this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00: international development secretary priti patel resigns after a series of unauthorised meetings with israeli ministers. —— officials. the head of nhs england says without more money, one in ten of us will be on a waiting list by 2021. the mother of a teenager accuses the actor kevin spacey of sexually assaulting her son last year. and on newsnight, we know that priti patel has gone from the government, but where is the government going? jacob rees—mogg gives us his view. and we are in washington one year to the day since donald trump was elected resident. —— president. good evening, and welcome to bbc news.

after a day of high political drama, a second cabinet minister has been forced to quit inside a week. today it was the turn of the international development secretary priti patel, made to rush back this afternoon from a government visit to africa and then summoned to number 10. the reason — a series of highly sensitive and unauthorised meetings with israeli ministers that she had failed to mention to the foreign office. she offered theresa may a fulsome apology. labour accused her of misleading the public. our diplomatic correspondent james landale broke the story of ms patel‘s secret meetings. his report contains flashing images. priti patel arriving at the back to downing street tonight. a short walk before a mighty fall. and then after a brief meeting with the prime minister she was out — out of office for the secret meetings she held while on holiday in israel, putting on a brave face for a remarkable act of political self—harm.

in the ritual exchange of letters, the now former international development secretary admitted that her actions "fell below the standards of transparency and openness that i have promoted and advocated. i offer a fulsome apology to you and the government." theresa may told miss patel, "when we met on monday i was glad to accept your apology. but now that further details have come to light, it is right you have decided to resign." the man whose department she failed to call before she went to israel was the foreign secretary, borisjohnson. well, ijust want to say priti patel has been a very good colleague and friend for a long time, and a first—class secretary of state for international development. it's been a real pleasure working with her and i'm sure she's got a great future ahead, thank you very much. earlier, miss patel arrived back from a visit to africa, enjoying the queue—busting perks

of ministerial office for the last time. summoned back more than 4000 miles for her lack of candour with downing street over the full extent of her secret diplomacy with israel that some felt broke ministerial rules. it all began when miss patel went on holiday to israel in august. i heard rumours of what she got up to, checked them out, then last friday i reported she had held a number of meetings with ministers, officials and charities without telling the foreign office, as would be expected. that afternoon ms patel challenged my report, telling the guardian borisjohnson did know about the meetings. on thursday it emerged she had been summoned to downing street to be reprimanded by the prime minister and reminded of the ministerial rules. —— on monday it emerged. miss patel issued a statement apologising, admitting there had been 12 secret meetings including one with israel's prime minister. downing street hoped that would be that. then on tuesday i reported that after the trip miss patel suggested

using british aid money to help the israeli army in its humanitarian work in the occupied golan heights. that afternoon ms patel left for africa as downing street admitted it hadn't known about the plan to help the israeli army. then this morning it emerged ms patel had had two further meetings with senior israelis in september. again, without telling civil servants. after all this, it was no surprise she was ordered back to london. there were also reports ms patel had taken the controversial step of visiting an israeli army field hospital in the golan heights, an area britain doesn't officially consider part of israel. why did priti patel act like she did? some mps say she didn't realise it was wrong. others say she has a history of doing things without telling civil servants. 0thers suspect she was pursuing her

own private foreign policy. at westminster, labour said there were still questions about what the foreign 0ffice knew and when. it's clear that the minister priti patel broke the code of conduct, it's been clear all along, she should have gone immediately. instead the prime minister prevaricated, allowed a kind of soap opera to run all week, finally scuttling off to africa and being dragged back. priti patel, who... in her youth, priti patel supported the eurosceptic referendum party beforejoining a new and different generation of young conservatives. elected in 2010, she rose swiftly to become the first british indian cabinet minister, an international development secretary promising to reform britain's aid budget, a leading light of the pro—brexit leave campaign. but tonight, she's out of office, a second cabinet minister to resign from this fragile government in less than a week. james landale, bbc news. the head of nhs england has thrown

down the gauntlet to the government ahead of the budget in a fortnight. simon stephens says the nhs should get the money it was promised during the eu referendum. without more funding he predicts that by 2021 one in ten of us will be on a waiting list for an operation and the nhs will be forced to turn back a decade of progress. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more. waiting lists are a key nhs benchmark. ten years ago there were over 4 million people waiting for routine surgery in england. that fell to around 2.5 million, but, in the past few years, it's crept back to the 4 million mark. now the head of the nhs is warning it could hit 5 million. it was an extraordinary intervention from a senior public official head of a budget. 0n the current funding outlook, the nhs waiting list will grow to 5 million people by 2021. that's an extra million people on the waiting list — one in ten of us waiting

for an operation, the highest number ever. in essence, nhs england is warning that the problem starts as soon as next year, if there isn't new money allocated in the budget. that means waiting lists rising more rapidly and, in effect, a national policy to ration nonurgent care needing to be introduced. rose is one patient who thinks the nhs needs a rapid financial boost. she believes she's missing out on the specialist care she needs for her ms. you call to make an appointment and they make you wait two or three weeks. then, you when you get in there, they're very busy, and theyjust say, "well, actually, at this point you should just call physio, and maybe they can help you strengthen your core muscles." and i can't get through to physio, they don't answer their phone, they don't answer e—mails.

remember this? the vote leave battle bus and the claim that brexit would mean £350 million a week more for the nhs. that was quoted by simon stevens as part of his pitch for more money. trust in democratic politics will not be strengthened if anyone now tries to argue, "you voted brexit partly for a better funded health service, but precisely because of brexit you now can't have one. " the health secretary said it was a vote leave, not a government pledge, but any brexit dividend should help the nhs. if we end up having less pressure on public finances, because of the fact that we are not making net contributions to the eu, then i believe that the nhs should be the first port of call. any budget funding increase for health in england would automatically mean more money for scotland, wales and northern ireland. it's now down to the chancellor and whether he believes the claims of simon stevens. hugh pym, bbc news.

the mother of a teenager has publicly accused the hollywood actor and theatre director kevin spacey of sexually assaulting her son last year. the us news presenter heather unruh told a press conference that mr spacey had plied her son with alcohol and assaulted him ina bar. it's another allegation added to a growing list against mr spacey. and the actors‘ union, equity, has told the bbc that the problems of sexual harassment are endemic in the industry at all levels. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. injuly 2016, actor kevin spacey sexually assaulted my son. the tears of a mother in boston today, revealing what she claimed happened to her son. the victim, my son, was a starstruck straight 18—year—old young man, who had no idea that the famous actor was an alleged sexual predator or that he was about to become his next victim. journalist heather unruh‘s tweet

about kevin spacey last month triggered all the allegations against him. today, she went public and the police are now investigating. to kevin spacey, i want to say this — shame on you for what you did to my son. the bbc has interviewed more alleged victims. kris nixon didn't have to speak out but wanted to make clear kevin spacey‘s behaviour was part of a pattern. it's not just sleazy, it's predatorial, it's... he did what he did because he knew he'd get away with it. the one—time barman met kevin spacey in london in 2007, when he alleges the actor groped him. kevin spacey sat down on the sofa next to me, asked if that was my girlfriend, then reached over, grabbed... he then describes a sexually explicit action and words. a couple of weeks after the party at his place, he was in the bar, reached forward, grabbed my

waistband and said something to the effect of, "i can make it up to you," or, "let me make it up to you." so i went back upstairs, i was standing behind the bar thinking, "what the hell just happened again?" i was in work so i couldn't make a scene about it. and told him in no uncertain terms where he could go. the bbc also spoke to an american film—maker who didn't want to be fully identified. in the 1990s, he was a junior crew member on a film kevin spacey directed. he claims the actor sexually harassed him, something he mentioned to another man working on the film. he said, "you too, huh?" and i was like, "what do you mean, ‘you too‘? what do you mean?" and he goes, "he was touching you and flirting with you?" i said, "yeah, it was awful!" and he said, "yeah, he did that to me." in the first week we were all out at a bar, and he grabbed my butt, and i turned round, and i said to him, "kevin, if you ever do that again, i will kick your ass, so leave me alone."

in the uk, the actors' union says sexual harassment in the industry is endemic. i think it was every place you could imagine in our industry. every woman i have spoken to, female actor i've spoken to, can tell you a story, absolutely. and many, many of the men, both straight and gay, can also tell you stories. can those at the old vic theatre, where kevin spacey worked for 11 years, really have been in the dark? the theatre initially said it had no complaints against him, but it has now appointed external advisers to investigate. kevin spacey has not responded to any of the latest allegations. previously, he said he needed to examine his own behaviour. lucy manning, bbc news. that's a summary of the news. newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight. we are showing a plane that has just arrived back at heathrow. we cannot be sure she is on board.

if she is, she may look out of her window and a couple of helicopters and realise that her arrival is much anticipated. it was a long flight back for priti patel. the joke was that she was soon to be duty free on her return. after a day that made the thick of it look like the churchill diaries, priti patel finally resigned. was it even a form of remainer revenge? if you go into how did priti patel‘s visit get leaked in the first place, was it leaked by the foreign office, was it leaked by somebody in the foreign office who resented her and probably the foreign secretary, as well, and brexit, you may well find something. is this government capable of anything other than political drama ? and i'm in washington a year on from the night donald trump was elected president: we're asking what we've learnt from the biggest political gamble the world has perhaps ever seen. and ahead of the next big race, we have been in alabama. how do things look from there? the opinion of most people at any

distance from alabama is that we are ignorant and prejudiced. most of that is justified! you really think that? yes. and does he exemplify that? he preys on it. hello. it was either a day to laugh at comedy politics: a slow—motion, transcontinental cabinet—sacking with a build up that played out on tv, the stuff that makes for a good week on have i got news for you. or it was a day to cry — at a country with a distracted and dysfunctional government, and about to be hit by a freight train called brexit. take your pick. while political obsessives here enjoyed tracking priti patel‘s kenyan airlines flight from nairobi back to the uk, some on the continent, like the european parliament's brexit negotiator guy verhofstadt, were warning that talks still remain very deadlocked.

meanwhile, the prominent brexiteer priti patel herself, sacked from the cabinet, sits as a potentially vocal critic on the backbenches. will that upset the delicate balance of hard and soft brexit in the cabinet? are we paralysed by a divided government that can't muster a majority for either brexit, soft or hard, let alone do anything else? well, lots to talk about. first, here's nick watt on the day of drama. his film contains flash photography. when you are weak and vulnerable, life can be, well, downright cruel. out of the blue, you can be ensnared in a moment. theresa may has thankfully not been eaten for dinner on a remote island. but downing street could be forgiven for wondering where the next danger is lurking.