26/02/2018 BBC News at Six

Jeremy Corbyn sets out his vision

for trade post Brexit -

calling for the UK to form

a new customs union with the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn sets out his vision

for trade post Brexit -

It puts Labour at odds

with the government position

which has pledged to take Britain

OUT of the customs union.

Labour would seek to negotiate

a new, comprehensive

UK/EU customs union to make sure

there are no tariffs with Europe.

Labour claims it will be good

for business and mean no hard border

in Northern Ireland.

But is Labour promising more

than the EU would give?

Also tonight...

Is this child being hit

in his own classroom?

A BBC investigation

reveals the secret world

of unregistered schools.

The number of people killed

in a massive explosion in a parade

of shops in Leicester rises to 5.

Are you ready from the

Beast from the East?

Weather blowing in from Russia

is set to make parts of the UK

colder than the Arctic.

And a victorious homecoming: Team

GB returns to the UK

with a record set of medals

from the Winter games.

And coming up

on Sportsday on BBC News:

Tributes to British boxer

Scott Westgarth who's died

after falling ill following a light

heavyweight fight in

Doncaster at the weekend.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

Jeremy Corbyn has set out

Labour's vision for Brexit -

saying the UK should remain in an EU

customs union but only if

the British can have a say

in negotiating the bloc's

future trade deals.

He said it would allow free-flowing

trade and prevent a hard border

in Northern Ireland.

The current customs union ensures

that some goods coming into the EU

have the same tariffs,

but international trade deals

are negotiated by the EU.

Labour's announcement marks a clear

difference in policy

of the customs union.

Our political editor

Laura Kuenssberg has more.

Bit by bit, piece by piece,

a clearer view on Brexit

if Jeremy Corbyn was in charge.

Labour wants to keep our

customs deal with the EU

essentially the same for good.

Labour would seek to negotiate

a new, comprehensive

UK EU customs union,

to ensure there are no tariffs

with Europe and to help avoid any

need whatsoever for a hard border

in Northern Ireland.

But listen very carefully,

there is a big if in there.

The option of a new UK customs union

with the EU would need to ensure

that the UK has a say

in future trade deals.

A new customs arrangement

would depend on Britain being able

to negotiate agreement for new trade

deals in our national interest.

Other countries with similar kinds

of deals have very little control.

We would have to have a meaningful

say in how those negotiations went,

and what the agreement was.

So we would not end up as simply

passive role takers.

But what if they say

no to your proposal?

As is very likely, given

what the European Union has said.

Listen, we would want to make sure,

and would make sure,

that Britain had a say

in our trade relationship...

But how?

By negotiation.

Negotiations require

an understanding of strengths

and weaknesses of both sides

by the degree of manufacturing

industry, agriculture,

food industries that operate on both

sides of the Channel.

And also, as I say, we're

not going to undercut

the whole of Europe.

But what is your plan B?

The plan B is to continue

negotiating in order

to achieve plan A.

Whether it's A or B, it seemingly

tilts to a softer Brexit.

Even though most Labour seats

in Coventry and around

the country voted to leave.

But some Brexit backing Labour MPs

question whether it's real.

There's no way they are going

to agree that we would have

our own customs union.

That we would stick our

nose into any trade

agreements they want to do.

And that Jeremy's kept faith

with his long-term objective

that we must be free

to negotiate our own

trade agreements.

For many voters there has been

enough dancing around the details.

A clean break, a total break, yes.

Why do you say that?

Because, like, let's get

Great Britain back to Great Britain

and how it used to be.

Why should stay

as close as possible?

I don't think we should stay

as close as possible because I don't

think it's a good idea to be

in the EU.

It's not beneficial

to everybody, really.

I could speak to these two guys now

and they would tell me one thing

of the people behind them would tell

another, everybody's views

are so mixed up, I think,

we just want an end to it now,

I think.

If a Labour voter said to you,

I back Brexit, and I did not think

that would mean still having

a trading relationship

with the European Union,

they want something more dramatic,

and more dramatic break,

what would you say to

them, was it worth it?

I would say to them think

this thing through.

We have a lot of jobs that depend

upon sales back and forth

across the North Sea,

across the Channel.

We have to ensure those jobs.

This isn't Jeremy Corbyn tearing up

Labour's plans for Brexit,

it's more a careful step along

the way, trying to contain

the tensions inside his own party,

those on both sides of the argument,

the many Labour voters

who backed Brexit in 2016.

It does also, though,

politically conveniently

draw a clear difference

between the Labour position

and the Conservatives' plans.

Because not just his fans,

but some remain tending Tory MPs,

want to keep our customs links, too.

Labour's firmer position

and Parliament's could cause

trouble for number ten.

Laura Kuenssberg,

BBC News, Coventry.

So what difference could it make

to trade if Britain stayed

in a permanent customs union

with the EU?

Our Reality Check Correspondent

Chris Morris is here to explain..

Being in a customs union after

Brexit would mean a common external

tariffs on goods brought in from

elsewhere in the world and it would

mean there would be no tariffs for

goods crossing between the UK and

the EU.

That is important for

companies based in the UK which

operate complex manufacturing

processes across Europe. This is the

BMW factory in Oxford, mentioned by

Jeremy Corbyn, the components cross

borders many times. A crankshaft

cast in France crosses to a plant

here to be finished and goes to

Austria to be built into an engine

which then comes back to Oxford.

Half the cars built in Oxford are

exported back to the EU and it is

all tariff free. The government says

the problem is you can't negotiature

own trade deals around the world - a

key part of taking control. You

can't alter tariffs on goods, be I

you can still do goods on services

and harmonising regulations. Labour

said it would be involved in

negotiating trade deals. So is it

trying to have its cake and eat it?

Business leaders are still looking

for a little more clarity.

Being in

a customs union is a hassle-free

solution for business, but there are

different types of customs union,

what we heard from Jeremy Corbyn is

not all the details. We need to hear

more.

And being in a customs union

wouldn't solve the problem of

maintaining an invisible boarder in

Ireland, still a big day for

Labour's position on Brexit, but

whatever policy emerges, all it

needs to be negotiated with the

other 27 EU countries and all of

them have opinions of their own.

Thank you.

Meanwhile the Scottish and Welsh

governments have dismissed

an offer by the government

in Westminster to make changes

to its flagship Brexit Bill.

The current bill has been

criticised for not doing

enough to hand over power,

after Brexit, to the devolved

administrations in Cardiff,

Edinburgh and Belfast.

But Cabinet Minister David Lidington

was told his offer needs

to go beyond warm words.

Five people are now known to have

died in a large explosion

in Leicester last night,

which destroyed a building

in the middle of a parade of shops.

Five others remain in hospital,

one is said to be in

a serious condition.

Emergency teams have been searching

through the wreckage

in the Hinckley Road area.

Sima Kotecha is there now, Sima

authorities believe now that this

is the final death toll?

Well the police have told us that

people may still be trapped in the

rubble. They say, because of the

heavy snow expected tomorrow it the

is crucial to do as much searching

is tonight. We have heard from a man

who told us the family that lived

above the shop was his. He says he

is concerned for their safety and

well being.

Plumes of smoke bill lowing into the

sky. Last night an explosion. A shop

and the flat above it were

destroyed. Flames shot up into the

air. Towering over the surrounding

buildings.

I heard a big bang.

The

owner of the shop was inside at the

time.

I didn't know what was that

and I found myself on the floor.

Eyes open. Looking up. Half of my

body was under the how how to say,

bricks and rubble.

How do you feel?

I don't know how to tell you. Never

I feel how I am now.

Well the shop

was a Polish supermarket and had

only been operational since January.

Firefighters today spent hours

wading through rubble, trying to

find survivors. Police have

confirmed that five people died

inside the building and several are

in hospital with injuries. But there

could be more.

We can't confirm

exact numbers. We are working on the

possibility there could be people

still within the building and we

will sweep through with our teams to

make sure that we have located

everybody that could be in there.

Investigators will start looking for

the cause of the explosion, once the

search and rescue effort ends and

the area is declared safe.

Some parts of the UK will feel

colder than the Arctic

as we are being warned to prepare

for the beast from the east -

a blast of freezing air

sweeping in from Russia over

the next few days.

Snowfall is expected

across Eastern England,

the Midlands, Scotland and Wales,

the Met office says

some rural communities

are likely to be cut off.

Trains are being cancelled on some

routes from this evening and it's

expected some schools will be shut.

Danny Savage reports.

As the cold air crept

in from the east with it came

the snow.

Showers and flurries so far,

but more is on the way, say

forecasters.

First time I've seen

snow like this in years.

It was settling in north

Kent earlier as a

stream of showers merged

into a longer spell.

Hi, David?

Extra checks are being

made on the elderly.

There were no problems delivering

meals in Lincolnshire

today, but tomorrow to be different,

although everyone is optimistic.

It doesn't bother me, really.

You are provided, you

are prepared for it.

You've got stuff in the fridge

and you've got everything like that,

you've got to make sure you've

got your boots ready,

and things like that.

By the middle of today, which is

when we are delivering, there's

not really a problem.

I think there would be

if we had to be there at

seven o'clock in the morning,

or ten o'clock at night.

Up and down the eastern

flank of the UK, snow has

been falling.

This is Norwich at the far end

of the Greater Anglia rail

route.

Further south, in Colchester,

and all along this line services

will start winding down

much earlier tonight

in anticipation of

the

severe weather.

Scores of schools could be closed

over the next few days if

the forecast ring true.

For parents here in Lincoln

that's good and bad news.

I've been waiting for snow

for three years, I'm

desperate for it to snow!

I have to work tomorrow, and my wife

has to go to work, so if one of us

would have to call in sick we lose

money, so hopefully

the school will be open.

Nearby at RAF Scampton the Red

Arrows were getting in as much

practice as possible

before snow grounds them.

But just to show how patchy

it is, this was the scene

less than 30 miles away in Boston.

Your perception of this winter blast

will depend on your postcode.

That point illustrated here in

Lincolnshire, where we are getting

flurries, but there is quite a layer

of snow in other parts of the

country. Two amber warnings are in

place for the heaviest part of the

snow. A large part of northern

England and down through Suffolk and

Essex into Kent. It is not just the

snow that will cause problems, it is

the cold. It will feel as cold as

minus 15 in the wind. That will be a

factor. It will start tonight and be

a problem through until Friday.

Thank you.

Our top story this evening.

Jeremy Corbyn has set out his

vision for trade post Brexit -

calling for the UK to form

a new customs union with the EU.

And still to come...

The 5 year-old girl who died

from an asthma attack -

an inquest hears a GP refused

to see her because she was late

for her appointment.

A BBC News investigation

into unregistered schools has found

"huge safeguarding issues" according

to the Children's

Commissioner for England.

The schools watchdog, Ofsted,

has identified more than 350

suspected unregistered

schools in England.

Anywhere that offers more than 18

hours a week of teaching is obliged

to be registered as a school.

Little is known about what happens

inside these unregulated schools,

but BBC secret filming appears

to show a child being hit at one

school - in another pupils' text

books suggest gay people

should be killed.

Our Special Correspondent

Lucy Manning reports.

Inside are secret schools

unregistered, hidden

from the authorities,

operating out of offices and houses,

even a disused building

on an industrial estate.

We've obtained photos

of the inside of other suspected

unregistered schools.

They show shocking conditions,

squalor, appalling food

hygiene, dangerous wiring.

Schools need to be registered

if five or more pupils are educated

for at least 18 hours

a week, many aren't.

Ofsted has identified more than 350

suspected unregistered schools,

only half have been inspected.

We were able to find

two that haven't been.

One is here in Southend, Essex.

It's 9:40am and children

from the ultraorthodox Jewish

community have started learning.

On one day a young boy

appears to be crying.

There is a child here

who clearly is upset.

Minutes later the teacher

seems to use force.

There is physicality about that.

The man manhandling the child.

The child remains very distressed.

That raises immediate concerns.

I wouldn't expect to see

that in the classroom.

Any parent watching that

would be very, very worried

about what's going on.

On a different occasion,

a boy appears to cower

away from the teacher.

What you've got there is clearly

a child who seems to be quite wary

of the adult that's there.

When the adult turns around

the child steps back.

And the adult clearly

strikes the child.

That is completely

unacceptable on all counts.

There are huge safety

guarding issues about

the well-being of the children.

Are you surprised that this

can happen in the UK

in this day and age?

I am.

Parents throughout the land will be

so surprised that schools of this

scale are operating outside

the legal system.

The synagogue denies this

is an unregistered schools.

It says education is provided

here within the 18 hour limit,

but when we observed it

it was operating for longer.

It also says it's not aware

of any assaults but asked

for more information.

We've learned there have been more

than 50 safeguarding alerts

about unregistered schools

across England and Wales

in the past four years,

according to our freedom

of information request.

These are primarily physical abuse

concerns that include

sexual abuse allegations.

Not all unregistered

schools are religious.

Of those that are half are Muslim.

The BBC has contained the copy

of a book from a suspected

unregistered school in Birmingham

that is now closed.

In one section it openly advocates

the murder of homosexuals.

Another chapter warns

a wife against refusing

sects with her husband.

-- sex with her husband.

Elsewhere, it says a woman wearing

perfume is an adulterer.

Another suspected unregistered

school was run here in east London.

A broad and balanced curriculum...

Muhamed, a former headteacher,

was issued with a warning notice

by Ofsted for running it.

We've learned he is facing

prosecution for racially

abusing Ofsted inspectors.

It is alleged he shouted

"Britain First paedophiles" at them.

We understand the registered school

he ran previously featured

here in online footage faced

and extremism complaint.

He denies all the allegations.

He maintains he wasn't operating

an unregistered school and says

the centre was being run

by somebody else.

Louise Casey warned about the

problem of unregistered schools in

her 2016 report into community

cohesion.

The Department for

Education really need to wake up to

their own research, their own

evidence, and what Ofsted is telling

them and take action. It brings up

kids in an anti-British way of life.

Sometimes in these environments they

feel they have more in common with

some of the extremists, and some of

the terrorists.

Run out of a

basement of a church in south-east

London we've also learned of an

unregistered school that even had

its own logo and uniform. The

problem, four months after it opened

the headteacher was banned from

teaching for allegedly hitting a

five-year-old pupil with learning

difficulties at a previous school.

She denies the allegation. And also

says she never set out to do

anything illegal by running the

school.

We have this little hidden

universe of tiny schools...

Ofsted

says it needs a change in the law to

close these schools. Why have there

been no prosecutions of those

running unregistered schools?

There

is a chain to this. It starts with

Ofsted preparing a case. It goes to

the Secretary of State to approve

taking it forward, then it goes to

the Crown Prosecution Service. We've

prepared a number of cases, none of

them have yet been approved, we

believe many of these cases should

have been taken forward.

Why can't

you just go in and shot the schools

down?

My hands are tied. We have no

power to shut down. We can enter and

report. That's it. We can't even

pick up evidence we find there.

The

BBC understands ministers have known

about the presence of unregistered

schools for nearly a decade. In 2009

Ed Balls was warned some schools

were operating legally without the

most basic health, safety, and

welfare checks. And this

confidential advice note reveals

Ofsted warned Education Secretary

Nicky Morgan urgent action was

needed. That was in 2015. Shortly

after then Prime Minister David

Cameron made a promise.

I can

announce this today. If an

institution is teaching children

intensively then whatever its

religion we will, like any other

school, make it register so it can

be inspected.

The Department for

Education declined to be interviewed

about our investigation. It says it

jointly agrees with Ofsted is cases

should be put forward for

prosecution. And it says were a

school is operating legally action

must be taken. Meanwhile hundreds of

these schools are still running and

thousands of children are left at

risk of extremism, uninspected

teachers, and poor facilities

management.

A man has admitted killing three

teenage boys in a car

crash in west London last month.

The boys, aged 16 and 17,

were hit near a bus stop

as they walked to a birthday party.

28-year-old Jaynesh Chuda-Sama

from Hayes, who was more than two

and half times over the drink drive

limit, has admitted three

counts of causing death

by dangerous driving.

A teenager has been charged

with stabbing two young Somali men

to death in the Camden area of north

London last week.

Eighteen year-old Isaiah

Popoola has been charged

with the murders of Abdikarim Hassan

and Sadiq Mohamed last Tuesday.

Police say Popoola has also been

charged with alleged attacks on two

others on the same night.

An inquest has heard how

a five year-old girl -

suffering from asthma -

died after being turned

away from an emergency

doctor's appointment

because she was a few minutes late.

Ellie May Clark arrived

at a clinic in Newport,

South Wales but was told the doctor

wouldn't see her

because she was late.

She returned home but was taken to

hospital later that night and died.

Our Wales Correspondent Sian Lloyd

was at the inquest,

what more can you tell us?

Ellie May Clark had suffered with

asthma throughout her short life. On

the day she died she has been turned

away from an emergency appointment

at the Grange clinic in Newport

because she was more than ten

minutes late. Doctor Joanne Roe, the

doctor who took that decision, told

the inquest today she was busy with

another patient. The hearing heard

it had a ten minute rule doctors had

where they could turn patients away.

But never before had it been applied

to emergency patients. The coroner

heard there were serious concerns.

She was going to be writing a report

now highlighting them, that Ellie

May Clark had been let down by

failings in the system, that

opportunities to give her

potentially life-saving treatment

had been missed. Her family were

here at the hearing today. They said

they were disappointed there was no

finding of neglect and said they had

waited three years for these

answers.

Thanks very much.

There were crowds at Heathrow

airport this afternoon

as British Olympians arrived home

after the Winter

games in Pyeongchang.

Team GB achieved their

target of five medals -

one gold and four bronze -

beating their previous

record of four.

Our Sports Correspondent Joe Wilson

was at Heathrow as the team arrived.

Flags at Heathrow for everyone. A

calm welcome home. But the Olympics

changes you.

CHEERING

Suddenly back with a medal and a

reputation, new fans and old friends

for Billie Morgan. Or is the acting.

In total, five British medallists,

up to £28 million invested. The

record lottery funding from UK sport

was allocated to create leapt off

the sofa moments like watching

Lizzie Yarnold in the skeleton, Gold

medallist again. I wondered what her

legacy could be. There are many

escalators in Britain but no

skeleton courses to slide down.

We

are not a snow nation, we're not a

nice nation. The inspirational

message I take to schools is that I

grew up in Kent and I loved sport

and I just wanted to be an Olympian.

I ended up going, to my best, and

coming home with a gold medal. And I

was a normal kid from Kent.

Absolutely stratospheric.

That

remains if you want to excel in

winter sports you need to travel

abroad. There are some Olympic

sports which are far easier to play

in every town and city in Great

Britain. Like this one. In east

London some of the best teenage

basketball players in Britain, it is

a sport widely played by John people

here. But the British team isn't

expected to win Olympic medals, so

there isn't any UK sport funding.

We

are in danger of losing this. It

needs to be looked up now. It's not

just re-evaluating, not just talking

about my sport, talking about all

sports, the way they are funded.

Some sports are given huge amounts

of money and it is a very low

participation sport.

Participation

is vital, everybody agrees. UK sport

exist to turn lottery money into

medals, which everybody enjoys. Like

sliding on ice, the need to find

balance is crucial. Joe Wilson, BBC

News, Heathrow.

Time for a look at the weather...

This beast from the East, will it be

as bad as everybody is saying?

This beast from the East, will it be

as bad as everybody is saying?

This is it and I shall explain why

it is cold that. High pressure over

Scandinavia. Coming all the way from

Russia where it was -41 today. The

winds will strengthen. It will get

colder. And we will have more snow.

We had some snow today. We have dry

air, so there were not great

amounts. That will change. Snow

showers tonight over the southern UK

areas. We have the killing cloud and

a spell of snow coming later tonight

for eastern Scotland and northern

England. It is running into the cold

air. Easily down to -4 over tonight.

Amber warnings from the Met office.

One in the south-east corner of

England and the secondary one where

we have more persistent snow in

north-east England, perhaps close to

greater Manchester and Yorkshire. In

both cases it is going to be in the

morning. Some of it may blow across

to Wales. Western areas dry in the

afternoon. Snow showers coming into

eastern areas. The south-east should

be dry and sunny but the

temperatures will be a bit lower

than we had today. Another area of

concern for Wednesday, northern and

eastern Scotland, the central belt,

and north-eastern England. Up to ten

centimetres of snow, particularly

over higher ground. Shower after

shower coming in on a stronger wind.

It shifts towards the northern half

of the UK. There will still be some

sunshine and snow showers. We are

dropping down day by day in

temperatures. Add onto that the

strength of the wind, because it

will be very windy by Wednesday and

significantly colder. More snow

showers in the north by Thursday. It

will bring a spell of snow with this

cold air heading in a northerly

direction continuing until Friday.

cold air heading in a northerly

direction continuing until Friday.