this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11pm: a discredited government investigation into thousands of allegations of abuse by iraq war veterans is shut down. this will be a huge releief to hundred of british troops who have had these quite unfair allegations hanging over them. they're now being freed of that. the health secretaryjeremy hunt concedes that the problems facing the nhs are completely unacceptable — but says there is a plan to help hospitals cope. cocaine with a street value of £50 million has been washed up on the norfolk coast. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

a £34 million government investigation into allegations of abuse of iraqi civilians by british troops is to be shut down. it follows a scathing report by mps which called the work of the iraq historic allegations team an unmitigated failure. thousands of cases have been investigated but without a single prosecution. 90% of investigations into abuse allegations from afghanistan are also being dropped. our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley has the story. it is almost 14 years since british troops invaded iraq in the aftermath of the occupation, thousands of allegations of abuse were made against british soldiers. and a special team called ihat was set up to investigate them. the human—rights lawyer phil shiner brought most of the claims but last week he was

struck off after he had been found to be dishonest and to have paid agents to drum up business. now the ministry of defence is wrapping up the investigation early. this will be a huge relief to hundreds of british troops who have had these quite unfair allegations hanging over them. they are now being freed of that, and we will put in place new measures, now, to ensure that this never happens again, that there are proper safeguards to prevent completely malicious and unfounded allegations being made against our brave servicemen and women. the most serious allegation to be made were of murder and relation. the claims of this after this battle we re the claims of this after this battle were false. when you hold your

values and standards at the highest regard, to then come back and have a question for your actions you did on the ground, which you thought were right under extreme pressure, in extreme circumstances, to come home, it is damaging for individuals, and also for the regiment in the british army as a whole. there is no that some abuses did happen in iraq. these were detainees being beaten in basra in 2003 and over the past few years the ministry of defence has paid out millions in compensation. but the ihat investigation has been criticised for getting out of hand. it was set up seven years ago and it has had to examine more than 3,000 claims. it has cost over £34 million. ihat and its work has always been controversial in the military but the downfall of phil shiner and mounting concern over the toll it was taking on former soldiers

and their families has led the mod to act. i think this is something really, really important — it will make a big statement to the army and most importantly it shows that the government is foursquare behind supporting the army and providing it with the appropriate framework in which our soldiers can deal with those very difficult operational decisions that they have to deal with. of all the allegations made over the course of britain's long involvement in iraq, the ministry of defence now says that by the summer only about 20 will be left to be investigated. the health secretary, jeremy 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. and the number of operations cancelled at the last minute hit a 15—year high last year. mr hunt insists he does have an improvement plan — though didn't reveal it — and he admits it will take time. he was talking to our health editor hugh pym. the worst monthly a&e figures in more than a decade.

we actually have corridor nurses now as well. shows that times are very desperate. images like this across bbc news. no—one would want it for members of their own family. it has been a difficult few days for the health secretary and he has now come out and acknowledged that some of what is happening in the hospitals in england is unacceptable. the bbc has shown images from royal blackburn of people waiting 13 hours, mothers and babies sitting in the corridor, aren't you embarrassed about that? well, it is, you know, incredibly frustrating for me. i am doing thisjob because i want nhs care to be the safest and best in the world. and that kind of care is completely unacceptable, no—one would want it for members of their own family. we featured iris sibley‘s story on bbc news this week. she had to wait six months in hospital before a care—home place was available.

what did jeremy hunt have to say to her family? well i don't want to make any kind of excuses. it is totally unacceptable. it is terrible for mrs sibley but it is also very bad for the nhs, because... it is not the only case of its kind. no. there are no excuses. it is completely unacceptable. her son said he was pleased that jeremy hunt had recognised that his mother was let down but he had this message for the health secretary. what i would like to say tojeremy hunt is to admit, to have the guts to admit, that the system of social funding is broken. if we have to pay more, i would say tojeremy hunt, i am prepared to pay more tax and i am sure most of the country would be as well, because our old people are worth it. and the state of social care was something i raised withjeremy hunt. the prime minister has been very clear. we recognise the pressure is there. we recognise there is a problem about the sustainability of the social care system and that has to be addressed

and we will do that. there have been calls for more funding for the nhs in england, including from an american health expert, who advised david cameron and jeremy hunt that he thinks the current spending plans of the government are set too low. i have serious doubts as to whether you can have the healthcare that is universal, not rationed, and responsive to needs at that target level. so i am concerned. but others say it is notjust about money and getting the nhs to be more efficient is important, with new ways of working the real priority. mr hunt says that change is needed on many fronts. i think it is wrong to suggest to people that 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 also need the help of the public, because we know that a number of the people seen in a&e could actually have their needs dealt with in another part of the nhs. new figures show last—minute cancelled operations in england

were up 16% last year, whether it is a&e, routine surgery or community care, the pressure is clear across the nhs. and you can see all our special reports on the state of the nhs at our website bbc.co.uk/health. cocaine, with a street value of £50 million, has washed up on two beaches in norfolk. the national crime agency, which is investigating, said the loss of the drugs would "represent a major blow to the organised criminals involved". part of the 360 kilogramme haul was found on hopton beach near great yarmouth — and the rest on the coast near caister, as our reporter debbie tubby explains. it is thought some people walking their dog yesterday found the cocaine in a sports holdall and they reported it to norfolk police. today, authorities have spent the day searching 14 miles

of the coastline looking for further bags and they have found more. those bags were tied by a rope to big and green plastic containers to stop the class a drug from sinking in the water. now, it is thought the experts have now found 360 kilos. if it was cut and sold on the streets, it would be worth £50 million. the national crime agency says it is obviously investigating why those drugs were washed up here in norfolk. they don't think it was here, the intended destination was expected to be, and they say tonight this is a huge blow to the criminals involved. let's take a look, now, at some of the other stories making the news today. police in manchester say a man and a woman have died in a house fire in withington. four children aged between 10 and i7 have been treated in hospital, and another man is in a serious condition. scottish power has become the latest of the big six energy companies to raise its prices.

it's increasing the cost of electricity by almost 11% and gas by nearly 5%. however, british gas said it will freeze prices until august. british airways cabin crew are to stage another four—day strike in their long running dispute over pay. members of the unite union working for the airline will walk out on february 17. britain's entire fleet of royal navy's attack submarines is currently out of operation due to repairs and maintenance work. seven nuclear—powered subs are classed as non—operational, including three new astute class vessels. they are the most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the royal navy costing over £1 billion each. james landale reports. they are 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

a lwa ys the world. normally, at least one is always on active duty. but it is now emerged that none is currently deployed on operations. if none of them are operational, it is serious. the submarines are needed for our security. this in regard to russia, who are sabre rattling at the moment. they are so capable, the summaries, and the russians know that. they are very important in the middle east, around the persian gulf and places like that. —— sabre—rattling. there intelligence ability is amazing. for our ageing trafalgar class post that were designed in the 1980s, that are to be withdrawn from service next year. the other three, the astute—class, are the navy's latest attack submarines. for more are due to go into service by 202a. the bbc understands that the navy are struggling to maintained a trafalgar

submarines, and the astute—class have suffered teething problems. one submarine is being repaired after colliding with of if g hms astute gibraltar last vear. and hms astute understood gibraltar last vear. and hms astu.te understood to be at sea, but only 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. a ministry of defence source insisted they were attack submarines that we re they were attack submarines that were operationally capable and ready, but where they might be is clearly sensitive operational information that the ministry of defence would not comment on. but not having one in active operations will raise fresh questions about the effectiveness of britain's naval fleet. now, it is time for newsnight. tonight newsnight, an

exclusive on the man who could send your‘s democracies reeling. exclusive on the man who could send your's democracies reeling. some people say you are fascists. don't listen to those people. some of them, but it is totally untrue. anti—immigrant, anti— muslim, go builders leads the poles in the netherlands. we asked our gas of liberal democracy —— if liberal democracy is in permanent decline. 0ver democracy is in permanent decline. over five years and £30 million, democracy is in permanent decline. 0verfive years and £30 million, the government calls off the enquiry into abuse in iraq. not a single prosecution of military personnel we re prosecution of military personnel were secured. so what was it about? and they told us was ordered to be fine. you serious we suppose that they are going to be so insane as to allow tariffs to be imposed between britain and germany? good evening.

populist parties are growing in strength across europe — emboldened by both brexit and trump. there's marine le pen and the national front in france of course. but there's a critical election before that: next month, in holland. geert wilders — who leads the anti muslim freedom party is hoping to top the ballot. he wants to take them out of the eu, and to ‘de—islamise the netherlands‘ with a ban on immigration from muslim countries. in 2016 he was convicted of inciting discrimination. the dutch coalition system means it's unlikely wilders will be crowned prime minister. but he could end up leading the largest party which would chill european centrists and boost other populist movements throughout the continent. we sent our bear in a duffle coat, john sweeney, in pursuit. this is the election campaign video of the far right dutch freedom

party. unsurprisingly, they believe infreedom, independence and the future. 0n brexit, they say the british did it and the americans did it too. here is the party's leader and sole member, geert wilders. borrowed perhaps from dad's army, suggests that by the end of the century there will be four billion africans and many will make a beeline for the netherlands. wilders links refugees, especially muslim ones, with terror attacks. "go and vote" he concludes, "and make the netherlands ours again". wilders is a hard man to track down, but if you go down to the dutch