thirty years after the hillsborough disaster, the police commander in charge on the day is found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. david duckenfield was in charge of the fa cup semifinal in april 1989. he ordered an exit gate to the stadium to be opened after crowds built up outside leading to a crush on the terraces. the families of the 96 fans who died have campaigned for justice for decades. today many of them left the court in tears. who put the 96 in their graves? who is accountable for 96 people unlawfully killed 7 what is accountable for 96 people unlawfully killed? what a disgrace this has been today.

it was the third time david duckenfield had gone on trial. the investigation has cost around 65 million pounds. we're live at the court. also tonight. a leading economic research group says neither the conservatives nor labour are offering credible spending plans in their election manifestos. the number of vacancies for nurses in england has risen, tens of thousands more are needed. hospital managers say it's one of the biggest problems they're facing. and supermarkets are urged to charge a lot more for a bag for life — as the amount of plastic being used keeps growing. coming up on sportsday, later in the hour, on bbc news, the latest from the europa league, including manchester united's trip to kazakhstan, to face manchester united's trip to kaza khsta n, to face asta na.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. thirty years after the hillsborough disaster, no one has been held responsible for the deaths of the 96 fans who lost their lives after being crushed in the terraces. today a jurty found the policeman in charge on the day at the fa cup semi—final — superintendent david duckenfield — not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. it's the third time he's been on trial since 1989. as the verdict was read out, there were gasp and tears in court from the families of some of those who died. judith moritz is at preston crown court. yes, and, some of the family is said to me that they almost feel like they have gone backwards, legally, because four years ago, the inquest jury because four years ago, the inquest jury at warrington found that 96 people who died at hillsborough we re 96 people who died at hillsborough were unlawfully killed, now the family that they have been left without an answer in criminal court as to who it was that was

responsible. a moment of history when the verdict was handed down this afternoon, a moment of history and a very long history in a disaster which for some has lasted for three decades. david duckenfield hugged his wife but the hillsborough families let out audible cries. one woman got to her feet and addressed thejudge, saying, "i want to know who killed my father". david duckenfield has been a plane figure for 30 years, in charge of hillsborough when disaster happened, that he failed is not in dispute but his trial ended with a not guilty verdict, and with tears for the hillsborough families. 96 people have been found to be unlawfully killed to a credible standard by an inquest jury, killed to a credible standard by an inquestjury, and killed to a credible standard by an inquest jury, and somebody killed to a credible standard by an inquestjury, and somebody has got to be held responsible for 96 deaths, the biggest sporting disaster in british legal history. all the families, loved ones, were u nlawfully all the families, loved ones, were unlawfully killed, and we have got to live with who is accountable for the deaths? the hillsborough family

say that over 30 years, opportunities have been mist to prosecute the full number of people and institutions which could have been held responsible for the disaster. with this trial, the jurors have only one man to consider, and they were not willing to make him solely responsible for the deaths. in 1989, liverpool played nottingham forest in an fa cup semifinal. commentator: livable's faithful followers, fed on success livable's faithful followers, fed on success in 25 years, at the leppings lane end. voiceover: 211,000 liverpool fans travelled to the city for the fixture, minutes before the kick—off, a huge crowd was still queueing to get into the ground. david duckenfield gave a critical order: open the gate. thousands poured in, he did not close the tunnel to the terraces which were already full. for the first time, we can broadcast giving him evidence —— he giving his evidence at the inquest four years ago. that is arguably one of the biggest regrets of my life, that i did not foresee

where fans would go, when they came in through the gates. some fans climbed out of the crash, but most we re climbed out of the crash, but most were trapped. these survivors are still coping with the mental scars. i don't know if i passed out but i remember, i gave up, i knewl i don't know if i passed out but i remember, i gave up, i knew i was nine, you just knew you were going to die. the next thing, a pile of bodies next to me. we were screaming toa bodies next to me. we were screaming to a police officer to open the gate, to get onto the pitch. i remember vividly, i said, gate, to get onto the pitch. i remembervividly, isaid, one gate, to get onto the pitch. i remember vividly, i said, one of my brothers in their has died. we found that moment on the archive footage. 19—year—old ian, in his red tracksuit, traumatised for life. 19—year—old ian, in his red tracksuit, traumatised for lifelj have had suicide attempts... self—harm. .. have had suicide attempts... self—harm... iam have had suicide attempts... self—harm... i am tattooed, because that was the positive alternative to cutting myself. 96 men, women and children were killed. the youngest

aged ten, the oldest a pensioner. ryan mathews was 38 when he died in the crash, he came from a large merseyside family who spent 30 years campaigning on his behalf. people went to that football game as a family, dad went —— dads went with their sons and dads came home with their sons and dads came home with their sons and dads came home with their sons in body bags. you went as afamily on their sons in body bags. you went as a family on a saturday, to watch a football tea m a family on a saturday, to watch a football team play. there should not have been any risk that you would not come home. walk on, walk on... in 2016, inquests found that the fa ns were in 2016, inquests found that the fans were unlawfully killed and not to blame, but an inquest is not a trial, david duckenfield was then charged with manslaughter and now, thejury charged with manslaughter and now, the jury has found he was singled out unfairly, and is innocent of any crime. it may sound like a cliche, to say that lessons must be learned, but given this verdict, that has never been more relevant, nor

important. hundreds of detectives have spent seven years gathering evidence into hillsborough, costing £65 million, operation resolve is the longest ever criminal investigation in england. there have been trialled, inquests, investigations and inquiries before, but this verdict means no one will be jailed for so many lives lost. the families have been fighting for justice for decades, is this the end of the road for them? not necessarily, i shall explain why in a moment, but that is the feeling for some of them, i shall tell you. i asked them, does it feel to you like, 30 years on, you are out of time, that justice like, 30 years on, you are out of time, thatjustice delayed may have been just because it has taken so long that this was never going to be a process that was straightforward. and that is a feeling amongst some, that it was always going to be hard to bring a prosecution three decades on. that is what the crown prosecution service has said. i say

it was a complex and harrowing case, presenting evidence about the events of 30 years ago has not been straightforward. the families also say that they have so much evidence they feel was not brought in this case, they have been critical of the way the prosecution has been put together, quite vocal about that. these families know every detail of what happened, they have done a lot of their own research, and there is some frustration about the events of today because they know they say about all the evidence they would have liked to have seen brought. the feeling is, and from the cps and from operation resolve, that the verdict of thejury from operation resolve, that the verdict of the jury must be respected. david duckenfield's lawyers have said he is relieved that the jury has found him not guilty, that his sympathies remain with the families. quickly, i said at the beginning it is not necessarily the end of the road: the families will be back here, in april there will be a second trial, that trial will deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

the institute for fiscal studies says neither the conservatives nor labour are being honest with voters about spending in the run—up to the election. the independent research group has examined both parties‘ manifestos and says their economic plans are not credible. here's our economics editor faisal islam . it isa it is a rather similar set of words, about the nations coffers, from the main parties. i think our manifesto is bold, it is ambitious, it is prepared for, it is thought out, and there is a grade book which fully costs it. so says the prime minister, too. fully costed manifesto, and we can make a very substantial commitment that we are making. -- grey book. all the parties campaigning stress and good housekeeping but the main message from the iss is the critical audit of the manifestos is a plague on both your houses, plans for health spending are in the same ball park with the conservatives on 3% growth a yearand labour,

with the conservatives on 3% growth a year and labour, 4%. when you strip health care out, you get an interesting picture, looking at spending commitments over the next few years, the end of the spending squeeze. “— few years, the end of the spending squeeze. —— ifs. every party is pushing up day—to—day spend, big differences in the amount, however, all these lines representing spending on schools, by councils, on roads, public pay, and other things on the rise. but, if you zoom out and look at this over the last ten yea rs, and look at this over the last ten years, they do not all take us back to where we were. conservative plans leave spending levels still 14% below where they were in 2010. lib dems, below the line, too. labour plans don't just spend dems, below the line, too. labour plans don'tjust spend more, they undo the austerity decade, leaving spending higher even than 2010. add in investment spending and lower labour is planning the highest spending levels ever for the labour is planning the highest spending levels everfor the uk, and expect taxes to follow suit. —— add in investment spending and labour is planning the highest spending levels. neither plan is credible, saving ifs. they say that it was

clearly not true that just 5% would be taxed. some losing the marriage tax allowance are not high earners, for instance. but the conservatives have not costed some of theirs more significant plans, social care is very expensive, as there is a series of investment projects, from electric car factories to railways. all of those tax and spend numbers have implications for borrowing. the lib the lib dems, remain and relatively straight, the lowest level of borrowing for their plans, labour's is double that an ounce, the highest borrowing plans to help fund extra investment. the conservative plans show they are in between the two but this is rather interesting: a version of no deal still possible in a year's time, after borisjohnson rolled out, in his manifesto, any extension to "brexit" implementation plan which would hit the economy, and in fact, plan which would hit the economy, and infact, it plan which would hit the economy, and in fact, it would lead to higher borrowing under the conservatives, higher than labour, according to the ifs. the conservatives are proposing

what is a hard brexit outside of the single market and the customs union and the deadline at the end of next yearfor and the deadline at the end of next year for a and the deadline at the end of next yearfor a trade and the deadline at the end of next year for a trade agreement, which, if we do not meet that, it could still end up with something that looks rather like a no—deal brexit and serious negative consequences for the economy, we do not know where labour is going to go on brexit, presumably something softer, which will be better for the economy, more investment spending helps the economy but, big tax increases, big increases in regulation, may well push on the other direction. the conservatives argue that is a worst—case scenario, and that has not been modelled in labour's case by the iss, but none of the major players can be too cheered by this look at their numbers. —— ifs. forvery different reasons, neither of the big two deemed credible. the number of vacancies for nhs nurses in england increased to around 43,500 by

the end of september, almost a thousand more than the same time last year. hospital managers say workforce shortages is one of the biggest problems they have to deal with. the need to boost recruitment across the nhs has already proved to be a key issue in the election debate, as our health editor hugh pym reports. we start off with four nurses down, that number can increase if nurses call in sick. georgina is on a day off from her nursing post in a busy a&e department. she has been a nurse forfive yea rs and says it is more stressful than ever. because of staff shortages and increasing numbers of patients. you are really pushed, when you are processing volumes of people rather than delivering really good care to people. it's very hard, and to be really honest, my satisfaction in myjob is a lot less than it used to be, because it really is very hard to keep feeling that you are doing a safe and good job. so, what are the party plans for england? the conservatives say that 19,000 more nurses will be trained, with grants restored, and another 31,000 will come from foreign recruitment and better retention.

labour wants 211,000 more nurses trained, with £1 billion every year invested in restoring bursaries. and, more on top through better retention and recruitment. the liberal democrats want to target extra help for nursing students. health thinktanks say that if there is no new policies, the current vacancy total of just over 40,000 will increase to around 70,000 in four years time. the big challenge of health care is we must run to stand still, a growing population and an ageing population with more chronic disease. what that means is we need more and more staff, so although the number of people employed in the nhs is increasing a bit, it is not increasing anywhere near the fast enough pace to cope with that rising demand. staff shortages are obvious on the front line right now, capping public—sector in previous yea rs and the scrapping of nurse bursaries in england haven't helped.

the royal college of nursing says more than half of members feel too busy to provide the level of care they would like. georgina says some nurses she works with are close to the limits of what they can tolerate. some of my colleagues, very sadly, are thinking of leaving nursing. and that is so sad because i really believe in nursing, i really believe in the role that we do. their satisfaction in theirjob is so low that they don't want to do that any more, they don't want to take the risk. georgina wants to stick with the job she loves, for whoever forms the next government, it will be critical to find ways in which to hold onto others like her, as well as training the nurses of the future. and you can find out more about what each party is promising to do in healthcare, and other policy areas, on our online election policy guide. eu net migration — the difference between the number of eu citizens coming to live in the uk and those leaving —

has fallen to its lowest level for 16 years. the office for national statistics, which published the figures, says fewer people from the eu are coming to britain to work. sarah corker reports. the fenlands in eastern england, home to some of the nation's most fertile farm land. and this area has long been a destination for migrants looking for work in the fields and factories. supermarkets and us, the customers, want fresh vegetables all year round. and it's tough, physical work. farmers say they're finding it harder to get the number of people they need to meet the growing demand. we're all competing for those workers. farmer nick allpress relies on eu workers to pick and pack his leeks. 85% of his employees are eastern european. straight after the brexit vote in ‘16, we saw a marked drop. actually, i think the workers are very unsure whether they are welcome, what their status is going to be, even those

who are permanently here now. but now we find, year on year since then, that the availability of capable workers is dropping. since peak levels in early 2016, eu net migration — that's the numbers arriving minus the numbers leaving — has fallen to an estimated 48,000, the lowest level in 16 years. but in contrast, net migration from elsewhere in the world has gradually risen to over 220,000, as more non—eu citizens came to the uk to study. one of the things that happened right after the referendum was a change in the exchange rate, which means that eu workers who are coming to the uk can't expect to earn as much in their home currencies as they would have done in the past, and that's probably one of the key factors that's made the uk less attractive. wisbech in cambridgeshire has seen high levels of immigration. leonardo arrived three months ago from portugal. he's here to study. the course i'm doing will give a lot

of opportunities on the job area. and if everything goes right, i think i can have a good job and then come back to portugal. immigration has helped employers here, but it's also put pressure on local services and changed the identity of some rural towns. striking the right balance is still a complex calculation. sarah corker, bbc news, in cambridgeshire. the time is 6.20pm. our top story this evening: 30 years after the hillsborough disaster, the police commander in charge on the day is found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. and still to come... growing up with squeezed school budgets in england — we have a special report. coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news: we'll look ahead to the second test in new zealand where england may have a stand—in wicket keeper as they look to level the series.

it's called a bag for life and it's supposed to help cut down on the number of plastic bags we use for shopping. but now environmental campaigners are urging supermarkets to charge 70p for each bag after it emerged that vast numbers are still being sold. a new report from greenpeace and the environmental investigation agency revealed that last year supermarkets sold 1.5 billion bags for life. and instead of cutting their use of plastic, seven out of ten of the uk's leading supermarket chains are using more. our science and environment correspondent rebecca morelle has the details. filling the shelves of our supermarkets, product after product wrapped in plastic. and this new report reveals it's on the rise. out of the ten major uk supermarkets, seven have increased their plastic use.

and what that has done is it's brought uk supermarkets‘ plastic use to 900,000 tonnes, which, i think you'll agree, is a really significant amount. and adding to the plastic problem, "bags for life". while sales of single—use carriers have fallen dramatically, they're being replaced by these. in 2018, supermarkets sold 1.5 billion of them. that's 54 bags per household. how many bags do you think you've got at home? i've got loads. how many? loads. i've got loads. i can't count! i have about 26 different varieties, christmas ones all the way through the year. i collect them and use them all the time. i can tell you exactly. i've got three. probably like a cupboard full? and some at work as well underneath my desk. got quite a few, yeah. but deciding which sort of bag to buy because it's best for the environment isn't straightforward. what it's made from, how it's made and transported all contributes

towards what climate change. so, take a simple carrier bag. it's quite easy to make. it uses a bit of oil and takes a bit of energy, but we generallyjust use it once. a bag for life is heavier and has more plastic in it. that would need to be used more than four times to make it better for the environment. this bag is even stronger, but you'd have to reuse it 11 times, and a cotton bag would have to be used 131 times. but the supermarkets say they are taking steps to reduce packaging. there's a lot happening. it's just that we're going to have to go much faster than we've been doing, and we have to take customers with us. i think that can be challenging. plastic pollution now affects every part of the planet. but stopping this problem won'tjust be down to supermarkets. consumers will have to help, too. rebecca morelle, bbc news. the democratic unionist party says

it'll continue to press boris johnson for changes to his brexit deal if he remains prime minister. launching her pa rty‘s manifesto in belfast, arlene foster said she remains opposed to the customs changes proposed in mrjohnson‘s deal. the dup propped up the conservative government during the last parliament, but relations soured over the prime minister's agreement with the eu. the deal obviously that is there at the moment is not acceptable. and everyone across northern ireland knows the reasons for that. certainly unionism, as nigel has said, is united in relation to our rejection of the boris deal and therefore it needs to be changed. the family of the television chef gary rhodes have revealed he died from a head injury. in a statement they said the 59—year—old collapsed at his home in dubai on tuesday evening, before being taken to hospital suffering from a bleed on the brain. three teenage boys have admitted threatening two women who were subjected to homophobic abuse on a bus. melania geymonat and her date

christine hannigan were pelted with coins on a london night bus in may. the teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 17, admitted public order offences ahead of a scheduled trial at highbury corner youth court. with the general election a little over a fortnight away, tonight we continue ourjourney around the uk and the places where the seats could change hands with potentially significant effects on the outcome. tonight reeta chakra barti is in cheltenham. hi, sophie — yes we are here in cheltenham, the spa town that's home to the famous racecourse it's a key election battle ground where there's much to fight for. this is a marginal constituency which has been held by the conservatives since 2015, it's one of a swathe of seats they won then across this

region and the south west. in 2017 they held it byjust over two and a half thousand votes, and for the liberal democrats — who lost this seat four years ago — its now a top target. when it comes to brexit, cheltenham voted 56% to remain in the european union. we've been looking at one of the issues that could play big at this election in england and that's school funding. we've been to two schools, both rated as outstanding by ofsted, who say the pressures of years of inadequate funding have taken their toll. in the last decade of our children's lives, school budgets per pupil have been cut by 8%. schools say it's becoming a struggle. how many words do you need? at st gregory's primary school, half of the children have english as a second language. a majority come from homes in some of the most deprived parts of the country. you can do it. i know you can. the head teacher says her budget has failed to keep pace with rising costs. three years ago, charlotte blanch had to lay off 12 staff, and now...

it's tough. it's really tough. this year we've had another squeeze and i've lost... i've had to make savings of another £47,000. so actually, at the moment, if i'm honest with you, we are coping. we're not really managing and we are on our knees. you're on your knees? mm-hm. so in cheltenham, just as elsewhere, parents told me they're being asked to help, opening their wallets for state—run tax funded schools. i'm happy to contribute for the things that are very much above and beyond but at the moment, we're asked to contribute for things that should be covered by the government. being a taxpayer, sometimes i don't agree with it. i can see why they ask. we have had a letter sent to us from secondary school to say how things...tight things were so we have to make a contribution. so that's voluntary? it is a voluntary but you are encouraged to pay for it. at this top—performing secondary school, the head teacher told me

that parental contributions have gone up four—fold in the last seven years. changes to the way that schools are funded have helped them, but not enough. he says there's a lot at stake. we're a comprehensive school. we believe that every kid should get a fair chance and should be educated really well. and this is about life chances. it's about social mobility and, ultimately, if you want social mobility, you have to pay for it. there has to be some proper level of funding. # i want it all # and i want it now # they're rehearsing for the end—of—term play with what could be a political slogan. schools won't get it all, but the main parties are pledging to increase funding over time to the level it was at ten years ago or more. for these schools, it can't come soon enough. reeta chakra barti, bbc news, cheltenham.

time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. hello, some chilly weather on the way. the process is starting now, the cold air has reached the north of the uk and over the next few days most of us will have plenty of crisp sunshine. this is what's happening. you can see the cold winds coming out of the arctic. it's not going to be desperately cold but certainly cold enough. in fact tonight cold enough for some icy patches to form over england where recently it has been down. the rain we have across the midlands and the south right now should fade by the early hours of friday morning. the following couple of nights will be cold, not far off freezing in towns and cities early on friday. a lot of crisp sunshine around but it will feel cold on the north sea coast with the wind blowing off the sea so 5 degrees in

newcastle. in cardiff, not quite so cold. edinburgh is here obviously! minus7 cold. edinburgh is here obviously! minus 7 degrees in edinburgh are expected on friday night, but a degree is expected in plymouth and that's because there is a change on the way. yes, most will have the sunshine and the crisp weather on saturday, but this low pressure will sneak in and brush cornwall, devon, may be some rain as far north as cardiff, but clearly the vast majority of the uk will enjoy lots of sunshine. sunny in london, 8 degrees, and in glasgow and edinburgh three celsius. this crisp weather will continue into sunday as well, and probably into monday and tuesday as well, so a very busy weekend on the way and it will be mostly sunny. thank you very much. that's all from the bbc news at six.

on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are.

hello, this is bbc news with lukwesa burak. the headlines. 30 years after the hillsborough disaster, the police commander on charge of the day has been found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. the families of the 96 fans who died have campaign for justice the 96 fans who died have campaign forjustice for decades. today many of them left the court in tears. who is accountable for 96 unlawfully killed? what a disgrace this has been today. the leading economic research groups suspending plans