07/09/2016 BBC Wales Today

Here on BBC One it's time for the news where you are.

As Bridgend Ford cuts production, the Economy Secretary warns any

Brexit deal must secure access to the single market.

40 years after Janet Commins was killed, Stephen Huff appears

in court charged with her rape and murder, and more

And the revolutionary blood test developed by scientists

at Swansea University that could detect one of the most deadly

The car industry employs 18,000 people in Wales and it needs

a Brexit deal that secures it access to the single market.

That's the demand from the Economy Secretary tonight,

following Ford's announcement that it's slashing production

Ken Skates says he also wants promises from the car-maker

about the security of 500 jobs there, which was a condition

of the ?15 million of state aid the Welsh Government

Workers at the plant are after reassurance too,

as our business correspondent, Brian Meechan reports.

Despite assurances from Ford that no-one will lose their jobs,

there was concern as shifts changed this afternoon.

I think the majority of people think it is going in 2018/2020.

That's the way it's looking, and that's the rumours.

Personally keeping an open mind on it.

We'll just have to wait and see what transpires and hopefully it

In a letter to staff seen by this programme,

Ford blames lower global demand for the new petrol engine

for its decision to almost halve its investment at Bridgend.

It's left some concern that the company isn't

That's not the case, according to this firm,

This company near Neath is an engineering company

and tool-makers that's part of the booming UK

It's grown 50% in the last three years and now employs

Bosses here reject claims that Ford is ready to abandon

I think it's a very competitive sector.

It's a sector where we all need to show continual

and accelerating innovation so, no, that doesn't concern me

This is a major, major investment for the long term coming

But the problem for Bridgend is clear.

This time last year, workers were celebrating the news

that they'd secured the contract to manufacture 250,000

of the new Dragon petrol engines anually, starting in 2018.

of the new Dragon petrol engines annually, starting in 2018.

It secured hundreds of jobs but it meant that Bridgend would only be

making a third of the engines it does now.

A year on, and it emerges that Ford will produce 125,000 Dragon engines,

only half of those previously planned, from 2018.

The Welsh Government argues that uncertainty resulting from Brexit

What we need from the UK Government is a firm commitment

to access to the free market in order to create stability

It's no good having fluctuations in terms of the value of sterling.

We need sterling to be steady in terms of its value.

But of course the low value of the pound following the vote

to leave the EU has benefits for firms as well.

People want to mix it up in the Brexit argument

but the currency fluctuates all the time, and from an exporter's

point of view it is very good to be able to sell your goods abroad

and actually some of these engines do go abroad to Ford's plants

on the Continent, in Europe, and so it actually puts the plant

It's clear that Ford Bridgend needs to get back to the drawing board

While Brexit may not be responsible for the decision to scale back

production now, how we trade with the world after it

will have an impact on the plant's ability to bring in that work.

A man has appeared in court in Llandudno accused of raping

and murdering a teenage schoolgirl 40 years ago.

15-year-old Janet Commins, from Flint, died in January 1976.

Now Stephen Huff is charged with sexually assaulting

and killing her, as well as more recent sex offences.

Stephen Huff was brought to court today from police custody.

He was charged yesterday with committing five offences

From 1976, he's accused of murder, rape and a serious sexual offence.

In February this year, he's charged with rape

The hearing before district judge Gwyn Jones lasted

Stephen Huff spoke to confirm his name, age and address in Flint.

As he was remanded in custody, he was asked whether he understood

ARCHIVE: Police and forensic experts have been combing every square inch

of the school playground today, where the body of pretty 15-year-old

The killing of the schoolgirl 40 years ago made headline news.

It became a major police investigation, involving dozens

of officers who took thousands of statements.

One senior officer appeared on BBC Wales Today, in an attempt to speak

This girl had been sexually assaulted and she did

After nearly three weeks a man was charged and then

subsequently jailed after he admitted manslaughter.

In a statement, North Wales Police have said Stephen Huff was not

charged in their original investigation.

He was remanded in custody until tomorrow, when he will appear

Three health boards in Wales have been placed under an increased level

of scrutiny and control by the Welsh Government over

doubts about their ability to tackle their challenges.

Cardiff and the Vale, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg and Hywel Dda

health boards now face what is known as "targeted intervention".

That's one level lower than special measures.

An agricultural machinery company says it's closing

its North Pembrokeshire base because of the difficulties

Up to 20 people work at the Riverlea depot in Crymych.

Owners say staff will be offered posts at their other branch

Scientists at Swansea University have developed a revolutionary blood

test which could detect one of the most deadly forms of cancer

It's hoped the test could be in widespread use within five years,

So this is a blood sample here and you can see the mutant red

blood cells are under this light here...

Professor Gareth Jenkins and his PhD student Rachel Lawrence have been

studying the blood of oesophageal cancer patients and noticed

interesting differences with the blood of healthy people.

And anything under this line we would class as a mutant cell...

They believe they've made a significant breakthrough

here in Swansea, which means this particular cancer could now be

We've been asking the question, do cancer patients, patients

with oesophageal cancer, have elevated levels of these mutations?

We have shown in a pilot study we've been doing for the last

four years that they do, so this offers the promise

that we could, in the future, detect an undiagnosed cancer patient

at an earlier stage purely from taking a blood sample

and measuring the number of these mutated red blood cells.

Currently the test for this cancer involves an invasive and costly use

of an endoscope, but simply testing blood instead means the disease can

Cancer Research Wales believe that has the potential to save lives.

Early diagnosis of cancer generally is critical because Wales actually

suffers from late diagnosis and it's a major reason why Wales suffers

And so a blood-based test that can actually detect cancers earlier

is very welcome, particularly for something like oesophageal

cancer that has poor five-year survival rates.

The Swansea researchers have likened their technique to a smoke

detector that warns of fire, as this test warns doctors

They hope it could also be developed for other cancers, too.

They now need to conduct a larger validation study but they're

confident their simple test could be in widespread use within five years.

So, it's official the Wales coach Warren Gatland will lead the British

and Irish Lions for next year's tour of New Zealand.

His role with Wales will be filled by Rob Howley for the season,

which will see the national side play four autumn internationals,

the Six Nations and a tour of the Pacific Islands.

But tonight Gatland has warned that some high-profile players will miss

out on selection for Wales if they ply their trade

The head coach for the 2017 British and Irish Lions tour

There was really no need for the big introduction today.

Warren Gatland getting the top job was the worst-kept secret in sport.

But before heading to New Zealand, a warning to the Welsh

Some, he said, won't be picked for the national side in future.

There's going to be a couple of big-name players missing out

on the autumn, they will not be involved in the squad,

and that will be quite dramatic, and perhaps the Six Nations,

Everyone's been questioning whether we're going to stick

with that policy and I can guarantee that's going to happen.

The Welsh Rugby Union has worked hard to stop the stem of Welsh

Jonathan Davies is one who's returned home recently.

Only players who play in Wales will be considered for national

selection, with only three wildcard places available to those who play

This man will help enforce that rule.

With Gatland gone for a time, Rob Howley takes temporary charge,

as he did four years ago, when he guided Wales

It's a great opportunity for Warren to probably undertake the biggest

challenge in world rugby, and when he comes back to us in ten

months' time, I'd have thought he will be a better

Gatland led the Lions to success in Australia three years ago but no

Lions side has won a series in New Zealand since 1971.

It's been made more difficult as players will be involved

in the finale of the domestic season the week before

The playing season this year, if you go on the Lions tour as well,

is going to be about 11 months, so it's all about player welfare,

who can best recover the quickest, because everybody's going to want

a pound of flesh, really, from the WRU from a Welsh

He flies tomorrow to New Zealand to start preparing, aiming

to conquer the All Blacks - something he's failed

to achieve in ten attempts during his time with Wales.

Time for the forecast, and we need to keep our brollies

That would be a good idea, but today was a lovely day, with temperatures

at 26 as a high. The average for September is around 16 so we did

very well indeed. Feeling fresher tomorrow, less humid, with sunny

spells as well. A cold weather front tonight brings patchy rain in from

the West with the odd heavy burst likely on Snowdonia. Temperatures

12-16. The cold weather front will clear through tomorrow morning and a

brief break behind it, but another weather front brings more rain as we

head into tomorrow night. First thing tomorrow, a blustery start and

we have that front clearing through. Behind it, it brightens up with a

few showers, remaining blustery throughout the day, with those

south-westerly winds. The further south and east you are, the drier

and brighter it is, with that rain band pushing into England and

Scotland, and behind it, some rain pushing into Northern Ireland. Some

sunny spells to look forward to tomorrow afternoon with the risk of

a few showers. There's temperatures ranging between 18 and 20 with brisk

south-westerly winds. The next weather system comes in tomorrow

night, bringing more rain from the south-west, but the rain will push

through quickly thanks to the wind, and a fairly mild night. It will

feel muggy again as we head into Friday. The rain cleared through

first thing on Friday morning with sunny spells to look forward to. If

you catch a shower, it could be heavy, but most of us will get a dry

day, with highs of 17-20. A wet start to Saturday but the rain band

should clear through by the afternoon and it will brighten up.

Looking much better for the second part of the weekend.

We're back with updates into Breakfast from around

From all of us on the programme, a very good night.