to face questions in parliament about the post office scandal british actor idris elba calls on the government to ban the sale of so—called �*zombie�* knives and machetes to stop more young people losing their lives. blast off! the first american spacecraft in more than 50 years is on its way to the moon after a successful launch. the ukjustice secretary, alex chalk, will meet the minister responsible for the post office, kevin hollinrake, at the ministry ofjustice this afternoon. they'll discuss how hundreds of branch managers — who were wrongly convicted in the horizon it scandal — could be cleared. pressure is increasing on the government to take action over what has been described as the most widespread miscarriage ofjustice in british history. our chief political correspondent, henry zeffman, told me what options

the government is considering. the justice secretary alex scott chalk who is meeting kevin hollinger rake and launched today looking at various legal options, but you are right, the most radical, innovative, whatever word you want to use, end of the spectrum under consideration is the possibility the government or parliament, really, could pass a law which would just say all of the postmasters convicted for fraud or false accounting or any of the range of offences of this issue are just to have their convictions quashed by one act of parliament and procedurally, that will be very simple. procedurally, that will be very simle. . . , ., , simple. parliament makes low in this count . simple. parliament makes low in this country. constitutionally _ simple. parliament makes low in this country. constitutionally it _ simple. parliament makes low in this country. constitutionally it might - country. constitutionally it might be a little dicey and you might have some people say that is infringing on the role of law, you know, infringing on the independence of

thejudiciary, setting a precedent that parliament can set aside the role of the courts but i think the fact this is being entertained gives you a sense of the tv drama which aired some days ago has invigorated this long—running campaign that got people in government and parliament thinking very seriously about ways to address it. if thinking very seriously about ways to address it.— to address it. if you could explain the post office _ to address it. if you could explain the post office is _ to address it. if you could explain the post office is owned - to address it. if you could explain the post office is owned by - to address it. if you could explain the post office is owned by the l the post office is owned by the government and plays a part in this appeals process that angus a lot of people and there are calls for that to be somehow removed but who could replace it and what could be the process and do you think that could happen? process and do you think that could ha en? . �* , process and do you think that could hauen? �*, process and do you think that could hauen? happen? that's right, it's a sliuhtl happen? that's right, it's a slightly complex _ happen? that's right, it's a slightly complex legal - happen? that's right, it's a - slightly complex legal architecture. the post office is an arms length body of the government, operating as a private company with a board and chief executive and all of the sort of things you'd expect from a private company except it's shareholders the government and one of the independent non—executive directors on the board as a civil

servant and the government has some sort of arms length control over it. people are saying that the post office seems to have lost sight of the pack that ultimately it is serving the public and is owned by the public and operating for the public in the way it approaches things. the persecutions were sought by the post office not by the prime, crown prosecution service and the post office is the initial stage of the appeals process and that is one of the other things we think the government is looking at changing and they could be replaced by the crown prosecution service as we would ordinarily expect in this sort of thing. live now to lee castleton a former sub—postmaster, whose story is depicted in the latest itv drama. good morning and thank you for joining us. are you ok to explain to us exactly what happened to you? in 2003, the 18th ofjuly, and my wife bought a post office in bridlington

in east yorkshire. we run it very happily until about christmas, very soon into our tenure, we balance perfectly right up until the first christmas and then we suddenly had an issue on that issue went on for 12 weeks and during that 12 weeks we had sometimes each week we would have too much money, sometimes we would have too little money and sometimes on the odd occasion we actually balanced, we had never had actually balanced, we had never had a problem prior to that. i run the post office 91 times over the 12 week period begging for help and nobody seemed adult remotely interested and no matter what i said, it didn't seem to be able to get anything to change. post office themselves just said to make up the losses so whenever we had losses, they added up and added up until after 12 weeks it was £25,000 supposedly missing. on the 23rd of

march 2004 an auditor arrived at the office and i was suspended and a legal battle ensued which ultimately endedin legal battle ensued which ultimately ended in the high court where i had lost. and it was found liable to pay £25,000 supposedly assess and the post office costs of £321,000. any commercial entity would never spend that sort of money dry to recoup such a small amount and even to this day, that original court case stands against me. it has never been set aside. it against me. it has never been set aside. . , against me. it has never been set aside. ., , ., , ., aside. it has not been overturned? it could be, — aside. it has not been overturned? it could be. we _ aside. it has not been overturned? it could be, we are _ aside. it has not been overturned? it could be, we are in _ aside. it has not been overturned? it could be, we are in kind - aside. it has not been overturned? it could be, we are in kind of- it could be, we are in kind of agreement to do it but there just lots of stages to go through in orderfor that to happen. this lots of stages to go through in order for that to happen. this has had a massive _

order for that to happen. this has had a massive impact _ order for that to happen. this has had a massive impact on - order for that to happen. this has had a massive impact on you, - had a massive impact on you, financially, on you and your family? we were ostracised in the local community. people were absolutely horrendous, my children were bullied, particularly my daughter, my daughter was once spat out on the school bus because her father had stolen pensions from little old ladies, we've been verbally abused in the street. it was quite horrendous.— in the street. it was quite horrendous. . , . horrendous. the post office service, it has apologised _ horrendous. the post office service, it has apologised and _ horrendous. the post office service, it has apologised and says _ horrendous. the post office service, it has apologised and says the - horrendous. the post office service, it has apologised and says the vast l it has apologised and says the vast majority of compensation has been agreed and paid stop what is your situation in terms of getting compensation? i situation in terms of getting compensation?— situation in terms of getting comensation? . ., ., ;;:: 11:11: compensation? i have had a £30,000 -a ment in compensation? i have had a £30,000 payment in 2019. _ compensation? i have had a £30,000 payment in 2019. i— compensation? i have had a £30,000 payment in 2019, i have _ compensation? i have had a £30,000 payment in 2019, i have had - compensation? i have had a £30,000 payment in 2019, i have had an - payment in 2019, i have had an interim payment based on that figure and no compensation as yet so that still to go forward but whole compensation scheme is being run by

the same people, the post office are involved in it, the department for trade and business are the lead for it and so its very combative and difficult and many processes and like myself, many of the victims are traumatised. we have had a really difficult time with the post office and even now, to this day, i do not go in a post office because the way they treated us. in go in a post office because the way they treated us.— they treated us. in any way, even they treated us. in any way, even the financial _ they treated us. in any way, even the financial compensation - they treated us. in any way, even the financial compensation does i they treated us. in any way, even i the financial compensation does not make up for all of that even if or when that comes. you will have heard today i was speaking to our chief political correspondent about the possibility being discussed that the government could bring in an act and actuallyjust remove all of their convictions, with one act of parliament. do you think that will happen? i parliament. do you think that will ha--en? , parliament. do you think that will ha en? , ~ , parliament. do you think that will ha . en? , ~' , ., happen? i 'ust think it needs to ha en. happen? i just think it needs to happen- for— happen? i just think it needs to happen. for me, _ happen? i just think it needs to happen. for me, this _ happen? i just think it needs to happen. for me, this is - happen? i just think it needs to happen. for me, this is a - happen? i just think it needs to happen. for me, this is a slowl happen? i just think it needs to - happen. for me, this is a slow case, recapping money and contracts et cetera but for others, the agony,

the smallest point, they argue, while they say they realise the system was wrong and blah, blah, they will sit on court and argue against certain cases because they say it is either not involved with the horizon project or the person was clearly guilty in the first place these things whilst i understand there are legal technicalities and by no means am i a legal person, it is difficult for families to understand everything. it's very hard having been through in my case nearly 20 years of constant fighting, and arguing, it's very difficult to bridge that gap and suddenly, everyone working together. they should be taken out of that system, there should be no contact between myself and themselves and a third party should just step in and make this happen and it could happen so quickly and

if it happen quickly with an act of parliament removing all of the convictions for everybody, it would make life so much better. you convictions for everybody, it would make life so much better.- make life so much better. you get the feeling — make life so much better. you get the feeling at _ make life so much better. you get the feeling at the _ make life so much better. you get the feeling at the moment - make life so much better. you get i the feeling at the moment everyone is talking about this perhaps because of the drama, the itv drama which are shown in your story and we can watch a bit of it now with walt miller playing in the drama. how was that for you seat yourself a trade on screen? did they do you justice? definitely. will has done a fabulous job, all the cast were amazing. the story, it was an amazing tel aviv 20 years of a timeline together with lots of different people and it's just fantastic. you will laugh in places, cry in places. you will feel the empathy, all those things but it's very humbling. you know, it's not somewhere i would have thought i would be. but

not somewhere i would have thought i would be. �* i. not somewhere i would have thought i would be. �* ,, ., , ., ,, would be. but you who perhaps with the drama and _ would be. but you who perhaps with the drama and the _ would be. but you who perhaps with the drama and the publicity - would be. but you who perhaps with the drama and the publicity it - would be. but you who perhaps with the drama and the publicity it is - the drama and the publicity it is getting that perhaps the pressure increases the government to do something similar rather than i suppose? something similar rather than i su ose? , something similar rather than i sun-ose? , ., something similar rather than i su--ose? , ., , suppose? sadly... i cannot even put into words how _ suppose? sadly... i cannot even put into words how i _ suppose? sadly... i cannot even put into words how i feel— suppose? sadly... i cannot even put into words how i feel that _ suppose? sadly... i cannot even put into words how i feel that this - suppose? sadly... i cannot even put into words how i feel that this has i into words how i feel that this has had to happen, for that to be contemplated. so devastating to believe that your voice has never been heard for so long but on the other side, been heard for so long but on the otherside, having now been heard for so long but on the other side, having now changed and turned a corner and being listened to, the group is very strong, very sympathetic to each other. we work together, we had very similar backgrounds, obviously post office people. it'sjust backgrounds, obviously post office people. it's just fantastic to be involved and i am very proud. bold proud to be one of the group and they give me strength every day. thank you so much for talking to us, i really appreciate the time.-

i really appreciate the time. thank ou so i really appreciate the time. thank you so much- _ the british actor idris elba is calling on the government to immediately ban the sale of so—called zombie knives and machetes to help stop more young people losing their lives. the actor has spent many years working to keep young people away from crime — as an anti—crime ambassador for the prince's trust. this morning — he launches a campaign called don't stop your future to crackdown on serious youth violence across the uk. he spoke to the today programme presenter amol rajan on radio 4 this morning. i'm a member of the society, of our country and i'm a parent, and i really think that our country is at a boiling point, we are sensitive to this topic, we all feel the pain when we see it on the news but there's very little done that reverberates into actual action so for me there needs

to be a consistent voice, a fixed point where we can point the finger and say let's do something together. from my perspective, it really is as a parent. i got the chance to sit down with some of the parents of the victims, the victims that we've seen on friday and i sat in a room with a lot of the families and it was really clear that while the rest of the country can mourn very quickly what we see, like harry on new year's eve, his family will live with this forever and go on and on and on. as will the families of those who do the killing, they're scarred too which does not in any way exonerate them but what are the specific tasks of the campaign? there are three categories. number one, really looking at the supply chain, looking at what we can do to get rid of these knives and take

them from the streets. it sends a massive symbol to our society that we are not going to tolerate this, by putting an absolute ban on it and it has been proven that machetes and zombie knives are going to be banned, it's been put into legislation but it's a slow process and it needs to be upscaled. there's been a lot of talk about it, the ban has been announced four times since 2010, there is loopholes in the legislation but as it stands at the moment it hasn't come to... it hasn't come to fruition and when there was a ban on an american type of dog, it happened very quickly, specific and we need to apply the same measures to zombie knives and machetes and all sorts and what not and that literally examining the whole chain, you know, from those profiting, from the tech companies advertising it, from the way it's getting into the zeitgeist for kids, we need to figure out a way to eradicate it. today is the last full day of the six—day strike byjunior doctors in england — the longest period of industrial action by nhs workers in its history. the current strike will officially

end at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning. junior doctors are currently in a long—running dispute with the government over pay. ministers say their demand for a 35% increase — to make up for years of below—inflation settlements — is unaffordable. our health editor hugh pym has more. at hospitals like this one, milton keynes university hospital, they say it has been very, very busy over the weekend. a lot of sick patients coming in and into this morning. of course, it's always a very busy time of yearfor the nhs. just after new year with sickness in the community. they say they're just about getting by here, providing emergency care. but it has been very challenging over these six days of industrial action, particularly for the consultants who've had to cover forjunior doctors. most of the consultants i speak to say they're supportive of the junior doctors' action, but i think it really is taking its toll in terms of the fatigue.

certainly after six days for these senior doctors who are providing the cover. now, planned treatment at hospitals like this has to a large extent been postponed because of the strike. major cancer surgery is going ahead and some appointments, but that is a longer term problem for the nhs in england. this build up of a further backlog of action which hasn't taken place. when the strike ends, on whether there will be further talks between the doctors union, the british medical association and the government. now it seems that both sides are willing to sit down again and negotiate. but the question is, can the gap be bridged between what the british medical association want, which is, they say, a more credible offer and what the government has put on the table? an average of 8.8% already paid out as an increase to junior doctors, with 3% more on offer.

they say that is more than what other health unions have got. and really it is time for the junior doctors to settle. so a big question is, can those talks make any progress and will that avert further strike action byjunior doctors or not? new research commissioned by the bbc�*s panorama programme suggests police forces in england and wales need an extra 18,000 officersjust to keep up with population growth. the home office says officer numbers are at a record high, but their own figures show only one in 20 crimes in england and wales results in a suspect being charged. it's led to some victims taking steps to investigate their own crimes, as bronagh munro reports. when i got up at 7:00 in the morning, the tv was off the wall — on the floor — the drawers in my living room were open, and there were footprints through the kitchen. sarah goode's home in blackburn was burgled three months ago, while she was sleeping. her keys, laptop

and cash were taken. i feel completely violated. er... she exhales. yeah. it's ok, sarah, it's ok. feeling a little bit emotional. voice breaks: i'm sorry. she weeps. you all right? yeah. it's ok. i feel like this all the time now, when i'm in here. do you? yeah. have you stayed here much since this happened? no. you're not coping with it, are you? no, not at all. not at all. the police came, but they didn't ask all sarah's neighbours for all their cctv, so she got some of the footage herself. sarah recognised a man acting suspiciously outside her house, and told the police his name. but they didn't question him, or come back for the rest of the cctv. hello, how are you doing? we talked to sarah's neighbours. the reason i'm knocking on the door is because there's a lady on the street who was burgled, and what i was doing was looking

to see if anybody had any footage. we found three cameras with footage the police failed to collect. the cctv shows the suspect sarah identified going round the back of her house, and coming out herfront door. sarah hasn't seen this footage before. so that's about two minutes to four. 0k. we think that's him. sarah exhales. he comes out my front door. he does, sarah. he comes out my front door. yeah. all right, so that's him coming out your door. you all right? yeah. do you want to know this, sarah? yeah. so he looks like he goes down the street, right? yeah. but... ..what he actually does... ..is he comes back and he comes back into the house. are you joking? no. no, i'm not. and then he leaves again

very soon after that. right. this time he's carrying a bag — what appears to be a white bag. my laptop. right, ok. i don't know... and that's him. right. coming out with my stuff. yeah. 0k. the man says he didn't burgle sarah. lancashire police says it deployed crime scene investigators, completed house—to—house enquiries, and obtaining cctv footage before sarah's case was closed. the home office says there are now the highest number of police officers on record in england and wales to deal with crime. it does have a heavy end! yeah! but sarah has decided she can no longer live in her home — she's moving out. the effect that it's had on my mental health has been horrendous. the police are promising to attend all home burglaries and follow all reasonable inquiries, but only one in 20 offenders now get charged — and it's their victims who are paying the price.

bronagh munro, bbc news. when david huse decided he needed a showstopper of a centrepiece in his home — he set his sights on an iconic piece of musical history. the white leather sofa that features on the cover of george michael's last studio album, patience, has now undergone a complete restoration to be worthy of its spot in david's living room. our reporter lizzie rose has the story. # you put the boom boom into my heart...# - george michael, music icon. this is the sofa on the cover of his final album, patience. it was surreal when he said who it belonged to and an honour and privilege to do it and it's been quite an emotional rollercoaster to get it brand—new again. richard and carolyn were given the task by david from surrey

who bought the sofa from auction at under £2000 and brought it here. the pressure is on because we are trying to preserve history, recycling an item to save on landfill but it's trying to meet expectations to get the wow factor. we wish it could speak. all the stories it is holding in there, it is really special. i'm hoping it is a jawdropping moment for david when he walks in and sees this. 0k. here he is. come on through. i cannot wait. let me show you the george michael sofa and hopefully it is exactly what you wanted, this is it. unbelievable! now to see what david thinks and you might see other a little challenge. what do you think, what do you make of it? amazing. when i brought it to richard -

and carolyn, it was pale yellow, scuffed, all of this was black. you put yourfaith in it? where is it going to go? we have a room in the house in surrey which has a piano . and it is a natural fit and i can lounge on it like it was my. 'last christmas'...! did they find anything that could belong to george? we think they found dog hairs. i think we might have found a picture as to why there was dog hair. perfect. there he is with his dog. let's say that's the dog with the dog hair. - we found a hairpin. from my point of view, it is. just to have the sofa back - in the condition it was on the cover of the lp, it's perfect. we have no idea if any of those things are linked to george michael but we are going to have a little faith!

ido i do not know who is the biggerfan there! a group of volunteers in the english county of shropshire are working to protect the lives and habitats of extremely rare pine martens. the mammal, which is a member of the stoat and weasel family was believed to be extinct, but was rediscovered in the county in 2015. the leader of the project has been speaking to our reporter, john bray. i've actually been pretty obsessed with pine marten since about the age of eight because i was lucky enough to see one up in scotland and i was just captivated as a youngster by this kind of enigmatic animal that you very rarely see because they actually spend much of their time up in trees and at dawn and dusk when you don't actually see them. today, we're in a lovely soaking wet woodland because we're with a group of people like me. we're all very enthusiastic about the fact that we've got pine martens discovered in shropshire, and that's been the aim of the project

for the last few years, is to, first of all, find out if there were martens here, which we did successfully in 2015. and now to just monitor the martens because, of course, the pine martens were presumed extinct for over a century in the county. and they've made this comeback. and unless we know exactly where they are and what they're doing, we can't protect them and make sure that we don't lose them again. it's a really good sign that shropshire is a really wild county, so we think we've lost a lot of our wildlife and we've lost our our nature, which is true across much of the country. but we've still got these little wild pockets where things like pine martens can exist. you can see a lot of the trees here. they're quite young trees, pine martens like big old trees that have got hollows. and they'd actually make their dens up like five metres off the ground. so the den boxes are a key element and that's why we've tried to install as many as possible. but the really exciting element of this project is the camera trapping and coming back to a camera in a few weeks' time that you spent a lot of time trying to place and decide where to put and you've chosen the location of the den box. it's amazing to come back and actually find that

you've got a pine marten prancing around in front of the camera trap. we've got the funding, fortunately, to put even more boxes up. we could potentially put up another 30 or 40 boxes. all we're trying to do is say, let's celebrate the fact that we've got pine martens here and try and work as much as we can with landowners to produce really good quality woodland. finally, when retired postman rodney holbrook noticed the workbench in his garden shed kept being mysteriously tidied, he decided to do a bit of detective work. and here's what he found when he set up a night vision camera. his secret helper was in fact a little mouse — picking up pegs, corks, nuts and bolts. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas after that relentless rain for the start of 2024 its looking quieter and calmer.

lots of dry weather in store but colder out there. some frost, fog and some icy stretches through this week, some wintry showers out there today although most places avoiding them. high pressure driving the weather, we see the winds gravitating around that area of high pressure, quite breezy conditions over the next few days, especially in the south and that north—easterly breeze will draw cloud to the east of the uk. down towards east anglia and the london region, some wintry showers through today so you may see a slight dusting of snow at local levels. some showers further north across the north—east of england but they fade away. plenty of sunshine out there, mist and fog slow to clear, top temperatures in the north 3—6 , feeling chilly especially in the south where we have brisk winds coming from the east, so feeling subzero with wintry showers.

these showers of sleet and snow drift westwards through this evening and overnight. like last night, some mist and fog developing especially in scotland and northern ireland. temperatures could get as low as —70 —8 across sheltered parts of scotland. after a chilly start tomorrow at the mist and for clearing, more of a breeze coming from the east across southern england and wales but generally less in the way of cloud and wintry showers so more sunshine, but it will feel cold, 3—6 but chillier in the breeze. not much change for wednesday but you notice more cloud drifting in across scotland, northern england as well, more sunshine further south but it is looking like a predominantly dry picture on wednesday and another dry day. the flood warnings coming down over the next few days. 6—7 degrees, turning milder through the middle of the week. things mostly dry towards the end of the week but after a milder spell, those temperatures could come down a notch again through into next

weekend and next week. goodbye.

this is bbc news. america's top diplomat says palestinians must not be pressured into leaving gaza and must be allowed to return to their homes once conditions allow. uk government ministers meet today amid calls for mps to face questions in parliament

about the post office scandal. blast off! the first american spacecraft in more than 50 years is on its way to the moon after a successful launch. the bbc uncovers evidence of rape, torture and forced abortions by the founder of one of the world's biggest christian evangelical churches. and oppenheimer wins big at the golden globe awards in los angeles, taking home five of the night's big prizes. hello, i'm lucy grey. we start this hour in the middle east, where america's top diplomat, antony blinken, is continuing diplomatic efforts to prevent a regional escalation of israel's

war in gaza. he'll hold talks with the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman