this is bbc news. i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 8.00: martin mcguinness, northern ireland's deputy first minister has resigned, leaving the devolved government in crisis. the situation we have been dealing with over the course of the past few years is unacceptable. i have calle a halt to dup arrogance. the health secretary says the guarantee that all patients who attend a&e will be seen within four—hours, could be scrapped. theresa may outlines plans to try and transform society's attitudes to mental health. a strike by underground workers has caused disruption for millions of travellers. the girlfriend of the missing raf serviceman corrie mckeague, has revealed that she is expecting his child. i have the support of everyone around me, and my family and friends, which is great but still not the most pleasant to go through when the person

you love is missing. claudio ranieri has been named coach of the year after guiding leicester city to the turtle. and coming up at half past eight we will have a special programme on the southern rail crisis. -- special programme on the southern rail crisis. —— to the title. good evening and welcome to bbc news. northern ireland is in political crisis tonight after the shock resignation of sinn fein‘s martin mcguinness as deputy first minister. under the power sharing agreement for northern ireland, this automatically means that the first minister arlene foster — of the democratic unionist party —

can no longer stay in her role. she said she was disappointed by the decision and claimed mr mcguinness was acting out of politics, not principle. as our correspondent chris page reports — northern ireland now faces the prospect of a snap election. martin mcguinness has been deputy first minister for a decade. he is evidently suffering from ill health but says he's decided to stand down because of bad relations with sinn fein‘s partners in government, the democratic unionist party. i have tendered my resignation, effective from five o'clock today. so i believe today is the right time to call a halt to the dup's arrogance. this is the culmination of a seemingly insurmountable rift that's developed between the deputy first minister and the dup leader, arlene foster. the latest crisis stems from a green energy scheme which has run over half £1 billion over budget. the renewable heat incentive paid

over—generous subsidies and didn't have payment caps. mrs foster was in charge of the project when it was set up but she's repeatedly refused calls to temporarily step down as first minister. i'm not stepping aside. i'm the first minister, i'm the party leader of the dup, i have a job to do, i'm committed to doing it. the announcement could mean the end of the career of one of the most significant figures in the peace process. he was a paramilitary who became a political leader. in the early 1970s, martin mcguinness was the ira's second—in—command in londonderry. as sinn fein made electoral gains, his public profile grew. we don't believe winning elections and winning any amount of votes will bring freedom in ireland, at the end of the day it will be the cutting edge of ira which will bring freedom. but republicans were on the road to peace. in the 1990s, the ira called a ceasefire. after many years of talks, martin mcguinness became the joint head of northern ireland's devolved

government, along with the hardline unionist leader ian paisley. they got on so well, they were nicknamed the chuckle brothers. but the partnership between the parties has been tense. mr mcguinness‘s decision to go means the government at stormont is set to fall. under the power—sharing system, the first and deputy first ministers work together in a joint office. when one of them resigns, the other cannot go on in isolation so in effect the devolved government has now collapsed. the likely outcome is a fresh election to the northern ireland assembly, though it's possible the westminster government could bring the parties together for talks. the leader of stormont‘s biggest opposition party says it's the end of a failed administration. ten years characterised by disappointments, debacles and scandals, i don't think the electorate need any more proof of the fact the dup and sinn fein are incapable of governing this country. the uneasy coalition

between the dup and sinn fein has often been unstable. several times, the downfall of devolution has looked likely. today, the deadlock in disagreement has come to a head. politics in northern ireland has an uncertain future. chris page, bbc news, belfast. the northern ireland secretary, james brokenshire, says he may have to take action, if sinn fein don't nominate a successor for mr mcguinness. the uk government has a primary role to provide political stability in northern ireland, and we will be doing all that we can over the coming days to work with the parties to find a solution to the current situation. the position is clear — if sinn fein does not nominate a replacement to the role of deputy first minister, then i am obliged to call an election of the assembly

within a reasonable period. i would urge the political parties, the leaders of the political parties, to come together and work together to find a solution to the current position, and we will be doing all that we can with the political parties and the irish government to that end. thank you very much. well, we can speak now tojon tonge, professor of politics at the university of liverpool and an expert on northern ireland. hejoins us from our studio in salford. thanks for being with us. good evening. many people believe it goes a lot deeper than the cash for ash scandal. the green energy scheme.

why has the previously good working relationship gone so wrong with arlene foster? martin mcguinness did have a cordial working relationship with ian paisley and to a lesser extent peter robinson but this exit nation has been a long time coming, since the start of december. sinn fein‘s owner support was very angry about the renewable heat initiative scandal and they put pressure on sinn fein leadership to take a tough sta nce sinn fein leadership to take a tough stance on this. this is a double resignation, one voluntary in martin mcguinness and one in voluntary because affectively martin mcguinness has stood down arlene foster. sinn fein will not be offering a replacement deputy first minister so elections seem

unavoidable. it's difficult to see how that can occur. i'm sure the secretary of state will try and force negotiations to avoid elections which will in themselves solve nothing. the chances are, the dup and sinn fein will still emerge the largest parties and it will put off any investigation into the scandal in terms of this heating scheme. if there is an election, arlene foster as potentially the leader of the party who gets most votes will still be in place? we can fairly safely assume that. there is a good chance that the dup will receive some electoral punishment from dup voters. sinn fein could then become the largest parties which would provide a sinn fein first minister which doesn't solve the problem of the heating scandal but it will make our gigs in

northern ireland even more interesting and difficult. would the dup be able to provide a deputy minister to work with sinn fein? arlene foster could get a renewed mandate from the election and then we're back to square one. elections in themselves do not solve the problem. you are suggesting that unionist anger at the incompetence of many believe was shown by arlene foster in this cash for ash scandal. wood based at home and sinn fein become the leading party? it's possible but i wouldn't take a short price about it. in an election, the sectarian card tends to come about. would an ordinary unionist rather pay £50 to pay for the scandal or have a sinn fein first minister, don't expect an answer based in economics. thanks, john. and we'll find out how this story

— and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — my guests tonight are the former conservative pensions minister ros altmann and the sports journalist mihir bose. the health secretaryjeremy hunt has indicated that a key nhs performance target could be scrapped. he told mps that the guarantee that all hospital a&e patients be seen within four hours might only apply in future to those in need of urgent care — and not to those with minor problems. mr hunt said there needed to be an "honest discussion with the public about the purpose of a&e departments." here's our health correspondent elaine dunkley. a&e departments struggling to cope is a familiar story at this time of year. the nhs is under unprecedented pressure. today the health secretary jeremy hunt said hospitals on the whole are coping, but warned that high numbers of people using a&e unnecessarily

was putting four—hour waiting times in jeopardy. it is clear we need to have an honest discussion with the public about the purpose of a&e departments. there is nowhere outside the uk that commits to all patients that we will sort out any health need within four hours. since the targets were introduced in 2000, there are nearly 9 million more visits to a&e departments. nhs england says that 30% of those attending shouldn't be there. if we are going to protect our four—hour standard, we need to be clear it is a promise to sort out all urgent problems within four hours, but not all health problems, however minor. so whilst the government warned non—emergency cases to avoid going into hospital, labour place the problem

at the door of number ten. this current crisis could have been averted. hospital bosses, council leaders, patient groups, mps from across the house, urged the chancellor to give the nhs and social care extra money in the autumn statement. those requests fell on deaf ears and we are now seeing the dismal consequences. the government says it is committed to maintaining that patients are seen within the four—hour waiting time but they must be urgent cases. elaine dunkley, bbc news. theresa may has used her first policy speech of the year to say she wants to make government a force for good, and use the opportunity of brexit to fundamentally change britain and create, in her words, "a shared society". the prime minister also set out a series of measures on mental health in england as the first part of what she called real reform across every layer of society. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg has more. six months since she walked into the famous street, six months she has been your prime minister but piecing together

what theresa may really stands for isn't always easy. but today she made clear she believes, for millions, life doesn't feel fair and her government can be part of the answer. when you see others prospering while you are not, when you try to raise concerns but they fall on deaf ears, when you feel your very identity and all that you hold dear is under threat, resentments grow so our responsibility is great. it is to show that mainstream centre—ground politics can deliver the change people need. a plain attempt to appeal to middle england. she has that ambition in common with her predecessor, but david cameron's dream of a big society is gone. a new slogan — or is it a vision? — in its place. the shared society is one that doesn'tjust value our individual rights, but focuses rather more on the responsibilities

we have to one another. it's a society that respects the bonds we share as a union of people and nations. the bonds of family, community, citizenship and strong institutions. and government will step up to support, and where necessary, enforce the responsibilities we have to each other as citizens. but although there were promises of more help for housing in weeks to come, controversial plans for schools, the only new commitments today were for mental health in england. made with passion, but no extra taxpayers' cash. for too long, mental illness has been something of a hidden injustice in our country, shrouded in a completely unacceptable stigma and dangerously disregarded as a secondary issue to physical health. left unaddressed, it destroys lives, separates people from each other, and deepens the divisions within our society. but as with all prime ministers,

whatever they say on the steps here or anywhere else quickly rubs up with reality. but theresa may has an extra dilemma. as she starts to manage the most obligated project any leader has faced in decades, there is a risk her government becomes simply consumed with how we leave the european union, and her political enemies say her words ring hollow. if only we could believe that she actually meant it. she's been part of a government now for the last six years which has cut back on public expenditure, savaged the nhs, and she's making these speeches about a shared society with the backdrop of people literally dying on trolleys while waiting for care in our hospitals, so i think there is a credibility gap here. it's only six months but those days of summer already seem long ago. few prime ministers, in the end, choose how they are remembered. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. time for a look at the sports news.

cristiano ronaldo has been named the world's best player at the fifa world's best player at the fifa world best awards tonight. claudio ranieri was named best coach. what a year he has had as leicester city manager. he was named as fifa's best coach of 2016 in recognition of leicester city's premier league title. he said that the football gods must have been shining on leicester city as they marched to the title. carli lloyd was named best women's player and cristiano ronaldo was named best male player

ahead of lionel messi and antoine griezmann. many people are thinking that the quality of play will be dilutive in a larger, expanded world cup. some people are thinking that too much football is being played but it looks like the confederations cup er behind the move to 48 teams for the world cup and that it will be confirmed in time for 2026. the fa cup draw has taken place. manchester united are at home to wigan. matches to be played the weekend of january 28. wigan. matches to be played the weekend ofjanuary 28. there is a third—round tie under way and we could have an upset. cambridge united are leading legia knighted 1-0. england flanker chris robshaw will miss the six nations

after undergoing surgery on a shoulder injury. he damaged his left shoulder in harlequins' match against worcester on new year's day. he is expected to be out of competitive action for around 12 weeks. jojoe root jo joe root should jojoe root should be in action for england after the birth of his first child. he is expected to fly out to india ahead of the first 0di this coming sunday. eoin morgan will return to captain england. he says his family were affected by the criticism he received for missing the october tour of bangladesh due to security fears. he and alex hales missed out on the tour after a siege ata missed out on the tour after a siege at a cafe. my way of dealing with that was getting away from things. which i did. i didn't see a great deal of it. my family has seen a lot

of it and were very offended but that's part and parcel of being in the limelight sometimes. certainly, standing here, i don't regret my decision. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. millions of commuters have had a difficult start to the week, after a strike on the london underground shut down most of the network. the country's busiest train station at clapham junction, had to be evacuated as large numbers of people tried to use overg round services instead. the walk—out, which ended at six o'clock this evening, is over cuts to staff numbers and safety. daniel boettcher has this report. this is what happens when up to four million commuters have to change their travel plans. with few underground trains running this morning, the bus network took much of the strain. even with extra services laid on, there were still long queues and added frustration for passengers. there are no london underground connections at finsbury park today. at the start of the day around a third of tube stations were closed,

gates locked, ticket halls empty. and although almost all lines were running, there was a limited service. so busy, all the roads are blocked, the buses have come past and there is no way to get on them. i've tried to get on three buses this morning so far and i haven't been able to get on yet, it's so busy. the way i see it, it kind of is what it is really. they've got their cause so... yeah, you work around it. the strike involves two unions, the rmt and the tssa, and is part of a continuing row overjobs and staffing levels which the unions say are jeopardising safety. we would much rather have avoided this but we were left with no other alternative because the offer we have been given was wholly unacceptable and wholly unsafe. the london underground has described this strike as unnecessary although it says that it accepts that more staff are needed. while london's mayor, sadiq khan, says he is taking action to address the unions‘ concerns. i know that this strike could have been avoided, i know this strike is unnecessary and i'm imploring the trade unions to come back and talk to the management team

about resolving this so there aren't further days of industrial action. but for some this will be the start of a week of strikes. tomorrow, 2,500 british airways cabin crew belonging to the unite union will start a two—day strike over pay, although the airline insists all passengers will be able to fly to their destinations. at the same time, commuters in the south—east will face three more days of strikes on the troubled southern franchise. today's industrial action has not involved 0verground services though some trains were struggling to cope with the extra demand from tube passengers. clapham junction, one of the country's busiest stations, was evacuated for a short time because of overcrowding. and many roads have seen extra congestion as commuters tried to find other ways to get to and from work. london underground warns things will not get back to normal until tomorrow morning. daniel boettcher, bbc news. the girlfriend of the missing raf serviceman, corrie mckeague, says he's due to become a father.

he disappeared after a night out with friends in bury st edmunds in september. april 0liver, who's 21, says she became pregnant after a relationship with mr mckeague, who's from fife but based in suffolk. ms 0liver has been speaking to susie fowler—watt at bbc look east. we started off seeing each other and it was quite casual. we were both seeing other people at the time. and then we went on to have conversations whereby we thought it was getting serious, and what we were going to do and what plans we had. we know that he disappeared at the end of september, how recently had you seen him before then? i had seen him near enough the same week that he went missing. but when he went missing, you happened to be abroad with your family. when did you hear that he was missing? i had only been there a few days when i got a call from the raf boys

asking if i had seen him or heard from him on the monday, i think it was. that's when i knew that he was obviously missing and i quickly got the plane home. how long after that did you then discover that you were pregnant? a couple of weeks after i came back, after going through police interviews and, unfortunately, i've had to make a massive decision by myself. i was hoping and praying we would find out some information that he would come home so we could make the decision together. we had had conversations about children and what we wanted in the past. it was something that i hoped that he would be here to help me make the decision but unfortunately, he isn't. british talent may have triumphed at this year's golden globes but once again donald trump appears to have stolen the headlines. he called meryl streep "overrated"

after the actress accused mr trump of "divisive rhetoric" at last night's awards in california, from where james cook reports. yet again hollywood has been invaded by british acting royalty. in film and in television, stars from the uk are wowing audiences and impressing critics. and what could be more british than the queen? she has been at the centre of the world for the past 63 years and i think the world could do with a few more women at the centre of it, if you ask me. there were three awards for the cast of the bbc co—production, the night manager. it's star, tom hiddleston, told us he couldn't believe it. i did not expect to win a golden globe tonight and i was sat next to hugh laurie when he won and i thought, i can go home happy. and then when it came to my category, i was up against some real legends. 0livia colman, the night manager. another british winner was absent —

0livia colman is preparing to start work on a new film. but hugh laurie was there to pick up his award from the hollywood foreign press association with a dig at donald trump. i suppose made more amazing by the fact that i will be able to say that i won this at the last ever golden globes. i don't mean to be gloomy, it's just that it has the words hollywood, foreign and press in the title, ijust don't know... receiving a lifetime achievement award, meryl streep also lambasted the president—elect. disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose. in the most predictable plot twists, donald trump responded on twitter. meryl streep was one of the most overrated actresses in hollywood, he said, calling the three—time oscar winner "a hillary flunky who lost big." 0n the night, though, it was not politics which prevailed but escapism.

la la land! la la land. there were a record seven golden globes for the old—fashioned musical la la land, including acting awards for its stars, ryan gosling and emma stone. this is a film for dreamers. and i think that hope and creativity are two of the most important things in the world and that is what this movie is about. hollywood can be fun and frivolous but it also prides itself on tackling serious subjects and many stars here on the red carpet are predicting a surge in political films this year following the most divisive of elections. james cook, bbc news, at the golden globes in angeles. the headlines in a couple of minutes but first the weather withj wynne. another batch of rain and wind

coming in, affecting the west of scotla nd coming in, affecting the west of scotland in particular. a chilly night, with a chill in the air first thing tomorrow. a lot of bright weather across the east side of england in particular tomorrow morning. cloud and patchy rain drift in from west to east. after a chilly start, single figure temperatures for most places. looking ahead towards wednesday, it's going to be a windy day. a lot of showers around. rain and snow showers. as the week goes on gets cold and we may see those snow showers get down to lower levels. i'm clive myrie.

the headlines at 8.00: northern ireland facing political crisis after the resignation of deputy first minister martin mcguinness. the situation we have been dealing with in the course of the last few years is an acceptable andi the last few years is an acceptable and i have called a halt to dup arrogance. health secretary jeremy hunt says patients attending amd —— a&e units with less serious illnesses may not see a doctor within four hours. theresa may has announced a focus on mental illness and young children. and walk—outs in

london overjobs and safety on the transport network. now, jo coburn presents a debate from east instead on the crisis on the railways in south—east england. the southern rail strike has caused misery for hundreds of thousands. hello. exasperated commuters, unhealthily packed trains, and companies forced out of business. britain's worst rail strike in 20 years has meant misery for hundreds and thousands of people and tonight we are hosting a debate on the crisis on southern rail. the train fares are going up but the service has been not been getting better. the trains are ridiculous. i don't know who's right and who's wrong. somebody has got to sort it out or something is going to have to change and negotiate. i try to empathise with why they are striking. if the company gets round the table and we can hammer out a deal then we can call off these strikes and get back to work.

we will try to get you onto the train. it's really difficult to negotiate with another party who don't understand compromise. i don't think the prime minister has any idea of the level of suffering and pain that rail passengers and businesses are suffering. there is only one body responsible for the current strike. this is a strike from the trade unions. let me start by introducing our panel. mick lynch is the assistant general secretary of the rmt. mr lynch has said he is sorry that people have had to put up with strike action but it is for the company to get round the table and we can hammer out a deal. well, the man who says he is more than happy to hammer out a deal with the unions is stood right next to mick lynch, and is charles horton, the chief executive of southern.