tv Breakfast BBCNEWS March 20, 2024 6:00am-9:01am GMT
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most households and businesses are desperate to see those prices slowing. they are expected to, but by how much and could interest rates be next? dominance in the dutch capital. three—nil up on ajax and on the brink of the champions league semi—finals in what could be a season to remember for chelsea women. every three years, the london eye gets a major paintjob. it is in the middle of that process now, lit up, looking resplendent in bbc breakfast colours this morning. for some reason, i have been given one of these. good morning, a cloudy and wet start for many which will clear for most. it will be mild but turning colder. all the details later. it's wednesday, the 20th march.
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claims that hospital staff tried to access the princess of wales�* private medical records are being looked at by the information commissioner's office. the data—protection watchdog said it had received a report of a breach, and was assessing the information. the daily mirror — which broke the story — alleges at least one staff member at the london clinic in marylebone was involved. the paper says that an investigation there has already begun. simonjones reports. seen out and about at the weekend, the prince and princess of wales visiting their local farm shop in windsor. catherine's recovery from abdominal surgery seemingly going well. royal officials have always insisted she wants the precise details of her treatment to remain private. but this morning's mirror is reporting claims that while she was at the london clinic, at least one member of staff tried to access her medical notes without permission, allegedly breaching her confidentiality. catherine spent 13 nights at the private hospital injanuary.
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the data protection watchdog the information commissioner's office said it had received a report of a breach and was assessing the information. kensington palace said it was a matterfor the london clinic. in a statement, the clinic told the mirror... the hospital also recently treated king charles for an enlarged prostate. he was there at the same time as catherine. the allegations will come as another blow to the royal family, who are trying to shift the focus away from weeks of online speculation and conspiracy theories about catherine's health, during her continued absence from public engagements. not helped by the release of this photograph on mother's day, which was withdrawn by international picture agencies because it had been edited. catherine later apologised for any confusion. yesterday, prince william was in sheffield to promote his homelessness project. he spoke about the challenges faced by young families —
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a subject catherine has also taken an interest in. she needs to be sat here. but, this morning, the talk again is of catherine's health and her right to privacy. simonjoins us now from outside the london clinic. this has broken overnight. what response are we likely to get from the clinic itself? the response are we likely to get from the clinic itself?— the clinic itself? the clinic has et to the clinic itself? the clinic has yet to re5pond _ the clinic itself? the clinic has yet to respond for _ the clinic itself? the clinic has yet to respond for a _ the clinic itself? the clinic has yet to respond for a request i the clinic itself? the clinic has. yet to respond for a request for information from the bbc but on its website it said over the years it has been proud to treat some of the most prominent people in history. actors, politicians and members of the royal family of course. i think it was telling, a vote of confidence
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in medical staff healed that the princess of wales and king charles were treated here injanuary. according to the mirror, an insider at the hospital said medical staff are shocked and distraught at the allegation. they will have been made planed to catherine, which is standard procedure and no doubt she will be shocked and distraught herself. she has been keen to guard herself. she has been keen to guard her privacy and you saw that back in january when she left the hospital after her treatment. she did not come out of the front door, she went out of the back entrance. there were no pictures of her leaving. compare that with the moment king charles left. he came out the front door, smiling and waving. kensington palace have always said that they were not going to give a running commentary on catherine's treatment and recovery. they are keen to stick
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to that. they said she may return to royal duties around easter. easter is fast approaching so i think royal officials will be weighing up how best to introduce her once again to royal duties. best to introduce her once again to royal duties-_ royal duties. thank you. we will talk about _ royal duties. thank you. we will talk about this _ royal duties. thank you. we will talk about this more _ royal duties. thank you. we will talk about this more as - royal duties. thank you. we will talk about this more as the - talk about this more as the programme goes on. we are waiting for big economic news. in the next hour, we'll get the latest inflation figures from the office for national statistics. it tells us how much the price of goods and services went up or down in february. nina, you can tell us a bit more. we will be looking backwards — how quickly were prices rising last month? most economists are optimistic there's been a slow down, possibly to around 3.5%, down from 4%. that would take us to a much healthier inflation point — closer to the bank of england's target and back in the territory we were before the spike caused by russia's invasion of ukraine and the pressure that put on energy.
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the ripples are notjust about the prices we pay at the till. tomorrow, the bank of england will consider interest rates — as ever affecting mortgages and savings and currently at a 15—year high. their direction of travel will be driven by what we learn today. we've been locked in to seemingly runaway prices for almost two years now. without doubt most of you are feeling this in some part of your pocket. if you run a business every customer counts, and if customers are struggling, so are you. one of the most concerning things is the cost of products now. the produce isjust sky high. rent has gone up, electricity costs have gone up, wages have gone up. everything's gone up. high costs are taking a toll on businesses like anna's. she's been trading for around five years and it's not been an easy ride. it's a game ofjenga just trying to balance everything. we don't want to put too much
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responsibility or price increases on a customer because that will deter them from coming. we still want to offer good—value foods, but then we also have to be fair to our staff, as well. so we have to just balance everything as carefully as possible. but could today might a turning point? inflation — that's the rate at which prices rise — hit a peak of ii% in october 2022. that was a ito—year high driven by a surge in energy prices following the russian invasion of ukraine. the prime minister promised to halve it by the end of last year. that pledge was met, but prices are still high the rate forjanuary remained unchanged at 4% — that's where it was in december but still above the bank of england's target of 2%. for fritz and his business, it means thinking about other ways to increase those profit margins just to stay afloat. we've just been very creative.
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we've thought outside the box, we've gone down other avenues where we can, you know, sell ourfood. so retail, almost mini—wholesale, networking with other suppliers, with other companies. the bank of england has tried to tackle the problem by raising interest rates to a 15—year high of 5.25%. rates are expected to be cut this year, but not yet. while the direction for interest rates is down, what we're expecting is that, by the end of the year, they will have maybe had three cuts to them. so we're not talking huge numbers here. and, actually, for someone sitting at home thinking about their mortgage costs, that will help a bit, but it's not going to have a huge, huge impact for lots of people. the government says the economy is turning, but many businesses are not feeling that way yet. we are hoping that our customers have a bit more
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of a disposable income, so far, because we all feel like we need to put our prices up, but no one can afford to come and eat if we do that. so yeah, more disposable income for the general public. those business owners will be hoping there's normality on the horizon. we get the latest figures in underan hour. we can't expect life to change overnight. perhaps though — a growing sense of stability. sally. a bill which would stop any child who turns 15 from this year from legally buying cigarettes will be introduced in parliament today. the tobacco and vapes bill will raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products by one year, each year. it is part of a range of proposed restrictions which aim to reduce smoking and vaping among young people. 15 synthetic opioids which are described by the home office as highly addictive and incredibly dangerous have been banned. most of the substances involved are super—strength street drugs known as nitazenes. there have been more
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than 100 deaths linked to the drugs since last summer. experts say more needs to be done to assess the scale of the problem. the closure of hundreds of community pharmacies over the last five years is putting more pressure on gps, according to the industry body the association of independent multiple pharmacies. it is warning of a tsunami of further closures on top of the 400 sites that shut their doors in england between 2019 and 2023. the prime minister is due to address backbench conservative mps later as he looks to shrug off rumours that some are unhappy with his leadership. rishi sunak has dismissed speculation that there are plots to oust him before a general election. chief political correspondent, henry zeffman, joins us now. what do you expect us to hear from mps? , , ., ., ., ., mps? this is a normal meeting that ha--ens mps? this is a normal meeting that happens every _ mps? this is a normal meeting that happens every parliamentary - mps? this is a normal meeting that happens every parliamentary term, | happens every parliamentary term,
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about three times a year. this time it takes place in abnormal circumstances because as we have discussed all week, the mood amongst conservative mps is bleak. there were lots of votes on monday in the commons over the rwanda policy and i am told rishi sunak recognising this bad mood was working the division lobbies and asking conservative mps how they feel about things and offering to do certain things to try to improve their mood, offering particular policy ideas, asking them what they think about things. i think that discussion will continue in this meeting today. i think rishi sunak will make a similar argument to the one he is making publicly, which is he has stabilised the economic situation since he became prime minister in 2022 and that soon the country and politically the conservative party will see the rewards of that. as jeremy
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conservative party will see the rewards of that. asjeremy hunt argued in the budget, that the economy is turning a corner. that is the argument he will make. almost as interesting will be what conservative mps say in response because it is a question and answer session. that will give us a reliable gauge of the mood in the conservative party because local elections are approaching and people in england and wales will have an opportunity to register their views at a local level of the party and that will be watched closely by conservative mps. find that will be watched closely by conservative mps.— that will be watched closely by conservative mps. more than 2,000 tonnes of food aid funded by the uk has arrived in gaza. the delivery is the uk's largest yet and will be used to feed more than 275,000 people in the territory. it comes after the united states' most senior diplomat warned that gaza's two million people are experiencing "severe levels of acute food insecurity". vaughan gething is due
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to be formally nominated as the new first minister of wales later today. he is taking overfrom mark drakeford, who has stepped down from the post after more than five years. our wales correspondent, tomos morgan, has the story. after five years in which covid and brexit dominated his time in charge, mark drakeford gave an emotional farewell yesterday, describing how this past year had been the hardest of his life as wales' first minister. for me personally, the last 12 months has been the hardest and the saddest of my life. i'm grateful to all those people who help. the colleagues here. i'm most grateful of all to the people that we are lucky enough to serve. applause. having already held two of the biggest ministerial portfolios in welsh politics — in health and the economy — this afternoon, vaughan gething will take on his toughest political role yet and, in doing so, becoming the first black man
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to lead a european nation. his campaign was dominated by the news a £200,000 donation was made to mr gething by a company owned by a man with convictions for dumping illegal waste. but what will be the most burning issues in his in—tray? first thing first, he will be appointing a new cabinet tomorrow. how many of his supporters does he reward and what position does he give his rivalfor the leadership injeremy miles? attention will then turn to two issues that have received the biggest public backlash in recent times — speed limits and farmers. on the 20mph speed limit in urban areas, he's vowed not to roll back, but will review the guidance given to councils, making it easier for them to change some roads back to 30mph. and then after saying a proposal to ask farmers to plant 10% of trees on their land is the right policy, how will the balance be struck between climate change and paying agriculture fairly in wales? in promising to listen and not lecture the public as he begins his term as wales's
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new leader, he has pledged to be something different. tomos morgan, bbc news, cardiff. a painting by the british artist ls lowry could fetch up to £6 million when it goes under the hammer today. sunday afternoon, beautiful, depicts a densely populated industrial landscape and has been on show to the public for the first time in almost six decades. christie's auction house said it has been in the hands of a private collector since 1967. and now it might go into the hands of another private collector. i wonder if it will disappear or whether we could see it again. it is really rather beautiful. he is an artist known well around these parts. absolutely. don't forget, you can keep up
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to date on all of the day s news out for bbc news live. you can take us with you wherever you go. on your phone, on the bus, no escape! here's carol. no escape from her all the weather. we do not want to escape from her, just the weather. it is a mild start exceptin just the weather. it is a mild start except in the north—west where we have had clear skies and as a result temperatures have tumbled. some low cloud, and some rain. but it will be a mild day. we have seen rain from the south—west overnight. it has pushed northwards and eastwards. showers ahead of it. as we go through the course of today, you will find rain will drift in the direction of the north sea. it will
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clear northern ireland, brighten up for you. clear northern ireland, brighten up foryou. in clear northern ireland, brighten up for you. in scotland, a fair bit of sunshine. the rain turns to showers in northern england and the midlands and south west. variable cloud in the south—east but depending how much sunshine we see, we could have a high up to 18. overnight, you can see we have the dregs of the weather front producing cloud in the south. you might have the odd spot from that. clear skies before the next weather front comes in across the north west introducing more rain and strengthening wind. it will feel cooling tonight than last night, particularly in the north, with an overnight low of 3—4. tomorrow, we have a band of rain sinking towards the south and east. it will be windy around it. in england and wales, we are looking at cloud, breaking up at
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times, sunshine coming through, and again we could see temperatures up to possibly 18. behind it, it will brighten up once again with blustery showers. and here, temperatures 9-12. as showers. and here, temperatures 9—12. as we head into friday, the front sink southwards and we are looking at blustery showers. there is no escape. i am just looking at the door now thinking i am off. see you later. let's take a look at today's papers. with a lot of them leading on the story of the princess of wales's medical records. that includes the the daily mail, which reports that at least one employee is alleged to have been caught trying to access her medical notes during her stay at the london clinic for abdominal surgery. there is more royalty on the front page of the sun, which has an interview with the man who filmed the prince and princess of wales at a windsor garden centre.
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he wants trolls to stop conspiracy theories, saying he saw kate with his own eyes. away from the royals, the times reports on some new research that has found vaping can trigger changes in cells often seen in smokers, which may lead to cancer. scientists at university college london said their study also showed that e—cigarettes "might not be as harmless as originally thought". and there's a story on the bbc news website this morning that might make you smile. a small shop in orkney has been left with more easter eggs than customers after a mix up with an order. the shop wanted 80 eggs but were delivered 80 cases by mistake — that's a total of 720 chocolate eggs, which is far more
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than the island's 500 population. one and a half each. we could go and help them. chocolate lovers heading to orkney. let's go. and if your normal route to work involves passing the london eye this morning, you might want to look up, because you could catch a glimpse ofjohn maguire. it is lit up beautifully in bbc breakfast colours. it is looking like us, the programme, because we are going to be living the story. we are not. john is going to be helping them decorate. renovate, decorate. paint. clean. he is abseiling down with the
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paintbrush to try to refurbish it. live on breakfast. we will catch up with john later. can you withjohn later. can you imagine? no. no thank you. i am glad it is him and not me. it is 50 years since an armed man tried to kidnap princess anne as she was travelling to buckingham palace in her royal car. ian ball had planned to abduct the young princess and hold her ransom. but his attempt was thwarted by a number of people, including her police bodyguard, inspectorjim beaton, who was shot three times during the attack. five decades later, he's been reflecting on that day. police have today been carefully checking the royal car— which was attacked last night. ian ball made what was the first ever royal kidnap attempt — a bizarre ransom note for delivery to the queen which asked for £3 million. i've still got a bit
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of bullet lodged in my hand. in fact, it'sjust about there somewhere. my name isjim beaton and i was the protection officer for princess anne for five years in the metropolitan police. thursday, the 20th of march, we got about three quarters of the way up the mall and this white car pulled in front of us. this chap, ian ball, the driver of the white car, came back towards the royal car. i got out of my seat, came up out behind the car, and it went bang, bang, and he shot me in the chest. i tried to fire back at him with my gun. i missed the first shot and then the gunjammed. ball was pointing his gun at princess anne and he said, "you drop your gun or i'll shoot," or something to that effect. he fired at the same time as my hand went up and the bullet went into my hand. we kicked the back door open
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and there was ian ball standing and he shot me in the abdomen. i struggled out of the car, half dazed, obviously, went round the front the car and lay down on the pavement. although shot three times by ball, he managed to go on struggling to defend princess anne until other officers overpowered the defendant. when princess anne came to see me in hospital, it was quite funny because the staff said go on, you must cover up your chest and all the wounds and things, and i said, oh, stuff it. just said, you know, pleased that we're all sort of still alive and kicking, so to speak. for outstanding bravery, - police inspectorjames beaton received the george cross. at that time, training courses were nil. you werejust shoved in and off you go. nowadays, it's very different, of course. it's selected. they're interviewed and tested and everything else.
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after this incident with princess anne, yes, the royal protection changed drastically, really. slightly better guns, better ammunition, more courses, more training, more people suddenly all appeared literally within days. it really is a different world altogether. very different from when i started. what a man. an amazing story. 50 years ago. still to come on breakfast. you probably know about the importance of giving blood — but did you know our four—legged friends can do it as well? we will meet the life—saving donor dogs. we'll see more of them at 6.110. not long to wait. time to get the news, travel and weather where you are
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a very good morning from bbc london, i'm thomas magill. soaring service charges faced by some tenants in the capital is a story we brought you last week and now a number of them say they are taking matters in their own hands by refusing to pay the charge at all because they feel the increases that go towards the upkeep of their building are unjustified. altogether there is about 15 or 20 people who are on strike. we haven't been paying our service charge and our heating since last year, it's been one and a half years now. and we are all angry, we are frustrated, we're angry, anxious. social housing action campaign, a group that campaigns for lower service charges, say they have supported more than 500 residents to withhold all or some of their payments until their bills are explained. and we'll have more on this issue at 6:30. engineers working on the tram network in south london are to go on strike next week over pay, saying they want to be treated the same as london underground staff.
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the unite union says engineers on the tube have the same qualifications and perform the same roles, but are paid up to £10,000 more a year. tfl has urged the union to work with them to find a solution. let's take a look at the tubes now. the northern line is part suspended. there's severe delays on the piccadilly and minor delays on the victoria line. now onto the weather with kate. good morning. it is another rather grey, misty and murky start this morning. we have had some outbreaks of rain overnight. still some light patchy rain around this morning, some thinner areas of cloud potentially through the afternoon so some brighter spells developing and just depending on how many bright spells we get, temperatures reaching around 17 celsius. could just see one or two spots at 18. overnight tonight, we should see it dry out. any remnants of that rain clearing. we will however hang on the cloud, some mist and fog patches through the early hours, minimum temperatures dropping to seven celsius so another
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murky start tomorrow. it is looking largely dry through the course of thursday but that cloud hanging around, again thinner, some brighter spells here and there. and temperatures potentially reaching around 17 celsius. it's all change overnight thursday into friday, a cold front will sink self bringing cloud and some rain, just a little bit for friday. behind it the temperature is going to drop. but for saturday, sunshine, showers but those temperatures are going to feel much colder. if you're a budding journalist, there's less than a week to go until the deadline to enter the bbc young reporter competition. if you're aged 11 to 18 and have something to say this is your chance. maybe you're writing for a website or school newspaper, or like 15—year—old jack working as a match day reporter at billericay town fc. you don't have to have a finished story, just have a great idea. if that's the case get in touch and we can help you bring it to life. just go to the website. details are on your screen now.
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that's it from me. there's more on the bbc news app and on bbc radio london but for now let's go back to sally and jon. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. a bill which aims to tackle smoking and vaping among young people is being introduced in parliament today. the tobacco and vapes bill will raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products by one year, each year, meaning that anyone turning 15 from this year will never be able to legally buy cigarettes. it will also restrict the flavours and packaging of vapes to make them less appealing to children and young people and try to stop them buying vaping products. that's ahead of a proposed full ban on disposable vapes.
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and the legislation would change how vapes are displayed in shops, moving them out of sight and away from things like sweets and chocolate. presenterjordan north, who is a vaper himself, has been finding out more as he tries to decide whether to kick the habit. you might have noticed there's been a lot of chat about vaping. rishi sunak is to announce plans to ban the sale of disposable vapes. but there's so much i don't know. and so i've made a documentary to find out exactly what is in my vape. thanks for taking the time to do this. but first i want to see what other young vapers are concerned about. i feel like the ones with the most puffs, like, 3,000 puffs, i feel like they're worse ones. you can buy one for £9, 15,000 puffs and that. what is in that for that to be that cheap, where they get them from that cheap as well to make a profit. do you know what i mean? when it comes to disposable vapes, legally they're allowed roughly the same amount of nicotine as 20
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to a0 cigarettes. but with illegal ones, it could be ten times that alongside some potentially harmful ingredients. to find out more, i'm visiting a company who tests thousands of illegal vapes that have been seized from across the country. the illegal vape products have high levels of nicotine, they have high levels of metals, and they have high levels of carbonyls as well. and what these are potentially carcinogenic substances. tom is sharing exclusive new data from a recent haul of dodgy vapes. almost a third had lead in them, nearly twice the number they found in similar tests last year. lead is actually a toxic chemical, so having any amount of it in your body is not great. as well as that, nearly nine out of ten in the sample contained nickel. that's pretty serious, isn't it? what people don't know is these are not regulated the same way that compliant vapes are. and while they think they're getting a better dealfor the money, they're getting a worse deal for the body. it's not always clear
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from the packaging whether the vapes people are buying are compliant. trading standards. trading standards are a watchdog for illegal and unfair business dealings, and it's one of theirjobs to seize dodgy vapes from places where they're sold. what would happen to those people that were selling them? often it's quite hard that we even get a case ready for a prosecution. got any dodgy vapes in here? yeah? yep, tonnes, haven't you? they're illegal vapes, aren't they? oh, wow. selling illegal vapes is against the law, but very few shops are getting in trouble for it. our team contacted 100 councils and out of the 80 that responded, around 2,200 businesses were found to sell illegal vapes in 2023. of these businesses, less than one in 20 went on to be recommended for prosecution. this isjust us in newcastle. the same work's being done across the region,
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across all of england and scotland, wales. it's just massive for everybody. trading standards aren't able to issue on the spot fines to traders at the moment, but the government plan to give them this power in the future. but where do these vapes even come from? i found some videos on social media that may give me some clues. oh, no. and a bit of a bellyache. so this lady in the factory is taking a puff on a load of vapes. you could call it quality control, but i don't think that's how it's done. we can't verify the authenticity of these videos, which brands of vapes these are or what factories they were filmed in. but there's the problem. the supply chain of vapes illegal to sell in the uk is really murky. if the government wants to ban disposable vapes, they will also need to get those dodgy ones off the streets. as for me, reporting this story has made me rethink my own vaping and smoking. i don't want to be glued to this little stick in my hand, vaping in ten years' time.
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overall, it's probably better to just pack them in. jordan north, bbc news. so, what does jordan so, what doesjordan decide? if you want to see the full documentary, you can watch jordan north: the truth about vaping tonight at nine on bbc three and iplayer. i like the way we have surrounded him with a cloud of smoke that picture? he him with a cloud of smoke that icture? ., . ., picture? he thought he could give it u . picture? he thought he could give it u- but not picture? he thought he could give it up but not in _ picture? he thought he could give it up but not in that _ picture? he thought he could give it up but not in that picture! _ picture? he thought he could give it up but not in that picture! let's - up but not in that picture! let's get the sport with john. the point in the season where the teams are in pursuit of silverware and more than one trophy for some which is the chase would chelsea women. good morning. 3—0 up, on the brink of the champions league semifinals, and still in the hunt forfour trophies. it could prove quite the season for chelsea women. following a night of dominance in the dutch capital, beating ajax 3—0 in the first leg of their quarter final. laurenjames with their first. sjoeke nusken with two more to put
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them in complete control, in what is manager emma hayes's final season, as she looks to lead the team to the trophy for the first time in their history. what a story that would be. talking of big seasons, could this be a name to look out for at this summer's european championship? manchester united midfielder kobbie mainoo, he'sjust 18, has enjoyed a great campaign with his club and now, for the first time, has been called up to the full england squad for upcoming friendlies against brazil and belgium at wembley. a chance to press manager gareth southgate for his inclusion to his euros squad in germany this summer. russian and belarusian athletes will not take part in the opening ceremony at this summer's olympics. athletes from both countries were banned following russia's invasion of ukraine back in february 2022, however athletes from russia and belarus who qualify can compete as neutrals, but won't feature as part of the traditional curtain raiser.
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the ioc have said a decision on them being involved in the closing ceremony will come later. after the departures of owen farrell and lewis ludlam, another english rugby player has chosen to play their club rugby in france. england centre manu tuilagi will leave sale sharks at the end of the season to join bayonne on a two year contract. the world number one ronnie o'sullivan will hope to move a step closer to winning his first world open title in two decades today. he'll play lyu haotian in the second round after beating welshman michael white by five frames to three in the opening round in yushan. the tournament is taking place for the first time since 2019 and was named the grand prix when o'sullivan last won it in 200a. manchester will welcome davis cup tennis again as the tournament returns to the city in september,
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with great britain taking centre stage. the former champions will face canada, finland and argentina at the ao arena, which hosted the tournament last year, as they look to reach the knockout stages in malaga. britain reached the quarter finals last year before losing to serbia. the bbc understands that two time grand slam champion aryna sabalenka will play as planned at the miami open, despite the death of her partner konstantin koltsov on tuesday. she wasn't set to be in action until thursday or friday and has been given a first round bye although it's understood there may be discretion in the scheduling, given the circumstances. miami police have said in a statement that no foul play is suspected around koltsov�*s death. sabalenka will face paula badosa in that second round match after she spoiled simona halep's return to the court, following a successful appeal to the court of arbitration
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for sport over her doping ban. the three—time miami open champion venus williams is also out but she could blame a mid—match interuption. a cat appeared to temporarily halt play before beating a swift retreat. the crowd loved it, williams probably did not. perhaps not coming at the best of for her. a, , perhaps not coming at the best of for her. , , perhaps not coming at the best of forher. , , , ., ., for her. maybe she is not a cat erson. for her. maybe she is not a cat person- the — for her. maybe she is not a cat person. the cat _ for her. maybe she is not a cat person. the cat was _ for her. maybe she is not a cat person. the cat was very - for her. maybe she is not a catj person. the cat was very wise, for her. maybe she is not a cat i person. the cat was very wise, in and out, person. the cat was very wise, in and out. not _ person. the cat was very wise, in and out, not hanging _ person. the cat was very wise, in and out, not hanging around. - person. the cat was very wise, in and out, not hanging around. if. and out, not hanging around. it looks could kill! thank you very much, john. maybe the cat heard about the next item. i much, john. maybe the cat heard about the next item.— about the next item. i didn't like the sound _ about the next item. i didn't like the sound of— about the next item. i didn't like the sound of it _ about the next item. i didn't like the sound of it at _ about the next item. i didn't like the sound of it at all! _ there's always a push for more people to give blood. but did you know that your pets could be able to donate as well? one charity is urging dog owners to check if their four—legged friends are eligible because their donation could save the life of another animal. jo kent has been to meet one dog
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which has done just that. poppy may look a picture of health, but a few months ago it was a very different story. she was just very low in energy. her breathing was very laboured and she just wasn't her usual self. they looked at her blood count and it was down to one. and if she didn't have a blood transfusion, she wouldn't have survived the night. you're so silly! otto doesn't know it, but his blood donation saved poppy's life. you always want someone to be able to do it if i needed that help and to know that my dog can help other people's dog i think makes a really big difference. today they're meeting for the first time. hello, who's this? look, otto saved your life. she allowed a bit of chicken? yeah, it's her favorite. the transfusion was carried out at the vet's practice, where otto's owner works as a pharmacist. they can be used to treat a range of conditions. so in poppy's case, her immune
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system was attacking her red blood cells, so she needed some more. we also have some trauma cases. so if they've lost a lot of blood due to trauma. another really common one that we see is dogs that are bleeding into their abdomen. there are some rules about which dogs can donate blood like otto here. they have to be between one and eight years old. they have to be a large breed, over 25 kilograms. and they have to be calm and confident. the charity pet blood bank uk works to collect, store and distribute dog blood to vets. they run donation sessions around the country like this one in bracknell. donate, yes, you did, did you donate? bandit has just donated for the first time while pippi is an old hand. good girl. first, there's a health check. after getting the all clear, it's time for her donation. there's a good girl.
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unfortunately, blood's an ever growing demand, so we always want more animals to come along to sessions and dogs like pippi today, this is her last donation because she's reaching eight soon, so she will be retiring today. so obviously we'll need a dog to sort of replace her, as it were. five minutes later, it's all done. we had an older dog who, towards the end of her life, needed a few operations, so she was on the receiving end of blood in those operations. so it's really lovely to be on the giving side as well. now we've got another little puppy coming through as well, so i'm hoping that she'll be able to follow in pippi's footsteps. like humans, dogs have different blood types. we work on two blood types, positive and negative. pippi here today is positive. i love to have negative donors if we can just because negative
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blood can be given to any dog in an emergency. and what about our second favourite pet? well, cats can have blood transfusions, too, but it's less common as they're better at hiding their illnesses. cats are very adaptable creatures. it takes a long time before they start to show disease so they are able to adapt to survive with a lower percentage of red blood cells than dogs, which is why we don't need the blood transfusions as much. but it would still be beneficial in a lot of cases as it drops to be able to support them. that's why pet blood bank uk is looking at setting up a cat donation scheme in the future. but how's this for an amazing fact? i did see a blood transfusion in a cat. in that case, we actually gave it dog blood, which we did as a one—off. but that's not commonly done. it'd be better to have a cat donor. back at the park, poppy's prognosis is good. all thanks to otto, her humble hero.
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jo kent, bbc news. well done, dogs and cats! controversial line, our second favourite pet some about cats, i'm not sure everyone will agree. ran favourite pet some about cats, i'm not sure everyone will agree. ron -- run for cover. _ not sure everyone will agree. ron -- run for cover. jo! _ not sure everyone will agree. ron -- run for cover, jo! i _ not sure everyone will agree. ron -- run for cover, jo! i wonder _ not sure everyone will agree. ron -- run for cover, jo! i wonder if - not sure everyone will agree. ron -- run for cover, jo! i wonder if carol. run for cover, jo! i wonder if carol agrees! definitely not, cats are definitely top, number one! it is a wet start for many of us this morning as you can see in northampton. a lot of cloud spilling across us has produced some rain and it is a cooler night in the northern half of the country then it was the other night, it is still mild in the south. this is the cloud i am talking about, producing some rain, we have had clear skies in scotland
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allowing it to away and through the morning we will continue for a time with this rain, pushing towards the north sea. so it will clear northern ireland and scotland and here we will see some sunshine come through to the south of scotland —— hugger all but the south of scotland. showers this afternoon in south—west england, east wales, the midlands and towards the wash in lincolnshire and towards the wash in lincolnshire and yorkshire. further south where we see breaks in the cloud we could hit 18 degrees today. further north for northern england and southern scotland, we hang onto the cloud. it could brighten up in north—west england through the day but we will see the sunshine across northern ireland and much of scotland through the part of the afternoon stop the evening, the dregs of the front in the south producing cloud, clear skies and then another weather front comes in introducing strengthening winds and also some heavy rain. temperatures overnight, five to 8
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degrees. tomorrow, we pick up a band of rain slowly sinking south. the wind will strengthen as we go through the day, and ahead of it we will see cloud coming and going so there will be brighter breaks at times, some sunshine as well. these other temperatures, to 17 in the south. behind the weather front we will see some sunshine coming through with the odd shower. they'll stay into friday, a weather front six south, a cold front, changing the feel of the weather. you can see the feel of the weather. you can see the isobars are tightly packed in the isobars are tightly packed in the north so we are looking at gales in the final of scotland and northern and western isles, windy and the northern half of the country. the weather front in the south takes its cloud with it and it will remain with us through the day. in between some sunshine but it is going to turn colder. this is a cold
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front, temperatures six in the north to 11 as we push down towards the south. then it turns colder again, blue appearing in the charge towards the weekend. a northerly wind and a significant wind chill so despite what you see in your thermometer, it will feel cold, wintry showers on the hills and showers generally with when an defender. so all change once again. —— showers generally with wind and thunder. again. -- showers generally with wind and thunder.— again. -- showers generally with wind and thunder. thank you, i will let ou no wind and thunder. thank you, i will let you go back— wind and thunder. thank you, i will let you go back to _ wind and thunder. thank you, i will let you go back to your— wind and thunder. thank you, i will let you go back to your social - wind and thunder. thank you, i will| let you go back to your social media and all other dog lovers getting in touch! i and all other dog lovers getting in touch! .., �* and all other dog lovers getting in touch! �* . when hundreds of thousands of allied troops were stranded on the beaches of northern france during the second world war, it was "the little ships of dunkirk" which came to their rescue. most of them were small but together, they saved many. now, one of the ships involved, the medway queen, is the subject of a new documentary. our reporter claudia sermbezis has been to find out more.
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the paddle steamer medway queen lies expectantly beside the quay side at gillingham pier in kent. she waits patiently to live again. known as the heroine of dunkirk, this documentary illustrates her varied life. this was an inspiring story of a little paddle steamer going across seven times to france, from kent to rescue up to 7,000 men at a critical time in the history of the united kingdom. and if that isn't a story worth telling, i don't know what is. 7,000 men and a dog named dunkirk. that was very touching, i thought, and so british. today the tide was on our side, raising the medway queen so we could appreciate her restored grandeur in the spring sunshine. when you come on board,
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you get that feeling of happiness, you really do. she was built specifically for going up and down the river, taking lots of happy people, steam buffs and happy people up and down the river. built in 192a, she's had a varied career and even became a floating nightclub. but with passenger numbers declining, she was left idle and in need of extensive repairs. volunteers have now spent decades fixing her. incredibly, the floorboards are actually the originals from 192a, and the fabric over here has been designed to look exactly as it did in the 1950s. modern plumbing, most important bit, new loos. and here in what is now the cinema room, this is where the sick and dying soldiers were cared for.
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this paddle wheel cover was a challenge, like a jigsaw with no picture, 70 pieces of wood to assemble. and it's all done here in the workshop. we're in the process of finishing these deck seats off so we can put them on the ship next week, hopefully. it's one of those projects that's been a long, long time coming but we've got there in the end. the documentary will be shown across kent over the coming months, and this queen will be shipshape in time for her 100th birthday in april. claudia sermbezis, bbc news. beautiful blue sky in that film. the weather feels like it's getting warmer, the daffodils are out for many of us and today
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is the first day of spring. but that also means it's time for a reset and that means a fresh lick of paint for the london eye. lots of work goes into maintaining the fourth biggest ferris wheel in the world, which closed injanuary for annual maintenance, and john maguire is there. they are getting ready for all the visitors and the spring and summer seasons, that means it needs a bit of paint. thejobjohn maguire is there. of paint. the 'ob john maguire is there. ,., ., ., of paint. the 'ob john maguire is there. ., ~ ., of paint. the 'ob john maguire is there. ., . ., ., there. good morning. who told you i could paint? — there. good morning. who told you i could paint? i'm _ there. good morning. who told you i could paint? i'm not— there. good morning. who told you i could paint? i'm not talking - there. good morning. who told you i could paint? i'm not talking about. could paint? i'm not talking about portraits, but we are going to be doing a bit of painting later, i don't quite believe it, we will talk about it later. this is the biggest deal with the fulham three, we are 135 metres —— the london eye, we are 135 metres —— the london eye, we are 135 metres —— the london eye, we are 135 metres above the river thames. think of a game of monopoly 400 feet
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in the sky, with all of these landmarks, that's what you get. houses of parliament, palace of westminster, big ben, coming up the river here, portcullis house, ministry of defence, horse guards, the big area behind the ministry of defence there, st james's the big area behind the ministry of defence there, stjames's palace, st james is hard, i should say, sorry, buckingham palace. —— stjames's park. you can see windsor castle on a very clear day. the bt tower with the light at the top which is about to be turned into a hotel. charing cross station just below us. it is unrivalled views. it is a fascinating viewpoint. also a very interesting story, as you can imagine, so much maintenance and so much needs to be done to keep visitors so high in the air. it became an immediate fixture among the icons on the silhouetted london skyline.
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the giant wheel was hoisted into place on the south bank of the river thames almost 25 years ago. the original plan for the millennium wheel was for a five year life. but approaching its silver anniversary, the london eye, as it's now known, has carried more than 100 million visitors. its name has seen changes. so have many of the buildings that surround it. but the panoramic views from the 32 glass pods remain spectacular. each minute of the slow, half hour long rotation offers a different perspective. at 145 metres high, it's exposed to the elements. january's storm henk saw the attraction closed briefly after one of the pods' rooftop hatches was blown open in the high winds. considering its size, maintenance is a major undertaking with a programme of painting and cleaning running from january to june.
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the landmark views from the pods may be its major drawcard, but as it takes centre stage in london's new year's eve fireworks display, the views of it are beamed around the world every year. as we were saying, it takes around half an hour to do a full rotation. we started off at about 12 o'clock, 11 o'clock, if you think other clock face, we are at ten o'clock now, it is moving quite slowly. but the views are always changing. what do people say to you when they have been on this, what is the biggest thing people are excited about? there is a lot to be fair, you can see so much here. they always like to see say they have seen the eiffel
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tower but it is actually crystal palace transmission tower. and also wembley park, in the station... you can see it? — wembley park, in the station. .. you can see it? not— wembley park, in the station... you can see it? not at _ wembley park, in the station... you can see it? not at the _ wembley park, in the station... you can see it? not at the moment - wembley park, in the station... you can see it? not at the moment but i can see it? not at the moment but ou can see it? not at the moment but you should — can see it? not at the moment but you should be _ can see it? not at the moment but you should be able _ can see it? not at the moment but you should be able to _ can see it? not at the moment but you should be able to see - can see it? not at the moment but you should be able to see the - can see it? not at the moment but you should be able to see the arch| you should be able to see the arch in the distance. the you should be able to see the arch in the distance.— in the distance. the maintenance programme. _ in the distance. the maintenance programme. it — in the distance. the maintenance programme. it is _ in the distance. the maintenance programme, it is in _ in the distance. the maintenance programme, it is in all— in the distance. the maintenance programme, it is in all weathers, painting and cleaning, doing some painting and cleaning, doing some painting later on, they give for volunteering me for that! it's fascinating when you look at the structure, talk us through the maintenance programme, it is a heck of an undertaking. taste maintenance programme, it is a heck of an undertaking.— of an undertaking. we have a maintenance _ of an undertaking. we have a maintenance period - of an undertaking. we have a maintenance period at - of an undertaking. we have a maintenance period at the i of an undertaking. we have a i maintenance period at the start of an undertaking. we have a - maintenance period at the start of each year and it is a big structure but you have the exciting opportunity to abseil down one of the big spokes and starting our spring spruce. 50 the big spokes and starting our spring spruce-— the big spokes and starting our spring spruce. the big spokes and starting our s-urin sruce. ., ., spring spruce. so where are we going to aint? spring spruce. so where are we going to paint? where _ spring spruce. so where are we going to paint? where it— spring spruce. so where are we going to paint? where it is— spring spruce. so where are we going to paint? where it is patchy? - spring spruce. so where are we going to paint? where it is patchy? that - to paint? where it is patchy? that will be maguire's patch down there!
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i'm not entirely sure i am looking forward to it. it moves at this very genteel pace, is pretty grim out there today, the first day of spring but it hasn't felt like that. you are protected of course. at}! but it hasn't felt like that. you are protected of course. of course, ou are are protected of course. of course, you are in — are protected of course. of course, you are in this— are protected of course. of course, you are in this enclosed _ are protected of course. of course, you are in this enclosed space. - are protected of course. of course, you are in this enclosed space. it's| you are in this enclosed space. it's still quite nice even though it is still quite nice even though it is still a bit grey, it's nice to be among the elements but protected from it. it among the elements but protected from it. ., , ~' among the elements but protected from it. ., , ,, ., ., from it. it does feel like that, a bit of a rain _ from it. it does feel like that, a bit of a rain on _ from it. it does feel like that, a bit of a rain on the _ from it. it does feel like that, a bit of a rain on the outside - from it. it does feel like that, a bit of a rain on the outside of l from it. it does feel like that, a i bit of a rain on the outside of the windows. you can see some of the grains, we talk about the constant changing landscape of london. the london eye is very definitely part of that landscape. you cannot miss it, i turned up this morning and it was with slight trepidation. taste it, i turned up this morning and it was with slight trepidation. we are in bbc colours _ was with slight trepidation. we are in bbc colours as _ was with slight trepidation. we are in bbc colours as well, _ was with slight trepidation. we are in bbc colours as well, we - was with slight trepidation. we are in bbc colours as well, we did - was with slight trepidation. we are in bbc colours as well, we did that| in bbc colours as well, we did that for you! in bbc colours as well, we did that for ou! . ~ in bbc colours as well, we did that for ou! ., ,, i. . ., i. in bbc colours as well, we did that for ou! ., ,, . ., for you! thank you! what you most en'o for you! thank you! what you most enjoy about — for you! thank you! what you most enjoy about working _ for you! thank you! what you most enjoy about working here? - for you! thank you! what you most enjoy about working here? you - for you! thank you! what you most - enjoy about working here? you worked everyjob enjoy about working here? you worked every job at enjoy about working here? you worked everyjob at this attraction. yes. enjoy about working here? you worked everyjob at this attraction.— everyjob at this attraction. yes, i started as — everyjob at this attraction. yes, i started as a _ everyjob at this attraction. yes, i started as a host _ everyjob at this attraction. yes, i started as a host on _ everyjob at this attraction. yes, i started as a host on one - everyjob at this attraction. yes, i started as a host on one of - everyjob at this attraction. yes, i started as a host on one of these | started as a host on one of these pods, i would deliver vip
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experiences, that was very exciting for me being a london girl born and raised, it's like to be in the heart of the city. now i get to manage the people they do that kind of thing and bring those people up to the company which is really nice. goad company which is really nice. good to hear. company which is really nice. good to hear- apart _ company which is really nice. good to hear. apart from _ company which is really nice. good to hear. apart from people - company which is really nice. good to hear. apart from people saying they think they have seen the eiffel tower, what are the typical questions you get?- tower, what are the typical questions you get? tower, what are the typical ruestions ou net? ~ , questions you get? when can we see windsor castle. _ questions you get? when can we see windsor castle, i _ questions you get? when can we see windsor castle, i heard _ questions you get? when can we see windsor castle, i heard you - questions you get? when can we see windsor castle, i heard you mention| windsor castle, i heard you mention that, it's about 40 kilometres on a clear day you can see as far as there. they like to see all of their landscape, they always want to know what buckingham palace is. the skyline, all of the things you see on the skyline, canary wharf, all of that that you can see in the distance. that that you can see in the distance-— that that you can see in the distance. ~ , ., .. ., ., distance. we will send our cameraman off to no distance. we will send our cameraman off to go and — distance. we will send our cameraman off to go and have _ distance. we will send our cameraman off to go and have a _ distance. we will send our cameraman off to go and have a look— distance. we will send our cameraman off to go and have a look towards - off to go and have a look towards the east, the shard, the walkie—talkie is just appearing, the east, the shard, the walkie—talkie isjust appearing, it is a constantly changing environment, notjust physically but what you see and canary wharf in the distance. that is it from us on
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board the london eye, what time are we now? i think probably at about 9am on the clock face. next time you see me, this guy will be pale, but i think my face and my skin —— the sky will be pale and i think my face and my skin will be as well because i will be dangling on the outside giving it a bit of a spring clean, why do i do these things? let’s giving it a bit of a spring clean, why do i do these things? let's hold u . why do i do these things? let's hold u- our why do i do these things? let's hold up your hand. _ why do i do these things? let's hold up your hand, let's _ why do i do these things? let's hold up your hand, let's see _ why do i do these things? let's hold up your hand, let's see how- why do i do these things? let's hold up your hand, let's see how steadyl up your hand, let's see how steady your nerves are right now.- up your hand, let's see how steady your nerves are right now. there we are. i your nerves are right now. there we are- i have — your nerves are right now. there we are- i have a — your nerves are right now. there we are. i have a roller. _ your nerves are right now. there we are. i have a roller. it _ your nerves are right now. there we are. i have a roller. it is _ are. i have a roller. it is rattling!— are. i have a roller. it is rattlinu! j, are. i have a roller. it is rattlinu! g ., rattling! good luck, john, looking forward to seeing _ rattling! good luck, john, looking forward to seeing it, _ rattling! good luck, john, looking forward to seeing it, rather - rattling! good luck, john, looking forward to seeing it, rather you i forward to seeing it, rather you than us. , ., ., , , than us. john loves it, he will be totally fine. _ than us. john loves it, he will be totally fine, he _ than us. john loves it, he will be totally fine, he is _ than us. john loves it, he will be totally fine, he is just _ than us. john loves it, he will be totally fine, he isjust kidding. i | totally fine, he isjust kidding. i think! time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. a very good morning from bbc
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london, i'm thomas magill. some residents living in blocks of flats in london who have faced huge hikes to their service charges say they are now refusing to pay them. the money generated from services charges goes towards the upkeep of buildings, including communal areas. bbc london has spoken to a number of people who say their bills are unjustified. altogether there is about 15 or 20 people who are on strike. we haven't been paying our service charge and our heating since last year, it's been one and a half years now. and we are all angry, we are frustrated, we're angry, anxious. air quality around planned new schools in london is alarmingly poor, according to a study by researchers at the evelina children's hospital and king's college. nearly nine in ten new school sites exceeded world health organisation targets on air pollution — with some of the worse locations in cities including london. engineers working on the tram network in south london are to go
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on strike next week over pay, saying they want to be treated the same as london underground staff. the unite union says engineers on the tube are paid up to £10,000 more a year than those working on the trams. tfl has urged the union to work with them to find a solution. let's take a look at the tubes now — the piccadilly line has severe delays. now the weather with kate. good morning. it is another rather grey, misty and murky start this morning. we have had some outbreaks of rain overnight. still some light patchy rain around this morning, some thinner areas of cloud potentially through the afternoon so some brighter spells developing and just depending on how many bright spells we get, temperatures reaching around 17 celsius. could just see one or two spots at 18. overnight tonight, we should see it dry out. any remnants of that rain clearing. we will however hang on the cloud, some mist and fog patches through the early hours, minimum temperatures dropping to 7 celsius so another murky start tomorrow.
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it is looking largely dry through the course of thursday but that cloud hanging around, again thinner, some brighter spells here and there. and temperatures potentially reaching around 17 celsius. it's all change overnight thursday into friday, a cold front will sink self bringing cloud and some rain, just a little bit for friday. behind it the temperature is going to drop. but for saturday, sunshine, showers but those temperatures are going to feel much colder. if you're a budding journalist, there's less than a week to go until the deadline to enter the bbc young reporter competition. if you're aged between 11 to 18 and have a story you want to tell, then this is your chance. maybe you're already writing for a website, your school newspaper, or, like 15—year—old jack, working as a match day reporter at billericay town fc. if that's the case get in touch — just go to the website. details are on your screen now.
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that's it. there's more on the bbc news app and on bbc radio london but for now back to sally and jon. good morning. welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. our headlines today. did hospital staff try to access confidential medical records belonging to the princess of wales? the uk's data protection watchdog says it's assessing a report of a breach of catherine's privacy. we're about to find out if price rises are slowing down — the latest inflation figures come out in the next few minutes. we learned that it fell, down from
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4% in the month before. how will that impact you? will interest rates be next? a ban on a number of powerful synthetic drugs has come into force but there are concerns it doesn't go far enough. and the dealers don't care. they want your money. don't give it to them. your life's worth more than a £10 bag. excluded from the opening ceremony. the international olympic committee say russian and belarusian athletes who compete as neutrals in paris this summer won't participate in the olympic curtain—raiser. as award season continues, attention turns to the small screen as the bafta tv nominations are announced. good morning. a cloudy and wet start for most. it will brighten up for many and it will be a mild day. the forecast is that it is turning colder. all the details later. it's wednesday 20th march.
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the data—protection watchdog is assessing whether staff at the hospital where the princess of wales had surgery tried to view her private health records. the information commissioner's office has confirmed that it's received a report of an alleged breach and is now assessing the information. the mirror — which broke the story — alleges at least one staff member at the london clinic in marylebone was involved. the paper says that an investigation there has already begun. simonjones reports. seen out and about at the weekend, the prince and princess of wales visiting their local farm shop in windsor. catherine's recovery from abdominal surgery seemingly going well. royal officials have always insisted she wants the precise details of her treatment to remain private. but this morning's mirror is reporting claims that while she was at the london clinic, at least one member of staff tried to access her medical notes without permission, allegedly breaching her confidentiality. catherine spent 13 nights
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at the private hospital injanuary. the data protection watchdog the information commissioner's office said it had received a report of a breach and was assessing the information. kensington palace said it was a matterfor the london clinic. in a statement, the clinic told the mirror... the hospital also recently treated king charles for an enlarged prostate. he was there at the same time as catherine. the allegations will come as another blow to the royal family, who are trying to shift the focus away from weeks of online speculation and conspiracy theories about catherine's health, during her continued absence from public engagements. not helped by the release of this photograph on mother's day, which was withdrawn by international picture agencies because it had been edited. catherine later apologised for any confusion. yesterday, prince william was in sheffield to promote his homelessness project. he spoke about the challenges
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faced by young families — a subject catherine has also taken an interest in. but, this morning, the talk again is of catherine's health and her right to privacy. simon joins us from outside the london clinic. any response from the clinic? no word at any response from the clinic? in? word at all from the clinic this morning but on its website it said it is proud to have treated some of the most prominent members of society over the course of history. in terms of this apparent investigation, we understand it has been launched by the clinic. they have not confirmed that to the bbc yet. back injanuary, it was a vote
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of confidence in medical staff here when both the king and catherine decided to have treatment here at the same time. now questions are being raised about catherine's stayed. she wanted to guard her privacy. she will have been told about this apparent breach, this allegation. no doubt she will be shocked. the mirror newspaper says that an insider at the hospital says staff are distraught by the allegation. in terms of catherine's privacy, it has been, her health, the subject of major speculation over the past couple of months. that was fuelled by the mother's day photo. we saw pictures of catherine released by the sun newspaper and kensington palace took the unusual step of confirming it was indeed catherine in the pictures, because there had been speculation online
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that it was a body double. again this morning we are talking about the health of a member of the royal family and that is not what the royal family would wa nt want at this stage. in the last few minutes the office for national statistics has revealed the latest inflation figures. nina. thank you. we are looking backwards at the month of february, and in the last few moments have learned that inflation was at 3.4%. that is a further drop than we expected. it follows the direction of travel with inflation coming down to 4% in december and january. we are now back at a much healthier inflation point — closer to the bank of england's target of 2%, and you have to go back to september 2021 to find it lower.
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that was before the russian invasion of ukraine sent prices soaring. the ripples aren'tjust about the total you pay at the till. tomorrow, the bank of england will consider interest rates — as ever affecting mortgages and savings. their direction of travel will be driven by what we learn today. we've been locked in to seemingly runaway prices for almost two years now. this morning, a sign that train is slowing down. but remember — prices are still rising, albeit not as quickly. most of you are feeling this in some part of your pocket. if you run a business every customer counts, and if your customers are struggling so are you. one of the most concerning things is the cost of products now. the produce isjust sky high. rent has gone up, electricity costs have gone up, wages have gone up. everything's gone up. high costs are taking a toll on businesses like anna's. she's been trading for around five years and it's
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not been an easy ride. it's a game ofjenga just trying to balance everything. we don't want to put too much responsibility or price increases on a customer because that will deter them from coming. we still want to offer good—value foods, but then we also have to be fair to our staff, as well. so we have to just balance everything as carefully as possible. but could today be a turning point? inflation — that's the rate at which prices rise — hit a peak of 11% in october 2022. that was a 40—year high driven by a surge in energy prices following the russian invasion of ukraine. the prime minister promised to halve it by the end of last year. for a number of reasons, that pledge was met, but prices are still high. for fritz and his business, it means thinking about other ways to increase those profit margins just to stay afloat. we've just been very creative.
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we've thought outside the box, we've gone down other avenues where we can, you know, sell ourfood. so retail, almost mini—wholesale, networking with other suppliers, with other companies. the bank of england has tried to tackle the problem by raising interest rates to a 15—year high of 5.25%. rates are expected to be cut this year, but not yet. while the direction for interest rates is down, what we're expecting is that, by the end of the year, they will have maybe had three cuts to them. so we're not talking huge numbers here. and, actually, for someone sitting at home thinking about their mortgage costs, that will help a bit, but it's not going to have a huge, huge impact for lots of people. the government says the economy is turning, but many businesses are not feeling that way yet. we are hoping that our customers have a bit more of a disposable income,
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so far, because we all feel like we need to put our prices up, but no one can afford to come and eat if we do that. so, yeah, more disposable income for the general public. those business owners will hope there is now normality on the horizon. we cannot expect life to change overnight. perhaps we can expect a growing sense of stability. we expect to hear from the chancellor in the next hour. and you can follow continuing coverage of the change in uk inflation — and what it means for you — live with bbc news on iplayer, throughout the day. growing the economy and halving inflation are two of the prime minister's promises. our chief political correspondent henry zeffman, joins us now. we have that number. is it good or bad news for rishi sunak? it will! bad news for rishi sunak? it will certainly be _
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bad news for rishi sunak? it will certainly be received _ bad news for rishi sunak? it will certainly be received as - bad news for rishi sunak? it will certainly be received as good - bad news for rishi sunak? it ll certainly be received as good news in downing street. it is a slightly lower rate of inflation than they expected. 3.4% rather than 3.5%. and we expect to see the chancellor jeremy hunt shortly. we have had a statement from him that begins with the words "the plan is working". it gives you a sense of how the government will play this. jeremy hunt argued earlier this month that the economy was turning a corner. in government this will be treated as another big piece of evidence that is correct and inflation is coming down. we have talked this week about rumblings of discontent among conservative mps. i think this will be used by the government and rishi sunak when he addresses conservative mps later today as evidence they should hold their nerve, that rishi sunak�*s approach to governing they
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will argue yielding results, improving economic conditions. we had a statement from the labour shadow chancellor rachel reeves and she said even if inflation is falling it is worth remembering prices are very high and she is arguing the tax burden is still the highest it has been ever. you can begin to see in that exchange the contours of the debate this year if inflation does keep falling. the government saying it is evidence they have done the right things in managing the economy and the labour party saying prices are still high and so are taxes. a bill which would stop any child who turns 15 from this year from legally buying cigarettes will be introduced in parliament today. the tobacco and vapes bill will raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products by one year, each year. it is part of a range of proposed restrictions which aim to reduce smoking and vaping among young people. the shortage of teachers in england has reached a critical state, according to the independent national foundation
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for education research. the charity says teaching is struggling to compete with other graduate jobs. the government said it was offering bursaries of up to £30,000 to attract the brightest and the best in subjects where there was a shortage of teachers. the uk's largest delivery of aid to gaza has arrived in the region and 2,000 tonnes of food is being distributed by the united nations to families in need. the food parcels will be used to feed more than 275,000 people in gaza, after antony blinken warned that gaza's two million people are experiencing "severe levels of acute food insecurity". our correspondent anna foster is injerusalem. what impact will this aid have? good morning, any food, any age that gets into gaza is much welcomed and desperately needed but when you think of some of the numbers you
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were talking about, 2.2 million people in gaza right now, particularly in the north of gaza. we know there will be a famine by the end of may if food deliveries do not increase. the latest delivery is the biggest yet sent from the uk. jordan helped to get it into gaza and then it is distributed on the ground by the world food programme and a lot of it is meal boxes with things like rice, tinned vegetables, date bars, things that will feed a family of five, giving them 50% of calorific need it for two weeks which shows how little people eat compared to normal. along with the delivery comes another warning from the foreign secretary. he is pushing once again israel to allow more aid in and open up more routes. at the moment, the aid comes in through the south. the aid coming in by road. they want more roots in the north to be opened up to get convoys directly
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to people who need them in the most badly damaged parts of gaza. it is something the pressure continues on israel today. israel says it is the un convoys that are not coming in at the volume needed but the facts on the volume needed but the facts on the ground is people in gaza continue to be in desperate need. thanks. vaughan gething is due to be formally nominated as the new first minister of wales this afternoon. mr gething narrowly won the welsh labour leadership contest to succeed mark drakeford, who's stepping down after more than five years in the post. some of the issues he faces include the debate around the 20 miles per hour zones in urban areas and proposals asking farmers to plant trees across 10% of their land. fa ncy fancy some chocolate? always. for breakfast, yes. orkney.
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one shop in orkney has taken it to the extreme. sinclair general stores has been left with more easter eggs than customers after a mix up with an order. the shop only wanted 80 eggs but were delivered 80 cases by mistake. that's a total of 720 chocolate eggs which is far more than the island's 500 population. shop o wner dan dafydd is now raffling off 100 of the eggs to one lucky winner, in aid of the rnli. still quite a few to buy. raffling 100. that means one person gets 100. everybody could get one and a half. let's move to orkney. if you are in orkney we would love to hear from you. if you are in orkney we would love to hearfrom you. i wonder what if you are in orkney we would love to hear from you. i wonder what the weather is like there. possibly like it looks behind carol.
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good morning. good morning. it is cloudy in orkney but there is a lot of cloud and rain across the country. today is once again going to be mild. the forecast for the latter part of the week is much colder and this weekend, a significant wind chill. a lot of cloud around. rain in orkney. passing showers. through the morning, it will brighten up in northern and western scotland and northern ireland. in southern scotland, northern england, wales and the midlands and around the wash, we have cloud and rain. further south, variable amounts of cloud but some break so sunshine coming through. through the day, very slowly, the rain pushes in the direction of the north sea and it should brighten up in north—west england and possibly north west wales. if we see decent spells of
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sunshine in the south—east, temperatures could get to even 18 degrees. generally looking at 7—15. this evening and overnight, the weather front pushes away from the south—east. we are left with cloud and we will have clear skies. then the next weather front comes in from the next weather front comes in from the north—west introducing cloud, heavier rain and strengthening wind. the overnight low 5—9. tomorrow we pick up the rain, strong winds. pushing southwards. cloudy at times in england and wales ahead of the weather front but at times it will break and we will see sunshine. windy, bright in the door. a high of 10-16 windy, bright in the door. a high of 10—16 north to south. an important health story now. more than ten million people in the uk live with migraines. they are associated with painful headaches and can also cause nausea, dizziness, and sensitivity to light,
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sound and smells. treatment for migraines will be discussed in parliament today for the first time since 1960. and those living with the condition say there needs to be better awareness of its impact on physical and mental health. tim muffett reports. people just think, literally, it'sjust a pain in the head, but it actually affects the nervous system. i'll probably start to vomit, i'll get muscle weakness in my legs. you just cannot function at all. kerry has suffered from migraines for more than 30 years. she took this photo of herself during an attack. it's genetic, especially on the female line so my mum really suffered. apparently, my grandma really suffered. do you think doctors don't take it seriously? i don't think they understand the level of pain that we feel. nobody gets to see it. it's unlike a lot of other conditions that will eventually, unfortunately, take your life. migraine doesn't, it's
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just really painful. sometimes i will have complete blindness where i can't see at all. my attacks sometimes can last up to ten days and upwards. which means having the right medication to hand at all times is crucial. so this one's a pain medication. that's an injection. this is prochlorperazine, so this helps with the vertigo that i have every day. i always have to wear my migraine glasses. so these will protect my eyes when i'm using a computer, using my iphone, led car lights, which are a huge issue when i'm driving. migraines are going to be discussed in parliament for the first time in 60 years. how significant is that as far as you're concerned? it's huge. where we come in, you know, the system of funding, it always comes at the bottom of the list because eventually it's a painful condition, but we will survive it. but at the end of the day,
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we've got over ten million patients in the uk that are debilitated, unable to work. kerry doesn't just rely on medication. doing cold water therapy also helps. since her early 20s, migraines have dominated kerry's life. she welcomes any attempts to raise awareness about this debilitating condition. tim muffett, bbc news. we're joined in the studio by rob music, chief executive of the migraine trust. and from westminster by the mp dehenna davison, who will lead today's debate. you have been very open and honest about how migraine has affected your own life. ~ ,,., , about how migraine has affected your own life. ~ , ,., , ., about how migraine has affected your own life. ~ , , . , , own life. absolutely. i had my first attack when _
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own life. absolutely. i had my first attack when i _ own life. absolutely. i had my first attack when i was _ own life. absolutely. i had my first attack when i was 23 _ own life. absolutely. i had my first attack when i was 23 and - own life. absolutely. i had my first attack when i was 23 and i - own life. absolutely. i had my first i attack when i was 23 and i remember it vividly. since then, the migraine has taken over my life in many ways, particularly the last four years when i gave up a role in government because of the impact of migraine was so significant, i did not think i was giving the job what it needed. since then i have had many people sharing their experiences so it felt only right given the privilege of the platform i have to do something about it in parliament and have the debate today. for about it in parliament and have the debate today-— about it in parliament and have the debate today. for people who do not uuite debate today. for people who do not quite understand _ debate today. for people who do not quite understand the _ debate today. for people who do not quite understand the severity, - debate today. for people who do not quite understand the severity, how i quite understand the severity, how debilitating migraine is, can you share occasions when you are physically sick?— share occasions when you are physically sick? the studio lights riaht now physically sick? the studio lights right now are _ physically sick? the studio lights right now are making _ physically sick? the studio lights right now are making me - physically sick? the studio lights right now are making me squint| physically sick? the studio lights - right now are making me squint more than they probably would so apologies for that. i cannot remember the last day when i did not have head pain, it is years since i did not have a headache, which is
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draining, but some of the worst days, i have been in my office under my desk in absolute tears, wondering how i will get through a day of meetings, cancelling meetings and visits at the last minute because the pain is so severe. any bit of light sends your head screaming, you are sensitive to sound. in the job i do you find yourself with an intense brain fog which means you cannot really concentrate but also you find it difficult to form words and sentences and given i argue for a living that is not a good thing. does any treatment help? i am still yet to find the one that has an impact. i have a common drug used to treat attacks in an acute fashion but i have yet to find a preventative but out there there are great preventatives, but they are difficult to access through nhs so thatis difficult to access through nhs so that is what i want to raise in parliament so hopefully we can
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convince ministers to work with organisations like nice to improve that because for so many people they are life changing.— are life changing. rob, how important— are life changing. rob, how important is— are life changing. rob, how important is it _ are life changing. rob, how important is it this - are life changing. rob, how important is it this is - are life changing. rob, how| important is it this is spoken are life changing. rob, how- important is it this is spoken about at a high level?— at a high level? hugely important and treat at a high level? hugely important and great for _ at a high level? hugely important and great for deaf _ at a high level? hugely important and great for deaf grateful - at a high level? hugely important and great for deaf grateful for - at a high level? hugely important| and great for deaf grateful for this happening. it is not being taken seriously — happening. it is not being taken seriously. the inequity around it. something — seriously. the inequity around it. something that affects 10 million people. — something that affects 10 million people, one in seven live with migraine _ people, one in seven live with migraine. it has to be better understood. a real change in stigma. i am understood. a real change in stigma. i am sure _ understood. a real change in stigma. i am sure many live with this daily. so thinge— i am sure many live with this daily. so things need to change. hopefully this is— so things need to change. hopefully this is the _ so things need to change. hopefully this is the start of that. as part of today, — this is the start of that. as part of today, the trust has launched a workplace — of today, the trust has launched a workplace campaign, a pledge to encourage employers to demonstrate their care — encourage employers to demonstrate their care and support for people
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living _ their care and support for people living with — their care and support for people living with migraine because the trust _ living with migraine because the trust has — living with migraine because the trust has research last year that showed — trust has research last year that showed over 40% of people were not taken _ showed over 40% of people were not taken seriously by their manager. they— taken seriously by their manager. they were — taken seriously by their manager. they were not believed if they took time off— they were not believed if they took time off sick. gne they were not believed if they took time off sick-— time off sick. one three had to go to part-time- _ time off sick. one three had to go to part-time. why _ time off sick. one three had to go to part-time. why are _ time off sick. one three had to go to part-time. why are they - time off sick. one three had to go to part-time. why are they not i to part—time. why are they not believed? to part-time. why are they not believed? , . to part-time. why are they not believed?— to part-time. why are they not believed? , . ., , believed? just a headache? it is 'ust a believed? just a headache? it is just a headache. _ believed? just a headache? it is just a headache. they _ believed? just a headache? it is just a headache. they are - believed? just a headache? it is just a headache. they are not i just a headache. they are not believed. _ just a headache. they are not believed, they think they are shirking. _ believed, they think they are shirking, they are not taken seriously _ shirking, they are not taken seriously. it is horrendous for a condition— seriously. it is horrendous for a condition so common and this must change _ condition so common and this must change i_ condition so common and this must change i do— condition so common and this must change. i do not think you see it with— change. i do not think you see it with anything else so common. we need _ with anything else so common. we need to— with anything else so common. we need to get to a place where we see menopause, mental health talked in a way it— menopause, mental health talked in a way it is— menopause, mental health talked in a way it is less _ menopause, mental health talked in a way it is less stigmatised, some way to go. _ way it is less stigmatised, some way to go. that _ way it is less stigmatised, some way to go, that is what we have to get to go, that is what we have to get to do— to go, that is what we have to get to do with — to go, that is what we have to get to do with migraine. this to go, that is what we have to get to do with migraine.— to go, that is what we have to get to do with migraine. this not being believed, to do with migraine. this not being believed. you _ to do with migraine. this not being believed, you must _ to do with migraine. this not being believed, you must be _ to do with migraine. this not being believed, you must be able - to do with migraine. this not being believed, you must be able to - believed, you must be able to understand that because when you announced you are standing down from government, people on social media said it was a political decision and
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for career reasons, party politics but you were living with the reality of migraine. i but you were living with the reality of migraine-— of migraine. i had people saying clearly she _ of migraine. i had people saying clearly she wants _ of migraine. i had people saying clearly she wants to _ of migraine. i had people saying clearly she wants to bring - of migraine. i had people saying clearly she wants to bring down | clearly she wants to bring down rishi sunak. i was unwell and not giving thejob rishi sunak. i was unwell and not giving the job what it needed. i was privileged to do the levelling up job, something i was passionate about and i could not give that day in, day out. the abuse on social media and even now. i have put out information about the debate today. people have been supportive and migraine sufferers have expressed how pleased they are it is happening but still people say why is parliament wasting its time on this, it is just parliament wasting its time on this, it isjust a parliament wasting its time on this, it is just a headache, takes on paracetamol and sit down. we it isjust a headache, takes on paracetamol and sit down. we have ut our paracetamol and sit down. we have put our number _ paracetamol and sit down. we have put our number on _ paracetamol and sit down. we have put our number on the _ paracetamol and sit down. we have put our number on the screen - paracetamol and sit down. we have i put our number on the screen because we would love to hear from breakfast viewers about your experiences. it is raising it in parliament and also widening the debate. it is is raising it in parliament and also widening the debate.— widening the debate. it is about millions. widening the debate. it is about millions- it _ widening the debate. it is about millions. it is _ widening the debate. it is about millions. it is about _ widening the debate. it is about millions. it is about all- widening the debate. it is about millions. it is about all of- widening the debate. it is about|
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millions. it is about all of society and we _ millions. it is about all of society and we have to really turn things around — and we have to really turn things around. some of the calls we receive on the _ around. some of the calls we receive on the helpline are so painful. a huge _ on the helpline are so painful. a huge impact on mental health. 78% of people _ huge impact on mental health. 78% of people who _ huge impact on mental health. 78% of people who contact us, mental health is a huge _ people who contact us, mental health is a huge issue. people feel like they— is a huge issue. people feel like they are — is a huge issue. people feel like they are a — is a huge issue. people feel like they are a burden. people should not feel burdened because they live with a neurological problem. so that is important — a neurological problem. so that is important. we are seeing increasing numbers— important. we are seeing increasing numbers of— important. we are seeing increasing numbers of people contact us around mental— numbers of people contact us around mental health because they are not believed _ mental health because they are not believed and it goes back to why today— believed and it goes back to why today is— believed and it goes back to why today is important. it raises the public— today is important. it raises the public profile and we have to get people _ public profile and we have to get people talking about it and migraine is taken _ people talking about it and migraine is taken as— people talking about it and migraine is taken as something that is common. _ is taken as something that is common, impactfuland is taken as something that is common, impactful and taken more seriously _ common, impactful and taken more seriousl . �* . common, impactful and taken more seriousl . �* , ., ., seriously. and is one of the challenges _ seriously. and is one of the challenges that _ seriously. and is one of the challenges that if _ seriously. and is one of the challenges that if you - seriously. and is one of the challenges that if you are i seriously. and is one of the - challenges that if you are suffering with migraine, some people might be reluctant to talk to the gp because they think there is nothing to fix this. ~ .
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they think there is nothing to fix this. ~ , ., ., , , they think there is nothing to fix this. , ., i, ., this. we put out a survey before the debate to get _ this. we put out a survey before the debate to get testimonials - this. we put out a survey before the debate to get testimonials and - debate to get testimonials and people said they were too embarrassed to see their gp and were worried they would not be believed and ultimately they could buy medication over the counter to help but if you are experiencing migraine symptoms, head pain, visual disturbances, speak to your gp. ultimately, you can then get to the bottom of it and there are treatments that can help. we are trying to improve access to treatment so people can continue to live trying to improve access to treatment so people can continue to live their trying to improve access to treatment so people can continue to live their lives trying to improve access to treatment so people can continue to live their lives pain—free. trying to improve access to treatment so people can continue to live their lives pain—free. thank live their lives pain-free. thank ou so live their lives pain-free. thank you so much- — live their lives pain-free. thank you so much. allison _ live their lives pain-free. thank you so much. allison said - live their lives pain-free. thankj you so much. allison said thank live their lives pain-free. thank - you so much. allison said thank you for covering this. my son has suffered with migraine every day for two years and he cannot work most of the time and cannot function as a father and partner. he has to have
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botox injections into his head and neck but has waited for over a year for surgery to help. keep the messages coming in. time to get the news, travel and weather where you are. a very good morning from bbc london, i'm thomas magill. some residents living in blocks of flats in london who have faced huge hikes to their service charges say they are now refusing to pay them. the money generated from services charges goes towards the upkeep of building including communal areas. bbc london has spoken to a number of people who say their bills are unjustified. altogether there is about 15 or 20 people who are on strike. we haven't been paying our service charge and our heating since last year, it's been one and a half years now. and we are all angry, we are frustrated, we're angry, anxious. i am drained mentally. air quality around planned new schools in london
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is "alarmingly poor", according to a study by researchers at the evelina children's hospital and king's college. nearly nine in ten new school sites exceeded world health organization targets on air pollution with some of the worse locations in cities including london. engineers working on the tram network in south london are to go on strike next week over pay, saying they want to be treated the same as london underground staff. the unite union says engineers on the tube are paid up to £10,000 more a year than those working on the trams. tfl has urged the union to work with them to find a solution. let's take a look at the tubes now. the bakerloo line has severe delays between stonebridge park and harrow & wealdstone. now onto the weather with kate. good morning. it is another rather grey, misty and murky start this morning. we have had some outbreaks of rain overnight. still some light patchy rain around this morning, some thinner areas of cloud potentially through the afternoon so some brighter spells developing
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and just depending on how many bright spells we get, temperatures reaching around 17 celsius. could just see one or two spots at 18. overnight tonight, we should see it dry out. any remnants of that rain clearing. we will however hang on the cloud, some mist and fog patches through the early hours, minimum temperatures dropping to 7 celsius so another murky start tomorrow. it is looking largely dry through the course of thursday but that cloud hanging around, again thinner, some brighter spells here and there. and temperatures potentially reaching around 17 celsius. it's all change overnight thursday into friday, a cold front will sink self bringing cloud and some rain, just a little bit for friday. behind it the temperature is going to drop. but for saturday, sunshine, showers but those temperatures are going to feel much colder. if you're a budding journalist, there's less than a week to go until the deadline to enter the bbc young reporter competition. if you're aged between 11 to 18 and have a story you want to tell then this is your chance.
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maybe you're already writing for a website, your school newspaper, or like 15—year—old jack, working as a match day reporter at billericay town fc. if that's the case get in touch, just go to the website. details are on your screen now. that's it from me, there's more on the bbc news app and on bbc radio london but for now let's go back to sally and jon. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. 15 synthetic opioids will be banned in england and wales from today as a bbc investigation reveals that government data may be underestimating the spread of the drugs which are known as nitazenes. the department of health recorded just 19 nonfatal overdoses linked
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to the drugs in the second half of last year but there have been more than 100 deaths since last summer. our midlands correspondent navteonhal has spoken to one man who nearly died from an accidental overdose. drugs causes so much chaos and disaster. it's horrible. i want people to stop. i shouldn't be sat here now. someone up there's looking over me. so on august 23, i took nitazene and i never want to take it again. matt started using drugs when he was just 12 years old. he's been addicted to heroin most of his life. but, last summer, while using what he thought was heroin, he ended up in hospital. it has a big impact on your mental health. it had been laced with a new super—strength street drug known as a nitazene. and what did they tell you had happened to you? that i had died.
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that i had died that day. nitazene is the most terrifying thing i've ever experienced, everfaced. i'd never wanted — i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. i wouldn't. it's terrifying. that's why matt's been off drugs ever since and is working with the charity change grow live to help with his recovery. nitazenes can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin. they have been linked to more than 100 drug—related deaths sincejune. it's believed that a crackdown on heroin production in afghanistan has led to a rise in synthetic opioids here. the national crime agency says nitazenes are being created in illicit labs in china and often enter the uk in the post. drjudith yates is a drug expert who collates fatal overdose data. nitazenes are a whole new, whole new ball game. we've seen nothing like this. and i think we could see ten times
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more deaths in england this summer, because of the lack of heroin. dr yates and other experts we've spoken to believe the government is behind the curve in recording data which could help prevent deaths. there is currently no national system for tracking nonfatal overdoses. between june and december last year, the department of health and social care recorded just 19 non—fatal overdoses across england linked to nitazenes. i think that figure is an enormous underestimate. and i think it's worse than useless to be suggesting that there's maybe only 19. the government says it's trying to address these concerns. this is one of its drug—testing facilities. it says it will analyse waste water for the presence of synthetic drugs and record spikes in overdoses. and, from today, 15 synthetic opioids — 14 of them nitazenes — will be controlled as class a drugs.
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well, over the last nine months, we've pulled together an early—warning system, drawing on tests done at the border, tests done on samples that have been seized, postmortem toxicology, as well as overdose reports that i think does give us a complete picture. meanwhile, the department of health says it has a surveillance system in place to collect information on the nature and location of novel drug use and that work is ongoing to improve it. but for those who know first hand the damage nitazenes can cause, they're worried about what's to come. please stop using because it doesn'tjust impact you, it impacts yourfamily, your loved ones. and the dealers don't care. they want your money. don't give it to them. your life's worth more than a £10 bag. navteonhal, bbc news. we're nowjoined by pastor mick fleming and professor harry sumnall, professor of substance abuse
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at liverpooljohn moores university. make, if we could start with you. what do you make of this announcement, how effective do think it might be? i announcement, how effective do think it miaht be? ~ , ., it might be? i think it is more about awareness, _ it might be? i think it is more about awareness, the - it might be? i think it is more i about awareness, the awareness it might be? i think it is more - about awareness, the awareness to the addict but also the awareness of the addict but also the awareness of the general public. what we are seeing is so many more people dying of overdoses. we are doing more funerals, you know, within the ministry. there is a lack of awareness in the general public. it's kind of, we aren't seeing the police forces come forward to carry the antidote to opiates, so the awareness is not out there so i'm grateful to be on herejust awareness is not out there so i'm grateful to be on here just to speak about that awareness. there is a solution, harm reduction is the way forward. white. haifa
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solution, harm reduction is the way forward. white.— solution, harm reduction is the way forward. white. how does that work, harm reduction? _ forward. white. how does that work, harm reduction? let's— forward. white. how does that work, harm reduction? let's say _ forward. white. how does that work, harm reduction? let's say for- harm reduction? let's say for example. _ harm reduction? let's say for example. if— harm reduction? let's say for example, if you _ harm reduction? let's say for example, if you overdoses i harm reduction? let's say for. example, if you overdoses and opiates, and i stick that in you, you don't die. this is an antidote to the opiate in your system. it works for the nitazenes as well. find works for the nitazenes as well. and that has to be _ works for the nitazenes as well. and that has to be prescribed? no, - works for the nitazenes as well. and that has to be prescribed? no, no, i that has to be prescribed? no, no, it's a very — that has to be prescribed? no, no, it's a very short— that has to be prescribed? no, no, it's a very short training _ that has to be prescribed? no, no, it's a very short training process i it's a very short training process that all drug and alcohol services will have, and this stuff is free. so if the police were carrying that across the country, or the general public, you could think of the bus stations, this places where people are likely to overdose, if that was available, the deaths would stop tenfold. so my perspective is, the life of an addict is the same as anybody else's. ifeel life of an addict is the same as anybody else's. i feel it's about people being devalued, and it's about putting that information out there so lives can be saved. harry,
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we heard the _ there so lives can be saved. harry, we heard the policing _ there so lives can be saved. harry, we heard the policing minister- there so lives can be saved. harry, we heard the policing minister in i we heard the policing minister in that report they are talking about the fact that the government is now banning a number of these substances. how far will that go, is that likely to stop the problem? you can understand why governments, not 'ust can understand why governments, not just in— can understand why governments, not just in the _ can understand why governments, not just in the uk but internationally, moved _ just in the uk but internationally, moved to— just in the uk but internationally, moved to control the sale and production of these drugs. but what we have _ production of these drugs. but what we have found historically is that when _ we have found historically is that when one — we have found historically is that when one set of drugs is banned, controlled. — when one set of drugs is banned, controlled, quickly a new set of similar— controlled, quickly a new set of similar drugs and often more dangerous and more harmful drugs emerge _ dangerous and more harmful drugs emerge. many of the drugs that are being _ emerge. many of the drugs that are being controlled today are already controlled under other legislation which _ controlled under other legislation which means you cannot sell or import— which means you cannot sell or import them, that does not seem to have had _ import them, that does not seem to have had much of an impact. i think the government is probably thinking with the _ the government is probably thinking with the introduction of new penalties that might make an impact but i penalties that might make an impact but i think— penalties that might make an impact but i think perhaps history lessons suggest _ but i think perhaps history lessons suggest that that is not the way forward — suggest that that is not the way forward. we need to have other approaches as well. find forward. we need to have other approaches as well.— forward. we need to have other
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approaches as well. and what is the science behind _ approaches as well. and what is the science behind it? _ approaches as well. and what is the science behind it? if— approaches as well. and what is the science behind it? if these - science behind it? if these particular types of drugs are being banned, how different than any other drug need to be, significantly different? i5 drug need to be, significantly different? . . , drug need to be, significantly different? , . , ., _ drug need to be, significantly different? , . , ., different? is relatively easy to ad'ust different? is relatively easy to adjust the _ different? is relatively easy to adjust the structure _ different? is relatively easy to adjust the structure of - different? is relatively easy to adjust the structure of some i different? is relatively easy to | adjust the structure of some of these — adjust the structure of some of these drugs. if we think about high intensity— these drugs. if we think about high intensity computing and ai, looking into the _ intensity computing and ai, looking into the future, about how many different — into the future, about how many different types of new drugs are available, this legislation controls specific— available, this legislation controls specific drugs but it would be very easy for— specific drugs but it would be very easy for international illicit chemist _ easy for international illicit chemist and organised crime groups to order— chemist and organised crime groups to order and design slightly different drugs which escape the set of controls which is why this is simply— of controls which is why this is simply bigger issue just banning 15 drugs _ simply bigger issue just banning 15 drugs today. so simply bigger issue 'ust banning 15 drugs today._ drugs today. so you are out in the community _ drugs today. so you are out in the community helping _ drugs today. so you are out in the community helping people - drugs today. so you are out in the community helping people all i drugs today. so you are out in the community helping people all the | community helping people all the time, mick, when you see the official figures time, mick, when you see the officialfigures from the time, mick, when you see the official figures from the government recording 19 nonfatal overdoses in the second half of last year, how does that figure compare with what you see in reality now? it’s
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you see in reality now? it's erroneous. _ you see in reality now? it's erroneous, it's _ you see in reality now? it's erroneous, it's not - you see in reality now? it�*s erroneous, it's not true, it's not real. i think the testing, harry can back me up on this, they have only just started to specific test for the nitazenes, haven't they? so they don't know. the number of deaths, i don't know. the number of deaths, i don't need a calculator, i see it everyday and i am seeing a lot more than i ever seen.— than i ever seen. because you have talked to us — than i ever seen. because you have talked to us in _ than i ever seen. because you have talked to us in the _ than i ever seen. because you have talked to us in the past _ than i ever seen. because you have talked to us in the past about i than i ever seen. because you have talked to us in the past about other drugs. talked to us in the past about other dru:s. . . ' ~ talked to us in the past about other dru:s. . . ' . ., drugs. this is different. we have seen hardcore _ drugs. this is different. we have seen hardcore drug _ drugs. this is different. we have seen hardcore drug users - drugs. this is different. we have seen hardcore drug users that i drugs. this is different. we have i seen hardcore drug users that don't die overdosing, because they know how to use, they know what to use and how much to use, so therefore there is something wrong with the gear that they are putting into themselves. and they are dying. it's not people who have just come out of prison and haven't used for a while. when we see that happening, we know what it is. i'm not a scientist but i know what it is because i'm seeing it and we are seeing more and more bodies were. it and we are seeing more and more bodies were-— bodies were. what sort of impact is that having — bodies were. what sort of impact is that having on _ bodies were. what sort of impact is that having on the _ bodies were. what sort of impact is that having on the families - bodies were. what sort of impact is that having on the families that i bodies were. what sort of impact is that having on the families that you see? ., ., , �* ,
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that having on the families that you see? ., ., , �*, ., ., , see? horrendous, it's horrendous. it's takin: see? horrendous, it's horrendous. it's taking hope — see? horrendous, it's horrendous. it's taking hope away _ see? horrendous, it's horrendous. it's taking hope away from - see? horrendous, it's horrendous. j it's taking hope away from people, and i believe addiction is an illness, i genuinely believe it's an illness. i believe that these people suffer from an genuine illness which can be tackled if they can be helped to stay alive long enough.— to stay alive long enough. harry, it's all very _ to stay alive long enough. harry, it's all very well _ to stay alive long enough. harry, it's all very well taking _ to stay alive long enough. harry, it's all very well taking measures in this country, how difficult is it to control the market which comes from all around the world?- to control the market which comes from all around the world? that's a ve aood from all around the world? that's a very good point. — from all around the world? that's a very good point, it's _ from all around the world? that's a very good point, it's a _ from all around the world? that's a very good point, it's a global- very good point, it's a global market. _ very good point, it's a global market. so people if they were so minded _ market. so people if they were so minded here in the united kingdom could _ minded here in the united kingdom could easily source some of these very potent drugs internationally, and unfortunately they are very unlikely — and unfortunately they are very unlikely to be seized and detected at the _ unlikely to be seized and detected at the borders because they are so potent _ at the borders because they are so potent and — at the borders because they are so potent and can be easily imported through— potent and can be easily imported through the parcel packaging. internationally the united nations is trying _ internationally the united nations is trying to coordinate global activities around this. but it requires _ activities around this. but it requires close cooperation with countries — requires close cooperation with countries such as china, india and turkey— countries such as china, india and turkey more — countries such as china, india and turkey more recently, where some of these _ turkey more recently, where some of these illicit— turkey more recently, where some of these illicit labs are based. and
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it's a _ these illicit labs are based. and it's a real— these illicit labs are based. and it's a real coordinated effort, not 'ust it's a real coordinated effort, not just to _ it's a real coordinated effort, not just to focus on the end product, but also — just to focus on the end product, but also what we called precursor chemicals — but also what we called precursor chemicals as well, the chemicals that are — chemicals as well, the chemicals that are used to produce these kind of opioids. — that are used to produce these kind of opioids, it's very complicated. and dead — of opioids, it's very complicated. and dead simply, what is it about these drugs that makes them so much more dangerous? thea;r these drugs that makes them so much more dangerous?— more dangerous? they are very otent. more dangerous? they are very potent- it _ more dangerous? they are very potent. it depends _ more dangerous? they are very potent. it depends on _ more dangerous? they are very potent. it depends on the i more dangerous? they are very potent. it depends on the type | more dangerous? they are very. potent. it depends on the type of dru- potent. it depends on the type of drug but— potent. it depends on the type of drug but some of them perhaps 50100 times more _ drug but some of them perhaps 50100 times more potent than heroin which is a very— times more potent than heroin which is a very harmful drug. so someone would _ is a very harmful drug. so someone would require a much smaller amount not only— would require a much smaller amount not only to _ would require a much smaller amount not only to get the desired effect at a much — not only to get the desired effect at a much smaller amount to actually overdose _ at a much smaller amount to actually overdose. and if people are taking other— overdose. and if people are taking other drugs there is an interaction as well— other drugs there is an interaction as well and — other drugs there is an interaction as well and the overdose risk increases. _ as well and the overdose risk increases-— as well and the overdose risk increases. �* ~ .~ ., ., as well and the overdose risk increases. �* ~ ., ., ., increases. and mick, other than harm reduction, increases. and mick, other than harm reduction. what _ increases. and mick, other than harm reduction, what else _ increases. and mick, other than harm reduction, what else can _ increases. and mick, other than harm reduction, what else can be _ increases. and mick, other than harm reduction, what else can be done? i l reduction, what else can be done? i think it's awareness. it's kind of education, you're not going to stop somebody using. education, you're not going to stop somebody using-—
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education, you're not going to stop somebody using.- the i education, you're not going to stop somebody using.- the risk. education, you're not going to stop. somebody using.- the risk of somebody using. really? the risk of death will not _ somebody using. really? the risk of death will not stop _ somebody using. really? the risk of death will not stop a _ somebody using. really? the risk of death will not stop a drug _ somebody using. really? the risk of death will not stop a drug addict i death will not stop a drug addict taking drugs. if it did, there would be no drug users. so that's what points to the fact that it is an illness. for me it's educating people that may be you are suffering from an illness or maybe we can help. i think the solution is in community, bringing people together, and helping people onto a pathway thatis and helping people onto a pathway that is different and building a better community. that's what we do with church on the street, that's the type of work we do. so there is hope, there is hope.— the type of work we do. so there is hope, there is hope. thank you both for cominu hope, there is hope. thank you both for coming in — hope, there is hope. thank you both for coming in and _ hope, there is hope. thank you both for coming in and talking _ hope, there is hope. thank you both for coming in and talking about i hope, there is hope. thank you both for coming in and talking about thisl for coming in and talking about this this morning. let's talk about the sport in a second, withjohn. we are talking about the olympics but not necessarily about the positives in the sport because there is a lot of politics involved as well. good morning. that's where we're starting
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with paris and the latest on russian and belurussian athletes, who will be competing as neutrals this summer, but won't be participating in the opening ceremony, after being excluded by the ioc. athletes from both countries were banned following russia's invasion of ukraine back in february 2022, however athletes from russia and belarus who qualify can compete as neutrals, but won't feature in the traditional curtain raiser. the ioc said they are �*individual athletes', a decision on them being involved in the closing ceremony will come later. as chelsea women's head coach emma hayes takes up herjob with the usa this summer, how many trophies will she be packing with her? her side are 3—0 up, on the brink of the chmapions league semi finals, her side are 3—0 up, on the brink of the champions league semi finals, and still in the hunt for four trophies, following a night of dominance in the dutch capital, beating ajax 3—0 in the first leg of their quarterfinal. laurenjames with their first.
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sjoeke nusken with two more, as hayes looks to lead the team to the trophy for the first time in their history. the bbc understands that two time grand slam champion aryna sabalenka will play as planned at the miami open, despite the death of her partner konstantin koltsov on tuesday. she wasn't set to be in action until thursday or friday and has been given a first round bye, although it's understood there may be discretion in the scheduling given the circumstances. miami police have said in a statement that no foul play is suspected around koltsov�*s death. sabalenka will face paula badosa in that second round match after she spoiled simona halep's return to the court, following a successful appeal to the court of arbitration for sport over her doping ban. and to something that's had a few people baffled. sir alex ferguson here, the legendary football manager, receiving a scarf and shirt from german club eintracht frankfurt. why?
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it turns out shortly afterjoining rangers as a player in 1967, he scored a hat—trick agaisnt them, on his debut. against them, on his debut. and you thought it was his talents as a manager he was famous for! turns out he was a pretty good goal—scorer as well. he scored three goals in his debut no less. and frankfurt are playing aberdeen in the europa league this week, they thought let's pay a visit to sir alex and in doing so gave him a shirt and scarf in recognition of his goal—scoring talents, notjust his goal—scoring talents, notjust his managerial talents. you his goal-scoring talents, not 'ust his managerial talents.i his managerial talents. you have solved the _ his managerial talents. you have solved the mystery. _ his managerial talents. you have solved the mystery. easily i solved the mystery. easily explained- _ solved the mystery. easily explained. he _ solved the mystery. easily explained. he looked i solved the mystery. easily explained. he looked very| solved the mystery. easily - explained. he looked very chuffed with that. forget _ explained. he looked very chuffed with that. forget the _ explained. he looked very chuffed with that. forget the trophies, i with that. forget the trophies, scarf and a _ with that. forget the trophies, scarf and a shed _ with that. forget the trophies, scarf and a shed will _ with that. forget the trophies, scarf and a shed will do - with that. forget the trophies, scarf and a shed will do it i with that. forget the trophies, scarf and a shed will do it for. with that. forget the trophies, i scarf and a shed will do it for sir alex!
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the paracycling track world championships kicks off today in rio dejaneiro and for many athletes, it's their final chance to qualify for the paralympics. hoping to add to their already impressive medal haul will be golden couple lora and neil fachie, who as well as defending their paralympic titles, are also having to find a balance between competing and parenting as sally hurst has been finding out. right off the slide! at home with the fachies. lora is a two time paralympic champion. leading from start to finish. neil has 19 world titles. gold medal going to great britain. wow, what a ride. good boy. they're parents to 16—month—old fraser and thejuggle is real. he'sjust, like, so full on. he's definitely my child, like, he just doesn't stop. he's constantlyjumping up and down. the day before my first event, i was up at 4am with him, kind of rocking back and forth, thinking, i've got to be racing the world champs in a few hours. this is probably not
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ideal preparation. at the cycling world championships in glasgow last year, lorawon silver in the pursuitjust nine months after giving birth. but behind that podium smile, life as a new mum was tough. and as an elite athlete, you're used to pushing your body to the limits. but is motherhood the hardest thing you've ever done? pushing your body and training and that is hard, don't get me wrong, and it's painful. but you're the one in control all the time. whereas being a parent, you're not necessarily in control. children don't come with a manual, and even if they did, they wouldn't do what the manual says anyway. i'm quite a logical thinker and babies don't do that. in the past, lora has been critical of british cycling, accusing them of a lack of support towards her as a blind athlete travelling to competitions
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with a young child. british cycling referred itself to an external investigation. she says since then things have got better. british cycling have kind of supported me a lot more around travelling out to rio and that so that i can stay close with fraser. neil is going into the worlds as defending champion in three events. that's another world title for neil fachie. yeah, glasgow was incredible. one of those golds was by the tiniest of margins as well, so it was tight. but to come away with those three golds and obviously have fraser there was like a really special moment. do you know yet if fraser also has an eye condition? you tell already that he has a visual impairment, which in some ways certainly for lora and for myself as well, it's not a relief, i'd love for him to be fully sighted, but it's a world we know very well. lora comes from a family of people who are either blind or visually impaired, and they've all achieved
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incredible things. with the paralympics on the horizon, all the fachie family are hoping to enjoy the ride. sally hurst, bbc news, manchester. good luck to them, rio awaits. let's no to the good luck to them, rio awaits. let's go to the weather— good luck to them, rio awaits. let's go to the weather with _ good luck to them, rio awaits. let�*s go to the weather with carol, a little hint behind you, misty and murky? good morning, absolutely right. misty and murky with a lot of cloud around and some of us seeing some rain. as we go through the rest of the week, you can expect wet and windy weather at times, and we are also looking at much milder conditions at the moment, then it is going to turn colder as we head through the weekend with a significant wind chill. we have a weather front to producing significant wind chill. we have a weatherfront to producing rain overnight at the moment pushing in
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the direction of the north sea, a ridge of high pressure, building and behind them, things will settle down from the north—west. it has been a wet start across many parts and as wet start across many parts and as we go through the next day, the rain will drift in the direction of the north sea stuck to the south it will brighten up, sunny spells, it will brighten up, sunny spells, it will brighten up, sunny spells, it will brighten up across scotland and northern ireland and potentially north—west england later and north wales. temperatures today, seven to 17 degrees. dependent on the amount of sunshine in the south—east, we could reach 18 degrees. heading through the evening and overnight, the weather front makes it towards the weather front makes it towards the south. it will be a legacy of cloud, clear skies behind and for a time a touch of frost, but another front coming in, introducing thick cloud, more rain and windy conditions. temperatures will lift a little bit but it is still going to feel cold wherever you are. into tomorrow, the weather front slit
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southwards slowly. windy day particularly in the north of the country. dry in the south with cloud lingering that at times some breaks and some sunshine coming through. tomorrow temperatures nine to 16. on thursday, a cold front which is going to push south through the day, the squeeze on the isobars tells you it's going to be windy with gales across the far north of the country and we will have a legacy of cloud lingering in the far south for much of the day. in between brighter skies, showers, wintry across the hills of scotland and potentially northern ireland, could be happy in hungary. in between, note —— could be heavy and thundery. in between, note the dry conditions. highs of 13 instead of the 17 or 18 as we see today. in the weekend, and northerly
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component to the winter, on monday we could see something milder coming our way back to saturday tells its own story. cold, windy, a plethora of showers, wintry on the hills. lower levels they will largely be rain. hailand lower levels they will largely be rain. hail and thunder as well and despite the temperatures, with the wind chill it will feel even colder. i'm looking at london, looking at the wind speed and the visibility. we are heading there right now. iunfith we are heading there right now. with aood we are heading there right now. with good reason! — we are heading there right now. with good reason! i— we are heading there right now. tn good reason! i bet someone else is watching it closely as well. it is the first day of spring. if you are thinking about a sprinkling, you are not alone. the thinking about a sprinkling, you are not alone. ., ., , , not alone. the london eye is getting a fresh lick of _ not alone. the london eye is getting a fresh lick of paint _ not alone. the london eye is getting a fresh lick of paint and _ not alone. the london eye is getting a fresh lick of paint and they - not alone. the london eye is getting a fresh lick of paint and they need i a fresh lick of paint and they need a fresh lick of paint and they need a hand, and ourvery own a fresh lick of paint and they need a hand, and our very ownjohn maguire is giving them a hand literally, you are really going up to the top there? well, not to the top, it's not that
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bad. it's not 135 metres right to the top. we are going about half way up. one of the unique things about the london eye, it's not the biggest in the world, but it is cantilevered, only supported on one side, that makes it unique and makes it the biggest design like that. the two legs that come down from the central spoke, the hub, sorry, with the spokes going round the wheel, the spokes going round the wheel, the leg just over to my right there, thatis the leg just over to my right there, that is the one that we are going to be abseiling down and painting later this morning. they don't know what they have let themselves in full, they have let themselves in full, the maintenance crew on the london eye. you can see where their mechanism has gone there to drive the wheel around, the mechanism there, the paint has come away. so they get the paint brushes out every three years or so. painting the
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spokes as well, i'm glad i'm not doing that, that looks incredibly difficult. the weather needs to be pretty good, never paint in the wet, and it needs not to be too windy. it is brightening up a little bit, it was raining earlier this morning but now brightening up here in london. the london eye sits on the south bank of the thames, we are down at the pierre level right now, just to get a look at the lower part of the london skyline. big ben, houses of parliament over there in the distance, portcullis house, the mod going up to st pancras there, not to st pancras, what am i talking about? going further up into the city. the idea is, it gets a spring clean. they clean the pods which need to be clean to get the observation. i have got the proper rigging kicked on to make sure i am nice and safe stop and then we are going to abseil down and then we are going to abseil down and apply at least one coat of
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paint. i was given a brush and earlier which looked more like a make—up brush than a painting brush but i have got a roller and we will have a clue looking after us. hopefully hanging onto your hats, i will be hanging onto mine! it should be spectacular, one of the best views in london i am reliably informed although i am pretty sure i will have my eyes closed. join us later, after the news, travel and weather where you are looking at the news this morning. a very good morning — welcome to bbc london, i'm thomas magill some residents living in blocks of flats in london who have faced huge hikes to their service charges say they are now refusing to pay them. the money generated from services charges goes towards the upkeep of building including communal areas. bbc london has spoken to a number of people who say their bills are unjustified. altogether there is about 15 or 20 people who are on strike. we haven't been paying our service charge and our heating since last year, it's been one and a half years now.
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and we are all angry, we are frustrated, we're angry, anxious. i am drained mentally. engineers working on the tram network in south london are to go on strike next week over pay, saying they want to be treated the same as london underground staff. the unite union says engineers on the tube are paid up to £10,000 more a year than those working on the trams. tfl has urged the union to work with them to find a solution. let's take a look at the tubes now — the bakerloo line has severe delays. minor delays on the district line and overgorund is part suspended. the weather. a murky and damp start with a few spots of light rain and drizzle. remaining cloudy for much of the day with a top temperature of 17c. that's it from me. there's more on the bbc news app and on bbc radio london. i'm back in half an hour.
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of living continues to rise — but at a slower rate. could interest rates follow? i take a look at why you might not be feeling the benefit for a while. did hospital staff try to access confidential medical records belonging to the princess of wales? the uk's data protection watchdog says it's assessing a report of a breach of catherine's privacy. cracking down on vaping — as the government moves to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products. presenterjordan north investigates what's in the vapes he smokes. and meet the dogs saving the lives of other pets — by donating blood. a cloudy and wet start for most. for many, _ a cloudy and wet start for most. for many, it— a cloudy and wet start for most. for many, it will— a cloudy and wet start for most. for many, it will brighten up and it will be — many, it will brighten up and it will be mild. but it is turning colder. — will be mild. but it is turning colder. all the details later.
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it's wednesday 20th march. there's been a fall in the rate of inflation. it dropped to 3.4% in the year to february — the lowest level for more than two years. that's down from 4% injanuary, but still above the bank of england's target of 2%. the chancellor, jeremy hunt, says the figures show the government's plan is working. but labour's rachel reeves says prices are still high and economists don't expect changes to interest rates before the summer. nina is here to take us through what these figures mean. she will take us through what the numbers mean. the cost of living — how quickly prices have been rising — has dominated lots of discussions here and in many homes for the past two years. but last month — in february — those climing prices slowed to 3.4%. a further drop than expected,
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driven largely by food price rises slowing, therefore in cafes and restaurants too. we are now back at a much healthier inflation point — closer to the bank of england's target of 2%, and you have to go back to september 2021 to find it lower. this is important because those shocks at the till should slow down, but also the bank of england will consider this nudge towards normal when they look at interest rates. in the long—term, those life—changing mortgage peaks could plateau and then fall. but remember — prices are still rising, albeit not as quickly. if you run a business every customer counts, and if your customers are struggling so are you. one of the most concerning things is the cost of products now. the produce isjust sky high. rent has gone up, electricity costs have gone up, wages have gone up. everything's gone up. high costs are taking a toll on businesses like anna's. she's been trading for around five years and it's
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not been an easy ride. it's a game ofjenga just trying to balance everything. we don't want to put too much responsibility or price increases on a customer because that will deter them from coming. we still want to offer good—value foods, but then we also have to be fair to our staff, as well. so we have to just balance everything as carefully as possible. but could today be a turning point? inflation — that's the rate at which prices rise — hit a peak of 11% in october 2022. that was a 40—year high driven by a surge in energy prices following the russian invasion of ukraine. the prime minister promised to halve inflation by the end of last year. for a number of reasons, that pledge was met, for fritz and his business, it means thinking about other ways to increase those profit margins just to stay afloat.
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we've just been very creative. we've thought outside the box, we've gone down other avenues where we can, you know, sell ourfood. so retail, almost mini—wholesale, networking with other suppliers, with other companies. the bank of england has tried to tackle the problem by raising interest rates to a 15—year high of 5.25%. rates are expected to be cut this year, but not yet. while the direction of interest rates is down, what we're expecting is that, by the end of the year, they will have maybe had three cuts to them. so we're not talking huge numbers here. and, actually, for someone sitting at home thinking about their mortgage costs, that will help a bit, but it's not going to have a huge, huge impact for lots of people. the government says the economy is turning, but many businesses are not feeling that way yet.
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we are hoping that our customers have a bit more of a disposable income, so far, because we all feel like we need to put our prices up, but no one can afford to come and eat if we do that. so, yeah, more disposable income for the general public. those business owners will be hoping there's normality on the horizon. we talk about normality in terms of how the economy remains rather than a return to 2021—2 prices. if things are feeling tighter, that is unlikely to change any time soon. what about the politics of this? our chief political correspondent henry zeffman, joins us now. the numbers are getting closer to where rishi sunak wants them but the economy generally not booming. thea;r economy generally not booming. they will be pleased —
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economy generally not booming. he will be pleased with economy generally not booming. tue: will be pleased with these statistics in downing street this morning because it will help them to make the political argument that you saw make the political argument that you saneremy hunt trying to make in the budget. the argument that the economy is turning a corner and doing that because of decisions the government made. that will be the core of the argument the government makes to the end of the year and to that general election. inflation coming down the hoping government might also mean interest rates coming down, something jeremy hunt the chancellor was talking about moments ago. $5 the chancellor was talking about moments ago-— moments ago. as inflation gets closer to its _ moments ago. as inflation gets closer to its target, _ moments ago. as inflation gets closer to its target, that - moments ago. as inflation gets closer to its target, that opens | moments ago. as inflation gets i closer to its target, that opens the door for— closer to its target, that opens the door for the bank of england to consider— door for the bank of england to consider bringing down interest rates. — consider bringing down interest rates, that brings down mortgage rates. _ rates, that brings down mortgage rates. it— rates, that brings down mortgage rates, it makes a very big difference. it is too early to know whether— difference. it is too early to know whether we will have another fiscal event _ whether we will have another fiscal event before the election, but what i event before the election, but what i would _ event before the election, but what i would say — event before the election, but what i would say is what you can see is the difficult — i would say is what you can see is the difficult decisions the government has taken over the last
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year are _ government has taken over the last year are paying off and we can see that difficult though they were, they were the right thing to do because — they were the right thing to do because now inflation is coming right— because now inflation is coming right down. let because now inflation is coming right down-— because now inflation is coming riaht down. , ., right down. let me explain where jeremy hunt _ right down. let me explain where jeremy hunt said _ right down. let me explain where jeremy hunt said it _ right down. let me explain where jeremy hunt said it is _ right down. let me explain where jeremy hunt said it is too - right down. let me explain where jeremy hunt said it is too early i right down. let me explain where jeremy hunt said it is too early to know if we will have another fiscal event before the election, a fancy term for a budget or autumn statement, when the government can change tax rates. some conservative mps will wantjeremy hunt if there is another fiscal event, because of changing economic circumstances, is to cut taxes. they hope that might save the conservatives from a perilous political situation. we heard from labour's shadow chancellor whose head prices are still very high, the tax burden is still very high, the tax burden is still at an historic high. that discussion is really the contours of the debate we will hear through to that general election. thank you.
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if ou are to that general election. thank you. if you are interested _ to that general election. thank you. if you are interested in _ to that general election. thank you. if you are interested in that - to that general election. thank you. if you are interested in that and i if you are interested in that and its impact, there is continuing coverage of the change in the uk inflation rate on the iplayer live on bbc news. you can access is through the day and night. another big royal story? the data—protection watchdog is assessing whether staff at the hospital where the princess of wales had surgery tried to view her private health records. the daily mirror alleges at least one staff member at the london clinic was involved. seen out and about at the weekend, the prince and princess of wales visiting their local farm shop in windsor. catherine's recovery from abdominal surgery seemingly going well. royal officials have always insisted she wants the precise details of her treatment to remain private. but this morning's mirror is reporting claims that while she was at the london clinic, at least one member of staff tried to access her medical notes without permission,
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allegedly breaching her confidentiality. catherine spent 13 nights at the private hospital injanuary. the data protection watchdog the information commissioner's office said it had received a report of a breach and was assessing the information. kensington palace said it was a matterfor the london clinic. in a statement, the clinic told the mirror... the hospital also recently treated king charles for an enlarged prostate. he was there at the same time as catherine. the allegations will come as another blow to the royal family, who are trying to shift the focus away from weeks of online speculation and conspiracy theories about catherine's health, during her continued absence from public engagements. not helped by the release of this photograph on mother's day, which was withdrawn by international picture agencies because it had been edited. catherine later apologised for any confusion.
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yesterday, prince william was in sheffield to promote his homelessness project. he spoke about the challenges faced by young families — a subject catherine has also taken an interest in. but, this morning, the talk again is of catherine's health and her right to privacy. simonjoins us now from outside the london clinic. how likely is it we might hear from the clinic themselves? i how likely is it we might hear from the clinic themselves?— how likely is it we might hear from the clinic themselves? i think there will be pressure _ the clinic themselves? i think there will be pressure on _ the clinic themselves? i think there will be pressure on the _ the clinic themselves? i think there will be pressure on the clinic- the clinic themselves? i think there will be pressure on the clinic to i will be pressure on the clinic to say something. they have made no further statement this morning. on their website they say they have been proud to treat some of the most influential people in history at the clinic, including actors, politicians and members of the royal family. it was a vote of confidence
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i think in family. it was a vote of confidence ithink injanuary family. it was a vote of confidence i think injanuary when two members of the royalfamily, king charles and catherine, came here for treatment at the same time. now catherine's state is under scrutiny. according to the mirror newspaper, an insider at the hospital said staff are shocked and appalled at these revelations at these allegations. i think those feelings will be shared by catherine, who wanted to guard her private details and make sure they have not been made public. i think we saw that when she left the hospital at the end of january. when she left the hospital at the end ofjanuary. there were no cameras capturing her leaving. compare that to the moment king charles left, via their front door, waving at people and thanking staff for their help. in terms of kensington palace, they made it clear they were not going to give a
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running commentary on catherine's condition and health and her recovery. but they did say it was unlikely she would return to royal duties for easter. easter is approaching and i think the palace will look at the best way now to reintroduce her gently to those royal duties. i think what will be clear is the moment she steps out into the limelight, there is going to be a huge amount of interest right around the world. i think kensington palace will hope that when she is seen more regularly, that will finally put an end to this frantic speculation and conspiracy theories that continue today. a bill which would stop any child who turns 15 from this year from legally buying cigarettes will be introduced in parliament today. the tobacco and vapes bill will raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products by one year, each year. it is part of a range of proposed restrictions which aim to reduce smoking and vaping
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among young people. 15 synthetic opioids, which are described by the home office as "highly addictive and incredibly dangerous", have been banned. most of the substances involved are super—strength street drugs known as nitazenes. there have been more than 100 deaths linked to the drugs since last summer — and experts say more needs to be done to assess the scale of the problem. the uk's largest delivery of aid to gaza has crossed the border and is being distributed by the world food programme. the more than 2,000 tonnes of food aid includes fortified flour and enough food parcels to feed more than 275,000 people. our correspondent anna foster is injerusalem. 2.2 million people in gaza right now, particularly in the north of gaza. we know there will be a famine by the end of may if food deliveries do not increase. this latest delivery is the biggest yet sent from the uk.
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jordan helped to get it into gaza and then it is distributed on the ground by the world food programme and a lot of it is meal boxes with things like rice, tinned vegetables, date bars, things that will feed a family of five, giving them 50% of calorific need for two weeks which shows how little people eat compared to normal. along with the delivery comes another warning from the foreign secretary. he is pushing once again israel to allow more aid in and to open up more routes. at the moment, the aid comes in through the south. the aid coming in by road. they want more routes in the north to be opened up to get convoys directly to people who need them in the most badly damaged parts of gaza. it is something the pressure continues on israel today. israel says it is the un convoys that are not coming in at the volume
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needed but the facts on the ground is people in gaza continue to be in desperate need. vaughan gething is due to be formally nominated as the new first minister of wales this afternoon. mr gething narrowly won the welsh labour leadership contest to succeed mark drakeford, who's stepping down after more than five years in the post. some of the issues he faces include the debate around the 20 miles per hour zones in urban areas and proposals asking farmers to plant trees across ten per cent of their land. if you think you had a rubbish day yesterday, it could have been worse. you could be amari the six—month—old jack russell in gateshead who ended up in a rather compromising position. shall we have a look? the puppy had gone to sniff a metal lid from an incinerator bin, which had blown across the garden.
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the hole in the top of the lid was small and she got stuck and had to be sedated while firefighters cut her out. amari wasn't hurt and her owner lesley said her tail never stopped wagging throughout the whole ordeal. i assume when she was sedated it might have stopped wagging. if you are watching this morning, well done, and the firefighters. and stay inside, don't go out being naughty. we have had a lot of dogs and cats. is it raining cats and dogs? very good. forsome is it raining cats and dogs? very good. for some of us, it is. cloudy and wet across many parts of the country and as we go through the next days, there will be more rain in the forecast, it will be windy, and this weekend it will be colder with the wind chill. this is the rain through the night and into the
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early part of the day. it has come in from the south—west, pushing north—eastwards and will do so as we go through the day. clearing much of scotland, northern ireland. here we will see sunshine as we go through the afternoon. the morning picture. eastern areas hanging on to cloud. the rain moving away from northern ireland but in northern england, midlands, wales and south—west, we are looking at rain as we are in the south—west. it is the far south—east that will see the cloud break—up and brighter skies with sunshine at times. this is the improvement with drier conditions. the rain fragmenting. if we have lengthy spells of sunshine, temperatures could hit 17. overnight, the rest of the weather front pushes to the south. clear skies in parts of the north and there could be an early frost. before the next batch of wet
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and windy weather comes our way. tomorrow that will push slowly south—eastwards. windy across the north through tomorrow. as we come further south, areas of cloud will break up allowing sunny intervals. and these are the temperatures. 9-16. and these are the temperatures. 9—16. beyond thursday, we see a change in temperature as the cold front sinks south. from its iconic bluecoat entertainers to its affordable prices, pontins has long been a desirable destination for uk holiday—makers. it was founded in 1946, and at its height had 30 destinations across the uk. but it's a shadow of that today. the business struggled through the �*90s and 2000s, as cheap european holidays became more readily available. pontins was saved from administration in 2011 by britannia hotels.
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but by that time only six sites were left. in the last few months, another three have closed. they are camber sands, southport and prestatyn. the last remaining sites are at sand bay in somerset, and pakefield in suffolk, with a third at brean sands currently closed for three years. it was at that site, back in 2019, that holiday—maker wendyjones died after an air—conditioning duct fell on her. her family say they are still waiting for answers about what happened. pontins owners, britannia hotels, described it as an "unfortunate accident" and they do not consider themselves at fault. they do not consider themselves at fault. but now, some former staff have told the bbc about concerns they raised about the ceiling before it collapsed. here's our special
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correspondent ed thomas. i spent my mum's last birthday in an intensive care unit. with her slipping in and out of consciousness as they tried to stabilise her. it was all taken away because of that ceiling falling on her. just gone in an instant. february 2019 — there's chaos inside pontins brean sands. an air—conditioning duct has fallen onto guests, crushing wendyjones. she never recovered. this is mum with dexter and alice, my two children. you can see how happy she is.
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just those arms were made for hugging grandkids. it's more than four years since wendy died. because of the impact of the ceiling falling on her, mum had punctured a lung and had fractured ribs, fractured collarbone, a femoral break. before she died, wendy spent six months in hospital. she never managed to come home from holiday. police told us the postmortem examination found a clear link between wendy's death and the injuries she sustained at pontins. one of the saddest things that i've experienced was mum waking up saying, "who are you?" because she didn't recognise who i was. the bbc filmed on the night of the collapse and spoke to guests. i was in there last night and i was sitting with my wife and my children and she looked up above and she saw that the roof wasn't right — it was bowed in.
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the fire service said 40 metres of structural ducting and ceiling sections collapsed. on the floor, you can see the fallen air conditioning duct. insulation boards are packed around it. some were later scattered around pontins. wendy was crushed along with her mobility scooter. if your mum was here now, what would she be saying to you? it's part of why i'm talking to you. she'd say getjustice. for the first time, we can reveal safety concerns were raised inside pontins. my biggest fear was it would collapse eventually due to the sheer weight. mick forster was a general manager at pontins brean sands. in late 2015, he witnessed these insulation boards being placed on the ceiling and air conditioning duct. some of them are stacked
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four or five high. so when they asked me to sign it off, i refused to. mick then says he demanded an inspection of the work. i don't think they ever could sustain weight. we've obtained a copy of that 2016 independent surveyor�*s report mick asked for and showed it to him. executive summary. the recent insulation has not been safely or adequately installed, which could result in the collapse of the ceiling. the report, however, also stated it was not assessing safe load limits of the ceiling. who received that report? head office. was satisfactory remedial work carried out while you were there? no, no, no. what was your concern? eventual collapse. pontins' owners, a company called britanniajinkyjersey, dispute mick's version of events.
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it said the insulation was undertaken in 2015 by a specialist contractor. in reference to the surveyor report, britannia said the findings related solely to the ceiling grid over the dance floor and the only concerns regarding the ventilation duct were that the rockwool installed was unsightly. additional ceiling supports, it added, were installed by the contractor, and a separate 2017 engineer's report raised no concerns in relation to the work and no safety issues were raised to any senior manager prior to the collapse. it's devastating watching that. this has been on my mind since it collapsed. it's very, very sad. you know, she came to pontins. she didn't go home again. in response to our investigation
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and, for the first time, britannia hotels has given its version of why the ventilation duct collapsed. it says some internal fixings, which could not be seen, failed. the death of wendyjones, britannia said, an unfortunate britannia said, was an unfortunate accident that could not have been predicted. i don't like the word accident to describe this situation. i never have — never sat comfortably with it. avon and somerset police said it was open—minded about the cause of the ducting collapse and are continuing to look into the death of wendyjones. has anybody said sorry to you and picked up the phone? no. they have not reached out to see how we are, what's going on, what happened that night. and they could have — they could have shown some humility, some decency, some humanity.
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and ed joins us now. five years since the death of wendy jones, difficult to imagine what her family has been through in that time. ., , , ., ., , . , time. completely unimaginable. wendy was the matriarch. _ time. completely unimaginable. wendy was the matriarch. she _ time. completely unimaginable. wendy was the matriarch. she was _ time. completely unimaginable. wendy was the matriarch. she was the - time. completely unimaginable. wendy was the matriarch. she was the one i was the matriarch. she was the one everybody went to, they would ring her up if they needed advice or help. and they were all there on a family holiday and this happens. air—conditioning duct falling onto wendy and she never leaves hospital. she was crushed and never recovered. and james, as you have listened to, has been pushing for years for answers. the tiniest bits of detail of what happened to his mum. he has spoken to medical professionals, solicitors, the police. but it has taken until now for britannia to
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give its version of its account as to what happened and they say it was the internal fixings that became loose and could not be seen on inspections. but police keeping an open mind. they are still investigating what happened. as you heard, britannia say they have co—operated fully with the police and they are clear it was an accident and they say it has not been appropriate to engage with the family of wendyjones during the investigation. find family of wendy jones during the investigation.— investigation. and you have investigated _ investigation. and you have investigated other - investigation. and you have i investigated other allegations of neglect in the wider business. brute neglect in the wider business. we have neglect in the wider business. - have spoken to nine former and current members of staff upon tins, britannia hotels, senior people with years of experience within the company. what they told us, their concerns and worries, over issues like safety, were not addressed, they say. they say they were
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ignored. they have sent in more than 70 photos from two pumpkins sites. you might be able to see some of them. southport. pictures taken before it closed showing moulding chalets, broken doors, balconies, railings with missing and rusting rails. they say they were serious concerns and they wanted them address. in a statement, britannia hotels said they are committed to ensuring the public have a say visit all parks and hotels they own and they are continuously improving their health and safety. this they are continuously improving their health and safety.- they are continuously improving their health and safety. this is a com an their health and safety. this is a company that — their health and safety. this is a company that has _ their health and safety. this is a company that has had _ their health and safety. this is a i company that has had government money. brute company that has had government mone . ~ .., company that has had government mone . . .. ., company that has had government mone. ., ., money. we carried out analysis and sent out freedom _ money. we carried out analysis and sent out freedom of _ money. we carried out analysis and sent out freedom of information i sent out freedom of information requests to local authorities and the analysis shows a number of britannia hotels have been unavailable to book over the past couple of years. we understand they have been subcontracted to become
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asylum seeker hotels. i also carried out information requests and 20 local authorities are using britannia hotels properties for temporary accommodation. this is housing some of the most vulnerable people in society. we spoke to the department of culture and we got a statement and they described our wider investigation as deeply concerning and say everybody goes on holiday in the uk deserves to have a safe and happy time.— and you can watch the full investigation on bbc iplayer now — just search for pontins: rundown and ruined. inafew in a few minutes, we will be live at the london eye with a very brave john maguire. it is the first day of
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spring and he is helping them tidy up. ill. up. they want to paint it and make it look nice and fresh. they needed help. john is harnessing up. right now. he will be taken up and he will dangle with a paint roller. i do not know about the dangling. we are hoping he does not dangle and he is firmly secured. i went in a capsule ten years ago. i had to close my eyes and go down on my hands and knees because i could not bear it. so the idea of dangling is horrific butjohn is up for anything. keep watching. life dangling. time to get the news, travel and weather where you are. a very good morning from bbc london, i'm thomas magill. some residents living in blocks of flats in london who have faced huge hikes to their service charges
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say they are now refusing to pay them. the money generated from services charges goes towards the upkeep of building including communal areas. bbc london has spoken to a number of people who say their bills are unjustified. altogether there is about 15 or 20 people who are on strike. we haven't been paying our service charge and our heating since last year, it's been one and a half years now. and we are all angry, we are frustrated, we're angry, anxious. i am drained mentally. a banksy mural that appeared on the side of a building in finsbury park at the weekend has been defaced. overnight, white paint appears to have been thrown over the artwork on hornsey road. it comes just days after the design which included green paint sprayed on a wall behind a cut—back tree to make it look like foliage attracted large crowds. engineers working on the tram network in south london are to go on strike next week over pay, saying they want to be treated the same as london underground staff.
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the unite union says engineers on the tube are paid up to £10,000 more a year than those working on the trams. tfl has urged the union to work with them to find a solution. let's take a look at the tubes now. the bakerloo line has severe delays between stonebridge park and harrow & wealdstone. now onto the weather with kate. good morning. it is another rather grey, misty and murky start this morning. we have had some outbreaks of rain overnight. still some light patchy rain around this morning, some thinner areas of cloud potentially through the afternoon so some brighter spells developing and just depending on how many bright spells we get, temperatures reaching around 17 celsius. could just see one or two spots at 18. overnight tonight, we should see it dry out. any remnants of that rain clearing. we will however hang on the cloud, some mist and fog patches through the early hours, minimum temperatures dropping to 7 celsius so another murky start tomorrow. it is looking largely dry through the course of thursday but that cloud hanging around, again thinner, some brighter spells here and there. and temperatures potentially reaching around 17 celsius. it's all change overnight thursday into friday, a cold front will sink self bringing
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cloud and some rain, just a little bit for friday. behind it the temperature is going to drop. but for saturday, sunshine, showers but those temperatures are going to feel much colder. if you're a budding journalist, there's less than a week to go until the deadline to enter the bbc young reporter competition. if you're aged between 11 to 18 and have a story you want to tell then this is your chance. maybe you're already writing for a website, your school newspaper, or like 15—year—old jack, working as a match day reporter at billericay town fc. if that's the case get in touch, just go to the website. details are on your screen now. that's it from me, there's
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more on the bbc news app and on bbc radio london but for now let's go back to sally and jon. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. a bill which aims to tackle smoking and vaping among young people is being introduced in parliament today. the tobacco and vapes bill will raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products by one year each year, meaning that anyone turning 15 from this year onwards will never be able to legally buy cigarettes. it will also restrict the flavours and packaging of vapes to make them less appealing to children and young people and try to stop them buying vaping products. that's ahead of a proposed full ban on disposable vapes and the legislation would change how vapes are displayed in shops, moving them out of sight and away from things
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like sweets and chocolate. presenterjordan north, who is a vaper himself, has been finding out more as he tries to decide whether to kick the habit. you might have noticed there's been a lot of chat about vaping. rishi sunak is to announce plans to ban the sale of disposable vapes. but there's so much i don't know. and so i've made a documentary to find out exactly what is in my vape. thanks for taking the time to do this. but first i want to see what other young vapers are concerned about. i feel like the ones with the most puffs, like, 3,000 puffs, i feel like they're worse ones. you can buy one for £9, 15,000 puffs and that. what is in that for that to be that cheap, where they get them from that cheap as well to make a profit. do you know what i mean? when it comes to disposable vapes, legally they're allowed roughly the same amount of nicotine as 20 to 40 cigarettes. but with illegal ones, it could be ten times that alongside some
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potentially harmful ingredients. to find out more, i'm visiting a company who tests thousands of illegal vapes that have been seized from across the country. the illegal vape products have high levels of nicotine, they have high levels of metals, and they have high levels of carbonyls as well. and what these are potentially carcinogenic substances. tom is sharing exclusive new data from a recent haul of dodgy vapes. almost a third had lead in them, nearly twice the number they found in similar tests last year. lead is actually a toxic chemical, so having any amount of it in your body is not great. as well as that, nearly nine out of ten in the sample contained nickel. that's pretty serious, isn't it? what people don't know is these are not regulated the same way that compliant vapes are. and while they think they're getting a better dealfor the money, they're getting a worse deal for the body. it's not always clear from the packaging whether the vapes people are buying are compliant. trading standards.
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trading standards are a watchdog for illegal and unfair business dealings, and it's one of theirjobs to seize dodgy vapes from places where they're sold. what would happen to those people that were selling them? often it's quite hard that we even get a case ready for a prosecution. got any dodgy vapes in here? yeah? yep, tonnes, haven't you? they're illegal vapes, aren't they? oh, wow. selling illegal vapes is against the law, but very few shops are getting in trouble for it. our team contacted 100 councils and out of the 80 that responded, around 2,200 businesses were found to sell illegal vapes in 2023. of these businesses, less than one in 20 went on to be recommended for prosecution. this isjust us in newcastle. the same work's being done across the region, across all of england and scotland, wales. it's just massive for everybody. trading standards aren't able
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to issue on the spot fines to traders at the moment, but the government plan to give them this power in the future. but where do these vapes even come from? i found some videos on social media that may give me some clues. oh, no. and a bit of a bellyache. so this lady in the factory is taking a puff on a load of vapes. you could call it quality control, but i don't think that's how it's done. we can't verify the authenticity of these videos, which brands of vapes these are or what factories they were filmed in. but there's the problem. the supply chain of vapes illegal to sell in the uk is really murky. if the government wants to ban disposable vapes, they will also need to get those dodgy ones off the streets. as for me, reporting this story has made me rethink my own vaping and smoking. i don't want to be glued to this little stick in my hand, vaping in ten years' time. overall, it's probably better to just pack them in.
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jordan north, bbc news. that it is decision. if you want to see the full documentary, you can watch jordan north: the truth about vaping tonight at 9pm on bbc three and iplayer. it is 50 years since an armed man tried to kidnap princess anne as she was travelling to buckingham palace in her royal car. ian ball had planned to abduct the young princess and hold her ransom. but his attempt was thwarted by a number of people, including her police bodyguard, inspectorjim beaton, who was shot three times during the attack. five decades later, he's been reflecting on that day. police have today been carefully checking the royal car— which was attacked last night. ian ball made what was the first ever royal kidnap attempt — a bizarre ransom note for delivery to the queen which asked for £3 million.
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i've still got a bit of bullet lodged in my hand. in fact, it'sjust about there somewhere. my name isjim beaton and i was the protection officer for princess anne for five years in the metropolitan police. thursday, the 20th of march, we got about three quarters of the way up the mall and this white car pulled in front of us. this chap, ian ball, the driver of the white car, came back towards the royal car. i got out of my seat, came up out behind the car, and it went bang, bang, and he shot me in the chest. i tried to fire back at him with my gun. i missed the first shot and then the gunjammed. ball was pointing his gun at princess anne and he said, "you drop your gun or i'll shoot," or something to that effect. he fired at the same time as my hand went up and the bullet went into my hand.
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we kicked the back door open and there was ian ball standing and he shot me in the abdomen. i struggled out of the car, half dazed, obviously, went round the front the car and lay down on the pavement. although shot three times by ball, he managed to go on struggling to defend princess anne until other officers overpowered the defendant. when princess anne came to see me in hospital, it was quite funny because the staff said go on, you must cover up your chest and all the wounds and things, and i said, oh, stuff it. just said, you know, pleased that we're all sort of still alive and kicking, so to speak. for outstanding bravery, - police inspectorjames beaton received the george cross. at that time, training courses were nil. you werejust shoved in and off you go. nowadays, it's very different, of course. it's selected. they're interviewed and tested
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and everything else. after this incident with princess anne, yes, the royal protection changed drastically, really. slightly better guns, better ammunition, more courses, more training, more people suddenly all appeared literally within days. it really is a different world altogether. very different from when i started. it's one of those stories that we sometimes forget, what a moment that was. here's carol with a look at this morning's weather. i think there is a clue behind her! good morning. you are absolutely right, sally, some of us are starting like this, many of us, cloudy with rain but it will be mild. this is the amount of rainfall
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we have head through the early hours of the day, quite a bit falling on saturated ground in places. through their day it will be drifting north—east in the direction of the north sea. brightening up in scotland and northern ireland, to the south of the band of rain we are looking at the sky is brightening, a bit of sunshine and we could hit 17 or 18 degrees. the rain will linger through northern england, through the midlands, parts of wales towards the midlands, parts of wales towards the south—west and it will continue to drift south as the rain band pulls away. overnight there will be clear skies, and any frost in the north, before the next band of rain and strengthening wind arrives by the end of the night. temperatures falling away to three or 80 degrees, in some parts of the west temperatures will be rising. —— three to 8 degrees. a band of rain sinking south tomorrow, windy across the northern half of the country, particularly the far north of
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scotland. for england and wales, brighter skies, areas of cloud at times but we will break up and see some sunshine. nine to 16 degrees, still, in the mild air. from friday we get a change, a northerly component to the wind means it will turn more unsettled but colder with a significant wind—chill. we have been watching your forecast even more closely than usual, haven't we?— even more closely than usual, haven't we? , . ., haven't we? one person in particular has been watching _ haven't we? one person in particular has been watching and _ haven't we? one person in particular has been watching and listening, i has been watching and listening, john maguire, our reporterjohn is currently winching himself into position somewhere on the london eye and in a few minutes, we are going tojoin him live as he starts and in a few minutes, we are going to join him live as he starts to paint the giant wheel. flan to join him live as he starts to paint the giant wheel. can you imaaine paint the giant wheel. can you imagine if— paint the giant wheel. can you imagine if it — paint the giant wheel. can you imagine if it was _ paint the giant wheel. can you imagine if it was high - paint the giant wheel. can you imagine if it was high winds i paint the giant wheel. can you i imagine if it was high winds and horizontal rain? i imagine if it was high winds and horizontal rain?— horizontal rain? i cannot even imaaine horizontal rain? i cannot even imagine what _ horizontal rain? i cannot even imagine what it _ horizontal rain? i cannot even imagine what it will _ horizontal rain? i cannot even imagine what it will be - horizontal rain? i cannot even imagine what it will be like i horizontal rain? i cannot even i imagine what it will be like with no wind at all. it is 135 metres tall,
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the world's fourth largest ferris wheel and john maguire is about to paint it. the wheel and john maguire is about to aint it. ., , ., wheel and john maguire is about to paint it-_ what - paint it. the outside of it. what are ou paint it. the outside of it. what are you doing — paint it. the outside of it. what are you doing today? _ paint it. the outside of it. what are you doing today? nothing i paint it. the outside of it. what i are you doing today? nothing quite like that! there's always a push for more people to give blood. but did you know that your pets could be able to donate as well? one charity is urging dog owners to check if their four—legged friends are eligible because their donation could save the life of another animal. jo kent has been to meet one dog which has done just that. poppy may look a picture of health, but a few months ago it was a very different story. she was just very low in energy. her breathing was very laboured and she just wasn't her usual self. they looked at her blood count and it was down to one. and if she didn't have a blood transfusion, she wouldn't have survived the night. you're so silly! otto doesn't know it, but his blood donation saved poppy's life. you always want someone to be able to do it if i needed that help and to know that my dog can help other people's dog i think makes
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a really big difference. today they're meeting for the first time. hello, who's this? look, otto saved your life. she allowed a bit of chicken? yeah, it's her favorite. the transfusion was carried out at the vet's practice, where otto's owner works as a pharmacist. they can be used to treat a range of conditions. so in poppy's case, her immune system was attacking her red blood cells, so she needed some more. we also have some trauma cases. so if they've lost a lot of blood due to trauma. another really common one that we see is dogs that are bleeding into their abdomen. there are some rules about which dogs can donate blood like otto here. they have to be between one and eight years old. they have to be a large breed, over 25 kilograms. and they have to be calm and confident. the charity pet blood bank uk works to collect,
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store and distribute dog blood to vets. they run donation sessions around the country like this one in bracknell. donate, yes, you did, did you donate? bandit has just donated for the first time while pippi is an old hand. good girl. first, there's a health check. after getting the all clear, it's time for her donation. there's a good girl. unfortunately, blood's an ever growing demand, so we always want more animals to come along to sessions and dogs like pippi today, this is her last donation because she's reaching eight soon, so she will be retiring today. so obviously we'll need a dog to sort of replace her, as it were. five minutes later, it's all done. we had an older dog who, towards the end of her life, needed a few operations, so she was on the receiving end
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of blood in those operations. so it's really lovely to be on the giving side as well. now we've got another little puppy coming through as well, so i'm hoping that she'll be able to follow in pippi's footsteps. like humans, dogs have different blood types. we work on two blood types, positive and negative. pippi here today is positive. i love to have negative donors if we can just because negative blood can be given to any dog in an emergency. and what about our second favourite pet? well, cats can have blood transfusions, too, but it's less common as they're better at hiding their illnesses. cats are very adaptable creatures. it takes a long time before they start to show disease so they are able to adapt to survive with a lower percentage of red blood cells than dogs, which is why we don't need the blood transfusions as much. but it would still be beneficial in a lot of cases as it drops to be able to support them.
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that's why pet blood bank uk is looking at setting up a cat donation scheme in the future. but how's this for an amazing fact? i did see a blood transfusion in a cat. in that case, we actually gave it dog blood, which we did as a one—off. but that's not commonly done. it'd be better to have a cat donor. back at the park, poppy's prognosis is good. all thanks to otto, her humble hero. jo kent, bbc news. well done, or so! good well done, orso! good work. well done, or so! good work. not sure they were — well done, or so! good work. ijrrt sure they were very friendly at the end of that. irlot sure they were very friendly at the end of that-— sure they were very friendly at the end of that. not very appreciative! ma be end of that. not very appreciative! maybe they _ end of that. not very appreciative! maybe they were _ end of that. not very appreciative! maybe they were just _ end of that. not very appreciative! maybe they were just excited i end of that. not very appreciative! maybe they were just excited to i end of that. not very appreciative! l maybe they were just excited to see each other. today is the first day of spring and that means it's time for the annual spring clean, which is well under way at the london eye. lots of work goes into maintaining the fourth biggest ferris wheel in the world, which closed injanuary for annual maintenance.
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john maguire is there and he's about to take quite the trip. he will be live there in a moment. it became an immediate fixture among the icons on the silhouetted london skyline. the giant wheel was hoisted into place on the south bank of the river thames almost 25 years ago. the original plan for the millennium wheel was for a five year life. but approaching its silver anniversary, the london eye, as it's now known, has carried more than 100 million visitors. its name has seen changes. so have many of the buildings that surround it. but the panoramic views from the 32 glass pods remain spectacular. each minute of the slow, half hour long rotation offers a different perspective. at 145 metres high, it's exposed to the elements. january�*s storm henk saw the attraction closed briefly after one of the pods' rooftop
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hatches was blown open in the high winds. considering its size, maintenance is a major undertaking with a programme of painting and cleaning running from january to june. the landmark views from the pods may be its major drawcard, but as it takes centre stage in london's new year's eve fireworks display, the views of it are beamed around the world every year. so, it's time for a bit of painting. there is a live shot of the london eye as we all recognise it on the banks of the thames. if you squint and search very closely, you will see that somewhere there, on the
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structure, is our reporterjohn maguire. he is about to join structure, is our reporterjohn maguire. he is about tojoin in structure, is our reporterjohn maguire. he is about to join in the maintenance. would you do that? never in a million years. there he is, ourjohn. we are taking our time a little bit here because obviously the most important thing right now is that he is safe. the safety experts are strapping him in, he has got the security harness, everything is ready to go. we are not rushing this moment and i believejohn can hear us, john, if you have got me in your ear, tell me how you are feeling. your ear, tell me how you are feelina. ~ , , your ear, tell me how you are feelina. , , _,, feeling. absolutely terrified. was that in the risk— feeling. absolutely terrified. was that in the risk assessment? - that in the risk assessment? laughter are good. the only thing which is stopping me from running away screaming and crying is that i am in the extremely stable hand of chris, chris and pete, in charge, highly
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qualified, know what they are doing and they make you feel very comfortable. it doesn't feel like it is particularly comfortable but they do make you feel like that. pete, you are in charge of this bit, over to you. i have got three pairs of big boy pants on. all to you. i have got three pairs of big boy pants om— to you. i have got three pairs of big boy pants on. all safe, safety checks complete? _ big boy pants on. all safe, safety checks complete? everything - big boy pants on. all safe, safety checks complete? everything is l checks complete? everything is lookinu checks complete? everything is looking good- _ checks complete? everything is looking good. let's _ checks complete? everything is looking good. let's start - checks complete? everything is looking good. let's start low. checks complete? everything is i looking good. let's start low nice and steady- _ looking good. let's start low nice and steady. sitting _ looking good. let's start low nice and steady. sitting nice - looking good. let's start low nice and steady. sitting nice and - and steady. sitting nice and comfortable, feet on that ledge. nice and smooth. it comfortable, feet on that ledge. nice and smooth.— comfortable, feet on that ledge. nice and smooth. it does feel odd to be lettin: i nice and smooth. it does feel odd to be letting i go. _ nice and smooth. it does feel odd to be letting i go. can _ nice and smooth. it does feel odd to be letting i go, can tell _ nice and smooth. it does feel odd to be letting i go, can tell you - nice and smooth. it does feel odd to be letting i go, can tell you that. - be letting i go, can tell you that. chris is just blowing be letting i go, can tell you that. chris isjust blowing it be letting i go, can tell you that. chris is just blowing it down be letting i go, can tell you that. chris isjust blowing it down into position, feels all right come into position. ifeel like i want to position, feels all right come into position. i feel like i want to grab on. , position. i feel like i want to grab on. y ., position. i feel like i want to grab on. , ., ., ., position. i feel like i want to grab on. ,., ., g, ., on. try not to grab on. just hold onto the rope. _ on. try not to grab on. just hold onto the rope. dangle _ on. try not to grab on. just hold onto the rope. dangle my - on. try not to grab on. just hold onto the rope. dangle my legs. on. try not to grab on. just hold - onto the rope. dangle my legs down? these are coming _ onto the rope. dangle my legs down? these are coming down. _ onto the rope. dangle my legs down? these are coming down. 0k. - onto the rope. dangle my legs down? these are coming down. 0k. what. onto the rope. dangle my legs down? l these are coming down. 0k. what we are auoin these are coming down. 0k. what we are going to — these are coming down. 0k. what we are going to do. _ these are coming down. 0k. what we are going to do. you _ these are coming down. 0k. what we are going to do, you can _ these are coming down. 0k. what we
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are going to do, you can stand - these are coming down. 0k. what we are going to do, you can stand on - are going to do, you can stand on that on your left. a bit of stability. that on your left. a bit of stability-— that on your left. a bit of stabili . ,, , , that on your left. a bit of stabili ., , ,i that on your left. a bit of stabili ., , ,m stability. stop, stop, stop. i can feel one of _ stability. stop, stop, stop. i can feel one of the _ stability. stop, stop, stop. i can feel one of the legs. _ stability. stop, stop, stop. i can feel one of the legs. i _ stability. stop, stop, stop. i can feel one of the legs. i have - stability. stop, stop, stop. i can feel one of the legs. i have got| feel one of the legs. i have got kettle of paint, a bucket next to me, i have got a roller, the idea is that we are going to give it a bit of a spruce up. that we are going to give it a bit of a spruce no— that we are going to give it a bit of a spruce up. that we are. it is a phenomenal— of a spruce up. that we are. it is a phenomenal view. _ of a spruce up. that we are. it is a phenomenalview. i— of a spruce up. that we are. it is a phenomenal view. i have - of a spruce up. that we are. it is a phenomenal view. i have got - of a spruce up. that we are. it is a phenomenal view. i have got my l of a spruce up. that we are. it is a . phenomenal view. i have got my eyes 0 en. phenomenal view. i have got my eyes oen. go, phenomenal view. i have got my eyes open- go. go. — phenomenal view. i have got my eyes open- go. go. go. _ phenomenal view. i have got my eyes open- go. go. go. 0k- _ phenomenal view. i have got my eyes open. go, go, go, 0k. chris- phenomenal view. i have got my eyes open. go, go, go, 0k. chris is- phenomenal view. i have got my eyes open. go, go, go, 0k. chris isjust. open. go, go, go, 0k. chris isjust going to lower us down. a little bit more. feeling good. keep my feet on the leg. the pads are there to protect the ropes. you can imagine the type of work that these guys did, we were with some people on blackpool tower last year, the last time i looked totally terrified on breakfast, that was then. they are experts working at these heights. just going to stand on this ledge now. we have got a second camera,
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morning, andrew, in the pot over there. and these are some of the, i just looked down, not a good idea. don't look down! just just looked down, not a good idea. don't look down!— don't look down! just stare at your baby blues- _ don't look down! just stare at your baby blues. it's _ don't look down! just stare at your baby blues. it's a _ don't look down! just stare at your baby blues. it's a good _ don't look down! just stare at your baby blues. it's a good idea - don't look down! just stare at your baby blues. it's a good idea to - don't look down! just stare at your| baby blues. it's a good idea to look at what you are painting. this is not easy. or is it easy for experts such as your good cell. it not easy. or is it easy for experts such as your good cell.— such as your good cell. it takes a aood bit such as your good cell. it takes a good bit of _ such as your good cell. it takes a good bit of time _ such as your good cell. it takes a good bit of time to _ such as your good cell. it takes a good bit of time to get _ such as your good cell. it takes a good bit of time to get used - such as your good cell. it takes a good bit of time to get used to. l such as your good cell. it takes a i good bit of time to get used to. any job easy on the ground is ten times harder appear. the job easy on the ground is ten times harder appear-— harder appear. the levels of safety are brilliant. _ harder appear. the levels of safety are brilliant. it _ harder appear. the levels of safety are brilliant. it is _ harder appear. the levels of safety are brilliant. it is genuinely - are brilliant. it is genuinely quite, what can i say, it focuses the mind. i do feel in very safe hands. even at this height. pleased to hear it. what _ hands. even at this height. pleased to hear it. what have _ hands. even at this height. pleased to hear it. what have you _ hands. even at this height. pleased to hear it. what have you been - hands. even at this height. pleased l to hear it. what have you been doing on the structure? _ to hear it. what have you been doing on the structure? we _ to hear it. what have you been doing on the structure? we have _ to hear it. what have you been doing on the structure? we have been - on the structure? we have been workin: on the structure? we have been working with — on the structure? we have been working with the _ on the structure? we have been working with the london - on the structure? we have been working with the london eye - on the structure? we have been working with the london eye forl on the structure? we have been - working with the london eye for 20, 25 years now, providing all of their specialist access facilities,
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maintaining the wheel. this week we are here painting the london eye so we are touching up the legs. ebert; we are touching up the legs. every three years? _ we are touching up the legs. every three years? it _ we are touching up the legs. every three years? it is _ we are touching up the legs. every three years? it is yes, _ we are touching up the legs. every three years? it is yes, the - we are touching up the legs. everyi three years? it is yes, the regime. weather dependent, _ three years? it is yes, the regime. weather dependent, is _ three years? it is yes, the regime. weather dependent, is it? - three years? it is yes, the regime. weather dependent, is it? yes, i three years? it is yes, the regime. | weather dependent, is it? yes, we were a little _ weather dependent, is it? yes, we were a little on _ weather dependent, is it? yes, we were a little on the _ weather dependent, is it? yes, we were a little on the edge _ weather dependent, is it? yes, we were a little on the edge today, . weather dependent, is it? yes, we| were a little on the edge today, can were a little on the edge today, can we or not but hopefully it is right in. ie. we or not but hopefully it is right in. , ., , , . ., we or not but hopefully it is right in. is it a special paint, light aint? in. is it a special paint, light paint? yes. _ in. is it a special paint, light paint? yes, weather- in. is it a special paint, light i paint? yes, weather resistant in. is it a special paint, light - paint? yes, weather resistant -- lighthouse _ paint? yes, weather resistant -- lighthouse paint? _ paint? yes, weather resistant -- lighthouse paint? yes, _ paint? yes, weather resistant -- lighthouse paint? yes, weatheri lighthouse paint? yes, weather resistant and it will last about three years. resistant and it will last about three years-— resistant and it will last about three years. resistant and it will last about three ears. , ., ., , three years. instead of saying it is like painting _ three years. instead of saying it is like painting the _ three years. instead of saying it is like painting the forth _ three years. instead of saying it is like painting the forth bridge, - three years. instead of saying it is like painting the forth bridge, we| like painting the forth bridge, we should say like painting the london eye. let's do a bit, should say like painting the london eye. let's do a hit, my roller? i will hold that for you. you reach out from this side. i will hold that for you. you reach out from this side.— will hold that for you. you reach out from this side. i was going pull it from the — out from this side. i was going pull it from the side, _ out from this side. i was going pull it from the side, yeah. _ out from this side. i was going pull it from the side, yeah. just - out from this side. i was going pull it from the side, yeah. just watch i it from the side, yeah. just watch it from the side, yeah. just watch it is not too drippy. we might need a little bit in the cattle. it is it is not too drippy. we might need a little bit in the cattle.— a little bit in the cattle. it is a while since _ a little bit in the cattle. it is a while since i _ a little bit in the cattle. it is a while since i did _ a little bit in the cattle. it is a while since i did the - a little bit in the cattle. it is a while since i did the spare - a little bit in the cattle. it is a - while since i did the spare bedroom. your diy skills are... lamentable?
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yes. �* ., ., , �* yes. and there we are, that isn't bad. yes. and there we are, that isn't bad- you — yes. and there we are, that isn't bad. you have _ yes. and there we are, that isn't bad. you have missed _ yes. and there we are, that isn't bad. you have missed a - yes. and there we are, that isn't bad. you have missed a little - yes. and there we are, that isn't bad. you have missed a little bit| bad. you have missed a little bit there. bad. you have missed a little bit there- just _ bad. you have missed a little bit there. just that _ bad. you have missed a little bit there. just that grey _ bad. you have missed a little bit there. just that grey paint, - bad. you have missed a little bit there. just that grey paint, i - bad. you have missed a little bit| there. just that grey paint, i hate to think what _ there. just that grey paint, i hate to think what that _ there. just that grey paint, i hate to think what that is. _ there. just that grey paint, i hate to think what that is. it _ there. just that grey paint, i hate to think what that is. it is - there. just that grey paint, i hate to think what that is. it is not - to think what that is. it is not remotely easy, this, you make it look easy. it remotely easy, this, you make it look easy-— look easy. it is definitely a difficult job. _ look easy. it is definitely a difficult job. but _ look easy. it is definitely a difficult job. but you - look easy. it is definitely a difficult job. but you are l look easy. it is definitely a - difficult job. but you are doing all difficultjob. but you are doing all right. it difficult 'ob. but you are doing all riuht. , . , difficult 'ob. but you are doing all rit ht, , ., , ., difficult 'ob. but you are doing all riuht. _, , ., ., difficult 'ob. but you are doing all riuht. , ., ., ., right. it is a bit of a fair “ob, this. what i right. it is a bit of a fair “ob, this. what would i right. it is a bit of a fair “ob, this. what would stop h right. it is a bit of a fairjob, this. what would stop you, | right. it is a bit of a fairjob, - this. what would stop you, what would stop you doing it? excessive windscreens _ would stop you doing it? excessive windscreens above _ would stop you doing it? excessive windscreens above 23 _ would stop you doing it? excessive windscreens above 23 miles - would stop you doing it? excessive windscreens above 23 miles an - would stop you doing it? excessive l windscreens above 23 miles an hour, or thunder and lightning. windscreens above 23 miles an hour, orthunderand lightning. —— windscreens above 23 miles an hour, or thunder and lightning. —— wind speeds. or thunder and lightning. -- wind seeds. ., ., �* ., ., or thunder and lightning. -- wind seeds. ., ., �* ., speeds. you wouldn't want to be there in thunder _ speeds. you wouldn't want to be there in thunder and _ speeds. you wouldn't want to be there in thunder and lightning. l speeds. you wouldn't want to be l there in thunder and lightning. no there in thunder and lightning. in; electricity with all of this metalwork. it electricity with all of this metalwork.— electricity with all of this metalwork. , ., , . metalwork. it is quite a difficult structure to _ metalwork. it is quite a difficult structure to paint, _ metalwork. it is quite a difficult structure to paint, it _ metalwork. it is quite a difficult structure to paint, it is - metalwork. it is quite a difficult structure to paint, it is all- metalwork. it is quite a difficult| structure to paint, it is all round on the leg, it's not like window cleaning up and down. it is incredibly _ cleaning up and down. it is incredibly difficult - cleaning up and down. it 3 incredibly difficult which is why they have got the specialist team to
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do the job. you they have got the specialist team to do the 'ob. ., ., ., ., do the job. you are doing a wonderful— do the job. you are doing a wonderfuljob. _ do the job. you are doing a wonderfuljob. anyway, - do the job. you are doing a wonderfuljob. anyway, wei do the job. you are doing a - wonderfuljob. anyway, we had do the job. you are doing a _ wonderfuljob. anyway, we had better crack on, really. the guys were saying it is a fantastic view, and it is, we are above big ben, would you say? it is, we are above big ben, would ou sa ? ., ., it is, we are above big ben, would ousa ? ., ., it is, we are above big ben, would ousa? ., ., �* �* you say? yeah, we are above big ben. so probably — you say? yeah, we are above big ben. so probably looking _ you say? yeah, we are above big ben. so probably looking right _ you say? yeah, we are above big ben. so probably looking right at _ you say? yeah, we are above big ben. so probably looking right at the - you say? yeah, we are above big ben. so probably looking right at the top i so probably looking right at the top of the elizabeth tower. just the most wonderful view, as long as, of course, you have your eyes open. this is it! ., ,, , ., , this is it! thank you, pete, chris, done an amazing _ this is it! thank you, pete, chris, done an amazing job _ this is it! thank you, pete, chris, done an amazing job to _ this is it! thank you, pete, chris, done an amazing job to make i this is it! thank you, pete, chris, done an amazing job to make me | this is it! thank you, pete, chris, i done an amazing job to make me feel very safe. it is one of those, your eyes and your heart and your bum probably. eyes and your heart and your bum robabl . ., ., ., ., ., , probably. you are doing a really aood 'ob. probably. you are doing a really good job. great _ probably. you are doing a really good job. great to _ probably. you are doing a really good job. great to see - probably. you are doing a really good job. great to see you. i probably. you are doing a really| good job. great to see you. back probably. you are doing a really i good job. great to see you. back to good 'ob. great to see you. back to ou good job. great to see you. back to ou too, i good job. great to see you. back to you too. i hope _ good job. great to see you. back to you too. i hope you _ good job. great to see you. back to you too, i hope you are _ good job. great to see you. back to you too, i hope you are sitting i you too, i hope you are sitting pretty as it were. not as pretty as you, my friend. that was amazing. respect! absolutely fantastic. john, you can come down when the whole thing is finished. ma; come down when the whole thing is finished. y ., ., ,, come down when the whole thing is finished. g ., ., ,, ., come down when the whole thing is finished. g ,, ., finished. my goodness, that was aintina , finished. my goodness, that was painting, interviewing, - finished. my goodness, that was | painting, interviewing, dangling,
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all at once, what a hero. thank you to the two chriss and to keep our john safe. stay with us, the headlines are coming up. live from london, this is bbc news. an investigation reportedly begins at the clinic in london which treated the princess of wales over claims that staff tried to access her private medical records. millions of people at risk of dying from diseases and starvation in sudan after 11 months of civil war. we'll have a special report. there's been a further slowdown in the rate at which prices are increasing, with uk inflation dropping to the lowest level in over two years. israel says its forces have killed about 90 gunmen during a raid
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on the al shifa hospital in gaza. and the london eye gets its annual spring clean — join the staff braving heights of 135m to reach the glass pods on the iconic landmark. hello, i'm sarah campbell. the data watchdog is assessing a report that staff at the hospital where the princess of wales had surgery tried to view her private health information. the daily mirror claimed staff at the london clinic — which is frequently used by royals — "attempted to access her private medical reports". the information commissioners' office confirmed it received a "breach report" and is making inquiries. the princess was admitted for abdominal surgery injanuary. details of her condition have not been disclosed, with royal officials saying she wished for her medical
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