today at 5: a sharp rise in the number of people with mental health problems asking to be seen at accident and emergency departments in england. figures seen by the bbc show a 47% rise in psychiatric attendances at a&e departments over the past four years. our a&es, from what i've seen of it, are very busy, overstimulated places. and somebody with a mental health issue, it's not just conducive at all to them. it comes as figures leaked to the bbc show record numbers of nhs patients in england are facing long waits in a&e departments. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: jeremy corbyn says labour does understand concerns about immigration but it doesn't believe in unrealistic targets. we are not wedded to free movement to the eu as a point of principle but i don't want to be misinterpreted, nor do we rule it out. police in york are questioning a 15—year—old girl in connection with the death of a seven—year—old child. football's governing body, fifa, approves plans to expand

the world cup from 32 to 48 teams. and the bafta nominations are out with the jazz musical la la land leading the way. it's 5 o'clock. our main story is that there's been a significant increase in the number of people with mental health problems asking to be seen at accident and emergency departments in england's hospitals. figures from nhs digital, and analysed for the bbc, show that, in the year 2015—16, there were over 165,000 psychiatric attendances at a&e departments — a rise of 47% over the past four years. doctors describe the figures

as the tip of the iceberg as not all mental health cases are evident in the figures. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holt, has the story and reports from birmingham. it's another day of unrelenting demand in the emergency department of birmingham's queen elizabeth hospital. patients are lining up on trolleys in the corridor and the waiting room is packed. the psychiatric team based in the department is dealing with a number of people who have tried to take their own lives. among them, a woman in her early 20s. doctors have dealt with the physical effects of the overdose but the root cause is the history of mental health problems. what's happened, then? what's brought you to a&e today? i took an overdose. i went up to the train track. she is one of the rapidly increasing number of patients

arriving at a&es like this with psychiatric difficulties. many are young. the voices are getting more intense, wanting to harm myself. it's not attempts, it's actually trying to do it, not just doing it as a cry for help. i've never been this bad before. i'm scared. in a busy a&e, even finding a room for this conversation was a struggle. now this isn't the right place for her but she needs to be monitored. this was actually a suicide intent. if we were to discharge from here, she would likely go out there and try and do something even riskier. was there any particular trigger when you took the tablets? at this hospital, they see more than 100 people a week facing a psychiatric crisis and the mental health trust has set up a quiet unit nearby to assess people away from the pressure. its staff then search for the psychiatric beds or community support needed.

we need to admit this lady. nobody in the mental health crisis in accident and emergency unless they've got a physical health need. 0ur a&es are very, very busy, overstimulated places. and somebody with a mental health issue, it'sjust not conducive at all to them to be in that environment. that's why, in birmingham, they've set up this street triage team to intervene before people reach the emergency department. with a police officer, paramedic and psychiatric nurse on board, they respond to 999 calls when there are mental health concerns. i'm a nurse. my name's lisa and we are the triage team. already this evening, the man they are visiting has called for an ambulance several times. his physical health is checked, they listen to and assess him. are you telling me that there are these negative voices in your head at the moment? ithink, like, there's

someone controlling me. it's kind of like i'm some kind of machine. after half an hour, it's agreed, rather than going to a&e, he will keep a community appointment in the morning. has it helped, having the visit? i think the first step is me asking for help as well as being assured that i will get the help. 0ver over the last four or five weeks, he has been going to a and it quite a lot. he has had six admissions. we have come out tonight to prevent that. night and day, the street triage team is in demand. they believe it is making a difference getting people the right help. we have managed to reduce numbers to attendance to a&e. you get police

forces and paramedics working in collaboration together. for many, a end it will remain the first place they turn to. the challenge is to help people who are vulnerable before they reach a crisis. other official figures seen by the bbc show that tens of thousands of nhs patients in england have waited hours on trolleys before being admitted to hospital this year. this winter is proving one of the busiest on record for accident and emergency departments but the health secretary, jeremy hunt, told the commons yesterday that most hospitals were coping well. let's explore what those record numbers are. last week, across 131 trusts in england, almost 18,500 patients waited for more than four hours to get a bed and nearly 500 patients waited for more than 12

hours to get a bed — three times the number seen during the whole of january last year. with me is professor sir brian jarman from imperial college school of medicine. he was formerly chair of the bma and was one the experts who first alerted the authorities to the failings at mid staffordshire hospital. we are talking about these latest figures mental health patients approaching a and d departments and the more general problem of the pressures we have been talking about. what is your diagnosis of the main cause of that problem? we have an increasing number of people in

the country, an increasing number of elderly, we have a problem with care homes, which are in great difficulty. you have the difficulty of getting an appointment with a gp but the fundamental problem is that, over the last 30 years, both governments have cut the numbers of beds to half of what they were an increased the number of admissions to double. you are in the situation in which the beds are too few for the number of people coming in. we have increased occupancy of the hospital. that occupancy should be less tha n hospital. that occupancy should be less than 85% in acute. that is because he need to get somebody out of the bed, bring somebody in. we have now reached a point where that occupancy is over 91%, which is in the danger area. what i been doing over the years is to look at the factors that explain the variation

and, up until last year, the main thing has been the number of hospital doctors per bed, which makes sense. now, an additional factor is coming in, which is occupancy. if you have more doctors, you have lower death rates. and i think the reason they have been cut is probably because management co nsulta nts is probably because management consultants told the treasury, you wa nt to consultants told the treasury, you want to save money, cut the beds. that does not work. it is the cost of the initial admission. if you work at the cost with the initial first day, doing x—rays, arranging treatment, that is the most expensive bit. if you increase that every time by increasing admissions and to save money effectively, to cut the number of beds, it leads to

chaos. we have reached the point where it is a problem and it will inevitably knock on to the effective accident and emergency is being too full. yesterday, we spoke to the doctor who said, echoing quite a lot of what you were saying, he wanted more money in emergency departments, more money in emergency departments, more doctors, but raised the issue of what extent the system dovetails with social care, this is not working properly, it is not efficient, and that causes a backlog in hospitals. do you see any political will to tackle that very big problem? the politicalwill at the moment is to survive. what they have in the united states is... i read a paper some years ago showing we sent people home where is the

sent people to intermediary care, they have specialist nurses, hospital at home. and we just do not have that so that the lengths of stay can be shorter in the states because you know they are going somewhere where you are safe. we used to have convalescent homes. when i was in the district management team, the people trying to keep them open did not have the power against the glamour specialties, and they were closed. today we're talking about a second said the figures, which are mental health problems. there has been a sharp rise in these figures of the past four years. what is your sense of why that has happened?m past four years. what is your sense of why that has happened? it is a question of closing beds. i had been tweeting a graft showing it has been going down. if people can manage an outside hospital, but they have got toa outside hospital, but they have got to a point where it seems impossible. now you need almost none. i think that is the basic

problem behind the door. personally, ifi problem behind the door. personally, if i had anything to do with it, i would say stop the closures of the beds. the data on mental illness is not good but we do know that many deaths in one or two trusts have not been investigated. that is a problem. 0nce been investigated. that is a problem. once you do that, you can find problems and you can take action quickly. i have used the term before, there is a form of denial machine at the centre of the nhs to deny problems. an apolitical or managerial level? if i were to say the priorities, it would be, not going to the media and secondly, saving money. i hope number three would be to get lower death rates and better quality of care but i feel that is the priority for managers and the nhs. given there is

so much talk of crisis in these departments at the moment, if you we re departments at the moment, if you were asked for a message tojeremy hunt, what would it be? get some more hospital beds! he may be listening. it is good to talk to you. labour does accept that voters have concerns about immigartion. that was the message from party leaderjeremy corbyn today. but he said labour supported the reasonable management of migration as part of leaving the eu and would not offer unrealistic targets for reducing migration. earlier today, mr corbyn surprised some of his own mps by suggesting that one answer to pay inequality in britain would be a cap on earnings. mr corbyn's been speaking in peterborough. 0ur chief politial correspondent, vicki young, is there. yesterday, we heard from theresa

may, laying out her vision, talking about an unfettered society and talking about brexit. those eu negotiations will dominate the political landscape in the day was a chance forjeremy corbyn to lay out exactly what labour's priorities would be. he accused the government of being in disarray over brexit but u nfortu nately for of being in disarray over brexit but unfortunately for him, he got from southern tangle over two of his own policies. jeremy corbyn has poked fun at the prime minister over her catchphrase, brexit news brexit. but today, you has had to clarify labour's own position. it was widely trailed he would make it clear he was not attached to the free movement of eu workers but this is what he actually said. we are not wedded to free movement of the eu was appointed principal but i do not want to be misinterpreted nor do we rule it out. we cannot afford to lose full

access to european marques circuits on so many british businesses and jobs. changes to the way migration rules operate all of us to be part of negotiations. we support their rules. 0ur of negotiations. we support their rules. our management of migration is part of the deal while putting jobs and living standards first. while not wedded to free movement, jeremy corbyn is willing to cohabit, accepted jeremy corbyn is willing to cohabit, a cce pted if jeremy corbyn is willing to cohabit, accepted if that is the best deal for the economy. this has not pleased leading leave campaigners. he has already backtracked on that commitment and free movement mauls and take back control over the ocean policy. we said we are coming out of the eu so we will take back control of immigration but the labour party's position is a mess and it is totally unclear. those close to jeremy corbyn say he was to capture the antiestablishment mood sweeping through so many western countries at the moment. not exactly a left—wing

donald trump something that will make the political weather. there was talk of helping those on low pay worried about immigration, he created a storm for those on high pay as well. i would like to see a maximum limit because i think that would be a very thing to do. even that was finessed by the time of his speech this afternoon. a range of options including incentives for companies to control top people's pgy- companies to control top people's pay. jp morgan limited salaries to 20 times that ofjunior employers. another advocate of pay ratios was david cameron. his government proposed a 20—1 pay ratio to limit sky—high pay in the public sector and now or salaries higher than 150,000 must be signed off by the cabinet office. we will go further and extend that to any company that

is awarded a government contract. but one of his former advisers were sceptical. capping high earnings makes no sense at all. we have a crisis of inequality in this country andjeremy crisis of inequality in this country and jeremy corbyn is right to say it needs to be addressed but you cannot impose a 100% tax on one sort of income. many labour mps are pleased jeremy corbyn is beginning to set out his vision papers brexit britain stopped some say he needs to stop think a bit more about the detail. a certain amount of confusion today and frustration amongst labour mps who feel the leader of the 0pposition does not get many chances but his message across. they hope in the future, he will be clearer. having said that, where do we stand tonight on those issues, the very issue of the single market and whether we have membership or access to it, and the big question of the

levels of migration that a labour government would be thinking as appropriate or not? there has been in the labour party a lot of divisions over this issue of immigration. there are many labour mps and supporters who feel that the party has not reflected the frustration that some feel many mps who represent areas in the north of england from ukip, many in constituencies like this one, who voted overwhelmingly to leave the eu. they feel that up until now the labour leadership is not recognised people's unhappiness with the levels of immigration. we were given indications yesterday that there may bea indications yesterday that there may be a shift it, something labour mps we re be a shift it, something labour mps were welcoming from jeremy corbyn, but he has stuck to his principles. he does not think there is a problem with the number of immigrants coming to this country and he has continued to this country and he has continued to repeat that today. that will cause frustration amongst labour mps. 0n cause frustration amongst labour mps. on this other issue of the

salary cap, he is talking about ratios, and that is something many feel could be popular. we even had theresa may talking about divisions within society about this kind of thing. jeremy corbyn is trying to put flesh on the bones but is doing it, almost thinking aloud. we have had these twists and turns and a certain of confusion. this is bbc news at 5. the headlines: figures seen by the bbc show a 47% rise in psychiatric attendances at a&e departments in england over the past four years. jeremy corbyn says labour does understand concerns about immigration but it doesn't believe in unrealistic targets. the world cup will be expanded from

32 teams to 48. the fa backs the decision and says consideration has to be given to the potential impact of players, fans and teams. lord coe has been recalled to investigate a committee investigating doping in athletics. he has been asked to know what he knew about allegations. kempton park racecourse is set to be close to make way for housing. i will have a full update you next 15 minutes. police in york are questioning a 15—year—old girl in connection with the death of a younger child after a seven—year—old girl was found seriously injured near a house in woodthorpe yesterday afternoon. she died later in hospital. 0ur correspondent, fiona trott, is in york. more people have been arriving here

in the past few minutes to lay flowers a nd in the past few minutes to lay flowers and from the messages that have been left here, we understand the seven—year—old girl who had died was called kt. 0ne card reads, night, night, my darling princess, love nan and grandad. detectives have been revisiting the scene here. 24 hours into their investigation, they have been carrying out house—to—house enquiries. there has been police activity outside the house about half a mile from here. we understand that to be linked to the investigation. you can see the police van behind me. there is a playing field behind that and we understand that is where the girl was found yesterday. neighbours have told us that that bill's mother arrived here at half past four. she was frantic and crying and asking people to call for an ambulance. an ambulance arrived and the little girl was taken to hospital but died a short time later. it has hit the

community heart. i heard on the news this morning. it is a very sad thing. this kind of thing does not happen here. there are a lot of rumours going around about what has happened but it is an unbelievable event. she was a very close friend to my daughter and a truly unique, beautiful little girl, respected her beautiful little girl, respected her beautiful family. a15 -year-old girl is still in police custody. we do not know what she is being held on suspicion. north yorkshire police have told the circumstances require the investigation to be conducted in a particularly sensitive manner. the northern ireland secretary has said a new election for the stormont assembly is increasingly likely. the power—sharing government is in crisis following the resignation

of sinn fein's martin mcguiness as deputy first minister. the main cause of the dispute is the mishandling of an energy scheme which could cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds. my colleague, ben brown, is at the northern ireland assembly. james broken shire said in the commons today that the situation here is grave. it is the worst, most serious political crisis here in northern ireland for a decade, triggered by that resignation of martin mcguinness over the controversial renewable heating scheme but many say runs deeper than that and that sinn fein have become fed up with the way that power—sharing in northern ireland has been operating recently. arlene foster, she was the first minister,

she's no longer the first minister because once a deputy reside under the power—sharing rules, that means she also gone. i very much regret that, as politicians, we are unable to find a way through the issues and the impact of that failure is to penalise people from northern ireland who had no effective functioning executive at a time of major challenges. for our part, we have sort of up solutions to the problems of this last number of weeks, we have had a number of meetings with sinn fein which is the political will had existed on their pa rt political will had existed on their part could have allowed us to avoid the situation we now find ourselves in. that is the dup leader. what happens next, it seems very likely indeed that there will be new elections for the northern ireland

assembly but that may not change very much at all. some people have speculated that could be a return to direct rule from monday. that was put the shin pain president. the la st put the shin pain president. the last person who would have wanted to resign is martin mcguinness. that shows you how terrible the position was. he had no other option than to say the status quo cannot prevail. folks of the dup want been power—sharing with the rest of us, on their terms. the good friday agreement, the principles, good manners, respect, tolerance and equality, fairness, transparency, have to be at the core. the thought is that of gerry adams. let's talk now to the journalist and veteran commentator on northern ireland affairs. put this into historical

context for us. we talk about this being the result of this heating scheme but it runs deeper than that. here we are, 20 years after the good friday agreement, a historic moment which was portrayed as the confirmation of our peace, and here we are in this crisis. you described is the most serious political crisis. here we are in this crisis with people talking about the need for a new agreement and no short—term fix to the problems we have at this time. so sinn fein have run out of patience with the way the power—sharing work?|j run out of patience with the way the power-sharing work? i was at an event on saturday were gerry adams was addressing a large republican audience, making clear that if arlene foster did not step aside, sinn fein would bring that situation about that led to martin mcguinness's resignation. the republican leadership is responding toa republican leadership is responding to a grassroots mood, the mood that

these institutions are not working for republicans, what is in this for us? that is what has brought this to a head and brought into the frame this discussion now about the need for a new agreement, this discussion now about the need fora new agreement, putting this discussion now about the need for a new agreement, putting on the table issues that have been impossible to deal with over the past decade or so. so we are likely to have new elections but they would not change very much? elections change numbers but not issues. the big issues that republicans are talking about is a process that addresses the legacy of our past, they have been discussing that for a decade. the idea that you could sort that out in a few weeks or months does not seem to fit. an irish language act, the whole question of reconciliation. these big issues going on to the table. if we're talking about a new agreement, we're talking about a new agreement, we're talking about a long negotiation. the question is, will there be any

mood or appetite for an election? the question is, will there be any mood or appetite for an election7m direct rule from london, is that an option or possibility? it is a possibility. many thanks indeed. the northern ireland secretary said today that he would like to see talks between sinn fein and the dup to find a way out of this crisis but the war of words between the two site at the moment is critiqued the true holek and it does not look like there will be any agreement any time soon. the musical la la land has picked up the most nominations for this year's bafta film awards, leading the field with 11. the drama arrival and the dark thriller nocturnal animals received nine nominations each and british actors up for awards include andrew garfield and emily blunt. 0ur entertainment correspondent, lizo mximba, was at bafta's headquarters this morning for the announcements. # city of stars, are you shining just for me?

a musical love letter to los angeles, la la land's 11 bafta nominations come after the story of an aspiring actress and a talented jazz musician swept the board of the golden globes. it's recognised in the best film and best director categories, nominations too for its stars ryan gosling and emma stone. i'm here because i... many british stars have been recognised, a best actress nod for emily blunt, as an alcoholic in the girl on the train. jump on it. you're kidding. i'm going to drag you... a best actor nod for andrew garfield in world war ii drama, hacksaw ridge. information, let's exchange information. the supporting performer nominations include aaron taylorjohnson, who said he was genuinely humbled to be recognised, the dark thriller, nocturnal animals... why didn't you come home like you are supposed to?

naomi harris, nominated for the coming of age story, moonlight... i tried to explain to the woman, i've never been to newcastle before, we'vejust moved up here from london for a few days. i don't know where i'm going. and hayley squires, who said she was so grateful to be nominated for i, daniel blake. jesus christ! who's first in this queue? the welfare state drama received five nominations in total including best film and best director ken loach. 50 years after his first bafta nomination for tv drama, cathy come home. ken loach has threatened retirement on a few occasions, hasn't he, but when a story grabs him, in this case, the script, he has to make it. that's what drives him. while another veteran meryl streep's best actress nod for florence fosterjenkins means she now equals damejudi dench's record of 15 bafta film nominations. you've never sounded better. time for a look at the weather —

here's jay wynne. we are going to see some snow in the next few days but at the moment it is the wind that is a key feature overnight and tomorrow. the strongest blowing a gale across scotla nd strongest blowing a gale across scotland overnight tonight and the rain turning increasingly to snow over higher ground. the wind is a key feature of tomorrow with blustery conditions and some travel disruption likely. up to 60 miles an hour or more and wintry showers over the higher ground of scotland. and blowing around in the wind as well.

just about hanging on to double figures further south. 0n just about hanging on to double figures further south. on thursday we have further snow showers in the northern half of the uk. some wet weather across wales and the south of england. this is bbc news at five — the headlines. figures seen by the bbc show there's been a significant increase in the number of people with mental health problems asking to be seen at accident and emergency departments in england's hospitals. figures have revealed the full extent of the winter health crisis with people having to wait on trolleys to get a bed. the labour leader has set out his plans for brexit. jeremy corbyn says he is no longer

"wedded" to the principle of freedom of movement of european union citizens once britain leaves — but that he wouldn't rule out keeping it. police are questioning a 15—year—old girl in connection with the death of a younger child in york. the seven—year—old girl was found seriously injured in the woodthorpe area of the city. she later died. now to sports with 0lly foster. hello. the football association says it supports fifa's decision to expand the world cup from 32 to 48 teams but that consideration needs to be given to the potential impact on fans, players, teams and leagues. the change will start in the 2026 tournament. the scottish fa believes it's a positive step, that will allow more fans across the globe to be a part of football's showpiece event. the european club association representing over 200 major teams, opposes a bigger world cup, saying it's based on political reasons rather than sporting ones. the top two in groups of three

qualify and the group winner will have to play group one or. that means that every match is decisive. —— have to play group runner—up. which is not the case. penalties could be looked at. is this purely for sporting reasons or because this isa for sporting reasons or because this is a money and power grab by fifa and using the world cup is that mechanism. we want to do something for football, when you mechanism. we want to do something forfootball, when you look mechanism. we want to do something for football, when you look at the finances, and we have to look at the finances, and we have to look at the finances cause if it is loss—making you cannot invest money in football. so this was the first element. the way we presented it was ok, we presented for different formats and every one of those had an advantage

in terms of the financial situation. which means we are in a comfortable situation to take a decision simply based on the sporting merit. lord coe, the president of athletics world governing body the iaaf, will be asked to give more evidence to mp's as part of its inquiry into doping in sport. coe told a select committee in december 2015 that he was unaware of any specific allegations about the extent of russian doping but former athlete dave bedford told the same committee today, that he had called and emailed coe to warn him about the scandal in august of that year. the iaaf has issued a statement saying today's evidence presents nothing new, and that lord coe has no further information he can provide to the inquiry. sir dave brailsford has criticised the chairman of uk anti—doping, for undermining the investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in cycling. david kenworthy described evidence given by the team sky principal to mps last month,

as "extraordinary" and "very disappointing". most fair—minded people in the uk would accept that if there is any issue and you start a process and there is an authority which is the right place to get to the bottom of something, and it is a diligent process and we trust and respect that and there is an open investigation which is still ongoing, the chair of the organisation, for him to discuss the actual contents of the investigation whilst it is open is an extraordinary thing in my mind. after 150 years of horse—racing, kempton park is set to be closed to make way for around 3000 new homes. should the proposal go ahead, in 2021 at the earliest, kempton's famous king george vi chase would move to sandown, located six miles away. and newmarket would benefit from a new all—weather track.

the course's owner thejockey club says the proposal is "for the long—term good of british racing" and is part of plans to raise £500m to invest in the sport. that's all sport for now. you can keep up to date with all those stories on the bbc sport website and i'll have more in sportsday at half past six. more on that expanded world cup. let's go more now on the message from jeremy corbyn, that labour does accept that voters have concerns about immigration. he said labour supported the " reasonable management" of migration — as part of leaving the eu — and would not offer unrealistic targets for reducing migration. we'rejoined by the labour mp stephen kinnock. thank you for coming in. the whole

principle of freedom of movement and where the labour party stands, what would you say to that question mark over the weekend reynolds and i put forward a proposal and we are saying that there should be a two tier system dealing with migration from the eu or eu workers with the first tier being highly skilled workers over a certain skill and salary threshold and then for low and semiskilled workers there should be a quota set on a sector by sector basis on the basis of dialogue between government, industry and trade unions. i hope that now that jeremy corbyn has said that labour is not wedded to the principle of free movement, he will now look at proposals such as the one emma and i have made and give them serious consideration because i do think we need to clarify our position on this urgently. what do think the message

is that voters will take from the statement today thatjeremy corbyn is not interested in offering unrealistic targets on migration and not interested in playing games on that level. i think we have learned from the awful error that david cameron and the conservatives made by saying we want to reduce immigration to tens of thousands and then failing to do so because there was not a system in place. what i'm proposing is a system of greater management, affair and progressive system, balanced, which will i'm confident bringing numbers down but first you need to put a system in place. you need a proper dialogue with business and government and trade unions to set the right numbers which ensures you have enoughjobs out numbers which ensures you have enough jobs out there for local workers but also ensure there are no labour shortages because in some areas of the economy we need immigration. i think most people in

the country recognise that. so we need some flesh on the bones, we need some flesh on the bones, we need a policy in place and article 50 is going to be triggered at the end of march and it is essential the labour party has a clear position on this. i would labour party has a clear position on this. iwould have labour party has a clear position on this. i would have to say at the present time there is little clarity coming from the government and that is an opportunity for us to step into that space. i have asked diane abbott and jeremy corbyn in the past about the current levels of net migration and asked about whether that level is unacceptable to the current labour leadership and the a nswer current labour leadership and the answer has been clear, to say that we need migration and for that reason they have not criticised that level. you are saying today to voters that actually, there is another view within the labour party that that is too high?|j another view within the labour party that that is too high? i think it is too high and also it is not clear where the strategy is for getting

the right skills profiles, the right people coming into our country so we know we are adding value, adding to growth and we also are maximising opportunities for local workforces to have the skills and training and job opportunities that they need. it is getting that balance right in my opinion the only way to do that is to have a quota —based system for low and semiskilled workers. i think for the higher skilled workers it is a different case and of course we also need to make sure it is reciprocal so british workers enjoyed the same benefits across the eu. so it is a numbers game, it is important that we have a commitment to reducing the number but it is also really important to have a commitment to ensure that what we do when we reached the numbers were co mforta ble when we reached the numbers were comfortable with, the right immigration with the right profile for the economy to drive the economy forward. jeremy corbyn offered another policy idea, and earnings cap to tackle the great pay

inequality problem we have the uk. do you think that would be a wise choice? i do not see how that is workable. i'm not even entirely sure it is legal. i think what we need do is empower shareholders in companies to make sure their boats are binding. i would like to see executive remuneration changed to be based on delivering performance over a longer period, say three or four yea rs a longer period, say three or four years rather than this short—term rush for shareholder value and quick profits which i think is a perverse incentive for these companies. so i would like a change in the structure in the way that executives are remunerated, empowering shareholders to hold their executives to account. and changing the way that companies act, for example by having workers on the enumeration boards to ensure that we really are having a reality check on some of these stratospheric salaries. i agree that we need to do

something about these excessive executive pay is but setting a cap, ido executive pay is but setting a cap, i do not see how that works. it seems to be a somewhat arbitrary way of doing it and who would decide what that cap should be, if there is between an entrepreneur who has taken huge risk to set up a business to someone who is more on the corporate side of the economy. so i think we have got to look at things like pay ratios, empowering shareholders, willing to a much longer time scale in terms of managing performance and rewarding good performance of executives. but ona good performance of executives. but on a much more sustainable basis. address the causes of the problem and not the symptoms. thank you very much. the us senate is holding its confirmation hearing forjeff sessions, donald trump's controversial nominee to be the next us attorney—general. as the senator arrived,

protestors dressed as members of the ku klux klan, staged a demonstration. the us president—elect‘s choice for attorney general senatorjeff sessions, faces questions about his past record on civil rights and his tough immigration stance at his confirmation hearing. jeff sessions was denied a federal judge position in 1996 after it was found he had made racist remarks. he denied making any such remarks. this caricature of me in 1986 was not correct. i have become united states attorney, i supported as a civil rights attorney said, major civil rights attorney said, major civil rights cases in my district that

integrated schools, and ended single member districts that denied african americans the right to hold office. idid americans the right to hold office. i did everything i was required to do and the complaints about the voter fraud case and about the clan case that i vigorously prosecuted and supported, they are false. and i do hope that this hearing today will show that i conducted myself honourably and properly at that time andi honourably and properly at that time and i am the same person and perhaps wiser and maybe a little better, i hope so, today than i was then. but idid not hope so, today than i was then. but i did not harbour the kind of animosity and race race discrimination ideas that i was accused of. i did not. a very forceful statement there from senatorjeff sessions. our correspondent barbara plett—usherjoins me now from washington. what did you make of that and what

kind of reception was there to that statement from the senator? the general atmosphere in the committee is one of wondering whatjeff sessions would bring to the role because so many letters have been sent to the committee, people fearing that he is going to roll back rights for gay people, for women, for blacks because he has a very ultraconservative position which are on record in congress and because of allegations of race in his past. he's been questioned as to whether he will uphold the law for all people including those laws he didn't against. that is the nature of the grilling and contempt of the response to his defence, people are still asking him about the specifics of the allegations against him. for example the case where he was accused of not protecting black voting rights which she pushed back on but he has on a number of

occasions through the testimony come back and said again that he has acted on behalf of civil rights, he protects them and would continue to do so. and there was a human exchange of one point, when senator lindsey graham, also from the south, said we're both from the south, how have you been able to deal with this kind of stereotype for many years that you are racist or this belief that you are racist or this belief that you are racist or this belief that you are. he said, i was not prepared for that perception and it was kind of a human moment as well. so it has formed quite a large part of the committee meeting and you had those protesters coming in as well saying no tramp, no racism so very much part of the town. when you look at the committee and make up of that, our people expecting that there is a possibility at least that this ratification process could be blocked or do you think that the expectation is thatjeff sessions will get through? i think the

expectation is he will get through because the committee has a majority of republicans on it and none of them have indicated that they would vote against him. so if all the democrats boast against his domination it would take two or three republicans with him and by this point we would have thought to have seen if that was going to be the case. but none —— nonetheless this could be one of the most controversial and if not the most controversial and if not the most controversial hearings of the cabinet positions and the democrats are going to make the most of it. they're wanting to make sure that they quiz him on all those areas of concern and get him to put on the record that he will uphold laws that already exist say on abortion and same—sex marriage, which she has done. and quiz him about areas in the past that they are worried about. the guild of responsibility, there are so many concerns expressed

to the democrats and there is some fear in the country and they're using this committee meeting to clarify that. and also to put a notice that they will be watching carefully. —— put him on notice. thank you. president 0bama will leave the white house in 10 days' time — he makes a farewell address in chicago later tonight— when he's expected to share his own thoughts on what he's achieved in foreign policy — including the deal with iran over its nuclear programme, the improved relations with cuba, and the capture of 0sama bin laden in pakistan. but the conflict in syria, the rise of so—called islamic state, and relations with israel and russia — are all factors which reflect badly on the president, according to his critics. 0ur north america editorjon sopel looks at president 0bama's legacy in foreign affairs. there was always something upside

down about barack 0bama receiving the nobel peace prize before he had really done anything as president. when he came to office one the greatest strategic threats was a rant, recession power in the region. but more important than that was securing a multinational deal to curb the nuclear ambitions of tehran, an agreement was struck despite fierce opposition from the israeli prime minister. when benjamin nesson iq came to address congress two years ago, there was fury in the white house, they were angry that an invitation had been extended by republican leaders and accepted without the president knowing. but very soon someone much more to the israeli prime minister's liking will be occupying the white house and the quest in the world is asking, will the iran nuclear deal survives the change of power? over here we have been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. this is a

bad deal. a very bad deal. his relationship with neta nyahu bad deal. a very bad deal. his relationship with netanyahu was one low point, relating in the us refusing to veto a un resolution critical of the israeli policy of settle m e nt critical of the israeli policy of settlement building. the chemistry with the russian leader bellarmine putin was no better, crimea, cyber espionage and syria left them barely speaking. the pledge at the beginning of his presidency was all about disengaging from costly conflict and bringing the troops back home. we can say to those families who've lost loved ones to al-qaeda terror, justice has been done. but the optimism brought by the successful raid to kill 0sama bin ladin and the spread of the arab spring... would eventually be replaced by a middle east in flames. and the rise of so—called islamic state, the fight against which remains unfinished business. arguably the low point for president

0bama in the middle east has been syria, which has been a humanitarian catastrophe, sparking the worst refugee crisis since world war ii. and the president was a failure to act against president assad in spite of much huffing and puffing, has come back to haunt him. a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around were utilise. that would change things. but nothing happened, no action. i think it was a mistake not to enforce the red line when the us is clearly saying they could be consequences for a certain action, it is important to follow up on that. i also would not confuse that with crossing the chemical weapons red line with the notion that there was intervention in the syria problem. the policy toward syria is much like the embassy here in washington, an empty shell, newspapers piling on the doorstep, the windows bad. and in the talks to

bring peace to the country, america is not at the table. barack 0bama has flip—flopped over whether to ta ke has flip—flopped over whether to take military action, too slow to react to the dangers of so—called islamic state. it has been a period in which american influence has waned and russian influence has increased. from one empty embassy to another, that has had new life with intuit, this is the cuban embassy in north—west washington. for over 50 yea rs north—west washington. for over 50 years it lay derelict, last legacy the cold war. in the warmth of the caribbean island barack 0bama can find the last piece of icy cold war legacy to history. cuba had brought the world to the edge of nuclear war. now diplomatic relations are restored, an extraordinary transformation. he leaves office largely admired and popular around the world. not least for his role in the world. not least for his role in the global climate change deal. he

tried to carve out a foreign policy that he saw as right for the times. but as the commander—in—chief was given the traditional sendoff, in his own way, was he as destructive to us power and influence as his predecessor, george w bush? and what with the nobel committee make of him eight years later? 0ur correspondent, gary 0'donoghue is in chicago ahead of president 0bama's farewell address tonight — and hejoins me now. tell us about what you expected tonight. i think we're going to get a top ten greatest hits if you like of the eight years of president 0bama. he started this greatjourney in this city. he was an obscure senator, he made that huge leap in 2004 that thrust onto the national stage. and here he is in 2017, just

about to leave the presidency after an extraordinary story. there will bei an extraordinary story. there will be i think a lot about the financial crisis and how he brought stability to the country after that. a lot about the jobs that have been created, the savings of the auto industry. and he will talk a think about some of the things that he was the foreign policy successes. 180,000 troops were bored when it came to power, that is now down to 15,000. of came to power, that is now down to 15,000. of course the killing of 0sama bin ladin and they have also disappointments. he failed to get any kind of formal gun—control past coming he failed to get any comprehensive immigration past. i think the thing that is interesting, will we just think the thing that is interesting, will wejust get a think the thing that is interesting, will we just get a laundry list or some kind of thing that he thinks he has achieved overall. and will a warning about the future, will beget

a clear indication from him to the american people that he thinks some of the best bits of what he achieved are injeopardy now under a trump presidency. that will be very interesting to see. intriguing, thank you forjoining us. and we'll have live coverage of barack 0bama's farewell speech, from chicago at 2 am. bbc news at six in just a few minutes. time for a look at the weather — here's jay wynne. we have a week weather front drifting west to east for the moment and we have another system coming in overnight. as bad moves through there is a squeeze on the isobars and it is going to turn quite windy.

there is some overnight rain first in scotland and northern ireland and then drifting south. showers in scotla nd then drifting south. showers in scotland turning increasingly windy mainly over higher ground. the strength of the wind is of some concentric tomorrow because it could cause some disruption. a strong westerly wind across scotland, up to perhaps 70 miles an hour. also windy for northern ireland and the north of england, east of the pennines in particular. blustery further south but largely dry. further west some showers across wales early on and also quite windy. strong to gale force winds continue through the day and in the northern part of the uk we have further wintry showers.

feeling cold in that wind. further south and east it is largely dry. around seven or 8 degrees. still windy overnight into thursday, many more snow showers down at lower levels all the while. a cold night, a widespread frost and some icy patches. some rain gathering in the far south and west. that will cause some problems especially for as forecasters. it looks like it will get up towards central parts of wales at least. but how much snow will be generated, at the moment it looks of this sum snow over higher ground. a lot of brain as well. further north we have a sunny spells and wintry showers and a cold wind blowing as well. on the face of it just 2 degrees in some places but feeling closer to around minus three. then on thursday night and

into friday, a lot of isobars coming down from the north, a cold day to end the week and further wintry showers mainly along the eastern coast. so warnings from the met office had been issued and you can keep up—to—date with those online. up at a&e departments. taken an overdose of prescribed medication. numbers in england have gone up by nearly fifty per cent in four years — experts say it's the wrong place for them. they are very busy. somebody with a mental health issue, it is not conducive. it's yet more pressure on a&e departments — as leaked documents reveal the number of patients left for hours on trolleys... also tonight. jeremy corybn sets out labour's policy on eu migration — but is he for or against free movement? we are not wedded to free movement

in the eu but i don't want to be