Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Six 20240714

Thomas cook dates back to 1841 its sudden demise is reverberating around the world. Well be asking what went so wrong for thomas cook and finding out what its customers here and abroad should do now. Also tonight. Stop shouting questions at people, it is quite rude. Stop shouting questions at people, it is quite rude. Under pressure as delegates at labours conference vote on whether to defy Jeremy Corbyn and demand the Party Campaigns to remain in the eu. The 16 year old Climate Change activist Greta Thunberg accuses leaders of failing the worlds young people as she addresses a un conference in new york. The duke and duchess of sussex arrive in south africa at the start of a ten day tour meghan says as a woman of colour shes calling for an end to sexual violence. And coming up on bbc news. Wales get off to a win at the Rugby World Cup after a six try demolition of georgia. Reaction on the way. Good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. A huge operation, the biggest in peacetime, has been launched to bring back british tourists who are stranded abroad following the collapse of the uks oldest package tour company, thomas cook. A fleet of planes has been chartered to repatriate more than 150,000 british holiday makers after last minute negotiations aimed at saving the 178 year old holiday firm failed. Many more customers, almost a million, who are booked to go on holiday are affected. And the jobs of 22,000 people around the world are now at risk, including 9,000 in the uk. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge has more. The last thomas cook flight ever arriving into manchester, after the company went bust. Passengers are lucky to be on board, the crew out of a job. As soon as we landed, all of them were crying. Its devastating, its a legacy has gone. As i say, i worked for them for ten years and ive got loads of friends who, their livelihood. Its tragic. Its aircraft now grounded and seized, after the firm collapsed. Countless holidays ruined. Were gutted, disappointed. It meant a lot to us, its our first holiday away together. Im still angry. Stephan and zoe were due to fly today to the Canary Islands to scatter her late fathers ashes. With them on the trip, their children. They are devastated, they have cried. They are not themselves. They have looked forward to this for months and months. Its not as if we have just decided we are going to go, this has been planned, weve had to get paperwork for the ashes, we had to do everything. This the scene for customers pitching up in manchester and gatwick. Look at this. Yesterday, check in here would have been very busy. But with the company collapsing overnight, its airlines effectively vanished. The Civil Aviation authority has now charted an entire fleet of more than a0 aircraft to start bringing people back. And this is one of the first flights today in from new york. The biggest repatriation in modern times, a fiendishly complicated operation that could be a bumpy ride. But relief for those brought back croatia. Brought back from croatia. We were a little bit nervous, we were going to book flights by ourselves, but trusted the authorities and it has been seamless. In majorca, uk officials shepherding tourists on their way back, but some into airports farfrom home. At twenty to eight tonight and then theres a bus to newcastle. They have told us we are going to birmingham and then a coach trip for six hours from birmingham up to glasgow. Staff turned up to work, but only briefly. An emblematic name on our high streets gone and they are gutted at thomas cook headquarters in peterborough. Ive been here since i was 19, so its very sad. Everybody has given their heart and soul to this company and its kind of sad that we dont exist any more. Martin and gemma booked their wedding on a greek island via thomas cook. Tiny details are in place but their plans are now in disarray. Itjust broke my heart, i couldnt believe it, i was gutted. I dont want it to be true. Now it just all seems for nothing. A bit confused and empty. All that planning and its all gone. But the focus for the government is getting tens of thousands of british holiday makers home. 16,000 brits were booked on thomas cook flights today before it went bust. The hope is that by tonight most of them will be back. Others will return in the coming days. Tom burridge, bbc news. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee is in palma, majorca, one of the companys most popular destinations. Whats happening to people . Watching operation matterhorn in action today, that initial panic and confusion by about 1500 passengers are not sure about how they were getting back. They were assured by lines of yellow jacketed getting back. They were assured by lines of yellowjacketed members of the Civil Aviation authority who have flown out especially to help them. But the situation has changed. There are still hundreds of people at the airport, three flights gone, but they are still trying to get back to newcastle, manchester and the east midlands and they are being told they can get on a flight on a plane tonight at midnight. People are not sure if they have to stay another night here tonight. It gives another night here tonight. It gives a sense of the wider impact, the lifeblood that people relied on with thomas cook, and there are thousands of customers are still in hotels waiting to be taken back. Spanish politicians today are saying this is the biggest tourism crisis this country has ever faced. Gavin lee in majorca, thank you. Gavin lee in majorca, thank you. So, if you have booked with thomas cook, what should you do and what are your rights . The government says all customers who are currently abroad and booked to return to the uk in the next fortnight will be brought back for free as close as possible to their original return date. People on Package Holidays dont need to pay extra for their accommodation those costs will be covered by the atol protection scheme. But if you are set to travel in future with thomas cook, your booking has now been cancelled and the Civil Aviation authority says theres no point in going to the aiport. They say most people who have booked Package Holidays will have their money refunded. But that wont neccesarily cover the cost of re booking. If youve booked only flights with the company they may not be covered by the atol scheme. Youll have to try to claim back costs through travel insurance or your credit card company, depending on circumstances. You can find detailed information at thomas cook. Caa. Co. Uk. Thomas cook founded his travel Company Almost two centuries ago, offering short railwayjourneys in the east midlands for a shilling. It went on to become one of the biggest names in the travel industry, with millions of customers every year. Now its collapsed with debts of 1. 7 billion pounds. Emma simpson examines what went wrong. Venice, a popular holiday destination, even back in 1898. And theres a thomas cook shop in the corner of this famous square, already doing business. Its shop front, there in the background, survived the war years too. The go to place for foreign travel. Then came the boom brits found themselves with enough money for a few weeks in the sun. Thomas cook pioneered the package holiday and rode the wave. Dontjust book it, thomas cook it. One of the worlds best known holiday brands, but its finances then became stretched. Thomas cook was a business with a huge amount of debt. It almost went bust in 2011 and it has not had the Financial Resilience to weather the huge changes in the market, with the low Cost Carriers coming along, jet2 holidays, people booking online more than through traditional high street agents, perhaps, and more recent factors we have had brexit, Consumer Confidence has been knocked, there have been weather conditions. Theres been all sorts going on. Slick marketing, but tradings been poor and the challenge has ultimately proved too great. It is deeply distressing to me that it has not been possible to save one of the most loved brands in travel. But he hasnt done too badly earning more than £8 million since taking charge in 2014, before overseeing the collapse of one of the oldest names in british business. Emma simpson, bbc news. Our Business Editor simon jack is at manchester airport. A lot of questions are being asked about why the bosses were taking home such large sums of the money when the company had so much debt. Yes, they should be full of 5000 holiday makers leaving on 23 flights, but as you can see it is silent and it has fallen victim to that serial company can accommodate. When you are £1. 7 billion, you cannot afford for much to go wrong. Things easily go wrong, currency fluctuations, a british heatwave, concern about Reciprocal Health insurance, all have played their part. But the main problem is this was not a financially resilient company. The private sector decided there was not enough cash to mount a rescue deal and the government agreed. The boss has apologised, but he took £8 million over the last five years and there is an insolvency investigation as to what happened here. But that will be very little comfort to those people who have had their holidays ruined and the 9000 uk workers who face unemployment. Delegates at labours conference in brighton have just voted to back Jeremy Corbyn and demand that the Party Campaigns for britain to stay in the eu. From brighton our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg reports. Where are we going now . Up these stairs. Yes, ok, lets go. Where is he taking the labour party . Out of the European Union or to campaign now to stay . Are you confident that the party will be behind you on brexit . Youre shouting questions at people, its quite rude, actually. Jeremy corbyns been surrounded by resistance to his plan to stay neutral until after an election. And emilys got a valid view to express and others have a different view. Its been a torrid argument for the leadership to make because millions of labour voters wanted to leave the eu, but the partys heart is remain. Whats going on . I mean, youre saying that this is an honest debate, but people are furious about what is happening. Theres lots of emotion, no doubt about that. Its understandable, really, but i quite like that. I would rather people were honest about their emotions in all of this, but in expressing that emotion, at the end of the day, actually, i do think people will come together. Are you proud of what the labour party is doing this week, all the skulduggery behind the scenes . Im proud were having an open and democratic debate. I really am, i really am. Look, were socialists and were idealists, but also we have a propensity to plot every now and again as well. Thats an admission that there is plotting going on . Not at all. 0h, Jeremy Corbyn, 0h, jeremy corby. 0h, Jeremy Corbyn. The songs the same, but there is a new resistance to mr corbyn. The leadership had cooked up an agreement with the big unions to stick to the line of not supporting leave or remain right 110w. The country needs to hear a United Labour voice. Back that, back him, his ally urged. I implore you, please, givejeremy the support he needs later so that Prime Minister corbyn can lead us to a bright new dawn. But the Biggest Union doesnt see it that way, wanting to pick remain now. Its time to do the right thing, support a second referendum and campaign for remain. Applause. Applause and cheers echoed on the platform again and again. Labour is a remain party. Remain, revolt, reform. I know young people will hold the vote against us unless unless we tell them that we will campaign to vote remain. I want to see Jeremy Corbyn in number ten and campaigning to remain is the way to do it and the only way to do it. Solidarity but hold on, youre watching a clamour over the control of this party, notjust the eu. We stand behind Jeremy Corbyn. 0k, we need to support him, we need to trust him and his team. We cannot tell brexit voters that they are stupid and that they are racist. Back your leader. Supportjeremy. Applause and cheers. As time wore on, this was less and less about brexit, more and more about loyalty toJeremy Corbyn. That is clearly carried. And in the last few moments the bid to change his policy fail, not without protest, not with outcries. This argument is not over, not even close. It was pretty chaotic in there as the votes were carried out. There will be a lot of robust argument about whether the party should have had an official vote with cards counted and being aware of what the precise numbers were. This is such an important decision for the labour party and the leadership is determined to try to fend off the attempt to force them to budge position. They did do that, they got the support from the members to try to stay exactly where they are, but there is a sense here the argument has been so vigorous that the genie might not go back in the bottle. Aside from brexit, the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell today put forward the partys other policy pledges from labour. These include shortening average full time working hours to 32 hours a week, introducing free personal care for the elderly in england, a policy which already exists in scotland, and a new living wage of £10 per hour, up from £8. 21. 0ur economics editor faisal islam is in brighton for us. Faisal, these are big changes if labour were to come to power. Yes, part of a suite of policies designed to send to the electorate a message that a Labour Government would end in work poverty in a first term. Certainly radical sounding, and the Business Community point out the example of a similar sounding policy, the 35 hour week in france that didnt work. They point to the idea that this instead might lead to a rise in unemployment, or a freeze in wages, and have some impact on labour intensive Public Services such as the nhs and social care. But this policy, the 32 hour week, isnt actually a cap. Its designed as a sort of target, we are at 37 hours now, we dont get to it, that they will increase the amount of holiday entitlement and pay. So radical, yes, but not quite as coercive as it first sounds. Thank you. The Prime Minister borisjohnson has arrived in new york for the annual Un General Assembly meeting and discussions on Climate Change. Questions about whether an american businesswoman got special access and public funding when mrjohnson was mayor of london have followed him there. 0ur deputy Political Editor john pienaar is in new york and asked mrjohnson about the allegations. All i can say is im very proud of what we did when i was mayor of london, very proud of everything that we did, particularly banging the drum for our city and country around the world. And i can tell you absolutely that everything was done entirely in the proper way. So Boris Johnsons First Response to these reports, a direct statement, there was no impropriety in his dealings with the american businesswoman, the former model jennifer cleary. It clearly jennifer cleary. It clearly jennifer arcuri. It touches on his fitness for office. He plainly decided he needed to confront them directly. 0n the front into new york just last night, he was asked six times about this byjournalists and six times he stonewalled, refused to say anything. Now his enemies, his critics, his political opponents will not let this die away, if they can help it. Mrjohnson will hope all blows over and he can get on with broader problems, and goodness knows he has enough of those. A flurry of meetings with european leaders, today and tomorrow. No sign ofa leaders, today and tomorrow. No sign of a brexit deal breakthrough, no hope of that happening. This meeting in new york we are told. And if the Supreme Court tomorrow decides that suspending parliament was unlawful, even that mrjohnson misled the queen about the reasons for that suspension, there will be a clamour among his critics for him to resign. Now speaking to me just a short while ago, borisjohnson did not rule out the idea of suspending parliament again, and just imagine the reaction if that turned out to be the Prime Ministers next move. Thank you. The time is coming up to 6 20pm. Our top story this evening. Britains oldest travel Group Thomas Cook has collapsed leaving more than 150,000 people stranded overseas. And still to come. Wales launch their World Cup Campaign with a six try win over georgia. Coming up on sportsday on bbc news, several changes for england ahead of their upcoming series with new zealand. Jonny bairstow misses out, find out who is in a little later. Greta thunberg the 16 year old Climate Change activist has launched a strongly worded attack on World Leaders accusing them of betraying her generation through their inaction on global warming. But many heads of state have stayed away from the summit. From new york heres our north america correspondent nick bryant. A sweltering september scorcher in new york city not much sign of autumn here. And it hasntjust been a long summer, but north of the equator, the hottest ever on record. So, today at the riverside headquarters of the united nations, an urgent Climate Action summit. This global body, once more, sounding the alarm. The world is losing the race against Climate Change. Applause. In this air conditioned auditorium, the heat came from the 16 year old swedish activist Greta Thunberg. The un hoping to harness whats been called the greta effect her ability to mobilise the young and to shame the old. And my, how she did that today. This is all wrong. I shouldnt be up here. I should be back in the school on the other side of the ocean. Yet, you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you you have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And if you choose to fail us, i say, we will never forgive you. For the grown ups in the room, it was awkward. Applause and cheers. But they applauded, nonetheless. Mr president . The worlds most powerful adult only briefly stopped by. Greta thunberg watched from the side, scowling, as he arrived. He didnt address the summit himself. He is withdrawing america from the paris Climate Change accord. And he took the chair of a rival event organised by the white house at the un, on religious persecution. For once, donald trump was upstaged, by a teenager with a furious speech that will echo down the generations. You think of some of the famous beaches of the past, Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on the lectern, fidel castro used to go on for hours but this was one of the most electrifying moments in us history. The question is can that anger translate into action . This week, as part of a special project, the bbc is taking a close look at one city stoke on trent and talking to people there about the issues that matter to them. Today were looking at how even the smallest charities are having a big impact on peoples lives. 0ur correspondent rebecca wood reports. Hi, mummy its really nice to be in this family, because i get to help mummy a lot with her tablets. For six year old bethany and her twin sisters. Is that the three . Looking after mum is part of everyday life. When mummy bangs her head, that normally sets off her seizures. We just have to leave mummy. When she is on the stairs and she falls, i always hold her so she doesnt fall. Get changed, get her tablets, help with a lot of things that a normal nine year old wouldnt have to do. Anneka suffers from multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Help from dad and daughters is life saving. Im so proud every day of my daughters. I am their mum, im meant to be the one that cares for them, not them caring for me. Caring for mum, on top of busy school days, means the girls need a break, and thats where a local Charity Comes in. It gives my children time to not worry about mummy. They can go, they can play, they can do art. North staffs carers helped 6,000 people last year. Four years ago, the charity lost a bid for council funding, but support from volunteers and other grants keeps the doors open. Weve had some disappointments obviously with funding, etc, and weve had to adapt and move with the times, but we make a difference as a charity locally, and we want to continue doing that. Across my home city of stoke on trent, there are more than 350 registered charities. Many of them are small and they dont have many staff. They dont often make the National Headlines and they have to fight for funding, but the work that they do in the local community does make a difference. Regardless of where the money comes from, Charities Say they have to keep going, for families like annekas. They do need a lot more help, and without them, my children wouldnt be who they are. We love you to the moon and back rebecca wood, bbc news, stoke on trent. Wales made a good start to their Rugby World Cup Campaign Today beating georgia by 43 points to 1a in toyota city. From japan, our Sports Correspondent katie gornall, sent this report, which contains some flashing images. In japan, the railways are an institution. In wales, rugby is like a religion, and these fans making their pilgrimage to the world cup were letting the train take the strain. They arrived here, as they seem to do at every tournament, brimming with confidence and national pride. With a record equalling 129 caps, alun wynjones is well versed in harnessing the passion of an occasion like this, and after two minutes, the welsh fans were singing again Jonathan Davies allowed to saunter over the line. Dan biggar usually finishes these in his sleep, but he would have plenty of chances to make amends, as wales scored four tries in a blistering first half. Georgias strength is in their pack, but only in the second half did they show it. Wales, though, were able to wrestle back control and finished with a george north flurry, with their sixth try. Warren gatlands side are up and running and a step closer to the prize they crave more than anything else. This was a game of contrasting halves for wales, but still they will be very satisfied to leave here unscathed, and with a comfortable win behind them, ahead of that huge game in pool d against australia in six days time. Katie gornall, bbc news in toyota. The duke and duchess of sussex have arrived in south africa with their four month old son archie, for theirfirst official tour as a family. The couple have spent the day visiting a township outside cape town, as our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell reports. They both know that this trip has to work well after recent missteps, so harry and meghan dispensed with a red carpet welcome and came straight to a township. The exuberance of the welcome masks the fact that nyanga township has the highest murder rate in south africa. The couple had come to show their solidarity at a refuge for women and children, and amid all the hugs and the handholding was the serious message. Violence against women is a huge problem here. Meghan marked out her resolve to be heard. While im here with my husband as a member of the royal family, i want you to know that for me i am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour, and as your sister. And that of course was very much meghan, articulate, passionate and about a subject about which she cares very deeply. It confirms that there is a certain defiance in the sussexes part to do things their way. They have ten days in Southern Africa to show whether it works. Nicholas witchell, bbc news, cape town. Time for a look at the weather, heres chris fawkes. A nice start to the day, but with rain spreading and across the country, some have been looking for a dry place to stay. Yes, the rain is quickly heading in at the moment. It is already with us across a good pa rt it is already with us across a good part of england, wales and Northern Ireland and was spreading to scotla nd ireland and was spreading to scotland as we go on through the night, a few showers running ahead of that into the Western Isles at the moment. Through the night, turning wet, the rain will be quite heavy at times, particularly across wales and South West England later on in the night with strengthening winds here as well. It will be a mild night, temperatures staying at 13 to 15 degrees for most of us, but into tomorrow, the rain will be really heavy to start the day, wales, South West England, so a risk of some localised flooding, subsurface water and spray on the roads, a pretty ropey commute to work for some. Heavy rain pushes eastwards, 15 to 30 millimetres falling widely but it could see 30 millimetres of rain with some thunderstorms, and quite windy across parts of england and wales. A blustery kind of day, more rain to come in scotland. Northern ireland seeing a few brighter spells. We are not done with the wet weather there on wednesday either, because we have our area of low pressure moving eastwards a cross our area of low pressure moving eastwards across the country. Rain at times across southern parts of england and wales and again it will be quite a windy day. Further north, the weather gets a little bit brighter. There will still be a few showers around, across scotland and the far north of england too, and those temperatures 15 to 19 degrees, again Northern Ireland not doing too badly as far as dry spells and a bit of sunshine goes. Later on in the week and to the weekend, we keep the generally unsettled theme to the weather, with rain and showers forecast, and temperatures. In edinburgh, the low 20s on saturday, 00 28 52,147 4294966103 13 29,430 around 15 degrees over the next few