this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm: record waiting times in a&e, as the health secretary concedes the nhs in england is facing "completely unacceptable" problems. you know, i'm doing thisjob because i want nhs care to be the safest and best in the world. and that kind of care is completely unacceptable. nobody would want it for members of their own family. "see you in the court". the message from president trump as a federal appeals court blocks the attempts to reinstall the travel ban. cocaine with street value of up to £50 million is found washed up in holdalls on the norfolk coast. a 16—year—old girl is among four people arrested by french police on suspicion of plotting an imminent terror attack. home—made explosives were found. police say they found in makeshift

laboratory during a search. in the next hour: the legal victory for the self—employed plumber which could affect thousands of workers. a firm of london plumbers loses its legal battle over whether to give freelance workers the same employment rights as full—time staff. and, first it was beyonce and jay z, now the clooneys celebrate as well, as george and amal announce they're expecting twins. good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. the health secretaryjeremy hunt says it's "completely unacceptable" that some patients in england are waiting up to 13 hours in a&e. figures show that waiting times in casualty units are worse than at any time in the last decade. mr hunt says he does have an improvement plan, but admits it will take time, and says there's no silver bullet.

our health editor hugh pym reports. nhs england figures this winter show the worst waiting time performance since records began more than a decade ago. jeremy hunt paid tribute to the work of staff, but said that the problems of high patient demand were not unique to the nhs. and all leading health systems were grappling with the same challenge. he said there was no silver bullet. i think it is wrong to suggest to people that these profound challenges are ones where there is a silver bullet that you can solve the problem overnight. we have a very good plan that has the support of the nhs. it will take time to deliver. asked about bbc coverage of patients enjoying lengthy waits in a&e, he said he did not want to make excuses, and these examples

were completely unacceptable. it is frustrating for me. i'm doing thisjob because i want nhs care to be the safest and best in the world. and that kind of care is completely unacceptable, nobody would want it for members of their own family. but it is happening in a hospital rated good. what can you do about it? i think you have to recognise that overall, there are positive things as well as negative things, and there is huge commitment in the nhs to sort out those negative things, and the particular pressure point we have is a&e. what we need to do is to find ways of treating particularly people with complex conditions, older people with dementia, treating them at home or in the community. and that is the big direction of the range that we have embarked upon. —— the big direction of change. there have been cuts to social care under your government. hasn't that created

the problem we are now seeing? no, on social care, the prime minister has been very clear, we recognise the pressures on social care, we recognise there is a problem about the sustainability of the social care system that has to be addressed and we are going to do that. more money in the budget? that is for the chancellor and the prime minister. look at what the prime minister said this week, there is an area where there is pressure, and if we are going to have a solution, it needs to be a long—term, sustainable solution, not a quick fix. labour has accused the government of losing control of the nhs this winter, with patients paying the price as hospital targets are missed. meanwhile, sir robert francis, who headed the mid—staffordshire inquiry, said that the nhs is in crisis, and if current pressures continue there could be a repeat of the mid—staffs patient care failings. our health editor, hugh pym. we've been speaking with shadow health secretaryjon ashworth, who believes more should have been done earlier to prevent

the situation deteriorating. well, i'm pleased thatjeremy hunt is finally waking up to the scale of the crisis facing the nhs. we have been warning him for some time, and until now he has been burying his head in the sand. i do rather ask, well, who has been in charge of the health service this last few years? it has been mr hunt. the nhs has been going through one of the biggest financial squeezes in its history. the social care sector has been quite severely cut back. all of this is putting huge pressures on the front line in our nhs and it is patients while suffering, waiting an a cce pta ble patients while suffering, waiting an acceptable times on trolleys and corridors, waiting unacceptable times ina corridors, waiting unacceptable times in a new departments. if jeremy hunt was to do something about it, he has the budget coming up, i'm asking him to put the money into health and social care that he desperately needs. you will be aware that there is a real debate going on as to whether it is money or efficiency or whether it is restructuring that is needed. what

would you do if you were in his position today? what would you, as health secretary, duke? position today? what would you, as health secretary, duke ?|i position today? what would you, as health secretary, duke? iwould position today? what would you, as health secretary, duke? i would be banging on the door of the chancellor and saying, look, you have cut corporation tax for big businesses, you are cutting inheritance tax and putting billions into building new grammar schools and you are not putting an extra penny into the social care sector. pa rt penny into the social care sector. part of the reason we have these huge pressures on to our whole service is that we have got elderly, vulnerable people trapped in hospital with nowhere to go because the government, this tory government, have cut back social ca re government, have cut back social care so government, have cut back social ca re so severely. government, have cut back social care so severely. if they want to sort out some of the problems our health service bases, they've really got to deal with the crisis in our social care sector. they can't keep shrugging their shoulders or burying their heads in the sand. it's all very welljeremy hunt saying, you know, it's completely unacceptable. what is unacceptable is him and the prime minister refusing to put the money into social care. the shadow

health secretary, john ashworth, talking to me earlier. and at liz30pm this afternoon, we'll be answering your questions and suggestions on future challenges facing the nhs and looking at what the nhs could be doing to tackle problems like obesity and ageing population. please get in touch — you can text us or send an email, or contact us via twitter using the hashtag #bbcaskthis. a federal appeals court in the united states has refused to reinstate donald trump's ban on travellers from seven mainly—muslim countries. the controversial immigration reform was suspended last week, when a judge in seattle issued a temporary order. but the president appears determined to continue the legal battle, saying on twitter: "see you in court. the security of our nation is at stake!". david willis reports. the office upon which i'm about to enter... as his controversial pick for attorney general was sworn in, donald trump hailed a new era ofjustice in america. former senatorjeff sessions, now the us's top law enforcement officer,

may have his work cut out. i'm establishing new vetting measures to keep radical islamic terrorists out of the united states of america. we don't want them here. donald trump's sudden ban on visitors from seven mainly muslim nations caused chaos at airports and sparked protests across the us. then, last week, a districtjudge in seattle granted a stay, and now a san francisco—based appeals court has backed that stay, citing, amongst other things, the fact that nobody from those seven nations has actually carried out an attack on the us. the decision infuriated donald trump. "see you in court," he wrote, "the security of our nation is at stake!" prompting the leader of one of the states leading the court challenge, washington governorjay inslee, to reply, "mr president, we just saw you in court, and we beat you." the president is nonetheless convinced he will win.

it's a political decision, we're going to see them in court and i look forward to doing it. so you believe the judge has made... we have a situation where the security of our country is at stake, and it's a very, very serious situation so i look forward, as ijust said, to seeing them in court. we are a nation of laws, and as i've said, as we have said, from day one, those laws apply to everybody in our country. and that includes the president of the united states. an appeal to the highest court in the land, the us supreme court, now seems likely. but that could put the decision in the hands of a court that's currently evenly divided, and a tied decision would leave the lower court's ruling in place. mr trump maintains his ban is necessary in order to protect the us from the threat of terrorism, but it may yet be proven unconstitutional. and, until he has his day in court, refugees from around the world and citizens of those seven muslim

nations can continue to come into this country. david willis, bbc news, washington. the national crime agency has been called in to investiage the discovery of 360 kilos of cocaine that was found on two norflok beaches. a member of the public contacted police after discovering holdalls containing the drugs. with me is our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw. danny, i think we have got some pictures of this. it is extraordinary, really, that it should just be dumped, this vast amount of cocaine on the beach, and we don't know why stop this isn't something that happens every day. there are occasions where big amounts of drugs are discovered, but this was a chance discovery by a member of the public that happen to be walking on the beach and finds,

an haltern beach near great yarmouth, these bags that you can see, these holdalls, about ten of them. each of them is stuffed full of brown packets which contain cocaine. they have a stamp on each of the brown packets, which a p pa re ntly of the brown packets, which apparently indicate some kind of sign of where they may have come from. so there may be some clues for police trying to find the origin of these drugs. there are more than 300 of these packets in the holdalls. there was also another fine at caistor beach, a few miles away, that was also a member of the public alerted police. you can see on the images the green items. they flotation devices. so it is thought that one possibility is that a passing ship has chucked them out. the else to pick up. and that arrangement hasn't happened and nobody else has picked them up and they have floated here. the other possibility is that they were dumped

in panic by drug smugglers because, you know, perhaps they flop that they were being watched. it is extremely unusual —— they felt that. if the police find cocaine, it is normally acting on intelligence in a raid. how big do we think that the smuggling of cocaine into britain, how big a problem is that compared to other countries? it is a big problem. i think in europe, the uk is either at the top of very near the top in terms of consumption of cocaine. it is a big problem for law enforcement. the route that the drugs coming is normally via the netherlands or belgium, holland and belgium tend to be the heart, the route for it to come in. it is probable that these drugs were destined for another country, and they have just floated towards our beaches. we just don't know. there are plenty of clues from those bags, the stamps on the packets, that should lead law enforcement, that

will probably involve europol and quite possibly the eu crime—fighting agency, the border force will be involved as well as norfolk police, that will lead the national crime agency to find out who is responsible. a vast amount, 360 kilos, a street value of £50 million roughly. if it was all cotton processed, the estimate is that it could yield £50 million worth for somebody. —— cut and processed. it isa somebody. —— cut and processed. it is a big fine but it is not the biggest find. thanks, danny shaw, oui’ biggest find. thanks, danny shaw, our home affairs correspondent. france's minister for the interior says security forces in the southern city of montpellier have foiled what he says was the threat of "an imminent terrorist attack". police made four arrests this morning, uncovering what they say was a makeshift laboratory with explosive materials. 0ur correspondent in paris, naomi grimley, has more. well, it seems that at least some of

this group were already known to the police for their links to radical islam. it has been suggested on the newswi res islam. it has been suggested on the newswires that perhaps one of them had already tried to go to syria at some point in the last couple of yea rs. some point in the last couple of years. it included by the way a 16—year—old girl, he was arrested as pa rt 16—year—old girl, he was arrested as part of that group. and she was obviously also on social media, and that may have been the way that the police got hold of them. as to how faron police got hold of them. as to how far on the plot was, the police are saying that it was an imminent attacks that they managed to thwart. and they found on the premises that they surged acetone. that is a highly flammable liquid, and it is used in the production of a home—made explosive called tatp, the same explosive that was used in other recent attacks, including those in paris in 2015 and in brussels last year. all in all, the police seem to have been taking this

very, very seriously indeed. but we don't actually know what the target was supposed to be. let's ta ke let's take a look at the headlines. record waiting times in a&e, as the health secretary concedes the nhs in england is facing "completely unacceptable" problems. "see you in court". the message from president trump as a federal appeals court blocks the attempts to reinstall the travel ban. cocaine with street value of up to £50 million is found washed up in holdalls on the norfolk coast. and in sport... another russian athlete has been punished following state—sponsored doping. mariya savinova has been stripped of her london 2012 800m gold. she has been banned until 2019 by the court of arbitration for sport. scotland make one change to the side that beat ireland as they prepare to face

france in the six nations. john barclay replaces ryan wilson at flanker. the football association of wales will appeal against their punishment for displaying poppies during a world cup qualifier in november. i'll be back with more on those stories just after 3:30pm. moron that news that the defence select subcommittee —— we bringing you more on that news that the defence select subcommittee to have said that allegations against iraq war vetera ns said that allegations against iraq war veterans has been omitted data failure and should be shut down within months. the embargo on that defence committee report has been lifted so we can bring you exactly what they say. they are saying that the iraq historic allegations team, which has been looking into investigations into abuses, alleged

abuses by british soldiers in iraq, saying that that inquiry has become a seemingly unstoppable self—perpetuating machine, deft to the concerns of the armed forces, blind to their needs and profligate with its own resources. so it's a really fierce condemnation of that iraq historical allegations team. the defence committee saying that it recommends that their caseload is handed over to service police with the support of civilian police as $0011 the support of civilian police as 50011 as the support of civilian police as soon as possible. really some devastating criticisms there by the defence committee. the report goes on to say that the overall impact of this inquiry has been the erosion of the bonds of trust between those who serve and their civilian masters. and it talks about being quieter in —— the inquiry, actually many of the claims that were made to the inquiry

we re claims that were made to the inquiry were not supported by credible evidence. and those under investigation have suffered unacceptable investigation have suffered u na cce pta ble stress investigation have suffered unacceptable stress and had their lives put on hold and their careers damage. there is a quote from the chair of the committee inquiry, johnny mercer mp, in which he says, throughout this process there has been an almost total disregard for the welfare of soldiers and their families. we need to hold our people in the highest esteem, and a repeat of eye hat must never be allowed to happen again. real strong condemnation. all following the news that phil shiner, the human rights lawyer, has been struck off after dishonest handling of those cases in iraq. we'll bring you more on that as it comes in. a security guard has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after tackling an alleged shoplifter in trowbridge, who then died. 0ur reporter scott ellis is there for us now. it was yesterday afternoon in the

centre of trowbridge. there was a 13—year—old man —— 30—year—old man, we know that he was a rough sleeper, he was known to police and store detectives, they are all linked up by radio. they spotted him going into shops and taking items without paying. he has taken some bottles of vodka ina paying. he has taken some bottles of vodka in a store and conceal them under his jacket. the store detective gave chase and the two of them ended up in a car parked in a shopping centrejust them ended up in a car parked in a shopping centre just behind them ended up in a car parked in a shopping centrejust behind me in the centre of trowbridge. at which point there is some kind of altercation between the store detective and a man with the stolen bottles. he may try to rugby tackle him. whatever has happened, he has fallen to the ground, the bottles have smashed and he ended up with serious stomach injuries. two ambulances were called, paramedics tried desperately to save his life but unfortunately died of those injuries to his stomach, in fact of heart failure. now the store detective himself has been arrested and is being questioned on suspicion

of manslaughter. well, detectives have told us a bit more about the man who died. we believe he comes from the cornwall area, although he does have some casual connections with trowbridge also. and he was living rough? yes, we believe that was the case. what rights does a store detective having this situation? if you know somebody has goods on them that are stolen you wa nt to goods on them that are stolen you want to get them back because that is yourjob. there has been a chase through town, i take it? there have been various episodes involving this individual and security staff from the surrounding stores during the day. we are in the process of building up the picture to understand what has gone on, that is what our investigation is about. we need to understand what is proportionate to the circumstances that unravelled during the course of the day. one of the considerations will be in terms of the appropriate force etc in the circumstances, how much they knew about him and his activities beforehand. detectives

have until later this afternoon to either release or charge the man, the store detective, or they may choose to ask for an extension and await the result of an autopsy, which is ongoing. thank you, scott ellis. campaigners are at the high court to challenge the government's handling of the arrival of unaccompanied child refugees from europe. ministers have decided to end the scheme once 350 vulnerable children have been admitted. refugee campaigners were hoping up to 3,000 children would be admitted under the scheme. police in manchester say a man and a woman have died in a house fire in withington. four children are now in hospital. firefighters were called to the property in the south of the city at around 2:30am this morning. the children, aged between ten and 17, are being treated for their injuries. another man is in a serious condition. police have launched an investigation to establish the cause of the blaze. the london firm pimlico plumbers has lost its challenge over the employment status of a former worker. the court of appeal upheld

the ruling that gary smith, who worked for the firm for six years, should have been entitled to basic workers' rights, despite being classed as self—employed. the head of the company had said the employee involved had wanted to "have his cake and eat it." 0ur industry correspondent moylan reports. pimlico plumbers is one of london's best—known firms. it is claimed that plumbers here can earn more than £100,000 a year, but they are all self—employed, so they don't have the rights enjoyed by employees. but when gary smith went to a tribunal, it found that his employment status was the same as that of a worker. it legally entitled him to basic rights, including holiday pay. today, the court of appeal agreed. the tribunal found he was like a worker

because he provided a personal service to pimlico plumbers. they controlled him. he had to wear the uniform, to drive their vand, and he was tightly controlled by pimlico plumbers. self—employment has soared in recent years, with many peoplejuggling several insecure jobs, what some call the gig economy. tribunals have ruled against high—profile businesses, including uber and city sprint. it says their business models, which relied on the self—employed, or denying people basic workers' rights. the government has launched a review of modern working practices. the founder of pimlico plumbers said that mr smith wanted to have his cake and eat it. this is an historic case. this is a contract we had with gary six years ago, on a self—employed basis, approved by the inland revenue and accountatns employment lawyers. he had the benefit of being self—employed. six years down the line, he had a heart attack and wanted the benefits of being an employee. this is the highest court yet to tackle this complicated issue of employment status, but it will not be the last. there are a number of cases pending and more about to be launched,

which looks set to challenge firms over how they treat people in the so—called gig economy. john moylan, bbc news. none of the uk's fleet of attack submarines is currently deployed on operations. normally at least one boat is at sea, but currently it is only hms astute. the ministry of defence insists they are operationally capable. james landale reports. they're known as hunter killers, the attack submarines armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles that the royal navy uses to project force anywhere in the world. normally, at least one is always at sea on active duty, but it's now emerged that none is currently deployed on operations. if none of them are operational, it is very serious.

the submarines are needed for our security vis—a—vis russia, who at the moment is sabre rattling. they are good to ease tension because they are so capable, and the russians know that, and they can give us indicators and warnings. they are very important in the middle east, around the persian gulf and areas like that. their intelligence capability is quite amazing. there are currently seven royal navy attack submarines in service, all nuclear powered. four are ageing trafalgar—class boats that were designed in the 1980s. they are to be withdrawn from service from next year. the other three, the astute class, are the navy's latest attack submarines. four more are due to enter service by 202a. the bbc understands that the navy's struggling to maintain the trafalgar submarines, and the bigger astute class have suffered teething problems. 0ne submarine has been repaired after colliding with a merchant vessel off gibraltar last year.

and hms astute is understood to be at sea, but only to conduct trials after being repaired. the ministry of defence said it would not comment on specific submarine operations, but said the royal navy continues to meet all of its operational tasking, deploying globally on operations, and protecting our national interests. an mod source insisted that there were attack submarines that were operationally capable and ready, but where they might be was clearly sensitive operational information that the mod would not comment on. but not having one on active operations will raise fresh questions about the effectiveness of britain's naval fleet. james landale, bbc news. the hollywood film star george clooney and his wife amal are expecting twins, with reports suggesting that they are due this june. the news was confirmed by clooney‘s fellow actor and close friend matt damon,

who said he was "thrilled for the pair" and that they were going to be "awesome parents." david sillito reports. congratulations are in order for george and amal clooney. the news was broken by entertainment tonight. it's twins for the cleaning the mac —— the clooneys. it has been confirmed that the 55—year—old superstar and his very accomplished attorney wife are expecting twins. at 55, george clooney has hung back a bit before taking on fatherhood, but his good friend matt damon has no doubts about how suited he will be to his new role. he'sjust a good man, he's incredibly smart. he's a loving, funny guy. he's married to a spectacular woman, who is going to be an amazing mother. and you know, again, those kids are just incredibly lucky. they are going to be... they're all going to be fine. george clooney‘s marriage just over two years ago finally took him off the list of hollywood's most eligible bachelors. and today's news has

brought congratulations. in a little echo of beyonce's famous photo posted to announce that she was expecting twins, ellen degeneres posted this version of the famous picture. amal clooney, a human rights lawyer, has worked on cases including julian assange of wikileaks and the campaign to return the elgin marbles to greece. she's also the president of the clooney foundation forjustice. her twins are expected injune. the demands and pleasures of raising a family now to add to her and her husband's already full public life. congratulations! yes, lucky them. hard work, though, twins. iwonder

if you can give george and amal some advice! i'm sure they will get lots of help. let's get some advice on the weather and see how that is looking over the weekend. thank you. a real wintry mix out there, that's how is going to be this weekend, quite a wintry theme with sleet and snow in the forecast. i'm going to show you the snow radar. we have had sleet and snow across the north—east, a cluster in the midlands running towards the wash. fla kes midlands running towards the wash. flakes of snow further south towards the west of london. it will remain wintering eastern areas. considerable accumulations of snow over the hills. even at lower levels, modest accumulations of snow. mainly rain to the coast, but it's going to be cold night across the board, certainly towards the west. a cold weekend, sleet and snow

in the forecast, we also began a cold, brisk wind saturday and sunday, feeding in lots of snow showers to central and eastern areas. accumulations of snow saturday night across the pennines. it will feel cold in that wind, any brightness across western fringes of the uk. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. the house of commons defence select committee issues a damning report on the iraq historic allegations team, saying it has become a seemingly unstoppable self—perpetuating machine, deaf to the concerns of the armed forces. the committee is demanding that it be shut down. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, concedes the nhs in england is facing completely unacceptable after record a&e waiting times. mr hunt said the key was to treat more people at home and in the community.

president trump tweets see you in court — that's after federal court judges reject his appeal to reinstate a travel ban from seven predominately muslim countries. around £50 million worth of cocaine has washed up on two beaches in norfolk. the national crime agency have launched an investigation. let's go over to hugh with all the weekend sport. good afternoon. the london 2012 gold medallist mariya savinova has been stripped of her 800 metres title and banned until 2019. it means south africa's caster semenya could have her 2012 olympic silver upgraded to gold and could have rammifications for britain'sjenny meadows. earlier, sports news correspondent richard conway filled me in on the story. mariya savinova one of russia's most famous athletes, now one of the most notorious drugs cheats. the ruling that between 2010 july,

and august of 2013 all her medals, all her prizes, all her money she has won will be forfeited because of abnormalities in her biological passport, that's a system which detects over a period of time whether an athlete has been using a performance enhancing drugs. she had previously been recommended for a lifetime ban by the world anti—doping authority inquiry, led by dick pound. today's news does have consequences, it will see her lose those medals, it will also see her lose a medal from the barcelona european championships in 2010. that has repercussions for britain'sjenny meadows, she should be boosted from a bronze to the silver medal position because of this retro active order for savinova to lose her prize money and medals during that period. full—back stuart hogg will become the youngest scotland player to win

50 caps when he lines up against france in the six nations on sunday. he will be 2a years and 233 days at kick—off, and breaks the record currently held by teammate richie gray. vern cotter makes one change, from the win over ireland — flanker john barclay replaces the injured ryan wilson in the back—row. scotland haven't beaten france in paris since 1999. don't forget you can watch a special inside six nations sportsday on the news channel at 6.30pm this evening. the football association of wales will be appealing against sanctions imposed by fifa for displaying poppies during a world cup qualifier. they were fined over £15,000 following commemorations prior to wales' world cup qualifier against serbia in november. fifa took action because fans wore poppies in the stands and the armed forces held bunches of poppies at the side of the pitch. great britain will face second seeds

croatia in the fed cup promotion play—off on saturday. their place was sealed after lativa beat portugal in britain's group which meant gb will top group c having won all of three ties under new captain anne keothavong 3—0. turkey were the latest team to be defeated with laura robson and jocelyn rae rounding off the whitewash in the doubles after singles victories for heather watson and johanna konta. right now i guess just really happy to come through that. it wasn't easy. she definitely played herself into the match. to come through that and to give us the opportunity to go into the play—off tomorrow, i am very happy for us and the team. england's danny willett is one shot off the lead after the second round at the european tour event in malaysia. the masters champion made six birdies to finish the day on 5—under par. he trails bernd wiesberger. the austrian made an impressive 9—under—par 63. scotland's marc warren lost the lead after a second round of 75.

the overnight leader hit three bogeys and a triple bogey on the last six holes as his 3—over round left him on 6—under. former world number one tiger woods, will miss his next two tournaments after pulling out of the dubai desert classic last week due to back problems. that's all sport for now. john watson will have more in the next hour. the health secretaryjeremy hunt has conceded the nhs in england is facing "completely unacceptable" problems. he said there was "no excuse" for some of the difficulties highlighted during the bbc‘s nhs week. mr hunt told our health editor hugh pym that the government has a plan, but it will take time to deliver.

0verall, there are positive things as well as negative things and there is huge commitment in the nhs to sort out those negative things and the particular pressure point we haveis the particular pressure point we have is a&e and we need to find ways of treating, particularly people with complex conditions, older people with dementia, treating them at home or in the community and that is the big direction of change that we have embarked on. but that's longer term. what we are seeing in hospitals right now is the scenes we have been showing on the bbc this week, real stress, real strain. have been showing on the bbc this week, realstress, realstrain. the figures out show performance targets the worst since 200a. what can you do about it right now, shouldn't you be doing more? i think it's wrong to suggest to people these profound challenges such as we face with an ageing population are ones where there is a silver bullet that you can solve the problem overnight, we have a very good plan. it has the support of the nhs. it will take

time to deliver. but in terms of immediate support we're doing what we can with extra financial support to the nhs this year and more doctors, more nurses but we also need to row in behind people in the nhs who are working very hard to try and sort out these problems. we also need the public‘s help because we know that a number of the people who are seen in a&e could actually have their needs dealt with in another pa rt their needs dealt with in another part of the nhs and we need to make sure that as far as we can we free up sure that as far as we can we free up people in a&e departments to deal with the most vulnerable older patients who have particular needs. there have been cut to social care funding under your government, hasn't that created the problem we are now seeing? no and as i say there are no excuses, it is com pletely there are no excuses, it is completely unacceptable. what i would say on social care the prime minister's been very clear, we recognise the pressures there. we recognise the pressures there. we recognise there is a problem about the sustainability of the social ca re system the sustainability of the social care system and that has to be addressed and we're going to do

that. more money in the budget? that's for the chancellor and the prime minister, but look at what the prime minister, but look at what the prime minister, but look at what the prime minister said this week. this is an area where there is pressure and if we're going a solution it needs to be a long—term sustainable solution and in the a quick—fix. secretary of state, thank you very much. that was jeremy hunt talking to much. that wasjeremy hunt talking to our health editor hugh pym. we are hearing that british airways cabin crew will stage a fresh four—day strike from february 17th in that dispute over pay. that's coming to us dispute over pay. that's coming to us from the unite union. ba cabin crew staging another four—day strike from february 17th in their dispute over pay for four days. a long—running dispute involving british airways and their cabin crews. more on that as it comes in. scottish power is the latest of the

companies to raise prices. it is increasing the cost of electricity by almost 11% and gas by nearly 5%. british gas has said it is freezing prices until august. earlier i spoke to our personal finance correspondent and asked him what did he make of the changes? competition is going on, on the one hand you have scottish power raising prices for more than a million of its customers. bad news for them. but on the other hand you have british gas extending its price freeze which was supposed to be over the winter up until march and that's been extended until march and that's been extended until august. benefitting five million customers. a lot of them had been worried about speculation in the press of a very significant increase in their standard tariffs. this affects the standard tariffs that tend to move up and down, not the millions who are on fixed rate tariffs, they just carry the millions who are on fixed rate tariffs, theyjust carry on with what they've got. so what's been happening in the background? well,

some experts say british gas is — their prices for customers work out slightly higher so they may have had more wiggle room. also there is pressure on british gas because it is the biggest player, there is a lwa ys is the biggest player, there is always an outcry when it moves, perhaps it felt it needed to hold back this time. perhaps it has been better at securing future supplies of gas and electricity. electricity is the one that's gone up, very much the wholesale cost there. in any case, it is a relief to british gas customers. there is still some suppliers who haven't announced what they're going to do, what can we expect? there are six big suppliers. 0bviously expect? there are six big suppliers. obviously more smaller ones. npower last week said it was going to bring ina big last week said it was going to bring in a big price increase. edf has already said electricity will go up next month. now scottish power. the other three, british gas now says it will be frozen until august. eon and sse have also had a price freeze in

place over the winter. we wait to hear from place over the winter. we wait to hearfrom them. sse have place over the winter. we wait to hear from them. sse have told place over the winter. we wait to hearfrom them. sse have told me their price freeze stays in place until at least april. at least, perhaps there is a little bit of hope there for customers. council tax rises could hit many households in england and wales according to new research. the local government information unit says that 94% of council leaders and senior officials who responded said they would be forced to put up taxes and increase charging for services. some households could face rises of up to 5%, well above inflation. 0ur correspondent judith moritz reports. from rubbish collections to road resurfacing, local councils are responsible for the nitty—gritty of community life. so it is not surprising that the majority of them want to take measures

to bring in more money. but now some councils are warning that things are so desperate, they simply cannot make ends meet. we are really at a crisis point now. councils have already cut all the nice to have things and they are down to the bare bones of the statutory services they have to deliver, adult social care, looking after elderly people, protecting vulnerable people, keeping the streets clean, collecting refuse. there is a real chance in the next two to three years we will see councils not able to meet those obligations and that would be a tragedy for the communities they serve. a survey of local councils in england and wales was carried out, 131 responded, 94% of them say they will be forced to increase council tax by more than 1.5% next year. 42% say the cuts they make will be evident to the public and 80% say they will add an extra charge for social care. in salford, the authority is considering raising next year's

council tax together with its charge for social care by a total ofjust under 5%. lisa stone has been a salford councillor for six years and says it is becoming impossible to balance the books. we were able to freeze council tax for six years but we had to put it up last year and will be looking to put it up again this year, unfortunately. do you remember things being this bad? no, this is the worst it's ever been because every year you have to make more cuts on top of those you've made in previous years. five councils, not named, had planned to go to the polls to increase bills significantly but have decided not to after a 15% rise was controversially dropped by surrey council this week. but all of the councils surveyed had one thing in common, not one of them said that it was able to

reduce council tax. it's taken a full three weeks to make the call, but president trump has now had his first conversation in early december, then president—elect trump angered china and broke with more than 30 years of us policy by accepting a phone call from the president of taiwan. it now appears president trump has softened his stance on at least one thing. in a phone call to president xi jinping, he agreed to honour the "one china" policy which states that taiwan is part of china. here'sjohn sudworth with the latest on the reaction in beijing. well, after those extraordinary state m e nts well, after those extraordinary statements in which donald trump threatened to turn a0 years or more of established diplomatic protocol on its head, what looks like an equally extraordinary u—turn. as a result of the phone call we now know that the one china policy under which america recognises beijing's sovereignty over the island of taiwan or at least chooses not to publicly challenge that notion of

sovereignty, well, that will still be recognised and maintained as it has been for so long. what we don't know, of course, is anything about the wrangling, the negotiation that led up to this telephone conversation. did the chinese, for example, insist on that guarantee of adherence to the one china policy as adherence to the one china policy as a precondition for the telephone conversation to happen in the first place? did washington, for example, suggest that they would make that concession, they would recognise the one china policy in the conversation as long as china gave some sort of a commitment to renegotiate on trade, to alter that huge strategic imbalance to help donald trump fulfil his promise to bring jobs back to america? all we do know is that what looked like it might have been one of the biggest diplomatic u psets been one of the biggest diplomatic upsets of our time has, for now, been averted. and notjust senior policy officials here in beijing,

but those in the state department and think tanks and academic institutions will be breathing a sigh of relief because the one china policy is widely believed to have helped maintain the peace and stability in asia and challenging it was seen to be very risky. the japanese prime minister shinzo abe is in the us for talks with president trump. mr abe has been in virginia where he laid a wreath at a military memorial. with the new us leader and underscore the sturdiness of the japan—us alliance. the headlines: the government's £60 million investigation into alleged abuses by british troops in iraq has failed and must be shut within months according to a report by an

influential group of mps. the health secretary concedes the national health service in england is facing completely unacceptable problems amid record waiting times in a&e. see new court, the message from president trump as a federal appeals court blocks the attempts to reinstall his travel ban. the market numbers for you, they're all up. as britain prepares to leave the european union, there are a range of voices influencing the debate. a key part of the referendum campaign focussed on the voice of businesses. the bbc‘s business team has been focussing on various sectors to see how they are reacting. today, we are looking into the fishing industry. let's join vishala sri—pathma who is in grimsby. that's right i am here in grimsby

one of the largest fishing ports in the uk. every ward here voted to leave the european union. this is largely a fishing town. joining us now is mike from the fishing merchant association and darren who isa merchant association and darren who is a fisherman. mike, let's start with you. do you think brexit can revive the brexit — can brexit revive the brexit — can brexit revive the brexit — can brexit revive the fishing industry? we hope so. largely it depends on the negotiations and what comes through from that. but there might be trade—offs, there might be all sorts of deals being made at the expense of deals being made at the expense of the fish industry in grimsby. what kind of assurances do you want from the government to the fishing industry? we would like our quotas to bea industry? we would like our quotas to be a lot more than what theyer because the quotas we get, we can't fish. so we need a lot more quota. a lot more. do you think it is a

positive thing for the industry? yeah, ithink positive thing for the industry? yeah, i think it would be. we positive thing for the industry? yeah, ithink it would be. we have got in grimsby we have the facilities to build the fishing industry again. if we got a little bit of help off the government everything would be fine. there is people who would invest in boats, i know a few people who would. i would invest in another boat myself if we we re allowed invest in another boat myself if we were allowed to go to work every day. are you scared at all that fishing might not be so high up on the agenda and you have the farming lobby that is prominent, do you think that's going to be a challenge? yes. i think there was a report in the times this morning saying something about fishing was a medium priority as regards the negotiations. so, yeah, that would bea negotiations. so, yeah, that would be a concern for us. seafood in the uk is an increasingly being sold, there is more being consumed. 0ver £6 billion a year to the uk economy. so it's a lot of money. in the short

and medium term, we have seen a drop in the pound, lots of talk about inflation creeping up, is that affecting business? yeah, it's making fish more expensive. it's putting people off buying fish. how about you ? putting people off buying fish. how about you? we import a lot of fish. if we caught our own we could bring the price down instead of buying it off other countries. if we were allowed to catch our own fish, because there is foreign boats with our quota and it sounds daft that we can't do it ourselves. we are breaking the law if we overquota. we get foreign boats coming in, they can take what they like, go back to france, spain, norway and then it is shipped over here. the cost of that, it all adds on to the fish. what about the wider industry in terms of free movement of people? is that going to impact fishing going forward ? going to impact fishing going forward? i can't really speak for the fishing industry. i can speak

perhaps for the fish industry as a whole. going forward the free movement of people, i don't think it will make a huge amount of difference but there is 3,000 people directly employed in grimsby in the fish industry and there is 10,000 people employed in the supply chain so it's a huge impact in north—east lincolnshire the fish industry, as a whole, not just fishing. lincolnshire the fish industry, as a whole, notjust fishing. ok. quickly, do you think that fishing, ourfish quickly, do you think that fishing, our fish exporting quickly, do you think that fishing, ourfish exporting our quickly, do you think that fishing, our fish exporting our british fish is going to have much value outside europe? yes, if we exported our own fish obviously america's pay ago lot of money for fish now and china, they are opening up a big market this year, i think. so there is a lot, people would invest if we could catch stuff. it is there to be had. i know they say there is no fish, there is plenty of fish. ok. thank you very much. i will be here for

the next hour, as well. we will be talking about the industry beyond fish in grimsby. thank you. change is coming to saudi arabia. the world's biggest oil producer wants to be less dependent on one commodity — and boost its private sector. the country's 31—year—old deputy crown prince, mohammad bin salman, says he also wants to start opening up the conservative kingdom, where cinemas are banned and women still aren't allowed to drive. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in the saudi capital, riyadh, and described what is motivating the attitude change. imagine if your comboft revenues and the revenues of the royal family we re the revenues of the royal family were dependent for 90% on this one fuel. oil and gas. the discovery of oil here in the kingdom some eight decades ago transformed saudi arabia from a small remote desert kingdom into a powerhouse on the world

stage. when world oil prices crashed a few years ago, the government lost half of its revenue. that's forced it to think about diversifying away from oil, but also it realises if it is going to do that it also has to start opening up, this is a very conservative, some would say ultra conservative, some would say ultra conservative kingdom. what do you do with a highly educated generation, more than 70% under the age of 30 and have benefitted from a generous scholarship programme so thousands of young people, many with phds coming back to the country looking forjobs and a life worth living, something interesting enough to keep them here. cinemas are banned, restrictions on women working. slowly, slowly, cautiously, saudi arabia is starting to enup. it has to. are we really going to see genuine social reform, for example, women being able to drive? what's really interesting is on previous visits to saudi arabia when you would ask

questions like that, when is the ban on women driving going to be lifted they would answer vaguely. well, we will do it in our own time, we have our own values and identity, etc. now this time people talk in terms of months. it might be the 1st six months of this year or the first six months of this year or the first six months of this year or the first six months of next year, everyone i speak to said it will be lifted, possibly within the next year but lifted cautiously because it is saudi arabia. so perhaps women over a0 will first be allowed to drive. what about this country, even cinemas are not allowed. they've granted cinema licences and then there was a fatwa saying they were a depravity. they have so get cinemas through without invoking the ire of the clerics here. everything has to be associated —— negotiated and prepared to avoid a backlash. more on that breaking news of more

strikes scheduled by british airways. the unite union estimates that staff earn on average £16,000 a year, including allowances. but ba insists that no one earns less than £21,000. the airline says that all passengers will be able to travel. but that the time of flights might be affected. ba cabin crew members working for the carriers mixed fleet to hold four more days of strikes starting on february 17th according to unite union. it is in the middle of strikes in that long—running dispute over pay. ba saying the deal offered was consistent with the pay deals of other crew and it would keep disruption to customers to a minimum. now some pictures to bring you from new zealand. some of them are a bit distressing. hundreds of whales have

died ona distressing. hundreds of whales have died on a beach after they became stranded. the pilot whales were discovered on the south island. conservation department staff and volu nteers conservation department staff and volunteers are trying to save 100 of them that are still alive. whales strandings are fairly common but this is the worse in living memory. a look at the weekend weather prospects. hi. good afternoon everybody. it's a cold grey theme not only for today but right into the weekend. it looks as though the weekend headline keeps as though the weekend headline keeps a lot of cloud, that's going to be the real story. there will also be some wintry showers which will bring a light dusting to some of us and a cold wind from time to time. this is what we have seen today. the showers running in off the east coast. some of them with a wintry flavour in there, particularly through lincolnshire and in the last few hours down towards the midlands and

into 0xfordshire. a brisk breeze will drive these showers through the early hours of saturday morning. we will see increasingly turning wintry, sleet and snow. snow on higher ground, two, three centimetres. maybe a significant dusting even at lower levels first thing. for much of the eastern half of the uk could be a pretty sight first thing. the further west you are first thing. the further west you a re early first thing. the further west you are early morning brightness but a cold start generally with temperatures still sitting a degree or so above freezing. there will be some wintry showers and lying snow, particularly a peaks and pennines, but the showers turning to rain close to the coast and that's the story through the day. brightness through northern ireland and scotland. certainly into the afternoon you will continue to see glimpses of sunshine. but that brisk breeze driving the showers in across the country. some of those will push further west into wales and maybe down towards the south—west of england, as well.

they will be primarily be of rain towards the afternoon. then again we could see yet more sleet and snow developing through saturday night into sunday. favoured spots across the peaks into sunday. favoured spots across the pea ks and into sunday. favoured spots across the peaks and pennines so we could see more significant snow here. through sunday the snow is likely to turn back to rain. it's going to be a windy day. not particularly pleasa nt a windy day. not particularly pleasant out there. again temperatures struggling. a pretty cold feel into the second half of the weekend. the early half of next week an indication of something getting just that little bit milder. it may well take its time in arriving but eventually the mild air will start to push up across the country so later next week it will feel reasonably pleasant, almost spring—like with temperatures back to double digits. more from me throughout the afternoon. this is bbc news.

i'm ben brown. the headlines at apm: the government's £60 million investigation into allegations against british troops in iraq has failed and must be shut down, according to a report by an influential group of mps. record waiting times in a&e, as the health secretary concedes the nhs in england is facing "completely unacceptable" problems. you know, i'm doing thisjob because i want nhs care to be the safest and best in the world. and that kind of care is completely unacceptable. nobody would want it for members of their own family. "see you in court". the message from president trump as a federal appeals court blocks the attempts to reinstall the travel ban. a 16—year—old girl is among four people arrested by french police on suspicion of plotting an imminent terror attack.