17/06/2016 BBC Wales Today

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me,

Welcome to Wales Today. Tonight's headlines:

Vigils are held across Wales in memory of the

Welsh colleagues and friends pay tribute.

She was prepared to fight on every front for justice, fair play,

common-sense and this was a woman that couldn't be suppressed.

Stuart Bates and his son Fraser, died after being hit by a car.

A 22-year-old man pleads guilty to causing death

The call for a crackdown on taxi drivers who break the law

by refusing to take guide dogs in their cabs.

I asked, was it because of my guide dog?

They then attempted to drive away while I was still leaning on

We asked what you would do, if you were in charge of Wales.

Now we're passing on your ideas to the First Minister.

And following defeat against England, the Wales squad

are back in Brittany preparing to face Russia on Monday night.

Vigils have been held tonight to remember the Labour MP Jo Cox ,

who died after being shot and stabbed in her west

Politicians here have been paying tribute to the 41-year-old,

described by former Labour leader Lord Kinnock as someone who fought

Referendum campaigning across the country has been

suspended as our political editor Nick Servini reports.

She may have been tiny in stature but her determination, love and

It happened in Yorkshire but the impact of the

killing of Jo Cox has had much wider repercussions.

Tonight, vigils were held in Swansea and Cardiff, the

emotions were still raw for the former leader

of the Labour Party, Lord Kinnock, as he gave this

personal recollection of the 41-year-old.

Steve, our son, her colleague, spoke of her last night.

She would identify a problem and she would pursue it.

She was prepared to fight on every front.

Her constituency has lost a real champion for those people.

Facing the public, the Pontypridd MP Owen Smith holds a

The death of Jo Cox has sparked a wider debate about the security

But he believes that can only go so far.

This is my office, it is right in the middle on the Main Street

People know exactly where that office is.

I go to the rugby on a Saturday, my kids go to school

here and in all of those ways I am a very public

I wouldn't want that to change, not for a minute.

If it did change it would fundamentally change the

nature of the relationship between the MP and the people you represent.

A number of MPs have warned that threatening and abusive behaviour

Owen Smith says much of that is online.

People were tweeting me yesterday saying, I'm surprised more

of you don't get attacked in this fashion.

What I do with those people is I just block

them, I don't bother torespond to them.

It is a pretty ugly thing for someone to think that

This has shed light on a hidden part of the job of being an MP, the

constituency work. Most of them have offices in busy town centres like

this one in Pontypridd. Access to them from the public isn't just an

add-on of the job but a fundamental part of what they do. It is

representing their constituents. This has touched all parties. The

conservative former Welsh Secretary David Jones was determined to carry

on with business as usual at a care home summer party in his Clwyd West

constituency. All MPs are being encouraged to review their own

security arrangements. As you might imagine immediately after the

incident yesterday would receive messages from the police and the

Palace authorities to review our security. We are all aware of it but

the most important thing is we should always strike a balance. In

respect of Jo Cox campaigning in the referendum has been cancelled

throughout the Daily Mail is like elsewhere in the UK. Tevez's BBC

Wales television debate in Swansea and senior figures on both sides has

also been cancelled. It is a day for paying respects at a formal level in

Wales and at a personal one as well. After the death of a politician that

many find shocking. The real as pouring of grief today

across Wales as elsewhere. Because of the shocking nature of it

and an attack on an elected politician is an attack on the

system. It has certainly thrown up a range of talking points. One of them

is how do we protect our politicians? Short of airport style

security at constituency offices or near permanent presence by local

police officers, it is difficult to do that. We all like the easy access

they could have with our local MPs and AMs. Putting them in some

security bubble is going to make that difficult. There is the

secondary elements which is the tone in terms of public debate. MPs are

complaining about increases in aggression towards them. What they

see, Owen Smith and others telling me today, not just the tone from the

public to politicians is aggressive and now acceptable but also the way

politicians attack each other as we have seen in the referendum

campaign, has become the norm. It would not have been acceptable in

any of life. These are difficult questions to try to answer. Many

people like vigorous debate at the same time how do we draw a line when

things go over the top? Not easy. Campaigning for the

referendum at a standstill. Will that continue? It will and its code

change the dynamic and the momentum in the referendum campaign. We are

unlikely to see anything substantive in terms of the Welsh campaigns this

weekend. We have the recall of Parliament on Monday which will take

the sting out of things. We are looking at a frenetic 48 hours of

activity ahead of this huge decision on Thursday, an extraordinary time.

A 22-year-old man has admitted causing the deaths of a father

and son as they crossed a road after a Christmas party.

43-year-old Stuart Bates and seven-year-old Fraser were hit

by a car in Talbot Green, in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Joshua Staples from Tonyrefail pleaded guilty to causing death

It was in December last year that father and son,

They were making their way home in the early hours from a

party, both wearing their Christmas jumpers.

But when they tried to cross the dual carriageway

here in Talbot Green they were struck by a car.

That car was driven by 22-year-old

Today, he admitted causing death by careless

driving but pleaded not guilty to causing death

Fraser became an organ donor saving the lives of four others and a new

organ donation charity, Believe, was launched in his memory.

His father also donated tissue to help others.

Since their deaths thousands of pounds has been raised

Fraser's mother has described them as inspirational,

saying she draws comfort from knowing they live on in others.

Today at Cardiff Crown Court Staples was banned from driving and granted

bail until sentencing which is expected to take place next month.

A 29-year-old man has appeared before Cardiff Magistrates' Court

charged with murdering another man in the Llanedeyrn area of the city.

Lynford Brewster, who was also 29, died following an incident

Dwayne Edgar has been remanded in custody to appear

National Museum Wales workers will be balloted on a new pay

offer which could end a long-running dispute.

PCS union members have been involved in an all-out strike

since April over changes to weekend working allowances.

The Museum said additional financial support from the Welsh Government

has allowed it to improve its previous offer.

There's continuing disruption to services in and out of Paddington

station after an empty rain derailed at the station yesterday evening.

Services from Cardiff, Swansea and Carmarthen to London

Passengers are being urged to check for updates before they travel.

A growing number of blind and partially sighted people

in Wales are being turned away by taxi drivers because

they have a guide dog, according to a charity.

Although it's illegal to refuse a fare from passengers

with assistance dogs, Guide Dogs Cymru is warning that

incidents are on the rise and is calling for tougher sentences

He relies on his guide dog Lloyd to be his eyes and ears.

Last month, after a shopping trip, he made his way to this taxi rank

I opened the passenger door of the car

and asked the driver if they would take me home.

They refused saying they didn't want to take me.

I asked was it because of the guide dog?

They then attempted to drive away while I was

still leaning on the car and I fell flat on my face.

I felt quite humiliated and embarrassed and a

complete loss of confidence in my personal independence.

Under the Equality Act, it is illegal for a taxi

driver to refuse a fair just because the customer has a guide dog.

Unless the driver has a medical reason why

they can't have a dog in the car, in which case they will have

to apply for an exemption certificate from

But according to the charity Guide Dogs Cymru,

taxi refusals in Wales are on the rise.

Individuals are telling as they can stand and wait

for a taxi in a queue and not know the taxi drivers are ignoring them.

Even with the Equality Act the problem does seem to be

What we would like to see is stiffer penalties so that taxi drivers

understand the need to comply with the law.

Drivers can be fined up to ?1,000 for refusing

But research by the charity Guide Dogs showed that prosecutions

In the Welsh capital all private hire and Hackney Carriage drivers

must undergo disability awareness training,

Mathab Khan knows his obligations when it comes to picking up

passengers with guide dogs and feels other cabbies should too.

If any taxi driver refuses to take a guide dog

If he still does it his licence should be revoked.

Powys County Council says it's carrying out an investigation

into the taxi driver who refused to take Nick's fare.

The majority of cabbies do comply with the law,

but the actions of those who don't can have a real impact on people,

like Nick, who want to take a taxi without fear of refusal.

Still to come in the programme: Can the voices of these children stop

people smoking outside a Pembrokeshire hospital?

And Wellington is the setting for Wales second Test

Coach Warren Gatland is hoping for an improved performance.

During the run-up to last month's Assembly Election you may remember

that we asked you to tell us what you would do if you

Well, after the dust settled and with Carwyn Jones in place,

I recently met the First Minister to hand over My Manifesto 2016.

What would you do if you were First Minister?

We travelled the length and breadth of Wales to find out.

If I was First Minister I would reorganise the NHS.

If I was First Minister I would ensure that all

We promised we would pass on all your

I've come to the Senedd to do just that.

Hundreds of you got in touch about what matters to you.

We have worked out what topics most of you

contacted us about and it is those issues I am going to put the First

Starting with better transport links.

If I were First Minister I would build a

Jeffrey Solomon from Carmarthen thinks better roads

between north and south Wales would help his business.

We're not going to have a dual carriageway north to south.

What we will look to do is improve sections

of the main roads, north/south, over the next few years.

Carwyn Jones insists there is money for those

improvements as well as the South Wales Metro and the M4 relief road.

We do need a relief road, there is no getting away from it.

The tunnels at Brynglas are terrible.

If the Severn tolls go at some point all

that traffic that sits at the tolls will just end up sitting in Brynglas

It has got to be tackled and we will move forward with that now.

Lots of people got in touch with us concerned about care for

If I were the First Minister I would enact a holistic Bill of Rights

that would protect elderly, disabled and former double

people in their own homes, in hospitals and in care homes.

Ken Mack in Wrexham will be pleased to know the First Minister

is meeting the Older People's Commissioner next month to

discuss what can be done during the next Assembly term.

With more people living longer too, Carwyn Jones is

considering the options to fund care.

If we want to go to a situation where we say, right,

people have a right to free care in future above a certain age

it is going to cost and that means raising taxation.

Again, people need to understand what the costs are

I met Annie Mulholland from Cardiff who was terminally ill with

Annie died three weeks ago but throughout her illness

she fought for fair access to drugs for all patients.

If I were First Minister I would stop the NHS

Two things we are going to do, firstly,

we are going to introduce a new treatments from.

When a drug is approved for a life-threatening condition

including cancer but not chest cancer, the money will be

available to rule that out across Wales regardless of health board

The second thing we're going to look at is, the current

system we have means where people need to access a non-approved drug

they have to go through a panel in the health board area they live.

People have told us it is difficult to see the consistency.

One of the things we're looking at is whether we

can put in place a national system and whether that would give is the

We were overwhelmed by your response to

My Manifesto 2016 and so was the First Minister.

The sheer number of ideas, the fact you've got all these

responses show people are interested in politics.

They don't think of it as politics but if you want something

fixed in the road, you want a good school for your children, you want

to have treatment in the health service it is politics

It shows people far from being apathetic and not interested

in what is going around them are very interested.

Will you be taking the suggestions of people across the country

We get a lot of our ideas from what we pick up

We are nothing without the public to electors.

The opinions of those people can help us to be able to do

So many of you got in touch and we didn't have time

to tell all your stories during the election campaign.

If you have a story you want us to tell, or an issue you want us

to investigate get in touch with My Wales Today.

Tweet us @BBCWalestoday using the hashtag #mywalestoday.

Or write to us - the address is on the screen now.

We're looking forward to hearing from you.

If you started smoking outside the doors of a hospital

in Pembrokeshire you could be in for a shock.

Hywel Dda has become the first health board in Wales to launch

a new push-button public address system using children's voices,

Hospitals have long been cigarette-free, but enforcing that

Not everyone pays attention to the signs so perhaps it's time

Launched by the children of Wolfcastle primary theirs

This is a smoke-free site, please do not smoke here.

For free support to become smoke-free...

We thought it was an excellent idea to have a button that somebody

could press when they entered the hospital if they

just walked past somebody that was smoking outside the entrance.

We felt hearing a child's voice outside

the hospital was something you don't hear very often.

It is more likely to get people's attention and

hopefully it will seem more supportive rather than threatening.

With their catchy message now up and running

across all the hospitals in Pembrokehire, Carmarthenshrie

campaigners are in no doubt about why their mission is so important.

It is because you can cause lung cancer.

I am on the school council so we speak to the government and we

make school decisions about health and we go to the community.

Hospitals are supposed to help people with problems not to create

Other hospitals will now be looking at how effective this

new public health persuasion proves to be and if it is, it could be

The Wales squad are back in their Brittany training camp

following yesterday's last-gasp defeat against England.

Attention is now firmly fixed on Monday evening's match

against Russia which will determine if Wales make it into the knock-out

Let s head to Dinard and join Iwan Griffiths.

Good evening. Yes, after the bustle of Bordeaux, the loss in -- Lens, it

is back to Britain. Those who played yesterday have had a rest. We're

looking forward to that big game against Russia. Let's look forward

to the importance of that game in the company of the former Wales

midfielder. More than 24 hours after that defeat to England, did they

deserve to win? England played well. Their second-half performance showed

their power in bringing on Sturridge and Jamie Vardy and Wales couldn't

quite hold on. We were 60 seconds away from a heroin point which

almost would've got as through to the next round. Let's look at the

calculator. What do Wales need to do now on and a night against Russia?

Quite simply, if we win we are through. If we are beaten and lose

the game, we are struggling. We are dependent on other results. If it is

a draw, we need England to win. Which isn't something we say often!

The players need to be ready and looking to win the game against the

Russians. What should Chris Coleman expect from the Russians? A stubborn

side it isn't going to be a pretty game. We want to look to release

Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale. It could go deep into the second half,

it will be nervy but I am confident we will get the job done. What does

Chris Coleman need to do now? It is all about recovering, making sure

the energy levels are Rob and making sure physically they are ready and

mentally. Thank you very much. They will be training at 11 tomorrow

morning. A press conference at 1:30pm. I will bring you the latest

tomorrow night. But for now, axed EU. -- back to you.

After defeat in the first Test, Wales take on the New Zealand

Coach Warren Gatland will be hoping for a much improved performance

following the midweek thrashing by provincial side the Chiefs.

From Wellington, here's Ross Harries.

The nation's capital, Wellington, is the setting for the second Test,

But Wales have had little time for sightseeing as they seek

to restore pride to the jersey after Tuesday's mauling

It was quite an embarrassing defeat for us, an embarrassing performance.

But I suppose the nature of these things, you have to

dust it off pretty quickly and get on with it.

We're playing the All Blacks on Saturday so it isn't one

we can dwell on for longer than half a day, really.

As soon as we landed here in Wellington the boys

were on their laptops reviewing the Chiefs game but all eyes

Wellington is known as the Windy City and here in the

Westpac Stadium the swirling winds can create havoc for the kickers.

They are putting in an extra bit of practice today and for that man

there on Saturday night, it is set to be a real baptism.

Really exciting thing to look forward to.

I'm sure Saturday night it will be bouncing and it will be a great

Last weekend was a really good game to

listen to on the radio, I'm sure it was great to watch.

For 60 minutes the boys really went at it and it is important

we build on those 60 minutes and see where that takes us

These All Blacks have become the masters of closing out games.

During that final quarter when the body tires and the mind

becomes less sharp, these players always find another gear.

If Wales are to record their first away win

over the All Blacks, they will have to stay

in the fight until the final whistle.

Tributes have been paid to the sports journalist

Peter Corrigan from the Vale of Glamorgan, who's

He started his writing career at the south Wales Echo

when he was just 16 before eventually becoming the sports

editor for The Observer newspaper and chief sports columnist

A number of properties have been flooded in Rhyl following heaving

The worst affected areas were Vale Road and Ffordd Derwen.

After the water receded residents began drying out their homes.

Denbighshire Council said drains overflowed due to the high

We're in for some better weather this weekend.

The best of the sunshine on Saturday.

Some sunshine in Rhaeadr today but not everywhere stayed dry.

The radar shows torrential downpours in parts of mid and south Wales

Langland Bay on Gower was hit by flash flooding this afternoon.

This evening heavy showers in the south and southeast

And a fresher night with lowest temperatures ten to 13 Celsius.

So here's the picture for eight in the morning.

Some patchy cloud but some sunshine as well.

And it will feel quite pleasant with just a light breeze.

So the weather in better shape tomorrow.

Most places dry with a mix of cloud and sunny spells.

The air more stable so any showers in the Marches will be light.

15 to 19 Celsius but with light winds it will feel warm.

Now, Snowdon Rocks is taking place tomorrow.

The weather dry with light winds but with mist and fog on the summit.

17C in Barrybados with a westerly breeze.

Tomorrow evening dry with some sunshine.

Overnight dry but later in the night increasing cloud may bring a few

So a ridge of high pressure will bring drier, more settled

weather over the weekend but these fronts over the Atlantic

So for Sunday a bright start in the east otherwise cloudy.

Some dry weather but a few spots of light rain and drizzle.

And then during the evening it looks like we'll all see some rain.

So Saturday the best day of the weekend.

Next week, a damp start on Monday but brightening-up.

Tuesday drier and fresher with some sunshine.

The weather in Toulouse mixed and warm this weekend.

But for the match on Monday evening it should be dry.

Vigils have been held to remember the Labour MP Jo Cox,

who died after being shot and stabbed in her

Politicians here, have been paying tribute to the 41-year-old,

described by former Labour leader Lord Kinnock as

"someone who fought for justice and fair play".

We'll be back with our next update after the BBC Ten o'clock news.

For now, from all of us on the programme,