11/05/2017 BBC News at Six

Tonight at six - from the railways to Royal Mail,

public ownership is at the heart of Labour's leaked manifesto.

After the party's top brass met to amend the draft document,

Jeremy Corbyn spelt out what it could mean for Britain.

An offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society,

and ensure that we have a government in Britain on June the 8th that will

work for the many, not the few. Labour unveils its election poster -

but some in the party have their own thoughts

on what actually matters. The Tories are 20 points

ahead in the polls. It's the Tory manifesto people need

to be focusing on, seeing We'll find out what potential voters

think of the new policies. A warning

from the Bank of England - you'll feel the pinch in your pocket

as inflation is set to rise. Latest figures show waiting times

in the NHS in England You guessed it, it's

Eurovision time again - but could Brexit bad blood mean nil

points for our Lucie Jones? Coming up in the sport on BBC News,

Europa League and potential Champions League prizes both

on offer for Manchester United ahead of their second leg

against Celta Vigo at Old Trafford. Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six. If a leaked copy of Labour's

manifesto is anything to go by, the party is about to propose some

of the most sweeping changes The draft proposals -

seen by the BBC - range from renationalising the railways

and parts of the energy sector, an emphasis on workers' rights

to scrapping tuition This afternoon, party chiefs

signed off on an amended Jeremy Corbyn, who said the final,

fully costed manifesto will be published in a few days,

described it as transformative. The Conservatives called

it the road to ruin. Here's our political

editor Laura Kuennsberg. They wondered what exactly was going

on, and you might too. This was meant to be the grand unveiling of a

Labour poster, albeit on a waste ground in South London. But the

party leader was nowhere to be seen. Jeremy Corbyn should have been

selling the slogan. He had been promised as top billing. But after

the astonishing leak of a draft of Labour's complete manifesto... We

were told he had other things to do. Where is Mr Corbyn? He was meant to

be here. He was meant to be here, but things happened and Mr Corbyn

is... Dealing with internal matters. Do you know who leaked your

manifesto? Mr Corbyn's closest ally was promise a great things. This is

extremely modern, progressive set of proposals. It is looking to the long

term future and most people get excited at what they have seen. The

45 page draft we have seen spells out plans to nationalise the

railways, Royal Mail and parts of the energy industry, to abolish

tuition fees in England, to restore some welfare benefits and scrap the

bedroom tax and to provide ?8 billion for social care. In a frenzy

over who told the world... REPORTER: are you responsible for the leak?

Sun can be silly. Labour shadow ministers, officials and union

bigwigs were due to arrive to sign it. We are here today to decide the

final version and I'm sure it will be an exciting process that will

attract as many voters as possible to the Labour Party. I am certain

that ordinary Labour voters want an increased minimum wage, the

abolition of zero our contracts, agency workers dealt with. REPORTER:

and nationalisation? Of the railways. Eventually, the leader

sped in. Inside, Labour's top brass discussed tax rises for the

wealthiest and big business, a ban on fracking, ending arms sales to

Saudi Arabia, but no ban on nuclear weapons. And after four hours, it

was eventually agreed, a plan described as the biggest

intervention in the state since the 1970s. But is that how he sees it?

I'm naturally to the centre, he says. But for how Labour will pay

for his grand plans, we will have to wait. We have just concluded our

joint meeting of the Shadow Cabinet and the national executive, and we

have discussed our manifesto for the general election. Our manifesto will

be an offer, and we believe the policies in it are very popular, an

offer that will transform the lives of many people in our society. The

details will be set out to you, including the costings of all the

pledges and promises we make. But the national manifesto, this seeming

chaos, the sum of his candidates makes not much difference. Listen to

this. The Tories are 20 points ahead in the polls. It is their manifesto

people should focus on and sing on what they are doing in government.

We Labour MPs are trying to save as many good Labour MPs as possible so

that we have the semblance of an opposition after June the 8th.

Manifesto timing slip-ups aside, this is less radical than Jeremy

Corbyn and his core supporters might have wished. The task now is to

persuade voters of its merits. Ultimately, what matters is not the

clamour over the leak, but what you make of what Labour has to offer.

Sorry, can I get through? Jeremy Corbyn's hope is that the more

people understand him, the more they will like. His internal rivals in

the Labour Party fear the opposite is true, and it's already been a

bumpy journey. Laura Kuenssberg, BBC News, Westminster.

The independent think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies,

says Labour's draft manifesto would significantly increase

One proposal is a commitment to renationalise

At the moment, train services in different parts of the country

Our transport correspondent Richard Westcott has been looking

at what Labour's plans would do for the railways.

Britain's railways are bitty and complex.

Most of the track, signals and stations

It's effectively a nationalised company, spending public money.

At the moment, different companies can bid to run different rail

services for a limited number of years.

What Labour seems to be suggesting is that as each of those

franchises runs out, rather than having a new bidding

process, the Government will take over those services instead.

The first one, South West Trains, comes up for renewal

in August but another ten, including famous names

like Great Western Railways, could be taken into public ownership

But some franchises don't finish until well into the 2020s,

and the Caledonian sleeper service won't be renewed until 2030.

Opinion polls suggest that nationalisation is popular.

I am for nationalisation because I think it will make it

It's been proven in the past that nationalised rail services

don't meet the standards of customer expectations.

They've had safety issues in the past as well.

'British Rail - we're getting there'.

The old publicly owned British Rail had a mixed reputation,

so why do campaigners think nationalising the trains

We would be able to reduce fares and improve services.

We could add carriages, reopen lines, we could

In 2009, East Coast services were taken over by the Government

for a few years because a private company made a mess

Labour's often hailed it as proof that nationalising a line can

But the former boss of that publicly owned company disagrees.

It worked well in public hands, but I probably wouldn't advocate

It was hard to do it, but we ran it as if it was a private

sector company and we returned over ?1 billion in profit to the Treasury

But the new franchisee that replaced us has promised far more money.

A slow takeover of passenger services is the cheapest option

for nationalisation, but if Labour wants to buy back

the privately owned trains, it could cost billions.

Another policy in the leaked draft manifesto is the plan to scrap

First introduced in 1998 under Labour, in 2012

Our Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys reports now on what impact

tuition fees have on student numbers and what it might cost

Universities like Nottingham Trent are part of a revolution. Tuition

fees have paid for many more places, but its students who face 30 years

of paying back loans, so do they welcome the idea of scrapping fees?

It would be a good thing, but how are they going to pay for it?

Getting rid of them doesn't make a difference. It is more the living

costs that would sway people into going to uni or not. That is

brilliant if they actually do it forever wandering into education but

for me, I'm going to graduate in a couple of weeks. A quarter of

students here are from England's poorest families, managing less than

?15,000 a year. So does it matter who pays for their courses? From a

university point of view, we want enough money to provide a

high-quality education. Whether that comes from government grants or

student loans is a matter for the politicians. It is great that this

debate is now part of the general election campaign. Each time tuition

fees go up, applications initially dropped but in the long term it

hasn't put young people off. In 2007, when fees were ?3000, 305,000

students accepted a place. By 2016, when fees were 9000, 394,000 signed

up. It would cost around ?7.5 billion to replace loans with

government spending. The reason it isn't more is that taxpayers are

still paying some of the cost. The majority of students will never

fully repay their loans. Tuition fee increases have provoked protests.

The outrage overflowed when the crippled under the coalition.

Tuition fees have become a symbol of fairness between the generations.

Students look at older people and see that they got a free university

education, cheaper housing, better pensions. They ask why they are not

getting the same deal. Scotland is the only part of the UK with no

tuition fees. The number of university places is limited.

Wealthier students are more likely to get places, a bigger gap than

England. Food for thought in the tuition fee debate. Branwen

Jeffreys, BBC News. So what do the public make

of the proposals outlined Our deputy political editor

Jon Pienaar has been to York, a Labour seat being targeted

by the Conservatives, An act of faith, Labour's manifesto,

true believers spreading the word of socialism

in places like York. With its 7,000 Labour

majority, the party must So much of Labour's programme

is divisive and could cause Labour don't want to put a clear

limit on immigration from Europe. They're just coming

to use the NHS for free. They get housing funding

for free, benefits for free, I agree, but if they are coming over

and are going to get a job And for so many, it's

about the economy. More tax if you can easily

afford it, or would that Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party

are saying, get more tax out I think if you go to university,

do a masters, work hard, But if you've got more money,

why not pay a bit more for services? Because you've done essential

things to earn that. If I was earning that much,

I'd want to be doing my I don't need that much

money in my life. As for returning more

power to the unions... I remember the '70s,

going to work and literally working in candlelight,

to go home just in time for You think this would be

a step down that road? I think it would, because again,

you are going back to the few in the unions who are dominant,

controlling the many. We love our railways,

when they're running properly. Why not renationalise

Royal Mail, too? Well, maybe going back

to a state-owned rail service is rather sentimental,

even an eccentric idea. Well, the state did a reasonable job

in the past, but previously the private corporations have done

perhaps an even better job, so I think the guys who are more

motivated to do the job should be Why do you think a lot of people

are happy with the idea Because railways are

a treasure, aren't they? But in a pick and mix of Labour

policies, rail nationalisation The investment hasn't

gone in over the years, so if the private sector can't do

it, then it's left I would be fine with

that, no problem. If this election was a shopping

trip, there's a lot of Labour policy Nationalise the railways,

tax the rich. But the hardest currency on polling

day is public trust, and Jeremy Corbyn needs to do better

in that marketplace than he's done in the past if Labour ideas

are to count for much We can now speak to our political

editor Laura Kuenssberg. We have got to say we are discussing

a draft here. Some say it's a throwback, others say in Labour it's

a modernising document, what's the judgment? I think it is a bit of

both. It is too crude to say it is just a wreck -- replica of what went

before. It is a different list of political policies and doesn't care

-- compared with the manifesto put forward in the 1970s and 1980s.

There are echoes of that because in its most able form, ideas of

bringing back nationalisation to some parts of the economy. It is

worth saying in 2017 that idea polls well with many sections of the

public and there are lots of ideas in this manifesto that may well be

popular. Not just with Jeremy Corbyn supporters but potentially among

large numbers. It is also worth saying that even inside the Labour

Party there are very different views. One senior figure said to me

this is basically the manifesto Ed Miliband would have liked to write

if he had had the nerve. He said there were clever ideas in it and if

sold properly it could do quite well. Another former minister said

to me this is like a letter to Santa Claus and with sceptical over

whether it would prove popular enough. But I think the question

tonight is not is it forward-looking? Or is it a blast

from the past? The test is whether this manifesto will add up to

something that's credible. And we won't see how Labour are adding up

the sums, and won't be able to answer that until next week. Laura,

thank you very much. The time is coming up to 17 minutes past six.

Public ownership of the railways and Royal Mail -

Jeremy Corbyn spells out Labour's offer to the electorate.

It's Eurovision time again, but could Brexit influence

Andy Murray loses at the Madrid Open, knocked out

The world number one has failed to reach the quarterfinals in two

The Bank of England has warned of a squeeze on household incomes

this year as the cost of living rises faster than wages.

The Bank's governor, Mark Carney, expected only moderate

Looking further ahead, he predicted a better prospect,

but only if the Government secures a smooth exit from the EU.

Our economics editor Kamal Ahmed reports.

Wherever you live, a clear message from the Bank.

2017, a year of squeezed incomes, higher prices and slower growth.

Mark Carney kicked off his mixed message on the UK

This is going to be a more challenging time for British

households over the course of this year.

Real income growth, to use our terminology, will be negative.

To use theirs, wages won't keep up with prices.

Consumers are split between the worried and those that

No matter what you go in to buy nowadays, even the shops,

or even for the animals, whatever, everything has gone up in price.

I do think it's going to get worse when Brexit hits hard.

So I would say I'm not really looking forward

We are seeing stability in the UK, and that's a positive thing.

I think the economy is actually on the turn, on the way up.

I think you've got no choice but to kind of look

where your money is going, in terms of like shopping,

spending, holiday prices obviously going up as well.

It's those rising prices that the Bank is focusing on,

saying it expected inflation to rise by 2.7% this year.

That is in sharp contrast with the rise in earnings,

Over the next two years, more positive news,

with a growth upgrade for both 2018, and 2019.

The Bank also insists wage growth will bounce back.

Why are you so confident that that will come to an end and that wage

growth will hit 3.75%, you suggest, by the end of 2019?

We are conditionally on a smooth process,

The extent to which uncertainty over that process is temporarily weighing

Today's report from the Bank of England can be neatly

Yes, that income squeeze is back for this year,

but assumptions that global growth will be stronger, and an assumption

that the Brexit process will be smooth, has left

The Governor had a warning for all corners of the country,

that interest rates may rise more quickly than some expect,

As long as we get that good Brexit deal.

A mother, her daughter and a third woman have appeared

in court in central London, charged with what is believed to be

the first alleged all-female terror plot in Britain.

The three women from London were accused of planning a suspected

As well as being accused of terrorism offences,

all three were charged with conspiracy to murder.

Waiting times for a number of key NHS services in England

were the worst in five years - that's according to new analysis

of figures for the year to the end of March.

Our Health Editor Hugh Pym is with me.

Just give us the details. Today we got the figures for March from NHS

England giving a full picture of the financial year 2016/17, compared

with previous years the answer is continued deterioration, targets

missed. First the numbers who had to wait for more than four hours to be

assessed in A, the number was 2.5 million over the full year, a big

increase on five years before when those who had to wait more than four

I was numbered 720 5000. Another benchmark is the two month wait for

cancer treatment after urgent referral by a GP. The numbers who

had to wait longer than that where 26000 and that compared with under

15,005 years before. NHS England says they are dealing with more and

more patients every year, doing their best to provide high quality

care. March was a bit better than February, they think they are moving

in the right direction, but whoever forms the new government will have

to face up to the missed targets. Thank you.

A cold-calling company has been fined a record ?400,000

for making almost 100 million nuisance calls.

Keurboom Communications called people, sometimes at unsocial hours,

to see if they were eligible for road accident

The firm has since gone into liquidation,

but the Information Commissioner's Office said

it was committed to recovering the fine.

It's the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday.

Lucie Jones will be representing the UK in Kiev,

but what are our chances of winning this time round?

Will the UK leaving the European Union influence the voting?

Our Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg has been finding out.

Here's one European institution we're staying in, for now.

It's the final this Saturday in Kiev.

Lucie Jones is flying our flag, but will Brexit mean

Let's face it, in recent years it's been hard enough

for the United Kingdom to get points from our European neighbours

when we've been on speaking terms with them.

But now that we're leaving the European Union in an atmosphere

of acute disharmony, will that condemn the UK to eternal

They may be excited about Eurovision in Kiev, but back home Theresa May

has warned that Brexit could scupper our Eurovision party.

Is the Prime Minister a Eurovision fan?

I can't imagine her sat with her flag at home.

Brexit is so out of my hands and out of my control.

For the EU, Brexit strikes a bum note,

but the signs are that Europe still loves us.

We've discovered that even the French love having

Usually, France is very bad, but England is worse and I am happy.

And being happy is what Eurovision is all about.

Just as well - the UK hasn't won the contest to 20 years.

It was a lovely day for many northern parts of the UK, some

lovely sunshine in Northumberland but we are starting the season

changes come up from the south. Yes, some rain spreading in. You can see

the cloud is pushing northwards on quite a warm, fairly humid southerly

breeze. A lot of showers around in the south-west, rumbles of thunder,

and more to come from the south overnight, but largely dry in

northern England and Scotland. There will be lots of low cloud drifting

into the north-east. Quite a one night further south, 13 degrees for

Cardiff and London. Still some showers dotted around, maybe a few

breaks here and there, some early sunshine, but 12, 13 degrees at

eight o'clock in the morning. The northwest should be brighter,

Northern Ireland a bit of a damp start of the day, where the western

side of Scotland will see some sunshine the eastern side starts

grey. We will see a contrast in Scotland tomorrow with one through

the west, staying chilly in the east. Elsewhere a scattering of

showers, some of them heavy with the rumble of thunder. It will be warm

and fairly humid, 20 degrees the top temperature. Looking towards the

weekend, some sunshine but also some showers and it will turn fresher on

Sunday. Here is the picture for Saturday, because there's not too

many showers for the Midlands and the south-east corner, maybe one or

two but most will be across western and north-western areas. On Sunday

we still have temperatures of 15-19d but we will see the humidity

dropping back. Thank you very much.

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.