to ease pressure on accident and emergency services. theresa may says funding to doctors will be cut if they don't provide a 12 hour, seven day service, or prove that it isn't needed. good morning. it's saturday the 14th of january. also ahead: thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes but towns and villages along the east coast escape serious flooding. mps call for the prime minister to publish its brexit plan by mid february at the latest. in sport. chelsea drop their top scorer costa. it follows a dispute over his fitness, but also comes amid reports he is being offered £30 million a year, to play in china. the aspiring photographer whose pictures went undiscovered for decades, but have now become the cover art for a new album from the jam. and louise lear has the weather.

good morning. a cold and frosty start to the day. a slightly quieter story in comparison to of late. coastal showers around. further inland, there will also be some sun. thank you. good morning. first, our main story. the prime minister has said gps in england should keep their surgeries open for longer to ease pressure on accident and emergency departments. downing street says too many family doctors are closing early and failing to open at weekends, forcing patients to seek treatment in hospitals. our political correspondent, chris mason, reports. for days, the government has faced a blizzard of criticism about its management of the nhs in england. targets have been missed and major alerts declared. senior figures in the health service are sounding doom alerts about the future. now the prime minister is turning her attention to family doctors and what

they can do to help. a downing street source said this. the doctors‘ union, the british medical association, said the remarks amounted to scapegoating during what it called "a serious crisis." the association added that a third of gp surgeries in england had unfilled vacancies because the existing workload put doctors off wanting to go into general practice. chris mason, bbc news. let's talk now to our political correspondent, tom barton, who is in our london newsroom. tom, this follows a turbulent week for the nhs. good morning. good morning. you are

right. it has been a tough week. earlier this week, we heard too many patients are waiting more than four hours at accident and emergency. and in the first week of this year, four out of every ten hospitals in england declared a major incident for at least one day. this announcement is really an attempt by downing street to show that they are dealing with the issue. officials say that about a third of patients who show up at accident and emergency would be better treated elsewhere in the nhs. ministers see gps as key to reducing demand on hospitals. and so they are asking gps to open for longer and are saying that they could lose some funding if they do not. and the language coming out of downing street is pretty strong. a suggestion patients are suffering because surgeries are not providing the access they need. and also the

accusation that even when weekends gp appointments are available, gps are not telling patients about them. doctors are furious, seeing this as an attack. as you heard on the report, the bma is accusing ministers of scapegoating. the conservative mp mgp sara woollaston is calling this an attack on overstretched and tired gps. in a few mintes we'll be speaking to the chairman of the british medical association's gp committee. the government should publish its brexit plan by mid february at the latest, according to a cross party group of mps. the exiting the eu committee also says parliament should be given a vote on the final deal. here's our business correspondent, joe lynam. next week, theresa may will give a major speech on britain's life outside the eu, which could give us more detail on what kind of brexit

she'll be seeking. she is under pressure from key parties in the commons, including leavers such as michael gove. the brexit committee says this. it should set out its planned by mid—february. it should press for a transitional arrangement with the eu if it cannot get a full deal in the two—year time frame. banks in the city should have continued unfettered access to eu markets. crucially they said the government should offer mps a vote on whatever is agreed at the end of the negotiation. we are made up of people who campaigned for leave and remain. we have come together because we know whatever side we took in that debate, we need the best deal for britain. the government said this. but this report by cross—party mps is likely to be seized upon by those hoping for a softer and certainly more transparent exit from the eu.

joe lynam, bbc news. jeremy corbyn will defend his leadership of the labour party today after claims by a centre—left think tank it was too weak to win an election. the fabian society warned labour would lose out on returning to power unless it could secure a coalition. at a speech in london, mr corbyn will say his party offers "a complete break from a rigged system." he'll also outline labour plans to bring care homes into public ownership. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn will say his party would take care homes into public ownership, rather than see them close because of financial difficulties. the east of england has escaped major flooding, despite fears that storm surges could hit towns along the coast. thousands of people were urged to leave their homes as the environment agency issued 17 severe flood warnings for yesterday evening. but by the early hours of the morning the threat had subsided. simon clemison reports. after all the words of warning, just the sight and sound of a huge display of strength by nature. within 5—10 minutes it was coming over the walls and just flooding

straight in and running all the way down the street. it was awful. about 30 homes were inundated here in hornsy. businesses as well. into the evening, people in the path of the storm surge were still protecting their properties. some were advised to leave, but others in great yarmouth stayed put. we saw it happen in 2013. you have to take precautions at the end of the day. all we did was put up sandbags near the doorways. others found comfort however they could. special centres opened up. but when high tide arrived in each town, conditions appeared to ease. the environment agency sent in helpers. the environment agency sent in pumps and more than five miles of temporary darrius. officials say that the emergency response was not over the top. the worst is over and the defence is held. the rest centres will be put away now. to be honest with you, if it had have breached, we would have been in a lot worse

situation in these centres would have been needed. it is wise to say we followed everything by the book as far as the environment agency and emergency services were concerned that. some are now beginning to return home. but with storm warnings being placed, people are being urged not to take chances. simon cleminson, bbc news. we will speak to alex dunlop who is at great yarmouth, a place where people were worried. what happened overnight? they were extremely worried. look at the river yar behind me which flows through the seaside resort. mild at the moment. but at 9:30pm last night, when high tide was, it was swirling, coming up to two feet of this concrete rampart. but it has now dropped significantly. 5000 homes were at

immediate risk. emergency services we re immediate risk. emergency services were taking no chances, knocking on the doors. raf teams knocked on the doors, advising people to leave. some left, but two out of three decided to stay put, collect free sandbags, and stay at home. i was at one rescue centre, there was contingency for 400 people at that particular place and only five turned up. they closed up shop not long after midnight. that being said, further along the coast, many communities escaped the worst of it. to the north, some isolated flooding, with businesses, some properties in roads, flooded. nothing too serious. 17 severe flood warnings remain in place this morning but the number has dropped from 135 down to 80. donald trump has suggested he would be open to lifting

the sanctions president obama imposed on russia, but only if moscow proves useful. mr trump said he would keep sanctions intact for a period of time, but indicated he would be looking for a new relationship with russia. the us house of representatives has voted to begin the process to repeal president obama's health insurance laws, known as obamacare. the senate approved the measure on thursday. the law provides medical coverage for more than 20 million americans, but president—elect donald trump has tweeted that obamaca re "will soon be history." banks still need to do more to improve their day—to—day services, particularly when it comes to being clear about fees and charges, according to a customer satisfaction survey, which? found several of the biggest banks, such as rbs, natwest and hsbc, came out bottom. the consumers‘ association say banks are doing better with mobile banking, but could improve in other areas. banks need to do much better when it comes to the transparency

of their fees and charges. it's really important so that people know how much they're being charged for their bank account, so that they know how much they could change if they move to another account, and so they don't get hit with unexpected fees and charges. police in the united states say a girl who was stolen as a newborn from a hospital in florida 18 years ago has been found alive in south carolina. kamiyah mobley, who was living under another name, was found after a tip—off. the woman who raised her has been charged with kidnapping. bert, an african spurred tortoise, was fitted with wheels to allow him to move unassisted after injuring his back legs. he's now trundling happily around his home at the dinosaur adventure park in norwich.

and unlike other motorists, he doesn't have to shell out for petrol. he has got the moves. sped up a lot. weather coming up soon. with nearly half of hospitals in england facing unprecedented demand in the last week, much of the debate has been around the need for better social care to enable patients to be discharged more quickly. but now the prime minister has said that gps who close early or at weekends are partly to blame. theresa may says patients who can't see their family doctor will go to a&e instead, adding to the pressure. dr chaand nagpaul is chairman of the british medical association's gp committee, and hejoins us now. good morning. thank you forjoining us. good morning. thank you forjoining us. do you think that gp surgeries should be open seven days a week.

us. do you think that gp surgeries should be open seven days a weeklj think the most serious issue is we have a crisis affecting the nhs starting at gp surgeries where we have severe shortages. over eight of ten gps say they cannot provide safe quality care. one in three have anfield vacancies. we have fewer doctors compared to the rest of europe. we spend less on hills and have cuts on social care. this is what we need to address this. fundamentally, the government needs to get a grip and resource the nhs properly. that is the overriding message coming from all authorities, including the nhs england chief executive. you do not think they should stay open seven days a week. is there anything more gp surgeries could do to relief hospitals? many

surgeries close during the day. there was a report by the national audit office than half of gp surgeries close during the day. why is that? why can't they do more? first of all, they do not actually close. if a front door is closed or about an hour in the handover between the morning and afternoon, that will continue to provide gp services for patients who need them. let us not forget, as we are speaking now, thousands of gp is out there are visiting patients at home. we provide a good 47 every day service. —— 24/7. it is an insult to gps propping up the service on a daily basis. what needs to be recognised is the alert for general practice. one in three gp services have unfilled vacancies. they have a

skeleton staff. when the doors of the surgery close you do not think thatis the surgery close you do not think that is a problem? how do people know if surgeries are open or not? if they are closing for just an hour? that information is available in gps surgeries, patients know how to access that, they are contractual obligations but we are deflecting from the main issue, a serious crisis in the nhs affecting gp services, community services, hospital and social care. as i said earlier, we have the fewest number of doctors per head of population in europe, the lowest funding levels. we've got cuts to social care, eight in ten gps saying they can't provide safe quality care because of work pressures and lack of gps, that's what we need to discuss and that requires the prime minister and

government to address... you couldn't create a crisis better, we just don't have the resources to do oui’ just don't have the resources to do ourjobs properly. just don't have the resources to do our jobs properly. that just don't have the resources to do ourjobs properly. that is what we should be discussing, we need to be resorting the nhs bike any other civilised nation that wants to fund its state—run service. civilised nation that wants to fund its state-run service. -- like. there's clearly a lot of pressure on gps, we don't do as well as europe on that, but looking at this story today that theresa may is saying funding could be cut if you don't work longer hours, just explain a bit about this funding and what it means, for example, to your surgery. do you get separate funding, how much is it and will it make a difference if you don't get it any more? the best way to deepen the crisis in the nhs is to cut funding to gp services. 340 million patients rely on their gp service yearly, that's compared to 23 million who attend a&e. if you cut gp services, just a 6% cut would double the

number of patients attending hospital. i appreciate that, sorry to interrupt... it's a complete distraction, we need to resource general practice properly if you wa nt to general practice properly if you want to address the crisis in the nhs. can you answer the question of this funding? today we have heard the prime minister will order gp surgeries to open seven days a week and if they don't you will lose this funding. explain how important this funding. explain how important this funding actually is question about it is critical in the sense we don't have enough funding at the moment. rather than talking about cutting funding for general practice, which would deepen the crisis, what the national audit office, the report you mentioned earlier, has recommended that the government put more resources and support general practice. that is their report recommendation. the public accounts committee said this week the government is trying to shoehorn seven—day gp opening when we don't have the resources and the service is under great pressure already. we

need to be providing general practice with the resources and support to have more doctors working in the community to support patients ona in the community to support patients on a daily basis. if you cut funding your just on a daily basis. if you cut funding yourjust going to exacerbate the problem and deepen the crisis. you're not going to solve the crisis by creating a deeper crisis in general practice. doctor, would you be opening your surgery in north london for seven days a week? my surgery london for seven days a week? my surgery is open at the moment and as isaid surgery is open at the moment and as i said earlier, there are thousands of gps out there seeing patients urgently and also visiting them at home and they've done so in the nightjust gone. yes, general practice continues to provide the bedrock of the nhs and what you shouldn't be doing is cutting funds to this valued and essential part of the system. thank you very much for yourtime, chairman of the system. thank you very much for your time, chairman of the british medical association gp committee. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning: gp surgeries in england have been told by downing street they must stay

open longer and give patients appointments when they want or risk losing funding. towns and villages along england's east coast have escaped significant flooding after a change in wind direction prevented a storm surge. the problems last night not as bad as feared in terms of those flooding mornings. the wheeze has the big weather picture. good morning. -- louise. the weather picture quiet down today, so some good news. behind me the satellite tells a story, a big mass of cloud on its way for tomorrow, we will have some sunshine as the cloud is broken, though, today. we have this area of high pressure out to the west and toppling across our weather fronts for tomorrow, this system down through the north sea could trigger a few showers running in from north sea coasts and it's a cold and

frosty start for many again. but, as we've seen with the cloud well broken, there will be some sunshine around. if we get showers running in off the north sea coast today they will be sleet and snow but milder airto the will be sleet and snow but milder air to the west with north—westerly winds driving a scattering of showers in here, mostly of rain and they might organise themselves into bands across the south—west and wales due to the wind direction. some showers, seven or eight degrees. a cold afternoon with sunshine and a few wintry showers bow that used of that, temperatures two or three. the west east divide continues. —— further east of that. this is just an continues. —— further east of that. this isjust an indication of continues. —— further east of that. this is just an indication of the types of conditions we will see for the premiership matches today. into the premiership matches today. into the evening matches, it will be pretty cold at leicester city with the temperatures falling away again. in fact, we could see an early frost in central and eastern areas. the cloud will gather out to the west

but as you see, as the rain moves in on the leading edge for a time, we could see snow on higher ground so worth bearing in mind if you're up early on sunday morning. staying cold and milder air tucking early on sunday morning. staying cold and milderairtucking in behind but it will take its time to move him. slowly pushing in from the west so potentially staying cold into the east. on sunday, it is a cloudy, dull, damp day. the rain not too heavy but quite persistent through the day and we could see a little bit of wet snow for a time in east anglia. but the mild air will flood in. we could potentially see double—figure is out to the west, a lwa ys double—figure is out to the west, always staying a bit colder and with two degrees, cloud and drizzle into east anglia again, not looking like a particularly pleasant day. back to you two. thanks very much, we will see you later on. the scandal of russian involvement in the us elections has dominated the headlines both during and after the campaign. but the allegations that surfaced this week almost seemed like something out of a spy novel.

there have been repeated clashes between donald trump and american intelligence chiefs since allegations came to light that russia may have tried to hack into and leak documents to sway the election in his favour. the incoming president repeatedly questioned the credibility of the information, branding it a political witchhunt, although he's now conceded russia may have had access to official documents. earlier this week, news came that more memos had been circling washington, this time suggesting that russia had compromising information on donald trump's private and business life. this is the man said to be behind the claims, christopher steele, a british, ex mi6 agent. he is now in hiding. joining us now from brussels is former m15 intelligence officer, annie machon. very good morning to you and thank you for your time this morning, annie. there's a lot of material there, some of it, as we said earlier, you couldn't really make up. let's deal with the most recent pa rt up. let's deal with the most recent part of the equation, this dossier

from christopher steele, unsubstantiated many people say. what do you make of that part of the story? i would say it is certainly very unsubstantiated at this point. it seems to be more gossip and tittle tattle. this man christopher steele through his company has been putting together it all and it doesn't seem like a thought that has been finished, it is like a first d raft been finished, it is like a first draft which is dangerous because he hasn't had secured his sources, which is very dangerous and they are easily identifiable. there are factual errors as well so it is a pretty derivative or attempt to smear donald trump. what we do know happened was the cia resented this to president obama and donald trump as well as others so it came out and became a public document because of that presentation, which has presented donald trump with a problem in relation to his ongoing issues with his own security services. what do you make of that

relationship a week before he becomes president?” relationship a week before he becomes president? i think it's a very dangerous thing at the moment, i don't see how the relationship can recover. the cia has been trying every which way they can to delegitimise donald trump's selection by claiming the russians interfered with it. they've put reports out but none of the reports have claimed any evidence so they are still unsubstantiated —— election. donald trump has taken this personally. when he is inaugurated, he will then take on the cia. he will put in a new chief and he's talked about slimming down the organisation, getting rid of old agents. they are effectively running out of control at the moment. it's an interesting area, i want to say the reasons why donald trump is so popular is because he is antiestablishment but then when you become president, the thought of a

president in that position, being at odds with his own security advisers, his teams, the cia, fbi, whoever it might be, that can't carry on, can it? it can't, no, but the cia has become much more autonomous. they have to remember they are there to serve the president and the interests of the american people. they are the servants of the country. they need to be put back in their box and this is what donald trump will try and do. he's one of the few people who is tough enough to be able to take them on and potentially win. but it is a difficult game and i don't think the cei would have taken him on in this way if they hadn't been confident of winning and being able to control him, they assume they will. trump is of course very unpredictable so it remains to be seen whether that's possible. annie, thank you for your time this morning, a former m15 intelligence officer speaking to us

via skype this morning. this is a nice story now! in 1979 a teenage photographer and music fan took his camera along to a gig by paul weller and his band, thejam. he captured the group at the height of their musical powers, yet he lacked the confidence to do anything with the pictures. now, they're gracing the cover of a live album by the group. john danks has been finding out how they finally got public exposure. the jam on top of the pops in november, 1979. when mike searle went to see them play live in aylesbu ry later went to see them play live in aylesbury later that month, he took along his russian—made zenit camera. it was an amazing day, they were an amazing band to see live. paul weller used to leap around his guitar so what irony wanted to do was catch him jumping with his guitar, because that was his signature move. i managed to get that.

lacking confidence, mike didn't do anything with them. the pictures didn't see the light of day again until a few years ago. wanting to set up as a freelance photographer, mike dug them out, put them online and then he got a call. someone from universal music called me up and said, we'd like your photos and we'd like to use them on a live album we're releasing from the same year, are you interested? and i was, like, yes i am. a deal was done and six months later the finished album was posted to him. i got the package and open it up and it was shiny, heavy, a beautiful piece of art. i would have done it for love to be honest. so teenage dreams that finally came true 38 years later. i really wanted to thank 17—year—old mike for earning a little bit of money. the message to other people that age, if you got the time, follow your

passion and really follow it through and good things can happen. john danks, bbc news, newquay. i love that, he's talking about that moment he got the call saying, do you mind if we use the pictures for the front cover of the next album... the feelings he must have had. the moral of the story is don't get rid of any pictures ever because you never know. tricky these days given how many we take. harder or easier? i think it would be harder because you'd never know what you've got, we ta ke you'd never know what you've got, we take thousands. the quality of the film is in keeping with the album, rather grainy. and coming up on the programme: she waltzed her way to win strictly, now joanne clifton is taking the lead. we caught up with the dancer as she prepares to take centre stage in a musical. headlines in a moment.

hello, this is breakfast, with charlie stayt and steph mcgovern. coming up before eight louise will be here with the weather. but first, a summary of this morning's main news. the prime minister has said gps in england should keep their surgeries open for longer to ease pressure on accident and emergency departments. downing street says too many family doctors are closing early and failing to open at weekends, forcing patients to seek treatment in hospitals. those practices could face losing the extra funding they currently receive for offering a seven—day service. let us not forget, as we are

speaking now, there are thousands of gps out there visiting patients at home. we provide a 24/7 365 day a year service. it is an insult to gps that propping up the nhs on a daily basis. the major alert not being talked about is the alert for general practice. the east of england has escaped major flooding, despite fears that storm surges could hit towns along the coast. thousands of people were urged to leave their homes as the environment agency issued 17 severe flood warnings for yesterday evening. by the early hours of the morning the threat had subsided, but the flood warnings remain in place and authorities continue to urge caution in affected areas. a clear plan for brexit should be published by february at the latest. that's the call from a group of mps. the exiting the eu committee is also calling

for the prime minister to allow a vote in parliament on the plans before they're presented to brussels. the government says it will set out its plans by the end of march. jeremy corbyn will defend his leadership of the labour party today after claims by a centre—left think tank it was too weak to win an election. the fabian society warned labour would lose out on returning to power unless it could secure a coalition. at a speech in london, mr corbyn will say his party offers "a complete break from a rigged system." he'll also outline labour plans to bring care homes into public ownership. president—elect, donald trump, has said he's willing to work with russia and china, providing they co—operate. mrtrump said the recently—imposed sanctions on russia would remain in place for the coming months, but could be lifted if moscow helped washington in the war against islamic extremism. he said the one china policy, under which the us no longer acknowledges taiwan, was up for negotiation. the us house of representatives has voted to begin the process

to abolish president obama's health insurance laws, known as obamaca re. the senate approved the measure on thursday. the law provides medical coverage for more than 20 million americans, but president—elect donald trump has tweeted that obamaca re "will soon be history." police in the united states say a girl who was stolen as a newborn from a hospital in florida 18 years ago has been found alive in south carolina. (tx 00v) this is kamiyah mobley (pron: kam—eye—ah mow—blee) this is kamiyah mobley as a baby. until friday she was living under another name. authorities say she's in good health but overwhelmed. her kidnapper, who posed as a nurse at the hospital where she was born has been charged. scientists have found a deep sea treasure with the first sighting of a ruby sea—dragon in the wild. researchers filmed the brightly coloured creatures in western australia. it's the first time the 10—inch—long fish has been seen alive. it was declared a new species in 2015, making it the third known sea dragon species.

it looks like a seahorse, doesn't it? it is rather graceful, isn't it? the colours are beautiful. you can see them now. not as much before. the colours are beautiful. you can see them now. not as much beforelj would see them now. not as much before.|j would rather see them now. not as much before.” would rather be called the rube seadragon than a weedy seadragon, its sister species. but they use it to blend in. how did you know that? iama to blend in. how did you know that? i am a novice diver. mysteries of the deep to mysteries of chelsea.

some say diego costa is out with injury, but others say a is paying him £30 million a year to play for them. —— china. the future of diego costa at chelsea is in some doubt this morning. he's been left out of the premier league leader's squad for today's match at leicester, after a dispute with the club's coaching staff. he's the premier league's top scorer so far this season, but is thought to have been the subject of an offer, from a chinese club, who could be willing to pay him, £30 million a year. speaking on five live, the former england midfielder jermainejenas, says this news will encourage chelsea's rivals. there will be tributes, around grounds this weekend to remember graham taylor. the first match in the premier league, sees third place tottenham, play west bromwich albion. spurs are hoping to build on their victory against chelsea last week, and not repeat, the dip in form, which followed their earlier win, against manchester city. a few months ago, if you remember, we had the performance, the fantastic victory.

now, after chelsea, it is a great opportunity to show that we deserved it. to keep momentum will be key. tottenham's north london rivals arsenal, are currently outside the top four. they're playing bottom club swansea city later. it's swansea manager, paul clement's, first match in charge, and his rather longer—serving counterpart, arsene wenger, has been talking about the challenge facing him. i am really looking forward to it. it has been a big ambition of mine to manage in this lead at this level. the first home game at swansea, going up against arsene wenger and arsenal, it will be a very special moment for me. leeds united, have moved up to third in the championship, after a 1—0 win, over derby at elland road. they're now, four points off the automatic promotion places. chris woods' headerjust before the break, was enough to seal a fifth home win in a row, for garry monks‘ side. it was an unhappy to return to his former club for

derby's bradleyjohnson, who was sent off late on. it's a potentially decisive weekend in european club rugby union. irish side leinster, are through to the quarter finals of the champions cup, after a big win over montpellier last night. the french side had a man sent off in the first half, and leinster took full advantage— jack conan, scored three of their eight tries in a 57—3 victory. bath also scored eight tries in their victory, over local rivals, bristol, in the second—tier challenge cup competition. england's, semesa rokoduguni one of the scorers in a 57—22 win. britain's dan evans will play in his first atp tour final this morning. he's due on court against gilles muller at around 8.30 at the sydney international. yesterday he beat andrey kuznetsov in three sets to reach the final. the first grand slam of the calendar, the australian open, starts on monday. dan into the final. and yesterday at

this time and johanna konta is almost undoubtedly going to win. first hour is rising. —— her star. an unprecedented humanitarian crisis or simply a busy winter week for hospitals? the national health service in england has come under huge scrutiny in the past few days as the war of words between doctors and the government becomes increasingly bitter. we'll talk more about that in a moment but first let's get an idea of how hospitals in the rest of the uk are coping. the nhs in scotland does look a

little better than it does in england, but that does not mean to say it is not without significant challenges. it has been described as struggling to cope. in terms of accident and emergency waiting time figures, the figures look better in scotland. nevertheless, the targets have not been met since september last year by the government. we have people urging others not to turn up u nless people urging others not to turn up unless it is a genuine emergency because of the pressure of bad. in terms of bed blocking, we have a lot of trouble with that. scotland is in the process of integrating health and social care. the hope is down the line that will take some pressure off acute services in hospitals and will allow people to be cared for in the community. christmas was a busy time for

emergency departments right across northern ireland. according to figures, it was a percent more people attending emergency departments compared to the same time last year. —— eight. when we compare that to foot fault, it means for those people seen within four hours, it should be 95%. the number of people who had to wait more than 12 hours, that includes around 646 people who had to wait longer than 12 hours to be either seen, treated, discharge, or moved on to another hospital. one major incident was declared over the christmas holiday period in londonderry, a real indication of the pressure at that particular hospital when it closed its doors for a number of hours. pressure both on staff and on patients. service here is under pressure. but they insist it is not

a crisis. nhs wales has been defended, even though some had to wait 15 hours you see a doctor at accident and emergency areas in cardiff. there has also been a warning that accident and emergency levels are at crisis level, worse perhaps than in england. but the service overall is coping well overall. tough choices will have to be taken this year about the future of some welsh hospitals john appleby is chief economist from the independent healthcare research charity the nuffield trust, and hejoins us now. good morning. good morning. we were hearing the situation across different parts of the uk. put this in context for us. how bad is it in the nhs at the moment? there has been a lot of debate this week about numbers. lots of language and the humanitarian crisis being one of that. what is it like? in terms of

language, it is hard to pick the words crisis, humanitarian crisis, whatever. but we know it is very, very difficult. it is notjust this winter. it has been like this or 1.5 years, at least in england. the big context is the money for the nhs. we spend £120 billion in the nhs. since 2010, money has been rising faster than inflation, but onlyjust. certainly nothing like historically the prices we have seen for the nhs. this is the 60 year of an austerity programme for the nhs public sector. for more years. the nhs has done really well for the first few years. waiting times were kept reasonably low. infections in hospitals were low. infections in hospitals were low as well. what we have seen, it is only the last 18 months to two

years we re performance is only the last 18 months to two years were performance has started to slide. they have started to bridge the gap between the money it would have liked and the need and demand of its services through being more if with staff. in the short—term that works but in the longer term it gets more difficult. later on this winter we will be in a difficult position. worse than last winter. that is the key and the difficulty, that in a sense we are starting from a much more difficult position in terms of the number of people waiting to get into accident and emergency and so on. clearly the pressure is increasing. are we coming toa pressure is increasing. are we coming to a crunch point, do you think? well, the other thing to say is that millions of people will get good care throughout the nhs and the uk of course. i suppose when you look at the targets that governments set themselves for the nhs, the nhs

in england is failing on a whole range of these targets now. we have more people stuck between accident and emergency and the main hospitals, something like 3000 on trolleys in november. 50% or more of an increase compared to november of 2015. virtually no major emergency departments. we are failing on cancer waits as well. from the point of view it does look very, very difficult. it is a cliff edge. it gets gradually more and more difficult and the service fails on more and more performance targets. what do you think the nhs could do to save money? we are obviously hearing that staff are working at an absolute maximum in many areas. are there any areas we could be more efficient? yes, of course. like any public service, the nhs can make use

of taxpayers' money as efficiently as possible. i use the nhs and want them to use the money we give to the nhs as efficiently as possible. the issueis nhs as efficiently as possible. the issue is how quickly can a big organisation... medicine is a complicated business. where our productivity gains to be made? historically, we know that advances in medicine have met people do not have to stay in hospital that long. it means we do not need as many beds and can use the more efficiently and so on. and can use the more efficiently and so on. those productivity gains take time and happen over decades. it is not something you can conjure up in the next month. that is the issue right now. there is a short—term crisis in terms of money and in terms of performance. that is not able to be solved by longer term historic productivity gains the nhs is used to. thank you very much. here's louise with a look at this morning's weather. well, if you've not enjoy this cold

snap, something a little milder when this cloud arrives tomorrow but here and now the cloud is broken and sunny spells coming through after a cold start and still the risk of showers running through down the north sea. a frontal system here could pep up some of those showers and they will fall as no in the east goes but elsewhere the cloud well broken, a few showers drifting to the west but these should be largely rain. a cold start, though, you could be scraping the frost from the windscreens if you're up early enough this morning. the frost will live with the sunshine coming through, the winds that have been a nuisance will ease. still the risk ofa nuisance will ease. still the risk of a few showers and these could be of a few showers and these could be of sleet and snow. a bit more sunshine than we have been used to in recent days, the north—westerly breeze driving in some showers but look, eight, seven, milder, so that will be rain. lots of sunshine in

the east, a cold afternoon, two or three and still on exposed coasts, quite windy. a scattering of showers in northern ireland and western scotland, a mix of rain and further east it will be dry and largely sunny. if you're off to the football, this is an indication of some of the matches taking place from lunchtime to the evening where the temperatures will fall away under clear skies. in actual fact central and eastern areas could see an early frost but the cloud and rain will gather from the west and as it bumped into the clear air we could have a spell of snow, and low levels to start with but primarily it will turn to rain. hopefully not too much of an issue with that. code in the east and milder conditions to the west and that's the story through sunday —— called. it will ta ke through sunday —— called. it will take its time for the milder air to arrive but unfortunately it will bring rain with it as well. a slight change as we move into sunday. cloudy with outbreaks of rain, which

could be wintry in east anglia for a time. here it stays cold. we're back with the headlines at 8pm. hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. the tables have turned as donald trump accuses the media of spreading untruths about him. it's all fake news, it's phoney stuff, it didn't happen. if that's the case, why is bbc news devoting so much airtime to the allegations about the president—elect? anything donald trump says, does or tweets has been intensely scrutinised in the buildup to his inauguration next week so on wednesday all eyes were on his first news conference since november's election and in terms of spectacle, it didn't disappoint. take the moment when a reporter from cnn tried to ask a question. reporter: since you're attacking us can you give us a question? trump: go ahead.

mr president—elect, since you're attacking our news organisation can you give us a chance? not you, your organisation's terrible. you're attacking our news organisation, give us a chance to ask a question. your organisation's terrible. mr president—elect, can you state categorically... she's asking a question, don't be rude. mr president—elect, can you give us a question, you're attacking us, can you give us a question, can you give us a question? i'm not going to give you a question, you are fake news. mr president, can you state categorically that nobody... mr president—elect, that is not appropriate. after that attack on cnn as being a purveyor of fake news, would other correspondence be brave enough to raise their hands? step forward ian pannell. go ahead, go ahead, you've been waiting. as far as we understand the intelligence community... ian pannell from bbc news. bbc news, that's another beauty! if there was more than a hint of sarcasm in that description the president—elect may not have thought the bbc‘s subsequent coverage of allegations passed

on to us intelligence agencies last year was exactly beautiful. the dossier they were investigating was an open secret. journalists too had been working on it for months. it's a tale of sordid sexual escapade, russian espionage and multimillion dollar cash payments allegedly funnelled to the trump campaign. the question for washington insiders is whether it is fact, part fact or pulp fiction. it's not currently known whether those rumours are fact orfiction, but we do know the bbc heard last yearfrom multiple sources of the existence of a blackmail tape. so why didn't it broadcast that news then? that was a question bothering roger urquhurt: others were concerned about the extend

the bbc were reporting the allegations now. jo greenhorn said: john brooks also wondered: andrew garrett asked: it was the website buzzfeed which published the 35—page dossier in full on tuesday evening. while understanding that it was impossible for the bbc to ignore, some viewers felt the corporation wrongly allowed it to dominate their coverage. brian watson e—mailed on wednesday: well, the editor of the bbc‘s

news at 6 and news at 10 is paul royall and he's with me now. it's been a big revelation that the bbc was aware of allegations a blackmail tape might exist some months ago. let's start with that. how did the bbc find out about it and why did the bbc decide not to report on it at all? the bbc, like other news organisations, became aware of the existence of this dossier and these potential allegations. obviously we have robust editorial processes we go through in terms of verification and trying to substantiate the allegations. we couldn't, they're unproven, and so we weren't publishing them. in the end, as we saw this week, buzzfeed news decided

they were going to publish the 35—page dossier and allegations and they had their own editorial rationale and case law that. given that these allegations are still not verified now, some viewers will be saying, well, should the bbc be reporting on them now either? clearly what happened overnight on tuesday became a story and we were very careful on wednesday to cover the story that was playing out, but at the same time be quite general and unspecific about the unproven allegations and we were really careful about that, so clearly once some us networks started reporting the story, donald trump tweeted about that overnight, there was a story on wednesday morning that we had to cover and that was obviously the main part of his news conference that afternoon. but at the same time we were very careful and actually in one of our broadcasts on the 1pm news,

one of the correspondence said in fairness to donald trump, we're not going into detail about the allegations. if they do turn out to be false, will the bbc be in a difficult position? i don't think the bbc will be in a difficult position because of the care we took on wednesday and thereafter to make sure we weren't affectively recirculating lots of details about something that at this stage is unproven. so i'm happy that we think we will be in a good place. there are numerous serious allegations being discussed about donald trump's links to russia, what is the bbc policy on how to report them? we are going to stick to our editorial approaches and guidelines in terms of trying to test what is true, what is fact, what can be substantiated, what is worthy of further investigation or analysis and explanation. and so we have a very tried and tested process for that built up through years and decades.

is that partly certain kinds of sources regarded as trust worthy, having a certain number of them? the bbc has two sources on stories and there's been discussions around all of that. really sticking to our editorial guidelines and processes in what is really quite a unique period in terms of covering news. what about airtime? we heard viewers saying there were all these different issues raised in that news conference, and yet the only one that really got any attention was the issue about the blackmail tape and fake news. i think that was... that was the main thing in the news conference, but i would totally accept there were other things covered in the news conference as well. in the 6pm news for example, the main coverage was around the dossier and the allegations butjon sopel did also talk about the questions around donald trump's business interests and what he was doing with those. and obviously across bbc news,

on the news channel, on the website, on the radio, other parts of the story and the business side of donald trump was covered on the day and beyond as well. because it felt watching that news conference that this was a very different kind of experience for reporters. it felt like journalists were trying to conduct business as usual asking questions, and the way he spoke to them, it feels like the bbc‘s going to have to rethink in a much bigger way how it deals with what the president says. yeah. i think donald trump for example in one tweet appeared to change us policy towards china or towards nuclear weapons and there's no detail, it's not done in a conventional way in terms of a news conference or a policy document, and so that is difficult stuff. but at the same time, he is president—elect of the united states and in a week's time will be president. so we have to treat this stuff seriously, examine it properly and then decide whether we develop

the coverage or not. but to quote donald trump, i think forjournalists at the moment this issue is number one tricky. paul royall, thank you very much. please do send us your thoughts on the coverage of donald trump or on any aspect of bbc news, details of how to contact us at the end of the programme. just time now for a couple more of your comments this week, which kicked off something of an annual debate over the extent winter weather is newsworthy and the deployment of reporters to affected areas. friday morning saw two correspondents braving the elements, simonjones in canterbury and first kate sweeting by the humber bridge. the snow has died down and it's been a relatively calm morning and that's good news because it means the high winds that were predicted haven't materialised and that means that the high tide here has passed without event. we had around three hours of snow last night between 6pm and 9pm

and it came down very heavily, and some of it has stuck. you can see down there some of it has turned to ice, someone has actually written help in the snow there, perhaps a sign of how treacherous conditions are going to be this morning. it's notjust the snow itself but it's the ice down here on the pavement, it can be very slippy and also difficult conditions on the roads here. some viewers bought a mountain was being made out of an icy molehill withjohn avery rewriting: jan childe wondered: while eleanor london had another theory: thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs or even appear on the programme, you can call us on: ore—mail newswatch at: you can find us

on twitter at: and do have on our website. the address for that is: that's all from us. we will be back to hear your thoughts on bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello, this is breakfast with charlie stayt and steph mcgovern. the prime minister says gps in england must extend their hours to ease pressure on accident and emergency services. theresa may says funding to doctors will be cut if they don't provide a 12 hour, seven—day service, or prove that it isn't needed. good morning. it's saturday, 14th january.