To talk about brexit, and to help efforts to restore the power sharing government. Well be live at stormont. He was falsely accused of being part of a vip paedophile ring. His home was raided by police, and now the former mp Harvey Proctor wants an independent inquiry into the way police handled false allegations made by carl beech. I am frequently tortured by the realisation that had mr beech been successful in his scheme to pervert the course ofjustice, i would have been imprisoned until my death. Well be talking to mr proctor about the impact the false accusations had on his life. The top ten warmest years on record in the uk have all occurred since 2002, according to the met office. What can we do to stop Climate Change . Well, prince harry says he and meghan will help by only having two children. Hes also said that many people have unconscious bias about skin colour and that racism is passed down through generations. Hello, welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 00am this morning. What do you make of prince harry saying that he and meghan will only have two children to help fight Climate Change . Is it something youd consider doing yourself, or does it feel like a token gesture . Let us know. Use the hashtag victoria live. If youre emailing and are happy for us to contact you, and maybe want to take part in the programme, please include your phone number in your message. If you text, youll be charged at the Standard Network rate. This is the scene at stormont in Northern Ireland where borisjohnson has been Meeting Party leaders. Theres been no power sharing executive for two and a half years. Were expecting a statement from the leader of sinn fein in the next few minutes. First, rebecca has the news. Borisjohnson is in Northern Ireland for crucial talks to try to restore the stormont government, amid continued tension over the Prime Ministers brexit plans. Arriving for talks with leaders of Northern Irelands main Political Parties this morning, mrjohnson said his priority was to restore devolved government to stormont clearly, the people of Northern Ireland have been without a government, without stormont, for two years and six months, so my prime focus this morning is to do everything i can to help that to get up and running again, because i think thats profoundly in the interests of the people here. Poor access to counselling and support is one of the reasons most of those who report rape later withdraw their allegations, londons victims commissioner has said. A review by the victims commissioner Claire Waxman has revealed only 3 of allegations result in a conviction. She now wants drastic changes made to the way victims are dealt with by the police and the Justice System. And well be hearing from London Victims commissioner, Claire Waxman, who conducted the london rape review, later in the programme. A social emergency which the Prime Minister must take personal responsibility for thats how a group of mps is describing the increase in violence among young people in england and wales. The number of people aged 16 to 24 whove been violently killed went up by 50 in the year to march 2018. The Home Affairs Select committee is calling for Youth Service funding to be ringfenced. The government says Police Funding is increasing by more than £1 billion this year, and 20,000 more officers are being recruited. North korea has fired two short range Ballistic Missiles off its east coast for the second time in a week, according to the south korean military. The north is reportedly angry about planned military exercises involving the south and the united states, an annual event which the allies have refused to cancel. The missiles flew for around 250 kiliometres before landing in the sea. Homes and businesses have been hit by flash flooding in north yorkshire. Witnesses reported roads around some towns in the Yorkshire Dales were impassable. The met office said the downpours had resulted in two inches of rain falling in about an hour across parts of Northern England. Thats the news for now, back to victoria. Rape is one of the most devastating and traumatic experiences. Yet rape prosecutions in england and wales have fallen to their lowest rate in more than five years. Today sees the release of a major review of rape cases in london seen by this programme which calls for an urgent overhaul of the criminalJustice System for victims. The london rape review looked in depth at 501 allegations of rape, made across london in april 2016. And it provides the clearest picture to date of reported rape in the capital. It reveals that only 6 of allegations reached trial, with 3 resulting in a conviction. The average length of time from the date of reporting to the trial outcome is 18 months. 58 of victims withdrew the allegation. Almost three in five offences took place in a private or domestic setting, with 28 of all allegations relating to domestic abuse. In response, victims commissioner for london, Claire Waxman, has come up with a series of recommendations. These include a three month limit for third parties to provide materials to aid an investigation such as medical records, social Service Notes and counselling records. That the cps should only request Therapy Notes to show the impact of the crime on the victim and not for any other purpose. That the police and cps should undergo specialist trauma training to make sure the best evidence is gathered with minimum impact on the victim. The met police have told us they welcome the publication of this research. Ive been speaking to Claire Waxman, London Victims commissioner who conducted the london rape review and chris tuck who reported her childhood sexual abuse for the third time in 2016. Chris, you were sexually abused as a child, again as a teenager, and in both instances you went to the police and in both instances, no further action was taken at that time. You decide to go back again in 2016. Why was that . I just thought the climate had changed. The enquiry had come along, the independent enquiry into child sexual abuse and i went through the Proof Project to share my lived experiences so i could make my experiences count for something. They asked me there, did you want your information passed to the police and i thought, why not, may be at last i can getjustice for what i went through as a child, because it has impacted me in my life to today. Do you feel you are getting justice, we are now three yea rs getting justice, we are now three years on. We are three years on. No. Throughout the case, one of the Police Officers truly did believe what she was told, and she felt that it would go to court, but obviously it would go to court, but obviously it hasnt and i am now fighting through the victims rights review and the victims code. We thought we might get the no further action overturned, however, we cant get it overturned, however, we cant get it overturned, so now we are taking out a private criminal prosecution to get the justice we think we deserve. It sounds exhausting. Time and time again you have gone through this. How has the process been for you . As you said, its very emotionally draining, very exhausting. But the fa ct we draining, very exhausting. But the fact we have, or i have in my particular instance, there is enough evidence, but its not in the Public Interest to prosecute, really angers me, because there is clearly enough evidence, but why are they not taking it further . Ifeel like because it is not going to court, the perpetrator, or alleged perpetrator, is not being charged, therefore the world sees that as, hes getting away, he is innocent, and we are telling lies, and thats just not the truth. I understand you we re just not the truth. I understand you were asked to hand over your phone, your social media accounts. We are talking about abuse that happened decades before social media even existed. How did you feel about those kinds of requests . existed. How did you feel about those kinds of requests . A bit flabbergasted, really. Iasked those kinds of requests . A bit flabbergasted, really. I asked them, what has this got to do with non recent abuse cases, for the exact reason you said. They said, because rape cases had collapsed in a public manner, that all cases of rape and non recent abuse, where evenif rape and non recent abuse, where even if there was sexual abuse, sexual assault, they were all being reviewed and that was the point that was being made and everyone had to go through that. It actually delayed oui go through that. It actually delayed our case by another 18 weeks because we had to give over all our social media. But the police didnt even know how to do that. How to process it . How to process it, yes. I downloaded it and sent it to them on a stick and i was told, that it cant be done like that and they have to do it themselves and there was a backlog will stop it was so frustrating because we were on the verge of getting a charging decision, and it was another three months dot we didnt know it would be another three months, 18 weeks. It dragged on and on and its exhausting to live like that day to day. Claire waxman, two and a half yea rs day. Claire waxman, two and a half years on from when chris first went to the police, her case is still being processed. Your report is looking at 500 cases from 2016. How common are the sort of experiences chris has spoken about here and described . Sadly very common. Thats why it was important for us to look at and do this comprehensive study. During the month of april 2016, we took any reported rape to the met police and tracked there was 501 cases through the system to really understand what was causing the delays and what was happening in the charging decision process, or policing decision process, and how many we re policing decision process, and how many were actually getting to court and then conviction. It was really important we got that information because we know that charging decisions and conviction rates have dropped but we need to understand what is driving that and this report gives an in depth look into what is driving those issues. What do you think is causing this . Is it delays, as you were describing, chris, or is it other things . Some people might say there are false allegations in some cases. All the research that has been done into false allegations, the cps did research in 2014, and it is 3 , so there is misplaced belief that false allegations are rife, they are not. That goes along with other deeply entrenched myths that stops victims getting the justice they need. It is the way the Justice System is structured as well. Everything is around really focusing on the victim and scrutinising them to see if they are credible oran and scrutinising them to see if they are credible or an ideal victim. Most victims, from what we have seen in the research, do not come across asideal in the research, do not come across as ideal because they are suffering from trauma, so the inconsistencies in memory that we see, it plays against them and they are not seen as credible. But there is a reality to that and there is research as to why they present in that way and it is completely understandable. We need the Justice System to start to see the process through the lens of trauma and change the way they investigate and prosecute these cases. The ministry ofjustice have told us they are conducting a review into why Rape Convictions have declined. Why do you think that is . Asi declined. Why do you think that is . As i say, there are a number of reasons. We have seen an increase in reporting, so victims have had more confidence over the years to come forward but it is still very underreported. But when they come forward they are not being treated in the right way during the investigation. The questioning process, the types of questions they asked, it exacerbates the trauma and they cant give the best evidence. We are layering on top lots of different processes around looking at third party material, counselling and medical records, and we have seen digital evidence come into sharp focus and that all plays a pa rt sharp focus and that all plays a part in preventing victims from progressing. Picking up on the personal data point. Data can be collected from a range of sources like mobile phones and social media, but also counselling records as well. The cps has told us that personal data are not relevant to the case will not be shared with the defence or used in court. There are well established safeguards they say that prevent the disclosure of such sensitive information. I can see you shaking your head and raising your eyebrows. What do you make of that . That is their position, and that is the right position, but on the ground unfortunately that is not happening. We have got it in the report and we have seen, somebody going into court, photos of her smiling at messages between her and her mother that are unreasonable and not in relation to her testimony have been used to discredit her in court. That had a big impact not just onjustice for her court. That had a big impact not just on justice for her but also her ability to recover from the experience, so sensitive material is absolutely being used. They are taking material from counselling records sometimes, phones more often than not, and saying they will not necessarily disclose, but they have to look at it and see if there is anything at all undermine the prosecution or defence. But there is still a huge impact on the victim through that process, that they are not recognising. Did you feel pressurised to hand over this content and did you feel it would be used to discredit you in anyway . handed mine over with pleasure because i thought, if you can find anything in there that will help you, great. There is nothing in there will make you think any different. Because we know we are telling the truth. However, even in the cps letters i have, it clearly states that they have taken information off my social media which is completely out of context with the case, something to do with my tax bill, and they have said that it would make me an incredible witness. Wow, is that even legal . All lawful . What they are doing in my mind is a fishing expedition. We are structured on these myths and stereotypes that anyone coming forward , stereotypes that anyone coming forward, we almost have to prove they are lying. And thats really what i feel the whole process does, it looks into every aspect of their life to prove they are credible or prove they are lying. We are looking at material that isnt necessarily reasonable or proportionate to be looked at, and taking it out of context, looking at it in isolation to discredit the victim, and that is happening time and time again. Just to play devils advocate on this, lets say victims did not want to, understandably, hand over all this data, and they think perhaps it will make them more vulnerable. They already feel like a victim and dont wa nt to already feel like a victim and dont want to be victimised further. Could that mean the cps would not have a strong folder of evidence to secure a conviction . What do you make of that argument, chris first . a conviction . What do you make of that argument, chris first . I think maybe you are right in a sense that if there is some evidence that is really strong that corroborates someones allegation of abuse, then that would be really good. But i think its up to the individual to give that permission for that to be used. So if they found something, then ask permission because as a victim, a survivor, you already disempowered. As soon as you enter the criminal justice disempowered. As soon as you enter the criminalJustice System, you feel like they take over your whole life and you dont have a say in any more. I think if we are changing the criminal Justice System, more. I think if we are changing the criminalJustice System, it should be about empowerment of the victim as well. The whole Digital Media disempowered. Claire waxman, what do we do about this . We have a 58 withdrawal rate for these kinds of cases so how do we change that . make clear recommendations and the biggest one is around the trauma reform process that we need to start putting into practice from the police, the cps and all the way through. Talking about how they question victims and support them through the process to get better evidence and helping the cps in theircharging evidence and helping the cps in their charging decisions as well. They admit that if testimony changes and there are inconsistencies then it will work against the victim and the charging process, so they dont understand how trauma works and that isa understand how trauma works and that is a key issue. Chris talks about being disempowered. Being a victim makes you disempowered and then the Justice System this empowers you further, so we need to look at empowering victims, especially for your scrutinising them in this way, which is why i ask for an independent Legal Support to be given to victims, so there is someone in their corner looking at what is requested by the police and make sure their rights to privacy are being upheld and they have a right to respond to the material if it is being taken out of context, to give it an equal Playing Field and balance those rights. Really interesting, thank you to you both for coming in. And if youve been affected by issues in this discussion, there are a range of organisations and websites that can offer you advice and support. You can find them listed on the bbcs actionline website at bbc. Co. Uk actionline. Boris jo