and plymouth. Good afternoon. Efir haw h5 and plymouth. Further north, this is bbc news. Im ben brown. Cardiff and plymouth. Further north, highs of 7 8 c. Towards the weekend, the headlines the European Union lays out plans to keep road and air travel saturday promises something a little running with the uk brighter. Heavy rain and strong if theres no brexit deal. The two sides say they will keep winds for sunday. Negotiating until sunday. It is difficult. We are willing to grant access this is bbc news. To the Single Market the headlines to our british friends, the eu lays out plans its the largest single to keep road and air travel market in the world, running with the uk in case theres no brexit deal. But the conditions have to be fair. Both sides say they will keep negotiating until sunday. We will leave no stone unturned. It is difficult. We would like a deal if its possible but were not going to sacrifice the basic points we are willing to grant access to the Single Market of democratic principle. To our british friends. Secondary schools and colleges in wales will move to online its the largest Single Market in the world, but the conditions learning from monday in an attempt have to be fair. To reduce the transmission of coronavirus. We are going to leave no stone unturned. We work like a deal if possible but we are not going to sacrifice the basic rights of democratic
principle. Uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries from january 1st because of brexit and coronavirus. A catalogue of failures in Maternity Care, over 18 years, is revealed at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. The number of people waiting more than a year for routine surgery in england has risen to its highest level since 2008. An experimental rocket belonging to elon musks Spacex Company crashes and burns on landing. The billionaire calls it a rapid unscheduled disassembly. The European Commission has published measures to ensure planes and lorries can keep moving
between the eu and the uk in the event that no trade deal is agreed. Its also suggested a one year extension for fishing access which it says will protect coastal communities on both sides of the channel. Downing street says large gaps remain between the uk and the eu, despite the Prime Ministers three hour dinner with the eu chief ursula von der leyen last night. Both sides say that negotiations to strike a post brexit Free Trade Agreement will continue until sunday after which they say a Firm Decision must be made on the future. Heres our Political Correspondent leila nathoo. Keep your distance. 0k, mask on. Still far apart, still gaps to bridge. The verdict from both sides after borisjohnson had dinner with the European Commission president ursula von der leyen in brussels last night. Face to face for the first time in months to see if compromise could be reached. There was no breakthrough, but the talks are still on. Now the uk and eus chief negotiators have been given until sunday to decide once and for all whether a deal is possible. We need some point of finality on the negotiations to give a very clear line of sight and more certainty for those preparations, whether theyre at the ports, with the businesses, with the logistics and the transport providers. We will leave no stone unturned. We would like a deal if its possible. But we are not going to sacrifice the basic points of democratic principle. Eu leaders are gathering in brussels this afternoon but brexit isnt formally on the agenda. The uk thinks the eu needs to move significantly to enable progress. The eu feels the same. We are willing to grant access to the Single Market to our british friends. Its the largest Single Market in the world. But the conditions have to be fair. They have to be fair for our workers and
for our companies, and this fine balance of fairness has not been achieved so far. The two sides are still stuck on long standing points of disagreement over fishing rights, rules for businesses operating in each others markets and how any deal would be enforced. With no guarantee the differences can be overcome, the eu has published its plans for minimising disruption in the event of no deal. It proposes rolling over current arrangements between the uk and eu for air and road connections for six months, and continuing reciprocal access for fishing boats to each others waters for another year. In the commons this morning, labour said businesses urgently needed certainty about what was coming down the track. There is a sense of huge dismay as we all wanted to hear significant progress, but we heard more about the Prime Ministers meal than we did about his deal. In fact, we have not heard from the Prime Minister at all, even though he was supposed to be taking charge of
these negotiations. On sunday we will have just 18 days to go until the end of the transition period. How has it come to this . Brexit crunch points have come and gone but decision time is fast approaching. The negotiators have just days to find a new route through well trodden ground. The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney says there is increasing pessimism and frustration within the European Union. He was speaking to my colleague Lucy Hockings a little earlier today. Clearly there had been hopes that the dinner last night between ursula von der leyen and borisjohnson would have resulted in at least a suggestion of a breakthrough but that clearly hasnt happened. And so instead what they have decided to do is ask their negotiating teams to re engage but they have also said i think for the first time a very
definitive timeline and they have both agreed now that there needs to be clarity and a Firm Decision, the language is, on sunday, so we have a couple of days now to find a way of closing gaps that are really quite big in the context of the difference between the two sides and there is an increasing pessimism within the European Union but also increasing frustration that it has come to this. Because de eus position has been consistent and clear for the last 12 months, certainly since the Withdrawal Agreement was agreed, and the insistence on the eu side that there has to be free but also fair competition between these two big economies is something which is not new. It doesnt threaten british sovereignty. Dominic robert said this morning that a level Playing Field issues are the key stumbling blocks at the moment and he says the eu has hardened its position in
recent days dominic raab said this morning. I dont know where he is coming from on that. A year ago both sides agreed in writing on a political declaration that there had to be an agreement on a level Playing Field and fair competition, between the eu and the uk, if they we re between the eu and the uk, if they were going to put a trade agreement in place without quotas and tariffs, and so unfortunately the british side is seeing this as somehow undermining the sovereignty which is not the case at all, and the eu recognises that the uk outside of the eu is a sovereign independent country and we respect that, but if you are going to have free trade and the absence of tariffs between two economies next door to each other, its not unreasonable to ask for what has already been agreed in principle, which is that we would have a level Playing Field for fair competition now and in the future. Really that is all the eu is looking for and for some reason the british
government sees that as an undermining of british sovereignty and the choices that a British Government in the future may not be able to make. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent helen catt. You could almost hear the frustration in simon cove news tone and that again reminds us that there arejust so and that again reminds us that there are just so many issues yet to be resolved coveney. Are just so many issues yet to be resolved coveney. Yes, it will frustration from the uk side that we are where we are so frustration from the uk side that we are where we are so close to the end of the transition period and there are major differences remaining in three key areas, fishing rights, how to police any deal and it is on the level Playing Field. Those are the shared rules that both sides will agree to observe once the uk has left the Single Market and the customs union, and the issues within that, and the key thing about that is the phrase you heard simon
coveney say, now and in the future, and it is what happens in the future that seems to be the big sticking point. Borisjohnson that seems to be the big sticking point. Boris johnson in that seems to be the big sticking point. Borisjohnson in the house of commons suggested that what the eu is asking the uk to sign up to is that going forward, if the eu changes any of its rules and standards the uk would be expected to follow suit, or the eu could choose to retaliate in some other area, that was how borisjohnson are set out their position, but for the uk government they say that there is a red line because the point of brexit is about the uk being able to set its own rules and not being tied to the eu rules in future, so that is the difference, but for the eu it is the difference, but for the eu it is about trying to preserve the Single Market, so they are quite fundamental disagreements. This isnt about dotting some teas, this isnt about dotting some teas, this is about a much more fundamental view of what both sides want from these negotiations. Striking that these negotiations. Striking that the commission is coming up with contingency plans and saying they wa nt to contingency plans and saying they
want to put out some parameters here to keep things physically moving if there is no deal. Of course, at the uk government has put out its contingency plans sometime ago, which is why we have had lorry parks built in kent, and the fact the eu have done this now, interesting timing, because they have said sunday is the day, the deadline, if it looks like theres a deal maybe it looks like theres a deal maybe it could rolled on a few more days to iron out details but theres a sense that sunday will be the moment that if a deal is not going to be done that is when we will find out, and because that doesnt mean on the ist of january the uk will be out of the Single Market and the customs union, somethings will need to be in place to allow things like air travel, road travel, to continue, but the fact they have chosen to release them this morning is quite interesting timing. We have to see where the negotiations get to in the next few days but at the moment neither side is sounding particularly optimistic. Helen, thanks forjoining us. Uk travellers could be banned from travelling to eu countries from the first of january, as unrestricted travel to those countries is set to expire next year, and pandemic travel restrictions would start to apply. Our Business Reporter Simon Browning explained more. When the transition period ends we become a third party nation in our relationship with the eu and there are currently severe coronavirus restrictions on travel about entering into the eu and only essential travel is permitted, and only eight countries are allowed at the moment to enter the eu for the essential basis because they have low Coronavirus Infection rates. Dominic raab said this morning eu Member States would likely decide the rules to protect against infection and remember the uk has had travel corridors in place with lots of countries over the summer, travel corridors with spain, but they have changed because infection rates have also changed, but it is thought they could come back and that individual countries could put
travel corridors in place with the uk like spain and the canary islands, and british travellers are very lucrative and essential for those countries economies. Easyjet explained they believe individual countries will operate like this. But it is no surprise that these shock suggestions are coming up, the negotiations are still ongoing discussions are but the french minister has ratcheted up the pressure ever so minister has ratcheted up the pressure ever so slightly by visiting the French Border and explaining that uk travellers could need visas if they intend to stay in europe for longer than 90 days once we go into this new phase of our relationship with the eu, so again at this race on the negotiations and hopefully it will be again this relies on the negotiations and hopefully it will be part of the deal. We are told the test and trace turnaround times are improving, that
is what we are hearing. 65 of all in person tests were turned around within 2a hours and that compares to 54 the previous week, so up 11 percentage points, so 65 of tests turnaround within 2a hours. Its up considerably from mid october although still below a high point, the best ever turnaround figures we re the best ever turnaround figures were at the end ofjune, apparently, 93 , but they are improving. May be a bit more on that, on test and trace, later on. Britains Economic Growth slowed to 0. 4 in october as covid restrictions were tightened. Manufacturing saw business improve, but other sectors including hospitality saw activity sharply down. Business groups are warning it will take at least two years for the economy to recover fully even if a post brexit trade deal is done. Heres our economics
correspondent andy verity. Its not usually manufacturers that drive the uk economy forward. But in october, they saw they saw rapid growth in activity of nearly 7 , driven by pent up demand for cars. This maker of Precision Instruments in port talbot branched out to medical masks and face coverings in the summer, and kept growing as the welsh Circuit Breaker began. The business saw, you know, i think, a quieting down in the first lockdown, but then sort of a quite strong recovery. And thats continued into 0ctober, november, december. You know, still, its a little bit behind the levels of last year, but it is certainly very positive news compared to how we were looking at things back in the first lockdown. The Services Sector also grew, led by demand for health care, both linked and not linked to the virus. But as the system of tiers and the 10pm curfew came in,
hotels and restaurants welcomed fewer customers, and the hardest hit sectors, the creative and entertainment industries, and, above all, travel, were still doing less than half their normal business. As a travel industry, you know, we have seen an industry that has been decimated over the last nine months with unfortunately no means of recovery. So what we have not been able to do is play our part in that Economic Growth. 0ur numbers stand at around 90 down, so we are trading around 90 down on where we would expect to be at this time of year. Since october, the Circuit Breaker in wales, tougher tiers in scotland and the november lockdowns in Northern Ireland and england have again suppressed economic activity. Business groups warn a full recovery will now take years, and a no deal brexit could put it back even further. This is the shape of the economy this year. Less of a v, more like a nike tick. And activity is still 8 below where it was before the pandemic struck. The official prediction is it will take another two years to get back up to that level. And if theres a no deal brexit,
it could take until 202a. We absolutely do need to get that deal. That is what will give businesses the confidence to go out there and invest. On our estimation, if we were to fall into a no deal, that could take more than i off our growth over the next couple of years. With trade already suffering, the office for budget responsibilities warn the damage done by a no deal brexit could be twice as large as the cbi predicts. And while right now, the damage done by covid is even bigger, its the hit to trade of a no deal that the economic patient would take the longest to recover from. Andy verity, bbc news. Lets speak to our business presenter sima kotecha. These figures were out before the latest lockdown so what can we expect the impact of that to be . We could see another shift . Absolutely, november is likely to be worse because that is when the second lockdown was implemented, lots of businesses were then forced to close, but lets rewind to 0ctober to close, but lets rewind to october and remember gdp measures the value of goods and services produced by the uk economy, its a good indicator of how healthy our economy is, and every month we get a stat that tells us how much the economy grew or shrank in that period and today the 0ns gave the 0ctober stat. In october the economy grew by just 0ctober stat. In october the economy grew byjust 0. 4 , a very small amount, but economists had feared it was going to be a lot less than that, and to give you some context, in september the economy grew by 1. 196 in september the economy grew by 1. 1 but as we say, going forward, november is likely to be a lot worse, in october businesses were not forced to close down, but there were strict restrictions in place in certain parts of the country, and there was the 10pm curfew in bars
and there was the 10pm curfew in bars a nd restau ra nts there was the 10pm curfew in bars and restaurants which meant there were fewer people going, and remember there was a lot of talk about the rate of coronavirus going up about the rate of coronavirus going up so about the rate of coronavirus going up so consumer about the rate of coronavirus going up so Consumer Confidence amongst some people were slow. All of that meant the economy only grew by 0. 4 and now the cbi is saying that we are very and now the cbi is saying that we are very likely not to see our economy the same size as it was before the pandemic until the end of 2022, and if we get a no deal which businesses are anxiously waiting to find out whether there is a deal or ano find out whether there is a deal or a no deal, a lot of them have told me this morning they are very worried about that because some of them face tariffs on their products that they are exporting. If there is ano that they are exporting. If there is a no deal, the cbi has said today that the economy wont go back to its pre pandemic levels until 2024, and at the moment the economy is 8 smaller than a pre pandemic levels, so asi
smaller than a pre pandemic levels, so as i said businesses watching very closely how the next few days unfold, but you rightly say that novembers figures are likely to be a lot more dismal than they have beenin a lot more dismal than they have been in october. Because we are talking so much about brexit, worth reiterating the point, so if there is no deal economists are predicting late 2024, you said . Absolutely, they think the economy will be slowed down even more, you heard in the report, the cbi saying they are incredibly concerned and that productivity could go down by around 196, productivity could go down by around i , and theres a lot of anxiety amongst businesses because there is amongst businesses because there is a real waiting game going on at the moment and they dont know whether there will be tariffs on their products and if there are tariffs that could feed into the Consumer Market because that means products could be more expensive for us so there is a lot of waiting going on and just listening to the news, we get the feeling that in brussels and
westminster a no deal is more likely at the moment, that is the mood music we are all hearing. For businesses theres a sense of trepidation and anxiety as they wait to find out the of that. Thanks for joining us. Joe anderson, the mayor of liverpool, has announced he will step aside from the role following his arrest by detectives investigating allegations of bribery and witness intimidation. Mr anderson said it was a painful shock when he was arrested on friday along with four other men as part of a Merseyside Police investigation into building and development contracts. In a statement he said he had always done what he believed was best for the city. A review into maternity failures at an nhs trust has found that mothers were sometimes blamed for their babys death, that women were denied appropriate care, and that lessons werent learned
when things went wrong. The report says a catalogue of failures occured at the shrewsbury and Telford Trust between 2000 and 2018. It has now been given 27 changes to implement, with a further seven recommendations for all Maternity Units in england. 0ur social Affairs Correspondent Michael Buchanan reports. For two decades this Hospital Trust contributed to the avoidable deaths of women and babies, and repeatedly denied they were at fault. Today, the harm they caused was revealed, often in painful detail. You read the story of a baby and it died. The story of another baby, and it died. The weight of that, reading through that, i physically felt sick. These are the two families who persuaded the government to launch this review,
each compelled to do so by the avoidable death of a child. Kate Stanton Davis died in 2009. Pippa griffiths died in 2016. They need to own the failure. Instead of saying, we are sorry and putting the same im sorry statement out, and then saying, but we do deliver all these healthy babies, that is not acceptable. The review found that mothers were blamed for the deaths of their babies. There was a reluctance to carry out cesarean sections, often with catastrophic consequences. 13 women died in labour or shortly afterwards, higher than the england average. Some deaths were not investigated. We believe in the importance of this review. I will be honest, there have been days when ive met family after family, and i meet them privately in shrewsbury where i have sat down and cried. Because as a fellow human
being, you cannot do anything other than that. The trust wouldnt take questions today but did say theyd implement all 27 recommendations. This is a harrowing read and it sets out poor care across a number of decades. As the chief executive of the trust now, i want to say personally and on behalf of the trust that we are very sorry for all of the pain and distress caused to these families. The full report into all 1,862 cases before the review will be published next year. Until then, these families will continue to fight for change. When your children say to you, why are you doing this again, mum . Why do you put yourself through this . Its because we dont want any other families to go
through the pain that we have. Michael buchanan with that report. Shortly i will be talking to another pa rent shortly i will be talking to another parent who lost their child at that trust. The health minister, Nadine Dorries, has expressed her profound sympathies to families involved. She has been expressing her profound sympathies and we can hear from her now. The report makes clear there were serious failings in Maternity Services at the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital nhs trust and i would like to express my profound sympathies for what the families have gone through, and there can be no greater pain for a parent than to lose a child. And im acutely aware
that nothing i can say today will lessen the horrendous suffering that these families have been through and continue to suffer. However, i would like to give my thanks to all of the families who agreed to come forward and assist in this inquiry. The team held conversations with over 800 families who have raised serious concerns about the care that they received. I know that its not been easy for them to revisit painful and distressing experiences. But through sharing their stories we can make sure that no family has to suffer the same pain in the future. From the same pain in the future. From the outset the inquiry wanted families to be central to their work, to the teams work, and for their voices to be heard. And im pleased that the families were able
to see the report first this morning, shortly before it was presented to parliament. I can assure them and members of this house that we are taking todays report very seriously. And that we expect the trust to act upon these recommendations immediately. That was Nadine Dorries in the commons, the health minister. We can talk now to Richard Stanton whos daughter kate died just six hours after her birth. Her case was one of 250 cases outlined in todays review. Before the birth of your daughter, did you have any concerns with you and your wife, going did you have any concerns with you and yourwife, going into did you have any concerns with you and your wife, going into the trust, using that trust . Did you have any qualms about what was to come . No,
we were as blind as any parent going into a Health Care Situation in terms of, we had no understanding of the trust, and there were warnings before kates birth, the two years before, by the authorities, that there were failings on monitoring there were failings on monitoring the babys there were failings on monitoring the ba bys heart there were failings on monitoring the babys heart rate correctly, but we had no idea that this trust would fail us and so many families in such a catastrophic way. I dont want you to have to relive something so painful but just to to have to relive something so painful butjust to try to have to relive something so painful but just to try to to have to relive something so painful butjust to try to enable the audience to understand, briefly, what happened in your case . Did you have immediate concerns once kate came into the world . Yes, we did, and in the final two weeks of my wifes pregnancy, she had a series
of reduced fee to movement and she was never risk assessed, but if she had been risk assessed reduced fatal movement. Rhiannon went on to give birth to the hospital and kate was born cold, pale and floppy and soon developed respiratory distress, and the midwife who is training was out of date, and the hospital she was born in had no operational policy, exasperated kates care or lack of care, and kate was finally airlifted by ambulance to be taken en route to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital but their helipad was closed and the helicopter was diverted on to Birmingham Childrens who dont take this kind of case and then finally to birmingham heartlands where kate was transported to, and myself and
my wife were not allowed or offered any transportation to take kate by any transportation to take kate by an ambulance so we had make our own way, after we were told she had just gone to birmingham, and we had no more information, and on route rhiannon collapsed and we had to called an ambulance, and we went to they went to the royal worcester hospital, and i then went to birmingham heartlands, only discovering where it was thanks to the satnav in my car, and then chording around frantically, saying, have you got my daughter . Calling around. Eventually a senior co nsulta nt around. Eventually a Senior Consultant called me back and said, yes, we have received kate, please can you get here as quickly as you can. I arrived at four oclock at Birmingham Hospital where at three minutes past four her cables and tubes were unplugged and she was
placed into my arms, six hours after she had been born, she died. Rhiannon was finally blue lighted to come from hospital to birmingham, but she wasnt there when kate died, so the additional trauma of that day is very full for us. Did you and your wife, in the days and weeks afterwards, did you receive any explanation, apology, understanding, what was forthcoming at all for you and your wife . We had to ask lots of questions because kate should have been a very healthy newborn baby and should have lived, her death was avoidable, that was found out at her inquest three yea rs was found out at her inquest three years later. I recall only days after we lost kate a Joyous Health
ca re after we lost kate a Joyous Health care worker ringing up saying i am coming to see your newborn baby, what is a good time to call and there had been no communication from this hospital to the Health Care Worker to say that kate had died. It wasnt until b got the findings of the autopsy or death certificate that we found out that there had been testing kates dna heart tissue to find out a few hospital could see that she died a natural death and to us we that she died a natural death and to us we had given no permission for her dna to be tested and that is when our lans her dna to be tested and that is when our la ns really her dna to be tested and that is when our lans really started to ring and we started to ask some questions. And that entered two to three months awaiting the death certificate we engaged with the ceo of the trust and he said go away there is nothing to see here. When
we finally reach where we are today many years later at as the work of you and your wife and one other couple in particular that have been so persistent in this, what goes through your mind . Do you feel now genuinely something will change that some lessons will have been learned . I think there has to be change. The reason there is 1862 families in need of you which folder port hopefully next year and 250 cases in the interim report is because families have not been listened to, that has been a lack of kindness and ca re that has been a lack of kindness and care and a tizzy. A tuner for many families to get some semblance of a nswe rs families to get some semblance of answers as to why the baby died and suffered horrific harm, scholes being crushed during delivery on the death of a mother and this report were streets there were 13 maternal
deaths in the period and it says in the report that some of those maternal deaths were not investigated. I think that is a very small snippet of some of the shocking findings in this report today. As nadine doris said earlier, there has to now be an assurance that these recommendations will be carried forward and will be implemented by this trust and also the recommendations that forgo nationwide to improve Maternity Care. We were told time and again by this trust that they had changed their practice and things were getting better. When at the griffiths approached us after the avoidable loss of their daughter per leg it was then that they gathered
forces and presented 23 cases to jeremy hunt. Today is bittersweet, but it is not the end of the road and that is a long way to go and there are many more cases to examine and the whole number of brave families that have come followed by this is a step on the way and if it isa this is a step on the way and if it is a small part of kates legacy that Maternity Care across this country will be improved by her loss then i and rhiannon are pleased by that. We can only thank you for being so open and honest. And reliving such a painful period and we wish you and your family all the best, thank you very much. Now its time for a look at the weather. A few of us have had the chance to see sunshine today but for most grey and drab, a lot of cloud and patchy
rain and through tonight the band of heathery rain from the west, behind it we will still have a lot of cloud, some cleaner breaks but one or two showers, some could be heavy and thundery for wales and the south west, not especially cold for the time of year. Enter tomorrow the rain to start off across the east, petering out in most places although eastern scotland with the flow of the north sea will see persistent rain through the day, if little bit of brightness from the west, lots of cloud and some showers which will be heavy. 1140 11 for london and the south come off it for the north. The weekend, saturday bright, heavy rains and strong winds for sunday. Hello this is bbc news, the headlines. The eu lays out plans to keep road and air travel running with the uk in case theres no brexit deal. Both sides say a Firm Decision over the talks should be made by sunday. Uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries from january 1st because of brexit and coronavirus. A catalogue of failures in Maternity Care, over 18 years, is revealed at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. The number of people waiting more than a year for routine surgery in england has risen to its highest level since 2008. An experimental rocket belonging to elon musks Spacex Company crashes and burns on landing. The billionaire calls it a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Sport now and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. Good afternoon. There are calls for an urgent review into how rugby players train as a number of ex professionals insist the sport has left them with permanent brain damage. An initial group of eight players including ex england player Michael Lipman who in his 40s is suffering from early onset dementia. My my symptoms about four years ago started to show with severe migraines and then two years ago they really developed into severe migraines, intolerable and then you have the obvious signs of Mental Health disorder, racial and anxiety but what i suffered at the moment is my inability to finish my sentence. The amok pressure and anxiety. Pressure and anxiety. I will sometimes struggle to finish a sentence or having a conversation even now i find quite difficult. Michael lipman speaking there one of the eight Rugby Union Players preparing actioon against the sports governing bodies. Meanwhiel Rugby Players Association chief Damian Hopley says training methods need to be addressed very quickly. Injuries occur during training so i think that has to be part of the opportunity address these things and look at what can we do to make the game safer as has been talked about and perhaps training protocols is something we need to address very quickly. Gregor townsend says hes honoured and privileged to sign a two Year Contract extension that will see him coach scotland at the 2023 world cup. Hes been in charge since 2017, and his six year tenure will make him scotlands longest serving head coach of the professional era. In that time hes won 22 and drawn one of his 40 tests at the helm. Its been confirmed that englands cricketers will tour india early next year for the countrys first series since the beginning of the pandemic. The first test will start on the 5th february in chennai. Before moving to ahmedabad for their first day night test in the country at the worlds biggest cricket ground. This will be followed by five t20s there and three one day internationals in pune. There were mixed fortunes for two english players in the opening match of the australian big bash twenty 20 tournament this morning. Surreys willjacks opened the innings for the hobart hurricanes , but he had a day to forget, faling for a second ball duck. Despite a poor start the hurricanes still made 178 for 8 from their 20 overs. Former england batsman james vince led the charge for the sydney sixers
with a rapid 67. But his dismissal triggered a collapse which saw hobart win the match by 16 runs. Neither side used their x factor substitutes, one of the new rule changes fro the competition its the final event of the European Tours race to dubai at the tour championship with Englands Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrell Hatton two shots off the lead after the first round. Frances victor perez leads on five under par knowing a win could see him end the year as the European Tour number one. Robert macintyre and Matthew Fitzpatrick are just a shot behind after opening rounds of 68. Tour leader patrick reed is one two under. Flags have been lowered to half mast at the Italian Football Federation headquarters in rome as a sign of respect for paolo rossi whos died aged 64. Rossi was the player of the tournament when italy won the world cup in 1982 scoring 6 goals himself including a hat trick against brazil. Uefa says all of Tonights Europa League matches would be preceded by a moment of silence in his honour. Thats all the sport for now. The number of patients in england waiting over a year for routine hospital care is now 100 times higher than before the pandemic. New figures out today show that nearly 163,000 people were waiting for treatment the highest number since 2008. The Royal College of surgeons says its a Real National crisis. 0ur Health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson reports. Julie and chris, just two of what are now tens of thousands of people who face long and often painful waits for treatment. Both have severe arthritis. Chris, a former care worker,
was due to have a hip replacement in march, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic and he says the wait has been unbearable. I am in constant pain, all through the night and all through the day. Im on painkillers and i know that if im sitting down or lying down, if i move, stand up or whatever, its going to get even worse. On a scale of one to ten i suppose it is nine. Julie is in so much pain shes had to give up her work in the nhs. Shes been waiting since january for operations to replace both her knees and says it has had a huge impact on her. I do understand, but all i would say is, you know, notjust talking about myself but other people in the same position, my pain cant wait. Even if they said to me, right, it will get done within the next three months, it is something to aim for, but every time you go
you get a shrug of the shoulders. Were sorry, we cant help. In february, before the pandemic really hit, around 1600 patients were still waiting more than 12 months for routine treatment in england. But by october this year, that had jumped to 163,000 patients, a staggering 100 fold increase. Surgeons are describing it as a Real National crisis, and a warning it will take considerable time to sort out. Its going to be two or three years minimum, isnt it . I think even if we were managing to, if you like, make the capacity work at its highest possible rate, maybe business as usual plus ten or 15 , thats still not going to get anywhere near solving the problem in a short time. The nhs in england says theres better news for cancer patients, with urgent checks and treatment now above normal levels. It is urging anyone concerned about their health to come forward,
but the latest figures from the Second National lockdown suggest people have once again stayed away from a e, raising concerns that hundreds of thousands may be missing on treatment. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. At 5pm of the Health Secretary matt hancock will be hosting a downing street press conference, he will be joined by the press officer, it will come to you alive when it gets under way and you can watch it on bbc news. Lebanons investigating judge has charged caretaker Prime Minister hassan diab and three former ministers with negligence over augusts beirut port blast. The explosion killed 200 people
and destroyed much of the city. Officials have said the cargo of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical, was stored unsafely for years at the port, which lies in heart of the city. Our correspondent lina sinjab joins me from beirut. What do people there think about this investigation and how the government has handled this . The level of frustration and disappointment amongst the nepalese people will make them have room for the lebanese people will make them have little room for excitement about the decision today, charging the caretaker Prime Minister hassan diab and three other ministers. The people of lebanon on wanting a
response to the explosion, an investigation immediately after the explosion took place. At the time the government says they would have issued a report in five days about the explosion and that report is yet to come out with real findings. The Statement Today is basically accusing or charging caretaker Prime Minister hassan diab with negligence and saying there has been so many written reports sent to the government warning about these explosive dangerous materials are stored at the port and safely stored but no action was taken. Many lebanese believe the responsibility is not only in the hands of the government but beyond, it is neither sponsor ballot of everyone within the political system and Security System in lebanon. They want the president , the speaker of the parliament to be held responsible, they want everyone who controls the
security and safety in this country to be questioned and harold responsible for the damage to the country and the threat and security of many families. Thank you. Authorities in the United States have launched a major lawsuit against facebook. Officials have accused the social media giant of stifling competition when it bought whatsapp and instagram which it could now be forced to sell. Facebook insists that the deals were all fully approved. New yorks attorney general is leading a coalition of 48 states suing the company and explained why they decided to take action. For nearly a decade, facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals, snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users. By using its vast troves of data and money, facebook has squashed or hindered what the company
perceived as potential threats. They have reduced choices for consumers. They stifled innovation. And they degraded privacy protections for millions of americans. Greater Manchester Police has been accused of letting down vulnerable victims of crime by failing to record a fifth of offences. The Police Inspectorate also says it is deeply troubled that some cases are being closed without a proper investigation. Earlier i spoke to our home Affairs Correspondent tom symonds. This is an eye catching figure, 80,000 cases, what the Police Inspectorate is saying are not being reported by greater Manchester Police, one in five cases, as you say, one in four violent crimes. So theres a big problem there. The inspectors say whats going on . Well, a lot of these cases relate to domestic violence, stalking and harassment. And those are cases where sometimes it can be quite unclear
whether an allegation has been made and an allegation can be withdrawn by the victim in the case. What the inspectorate says is that the police in Greater Manchester have not been doing a good job at tracking that recording when crime allegations are being withdrawn and when they stop investigating as a result. But there is a problem. And the inspector, zoe billingham, whos led this work, says its almost as though greater Manchester Police is flying blind. If you dont know where your crime hotspots are, your difficult, pubs turning out pointier where people are going to be fighting. If you dont know where most of you repeat offenders are because youve got such an incomplete view of crime in your area, then youre not going to be able to take preventative action. Its like trying to fly a plane with most of the instruments covered up. Its not going to work and im sure the public of manchester will understand. But if theres not a complete picture of crime in their area,
then theyre not being appropriately served by their police force. And greater Manchester Police says that they have actually started to address this with a long term plan, theyre building a centralised unit to handle the recording of crime. There is a new Computer System that works started earlier this year. But as it started, well, the pandemic started. And greater Manchester Police say that that has made it harder to recruit and train staff. An experimental rocket belonging to elon musks Spacex Company has exploded while attempting to land. The 16 storey high starship rocket was being tested as part of the companys plans to eventually carry people and cargo to the moon and mars. No one was on board. Tanya dendrinos reports. It looks like a scene from a hollywood blockbuster. But this fiery spectacle wasnt planned. Its the crash landing of the latest prototype of the spacex starship. Two, one, zero. Codenamed sn8, it was the crafts first attempt at a High Altitude flight test. Early on was smooth sailing for the uncrewed mission. It lifted off from the boca chica facility in texas on a brief flight tojust over 12km, achieving much of what it set out to do. Including a horizontal descent. But after a flip back into the vertical position for touchdown, things went a little awry. It might not have looked like it, but according to spacex ceo elon musk, the flight was a success, congratulating his team, saying, we got all the data we needed. His sights firmly set, tweeting, mars, here we come. Tanya dendrinos, bbc news. Professor tom pike is from Imperial College working on the Insight Mission currently operating on mars. What do you make of what we have just witnessed . That was i think one of the risks of the speed of progression that elon musk has for his great project that to put humans on the surface of mars. The speed of getting this done means that not all the tests are going to be successful and in particular this test was even worse than what you would expect to have in reality because this was such a short flight, just a few minutes long and yet it launched with a a lot of feel on board and that feel was not burned so when it
was getting back to earth essentially it was thrown up like a stone and came back down after getting up to 12 miles or so, it had to slow down with all that feel, nearly all that feel still on board which was more than generally you would be asking for a rocket to do effort was going to another planet for example. It worked going up, it was tested beyond its limits on the way down and we saw the results. When you talk about the speed at which the team is trying to do things, is that about pr points . They want to be first or . There is an impatience. Part of that, the pr of such an explosion in one sense the immediate pr seems poor but it actually shows the level of ambition that you want to move to testing so
quickly and you contrast that with the 50th anniversary of getting people to the moon and we havent gone any further in the intervening yea rs. Gone any further in the intervening years. I dont think anybody who saw the apollo landings would have said we are not even going to be back at the moon and 50 years so i think the sense of urgency has been building over the decades and elon musk is combining what is required for exploration and the commercial aspirations and reusability is a big pa rt aspirations and reusability is a big part of that which means getting them back down in one piece. It didnt work this time but it is all pa rt didnt work this time but it is all part of this progression that is going to be sending humans to mars and nasa have actually asked the elon musk how short a timetable can he deliver this. This is very much a work in progress and it is running sometimes before it can even walk. He used some interesting language to describe the way it broke up at the end but he was adamant that despite the way it ended that some lessons, useful lessons were still learned with this test. Is that valid . Will something have been learned . The ta ke something have been learned . The take off with all the feel on board didnt have the full complement of thrusters and those will be built up over time. But the fact that the launch went off for the first time to High Altitude is very important andi to High Altitude is very important and i think the landing, we know if we are going to go to mars we have to have the feel on mars to get back, we are not going to be landing with a full complement to be able to ta ke with a full complement to be able to take off and get back again. In fact we may want to make the feel on mars itself from the oxygen that is in the from breaking down the Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and nasa have a plan to do that next year
with their 2020 mission. You can see all these pieces being put together and they are not always going to fit first time and that is what we saw. Thank you. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben. Not the most inspiring weather picture across the uk today, weve had a lot of cloud around, that cloud has been producing a little bit of rain here and there. That was the scene for a weather watcher in 0xfordshire earlier on. There has been some brightness. This was Sutton Coldfield in the west midlands, some sunny spells. But generally we keep a lot of cloud through the rest of today, some patchy rain, some heavier rain, youll notice pushing in from the west and maximum temperatures generally between around six and 11 degrees. Now, as you go through this evening and tonight, this band of rain in the west will push its way eastward. Some of this rain will be pretty heavy behind it, some clear spells, generally quite a lot of cloud and some quite hefty showers, which could even be thundery across parts of wales and the south west. Not an especially cold night by any stretch with lows between four and nine degrees. So we go on into tomorrow. This band of rain will be affecting eastern areas. To start off, itll tend to clear away, although i think parts of eastern scotland will see quite a lot of rain continuing through the day. Further west, generally a lot of cloud. We will see some spells of sunshine, but equally the chance of one or two heavy showers. Not a particularly windy day for most places and a relatively mild one for the time of year, with highs between seven and 11 degrees. As we move into the start of the weekend, well have low pressure weather to start off. But this little bump in the isobars here, a ridge of High Pressure is going to start to nose its way so while we will begin with a lot of cloud and some patchy rain. We should see some brighter skies,
a break in the cloud working from the west as the day wears on. Temperatures again in that range between around eight and 11 degrees. But behind me, you can see more cloud gathering for the second half of the weekend. Weve got another area of low pressure approaching, frontal systems, which will bring some outbreaks of pretty heavy rain, some brisk winds. But as those winds start to push up from the south or the south west, were going to have a wedge of really mild air, quite a mild feeling day on sunday, particularly down towards the south, but with a lot of rain piling its way across the british isles, some snow over the very highest ground of scotland. Generally, it will be a windy day. Those are the average wind speeds. The gusts will be stronger than that, particularly in exposed spots, but relatively mild, particularly in the south, 12 or 13 degrees further north of eight or nine. Thats all from me for now. What was forthcoming at all for you and your wife . This is bbc news. Im jane hill. The headlines the eu lays out plans to keep road and air travel running with the uk in case theres no brexit deal. Both sides say they will keep negotiating until sunday. It is difficult. We are willing to grant access to the Single Market to our british friends. Its the largest Single Market in the world, but the conditions have to be fair. We are going to leave no stone unturned. We would like a deal if possible but we are not going to sacrifice the basic rights of democratic principle. Uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries from january 1st because of brexit and coronavirus. A catalogue of failures in maternity
care, over 18 years, is revealed at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. The number of people waiting more than a year for routine surgery in england has risen to its highest level since 2008. An experimental rocket belonging to elon musks Spacex Company crashes and burns on landing. The billionaire calls it a rapid unscheduled disassembly. The European Commission has published measures to ensure planes and lorries can keep moving between the eu and the uk in the event that no
trade deal is agreed. Its also suggested a one year extension for fishing access which it says will protect coastal communities on both sides of the channel. Downing street say large gaps remain between the uk and the eu, despite the Prime Ministers three hour dinner with the eu chief ursula von der leyen last night. Both sides say that negotiations to strike a post brexit Free Trade Agreement will continue until sunday after which they say a Firm Decision must be made on the future. Heres our Political Correspondent leila nathoo. Keep distance. 0k, mask off. Still far apart, still gaps to bridge. The verdict from both sides after borisjohnson had dinner with the European Commission president ursula von der leyen in brussels last night, face to face for the first time in months to see if compromise could be reached. There was no breakthrough, but the talks are still on. Now, the uk and eus chief
negotiators have been given until sunday to decide once and for all whether a deal is possible. We need some point of finality on the negotiations to give a very clear line of sight and more certainty for those preparations, whether they are at the ports, with the businesses, with the logistics and the transport providers. Well leave no stone unturned. We would like a deal if it is possible. But we are not going to sacrifice the basic points of democratic principle. Eu leaders are gathering in brussels this afternoon, but brexit isnt formally on the agenda. The uk thinks the eu needs to move significantly to enable progress. The eu feels the same. We are willing to grant access to the Single Market to our british friends. Its the largest Single Market in the world. But the conditions have to be fair. They have to be fair for our workers and for our companies, and this fine balance of fairness has not been achieved so far. The two sides are still stuck on long standing points of disagreement over fishing rights, rules for businesses operating in each others markets and how any deal would be enforced. With no guarantee the differences can be overcome, the eu has published its plans for minimising disruption in the event of no deal. It proposes rolling over current arrangements between the uk and eu for air and road connections for six months, and continuing reciprocal access for fishing boats to each others waters for another year. In the commons this morning, labour said businesses urgently needed certainty about what was coming down the track. There is a sense of huge dismay as we all wanted to hear significant progress, but we heard more about the Prime Ministers meal than we did about his deal. In fact, we have not heard from the Prime Minister at all, even though he was supposed to be taking charge of these negotiations. Mr speaker, on sunday,
we will have just 18 days to go until the end of the transition period. How has it come to this . Borisjohnson welcome into downing street borisjohnson did appear this afternoon, welcoming into downing street the crown prince of abu dhabi. Brexit crunch points have come and gone, but decision time is fast approaching. The two sides negotiators have just days to find a new route through well trodden ground. Leila nathoo, bbc news. The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney says there is increasing pessimism and frustration within the European Union. He was speaking to my colleague Lucy Hockings. Clearly, there had been hopes that the dinner last night between ursula von der leyen and borisjohnson would have resulted in at least a suggestion of a breakthrough but that clearly hasnt happened. And so instead what they have decided to do is ask their negotiating teams to re engage
but they have also said i think for the first time a very definitive timeline and they have both agreed now that there needs to be clarity and a Firm Decision, the language is, on sunday, so we have a couple of days now to find a way of closing gaps that are really quite big in the context of the difference between the two sides. There is an increasing pessimism within the European Union but also increasing frustration that it has come to this. Because the eus position has been consistent and clear for the last 12 months, certainly since the Withdrawal Agreement was agreed, and the insistence on the eu side that there has to be free but also fair competition between these two big economies is something which is not new. It certainly doesnt threaten british sovereignty. Dominic raab said this morning that level Playing Field issues are the key stumbling blocks at the moment and he says the eu has hardened its
position in recent days. Do you disagree with him . I dont know where he is coming from on that. A year ago both sides agreed in writing on a political declaration that there had to be an agreement on a level Playing Field and fair competition, between the eu and the uk, if they were going to put a trade agreement in place without quotas and tariffs. So, unfortunately the british side is seeing this as somehow undermining sovereignty which is not the case at all. The eu recognises that the uk outside of the eu is a sovereign independent country and we respect that, but if you are going to have free trade and the absence of tariffs between two economies next door to each other, its not unreasonable to ask for what has already been agreed in principle, which is that we would have a level Playing Field for fair competition now and in the future. Really, that is all the eu is looking for and for some reason
the British Government sees that as an undermining of british sovereignty and the choices that a British Government in the future may or may not be able to make. 0ur Political Correspondent helen catt said frustration amongst was growing, over the fact that there are still several issues to be resolved. Yes, frustration from the uk side that we are where we are so close to the end of the transition period and there are major differences remaining in three key areas, fishing rights, how to police any deal and it is on the level Playing Field. Those are the shared rules that both sides will agree to observe once the uk has left the Single Market and the customs union, and the issues within that, and the key thing about that is the phrase you heard Simon Coveney say, now and in the future, and it is what happens in the future that seems to be the
big sticking point. Borisjohnson in the commons suggested that what the eu is asking the uk to sign up to is that going forward, if the eu changes any of its rules and standards the uk would be expected to follow suit, or the eu could choose to retaliate in some other area, that was how Boris Johnson set out their position, but for the uk government they say that there is a red line because the point of brexit is about the uk being able to set its own rules and not being tied to the eu rules in future, so that is the difference, but for the eu it is about trying to preserve the Single Market, so they are quite fundamental disagreements. This isnt about dotting some ts, this is about a much more fundamental view of what both sides want from these negotiations. Striking that the commission is coming up with contingency plans and saying they want to put out some parameters here to keep things physically moving if there is no deal. Of course, the uk government has put out its contingency plans sometime ago, which is why we have had lorry parks built in kent, and the fact the eu have done this now is interesting timing, because they have both said sunday is the day, the deadline, if it looks like theres a deal maybe it could roll on a few more days to iron out details but theres a sense that sunday will be the moment that if a deal is not going to be done that is when we will find out. Because that does mean on the 1st of january the uk will be out of the Single Market and the customs union, some things will need to be in place to allow things like air travel, road travel, to continue, but the fact they have chosen to release them this morning is quite interesting timing. We have to see where the negotiations get to in the next few days but at the moment neither side is sounding particularly optimistic. Helen catt, there. Uk travellers could be barred from visiting many eu countries from january 1st because travel rules associated with being part of the eu will have expired,
and coronavirus restrictions may prevent entry to many regions. Our Business Reporter Simon Browning explained more. When the transition period ends we become a third party nation in our relationship with the eu. There are currently severe coronavirus restrictions on travel about entering into the eu and only essential travel is permitted. 0nly eight countries are allowed at the moment to enter the eu for that essential basis because they have low Coronavirus Infection rates. Dominic raab said this morning eu Member States would likely decide the rules to protect against infection and remember, the uk has had travel corridors in place with lots of countries over the summer, travel corridors with spain, for example. But they have changed because infection rates have also changed. Its thought they could come back and that individual countries could put travel corridors in place with the uk, places like spain and the canary islands. British travellers are very lucrative and essential for those countries economies. Easyjet explained they believe individual countries will operate like this. But it is no surprise that these shock suggestions are coming up. The negotiations are still ongoing but this morning the french europe minister has ratcheted up the pressure ever so slightly by visiting the French Border and explaining that uk travellers could need visas if they intend to stay in europe for longer than 90 days once we go into this new phase of our relationship with the eu, so again this rests on the negotiations and hopefully it will be part of the deal. A review into maternity failures at an nhs trust has found that mothers were sometimes blamed for their babys death, that women were denied appropriate care, and that lessons werent learned when things went wrong. The report says a catalogue of failures occured at the shrewsbury and Telford Trust between 2000 and 2018 it has now been given 27 changes to implement, with a further seven recommendations for all Maternity Units in england. 0ur social Affairs Correspondent
Michael Buchanan reports. For two decades, this Hospital Trust contributed to the avoidable deaths of women and babies, and repeatedly denied they were at fault. Today, the harm they caused was revealed, often in painful detail. You read the story of a baby and it died. The story of another baby, and it died. The weight of that, reading through that, i physically felt sick. These are the two families who persuaded the government to launch this review, each compelled to do so by the avoidable death of a child. Kate Stanton Davies died in 2009. Pippa griffiths died in 2016. They need to own the failure. Instead of saying, were sorry and putting the same im sorry statement out, and then saying, but we do deliver all these healthy babies, that is not acceptable. The review found that mothers were blamed for the deaths of their babies. There was a reluctance to carry out cesarean sections, often with catastrophic consequences. 13 women died in labour or shortly afterwards, higher than the england average. Some of the deaths were not investigated. We believe in the importance of this review. I will be honest, there have been days where ive met family after family, and i meet them privately in shrewsbury, where i have sat down and cried. Because as a fellow human being, you cannot do anything other than that. The trust wouldnt take questions today, but did say theyd implement all 27 recommendations. This is a harrowing read and it sets out poor care across a number of decades. As the chief executive of the trust now, i want to say personally
and on behalf of the trust that we are very sorry for all of the pain and distress caused to these families. The full report into all 1862 cases before the review will be published next year. Until then, these families will continue to fight for change. When your children say to you, why are you doing this again, mum . Why do you put yourself through this . Its because we dont want any other families to go through the pain that we have. Michael buchanan with that report. The health minister, Nadine Dorries, has expressed her profound sympathies for the families involved. Todays report makes clear there were serious failings in Maternity Services at the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital nhs trust and i would like to express my profound sympathies for what the families have gone through. There can be no greater pain for a parent than to lose a child. And im acutely aware that nothing i can say today will lessen the horrendous suffering that these families have been through and continue to suffer. However, i would like to give my thanks to all of the families who agreed to come forward and assist in this inquiry. The team held conversations with over 800 families who have raised serious concerns about the care that they received. I know that its not been easy for them to revisit painful and distressing experiences. But through sharing their stories we can make sure that no family has to suffer the same pain in the future. From the outset the inquiry wanted families to be central to their work, to the teams work, and for their voices to be heard. And im pleased that the families were able to see the report first this morning, shortly before it was presented to parliament. I can assure them and members of this house that we are taking todays report very seriously. And that we expect the trust to act upon these recommendations immediately. That was Nadine Dorries speaking in
the commons a short time ago. Earlier i spoke to Richard Stanton who featured in that report his daughter kate died just 6 hours after she was born. Her case was one of 250 cases outlined in todays review. There were warnings before kates birth, in the two years before by the authorities, at that time, that they were failing on monitoring the babies heart rate correctly, but no, we had no idea that this trust would fail us and failso we had no idea that this trust would fail us and fail so many families in such a catastrophic way. Fail us and fail so many families in such a catastrophic waylj fail us and fail so many families in such a catastrophic way. I dont wa nt such a catastrophic way. I dont want you to relive it something so painful but to try to enable our audience to understand briefly what happened in your case and in your wifes case, did you have immediate concerns once kate came into the world . Concerns once kate came into the world . Yes, in the final two weeks of my wifes pregnancy carrying cake which she had a series of reduced
foetal movement and she was never at risk assessed but if she had been she would have been elevated and not have to give birth in a midwife unit which was some distance away from the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Rhiannon went on to give birth at that hospital and kate was born cold, pale and floppy and developed respiratory distress, and the midwife whose training was out of date and the hospital she was born and which had no operational policy, exasperated kates care or lack of care, and kate was finally airlifted by ambulance to be taken en route to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital but their helipad was closed and the helicopter was diverted to Birmingham Childrens who dont take neonatal, and finally onto birmingham at hartland where kate was and my wife, my wife having just
given birth, were not allowed or offered any transportation to be taken to kate by an ambulance so we made our own way to her, just being told she had gone to birmingham and we had no more information, and en route to birmingham rhiannon collapsed and we had to call an ambulance and she and my sister who had accompanied us on the journey went in the ambulance to the royal worcester hospital, and i carried onto birmingham hartland having only discovered where kate was by using the database discovered where kate was by using the data base on discovered where kate was by using the database on my satnav in the car to call around Birmingham Hospitals and frantically say, have you got my daughter . She was bornjust hours ago. Eventually a Senior Consultant called me back and said, yes, we have received kate, please can you get here as quickly as you can. I arrived at four oclock at birmingham hartland hospital where at three minutes pass by few kates ca bles at three minutes pass by few kates cables and tubes were unplugged and she was placed into my arms where it
six hours after giving birth she died. The gravity of the situation was so grave they could not keep her alive any longer. Rhiannon was finally blue lighted from worcester to birmingham to be reunited with us but she was not there when kate died in my arms. The additional trauma of that day is very at the forefront for us. Richard is one of the two couples who really fought for that inquiry and we will talk to our correspondent Michael Buchanan more about that story after half past. Joe anderson, the mayor of liverpool, has announced he will step aside from the role following his arrest by detectives investigating allegations of bribery and witness intimidation. Mr anderson said it was a painful shock when he was arrested on friday along with four other men as part of a Merseyside Police
investigation into building and development contracts. In a statement he said he had always done what he believed was best for the city. The number of patients in england waiting over a year for routine hospital care is now 100 times higher than before the pandemic. New figures out today show that nearly 163,000 people were waiting for treatment the highest number since 2008. The Royal College of surgeons says its a Real National crisis. 0ur Health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson reports. Julie and chris, just two of what are now tens of thousands of people who face long and often painful waits for treatment. Both have severe arthritis. Chris, a former care worker, was due to have a hip replacement in march, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic and he says the wait has been unbearable. I am in constant pain, all through the night and all through the day. Im on painkillers and i know that if im sitting down or lying down, if i move, stand up or whatever, its going to get even worse. On a scale of one to ten i suppose its nine. Julie is in so much pain shes had to give up her work in the nhs. Shes been waiting since january for operations to replace both her knees and says it has had a huge impact on her. I do understand, but all i would say is, you know, notjust talking about myself but other people in the same position, my pain cant wait. Even if they said to me, right, it will get done within the next three months, it is something to aim for, but every time you go you get a shrug of the shoulders. Were sorry, we cant help. In february, before the pandemic really hit, around 1600 patients were still waiting more than 12 months for routine treatment in england. But by october this year, that had jumped to 163,000 patients, a staggering 100 fold increase. Surgeons are describing it as a Real National crisis, and a warning it will take considerable time to sort out. Its going to be two or three years minimum, isnt it . I think even if we were managing to, if you like, make the capacity work at its highest possible rate, maybe business as usual plus ten or 15 , thats still not going to get anywhere near solving the problem in a short time. The nhs in england says theres better news for cancer patients, with urgent checks and treatment now above normal levels. It is urging anyone concerned about their health to come forward, but the latest figures from the Second National lockdown suggest people have once again stayed away from a e, raising concerns that hundreds of thousands may be missing on treatment. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. And later today, at 5pm, the Health Secretary matt hancock will host a downing street press conference on coronavirus. Hell be joined nhs englands professor Stephen Powis and englands chief medical officer professor chris whitty. We will, of course, bring it to you live. Lets discuss those nhs waiting times with nigel edwards, chief executive of the Health Think Tank the nuffield trust. It isa it is a heck of a figure but i wondered sadly if you are especially surprised by it, sadly . Im afraid not. In fact there may be a hidden problem underneath this because
people stopped being referred to hospital in large numbers during the early pa rt hospital in large numbers during the early part of the pandemic partly because they were not going to see theirgp so because they were not going to see their gp so there may be some suppressed demand we are not even seeing in the figures yet. Every month before the pandemic about 1. 6, 1. 7 Million People started on a new set of treatments and that figure dropped off a cliff in april and went down to just half a million and it hasnt really recovered until very recently, so there may be u nfortu nately very recently, so there may be unfortunately more people out there waiting for treatment. We talk about this as routine treatment but we are talking about things like hip replacements, knee replacements, and thatis replacements, knee replacements, and that is people in an awful lot of pain by definition. Absolutely right. There has been a bit of a tendency to say, emergencies need to come first, but in fact, for people who are waiting for some of these things, their treatment is just as urgent and important as some of the
emergency treatment, and as you heard, it means people are losing theirjobs or having to take large doses of painkillers and are not able to care for their loved ones as well. It is a very serious issue and there is no immediately easy way through it. We were already struggling as a country to keep up with demand before the pandemic, the waiting lists have been growing for some time, in england it is bad and Northern Ireland and wales, some say it is even worse. We are short of capacity and short of nurses and of course covid has had a big impact on the capacity of the nhs and it has been having to use private hospitals but theres a limit to how far even that provides an option. Gosh. That is quite a gloomy assessment because i was going to say to you, is there any way of trying to deal with some of the backlog . Is there a way of
bringing more operating theatres into use . You are the expert. 0r bringing more operating theatres into use . You are the expert. Or to we just accept the backlog will be there for some years . Do we just. People have estimated two years, maybe more, depends on whether you area maybe more, depends on whether you are a pessimistic pundit or not, but an extended deal with the private sector, and probably some conversations with the consultants, and the anaesthetists, who are one of the important parts of the term, this has got to happen, but theres a limit to the extent to which you can ask people to be working very long hours for indefinite periods of time, and people have already been really busy over the period of the pandemic. The surgeons may be doing less surgery but they have often been helping in other parts of the system, and so there is a limit to how far we can expand. What we did during the tony blair era was import
port surgeons from other countries, orthopaedic surgeons in particular, but even then there is a constraint on the capacity because we were short of 40 50,000 nurses going into the pandemic as well. Im afraid we are paying the price for long term underinvestment in the services. When you have done that for a while it takes a long time to turn back on the supply and it takes 15 years to train an orthopaedic surgeon and of course the ones who are in training now are having their training severely disrupted by the fact that there has been so much less operating. Im sorry to be new pessimistic news, but there is no immediately obvious easy answer. I do know a huge amount of effort in the nhs is being put into trying to solve as much of this problem as they can as quickly as possible. Its they can as quickly as possible. Its good to hear your perspective,
anyway. Thanks for joining its good to hear your perspective, anyway. Thanks forjoining us, nigel edwards. More coming up in the next half an hour. Now its time for a look at the weather. A few of us have had the chance to see sunshine today but for most grey and drab, a lot of cloud and patchy rain and through tonight a band of heavy rain from the west. Behind it, we will still have a lot of cloud, some clearer breaks but one or two showers, some could be heavy and thundery for wales and the south west, not especially cold for the time of year. Into tomorrow, the rain to start off across the east, petering out in most places although eastern scotland with the flow off the north sea will see persistent rain through the day, a little bit of brightness from the west, lots of cloud and some showers which will be heavy. Or 8 for the north. 11 for london, cardiff and the south, seven or 8 for the north. The weekend, saturday bright. Heavy rains and strong winds for sunday. Hello this is bbc news with jane hill, the headlines. The eu lays out plans to keep road and air travel running with the uk in case theres no brexit deal. Both sides say they will keep negotiating until sunday. Uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries from january 1st because of brexit and coronavirus. A catalogue of failures in Maternity Care, over 18 years, is revealed at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. The number of people waiting more than a year for routine surgery in england has risen to its highest level since 2008. An experimental rocket belonging
to elon musks Spacex Company crashes and burns on landing. The billionaire calls it a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Sport and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. Good afternoon. Weve got a busy evening in the Europa League to look forward to. Arsenal have alreay secured top spot in theirgroup ahead of tonights game at dundalk also into the knockout stages are spurs and a win over royal anterp tonight would see them win their group. Managerjose mourinho says thats not important but it would be an advantage to avoid coming up against one of the seeded clubs dropping down from the Champions League in the next round. With 2000 fans behind us we have the chance to play one game to try to
win the group. Is that fundamental . I dont think it is, i dont think we should be afraid of playing against any team in the next phase but of course normally the teams that win groups are the best teams so if we can avoid them in the next draw i think it would be an advantage. Uefa has said ther will be a moment of silence ahead of all of Tonights Europa League games in memory of italian legend paulo rossi. Whos died agd 64. Rossi was the player of the tournament when italy won the world cup in 1982 scoring 6 goals himself including a hat trick against favourites brazil. Flags have been lowered to half mast at the Italian Football Federation headquarters in rome as a sign of respect. There were mixed fortunes
for two english players in the opening match of the australian big bash twenty 20 tournament this morning. Surreys willjacks opened the innings for the hobart hurricanes , but he had a day to forget, faling for a second ball duck. Despite a poor start the hurricanes still made 178 for 8 from their 20 overs. Former england batsman james vince led the charge for the sydney sixers with a rapid 67. But his dismissal triggered a collapse which saw hobart win the match by 16 runs. Neither side used their x factor substitutes, one of the new rule changes for the competition. Its been confirmed that englands cricketers will tour india early next year for the countrys first home series since the start of the pandemic. The first test will start on the 5th february in chennai. Before moving to ahmedabad for their first day night test in the country at the worlds biggest cricket ground. This will be followed by five t20s there and three
one day internationals in pune. Its the final event of the European Tours race to dubai at the tour championship with Englands Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrell Hatton two shots off the lead after the first round. Frances victor perez leads on five under par knowing a win could see him end the year as the European Tour number one. Robert macintyre and Matthew Fitzpatrick are just a shot behind after opening rounds of 68. Tour leader patrick reed is on two under. There are calls for an urgent review into how rugby players train as a number of ex professionals insist the sport has left them with permanent brain damage. An initial group of eight players is taking legal action against rugbys authorties for negligence. Rugby Players Association chief Damian Hopley has told bbc sport that more education is needed and training methods need to be addressed very quickly. Injuries occur during training so i think that has to be part of the opportunity to address these things and look at what can we do to make the game safer as has been talked about and perhaps training protocols is something we need to address very quickly. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. The European Commission has published its contingency plans in case no agreement is reached with the uk on a post brexit trade deal. 0ur reality check correspondent chris morris is here to explain. Striking that we have had a little bit of detail, what are they
proposing . 0verall bit of detail, what are they proposing . Overall we have potential if there is no deal unwinding 40 yea rs of rules if there is no deal unwinding 40 years of rules and regulations and one day, that is quite a big deal. The eu is basically focusing on court things to keep things moving and topping the uk will reciprocate. First of all what they call in official language, air connectivity which means uk planes being able to fly over eu territory, use eu airports, offer surfaces within eu countries and vice versa. They will only implement this at the uk does the same added full only be for six months which begs the question when you stop talking about something more permanent and connected to that there are as a proposal for regulation on aviation safety because for example ever there are parts on an aircraft which have a british Safety Certificate if you dont have something to replace the
ones that are going to disappear, you recognition, i recognise your Safety Certificates, you recognise minor then suddenly these planes cannot fly so they sound like weird practical issues and a lot of fuels think why dont they just practical issues and a lot of fuels think why dont theyjust do these things. They are trying to but the problem is the government talks about the million moving parts of the economy and on both sides of the channel they are reflected by bits of paper somewhere and a lot of them could in theory disappear or become invalid. That is a travel, there is road travel as well, what are they proposing there . I gain six months to allow both traders and travellers to allow both traders and travellers to continue as normal so recognising the ability of lorry drivers to drive across borders and not have any drive across borders and not have a ny extra drive across borders and not have any extra bits of paper than they have at the moment. 0ne any extra bits of paper than they have at the moment. One thing that is interesting, something announced a few days ago was the channel
tunnel and you would think presumably it stays open even at their as a no deal brexit but not if their as a no deal brexit but not if the Safety Certificate that allows operators to use it dont get replaced with Something Else because the certificates at the moment are done under eu law and if they disappear then there would be no Safety Certificate and the channel tunnel would have to close. It is another of the many steps that need to ta ke another of the many steps that need to take place. Probably the most controversial thing announced was this, they are proposing that in the event of no deal the should be mutual access to each others waters forup toa mutual access to each others waters for up to a year. We know fisheries is quite a controversial issue in the current talks so uk government spokesman said we would never accept arrangements which are incompatible with our future status as an independent coastal state. It is not quite an outright note to this Commission Proposal but it is very difficult territory. The commission
is saying all the stuff we are doing is saying all the stuff we are doing is unilateral, some of it needs to be done by the other side and the British Government are saying were taking our own unilateral steps. The commission suitable propose a Brexit Adjustment Fund and quite a bit of that will be aimed at the fishing industry. If that is something that could potentially soften them up for a deal i dont know but that is in the document and also it is saying to Member States if there is no deal dont be too nice to the uk, we have to stick together, these are the only measures we should have, dont be too tempted to have bilateral measures of your own. Thank you. Britains Economic Growth slowed to 0. 4 per cent in october as covid restrictions were tightened. Manufacturing saw business improve, but other sectors including hospitality saw activity sharply down. Business groups are warning it will take at least two years for the economy to recover fully even if a post brexit trade deal is done. Heres our economics
correspondent andy verity its not usually manufacturers that drive the uk economy forward. But in october, they saw they saw rapid growth in activity of nearly 7 , driven by pent up demand for cars. This maker of Precision Instruments in port talbot branched out to medical masks and face coverings in the summer, and kept growing as the welsh Circuit Breaker began. The business saw, you know, i think, a quieting down in the first lockdown, but then sort of a quite strong recovery. And thats continued into 0ctober, november, december. You know, still, its a little bit behind the levels of last year, but it is certainly very positive news compared to how we were looking at things back in the first lockdown. The Services Sector also grew, led by demand for health care, both linked and not linked to the virus. But as the system of tiers
and the 10pm curfew came in, hotels and restaurants welcomed fewer customers, and the hardest hit sectors, the creative and entertainment industries, and, above all, travel, were still doing less than half their normal business. As a travel industry, you know, we have seen an industry that has been decimated over the last nine months with unfortunately no means of recovery. So what we have not been able to do is play our part in that Economic Growth. 0ur numbers stand at around 90 down, so we are trading around 90 down on where we would expect to be at this time of year. Since october, the Circuit Breaker in wales, tougher tiers in scotland and the november lockdowns in Northern Ireland and england have again suppressed economic activity. Business groups warn a full recovery will now take years, and a no deal brexit could put it back even further. This is the shape of the economy this year. Less of a v, more like a nike tick. And activity is still 8 below where it was before the pandemic struck. The official prediction is it will take another two years to get back up to that level. And if theres a no deal brexit, it could take until 2024. We absolutely do need to get that deal. That is what will give businesses the confidence to go out there and invest. On our estimation, if we were to fall into a no deal, that could take more than 1 off our growth over the next couple of years. With trade already suffering, the office for budget responsibilities warn the damage done by a no deal brexit could be twice as large as the cbi predicts. And while right now, the damage done by covid is even bigger, its the hit to trade of a no deal that the economic patient would take the longest to recover from. Andy verity, bbc news. An update to england and waless nhs covid 19 Contact Tracing app is adding a way to apply for a £500 grant if it gives a self isolation order. Until now, those on low incomes were only offered the payment
if they had been told to stay at home by human test and trace operators. 0ur head of statistics robert cuffe is here. Tell us more about the app robert. If you get contacted by the app you can apply for Financial Assistance through a button, you write in your contact details. The app is supposed to be anonymous so you are putting in extra information, knowledge and you are going to sign up to self isolates, you fill in the Eligibility Criteria so your income will suffer if you yourself isolate, you are in danger of Financial Hardship and you are given an account number you can take to your local authority to get the £500 payment and it is important because the numbers about test and traces only a means to an end, it doesnt matter how test and traced does that people are not isolating. The most important thing about the whole
system is to get people to stay at home for two weeks and break the chain so by expanding the number of people who can access the payment upon make it easier isolate. But thatis upon make it easier isolate. But that is tough if you are not going to get paid and that is part of the whole dilemma. We have had new figures about the turnaround time and testing. Pretty good news, two thirds of people are getting results back, they get a tests within 24 hours which is way up from the start of october, 14 up to about 65 so a big improvement. People in test and trace a tribute that to the increase in capacity so when you are running a system across to the edge as they were in october it is hard to get regular tests through quickly and they have been working very hard on they have been working very hard on the tiny details, getting the logistics and transport right between testers and laboratories and back again and it has resulted in quite a significant change and
performance, moving in the right direction. And what about Contact Tracing . Performance is pretty steady but there is one wrinkle in the figures to watch out for, they have changed the way they count the vast majority of contacts or most especially during lockdown at people who live with the infected individual and two weeks ago in order to count all those people in the house as contacted they had to phone every single one of them. You can imagine how unsatisfying that was for the people in the house and have often the phone got answered. They have changed that so one person and the house can vouch for everyone which leads to an improvement in the system but also to the increase and the number proportion of people who are getting contacted even though they are probably not reaching very many more people so that is a blip on the numbers, you wouldnt put too much weight on it even though it is an improvement so broadly contract
tracing performance as steady. Greater Manchester Police has been accused of letting down vulnerable victims of crime by failing to record a fifth of offences. The Police Inspectorate also says it is deeply troubled that some cases are being closed without a proper investigation. Earlier i spoke to our home Affairs Correspondent tom symonds. This is an eye catching figure, 80,000 cases, what the Police Inspectorate is saying are not being reported by greater Manchester Police, one in five cases, as you say, one in four violent crimes. So theres a big problem there. The inspectors say whats going on . Well, a lot of these cases relate to domestic violence, stalking and harassment. And those are cases where sometimes it can be quite unclear whether an allegation has been made and an allegation can be withdrawn by the victim in the case. What the inspectorate says is that the police in Greater Manchester have not been doing a good job at tracking that recording when crime allegations are being withdrawn and when they stop investigating as a result. But there is a problem. And the inspector, zoe billingham, whos led this work, says its almost as though greater Manchester Police is flying blind. If you dont know where your crime hotspots are, your difficult pubs turning out pointier where people are going to be fighting. If you dont know where most of you repeat offenders are because youve got such an incomplete view of crime in your area, then youre not going to be able to take preventative action. Its like trying to fly a plane with most of the instruments covered up. Its not going to work and im sure the public of manchester will understand. But if theres not a complete picture of crime in their area, then theyre not being appropriately served by their police force. And greater Manchester Police says that they have actually started to address this with a long term plan, theyre building a centralised unit to handle the recording of crime. There is a new Computer System that works started earlier this year. But as it started, well, the pandemic started. And greater Manchester Police say that that has made it harder to recruit and train staff. More now on one of our top stories. A review into maternity failures at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust has found that mothers were sometimes blamed for their babys death, that women were denied appropriate care, and that lessons werent learned when things went wrong. And in the last few minutes a spokesperson for shropshire and telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group has issued a starement, saying our thoughts are with all of the families involved. We welcome the report which we now need to review. In the meantime, we will continue to work with the trust to further improve Maternity Services across shropshire, telford and wrekin. Lets speak to our social Affairs Correspondent Michael Buchanan. Michael, you have spoken to some of these families and followed to some of these horrific stories for years. The scale of this almost beggars belief that problems where they are and went on for years. Yes, it does beggar belief and it is interesting you refer to the ccg, they conducted a review of maternity surfaces and 201213 which a review of maternity surfaces and 2012 13 which found that everything was fine. What you have over the yea rs was fine. What you have over the years and this will come out i suspect in the second report late next year, this will be something that the families will absolutely be pushing for as you have all these nhs organisations nhs improvement, ccg, nhs angle, cqc who to spot these problems and investigate when things are going wrong none of them
got involved in shrewsbury and telford. We are only learning about these mistakes and horrendous experiences of these families because of the nonstop campaigning of two families, both of which suffered. They suffered avoidable loss seven yea rs suffered. They suffered avoidable loss seven years apart, kate davis died in 2009, her parents campaigned for yea rs died in 2009, her parents campaigned for years to raise standards. In 2016 Pippa Griffiths died, her pa rents started 2016 Pippa Griffiths died, her parents started researching and calling what was going on and found on the internet the other family and they started working together to raise concerns and sent a letter to the then Health Secretaryjeremy hunt about 23 cases. We now have todays report which looks into the
first 250 cases and the whole review has now been contacted with documentation on 1800 cases over an 1820 documentation on 1800 cases over an 18 20 year period. None of this to happen four had been for the two families. And when we hear things like when there were mistakes no lessons were learned, what do we know about whether there were staff within those units on wards, there must have been some who thought why is our mothers mortality rate higher than the National Average . Where people too scared to speak out on that no one spot it . What is that going to be in the report next year. A lot of it will be an years report and staff now and years gone by will have an opportunity to engage with the report but incredibly speaking to some of these families they say how come staff themselves were not
raising these concerns . We do not know whether they were all not but it is undoubtedly the case that the leadership of this organisation was poor and weak for a number of years and that a very difficult and some would argue toxic culture developed where people were working in silence and frightened to raise concerns because it did not think it would do their careers any use. The report today says in some cases basic competency was something not evident which would suggest working practice was very which would suggest working practice was very poor and bear in mind that when i referred to that death of kate sta nto n when i referred to that death of kate Stanton Davis, in 2012 the coroner said the trustee responsible for this childs death, the chief executive of the trust at the time wrote and said id inject the current applause findings. That is id eject theirfindings. That is id eject theirfindings. That person continue to move up in the nhs and when you have a chief executive saying they do not believe the deliberations of the corner and correct then how can the organisation go on a journey of learning and improvement and part of the reason was there was no learning on investigation. The report today says there were 13 maternal deaths, some of them had no investigation at all and when i spoke to the chairperson of the review this morning and said how could that have happened she said effectively she had been in the nhs since 1986 and she cannot export it, it is simply beyond her comprehension. They muck cannot explain it. Cannot explain it. Five years after he began his Historic Mission to the International Space station, the astronaut tim peake is launching a campaign to again inspire children in science and technology. During his six months in space, tim peake worked with more than 2 million students
on a number of experiments, aiming to encourage the next generation of young people into a career in science. Tim peakejoined me earlier from the Rutherford Appleton laboratory in didcot and explained his goal of getting more young people interested in scientific careers space is a great platform for inspiration and, you know, the careers of the future are going to be so diverse, but what is going to underpin everything i believe is having a basis in science, technology, engineering, mathematics. So if we can inspire our Younger Generations to embrace those subjects, were really empowering them for the future and giving them skills for life, whatever direction they want to go off into. And so what are you saying on a on a practical level . Because i remember when you were on the International Space station, remember you chatting to linku ps, chatting on linkups with schoolchildren. What would you say to someone watching you right now about what they could be doing . What were talking about right now is really embracing what theyre passionate about,
but also looking at the future, looking at the pace of technology, the way things are changing and preparing for the careers that are going to be available and really future proofing their careers. So embracing stem subjects will give you that ability to make yourself as employable as possible for the future. And were looking at the mission and how that Younger Generation were inspired by that mission, where thatjourney has taken them from now so that we can help to quantify this process and find out how we can best inspire the generations for the future. And a quick thought about role models. I mean, is that someone like you important in terms of inspiring . Is there a real link there . I think the thing about an astronaut is youre the tip of the iceberg. I mean, theres an enormous team of people who make human space flight and exploration possible. And thats one of the messages we want to get across. You know, there are so many, a plethora of different careers that you can go into just within the space sector. So, yes, role models, ithink, are important, the visualface of what were doing when were pushing the boundaries, but actually is about using that to to try and identify to try and identify to people, look, you can actually go out and have an incredible career in so many different areas. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben not the most inspiring weather picture across the uk today, weve had a lot of cloud around, that cloud has been producing a little bit of rain here and there. That was the scene for a weather watcher in 0xfordshire earlier on. There has been some brightness. This was Sutton Coldfield in the west midlands, some sunny spells. But generally we keep a lot of cloud through the rest of today, some patchy rain, some heavier rain, youll notice pushing in from the west and maximum temperatures generally now, as we go through this evening and tonight, this band of rain in the west will push its way eastward. Some of this rain will be pretty heavy behind it, some clear spells, generally quite a lot of cloud and some quite hefty showers,
which could even be thundery across parts of wales and the south west. Not an especially cold night by any stretch with lows between four and nine degrees. So we go on into tomorrow, this band of rain will be affecting eastern areas. To start off, itll tend to clear away, although i think parts of eastern scotland will see quite a lot of rain continuing through the day. Further west, generally a lot of cloud. We will see some spells of sunshine, but equally the chance of one or two heavy showers. Not a particularly windy day for most places and a relatively mild one for the time of year, with highs between seven and 11 degrees. As we move into the start of the weekend, well have low pressure to start off. But this little bump in the isobars here, a ridge of High Pressure is going to start to nose its way in during saturday. So while we will begin with a lot of cloud and some patchy rain. We should see some brighter skies, a break in the cloud working from the west as the day wears on. Temperatures again in that range between around eight and 11 degrees. But behind me, you can see more cloud gathering for the second
half of the weekend. Weve got another area of low pressure approaching, frontal systems, which will bring some outbreaks of pretty heavy rain, some brisk winds. But as those winds start to push up from the south or the south west, were going to have a wedge of really mild air, quite a mild feeling day on sunday, particularly down towards the south, but with a lot of rain piling its way across the british isles, some snow over the very highest ground of scotland. Generally, it will be a windy day. Those are the average wind speeds. The gusts will be stronger than that, particularly in exposed spots, but relatively mild, particularly in the south, 12 or 13 degrees further north of eight or nine. Thats all from me for now. This is bbc news. Im ben brown. The headlines. The eu lays out plans to keep road and air travel running with the uk in case theres no brexit deal. The two sides say they will keep negotiating until sunday. It is difficult. We are willing to grant access to the Single Market to our british friends. Its the largest Single Market in the world. But the conditions have to be fair. We will leave no stone unturned. We would like a deal if its possible but we are not going to sacrifice the basic point of democratic principle. Uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries from january 1st because of brexit and coronavirus. A catalogue of failures in Maternity Care is revealed at the shrewsbury
and telford nhs trust. Richard stantons daughter died just six hours after she was born. We had no idea that this trust would fail us and fail so many families in such a catastrophic way. The number of people waiting more than a year for routine surgery in england has risen to its highest level since 2008. An experimental rocket belonging to elon musks Spacex Company crashes and burns on landing. The billionaire calls it a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Hello. The European Commission has set out plans to make sure planes and lorries can keep moving
between the eu and the uk if no trade deal is agreed. The commission has also suggested a one year extension on access to fishing waters which it says will protect coastal communities on both sides of the channel. Time is running out to agree a trade deal downing street says large gaps remain between the uk and the eu, despite the Prime Ministers three hour dinner with the eu Commission President ursula von der leyen last night. Both sides say that negotiations to strike a post brexit Free Trade Agreement will continue until sunday, after which they say a Firm Decision must be made on the future. Heres our Political Correspondent leila nathoo. Keep your distance. 0k, mask off. Still far apart, still gaps to bridge. The verdict from both sides after borisjohnson had dinner with the European Commission president ursula von der leyen in brussels last night, face to face for the first time in months to see if compromise could be reached. There was no breakthrough, but the talks are still on. Now the uk and eus chief negotiators have been given until sunday to decide once and for all whether a deal is possible. We need some point of finality on the negotiations to give a very clear line of sight and more certainty for those preparations, whether they are at the ports, with the businesses, with the logistics and the transport providers. Well leave no stone unturned. We would like a deal if it is possible. But we are not going to sacrifice the basic points of democratic principle. Eu leaders are gathering in brussels this afternoon, but brexit isnt formally on the agenda. The uk thinks the eu needs to move significantly to enable progress. The eu feels the same. We are willing to grant access to the Single Market to our british friends. Its the largest Single Market in the world. But the conditions have to be fair. They have to be fair for our workers and for our companies, and this fine balance of fairness has not been achieved so far. The two sides are still stuck on long standing points of disagreement over fishing rights, rules for businesses operating in each others markets and how any deal would be enforced. With no guarantee the differences can be overcome, the eu has published its plans for minimising disruption in the event of no deal. It proposes rolling over current arrangements between the uk and eu for air and road connections for six months, and continuing reciprocal access for fishing boats to each others waters for another year. In the commons this morning, labour said businesses urgently needed certainty about what was coming down the track. There is a sense of huge dismay as we all wanted to hear significant progress, but we heard more about the Prime Ministers meal than we did about his deal. In fact, we have not heard
from the Prime Minister at all, even though he was supposed to be taking charge of these negotiations. Mr speaker, on sunday, we will have just 18 days to go until the transition period. How has it come to this . Brexit crunch points have come and gone, but decision time borisjohnson did Boris Johnson did appear this afternoon by decision time on whether a deal is on is fast approaching. It is what the two sides say they still want. They have gotjust sides say they still want. They have got just days to sides say they still want. They have gotjust days to get it done. The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney says there is increasing pessimism and frustration within the European Union. He was speaking to my colleague Lucy Hockings a little earlier today. Clearly, there had been hopes that the dinner last night between ursula von der leyen and borisjohnson would have resulted in at least a suggestion of a breakthrough but that clearly hasnt happened. And so instead what they have
decided to do is ask their negotiating teams to re engage but they have also said i think for the first time a very definitive timeline and they have both agreed now that there needs to be clarity and a Firm Decision, the language is, on sunday, so we have a couple of days now to find a way of closing gaps that are really quite big in the context of the difference between the two sides. There is an increasing pessimism within the European Union but also increasing frustration that it has come to this. Because the eus position has been consistent and clear for the last 12 months, certainly since the Withdrawal Agreement was agreed, and the insistence on the eu side that there has to be free but also fair competition between these two big economies is something which is not new. It certainly doesnt threaten british sovereignty. Dominic raab said this morning that
level Playing Field issues are the key stumbling blocks at the moment and he says the eu has hardened its position in recent days. Do you disagree with him . I dont know where he is coming from on that. A year ago both sides agreed in writing on a political declaration that there had to be an agreement on a level Playing Field and fair competition, between the eu and the uk, if they were going to put a trade agreement in place without quotas and tariffs. So, unfortunately the british side is seeing this as somehow undermining sovereignty which is not the case at all. The eu recognises that the uk outside of the eu is a sovereign independent country and we respect that, but if you are going to have free trade and the absence of tariffs between two economies next door to each other, its not unreasonable to ask for what has already been agreed in principle, which is that we would
have a level Playing Field for fair competition now and in the future. Really, that is all the eu is looking for and for some reason the British Government sees that as an undermining of british sovereignty and the choices that a British Government in the future may or may not be able to make. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent helen catt. As the Irish Foreign minister was outlining, some pretty fundamental issues that the two sides still have to tackle and only three days left until the seven day deadline. To tackle and only three days left until the sevenday deadline. Time is running out. I think both sides are very is running out. I think both sides are very much is running out. I think both sides are very much aware is running out. I think both sides are very much aware of this and they are very much aware of this and they are fundamental, these issues they are fundamental, these issues they are stuck on, and we did not get that political breakthrough last night that would fully and jam these talks, even though talks are continuing. The issues remain on how to police any deal that is agreed, what to do about fishing rights and also that level Playing Field you
heard assignment mentioned there, the shared rules that both sides would agree to sign up to to keep trade flowing and trade going. Those are the three sticking points, and the reason they are such sticking points is, you heard ursula von der leyen talking about a fine balance of fairness, both side seems to have a different idea of what a pharaoh would be on these things and that is why they are clashing, because it is going to the heart of what both sides want. The eu, their prime objective is to ensure the integrity of the Single Market, for the uk, the heart of brexit was about the uk being able to set its own rules without having to answer 227 other countries, and this is where this clash coming from. Particularly around those shared rules, what was said about now and in the future, it seems to be the future that is the sticking point. Both sides agree that they would not drop standards
from where they are now, but if one side were to change standards in future, how does that work . Boris johnson characterised that as the eu saying that if the rules were to change and the eu were to change standards and the uk did not change, they wanted an automatic right to retaliate with tariffs. It is what happens in the future if one side moves away that seems to be the sticking point. Thank you. I can discuss this further with david henig, whos the uk director of the European Centre for International Political economy. Both sides have rather different views of fairness. It is a really fundamental difference with very little time to go in these negotiations. Thats right, and we had hoped that it wasnt quite such a divide. That they would be able to find a technical solution. But it seems that it is very much a philosophical problem. The uk really
does think that signing up to anything more than non regression as it is called, it is a fundamental strike against brexit and the eu wont do a deal unless we sign up, so no wont do a deal unless we sign up, so no amount of Technical Solutions can fix that, unless one side or other dramatically softens the atone. There are other differences, of course, fishing and so on, but do you think this level Playing Field, is that really critical in so far the failure of these talks . Yes, i think it is. Fishing is always going to be difficult because there is only a finite number of fish and their athletes from the uk and European Countries who want access to it, but it has always been fairly clear that the uk fleet would get greater access in the future. We can see solutions in that. A level Playing Field is such a fundamental
divide, and even more so, the uk government, the way it is speaking is not suggesting any room for compromise, nor the eu, is not suggesting any room for compromise, northe eu, so that is the concern, whereas we know with regard to fish that they have been compromise options drawn up. We have heard of review clauses and time periods. We have heard very little similar for the level Playing Field. And sunday, we are told, is the final deadline. The foreign secretary seemed to leave a little bit of wiggle room this morning. Do you think that final deadline is looming this weekend . No, it is very much looming. We are running out of time, both sides are under pressure to do something, but the wiggle room that both sides want is that they do wa nt that both sides want is that they do want to do the deal, they have just got stuck on this issue, where they have ta ken diametrically got stuck on this issue, where they have taken diametrically opposing views. I think the uk and the eu would like a deal and that is white
they are still talking, sol would like a deal and that is white they are still talking, so i would never say never and this could go beyond sunday but i think time is now closing in on these negotiations. Good to talk to you. Thank you. Uk travellers could be barred from visiting many eu countries from january 1st because travel rules associated with being part of the eu will have expired and coronavirus restrictions may prevent entry to many regions. Our Business Reporter Simon Browning is with me to explain more. This will fail quite a lot of people with alarm. What do we know so far . It has come as a bit of a shock. From december 31, the nature of our relationship with the eu will change and the uk will become a third party nation. In terms of travel, we were expecting to be able to travel to the eu for a 90 day period without the eu for a 90 day period without the need for a visa, but because of the need for a visa, but because of
the coronavirus pandemic, lots of things have changed. Currently, essential travel is only permitted into the eu and only eight countries have the status to be allowed to travel into the eu because they Coronavirus Infection rates are low. This morning, dominic raab told the bbc that he expected that individual Member States will be able to take those decisions on their own and it would not be an eu blanket policy, pretty much like what happened during the summer. You remember those travel corridors where we could travel to spain and portugal and other countries for those confident enough to go on holiday. Those have changed now due to rising infection rates but it is hoped they will be able to come back and that is the hope of a lot of those who are in the aviation and travel industry, because they are hoping these travel corridors will become open to allow british tourists to go back to our favourite holiday
destinations. But it should come as no surprise, we are entering the final phases of these discussions about our access to the eu and travel to the eu, and just this morning, the french minister appeared at the French Border to add appeared at the French Border to add a little bit more pressure, to say that uk travellers would need to have a visa, potentially, if they wa nt to have a visa, potentially, if they want to stay in the eu for more than 90 days after the transition period ends so it is more of the rhetoric to increase the pressure and find out what we can do. Thank you very much. We now have the latest coronavirus figures. 516 deaths within 28 days ofa figures. 516 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, compared to 533 on wednesday, so roughly the same number. And in terms of cases, the
uk has recorded 20,964, so almost 21,000 new cases of covid 19, that isa 21,000 new cases of covid 19, that is a big rise, compared to 16,578 yesterday. So a substantial rise from 16,578 yesterday to 20,964 new cases of covid 19 reported today. And we will be hearing more about that at five oclock. The Health Secretary matt hancock will host a downing street press conference on coronavirus. Hell be joined nhs englands professor Stephen Powis and englands chief medical officer professor chris whitty. We will, of course, bring it to you live. The headlines on bbc news. The eu lays out plans to keep road and air travel running with the uk in case theres no brexit deal. Both sides say they will keep negotiating until sunday. Uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries from january 1st because of brexit and coronavirus. A catalogue of failures in Maternity Care over 18 years is revealed at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. A review into maternity failures at an nhs trust has found that mothers were sometimes blamed for their babys death, that women were denied appropriate care and that lessons werent learned when things went wrong. The report says a catalogue of failures occured at the shrewsbury and Telford Trust between 2000 and 2018. It has now been given 27 changes to implement, with a further seven recommendations for all Maternity Units in england. 0ur social Affairs Correspondent Michael Buchanan reports. For two decades, this Hospital Trust
contributed to the avoidable deaths of women and babies, and repeatedly denied they were at fault. Today, the harm they caused was revealed, often in painful detail. You read the story of a baby and it died. The story of another baby, and it died. The weight of that, reading through that, i physically felt sick. These are the two families who persuaded the government to launch this review, each compelled to do so by the avoidable death of a child. Kate Stanton Davies died in 2009. Pippa griffiths died in 2016. They need to own the failure. Instead of saying, we are sorry and putting the same im sorry statement out, and then saying, but we do deliver all these healthy babies, that is not acceptable. The review found that
mothers were blamed for the deaths of their babies. There was a reluctance to carry out cesarean sections, often with catastrophic consequences. 13 women died in labour or shortly afterwards, higher than the england average. Some deaths were not investigated. We believe in the importance of this review. I will be honest, there have been days where ive met family after family, and i meet them privately in shrewsbury, where i have sat down and cried. Because as a fellow human being, you cannot do anything other than that. The trust wouldnt take questions today, but did say theyd implement all 27 recommendations. This is a harrowing read and it sets out poor care across a number of decades. As the chief executive of the trust now, i want to say personally and on behalf of the trust that we are very sorry for all of the pain and distress caused to these families. The full report into all 1862 cases
before the review will be published next year. Until then, these families will continue to fight for change. When your children say to you, why are you doing this again, mum . Why do you put yourself through this . Its because we dont want any other families to go through the pain that we have. Michael buchanan with that report. The health minister, Nadine Dorries, has expressed her profound sympathies for the families involved. Todays report makes clear that there were serious failings
in Maternity Services at the shrewsbury and Telford Hospital nhs trust. I would like to express my profound sympathies for what families have gone through. There can be no greater pain for a parent than to lose a child. And i am acutely aware that nothing i can say today will lessen the horrendous suffering that these families have been through and continue to suffer. However, i would like to give my thanks to all of the families who agreed to come forward and assist in this inquiry. The team held conversations with over 800 families who have raised serious concerns about the care that they received. I know it has not been easy for them to revisit painful and distressing experiences. But through sharing their stories, we can ensure that no family has
to suffer the same pain in the future. From the outset, the inquiry wanted families to be central to their work, to the teams work, and for their voices to be heard. And i am pleased that the families were able to see the report first this morning, shortly before it was presented to parliament. I can assure them and members of this house that we are taking todays report very seriously and that we expect the trust to act upon these recommendations immediately. Earlier i spoke to Richard Stanton, who featured in that report. His daughter kate died just six hours after she was born. Her case was one of 250 cases outlined in todays review. There were warnings before kate, the two years before by the authorities, at the time that oversaw health care, that they were failing on monitoring the babies heart rate correctly. But, no, we had no idea that this trust would fail us and fail so many families in such a catastrophic way. And i absolutely dont want you to have to relive something so painful butjust to try to enable our audience to understand briefly what happened in your case and your wifes case, did you have immediate concerns once kate came into the world . Yes, we did. In the final two weeks of rhiannon, my wifes pregnancy carrying kate, she had a series of reduced fetal movement. Rhiannon was never risk assessed. Had she been risk assessed, she would have been elevated to high risk and wouldnt have been allowed to have given birth in a midwife led
unit, which was some distance away from shrewsbury tertiary hospital. Rhiannon went on to give birth in that hospital and kate was born cold, pale and floppy and soon developed respiratory distress and a grunting noise. The midwife, whose training was out of date, in the hospital she was born in, which had no operational policy, exasperated kates care, or lack of care. Kate was finally airlifted by ambulance to be taken en route to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital but their helipad was closed and the helicopter was diverted on to Birmingham Childrens, and then finally onto birmingham, where kate was transported to. Myself and rhiannon, rhiannonjust having given birth just two hours earlier, were not allowed or offered any transportation to be taken to kate via an ambulance so we had to make our own way to her, just being told that she had gone to birmingham and we had no more information. En route to birmingham, rhiannon collapsed and we had to call an ambulance and rhiannon and my sister, who had accompanied us on that journey, went in the ambulance to the royal worcester hospital. I carried on to birmingham, having only discovered where kate was by using the database on my satnav in the car to call around Birmingham Hospitals and frantically say, have you got my daughter . She was born only hours ago. Eventually, the Senior Consultant called me back and said, yes, we have received kate, please can you get here as quickly as you can . I arrived at four oclock at the hospital, where at three minutes past, her cables were removed and she was placed in my arms, where six hours after being born, she died. The gravity of the situation was so great that they could not keep her alive any longer and rhiannon was finally blue lighted from worcester to birmingham to be reunited with us
and she was not there when kate died in my arms so the additional trauma of that day is very at the fore for us. That was Richard Stanton, whose daughter died just a few hours after being born. Some breaking news to give you from wales. We are hearing Secondary School and College Pupils from wales will be taught online and at home for the last week of term to reduce coronavirus transmission. The Welsh Government has announced the move following pressure from teaching unions and decisions by local authorities to end in School Teaching early. Primary school sites will remain fully open. We will bring you more on that as it comes into us. Britains Economic Growth slowed to 0. 4 in october as covid restrictions were tightened. Manufacturing saw business improve, but other sectors including hospitality saw activity sharply down. Business groups are warning it will take at least two years for the economy to recover fully, even if a post brexit trade deal is done. Heres our economics correspondent andy verity. Lets speak to our business presenter sima kotecha. What can we expect the impact to be . Yes, first of all, let me explain what gdp is for our audience. It is the gross domestic product, the value of goods and services produced by the economy, and it is a good indicator of how healthy the economy is. Every month, we get a statistic as to how much of the economy has grown or shrunk, and as to how much of the economy has grown orshrunk, and in as to how much of the economy has grown or shrunk, and in october, it was 0. 4 growth, which is not much but it is a lot more than economists had anticipated. Many thought it
would be a lot lower than that. Just to give you some context, in september, the economy grew by 1. 1 , so the economy has grown for six months consecutively. However, it is slowing down, and as you say, november, businesses are very nervous about what that number will be in november, because we know that the lockdown was implemented, the second lockdown, in november. Many businesses were forced to close, people were put on furlough again, and all that means less money injected into the economy, slowing down that growth. And also there is a lot of anxiety over brexit moving forward , a lot of anxiety over brexit moving forward, with the cbi saying today that the economy wont grow as much as it might do if there is a no deal. They are saying that at the moment, the economy is 8 smaller thanit moment, the economy is 8 smaller than it was at pre pandemic levels. However, if there is no deal, it
says the economy will not be back to its pre pandemic level until 2024. Asi its pre pandemic level until 2024. As i say, there is real anxiety from businesses as to what is going to happen moving forward. Good to talk to you. Thank you very much. Joe anderson, the mayor of liverpool, has announced he will step aside from the role following his arrest by detectives investigating allegations of bribery and witness intimidation. Mr anderson said it was a painful shock when he was arrested on friday along with four other men as part of a Merseyside Police investigation into building and development contracts. In a statement he said he had always done what he believed was best for the city. Us regulators have launched a major lawsuit against facebook, accusing it of buying whatsapp and instagram in order to stifle competition. Facebook say the legal action could have a Chilling Effect on innovation. Lets get more from our Technology Correspondent rory cellanjones. This what the implications of this . This what the implications of this . This is a hugely important action, probably the most significant by an american regulator since they tried to break up microsoft in 1990s. That went on for many years. This is a lawsuit by more than 40 states and the federal trade commission and they are accusing facebook of trying to stifle competition. They say over a long period the company has a policy of what they describe as bi all berry. In other words, by up promising rivals that might eat into the market or kill them by imitating their products by putting them out of business. They focus particularly on instagram and whatsapp. I am sure a lot of people probably dont realise just the extent of
facebooks empire. Huge numbers of users across all these different products. Instagram was bought in 2012, whatsapp was bought a couple of years later and now, this lawsuit can envisage those two companies being sold off by facebook, the company essentially being split up to remedy the problem of competition. I suppose facebook might say, this is how big business works. This is capitalism. If you area big works. This is capitalism. If you are a big and rich enough company, you swallow the rivals, it is the law of the jungle. Well yes and in fa ct, law of the jungle. Well yes and in fact, until now, that is the way that competition law in america has worked. Unless you were able to prove in the past that consumers were paying, literally paying a price for a monopoly, paying more, then there was no problem. Of course, you dont pay anything for facebook. What facebook are also pointing out is that in 2012 and 2014, the federal trade commission
waved through, effectively, there was takeovers. They are saying the government wants a do over with no regard for the impact that would have on the business community. They are saying this will stifle innovation. But the lawsuit contains all sorts of details, private e mails from Mark Zuckerberg of his plans to bury the competition. They think they have a good case and this one will run and run. Rory, thank you very much indeed. And some breaking news from sky news. We are hearing that kay burley, the sky news presenter, will be taken off airforsix news presenter, will be taken off airfor six months after a breach of covid restrictions in london and that she has agreed to be taken off airforsix that she has agreed to be taken off airfor six months. A statement that she has agreed to be taken off air for six months. A statement on sky news online says a small number of sky news staff attended a social
eventin of sky news staff attended a social event in london on saturday evening, during which covid guidelines were breached, as a result of an internal review, sky news presenter kay bu rley review, sky news presenter kay burley has agreed to be off air for six months. Also Political Editor beth rigby and correspondent. Have also agreed to be off air for three months. All of those, according to sky news, all of those involved regret the incident and have apologised. Everyone at sky news is expected to comply with the rules and the Company Takes breaches like this very seriously indeed. So, sky news presenter kay burley has agreed to be off airfor six months news presenter kay burley has agreed to be off air for six months after that breach of covid restrictions in london at an event to celebrate her birthday. More on that as we get it. Now its time for a look at the weather with ben rich. Hello there. A few of us have had the chance to see some sunshine but for most, it has been grey, drab and uninspiring. A lot of cloud, patchy rain and then through tonight, we see the band of heavy rain pushing from the west towards the east. Behind it, we still have a lot of cloud. Some clearer breaks but equally, 12 showers, some of which can be heavy, possibly even sundry for wales and the south west, not an especially cold at night for this of year. Into tomorrow, the band of rain to start across eastern areas, it will peter out in most places although eastern scotland, with a south easterly flow coming off the north sea, i think well see some more persistent rain through the day. Further west, a bitter brightness, a lot of cloud, and i will be some showers, some of which will be some showers, some of which will be some showers, some of which will be heavy. 11 degrees for london, cardiff and plymouth, further north, highs of seven or eight. As we look further ahead towards the weekend, saturday promises something a bit brighter, heavy rain and strong winds for
sunday. Hello this is bbc news with ben brown. The headlines. The eu lays out plans to keep road and air travel running with the uk in case theres no brexit deal. The two sides say they will keep negotiating until sunday. It is difficult. We are willing to grant access to the Single Market to our british friends. Its the largest Single Market in the world. But the conditions have to be fair. We will leave no stone unturned. We would like a deal if its possible but we are not going to sacrifice the basic point of democratic principle. Uk travellers could be barred from entering many eu countries from january 1st because of brexit and coronavirus. A catalogue of failures in Maternity Care, over 18 years,
Secondary Schools and colleges in wales will move to Online Learning from monday. A catalogue of failures in Maternity Care, over 18 years, is revealed at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. We had no idea that this trust would fail us and fail so many families in such a catastrophic way. The number of people waiting more than a year for routine surgery in england has risen to its highest level since 2008. Sport now and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. Good afternoon. Weve got a busy evening in the Europa League to look forward to, arsenal have already secured top spot in their group ahead of tonights game at dundalk, also into the knockout stages are rangers and tottenham. A win for spurs over Royal Antwerp tonight would see them win their group. Managerjose mourinho says thats not important but it would be an advantage to avoid coming up against one of the seeded clubs dropping down from the
Champions League in the next round. With 2000 fans are behind us, we have the chance to play one game to try and win the group. It is that fundamental . I dont think it is. I dont think we should be afraid of playing against any team in the next phase but of course, normally, the teams between groups are the best teams, so if you can avoid them in the next draw, i think it would be an advantage. Uefa has said ther will be a moment of silence ahead of all of Tonights Europa League games in memory of italian legend paulo rossi, whos died aged 64. Rossi was the player of the tournament when italy won the world cup in 1982, scoring 6 goals himself, including a hat trick against favourites brazil. Flags have been lowered to half mast at the Italian Football Federation headquarters in rome as a sign of respect. Its been confirmed that englands cricketers will tour india early next year for the countrys first home series since the start of the pandemic. The first test will start on the 5th february in chennai before moving to ahmedabad for their first day night test in the country at the worlds biggest cricket ground. This will be followed by five t20s there and three one day internationals in pune. At the scottish 0pen snooker, judd trump has beaten liang wenbo in the third round by 4 frames to 2. It was this red in the 6th frame which helped him on his way to victory and into this evenings fourth round where hell play the former World Champion mark williams. There are calls for an urgent review
into how rugby players train as a number of ex professionals insist the sport has left them with permanent brain damage. An initial group of eight players is taking legal action against rugbys authorties for negligence. Rugby Players Association chief Damian Hopley has told bbc sport that more education is needed and training methods need to be addressed very quickly. A big percentage of injuries occur during training so i think that has to be part of the opportunity to address these things and look at what can we do to make the game safer as has been talked about and perhaps training protocols are something that we need to address very quickly. And. Gregor townsend says hes honoured and privileged to sign a two Year Contract extension that will see him coach scotland at the 2023 world cup. Hes been in charge since 2017, and his six year tenure will make him scotlands
longest serving head coach of the professional era. In that time hes won 22 and drawn one of his 40 tests at the helm. The world athletics indoor championships scheduled to take place in china next year have been postponed again until march 2023. The decisions been made because of uncertainty surrounding the covid 19 pandemic in the early part of the new year. Because the indoor season falls within a narrow window up to the end of march it hasnt been possible to schedule the event in 2021. Belgrade will host the championships in 2022. Thats all the sport for now. Holly, thank you very much. More on that news from sky news that the presenter kay burley has agreed to be taken off airfor
presenter kay burley has agreed to be taken off air for breaking covid restrictions in london for a Birthday Celebration and a tweet, lets just see it now, this is from kay burley and in it she says, i have agreed to step back from my broadcasting role for a period of reflection. Its clear to me that we are all in the fight against covid 19 and that we all have a duty to stick firmly by the rules. It doesnt matter that i thought i was covid compliant on a recent social event. The fact is that i was wrong, i made a mistake. My colleagues, some of the most talented and committed in the business had been pulled into this episode and i regret this enormously. She says, i was one of the founding presenters. Nobody is prouder of the impact we
make andi nobody is prouder of the impact we make and i look forward to being able to continue my 32 year career with sky when i return. Just to remind you, the details, kay burley has agreed to be taken off air for six months after breaking covid 19 rules at that birthday party. And the Political Editor of sky news and another correspondence have also agreed to be taken off air. That is for a lesser period of three months and sky news said a small number of sky news staff did attend a social eventin sky news staff did attend a social event in london on saturday during which covid guidelines were breached. As a result of an internal review, kay burley has agreed to be off airforsix review, kay burley has agreed to be off airfor six months. All those involved regret the incident and have apologised. Lets return to our breaking news. Secondary school and College Pupils
in wales will be taught online from home for the last week of term, in order to reduce coronavirus transmission. 0ur correspondent Hywel Griffith is in cardiff. Has this come as a surprise . Yeah, it is, after mounting pressure. We have seen individual councils make their own mild up after this. One has already closed its doors to pupils learning online. Then Councils Like bridgend announcing that they would close a couple of days early, so the pressure had been mounting from councils, but also from the teaching unions who said to the Welsh Government that it probably wasnt sustainable to have different schools in different areas ta ke different schools in different areas take different decisions. And so, added to that, the fact that they are eight the r rate is thought to be one and a quarter at the
moment, learning for secondary age pupils will go online next week. Its pupils will go online next week. Its important to point out that Primary Schools will remain open for that final week. However, Primary Schools will remain open for that finalweek. However, i Primary Schools will remain open for that final week. However, i know lots of pa rents that final week. However, i know lots of parents are now looking at, well why would it be safe for them to ta ke well why would it be safe for them to take their Primary School pupil aged children to school, but not their Secondary School age children. As you indicate, the authorities in wales are struggling to get a r number down at the moment. Yes, you think baxterjust a month ago when the Welsh National firebreak ended. The Welsh Government was very keen to point to graphs showing a downward trend in numbers but for the last two weeks, that trend has been reversed and we are seeing coronavirus case rates rise above what they were before the lockdown, so the virus is out there and its spreading rapidly. The Welsh Government is under pressure to do more full stop it has already introduced some measures, controls on alcohol sales, the closure of things like cinemas and bowling alleys, we a re things like cinemas and bowling alleys, we are yet to see the impact
of that filter through but this will be seen as another possible measure to slow the spread of the virus ahead of christmas. I should add that part of it is based on scientific advice given by the Welsh Government last week that said that by isolating children ahead of christmas, it might protect the older generation, the grandparents, because remember, head of everyone in the uk, is five days over christmas where the rules have been relaxed considerably. Some will see this as a way of isolating and protecting children from spreading the virus ahead of that christmas period. Thank you very much, hywel. The very latest on the active element from cardiff. Just to say that at five oclock coming up very shortly, the Health Secretary matt hancock will be bringing you the latest downing street coronavirus update. He will be joined latest downing street coronavirus update. He will bejoined by nhs englands better Stephen Powis and the chief medical officer professor chris whitty. We will be bringing
you that live as soon as it begins here on bbc news live from downing street. The number of patients in england waiting over a year for routine hospital care is now 100 times higher than before the pandemic. New figures out today show that nearly 163,000 people were waiting for treatment the highest number since 2008. The Royal College of surgeons says its a Real National crisis. 0ur Health Correspondent Sophie Hutchinson reports. Julie and chris, just two of what are now tens of thousands of people who face long and often painful waits for treatment. Both have severe arthritis. Chris, a former care worker, was due to have a hip replacement in march, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic and he says the wait has been unbearable. I am in constant pain, all through the night and all through the day. Im on painkillers and i know that if im sitting down or lying down,
if i move, stand up or whatever, its going to get even worse. On a scale of one to ten i suppose it is nine. Julie is in so much pain shes had to give up her work in the nhs. Shes been waiting since january for operations to replace both her knees and says it has had a huge impact on her. I do understand, but all i would say is, you know, notjust talking about myself but other people in the same position, my pain cant wait. Even if they said to me, right, it will get done within the next three months, it is something to aim for, but every time you go you get a shrug of the shoulders. Were sorry, we cant help. In february, before the pandemic really hit, around 1600 patients were still waiting more than 12 months for routine treatment in england. But by october this year, that had jumped to 163,000 patients,
a staggering 100 fold increase. Surgeons are describing it as a Real National crisis, and a warning it will take considerable time to sort out. Its going to be two or three years minimum, isnt it . I think even if we were managing to, if you like, make the capacity work at its highest possible rate, maybe business as usual plus ten or 15 , thats still not going to get anywhere near solving the problem in a short time. The nhs in england says theres better news for cancer patients, with urgent checks and treatment now above normal levels. It is urging anyone concerned about their health to come forward, but the latest figures from the Second National lockdown suggest people have once again stayed away from a e, raising concerns that hundreds of thousands may be missing on treatment. Sophie hutchinson, bbc news. Saffron cordery is deputy chief executive of nhs providers,
which represents nhs trusts. Shejoins me now. Thank you for being with us. These dreadful figures arent they . A lot of people waiting for routine operations who are, as we heard in the report, in terrible pain. Absolutely and i think the best thing we can do is to recognise how frustrating it is for people who cant have the treatment they need and it is absolutely the case that these figures for people waiting longer than a year are deeply concerning. I think the situation across nhs hospitals is that the capacity that they have to perform operations, routine operations in particular, has been and is severely constrained and limited due to coronavirus. Whilst they are doing everything they can to get through the backlog, all the
while we are seeing rising cases of coronavirus, in different parts of the country, that does lead to this aggregate picture where, as you say in the report, in your report, this has gone up by 100 since february. Its has gone up by 100 since february. Its a backlog that is enormous. It could take years to clear, presumably. What is needed to help clear that backlog, do you think . Is it more staff . Is it more money . Its it more staff . Is it more money . Its all sorts of elements and i think the first thing we need is to be able to lift the constraints on the capacity we have at the moment but unfortunately, those constraints are brought about by coronavirus, by covid 19. So what we have in place at the moment is the vaccination, which is incredibly hopeful and should start to see cases tailing off, but that is going to take a little while. We also have more Effective Therapeutics which means that people are able to recover more
effectively from coronavirus, so perhaps taking less hospital time and beds, and we are also seen the Testing Capacity improving, so that is helping stop the spread of the virus. But what we do need to be in a position of is the situation where we dont need a social distancing and we dont need the really high levels of Infection Prevention and control, so all of the ppe that people have to put on and take off and having beds further apart actually has a Material Impact on the capacity of hospitals to perform operations and alongside that of course, we have a workforce that is not only tired, but we have a workforce that is currently, a number of them are currently unwell with coronavirus or self isolating. So we have a whole bundle of factors there. Going forward, i think we have seen some really welcome
investment in the spending reviews, so3 investment in the spending reviews, so 3 billion additional investment across nhs Provider Services including for Mental Health which is really helpful, but also for routine procedures and operations, so that should help. But it is going to take time and we should all be aware of the fact that is going to take time. 0k, thank you very much indeed for being with us and giving us your views on that. Thank you so much. Back to our top story now and as weve been hearing, the European Commission has published contingency plans, in case theres no post brexit deal with the uk. This the measures include ensuring planes and lorries can keep moving between the eu and the uk. Both sides say theyll decide on sunday whether negotiations are worth continuing. Someone who is urging the government to do everything they can to get a deal is the conservative mp tobias ellwood, whojoins us now. You are urging compromise. Do you think thats a possibility at this late stage . It has to be. I dont wa nt to late stage . It has to be. I dont want to just urge the government. I wa nt to want to just urge the government. I want to urge the eu as well. There is no real mandate for no deal, it wasnt in the Party Manifesto and it wasnt in the Party Manifesto and it wasnt on the original referendum question. Its important that we keep talks going. Its in the interest of all parties that the uk is watching, europe is watching, the world is watching, we need to find that courage to navigate out of this impasse. More time is required, then so be it. We delayed the d day landings for example. We need to get this right. This will effect an entire generation and if it requires a couple more weeks, or indeed securing what is already in the bag. 95 of this trade relationship is there to go. Aviation, energy, Data Security is so critical in todays day and age, the future of gibraltar. Lets get that secured. Lets revisit the stumbling blocks later but dont lets walk away and
cause a no deal, that would be devastating not just a cause a no deal, that would be devastating notjust a briton but to the European Union as well. The trouble is they are, what is emerging is that there is still a huge philosophical divide between the two sides, especially over competition policy, the idea of a level Playing Field, the eu suggests that the uk wants to undercut the European Union and the uk suggest it is all about sovereignty, so its not something that can just be haggled overfor a few not something that can just be haggled over for a few days, it is a deep philosophical divide. Haggled over for a few days, it is a deep philosophical dividem haggled over for a few days, it is a deep philosophical divide. It is not divide needs to be bridged and thats why i am saying, takes political courage. If we were to throw away anything else on the challenges that will come about if we dont get that deal, it will be huge. Colossal, long term damage to the economy, to tariffs, cars for example had cultural products, our general relationship with the eu and lets not forget our relationship with the United States. Here we are trying to revive that special relationship and work with the white
house to exhibit greater Global Leadership in dealing with some of the challenges and threats that we face today and we cant even establish a working relationship with our media neighbours. Its so important that we get this right. It would be a poor start to our presidency, the g7 trying to host cop 26 and we cant work this out. Thank you for your time. Lets get more now on coronavirus, and after the first person in the world received a vaccine this week theres hope that as the rollout continues more people will be protected from the physical effects of the virus. But what about the effects on peoples Mental Health . The government has already announced a £500 million package to support Mental Health services in england. But with infections still rising in some parts of the uk and restrictions expected to remain in place well into the new year, challenges will remain for peoples mental wellbeing. Dr Alice Parshall is the medical director at the Mental Health partnership clinical partners and a consultant psychiatrist. Thank you for being with us. £500 million, it sounds a lot of money but this isnt the sort of problem that only money can deal with. Thats true. Absolutely true. We are particularly, i think, thats true. Absolutely true. We are particularly, ithink, in thats true. Absolutely true. We are particularly, i think, in a thats true. Absolutely true. We are particularly, ithink, in a position whereby we dont know anything like as much about what the Mental Health effects of covid going to be. And we havent a new workforce that has emerged with the epidemic, of course. Is covid, in terms of Mental Health, do you think it is hitting people of all age groups in the same way or are some age groups suffering more than others . Are some parts of the population suffering more than others . I think one of the difficulties is that we dont actually know, we havent been
collecting the data with any kind of granularity, but the general view is that it granularity, but the general view is thatitis granularity, but the general view is that it is young people, younger people, young adults in particular, who are suffering the most of the social disruption and that individuals who have had covid, fairly severely, are likely to have the most lasting neuropsychiatric complications. The thing is, we are about to face a very long, well we are facing a very long winter now. Yes, we have the vaccine, yet it is going into peoples arms right now, but restrictions will be in force for months to come. We know that. Possibly until easter. And so, this Mental Health crisis is just going to get worse and worse. Yes, if it is not going to get worse and worse, i think describing it as an echo epidemic is the best way describing it. I think it is onlyjust
starting. So i think it is going to get more and more, worse and worse again is something that we just dont know. And i think its the poverty of knowledge at the moment which is perhaps particularly frightening and difficult, both individuals and the potential service providers. Do think the authorities have taken this Mental Health crisis seriously enough . Has enough attention been paid to this comedy thing . I think has enough attention been paid to this, do you think . I think now, we have recognised that there is going to be an echo epidemic, now we need to get on with it. I think it would be a little unfair to suggest that people havent taken it seriously enough. I think the signal of the investment
isa think the signal of the investment is a clear sign that there is an understanding of how grave this will be for individuals Mental Health and well being going forward. Be for individuals Mental Health and wellbeing going forward. Well, thank you very much indeed for being with us with your views on the Mental Health issues that the results of covid pandemic. Coming up, we have the downing street Coronavirus Press conference coming from matt hancock the Health Secretary at number ten, we will be bringing that live as soon as it
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