tonight at ten, a crisis for the scottish national party. its former chief executive is arrested as police investigate the party's finances. peter murrell, who's married to the former first minister nicola sturgeon, had resigned from his post last month. the couple's home was searched by police today, as nicola sturgeon�*s successor — elected last week — acknowledged the gravity of the situation. my reaction, as you'd imagine, much like anybody involved in the snp, is that this is a difficult day for the party. earlier this evening mr murrell was released without charge pending further inquiries. also tonight... in the largest—ever case of child sex abuse investigated

by west midlands police, 21 people have been convicted for their crimes. opposition in dorset as the government plans to house 500 migrants — all adult men — in a barge off the coast of portland. and some of the world's finest golfers make their way to georgia, as the masters gets under way at augusta tomorrow. on bbc london, easter staffing and a doctors�* strike within days. and coming up on the bbc news channel: a lot at stake at the top, and bottom of the premier league. west ham entertain newcastle at the london stadium. good evening. a week after nicola sturgeon stepped down as first minister of scotland, her husband, peter murrell, has been arrested as part of an investigation into the finances of the scottish national party.

mr murrell was the party's chief executive until he resigned last month, after 2a years in the job. police scotland launched a formal investigation into the snp�*s finances in july 2021 after receiving complaints about how political donations were being used. questions had been raised about funds given to the party for use in a new independence referendum campaign. a short while ago, mr murrell was released without charge pending further investigation. our scotland editor james cook has more details. it was 7:35am when police arrived here, at the suburban home of peter murrell and nicola sturgeon. both were in the property at the time. there was, we are told, no tip—off in advance. ten minutes later, mr murrell was arrested as a suspect and questioned by detectives, while officers searched the house and garden. 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 has 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 co—operating 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 but again, ijust reiterate and emphasise, it is so important for 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 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. 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. 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, just before mr murrell�*s release, a statement was issued on behalf of nicola sturgeon. it noted police had not made any requests for her assistance, while pledging to cooperate fully if that changed. james cook, bbc news, glasgow. a difficult day for the snp, the words of the new first minister, we had them in the report. bbc scotland's political editor glenn campbell is outside the snp�*s headquarters in edinburgh. took us through the way the party is

responding to what has happened today. responding to what has happened toda . ,, , , , responding to what has happened toda. ,, _ _ responding to what has happened toda. ,, ,, ,, . , today. simply by saying that they are cooperating _ today. simply by saying that they are cooperating fully _ today. simply by saying that they are cooperating fully with - today. simply by saying that they are cooperating fully with the - are cooperating fully with the police who left party headquarters some hours ago, taking boxes of materials with them as their investigation enters this new phase. and nicola sturgeon has always said that the investigation was not a factor in her decision to stand down. but i do wonder whether it had an impact on the timing of her departure because by leaving office just days before her husband was arrested, and a home searched, she has managed to avoid the additional scrutiny and pressure that would have come if she was still first minister today. one other thing that is worth reflecting on, and that is that snp members were not able to

take into account the extent of the police investigation when they elected humza yousaf as the new snp leader and first minister, and given that he was the candidate most closely associated with nicola sturgeon, given that the only narrowly defeated his closest rival, he may be breathing some relief tonight that the police decided to leave their moves until today and not to act sooner.— not to act sooner. many thanks auain, not to act sooner. many thanks again. glen _ not to act sooner. many thanks again, glen campbell, - not to act sooner. many thanks again, glen campbell, the - again, glen campbell, the bbc scotland political editor in edinburgh at the snp headquarters. in the largest—ever case of child sex abuse investigated by west midlands police, 21 people have been convicted for their crimes which took place over a decade in walsall and wolverhampton, and involved seven children aged 12 or younger. three trials were held due to the number of defendants involved in what prosecutors called the "most appalling catalogue of sexual abuse

of the utmost gravity". 0ur midlands correspondent phil mackie has this report. it was here in walsall that most of what police have called the abhorrent and cruel abuse took place. until today, we were unable to report the case, and still can't reveal more details, to protect the children's identities. all the offenders come from a white british background. eight men and five women have already been jailed for offences including child cruelty, sexual assault and rape. of the most serious offenders, james evans, who's 38, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 18 years. david baker, who's a1, was imprisoned for 21 years. and mark smith, who's 3a, was jailed 19 years. the exact nature of the abuse is extremely distressing. safeguarding concerns were first raised in 2014 when one of the children was taken to hospital, but the police

investigation only began in 2017, when another child told a carer about the extent of what was going on. the complexity and the horrendous nature of it spans so many different levels, not only in terms of the vulnerability of the children, how young they were, but also in terms of the prolonged nature of it. a safeguarding investigation is under way to see what lessons might be learned. sally hodges, the independent chair of walsall safeguarding partnership, said... west midlands police said there were no winners in cases like this but that the victims were in a better place as a result of the convictions and wanted to move on with their lives. phil mackie, bbc news, walsall. the parents and children of those who died as a result of infected blood transfusions should be entitled to compensation,

according to the public inquiry into the scandal. between 1970 and 1991, some 28,000 people were infected with hiv and hepatitis from contaminated blood supplies. it's reported that 3,000 have died as a result of those infections. now the inquiry chairman says compensation should be extended to more of their families. 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 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 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. the home office has confirmed that it has leased a barge to accommodate around 500 migrants off the coast of portland in dorset. the vessel, called the bibby stockholm, will accommodate single adult males, while their asylum claims are being processed. 0ur correspondent danjohnson is in portland tonight. tell us more about these plans and the local response to it. that

tell us more about these plans and the local response to it.- the local response to it. that barge is due to arrive _ the local response to it. that barge is due to arrive in _ the local response to it. that barge is due to arrive in this _ the local response to it. that barge is due to arrive in this harbour - the local response to it. that barge is due to arrive in this harbour in i is due to arrive in this harbour in the next few weeks and it is expected to be in use for at least 18 months. the home office says it will provide basic and functional accommodation for 500 male asylum seekers. they will call it home at least initially while their asylum claims are being processed. we are told they will be 24/7 security to minimise the impact on the community here but there is local concern. i have spoken to people this afternoon to say they are worried about the impact they could have on local services come on their house prices with one woman saying she was worried about the image this would present to people arriving here on cruise ships. 0pposition parties have criticised the government proposals and said they are concerned about what the conditions will actually be like on board, and the area's conservative mp is against it, as is the local council who have said they will start legal proceedings to stop it. we could see delays to this plan and i think this barge will become weighed with symbolism because the message to

migrants from the government is, don't come here expecting to be put up don't come here expecting to be put up in a hotel. they have said they are determined to get those bills down and a message to voters is that the government is doing all it can, determined to stop the migrant boats coming across the channel. but the concern from some is this is just the government wanted talk tough ahead of local elections in a month. but the government says it is determined to take action, that the plan is going into force, and some feel 500 people, a drop in the harbour really when you look at the asylum numbers around 50,000 asylum seekers are currently in hotels, and the asylum backlog total something like 150 or 160,000 but the government says it is looking at more of these vessels and talking to more of these vessels and talking to more ports around the country about where it can more then. man? where it can more then. many thanks, dan johnson — where it can more then. many thanks, dan johnson with _ where it can more then. many thanks, dan johnson with that _ where it can more then. many thanks, dan johnson with that story _ where it can more then. many thanks, dan johnson with that story in - danjohnson with that story in dorset. the united states is "going to hell", says donald trump, in his response to a court appearance yesterday, when he was charged with 34 counts

of falsifying business records. he told his supporters that it was a "fake case", part of a democratic conspiracy to damage his chances of winning the presidential election next year. the case relates to money paid to the former porn actress stormy daniels. 0ur north america editor, sarah smith, has the story. 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 34 felony crimes. and i never thought anything like this could happen in america. never thought it could 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, 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 the classified documents found at his home in florida, and over alleged election interference in the state of georgia. next year, donald trump may be having to defend himself in several different legal cases at the same time as running his third presidential election campaign. sarah smith, bbc news, new york. 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, the site sold login details and other personal data, allowing criminals to log into people's bank accounts and other services. two mllion people may have fallen victim to the fraudsters around the world, tens of thousands of them in the uk, as our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, reports. come to the door! police!

come to the door! a dawn raid in 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 24 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. 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. 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. the green party is calling for councils in england to be given powers to cap rents, as part of its campaign for next month's local elections, involving 230 local authorities in england. at an event in suffolk, the green party co—leader, carla denyer, said controls should be introduced in areas where the rental market is "overheated". she said too many people were trapped in housing which was "unaffordable to rent and unaffordable to 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 in the middle of a cost of living crisis. carla denyer, the co—leader of the green party.

a bbc investigation has exposed how a life—coaching organisation in the uk, which offers lessons in personal self—development, has encouraged people to hand over tens of thousands of pounds and taken over their lives. some people have accused the organisation, called lighthouse, of operating like a cult. 0ne charity, which helps people free themselves from abusive groups, says it receives more calls about lighthouse than about any other in the uk. 0ur correspondent catrin nye has the story. 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 i found deeply painful.

jeff became part of lighthouse fulltime. 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, 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 a 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 the fact so many people feel you're running a cult? 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. and you can see and listen to catrin nye's full investigation by searching for a very british cult on bbc iplayer or bbc sounds. a month ahead of the coronation, king charles and the queen consort have been visiting north yorkshire today, as buckingham palace confirmed that the queen consort will be known as queen camilla after the couple have been crowned on may 6th. it was the late queen elizabeth's wish that camilla be known as queen consort, but it's now confirmed that camilla will be named in the same style as previous consorts queen alexandra, queen mary and queen elizabeth,

known later as the queen mother. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, has more details. malton in north yorkshire today. 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 monarch? 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 would 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, as 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. golf, and the first men's major of the year, the masters, is set to start, with the world's finest players making their way to one of sport's most iconic venues, the augusta national golf club in georgia. the first tee shot will be hit tomorrow lunchtime, while many are focusing on the impact of a breakaway tour, called the liv tour, backed by saudi money. 0ur correspondent, andy swiss, reports. not much tends to change at augusta. it is a place of tradition, of tranquility, but it's now at the centre of golf�*s civil war. it's golf, but louder. this is the first masters since the lucrative liv golf tour split the sport and its players. but 18 of the rebels are here, competing against those they left

behind, including rory mcilroy, who says the hostility between them, for one week at least, is on hold. it's a very nuanced situation. there's different dynamics. but this week and this tournament is way bigger than any of that, i feel. and it's just great that all the best players in the world are together again for the first time in what seems to be quite a while. among the fans here, though, support for the liv golfers is in limited supply. i boycotted the liv tour. i don't watch it. i think they're just a bunch of greedy you—know—whats. i think it's good for the sport that the players with that league get to participate in this tournament. if somebody is going to give you $100 million, i think the end result is a bad product, and i hope every one of them don't make the cut. for mcilroy, though, winning the one major title that's so far eluded him is now the focus. well, this is only rory mcilroy�*s practice round, but you can see the crowds following him.

he is one of the favourites this week. so can he finally become masters champion? mcilroy hasn't won a major since he won two of them, including the open, back in 2014. to try and change that. he's been practising here with tiger woods, a man who, two years after his career—threatening car crash, admits this masters might be his last. it's been a tough road. i don't know how many more i have in me. so just to be able to appreciate the time that i have here and cherish the memories. the toughest opponent here could be the weather. heavy rain is forecast. in golf right now, the storm clouds, it seems, are neverfar away. andy swiss, bbc news, augusta. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. the rain returned today. it was all change, as you can see. 0nce

the rain returned today. it was all change, as you can see. once we got that rain, it was here to stay, so cloudy, grey skies and fairly murky conditions to close the day, and the rain continues to meander its way slowly eased. it's not in a rush to clear, but we have got some clearing skies now across scotland and northern ireland, but it will stay rather grey and wet through eastern scotland and eastern england overnight. the cloud acting like a blanket, very misty and murky first thing tomorrow, but a very mild start in comparison to recent warnings. we are looking at six to nine first thing. tomorrow morning, a great start in eastern england and scotland. eventually, sunny spells and scattered showers for the afternoon. some of those shows could be heavy, possibly even thundery. temperatures may well page at 14, but you need to keep an eye on a cluster of shops i was on that east yorkshire coast. a better afternoon for northern ireland and western scotland, with some sunshine.

temperatures around ten to