10/08/2017 BBC News at Six

Every large town and city is affected.

There are hundreds of police operations to break up

The National Crime Agency says it's only the tip of the iceberg.

What we have found over the last in terms of the scale and scope

of this problem has shocked us and worried us.

From high street nail bars to social care and building

sites, there are tens of thousands of victims.

Even now I feel like my heart is start beating a little bit.

We'll be looking at what's driving this cruel and

Hundreds of thousands of contaminated eggs

Sandwiches and salads are among the products

A new threat from North Korea - its ready to launch missiles

towards the Pacific island of Guam where America has a massive

Robby and Leonora, the couple still recovering

The doctor called me the miracle lad.

Even after the operation I don't think he thought...

The veteran playwright Alan Ayckbourn turns to science

Coming up in world athletics Sportsday...

Later in the hour on BBC News, we'll look ahead to the seventh day

of competition with two British finalists, including Eilidh

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

The National Crime Agency says modern slavery and people

trafficking in the UK is a far larger problem than

It says victims are likely to be found anywhere

There are likely to be tens of thousands of them working

More than 300 police operations are currently targeting

In just two months this year, the National Crime Agency says

Here's our social affairs correspondent, Dominic Casciani.

Another day, another anti-slavery operation.

Over the last six months, the National Crime Agency has

coordinated operations to smash trafficking and slavery gangs.

This suspected brothel, run in the north-east of England,

Today a new analysis from the agency suggests the true scale of modern

slavery is far greater than previously suspected.

This man from Romania was coerced into hard labour.

The gang controlled his life for four months until he got out.

It's just horrible, I tell you, it's just horrible.

Even now, I just feel like my heart is start beating a little bit.

Modern-day slaves are tricked into UK by gangs promising a better

life, and coerced into work they can't escape from.

Women forced into prostitution make up to ?600 a day.

Men are trapped in gruelling work in food processing or agriculture,

and victims are on high street in nail bars and car washes.

You are more likely than ever before to unwittingly come

A cannabis farm in a suburban home, run by workers under

It's impossible to count all the victims because like this

enterprise, they are hidden from view.

But investigators say the more they look, the more they find.

We have also seen people as young as 13 and 14 being sexually

exploited and forced to engage in prostitution.

This is a growing problem for which we think there's a shared

responsibility across society in the United Kingdom to address.

But critics say more could be to identify trafficking.

The UK's anti-slavery commissioner has accused the NCA

of acting too slowly on its own intelligence.

Charities investigating abuses say there are obvious signs that someone

They are forced to work against their will.

The trafficker controls their finances, controls their movement.

In the small villages there are few jobs and no money...

A new online campaign by the National Crime Agency.

It's pledging to carry on raids month after month, but investigators

say they will still need the public's help to

Dominick is with me now. A massive problem is you have just said. Do we

know what is driving this trade? This is a story of our modern times.

You will recall how globalisation has transformed the way people move

around the world. With that comes modern problems and crimes. What has

triggered a lot of the problems in the UK is international crime gangs

shifting from bog-standard stuff like drugs into trading people,

seeing them as commodities. You can trade in drug once and you can use a

person time and again. Make far more money than ever before. One big

issue is that critics say there are serious inconsistencies in how some

of the forces investigate what is going on around the UK and they want

a more joined up approach. A National Crime Agency says it is

doing what it can. Our Prime Minister and former Home Secretary

made this a priority when she was at the Home Office. New laws are now in

place. The message from the NCA is it is time to get tougher but they

need the public's help to get there. Thank you very much.

The Food Standards Agency says that some 700,000 imported eggs

contaminated with a pesticide have entered the food chain here.

That's a massive increase over the original estimate of 21,000.

Several supermarkets have withdrawn egg-based products but the FSA says

they are unlikely to pose any risk to public health.

Dumped and discarded. This Belgian farmer has had to destroy not just

his eggs but his hands as well. The produce is contaminated with an

insecticide which is banned for use in the food chain. That is where it

has ended up on a potentially massive scale.

TRANSLATION: You cannot put your eggs on the market for three months.

And so I took the decision to kill the animals because it is really too

expensive. The company which came to treat the red lights with an organic

product really used Fipranol. He is not alone. This farm is in the clear

that millions of eggs have now been pulled from supermarket shelves on

the continent. Fipranol may be popular for getting rid of fleas on

pets but it can be dangerous to humans. Here in the UK, we produce

our own eggs but also import them full stop some of the eggs from

affected farms have ended up here as well. We're not talking about fresh

eggs we buy off supermarket shelves. The affected eggs went into

processed foods like sandwich fillings and salads. A few days ago

the Food Standards Agency said 21,000 eggs were affected. Today

that shot up to 700,000. Sounds a lot but that is just .007% of all

the eggs we eat every year. There is no reason why people should avoid

eating eggs. Our assessment it is very unlikely it is a public health

risk. People need to not have food which contains a substance that

should not be there. Four supermarkets of limited number of

products as a precaution. Others will already have been consumed. Yet

another food scare, highlighting just how complex supply chains can

be and how easily problems can spread.

Just when you thought the war of words between North Korea

and America could not get any more heated Pyonyang has pushed

A statement from the dictatorship says it has a plan to launch

missiles into the sea around the US Pacific island territory of Guam.

Washington has threatened a devastating response.

From Guam, Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports.

It may not look like it but there is trouble in paradise. This little

Pacific holiday island is now the focus of unwanted worldwide

attention. This is the reason. From North Korea today, this strangely

detailed threat. TRANSLATION: The rocket will be

launched by the Korean People's Army and will cross the sky above Japan,

flying 3356 kilometres for 1065 seconds before hitting the water is

30 to 40 kilometres away from qualm. This is the missile. On parade in

Pyongyang this spring. No one should doubt it can reach qualm. In recent

months, North Korea has successfully tested a host of long-range

missiles. But it'll holiday island is now within the reach of Kim Jong

Un. At the volleyball court, the locals seem strangely unperturbed. I

think we are kind of used to the whole ebb and flow of hearing we're

going to be bombed and it not happening and hearing about it

again. It is not anything that is new to us. It never follows through,

so I was not really concerned. Think it is probably like the distraction

maybe, a political kind of move on the side of US and career, just to

get attention may be. If the aim of North Korea is to scare people, have

a look, it does not seem to be working. People are not cleaned the

beaches for the airport. The threat is very specific. That has a few

people worried that maybe, just maybe, Kim Jong Un is planning some

sort of action to fire one or more missiles over Japan in this

direction. Qualm was mighty macro huge military bases are home to a

fleet of B-1 bombers. It makes the island are very attractive target.

The tourists, on whom this island depends, are always a much more

jittery than the locals. TRANSLATION: I saw the news and

started to check where the US military bases are located. I am

worried. Everyone here is hoping this latest threat is more North

Korean bluff. They are also starting to wonder, what that they will do if

it is not. -- what will they do if it is not?

Police looking for a jogger who knocked a woman into the path

of a bus on Putney Bridge in London have arrested a man.

Video of the incident was widely distributed on social media

A man aged 50 was arrested at property in Chelsea

and has been released pending further investigation.

The number of people waiting for routine surgery in England

in June was the highest since December 2007.

NHS England said around 4 million patients were

Other key targets were also missed - including urgent

He has had his operation but he had to wait a long time for it.

Andy waited more than 40 weeks before

going into surgery on his foot to relieve serious arthritis.

During that long delay, everyday life became

I couldn't walk great distances and it was

quite painful afterwards, taking an awful lot of painkillers

to sort of try and keep the pain down.

And although I do IT work and sit at a desk

all day, I was finding the middle of the afternoon

I had to stop, lie down, put my feet up just

because it was too painful to sit any longer.

The total waiting list for a routine surgery in England

fell back a decade ago after government investment.

But in recent years, it has crept back up again

and in June, it's estimated to have gone above 4 million.

Most worryingly of all perhaps is this is

the sign of a trend that is going in the wrong direction.

Progressively we are seeing more and more people

on the waiting list and with continuing austerity there is no end

NHS England argues that more operations are

A spokesperson said, more than nine out of ten patients

We're working hard to cut long waits and the

number of patients waiting over a year the treatment has dropped.

Key waiting time performance targets have been missed again but NHS

England's leaders are stressing today that in an important aspect of

emergency care, progress has been made.

That is the treatment of patients with heart failure after

A new report shows fewer lives were lost

in England and Wales after heart failure,

partly because more specialists and new medicines were available in

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also seen

rising waiting lists for surgery though with different target

Andy's 10-month wait was unusual but more patients

around the UK are experiencing longer delays, more pain and

Our top story... Modern slavery is in every large town and city. Police

say there are thousands of victims. Coming up... I am here at the London

stadium as the man who defied illness now tries to beat his rivals

to the world title. And coming up in

Sportsday on BBC News... Rory McIlroy starts his quest for a

third US PGA title as play

gets under way in North Carolina. Weeks on from the bomb attack

on Manchester arena, nine victims 22 people were killed

and 116 were hospitalised in the suicide bombing

by Salman Abedi on the 22nd of May. They included Robbie Potter

and his partner Leonora Ogerio, who were waiting to collect

their daughters from the concert. The couple were in the lobby

when the bomb exploded. Judith Moritz has been talking

to them about their long You may find parts of her

report distressing. I remember everything of that night

we went through, everything. It's probably only a 20, 30-second

thing, but it feels like an hour. This was Robbie Potter

with his girlfriend, Leonora, after the Manchester Arena

explosion. They stood next to the attacker

and lived to tell the tale. I will never ask his name,

I don't want to know his name. There's no point hating a man

that's already dead. They had gone to collect

their kids from a concert. The children were safe inside

but their parents were in the lobby The brightest flash I have

ever seen in my life. It was like a cloud

of mercury exploding. You see bits of silver flying

everywhere, which was obviously the bolts and nuts he'd packed

into his bag and his body. My girlfriend went

flying, hit the floor. There was a group of four or five

kids, I think there were. I just jumped in front of them

and told them to follow me, She dived, where she obviously

collapsed and fell on the floor, but I found out I'd punctured my

lung and had a couple of bolts You came very close

to not surviving. Even after the operation,

I don't think they thought. This bolt fired from the bomb

straight into Robbie's heart. He cheated death

by a hair's breadth. You can see the two ribs here,

that's the back of the ribs... The bolt was removed with incredible

precision by this surgeon It was wedged between the back

wall and the front wall of the two blood vessels,

so a millimetre either way Thankfully it didn't,

but we wouldn't be having this One, two, three, four,

I declare a thumb war. Robbie's daughter Tegan

was separated from her dad Next time she saw him,

he was in a coma. She called him names

to try and wake him up. It's just hard to see, with him just

lying there, not talking. Tegan said "come on

Fathead, it's Peahead." Obviously that's our names

we call each other. And as soon as that happened,

the eyes just lifted. Robbie's girlfriend Leonora was also

badly hurt and sedated in hospital. Waking up, she didn't know

what had happened to him. The first question I asked was,

where is he, and they said Leonora has multiple fractures

to both of her legs. She and Robbie each face many

months of rehabilitation. We want to look after each other

but we can't do that. We can't do that because we

are both on the mend. Before the blast,

Robbie played rugby. Now every step is an effort

but he says he's determined that A leading charity is warning

that the number of rough sleepers in England,

Scotland and Wales is set More than 9,000 people are thought

to be homeless and research conducted for Crisis suggests

the Government's official figures The charity highlights the growing

problem of so-called sofa surfing, where people temporarily bed down

at friend's houses. It's nice when you know you've got

somewhere safe to go to. It's nice when you know you've

got a sofa to go to. That night you know you're

going to be comfortable. It might last today,

it might last tomorrow, but then that's it, I'm back out

on the streets again. He goes from one house to the next,

sleeping on friends' couches to try It gets to you a little bit

because you've got your friendship with your friends, you're happy

they have looked after you for a little bit,

and then you know you've got to go. Then again, you're sitting

there thinking every day, "Right, it's a struggle,

what am I going to do What have I got

to get motivated for? Today's report suggests

more than 68,000 people It's a hidden type of

homelessness because it goes Campaigners say it's

on the rise and will get worse For those sleeping rough,

their patience is wearing thin. That's why people drink

a lot and are on drugs. I don't blame them

because they can't live. It's not difficult to find people

like this here in Leicester City centre who say they have no choice

but to sleep on the streets. This man says he's been homeless

for years, and he believes the main drivers for homelessness are drugs

and mental health problems. He now helps those

who have nowhere to go. We have new things like legal highs

now that are coming out. People who are in chaos,

got nowhere to turn, will take these legal highs and it

just makes homelessness a bit more harder because it's hard

to engage with these people. The Government says it's investing

more than ?500 million It says new legislation that will be

implemented next year will put pressure on councils to do more

to help rough sleepers. I'm fed up of living

like this, sick of it. Most days I don't make

enough for what I need Relatives of some of

the 29 people killed in the Omagh bombing are to sue

Northern Ireland's Chief Constable for alleged failings

in the investigation. The families believe mistakes made

by the police allowed They are seeking damages

and a declaration that their human The attack in 1998 was

the deadliest of the Troubles. Athletics - and the Botswana athlete

Isaac Makwala will compete He was unable to take part

in the heats on Monday night because officials said he had

the norovirus but - unusually - he was allowed to run a time trial

on his own last evening. it is fair to say not many of us had

heard of Isaac Makwala a few days ago but he's become one of the stars

of these championships and it's an incredible story. On Monday Makwala

was barred from competing because authorities thought he had the

norovirus. Makwala insisted that wasn't the case and yesterday

finally he was allowed to run his 200 metres heat two days after his

rivals on his own. It was quite remarkable sight. He made the

qualifying time, and a couple of hours later he raced in his

semifinal. He finished second, then qualified for tonight's final and

has a really good chance of winning it although he faces high quality

opposition. The final is at 9:50pm, live on BBC One and it could be very

special indeed. Andy, thank you very much.

Now, we know that all sorts gets washed up on our beaches.

But walkers enjoying the North Norfolk coast

Just take a look at this - that's right, those are people

This one was at Eccles on Sea - and measured over 100 metres

The Coastguard say they were being towed out to Algeria from Norway

Sir Alan Ayckbourn is one of Britain's most successful

playwrights, best known for comic portrayals of the middle classes.

Now, aged 78, he's turned to science fiction for the first time.

His new play 'The Divide' is co-produced by the Old Vic

and premieres at the Edinburgh International Festival tomorrow.

It's set 100 years from now, in an England where a deadly

contagion has separated men from women.

Our Arts Editor Will Gompertz asked the playwright what prompted

It was, I think, an attempt by me to bridge my ageing writing

personality to a younger generation, and the way to do that, I thought,

was through the medium of science fiction.

It gives you an even playing field, where you say to your younger

audience, "Now this is a world that I don't know but I have

created and you don't know, and you can inhabit it."

Is it a concern of yours that the theatre is failing

If you look in the average audience, maybe because of money but they seem

The sort of people I want in there... You can get the very young,

you can catch them before they are ten but after that they are lost

tribe. I want that audience back. where we are considered mature

enough to be possible carriers How do you keep on

challenging yourself? How do you make sure, you know,

after all these plays you don't find yourself

repeating past ideas? That is a real problem

because I keep thinking I must have I had a stroke a few years back,

and for the first time in my life Then a little germ arrived

and I go, wow, they're still manifesting and of course

now manifesting furiously. I feel very excited

but a little bit nervous. I've written next

year's play as well. It's a play called

Better Off Dead, I hope that Sir Alan Ayckbourn speaking

to our Arts Editor Will Gompertz. Time for the weather now with Tomasz

Schafernaker. Today was a pretty good day across most of the UK but

we are starting the weather forecast with some ominous clouds. That means

the weather is going little bit downhill tomorrow. The clouds will

increase across many parts of the country with rain in the forecast as

well. There's an extensive area of cloud across the Atlantic, we are in

a window of fine weather which we have got out there right now and

this is what it looks like a few hours ago. You can see plenty of

weather, scattered fairweather clouds and some showers in the

south-east. This evening, dry weather across England and Wales

this coming night. By the end of the night we will probably have rain in

Northern Ireland, western Scotland and additionally it will turn windy,

even gale force winds. This is the low that will be moving across the

UK tomorrow. In the evening for many it's not looking too bad. But

western areas, with that south-westerly wind blowing off the

Atlantic, comes also a big shroud of cloud and spots of rain. Most rain

will be light so it is not a wet wet day but it will turn overcast. The

south-east might stay dry through most of the day. Into Saturday the

weather front moves through, the weather improves, but the morning

might be a bit cloudy with drizzle but the afternoon is looking a lot

better. Saturday overall a fine day, temperatures more like September to

be honest, and much the same on Sunday, but compared to what some of

us have had over the last few days we can say Sunday is looking fine.

Here is the headline for the weekend, largely dry with sunny

spells so finishing on a positive note. That's all from the BBC News

at six so it's goodbye from me