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tv   BBC News at Six  BBC News  April 5, 2023 6:00pm-6:31pm BST

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today at six...the husband of the former first minister of scotland is arrested as police investigate the scottish national party's finances. peter murrell, seen here with his wife nicola sturgeon, was chief executive of the party — he resigned last month. police carried out searches at the couple's house in glasgow, as well as at a number of other properties. also on the programme tonight... there should be more compensation for the relatives of thousands of people infected through contaminated nhs blood treatments, says the chairman of the public inquiry. convicted after the largest ever child sex abuse case investigated by west midlands police — in all 21 people have been found guilty. and no longer queen consort — the official invitation to the king's coronation names her as queen camilla.
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and on bbc london. and coming up on the bbc news channel... after three premier league games without a win — can manchester united beat brentford at old trafford and strengthen their chances of qualifying for the champions league? good evening. the husband of the former first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon has been arrested. police say that peter murrell is being questioned as part of an investigation into the snp�*s finances. officers are searching a number of properties, including the couple's home in glasgow. here's our scotland editorjames cook. police have been investigating the scottish national party's funding and finances for nearly two years. this morning, their inquiries led here, to the suburban door of peter murrell and nicola sturgeon. mr murrell was arrested as a suspect
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and questioned by detectives while officers searched the couple's glasgow home. well, this is usually a pretty quiet residential street, but this morning, there's a fairly extraordinary sight here outside the home shared by peter murrell and nicola sturgeon. police have been here for several hours now. there's actually a van inside that tent, and officers have been moving between the garage and that vehicle. there's also been police activity at the snp�*s headquarters in edinburgh, with officers removing boxes from the building as part of their investigation. ms sturgeon�*s successor, humza yousaf, says the inquiry is challenging for the party he now leads, visiting a health centre in glasgow, the first minister stressed that the snp was cooperating fully with the police. i was told this morning after the event, and, of course, my reaction as you'd imagine, much like anybody involved in the snp, is that this is a difficult day for the party,
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but, again, just reiterating and emphasising that it is so important to me not to comment on a live police investigation and be seen to prejudice that in any way, shape or form. peter murrell and nicola sturgeon have been married since 2010. they were scotland's ultimate power couple, running both the scottish government and the scottish national party. that arrangement always raised eyebrows, and in recent years, the level of scrutiny had increased. from 2017 to 2020, the snp raised nearly £667,000 to campaign for independence. questions arose when it emerged the party had just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019. injune 2021, peter murrell loaned the party around £107,000 of his own money. the following month, police scotland opened a formal investigation into the snp�*s finances. and last month, mr murrell resigned after taking responsibility
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for the party's misleading the public about its plummeting membership figures. that followed nicola sturgeon�*s resignation, which she denied was influenced by this investigation. today, the opposition parties had this reaction. i think people will be looking on with shock and probably some anger about what has happened here. this is an extremely serious situation, and the police must be allowed to do theirjob, but there are huge questions, i think, to answer for both humza yousaf and nicola sturgeon about what they knew and when. well, this is clearly a very serious case, and it's absolutely crucial now that those at the top of the snp, including humza yousaf and nicola sturgeon, cooperate fully with this ongoing police investigation. tonight, investigations are continuing. the police say they will send a report on their findings to prosecutors. james cook, bbc news, glasgow.
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iam i am live at snp headquarters in edinburgh where police appear to have completed their search. 0fficers left the scene in the last hour or so carrying a number of boxes into police vans as of this long—running investigation enters a new phase. and while nicola sturgeon has always said that the investigation was not a factor in her decision to stand down, i can't help wondering if it had some impact on the timing of her departure, because by leaving office just a few days before her husband's arrest, she has managed to avoid some of the additional pressure and scrutiny that would have come her way had she still been the first minister. it is also worth noting that the sequence of events means that her successor hamza yusuf was elected without snp members knowing the extent of this investigation, and some wonder whether that might have had an
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impact on what was a closely fought contest. glenn, many thanks. more people who lost family members as a result of infected blood should be entitled to compensation — according to the public inquiry into the scandal. between 1970 and 1991 around 28,000 people were infected with hiv and hepatitis from contaminated blood products used to treat conditions like haemophilia. around 3,000 have died as a result of infection. some of those affected by the scandal have already received interim compensation — but today the inquiry�*s chairman recommended extending that to more people. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports. the bottles at the inquiry contain messages from those who lost loved ones, a reminder of the terrible toll caused by the infected blood scandal. the hearings have finished, but today, even ahead of the final report, the inquiry chair called for a compensation scheme to be set up immediately. i could not in conscience add to the decades long delays many of you have already experienced
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due to failures to recognise the depth of your losses. those delays have themselves been harmful. jason evans barely knew his father, who died after being treated with blood products infected with hiv and hepatitis c. he campaigned with other families for a public inquiry, and that opened in 2018. you come to live this life where you're fighting for recognition for what happened to him. jason was disappointed that an interim compensation payout only covered victims and partners. he's pleased the inquiry chair wants it extended to parents and children. now, if and when the government accepts this recommendation, that feeling of really gross unfairness will have been rectified. but, obviously, full and proper redress won't have been done until the whole compensation system
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comes into play. after trawling through documents and hearing evidence from 370 witnesses, the final inquiry report will come in the autumn. campaigners have welcomed the call for full compensation. it's a huge milestone in four decades of campaigning. there's a long way still to go. these are interim recommendations by sir brian. the compensation and the acknowledgement of the damage that was done in full needs to follow. the government says it will respond after the final report. victims and their families are adamant there must be no delay. hugh pym, bbc news. one of the world's biggest criminal marketplaces, used by online fraudsters to buy passwords, has been shut down after a global police investigation. known as genesis market, it sold login details and other personal data, allowing criminals to log into bank accounts. 2a people have been arrested in the uk, as our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports.
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come to the door! police! come to the door! a dawn raid on grimsby at the home of a suspected fraudster. the start of an international operation against alleged hackers who steal from online bank accounts and shopping sites. here, officers from the national crime agency and the police arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of fraud and computer misuse. one of 2a people arrested in the uk. the target of the raids was the genesis market website, a one—stop shop for hackers who could log in and buy stolen passwords for bank accounts, paypal accounts and accounts for services like amazon, uber and netflix. what was particularly dangerous about the data being sold on the genesis market website was that it wasn't just log—in details. the hackers could purchase all of what is known as your digital fingerprints, your browser information, your ip address and your physical location.
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so that when the hackers logged in to a bank account or shopping website it really did look as if they were the original user. hackers trying to use genesis market today did not get the usual login page. rather, they got this message from the fbi saying the website had been seized as part of operation cookie monster — a reference to the fact that one of the things that genesis market was selling was computer cookies to help hackers impersonate genuine users. for too long, criminals have stolen credentials from innocent members of the public. we now want criminals to be afraid that we have their credentials, and they should be. and people today are getting a knock on their door, very early in the morning. the national crime agency advised members of the public that, to avoid fraud, they should always take software updates on their phones and computers, they should use strong passwords and, where possible, use two factor authentication.
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that's when a text message with a one—use password is sent as part of the login process. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the national crime agency. 21 people have been convicted for their parts in the largest ever child sexual abuse case investigated by west midlands police. the five jailed for the most serious offences will serve terms ranging from 15 years in prison — to life with a minimum term of 18 years. the seven victims, aged just 12 and under, were abused over nearly a decade in walsall and wolverhampton. 0ur correspondent phil mackie is in walsall now. this case was so big that this is the end of a series of trials. yes, the end of a series of trials. yes, the first trial — the end of a series of trials. yes, the first trial began _ the end of a series of trials. yes, the first trial began over - the end of a series of trials. yes, the first trial began over a - the end of a series of trials. was the first trial began over a year ago, this was the end of the third done for the first time we were able to report this case which frankly involved some absolutely sickening
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abuse that we won't go into the details of. and the children, the oldest of whom was just 12 years old, and it went on for a period of about a decade here in walsall but also in wolverhampton. all of the 22 who have been convicted of offences are from a white british background. of the are from a white british background. of the 13 are from a white british background. of the 13 already jailed, are from a white british background. of the 13 alreadyjailed, the most of the 13 alreadyjailed, the most serious sentence was life, and there are another four who will be sentenced later and four who were convicted of lesser offences have been given long custody sentences. i'm told the victims want to carry on with their lives and their courage in coming forward has been praised by the local safeguarding partnership that is carrying out a review into whether an intervention might have been made earlier. thank ou, phil might have been made earlier. thank you. phil mackie _ might have been made earlier. thank you, phil mackie reporting. _ a defiant donald trump has told his supporters that the us is �*going to hell�* — after becoming the first former american president
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to face criminal charges. mr trump pleaded not guilty to 31t counts of falsifying business records yesterday. the case relates to an alleged hush money payment to a former adult film star, stormy daniels. here's our north america editor sarah smith. trump supporters lined the streets to welcome him back to florida, and you can see he is clearly loving it after what must have felt like a humiliating courtroom ordeal in new york. the former president used a prime—time speech from his mar—a—lago. residence to attack a prosecutor who has charged him with 31t felony crimes. and i never thought anything like this could happen in america. never thought it would happen. the only crime that i have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. donald trump looked much less combative when he appeared in court earlier. but now that his lawyers have seen the detailed charges,
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they are more confident mr trump can win this case. this is not a game. you are charging the president of the united states with crimes. crimes that will never be sustained in a court of law because they don't exist. donald trump believes this prosecution could help his election prospects. he is now centre stage again, and his party, including his rivals, support his claim that he has been targeted unfairly for political reasons. we are a nation in decline. and now these radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections by using law enforcement. we can't let that happen. things have certainly calmed down outside manhattan's criminal court today, and donald trump will not be back here again before december, when the next hearing is scheduled. but remember, he is facing several other legal investigations over the january 6th riots, over declassified documents found at his home in florida, and over alleged election interference in
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the state of georgia. next year, donald trump may be having to defend himself in several different legal cases at the same time is running his third presidential election campaign. sarah smith, bbc news, new york. the time is 6:15. our top story this evening... the husband of the former first minister of scotland is arrested as police investigate the scottish national party's finances. coming up... we speak to former england rugby player luther burrell following an investigation into racism in the game. coming up in sport on the bbc news channel... we look ahead to the start of golf�*s first major of the year with the masters set to get underway at augusta national in georgia.
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a bbc investigation has exposed how a life—coaching organisation in the uk, accused of being a cult. the group says it offers self development, but people who have left to say it has taken over their lives. people say they have been encouraged to hand over tens of thousands of pounds, separate from their families and have suffered extreme harassment. 0ne charity which helps people break free from abusive groups says it receives more calls about the organisation than any other in the uk. it's been 18 months since jeffrey leejones left lighthouse international group, a life coaching company accused of being a cult. the sailor initially signed up for business coaching. but soon he was on the phone to his mentor at all hours of the day. at first i was motivated, iwas inspired, and i started working hard. these calls then became more frequent, longer, more intense, more about deeper parts of your life. in time, i began to share traumatic things, things
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i found deeply painful. jeff became part of lighthouse full time. that meant being on group phonecalls with their leader, paul waugh. many people who don't know me very well think i'm a mystic. all these calls were recorded, then painstakingly transcribed. they began to take overjeff�*s life. they got longer and longer as we went. so within six months they were five to six hours. i would listen in at times. the topics were getting more sinister. narcissists, you know, toxic parents. and then that's when i started worrying because i thought he's literally being brainwashed all day, every day. what did they say about your family? my mother and sister are narcissistic, my father is weak. my partner, dawn, well, she got endless flak. people in lighthouse have become isolated from family. some move into shared houses,
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and there's a financial cost, too. in total, jeff paid £131,000 to the organisation. he sold his house to fund some of it. lighthouse says that any money paid is a self investment. i consider lighthouse a very classic example of a cult. firstly, cults are started and led by charismatic and authoritarian leader. but they are also bullies. the structure is steeply hierarchical. then you have this process of what i call brainwashing, or we could also call coercive control. if you do this to people, you can then exploit them. some people who have spoken out against the group have been reported to the police. others have had letters sent to their employers. one week ago, lighthouse international group was shut down as a business by a court, over a lack of financial transparency. we put our allegations to their leader. how do you feel, paul, about how so many people feel you're running a cult?
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we're not running a cult because they don't know what a cult is. they don't know, if you ask them what's the difference with a cult and a community that supports people, they wouldn't be able to tell you. why do you think so many people say it? because they're slurring us. they're smearing us. that's exactly what they do. are you going to carry on? yes, we are carrying on. thank you. we've had enough. no comment. catrin nye, bbc news. are you can see and listen to that full investigation by searching for a very british coal to on bbc iplayer or bbc sounds. —— a very british cult. progress in closing the gender pay gap is slowing, according to bbc analysis of figures filed by large employers. the gap is calculated by lining up all the men and women in a company in order of their pay — and comparing the salaries of the middle woman and man. so it's notjust about equal pay for equal work, but also to what extent women are joining and progressing to senior levels.
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0ur economics correspondent dharshini david has the details. cruising to becoming an easyjet pilot. only one in ten training in the simulator may be women, but that's doubled in the last few years. the airline's pay gap is particularly large. men earn nearly twice as much as women, who are more likely to be cabin crew. what it does enable us to do is highlight that the reason for the gender pay gap is actually lack of female representation in the role of a pilot. so, any opportunity to discuss that and talk about it, and bring it to the forefront, is a great opportunity. 0verhauling traditional career roles takes time. it means women in industries like finance and construction still earn 78p for each pound a man does. gaps can also reflect fewer opportunities, company culture or personal choice. analysts reckon childcare costs may be holding women back.
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0verall, on average, women earn 90p for each pound a man does. so, women may earn £223,000 less over their careers, depriving the economy of crucial skills. companies can be named orfined for not filing numbers. but forcing change in workplaces might require more. 700 tweets in the morning of international women's day. frustrated by businesses tweeting about diversity events, francesca lawson designed a twitter bot to highlight their pay gaps. gathering the data is useful to understand the scale of the problem. but without any sort of legislation to force companies to close it, it's not happening fast enough. yvonne sintes was the first female to captain a jet airliner 50 years ago. much progress has been made. but this journey has further to go. dharshini david, bbc news.
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the green party has launched its campaign for next month's local election, and is putting housing centre stage. it's calling for rent controls to be introduced, and wants tighter planning rules on the location of new housing. at an event in suffolk, the green's co—leader, carla denyer, said too many people were trapped in housing that was unaffordable to rent and heat. all over our country, we have people unable to buy a home, trapped in housing that is unaffordable to rent and unaffordable to heat. that is why at the green party would bring in an immediate rent freeze and eviction ban. we can't allow people to become homeless and a cost of living crisis. the former england player luther burrell says he feels proud for speaking out after a rugby football union investigation found his claims of racist abuse during his time at newcastle falcons were true. after examining his claims, the rfu released further research which found that "in every area of elite rugby, players had experienced some form of racism". burrell has been speaking
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to our sports editor dan roan. luther burrell! 0n the pitch, luther burrell was a powerful presence, but last year the former england centre made an impact off it, claiming he'd experienced racism in rugby. the rfu took over an investigation that had been launched by his final club, newcastle falcons, and an eight—month inquiry is now over. the rfu says its report finds... do you have a sense of relief at that finding? yes, i do, because it's been a tough 8—10 months. i was disappointed initially by the lack of support shown from some of my peers. it was as if my comments were being dismissed. so, it was almost like people needed proof and now this summary has come out, people will understand that. i'm proud of what i've done. what i said has been
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deemed to be the truth. newcastle says it didn't have access to the player's whatsapp group in which the racist language was posted and that the two other incidents of verbal abuse occurred on a night out and away trip. the inquiry which interviewed more than 90 past and present employees of the club said the abuse was hurtful and undermined to call anybody a slave is not funny. you know? so, yeah, as i said, it was abhorrent behaviour. it was something that affects my dignity as a player, it affects me as a human, as a father. in a statement, newcastle said... meanwhile, the rfu has revealed damning research which found that racism exists in every area of elite rugby, including england teams, often in the form of inappropriatejokes.
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a survey which spoke to 500 people at the top of the sport also from discrimination based on class was an issue. does it provide me with a sense of closure? i believe so, yes. you know, this has not been a witch hunt and it's not about retribution. this is about me finally having my voice heard. this has been about generational change within the sport. with burrell not naming those involved, the rfu says it won't pursue disciplinary proceedings but it is launching a new action plan to tackle discrimination in rugby and has hailed his courage. dan roan, bbc news. king charles and the queen consort had been visiting north yorkshire today, as buckingham palace confirmed the queen consort will be known as queen camilla after the coronation next month. the title has been used on the formal invitation to the ceremony at westminster abbey. nicholas witchell looks into what this means for the royal family. malton in north yorkshire today.
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a visit by king charles and queen camilla. the term queen consort is to be dropped. camilla is to be known simply as the queen. it's a remarkable transition. roll back some 25 years, to the aftermath of the tragic death of the king's first wife, diana. and camilla, the third person in the future king's marriage, was a controversial figure. in 2005, after charles and camilla were married at windsor registry office, charles�*s officials put it about that when he took the throne, she would be known as the princess consort. it was a recognition of public sensitivities. but in reality, it was a smoke screen. in 2010, an american tvjournalist asked charles about it. does the duchess of cornwall become queen of england if and when you become the monarchy?
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that's... that-s... — well, we'll see, won't we? but that could be. and so to february of last year. the late queen elizabeth was at sandringham to mark the 70th anniversary of her accession of the throne. she issued a touching statement in which she said, it is my sincere wish that when the time comes, camilla will be known as queen consort. the late queen's intention was to neutralise the whole issue of how camilla will be known. but they are going one step further than the late queen suggested. many, though, will feel that camilla deserves the recognition. until the day she married, she was the hated mistress. but as time went on, she proved herself to be a good, very supportive wife to him, since by law she would be queen, it was absolutely natural that she should be called queen. the die has been cast, the palace will be watching public reaction closely. nicholas witchell, bbc news. time for a look at the weather.
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here's louise lear 0nce once again, it was eastern england that has seen the best of the sunshine. not the glorious blue sky and sunshine yesterday, but certainly better than many areas, where it was rather grey, with outbreaks of rain at times. some of it quite drizzly. it's been a bit of a dismal day for summer. let's look at the cloud and rain over the last few hours. sweeping its way steadily eastwards. it is moving into east anglia and south—east england, drying up through northern ireland and western scotland. generally, the rain is going to continue to slide its way off into the north sea as we go through the night. behind it, we will see a few scattered showers, with cloud around. it could turn misty and murky, and it will stay frost free. temperatures between six and 9 degrees. we will start off tomorrow morning still with some rain lingering first thing. after the murky start, an improving picture. thursday, scattered
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showers. with a north—west wind, some of those could drift down the irish sea into organised bands. some of them possibly heavy, maybe even the odd rumble of thunder. top temperatures similar to today. nine to 14 temperatures similar to today. nine to m celsius. but as the showers ease under skies remain clear, look what happens overnight. the temperatures fall away and we start to see the blue tones reappearing. that means that frost once again, the roller—coaster ride of temperatures continues with the weather story. temperatures continues with the weatherstory. it temperatures continues with the weather story. it is going to be a chilly start to friday morning. good friday is shaping up nicely. high pressure still dominates from scandinavia. the weather front is trying to squeeze in over the easter weekend. 0n the whole, it is not a bad come a long weekend ahead. we may be chasing cloud around what time to time. a good deal of dry weatherfor most of time to time. a good deal of dry weather for most of us. some rain through sunday and into easter monday. the news continues here on
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bbc one. coming up tonight on bbc london. a bank holiday then a junior doctors strike — will our hospitals have enough staff? hello and welcome to sportsday this wedneday night. i'm chetan pathak. coming up on tonight's programme: former england centre luther burrell says he finally has "closure" as an rfu investigation finds his claims of racism were true. this is not about retribution, this is about me finally having my voice heard. after three premier league games without a win — can manchester united beat brentford at old trafford as they look to move back into the top four? and who will walk away from augusta with the green jacket? we're less than 21t hours away from the start of the 87th masters.

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