Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20200309

Police officers accused of being Domestic Abusers are being protected, according to a so called super complaint being submitted today which claims 19 women have been failed by investigations into their allegations. Last year, this woman told us she was raped by her Police Officer partner and the force barely investigated him. I rang 999, and he was really angry about that because of his job. The police turned up and the only advice they gave him was that he should leave the house and go for a walk to calm down. I dont remember them talking to me at all and definitely not talking to the children. And half of parents are putting their babies to sleep in unsafe environments, according to new research out today. Well talk to mum emma smith whose daughter maisy died after she fell asleep on the sofa with her baby next to her. Hi. Welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. If you have a new baby, are you clear about the advice about how they should be falling asleep . Were going to talk about cot deaths later and we will being you the advice on what is the right thing to do when youre putting your baby to sleep. Let me know where you gto your advice from . First, a summary of the news. 16 Million People in northern italy are experiencing the most drastic lockdown since the second world war, as authorities there try to stop the spread of coronavirus. The number of people to have died from the coronavirus in the country rose sharply by 133 yesterday to 366. The Airline Easyjet has cancelled some flights to and from italy and the Foreign Office is warning against all but essential travel to parts of the country. Restrictions on museums, cinemas, Shopping Centres and restaurants will remain in place until the start of april. Here ministers and officials will meet this morning to decide the next steps in responding to the worsening coronavirus outbreak, which yesterday claimed the life of a third person in the uk. A man in his sixties, whod recently returned from italy and had Underlying Health problems, died at North Manchester General Hospital. Talks will also take place with sports governing bodies and broadcasters to discuss the impact on sporting events. Scotlands former first minister, alex salmond, goes on trial in edinburgh this morning. Mr salmond is charged with a string of Sexual Offences against 10 women. He denies all the charges against him. A man has been shot dead by police in westminster after brandishing two knives at officers in a non terror related incident. Metropolitan police said officers were patrolling the area near northumberland avenue at about 11. 30pm last night when they noticed the man acting suspiciously. The independent office for Police Conduct have been informed. The first chairman of the equality and human rights commission, trevor phillips, says hes been suspended by the labour party. Mr phillips, an anti racism campaigner who said before the last election that he couldnt vote for the party, has been accused of islamophobia an allegation he denies. Labour is currently being investigated by the commission over its handling of anti semitism. The queen and senior members of the royal family will attend a service at Westminster Abbey later to mark Commonwealth Day. Among them will be the duke and duchess of sussex, carrying out their final official duties before stepping down as senior royals. The couple will then relinquish their royal higness titles and plan to spend more time in canada. Now back to victoria. Last night, a third person died in the uk after contracting coronavirus. The man, who was in his sixties, was being treated at North Manchester General Hospital after returning from italy. He had a number of Underlying Health problems. Theres been a jump in confirmed cases here here are the numbers. On sunday, the number of confirmed cases in the uk rose to 278, thats 60 more than there were on saturday the biggest rise so far. And two more cases have been confirmed in wales in the past hour. The governments Emergency Cobra Committee will meet in an hours time to discuss tackling the ongoing outbreak. It comes after italy yesterday qura nteened the Lombardy Region and 1a other provinces, effectively putting 16 Million People into isolation. 366 people have died so far in italy after contracting coronavirus, with more than 7000 confirmed cases. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has urged shoppers not to stock up on supplies that they dont need, as supermarkets such as tesco, begin rationing some food and Household Items because some people are buying too much. Ive been speaking to sergio brusin, an expert in response and Emergency Operations at the European Centre for disease prevention and control. I asked him if he thought the measures that italy had put in place were proportionate. If you put these things into context and see what has happened in china with their drastic measures, it is something that is not unreasonable. And therefore i want to ask you how close you think, how close or otherwise you think the uk is to being in the same situation as italy . Well, the uk is in the situation italy was a couple of weeks ago. But the uk has an advantage because the uk saw what has happened in south korea and italy. So there is time to do something more and quicker than in italy. So you think the government here should move to the social distancing measures, the banning of large public gatherings and so on . That would be a reasonable thing to do. And if it doesnt . If it doesnt, in the uk you will get the same situation that there is in italy now. Seriously, thousands of positive cases, you believe, if we dont do that here . Yeah. The figure now is 200, if i am not mistaken. Italy went from 200 to 1,000 in ten days, and that is how this disease is working. Therefore, i wouldnt expect without any measures for this situation to be very different. How long does the government have here to implement those measures to stop it spreading in the way we have seen in italy . Not a very long time. I would say a few days, really. We are in an exponential curve, so the cases are doubling very quickly. You dont really have a lot of time. Now you may see hundreds, but very soon if you dont do anything, thousands will come extremely quickly. So i would say days. The government has an emergency meeting today. Perhaps today would be the day to bring in their social distancing measures, in your view. That would be welcome. I think that would be a good idea. And what specifically are you thinking the British Government should be implementing here to stop us becoming the next italy . Well, we published our Risk Assessment last week where we had different scenarios. And the scenario the uk is in is either scenario two or three where cases are still rising exponentially, but Community Transmission is not completely recognised. So i think that now the uk is in the situation we described in scenario three of our Risk Assessment, transmission soon being recognised. It also looks like the uk is exporting some cases. So this is the right time to act. And by act, are you saying people should work from home, football matches should be played behind closed doors, or are you talking about locking down whole towns and cities . Locking down whole towns and cities is not something that is easily feasible in the western world. But the social distancing, the care not to have big meetings of people, the possibility of working from home when possible, they are diminishing the chances of contact between people. Washing hands, dont shake hands, all this distance of people from people makes the transmission less easy. That is what can happen. Locking down towns has happened in china. I dont think it is very feasible in places like the uk or italy, for that matter. Even in italy, the quarantine that is imposed lets people move to go to the shops, lets people go to work when absolutely necessary. So it is not a chinese lockdown. It is a lowering of the chances of meeting other people. Do you think the uk has been slow in terms of implementing measures compared to other european nations . I dont really think so. It is a very difficult situation to read, because the increase from a handful of cases to hundreds and thousands is very quick. I really dont think it was possible for the government to react quicker. It would have been very difficult to explain to the population drastic measures without having at least some cases that can be shown on the map. After brexit, as you know, britain is due to leave the Early Warning and response system which has helped coordinate the response to the virus and played a vital role during the bird flu outbreak. What do you think of that . Its a pity. The ewrs worked particularly well in coordinating and exchanging information inside europe. Recently, switzerland asked to get into the system and of course, the request was granted. So losing the possibility to Exchange Information with the uk on the ewrs would be for us quite a loss. Finally, i wonder if you think the numbers of dead in italy from coronavirus are what the uk can expect . Without measures, yes, i think that the percentage of people dying from coronavirus wouldnt change that much between italy and the uk. Thank you very much for your time. To me on twitter says, how do i work from home when i work in retail . The same goes for lots of people who dont work in offices. Lewis says, work from home . I work in a pub. If mine was to shut, i wouldnt be putting in the hours, which would mean no pay. Built on Facebook Says if schools and businesses close, it will cause a lot of disruption but we cant carry on as if nothing is going on. Vicki says, i am happy to work from home as i work on an ambulance, iam work from home as i work on an ambulance, i am not sure work from home as i work on an ambulance, iam not sure how work from home as i work on an ambulance, i am not sure how that would work. Gemma says closing schools will not help, you cant keep your kids locked inside. It is only three weeks until the easter holidays. Keep your messages coming in. You can message us on twitter or send us an e mail. Lets talk now to dr Margaret Harris in geneva, shes a spokesperson for the world health organisation, and two people in the quaratined area of italy elisabetta fermo shes a consultant living in como in the italian lakes, and luize bankovica 23 year old design assistant living in milan. Plus im joined by laura fleming, shes from birmingham she and eight others are stuck in northern italy and waiting to see if they can fly home. Dr harris, i wonder if you agreed with our guest from the European Centre for disease prevention and control saying that the uk has just a short time to start in preventing distancing preventions . Social distancing preventions . Social distancing is certainly the tool that has shown itself to be the most effective when dealing with this outbreak. The chinese have shown us that it can be done. They have gone from a horrendous outbreak, seeing thousands of new cases daily, to numbers of new cases now in the double digits. So they have given us hope that it can be done. But as has been described, this asks a great deal of all of us. It requires a lot of planning and thinking through carefully how you can manage it. I noted that one of your listeners said, icant noted that one of your listeners said, i cant lock my children up. That is quite right. Your children can walk around. The idea is not to have people in a large group in a situation where they cannot not be exposed to each other and where a bunch of people are coming from all over the place and bringing in whatever they have got on them into the crowd. So it is not easy, but it does work. Is it fair to say that china has control of this virus now asa china has control of this virus now as a result of the measures they took . Base have still got a lot outbreak. For us scientifically, we have seen the epidemic curve come down rapidly and we have seen that we expected it to keep on going. Your previous speaker spoke a lot about exponential rise. That means when it is doubling and you see the curve going up. They managed to flatten it and bring it down. And when they took those measures, that was when the flattening started to happen. So they have definitely demonstrated with an extremely difficult outbreak that looked like it was going to overwhelm their country, they have demonstrated that you can control and slow it. They are not out of the woods yet. They are not out of the woods yet. They are still getting new cases. But they have indicated that it can be done. Remember, the uk outbreak is a lot smaller. Even the italy outbreak has a lot smaller, so now is the time to do what you can to at least slow it down. So what would you expect the British Government to do . If they are moving to the delay phase, which accepts that you are going to have more transmission, it accepts that people are going to get sick. The idea is not to have people getting sick so rapidly that you have hundreds and thousands of people ill. It is that 10 to 15 group that gets severe disease who are going to overwhelm your Health System. If you have 1000 cases, you will have hundred and 50 people 150 people who need around the clock care. That means all the other thing your Health System does will be difficult to do and you may not have the capacity to even do that. That is what is slowing it down, the outcome you want. So that means banning public gatherings. Does it mean closing Public Schools . Banning public gatherings. Does it mean closing public schoolwm banning public gatherings. Does it mean closing Public Schools . It may well. A lot of countries have closed schools where you have a clear indication of transmission in the community where the school is. Italy closed schools throughout the country, but many other countries are selecting where they close the schools. It may be necessary in the uk because you have widespread clusters in different parts of the country. The reason you closed schools is not because children and young people are likely to get very sick, it is more that it is a place where they gather and the transporting of children and young people to schools means that everybody is crowded together including their parents. But does that mean others shouldnt use public transport . This is exactly right. It is trying to reduce the number of people who use public transport. Ideally, only the people who absolutely have to go to work. Some dimension working in the food industry. You cant do that from home if you are somebody serving food. So the people that do need to ta ke food. So the people that do need to take public transport, yes, should still take public transport but ideally, if you have far fewer people on public transport, you can sit a metre apart so you are not jammed up against each other in a situation where it is impossible not to be in contact with whatever the other person is coughing or sneezing out. Let me bring in our other guests, luize and elisabetta and lawro. Elisabetta, you are on the border with switzerland. What is it like that . Yeah. My brother works cross border and fortunately, the border was not closed even until lombardi was declared a red zone, which means that we cant exit the region, fortunately the cross border is still open. But we are still trying to understand how to cope in the next few days, so things might rapidly change. We had the impression in this country that you we re impression in this country that you were on lockdown, but if people are still crossing the border, you are clearly not . Indeed, we are lockdown, but the government has done this decree in terms of not crossing the border within italy. For example, if i need to cross the border with switzerland, if switzerland allows me to do so, i can. Does that seem sensible to you . To me, it doesnt make any sense there are so many cross border workers, but on the other hand we might affect their Health Care System is this virus spreads. Fortu nately, system is this virus spreads. Fortunately, in my countryside the virus is not yet present that much. But cases have doubled in one day, which means that tomorrow they might double and double and this can grow exponentially. Luize, do you accept these measures that the Italian Government have imposed on people and what is it like in milan this morning . Right nowl am in and what is it like in milan this morning . Right now i am in the ce ntre morning . Right now i am in the centre of milan and i think the government is doing their best. I think that all the restrictions make sense. We are really calm here and we are not panicking. In the last two weeks, i dont feel like a lot has changed in terms of the panic situation. We are just trying not to communicate with people in public places. I have only been out of the house three times in the last two weeks, andl house three times in the last two weeks, and i think it is best to stay home and avoid going out as much as possible. And i believe that some restaurants and cafes are still open and presumably some supermarkets, so you are just making trips to those places, are you . That is true, the bars and restaurants are still working. Only for limited hours and if they are able to make sure that people can stay within one metre. The same for supermarkets. There are signs everywhere that you have to stay one metre away from each person. We are definitely going to buy groceries and we are trying to buy groceries and we are trying to buy groceries and we are trying to buy a big amount at a time so we dont have to shop that often. Have the shelves in supermarkets been emptied of toilet paper there . They have in parts of britain, weirdly. Honestly, no. Two weeks ago, there was quite a bit of panic shopping when the outbreak just was quite a bit of panic shopping when the outbreakjust came out. But yesterday i was in a Grocery Store and there were all the toilet paper still available, all the products, everything just like normal. Let still available, all the products, everythingjust like normal. Let me bring in laura from birmingham. Whereabouts are you stuck . We are in brittany, so we are not in the lockdown regions, but they made the decision yesterday to basically send us decision yesterday to basically send us home. So it is all right for you to get on a plane to leave that part of italy and come back to birmingham . At the moment, yeah, but the worry is that the travel company will take so long to do it that things will change and everything your guest said about how quickly things can change, that is our concern now. We only flew in yesterday. Our flight was from birmingham at 6. 30 yesterday morning and by the time we had got here by midday, it had suddenly gone from, it is absolutely fine, nothing going on, you wouldnt know it happened, to all of a sudden being like, you cant ski, you have got to go home. So if things can change that quickly, the chances that things could change again and we get lockdown here for longer are greater, so we lockdown here for longer are greater, so we are lockdown here for longer are greater, so we are itching to get out while we still can just greater, so we are itching to get out while we still canjust in case. Iamjust out while we still canjust in case. I am just going to ask Margaret Harris. Laura says it was all right to go and now she has to come back. Is that just the to go and now she has to come back. Is thatjust the kind of thing people are going to have to put up with . This is one of the difficulties when there is some uncertainty. Just listen to what you are saying at this point. You may find that you are asked to go into quarantine in the uk. You will have to make a personal Risk Assessment on what is possible and i know it is difficult because sometimes the information flow is not as clear or rapid as we would like it to be. How are you feeling, laura . |j rapid as we would like it to be. How are you feeling, laura . I totally understand that. It is more the frustration that i imagine if something this drastic happens, they dont know. Saturday and sunday at ski resorts are generally the transfer days, so had they made this announcement on friday night, they would have no new people here for this week that they have to get back. Itjust this week that they have to get back. It just seemed this week that they have to get back. Itjust seemed very last minute. They got all of the saturday and sunday lot in and then made the decision. We had gone with the advice we had been given all along. We looked at getting a refund when it originally started happening and we re it originally started happening and were told we would not get one. We we re were told we would not get one. We were told we would not get one. We were told it was safe to travel here. We didnt travel against any advice. You did everything right. If we have to suffer quarantine when we get back but that is what we were doing. Brings loo roll and dried pasta back and some hand sanitiser luize, i wonder how long you can carry on living like this . As long as it takes, i assume. Yeah. I personally dont feel much of a change. I keep continuing living my daily life. I work from home. Change. I keep continuing living my daily life. Iwork from home. It doesnt really make any problems. I could continue living like this for a month or two, as much as is needed to contain the virus and to help not spread it further. An elisabetta . Honestly, i think that the government is not asking for a big sacrifice. All of us can do this thing. As the other lady said, the supermarkets still have goods and food, so there is no need to panic. We can stop it by staying at home. I think i can continue with this. I was planning trips to see some friends, but if i renounce that now, it could be betterfor the friends, but if i renounce that now, it could be better for the future. And dr harris, if the British Government does bring in these measures that italy has done, how long do they need to be in place for . It depends on the evolution of the outbreak, but looking at china, it was not much longer than a few weeks. I want to thank your guests for their fantastic attitude. If we emulate this around the world, we. It. Four sensible women on the programme, whats not to like . Thank you for coming on. And at 11. 30 bbc news will be answering any question viewers have on the spread and containment coronavirus with dr mike tildesley, an assosciate professor of Infectious Diseases at the university of warwick. Get in touch with the hashtag bbcyourquestions on social media or you can send an email to yourquestions bbc. Co. Uk coming up later in the programme. Four babies in the uk die from sudden infant death syndrome each week and a new survey out today suggests almost half of parents have put their baby in an unsafe sleeping environment and at high court in edinburgh, scotlands former first minister, alex salmond, is on trial accused of Sexual Assault including attempted rape. He denies 1a charges. A so called super complaint is being submitted today, which claims that Police Forces are failing to investigate people in their ranks who are accused of Domestic Abuse. The centre for Womens Justice cite the cases of 19 women from 15 force areas who have allegedly been the victims of abuse, violence, stalking or rape by people who work in the police force. They say their central concern is that police abusers are being protected and not brought to justice because of their position. The complaint has been submitted to hm chief inspector of constabularies. Last year this programme revealed that every week, four allegations of Domestic Abuse against police staff are recorded. And we brought you suzannes story. Suzanne not her real name was married to a policeman for 10 years. She told us he raped her and he attempted to strangle and suffocate her son. No charges were brought against her ex husband. This is what she told us. Suzanne was married to a policeman for ten years. She said when they first met, she was comforted by the fact that he was an officer. He was very charming and polite. He was a Police Officer, so i thought he was a safe person to be with and a respected person in the community. Everything a Police Officer would represent. But after a few years, she said cracks began to show and when she was pregnant, he became violent. We were in a different country on holiday and he had been drinking and watching the football with a friend who was another Police Officer, and he kept questioning me over and over again, wanting to know whos the baby was and saying it was someone elses. He was getting very aggressive and i was so worried that i ran. I remember running through the bars. I went across the road to get away from him and he tripped me up. A car had to screech to a halt, avoiding me. I look back now and ijust feel, i dont know, maybe he was trying to kill the baby or kill me, or both. The abuse went on for years, but when he threatened her with a knife, she finally called the police. I rang 999, and he was really angry about that because of his job. The police turned up and the only advice that they gave him was that he should leave the house and go for a walk to calm down. I dont remember them talking to me at all, and definitely not talking to the children. It was only when he hit their six year old son that she decided to leave. There was this one incident when he thumped my son in the face and made his mouth bleed. He was meant to be helping my son because my son got a spelling wrong. I went to see if my son was ok, but he was so angry, he wouldnt let me in. My daughter, when i was reading her a story, she said to me, mum, could we go and live in a different house and not tell dad where we live . She filed for divorce and that was when the abuse became even worse. She says he raped her as she lay in bed. He was red with rage and anger. He was just ramming himself, just really ramming all his hatred for me and anger into me. I said to him, i remember saying to him, no. I had my eyes closed because i was trying to transport myself to a different place. Suzanne moved out with her children two weeks later and she reported her husband to his boss. A Domestic Abuse officer came to investigate and she told him she had been raped. As we said no charges were brought against that Police Officer. Nogah ofer is a solicitor at the centre for Womens Justice. She compiled the super complaint report that has been passed to her majestys chief inspector of constabularies. Thank you for coming on the programme. That sort of story, from the woman we interviewed, its a story you are familiar with . Thats right, we have been contacted by women who made reports to the police of various kinds of abuse and feel either the reports were brushed under the carpet or in some cases theyve been victimised in various ways. Right, what is a super complaint . Its a new system set up in 2018. The inspectorate of co nsta bula ry in 2018. The inspectorate of constabulary will look at patterns or trends in policing. That showed there is a particular problem for a section of the public. They wont look at individual cases but they will look at the systems, whether the systems need to change. What are your particular concerns . We are concerned that a large number of cases that weve received show a lack of integrity, things going wrong behind the scenes. Cases being manipulated behind the evidence covered up. And so to give some examples, say a woman who gave a recording of a conversation with her ex partner turned out the seals had never been broken, it hadnt been listened to. Women s statements going missing. Cases where there is even financial documents that he hasnt been charged with anything, even though there is clear evidence, weve got one case where a Domestic Abuse worker was rung up by a senior Police Officer and told do not put this case forward to the safeguarding panel. What the perpetrator of the suspect was a Police Officer. And we have other cases where the women have been victimised so for example, women being arrested themselves. Weve got a case where a woman was stopped by her ex husband in a police vehicle. Another case where a woman was out with two different new boyfriends and they were repeatedly stabbed and breathalysed by Police Officers where they had never been stopped before. A woman who was plucked for promotion after she made complaints. So really varied examples of the kinds of problems. So if you want to get away with Domestic Abuse, become a Police Officer is that unfair . We are not saying all cases are dealt with badly, im sure there are many cases that arent but the danger is there is a high risk of these cases not being dealt with properly, especially because theres quite a lot of loyalty amongst officers, solidarity. And it looks as if the conviction rates are lower than for the general population. What has to change in terms of the way these cases are investigated in your view . We are asking for all these cases to be dealt with by a Neighbouring Police force. So at least the investigators are not being employed by the same force as the person they are investigating. And also for the independent office of Police Conduct to have more involvement in disciplinary decisions. Thank you very much for coming in the programme. Thank you. Thank you for your messages about cot death, im sorry, that is what we are going to talk about in a moment. Messages about coronavirus. My moment. Messages about coronavirus. My husband and i return from italy last tuesday, fell fine on wednesday, went to work but on thursday morning i woke up really clammy, developing a tight chest and achy muscles. I called 111, as we hadnt travelled above the line for northern italy they advised me to go to my gp. I said i didnt want to do that and the clinician i spoke to agreed. Some hours later they removed the cut off point in italy so we dialled 111 again and they confirmed Public Health england would be in touch to organise a test for us and that we should self isolate in the meantime. Weve been doing that since thursday. We are yet to hear anything from Public Health england about testing. Im sure incredibly busy however im worried about the time it takes for a test to be taken, there is no guidance online so we dont know whether to chase them in weve fallen off the list or leave them because they are busy. And the spirit says why are we still letting people back into the country from italy, two new cases in wales today, both recently returned from italy. We are endangering the rest of the population by allowing possible carriers in. Steve says im a freelance musician, playing mostly with orchestras and i also teach in schools and universities. Should concerts cease to happen and schools close, the government going to pay my mortgage and utility bills whilst i cant work . This is being blown out of all proportion. And joe says i was filming a big wedding in london last night. I cant see how this wont spread quickly if such events arent shut down. Spread is inevitable but the nhs will probably find itself overburdened very quickly and all at once if we dont ta ke quickly and all at once if we dont take stronger measures. In the spirit says what do i do . Im a care worker working with vulnerable adults and i have five children. Where do i isolate myself or any of the children if they become ill . And so it goes on. Thank you for getting in touch with your messages. The Government Holding its emergency cobra meeting at 11am. We will talk to our assistant Political Editor of norman smith before that. About what he thinks may emerge from that meeting. And what the government might do to try to potentially move to delay part of this coronavirus. New research has found that almost half of parents put their baby in an unsafe sleeping environment in order to get them to sleep for longer. Parents said tiredness and difficulty settling their baby were the main reasons why they didnt put their babies to sleep in the recommend safe position which is on their backs, in their cots. The research has been carried out by the Lullaby Trust and jenny ward, chief executive is with us; also with us rupal kantaria, who lost her baby boy krishan to sudden infant death syndrome at 5 weeks old, and emma smith, whose daughter maisy died at 10 weeks old. Thank you all very much for coming on the programme. Jenny, could you describe what sudden infant death syndrome is and what it means . Its the same term we used to use for cot death, the sudden and unexpected death, the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy baby, what we dont know the cause for, sounds bizarre in 2020 but it still happens and we dont know the reason why. How common is it . Thankfully not as common as it used to be, since the back to sleep campaign in the early 90s we have seen a drop of 82 but even with that huge drop, babies are still dying in this country and its still equates to around 200 babies a year. Four every week. Tell us about your research. The advice that weve got is research proven, we know it works, weve seen a big drop so what weve done is gone out to parents, and say done is gone out to parents, and say do you follow the advice and if you dont, what is stopping you from doing that and of the 7000 we asked, nearly half of those said they hadnt put their baby in a safe sleeping position at all times and thats because they were tired and they thought their baby needed to sleep a bit longer. We are coming out to have discussions and say, this is what normal baby sleep is about and try and break down the reasons why they think their baby should sleep a bit longer. Obviously i will come back to you to get the advice about what the things our pa rents advice about what the things our parents should do but let me bring in my other guests. Thank you so much for coming on the programme. I wonder if you cant tell our audience how the death of your baby son impacted you . If you can tell. Nobody ever expects their baby to pass away and there is something unique about this. We really dont know why the baby passed away. I think having other children afterwards brings its own fear and anxiety and i think as parents, we all put huge amounts of pressure on ourselves, i think losing a baby, certainly as a mother, your primary role is to keep your baby safe and when you cant do that, its a life changing experience. I think it has obviously huge tragedy with it but it also has positives and i think my life is very different having lost my son. From what it would have been had i not. In what way . Ithink my son. From what it would have been had i not. In what way . I think i cherish every moment with my existing children, my older daughter, my younger son. Ijust have a much greater awareness you never think these things will happen to you. I was following safe at sleep guidelines, i dont fall into the high risk categories but this can happen to anybody and thats why im here talking about a really difficult subject because i think its really important that parents make an informed choice. About how they put their babies to sleep. And also, i recognise that more than ever now parents have so much pressure on them to have their baby sleeping and theres a sense of the babyis sleeping and theres a sense of the baby is not sleeping, maybe you are a bad mother or your baby is a naughty baby . And also theres plethora of new products on the market, being marketed at mothers for their babies to sleep longer. And they dont necessarily comply with safer sleep guidelines. Ok. Ill come back to you but i want to ask you what it was like for you going on to have your younger child . Emma. Tell us how you lost maisie. Maisie was my first baby. She was perfect, wonderful. We had ten absolutely glorious weeks and i felt that at the time, not just absolutely glorious weeks and i felt that at the time, notjust in hindsight. I feel endlessly lucky that it was ten wonderful weeks that i cherish. Wed been out to dinner with friends. And i come back, we we re with friends. And i come back, we were tired. Martin went upstairs to bed and although maisie had a cot beside our bed, i decided i would feed her downstairs on the sofa. Because i didnt want to fall asleep with her. And i fed her and she fed really well. And ijust put her down beside me on the sofa, not near to me, there were no cushions and i got up me, there were no cushions and i got up to turn the telly off and ijust sat back down and i fell asleep. Id never fallen asleep with her before. Id done everything i could to not do that but in this one occasion i did. And do that but in this one occasion i did. And i woke up, ithink do that but in this one occasion i did. And i woke up, i think probably id been asleep for a couple of hours. And she was there beside me and although i saw her, i knew there was something drastically wrong. Nevertheless, i took her and i was something drastically wrong. Nevertheless, itook her and i ran upstairs screaming to martin and we called the ambulance and the ambulance shouted instructions of how to bring her round but then i just remember, i dont know how the ambulance men got in the house but i rememberlying on ambulance men got in the house but i remember lying on the floor and the green trousers and we were rushed to hospital and she had died. Green trousers and we were rushed to hospital and she had diedlj green trousers and we were rushed to hospital and she had died. I dont know how you cope with that. Its the most terrifying, awful experience that anyone can go through. I feel experience that anyone can go through. Ifeel i did follow the guidelines, i was aware of them but i was exhausted. I wish i hadnt but i dont any longer carry blame, i just feel it was a terrible tragedy and also, maisie goes on living with us as and also, maisie goes on living with usasa and also, maisie goes on living with us as a family and you know, weve got three gorgeous children, betty, peggy got three gorgeous children, betty, peggy and dolly which we had subsequently and she made a dramatic difference in the way i mother them, the way we cherish every moment. Let me ask you about going on to have other children. Thank you for sharing that, its really difficult but its also really important so im very grateful. Going on to have other children. You must put pressure on yourself, never mind pressure on yourself, never mind pressure that you might feel from others when you have lost a baby. Tell me about that. I think i have a tendency to put pressure on myself and all sorts of things. It is very difficult. We did all the things, the practical things, to try and help alleviate the situation, the whole family had baby cpr training, we had a hospital grade monitor as pa rt of we had a hospital grade monitor as part of the care of next infant programme through the Lullaby Trust. What does that do . Monitor a baby s breathing . The monitor doors, its a hospital grade monitor but the programme itself is a wraparound ca re programme itself is a wraparound care that the Lullaby Trust will put around you, if youve experienced a sudden infant death syndrome death, you get a special card if you go to the hospital, if you go to hospital you go straight to the front of the queue and you get to see a paediatrician and you get a Health Visitor that comes to you but i know i was very afraid to take my third child, my son, out because i was so worried that maybe hed catch some strange virus that wouldnt be detected or that he would stop breathing. I feel really lucky that i had breathing. I feel really lucky that ihada breathing. I feel really lucky that i had a huge amount of support from my family and my mum was amazing and she would park herself at my house all day which was a great sense of support. But really recognise that not everybody is as lucky to have so much family around them to support them. What about yourself . Well, there was a scheme that saved my life. First of all, we were talking, 78 of couples that experience the death of a child split up. And i think maisie, my wonderful husband martin andl think maisie, my wonderful husband martin and i almost brought us closer, he and i were a Wonderful Team but this scheme just gave you, if you needed to be neurotic you could be because they were there, you were given paediatric scales because there is some finding for a baby that dies of sids, it might be the beginning of some sort of cold and theirweight drops the beginning of some sort of cold and their weight drops a tiny bit so my husband had great big charts he would wait betty and monitor it, if it went down, we could if we wanted to go and a e, we didnt, didnt. But it meant we could sleep because we knew if the alarm, if she stopped breathing, the alarm go off. Give us the advice, give our audience the advice of the best way to place your baby when you want them to sleep. Three key things to remember, always slip them on their back, never their ciderfront. Keep them slip them on their back, never their cider front. Keep them smoke free, in pregnancy as well as after birth and give them their own clear sleep service. Near you for the first six months. Lots of other advice you can go and have a read, those are the three key crucial things to remember. And then your risk is reduced, remember to do those every sleep, all the time. Can i read you this from somebody who doesnt leave your name and you will understand why. I followed the advice with my three month old except i have recently started putting her to sleep on her tummy. I know this goes against the advice but its the only way my daughter will sleep more than five minutes. Due to her reflux. Ive googled this extensively and ive googled this extensively and ive found out there are quite a few pa rents ive found out there are quite a few parents doing this with one calling it her deepest, darkest secret of motherhood. I definitely feel guilty about it. Well, what we want to do by publishing these results, go out and talk to your Health Visitor, yourgp, ifa and talk to your Health Visitor, your gp, if a baby has reflux thats a very specific medical condition. So talk to them, ask if there is a different way of alleviating those symptoms because absolutely, we do not want anybody to have a baby that sleeps 45 minutes or go out and try and find that help and support. Can i also Say Something to that mother . We know things will happen to ourselves, Research Says if you put your baby to sleep on the tummy, they are six times more likely to pass away from 10. 1, correct me if i am wrong. Obviously its up to parents what they choose to do and in consultation with paediatricians, but know that youre making an informed choice. Thank you all, really grateful for your time, thank you so much stop if you need help with bereavement or any of the issues weve just discussed there are lots of organisations who can help. Just go to bbc. Co. Uk actionline or you can call the number on your screen right now 08000 159 774. The trial of former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, has begun in edinburgh today. Mr salmond is accused of 1a charges of Sexual Assault including one of attempted rape. Ten women have made allegations against him dating from 2008 to 2014. Mr salmond denies all the charges. The bbcs scotland correspondent lorna gordon is outside the court this morning. Hello, lorna. Victoria, good morning. That trial gets under way here today, alex salmond perhaps one of the most high profile scottish politicians in recent times, in 2007 he became first minister of the first snp government here and in 2011 he led the snp to a majority. He also came within 5 of winning that 2014 referendum on scottish independence. The most high profile politicians. The date sitting in the dock at the high court here in edinburgh. He is facing 14 charges, all of which he denies. They include two allegations of indecent assault, 12 counts of Sexual Assault, that claim of one assault with intent to rape and one attempted rape, the complainers of which there are ten, all afforded anonymity. That is usual in a trial of this sort but they include an snp politician, a party employee, Civil Servants and a senior Scottish Government official. What we expect to happen is we expect to see a jury of 15 being in panel, thats the normal number for ajury panel, thats the normal number for a jury here panel, thats the normal number for ajury here in panel, thats the normal number for a jury here in scotland. And then at the end of that, it will be straight into the evidence. There are no Opening Statements in trials here in scotland. We anticipate the trial, the guidance weve been given, lasting for weeks but of course it could be shorter than that, it could overrun slightly. But we are given the guidance it will last for weeks and alex salmond strenuously denies all the charges he is facing. Thank you, lorna gordon reporting. Meghan and harry will make their make their last public appearance as working royals this afternoon at the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. On friday, meghan made a surprise visit to a school in dagenham to Mark International womens day and she used it to urge men to do more to respect women. In a moment well speak to 3 pupils at the school but first lets have a look at that fab head boy again. She really is beautiful, in it . 16yr old aker okoye he then wrote a letter to harry to apologise saying i hope you didnt mind me cuddling your wife, i was just so overwhelmed and shocked. Lets speak to renee, rhyanna, and olivia now, who are at their school in dagenham they all got to meet the duchess on friday, hello to all of you and thank you for coming in the programme. So, did you know he was coming . Yes. I knew a week before. And it was like, mandatory that i kept it secret. Did you know . I also knew, we found out at the same time and we were really excited, lovely opportunity that the head teacher and deputy head teacher gave to us. But you had to not tell anyone . We we re sworn but you had to not tell anyone . We were sworn to secrecy. But you had to not tell anyone . We were sworn to secrecy. Even the teachers did not know. 110 . What teachers did not know. 11096. What was it like meeting her . She was really lovely and i think for me it was really important she came to our school specifically to celebrate International Womens day because as such a huge public figure its important that International Womens day is recognised notjust in general but somewhere that womanpos macro issues are really important and struggling at the moment so to have that empowering message and to have that empowering message and to have so many people that want to look up to come to our borough and say that womens issues are important, its important for working class girls in britain at the moment. We are just seeing the pictures of you meeting her. Being in that short form line, you are chatting. What did you think of her . She was amazing. Extremely down to earth. As i said, in one of the news articles, its a moment i will never forget. Very easy to talk to. Honestly, amazing woman. Itjust inspired me and rhianna, to be like yes, we could be this successful, ta ke yes, we could be this successful, take on the advice she gave us. What about you . Take on the advice she gave us. What about you . Just meeting her, such an honour. Really empowered me as a woman honour. Really empowered me as a woman and it made me think, my voice matters, what i have to say is important. And the fact that she came to dagenham, a place where change really did happen and where women received equal pay which is something that i take for granted today. The fact that happened, 40 50 years ago, absolutely amazing. What im interested to know, sorry, what is it about her saying you can, you know, you can do whatever it is you wa nt to know, you can do whatever it is you want to do, what is it about her saying this which actually inspires you as opposed to your mum saying it or your auntie or whatever . Because shes such an influential woman in the royal family, shes such an influential person, knowing that she wants to take the time to talk to me, it really makes me feel like an important and what i have to say matters and i feel, especially now, i feel like my voice isjust not heard because i come from where i come from but the fact she wants to come from but the fact she wants to come to my school and empower me, that makes me feel like, actually, i can achieve the unachievable. Brilliant. Are you sad shes going to spend more time in canada . Do fewer, if any, to spend more time in canada . Do fewer, ifany, royal engagements over the next 12 months . fewer, ifany, royal engagements over the next 12 months . I dont think her being an empowering woman is going to matter where on the globe she is. I think she will go on to, just like anybody else, use her platform to do good and i dont think that being in canada or being in the uk are forever is going to impact that and i think what is so empowering about Meghan Markle is she has made that decision and utilise that female autonomy that is championed by International Womens day, to make the decision thats best for her and her family and i think if anything, but only contributes to her as being an empowering person. Brilliant answer, i gotta say, so diplomatic well done thank you all so very much. We appreciate you coming on the programme. Well done and take care. Boris johnson is holding an emergency meeting with his cabinet to decide whether to bring in measures to delay the spread of coronavirus in the uk. Our political guru norman smith is at downing street what are we expecting from the meeting . Its not whether we move to the next stage of protections against coronavirus, its when we moved to the additional curbs on travel, school closures, big Public Events but just travel, school closures, big Public Events butjust listening to ministers this morning, i dont think were going to get that today, i think they want to hold off for as long as they can to try and minimise any potential economic damage and not force people into these sorts of restrictions unnecessarily. Norman, thank you, the outcome of the meeting you will hear on bbc news. Bbc newsroom live is coming up next. Thank you for your company today. Hello, good morning. For many of us its been a dry start to the day, some bright spells, even some sunshine. Look at this scene here in east sussex, that is in hastings, beautiful blue sky to start the day. But its going to change. We can see cloud moving its way in from the west. With that some rain in northern ireland, spreading into western scotland, into wales in the south west of england. By lunchtime, moving its way further eastwards as the afternoon goes on stop eastern scotland, the four east of england, staying dry with sunshine into the afternoon. Temperatures getting to about 8 10 or 11 degrees, the rain spreading and by this evening. The rain particularly heavy across wales in the north west of england, overnight tonight into the first pa rt overnight tonight into the first part of tomorrow morning, there is some concern about the amount of rainfall we could see, overnight temperatures for 8 degrees. Throughout tuesday, some sunny spells and showers across the northern half of the uk form, further turning quite warm and mild, temperatures 16 degrees in london. Goodbye for now. Youre watching bbc newsroom live its 11 am and these are the main stories this morning the governments Emergency Cobra Committee gets under way to discuss plans to delay the spread of coronavirus, after a third person dies in the uk. At this stage, we are still in the contain phase, which means there is no need to cancel events, no need for people not to go to sporting events, museums and so on. Market concern the ftse falls 9 percent after opening this morning overnight Oil Prices Crash by nearly a third. Italys Prime Minister says it is his countrys darkest hour, as one region is in lockdown with 60 Million People quarantine. At 11 30am, we will answer your questions on the spread