are supported by the Government,

are aimed at treating Our Health Editor Hugh

Pym has the story. Protests against NHS closures are

nothing new, but in some communities like Huddersfield, concerns about

cuts are growing. This protest last autumn was in reaction to plans to

remove A services at the local hospital. Campaigners say people

will suffer because of longer journey times. Patients are going to

be disbursed all around the north of the country. Those will involve

longer trips and the longer the trip, the more danger there is in

the situation. Labour's John Ashworth, at a meeting of activists

from Huddersfield and around Yorkshire, said he wanted to halt

closures, specifically by stalling NHS reform plans in England. We will

say, let's have a moratorium on them and let's step back and have a full

review of them. When we reviewed them, must involve clinicians, but

let's involve the people as well. So far, they have been cut out of the

decisions, and we don't think that is fair. The NHS reform document are

known as sustainability and transformation plans and have been

published in 44 areas across England. Some involve hospital bed

cuts and service reductions, with funds reinvested in community care.

The Southwest London plan involves the possible reduction of five

hospital sites to four. Local campaigners say this one, St Helier,

faces closure. Upper Bann's authors say that resources will be shifted

into local area teams involving GPs, social care staff and nurses,

providing care closer to people's homes. The Conservatives, Jeremy

Hunt said in a written statement that Labour's plan was nonsensical

as the party had previously backed the reforms. He said they were

supported by top doctors and nurses in the NHS and would improve patient

care. The Liberal Democrats said the real issue was lack of investment in

the NHS. If there is not enough money in the system, however you

reject those services, you're never going to be able to provide the

quality of care that is needed. That is why as a party, the Liberal

Democrats are calling for significant investment to be made in

the NHS. NHS leaders say in response to rising patient demand and

stretched resources, the plans are all about treating more people away

from hospitals. Whoever is in government can expect more intense

political debate over the process. Hugh Pym, BBC News.

since three-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing

from a holiday apartment in the Portuguese village of Praia da Luz.

Her disappearance sparked a huge police search and worldwide

attention which cast a shadow on the resort.

But a decade later, despite extensive

international inquiries, the investigation remains open.

This evening, some cuddly toys and flowers have been left at the doors

of the church he and later tonight, there will be a special service to

remember Madeleine at exactly the moment she disappeared ten years

ago. What so many people here have said to me is that they can't

believe so much time has passed, so much has been said and written and

investigated and yet here we are still with very few actual confirmed

facts. I have been talking to some of those people caught up in this

case. Ten years since

everything changed here. Ten years since a little girl

vanished on a holiday It's unbelievable that

there's been nothing. This comes into my mind

every single day. Jenny Murat is still

haunted by what happened. She only lives a few

yards from the block Back then, she set up a stall

appealing for information. But it was something she saw herself

that is now reported to be a significant part

of this investigation. She remembers driving past

the McCanns' apartment on the night Madeleine vanished and seeing

a young woman acting I noticed her there and she kind of

looked as if she was trying to hide. I do remember that she was wearing

a plum coloured top. Jenny Murat says she informed

the police at the time, but this is the first time she has

talked about it publicly. She also told me she saw a brown

car that night speeding towards the McCanns' apartment,

going the wrong way One of the small cars,

like a rental car, the normal Both of us looked at each other

and I think he had a very Ten years of publicity have produced

ten years of theories. It's had a huge impact

on my personality... Jenny Murat's son Robert

was the first person to be made an "arguido", or named

suspect in the case. A decade on, his name

may have been cleared, I just want to know

why that was the case. It didn't only lead to me

being destroyed, it led to my whole family being destroyed and affected

by those allegations. Did you have anything to do with

Madeline McCann's disappearance? Tonight, Panorama tracks down

a former reception manager He was never a suspect,

but was questioned by British What did you tell them

about that night? Only questions about the timetable

and things like that. Vitor dos Santos denies

any involvement in what Ten years, and many here are fed up

with all the attention. Ten years, and many

others can't let go. The BBC Panorama programme

Madeleine McCann: Ten Years On Theresa May has launched

a blistering attack on Brussels on the day Parliament

is officially dissolved. There's no age barrier

to creating good art, we have a look at this year's

Turner Prize shortlist. Coming up on Sportsday in the next

15 minutes on BBC News. Calling time on her career,

Goldie Sayers hits out at the doping cheats who denied her a place

on the Olympic podium. Creating a bionic hand

that is as sensitive and versatile as the human version has long been

the ambition for scientists. Researchers have developed

a bionic hand that has Within milliseconds,

the hand sees an object a light pinch or a firm grip

to pick it up. Here's our Disability Affairs

Correspondent Nikki Fox. A prosthetic with potential,

a bionic hand that for the first time can pick up

objects almost instantaneously. In fact, it's ten times quicker

than what's currently available. Doug is one of a number of amputees

trialling this new technology. I guess the first time

I got the hand to work, Deep down, I'm working something

that I lost 20 years ago. On the face of it, it's very simple,

and down to a 99p webcam. What they've done is take one image,

one snapshot of the object and within a fraction of a second,

come up with the best grip. A picture of the object

is taken, and the hand moves So why are these

developments so crucial? There are three types of prosthetics

currently available on the NHS. In fact, studies suggest that nearly

half choose not to wear one. Ann has been working

with amputees for years. She thinks the all-seeing hand

is a significant step forward. I think they're something

patients have been asking A wide variety of patients are keen

to have a prosthesis, but a prosthesis that actually

does something functional. The camera can be miniaturised and

embedded into the back of the hand. But the team are creating a database

of everyday objects so eventually, it can learn to pick up something it

has never seen before. But because in many ways,

it's such a simple and potentially cheap solution, it means that this

bionic hand may be available A student has been found guilty

of planting a home-made bomb Damon Smith, who's 20,

packed a rucksack with explosives, ball bearings and a timer

which was set to go off within Our Home Affairs Correspondent June

Kelly has the story. Alone on a London Underground

platform, Damon Smith is caught on CCTV priming his device

to explode on the tube. It's inside a rucksack and he has

timed it to go off just after 11am. Surrounded by passengers,

he feigns interest in his book. Further down the line, he gets off,

but he's abandoned the rucksack in the carriage and left the device,

packed with ball North Greenwich

station was evacuated. Although parts of the device

were viable, it failed to explode. If it had detonated, it certainly

would have endangered life. Without a doubt would have caused

mass casualties and certainly would have caused substantial damage

to the underground system. He had an unhealthy interest

in firearms and violence, particularly mass shootings in

America. And although he was in possession

of some IS material, we cannot prove his motivation

or certainly his ideology. This was Damon Smith

in a police interview. He has Asperger's Syndrome,

a form of autism. When I was on the tube I realised

it was going to Stratford. And I thought it would be a good

time to leave my bag for a prank. A former friend witnessed

his developing interest He was showing me videos of Isis

grabbing a knife and cutting off He was, doesn't this look sort

of fun, and all that. I was like, no it doesn't,

it looks a bit wrong, actually. Damon Smith used an Aa-Qaeda

bomb-making manual to help him But he denied he held

extreme political views. However, the jury decided he did set

out to attack tube travellers. Of course, the general election

isn't the only election under way. Tomorrow, voters across England,

Scotland and Wales will go Our Political Correspondent

Vicki Young is here - it's not often we have local

and general elections so close? It's very rare for local elections

to be held in the middle of a general election campaign

and all the parties will be hoping for signs that

they're making progress. Almost 5,000 seats are up

for grabs, but none In Scotland, these elections

were last contested in 2012 Back then the SNP won the most

seats, but Labour wasn't far behind. A key battleground

this time will be Glasgow City

Council, where Labour's held In Wales, all 22 councils

are being elected. Labour performed strongly

five years ago and it's defending almost 600 seats,

far more than any other party. Plaid Cymru and the Tories

are hoping for gains and Ukip could build on its good showing

in the Welsh Assembly elections. In England, there are 34 elections,

most of them for county councils, and this is a traditional area of

strength for the Conservatives, who have twice as many

seats as Labour. The Liberal Democrats are hoping

to claw back some of the ground they've lost over the past few years

and Labour's strength will be tested in the councils

they control in Derbyshire, So with a general election next

month, how much should we read Will give an indication of whether

the Tories are ahead in the opinion polls, whether they are advancing in

Scotland, if Labour really are in trouble across the length and

breadth of Britain. But of course we should not assume that what happens

on Thursday will necessarily be replicated exactly in the general

election. In six areas of England,

there will be a significant change to local government

with the election of new metro mayors in Manchester,

Liverpool, the West Midlands, Tees Valley, the west of England

and Cambridge and Peterborough. These mayors will mostly be

responsible for economic development in their regions,

but some will have powers over are also voting for local authority

mayors. Local elections won't

necessarily tell us much about how people might vote

in a national contest, but as the results come

in on Friday, party leaders will seize on anything that suggests

they have momentum, heading into the general

election on June 8th. It's the most high profile

arts prize in Britain, and for years it's been the preserve

of young British artists. This year, for the first time

since 1991, the Turner Prize has scrapped its age limit and two

artists over 50 have made Our Arts Correspondent

David Sillito reports. You certainly did not expect this?

No, not at all. Not at all. Not at all! I mean it does make me laugh.

It has been a strange day for Lubaina Himid. She has painted for

more than 35 years and today at the age of 62 she is on the Turner prize

short list. Her paintings bring black lives and faces too often very

white art galleries. This is perhaps the signature work, 100 life-size

portraits made when... You were 50. I was. Did you think that national

recognition was probably passed you by then? Probably. And now? I hadn't

thought about the Turner prize in terms of nominations or short

listing for a couple of decades. Born in Zanzibar she has lived and

taught here in Preston for over 25 years. When she's not alone. The

other nominees, Anderson, Butler, and Rosalind, or all of mature

years. This jury of the Turner prize has perhaps look back at certain

artists unfairly overlooked and decided to open it up to those who

deserve a second chance or will flourish later in life. It has

certainly been a year of flourishing for Lubaina Himid and her life's

ambition. And making a space where other black audiences can feel at

home. Where they can look at these cutouts and think, looks a bit like

my anti all that's kind of got the demeanour I've got, or, it's like

being at home, it's like being amongst people you know. It's about

making a space in an art gallery where you are not the only person of

colour. David Sillitoe, BBC News, Preston. More on our top story,

Katya Adler is in Brussels, how are Theresa May's comments going to go

down there? I've spoken to EU officials who do not talk in public

but want the EU's opinions known and they are describing her assertion

that Brussels is interfering in the election as pure fantasy. They say

the European Mac -- they say the European Mac is in favour of the

election and want a British governor to a public backing so they can

begin the Brexit big initiations. They are absolutely saying there is

no interference at all on this side. They believe their interpretation of

the Prime Minister 's comments is that she's in the middle of an

election campaign so they don't believe that you would play down a

row with Brussels if she thinks it can get her public backing. But none

of this helps the Brexit process get off to a favourable start even

though both sides say they want a good outcome. Thank you.

Sunny warm or cold grey, it's one way or the other in the UK, you know

which one this is in Northern Ireland today, let me show you

another in the south of East Anglia, it's been cold and wet for many

areas, and quite cold, just 9 degrees, look at the difference in

the sunshine, up to 20 western Scotland. Those contrasts continue

in the next few days. We keep some clout in parts of England and Wales

other night and with that you'll find some showers not just in East

Anglia and South East England, some spots of rain, not too much, breaks

in the cloud for parts of Wales and Northern England, especially into

Scotland and Northern Ireland, this is where we have the lowest

temperatures in the countryside of a night and the odd frost pocket in

Scotland to start tomorrow, all clad in Scotland tomorrow than today yet

still sunny spells for Northern Ireland, northern England and

brightening across much of Wales and into the Midlands. For East Anglia

and southern England we keep clout, still some showers

around, the breeze is stronger tomorrow, still pegging those

temperatures back and was North Sea coasts, in the West and in the

sunshine still some spots into the high teens. Not much difference on

Friday, still cloudy in southern England, baby showers in the

south-east, most places dry, quite gusty across southern parts. Looking

to the start of the weekend this weather system may bring rain to

southern England and the Channel Islands but the forecast is not set

in stone so we'll update you over the next few days. Maybe some

showers to the north, most places dry, the wind easing a little on

Saturday, more so on Saturday and most places dry on Saturday and over

the next few days.