today at six. the government urges england's water companies to put "consumers above profits" as they try to reduce sewage spills. an unprecedented apology for the spills from water companies who say they'll invest £10 billion to clean up their act — but will it lead to higher household bills? also on the programme tonight. a nurse accused of murdering seven babies has told a jury that consultants blamed her for the deaths to cover up failings at the countess of chester hospital. find of chester hospital. and copy one word which mea| group find and copy one word which means a group of bats living together. the sats reading test that left some children in tears — we've finally got hold the paper — just how hard was it? the cost of the queen's funeral is revealed

by the government — £162 million. and on bbc london. the row over ulez as new data suggests more car owners coming up on bbc news coming up on bbc news can manchester city follow west ham taking a 2—1 lead against such side az alkmaar. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. water companies in england have apologised for not acting quickly enough to stop this — raw sewage flowing directly into our rivers and seas, something that happened on average more than 800 times a day last year. water uk, which represents england's nine water and sewage companies, also says it's ready to invest an additional £10 billion to address the problem and modernise sewers. but it has also admitted that customers will be hit with higher prices to pay for that.

downing street says the companies should be putting consumers before profits. our environment correspondent jonah fisher reports. ash is a retired policeman and has for the last ten years dedicated himself to trying to hold water companies accountable. he's taken us to a small treatment plant in oxfordshire, where raw sewage regularly overflows into a ditch outside. you've got basically sewage sludge. when you say sewage sludge, do you mean poo? yeah, that's basically what i mean, that's a polite way of putting it. it's a common occurrence across england. last year, there were, on average, more than 800 sewage spills every day. together with ash, professor peter hammond has been using the water company's own data to try and establish exactly when the sewage spills are taking place and if they are legal or an abuse of the permit system. i have here 500 pages of evidence

and we basically found thousands of examples of illegal spelling. that suggests that it's systematic, it's not the occasional mistake? it's completely systematic, yeah. for years, the water companies have insisted that things are getting better, not worse. welcome back to the today programme... i but this morning, came an extraordinary and unprecedented admission of failure. i'm here today on behalf of the water and sewerage industry in england, to say sorry, to say we are very sorry for the spills of untreated sewage that have gone into rivers and onto our beaches, that have spoiled the enjoyment that people can get from their rivers and beaches. we've heard the strength of feeling. so what did the campaigners make of it? we'll give ourselves a pat on the back when the sewage stops

wrecking our rivers and we start to see clean rivers again. so you are somewhat sceptical of this apology then? sceptical but enthused by the fact that this is starting to rattle, rattle government, it's rattling the water industry and it's rattling the regulators. along with the apology came a proposal by the water companies, to spend £10 billion by 2030, modernising our sewage infrastructure. so what we have here, these are the storm tanks... more of these huge tanks to stop overflows during heavy rain would be built, as would bigger pipes and increased capacity at treatment plants. the money to fund these improvements isn't going to come out of the pockets of the water companies, or the dividends of their shareholders. ultimately, the cost will fall on all of us, through higher bills paid most likely over several decades. the system isn't good enough and we've apologised for that. you are a big part of the system? we are a part of the system and for many decades, many, many decades, we've got victorian systems in many cases... that you haven't invested in? they haven't been invested in.

we are investing in them, we are improving them and it's going to take more time to do so. the water companies will hope this apology draws a line under their past failings. the likelihood of higher bills means that questions about their role will surely rumble on. the water companies are keen to stress they simply don't have this amount of money to put out there and spend on this investment and that is why those costs will have to be passed on to the consumers. how much that might be? one water company suggested it might be as much as 1.75 added to people's bills. everyone i have been speaking to today, the today, the campaigners, the water companies have been keen to stress this isn'tjust about the water companies have been keen to stress this isn't just about the water companies. what we have experienced here and if you look at the river behind me, it looks beautiful but it is cloudy and the

residents say they see pieces of sewage and sanitary products in the trees. what we are seeing is the systemic failure, failure that hasn't prioritised investment in trying to transform the sewage system fast enough and a system in which the regulators, the people who are looking out to spot pollution and to do tests, simply don't have the resources to do theirjob properly and monitor what's going on and where. , ., ~ , ., you can find out if raw sewage spilled into the sea or rivers near you in england last year by using our interactive map at bbc.co.uk/news a nurse who is accused of murdering seven babies — and attempting to murder ten more — has told a jury that she is the victim of a conspiracy. on her sixth day in the witness box, lucy letby claimed doctors conspired to blame her for the hospital's problems. several of the parents of babies who lucy letby is alleged to have killed and attacked

were in court to watch. lucy letby denies all charges against her. our north of england correspondent judith moritz reports. for the last seven months the prosecutor has been setting out the case against lucy letby. now he has the chance to question her directly that she murdered and harmed babies in her care. then i spent all day being interrogated by the barrister. she denies attacking i7 being interrogated by the barrister. she denies attacking 17 babies and said she had been the target of a conspiracy. lucy letby told the jury she believes four doctors, including this consultant, dr ravi jayaram, were out to get her. she was asked what was the conspiracy between the gang of four? she said, they have apportioned blame on to me. what is the motive of apportioning blame onto you, he asked? lucy letby answered, i believe to cover up failings at the hospital. the court has previously seen evidence that lucy letby was the only staff member

at the countess of chester neonatal unit on shift when the babies collapse. she was asked, unless you agree more than one person was attacking them, you have to be the attacker? i haven't attacked any children, lucy letby said. mr johnson said, if the jury conclude that a certain combination of children were certainly attacked by someone and the shift patterns give us the answer as to who? she said, no, i don't agree. lucy letby accepted two babies had been poisoned with insulin. nikjohnson asked her someone gave it to him unlawfully? yes, she replied. about the second she was replying, i don't think any staff would make a mistake giving insulin. insulin has been given by somebody, itjust wasn't me. lucy letby send a sympathy card to one of the babies. these photos of it were later found on her phone.

she denied photographing it near to where the baby died, had given her a bit of a thrill. the back in the witness box tomorrow and her trial is due to last until the end of july. judith moritz, bbc news, manchester. this is the year six sats reading paper that caused so much controversy last week. it's a test taken by ten and ii—year—olds. but this year some teachers and parents said the test was so hard, it left children in tears. the government says the tests aren't meant to be too hard but the process behind it is very rigorous. they've now published the questions early so you can judge for yourself. we've asked a ten—year—old to read them out for you. look at the first two paragraphs. in which american state is the congress avenue bridge found? she wriggled back inside tents. what does this tell you about how priya got in the tent? find and copy one word which means a group of bats living together. those are just some of the

questions. we had a huge reaction to the story, why did it because so much controversy?— the story, why did it because so much controversy? parents who are describin: much controversy? parents who are describing are _ much controversy? parents who are describing are normally _ much controversy? parents who are describing are normally happy, - describing are normally happy, confident readers were coming home upset at the end of the day after the test. school is the same children who raced through the practice test were left bewildered and they couldn't finish. so why were the say confused? let's take a look at just were the say confused? let's take a look atjust one of were the say confused? let's take a look at just one of the were the say confused? let's take a look atjust one of the questions they had to answer. find and copy one word that is closest in meaning to eat. if you look at the text, it has the words consume and feeding. children could have got a mark for choosing either of those words. but having both of them which could be chosen was the schools say, incredibly confusing for ten and ii—year—olds. these tests are meant to stretch children and show children of all abilities what they can do. but as the schools minister said himself, they are not meant to

be so hard that children cannot do them. and these tests really are about measuring the schools are not the children. so this debate is about the emotional response that children have had and whether it's children have had and whether its left them more confident or less confident, or less happy as readers? branwen confident, or less happy as readers? bra nwen jeffreys, confident, or less happy as readers? branwenjeffreys, our education branwen jeffreys, our education editor, thank branwenjeffreys, our education editor, thank you. rishi sunak is injapan ahead of the g7 summit in hiroshima tomorrow. he met the japanese prime minister fumio kishida where they signed new economic and defence agreements and comitted to closer cooperation to protect semi—conductor chip supply chains. mr sunak also pledged to deploy a naval battle fleet to the indo—pacific region by 2025. the welsh government has failed to reach its target of eliminating two year waits for hospital treatment. the latest figures show that nearly 25,000 people in wales have been waiting more than 104 weeks after being referred for hospital treatment.

those figures are much worse than in england, wherejust over 500 patients have been waiting two years or more. our wales correspondent hywel griffith reports. it's 22 tablets a day and i have to take painkillers every four hours. through medication and meditation, denise cole from neath tries to deal with the pain in her knee. she needs a partial replacement and was first referred to a surgeon back in 2018. but the 58—year—old still doesn't have a date for an operation and fears life is slipping away as she waits. it's really frustrating because you feel like nobody, nobody cares. and i know the nhs, we all know the nhs is in dire straits, but i think my way has been ridiculously long and you just think that you've been discarded, you're not important. but i'm starting to get quite angry about it now because i think

i didn't need to be in this much pain, at this stage when maybe i could have had the operation last year. in the wake of the pandemic, the welsh labour government set out a plan to cut waiting lists, pledging no one should wait over a year for a first appointment or two years for treatment. both targets have now been missed. for surgeons, it means witnessing some of their patients suffer. they're deconditioning, so they're becoming less fit. they're at home, they're less mobile, the ramifications on their mental health and also the effect on their surrounding families. it's very frustrating for these patients. for years, surgeons in wales have been calling for new specialist centres to be set up, offering dedicated operating theatres to bring through more patients. this one near swansea is now about to open, but there's a huge backlog. and that dates back long before the pandemic. the wait for planned surgery in wales has always been longer than over the border in england. labour's health minister says it's

not up to her to deliver. what i do is i delegate responsibility. the work, the day to day work of the nhs is carried out by highly paid executives in the health boards. it is theirjob to deliver. denise says she's now beyond caring who's to blame. all she needs is for someone to finally tell her when she'll be treated. hywel griffith, bbc news neath. the rmt union has announced fresh strike action by rail workers are 14 train companies on friday the 2nd of june. it means there will be three strikes in four days on the rail network in a week that for many school half term with train drivers in the aslef union due to walk out on the 31st of may and the 3rd of june, the day of the fa cup final. teachers say they will hold fresh strikes injuly if their dispute over pay is not resolved by the middle of next month.

a man has admitted abducting a primary school girl while dressed as a woman and sexually assaulting her at his home in the scottish borders. 53—year—old andrew miller offered to give the girl a lift home in february. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon is outside the the court in edinburgh. andrew miller listened to the proceedings via video link in prison and remained passive as the court was told how the schoolgirl was approached by miller who was dressed as a woman and said their name was amy george and offered a lift home. instead he took her to his house where over the course of 27 hours he repeatedly sexually assaulted her. she repeatedly asked him to go home but at one point he said he would not let her go because she was his new family. the primary school child only managed to escape when he fell asleep next to her, she escaped and called 999. at the time of the

arrest the 53—year—old was presenting as a woman called amy george, but used the pronoun he for simplicity. he said he stopped the child because of a motherly instinct but the details of the incident which were read out in court were graphic and shocking. thejudge which were read out in court were graphic and shocking. the judge said miller will be sentenced in august and said he had committed up and crimes of the utmost depravity that where every parent's worst nightmare. our top story this evening... what is a players in england say they will spend £10 billion on tackling sewage spills but household bills could rise. and coming up, sting and bob geldof are among the stars on the red carpet at the ivor novello songwriting awards. coming up on bbc news, rafa nadal will miss the french open this month because of a hip injury

and he'll spend the time hoping to get fit enough for what he says will be his final year before retiring in 202a. 60,000 people have volunteered to have their brains and bodies scanned, and this man — our medical editor fergus walsh is one of them. it's all about understanding how the body ages? exactly, it is the world's biggest imaging project. iwas exactly, it is the world's biggest imaging project. i was scanned nearly a decade ago and have now been scanned again. it is part of uk biobank, a database of medical information, as i have been finding out. this vast freezer is a treasure trove of human health. it contains ten million dna samples from the 500,000 volunteers who make up uk biobank delivering vital insights into disease.

more than 30,000 scientists from over 90 countries are exploring the genetic information stored anonymously in these drawers. so far, more than 7,000 research papers have been published using uk biobank data. nearly a third of those in the last year alone. this resource is getting more valuable with every year that passes because the volunteers are getting older. so try to open your eye. in 2010, when i signed up to biobank, i did a battery of health tests. squeeze that as hard as you can. 13 years later, i've repeated many of them. now i'm the first volunteer to undergo a second round of brain and body scans, along with bone density measurements.

it will reveal even more detail of how we age. it enables researchers for the first time to be able to look at changes in our organs as we get older and develop disease that will help to develop biomarkers of disease perhaps many years before a clinical diagnosis of symptoms. therefore, helping to come up with ways to prevent disease happening in the first place or come up with new treatments. the volunteers like mary and marian have also done reams of cognitive tests. they don't get the results of these or the scans unless a potentially serious health problem is found. so what's in it for them? well, it's going to help the future generations and it's going to help the health service, we hope. maybe there's a measure of altruism in there, and it's a bit like being a blood donor. you do it for your fellow man.

time will eventually catch up with all the volunteers. nearly one in ten have already died. but that all adds to the wealth of information contained in uk biobank, which may help others to live longer, healthier lives. fergus walsh, bbc news. the funeral of queen elizabeth ii and events in the run up to it cost the government an estimated £162 million, according to the treasury. the state funeral, held in september, followed a period of national mourning when hundreds of thousands of people visited westminster where the queen was lying in state. our political correspondent damian grammaticus has been looking at the figures. yes, just over 161 million the total cost now, and remember this was the biggest stage event in the uk since the second world war. the biggest single item within that, policing

and security. so the government says it had to ensure things run smoothly, that they were dignified, that the safety and security of the public was assured. the home office but it about £73 million. then the events in westminster, the hundreds of thousands of people who queued to pay their respects who came for the funeral as well, well, all the crowd management, the stewarding, the accreditation, the infrastructure for that, around £57 million spent by the department for jerk, for that, around £57 million spent by the department forjerk, media and sport. then there were events around the country, so the lying rest in edinburgh and king charles did a tour of different parts of the nation. the treasury says it has reimbursed the scottish government about £18 million for that, and also the welsh government in northern ireland office for costs there. what the government says is worth remembering too is this was a major

event of historical significance and a major international moment too. thank you. two teenager cousins have been given life sentences for stabbing a boy as he walked home from school in west yorkshire. khayri mclean, who was 15, was killed outside north huddersfield trust school last year. 17—year old jovani harriott was ordered to serve at least 18 years and 15—year—old jakele pusey must serve a minimum of 16. both boys can be named after a judge lifted a ban on identifying them. ina in a statement read on behalf of khayri's mother, she said the violence had to stop. i khayri's mother, she said the violence had to stop.- khayri's mother, she said the violence had to stop. i now ask m self, violence had to stop. i now ask myself. what _ violence had to stop. i now ask myself, what has _ violence had to stop. i now ask myself, what has this - violence had to stop. i now ask. myself, what has this achieved? violence had to stop. i now ask- myself, what has this achieved? what has my son died for? no one has won in this situation. i have lost a child and other parents have lost two children who committed this offence and they are now in prison. this violence has to stop.

the telecoms giant bt has announced it is cutting up to 55,000 jobs over the next seven years, mostly in the uk. up to a fifth of the losses will come in customer services where staff are replaced by technology including artificial intelligence. our business editor simonjack is here. thanks, sophie. it's a big number. it is not happening immediately but cutting up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 is a very big number indeed. in fact it represents 42% of the current workforce of 130,000. so how does bt explain the cuts? well, 30,000 full—time staff are actually employed by subcontractors — you will have seen in towns and cities around the uk an army of people building out fibre networks 15,000 engineers and 10,000 maintenance workers. but as that network nears completion and old networks — the green cabinets full of copper are switched off — those workers are no longer needed and those contracts will expire. but its not all about "network built, old stuff shut down" —

bt says new technology in automation and artificial intelligence will replace 10,000 jobs over time. that means more chatbots, more apps to manage your own bt services. but bt says there will still be humans to answer calls. you might think that unions would be up in arms about cuts of this scale. but the communication workers�* union said the cuts were "no surprise" — the end of the fibre build out and the switch off of old networks was always going to mean fewerjobs, but had made it clear that the vast makority must come from subcontractors and the many thousands of employees who leave or retire every year. however, prospect union said it was concerned and wanted a meeting with the bt boss. bt said that artificial intelligence was a huge opportinity to be more efficient. it won't be the last company to highlight how recent huge advances are changing the workplace. simon, thank you. police investigating the deaths of more than a50 patients at a community hospital say

they have identified 19 suspects. an independent police investigation was launched at gosport war memorial hospital, in hampshire, after inquiries found that hundreds have died after being given opiates inappropriately at the hospital between 1987 and 2001. three previous investigations resulted in no prosecutions. duncan kennedy reports. this is your dad? yes. for 34 years, linda has wanted _ this is your dad? yes. for 34 years, linda has wanted to know how her father vernon died. he suffered from parkinson's disease but was otherwise healthy. he was one of hundreds of people admitted to the gosport war memorial hospital in the �*805 gosport war memorial hospital in the �*80s and 90s in what should have been routine care. he '80s and 90s in what should have been routine care.— '80s and 90s in what should have been routine care. he wasn't dying. he had gone _ been routine care. he wasn't dying. he had gone in _ been routine care. he wasn't dying. he had gone in basically _ been routine care. he wasn't dying. he had gone in basically to - been routine care. he wasn't dying. he had gone in basically to give - been routine care. he wasn't dying. i he had gone in basically to give mum a rest from looking after him, and a few days later she rang me up to say he had passed away and i was totally in shock. you know, somebody doesn't just die like that for no particular

reason. six. just die like that for no particular reason. ,, y . , just die like that for no particular reason. ,, , ., ., ., , reason. six years ago, relatives cathered reason. six years ago, relatives gathered to _ reason. six years ago, relatives gathered to hear _ reason. six years ago, relatives gathered to hear an _ reason. six years ago, relativesl gathered to hear an independent panel of experts conclude that 456 patients at the hospital had their lives shortened through the use of opioids. doctorjane barton who oversaw the prescribing of drugs at the hospital was disciplined but she later said she was a hard—working doctor who was doing her best for patients. kent police set up an inquiry into the deaths and have now briefed relatives, saying they have identified 19 suspects in the case. the police team involved has around 150 serving and retired detectives. it's already looked at more than 3 million documents, including the records of 750 patients, and has taken more than 1000 witness statements from members of the families. but solicitors of some of the relatives say two previous police investigations failed to make progress. iii

police investigations failed to make rouress. . , police investigations failed to make rouress. . y ., progress. if any of those investigations _ progress. if any of those investigations had - progress. if any of those investigations had been| progress. if any of those - investigations had been effective progress. if any of those _ investigations had been effective or thorough, competent or reasonable, could so many lives have been saved. what do you want to come out of this police inquiry?— police inquiry? justice for everybody- _ police inquiry? justice for everybody- i— police inquiry? justice for everybody. i want - police inquiry? justice for everybody. i wantjustice| police inquiry? justice for i everybody. i wantjustice for police inquiry? justice for - everybody. i wantjustice for my dad, basically, and this is something ifelt i could do for him. for linda and the other families, this has been a long, harrowing experience involving their loved ones and the pursuit of answers. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in gosport. wasps will have to play on the tenth tee next season, the six time glass champions and two—time european champions and two—time european champions went into liquidation earlier this year and were removed from the premiership. they had hoped to start next season in the championship, but afterfailing to start next season in the championship, but after failing to provide financial guarantees they have been demoted to the very bottom

of the rugby union pyramid. some big names on the red carpet in london today. gathering to celebrate the art of songwriting. our music correspondent mark savage was there. the ivor novellos are some of music's most prestigious awards presented for songwriting, not for sales. it's a fact that wasn't lost on charli xcx, who won the visionary award for her rule—breaking futuristic pop. # don't make me beg for you. i really, genuinely felt like so happy and excited to be recognised by the ivors. and yeah, i'm really genuinely looking forward to this day. and, you know, because i've been doing this now for a while and you get a bitjaded and like, "oh, whatever. nothing means anything any more." but this really means a lot to me. # i don't want to be... the pop star raye won best contemporary song for escapism, which she released independently after an acrimonious split with her record label.

onstage, she called out the music industry's treatment of songwriters. # take this pain away. the record industry is making more money than it has in the last 30 years. everything's up, funded by songs that they aren't paying for. just disrespecting a whole community of people thatjust need to be seen now. so i'm going to be a broken record about this. # you know it's not. the same as it was.... harry styles added to his growing collection of awards with, as it was, named the year's most played song on tv and radio. and sting was given the fellowship of the academy, its highest award, honouring a song book that includes every breath you take and roxanne. # roxanne # you don't have to wear that dress tonight which of your husband's songs is your favourite? oh, there's so many. i think fields of gold feels like the...|'m very close to... because it's about you!

# you'll forget the sun in hisjealous sky # as we lie in fields of gold # mark savage, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. hello, it's turned drier across the uk but the rain in italy will be an ongoing story. this is the rainfall accumulation over the next few days as there is more wet weather to come. it is in the mountains in the north—west of italy that will have some very heavy rain and that could lead to further flooding. away from there, we have seen a tiny bit of rain today and most of it has come on that weather front which is pretty weak. that will continue to move away from scotland and northern ireland, and take more cloud and a bit of rain into england and maybe north wales. clearer skies will follow to the north, temperatures

could be 5 degrees in scotland, but