To. The jury what advised that duckenfield may to. The jury what advised that ducke nfield may not to. The jury what advised that duckenfield may not show any emotion during the evidence, favour never given or shown by families, giving evidence, knowing only too well about post medic stress disorder. Foresight and high side are both wonderful things. Yet, a majority of mr duncan tos evidence. Also, at the inquest into thousand 16, again, they heavily relied on duckenfield. This time using hindsight along with the passage of time. At the resulting inquest, the qc offered various points of failure to duckenfield, the cause of 96 deaths of persons in the hillsborough tragedy. The answer was an emphatic yes, sir. Later when tragedy. The answer was an emphatic yes, sir. Laterwhen questioned by his own qc, duckenfield again accepted large number of feelings. What duckenfield accepted large number of feelings. What ducke nfield now accepted large number of feelings. What duckenfield now fails to accept is the hard told fax that it was him who was an overall command of the match and however much that fact has been airbrushed by foresight in hindsight, it remains, duckenfield was the man for decisions and he never stepped up. Disaster unfolded before his eyes. I suggest that even ina tsunami before his eyes. I suggest that even in a tsunami of hindsight, that was under abdul for a reasonably competent match commander full of the people around him required guidance, as did the officers in and around the ground. They were also willfully let down. And with just as high measure, were blamed by duckenfield. Summing up, the word hooliganism. This was a nonfactor in hillsborough, but still we keep having to remind you of this again, a strong flavour of the world hindsight all over again. This was a get out ofjail card, an obstacle that proves too much for any guilty verdict. This despite the inconvenience, the opening with lets be frank, theres no other way to say it. Perhaps deception could be another way because that is what happened later. Graham kerry from the faa, Peter Robinson and liverpool chairman josh smith, both. Duckenfield still kept the truth under wraps and carried on lying wall now having foresight of what they had done. That was. It was still a lie. 0r what they had done. That was. It was still a lie. Or a what they had done. That was. It was still a lie. Ora deception. Giving him time to try and get their stories straight, by further telling mr robinson either, your lot force the gates open or Liverpool Supporters have opened the gates, stated in 1998 by mr robinson, the gates, as you may recall, were undamaged. Its also been a mystery to me where duckenfield was during the build up to the match. The chief superintendent able to walk around the ground in his sunday best uniform, it is very distinct glasses, and yet not one photograph orany glasses, and yet not one photograph or any officers can recall seeing him, not one piece of video has been shown of the men, the decision maker, a new man try to make a new impression. The South Yorkshire police force is a very different organisation, or so we have heard, led by. At least one officer confirmed that recollection during the inquest. Surely, someone must have seen the boss on his way around the ground on the 15th of april 1989. Around the ground on the 15th of april1989. | around the ground on the 15th of april 1989. I wonder now even more, we re april 1989. I wonder now even more, were they afraid to speak out . Now, were they afraid to speak out . Now, we will never know. Now, sadly, the decision we have, we will have to get on with our lives. I am and will be fairly grateful for the support of the campaign for truth, justice and accountability for 96. And i would like to refer people to the human rights act 1998, article two, the right to life which states, public authorities should also consider your right to life when making decisions that might put you in dangeror making decisions that might put you in danger or that of your life expectancy. Ducke nfield in danger or that of your life expectancy. Duckenfield made no such decision or provision. Instead, he reduced his role to that of a liar and a coward, a disgrace to the uniform something that was not or should not have been in the remit of a reasonably competent match commander. That is steve kelly, one of the brothers of the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster in april 1989. His older brother michael, who was 38 at the time, died in the crush at the stadium that day. He also heard from the hillsborough Family Support group. Just a small example of the people who are really at the heart of this story. Steve kellys own story is that he has lost his mother, his brother, his son this campaign. As you heard there, they dont believe justice has been done. Just to bring you up to date tonight. The match the Police Commander in charge on the day of the Hillsborough Disaster has been found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. David duckenfield, whos 75, was cleared after a seven week retrial at Preston Crown court. The jury at his original trial earlier this year failed to agree a verdict. Families of those killed in the crush say theyre shocked and stunned by the verdict. And very angry at the long process that it ended in. Those responsible for the investigation say, had action been taken much earlier, there would have been other people facing criminal charges. David duckenfield has been a blamed figure for 30 years, in charge of policing hillsborough, at the home when the disaster happen for buddy jury when the disaster happen for buddy jury has found he is not doty of manslaughter. The chief superintendent was only put in charge of the fa cup semifinal three weeks before the match. Many say he just was not ready for the job he was given. Amongst them, former Sergeant William crawford, who was on duty that day under David Duckenfields command. It was like a poisoned chalice. He was left with the response billy of working that match and being overall in charge. And he did not have the experience on that day. I dont blame David Duckenfield. I blame the person who put him in that position. In 1989 from liverpool played Nottingham Forest in an fa cup semifinal. Liverpools followers, they are. 24,000 liverpools followers, they are. 211,000 liverpool fans travel to the city for the fixture for minutes before kick off, a huge crowd was still queuing to get into the ground. As thousands of fans were getting crushed here at lettings lane, David Duckenfield had to make a decision. By opening a large gate into the ground, he relieved the pressure outside but he did not think about where the supporters would go next. Thousands of people poured through the gate, a tunnel to the terraces was left open and the crowd surged down it into fenced pens which were already full. Some fa ns pens which were already full. Some fans climbed out of the crush but most were trapped. 96 people were killed on the terraces at hillsborough on a ten year old boy, 3017 37 37 teenagers, parents, siblings, a father and son, a pensioner of 67. David duckenfield accepted that his failure directly caused their deaths when he gave evidence at the hillsborough inquests in 2015. 38 year old Brian Matthews was pulled out of the pens but did not survive. He loved life. He was larger than life, in fact. Survive. He loved life. He was largerthanlife, in fact. Brain came from a large merseyside family who have spent 30 years campaigning on his behalf. His sister debbie has passed the baton to the next generation, brians nice, born after hillsborough but driven to justice by herfamily. Hillsborough but driven to justice by her family. She hillsborough but driven to justice by herfamily. She is trained hillsborough but driven to justice by her family. She is trained to hillsborough but driven to justice by herfamily. She is trained to be a barrister. Dads when their sons. Dads went home with their sons in body bags. You went with your family oii body bags. You went with your family ona body bags. You went with your family on a saturday 20 Football Team play. There should not have been any risk that you would not come home. There should not been any risk that you would not be safe all you were there. Her interest came about from being a baby, and ice to take her to the hillsborough Family Support meetings. If we had a criminal trial 30 years ago, it would have been put to bed by now, but weve not been allowed to grieve. In 2016, inquests found that the fans were unlawfully killed and they were not to blame. Following that, David Duckenfield was charged with manslaughter, but thejury at his was charged with manslaughter, but the jury at his first trial could not agree on a verdict and now a second jury has found that he was singled out unfairly and is innocent of any crime. Professor phil was a member of the Hillsborough Independent Panel whose report in 2012 reviewed new evidence about what happened on the day. There have been other Senior Officers who died in the meanwhile, you might have been prosecuted, but the truth of the matter is that of those who are still alive, only one is prosecuted. That doesnt chime well with me in terms of the range of culpability that both the Hillsborough Independent Panel and the inquests have demonstrated. For the last seven years, hundreds of detectives have been gathering evidence into hillsborough, costing £60 million, operation resolving the longest ever criminal investigation in england. Hillsborough families and survivors have spent three decades campaigning forjustice. Have spent three decades campaigning for justice. They have have spent three decades campaigning forjustice. They have been trials, inquests, investigations and inquiries, but this verdict means nobody will be jailed for so many lives lost. Thats the background to the case. Lets get the Police Reaction to the case. Assistant commissioner rob beckley led the investigation into David Duckenfield. My first thoughts are with the 96 people who died in the Hillsborough Disaster. Their families and the many thousands of people who were deeply affected by the events on 15 april, 1989. Thejury had a difficult and challenging task examining evidence stretching back decades, and i respect their decision. It may sound like a cliche to say that lessons must be learned. But given this verdict, that has never been more relevant nor important. It is right that an impartial and thorough investigation was carried out. It is right it was presented by the cps to a jury. And it was right that a jury made a judgement on the facts. What is wrong is that it has taken 30 years to get to this point. The passage of 30 years has presented challenges to everyone involved in the Legal Process both the prosecution and the defence. 30 years has meant that evidence has been corroded and some people and organisations who should have answered for their actions on the day are simply no longer with us. 30 years during which myths took root about fans being a cause of the disaster now shown through the inquest evidence, but also the evidence of both the defence and the prosecution in this case, to be unequivocably wrong. And 30 years, when many people, especially the families, have had to relive their terrible experiences. When all the hillsborough Legal Proceedings are concluded, we should, as a society, take time to consider these matters and to learn those lessons for the sake of the 96 innocent people who died 30 years ago. Something like this disaster and the 30 year wait to get to this point should never happen again. Thank you very much. Thats assistant commissioner rob beckley, who was in charge of operation resolve. Has been going on since 2012 and going on since then into David Duckenfield. Just to clarify something on the number of victims at hillsborough, because this causes confusion when we report this causes confusion when we report this story. 96 people are said to have died in the disaster, but mr duckenfield was only charged with manslaughter of 95. Tony bland, he. He did not die actually at the scene, he died as a result of withdrawal of treatment because he was ina withdrawal of treatment because he was in a severe vegetative state. Our correspondent fiona trott is at Preston Crown court. The unit, its very striking, listening to rob beckley there, frustration that he clearly felt about this investigation coming in so about this investigation coming in so late in the day. Its 30 years of suffering for the families and friends of those who died reliving this day after day, week after week, every stage of the Legal Process. Can you give us some every stage of the Legal Process. Can you give us some sense every stage of the Legal Process. Can you give us some sense of what he admits or has been like in that courtroom during the course of this trial . When that not guilty verdict was returned, some of the relatives burst into tears. That is how difficult it is in for some of them to understand that not guilty verdict today for some outside, they are very english. And while rob beckley said, it does sound trite sometimes to say lessons must be learned, this is now, this means more than anything. This really has been a case that has taken far too long to come to court. Its nightly comforting for those relatives. They have been through 30 years of private prosecution where a jury failed to reach a verdict, two inquests, and inquiry. A trial earlier this year where a jury failed to reach a verdict. And now this trial here at Preston Crown court today which has resulted in this not guilty gross negligence manslaughter. It means that David Duckenfield walks free from court but it also means that nobody will 110w but it also means that nobody will now face jailfor the but it also means that nobody will now face jail for the deaths of those 95 innocent liverpool football fans. We have had a statement from David Duckenfields legal team which i will read to you. It says david is, of course, relieved thejury i will read to you. It says david is, of course, relieved the jury has found him not guilty however, his thoughts and some of these remain with the families of those who lost their loved ones. He understands the Public Interest in this case but would asked that his privacy and that of his familys respected and will not be commenting further. Fiona trott at Preston Crown court, thank you very much. We can speak now to richie grieves. You survived that terrible day. It must be very difficult to endure yet again another frustration for you. Everyone was shocked, but we have had 20 years of being let down by the establishment, and its only since the inquests, its gone back into the establishment and things have gone wrong again. It would suggest to me, especially when you look at what has happened to all the families, bloodied sunday, the g re nfell families, bloodied sunday, the grenfell families, everybody gets let down who was in a similar position to us. Is it that this has taken. I appreciate this is not the verdict you wanted, David Duckenfield being found not guilty of gross about manslaughter by gross negligence, is it as much that or is it the fact that it has taken so long for this process, that its been so slow and so, it felt like two steps forward, six steps back a little at times . Its been a 30 year fight. We have our names blacken from the word go. The families have been under stress for 30 years. We felt, finally, the match commander on the day was hitting prosecuted. Lord Justice Taylor said in 1989 that failure to close off access to the central pens via the tunnel. We should not be shocked when we are let down by the judicial system, but it didnt come as a shock again today. Even though half of you expected it, it still, because its today, its still feels very raw. Yeah. The cps case, there was lot of areas they did not touch. Duckenfield is still to properly explain where he was from when he finished his meeting with officers at 10 30am until the end of the clearly, there were other problemm the process. The only, there are still Legal Proceedings going on, which we will not talk about now, but all you have now seen is the Sheffield Wednesday ground being fined under the safety of work act, which you must feel is pretty inadequate given what you and others went through and what the families of the debt of gone through . Exactly. Paying a fine on the £60, with life, and he is the only one found guilty with anything to do with hillsborough. It is absolute shocking. What we set at wellington, it shouldve only lasted five or six months, but the chose to rerun the tired old light from 1989. Months, but the chose to rerun the tired old light from 1989. Sorry to interrupt but how are you managing to get on with your life and all of this going on . For the last 30 years . What difference will this make now . In a sense, its pretty much, we are coming to the end of this process finally come after 30 years. I just end of this process finally come after 30 years. Ijust wonder what lies ahead for you now. |j after 30 years. Ijust wonder what lies ahead for you now. I dont know. Its too early. Its onlyjust happened a couple of hours ago. No one can take away from us the Hillsborough Independent Panel report, which was damning of eve ryo ne report, which was damning of everyone that was to blame on the day. And no one can take away from us day. And no one can take away from us the longest inquest in british history, 1a having zero victory for us, with the unlawful killing verdict and fans totally exonerated 150 verdict and fans totally exonerated 15 0 victory for us. The british dominic crown prosecute the Main Management we all know what happened. Let me ask you finally do you feel safer watching a football match these days then before hillsborough . |j football match these days then before hillsborough . I am one in favour of standing terraces. That was never the problem. The problem that has burlesque total incompetent policing hillsborough was total inhabited policing. Hillsborough was a disaster waiting to happen. In 1981, there were people crushed in the spurs wolves game. What they did in them six years is make the terrace more unsafe. They put fences in which divided the terrace, so nobody could move sideways when the terrace was overflowing. Richie grieves, thank you very much for speaking to us. Richie grieves, one of the survivors of hillsborough. Not guilty, David Duckenfield, the match commander at hillsborough on the 15th of april come youre watching bbc news at 5pm youre watching bbc news at five p m. Neither the conservatives nor labour are being honest about spending, in the run up to next months general election thats according to the institute for fiscal studies, an independent research group. The ifs has examined both parties economic plans and says theyre not credible. The conservatives would end up spending more than their manifesto pledge. Labour would struggle to deliver the spending increases its promised. The details now from our economics correspondent andy verity. The institute for fiscal studies is looked to for objective analysis and its objective view is neither major party is being honest. Labour pretends huge increases in spending can be financed only by corporations and the rich, and the conservatives continue to pretend taxes will not have to rise to get decent Public Services. We know the conservatives, over the last two electoral cycles, have ended up spending and borrowing a lot more than they said it would in their manifestos. I think that will happen again because they are suggesting essentially nothing in this way of additional spending this time beyond what is announced. Labour has vast spending increases and tax increases which probably cant be delivered within a single parliament. The conservatives have promised no rise in taxes, but with extra spending already pledged, they are likely to break their own rules on keeping borrowing down. And the risk is, if a brexit trade it was not worked by the end of next year, borrowing will jump. We welcome the scrutiny. If anyone has a look, they will see that, alongside our manifesto, we have published the most detailed costings document any party has published in any general election. The lib dems are promising big increases to tax and spending, helping Public Services but needing tax rises of £36 billion. They acknowledge they will have to raise income tax by a penny to pay for it. There are a lot of significant investments that liberal democrats will be making. The ifs has recognised that is a pretty radical manifesto to set out. It is one we know we can deliver as well. Labour is planning the biggest increase in public spending in peacetime. The 155 says tax raises. Which would still be lower than other countries like germany. But it will be confirmation voters will be paying more. I think our manifesto is bold, ambitious and no other party has produced a costed manifesto and put themselves up to that type of scrutiny. The ifs has warned all plans could be thrown into disarray by brexit. Not the departure agreement for the final trade deal that is supposed to be done by next year. Labours plans would require borrowing to rise. If under the conservatives, britain were to leave the eu without a full trade deal, borrowing would have to rise by even more. Lets get more reaction to this from our chief Political Correspondent vicki young. I suppose the ifs is often used by the Political Parties themselves saying, there you go, that is how cast iron plans are. Does not sound like the conservatives and labour will be using at this time around given the parties are was as for how theyre going to cover their Spending Plans, they are asked for details about all of about everything, fact check his days, the fa ct everything, fact check his days, the fact the ifs a Sault Ste Marie of those two parties has a properly credible prospectus is somewhat surprising. We have at an awful lot about how the two parties are going to be splashing the cash. What is interesting about the conservatives them all the Boris Johnson interesting about the conservatives them all the borisjohnson asarco wanting to give much more funding to Public Services, if you take out all extra spending on health, actually, for other Public Services, it doesnt really take spending back to the 2010 levels. Maybe not quite as clear as some would think that it is, and then if you look at labour, i think the most damaging thing politically for them from the i fs is them saying, youre spending all this extra money, you have got all these promises and use it you can do it just by taxing these promises and use it you can do itjust by taxing the very highest earners and corporations more. The ifs is saying that is not credible either and they will have to find more money from more people, and that of course will include people on lower incomes. Interestingly, John Mcdonnell said today that, actually, when asked about this, he said the party had been very conservative with a small c on the amount of tax they would need to race. Vicki young, think you very much. Dont forget, there is a bbc election guide online. Lets ta ke lets take a look at the weather prospects with helen. Is it time to get the thermals out . It is indeed. It means we are changing this weather script on what has been undoubtedly one of the wettest autu m ns for has been undoubtedly one of the wettest autumns for some parts of the uk. We are getting drier weather income up with that drier weather come some sunshine. A cold north wind. We become more susceptible to frost and ice and increasingly fog as well. That rain is still with us and it meanders southwards overnight. Aperture plumbing cant temperatures plummeting away. The servers will be damp. Ice clearly is the main concern if youre travelling overnight and tomorrow morning for the rush. Still, we have the lingering band of cloud in the south, a little bit of patchy rain and drizzle. We will still have showers. Wintry over the north, but for most of us, once the ice risk goes, the frost lifts, five or six and sunshine. Just feels cold in that wind. Plenty of financial weather into the weekend. Just a question mark over the southwest. We might have some more rain. This is bbc news. The headlines. The hillsborough match commander David Duckenfield is cleared of the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 liverpool fans who died at the 1989 fa cup semifinal. Families of those who died say theyre shocked and stunned by the verdict. A leading Economic Research group says Spending Plans for both the conservatives and labour dont add up, accusing them of presenting numbers that are not credible. Eu net migration to the uk has fallen to its lowest level for 16 years. Sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres olly foster. Hi there. There are five british sides playing the europa league, Manchester United are approaching fulltime in kazakhtan, united had already qualified for the knockout stage so took a very young squad to face astana, three debutants and seven teenagers in the starting xi. They are losing 2 1, Jesse Lingard had given them an early lead with his first goal since january but they conceded twice in the second half. Dishon barnard credited with an own goal on his debut so just sojust a so just a couple sojust a couple minutes so just a couple minutes ago, sojust a couple minutes ago, united losing 2 1. Doesnt matter, theyre already through to the knockout stage. Arsenal have gone six games without a win, butjust need a draw at home against Eintracht Frankfurt to go through to the last 32. Following their draw at home to southampton over the weekend, a number of arsenalfan groups called for urgent action over the state of things at the club. Manager unai emery says that he still has the full support of the club. The club is supporting me. I have every responsible area. I feel strong with support. And i know my responsibility to come back and change that situation. I know, we need to work a good connection with our supporters. And above all, i manley, big and strong in my constituency. Celtic, rangers and wolves are all in action later too with the wolves manager, Nuno Esprito Santo one of the front runners to replace unai emery. The owners of Manchester City have agreed to buy a majority stake in the Indian Super League club, mumbai city. That increases their interest to eight clubs around the world. Mumbai have previously been managed by peter reid and nicola anelka, both with mancehster city, former ipswich and england defender russell osman, works as a pundit in the Indian Super League and he spoke to us from mumbai earlier. To be absolutely honest, its brilliant that they would take on someone brilliant that they would take on someone like mumbai city fc and promote them as much as they can. It will do wonders for youth football over here, as well. With the access that manchester will give the academy of mumbai city. Help with the players, the education, the administration of how a club should be run successfully. I can only see eve ryo ne be run successfully. I can only see everyone benefiting in a massive way. Uk athletics have launched an independent review into its relationship with Alberto Salazar and his nike oregon project. Last month, he was banned for four years after being found guilty of doping violations. Hes launched an appeal, but nike have closed down the project. Now, uk athletics are going to look at the findings of their own panel in 2015 that said there was no reason to remove athletes from the programme. Despite claims that salazar had broken anti doping rules. The second test against new zealand starts tonight. But england wicket keeper, jos buttler, could miss out with a back problem. Ollie pope is ready to keep wicket in his absence. He last took the gloves in february, when he was playing for the england lions. Hes already in the side and kent batsman, zak crawley, could make his debut should buttler fail to prove his fitness. England lost by an innings in the first test and the cpatain knows that their batting has to improve. In terms of when we say about long, it doesnt mean we have to block it for three days and hope that that means for three days and hope that that mea ns we for three days and hope that that means we will get a big score. It means means we will get a big score. It means reading the situation and making good decisions for long periods of time, which allows you to about long. In the way i will do thatis about long. In the way i will do that is very different to rory burns. Everyone has their own way of doing it. Its just finding that fit around the situations you find yourself in. Manchester united still losing 2 1 in kazakhstan. Well have more for you in sportsday at 6. 30pm. Of course we will have a lot more, we always do when it comes to sport. Thank you. Lets get more on our top story. The Police Commander in charge on the day of the Hillsborough Disaster has been found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. David duckenfield, whos 75, was cleared after a seven week retrial at Preston Crown court. Lets talk now to professor phil scraton sat on the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which reported in 2012. Hejoins me on the phone now. Good afternoon, thanks for being with us on bbc news at 5pm. Can i have your reaction to todays news . Having worked with the families for 30 years, the reaction i would have is for the families and survivors i know they will be hugely shocked and disappointed that we have gone all this period of time. Weve had a range of different inquiries and investigations, including our own independent panel. And 25 serious criticisms leveled against authorities. Yet today, after a second trial, a jury has found on the evidence that it heard and the presentation of that evidence, that David Duckenfield was not guilty. And i think it is an important issue to say that not talking about David Duckenfield directly, but talking about the case in its entirety, that we can have have 30 years of this trauma and pain that has been inflicted upon victims and survivors, and we get to a situation where nobody will be found guilty for any misdemeanor relating to the actual disaster itself. This does not sit well alongside and unlawfully killed verdict. And it does not sit well alongside the amount of expense that weve gone through, the state has gone through, to actually recommend prosecutions, and then to have those prosecutions whittled down, and then to have a not guilty verdict. We must always respect the verdict of a court, they heard the evidence and theyve made a decision. But i think that the issueis a decision. But i think that the issue is bigger than that, more significant than that. And it is about the families suffering all this time, receiving and unlawfully killed verdict, and nobody being held culpable whatsoever. The thing that will certainly strike many people who have been probably not following this case in detail, but are very conscious of the name hillsborough and all it symbolises. Your panel was very detailed and made lots of recommendations. I wonder if i may leave what happens dont ever happen after the day of hillsborough, and you may want to respect that process, i know. But in terms of what happened on the day in the immediate aftermath, the terrible suffering of the people there what do you think are the lessons of hillsborough . God hopes we never see a lessons of hillsborough . God hopes we never see a similar instant again, but in terms of the mechanics of justice working . Again, but in terms of the mechanics ofjustice working . I think the lessons in terms of the mechanics of justice is a very interesting point that you make. We need to have fair and speedy resolutions to cases. The first prosecutions came ten years after the disaster, and that was far after the disaster, and that was far a whole period of obedience. Then we went to the second inquest. The second prosecutions come 20 years after the disaster. The whole purpose of ourjustice system is that it purpose of ourjustice system is thatitis purpose of ourjustice system is that it is fair and just, and most importantly, it is speedy. One of the major issues in relation to the trials have been the fact that so many people who were involved on the day so many of those people have died, so many who would have had responsibility for what went wrong at hillsborough have died. And i think that when you get to that situation, and what weve seen in other historic long cases where people who are culpable dont even stand trial it does almost smack ofa stand trial it does almost smack of a situation where the only people who stand trial are those who are still alive. And i think it is so important that we learn the lesson from hillsborough that we must have appropriate and speedy justice. From hillsborough that we must have appropriate and speedyjustice. To this day i dont know why on earth the Crown Prosecution Service and the Crown Prosecution Service and the dpp in the first place didnt consider there was sufficient evidence to pursue a case against a range of people and institutions at the time. It has taken the hillsborough panel, which was 20 yea rs hillsborough panel, which was 20 years down the tracks over 20 yea rs years down the tracks over 20 years a new inquest which was 25 yea rs years a new inquest which was 25 years down the tracks. It has taken that to actually get us to a point where people have been charged. Whatever the merits of those charges, what is really important is that that is hardly speedy justice. And i think that that is the real pain, the pain and suffering of the families who have lived through that, waded through that, and then today are left in a situation where, in relation to what happened on that day, nobody will be held accountable. Professor, thank you very much for speaking to us on bbc news today. More on that story on the 6pm news coming up next. Back now to the general election, and throughout the campaign bbc news is reporting from ten parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. Today were in cheltenham, and Martine Croxall is there. Good afternoon to you. Hello, thank you very much. Yes, thats right bbc news is looking closely at the places where the election could be won and lost. We are visiting ten parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. Today, we re in cheltenham, which is in gloucestershire. If you touch the walls in this room, they are warm because the water gets pumped up from the ground to be heated. This seat has been held by the conservatives since 2015, and is bordered by two other constituencies, also belonging to the tories. The conservatives took cheltenham four years ago with a swing of 10 from the liberal democrats, who had held the seat for 23 years. But the liberal democrats will be hoping to regain the seat this year the conservatives have a majority ofjust over 2,500. Our correspondent fiona lamdin has been speaking to people in the chances of lib dems chances. You see, cinderella, you dont need an indication. Its dress rehearsal here for cheltenhams christmas pa nto. But this is not the only event in town. Currently, the seat is held by the conservatives, but its predicted to be one of the closest battles as the liberal democrats fight to take it back. Good afternoon, everyman theatre box office. And aside from Opening Night here, backstage, its all the theatre are talking about. So at home at the moment, theres a huge conversation im having with my partner about tactical voting. Im just persuaded them to vote for lib dem this time because i feel a vote for another party would be a wasted vote. Theres a lot of signs up from people who are clearly supporting the lib dems. I think theres a lot of passion and a lot of feeling that it would be nice to go back to being a lib dem constituency. And last night, we saw this first hand. Im calling for the local liberal democrats. You are, youre going to vote lib dem . Anything to keep the tories out. Right, yes, get the tories out. It was cold and wet, but the lib dem effort was out in force. Im building during the days. So at night when i come home, its either canvassing, folding leaflets, delivering them, just busy all of the time. And im not alone. You know, theres a whole crew and were well organised. It does feel like weve got a chance. The real worry is its going to be really tight. Actually unseating an incumbent mp is no mean task. You know, we need to work our socks off to get over the line and win this seat. Well, the pressure is certainly on here. Cheltenham is a lib dem target seat. Its number six on their list. A few streets away, the Cheltenham Skittles League are in play tonight. Ive always voted conservative and ive seen nothing thats going to prompt me to vote anything different this year. 57 of this town voted to remain in the eu. So will the lib dem promise to revoke article 50 persuade conservative voters . All the parties, they cant decide amongst themselves. So i dont feel strongly enough to vote lib dem only because i want to stay in europe. So im still going to vote for the party i normally vote for. Do you you feel that theyre working quite hard here in cheltenham . Yeah, i can see that theyre working hard over the country, i think. But theyre not going to persuade you . No, not me. Not me personally. With two weeks to go, the whole town is poised to see who will be left standing. Fiona lamdin, bbc news. And heres a full list of the candidates standing in cheltenham. If you want to find out whos standing in your constituency, theyre all on the bbc website, thats bbc. Co. Uk news, or on the bbc news app. Thank you very much. Lets return to the general election, and in the past borisjohnson has declined to say if he ll subject himself to an interview by the bbcs andrew neil, who is interviewing all the leaders of the main Political Parties. Labour said the Prime Minister was running sca red afterjeremy corbyn appeared on the programme on tuesday. The prime minster has been speaking to our Political Correspondent ben wright. I will have all sorts of interviews with all sorts of people. And here i am, being interviewed by you. Im sure active discussions are taking place about future interviews with many people. Weve been talking for five minutes, but will you agree to a proper interview with andrew neil on the bbc before polling day . Im sure i will be having all sorts of interrogations and inquisitions from all sorts of people. Sit down and stand up. Prime minister, this is a big interview. All the other leaders have agreed to do it. Will you join them in being interviewed by andrew neil on the bbc before election day . Well, i dont want to preempt any discussions that may be taking place. But ive no doubt that conversations going on about all sorts of interviews with all sorts of different people, and i very much look forward to their result. No name passed his lips, which i guess is one way of avoiding the subject. In Northern Ireland, the dup has launched its manifesto. The party, which supported the conservatives during most of the last parliament, says its staunchly opposed to a Customs Border being created between Northern Ireland and Great Britain part of the revised brexit deal negotiated by borisjohnson. The leader Arlene Foster said that the number of democratic unionists elected would determine the future shape and direction of the united kingdom, and they would continue to try to change the Prime Ministers brexit deal if borisjohnson remains in number ren. The deal, obviously, that is there at the moment is not acceptable. And everyone across Northern Ireland knows the reasons for that. Certainly, unionism, as nigel has said, is united in relation to our rejection of the boris deal and therefore it needs to be change. You can find out what each party is promising on the issues that matter to you by using our general election policy guide which helps you compare the parties policies. Find that at bbc. Co. Uk news or on the bbc news app. Net migration has fallen to its lowest level in nearly six years. In the year tojune, 212,000 more people moved to the uk than left it. The office for National Statistics says the figures are largely due to a fall in the number of people coming here to work from the eu. Our home affairs correspondent, sarah corker reports. The fendlands in eastern england, home to some of the nations most fertile farm land and this area has long been a destination for migrants looking for work in the fields and factories. Supermarkets and us, the customers, want fresh vegetables all year round. And its tough, physical work. Farmers say they are finding it harder to get the number of people they need to meet the growing demand. There is a shortage of capable skilled workers out there and we are all competing for those workers. This farmer relies on eu workers to pick and pack his leeks. 85 of his employees are eastern european. Straight after the brexit vote in 2016, we saw a marked drop. I think the workers are very unsure whether they are welcome, what their status is going to be, even those who are permanently here now. But now we are finding year on year since then thathe availability of capable workers is dropping. And even now, we are about 12 short of what we need. In the 12 months tojune this year, an estimated 118,000 more eu nationals moved to the uk then left. That is actually the lowest level for 16 years. There has been a fall in people coming to the uk for work, particularly from countries like poland, latvia, Czech Republic and hungary. In contrast, non eu net migration has gradually increased since 2013. When the economy does well, we tend to see more people coming in. When it is not doing so well or when there is a lot of uncertainty, like there is at the moment, we see fewer and fewer. So it is really difficult to predict, for example, if you kept Free Movement in place, what eu migration would look like in five or ten years from now. Wisbech in cambridgeshire has seen high levels of immigration. Leonardo arrived three months ago from portugal. Hes here to study. The course i am doing will give a lot of opportunities on the job area. And if everything goes right, i think i can have a good job and then come back to portugal. In fact, since 2016, the numbers choosing to study in the uk have gradually increased, while immigration for work, especially in the food industry, has dramatically fallen. Sarah corker, bbc news, cambridgeshire. The family of the Television Chef gary rhodes have revealed he died from a head injury. In a statement, they said the 59 year old collapsed at his home in dubai on tuesday evening, before being taken to hospital suffering from a bleed on the brain. Theres a call for supermarkets to increase the price of the plastic bag for life to 70p. Environmental campaigners say the move is necessary because one and a half billion of the carriers were bought in the uk in the last year thats 5a bags per household. Even though single use bags are no longer sold by many supermarkets, the amount of Plastic Waste from the stores went up last year to more than 900,000 tonnes. Environmentalists say a plastic bag should be used at least four times for there to be a positive environmental impact. The supermarkets say theyre tackling waste by reducing Plastic Packaging on their own brand products. Andy moore reports. It has been hailed as a huge success, the law requiring supermarkets to charge for every single use plastic bag. But are we just swapping one bad habit for another . Environmental groups would like to see the ice for a back to life raised to at least 70p. I only personally use it if ive forgotten my bag. I dont know how much an increase in the price would change behaviour. Theres so many cotton and jute bags out there, nobody needs to be using plastic ones and if they are going to get thrown away anyhow, lets produce less of them and use other alternatives. Currently we dont reuse them because they are only 10p. However, if there were increased to 70p, then we would definitely be reusing them more. Sainsburys recently doubled their charge for more durable bags from 10p to 20p, and got quite a lot of stick from some of their customers for that. Bag for life is a good thing if its being used for life, as the name suggests. But our figures show that these are just being used for a week, if that, by a lot of customers. The low price means that theres not the incentive for people to reuse. And theres also issues with biodegradable plastics. They dont always break down in the natural environment, so they can cause just as much harm as a conventional plastic. Environmental groups say bags for life are usually bigger and contain more plastic. It is part of the reason why overall plastic use in supermarkets is actually growing. But the supermarkets say they are aware of the problem, and are doing their best to tackle it. People arent using them so much, they are using them for a week and the weight of these bags is three times more, so actually in some cases we tripled the amount of plastic insert circulation and its an unintended consequence and in hackney we trialled the first plastic bag free supermarket where we are only selling paper bags, and that trail has gone really well and its something we are looking to roll out next year. Lidl, for example, is stopping selling bags for life in its welsh stores, and will do so in the rest of the uk if the experiment works. Andy moore, bbc news. Sophia standing by to give you more on the 6pm news with the news today that David Duckenfield, the match commander on the afternoon of the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989, has been found not guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. Lets ta ke manslaughter by gross negligence. Lets take a look at the weather prospects at the mat this evening with helen. Good evening. Weve had certainly a very wet autumn indeed for some part of the country, but not for all parts of the country. But we are changing, weve seen that transition starting today to drier weather, colder weather. But at least there will be some sunshine so we are changing our month and whether time. And it is all because we have this cold arctic air filtering self, pushing lower pressure to scandinavia and keeping the system mostly at bay, that High Pressure bringing the drier weather over the coming days. It is never plain sailing we still have our weather front with us and southern areas, allowing ice to form. Because temperatures are expected to tumble away to well below freezing and many parts. Still some patchy rain in the south, keeping temperatures largely above freezing, but anywhere from the myth midlands northwards will have a colder night with widespread frost, icy patches the showers will continue not just tonight frost, icy patches the showers will continue notjust tonight put into tomorrow. And they will be wintry over the hills, about 200 metres. Potentially across the North York Moors as well. Otherwise tomorrow, away from the southwest, it looks like a lovely day. I and cold first thing. Temperatures wont do much better than 5 6dc. But given we are largely rain free that will bea we are largely rain free that will be a relief to many. This weather system is winding itself up for saturday. Overnight into saturday, really cold weather and widespread frost, even more than the coming night, which means ice but probably more in the way of fog as we head into saturday morning. Saturday, again we have that High Pressure with us on day two, hopefully mostly dry weather except in the southwest where we have this low pressure winding itself. It looks as though it will limit itself to the southwest of england, south wales, and later southeastern england. Giving us more rain and a bit of wintering us over the hills with a strong easterly wind. But away from the south and west for many areas, it looks dry and bright with fewer showers on saturday compared with friday. Hopefully that low pressure moves away. Friday. Hopefully that low pressure moves away. Not great news for central parts of europe where it has been exceptionally wet. But High Pressure will keep things largely dry on saturday and sunday. Obviously under that High Pressure, a bit of mist and fog, which we need to clear which will take a long time this time of year. But once it does, we got some crisp sunshine coming through, 4 7dc. I can promise it will be dryer but not warmer. Again, beyond that, dry and chilly weather to come. When the rain returns, it will return to where it should be this time of year in the north and west. So back to the climactic average west. So back to the climactic average climatic average. Have a very good evening. Thirty years after the Hillsborough Disaster, the Police Commander in charge on the day is found not guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 liverpool fans. David duckenfield was in charge of the fa cup semifinal in april 1989. He ordered an exit gate to the stadium to be opened after crowds built up outside leading to a crush on the terraces. The families of the 96 fans who died have campaigned for justice for decades. Today many of them left the court in tears. Who put the 96 in their graves . Who is accountable for 96 people unlawfully killed . What is accountable for 96 people unlawfully killed . What a disgrace this has been