15/01/2018 BBC News at Six

Tonight at 6:

20,000 jobs at risk

after debt-ridden Carillion

goes into liquidation.

From roads and hospitals to school

dinners and prisons,

the company held massive

public sector contracts.

We have been monitoring Carillion

closely since its first profit

warning in July 2017,

and since then have planned

extensively in case

of the current situation.

But that leaves questions

for ministers - why was Carillion

given work on projects like HS2

when they knew it was in trouble?

The Cabinet's emergency committee

has been meeting today.

Also tonight...

An inquest into toddler

Poppi Worthington's death finds

she was sexually assaulted before

she died.

England's cricket all rounder

Ben Stokes is charged with affray

after last year's brawl outside

a Bristol pub.

And what a great shot!

Tributes to Cyril Regis who's died.

A footballing icon and a pioneer in

the fight against racism in sport.

I'm in the world's largest refugee

camp, where British doctors are part

of an effort to try and bring an

outbreak of deadly diphtheria under

control.

And coming up in

Sportsday on BBC News:

Manchester United legend

Ryan Giggs speaks of his pride

as he's named the new Wales manager.

He replaces Chris Coleman,

who stepped down in November.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

You name it, Carillion does it.

The financial collapse of a company

that had government contracts

in everything from school dinners

to HS2, has left its own employees

and so many more who work

for it indirectly,

facing a worrying future.

arillion itself employs some

20,000 workers in the UK.

The company has 450

government contracts -

that's a massive portfolio.

No wonder it sub-contracted

thousands of small firms

to do some of that work.

Carillion's demise has

raised questions for government

about the way public sector projects

are handed out to private

sector businesses.

More on that in a moment,

but first, here's our

business editor Simon Jack.

This bypass near Aberdeen is

Scotland's biggest construction

project with a price tag of £750

million. Here's another one, around

Lincoln, cost, 100 million. Just two

450 contracts Carillion has been

awarded throughout the UK but it did

a lot more than. Through contracts

to manage schools, prisons and

hospitals, it touched the lives of

millions. Today, the government said

it would not support the company

with public money.

This is however

the failure of a private sector

company it is the company's

shareholders and its lenders who

will bear the brunt of the losses.

Taxpayers should not and will not

bail out a private sector company

for private sector losses.

At

headquarters in Wolverhampton,

nervous faces on tight lips.

Have

you got any comments to make?

It's a

disaster, thousands of

subcontractors, labour, suppliers

who won't get paid, who are being

told people aren't being paid.

Carillion's fuel cards are not

working this morning so staff trying

to get to work in Carillion fans

cannot, the thing is collapsing

around us. The government has this

laissez faire attitude may have to

take steps to assure people of their

futures.

Carillion is more than the

UK's second biggest construction

firm. It delivers 32,000 school

meals a day. It maintains NHS

buildings, containing 11 and a half

thousand hospital beds. Provide

services to prisons and as recently

as November was awarded a contract

to help build HS2. It was that fact

that fronted angry exchanges today

in the Commons.

When did the

government first realise Carillion

was in trouble? After all, they had

three separate profit warnings and

back in 2015, there were already

short selling Vostok on the stock

exchange.

So where did it go wrong?

Big contracts like this when sour,

profits optimistically banked had to

be written off, blowing a hole on

its finances and with banks are

unwilling to lend any more money

without government support, its fate

was sealed. Carillion with a company

that until recently paid big

salaries to its bosses and big

dividends to shareholders, despite

owing its banks and on pension

scheme £1.5 billion. The wisdom of

awarding public service contracts to

a company like that will continue

but today the urgent concern is that

those thousands of small businesses

who rely on the big boys like

Carillion for their payments so they

can pay their own bills.

These are

from November, in voices the goods

supplied.

Gordon Stone supplies

Christmas nights to Birmingham City

contract through a sub contract with

Carillion.

I have half a dozen in

voices here, dated back to November

last year when we supplied Christmas

lighting to Birmingham City Council

through Carillion. These haven't

been paid and total about £17,500.

What is the knock-on affect your

business?

The consequences

immediately cash flow. We have to

have a serious look at our cash flow

in the business going forward and

potentially it might mean that we

have to reduce the staffing levels

by one or two, but we're not sure.

Furthermore we're not sure if we

will get paid any of this money at

all.

Carillion workers are being led

by the government continued to go to

work well contracts are rewarded but

with tentacles in so many areas of

the economy, unravelling this

bankruptcy could take many months.

Simon Jack, BBC News.

In a moment we'll be talking

to our Deputy Political editor

John Pienaar in Westminster,

but first to our Business Editor

Simon Jack, who is outside

Carillion's headquarters

in Wolverhampton.

Simon, judging from your report

there is absolutely no secret this

was a company in trouble?

Yes, it

was ever since that big profit

warning last July everyone thought

this company is a dead man walking.

It was the most heavily bet against

company on the London stock

exchange. The government in its own

way did try to help the company by

controversially continuing toward

those contracts. The hope of the

company could take those contracts,

go to its banks and they look, see

we are still on the list, we still

have a viable business that would

make them reassured enough to

continue to the money. But

haemorrhaging cash, needed an extra

£300 million. Once it became clear

the government wasn't going to stand

behind the company financially its

fate was sealed. We are hearing

tonight that workers are being urged

to go to work but many

subcontractors will feel they have

less guarantee of getting paid. And

although the government say they

have done some contingency planning,

other government sources are telling

me this process could be chaotic and

could take many weeks, indeed many

months.

Or right Simon, thank you.

And to John Pienaar at Westminster.

What we are seeing here is a company

failure but it nonetheless raises

big political questions about the

role of the private sector in public

sector contracts?

Yes, it has. David

Lidington told us today there was no

question of tax payers money being

used to bail out a private company.

At Westminster there is no real

dispute about that. What we have

seen is the opening of an

ideological division as deep and

wide as anything we've seen since

Margaret Thatcher began her mission

to roll back the frontiers of the

state in the 1980s. A senior member

of Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour

leader's team, told me today he

thought it was a watershed. And one

after another, the Shadow ministers

attacked the involvement of the

private sector in prisons and

hospitals and schools. Those attacks

will be spiced up and seasoned by

the idea that too often in

government people are moved over to

take well-paid jobs in companies on

the receiving end. Tony Blair,

Gordon Brown, they gave a lot of

business to companies like

Carillion. Back then, before Jeremy

Corbyn, there was a general

acceptance across party lines but

those days are gone. The government

is having to be the case again. That

tells you a lot, volumes about the

new dramatic polarisation of British

politics.

John, thank you very much.

An inquest into the death

of 13-month-old Poppi Worthington

has concluded she was sexually

assaulted before she died.

The coroner found that Poppi's

death, in Cumbria in 2012,

was caused by asphyxia,

after sleeping in a bed

with her father, Paul Worthington.

Mr Worthington has always

denied wrongdoing,

and has never been charged

with a criminal offence.

From Kendal, Danny Savage reports.

For five years,

the death of Poppi Worthington

has been unexplained.

Now it is much clearer how she died

and what happened to her beforehand.

This 13-month-old suffocated

after being left in an unsafe

sleeping position by her father.

She died in this bed, where

a coroner believes Paul Worthington

also sexually assaulted her.

He had taken her from her cot before

the assault which the coroner ruled,

on the balance of probabilities,

took place hours before she died.

This statement was made today

on behalf of Poppi's mother.

She is disappointed that Poppi's

father chose to rely on

his right not to answer questions

which might incriminate him.

While she understands

he is untitled to do this,

she considers he should have given

the coroner the crucial evidence

of Poppi's last few hours.

The coroner said that

Paul Worthington's accounts

of what happened the night Poppi

died were not complete or truthful.

And his evidence did not

stand up to scrutiny.

Mr Worthington was bundled

in and out out of the inquest

by police because of concern

over his safety.

He lives in hiding.

In court, he refused to answer

questions 252 times.

I don't blame him.

He was advised not to.

He's gone through all this process

over the last four years,

five years with all the case

and that and everything

that's been dumped on him.

No.

Go with the solicitor's advice.

His sister Tracey Worthington

has stood by him throughout.

How convinced are you that your

brother is innocent?

I'm not convinced.

I know.

I don't have to be convinced

he's done nothing.

I know.

You know, I wouldn't protect him,

trust me, I would not protect him

if he'd done anything wrong.

I'd be the one dragging him down

the cop shop

and he wouldn't be pretty sight

by the time he got there.

The first inquest into Poppi's death

was quashed by the High Court

after lasting just seven minutes.

Cumbria Police's investigation

into her death was so botched

that vital evidence was lost.

The coroner criticised

the force's failings.

Poppi and her family deserved

a better standard of investigation

than the one that was conducted

five years ago.

But no one is ever likely to be

charged over Poppi's death

because of a lack of evidence.

Many people will view this

as an unsatisfactory end

to years of investigations

into Poppi Worthington's short life.

Danny Savage, BBC News, Cumbria.

The England cricketer, Ben Stokes,

has been charged with affray

after a fight outside a nightclub

in Bristol last September.

Ben Stokes was ruled out

of the Ashes Series in Australia

following his arrest.

Our Sports Correspondent

David Ornstein is at

Lord's Cricket ground.

David.

George, Ben Stokes is one of

England's 's finest and best known

cricketers but in the early hours of

the 25th of September he was

arrested following an incident

outside a nightclub in the Clifton

area of Bristol, where England had

been playing one-day international

against West Indies. In November,

even on Somerset police past

evidence to the CPS and today the

CPS confirmed Stokes and two other

men in their 20s, Ryan Hill and Ryan

Ali had been charged with affray,

which is an offence that carries a

punishment ranging from a fine to up

to three years in prison. We are

awaiting a date for their appearance

in front of Bristol Magistrates'

Court, that should be confirmed

shortly. In a statement Stokes said

he was keen to have the opportunity

to clear his name. The ECB said they

would be convening with him in 48

hours to decide on his availability

for selection. Currently he is

unavailable and how England felt it

when they were beaten in the ashes

4-0 by Australia recently.

The Ukip leader, Henry Bolton,

says he's ended his relationship

with his girlfriend after she made

offensive remarks about Prince

Harry's fiancee, Meghan Markle.

But he's insisted he won't

resign as party leader.

Vicki Young's report

contains some flash photography.

Forced to choose between his job

and his controversial

new girlfriend, today Henry Bolton

announced his romance

with Jo Marney was off

and he wasn't going anywhere.

I am absolutely not standing down.

The reason is because it's crucially

important that Ukip has a loud voice

in the discussions leading up

to exiting the European Union,

and indeed in shaping the nation.

Mr Bolton was Ukip's

fourth leader in a year.

He was supposed to get

the party onto the front foot

and the front pages,

but not like this.

He's been forced to act

after reports of racist text

messages from Miss Marney,

in which she called black people

ugly and said Prince Harry's fiance

Meghan Markle would "taint

the royal family".

She apologised for the remark she

said were treated out of context.

Today she tweeted...

"We all make mistakes,

it's how you deal with them

and conduct yourself

in the future that matters."

Henry Bolton's come out fighting,

but ditching his girlfriend may not

be enough to save his leadership.

Irrespective of these texts

that Jo Marney sent,

which are absolutely disgraceful,

people were calling for him

to resign before they came to light.

The fact is, I think he's become

a bit of an embarrassment

to the party now and he really

has to go.

Can our party really survive

an ineffectual, useless leader,

whose only public fame

is for having a scandal?

Quite frankly, we don't need another

leadership election,

we shouldn't have had one,

but the situation is untenable.

He has to go.

Since the Brexit vote, Ukip has

struggled to find a purpose.

The popularity it enjoyed under

Nigel Farage has plummeted and this

latest fiasco won't have helped.

But activists deny that their party

is finished as a political force.

Bitter infighting continues

to plague the party.

Its ruling body will hold

an emergency meeting at the weekend

and could decide Mr Bolton's time

is up, plunging Ukip into yet

another leadership crisis.

Vicki Young, BBC News, Westminster.

The time is 6:15pm.

What are

Our top story this evening.

the into massive liquidation, 20,000

jobs at risk. And coming up, Ryan

Giggs's new role as Wales manager.

Coming up on Sportsday on BBC News,

Britain's Kyle Edmund sails

through to the second

round of the Australian Open,

after defeating Kevin Anderson

in his biggest win to date.

Five months after a huge wave

of Rohingya Muslim refugees began

to arrive in Bangladesh

from neighbouring Myanmar,

officials from the two countries met

today to discuss their return.

But the latest refugees to reach

there say that Rohingya are still

being persecuted in Myanmar.

Once in Bangladesh, many of them

are living in what is now

the world's largest refugee camp.

The BBC's Mishal Husain is there.

The camp is now home to more than

half a million people. They are

living here in the simplest of

shelters, little more than tense,

really, made of bamboo poles

fastened together with plastic

sheeting spread over the top and

down the sides. And each one of

these, many people will be crammed

into a single, small space. Now, the

overcrowding is why the threat of

disease is ever present here. Today,

UK aid money has been pledged

towards a vaccination programme, but

there has already been a team of

British doctors and nurses who have

been working here to try and bring

an outbreak of diphtheria under

control. I've been watching the work

that they are doing.

Four-year-old Anwar has just been

diagnosed with diphtheria,

a respiratory disease that can kill.

He was brought in by his mother

to this clinic, set up from scratch

by the UK emergency medical team.

Thanks to the treatment

he has now been given,

he should soon recover.

It is for you to feel better.

If a patient who has

diphtheria coughs or sneezes

over another person,

and they inhale those droplets,

that then can set up

the infection in themselves.

And in a situation where people

are sleeping five or six

to a room beside each other,

a patient who has diphtheria can

spread it to all the people in that

cramped space very quickly.

This boy, who's 11, has just arrived

at the clinic and is being checked

at the triage point.

He has got really

big enlarged glands

and he has got this membrane

extended from the tonsil right back

onto the back of the throat.

So with everything we've seen, it's

pretty convincing it's diphtheria.

He's taken through onto the ward,

where the team wants to start

treatment right away.

But there is a problem.

OK, so I've got this right.

So the husband is working away?

She is here with the two children,

but there are three children also

in the camp and they are not

with any adults?

No.

OK.

We are doing it to protect him

from getting more ill.

Through a translator,

the doctor tries to explain why

staying to be treated

is so essential.

It's really life-threatening stuff,

and in this environment

it's really difficult.

So hopefully what will try and do

is calm things down a little bit

and just begin to at least explain

to the mothers so they understand

what treatment is required.

But it doesn't work.

His mother needs to get back

to her other children,

and he won't stay at the clinic

on his own.

You know, it's hard.

We know the treatment he needs

but it's very much feeling

like the minute he's out

of the gate, we've lost him a bit.

So, yes.

It's not a good feeling.

In the end, he did

return and was given

the anti-diphtheria medication.

The work of this clinic doesn't stop

with the patients who are treated

here for diphtheria.

They then try to identify everyone

who lives with that patient or has

come into contact with them.

And each of those people

are then treated with

a course of antibiotics.

That is what happened

with the family of little Anwar,

who is back at the

clinic for a checkup.

How is he doing?

He is one of 11 siblings.

His mother tells me he is fine

and she is relieved.

None of his brothers

and sisters fell ill.

But living conditions in the camp

mean the risk of any infectious

disease spreading at any time

will always be high.

Well, at the same time aid agencies

are dealing with problems like that,

there are also these repatriation

talks that have been taking place

today between the government of

Bangladesh and mayhem are. And what

is so hard to reconcile with that

process is the fact that the

refugees who are arriving now even

cross the border -- Bangladesh and

Myanmar. The BBC is only rarely

given access to that part of me --

Myanmar, but for many people here

the thought of return is on the

developer moment. One man said to

me, if I go back, the same violence

will happen again and this time

survive.

Scotland's economy could be more

than £12 billion a year worse

off if Britain leaves the EU

without a trade deal -

that's according to analysis

by the Scottish Government.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon -

who campaigned for Britain

to remain in the EU -

said staying in the single market

and customs union was vital

for the sake of jobs.

Here's our Scotland

Editor Sarah Smith.

Will Brexit leave us better off or

worse? The Scottish Government today

published figures they say show what

leaving the EU might cost each and

every Scot. The Scottish Government

analysis suggests that, by 2030,

staying in the EU single market will

cost the Scottish economy £4

billion, or £688 per person. A free

trade agreement similar to Canada's

deal with the EU would cost the

Scottish economy £9 million or £1610

per person, while reverting to WTO

trading rules would cost the

Mignolet £30 million or £2263 per

person. These figures relate

specifically to the Scottish

economy, but they are very much

intended to persuade people and

politicians across the whole of the

United Kingdom that the UK could

stay in the EU single market once we

have left the European Union itself.

Staying in the single market is the

only option that makes sense.

Theresa May has been incredibly

clear from the beginning that she

believes the UK has to leave the

single market. Do you really think

you would change your mind?

I don't

want to be facetious, who knows

whether Theresa May will even be

Prime Minister by the time these

negotiations conclude. The House of

Commons can, if it chooses to,

decide not to allow Theresa May to

go down the road that in her narrow

party political interest to go down.

The UK Government dispute the

figures.

Anybody can make end of the

world type predictions, but rather

than focusing on the most negative

scenario, we should be doing is

working together to get the best

possible deal.

Cathy and Alistair

Carmichael represent the great

Brexit divide. She voted to leave,

he to remain. What they make of

today 's figures?

The SNP is making

the case for Scotland, and trying to

get as good a deal as possible for

Scotland and the rest of the UK, but

particularly for Scotland.

But

identity would be a good deal if you

are half in and half out. Then five

years' time we will all be laughing

about the fact that we all said we

were going to hell in a handcart.

And so the debate goes on in the

Cunningham family, and far beyond.

Sarah Smith, BBC news, Hoyt.

The lead singer of the Cranberries -

Dolores O'Riordan -

has died suddenly today at the age

of just 46.

# You've got me wrapped around your

finger, do you have to let it

linger?

Built around O'Riordan's distinctive

voice the Cranberries dominated

the album charts in the 1990s

selling more than 40

million LPs worldwide.

The singer had been in London

for a recording session

when she passed away -

no further details are available.

The former Manchester United

footballer, Ryan Giggs, has been

confirmed as the new manager

of the Welsh national team.

As a player Giggs was capped 64

times by Wales but this is his first

permanent job as a manager.

Our Wales Correspondent

Sian Lloyd reports.

Ryan Giggs, a star player with

Manchester United for more than 23

years. His coaching career began

their too. He won 64 caps for his

country before retiring from the

Welsh national side in 2007. His

profile helped ensure he was the

favourite to fill the vacant manager

role with Wales.

To play for your

country is always special, and the

captain your country, but to

actually lead your country, and to

manage your nation, you can't beat

it, doesn't get better than that.

Under the guidance of former

manager, Chris Coleman, Wales

celebrated a golden era in their

history, when they reached the

semifinals of Euro 2016, but were

disappointed not to qualify for this

year's World Cup in Russia. This is

where Ryan Giggs will oversee Wales

when they play their home matches.

The football Association of Wales

believe that he has the grit and

shows to lead the side into the next

-- the credentials to lead the side

into the next chapter of history.

But his appointment when please

everyone.

No, he didn't play in many

friendlies. I would support him, I

think everyone should, but he

wouldn't be my first date.

He was

good as the players were Dana White

can't do it as a manager. Won I

think he will improve the team.

Ryan

Giggs takes up his four-year post

just over two months before his

first game in charge.

And staying with football,

the former West Brom

and England forward

Cyrille Regis has died

at the age of 59.

As a black player he's been

described as a pioneer.

Coming into the game in the 1970s

he suffered racial abuse -

even when wearing the England shirt.

His wife said Cyrille "came

into football the hard way and never

lost his passion for the game".

Our Sports Editor Dan Roan

looks back at his life.

Regis taking it well on the chest, a

lovely piece of control by Regis,

oh, and what a great shot! One of

the goals of the season!

Cyrille

Regis didn't just leave the line, he

led the way. Known for his pace and

power, he broke through at West Brom

in the 1970s, a time when there were

few back players. It made the

situation at the Hawthorns all more

unique where Regis, Brendan Batson

and Laurie Cunningham Comer together

named the three degrees, where at

the heart of one of the year's most

exciting teams was at a time of high

racial tension, they were subject of

relentless racial abuse.

We were

used to 10,000 people shouting

racist abuse at you, throwing

bananas on the pitch, monkey chant

thing that sort thing. I just took

it as if it were some of it trying

to intimidate me for the

just the

third black player to represent

England, not everyone welcomed his

debut.

I got a letter through the

test, which said if you put your

feet on at Wembley turf, get one of

these three only, and it was a

bullet.

Having become a West Brom

legend, Regis went on to Coventry

City, helping them lift the FA Cup,

his importance recognised in 2008

when awarded a MBA. The tributes

laid here at the Hawthorns today a

testament to a man who became a

symbol of fight against racism in

Britain. The legacy of Cyrille Regis

felt not just add West Brom

throughout his sport. A role model

for a generation of black

footballers inspired by his dignity

and determination.

He was just a

leader, he was a trailblazer. We

stood on his shoulders, that is how

strong he was, as black players. And

it is sad.

Cyrille Regis was far

more than a mere player. A pioneer

who faced up to be an acceptable

side of football and help to move

forward, his impact on and off the

pitch cannot be overstated.

The footballer Cyrille Regis,

who's died at the age of 59.

Time for a look at the weather...

Here's Ben Rich.....

Thank you. Good evening. We have had

quite a few showers around today,

they continue in the forecast for

the next few days but while most of

today's showers have fallen as rain,

these showers will turn increasingly

wintry over the next day or so. In

fact, the snow will really pile up

in places, particularly over hills

in the north and it will be cold, it

will be windy, the winds touching

gale force is in some exposed spots.

Through the night, more and more of

those showers turning wintry, even

to low levels, and increasingly

Northern Ireland, northern England,

most of the showers down to the

south will be falling as rain. It

could be a fairly treacherous

commute tomorrow morning across

parts of Scotland, not only snow

showers but ice as well,

temperatures hovering around

freezing. Similar story from

Northern Ireland in the northern

England, some icy stretches across

parts of Wales as well. East Anglia

and the south-east most likely

getting away with a dry start, some

spells of sunshine, most of the

showers across the south-west will

be falling as rain. They will be

windy, though, gales are possible

and exposed spots. As we had deep

into the day, we keep those wintry

showers not only over hills, low

levels across Scotland, Northern

Ireland, parts of northern England

and some wintry nurse over high

ground further south. While, the

best chance of staying drive is

timely and the south-east. If we

factor in the strength of the wind,

this is what it will feel like.

Subzero across the central and

northern areas will stop we stick

with that cold feel as we go into

Wednesday, still a fair few wintry

showers around and then behind me,

this is the next change, some

slightly different weather for the

middle of the week. A deepening area

of low pressure, still some

uncertainty about this but the south

of it we are likely to see gales

into the early part of Thursday, to

the north, the potential some snow.

A combination that could well cause

some travel disruption.