hello, it's monday, it's nine o'clock. i'm joanna gosling, in for victoria. welcome to the programme. police investigating a violent attack on a teenage asylum—seeker in south london release images of three people they want to question. we'll have the latest from the scene. we have a special report on the financial challenges faced by young people when they leave the care system at 18. "that's it, we no longer need to be in contact with you, you've now hit that age where you can live by yourself independently, and there you go, off you go into the world" kind of thing, and there was not much preparation for that. and will your child's nursery be one of those which says it can't offer 30 hours of free childcare because it's too expensive? we'll have the latest on how the new system for nurseries in england will work. hello, welcome to the programme, we're live until 11am. showed profits from the so—called

tampon tax go to an anti—abortion group? the group says it is providing essential housing support for women who decide to keep their babies, but the mp who champion the scheme says they should have to give the grand back, let us know what you think about that. our top story today, detectives investigating an attack on a teenage asylum—seeker which left him seriously injured have released images of three people they want to question. the two men and a woman are being sought about the attack on the 17—year—old boy at croydon in south london on friday night. anisa kadri is following the story for us. what is the latest? well, eight people are actually in kas today now, police are questioning them on suspicion of attempted murder, and as you mention, three images have been released this morning by

police, people they want to speak to. police believe up to 20 people could have been involved. as for the victim, 17 years old, kurdish—iranian, police are treating it as kurdish—iranian, police are treating itasa kurdish—iranian, police are treating it as a suspected hate crime, they believe his race was integral to the reason that he was attacked. and a... they are treating this, as i say, as a hate crime. he is said to be in say, as a hate crime. he is said to beina say, as a hate crime. he is said to be in a serious but stable condition at the receiving repeated kicks and punches and sustaining serious head injuries. tell us more about what has been police together about the attack. —— pieced together. has been police together about the attack. -- pieced together. on friday night, this victim was waiting at a bus stop in croydon with friends when a group is said to have come up to him, and police say they ask them, you know, where are you from? it was then that he said he was an asylum seeker, and they chased him down the street and began

kicking him, punching him. many people saw this happen, some alerted 999, and the victim was left lying there, and it was at that point, of course, that the emergency services got involved and realised that this needed to be, you know, attended to, so needed to be, you know, attended to, so to speak. anisa, thank you. annita is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the day's news. donald trump has warned that the us will solve the north korean nuclear threat under his leadership. in an interview with the financial times, the president is quoted as saying, "if china is not going to solve north korea, we will." mr trump confirmed he was referring to direct unilateral action. the comments come ahead of a visit to the us by the chinese president this week. significant restrictions on the use of bail by police in england and wales come into force today. the amount of time a suspect released from custody can remain on bail will be limited to 28 days in most cases. the decision is in response

to concerns that people were being left in limbo for months 01’ even years. but police have questioned the move, as our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports. famous faces who've been under police investigation, finally told they wouldn't be facing charges, but only after long months on bail. they were among the 5000 still on bail after a year. the government says the system needed rebalancing. well, what's happened in the past is people could be put on bail with no end in sight and no check or balance, which means we had thousands of people could be on bail for 12 months or more. in fact, there were examples of people on for several years, and that's just not acceptable. we've got to make sure we've got a proper system that is appropriate and proportionate. it's part of an overhaul of the bail system in england and wales. from now on, some suspects won't be subject to police bail at all. for those who are bailed, in most cases, the limit will be 28 days. but a senior police officer will be able to grant one three—month extension

in complex cases. the police will have to seek the permission of a magistrate for anything longer. the police federation, which represents rank—and—file officers, is highly critical of the changes. 28 days, in the cycle of a police officer, is not a long time for to investigating a crime. you've also got to bear in mind, in relation to external inquiries, what we tend to have is external resource, so we have got the forensic science service, cps, and 28 days is not realistic for them to come back to us with the information we require to make decisions. the police federation said the old system protected complainants and victims and helped prevent further offending. june kelly, bbc news. europe is becoming the global hub for the hosting of child sexual abuse images and videos, according to a new report. the internet watch foundation found that 60% of worldwide abuse material was now in europe, an increase of 19%. the netherlands topped the list of european nations hosting the illegal content. improved reporting and policing in north america

are believed to have driven the shift. the spanish foreign minister has said there is no need to lose tempers over gibraltar. he was speaking after the chief minister of gibraltar insisted that the territory would be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations over britain's exit from the european union. the eu's guidelines on the brexit talks suggest that spain over which claims overeignty over the gibraltar, might be able to veto decisions that affect the territory. but yesterday, theresa may assured the people of gibraltar that her government remained committed to them, and that the sovereignty of the rock was not up for grabs. tom burridge is at the gibraltar border with spain this morning and says feelings are running high. let's show you down there, you can probably make out a flow of traffic, a lot of people walking out of southern spain into gibraltar, because thousands of people work, sorry, live over that side

of the border and work in gibraltar. the free movement of people is guaranteed because gibraltar and britain are members of the european single market. now, when britain comes to negotiate its brexit deal with the rest of the european union, in theory now, according to the european union, spain will have a say on whether the deal can apply to gibraltar or not. and what is possible is that spain might say that, actually, aspects of any deal can't apply to gibraltar, and it might do so on economic grounds, because spain has always complained that taxes are much lower on this side of the border than in southern spain. of course, britain and gibraltar putting on a united front, saying any deal for britain is a dealfor gibraltar, take it or leave it, that is the kind of poker game we are in. rescue teams in colombia are continuing to search through tonnes of mud and debris for anyone who might have survived the devastating mudslides in the south of the country. in the last few hours, the president has said 254 people

are known to have died, 43 of them children. but the total is expected to rise. the mudslide engulfed the town of mocoa, burying entire neighbourhoods. hopes of finding anyone alive in the debris are fading. the political parties in northern ireland will begin fresh talks today at stormont aimed at restoring the devolved government. power—sharing collapsed injanuary because of a row between sinn fein and the democratic unionists about a botched green energy scheme. last week, a deadline to form a new administration passed without agreement. police are looking for a dog on the loose in bolton after armed police shot dead two pit bull type dogs after an attack on a man and a woman ina after an attack on a man and a woman in a street. police were told five dogs were out of control. a woman was bitten on the hand, a man suffered injuries to his legs. two

dogs were captured, a fifth managed to escape. police are warning people to escape. police are warning people to be on the lookout for a large dog with short hair and of a muscular build. that is a summary of the latest bbc news. inafew in a few moments, a special report on the financial challenges faced by young people when they leave care at the age of 18. caroline has tweeted to say, i am really pleased to see this as being featured by the programme, and natalie says, so glad councils are offering more support. there are calls for council tax to be waived for care leavers, and some are doing it, but not all. let's get some sport with hugh woozencroft. and we start with a rather incredible story in golf. i still can't decide whether this story is the good or bad side of sport, because i'm pedantic, and if a player breaks the rules in a sport, then does it really matter who has pointed it out? ok, maybe i'm being harsh, because lexi thompson, the american golfer,

must be heartbroken after an eagle—eyed television viewer called in to say they'd spotted an infringement. it cost a major title. but the heartbreak will be even harder to take because it was the first women's golf major of the year, the ana inspiration. thompson held a two—shot lead in the tournament when she was told. she only found out with six holes to play, and the infringement happened a full 2a hours beforehand. she was left in tears when she was approached by a rules official. calling it ridiculous, she was handed a four—stroke penalty, losing her lead and eventually the title as well in a play—off. the decision hasn't gone down too well. finally, lexi thompson herself took to instagram a few hours ago, saying, "well, it was an emotional

day here for me, first off i do want to say what i had done was 100% not intentional at all, i didn't realise i had done that." i played amazing today, probably the best i have played all week. i wasn't expecting that on whatever hole it was, i did not intentionally do that. so to the officials or whoever called in, that was not my purpose. i didn't realise i did that. but you know, ifought hard coming in, i didn't give up, i knew i could still win. but so many players played great, congratulations micro. rather understandably upset. the lpga have defended their decision, one official said she wouldn't have been able to sleep if she'd have let it slide. but it does beg the questions what if they'd have noticed after she'd have won the tournament? would they have taken victory away from the 22—year—old? what did she actually do? well, essentially, she marked ball

on the 17th green in her third round with a coin, just before she was going to putt. when she replaced the ball, it had moved just over to the side, essentially, she didn't play from where the ball had landed, which is watching as to do. she could have been looking for a better lie, and that is why you get a penalty, two strokes moving the ball, two for signing for the wrong score after her third round. so yeah, really difficult one to take. let's move onto tennis, roger federer. well, roger federer is defying all the odds at the moment. at the age of 35, he's won the miami 0pen. it's his third title since january, and he's playing as well as anyone in the world right now. but the body does need some tender love and care at his age. he now says he'll take nearly two months off and probably not play again until the french open. he beat spain's rafa nadal in straight sets to lift the title, 2a hours after britain's johanna konta won the women's event. federer moves up to fourth in the world rankings, adding miami to big wins at the australian open and

indian wells earlier this season. and before we go, we must mention celtic. it may be only the first week of april, but brendan rodgers' side have clinched the scottish premiership again, after beating hearts 5—0 yesterday. they have done it in real style. scott sinclair scored a hat—trick, which helped put them 25 points clear of second—placed aberdeen. and they're still on for the domestic treble as well, so congratulations and good luck to celtic and their fans for the rest of the season. thank you very much, see you later. while most teenagers are living at home when they turn 18, many of those who grow up in care are suddenly thrust into a grown—up world. they can find themselves alone in a flat with all the responsibilities that brings. managing money is one of the biggest challenges, and a new scheme — so far adopted by 1a councils — aims to help. 0ur reporter ashleyjohn—baptiste, who was himself in care, has this report. i felt really alone.

like, really alone. there's no ifs, buts, maybes — this bill has got to be paid then. how much are you in debt? about 2000 across different companies. council tax bill's really the worst one. like thousands of kids across the uk, i grew up in care. from the age of two, i lived with four different foster families, and i also spent two years in a care home. i remember like it was yesterday the time i had to leave care and live on my own as an adult. when i was 18, i left care and i moved into a council

flat on this street. really nervous, because i haven't been back here for at least, say, five years, and it brings back a bit of emotion. but this is the flat i moved into when i left care, when i had to sort of fend for myself as an adult. i can see the flat, it's a bit crazy! gosh. that's the window of the flat that i lived in nearly ten years ago now, that i moved into this council flat at 18, as a care leaver. back then, i felt very isolated and i'm thinking, "what the heck? i've got to go and live independently, by myself, without a family, as a care leaver." and i remember the toughest weekend, potentially, of my life was when i had 37p to live off for a weekend, and all i could afford was an onion, and i had a bit of tuna and i made

pasta tuna and lived by myself. i remember the first night that i moved into this flat. if i remember, it was d. i think it was d, or c. the flat wasn't decorated, and ijust slept on a mattress, and i felt extremely lonely, vulnerable, and unprepared for the challenge of being an adult. it is crazy to think that, at 18 years old, when friends of mine were preparing... oh, my gosh! how are you? this is an old neighbour of mine! you used to ask me for everything! really? you see, i... i think i've blocked a lot of that out of my head. have you? i think so, because i remember asking for your iron. you've asked for my iron, hoover, eggs. bread.

bread?! 0il, everything! oh, my gosh, that's really embarrassing! did you know, did you know that, when i moved here, i had left care? yeah, you told me. 0k, cool. it was really tough. then, i had no idea of where my life was going, and i didn't have a mum or dad, and i had these bills, and i had council tax, but i didn't necessarily have the means to get by, so i'm very, very happy that i'm not in the position that i was in when i moved here. it's good seeing you! you gave me a lot to think about, actually, yeah. because i didn't really realise half of the stuff that you just told me, so i'm really proud to see that you've accomplished a lot of things. thank you so much. thank you very much. i know i wasn't alone in finding it difficult to leave care, especially when it comes to money. research suggests well over half of care leavers struggle to pay bills and avoid debt.

that's why, as of this month, some councils have decided to stop charging care leavers council tax until they're older. in reality, only a small number of care leavers will benefit. the councils that are doing this hope it will ease the sudden transition into adulthood. as tough as it was, within months i then went off to university, and with all the trauma and difficulty that i experienced, i still had people who cared. i'm in east london today to meet a care leaver who's 23, and she's really, really transparent about the struggle she's having with herjourney to independence. hello. hello, tiffany, nice to meet you. you too. thanks for having me. is this your flat? are you going to say hello? what's her name?

vayda. hello, vayda. do i get a handshake? tiffany was taken into care on christmas eve when she was five. growing up, she was moved 15 times, all over the country. tell me what happened when you went into care? it was the most traumatising thing you could be put through, i'd say, at such a young age. nothing prepares you for being placed in a car and put outside someone's front door, and then obviously when they open the door it's no—one you recognise. tell me about when you left care. they officially went, "that's it, we no longer need to be in contact with you, you've now hit that age where you can live by yourself independently, and there you go, off you go into the world," kind of thing. there was not much preparation for that at all. so, no—one told you, no foster parent or social worker told you about the bills and council tax that you would have to pay? no, i mean obviously they pointed

out the obvious ones, obviously, food, gas, electric, tv licence, that kind of thing. but it was never a case of, "oh, but also, council tax." when you got your first council tax bill, did you pay it? yeah, because it was actually quite a low amount, so i was like, "yeah, ok, i'll pay that." and then i thought, "oh, right," i didn't think anything of it, then the next one came round and i was like, "what's that about? !" i just didn't understand that they came year by year. and, you know, it made no sense to me. and then obviously when i got older, you know, when you watch tv more, then you work out where it actually comes from, where the money goes. because other than that you're only just left with a guessing game as to why you have to pay it. did you ever struggle with those payments? oh, yeah, massively. oh, it's my bank. do you know what it says? "we're aware that you couldn't make payment. . . " see, more debt. can i have a read? do you mind?

see, this is what happens. "were you aware that we couldn't make some of your payments because there were not enough available funds in your account?" so you've had direct debits go through that clearly haven't been able to be paid. yeah. how much are you in debt? about 2000 across different companies, so... council tax bill's probably the worst one. itjust goes out of control. how much do you owe in council tax? about £500 now, but that's not the figure it was last year or before that. how much was it then? well over a grand, i'd say, in court fines, then obviously what you owed as well. are you blowing bubbles? so yesterday i met tiffany, lovely care leaver who's doing a greatjob, actually, in looking after her two—month—old daughter and maintaining

the responsibilities of her flat. the only thing, i think, is that, at some point, she will have to pay off her council tax there, and it's inevitable that the bailiffs will approach her, and ijust wonder how on earth is she going to pay that off? i'm in grimsby today to meet another care leaver, jodie. she's a student, but she does have some outstanding council tax debt, and she has a few weeks to pay it off before the bailiffs visit her. does it feel like home? yeah, it's my little safe haven. this is, this is my place that nobody can take away from me. jodie was taken into care when she was eight, and left when she was 20. she had a happy foster home. she was upset to leave, but says she was also excited at the prospect of being independent. see, ialways hear that, i hear about care leavers being quite excited about the independence of being a care leaver,

leaving care, and the opportunity to have a flat and sort of do what you want. but, for me, i was actually really scared. because ijust wanted to be a normal 17, 18—year—old. i remember the first night that i moved into my flat, it was almost like being put in a prison cell. it was like, "this is your flat, here you are," doors closed. "get on with it." "you're now by yourself." what was it like for you? i felt really alone. like, really alone. and i cried. i had nightmares for the first few weeks. did you? yeah, i had really bad nightmares. i'd probably become a bit depressed, to be fair. really, depressed? yeah, not to the extent where i had to go on medication or anything, but to the extent where sometimes i didn't want to get out of bed, didn't want to do anything. how did you cope with the pressures of being an adult — rent, bills, and council tax?

denial, a lot of denial. talk to me, talk me through that. if i didn't open the post, i didn't have to deal with it. you just didn't open the post? sometimes. why? because i was scared. some councils have decided to scrap council tax for young care leavers, some councils it's until you're 22, some until you're 25, to help them transition into independence. do you think this is a measure that will help care leavers? yeah, i do, because it gives them the chance to adjust to life of not being in care and not having the parents being a local authority that haven't had to think about anything before. but some might say, why should care leavers benefit from this but not other vulnerable groups in society? what would you say to that? i understand, i understand why people might say that, but until you've walked in the shoes of a care leaver, how do you know what that person's going through?

other people that come from a normal family have that, "mum, can ijust borrow 20 quid," whereas other care leavers don't. there's been times where i've literally had nothing in the cupboards and i've gone hungry because i've had nobody to lend me the money to buy food. leaving home and moving into your own place is a learning curve for anyone, and of course no—one enjoys paying bills. but meeting other people who were in care and revisiting my old flat has reminded me how abrupt the transition from care to adulthood can be. so, on one hand, many care leavers will benefit from this measure. care leavers likejodie and tiffany could certainly do without the pressure of having to pay council tax when they've just gone into independent living. but, on the other hand, many people will question why should these young, vulnerable care leavers benefit from this when other young people don't? if you want to watch that again, you

can see it on our programme page. karen texted, "i work with children in care and it upsets me when we're told we can only support our care leavers for a few weeks and sometimes not at all, especially when we have been main key workers in the time they have spent with us." in the time they have spent with us." peter says, "it is an excuse for the adult to fail." natalie says, "this shows the realities and challenges many care leavers face." we can now speak to labour mp clive betts. he's chair of the communities and local government committee which has recommended that all councils exempt care leavers from council tax until at least 21. thank you forjoining us. so far, 1a councils are doing it. is that good enough for you? well, it isn't, but

actually our recommendation was that government should bring in a national policy for care leavers. so, from the age of 18 to 21, a young person leaving care wouldn't have to pay council tax to help them with what has been describe as a cliff—edge. 0ne with what has been describe as a cliff—edge. one minute they are in the local authority care, the local authority does everything and pays everything for them and the next minute they're left by themselves with no support at all to help them. so that will be one way of giving them some assistance to get back into independent living. how do you a nswer into independent living. how do you answer the question that was put in in ashley's report? that it is why should care leavers benefit financially with council tax exemption where other people might be struggling? we understand and many people struggle financially for different reasons, but when we did our report into homelessness, we talked to young people who had been homeless and found that a lot of

young homeless people had been in ca re young homeless people had been in care in the first place. they had difficult lives and difficult experiences so talking to them, what they described to us was a situation where they came out of care. young people and other circumstances may have family to support them, maybe able to stay at home for a bit longer, if they leave home, they may get financial support from their family. that isn't open to young people in care. they are in care because they haven't got a family to support emthis. it is a challenging set of circumstances and just that little bit of help and it wouldn't cost us much money to say to the young people who come out of care, you're coming out. you have had difficult lives. difficult experiences, you're on your own now, but we'll give you that bit of helpment don't way the council tax for the first three years until you're 21 and hopefully that will prevent these young people getting into debt and losing their homes. does it delay the inevitable though? putting yourself in the shoes of the

young people and we took evidence and talked to young people in these circumstances. a lot of challenges. they're sudden from being in the local authority care, from having everything done for them, they're by themselves with a tiny bit of support maybe. in that situation, just taking one pressure off them, one additional responsibility, one bill coming through the door that they don't have to deal with, just helps them adjust to a situation where eventually they will take responsibility and they will pay their council tax in full. and in terms of the cost of it and the impact on comes, you say it is small cost... yes. in proportion to other costs. however, it is money that would have to be covered somewhere else in the budget?m course you cans it is. we call them central government to do it and it isa central government to do it and it is a tiny drop in the chancellor's resources . is a tiny drop in the chancellor's resources. and in the end, if it helps these young people get back into a stable life, a stable way of living, once they have left care, then that actually would probably

mean then that actually would probably m ea n less then that actually would probably mean less demand on other services, less demand for help with the debts they get into and hopefully they won't get evicted and end up homeless with the local authority. it could mean savings in term of the pressure that they're going to put on other services to help them out andi on other services to help them out and i think it isjust a proper and humane thing to do, to say to these young people, " look, humane thing to do, to say to these young people, "look, you have had a difficult life. here is one way society can help you get back into independent living and hopefully not get into the same problems that we heard many young people get into once they leave care and are left to themselves with the responsibilities and the bills. if there isn't the national strategy, is there anything that can make councils do this? councils can look at it and see whether perhaps in their own locality and connells are challenge for resource at present. they have had 40% of the their government grant taken away since 2010, but if they can find a little bit of mub to help maybe it means those young people don't become a burden and an

extra pressure on local services if they get into difficulties and debt and find that they lose their home. soi and find that they lose their home. so i very much welcome what you said that 14 so i very much welcome what you said that 1a councils have decided to do this, but in then come on government, let's find this bit of money to help these young people. thank you very much. later, we will be talking to two young people who are benefiting from the new scheme. two young care leavers and also a council leader of a council that has introduced that policy. sima says, i can relate to this, i didn't know light bulbs. thank you for your comments. still to come, we spoke to them back in march about their battle to save the life of their baby boy charlie, who receives 24—hour care for a rare genetic disease. half of nurseries in england say they might be unable to provide the full 30 hours of free childcare from september, according to new research. we'll be discussing why with parents and nurseries. here's annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news.

detectives investigating an attack on a teenage asylum seeker, which left him seriously injured, have released images of three people they want to question. the two men and a woman are being sought about the attack on the 17—year—old boy at croydon in south london on friday night. nine people have already been arrested. one was later released without charge. police believe up to 20 people were involved in the attack. donald trump has warned that the us will solve the north korean nuclear threat under his leadership. in an interview with the financial times, the president is quoted as saying, "if china is not going to solve north korea, we will." mr trump confirmed he was referring to direct unilateral action. the comments come ahead of a visit to the us by the chinese president this week. significant restrictions on the use of bail by police in england and wales come into force today. the amount of time a suspect released from custody can remain on bail will be limited

to 28 days in most cases. according to the home office, the move will end the injustice of people left in limbo for months or even years. but the police federation has warned the change will be unrealistic in complex investigations. spain's foreign minister has said there is no need to lose tempers over gibraltar. the chief minister of gibraltar had insisted it would not be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations over britain's exit from the european union. the eu's guidelines on the brexit talks suggest that spain, which claims sovereignty over the territory, could be able to veto decisions that affect it. but yesterday, theresa may assured the people of gibraltar that her government remained committed to them, and that the sovereignty of the rock was not up for grabs. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. more at ten o'clock. here's some sport now with hugh. it's been a good weekend for celtic. they won the scottish premiership

title with room to spare, eight games to spare. scott sinclair's hat—trick helped them to a 5—0 win at hearts and a sixth successive title. they now need the scottish cup title to seal a domestic treble in brendan rodgers' first season as manager. the pressure eased slightly on arsenal manager arsene wenger, as his side drew 2—2 with manchester city in the premier league. once more there were further protests against him before the match and wenger insists his future will be revealed soon. lexi thompson was punished in the ana inspiration golf after a viewer spotted an infraction. roger federer has moved up to four the world after winning in miami, that is all the sport for now, back with more just

after ten o'clock. the parents of baby charlie gard, who suffers from a rare genetic condition, are hoping to persuade a high courtjudge to let them take him to america for treatment. connie yates and chris gard have now raised over £1.2 million for the treatment, but uk doctors have opposed the move, saying there is no cure. victoria spoke to connie yates and chris gard last month. it's not really been fine since the day we found out charlie was ill. at the end of the day, we just want him to be given a chance. you're never going to find treatments or cures for these things if you never try anything. what we're asking to give him are not poisons. they're naturally occurring compounds that me and you can produce, and unfortunately he's deficient in them and he can't produce them himself. so, you know, there's no real known side effects to these medications so i kind of think the whole time, why not try? there's no side effects.

it's just something that his body requires, you know? it's very different. i know people will say it's very different. insulin for diabetics. if a diabetic doesn't have insulin, then they're in trouble. someone said it's very different. insulin is known to be safe in humans. well, how did you find out? who was the first person to try this? we feel like because he's got a rare disease, then he hasn't got any treatment at the moment, but he's only number 16. we want to do this for charlie. he always has been and always will be our number one priority, but we know how it feels to have someone born with this disease, so if anyone else in the future is born with this disease, we want something that can help this, and we want to find a treatment and cure for the disease. we want parents taken into the side room to say, "we've got something for you, something you can take." we don't want that devastating news of, "there's nothing we can do." 0ur correspondent daniel boettcher

is outside the high court. what happens today, daniel? well, joanna, we expect a judge to hear detailed arguments from both sides in this case. now, charlie was born last august, initially he seemed perfectly healthy, but after about six weeks as parents noticed that he was losing weight. when he was eight weeks old, he was taken to a local hospital, initial tests couldn't establish what the matter was. in 0ctober, he was then taken to great 0rmond street hospital, and he has been diagnosed with a very region and a condition, which is a type of mitochondrial depletion syndrome, and his parents believe he is only the 16th person to be diagnosed with this particularform. the mitochondria are the power units of the cells, if you like, they power various functions of cells, and this

condition leads to muscle weakness, progressive muscle weakness, so charlie is being treated in the intensive care unit at great 0rmond street hospital, and the doctors there say that there is no accepted queue. they now believe that withdrawal of life—support treatment is in his best interests, but his pa rents is in his best interests, but his pa re nts wa nt is in his best interests, but his parents want to take him to america, where they hope that he can receive treatment. as you have erred, in that interview with them, and at a hearing last month a judge was told that an american hospital will accept him for treatment being trialled there so long as they can pay for it. so is parents have been raising funds, and an online donation page shows that they have already exceeded an initial £1.2 million target, but whether he can be taken to the united states now depends firstly on practicalities, but primarily it will depend on the decision of a judge here, once he

has heard both sides of the argument. he will decide what is in charlie's best interests. thank you ray mutch, daniel. lots of you reacting to ashley's report about the financial pressures on care leavers. stewart says, good news that councils are reacting to this. khalid tweets, thank you for your report highlighting these important matters. tom tweets, councils have legal parenting responsibilities to ca re leavers, legal parenting responsibilities to care leavers, what would any other reasonable parents do to support their child? robert tweets, their lives have been hard enough, anything to help is a blessing, good luck to them all. jude says, we need more stories putting the spotlight on what care leavers have to face. thank you for your comments, we will be talking about that more later with two care leavers who are benefiting from the decision by

their councils to wave council tax. it's one year since a british charity worker was was sentenced to five years in jail by a secret iranian court. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, a project manager at the thomson reuters foundation, has been imprisoned in iran since april, when she was arrested and accused of attempting in a moment, we'll talk to nazanin's husband richard, who's here, but first here's a quick reminder of what's happened so far. let's now speak to richard ratcliffe, who's with us. thank you very much, another anniversary, if you can call it that, tell us what the latest is an nazanin. yes, that is right, the latest is she is still in prison, she is still waiting for hospital treatment, so she was very ill back in february, she saw a neurological specialist who said that she needed to be admitted to hospital, but the judge decided it was not going to happen. we have been waiting for

that to progress. what the health issues? is this something that has come about since she was in custody? yes, she has had a problem with her neck, back and shoulder, and she been passing out, and also not been able to move her arms. at different times, we have at this but don't like —— we have had different reports. she has spasms of pain that sometimes are not so bad, sometimes terrible, and sometimes she is not able to lie down. so i don't know, thatis able to lie down. so i don't know, that is the honest answer. that is obviously physically debilitating what about her mental state? obviously physically debilitating what about her mental state ?m obviously physically debilitating what about her mental state? it has been very tough, obviously she was in solitary confinement for the best pa rt in solitary confinement for the best part of 18 months, moved to general cells after christmas, and in some ways it is about the legacy of that

coming through, she talks about panic attacks, not being able to sleep. 0ne panic attacks, not being able to sleep. one of the things of the interrogation is pressure, threats, and those comeback. —— and those comeback. for me, the hardest part will be the psychological part, that is where the scars will be long—term. yesterday we mark the anniversary, at a tree in our local park we put loads of messages for what people would do with one day of freedom. the idea of it, really, was to keep an eye on that hope for tomorrow, and when you come out, that there are things we can do together, simple things like go to the beach, have a coffee or watching gabriella sleep, things we all took for granted. and talking to other prisoners who have come out of the other side, what you lose is the ability to choose, the ability to feel anything other than stress, so to have a list of things to do can

help. and are you now resigned to the fact that she has been sentenced to five years and it will be five yea rs ? to five years and it will be five years? are their options to get out soon? i can't cope with five years, i was battling very hard to bring her home for christmas, and that didn't happen, and then there was a bit of a lull, and now i am battling until the summer, i am working in blocks of six months, like a staircase. this was the mark of a new start. in terms of how long, we had a trial, she wasn't allowed to speak at the trial, sentenced to five years. we had an appeal where the sentence was confirmed, she was allowed to say a few words, but it was confirmed, and lies were told. there is a final high court appeal, no date set, the papers are there for that to happen. so the legal process continues, and the political and diplomatic process continues. and you have a daughter, gabriella,

who is nearly three. and she is there, being looked after by her grandparents. with this situation is so uncertain, in terms of how long nazanin might be there, can you bring her back? we have been asking for her passport back, the iranian authorities still have her passport, thatis authorities still have her passport, that is a technicality, but the one thing that is important for nazanin is to be able to see gabriella. at the moment, it is once a week, so backin the moment, it is once a week, so back in the autumn i was exploring whether i should bring her home, and she said, please don't take my baby away, i live for senior. i made a promise to her that it is a choice, we will keep trying to get the passport back, but fundamentally, if nazanin can control nothing in this, at least she can decide what happens to gabriella. tobias ellwood, the minister for the to gabriella. tobias ellwood, the ministerfor the middle to gabriella. tobias ellwood, the minister for the middle east, to gabriella. tobias ellwood, the ministerfor the middle east, has raised the case with iran and is also supporting you directly. what

support our view had? it has got better, we have met with the foreign 0ffice quite frequently recently, very caring and sympathetic. i suppose my criticism would be of the government is that there is a glass ceiling, it has never been raised by the foreign secretary, and there has never been any criticism. nazanin was on holiday, held in secret charges, a five—year sentence — you know, all of these iranian and international laws were broken, and the government has never said, listen, we don't treat a british citizen like that, it is not acceptable. do you think what the government is doing will make any difference then? i want them to bring her home and it would be good for them to stand up for her. thank you very much, richard. thank you. coming up:

and this is my new hair. this is about 12 months of growth since chemo finished and it has come back as thick as it was... victoria says goodbye to her wig in her latest video diary charting her recovery from breast cancer. from september, some children in england will be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare per week. it's double what's currently on offer. but we've been told that about half of nurseries are either uncertain if they'll be offering the scheme or have decided already to opt out. the government says 390,000 three and four—year—olds in england will be eligible, but some say it could be closer to 500,000, meaning a shortage of spaces. research from the pre—school learning alliance, a charity representing childcare providers, suggests that over 36% of nurseries are unsure if they will offer the 30 hours scheme,

while almost 20% say they are definitely opting out. the majority of providers say government funding falls short of the actual hourly cost of looking after a child and there are fears many nurseries could be forced to close under the new scheme. let's talk now to neil leitch, who is the chief executive of the pre—school learning alliance who carried out this research. liz burnett, whose nursery won't be offering 30 hours. janejones, who is unsure if their nursery can or not. luisa element, a mother of two whose youngest son is eligible but his nursery doesn't know if they can offer it. vanessa warn, a nursery owner from york who was part of the government trial, and with herjill campbell, a mother who's child goes to vanessa's nursery and under 30 hours had her bill almost halved. thank you very much forjoining us. neil, you have been carrying out the research. tell us more about what you have found in terms of how many

private providers will be offering the 30 hours? well, the difficult thing is we already know that many providers are reluctant to participate. this research which was over 1300 participants, around 44% only have said that they would participate so we are left with a huge void in terms of the number of places that are likely to be available come september and that is pretty poor news for parents who think they can knock on the door and come in and a place will be available. the research is saying that's not the case. liz, you are one of those saying you will not offer the 30 hours, why not? we are a village pre—school. we're only open for 30 hours a week. and we are under funded on the 15 hours currently. so therefore, we will have lost about £24,000 this year in terms of offering the 15 free hours. therefore, with under funding, still

an issue as of september, to offer the 30 would be financial suicide for us. would you go bust, would you? yeah, we would be unable to keep the doors open, but by not offering it, we are, you know, perhaps going to be losing parents who are looking for the 30 hours offer. jane, you're not sure if your nursery will be able to offer the 30 hours. what are the considerations for you? it is the same as liz, it is the finance. we have the capacity, but we have been under funded since 2015. we were about £17,000 short 2015/2016 funded since 2015. we were about £17,000 short 2015/2016 so funded since 2015. we were about £17,000 short 2015/2016 so we're thinking about maybe offering five places and have some policy in place to decide which parents would get that. possibly if they previously had two—year—old funding and had got into work, but as we have trustees, we need to look at and see what's the best option for us. let's go to

va nessa, the best option for us. let's go to vanessa, your nursery was part of the government trial. did it work out? how did it work financially? the government trial. did it work out? how did it work financially7m worked extremely well for york. york has a strong partnership with its local authority and we were allowed to charge additional services with the bletsing of the department of education. so we were able to not lose any money basically, we were able to communicate with our parents to explain that the government gave us to explain that the government gave us £4 an hour, my nursery charges £5. so we were able to charge our pa rents £1 £5. so we were able to charge our parents £1 for additional services like food and nappies, forest school and then that actually was met really positively by our parents and we didn't lose any money. jill, you're sitting a long side vanessa. you are one of those parents, how did you feel about paying towards what was billed as free childcare? because the childcare funding had

made such an i will pact to our monthly bills, i didn't see it as having to pay towards the daily cost of my daughter having to attend the nursery. i had already seen it as a massive benefit being able to access the funding sol massive benefit being able to access the funding so i was more than willing to pay the additional pound. liz and jane, is that something you could consider to make it viable?- the moment, our children bring packed lunches in. i know that some nurseries have been charging for lunches and things like that, but we don't have facilities to provide a meal as such so... what about nappies? again, families bring their own nappies in and things so the children arrive each day with a bag which has nappies and things like that. so we are really quite stuck on where we could charge for extras. 0ur on where we could charge for extras. our only options being potentially to open for an extra hour of the day, but we have staff who have

children themselves and therefore, you know, they're dropping them off at quarter to nine and picking up at just gone 3pm, to stretch our day from 8.30am to 3.30pm would create a big impact on our staffing arrangement. jane, what about you? we are the same. we are on a school site, and they can have a hot meal and a that would be charged at the same rate as the school. we take children from two. we don't have that many in nappies and those parents bring those. and also parents bring those. and also parents bring those. and also parents bring something for snack time for us as well. so we don't have really any scope for charging extra. you have got a two-year-old boy who will be eligible for the 30 hours from september, but you don't know if his nursery will offer it? what have they said? i've asked them a number of times now and they keep saying they are having meetings

about it, but they haven't decided which means that in the moon time, we're if limbo waiting for a decision because we're faced with having to find another childcare providerfor having to find another childcare provider for one having to find another childcare providerfor one year having to find another childcare provider for one year before my son goes to school. i'm fully expecting them to say that it is not financially viable, but until we get a des we are just waiting. what options do you have? well, the school that my oldest son goes to have already said they were not going to offer the 30 hours in their nursery. so the option we have, i guess, is to either leave him where he is and take the hit and not get the 30 hours funding that we are entitled to or find somewhere else that does offer the 30 hours, but that's another issue because we don't know yet where is going to be offering it because lots of people haven't decided yet. so it's tricky. neil, local authorities have to offer the 30 hours for free, don't they? there is always an option? they have an obligation to offer it, but at the end of the day, it is

down to the provider and i think what we really need to remember here is held out to be free childcare, so the real crit is that parents shouldn't have to pay additional charges and if government haven't put enough money in, they should make up the difference. there is no such thing as free childcare, there is subsidised childcare. they need to be honest and say that's what it is. when the policy was announced a couple of weeks before the election, no consultation. the government had no consultation. the government had no idea of what it would cost. they had no idea of whether there was capacity within the sector to deliver it and when you look at numbers, when they announced it pre—election, they said 630,000 pa rents would pre—election, they said 630,000 parents would benefit. when it came to post election, only 390,000, i'd suggest if you walked into any business, commercial environment, put an offer like that on the table, you would be laughed out of the building, yet we as providers are expected to make up for a poor policy. when there is criticism of charges, it won't fall on

government. it will be on liz and jane. it would be be on ministers. how many parents would you estimate would actually end up not being able to access it or having to pay an element? 44% of providers. at the moment we estimate 200,000 of those pa rents moment we estimate 200,000 of those parents will not find a place as it stands and government recognises that. hidden in the last budget... that's 50%? that. hidden in the last budget... that's 5096? 5096 roughly speaking. hidden in the last budget government said we're not going to have to spend the same amount of free extended 15 hours. they recognise it. they just won't extended 15 hours. they recognise it. theyjust won't put enough money in. jill, you said that at least it has mitigated your childcare costs, but in terms of a policy where you're told you're going to get free childcare and then you have to pay towards it. how do you feel about that? i think, every towards it. how do you feel about that? ithink, every parent towards it. how do you feel about that? i think, every parent would be different. for me personally, i was

more than willing to contribute towards my daughter's daily cost at nursery because i wouldn't want any nursery because i wouldn't want any nursery to have to suffer and therefore the child have to suffer because of an inability for the nursery to be able to survive on the reduced funding that they receive from the local authorities. if you had to pay, how would you feel about that? well, we're paying already obviously. but having been told, you're eligible for 30 free hours and you may not get that? obviously i would prefer not to prefer for the hours that we are entitled. we have to see how that's going to pan out. it is not looking particularly good for us, yeah, of course, i would like to take up the

30 hours that we're entitled to. what's it like, liz, when you've got pa rents what's it like, liz, when you've got parents coming to you saying, "hang on, i'm entitled to this." and you're telling them you're not offering it? we're lucky and we have supportive parents and the withins that we have spoken to and explained the situation and told them how under funded we actually are on a per child per hour cost have actually said well, we understand and we appreciate why you are unable to do so. they are disappointed. obviously from their prospective they would like to have us offering they would like to have us offering the full 30 hours, we are three times outstanding sort of facility. our parents are really happy with what we do, but they do appreciate that financially we are unable to carry that cost. thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with us. the department for education told us they are putting a record £6 billion into childcare per year by 2020, including £300 million

to increase the hourly funding rates paid to nurseries, pre—schools and childminders. they said, "the vast majority of providers will see their funding rate increase and councils will have to pass 95 % of this funding directly to providers." et us know your thoughts on that. let's get the latest weather update with carol. we have had fog. some frost and sunshine and rain. most of the fog will lift during the course of the next couple of hours. but there will be some sea fog lapping on shore as we go through the course of the day. it will hold the temperature back. we have got rain coming across northern ireland and scotland. and pushing towards the south east overnight. overnight. behind it, there will be cloud and for england and wales not as cold a night as it was last night, but a cooler night across scotland and northern ireland. so this is how we start tomorrow with a weather front in the south—east. still producing rain,

albeit patchy. that clears away, leaving residual cloud with the odd spot of drizzle coming out of that, but for most it will be dry and bright and there will be somebody shine. a lot of showers blowing in ona shine. a lot of showers blowing in on a gusty wind across the north of scotland. in shetland some of those could be wintry, and our temperature eight celsius in the north to 15 celsius in the south. hello, it's monday, i'm joanna gosling, in for victoria. police say they want to question three more people over the vicious beating of a teenage asylum seeker in croydon. there have been eight arrests so far. police are due to hold a news conference in the next half hour. we take a look at the financial challenges faced by young people when they leave the care system at 18 and the local councils trying to help. "that's it, we no longer need to be in contact with you, you've now hit that age where you can live by yourself independently, and there you go, off you go into the world," kind of thing, and there was not much preparation for that. more on that in 15 minutes.

outrage after £250,000 of tampon tax money is used to help fund an anti—abortion charity. one mp tells us the ground should be stopped. the tampon tax fund was about empowering women, it is one of the biggest awards to a charity which takes choice away from women. surely women, if we do believe in choice, must have more than one choice. that interview in full at half—mast. also coming up... how brilliant is he?! he is 11 years old and from nottingham. the child prodigy who made history last night as the world's youngest orchestra conductor we will talk with him and his mum live a little later this hour. here's annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news. detectives investigating an attack

on a teenage asylum seeker, which left him seriously injured, have now charged five people. police investigating the attack last friday believe up to 20 people were involved in the attack. donald trump has warned that the us will solve the north korean nuclear threat under his leadership. in an interview with the financial times, the president is quoted as saying, "if china is not going to solve north korea, we will." mr trump confirmed he was referring to direct unilateral action. the comments come ahead of a visit to the us by the chinese president this week. significant restrictions on the use of bail by police in england and wales come into force today. the amount of time a suspect released from custody can remain on bail will be limited to 28 days in most cases. the decision is in response to concerns that people were being left in limbo for months or even years. but police have questioned the move, as our home affairs correspondent

june kelly reports. famous faces who've been under police investigation, finally told they wouldn't be facing charges, but only after long months on bail. they were among the 5000 still on bail after a year. the government says the system needed rebalancing. well, what's happened in the past is people could be put on bail with no end in sight and no check or balance, which means we had thousands of people could be on bail for 12 months or more. in fact, there were examples of people on for several years, and that's just not acceptable. we've got to make sure we've got a proper system that is appropriate and proportionate. it's part of an overhaul of the bail system in england and wales. from now on, some suspects won't be subject to police bail at all. for those who are bailed, in most cases, the limit will be 28 days. but a senior police officer will be able to grant one three—month extension in complex cases. the police will have to seek the permission of a magistrate for anything longer. the police federation, which represents rank—and—file officers, is highly critical of the changes.

28 days, in the cycle of a police officer, is not a long time for investigating a crime. you've also got to bear in mind, in relation to external inquiries, what we tend to have is external resource, so we have got the forensic science service, cps, and 28 days is not realistic for them to come back to us with the information we require to make decisions. the police federation said the old system protected complainants and victims and helped prevent further offending. june kelly, bbc news. spain's foreign minister has said this morning that there's no need to lose tempers over gibraltar. he was speaking after gibraltar‘s chief minister insisted yesterday that the territory won't be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations over britain's exit from the european union. the eu's guidelines on the brexit talks suggest that spain, which claims sovereignty over the gibraltar, might be able to veto decisions that affect the territory. this morning, boris johnson

this morning, borisjohnson said there would be no change in the status of gibraltar without the consent of its people. well, i think the position of the government is very clear, which is that the sovereignty of gibraltar is unchanged, and it is not going to change, and cannot conceivably change, and cannot conceivably change without the express support and consent of the people of gibraltar, and the united kingdom, and that is not go the change will stop thanks a lot! that's a summary of the latest bbc news. more at 10:30am. loads of you getting in touch about the financial pressures on care leavers, christian has e—mailed, stu d e nts leavers, christian has e—mailed, students are exempt from council tax, so no reason why we shouldn't give care leavers the same support. although 18 is the legal age for adults and, the transition from adolescence varies from person to person. those who have been in institutional care likely to cope than other teenagers, this is sensible. robina says, as well as

exemption from council tax, it would be good to have a centre whereby such kellie wells can live together and be given a bit of targeted support if necessary. —— such care leavers can live together. melnicescu and this needs to be combined with improved training. —— melanie says. many services are under too much pressure or not delivering adequate support to the children. michael has e—mailed, care leavers deserve all the help they need because the effect of being in ca re can need because the effect of being in care can last throughout their lives. i was in care for ten years and lived in several children's homes, when it was time to leave, it was deemed i was not capable of living on my own because i was institutionalised, and instead i was put into a hostel. despite spending most of my life in care, it was as ifi most of my life in care, it was as if i had never been in care, eyelid

in the hostel for ten years, not sure what to do. —— i lived. i attempted to kill myself, i spent a week in intensive care, but fortu nately week in intensive care, but fortunately i survived, i am glad i did,i fortunately i survived, i am glad i did, iam a fortunately i survived, i am glad i did, i am a single parent with two beautiful girls. gina says, i am an 81—year—old pensioner who gets no help from the state and my biggest worry is paying my council tax bill. but i have a well furnished home and enough money to pay the rest of my bills, these young men and women need all the help they can get, they seem need all the help they can get, they seem to have been forgotten in the space of things. come on, they should be given a free grant, it is disgusting how young adults are left like this. and julie says, i have no contact with my family after leaving home at the age of 17. thank you for your thoughts and comments, do get in touch. texts will be charged at the standard network rate. let's get some sport with hugh woozencroft.

good morning and very good if you areafan good morning and very good if you are a fan of celtic. it may be only the first week of april, but brendan rodgers side have clinched the scottish premiership again after beating hearts 5—0 yesterday. they did it in real style. scott sinclair scored a hat—trick, which helped put them 25 points clear of second—placed aberdeen, and they're still on for the domestic treble — having won the league cup, they are also into the last four in the scottish cup. iam very i am very honoured and very privileged to manage glasgow celtic. when you support a team like this as a boy, and you know the history of the club, i was happy to take on the responsibility to make the supporters dream and make the supporters dream and make the supporters happy. this coming season, and hopefully for years to come. manchester united defender luke shaw's future at the club is in doubt following a stinging attack from his manager, jose mourinho. he thinks the england international

isn't even deserving of a place on the bench, saying shaw lacks commitment, focus and ambition. he's only played 15 times the season, with his boss claiming he is a long way behind his competition for a place in the team. lexi thompson, the american golfer, must be heartbroken after an eagle—eyed television viewer called in to say they'd spotted an infringement that cost her a major title. it happened at the first women's golf major of the year, the ana inspiration, with thompson holding a two—shot lead in tournament. she only found out with six holes to play, and the infringement happened a full 24 hours beforehand. she was left in tears, calling it ridiculous, as she was handed a four—stroke penalty, losing her lead and eventually the title as well in a play—off to so yeon ryu of south korea. the decision hasn't gone down well. the 14—time major winner tiger woods tweeted, "viewers at home should not be officials wearing stripes." former us open winner graeme mcdowell said, "another rough day for the deep dark

complex rules of golf, simplification cannot come quick enough." finally, lexi thompson herself took to instagram a few hours ago, saying, "well, it was an emotional day here for me, first off i do want to say what i had done was 100% not intentional." i played amazing today, probably the best golf i played all week. i wasn't expecting that on whatever hole it was, i did not intentionally do that, so to the officials or whoever called in, that was not my purpose. i didn't realise i did that. but you know, ifought hard coming in, i didn't give up, i knew i could still win, but so many players played great, so congrats. things went slightly better for roger federer. he says he'll have some time off after winning the miami open. it's his third title since january. he beat spain's rafa nadal in straight sets to move up to fourth in the world rankings

but won't play most of the clay court season and will probably next appear at the french open at the end of may. that is all the sport for now, we will be back with more at around 10:30. while most teenagers are living at home when they turn 18, many of those who grow up in care are suddenly thrust into a grown—up world. they can find themselves alone in a flat with all the responsibilities that brings. managing money is one of the biggest challenges, and a new scheme, so far adopted by 14 councils, aims to help. our reporter ashley john—ba ptiste, who was himself in care, has this report. when i was 18, i left care, and i moved into a council flat on this street. i'm really nervous, because i haven't been back here for at least, say, five years. it brings back a bit of emotion. but this is the flat i moved into when i left care when i had to fend for myself as an adult, and i can see the flat. it's a bit crazy. gosh!

i remember thinking, "what the heck?" "i've got to go and live independently by myself without a family as a care leaver." i remember the toughest weekend potentially of my life was when i had 37p to live off for a weekend, and all i could afford was an onion, and i had a bit of tuna, and i made pasta tuna and lived by myself. i know i wasn't alone in finding it difficult to leave care, especially when it comes to money. research suggests well over half of care leavers struggle to pay bills and avoid debt. that's why as of this month some councils have decided to stop charging care leavers council tax until they are older. in reality, only a small number of care leavers will benefit. the councils that are doing this

hope it will ease the sudden transition into adulthood. do i get a handshake? tiffany was taken into care on christmas eve when she was five. growing up, she was moved 15 times all over the country. tell me about when you left care. they officially went, "that's it, we no longer need to be in contact with you, you've now hit that age when you can live by yourself independently and there you go, off you go into the world," kind of thing, and there was not much preparation for that. it's my bank. do you know what it says? "we are aware that you couldn't make payment. " more debt. can i have a read? do you mind? how much are you in debt? about 2000 across different companies. council tax bills are probably the worst one. itjust goes out of control.

are you blowing bubbles? does it feel like home? it's my little safe haven. this is my place that nobody can take away from me. jodie was taken into care when she was eight and left when she was 20. she had a happy foster home. she was upset to leave but said she was also excited at the prospect of being independent. how did you cope with the pressures of being an adult, so rent, bills and council tax? denial. a lot of denial. if you don't open the post, then you don't have to deal with it. some councils have decided to scrap council tax for young care leavers. do you think this is a measure that will help care leavers? yeah, ido. it gives them the chance to adjust. but some might say why should care

leavers benefit from this, but not other vulnerable groups in society? people who come from a normal family have that, "can i borrow 20 quid?" care leavers don't. there have been times when i've got literally nothing in the cupboards, and i've gone hungry because i have nobody to lend me some money to buy food. we can now speak to tiffany bacchus, who is 20 and from weston—super—mare. she spent two years in care from the age of 16. she has struggled to pay her council tax in the past but is now exempt. ria roberts is from west london and was in care for much of her childhood. she's now 21 and has just moved into her own council flat, and a change on 1st april means she won't have to pay council tax. claire ward is a housing advice officerfor care leavers in north somerset.

stephen cowan is the leader of hammersmith and fulham council, he's a labour councillor and who have just stopped charging care leavers council tax. thank you forjoining us. tiffany you went into care from 16 to 18. at 18 you went into your own flat. tell us 18 you went into your own flat. tell us what that was like and how you coped? it was a shock going in from so much help to taking a step back and having to manage all your bills and having to manage all your bills and geta and having to manage all your bills and get a straight head on things very quickly. and how did you cope with bills? just budgeting plans and getting as much help as k and not being scared to ask for help and looking into what you are entitled to. you have to be quite savvy? yeah. when bills are coming in and you're fearing you haven't got the money to pay them, it must be frightening? it worries and then you're not able to think about the other smaller bills. so they get out

of control sometimes. we are talking today about care leavers being exempt from council tax. that does come in in your area, but before that came in, how much of a burden was council tax? it was a worry. no one likes to have debt on their back... one likes to have debt on their back. . . you one likes to have debt on their back... you had a debt, did you have? yes and to have that there at the time was just a worry, i couldn't focus and feel like i could go out and have fun just for the fa ct go out and have fun just for the fact that was at the back of my mind. were you being pursued for the debt? yes, i was being pursued. i didn't know i was entitled, to north somerset council to help me pay. were you being pursued by bailiffs? yes, i was. you were 18. yeah, were you being pursued by bailiffs? yes, iwas. you were 18. yeah, iwas 18 when they came to the door. it was like, "you've got six hours to get it all sorted." luckily clare ward and the team in north somerset council said, "she is a care leaver. you can't be going knocking on

doors." sometimes they don't believe the situation and that's theirjobs to pursue that. clare, you were able to pursue that. clare, you were able to help tiffany and how many others in this situation? i'm not sure of the numbers, but part of what north somerset do is with the care leavers, we don't take legal action. they stop any legal action for any previous debt so there won't be any bailiffs turning up. so we are getting this sorted out. it came in in!st getting this sorted out. it came in in ist april 2016. this is our first full year. it has been a learning curve, but it is working really well. what was your prospective previously on the impact of council tax on care leavers? i came in just before it came in last year, my prodesesor, but we are their corporate parents and these young people don't have a parent to lend them the odd £50 or £60. we felt

this was something we had a little bit of control over, that we could help them financially to ease them into the independent living. and that's the approach that you've taken as well, stephen cawan at hammersmith and fulham council. how would you define the role of a council in terms of parenting kids in care? we're the corporate parent and any parent anywhere has a responsibility to make sure their children have the best possible start in life, but too often care leavers don't have that, so we have been working with some of the care leavers and looking at policies we can implement to make the transition into adulthood easier and getting rid of council tax just seemed an obvious step, but i would stress we see that as the start. we want children in ourcare see that as the start. we want children in our care to go on and have the best possible life and we know that any corporate parent should be there for them throughout just as much as parents are for their own children. so, you're benefiting from what's happening in

hammersmith and fulham. tell us about your situation. because i'm working part—time i don't get a lot of money. i think i save about £3,000 over the next four years, i'm 21 now. it ends when i'm 25. it is amazing to have that. like i can spend money on going on holiday or anything else. you mentioned other things that might help people. what more do you think? we are looking at how we can help children get into internships, ria wants to work at somewhere like the bbc. parents normally go the extra mile and we are looking at what we can do to help facilitate a child's ambitions to have the type of life they want. we think it is a critical part of being a parent and that's what we intend to do. the question was put in ashley's report, what about other vulnerable people? how much does all of this cost the council and where do you get, where do you take the

money from? there will be 35 children leaving, becoming over the age of 18 this year, and therefore applicable to council tax normally. it will cost us £49,000 a year to abolish that for them. we think it isa abolish that for them. we think it is a good investment and we think anyone who is in a difficult position needs our help which is why we're investing in foodbanks and why we're investing in foodbanks and why we are the only council to take children out of bed and breakfast accommodation. these children did not ask to come into our care, they we re not ask to come into our care, they were put in for specific reasons and were put in for specific reasons and we owe them and we are taking that seriously. give us your personal prospective on that ria? i'm lucky because i have a lot of support from my whole experience in care. being able to volunteer abroad and along with other things. so now hearing if i want to apply for an apprenticeship, these guys are going to back me and help me with. that's amazing. how about you? i agree with the amount of support you get. just

to have that, ok not to worry, calm do you think we'll sort it out and thenif do you think we'll sort it out and then if everything goes well, we will see what else we can aim for. lots of comments coming in from viewers who watched ashley's report and are watching now. a tweet from vonnie, "after leaving care and entering the homeless system, i have beenin entering the homeless system, i have been in debt my entire adult livment" a viewer says, "all the best to both of them. they deserve the best." a social worker says, "i have worked for foster carers and i would be horrified if i found a foster carer was not providing a foster carer was not providing a foster child with the necessary skills." ""there are many reasons why young people need to leave home. family can't afford to keep them. bad family relationships. no chance of work in their area, i could go on." what's your reaction to the

last comment, clare? yeah. like i said, we are the corporate parent. i think, it's notjust financial support that parents give, it is a emotional support. so, you know, your child might pick up the phone and say, "mum, dad, can you help with this?" we help with emotional support. we are always there, our office has a room where the young people can come, where they can do their washing and cook meals and use their washing and cook meals and use the computer and use the phone. there is always someone there to talk to, a friendly face, that's important. the financial side is very important, but that emotional side is also important, i think. we're hearing from you representing councils where this is being done, this level of support is being given. it may not be the same everywhere. it is not the same everywhere, is it? no, it's not. and it's up to those councils to make the decisions that are right for their resident. i do thank the children's society who have been pushing this. this is the right

thing to do and no matter where there is hardship, where we need to try and fix, we should make sure that we take council tax away from children in care if that's possible and i'm glad we have been able to do it. you want to go in the media and work at the bbc. i'm sure we can, i don't know, i'm sure we can help you. we will do our best. we would love to help you. tell us more about youram love to help you. tell us more about your am bishings? yes, so, i'm studying film and television at the moment and hopefully in september i can get on to an apprenticeship and i don't know, start from there. it bea i don't know, start from there. it be a runner, but my dream is to be a writer/film director. dream big. follow your dreams. what about you tiffany? i'm aiming to go on the midwifery side of things, but i'm an adventurous person, support worker, ca re adventurous person, support worker, care worker to midwife and see where that takes me. good luck. it is

great to have you all in. thank you very much. keep your comments coming in. so many of you getting in touch. we appreciate those comments. as you know, victoria has been keeping a video diary for this programme, having been diagnosed with breast cancer. the diaries have chronicled her mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to try and help demystify the treatment. following chemotherapy, victoria lost quite a lot of her hair and has been wearing a wig for the last 16 months. here's her latest diary. ok, so it's time to stop wearing a wig, which i have been wearing since december 2015, since i had chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment. and probably about half my hair, maybe three—quarters of my hair, fell out as a result of that treatment, and i have to say losing my hair was the worst bit about cancer treatment for me. more so than having a mastectomy. don'tjudge me for that. it's just the way i felt. and i'm grateful to this wig, actually, because it helped me get on with things, go to work, live my life normally without worrying.

but it is time for it to go. and this is my new hair. this is about 12 months of growth since chemo finished. and it's come back as thick as it was, if not thicker. as shiny as it was. slightly more ringlety than it was before. but i am actually apprehensive about it, about taking my wig off, because this is not me. but i know it doesn't really matter what my hair looks like. the point is this is proof, if proof were needed, that once chemotherapy is complete, your hair does grow back, and when you're in some of those dark moments during chemo, you do doubt that, as irrational

and absurd as that sounds. but your body does slowly renew itself once chemo is complete, and there's something really optimistic about that. you can watch all of victoria's video diaries via our programme page, bbc.co.uk/victoria. victoria will be back tomorrow. lots of you getting in touch on help for care leavers. a tweet from lj "preparation for adult life needs to be part of school learning. preventative work is a better approach." buddy says, "council tax should be abolished and replaced with a local form of taxation." should be abolished and replaced with a localform of taxation." lj says, "it is ridiculous taking people to court and adding bailiffs

is awful." fiona says, "many care leavers wa nt is awful." fiona says, "many care leavers want to stay put." thank you. keep them coming. still to come: money raised from the tampon tax is being used to fund an anti—abortion group. we speak to one mp who wants the grant stopped. the world's youngest conductor at the age of 11. we speak to matthew smith fresh from his record—breaking performance with the nottingham symphony orchestra. we will talk to his proud mum as well. here's annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news. detectives investigating an attack on a teenage asylum seeker, which left him seriously injured, have now charged five people. in the past few minutes police investigating the attack last friday night in croydon, say that three others remain in custody. police believe up to 20 people were involved in the attack. donald trump has warned that the us will solve the north korean nuclear

threat under his leadership. in an interview with the financial times, the president is quoted as saying, "if china is not going to solve north korea, we will." mr trump confirmed he was referring to direct unilateral action. the comments come ahead of a visit to the us by the chinese president this week. significant restrictions on the use of bail by police in england and wales come into force today. the amount of time a suspect released from custody can remain on bail will be limited to 28 days in most cases. according to the home office, the move will end the injustice of people left in limbo for months or even years. but the police federation has warned the change will be unrealistic in complex investigations. spain's foreign minister has said that there's no need to lose tempers over gibraltar. he was speaking after gibraltar‘s chief minister insisted yesterday that the territory won't be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations over britain's exit from the european union. the eu's guidelines on the brexit talks suggest that spain, which claims sovereignty over

the gibraltar, might be able to veto decisions that affect the territory. this morning the foreign secretary borisjohnson said that there would be no change in the status of gibraltar without the consent of its people. that's a summary of the latest news. join me for bbc newsroom live at 11am. here's some sport now with hugh. hello again, joanna. it's been a good weekend for celtic. they won the scottish premiership title with eight games to spare. scott sinclair's hat—trick helped them to a 5—0 win at hearts and a sixth successive title. they now need the scottish cup title to seal a domestic treble in brendan rodgers' first season as manager. manchester united defender luke shaw's future at the club is in doubt, following a stinging attack from his manager, jose mourinho. he's claimed the £27 million signing isn't even deserving of a place on the bench, saying shaw lacks commitment, focus and ambition. american lexi thompson was penalised four strokes that cost her the first

women's major of the year. with six holes to play, she was told she would be punished for an infringement in her previous round. it came after a television viewer emailed the lpga saying he'd spotted a foul. and roger federer plans to take a short break from tennis after beating rafa nadal to win the miami open. he's moved up to numberfour in the world but says he's unlikely to play again until the french open at the end of may. that is all the sport from me for this morning, i will be back after 11. labour mp paula sheriff has told this programme she plans to confront the government over why £250,000 from the tax on women's sanitary products has been awarded to life, an anti—abortion group in the uk. sanitary products include 5% vat, which is now re—allocated into a fund to support women. the government announced on 24th march that 70 organisations across the country would share £12 million from this tampon—tax fund, which it said would improve the lives of disadvantaged women

and girls across the country. earlier, i heard from both sides of the debate. we can speak now to the labour mp paula sheriff. she joins us from leeds. and here with us in the studio, ann scanlon, who is education director at life. thank you both forjoining us. paula sheriff first of all, you say you will be raising the issue in the commons. why are you so against life getting money? i'll be raising this as soon as i return back to the house of commons, and i believe the minister has some serious questions to answer about this charity which offers no choice to women. essentially, it is going against the very concept of the tampon tax, which is to empower and offer equality and this charity is by its own admission pro—life. it refers to abortion as the death penalty, which is actually quite shocking. i understand their website has been taken down this morning, which does have that comment on there.

and equally the tampon tax fund was about empowering women. it is quite ironic that this is a tax that women pay for their own biology which has then been awarded, and, in fact, it is one of the biggest awards that has been given, to a charity that takes choice away from women. ann scanlon, £250,000, it is one of the biggest awards. what will that money be spent on? it will be spent directly on helping women, and i mean some of the most vulnerable women in our society. this is going to be used in our west london area where we deal with asylum seekers, women who are fleeing domestic violence, women who have been trafficked into this country for the sex industry. i am really surprised by this outcry. surely, if we really do truly believe in choice, surely women must have more than one choice. i find it really worrying. we give £10 million every year to the abortion industry, and we are saying that £250,000 spread over three years is too much

to help women who perhaps wants to carry on with their pregnancies. yes, we are a pro—life organisation. we are very transparent about that. our application for the money made that absolutely clear. but it doesn't in any way influence the fact that what we want to do is open choices for women. the women who come to us all say they feel they have got to have an abortion because they feel they have no choice, and we don't want any woman to be in that position. so when you say they come to you wanting an abortion... no, they come to us looking for help, as they do to abortion providers. but when they go to abortion providers, there is actually only one thing on offer. when they come to us, of course, any woman who comes to us is free to go and have an abortion, but should she want to keep her baby, we can offer practical help and support. we have houses for women. we are one of the largest providers of supported accommodation for pregnant women and new mums with their babies. and this money will be specifically spent on that and not campaigning? absolutely. how can you guarantee that? about 10% of our organisation... i myself am involved in the advocacy side of the organisation. 90% of what we do is direct

hands—on help for women. even our campaign. we do education work in schools. we have reached the stage where the entire pro—life voice is supposed to be silent. surely people need to know both sides of the debate. that is not what we are dealing with here. we are dealing with hands—on help for women, vulnerable women. i think if you were truly pro—choice, you couldn't be opposed to that. paula sheriff, do you accept this is about helping vulnerable, homeless, pregnant women? it is about hands—on help and not about campaigning? i spoke to one of ann's colleagues on bbc radio last night, and it was absolutely clear. we put the question to her that should one of those women who came to their organisation then decide to go on and have an abortion, her colleague wasn't actually able to tell me what would happen in that case. she basically said the housing and support wouldn't be available

and that is very, very worrying. it is not true to say that other organisations, including the british pregnancy advisory service and other such charities do not offer a range of services. that absolutely isn't true. i've met them myself. they do of course offer abortion counselling, but they also offer the other options available, and that is why i am pro—choice. it is about offering women the choice over what to do with their bodies. it is 2017, and a website that refers to the termination of pregnancy, which may be in very traumatic cases including rape, including sexual assault, is referred to as the death penalty. if someone faces losing a home that you are offering them, if they then decide they want an abortion, that is not giving them a free choice. we support women. every woman that comes to us. no, we are not abortion providers, and we talk about bpas. bpas don't hold a woman's hand for nine months should she want to carry on with the pregnancy. but what if somebody came to you and decided they did ultimately want an abortion? i would say, if i'm honest, that is probably the majority of the women that we see. lots of women who come to us will end up having abortions, and the last thing we say to them

when they leave is, "please, whatever decision you make, please know that you are welcome to come back and speak to us at any time." many of those women do come back to us, and it's actually the stories we hear in the counselling room about women who felt railroaded down the abortion route who are often very, very traumatised as a result. actually, that is what firmly made up my mind that abortion is not in a woman's best interest. so you wanted an answer as to what would happen if somebody wanted an abortion. you have had it from ann scanlon. she says the majority do end up going off and having an abortion. but it is absolutely clear from what she is saying that those women would therefore not be offered the housing, support and any other services that life charity offer. if they are going off and having a termination, they don't obviously need that support. they may still need support, absolutely. in fact as much as any of the other women. sorry, this is specifically about giving support to vulnerable pregnant women who don't have someone else to live. if they decide they are having a termination, they don't specifically need that support from this charity. but it isn't true suggest that only the charity can offer that support. i am sorry to keep interrupting,

but doesn't the same apply to a lot of charities? there are various options out there. this money is being spread among 70 different charities. this is one of a group. i am not here to talk about whether abortion is a good or a bad thing. personally i am pro—choice. it is every woman's decision to make that choice about the body and their future. but my issue is with the government giving money to an organisation which is pro—life, which takes the choice away from women. it is clear that life charity do not offer women who approach them the alternative choices available. there are many more causes which would have been better, which would have received this money. i held a debate last week in the houses of parliament about period property. we're hearing about schoolgirls playing truant from school because they don't have sanitary protection around the times of their period. they didn't receive any money

as a result of the tampon tax fund. surely something like that would have been a much better recipient of that public money. i want to get ann scanlon's reaction to that. absolutely. they would absolutely have been deserving. is paula suggesting that they applied and didn't get it? really, we cannot have a situation... we applied for a grant, and we were very clear about how that money would be used. period poverty, absolutely it is a worthy cause. and really somebody should have helped those people to apply for some of this money. there was £12 million being given to help vulnerable women, and i believe that we do that every day. it is up to the government to explain exactly what the criteria was for awarding money from the tampon tax fund. i know from the feedback i received just in the last 24 hours, and i have received hundreds of emails, only literally four or five emails out of those hundreds actually supported the campaign that life were running, and the vast majority of women, and let's not forget it is the women contributing

to the tampon tax fund from sanitary products they provide, were firmly opposed to this measure. so you are saying that you want clarity on what the criteria for funding is? absolutely, and i will be asking the government to rescind the money that they are giving to life. to rescind it? absolutely. is there a mechanism to do that? i don't know. obviously, when i return to parliament, i will be making those inquiries urgently. how do you react to that if the money were taken back? i can't imagine why it would be, because we were absolutely transparent about how the money would be used and when they analysed the help and support they were going to give to women, i think it would be outrageous if it was removed. i really cannot believe in a country that spends £10 million on abortion, we are suggesting that a quarter of a million pounds is too much to help women who might want to keep their children. final thought, paula sheriff, on the overall policy? you initially wanted an end to the tampon tax. overall, if it is doing good, are you happy to see it continue? obviously, our objective is to have the tampon tax cancelled so sanitary products are not

considered as luxury items. while there is still a tax on sanitary protection, it is absolutely right that the money should not go into the treasury, and it should be used for good causes, but like i say we need to understand what the government's criteria is for awarding that money, because i do not believe that giving money to a charity that does not provide choice is the right idea. paula sheriff, ann scanlon, thank you very much. a department for culture, media and sport spokesperson told us that 70 charities around the uk are benefiting from this year's tampon tax fund. they said, "life has been awarded £250,000 to fund a specific project in west london that will help homeless and other at—risk women who are pregnant by providing housing, counselling and life—skills training." for years, it has been rumoured that

somebody has been going out late at night correcting bad punctuation on bristol shop fronts. the self—proclaimed grammar vigila ntes goes out in the dead of night, correcting street signs and shop fronts where apostrophes are in the wrong place. jon kay met him. i'm a grammarvigilante. this is just wrong, this isjust wrong, it's not meant to be like this. i do think it's a cause worth pursuing.

i have felt extremely nervous, my heart has been thumping. gibraltar is insisting it won't be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations about britain's exit from the european union. the eu's guidelines on the brexit talks suggest that spain, which claims sovereignty over the territory, could be able to veto future decisions that affect it. the uk government is rejecting that and says it's committed to the territory. meanwhile, the spanish foreign minister has urged people not to lose

tempers over the issue. speaking to reporters in luxembourg in the last hour, the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, has reiterated that the sovereignty of gibraltar is non—negotiable. well, i think the position of the government is very clear, which is that the sovereignty of gibraltar is unchanged, and it is not going to change, and cannot conceivably change without the express support and consent of the people of gibraltar, and the united kingdom, and that is not going to change. thanks a lot! marlene hassan nahon is an independent member of the gibraltar parliament. she joins me via webcam from gibraltar. how do you are act to all of this? good morning! well, we always knew that brexit was going to be a nightmare for gibraltar, that is why we we re nightmare for gibraltar, that is why we were the one centre that voted overwhelmingly to remain. what we didn't expect was this clause 22,

whether eu council has accepted the argument by spain that gibraltar should be singled out for separate treatment. now, we know that spain has a bdo, but then suso the other 26 member states. —— has a veto, but then so do the other 26 member states. but what is worrying is that spain has shown its cards in terms of wanting to have a say over any future deals, which is something that the uk needs to factor in in terms of their exit package. you said you always knew that brexit would be a nightmare for gibraltar. 96% of people in gi bratter voted remain, buta higher 96% of people in gi bratter voted remain, but a higher percentage of people in gibraltar want to remain pa rt people in gibraltar want to remain part of the uk. so, under the

auspices of the uk. so how do you square those two things with brexit? well, it is very difficult. and we had the eu under secretary of state coming over to speak to us and we made it clear that this could happen and this could be a real crit and spain could start being the belligerent neighbour to the north that she has been historically and this is why we have been lobbying and trying to explain to the united kingdom that it has to be very clear that the deal has to include the best interests of gibraltar. we have a land frontier with spain which is an a land frontier with spain which is a n a ccess a land frontier with spain which is an access to europe and we need to know what the frontier is free flowing and that moving forward the directives and any deal going forward will be favourable to gibraltar in terms of european working with europe and collaborating and an ex—clues of

deals relating to trade and aviation is something that we need britain to fight our cornerfor. is something that we need britain to fight our corner for. so this is the question now, will britain be willing to come roe mice on deals? will they be ready derailed in the process for the rest of the uk in favour of gibraltar? this is what we need to be fighting now and i understand lord howard's comments over the weekend. i know that talking about war is a ril bit upping the stakes, but i'm grateful that as a british ex—leader and friend of gibraltar he has made it very clear that the britons would go to warfor us. it very clear that the britons would go to war for us. it doesn't mean that we are going to have a war, but to feel that love from the united kingdom is a very good sign for gi bratter because we can see they are committed to our cause and to the difficulties that we face at this present time.

let's listen to the spanish foreign minister who has been speaking in the past few minutes. translation: it is not the spanish government'sjob to translation: it is not the spanish government's job to respond to each and every comment by any british politician past or present. in any case, the spanish government isa in any case, the spanish government is a little surprised by the tone of comments regarding gibraltar coming out of britain which is a country known for its composure. calm down everyone is effectively the message from spain. how do you react to that? yeah, it is very easy for them to say calm down, but they made it very, they made very sure to have manipulated the eu council to write a separate clause just which involves spain and the united kingdom. so, of course, they can be calm. they can be calm because they

don't have the worries that the gibraltarians have and they still remain in the european union. so, effectively, one could say that they have the upper hand. we're leaving and they are staying and as a member state, they will do their best clearly, we have seen already, early on, to let us know that they want to have the upper hand. so, of course, it is easy for them to be cool, but it is easy for them to be cool, but it is easy for them to be cool, but it is not so easy for us to be cool when we're trying to negotiate our future. the way that the gibraltarians are looking are opposites, one to the uk, the other to the eu. if there are no special terms for gibraltar, which way do youjump terms for gibraltar, which way do you jump because of all of the economic concerns around freedom of movement and the other economic issues arising from brexit? well, i know that theresa may, the british government have been saying no, no deal is better than a bad deal. we

like to count ourselves in that. a bad deal with spain would be very bad deal with spain would be very bad for gibraltarment so we would hope that the uk will stick up for us hope that the uk will stick up for us and prefer to have no deal than a bad dealfor gibraltar. in that basket of negotiations. but, of course, you know, there is a lot of negotiations to continue happening. let's just negotiations to continue happening. let'sjust remember negotiations to continue happening. let's just remember that this is just a draft and you know, there is no reason to worry in the sense that there are 26 other member states which i hope will be more humane towards gibraltar, more reasonable towards gibraltar, more reasonable towards gibraltar, more reasonable towards gibraltar and will want to help gibraltar and an exiting uk to secure a good deal moving forward for the sake of a collaborative future for the gibraltarians. so i remain optimistic and i also think that spain, by playing this card so

early on, has almost let us all know what they, you know, what they're planning or what they're after and perhaps that will give us more time to foster better negotiations and terms looking forward. marlene hassan nahon thank you very much. thank you. lauren has been in touch over the financial difficulties for care leavers. she says, "a degree of responsibility is needed. i was homeless at 16 and yes, you was helped with benefits whilst still in high school, but you are forced to copein high school, but you are forced to cope in that situation. at 18 i was given a council flat and i researched ways of dealing with bills. there are more than just care leavers needing help. i was forced to pay council tax within my rent to the hostel. driving my monthly rent up the hostel. driving my monthly rent up to £706 for a room, bathroom and shared kitchen, that's hard and i was still in full—time accommodation. i learned the hard way, scrimp and save and don't splurge on anything. i have never

been on holiday. this move should be mea ns—tested and more been on holiday. this move should be means—tested and more education needs to be put in place within our schools. it should not be the state's fault if one cannot learn how to handle one's finances." thank you very much, lauren and keep all of your comments coming in on that and everything else. now, he's an 11—year—old boy from nottingham, but last night he became a world record holder when he became the youngest person to conduct an orchestra. matthew smith led the 75 piece nottingham symphony orchestra through the overture to johann strauss‘s operetta die fledermaus, entirely from memory. in a moment we'll speak to matthew but first let's take a look at him in action. music: die fledermaus composed by johann strauss.

how cool is he? i'm pleased to say that matthew joins us now with his mum beverline from nottingham. we're alsojoined by his music teacher derek williams. thank you forjoining us. matthew, what was it like doing that? very exciting. and you knew it all from memory. how long did it take you to learn it? not that long. i already, because i already had like it in my head so it want really that hard to remember it. you're a remarkable 11—year—old boy. when did you decide that's what you wanted to do? well, i first i never really wa nted

do? well, i first i never really wanted to conduct until, well, i never really knew what it was until derek, one day he told me to learn this piece. he was playing the same piece that i played yesterday, the die fledermaus and he told me to learn it and he gave me a lesson, but on the lesson i knew the song since i learnt it from memory. we'll talk to derek in a moment. i want to bring in your mum. you got him involved, didn't you, in the whole situation, to help your son. tell us what the role was of derek and what you did? matthew said he was interested in playing the violin and because i work at the high school and there is music teachers there, but ijust and there is music teachers there, but i just went and there is music teachers there,

but ijust went over to the music department and i didn't know what happened, i just chose department and i didn't know what happened, ijust chose derek to teach matthew and there was other music teachers there, but i chose derek and from there derekjust said, his first lesson, he said he never seen anyone said, his first lesson, he said he never seen anyone like this before from many years of teaching. so we ke pt from many years of teaching. so we kept pushing matthew to do more. from many years of teaching. so we kept pushing matthew to do morem she told you about her boy and when you met him, what did you think? well, i could tell how much talent he had just really the first lesson. i put all the, all his fingers on the string, which you don't normally do in the first lesson. i gave him a bow, the violin itself wasn't great, but he had this ability of finding the best notes. you don't get seven—year—olds doing that. the best notes. you don't get

seven-year-olds doing that. how would you describe his talent? outstanding. i haven't come across a tale nt outstanding. i haven't come across a talent like his more about 30 years. music comes out of every pore of his body. and chance that he came to you. could that talent have been overlooked? oh yeah, easily. we don't know how many more matthew smiths' there are in the country. there isn't the opportunity for the children now a days. matthew, what do you want to do in the end? children now a days. matthew, what do you want to do in the end7|j don't do you want to do in the end?” don't know because i might want to carry on keep on doing my music career or i might want to change and do something else. leave music completely? pardon? iwon't do something else. leave music completely? pardon? i won't leave it com pletely completely? pardon? i won't leave it completely because i would like to keep on playing my vio listen and i mightjoin an keep on playing my vio listen and i might join an orchestra keep on playing my vio listen and i mightjoin an orchestra and i will keep on playing my guitar and my

other instruments in a band. i won't leave it at all though. how do you feel when derek says that you're an exceptional talent. he hasn't seen a seven—year—old as you we re hasn't seen a seven—year—old as you were when you first went to him in his entire 30 years of teaching music? i feel like, well, his entire 30 years of teaching music? ifeel like, well, ifeel that he knows i have a great talent and he has pushed me to do lots of different stuff because you've done grade 8 scales, because he keeps on pushing me to do different things at different times. how proud are you of your son? very, very proud of him. happy for him as well and i'm, ido him. happy for him as well and i'm, i do owe derek a lot for what he has done for matthew and i'm grateful for the opportunity that he gave to matthew. well, really good luck in your career, matthew. that's an

extraordinary thing to be saying to an 11—year—old boy, you know where you're going. good luck with everything and thank you very much for joining everything and thank you very much forjoining us. everything and thank you very much for joining us. thank everything and thank you very much forjoining us. thank you. you're welcome, thank you. we are about out of time. but we have had so many comments from you an ashley's report on care. you can see that whole report again on our programme page if you would like to see it. a very powerful personal report by ashley today about the difficulties for kids leaving care. bbc newsroom live is coming up. thank you for your company. i will see you soon. thank you for your company. i will see you soon. victoria is back tomorrow. good morning. the area of fog that we've had across parts of eastern england is shrinking now. you can that from the satellite picture earlier on and we've got more sunshine across england and wales. a different story for scotland and northern ireland. we saw that cloud. it is producing

this rain here. it will turn heavier. not much rain for eastern scotla nd heavier. not much rain for eastern scotland and for most of the afternoon, england and wales will be dry as well. after that foggy start, 18 celsius is quite likely in the sunshine. a warm day if you have got the sunshine. we will see rain coming into western parts of england and wales this evening. these weather fronts as they push eastwards weakening, not much rain on them at all and behind it, the skies clear in scotland and northern ireland. so it will turn chillier here than it was last night, but a milder night for england and wales. grey and misty as well and damp too and we will keep the grey, damp weather across the south—eastern half of the uk. brightening up from the north, slowly, but surely with sunshine, but blustery showers in northern scotland and it will feel cooler than today. this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at 11.

police charge five people in connection with the attack on a teenage asylum seeker at a croydon bus stop on friday night. three others remain in custody. a war of words over gibraltar — spain says there's no need for britain to "lose its temper". the foreign secretary says the rock's sovereignty is non—negotiable. the sovereignty of gibraltar is unchanged and is not going to change and cannot conceivably change without the express support and consent of the people of gibraltar and the united kingdom, and that is not going to change. president trump warns that the us is prepared to act alone to tackle the nuclear threat posed by north korea — if china fails to intervene. why more than 20 million adults in the uk are classified

as physically inactive and could be at risk of coronary heart disease.