touch this is bbc news. i'm jane hill. the headlines at apm. leaked figures show record numbers of patients spent more than four hours in hospital a&e units in england last month. we're now seeing something like nearly 3000 more people being seen within the four our standard every single day. a report into safety failures which forced 17 edinburgh schools to close, blames a lack of scrutiny of building work. donald trump's nomination for attorney general, senatorjeff sessions, is due to be sworn in as us attorney general in the next few minutes. i'm simon mccoy. also this hour: wales and england prepare to clash in the six nations in cardiff, and the line—ups have been announced. wing george north and fly—half dan biggar have won their fitness battles and are named in wales‘ team for saturday's big match. and an australian man who fell into a trench, survives for hours with his nose just above the water.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. record numbers of patients spent more than four hours in accident and emergency units in england in december — and the bbc has seen leaked data that suggests january was even worse. the figures show record numbers of people waited longer than 12 hours for a hospital bed, after they had been seen in a&e. the government insists the vast majority of patients were seen and treated quickly. the prime minister theresa may has been speaking about the nhs this afternoon. she said record numbers of admissions had put pressure on the health service. i recognise that it is under

pressure. that's why we will be putting the £10 billion extra into the national health service. but if you look at what's been happening in a and e, in decemberwe you look at what's been happening in a and e, in december we had a record number of the busiest day in accident and emergency that took place, that has taken place in the national health service. we are now seeing something like 3000 more people being seen within the four oui’ people being seen within the four our standard every single day in the national health service. —— all week you probably know the bbc is looking at the state of the health service across the uk. and the challenges facing our hospitals and medical staff. but what is the cause of the current strain on the system? our health correspondent smitha mundasad has been studying the numbers. last week, we've been trying to get under the skin of the nhs. we've been into some hospitals that say

they are experiencing immense pressures . they are experiencing immense pressures. the question of people are asking now is now is why is the nhs facing these problems, what is behind all this? could it be down to something like cash? this graph shows funding for the nhs is pretty much gone up year—on—year. last year it was around £140 billion. that's ten times more than it was 60 years ago. that isn't the whole picture, though. from about 2010 in england, though. from about 2010 in england, though funding has gone up, it's gone up though funding has gone up, it's gone up more though funding has gone up, it's gone up more slowly than it generally has in previous years. and ta ke scotla nd generally has in previous years. and take scotland and wales for example. in the last few years they faced funding freezes. it's not all about money, though. some people argue the nhs has simply become a victim of its own success. people are living longer, about 13 years longer than when the nhs was created in 1948. while that's a good thing, the older people get the more they tend to get

complex health problems. things like dementia that need long—term care. and that costs money. look at this, it costs about six times more on average to treat and 85—year—old in the nhs than a 30—year—old. 0f course, new treatments, and new inventions, are coming in all the time. but they don't come cheap either. that is just some of the problems. what about the solutions? could we go back to money, could we put in more money from the public purse? look at this. the uk tends to spend less than the eu average as a proportion of its gdp on health care. could we boost this through tax for example? we put this to the uk public in a poll and this is what they said. about 40% said they would support an increase in income tax to help nhs funding. about 53% said they would support an increase in national insurance. there were a lot

of people who said they wouldn't support things like upfront charges 01’ support things like upfront charges or health insurance schemes. perhaps it's time to move away from money and think of other things. think of shaking up the system. successive governments have tried to put more ca re into governments have tried to put more care into the community. but in england for example the number of district nurses have gone down. and gléiérééréivé’é’; :22 =::; 3427 §—~ . fl .. . .. fl . g.— “fa; wideréffi m... f "fl " “fa; wider issue w , ww w appointment. there is awiderissuej at stake. more older people means more people need care at home, care in the community in care homes. funding for care, social care, is different across the uk. but each country faces similar problems when it comes to rising demand. let's ta ke it comes to rising demand. let's take a closer look at what's happening in england. estimates suggest over the last four years the number of people getting financial help for social care has fallen by about a quarter. it means many are getting no help at all or half to

rely on family and friends. that means some are ending up back in hospital. officials say they are putting more money into health and social care and trying to join up. some say thisjust social care and trying to join up. some say this just isn't enough. there are some people who say it's time to go back. go, terror at the nhs and start again from scratch. but that is a huge task and it is one very few people seem to want to ta ke one very few people seem to want to take on. we can talk now to anita suvaganam, consultant anaesthetist at brighton and sussex university hospital. thanks for your time this afternoon. perhaps you can give us some context and tell our viewers: you've been working in your role. and the sort

of changes, - different pressures m: f wéi so i've been wifj so i've been working wéi so i've been working in period. yes. so i've been working in the nhs for 15 years now. i've been a consultant for around three years. the first thing i think i need to say is, i know, and many of my collea g u es say is, i know, and many of my colleagues know, what a seasonal pinch feels like. we see it every year. this is different, it isn't just us being busy, this is really a crisis. we've been pushed to a place we haven't been before, it's dangerous, we don't feel we can provide safe care any more. when i started training, the uk was an excellent place to train. i got training from centres of excellence. providing innovative care, top of the range research. that has changed. doctors and nurses are leaving the profession, not being recruited into the profession. it's showing on the shop floor. we've got

dangerous doctor to nurse patient ratios, cancellation rate we've never seen before. bed blocking. it's obvious that primary care, and social care, and secondary care are linked. if you slash funding in any, the whole thing falls apart. social ca re the whole thing falls apart. social care is very much one of the issues in the news in recent times. how many of the problems you see are a result of that capacity issue? people well enough to leave hospital but can't because there isn't enough give in the social care system. absolutely, everyday across the country my colleagues agree with me, we come to work, we sit and wait for beds to come up. acute beds, high dependency beds, intensive care care beds being blocked because medically fit patients cannot get out into the community. it's a nationwide problem. it's not infrequent back

into work and having to tell patients for the third and fourth time their elected surgery cancer cannot happen, that the hip replacement they'd been waiting 18 months for cannot happen. it breaks our hearts because we did not train for this. it's demoralising to k“ of! k“ to! 5&1”?sz fiup care. we are can't i it. the social care we can't do it. the social care issueis we can't do it. the social care issue is a large part of it. you also issues around also mentioned issues around training. it can't be linked to social care. what is the root cause of those problems with training, in your opinion? it's multifaceted. there has obviously been the recent fight with the junior doctor contract, the cut in nhs bursaries for nursing. we are seeing it, the

latest reports show a record number of foundation doctors are leaving and not progressing onto speciality training. we're covering more gaps in thejunior doctor: training. we're covering more gaps in the junior doctor: rota than ever before, something i didn't see when i was before, something i didn't see when iwas training. before, something i didn't see when i was training. there is a drop in the numbers on the shop floor. there is going to be a staffing emergency very soon, if not already. so many more questions i'd love to ask. sorry we're out of time, we appreciate you coming to talk to us. tomorrow on the bbc news channel, we'll be answering your questions about how the nhs can tackle its financial shortfall. we'll be getting experts to answer your questions and respond to any suggestions you may have. please get in touch by text, or send an email, or contact us via twitter using the hashtag bbc ask this. you watching bbc news. the us senate

has confirmed president ron's nomination for —— the confirmation following a series of divisive hearings during which democrat attacked jeff sessions's record on civil rights. let's take you to the 0val civil rights. let's take you to the oval office, this is what happened a short time ago at his swearing—in. thank you for this great honour, it's something i never expected would happen in my life. but i do love the department ofjustice. i ca re love the department ofjustice. i care about its traditions and its heritage. i had 15 years in that great department. the honour to lead it now is something that i do not have words to express effectively. there are a lot of things we need to do. first we need to value and support and encourage the fabulous

people who work there. i've worked with them over the years, i know how good they are. their talents need to be directed at this nation's benefit ina lot be directed at this nation's benefit in a lot of different ways. we have a crime problem. i wish the blip, the rise we're seeing in crime in america today were some sort of adoration or blip. my bestjudgment, having been involved in criminal law enforcement for many years is this isa enforcement for many years is this is a dangerous permanent trend. it places the health and safety of the american people at risk. we will deploy the talents and abilities of the department of justice deploy the talents and abilities of the department ofjustice in a most effective way possible to confront this rise in crime and to protect the people of our country. we have an increased threat since i was united states attorney from terrorism, mr president. you've spoken firmly on that. you've lead this nation to say we're going to

respond effectively to the threat of terrorism, and you can count on your department of justice to terrorism, and you can count on your department ofjustice to do so in an effective way. controversial figure for 30 years. since the senate rejected him for a judicial appointment in 1986, because they were concerned about allegations of him using racist language to a black collie, something he adamantly denied. they we re something he adamantly denied. they were concerned about the way his department in alabama had focused on prosecuting those trying to help black people vote. he's been a very divisive figure and democrats are incensed, as were many civil liberties groups by his nomination to the post, one of the most important cabinet positions. he's essentially in charge of the department ofjustice, giving legal guidance to the government as it pursues policies. you can hearfrom the tone of his speech, is clearly in lockstep with president trump. democrats said, how could somebody

so such an early supporter of donald trump, went to the rallies, wore the hat, who is clearly onside as far as things like immigration are concerned, how can he offer independent legal advice to the government as it pursues its agenda? i was struck by one thing. - heard i was struck by one thing. you heard him equating immigration with lawlessness. it's really a tone donald trump has had, quite clearly the new attorney general is going to follow. donald trump has acquired these dangerous times require a determined attorney general. this is the man to deliver. donald trump is signing what executive orders today. he has once again taken to twitter. we know what he thinks of the criticism of these appointments. yes, i think he's tweeted about five times today. it's hard to keep track of all of them. essentially his first accusation of the day was levelled against a democratic

senator, who reported when he had conversations with president ron's nomination for the supreme court, judge neil gorsuch, judge gorsuch told him he was disheartened by the fa ct told him he was disheartened by the fact president trump had attacked thejudge verbally on fact president trump had attacked the judge verbally on twitter. who overturned his travel ban. clearly judge gorsuch was unhappy about the personal nature of that attack. donald trump suggested it was the democratic senator who was misrepresenting whatjudge gorsuch said. he attacked the character and war record of this individual senator. later on he said when this senator. later on he said when this senator appeared on another news programme there was no questioning of the war record donald trump was raising as a problem of credibility in his tweet. as i say, he's tweeted about five times today. he's also attacked the senior republican senatorjohn mccain for suggesting the raid in yemen president trump

proved was a failure. they said john mckay the —— he said john mccain had been a failure for so long he could remember what success was. a whole series of attacks against people he feels are simply not onside. thank you, richard lister. an independent report, published this afternoon, looking at the safety failures that forced seventeen edinburgh schools to close, has blamed the council and the partnership which managed the crisis began injanuary 2016, when a structural wall at 0xgangs primary school collapsed during a storm. 17 schools, including ten primaries, five secondaries and two other schools were then shut because of concerns about the standard of construction. about 7,600 pupils were affected by the closures. once the repairs were complete, city of edinburgh council launched an investigation into the standards of construction. 0ur correspondent, catriona renton is edinburgh and has been

looking at the report. what is the council saying in response to all of this? it was in the high winds of storm gertrude in january 2016 part of the brick walk behind me, nine tonnes of masonry hit the path. the timing has been very lucky and important. it happened at 7am. had it been an hour and a half later that playground would have been full of primary school age children waiting to get into class. in april last year all 17 schools were rebuilt under the same private finance scheme as this one and were closed by edinburgh council. it affected around 8000 pupils, some of them with exams. it caused concern for pupils, parents, staff and of course the council. fa u lts staff and of course the council. faults were found in the

construction of all 17 schools. edinburgh council commissioned a report, its comeback today, 250 of it. let me tell you some of the recommendations. john cole is an expert in the public sector. he confirmed the collapse of the war was due to poor construction and inadequate supervision. the fundamental reason he said the wall fell down was because the outer and inner walls had not been tied together properly. he says it's clear the responsibility for defects in the bell's lie with the main contractors for each of those projects, a range of different main contractors involved. it was not the result of the isolated incompetence ofa result of the isolated incompetence of a rogue subcontractor or bricklaying squad. edinburgh council has said it will learn lessons from this, it'll set up an action group straightaway and they are already implementing, they say, some of the recommendations from the report. andrew care is the chief executive

of the city of edinburgh city council. there are 66 accommodations, we'll go through each one of those and see which of those apply to the council. as the client. we can take those on board immediately, as we're doing with some things already. intrusive inspections... and everything else going forward from the recommendations. but we're not the only ones. this is going to have to be taken on board by quite a large numberof be taken on board by quite a large number of organisations going forward. there are potentially wider implications coming out of this report. it says the quality of a building is ultimately dependent on the tradesmen who build it. witnesses who gave evidence to the investigation expressed concern that pursues a growing problem within the construction industry. as the report says it would be naive to think this would be a problem confined to edinburgh. indeed, just a school building. ——just to edinburgh. indeed, just a school

building. —— just to school buildings. the drive for lower construction costs without regard to safety could be a problem to the uk. this inquiry raises questions about quality of construction safety in the uk as a whole. the archbishop of canterbury says he is shocked by the government decision to close a legal route for unaccompanied child refugees to come to the uk from europe. 350 children have been accepted but lord dubs, who aims to help thousands of children come here, has called the decision shameful. dan johnson reports. they may not make as many headlines but these children of europe's migrant crisis have not gone away. refugees are still on the move, still searching for a new home, and around 90,000 of them are youngsters with no family. under pressure from the uk to do more, david cameron promised to bring some of them here. campaigners hoped 3000 would benefit but the government has announced the scheme will end, having re—homed 350. they are heading back to calais,

back to dunkirk, back to the mud, the danger, back into the arms of the people traffickers and smugglers, the exploitation, abuse, prostitution rings and back into the modern slavery that this parliament and this government has pledged to end. we have a different approach to where those most vulnerable are. we believe that they are in the region, that is why we have pledged to accept 3000 children from the region and we are committed to delivering on that. well, i'm a refugee. i came to england at the age of six. lord dubs, the labour peer who designed the programme. having been rescued from nazi germany he knows what it means to be a refugee. i'm very disappointed. i was in greece a month ago, desperate conditions in the refugee camps, a lot of children, some

unaccompanied, bitterly cold and miserable. we owe it to them. this afternoon the prime minister answered that criticism. i think what we're doing in terms of refugees is absolutely right, on top of the significant financial support and humanitarian aid we're getting to refugees in the region of syria. a commitment of 2.3 billion, the second biggest bilateral donor. the first young refugees arrived last october, 200 have been re—homed so far, another 150 will come before the end of next month. news that more will not follow has been described as a betrayal of vulnerable children like these and of british values. the home secretary said there was a risk of encouraging people traffickers, she has restated the government's commitment to other schemes, bringing thousands of refugees to the uk directly from camps in the middle east. dan johnson, bbc news. vicki young has been giving us more

on this story. and what the home secretary came in for quite a lot of criticism today from mps, who feel this sends a terrible signal from this sends a terrible signal from this country about how we treat vulnerable refugee children. i'm joined by david simmons from the local government association. first, there are very many schemes to help refugees, the government talks about seven or eight. what was different about the dubs amendment and the dubs scheme. the dubs amendment committed government to proactively going to other countries and seeking out children who were unaccompanied or could be brought to the uk. 0f the 8000 children who have come to the 8000 children who have come to the uk as refugees in the last 12 months, large increase in previous years, around half are unaccompanied and one in ten are children who would have been eligible under dubs. the majority have come because they have some family connection to the uk or because they make their own way here through heathrow, across the channel from dover to calais. funding this, the money, is an

issue. local authorities presumably struggling at times. do they get money from central government? there is funding available but it's around £10,000 short on every child cared for by a local authority. councils like michael who care for a large number of refugee children arriving in hillingdon are millions of pounds short. we need to make sure resources a re short. we need to make sure resources are there to support the children we are committing to taking in. what is your understanding of why the government has decided to close this particular scheme? amber rudd talked about it being a pull factor. it's clear many of the other countries have very good, effective child protection systems. the first priority for the children should be making sure they are able to be supported safely in the country they are rather than relocating to the uk. the small minority for whom the dubs scheme is appropriate, the uk has major there is a council able to offer a foster home. is it the case there will still be schemes and places for refugee children coming

to this country? councils took in over 4000 refugee children last year, a 50% increase on the number the previous year. we are expecting those numbers will rise because of the wider issues in the world. changes with the dubs scheme, we don't anticipate, will bring about a reduction in the number of refugee children the uk takes in. it doesn't mean there isn't still anger about this, and there are many opposition mps in particular who think this sends out the wrong signal. they've looked at what donald trump has been doing in america and says they don't wa nt doing in america and says they don't want britain to go down the same path. news from drm tea. more potential disruption on the railways. —— news from the rmt. there will be a ballot on the role of guards. the role of guards.

you'll remember a not dissimilar dispute, there are broader, is made up dispute, there are broader, is made up part of the dispute on southern railfor up part of the dispute on southern rail for a up part of the dispute on southern railfor a very long time. the rmt announcing there will be a ballot at announcing there will be a ballot at a reeva rail north. —— dubai. four men, who were part of a gang that sexually exploited teenage girls in rochdale, are facing deportation. the men, who are british nationals of pakistani origin, were jailed for between 6 and 22 years. immigration judges have rejected appeals against a move to strip them of their british citizenship. downing street has played down suggestions that the house of lords could be abolished if it doesn't back legislation triggering the brexit process. a government source had warned it would face "an overwhelming public call to be abolished" if it tried to oppose the bill — passed by mps last night. 0ur political correspondent carole walker reports. the ayes to the right, 494. the noes to the left, 122.

a resounding victory for the government as mps voted overwhelmingly for it to begin the formal brexit negotiations. scottish national mps struck a defiant note, singing the eu anthem, 0de tojoy. but the bill now passes unscathed to the house of lords. downing street has played down an earlier suggestion there could be calls for the abolition of the house of lords of peers try to frustrate the legislation. yet they face some tough warnings. the message of the british people was clear, and unambiguous, they want to leave the eu and they want us to get on with it. if the house of lords, who are not elected, try to subvert or distort the outcome of that referendum, i think that will put them in constitutionally a very difficult place. but ministers accept that the lords do have a role to play and opposition peers have said they will try to make changes to the bill. we've always been clear we will not

block, but we will not be intimidated into not debating, and looking at it in the normal way as we do every other bill. last night's vote exposed the deep divisions in the labour party. more than 50 labour mps defied the instructions of their leader and voted against the bill. jeremy corbyn now has to replace four shadow cabinet ministers who have resigned and decide what, if any, action to take against more than a dozen junior shadow ministers who also rebelled. the labour leader dismissed suggestions that the issue had caused another crisis for his leadership. yes, there is a difference of opinion from mps who represents strongly remain constituencies and felt they should represent their constituents, i understand that, however it was a national referendum, national decision, national result. theresa may has been meeting the italian prime minister. she is hoping to get the approval

of parliament to begin formal eu brexit negotiations with eu leaders by the end of march. then the tough talking will really begin. carole walker, bbc news, westminster. the headlines coming up, but first, the weather. i'm going to start with a sunny picture. limited sunshine today but lucky cornwall first thing this morning, this window through the foot of cornwall and south—west wales and some glimpses into the north of scotland, but elsewhere cloudy, cold and grey. that east of the breeze has continued to spill in plenty of cloud and will do so through this evening and overnight. a scattering of showers likely and some of those will be sleet and snow across higher ground. it will be a cold and frosty night with temperatures in rural spots dipping below freezing. we start on a cold and grey note. a scattering of

showers the further east you are, a window of sunshine in scotland, northern ireland and perhaps the south—west of wales and cornwall. sunshine at a premium. top temperatures around 4—5 but on the east coast leaving much colder than that. little change as we go into the weekend. staying rather grey and cold. sunshine fairly limited with highs of six. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines at 4.30pm: a&e waiting times in england hit their worst levels since targets were introduced 13 years ago. the government defends its record on the nhs. we are now seeing something like nearly 3000 more people being seen within the four hour standard, every single day. mrs may has been speaking alongside her italian counterpart, paolo gentiloni, who is at downing street for talks.

brexit is top of the agenda. a report into safety failures which forced 17 edinburgh schools to close, puts the blame on a lack of proper scrutiny over construction work. the archbishop of canterbury says he's shocked by the government's closing of a legal route for unaccompanied child refugees to come to the uk from europe. president donald trump's nomination for attorney general, senatorjeff sessions, is sworn in. he promises to get tough on illegal immigration. time for the sport with mike bushell. hello, good afternoon. good afternoon. we start with potentially good news for the welsh team, ahead of their six nations match against england on saturday. george north has been named in that team for match in cardiff. the side are hoping, that both he and fly half

dan biggar, will be fully fit. north, picked up a leg injury in wales' win over italy, although he did carry on playing, while biggar couldn't complete the game, due to a rib problem. coach rob howley has made two changes. props rob evans, and tomas francis, take over from nicky smith and samson lee. but, he'll have to wait and see if both north and biggar will be ready in time. england have also made two changes. harlequins flankerjack clifford, will make, just his second start, replacing tom wood, who drops to the bench. clifford will be part of an inexperienced back row, which will have a total ofjust 20 caps to its name. jack nowell also comes in forjonny may on the wing. scotland were the other winners, on the tournament's opening weekend, and their captain greig laidlaw, says his team, have learned, how to handle pressure since coach vern cotter took over. after holding off a late comeback, from ireland last saturday laidlaw feels his team have an excellent chance, of making it of two when they play france this weekend — even though it's 18 years, since they last won in paris.

it's massively important when you travel away to france, the first insta nces travel away to france, the first instances in the game, the first thing you do in the game is psychologicallyjust as important for them as it is for us. we need to stay in the game, play in the right areas and not muck about too much for the first 20 minutes then we'll put them under pressure and upset their crowd a little bit. donnacha ryan and cian healy, have been drafted into the ireland pack for their game against italy, in rome on saturday. healy takes over from jack mcgrath, while lock, ryan, replaces iain henderson, who's got a tight hamstring. johnny sexton is still suffering with his calf muscle problem, so paddy jackson remains at fly—half. the scottish fa are appealing against the fine, they received for wearing poppies on their shirts against england last november. both teams wore the symbol

to commemorate remembrance day during the england vs scotland world cup qualifier, on november 11th. the sfa say they have received the written reasons from fifa, and have told world football's governing body they intend to appeal against the £15,000 fine imposed. european football's governing body uefa will ask for 16 places at the expanded 2026 world cup — that's three more than, in brazil last time. the tournament will be extended from 32 to 48 countries, and uefa wants one european team per group in the first round, enhancing the chances of its member nations making it through to the knockout stages. great britain have beaten latvia to make it 2 wins out of 2 in their fed cup round robin group. both heather watson and johanna konta, won their singles

matches in straight sets. so britain had an un—beatable, 2— nil lead, heading into the doubles rubber... which they've also won. the final pool c fixture, is against turkey tomorrow. it's never easy, whatever match your playing. it can be tricky out there. i know the scoreline doesn't suggest that it was as difficult as i felt it was. ronnie 0'sullivan is out of snooker‘s world grand prix in preston, after losing in the second round to australia's neil robertson. 0'sullivan could only sit and watch, as the world number seven, knocked in a break 83, to take the match, by 4 frames to 1. robertson will play barry hawkins, in the quarterfinals, who knocked out the world number fourjudd trump earlier today. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. thank you very much, mike. mike busheu thank you very much, mike. mike bushell with the sport. the man accused of murdering the author helen bailey has told the jury he

spoke to her five days after she disappeared. ian stewart denies killing helen bailey. he says she was abducted by two business associates of her late husband. 0ur correspondent has been following this case at st albans crown court. this morning he finished giving his evidence and when his barrister was questioning him he said helen bailey had been taken by two men, joe and nick he named them as and said they made contact with him after she had disappeared, told him not to tell the police and told him to take her phone down to broadstairs in kent. he says, explains why her barrois phone briefly connected with the wi—fi about property on the 16th of april, five days after she had disappeared. under cross—examination the prosecutor has been focusing on alterations and changes he made to

his story between police interviews he gave last year and the evidence he gave last year and the evidence he gave last year and the evidence he gave in the witness box here at court. he talks about a sleeping drug that had been prescribed to ian stewart but traces of which were found in helen bailey's. it is the prosecution's case he had been drugging her and then smothered her and put her them either cesspit of the homes they shed. he said she saw that he'd been prescribed and saw it was a bad bad for a man with his medical conditions. they said if we checked that ipad we would find a google search. he was also asked about breakfast on the day when he had spoken to the police before he said he cooked brea kfast, police before he said he cooked breakfast, now in the witness box he said he hadn't cooked breakfast on the day she disappeared. that, it was important. he was also asked about another change he had made in his story, were originally he said he had fallen asleep on the day she disappeared in the study before waking up and going to the doctors.

now he said he went upstairs to read briefly. again, he changed his story, saying... inaudible inaudible mps and housing lawyers say private tenants in england are still being unfairly evicted because a new law on so—called revenge evictions isn't working. the law was introduced in 2015 to stop people who've complained about rogue landlords — or their properties — being wrongly forced out of their homes. dan whitworth has more. damp, mould, faulty electrics, and broken windows and boilers that don't get fixed when it's cold. they're all classed as category one hazards. in other words, they're so bad, they pose a risk to people's health. and they're things amjid chowdri from leeds city council's rogue landlords unit is all too familiar with.

what is that? that's damp that's been leaking from outside the guttering that we showed. you might expect tenants to complain about problems like these, but many don't. that's partly because they fear being forced out of their home as a result, a practice known as revenge eviction. something which is supposed to be illegal. this is rented out, private rented accommodation, people living here? that's right. people paying to rent here, making complaints, nothing happening, and then they could be under threat of a revenge eviction for making the complaints? that's the reason why they're not coming forward to the council to make a complaint. and that's exactly what happened to helen. she was living with her mum, sister and baby daughter in a rented home with lots of problems, including damp. it was horrible. after months of complaining we got a firm of solicitors that deals with properties in these states of disrepair. they checked the property, they agreed it was damp and something needed to be done. so they wrote out to our landlord and instructed that work needed to be done on the property. within a week of him receiving that,

we received a section 21 eviction notice pushed under our door. because of what happened to people like helen, a new law was introduced in october 2015, to try to stop retaliatory or so—called revenge evictions, but we've seen exclusive figures gathered in a freedom of information request from hundreds of councils right across england, that show more than half haven't stopped any at all. more than a quarter don't even record figures and fewer than one in five have taken any action. we're talking about here landlords who are trying to avoid carrying out their responsibilities as a landlord, to keep their properties in a good state of repair. if they are asked a simple question like, "will you do a repairfor me," they threaten someone with an eviction to shut them up. now, they're the landlords we have to get at. they're going to be in the worst properties, sometimes with people living in the worst conditions, so that's the biggest challenge for everybody. the government says revenge evictions are rare and that because of the new law it's given

local councils all the powers they need to stop them. thankfully for helen, she was able to find a new home. my landlord's great. i can't complain about him. i don't have to contact him unless something does pop up. but not everyone is so lucky. a hospital in china has admitted infecting five people with hiv during a series of mishandled fertilisation procedures. up to 30 couples could now be at risk, after the hospital re—used equipment that was supposed to be thrown away. robin brant has the latest from shanghai. this kind of incident is highly unusual in china, notjust because of the nature of the contamination, this involves hiv, but also because the government authorities have come forward so quickly and in public they have confirmed what has happened. what we know is that five people have been contaminated with hiv after medical staff at the zhejiang chinese medical

hospital, in the province of zhejiang, ignored cross contamination rules, what's known as the one tube, one throw protocol and used equipment on multiple occasions. five people have now been infected with hiv. there are reports on local social media that up to 30 couples may now be at risk. there are also some reports about the original source of the infection, but they are not reliable enough or credible enough at this stage to confirm. the government authorities have also confirmed that five people have been sacked as a result of their investigation. three of those are senior members of the medical staff. there are no details, though, at this stage about the victims. incidents like this, calling into question the reliability of medical provision in china, are not that unusual. things are getting better here, but last year we had a big scandal involving the illegal distribution of vaccines.

we also had restrictions put in place by the government against some people that run some of the hospitals here, the people's liberation army is one of those, because they were subcontracting out some parts of the hospital to doctors, who are giving people treatment they simply did not need. scientists studying the calls of one of our closest ape relatives say they may have revealed the origin of the earliest words ever spoken. researchers from durham and liverpool john moore universities spent years eavesdropping on orangutans, and analysed more than 5,000 of their "kiss squeaks" that sound like this. high-pitched squeaking. laughter

well, professor serge wich, a primate biologist at liverpooljohn moores university, says that each individual "kiss squeak" is unique. we are really trying to dive back into the past to figure out the earliest source of human speech evolution, and we have always focused on vowel like sounds, and with this research we show that with consonants there is a lot of information, so now we think that the earliest words might have been a mixture of consonants and vowels, not adding complexity but repeating the same information twice so that a listener would have a higher chance of getting the message. the decision by surrey county council not to raise council tax by up to 15% was "theirs alone" says the local government secretary sajid javid. labour had claimed that ministers were prepared to offer a "sweetheart deal" to the council,

to avoid holding a referendum on the rise. joe anderson is the mayor of liverpool and leader of the council and is in our studio there. this time yesterday you were saying you are going to get the truth to this. how is that investigation going? we have sent some freedom of information requests to see what was actually said by the leader of surrey and nick and whoever else it was involved, whether it was communities and local government secretary or the chancellor. we have asked those questions because i think the public need to know. when he says there is no sweetheart deal, it's a question that i'm asking now: when was surrey told that they would be part of the business rates pilot scheme? when were they told? if it was yesterday, it's a bit strange that all of a sudden it coincides with the decision to give them some

money. i think there are important questions for the rest of the country here, in terms of it seems to me that this is political nepotism, in terms of support for a tory council in an affluent area, and not the same amount of support for the poorest cities and boroughs across the country. this pilot scheme you've de vrij described as rolled out over a couple years...m actually happening now. liverpool is pa rt actually happening now. liverpool is part of the same pilot scheme, we are actually allowed to retain some of our rates, our business rates. it is that about 50% and it will incrementally go up. what seems to be the case is the government, for some reason, has just be the case is the government, for some reason, hasjust allowed be the case is the government, for some reason, has just allowed that surrey can be part of this scheme and are allowed to raise or keep 50% of their business rates, which is around £200 million more than liverpool's business rates would be. so again, itjust smacks not only of

insult to cities like liverpool and other northern cities, but i want to know, more importantly, when was this deal done and why was it done, frankly? what is your suspicion? it would be a huge embarrassment if a tory council, a flagship tory council were having to raise the council were having to raise the council tax by 15%. so government we re council tax by 15%. so government were intent on stopping that happening because there would have been a revolt by the voters in surrey. it is as clear to me as daylight, that there's been some deal done and it seems to be, as i said, political nepotism. it is a tory council and tory administration centre that has done the deal. the chancellor, the prime minister and the other ministers involved, including sajid javid, have some explaining to do. and to say they we re explaining to do. and to say they were not part of any sort of deal, it's a sweetheart deal, nothing

more, nothing less. because as i said, they weren't involved in this deal. so let them answer the question that i've asked today, when we re question that i've asked today, when were surrey council part of this business rates retention pilot? when did they sign up to it? we've been signed up to it for over 12 months andi signed up to it for over 12 months and i don't recall surrey being involved in it. if you're not happy with their response, how did they get you off their back? the fact of the matter is they need not only to get me off their back but others in the country who are asking for an equal, fairfunded the country who are asking for an equal, fair funded formula that supports delivery, in particular with adult social care. we've had £90 million in adult social care being taken off us in the last five yea rs. being taken off us in the last five years. we've got round about 54% reduction in staff and yet the increasing needs to deliver adult

social care has gone up by 52%. i wa nt social care has gone up by 52%. i want fairness, i want transparency andi want fairness, i want transparency and i want honesty and openness in this system, in terms of the allocation of funding. i want central government to look realistically, and as i said in a transparent way, at the amount of money they are giving to local authorities up and down the country to deal with what is something that is desperately needed, that more funding to support adult social care. it can't be tinkered with. there has to be an investor than strategy. investing to keep people out of hospital would save the taxpayer money. we're not asking for something we can't fix with investment and with support and funding. i believe with support and funding. i believe with support and funding and investment we can make a difference and save the exchequer money in the medium and long—term. joel anderson, mayor of liverpool, thank you forjoining us. the business news is coming up injust a moment but first a reminder of today's headlines:

hours in hospital a&e units in england last month. a report into safety failures which forced 17 edinburgh schools to close, blames a lack of scrutiny of building work. senatorjeff sessions is due to be sworn in as us attorney general in the next few minutes. he says the country's crime problem isa he says the country's crime problem is a threat to the safety of the american people. hello, now a look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. rising oil prices and banking stocks pushed shares higher in europe. its also been a busy day for corporate earnings — with results out from coca cola and viacom — that's helped push stock markets higher. here in london the ftse 100 was helped by a rally in oil prices in the afternoon. manchester united are on track to hit record revenues for the current financial year.

a new tv deal has meant income from television was up about 40% in the last few months of 2016. match day income has done well too — income from that part of the business is up 27%. and not great news for twitter — it's doubled losses in the last few months of 2016 compared to a year earlier. users were up about 4%. the company denied that user growth was helped by the us president's tweets. travel group thomas cook are being cautious about 2017 despite increasing their income at the end of last year. it's struggling with a changing holiday market. a weak sterling means holiday prices will be up as much as 9% this summer. let's get more analysis of those stories with richard hunter, head of research, wilson king investment management. thomas cook, we're in a period of lower sterling and travel companies are vulnerable. is there anything they can do about it? in terms of

the share price they have done quite well. shares have been up nearly 40% in the last six months, although there was some profit—taking today. you're absolutely right, on one hand you have the weakness of sterling, which is making it more expensive to go abroad. that could eat into consumer confidence, depending on how the rest of the uk economy works. 0n how the rest of the uk economy works. on top as thomas cook have seenin works. on top as thomas cook have seen in the last year or so, you've had some terrorist atrocities in the likes of brussels and turkey, which is also going to feed in. all that being said, the company have given a fairly optimistic outlook, albeit cautious. and as you've mentioned, they said already summer bookings up up they said already summer bookings up ‘7. they said already summer bookings up up 9%. difficult though it may be, it's not all bad news. let's talk about twitter now. what's going wrong here? it feels like a case of deja vu. doubling losses and also use a growth up 4% but that's not great. no, particularly

disappointing is the revenue sales growth, which over the quarter was up growth, which over the quarter was upjust1%. that growth, which over the quarter was up just 1%. that compares to a figure that had been up 48% the year before. 0bviously they are getting a lot of free advertising, in terms of us president trump and his particular love of twitter at the moment, but that hasn't been translating into revenue growth. this is something that twitter has been struggling with. notjust that, in the final quarter of last year, quite apart from the fact the presidential election took place, it should have been a good advertising opportunity, on the basis of the christmas season as well but that didn't come through. it is a difficult time for twitter. there are still calls from analysts for it to continue thinking about selling itself on again. the only slight drawback there to potential buyers could be that the amount of harassment and abuse that is currently going on on twitter is something it might have to crack

down on. a company that is bringing in the cash, manchester united, what are they doing right? that's right. it's the commercial side of their revenue is pretty much unchanged but the two standout performers were broadcast revenues, the new football deal has kicked in, and also match day revenues. manchester united are a club still win all the competitions they started the year in them. group profits overall were up in them. group profits overall were up 20% and they are saying they could well be aiming for a record year. needless to say, as with any football clu b year. needless to say, as with any football club share, it's ultimately allied to performance on the pitch when the revenue start coming through. they're also dipping a toe into the digital age, with a tv app, which whilst they're not going to launch in the uk, they plan to launch in the uk, they plan to launch in the likes of india and china. richard, thank you. that's all from me, there is a roundup of all the other top business stories on our website — bbc.co.uk/business. thank you, michelle.

she is gone, shejust walked off. she's had enough. we are going to catch up with the weather prospects. louise lear has all the details for us. pretty cold out there but it is only february, so still winter. if you have had some sunshine in recent days, there are signs of things starting to warm up a little. look at yesterday across the west, 11 degrees. where we had that cloud on the easterly flow a disappointing three. today the cloud and easterly flow has drifted further west so it is cold and disappointing. that is the theme generally across the country today. in norfolk you can see the sky is here and temperatures have struggled to climb above 1 degrees. 0vernight we will seek the potential for some showers drifting in off the east coast and it will be pretty cold as well. temperatures in

rural spots just dropping below freezing. we run the risk of a few showers first thing in the morning, with a little bit of height in them. they will continue to fall asleep and snow. friday will be another cloudy and day. sunshine at a premium. favoured spots are likely to be scotland, northern ireland and the south—west of wales and cornwall. we might see a glimpse of cloud few i i 1 ii" iii'fi; ii" i: i, l—l'ez'fj,’ % through if lake” w , , ~ l—l'ez'fj,’ % through if lake district w , , ~ england, through the lake district across to scotland and northern ireland we could see some glimpses of sunshine. still the risk of a scattering of showers in the northern isles and aberdeenshire but clear skies by day will lead to clear skies by day will lead to clear skies by day will lead to clear skies through the night and temperatures falling away. —10 is quite possible in sheltered parts of scotland. in the same time we could see more enhanced snow showers coming in off the east coast. as

they move further inland it will fall as sleet and they move further inland it will fall easiest 5 of, 7, to levels on if 17 mg n ,:www w fire ..i n ,:www w ww w for