26/07/2017 BBC News at Six

Trying to breathe new life into clean air policy -

the Government is to ban all new petrol and diesel

Judges had told ministers more needed to be done

We have to get rid of petrol and diesel cars off our roads

if we're going to make sure that not only do we deal with the health

problems that air pollution causes, but also that we meet our

Now the race is on for more efficient and cheaper electric

cars as the Government promotes cleaner driving.

Local councils could charge owners of the dirtiest vehicles,

but campaigners say the Government's plans don't go far enough.

The parents of Charlie Gard have given up the fight

Wildfires in the south of France have forced thousands

to leave their homes and campsites overnight.

The youngest victim of the Manchester Arena bombing,

eight-year-old Saffie Roussos, is laid to rest.

And no new world record, but a second gold

at the World Championships in Budapest.

Novak Djokovic says he is ending his season early after suffering

an elbow problem which forced him to retire from Wimbledon.

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at six.

No one will be able to buy a new diesel or petrol car

after 2040 under Government plans to tackle air pollution.

The "clean air" strategy published today follows a ruling by judges

that ministers have to do more to deal with air pollution.

The Government has also announced a ?255 million fund to help

councils tackle emissions, including the right

to create charging zones for the dirtiest vehicles.

But the plans have been criticised by environmental campaigners

Our Science Editor David Shukman looks at the proposals.

On the worst days, the pollution hangs like a mist over our cities.

The gases and particles cause asthma and heart trouble.

They may lead to dementia, and they shorten lives, as many

And the biggest source of pollution is diesel engines,

So the Government has a vision for a future

Norway will do this by 2025, France by 2040.

And that's the year the Government here is set to move away

And that's the year the Government here has set to move away

We have to get rid of petrol and diesel cars off our roads

if we're to make sure that not only do we deal with the health problems

that air pollution causes, but also that we meet our

And the good news is that the car industry is already

ARCHIVE: At the Austin motor works in Birmingham,

Anglo-American cooperation has resulted in a new small car.

This is another potentially momentous step, because there

proud history of petrol and diesel engines

These are machines that shape the way we live and work.

But for the sake of everyone's health, their days are now numbered.

The headline of a ban by 2040 on sales of new petrol and diesel

cars and vans is certainly eye-catching, but what about

A couple of months ago, the Government's own advisers said

the best way to do that would be to have clean air zones in towns

That idea is not in the new plan issued today.

Instead, ministers want local councils to take action.

So they want to see councils managing traffic better to avoid

creating pollution hotspots; removing speed bumps,

so cars don't slow down and then accelerate,

and fitting older buses with filters to make them cleaner.

There is more money for all this, but will it be enough?

What we need now is some robust action taken by Governments

and not just relying on local authorities to make

The car-maker Volvo has already declared a switch

Others also have electric plans, but the boss of Aston Martin says

the Government hasn't thought through the implications.

If you don't have the infrastructure, if you don't

have the skills, if you don't have the wherewithal to pay for it,

then as a statement or a policy, it's absurd.

Year after year, Britain has seen levels of nitrogen dioxide well

The Government is under court order to clean up,

and an environmental group that launched legal action says

the Environment Secretary still isn't doing enough.

He's passing the buck to local authorities

and coming up with headline-grabbing initiatives for something

that's 23 years away from now, and cheating people

You can't always see air pollution, but politicians can't avoid it.

The Government says it is responding, but doesn't

The result - a signal of real change, but not for a while.

So what do all the proposals mean for the motor industry,

and for those thinking of buying a new car?

It's not the rain that worries him. It's what he's breathing. Tim is so

concerned about air quality here in Bristol that he started wearing a

device to measure the pollution from vehicles. Shocked by the data he has

gathered, he welcomes the government's plans. But as a

commuter and as a father, he would like action sooner. It's good news

in that they are paying attention to the problem, but it all feels a bit

late in the day. 2040 is a long way away. It doesn't feel like the

solutions they are coming up with will solve it in the short term. You

see? At the taxi rank, we meet Mike, who is thinking about a new car, but

he's not sure an electric vehicle is practical. It is a good idea for the

environment, certainly. But for this game, it is not going to be viable,

pure electric, unless you can get the milage. A lot of people do 120

miles a day. What are you going to do, stop and charge for two hours?

What will convince him? Well, Bristol was one of several places

trialling different schemes to encourage cleaner, greener motoring,

like the charging points that have been installed at locations across

the city. Melanie loves her electric car and is convinced that this is

the future, so much so that she is building a business around them. But

what about the practicalities? Wouldn't the streets before the

cables if everyone had to judge a vehicle at home? Well, there are

some interesting solutions for that. My favourite one is lamp post

charging. A few companies have developed a charger which fits into

a standard lamp post am so they can be installed on the street. You

don't need a driveway. So the Government may have decided on our

destination, but how we get to cleaner air and how much that

journey costs us tonight seems less straightforward. Jon Kay, BBC News,

Bristol. With me now is our Science

Editor David Shukman. 2040 seems a long way off, but how

big a challenge will it be to get the country ready for the big

Switch? It is a massive challenge, and involves a kind of revolution.

If you think back to the age of the horse and carriage, the coaching inn

is up and down the country had to supply horses for the next stage of

someone's journey. They then had to switch to supplying petrol. Now they

will have to switch to supplying charging points so that electric

motorists can get to the next stage of their trip. There are 8000 petrol

stations up and down the country. This is a massive challenge. We have

heard concerns about the range of electric cars. That means that if

you buy one, you will want your office to have a charging point, and

your supermarket and airports and railway station. And if you live in

a terraced house, we have heard one suggestion for how you might sort

out that problem of running a cable across the pavement. That is a real

issue to be sorted. The other big question is public attitudes. The

insurance company Aviva asked 2000 motorists what they would buy next.

Only one in eight said they would buy a hybrid or an electric car.

Most would buy petrol, some would even buy a diesel. They were asked

why. The biggest reason was the price of electric cars, and then

that question of the limited range. So as Jon Kay said, we are on a

journey. The government has set the destination, but this will not

happen overnight. David, many thanks.

The parents of the terminally ill baby boy Charlie Gard

have given up their fight to take him home to die.

At the High Court, lawyers accepted that he should be

But there's still no agreement on when the 11-month-old's

Our Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh is at the High Court.

What is the latest sticking point? It is that the family wants Charlie

transferred to a hospice and for a private medical team to take over

his care so that they can have a period of days with him, a period of

reflection to build memories with him before his ventilator is

switched off. They say that some nurses at Great Ormond Street caring

for Charlie have volunteered to do that and that they have a private

GP. Hospices are not set up to take children on ventilators for long

periods. They haven't found a hospice willing to take him, and

although they have a private GP, they haven't been able to find a

paediatric intensive care consultant and they have appealed tonight for

one to come forward overnight. Great Ormond Street have said that waiting

here was causing stress for the family and for the staff, and they

would like to see Charlie transferred to a hospice no later

than Friday. So the judge ordered that if they can't come to an

agreement by noon tomorrow, Charlie should be transferred to a hospice

and palliative care should begin and his breathing tube should be

withdrawn shortly thereafter. He said it is now three and a half

months since he ruled that Charlie should be allowed to die with

dignity. He was conscious that Charlie may be suffering and that

this process should now come to an end. Fergus Walsh at the High Court.

The owner of Sports Direct, Mike Ashley, has won his legal

battle with an investment banker over an alleged ?15 million deal

Mr Ashley told the High Court he couldn't remember

"as it was a night of heavy drinking," and denied he promised

the banker the money if he doubled the company's share price.

The judge said no-one at the pub would have

thought any offer Mr Ashley made was serious.

The Supreme Court has ruled that charging people

to bring cases before employment tribunals is unlawful.

The Government introduced the fees of up to ?1,200

Now it must repay ?32 million to claimants.

The trade union, Unison, had argued that the charges

prevented workers getting access to justice.

Our Legal Affairs Correspondent Clive Coleman reports.

A massive victory for unison at the highest court in the land. Workers

fees for bringing claims to employment tribunal 's gone. From

builders to bankers, teachers two police officers, workers can bring

tribunal claims for everything from unfair dismissal and pay disputes to

discrimination. Issuing a claim and having a trial was free until four

years ago, when to try and deter weak cases, the coalition government

introduced fees of up to ?1200, and that was before you paid a lawyer a

penny. That left this career taking his employer to task over his

employment status with the fee he couldn't pay. He is still working

for them and they are defending the claim. He could only pay to bring it

with the help of his union. Most people working in this industry are

living on the paycheque, basically. So it's really hard to take from

your pocket for something that you don't even know when it will end. In

March, Unison argued that tribunal fees would discourage true and

denied workers access to justice. The court has now agreed. Today's

ruling is huge. It means that not only the order which introduced

tribunal fees back in 2013 is quashed, it also means that everyone

who paid those fees, and that is a sum amounting to some ?32 million,

will now get their money back. After a four-year legal struggle, Unison

were delighted. We knew from day one that this was not just unlawful, it

was immoral that low-paid workers should be put in this position.

Faced with a damning assessment of the fees, the Government responded

swiftly. We respect the judgment. We will take it fully on board and we

are going to comply with it. Already, we are taking action today.

Tribunal charges stopped today, making claims by workers like Ronnie

a good deal more affordable. Clive Coleman, BBC News.

Diesel and petrol cars will be banned from 2040

as the government tries to tackle pollution.

Donald Trump's transgender ban in the military.

Coming up in Sportsday on BBC News...

Ross Barkley's career at Everton is over.

The midfielder has turned down a new contract with the club.

More than 10,000 people in the south of France,

including many British tourists, have been forced to leave

their homes and campsites overnight, to escape

Many had to spend the night in sports halls and other public

buildings, while some have taken refuge on beaches.

Efforts to contain the fires continue, with aircraft dumping sea

Our correspondent Duncan Kennedy is in Bormes les-Mimosas

This hill behind me has been one of those this afternoon that has been

burning, smoking all afternoon. It is one of a number we have seen

around this area, we have seen flames, smoke and also wave after

wave of these aircraft coming through, dumping their fire

retardant material onto hills like this, only to see the flames shoot

up behind them. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes they are not.

10,000 people caught up in this, many hundreds, and thousands of them

British holiday-makers. And for them, it has been a terrifying start

to their summer season. The ranging power of

the fires was at its most This was Bormes les-Mimosas,

west of St Tropez, where hillsides were engulfed by the burning

shrubs and trees. For hours, it swept

across the countryside Thousands of people,

including British tourists were forced out of campsites

and other homes. At around midnight

we were then woken up. I just looked up and 180

degrees of my vision It was in the sky, it was amazing

and a very, very scary sight to see. The sheer force of

the fires were caught Strong winds gave them

an unstoppable energy and many Even the 4000 firefighters

and soldiers sent in, couldn't get control

when faced with this. The fires lead to a huge

evacuation of 10,000 people, They were told to spend the night

on nearby beaches, out in the open. The morning brought no

letup in the fires. Some tourists were far enough away

to continue their holiday, but the lushness of their scenery

now replaced by a menacing inferno. In other places, all that was left

was a vast, scorched landscape. An area decimated

across 15 square miles. TRANSLATION: We beat out

the flames with shovels. We did all we could until

the fire was put out. We contained it until

the firemen came. 19 aircraft, including ten water

bombers have been brought in. But the French authorities

are asking other European These fires have been burning

for two days now and we are seeing fires on hills all around this area,

we are also seeing aircraft, helicopters ladened with water,

trying to put them out, but at the moment they don't

seem to be able to bring It's sunny and the wind showed

no sign of letting up. A combustible, deadly mixture that

will continue to threaten this area. Duncan Kennedy, BBC News,

in southern France. The funeral of the youngest victim

of the Manchester Arena bombing two months ago

has taken place today Saffie Roussos was eight years

old and had been given a ticket to the Ariana Grande concert

as a Christmas present. She was at the show with her

mother, who was seriously Judith Moritz reports

from Manchester Cathedral. Lisa Roos asked is still recovering

from the bomb which killed her daughter. She left her hospital bed

to be with her family to say a final goodbye to Saffy is. The

eight-year-old was carried into Manchester Cathedral by her father,

Andrew. Honoured to be her dad. Honoured. She was a superstar in the

making. To become something in life, you need to have that something,

that spark, that... Charisma, but something. Saffie had back, she

truly have that. Saffie Roussos loved performing. Her dream was to

be famous like her idol, Ariana Grande. The irony of this concert is

the concert was a wonderful experience but Saffie. She knew

every song, sang every word and dance. Her cheeky grin and happy

nature is what her friends remember most about her. She played almost

every day with her best friend Lily, who still cannot believe that Saffie

has gone. Sometimes I think, I don't know how this happened, I wish he

was still with me. I don't know how to feel. But I am going to think she

is always with me, she is always at my shoulder, always playing

together. She is always going to be with me. Vieirinha explosion

happened just yards from this Cathedral, hundreds brought roses

the Saputo 's, remembering the youngest of 22 lives lost that

night. President Trump says transgender

people are to be banned from serving in the Armed Forces,

reversing the policy Mr Trump said he'd reached

the decision after consulting How surprisingly is this

announcement? The Defence Secretary said a few months ago there would be

a review of this policy, but the timing has come completely out of

the blue. No one was expecting it. We rang the Pentagon expecting a

comment, and they're referred everybody back to the White House.

Donald Trump also announced it on Twitter. Where else? Saint Armed

Forces cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and

disruption that transgender in the military would entail. He has also

said transgender personnel will not be able to serve in any capacity.

There are already a few thousand serving in the US military at the

moment. To the question, what happens to them now? There is no

answer. It doesn't sound like the policy has been formulated. A gay

Republican group said this is politics, pure and simple, nothing

else to this. It seems this is a policy that is designed to appeal to

Donald Trump's Conservative belts. This is a manifestation of what is

known as the culture wars that has been raging in the US for 50 years.

It affected abortion, gun law, gay rights and today it is transgender

Armed Forces personnel. Many thanks. The British economy grew by just

0.3% between April and June, according to the Office for National

Statistics. The figure was driven by good retail

figures and a booming film industry, but this is the economy's weakest

six-month period for five years. Our business correspondent

Simon Gompertz has the details. Everything we make, all our

building, all the services provided, the total is still going up,

but at a much reduced pace. Construction had the

toughest three months. This Buckinghamshire

house-building firm says higher about Brexit are making customers

put off decisions. We've been given orders for jobs

and at the last minute, the clients have pulled them

away from us. While growth of gross domestic

product or GDP each quarter was strong for most of last year,

it's fallen back this year so the UK is lagging behind the fastest

moving big economies. If we are struggling to push up

production at a robust pace, then that's a worry because it puts

a question over whether we can carry on creating new jobs and what sort

of pay rises we can look forward to. The faltering building

trade has a wider impact. Including on service

businesses like the architect behind the same project,

services like shops and restaurants have kept the economy growing,

but here, there is concern. It's definitely not a crisis,

because we are still busy on projects, we've still got

lots of work on. It's just there is a slight

levelling off from what has been a really quite productive last two

or three years. Labour is calling for better pay

rises and investment. The Chancellor, with technology

trainees today, countered that the government is investing

in skills and infrastructure, but he adds promising

a Brexit transition period The transition period and interim

structure with the European Union would give businesses and consumers

that degree of certainty. And I think that would be a way

of strengthening economic growth later in the year

and into next year. One bright spot is a jump

in film production, like the upcoming Star Wars,

partly filmed in the UK. So far this year though,

the economy isn't turning out to be the blockbuster we'd

all like to see. Great Britain's Adam Peaty has

won his second gold medal He won the 50 metre breastroke

and just missed out on breaking Our Sports correspondent,

Jo Wilson reports. When Adam Peaty swims, he has

Britain's swimming with him, but he has won super fan. His grand in

Uttoxeter. The World Championships in Budapest, she has travelled in

person. To be here at this time, it meant the world to me. It is very

touching. I couldn't go and see him in Rio, but as I say, this has made

up for everything and I am so pleased I have come. It is 20 years

since I have flown. But it was well worth it. After two world record

Tuesday, was it too much to expect more from Adam Peaty today? There

has been extensive attention on the muscle of the man, but so much rests

on the technicality of Peaty's swim, he makes the old-fashioned

breaststroke more active, efficient and more urgent. Yesterday he did 50

metres in 29.5 seconds. That is what he was chasing again, as well as

winning the race, of course. Just outside his own world record. Don't

there be disappointed. As Peaty prepared for the railway, experts

marvelled. We have seen, he has the top ten times in history. They are

all Adam Peaty and it will just keep getting quicker and just be his name

because no one is even close to him. 50 and 102 world champion, just 22,.

Joe Wilson, BBC News. Time for a look at the weather,

here's Jay Wynne. We saw some sunshine coming through,

but also some pretty lively showers. That is what we have at the moment

in parts of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire. Further showers across the North and

west of the UK overnight, but these should be fairly dry. 10 degrees in

northern Scotland. Big picture for tomorrow, looks unsettled, low

pressure is in charge with lots of ice bars so it will be windy.

Eastern side of Scotland should be reasonable. But Briggs of rain and

showers in Northern Ireland and one two getting into north-western

England early on. But the West Midlands and eastern England, it is

a reasonable start. Make the most of that because towards the south and

west we have cloud and showers. We will see the showers spreading

across the UK so just about anywhere could see some rain at some stage

through the day. It is a day of sunny spells and showers so there

will be bright interludes. We get is 70 degrees in -- 17 degrees. In

evening, showers around but in Northern Ireland and western

Scotland, something a bit wetter and windy to get you through the

evening. Closer this area of low pressure, that is where the rain

will be on Friday. Further south we have this system heading in. After a

dry start for the southern half of the UK, rain spreading in from the

south and West and some of it will be heavy and further north and looks

like getting cloudy with rain at times. Into the weekend it is cool

and breezy. Showers around, but not all doom and gloom because there

should be some spells of sunshine as well.

That's it, so goodbye from me, but now on BBC One, let's