And andy murray heads home after pulling out of the Australian Open with an ongoing hip injury. And coming up in the sport on bbc news england let slip their advantage over australia in the final ashes test, as they lose late wickets in sydney. Good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. A Record Number of people called the nhs 111 number during the festive period, according to figures published this morning. There were nearly half a million calls to the advice line in the last week of december in england. There was also a sharp increase in the number of ambulances being held outside hospitals. Heres our health correspondent, Catherine Burns the Prime Minister today in Frimley Park Hospital in surrey, thanking staff personally for their hard work over christmas, and now we know just how hard it was. The National Health service continues to do a fantasticjob for people. Yes, it has pressures overwinter. Yes, it has particular pressures in the christmas and new year period. The staff are dedicated, weve put extra resources in. Figures from nhs england give us a snapshot into a week of considerable pressure. The starkest number is about ambulance delays, when paramedics have to wait with patients because a e staff are too busy to do a handover. In the week running up to new years eve, crews had to stay with sick patients for more than half an hour almost 17,000 times. 0n almost 5,000 occasions, the delay was longer than an hour. This government refuses to fund the nhs sufficiently. We dont want apologies and hand wringing. We want the government to get a grip urgently. There was also a Record Number of calls to the nhss iii service, more than a80,000. But these figures dont include this week, when so far at least 20 hospital trusts in england have been on the highest state of alert. Unfortunately, what we usually see in the nhs is a quiet period around christmas and then a pick up. Quite often, its january thats the really difficult point for the nhs, and thats true last year and its been true in previous years as well. Authorities in scotland, wales and Northern Ireland are also reporting higher patient demand. What we dont know now though is how long this period of extra pressure will go on for. Catherine burns, bbc news. 0ur Health Editor hugh pym is here. So we have the Prime Minister apologising today for delays to operations, that are to come, and these figures today show that last week, the last week of 2017, the system was already under strain. Well, that is right. The wave of publicity of problems in hospitals really only developed from the weekend on wards, and these figures go weekend on wards, and these figures 9 up weekend on wards, and these figures go up until last sunday, december sist. Go up until last sunday, december 31st. They show the big increase in patient demand, this sharp increase in the number of people calling 111, up in the number of people calling 111, up 21 on the previous week, and those long waits for patients trying to be discharged from ambulances outside hospital wait morgue than 30 minute, 30 minutes is considered the absolute maximum, those waiting longer, that was up nearly 40 at nearly 17,000, compared with round 10,000 in the last week of november. So showing the real strain. That is an interesting gauge. If ambulances cant discharge their patients because of problems ereceiving them and finding beds, the ambulances cant get back on the road again, so thatis cant get back on the road again, so that is last week. We are waiting figures this week where we know there are strain, the Prime Minister today has apologised. She didnt use the word apology yesterday, jeremy hunt did, out and about she apologised and said that she owed an immense debt of gratitude to nhs staff. She went out of her way to praise staff. But i think all staff working very hard under difficult conditions will feel this is far from over. It isjust conditions will feel this is far from over. It is just the early days of the new year, we have had reports of the new year, we have had reports of flue cases being on the increase, if that continues, the strain could get even more severe. if that continues, the strain could get even more severe. Flu. Flu. The row between donald trump and his former top aide steve bannon has intensified, with lawyers for the president threatening legal action over comments attributed to mr bannon in a new book about the presidency. The remarks allege that a meeting mr trumps son had with a group of russians during the president ial campaign was treasonous, and claims that mr trump was poorly prepared for thejob. The president said mr bannon, who was sacked last august, had lost his mind. Dan johnson reports. The president a right hand man, driving the right wing America First politics, that put trump in the white house. But like so many advisers steve bannon didnt last long. He is not a racist, i can tell you that, he is is a good person, he actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. But, we will see what happens with mr bannon. Quite. Well he found himself outside the big white house tent, and now, he is taking carefulaim. He white house tent, and now, he is taking careful aim. He says a meeting between donald trump taking careful aim. He says a meeting between donald trumer and russian officials should have been reported immediately to the fbi, describing it as treasonous and unpatriotic. Predictably the president s spokeswoman didnt agree i think that is a ridiculous accusation and one i am pretty sure we have addressed many times before, if that is in reference to comments made by mr bannon i refer you to the ones he made previously on 60 minutes where he called the collusion with russia about this president a totalfarce. Collusion with russia about this president a total farce. So collusion with russia about this president a totalfarce. So i think i would look back tharkts if anybody has been inconsistent it has been him, not the president or this administration. Donald trumps response was even tougher. When he was fired he not only lost hisjob, he lost his mind. Its fire and fury indeed. The book claims the former Prime Minister tony blair was bidding to be a white house middle east adviser. And that he told the president s son in law that British Intelligence may have spied on the trump campaign. This story is literally a total fabrication, i meani literally a total fabrication, i mean i have never had any such conversation, not with someone in the white house, outside of the white house, not that the time or any time, not anywhere. The idea that British Intelligence services was interfering in the middle of an american president ial election is preposterous, it is, this is politics today, and you get these wild conspiracy theories that u nfortu nately, wild conspiracy theories that unfortunately, people believe, but it is literally an invention. There are also claims Trumps Campaign team were shocked and horrified by his win, that his wife was in tears about it, and that the president was angry many a list celebrities snubbed the inauguration, his daughter a p pa re ntly inauguration, his daughter apparently mocks his hair and is planning to take on the top job. The truth isnt clear in a white house defined by an unconventional new normality. Defined by an unconventional new normality. 0ur diplomatic coreespondent James Robbins is here. Sqraim, how potentially damaging so President Trump is this . It is damaging at many levels. This book wont bring down the president , but it will weaken him and weaken the rubbly can party op which he relies for domestic legislation, i think it is damaging because it paints such a lurid picture, ofa is damaging because it paints such a lurid picture, of a president who was apparently shocked and stunned by his own victory, was apparently com pletely by his own victory, was apparently completely unprepared for office, was not especially respectful of the constitution, was board by the detailed of it, surrounded himself with advisers whom one regards as unsuited to going into the white house, and all based on a campaign in which it is alleged some of those key strategists had what could be described by steve bannon as treasonous relationships with russia, so deeply damaging stuff. In the middle of of an investigation headed by robert muller. It matters domestically for the reasons i have set out. It matters initially as well, because the president is commander in chief, and it raises questions not least in american minds about his suitability to take big decisions, in relation to north korea, to iran and the wider middle east. Many thanks. The environment secretary has set out how farming subsidies will be dealt with after brexit, saying farmers will receive payments to protect the countryside. Farmers are also guaranteed the current eu level of subsidies until 2022. Michael gove said measures such as planting wildflower meadows, and improving Water Quality would be included current payments are based on how much land farmers own. Duncan kennedy reports. Britain has more than 200,000 farm holdings, but the imminence of brexit has put farmers and food policy into a state of uncertainty. A healthy rural economy. Thats why issues of Animal Welfare, food standards and trade deals dominated todays Farmers Conference in oxford. Michael gove said britain would be a high quality food exporting nation after brexit. He said eu subsidies would be phased out, but farmers would still get financial help. We guarantee that, in cash terms, the amount of money that we give to farmers will remain exactly the same right up until the next general election in 2022, and what we want to do is to ensure that thereafter there is a smooth path towards a different form of paying farmers. Youve just got them on hay here, craig, or something. Minette batters farms in wiltshire and says the certainty of Michael Goves financial commitment to farmers after we leave the European Union will be welcomed by the industry. Weve worked for 43 years under european policy so, of course, its going to take time, and we really welcome his commitment to be looking at a longer period. 2024 is very well received. Michael gove was, of course, one of the key leave campaigners in the eu referendum. He said that it was britain that should decide what its farmers can do, what trade policies they can work out and what food standards should be for the public. But there are others who are saying that his message today is far too optimistic in terms of what britain can achieve when it leaves the eu. A separate report today from mps said that brexit trade deals risked britains very food security, as we face cheap foreign imports. They warn that we could end up having to take products like american chickens washed in chlorine as part of the price we pay for trading with non eu countries. Michael gove also said today Public Access to farmland as well as top quality Animal Welfare was at the centre of government policy. But the uncertainties of brexit and what follows make it difficult for him and all those involved in farming to know exactly how our agricultural landscape will change. Duncan kennedy, bbc news, 0xfordshire. Tony blair has warned Jeremy Corbyn he must change course on brexit or be unable to deliver his promise. He said he would oppose any likely outcome to the brexit negotiations. Chris mason is at westminster for us now. Good afternoon. This song brexit is a frequent spinner on the tony blair play list of political interventions and the chorus is familiar, he wants the uk to stay in the European Union, he thinks that would be sense. He says that the country either Via Parliament or an election or another referendum should get a say on the final brexit deal, once that becomes clear and he would like labour to articulate that position, or he says a Labour Government would encounter the same problems as he sees it as the conservatives in negotiating brexit while doing many other things. It is going to be extremely difficult in my view for labour to deliver on its promise, if it puts itself in the same position as the tory government are going to be on brexit, because it will find that it has less money to deal with the countrys problem, that its distracted by dealing with brexit, rather than dealing with the Health Service and jobs, and Living Standard and so on, and therefore, in my view if you end up and i have said this before, if you end up in a situation where you do brexit and have a corbyn government, this country is going to face a challenging situation. Quick response from one shadow labour minister, saying mr blairs intervention was one helpful, lots of labour voters voted for brexit, and will regard this as the melt poll tan elite ignoring them. A reminder it is notjust the conservatives who have divisions over brexit, labour does too. Technology firms are rushing to fix two security flaws in computer chips made by a number of leading manufacturers. The defects could allow hackers to steal personal data from nearly every modern Computing Device and smart phone which have the chips fitted. Our Technology Correspondent rory cellanjones is here. Technology firms are rushing to fix two security flaws in computer chips made by a number of leading manufacturers. The defects could allow hackers to steal personal data from nearly every modern Computing Device and smart phone which have the chips fitted. Our Technology Correspondent rory cellanjones is here. In theory many millions of people will be affected. The bugs meltdown and sceptre, are in chips, which power complete, smartphones and all other devices. The flaws were discovered some time ago and the industry has been working to find a cure, they reckon they are nearly there in many cases, that the new defence, new security updates should be in place soon. They wanted it kept secret for as long as possible because they wanted to fix it before it became known to hackers. It is a big dangerous in theory in practise, there has been no evidence anybody has been affected so far and the industry will certainly hope it can get those defences shored up in time to stop that happening. 0k. Thank you. Thank you. Our top story this lunchtime. The Prime Minister apologises for delays to nhs operations in england, as the Health Service struggles to cope with winter pressures. And coming up vanishing in venice thieves make off with jewels worth millions of pounds in a daring heist. Coming up in sport injury worries forJohanna Konta less than two weeks out from the Australian Open. She retires from the Brisbane International with a hip problem. Australian authorities have recovered most of a seaplane which crashed near sydney on new years eve, killing five members of a british family and the pilot. Richard cousins, chairman of the compass catering group, died with his two sons, his fiancee, her daughter, and a canadian pilot when the plane crashed into the hawkesbury river. The aircraft had been submerged in more than a0 feet of water, as phil mercer reports from sydney. The salvage operation atjerusalem bay began shortly after dawn. Police divers used inflatable bags to lift parts of the seaplane from the bottom of the hawkesbury river. 0n the surface, a crane pulled the wreckage from the water onto a barge. One of the first pieces of the aircraft to be recovered was a damaged wing, followed by the engine, the front propeller and the tail. We now know that the seaplane that came down in these waters on new years eve was badly damaged in another fatal accident 20 years ago. The plane was previously used as a crop duster that crashed near the city of armadale, killing the pilot. It was rebuilt and bought by sydney seaplanes in 2006. The wreckage will be taken for examination to canberra. It will hold vital clues, including possible digital data and mobile phone footage from the passengers that could explain why a routine sightseeing flight ended in disaster. Weve got a range of factors that we look at to fully reconstruct the sequence of events that led up to the accident and to hopefully find factors that contributed to the accident, with the ultimate goal of trying to prevent Something Like this happening again. Six people died in the accident, including the british businessman richard cousins, his two grown up sons, his fiancee and her 11 year old daughter. The canadian pilot was also killed. Air crash investigators plan to release their initial findings within a month. Phil mercer, bbc news, at westhead near sydney. Children moving from primary to secondary school are ill equipped for the avalanche of pressure that awaits them on social media, according to the childrens commissioner for england. Anne longfield says social media begins to dominate childrens social lives, and calls on schools to do more to prepare them for the emotional demands it makes. Elaine dunkley reports. With social media in the hands of children, there are challenges of growing up in a digital age. A report published today called life in likes warns that many children are starting secondary school unable to cope with the sudden demands of social media as their world expands. Ifeel like im pressured by other people, because my friends do it so i feel like i have to do it to fit in. You see people, if they are getting bullied on social media, sometimes they dont even tell their parents and, if you dont tell your parents, they are never going to find out. Most social media platforms state users must be over the age of 13, but the reality is some childre