this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at 11:00. the kremlin dismisses reports that it has compromising information about donald trump. senior doctors warn that a shortage of resources may leave the nhs in england unable to cope this winter. a teenager is due to appear in court charged with the murder of a seven—year—old girl in york. a lorry driver is charged after his vehicle was blown over on the forth road bridge, leading to its closure. also, president obama says america is "a better, stronger place" than when he took office. in his farewell speech in chicago, he calls on americans. to defend their democracy. protecting our way of life. that is not just the protecting our way of life. that is notjust thejob of protecting our way of life. that is notjust the job of our military. democracy can buckle when it gives

interfere. —— mane caves in to fear. and the high profile singer whose management team had been putting tickets onto resale websites at higher prices. good morning. it's wednesday 11th january. i'm joanna gosling. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the kremlin has dismissed as "pulp fiction" claims it gathered compromising financial and sexual information, including the use of prostitutes, on donald trump. the president—elect has himself dismissed the unsubstantiated allegations, which also say the trump presidential campaign secretly communicated with moscow during the election, as fake news. it's been reported that the classified documents, now circulating widely on social media, were presented to both mr trump and president obama last week. mr trump is due to hold his first

news conference since he election this afternoon. from washington, barbara plett usher reports. mr trump posted an angry message on his twitter account written in capital letters. without referring to the media reports, he tweeted: the unverified claims were broadcast by us networks quoting unnamed sources. they say russian spy agencies have embarrassing information about the president—elect that is personally compromising and that the us intelligence services have now informed him privately about the allegations, although they've said nothing publicly. mr trump had already scandalised washington by disparaging intelligence assessments that the kremlin ordered russian hackers to try to tilt the presidential election in his favour. he is due to hold a rare news conference today, called to address concerns about his business interests, but this topic will almost certainly dominate. let's get more reaction to obama's final speech and reports today

the kremlin dismisses this as pulp fiction. tell us more about that. that was when ripe it was the kremlin spokesman who holds a morning conference call with journalists any was asked about these latest allegations. he described it as pulp fiction. you said it was false news and a total fabrication and utter nonsense. he was also giving his position on what he thought was behind this and he thought it was an attempt, a hysterical attempt at he put it, to influence or keep relations between the united states and russia in a state of confrontation and to resist attem pts state of confrontation and to resist atte m pts to state of confrontation and to resist attempts to move to a more constructive state of relations between the two countries. the hope here in moscow is that donald trump will be an ally in the whitehouse boat it denies all inferences that

he put in there. publicly, they hope that there will be a more positive relation. thank you. what is your perspective on this michael goldfarb? i want gently correct you. there is another who is a conservative journalist and correct you. there is another who is a conservativejournalist and it correct you. there is another who is a conservative journalist and it is not me. we have to be absolutely clear who are sources are. this is an astonishing thing. the rumours about this have been out there for quite a while, both the salacious nature of what russia is allegedly compromising the president—elect with, but also with the general high level of contact between the trump

campaign and russian authorities during the course of the last year several years. it is one of those stories is virtually impossible to pin down and actually verify but it is also i think a symbol of the type of world we are in right now. last yeari of world we are in right now. last year i was making a documentary for bbc world service radio about donald trump in his run for the presidency and someone said to me that we live ina and someone said to me that we live in a kardashian world and he is the kardashian candidate. this is kind ofa kardashian candidate. this is kind of a kardashian spy scandal. what about the indications for the fbi? the fbi put into the public domain the fact that it was investigating hillary clinton, but it does look like whatever turns out to be the situation with this dossier, it does look like it was sitting on

potentially explosive information about donald trump did not put that out there. this was something that was reported. the clinton campaign and others had said that the fbi had evidence of russian interference or attem pts evidence of russian interference or attempts to... interference may be too strong a word, to destabilise the process by which americans chose their next president. they had evidence from republicans being hacked and somehow they didn't release that. so, the whole process was politicised by the fbi the anthony wiener e—mails regions visited. —— were revisited. it is all out there. why it is coming back

now on the knee of donald trump's first press conference in weeks i think isjust... we don't first press conference in weeks i think is just... we don't know. first press conference in weeks i think isjust... we don't know. he has been distributing the credibility of what his own intelligence services said about what the russians had been up to. publicly siding with russia. it is inevitable that this needs to be looked at properly analysed. inevitable that this needs to be looked at properly analysedlj suppose looked at properly analysed.” suppose so. this is such a something. you have immediate speculation. we live in a world where speculation overwhelms the traditional processes ofjournalism because journalism can take time and the new cycle doesn't really allow for much time. —— the news cycle. you could say that people are unhappy with donald trump because he has so disrespected them in the last

two weeks casting big doubts on the dossier, it is possible that someone in the services decided they would leak. i don't think until we have much more proof about what happened from you make that kind of suggestion. i think that this has been around for a while and i think it was inevitable. i know several journalists who had been shown this dossier over the last couple of weeks and chose not to run with it because of the holes in it. this is all coming from an unnamed source. the allegations which are absolutely shocking can't be substantiated and will probably never, short of the allegedly attempts being released, no one will ever know the truth. they chose to pass on it. cnn and bus feed —— buzzfeed chose to

publish the existence of the material and here we are not even 12 hours later and absolutely dominates the situation. i would just remind people of one thing, back in 2004, when george w bush was running for election, the veteran cbs journalist dan rather ran a heavy story about bush having gone a while from the air force bush having gone a while from the airforce national guard during the war. it looks legitimate, the dossier he had been passed. he was set up, it wasn't the case and he was forced to resign from his position at cbs news. when journalists become tools in espionage and in the great game between rival powers we all have to between rival powers we all have to be very careful about the information that comes out. that

story was turned into a movie, wasn't it? thank you forjoining us. donald trump is due to give a rare news conference later today there will be full coverage on bbc news. senior doctors are warning that a shortage of resources may leave the nhs in england unable to cope with this winter's demand. in a letter to theresa may, the royal college of physicians said the quality of patient care is under threat. charities working with elderly and disabled people have also written to the prime minister, calling for a long—term solution to funding for health and social care. here's our health correspondent robert pigott. the royal college of physicians said ambulances queuing outside hospitals were visual testament to the crisis in the nhs. the royal college, which represents 33,000 specialist hospital doctors, said patients faced lengthening waits on lists, on trolleys, in accident and emergency departments and at home. it blamed a shortage of qualified staff, stretched too thinly to meet the increasing demands. our members fear that people's lives are at risk because they can't get

round to see the patients that aren't yet in the emergency department or indeed are waiting for results to come back. members and fellows have been writing in and our council members specifically have said to me this is the worst they have ever seen. most urgent, said the doctors, is investment in social care to prevent medically fit patients being trapped in hospitals. in their own letter to the prime minister, 75 charities and individuals working in health and social care said there must be a long—term cross—party solution to what they called the crisis in funding. led by the charity independent age, they said: the department of health the department of health said it had invested £10 billion to develop health services and relieve pressure on hospitals. and, since last year, had recruited 3,000 extra nurses and 1,600 more doctors.

0ur chief political correspondent, norman smith, is in westminster. joanna, thanks. the nhs and pressures that it is under is almost certain to come up at prime minister's questions later this morning. a real sense that it is not just the nhs that is under pressure, but also the government is under enormous pressure because of the day by day stories that we have had about the difficulties in a & e departments. people waiting for phenomenally long hours. jeremy hunt maybe not being able to stick to the four hour waiting time targets. letters from royal colleges, health experts, we have now had a cross— party experts, we have now had a cross—party group of mps demanding mrs may gets a grip of this. social ca re mrs may gets a grip of this. social care issue. jeremy hunt this morning leaving his house looked like a man under pressure, take a look. there

is some flash photography here. good morning mr hunt. good morning. is there a crisis in the nhs? is very crisis in the nhs? good morning, i will be speaking to parliament later this afternoon. is there going to be more money for the nhs, mr hunt? central to the pressures on the a & eand central to the pressures on the a & e and the nhs generally is probably the pressures in social care because there is a view that because many elderly people and disabled people cannot be discharged from hospital because of a lack of social care provision, that is leading to bed blocking which is trickling down the line and meaning a & e can't get beds and links in and that social ca re beds and links in and that social care is absolutely integral to the difficulties facing the nhs. there isa difficulties facing the nhs. there is a cross—party group of people trying to lead solutions. living thatis trying to lead solutions. living that is norman lamb whojoined me now. i suppose the difficulty is we

have been here so many times, again and again, government stuck it. they do. the solutions are all quite difficult. they all involve more money. we are spending significantly less tha n money. we are spending significantly less than france or germany had proportion of our national income. there are consequences to that. we will see ever increasing examples of failures of care. we have got overi million people who are not getting their care needs properly supported. this is not really tolerable. i don't want to be in country where you can get great care if you can afford it, but if you do not have money then you can't. that is what we are heading towards. how fair is it to say that the key to many of the problems are social care?l significant part of it. everybody is agreed that we need better preventive care. that is essentially what social care is about. it is preventing people at home from getting into crisis. preventing

crisis in a & e departments. that is why the conservatives, labour and lib dems will be a role together and in agreement that the government should haven't nhs convention, engaging and levelling with the public about the scale of the challenge we face and the fact that we will need extra money. be honest about his and i think if you can have a candid conversation, you can ta ke have a candid conversation, you can take people with you. and therein ta kes take people with you. and therein takes the difficulty. how do you find the money as long as you are not raising taxes. the conservative government will not want to do that. they may be. but they have conceded the point. they have allowed councils to increase the council tax. reset as we call it the money going into social care. the problem is though that has a bigger burden on people with low incomes than people with higher incomes and increase the inequality across the

country. richer areas can raise more money from it than poor areas. most people say that is not an acceptable route. we may all be prepared to pay a bit more. how much do you want to be prepared to pay more money for your loved ones to get help. if there is an independent assessment on how much the system needed, then people would have much more reassurance that they are paying for a service that they need. it is funny for months and months, we have been spending day by day talking about brexit and there is a sense that the nhs and social care has been the iceberg that is finally broken surface because there is real pressure on the government to try and end the sort of scenes and stories we're hearing from a & e and anywhere else. mrs may almost certain to talk about this in premise of questions. dr andrew goddard from the royal

college of physicians is here: thank you the journey. would you say there is a crisis? yes. a crisis of there is a crisis? yes. a crisis of the lee mack has been developing year—on—year. i been a consultant for 15 years, every year we have seen an increase of the number of admissions and a drop in the number of beds available. the a & nhs... we've got more efficient, that is levelled off over the past few yea rs. levelled off over the past few years. somebody used the analogy of ato me years. somebody used the analogy of a to me today which i thought was really good. if you the nhs hospital asa really good. if you the nhs hospital as a bath tub and the tax is the water. previously, it has been managing. water. previously, it has been . _ up water. previously, it has been managing. up until now, is being getting fuller and fuller and we have noticed that. in the winter, when the bucket shaken, is stuff splashes over the side. now, with social care blockages, the plug is in and we can't get out of hospital. the taps keep going and the water is flowing over the edge of the bar.

that is how it feels for patients, nurses and doctors. norman lamb was talking about a situation where you can get great care if you can afford it and you don't if you can't. would you agree? i think year the lee mack assisted very well. we can't suddenly do something magically tomorrow. theresa may turns up and said there will be lots of money in the nhs that is wonderful. it will not be solved immediately. we have to think of a model about how we wa nt to think of a model about how we want the nhs in our country to be. asa want the nhs in our country to be. as a long—term thing. it has to be cross— party. as a long—term thing. it has to be cross—party. we have to get above cross— party cross—party. we have to get above cross—party politics. lots of different political parties have beenin different political parties have been in power over that time. let's not blame people in particular. let's think about how we're going to get out of it. you obviously know it intimately, the system. how would you see the ideal model for the nhs and social care going forward? we

get surprised when old people get into hospital still, but we know that people are getting older and have more problems. people need to be best looked after at home. we com pletely be best looked after at home. we completely support the edge of investing more into social care, investing more into social care, investing more into community care for people to try and keep them out of hospital. invest more in preve nta ble of hospital. invest more in preventable care. public health is easily forgotten when there is very little money about. you can reduce the amounts of the obesity and smoking early. i know you're not a politician,, but smoking early. i know you're not a politician, , but how smoking early. i know you're not a politician,, but how frank does the conversation need to be? how much money would need to be required? inevitably, is the only way to do it to be transparent about those that there have that frank conversation? i think norman lamb said it again. the public needs to understand the situation and someone needs to have a frank conversation with the public

about that. we can't afford to continue to do what we're doing. the fa ct continue to do what we're doing. the fact that the system is failing is obvious to all, that is a sign that there is not enough to do the mac in there is not enough to do the mac in the system. you put more in through taxation or you do stop doing stuff? that is a really hard decision that politicians need to make on behalf of the public, but the public need to engage in it. we can't duck away from it, saying we have had more doctors and nurses, yes we have, thatis doctors and nurses, yes we have, that is true, but we have not had enough. is a bit like driving a car from london to birmingham. we are now expecting the same amount of petrol to go all the way up to liverpool. but actually, we have only got enough petrol in to get us halfway between those two places. we need to take an honest appraisal, engage the public, talk about what the options i come higher taxes, do we stop doing stuff? do we have a two tiered service? those conversations the public have to be engaged with and. we go straight to stormont to talk

booing here shoot from sinn fein about the election there. it is now time for the electorate to have their say. it is now time for the electorate to have their say on the electorate to have their say on the dup‘s arrogance. their views on how we need to move to a position where the only way these institutions will evaluate these inequality. we have to deliver for all citizens and not the dup have displayed and we have rehearsed this with the british government this morning, what the dup have displayed over the last months and years is a lack of respect towards women. dlc bt community, the irish language amenity, thing minorities. these community ‘s have to have equality. we made sure —— ethnic minorities. what do you say to this suggestion

that there should be an enquiry on this? we made it very clear related what we expect from the enquiry. that has to be free from political interference. it has to be an enquiry in terms of making sure there is full transparency, without that as a core of the investigation then we will not have the public confidence and that enquiry won't command public confidence. i believe arlene foster's initiative in relation to try and vote out that there will be an enquiry and suggest a way forward is quite frankly too little too late. could you deal with the bedroom tax issue? we made it very clear in terms of what we need to happen. it needs to be an election. we're not interested in negotiations. we need fundamental change. we believe the public need to have their say. there is then a disrespect for the public over the last number of weeks and months of the lee mack in terms of this issue.

wanting clarity in relation to the scheme. we made that very clear to james brokenshire this morning. what about the bedroom tax issue? the reality is that we oppose the bedroom tax. we don't want to see the bedroom tax introduced here. all other parties in this institution are opposed to be bedroom tax. it is the british government who are legislating for it. we told them that they have no need to legislate for it in the north. are we heading for it in the north. are we heading for a period of... nolan has worked harder then martin mcguinness to try and get this work. they only can work if there is an quality at the co re work if there is an quality at the core of them. what we want to see is fundamental change. if we do not represent all sections of society

and avoid respect and equality then we should not be here in delivery. that is not how we deal with the public. there are so many fundamental issues here. we did not sign up three contract the government. that is all to be discussed post—election. three clear, is over to the public. we wa nt clear, is over to the public. we wantan clear, is over to the public. we want an election to allow the public to have their stay. we are only interested in institutions who have equality at their core. that is sinn fein saying the next step in northern ireland needs to be elections. it is a crisis that has been triggered by a renewable heat incentive programme, a scandal it turned into that has ended up costing £490 million because of the way that that was set up. that has ultimately led to the deputy first

minister martin mcguinness resigning and sinn fein now say that there does need to be an election rather than a negotiated way through the impasse. we will keep you updated with any more information there. the middle —— let mejust give you some new that is just breaking from haverford west. the defendant in court this morning attempted to slit his throat with a knife whilst being sentence. he is a 33—year—old, he had previously pleaded guilty to sexual assault by grabbing and kissing a shop assistant. he was appearing for sentence at the matter straight‘s courts this morning when the incident happened. ambulances we re the incident happened. ambulances were called to the scene. it is unclear how he managed to get the weapon into the court. it is understood he lost consciousness and a lot of blood after the incident, but he is now awake and receiving

medical treatment. it is 26 minutes past 11, i'm not sure if we're going to go to sport... we will go to sport later and will have a full weather update for you. we are going to go to sport. hi, who's there? good morning. jose mourinho has told manchester united supporters to ‘come and play with us', when his side take on liverpool on sunday. mourinho urged fans not to regard the match as a ‘visit to the theatre'. he was speaking after his side's 2—0 win in the first leg of the efl cup semifinal against hull. marouane fellaini ensured the two—goal advantage afterjuan mata had earlier given united the lead. liverpool face southampton in the other semifinal tonight. jurgen klopp was criticised for the young team he fielded in the fa cup but is expected to name a stronger side for this one. as long as you are involved, it is a

most important cup. that is how we see it. so, it is southampton for example. it you want to talk about intensity, they had more intense kind and we had. there is no frontage from one side. we have two fine a frontage from one side. we have two finea line, frontage from one side. we have two fine a line, we have to find a way to play. the family of boxer nick blackwell have told the bbc he's unable to walk — and it'll be a year before he makes a full recovery. blackwell was put in an induced coma after suffering severe head injuries in a fight with chris eubankjunior last march. he then went on to take part in an unsanctioned sparring session in november, which left him in a coma and with swelling on the brain. joe marler will miss at least the first of england's six nations matches. the harlequins prop's been ruled out of england's match against france after breaking his leg in the warm—up before the weekend game against sale. chris robshaw and billy and mako vunipola have been ruled out of the entire tournament.

that is all the sport for you now. we will have more later on the bbc news channel later. thank you. let mejust bring you news channel later. thank you. let me just bring you some news from york magistrates‘ court. a 15—year—old girl has appeared before magistrates having been charged with the murder of a seven—year—old in york. katie rough died in hospital on monday after being found with serious injuries near a playing field in the woodthorpe area. she was charged that the... that is through from the courts. and also remind you that it is wednesday and prime minister‘s questions is happening at midday. we will have full coverage here on the bbc news channel. all the latest news coming up channel. all the latest news coming up bbc news channel. we will say goodbye to viewers right now on bbc two. a 15—year—old girl has appeared

before magistrates having been charged with the murder of a seven—year—old in york. let‘s go live to our correspondent in york fiona trott. because of the severity of these charges, this was not a youth court. katie ruff was this morning with otherfamily katie ruff was this morning with other family members. a short while ago a other family members. a short while agoa girl was other family members. a short while ago a girl was charged with the murder of k.t. kim mac too. —— of rough. katie rough was found near a playing field in the woodthorpe area

of york. residents there say a woman who residents believe was katie rough‘s mother was crying and asking people to call an ambulance. an ambulance arrived and katie was taken to hospital, but died a short while later. we also hearing today that not only has this hits the community hard, but people who don‘t even know the family have also set up even know the family have also set upafundraising even know the family have also set up a fundraising page overnight. certainly here at york magistrates‘ court this morning in 15 old girl who we can‘t name for legal reasons has appeared in court. she was due to appear in crown court on friday. aki bromance fiona. we can catch up with the weather. good morning, sleet and snow on the way and it is the strength of the wind in the north of the uk that is having an impact on travel. gusts of 60 mph for while. showers coming in,

wintry especially in scotland. southern parts largely dry and a little bit brighter here but it will get colder as the day goes on and through the night which means showers in the north will turn increasingly wintry with snow over the hills of scotland. showers further south. a cold night and there could be icy conditions in the north. the wintry showers will continue tomorrow. further south in england and wales, rain which will be heavy and it is likely to turn to sleet and snow initially in the south—west and south wales but later, i rush hour, the south midlands and south east of england and it will feel really cold. this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines. russia has dismissed as pulp fiction

a claim that it has damaging information about donald trump. the us president—elect condemned the reports. and donald trump will be giving a news conference later today where he‘s expected to address these concerns — we‘ll bring that to you live at four o‘clock on bbc news. senior doctors are warning that a shortage of resources may leave the nhs in england unable to cope with this winter‘s demand. a fifteen—year—old girlappeared in court charged with the murder of katie rough in york. the seven—year—old was found critically injured near a playing field on monday. a man has been charged with dangerous driving after a lorry after a lorry was blown over on the forth road bridge, blocking it in both directions. and in an emotional farewell speech, president obama warned there was more work to be done in tackling racism in america. after my election there was talk of a post—racial america —

and such a vision, however well intended, was never realistic. two separate letters have been written to the prime minister today warning that patients are being let down and lives are being put at risk by underfunding. in the run—up to christmas, bbc cameras were allowed to film the reality of everyday life on the front line in one of england‘s busiest nhs trusts. let‘s take a look. there is just another trauma coming in now. fall from six foot. loc. is the shooting coming to us? two lines of cocaine. unknown quantities of vodka and beer. 28—year—old male stabbed three times. seven men with guns. it's been given as seven men with guns have gone into a building, someone's not moving. what about trauma beds? two. what beds have you got for me? the minute that we have bed

problems, usually due to patients not being able to leave the hospital at the other end, then we end up in this state. this man in resus is going to need to go to itu. tim muffett was at st mary‘s hospital in paddington, which features in the series, and caught up with one of their consultant surgeons. this documentary offers a real insight into the day—to—day realities of running a hospital. this is one of five hospitals that took part in the documentary, it‘s part of the imperial college health care nhs trust. this is saint mary‘s in paddington. richard gibbs, consultant vascular surgeon, we see you in this documentary. why did you think it was a good idea to allow cameras inside? i think the trust thought that it was an opportunity to really give people an idea of how difficult decisions are made. we are working under fairly challenged circumstances at the moment, throughout the nhs, i guess it is true to say. itjust hopefully offers people

an idea that people take very considered, very careful decisions about how to make hospitals run when they are under a lot of pressure. we are going to look at another clip. in this clip, we see you and another surgeon effectively competing to provide a bed to two different patients. there is a real pressure on space. let‘s have a quick look and see the difficult decisions that have to be taken. i think the thing is we haven‘t got a lot of choice. because if we don‘t do it, that is kind of the end anyway. 0k. this case has trumped the patient with cancer that was going to get done in the other theatre. because she‘s got a condition that will kill her some time in the next three, four, five, six hours. so, if we don‘t do it now, there is going to be no five hours‘ time for her.

incredibly tense situation. how common are situations like that? i think they are more common than people might think and i think that they are sort of becoming more common, have been recently, we are running into these kinds of issues more and more. in the documentary, the head of emergency medicine here says you are firefighting every dayjust to keep afloat. she says that over the last two years, the whole system countrywide has ground to a halt. do you agree with that? i can‘t speak for the rest of the country, although, from talking to colleagues in other hospitals, it sounds like it is very similar. imperial has pretty robust plans to deal with the increasing volume of patients and our real struggle with capacity. but, i‘m not going to lie, it is very difficult at the moment. are you glad that people will have an insight into what you do? i think it‘s really important that people do see how decisions are made, the kind of pressures that

are brought to bear on clinical staff, doctors, nurses. and i hope it is sort of reassuring to them to realise that every decision is considered and thought about hard and we have just got the patients‘ best interests at heart. richard, thanks ever so much. it begins tonight, this documentary, on bbc two at nine o‘clock. it is a real insight. it is unprecedented as far as some people are concerned, how a hospital runs and the day—to—day decisions, difficult decisions, that often need to be made. today we are putting your questions to the bbc health editor about pressures facing nhs. we picked out questions to put to you. we can start with denise from anglesey asking why it is the triage nurse

does not turn away time wasters who could be treated elsewhere? that is interesting because a conventional hospital model has people walking through the front door and the triage nurse deciding how urgent they should be and that‘s it. increasingly hospitals offer different options and that is the key to the problem sometimes. you arrive, you are not sure where to 90, arrive, you are not sure where to go, but if you are directed towards an urgent care centre, minor injuries care centre, and you go there, often a nurse can treat your need and you do not need to go through mainstream a&e. and you have hospitals with gps close to the front door and the triage nurse can send that person to a gp who can ta ke send that person to a gp who can take a view about the patient may be not needing to be there, maybe going toa not needing to be there, maybe going to a pharmacy. 0ther not needing to be there, maybe going to a pharmacy. other hospitals have co nsulta nts to a pharmacy. other hospitals have consultants near the front door because often you need a doctor to look at a patient and an experienced doctor can make the decision to say

you should not be here, your need can be met by a pharmacy. but if you look at the numbers going up year—on—year, there seems to be more people who should not be there in the first place and we heard it from the first place and we heard it from the government that something like 30% do not need to be there. people might say, we do not have faith in what is offered locally by the gp because we cannot get an appointment and they end up at a handy anyway. it isa and they end up at a handy anyway. it is a big issue and hospitals are trying to deal with it by seeing people quickly at the front door. anthony robinson asks if the problems are made worse by excessive expectations of the public. problems are made worse by excessive expectations of the publicm problems are made worse by excessive expectations of the public. it leads on from the previous question. jeremy hunt said the measurement, the key thing about seeing 95% of patients in four hours is based on

the assumption they are urgent cases that we have had 9 million more over the last decade being there in the first place, many of which are not urgent, so what are we measuring? that is partly down to expectations and people perhaps seeing a&e is something that can be accessed, people want it all the time, around the clock, and do not understand what is available from pharmacists. patients would say they have a right to be seen and cutbacks, stresses locally, means we have to go to the hospital. one person asking, how are wales and scotland getting on with a&e, it cannot only be england? this benchmark in different parts of the uk, withinfour benchmark in different parts of the uk, within four hours of arriving at a&e you should be treated or assessed and 95% dealt with in that way. all parts of the uk are missing

the benchmark. in england, it is 89%, in the autumn. wales was a bit behind at 92.8% and northern ireland, 76%. scotland, ahead of the rest, about 92.3%. they are slightly different time periods but none is meeting the 95% standard but england trailing behind scotland. is there a problem with health tourism, and migrants not paying for care? there is an issue about getting payment for care. in terms of the demand on the nhs, it is a small number, if you look at patient numbers but the national or —— national audit office criticised the westminster government in terms of england to hospitals not insuring getting payment. this is visitors from the

european economic area. they can get treatment fire a card which has to be claimed back from the government, or outside the area, who do have to pay, unless they have these are that allows free care. so it was not meeting the target, 150 million or soa meeting the target, 150 million or so a year. there is an issue about claiming that the money but the government will argue it is trying to make progress. robert said lack of money is part of the problem. and left as it is the nhs will need more money, how could it best be reorganised to work effectively within available resources and not demanding a constant input of money. it isa demanding a constant input of money. it is a good point and key part of the debate. is it a question ofjust more money? senior doctors and health charity is calling for more money will say that is not the only answer. there is a challenge getting people to seek care closer to home

and not going to hospital, a&e. elderly patients, who need hospital beds and often cannot get out of hospital, that costs money, because of problems in the community with social care. dealing with the social ca re social care. dealing with the social care issue and giving social care more money is one possibility, getting gps and community health services to deal with more cases that don‘t end up with people going to hospital is another and people looking after themselves, dealing with obesity, type 2 diabetes, there is an obligation on patients. question on the social care issue. the fundamental part of this, isn‘t it? krystina stephenson, who said she has been receiving care over four years and is disabled and chronically ill, lives alone without friends and family to help her. she asks if the social care system is in asks if the social care system is in a worse state than the nhs and is

there any sign of it getting better? in england, health and social care are not integrated as in scotland and northern ireland and the problem has been the government said it has put more money into the nhs in england above inflation, but social ca re england above inflation, but social care funding has been cut in england over the last six, seven years. it means ca re over the last six, seven years. it means care packages are less available so it is harderfor an elderly patient to be discharged because getting care close to home is not available and that has become one of the biggest needs to be dealt with. the government will say they said before christmas they will put more money into social care and they are allowing councils to raise more in council tax but talking to social ca re in council tax but talking to social care leaders they say it is not enough. we needs a big debate about bringing and social care together. whether people are prepared to pay more tax and a cross—party debate, with the opposition. it is a big

question and no easy answers. no doubt it will be a subject coming up in prime minister questions at midday. a man has been charged after a lorry was blown over on the forth road bridge, blocking two lanes. he has been charged, but the weather was causing trouble as well? it is almost ten hours since the bridge was closed. the accident happen 2am this morning with very high winds, gale force winds blowing. if we could see through the low winter sun, we would see recovery vehicles at the north tower where the accident happened. the lorry was heading north to where i am standing but such was the strength of the wind, it was blown on to the southbound carriageway, causing damage to the central reservation.

the bridge operator said the bridge was closed to high sided vehicles at the time of the accident. a man, 54 yea rs the time of the accident. a man, 54 years old, has been charged with dangerous driving. 0rdinarily the bridge would carry thousands of commuters from fife into edinburgh, and they have had to endure long delays in chaos. the only alternative is to take a bridge up the river which entails a 46 miles detour into edinburgh which takes an hour and detour into edinburgh which takes an hourand a detour into edinburgh which takes an hour and a half. the operator says they hope to have one carriageway northbound opened by the rush hour but the operation to remove the lorry, which is on its side, is dependent on the weather and they have to be assured the wind will drop before they can get the crane in and get the lorry moved. soon we‘ll be crossing live to the house of commons

as the prime minister hosts her first question time of the new year with the state of the nhs very firmly on the agenda. let‘s look ahead to this, with our chief political correspondent, norman smith, who is in westminster. iam i am sorry, assistant political editor. 0ver i am sorry, assistant political editor. over to you, i am sorry, assistant political editor. 0verto you, norman i am sorry, assistant political editor. over to you, norman stop we can editor. over to you, norman stop we ca n safely editor. over to you, norman stop we can safely say theresa may will almost certainly be pressed over pressures in the nhs but it is set to dominate parliamentary proceedings because labour have called for a debate on the state of the health service and pressure on social care. i am joined by the health service and pressure on social care. i amjoined by the health minister. that is talk about pressures in the nhs, what would labour‘s remedy be? pressures in the nhs, what would labour's remedy be? we have to tackle the trolley waiting, the bbc reporting 18,000 waiting on trolleys la st reporting 18,000 waiting on trolleys last week and 500 of those there for over 12 hours in an undignified situation in corridors. caused by

delayed discharges mainly waiting for a care package. we need cash to pay for care at home. how much more and where does it come from? we are asking for 700 million and funding to be brought forward, it is allocated for social care in 2019 but we need it now. that surely is a sticking plaster, because it will bring forward money, it is not new money. how much extra funding do you think the nhs needs? the government say they have provided an extra 10 billion by 20 20. there is argument about that, even the conservative chairon about that, even the conservative chair on the health select committee does not agree. social care leaders tend to say the figure is about {1.9 billion extra but we need an injection of cash now to help people, to stop waiting on trolleys in corridors. we need to look at

this in the budget. budget 2017 we need to find the funding so we do not go through this every winter. we have a group of mps today putting together a cross—party convention on social care suggesting there should bea social care suggesting there should be a social care tax to provide a long—term stream of funding for social care. would you backpack? labour talked about doing that in 2009. andrew lansley calls it a death tax and ended cross—party working by playing political games. i think we need funding now urgently and we need to work out funding for the future. we have had excellent reviews, we know what needs to be done, we don't know whether the government will fund it. joanna, there is a lot going on in terms of there is a lot going on in terms of the nhs with pmqs, the opposition day debate and the head of the nhs,

simon stephens, will give evidence along with other nhs people to the public affairs, public accounts committee. it will be a day dominated by the health service. lots going on. we will have coverage. and donald trump will be holding a news conference at 4pm, which will be interesting, as well. ina which will be interesting, as well. in a moment, a summary of the business news, but first the headlines. the kremlin dismisses unsubstantiated reports it gathered compromising financial and sexual information on donald trump. senior doctors warn the nhs in england is dealing with its worst winter crisis because of a shortage of resources. a 15—year—old girl has been remanded in secure accommodation after being charged with the murder of seven—year—old katie rough.

sainsbury‘s has reported record christmas sales of more than £1 billion across the group. the supermarket giant said like—for—like sales rose 0.1% in the 15 weeks to 7th january, beating analyst expectations. argos, which sainsbury‘s bought last year, also had strong sales over christmas and black friday. the uk‘s trade position deteriorated dramatically in november from the previous month. that‘s according to figures from the office for national statistics. the deficit on trade in goods and services was estimated at £4.2 billion in november, up from £2.6 billion in october. prosecutors in the us have accused three former currency traders at major banks of trying to rig foreign exchange rates in the banking industry. the individuals worked at the banksjp morgan, citigroup and ba rclays. the charges are a follow—up after those banks, along with rbs, paid $2.5 billion in fines in may 2015, after pleading guilty to conspiring to rig foreign exchange rates.

confidence among small businesses in the last quarter has bounced back. that‘s according to a report from the federation of small businesses. the survey suggests that at the start of 2017, the uk‘s small firms are upbeat about their prospects. that‘s a return from the dip in confidence seen in the run—up to the referendum and in the immediate aftermath. joining me now is alan soady, head of media at the federation of small businesses. hello. i want to ask you how confident can we be in this survey about confidence, because before the referendum there were surveys warning of dire consequences of a vote for brexit and they have not materialise. even our own surveys in the months immediately before and after the referendum showed among

our members, small businesses, there we re our members, small businesses, there were worries it was in negative territory. today‘s figures shows confidence in small businesses is up about 10% compared to the three months around the brexit vote. it suggests a sense of cautious optimism. you need to bear in mind among our members in the run—up to the referendum, it was clear that among the small business community and voters generally, opinions about whether to be in or out of the eu ran high and there were differences of opinion in small businesses as to whether it would be a good thing to leave or a bad thing. i think a lot of small businesses are used to the idea of adapting to circumstances and perhaps the figures suggest people are beginning to think along those lines even though it is a period of uncertainty and risk. we had figures today that show the number of new businesses started

across the uk has dropped by 19% in the past five years and in wales by 26%, so it seems that entrepreneurs are not feeling confident. the figures today, it is a mixed picture because there is this growing sense of optimism as we have talked about. when our research looked at the nitty—gritty questions about how people expect their own business to develop over the next three months, there was more pessimism, a higher number of small businesses than found previously who said they do not expect their business to grow over the next three months, they expect it to stay the same size. we found an increase in the number of members finding it difficult to get access to finance, when they go to banks and are told if they want a loa n banks and are told if they want a loan it might be the interest rate is in excess of 11%. that is where

it is causing negativity. those relying on imports have been hit by the weaker value of sterling and we found a growing number of members up from 5% last time up to 28% in the final quarter of the year saying they are worried about interest rates and feel it is hitting their finances. thanks. the financial markets and yesterday the footsie closed at another record high and today has been treading water. the longest winning streak in history yesterday. property group foxtons fell after a profits slump. retail doing well, led by sainsbury‘s. and no respite for stirling today even though uk manufacturing production posted the largest increase for two yea rs. posted the largest increase for two years. back to you. good morning, it

is getting colder and more wintry over the next days. we are going to find more sleet and snow particularly over hills. icy roads could be an issue and gales. we saw gales today having an impact in northern parts. the area of low pressure pulling away and taking the worst of the wind away with it. but still windy the rest of the day across the north. showers becoming more frequent and more wintry. wales, midlands, south of england, not as windy and largely dry and bright. limited sunshine. it will feel cold in the wind and it is continuing to get colder through the course of this evening and overnight and showers in the north increasingly wintry with snow to

come in scotland particularly over the hills and blizzards are likely. and icy conditions. not as cold further south, though cloudy and wetter weather arriving later. this has come from a long way in north and the cold air is forcing its way down the uk on thursday, which will be interesting, with a weather system arriving into the cold air, starting as rain. if that gets heavy, the rain could turn to snow, particularly later in the afternoon towards the evening rush hour in the midlands, east anglia, the south—east of england. something to watch out for. snow is more likely across northern parts. most of the showers will be with hale, sleet and snow. it will feel cold. it will feel cold given the strength of the wind. following that, once the sleet

and snow mix moves, we have widespread frost and we could have icy conditions. that is thursday night into friday morning, and friday morning could see more sleet and snow across eastern parts. we have an arctic blast that will bring wintry showers around coastal areas, but inland it might be dry and sunny, but strong winds down the north sea coasts with big waves. here it will feel particularly cold. less cold over the weekend and before then lots of weather warnings which you can find online. this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at midday.

the kremlin dismisses as "pulp fiction" unsubstantiated reports that it gathered compromising financial and sexual information on donald trump. senior doctors warn that the pressures on nhs services in england this winter are becoming unbearable. and this is the scene live in the house of commons where the issue is expected to be raised at the first prime minister‘s questions of the new year. a teenager is remanded into secure accommodation after being charged with the murder of seven—year—old girl. and a lorry driver is charged after his vehicle was blown over on the forth road bridge, leading to its closure. good afternoon.

let‘s take you live now to the house of commons, where prime minister‘s questions is just getting under way. thank you very much. we can safely predict that this is male will be talking about the current pressures ofa&ein talking about the current pressures ofa& e in that talking about the current pressures of a & e in that amount of extra funding and the cross—party approach to social care. mrs may is now getting her feet in the commons. that crossover. —— let‘s crossover. a very happy new year to you, mr speaker. i would like to extend that agronomist house. it has been over six months to the european referendum. embarrassing either the prime minister, the scottish government is the only administration in this ireland who have published a plan on what to do next. as the prime minister yet it

yet? has the prime minister read it yet? has the prime minister read it yet? and when will she be publishing her own plan? can ijoin the honourable gentleman in wishing everybody in this house a very happy new year. can i say to him as i said to the liaison committee of the met with them before christmas, i will ina with them before christmas, i will in a matter of weeks besetting out the details. when talking about the scottish government‘s plan, it is his party, the scottish national party wa nts his party, the scottish national party wants to leave european union. —— does not want to. party wants to leave european union. -- does not want to. in high skilled jobs we employ many people, it generates 50% of the uk's electricity. do you agree that it is

a crucial importance that nuke alert —— nuclear a crucial importance that nuke alert — — nuclear power stations a crucial importance that nuke alert —— nuclear power stations will be created? i certainly agree that new nuclear does have a part to play in our energy needs. especially as we are looking to move to a low carbon society. the industrial strategy that the government will be setting out will have a strong emphasis on the role of regions in supporting growth and making sure that it works everyone. i welcome the proposal from companies to develop a new power station in cumbria. we continue to work closely with with them. can i wish all members a happy

new year? as well as all members of staff in the house. i hope that the whole house will join staff in the house. i hope that the whole house willjoin me, and i am sure they will, to paying tribute to 22—year—old lance corporal stevenson who died in afghanistan. also i think it is right that we sent condolences to the family of katie rough. last week, 242 people in england spend more than 12 hours in trolleys in hospital corridors. the red cross described this as a humanitarian crisis. i call on the prime minister to come to parliament on monday. she didn't. she sent the health secretary. does she agree with him that the best way to solve the crisis of the four—hour wait is to fiddle the figures so that people are not seem to be waiting so long

on trolleys in nhs hospitals? festival, may ijoin the right honourable gentleman in sending the condolences to lance corporal hetherington. everything that i‘ve seen and read about him, he was a very fine young man, delighted in being in the armed forces and we are proud that such fine young man was in our armed forces. i alsojoined the right honourable gentleman in expressing condolences to the family and friends of little katie rough who died so tragically. now, he talks about the pressures in the nhs, we acknowledge that there are precious on the national health service. there are always extra health pressures during the winter, but the moment we have those added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population. he also refers to the british red cross‘s term of a

humanitarian crisis. i had to say to him that i think we have all seen humanitarian crisis around the world and to use that description of a national health service which last year saw two and a half million more people treated in accident and emergency than six years ago was irresponsible and overblown. one .8 million people had to wait more than four hours last year in a & e departments. the prime minister might not like what the red cross said, but on the same day, the british medical association said conditions in hospitals across the country are reaching a dangerous level. the royal college of nursing has said the nhs conditions are the worse ever. royal college of physicians have told the prime minister that the nhs is underfunded, and adopted ——

underdoctered and stretched. who does she acknowledge? i‘ve said that i know is that there are pressures. the fact that we are seeing more people being treated in our nhs, 2.5 more people —— 2.5 million more people are treated every day. it is because of the hard work of medical professionals in our national health service. i would also say to him it is not just a service. i would also say to him it is notjust a question of targets in relation to the health service, we continue to have a commitment. it is a question of making sure that people are provided with appropriate ca re people are provided with appropriate care for them and the best possible ca re care for them and the best possible care for them and the best possible care for them and the best possible care for them in the circumstances. she seems to be in some degree of denial about this and won't listen to professional organisations who have spent their whole lifetimes doing their best for the nhs. can i

ask if she will listen to sian who worked for the nhs? ask if she will listen to sian who worked forthe nhs? she has ask if she will listen to sian who worked for the nhs? she has a 22—month—old nephew. he went into hospital. there was no bed. he was treated onto plastic chairs pushed together with a blanket. she said one of the nurses told her sister it is always like this nowadays. and she asked a question to all of us. surely, we should strive to do better than this. does the prime ministerand better than this. does the prime minister and health secretary think this is an acceptable way of treating a 22—month—old child needing help? i accept there have been a small number of incidents where unacceptable practices have taken place. where unacceptable practices have ta ken place. what where unacceptable practices have taken place. what matters, we don‘t wa nt taken place. what matters, we don‘t want those things to happen, what matters is how you then deal with them. that is why it is so important that the nhs does look into issues

where there are unacceptable issues that take place and learn lessons from them. i come back to the point i was making earlier. he talks about hard—working health i was making earlier. he talks about ha rd—working health care professionals like sian in the national health service. indeed, we should be grateful for all of those who are working in the nhs. 0ver should be grateful for all of those who are working in the nhs. over the christmas period, on the tuesday after christmas, we saw the busiest day ever in the national health service. 0ver day ever in the national health service. over the few weeks around christmas, we saw the day where more people were treated in accident and emergency within four hours then it ever happens before. this is the reality of our national health service. we all thank the nhs staff and we'll praise the nhs staff. but how government is proposing through sustainable transformation took up one third of the beds and all other hospital in the very near future. 0n

monday, she is neither a mental health and do more to help particularly young people with those conditions. i welcome that. except that last night, the bbc revealed that last night, the bbc revealed that over five years there had been an 89% increase in young people with mental health issues having to go to a&e mental health issues having to go to a & e departments. does she not agree that the 1.25 billion committed child and adolescent mental health in 2015 should have beena ring mental health in 2015 should have been a ring fenced out of money. not plugging other amounts for the nhs. if we look at what is happening in relation to the health treatment in the nhs, we seek 1400 more people every day accessing mental health services. now, when i talk about this issue on monday, i say there is of course more to do. this is not a problem that is going to be resolved overnight. i have set out ways in

which we are going to see an improvement in the services in relation to mental health. it is about the appropriate care of any individual. as i mentioned earlier, thatis individual. as i mentioned earlier, that is not just individual. as i mentioned earlier, that is notjust about individual. as i mentioned earlier, that is not just about accident emergency. when i was in aldershot on monday, i spoke to service users with mental health problems who said they did not want to go to accident and emergency. the provision of alternative services has meant that the a alternative services has meant that thea&e alternative services has meant that the a & e locally has seen their number stabilising rather than going up. it is about the appropriate care for the individual. we want to see that good practice spread across the whole country. nobody wants people with mental health conditions to go toa&e with mental health conditions to go to a & e departments. the a & e departments don't want them to go there. but under this government, their's 6000 fewer nurses working in mental health 400 fewer doctors working in mental health. it is obvious they are going to go somewhere to go and get help when

they are in a desperate situation. 0ur nhs is under huge pressure. much of that is caused by cuts to social care. the royal college of physicians says it is putting more people into our hospitals and trapping them there for longer. will the prime minister do what my friend the prime minister do what my friend the member for leicester sousa is called for and bring forward the extra 700 and million forward now and put it into social care so that we don't have this problem of people staying too long in hospital when they should be cared for by a social ca re they should be cared for by a social care system. i was asked his questions before christmas. he may find it difficult to believe that somebody will say the same thing that they said a few weeks ago, but

we have put extra money into social care. in the medium term, we are ensuring best practice is spread across the country because he talks about delayed discharges. there are some local authorities working with their health services locally where there are virtually no delayed discharges. 50%, half of the delayed discharges. 50%, half of the delayed discharges are in only 24 local authority areas. what does that tell us? it is notjust about funding, it is about best practice. if he comes back to me and talk to me about funding again, he should think on this. we can only fund social care and the nhs every rehab a strong economy. we will only have that with the conservatives. i'm sorry to have to bring the prime minister back to the subject of social care which i raised before christmas. the reason idid so raised before christmas. the reason i did so and will continue to do so because she hadn't addressed the problem. the government has got 4.6

billion from social care budget. —— at 4.6 billion. there is a social ca re at 4.6 billion. there is a social care “— at 4.6 billion. there is a social care —— cut. she wanted to create a shared society. more people sharing hospital corridors on trolleys. more people sharing waiting areas in a & e departments. more people sharing in anxiety created by this government. 0ur nhs is in spit crisis. -- government. 0ur nhs is in spit crisis. —— crisis. the prime minister is in denial. can i suggest to heron minister is in denial. can i suggest to her on the economic question, cancelled the corporate tax cut, spend the money where it is needed, on people in desperate need in social care or in our hospitals. he talks about crisis, i suggest he listens to the honourable member for

don valley a former labour minister who said the following, with labour is all about crisis. the nhs is on its needs and we have to be more grown—up about this. it looks to me about corporation tax and restoring the cuts in corporation tax, the labour party has already spent that money eight times. the last thing the nhs needs is a check from labour that bounces. the only way that we can ensure we have funding for the national health service is a strong economy of. yesterday, he proved that he would... cyber bullying, sexting and revenge pornography is

pa rt of sexting and revenge pornography is part of british adolescents today. how will you tackled the pressures that teenagers face today? one of the things i‘ve spoken about when i speak about mental health on monday is actually trying to ensure that we can provide some better training the staff and teachers in schools and identify early stages of mental health crisis and problems for young people and get them addressed. it is something like half of all mental health problems start before the age of 14. this is a real issue we need to address. we‘re going to look at how we can provide that training. we‘ll be looking at a number of other ways. we will also be reviewing the mental health services provided for young people to ensure that we can identify what is working and make sure that that good practice is spread across the country. may i begin with the tribute to father george thomson who

died shortly before christmas? he led a remarkable life as a teacher, a priest and as an smp member of parliament for galloway. we extend our condolences to his family. all of this house across these islands ca re of this house across these islands care about the peace process and the democratic institution in northern ireland. may i wish everybody all the best to try and resolve the issues there. what the consequences delete my what will the consequences be if no solution is found?” delete my what will the consequences be if no solution is found? i also is my condolences to reverend john thomson. i believe he was the first... in terms of the political situation in northern ireland, with tricking me very seriously. —— we

are treating this very seriously. he has spoken to the first minister and the former deputy first minister and he is urging all parties to work together to find a way forward. i myself have also spoken to people and putting every effort into this. the legislation is within seven days if we don‘t have a nomination fred deputy first minister, then the matter would go to an election. the prime minister has indicated that she wants to take the views to the elected representatives and the devolved institutions on brexit seriously. so, it stands to reason than that if there is no northern irish assembly and there is no northern ireland executive for much of the time for the march timetable that she has set before invoking article 50, that she will be unable

to properly consult, to fully discuss and to find agreement on the complex issues during this time period. in these circumstances, will the prime minister postpone invoking article 50? will she postpone article 50? will she postpone article 50? will she postpone article 50 or will she just plough on regardless? it is about ensuring... as he says, we want to ensure that we do hear the views from all parts of the united kingdom. that is why we have established dj mc, the european committee specific to take the views and thejnc committee specific to take the views and the jnc who committee specific to take the views and thejnc who are meeting more frequently than normal. i want to try and ensure the within this period of seven days we can try and find a solution to the political situation in northern ireland so that we can continue to see the assembly government continuing. but iam also assembly government continuing. but i am also clear that in the

discussions that we have, it will be possible and in fact is still the case that ministers are in place and obviously there are rejected its place and we are still able to take the views of northern ireland. question five, sir. apologies. the fundamentals of the uk‘s economy are strong including in staffordshire in the west midlands. employment in staffordshi re the west midlands. employment in staffordshire has risen by over 20,000 since 2010. with protected schools and police budgets. more doctors and nurses. we are going further by giving new powers to the west midlands with the devolution deal and with the election of a directly elected mayor will stop i think andy street with his business and local experience would be a very good mayor for the west midlands.”

thank you for that. unemployment in my constituency, my beautiful litchfield constituency, is around 0.7% and that's fantastic. but i wanted even lower. and i found other of my constituents work in the area of my constituents work in the area of the west midlands combined authority. so, can i press my right honourable friend just a little bit further about what she thinks is neededin further about what she thinks is needed in the west midlands combined authority to improve employment still more? i thank my honourable friend. of course, i have had the advantage of having visited his beautiful constituency. immolation to the midlands, or we have very strong ambitions to make the midlands and engine for growth in the uk. that is why we have plans for the midland engine that

demonstrate that when we say we‘re going to build an economy that grows we mean it. the autumn statement confirms things such as the £5 million for the birmingham rail hub. you have 50 million for the rail engine. we will shortly be illustrating our strategy for the midlands engine. i think having the right person elected as mayor who i think would be andy street is absolutely crucial. happy new year. sir ivan rogers in his resignation letter said he might have to say things that the promised would be found disagreeable. her government is not worthy of the cost of scots let alone their blind trust big

volley. will the prime minister take this opportunity to apologise for threatening the union and give a solemn promise to everything a person in this country that there will not be a penny worse off after a tory brexit? you will be very well aware that i want to see the best possible trade deal with the united kingdom with the eu. the best possible trade dealfor kingdom with the eu. the best possible trade deal for operating within the single market. entering into the negotiations, that is one of the issues that i have said i wa nt to of the issues that i have said i want to see. unlike the downplaying that he does about the approach that we have taking, i have to say that it is this government that is ambitious for the opportunities that are available after the european union accent. cheshire schools in areas of variety and high deprivation, will see one of the lowest per— pupil funding rates deprivation, will see one of the lowest per—pupil funding rates under the new proposed funding formula.

does the prime minister agree that these discrepancies must be addressed to make sure that enters bree pupils get the best possible start in life ? bree pupils get the best possible start in life? everybody recognises that the way schools have been funded in the past has been unfair. many pupils have been missing out. that is why it is right for us to be bringing in new funding formula. making sure that funding is attached to children‘s needs. of course, we will look at rural areas. that is why within this formula, additional funding has been included. 0f course, the department for education has this out for consultation at the moment and i would urge my honourable friend to make her representations as part of that consultation. use the hospitala&e is set for downgrade this year. over christmas, i had constituents who are waiting 20 hours for a bed. in a

facility that might not even exist next year. with the prime minister now please face reality and act now to stop this vital a & e service from disappearing? what the honourable lady is referring to other plans that are being put forward at local level to consider... far too much noise. if you work behaving in another public place like this you probably be subject to an anti—social behavioural order. i returned to the point, decisions about services local area are rightly taken by the local area are rightly taken by the local national service because we believe that its local clinicians who notes what is best for the area. it is about tailoring services for

the best possible need the local people, modernising care and facilities are making services appropriate to the local area. this trust has a extensive treatment plan to make sure that all patients can be treated in a timely way. next thursday evening, i will host the first session of the bedford community business school. many people who are passionate about entrepreneurship. will my right honourable friend ensure that her strategy has an heart about... what is important is the industrial strategy will be looking to the future of the economy. crucial to thatis

future of the economy. crucial to that is the growth that is generated by entrepreneurs, small businesses, the very passionate he has spoken about. we want to see an environment in which those who can grow can be merged and develop and can provide future jobs merged and develop and can provide futurejobs for merged and develop and can provide future jobs for people. that is what the strategy is about i agree with my honourable friend. the prime ministerl my honourable friend. the prime minister i am sure will understand despite the reassurances that there are genuine and really serious concerns amongst staff across the nhs and the care system and patients and the pressures they are under. it is for that reason that people from many parties have come together to call for the government to establish an nhs of care convention to engage with the public so that we can come up with the public so that we can come up witha with the public so that we can come up with a long—term settlement for the nhs care. with the prime

minister be prepared to meet with thisjustus gusset so minister be prepared to meet with this justus gusset so she minister be prepared to meet with thisjustus gusset so she can hear our case? —— just to discuss it.” appreciate the care that you have put into this and i would be happy to meet you as you suggest. there can be nothing as distressing for a pa re nt can be nothing as distressing for a parent is the death of their child, particularly where their child has been murdered. that is what happened to the two ladies, one of them a constituent of mine who set up justice after acquittal, successfully campaigning for volu nta ry successfully campaigning for voluntary national standards of support by the cps by the police by the families of murder victims following an acquittal. those standards are due to be launched here next tuesday. but the prime minister join here next tuesday. but the prime ministerjoin with me to pay tribute to the determination and energy with which they have campaigned for the cause and will they continue to

ensure as they always have done that the voices of the victims of crime and their families the voices of the victims of crime and theirfamilies are the voices of the victims of crime and their families are always listen to? my honourable friend raises a very important point i am very happy tojoin him paying tribute to very important point i am very happy to join him paying tribute to these two campaigners. i am sure that the whole house and want to pay tribute to the work that they are doing. as he says, i remain committed to ensuring that the voices of victims are heard. that is what i did when i was home secretary. if you look at theissues was home secretary. if you look at the issues such as introducing new measures to tackle modern slavery, strengthening the ip cc, legislating in relation to release complaints and discipline systems and number of other actions. i am very pleased to save the right honourable friend the home secretary is taking that same passion to make sure the victims of crime are hired and he is taking it forward. medi bags are accelerating closure

of local branches with adverse affects on vulnerable and older people and on the high street. the royal bank of scotland is closing branches including juniper green in my constituency. convenience stores are taking the strain and processing bills and often facing exorbitant bank charges for the privilege of doing that. will the prime minister meet meet to discuss how we can realise the situation where banking across the uk services customers and the real economy? the issue of branches and accessibility of ranking services is for individual banks to take and consider and there are many ways in which people are accessing services other than going physically into a branch but i will look at the issue she has raised. building a country that works for everyone means doing even more to

tackle the economic and social deprivation that has come to afflict pockets of seaside towns in rhyl, such as rhyl in my constituency. would my right honourable friend support growth track 360, a local plan to invest in rail infrastructure to help unlock the potential of the north wales, mercy region as an integral part of the northern powerhouse connected to the re st of northern powerhouse connected to the rest of the country by the proposed hsz hub at crewe? rest of the country by the proposed hs2 hub at crewe? can i say to him i welcome the establishment of the north wales and mercy dee task force. the plan is an ambitious programme of improvements and i am sure they will prioritise the most promising but i can say the department for transport will work closely with the task force and welsh government to consider what can be accomplished. as pensions

minister steve webb misled the public on the value of the single rate pension and gave us the eu 2011 pensions act which was rightly booted out with voters but is now —— he is now deemed suitable for a knighthood. unless the government takes action to help, can she understand the knighthood is a final insult to these women? action has been taken in relation to women‘s pensions and the government took action to ensure the number affected and the period for which they were affected would be reduced. money was put in to ensure it was possible. i said to him that if you look at the new structure being put in place, women will be some of the greater beneficiaries of the new structure. i welcome the prime minister raising the awareness of the importance of child mental health this week. last

year 65% of young people requiring mental health support in south warwickshire had to wait over 12 weeks before starting treatment. can my right honourable friend outline how the new proposals will improve the support network for vulnerable young people ? the support network for vulnerable young people? he does raise a very important issue that was alluded to in this session. we are investing more in mental health than before, a record £11.4 billion a year and it was a conservative led government had introduced the parity of esteem between mental and physical health but there is more to do to ensure we see the appropriate care available for people and i cited an example where i saw excellent work being done to provide care and support for people in the community, which was relieving pressure on accident and emergency and ensuring people got

the best possible care for them. strained accident and emergency provision in my constituency is under review and further up the cumbrian coast of the community risks losing 24—hour access to accident and consultant led maternity from its hospital. i understand she was said the decisions are to be made locally but will she at least to say she can understand the anxiety of expectant mothers who face a 40 mile journey on difficult roads, which are often blocked if they have a difficult birth? can i say to the honourable gentleman i think the problems facing the health service in cumbria are recognised and i understand concerns of people in terms of services that will be available. we have put robust national support in place to address challenges in

cumbria and are developing a lasting plan to deliver quality and sustainable services. he is right in saying that in relation to the decisions, they are taken locally, no final decisions have been taken. i recognise the concern which he has raised previously, particularly about services at west cumberland hospital. there will be involvement in taking those decisions but we recognise local concerns about challenges for health service provision cumbria. i know from my career in medicine that the men and women of east midlands ambulance service to a brave and sterling job for the people of sleaford and others, saving people'slives everyday. east midlands ambulance service responded toa midlands ambulance service responded to a total of 11,662 999 calls over

christmas bank holiday weekend, 2500 we re christmas bank holiday weekend, 2500 were in lincolnshire. will the prime minister join were in lincolnshire. will the prime ministerjoin me in paying tribute to their dedication, particularly over the busy winter period, and tell the house what more the government can do to support our ambulance services and improve response times in rural areas? cani response times in rural areas? can i thank my honourable friend for her question and for bringing her personal experience as a medical professional in relation to this issue. i am professional in relation to this issue. iam happy professional in relation to this issue. i am happy tojoin her in paying tribute to the men and women of the ambulance service and the dedication and commitment they show. she asked what the government has been doing. we recognise the ambulance services are busy which is why we see over ambulance services are busy which is why we see over more “— ambulance services are busy which is why we see over more —— over ambulance services are busy which is why we see over more —— over 2000 more paramedics and are increasing

trading places by over 60%. the department of health, nhs and employers and unions have agreed to changes for compensation for paramedics, digging them a pay increase potentially as they progress. can i commend the prime minister for her considered statement last night and the words she has given this afternoon? she knows our commitment to the institutions in northern ireland but would she agree that nothing can be or should be gained from threatening the peace process, the progress we have made, or the institutions we have made, or the institutions we have fought so hard to sustain in northern ireland? the progress that has been made in northern ireland has been hard won. we must recognise we don‘t want to put that progress in jeopardy, which is why it is important for the government and all parties to work as hard as we can to see a

resolution, so we can see a return to power—sharing institutions and ensure that the progress can be continued. cani continued. can i warmly welcome what my right honourable friend said about children's mental health but can i draw her attention to another burning injustice. my constituent paul edwards has battled cancer —— paula edwards. she has taken 28 weeks paula edwards. she has taken 28 we e ks off paula edwards. she has taken 28 weeks off work, she is on half pay but her working tax credit has stopped, which means she worries about how to make ends meat rather than her recover a few. can she asked the treasury to look at this perhaps in the course of budget preparations? can i thank her for the comments about mental health announcements by have made. i am sorry to hear of the difficulties she has set out that her constituent is experiencing and the distress

this has caused. working tax credits provide support for low income families in work and/or designed to incentivise people to increase working hours. with the universal credit system we will have a system with single streamlined payments that does encourage work, but in the individual case she raises, i‘m sure the financial secretary to the treasury will look at that case and theissueit treasury will look at that case and the issue it has set out. order. that is the end of the first prime minister‘s questions of the new year, 40 minutes of questions for the prime minister and, as expected, lots on the nhs. jeremy corbyn kicking off with a quote from the red cross describing what is going on in the nhs with four—hour waits

in na. and theresa may is saying the description of the health service was irresponsible and overblown. norman smith. there is a thought at westminster theresa may does not quite get the nhs is an issue, not in the same way as david cameron who said the three letters that mattered to him most were nhs. theresa may does not quite feel the political symbolism and intensity of the debate around the nhs and it seemed for periods her language in that did not seem to match the obvious public concern and focus on the difficulties in the nhs, referring to trolley waiting in a&e as incidents where unfortunate practices have taken place. she rejected suggestion of extra funding, instead blaming

difficulties on the winter illnesses, an ageing population, and rising patient demand, saying what was important was to have a strong economy, to fund the nhs. you sense that she was a bit on the defensive. i have a couple of thoughts. 0ne that she was a bit on the defensive. i have a couple of thoughts. one is that, maybe, with the remorseless focus on brexit, the sudden way in which the nhs has burst forward as an issue, because of the pressures we have faced, has perhaps caught her slightly off guard. the second thing is mrs may is always saying how she has provided more money, an extra 10 billion more, and she clearly remains unhappy that other departments, her department when she was at the home office, hat to implement stringent cuts but the nhs gets more money and part of her

thinking perhaps is what are they thinking perhaps is what are they thinking about, they have more money? in terms of public opinion, it is an attitude and argument and a tone i would suggest leaves her vulnerable. thanks, norman. we can go to the news you may have heard about with claims that russia has a dossier about allegations against donald trump. described potentially as a blackmail dossier. he has responded on twitter. he has said... earlier, he described them on twitter, the allegations, as fake news, a total political witchhunt. his incoming chief of staff has been talking about the allegations. asked about the reports on nbc‘s today show. he

said he had brought up the matter with donald trump and that it was, quote, total garbage and he was keeping it clean. and the rejection of the report as a total fabrication. this coincides with the fa cts fabrication. this coincides with the facts donald trump will hold his first news conference since being elected at 4pm. that will be interesting. with me is our security correspondent gordon corera. vehement denials from moscow and also from donald trump, but remind us what the allegations are. also from donald trump, but remind us what the allegations arem also from donald trump, but remind us what the allegations are. it is a set of memos, 35 pages, which were, it appears, created as part of what is called opposition research. someone was asked by donald trump‘s opponents, initially republicans opposing him, to go out and see what dirt you could find on donald trump

and this individual, allegedly an ex—mi6 officer who works for a private firm, talk to people in moscow and collated the information into memos. some are salacious, claims about compromising material to do with donald trump‘s personal life, and some of the serious material is to do with claims his campaign worked with kremlin to hack the democratic party‘s e—mails and get the information out. that is in some ways a more serious allegation, that he was conspiring will stop but is this true? the memos have circulated in washington for sometime and american journalists have not been able to verify them. some of the facts have been disputed. 0ne some of the facts have been disputed. one of donald trump‘s advisers were said to have gone to prague to meet the hackers or those associated with them. he said he had never been to the czech republic in his life. there is dispute as to the

veracity of the memos and whether what is in them is rumour, entirely fabricated, whether some parts are true. we are not clear about that. in terms of part of the context, he has effectively been siding with russia publicly against his own intelligence services on what is alleged to have happened during the election. which is why it is toxic cause it plays into the issue about his relationship with russia and there is suspicion he is too close to russia, which leads to questions as to why some would say this is the a nswer as to why some would say this is the answer because they have compromising material, they have worked with him. it does not have to follow, but it will be incredibly toxic, this issue. this does not help him, he said during the campaign he said publicly during some of the tv debates, russia, why

don‘t you hack the democrat‘s e—mails? don‘t you hack the democrat‘s e-mails? those words may come back to haunt him. the intelligence community think something has gone on with russia but their conclusions are not necessarily the same as the memo that implies a degree of cooperation between donald trump and the russians, that is not something the russians, that is not something the intelligence community has said, they said the russians wanted to influence the campaign against hillary clinton. i think it will be toxic, whatever comes out for donald trump and the issue of russia particularly. and it is not substantiated, but it will be interesting to hear at the news conference at 4pm. the news conference, the first since he was elected, initially that was supposed to be held in december, but that was called off in december. it was primarily designed to talk about his business interests, how he had managed them once he became

president. those are issues he has dealt with away from the environment ofa dealt with away from the environment of a news conference. the news conference was rescheduled for today, and now there is this issue which has blown up, which is going to be no doubt the main subject that he will be answering questions on. he has come out fighting on twitter, saying it is fake news, a political witchhunt, russia has never used leveraged over me, i have nothing to do with russia, no deals, no loans, no nothing. the main headlines. the kremlin has dismissed unsubstantiated reports it had compiled information on donald trump. senior doctors warn that the nhs in england is dealing with its worst ever winter crisis due to a shortage of resources. a 15—year—old girl has been remanded into secure accommodation by york magistrates after being charged with the murder of seven—year—old katie rough.

barack obama has delivered his farewell address as us president, telling the american people he believes the country is in a better, stronger place than when he was first elected eight years ago. in an emotional speech in chicago, he thanked his wife michelle as well as his family and staff and said he still believed in the ability of people to deliver change. speaking at his inauguration in 2008, president obama said the challenges facing america would be met and looked ahead to the country‘s future. with hope and virtue let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. let it be said by our children‘s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter, and with eyes fixed on the horizon and with eyes fixed on the horizon and god‘s race fixed upon us, we

carry forth that gift of freedom and delivered it safely for future generations. eight years later, during his final address in chicago, where his political career began, mr obama said the people had made him a better president. my fellow americans... cheering and applause. michelle and i have been so touched by all the well wishes that we‘ve received over the past few weeks, but tonight, tonight it‘s my turn to say thanks. whether we have seen eye to eye or really agreed at all, my conversations with you, the american people, in living rooms and in schools, at farms, on factory floors, at diners and on distant military outposts.

those conversations are what have kept me honest and kept me inspired and kept me going. and every day i‘ve learned from you. you made me a better president. and you made me a better man. and he ended where he‘d begun. with a call for people to continue to believe in bringing about change — and to hold on to the values of the country‘s founding fathers. it has been the honour of my life to serve you. i won‘t stop. in fact, i'll serve you. i won‘t stop. in fact, i‘ll be there with you as a citizen for all my remaining days. but, for now, whether you young, or younger heart, i have one final ask of you

as your president, the same thing i asked when you took a chance on me. iam asking asked when you took a chance on me. i am asking you to believe, not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours. i am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into ourfounding hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents. that hold fast to that faith written into ourfounding documents. that spirit of immigrants and those who marched forjustice. of immigrants and those who marched for justice. that creed, of immigrants and those who marched forjustice. that creed, reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon. the creed at the core of the moon. the creed at the core of every american whose story is not yet written. yes we can. yes we did. yes we can. thank you, god bless you. may god continue to bless the united states of america. adele, eltonjohn,

coldplay and iron maiden. just a few of the artists who have publically said they are anti resale ticket websites, otherwise known as secondary ticketing websites. it‘s a very profitable industry, worth billions worldwide, and it makes lots of money for touts who routinely use them to sell tickets at inflated prices. but an investigation for the victoria derbyshire show has found at least one artist who‘s been putting tickets directly onto secondary ticketing websites at higher prices for a stadium tour that hasn‘t sold out. chi chi izundu reports. there are more and more sites where you can get hold of a ticket for a gig or a show, but it seems it‘s getting more and more difficult to get one at a reasonable price. and that could be down to the proliferation of resale sites, or secondary ticketing websites, where fans can resell tickets. have the artists actually allowed for, or given permission, for prices of their tickets at their events to be sold at significantly inflated prices?

but it seems it‘s not just the fans uploading tickets onto these sites, as highlighted recently by a committee of mps. we‘re actually working with one artist at the moment whereby we‘re openly, transparently listing those tickets within get me in and seatwave, saying these are official artist tickets. # let me entertain you... ticketmaster confirmed to me that that artist is in fact robbie williams. here‘s a ticket you can buy on ticketmaster‘s website. i‘m feeling flush, so let‘s get some good seats. level one, block 126 sounds good. £95 each. let‘s see on the secondary website. these tickets are direct from the event organiser, very similar seats, one block over from the stage, at £160 each. this is not a resale ticket. it‘s being sold for the first time on a secondary site. ticketmaster say these platinum tickets are the best seats in the house, but confirmed they come with no extra perks. but there is a £65 difference

between these two very similar seats, even though they both come directly from the event organisers. now, robbie and his management aren‘t doing anything illegal. they are not breaking any laws or any rules. but some people have said that this is just greedy. in 2015, a number of promoters and artists‘ managers signed an open letter to the government asking them to take a harsher stance on the secondary ticketing market. harvey goldsmith, who has promoted acts like michaeljackson had madonna, signed it, and we pointed out another signature. i think it is wrong, but, hopefully, most of the people who have signed the petition are acting honourably and do everything that they can do to prevent tickets being sold on the secondary market. ticketmaster say they are being transparent. but it does seem you are paying more for a ticket for no real reason, when you can get a similar one cheaper. and despite numerous requests for a statement, robbie‘s management team,

ie music, haven‘t responded. just before we catch up with the weather, a couple more tweets from donald trump responding to allegations about a russian blackmail dossier against him and allegations that he effectively couuded allegations that he effectively colluded with the russians in terms of trying to influence the elections. he said on twitter, i win an election easily, a great movement is verified and opponents try to belittle our victory with fake news, a sorry state. he says intelligence agencies should not have allowed the fa ke agencies should not have allowed the fake news to leak into the public. 0ne fake news to leak into the public. one last shot at me, are we living in nazi germany? those are the latest tweets on donald trump ahead of the first news conference he will

be holding later, since he was elected president. that is at 4pm. ina elected president. that is at 4pm. in a moment, the bbc news at one, but now the weather. the wind has been the troublemaker so far today. this nasty area of low pressure and strong winds blowing behind. north—westerly and showers. it has eased somewhat but it will remain windy through the day. in the south, still mild, relatively quiet, not much whether action here. that is still to come. this is this evening and overnight. blustery in the north and wintry showers and the risk of rice in places, while eastern and south—eastern areas still quiet. thursday, an important

day because we will see milder air from the south clash with colder air sitting across northern areas and on this boundary we could see the cold and mild air mixing to the extent where we will see rain falling and snow, a mixture of whether action. remember the mild air to the south with the rain and the rain sliding eastwards. we get colder air tucking in behind and we have a period of snow. it could be rain or it could be rain and snow, it could be snow, it could be lying on the ground. to the north, we have cold airfrom it could be lying on the ground. to the north, we have cold air from the north, separate weather, and these are wintry showers affecting scotla nd are wintry showers affecting scotland and parts of northern ireland. you can see the wintry showers are hit and miss the north and the period of rain and snow mixing across southern areas. thursday night, there could be frost

and ice around almost anywhere across the uk, particularly across these areas. 0n across the uk, particularly across these areas. on friday, another weather system potentially bringing wintry weather and strong winds. and a potential storm surge, the waves, topping sea defences potentially. further inland, particularly central areas, some sunshine and feeling cold. has damaging information about him. unverified reports say that russian intelligence agencies have compromising details about his business interests and his private life. russia dismisses the claims as pulp fiction. the president—elect calls it a political witch hunt. mrtrump willgive mr trump will give his first media conference since elected later today. we‘ll have the latest from washington. also this lunchtime. the prime minister and the labour leader clash in the commons over the state of the nhs.

the death of seven—year—old katie rough — a 15—year—old girl appears in court in york charged with her murder. an emotionalfarewell — after eight years in office barack obama prepares to step down and pays tribute to his wife. for the past 25 years you have not only been my wife and mother of my