16/01/2018 BBC News at Six

The government orders a fast track

investigation into what went

wrong at one of Britain's

biggest construction companies.

Carillion has gone into liquidation

after running up losses

and struggling with heavy debt.

Thousands of jobs are affected.

Obviously, now, because of Carillion

going into liquidation I have no

idea if I'm ever going to be able

to afford anything really now.

The men who were in charge -

the role of Carillion's directors

in the company's demise will now

be closely scrutinised.

I know that the Business Secretary

Greg Clarke is going to make sure no

stone is left unturned

in order to establish just

where responsibility lies

for the collapse of the company.

We will be asking what the

government is doing to deal with the

consequences of the company's

collapse. Also tonight.

13 children held captive

in their family home in California -

some chained to their beds.

Police have arrested their parents.

America's star gymnast Simone Biles

reveals she is one of more than 100

girls who say they were sexually

abused by the team doctor.

No more migrant camps like Calais's

jungle will be allowed says

the French president as he vows

to make Britain help

out with the problem.

Caring then and now -

70 years after the first

nurses in the NHS -

we look at just how much how

the profession has changed.

And coming up on

Sportsday on BBC News:

We round up all of the latest

transfer news with Arsenal's Alexis

Sanchez linked with a host

of Premier League clubs.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

The Government's ordered

a fast-track investigation

into what went wrong at the failed

construction firm, Carillion.

The company which also runs

services in schools,

hospitals and prisons went

into liquidation yesterday

after running up huge debts.

Concerns are growing for small

businesses connected to the firm

amid fears some could collapse.

One industry body

estimates that 30,000

companies are owed money.

Now the Business Secretary has

ordered a swift investigation

into the role and conduct

of the company's directors

past and present.

Here's our business

editor Simon Jack.

Just how many workers fought

Carillion and its subcontractors

will be leaving their current jobs

for good? Corinthian owes Andy

Bradley £1 million, £1 million he

doesn't expect to get paid. Outside

his office two chairs that are now

empty.

It's devastating, I've known

these people for years and years and

they have been loyal, hard-working

individuals, helped get the business

to where it is today, but they were

non-frontline, nonessential staff,

marketing, that of admin, things

like that. So we had to let them go,

we had no choice.

How did they take

it?

Badly, very badly. One lady,

just as you arrived, she came in and

we had to let her go and she left in

tears.

After the shock of yesterday

the real impact is beginning to hit

home, at companies like this grounds

maintenance firm in Cambridgeshire,

of their 90 staff they had to bet

ten go yesterday and another one

today, and there is confusion. Will

I get paid for work I do from now on

and even if I do can that possibly

make up for the money that I am owed

by Carillion from months passed? For

many companies like this one it

could be the end of the road. That

confusion is turning to anger,

particularly at former bosses like

Richard Howson who left Carillion

after the first profit warning in

July 2017. He took home £1.5 million

in 2016 and is due to receive a

£663,000 salary until October. Keith

Cochrane took over the reins in

September on a salary of 750,000,

and tough questions for the finance

director Zafar Khan who was looking

after the company's accounts when

the crisis hit.

the crisis hit.

Well, it's gone

under, 20,000 jobs are directly at

risk, a large number of supply chain

jobs are at risk, those people that

worked so hot over Christmas on

Carillion -based rail contracts are

not sure they have been paid, and

the directors have done very well

out of Carillion and the chief

executive has had a massive payoff.

The spotlight will also fall on the

company's auditors KPMG who provided

the reports directors used to give

the company a clean bill of health

just four months before a massive

profit warning. The government has

promised an investigation into the

company's collapse.

It is vital that

we look back and find out what went

wrong, and I know the Business

Secretary Greg Clark is going to

make sure that no stone is left

unturned in order to establish just

where responsibility lies for the

collapse of the company.

Some jobs

was stopped just as they were

starting, J Smith was an apprentice

at a Corinthian training centre.

I

feel very concerned as to what I'm

now going to do because Carillion

was a place I wanted to work

full-time, it was somewhere I wanted

to be, and then now because of all

this happening I have no idea what's

going to happen.

Obviously we are

looking for a positive response.

Union leaders arrived in Westminster

looking for answers as well, the

postmortem of this construction

giant is just beginning. Simon Jack,

BBC News.

John Pienaar is at Westminster.

So many jobs and so many companies

involved, still a lot of confusion.

How much is the Government doing to

manage the collapse of this company?

Ministers are doing their best to

keep tabs through their officials in

committee on how services are

carrying on as they promised they

would. The Treasury has provided a

line of credit that could run into

many, many millions to make sure

that that happens. Still they are

feeling the pressure. Westminster

feels a bit like a scalp hunt just

now, even as the TUC were calling

for a full inquiry, one committee of

MPs were announcing an inquiry into

the handling of contracts and

another one is going to be looking

at the use of public money. It is a

safe bet that there will be a look

at government procurement policy

after this. Today I have heard of

talk in Whitehall that these

companies could have to pass new

stress tests to show their

businesses are sound before they can

get these contracts. The opposition

want more than that. Jeremy Corbyn

is using this argument and jumping

in to argue against the role of the

private sector in public services.

It could all be overtaken by events.

Authoritative voices in the city are

being Amaq saying that these big

companies far from creaming off

billions in easy profits, are living

on very tight margins and no one can

rule out another collapse. If that

happens it would light a fire under

this whole debate about the use of

these private firms and the extent

to which they are used at all.

John

Pienaar in Westminster, thank you.

A couple in California have been

charged with torture and child

endangerment after their 13 children

were found being held

captive in the family home.

The brothers and sisters,

aged between two and 29,

were dirty and emaciated.

They'd been kept in dark rooms.

Some were chained to their beds.

Our North America Correspondent

James Cook is outside their home

in Perris in Southern California.

In public they looked like a big

happy family, devoutly Christian,

renewing their wedding vows in Las

Vegas, David and Louise Turpin

played the part of proud parents,

but in private, say police, the

Turpins had a dark secret. At dawn

on Sunday a 17-year-old girl escaped

from this house and called for help.

Inside officers said they found her

12 brothers and sisters dirty and

malnourished, shackled to their beds

with chains and padlocks, the home

dark and foul smelling. Neighbours

now admit there were signs that

something was amiss.

I never saw a

scooter, I never saw a bike, I saw

the infant may be three times,

maybe, I never saw the infant again.

How did they look when you saw them?

They were always pale, like

abnormally pale.

The children do

look pale in pictures posted on

Facebook. Here they are visiting

Disneyland. Police say the siblings

were so small that they were shocked

to discover that seven were actually

adults, the eldest 29. They are now

being treated in hospital.

They are

all in very stable condition and

they are all doing very well

considering the magnitude of what's

been described.

This quiet

Californian suburb is now under

intense scrutiny. Neighbours here

are stunned but they are also

searching their souls asking, could

we have saved these siblings sooner?

As for the patents, David and Louise

Turpin are under arrest charged with

torture and child endangerment.

Well, a news conference has just

been held at this moment, and we are

getting a few more details about

what happened. In the Word of the

police, about the horrific

conditions in the house. The family

we are told had lived here and do

Macs since 2014 and they are

praising the bravery of the

17-year-old girl who escaped through

a window and the Mayor of the city

of Perris said in the past few

seconds he is devastated by this act

of cruelty and can't imagine the

pain and suffering that these

children have gone through. They say

they are offering them all manner of

support, including psychological

help. But who can imagine how they

could try to get over something like

this?

James Cook in Southern California,

thank you.

There's some good news

for overstretched household budgets.

The rate of inflation last year

dropped to 3%, according

to the latest official figures.

It is the first fall since last June

and has prompted suggestions

that the squeeze on living standards

has started to ease at last.

Our Economics correspondent

Andy Verity is here.

Does it look inflation has peaked?

It does, especially if you place

reliance on a temper percentage

point because that's all it is for

the moment, last time we got these

figures it was 3.1% and now 3%, but

now a lot of economists are

predicting that it will carry on

falling from here on, it is still a

percentage point above where it

should be and if you look at

inflation over the last five years,

five years ago it was nudging up to

3% and then we had a big fall in oil

prices that you might remember which

brought it down to zero and more

recently it has risen over the last

18 months, because of higher import

prices. We had the Brexit. And

evaluation of the pound, which means

you need more pounds to buy the same

goods in dollars or yen, or Euros,

and that pushes up the cost for

retailers, for example. They have

been careful about not passing that

on too quickly, so we have been

shielded from some of the

inflationary effect. It has also

been delayed, so initially they will

buy their

goods in 2016 and they will last for

a year two but when the stocks run

out they have to replace them and

that's why you felt the effects

recently. The hope is that effect is

diminishing now. If you look at

what's happening to wages, they were

only by 2.3% at last count, so the

squeeze in living standards, the

fact wages are not rising as fast as

prices, that is still on, although

hopefully it is loosening its grip.

Andy Verity, thank you.

A man from East London has gone

on trial at the Old Bailey accused

of planning terrorist attacks

on some of the capital's

best-known landmarks.

Prosecutors say Umar Haque,

here on the left, was

inspired by Islamic State.

He denies the charges.

Abuthaher Mamun and Nadeem Patel -

who also appeared in court -

denied all charges

against them also.

The President of the European

Council Donald Tusk says the UK

could still remain in the EU if it

changed its mind about Brexit.

Mr Tusk was speaking at the European

Parliament in Strasbourg.

His view was echoed by the President

of the European Commission,

Jean-Claude Juncker.

The supermarket chain, Iceland,

says it'll scrap all plastic

packaging from its own brand

products within five years.

The retailer said plastic would be

replaced with paper and pulp trays

along with paper bags,

which can all be recycled.

EU plans for combating waste

have also been unveiled,

with all plastic packaging having

to be recyclable within

the next 12 years.

The four-time Olympic champion

gymnast, Simone Biles says

she was sexually abused

by the American team

doctor, Larry Nassar.

In an emotional statement,

the star of last year's Rio Games,

said she would not let Nassar

steal her "love and joy".

He was jailed last month for 60

years for possessing images of child

sexual abuse and appeared in court

today for sentencing for sexually

assaulting several other gymnasts.

Natalie Pirks reports.

COMMENTATOR:

The final move of her

Olympic championships.

Full twisting doubleback...

She was the poster girl

of the Rio Olympics, her four

gold medals secured her place

in sporting legend.

COMMENTATOR:

How does she do it?

CO-COMMENTATOR:

Absolutely amazing performance.

But last night, Simone

Biles, the self-pro

claimed happy, giggly and energetic

girl made international

headlines as she admitted to feeling

broken.

Olympic champion Simone Biles comes

forward to say she was

also sexually abused by former USA

gymnastics doctor, Larry Nassar.

Larry Nassar is accused of sexually

abusing more than 130 women under

the guise of medical treatment

and is already serving 60 years

in jail for possessing images

of child sexual abuse.

After pleading guilty to seven

counts of criminal sexual

conduct, he was in court again today

and heard impact statements from

some of his victims.

Perhaps you have figured

it out by now, but

little girls don't

stay little forever.

They grow into strong women that

return to destroy your world.

In a lengthy statement last night,

Biles said that for a long time

she'd asked herself

if she was to blame.

She now knows she wasn't and isn't

afraid to tell her story any more.

I love this sport too much

and I have never been a quitter,

she said.

I won't let one man and the others

that enabled him to steal my

love and joy.

Her Olympic gold medal winning

team-mate Aly Raisman is another who

said she was abused by Larry Nassar

and accuses USA Gymnastics as a

cover-up.

What did they do to

manipulate these girls so much that

they are so afraid to speak up?

USA

Gymnastics says it is absolutely

heartbroken, sorry and angry that

any of our athletes have been harmed

by their thick acts of Larry Nassar.

Only one American woman has ever won

gold on the vault, Simone Biles.

She's used to making the spectacular

look effortless but for Simone Biles

the pain of reliving her experience

has been incredible.

From Manchester to Bradford, it's

a journey of less than 40 miles.

But even on the fastest trains, it

takes almost an hour to get there.

Today, a plan to modernise transport

links across the north of England

over the next 30 years was unveiled.

Transport for the North claims that

improving road and rail links

could deliver a £100 billion

economic boost by 2050

and could also create

an additional 850,000 jobs.

But not all agree with the plans.

Danny Savage is at Leeds

Station for us now.

To give you an example, three trains

an hour go from Leeds over to

Manchester and the journey takes an

hour. The hope is there will be six

trains an hour and the journey

taking 30 minutes. Supporters say

the idea is revolutionary, but

others say the money for it will

just simply never be raised and the

question is, are they being cynics

or realists?

The hills of the north -

beautiful, but a physical barrier

between the conurbations either side

of the Pennines.

Travelling by car can be painful,

the few routes over the top

are often congested.

As for the trains, they're frequent,

but relatively slow

and can be overcrowded.

Because there's always

delays on the train.

We would want the train service

to be a bit more quicker

than what it usually is.

Most of the trains between Halifax

and Bradford and, well,

Halifax to Leeds are like this,

like an old bus -

draughty, hot, old.

Improving transport links

across the Pennines is nothing new.

This is the Leeds & Liverpool Canal,

built more than 200 years ago,

but instead of taking a few days

by water, the hope is, for example,

getting Leeds to Manchester by train

down to about half an hour.

After years of discussion

about improving things,

there's now a plan the northern

cities agree on.

There used to be a train tunnel

between Sheffield and Manchester,

that's long gone, but a new road

tunnel, like this one in Norway,

is proposed and could halve

the current journey

between the cities.

A new TransPennine railway

line will link Leeds

and Manchester via Bradford.

I think we also need to make sure

that we cover Hull, Sheffield,

Newcastle and Manchester of course,

so all our major city regions.

This is vitally

important for the north.

But remember, this is a 30 year

plan and it's still only

at the ideas stage.

Former Transport Secretary,

John Prescott, walked

out of the launch in

Hull today unconvinced.

It'll have no powers.

It can talk to the Treasury along

with the strategic bodies,

but it can't make a decision.

It doesn't get any money.

It's a bloody fraud.

And it's the Government that

will have to stump up the money

for these ambitious projects

to upgrade the north which,

at the moment, feels left behind

when it comes to transport.

Danny Savage, BBC News, Leeds.

The French President,

Emmanuel Macron, has promised not

to allow migrant camps,

like the Jungle at Calais,

to spring up again, as large numbers

continue to arrive in the area.

Visiting Calais today,

Mr Macron said he would be asking

Britain for much more help

in dealing with the problem.

From Calais, Lucy

Williamson reports.

Once the UK was a magnet for Juma,

today it was the French President.

After months of camping around

Calais, the Sudanese migrant

has decided to apply

for asylum in France.

Mr Macron's government has

promised a quicker welcome

for those it accepts,

a quicker rejection

for those it refuses.

Juma is still waiting

for his answer.

So you are our president, not

in front of you, but in my heart.

But hundreds of migrants around

Calais are avoiding asylum centres

like this in a bid to reach the UK

illegally, and Mr Macron wants more

help from Theresa May

in dealing with them.

TRANSLATION:

We need to better

manage the issue of isolated minors,

reinforce police co-operation

in Calais, with the departure

and transit countries and unblock

funds for the Calais region.

I will raise these points with our

British friends in 48-hours.

Despite big British investments

in security, migrants continue

to test border defences.

This petrol station,

its perimeter fence broken,

a new favourite for those trying

to board lorries bound for the UK.

We caught this man squeezing

through before being caught

by a police patrol.

Mr Macron is due to talk

to the Prime Minister on Thursday

about how to improve the joint

management of the border here.

France would like Britain to take

more migrants from Calais and to pay

more money towards security

and border checks.

Mr Macron has vowed to prevent

another jungle taking root.

Police routinely demolish the small

camps that cling on,

but aid workers say that some here,

including families, have reached

the UK in the past few months.

Discomfort no match

for that renewal of hope.

Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Calais.

Nurses have been at the heart

of the NHS ever since

it was founded 70 years ago.

But with ever growing pressure

on the health service,

there's more and more demand

for their services.

Added to that, the role of nurses

has changed enormously over

the decades as they take

on responsibilities previously

reserved for doctors.

Our health correspondent,

Adina Campbell, has been

speaking to some of NHS's

longest serving nurses.

Combined they have nearly 150 years

of nursing experience.

Originally from the Philippines,

these women came over to England

in the 1970s, during a time

when the NHS was faced

with shortages and in desperate need

of support from overseas.

That's our badge from the hospital,

St Martin, it's the green one.

They've come to this exhibition,

at the Royal College

of Nursing in London,

to reminisce and reunite.

Just very, very nostalgic.

Out of 20 of us, there were only

three British nurses that

were in training and the rest

were all foreign.

Mostly from Malaysia,

India, Jamaica.

When we first started,

we just started for about a month

in the school and then straightaway

we were exposed to the wards,

and that's what our

training was based on.

Really, bed side nursing.

ARCHIVE:

A new National Health

Service starts providing hospital

and specialist services...

Nurses were a crucial part

of the NHS from its inception,

but their role was often undervalued

and recognition came slowly.

ARCHIVE:

And this job needs doing

just as much as this.

Anyone that's interacted

with a nurse will know that

it's not a stereotype,

we're not in the Carry On films,

this is real-life.

And actually, most of the time,

whatever healthcare you're

receiving, you will spend your time

with a nurse.

I don't think in 1948 we even

took blood pressures.

You know, now we're

giving chemotherapy,

we're giving life saving drugs,

we're monitoring conditions

and actually we are the glue.

That's why 86% of the

population trust nurses.

These are two of the faces of modern

nursing, as it filters

through the generations.

Ghisline Stephenson has enjoyed

a 35 year career working

in hospitals across London,

while her daughter Grace

is at the beginning of hers.

I think 30 years ago, the nurses

were handmaidens to the doctors,

following their instructions.

Whereas nowadays, we're breeding

nurses now that are making those

decisions for patients and that,

to me, is the absolute,

the difference, the nurses

making those decisions.

A well-respected member

of a multi-disciplinary team.

And nurses are under so much

pressure these days in hospitals,

staffing levels, pay,

that hasn't put you off at all?

Definitely not.

There's always going to be sick

children and families that

need our help and no other job has

job satisfaction like that.

If there was one small bit of advice

that you'd give to Grace

about her starting her career,

that may stay with her

the whole way through,

what would it be, do you think?

Never stop caring.

Adina Campbell, BBC News.

For 40 years, it's been

a workhorse of the British Army

used in the Falklands,

Northern Ireland, both

Gulf Wars and Afghanistan.

But today, the Lynx helicopter

made its final flight before it

bowed out of service.

Duncan Kennedy was on board.

The last flight from the last of

Britain's Lynx. The starting point

for today's farewell tour.

That's us

departing for the final flight for

the Lynx.

This was a 500 mile

goodbye circuit of all the bases

connected to this iconic aircraft. A

thank you to those who've flown it,

fixed it or fascinated by. It

I love

the old girl. She is very quirky.

She's very manoeuvrable and she's

done us proud, I think.

The airborne

lap of honour took the four Lyxx

helicopters to Somerset, the place

where it was built. A last wave from

the crew and from the people who

made her. It was then on to Bristol,

lemster and Shorebury where Lnyx

crews did their basic training. Some

people put our out banners to say

there farewell.

We are saying

goodbye after 40 years of which I'm

certain across the whole of the UK

from those who have flown it it will

carve out a special part of their

heart and they will be sad to see it

go.

It first saw major action in the

Falklands War and serving in the

Gulf and Afghanistan. It's

flexibility at the heart of its

durability. In fact it was so

successful Britain has sold more

than 450 aircraft all around the

world. But now, 40 years on, it's

simply too old and today is its last

day of service. Its final

performance was a formation down the

Thames in a last salute to this

agile, fast distinctive machine. 40

years after it first fl.

The final

flight on board the Lymx...

It's

goodbye from the Lynx. Duncan

Kennedy, BBC News.

Time for a look at the weather.

Here's Susan Powell.

Here's Susan Powell.

Stormy weather on the way. Snow and

ice are our biggest concern for

southern Scotland and Northern

Ireland tonight and tomorrow

morning. There have been snow

showers here which will invigorate

further overnight. Showers will be

wintry elsewhere also. There could

be a dusting further south by the

end of the night. A cold night with

widespread frost and ice anywhere

first thing on Wednesday. That focus

being on Scotland and Northern

Ireland for the worst of the

weather. We have seen so much snow

already. We have strong winds and

that will mean the snowdrifts and we

will have blizzard conditions as the

showers continue for the rush-hour.

Further south the showers will be

scattered, they could be wintry. A

mixture of sleet and hail for the

south-west of England. High spring

tides and strong winds could mean

coastal flooding. A lot of

challenges. Strong winds, again

lighter come the afternoon. More

showers to the north, again of snow.

Further south some sunshine.

Temperatures on the face of it not

too bad, six or seven, add the wind

it will feel colder. Sub deer zero

across the northern half of the

British Isles. This low looks like

it will be a nasty one. It rolls

across Wednesday night into Thursday

and strong damage, damaging winds

touching gale force, heavy rain and

snow. Thursday could be a challenge

if you have far to go. Stay tuned.

Thank you.